Last Christmas (34 page)

‘I’m sure you’ll manage,’ said Claire, ‘you’re so calm. And you have so much support. It will be fine.’

‘And what if it’s not?’ said Pippa frankly. ‘Having the respite care is what keeps me calm. Without it I don’t know what I’d do.’

She put the phone down in frustration. There was no point taking it out on Claire. The woman was only doing her job. But still. She looked at her precious daughter, sitting in her custom-made wheelchair, sighing to cheer her up — Lucy had an instinct for sniffing out when Pippa was sad and stressed, which was one of the most lovable things about her — and wondered how they would cope. Lucy was nearly ten now and getting bigger all the time. There might come a point when Pippa couldn’t lift her or bath her, or do all the little jobs she needed. It was like having a toddler for life. A large overgrown toddler, with hormones. For the first time since that terrible day when Lucy had been born, Pippa really felt overwhelmed. What if, after all she
couldn’t
cope? What would they do then?

Julia Williams grew up in North London, one of eight children, including her twin. Coming from a large family, Christmas was usually a chaotic affair, and her earliest memories of the festive season include tales of her parents’ drinking sherry with the milkman at four in the morning, that deliciously exciting sound of rustling paper in the dark, always wishing for snow and never getting it, the inevitable satsuma in the stocking, watching
The Wizard of Oz
—again—and fighting for the last chocolate in the Quality Street tin. Since she’s grown up and had a family of her own, she wonders with awe how her parents managed to always make Christmas so much fun without any apparent signs of stress…

To find out more about Julia go to her website at
www.juliawilliamsauthor.com
or visit her blog at
www.maniacmum.blogspot.com
.

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