‘We asked her what that meant for the kids…’ Pam’s voice cracked and she looked helplessly at Billy.
‘We asked when she was coming back and there was silence. What we did find out is that she’s in a hotel at the moment and Declan doesn’t know she’s there. She’s going to see him when she’s got over the jet lag.’
‘So we’re no further forward in knowing when or if she’ll be back.’
‘I’m afraid not.’
‘Did she ask after the kids?’
That elicited another sob from Pam and a grave shake of the head from Billy.
‘I’d lost my patience with her by the end of the call,’ Billy said. ‘I told her to stop her nonsense, sort out her priorities and get on the next plane home. Her response was…’ He paused and took a deep breath and it was obvious how difficult it was for him to voice it. ‘She saidDeclan is my home. He always has been and always will be my number one priority. What part of that don’t you understand?And then she hung up.’
‘How could she?’ Pam cried. ‘Those poor babies. I don’t… I can’t…’
I couldn’t either but I wanted to be strong for Pam and Billy.
‘You’re not alone in this,’ I assured them. ‘They’ve got two families rooting for them and we’ll do whatever’s needed to ensure they feel loved and supported. Where are the twins, by the way? Are they still with my parents?’
Billy nodded. ‘They’re bringing them back in half an hour.’
‘And Aaron’s at swimming club?’
‘No. He’s in his bedroom.’ Billy grimaced. ‘Sorry, I should have said that before. I was going to take him but we were still on the phone to Ingrid when we needed to leave and he said he’d give it a miss tonight. I took him this morning, but I did struggle with the early start. I’m not going to be able to keep that up.’
‘This is me thinking on my feet – I haven’t run it by anyone – but do you think it would be best if Aaron temporarily moves in with me at Mum and Dad’s? He can have Erin’s bedroom for now and I can do all the swimming runs. Ideally I don’t want to separate him from the twins but he knows me and they don’t.’
‘It might be for the best,’ Pam said, looking at Billy. ‘I wish we didn’t have to, but…’
Billy nodded when she tailed off. ‘See what Aaron says. It has to be his decision.’
‘Of course. Actually, I’d better run it by my family first. I can’t imagine them being anything other than welcoming but I’d hate to suggest it to Aaron, have him agree and have one of them say no. Anything to avoid him feeling rejected.’
I nipped into the kitchen and made a callto my parents who had no problem with Aaron moving in if it was what he wanted. Lucy was fine with it too and Erin was happy for him to have her room and said I wasn’t to worry if he was still there when she came home for Easter as we could sort something out. It was only fair to keep Tara in the loop as this affected her too but she thought it was a good idea.
I returned to Pam and Billy feeling blessed that I had such supportive parents, an incredibly understanding girlfriend, and mature daughters who showed no hesitation in putting their brother first.
‘We’re all good to go our end,’ I said. ‘Are you both happy for me to run the idea by Aaron?’
‘Our only stipulation is that he regularly sees us and the twins,’ Pam said.
‘Absolutely. We’ll make sure that happens.’
Aaron was sitting on his bed, sketching.
‘What are you drawing?’
‘Ears and noses.’
We’d looked at them in our art lessons last week and I was relieved to see he’d returned to his homework from me rather than continuing with the darker images.
‘How’ve you been today?’ I asked.
He shrugged. ‘Bit down. Grandma and Grandad spoke to her. They told me she was tired and they didn’t have much of a conversation with her but I was sitting on the stairs and it was on speaker. I heard it all.’
My stomach sank. I wished he hadn’t heard that as it wasn’t going to do anything to help his rapidly deteriorating relationship with Ingrid.
‘That must have been hard for you.’
