"We won't be gone long," Edward said. "Elwood isn't strong enough for that. I don't want to overtire him. We'll go straight there and come straight back."
"We could do that, Aria. We could order some fish and chips and split them, just for the tasting, of course," Elwood said. "Maybe, if this goes well, I might soon be able to go checkout some of the shops."
"I don't think that's far away, but it is not for this outing. This is strictly about the beer," Edward said. "What do you want to go to the shops for? What do you need?"
"Look, Youngster," Elwood said to Edward, making Edward laugh, "this will be the first Christmas I've celebrated in almost 70 years, and it's the first one ever with my grandchildren and great grandchildren. I have a family I didn't have before. I might want to shop."
"Oh. I see," Edward nodded.
"No. He doesn't see," Simone said. "That's my job."
"And the cooking, and the decorating and the wrapping..." Edward teased.
"Careful, Edward," Marcus laughed. "You're making it sound like all you do is show up."
"That's exactly what he does," Simone laughed.
"And I'm very good at it," Edward said, unapologetically. Marcus got up and cleared the table, putting the dirty dishes in the sink. As he went past the apples, he speared five slices on his index finger and sat down to eat them with a cup of coffee. "I'm ready whenever you lot are."