“I think Alex should be dealing with this, and not hisnanny,” Penny sneers.
Eden pulls her hand away from mine, crossing her arms in front of her.
“He pushed him over first. I saw it. Ace pushed him back. They were calling him names.” She points to Teddy.
“Of course she’s going to say that.” Teddy's mum shakes her head.
“It’s true. I saw it too,” another little boy speaks up.
“Arty? Is that true?” When he nods, she says, “I think we should go to the teacher about this.”
“I do as well,” I agree. I like this Arty kid.
“Teddy, we’re going.” Penny’s minion walks off with her son.
Eden pokes her tongue out at George. I don’t even tell her off.
“Fine, let’s go see the teacher,” Penny agrees.
We go to the boys’ teacher, and Arty explains what has been going on. George leaves school crying, with Penny telling him off. I fight a smug smile to see how sheepish she’s gone.
“Thank you...” I say to Arty's mum as we walk out of the school gate, realising I don’t know her name.
“Lorna. Alex has my number if the kids ever want a playdate.” She walks off with Arty, and I’m left thinking I might have found my first mum friend.
“Milkshake?” I ask the children.
When we get home, I make sure we all wash our hands and get started on the kids’ homework. Alex is coming home late, so I order us a pizza to share. We cuddle on the sofa while we eat it watching a film.
ALEX
I’m meant to be working, but I want to find something out. It has taken a lot of digging, but I have found what I am looking for, even if it did take a few weeks. I now have contact details for Ben, Julia's first husband—the one she divorced after irreconcilable differences. This in turn, leads me into finding out about Jason, her current boyfriend.
Ben and I have exchanged messages and now I have the information I need. Closing the lid on my laptop, I sit back in my chair. I don't know how to feel right now. What I do know is everyone is waiting for me to go out and celebrate. The new app is working, and my team want to go out for drinks. I'll have to throw some sort of party for the official launch, but all I want to do is go home to my family.
I told Gemma earlier in the day that I was going to be late home tonight, so when I walk in, I’m surprised to find Aceand Gemma cuddling on the sofa. Eden must already be in bed, which is strange because Ace and Eden have the same bedtime, he just gets to stay awake a bit longer. There is an empty pizza box and ice cream tub on the coffee table.
“Hey.” I kiss both their heads, they stir and look up. I can see by Ace’s face he wants to ask me something, but he doesn’t. Not until Gemma starts touching my hand.
“Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?” He rubs his eyes.
“We are very good friends,” I reply. “Why are you still down here?”
“We need to talk to you.” They both look at me, and I’m worried.
“Ace, shall I tell him?” Gemma asks.
“Tell me what?” I wish one of them would tell me what’s going on.
“Teddy and George have been mean to me about Mum leaving. Teddy pushed me, so I pushed him back,” Ace says. He sounds scared of how I will react.
I am instantly angry that my child has been bullied. “Go on,” I say.
“I’ve dealt with it,” Gemma tells me.
What the hell does she mean, she has dealt with it? “Ace, we will talk in the morning, I’ll be up soon.”
“You’re angry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
