7 for Dinner
25 December

Christmas morning. Ross and I wake up in the same bed in our own house.

After we'd done presents - me: Harry Potter sound track; Nigella Lawson cookbook; candles; book of aerial photographs of Liverpool - Ross: Robbie Williams's Swing When You Are Winning; a set of Hercule Poirot talking books; an apple corer; a book about places to go and things to do in Liverpool; a book about training boyfriends (don't imagine that I lack self-knowledge ) - we set off for my parents' house to join them and Linda and Ian and Mary for Christmas lunch.

This event has been long in the planning. Grace and Albert, particularly Grace, have been excited about it for weeks. They have some feeling that it will be the last time that they will host a Christmas in their own home. this may be the case. If I were them, I should be glad to hand the responsibility over.

However, events did not go to plan. The Prescotts were full of cold. Linda, Ian and Mary spent much of the day flaked out, battling with great fortitude against the bug they'd picked up. One by one the adults took themselves off to bed to lie down for a couple of hours. Mary napped but did rally for part of the time.

It was not the event that Grace had hoped for. She wanted childhood magic and she got a quieter, more adult version. However, there were still plenty of presents to open even for the aging Ps. Mary watched them intently even if through bleary eyes.

Mary picked up a little during the afternoon and Linda, her and I had a few good games. One of her presents was an electric car that was remote controlled. We had great fun with that and Mary showed good spatial awareness only ramming the occasional piece of furniture.

She also took time out to paint.

The best part of the day for me was the fact that Ross was there and accepted and just part of the family getting on with things as and when he wanted.