Christmas At The Café. Rebecca Raisin

sure, Lil?”

      “More than sure.”

      “There’s a change on the wind, ain’t there?”

      I know exactly what she means: things seem so different from how they were just a few days back. “Seems like it, Cee. I feel blazing happiness one minute, then so sad the next.”

      “Sugar plum, I know, but you gotta enjoy every moment with that fine-looking thing… Time goes so fast, Lil. So fast…” She breaks off, her eyes glazing over, as she stares across the road. Damon’s sitting on the bench out front of his shop reading a newspaper. CeeCee looks sharply back to me, then over at Damon again. She jumps up suddenly and claps a hand over her heart. “I seen it! I seen it!” she says, her hands shaking.

      I glance quickly at Damon, but can’t see anything unusual. “What, Cee?”

      “A baby! You gonna have a baby!” She scrunches her eyes closed.

      I roll my eyes dramatically. “Oh, Cee! We’re not even at that stage yet!”

      Her eyes snap open. “It’s the second sight! Was I wrong about you and Damon?” she screeches.

      “No, ma’am.” I grin back. Butterflies swarm in my belly at the thought of having children, but I don’t say anything. I just smile, and shrug. “We’ll see.”

      “It’s gonna be a little boy, oh, he as cute as a button,” she says. “We better hurry up and get you married. I had this idea for your wedding cake…”

      I watch CeeCee scramble from the table, her eyes bright with excitement. I rub my belly once, just in case she’s right.

Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Café

       You are invited to the wedding of the year!

      Snow is falling thick and fast outside the Gingerbread Café and, inside, its owner Lily is planning the wedding of the year. Her wedding! She never dreamt it would happen, but this Christmas she’ll be marrying the man of her dreams — in a Christmas-card-perfect ceremony!

      The gingerbread is baking, the dress is fitted and the mistletoe’s in place — for once, everything’s going to plan. That is until her mother-in-law arrives… Suddenly, Lily’s famous cool is being tested like never before and her dream wedding is crumbling before her eyes.

      In the blink of a fairy light, the Gingerbread Café has been thrown into chaos! Lily thought she had this wedding wrapped up, but with so much to do before she says ‘I do’, can Lily get to the church on time — and make this Christmas sparkle after all?