A family Christmas
It’s been a huge year, so for our first Christmas as a family, I want to make it extra special. Thanks to Black Friday sales and Albany Mega Centre, having all the stores I need in one place, I can find that perfect gift for all the special people in my life.
Chad and I met five years ago at a party. It wasn’t love at first sight. Far from it. Initially, I found him too brash and frankly way too gay for me. It sounds weird to say that now, given how much I love him and how much laughter and joy he brings me. He was flamboyant with a giant Village People moustache. A cliché queer I said to my friends. But he was persistent, I’ll give him that, and he pursued me for weeks after the party until I said yes to a date.
I laughed and laughed that night and every night since for the last five years. We got married two years later in an over-the-top civil union ceremony, that horrified my oh-so-catholic parents. I never thought that a traditional marriage was what I wanted, but once Chad proposed it felt like the best thing that ever happened to me. A year later we started talking about having kids and becoming a ‘real family.’
2022 is the year when our dream of being a family will come true. It started in the middle of last year when we were looking around for a fur baby. We met Sharon, this amazing woman, who had beautiful Vizsla puppies. We fell in love with them, and with her instantly, and over the next six weeks we hung out until we could take our new baby home. Sharon quickly became our best friend and we told her about wanting kids. She offered to be our surrogate. By the end of last summer we were expecting and overjoyed.
So it’s now November and the baby is due any day now. I want to celebrate the joy I’m feeling this Christmas by buying special gifts for all my family. I’m here at Albany Mega Centre, taking advantage of the big Black Friday sales this week.
I start at Noel Leeming. Chad loves his music and his tech gadgets so I’m set on getting him a pair of Apple AirPods. I know he’s wanted them for a while but always said he couldn’t justify spending that much on headphones. He may not be able to justify it, but I can. There’s the latest Pro range out and I go for that. I can picture Chad squealing with delight when he unwraps them.
Sharon, who is about to give us the ultimate Christmas gift, will be spending Xmas with us as well. She is such a big part of our family now. I head into Farmers Home because I want to get her something substantial for her flat. There’s so much beautiful stuff here that it’s hard to decide. I go for a sage-coloured stoneware dinner set that looks like homemade pottery. As a potter herself, I know she’ll love this.
Just 20 metres away, I pop into Animates for something special for Norman, our very mischievous one-year-old. I find him a squeaky ball and some fancy dog treats. I can see him going crazy with the ball all over the house but I can also hear Chad telling me off for encouraging his bad behaviour.
Last stop, The Baby Factory. Sharon knows the sex of the baby but both Chad and I insisted that we didn’t want to know. There’s something exciting about the surprise. However practically, it makes buying things for the baby harder and it takes me a while to decide. I settle on a lovely musical cot mobile with birds, bees and butterflies. I pause as I take it to the counter – I still can’t believe that Chad and I are about to become dads.
What a day it’s been. I have a warm and happy feeling as I review all the things I’ve purchased. There’s something about Albany Mega Centre that makes it feel like part of my family as well. It seems so apt to buy Christmas gifts for the people that I love from the place that I love.