Page 18 of The Stolen Child

‘Stop worrying,’ Michael said, sensing his wife’s unease. ‘Today is Ben’s day, and we’ll ignore everything else.’

But, now that the subject had been broached, Lily couldn’t shut it down. She touched her husband’s arm and whispered, ‘I could see it happening when I was a kid.’

‘See what?’ Michael asked.

‘Their gradual breakup. It was . . .’ Lily wrinkled her nose as she grappled for the right words to explain, ‘as if they were making nicks in their love. They couldn’t stop themselves. Each time they fought, another dent was cut. Mum became obsessed with the family business, and Dad with finding Robert. It was inevitable that their love would snap irreparably one day.’ Lily shivered, and her eyes glistened as she looked at Michael. ‘It’s so sad. And unnecessary. Because I think, underneath it all, they still love each other.’

Michael cupped her chin with his hand, kissing her lightly, then promised, ‘No nicks, dents or cuts allowed for us.’

‘That I can happily agree to,’ Lily replied.

‘I vote we forget all the sad stuff and try to relax and enjoy Ben’s day.’

‘That gets my vote too.’

Returning to the sitting room, Lily found her mother singing ‘Old McDonald Had a Farm’ with Ben in her arms. Ben loved making the moo moo and oink oink noises. Her dad was joining in too, a big goofy grin on his face.

Michael looked at her with a smug I-told-you-it-would-be-okay look on his face. And she felt the tension begin to disappear as she took in the happiness on her parents’ faces.

No shadows. No pain. No aches from a fateful night decades before.

And it caught Lily, making her throat constrict again, bringing tears to her eyes. She looked at her father and saw that he was watching her mother too, a look of such tenderness on his face as she sang to their grandson.

Why couldn’t love have been enough for them?

Then, mercifully saving Lily from her maudlin thoughts, Ben reached his two arms towards her, calling out, ‘Mama, Mama.’ Lily took him from his grandmother’s arms and pulled her son close. She breathed in his sugary scent and laughed loudly when his hands grabbed her cheeks.

‘My special boy,’ she whispered, kissing his forehead, cheeks and lips.

Was it any wonder her own mother had become an overly protective, at times a control freak, when she’d lost Robert? For years, Lily had been so angry with her mum. But she was finally beginning to understand.

When Robert had become a ghost in their family, her mother had become one too, faded to half herself, with one part in the past and the other in the now.

Lily looked over her son’s shoulder at her mother and father. She turned to them both, her voice trembling with emotion, ‘I love you, Mum. And you too, Dad.’

And they both responded with their own declarations of love. At that moment, all was well with the fractured Murphy family. Ben was their glue, bringing them back together again and offering balm to their open wounds.

After cake and tea, Lily put Ben down for his afternoon nap. As Lily descended the stairs, she found Michael hovering in the hall.

‘I’m sorry. I tried to divert them, but I’m afraid you were right. It’s going to kick off.’

‘What this time?’ Lily asked as her stomach plummeted. She felt so stupid for ever allowing herself a moment to hope that things would ever change.

‘Your dad brought up the interview on IrelandAM. He has the latest age progression photo with him,’ Michael said.

They found her mother putting on her jacket. Her face was tight, and her eyes flashed in anger.

‘I’ll give you a call tomorrow,’ Her mum said in clipped tones, the inference in every word that Lily had allowed this to happen.

‘Please don’t go. Not like this. We’ve had a nice day.’

‘I’ll go. Your mum can stay,’ her dad said, pulling his coat on too. He turned to his ex-wife. ‘I thought you’d want to see Robert. I can see so much of you in this photo, around his mouth in particular. He has the same oval face as you. Look.’

Lily’s mother omitted an anguished groan and said in a strangled voice, ‘It’s cruel. I can’t bear to look at him. Don’t you see? I don’t recognise this man. He’s a stranger to me.’ Then her voice disintegrated to a sob. ‘I want my baby boy back. The two-year-old Robert who loved the moon, chocolate buttons and Peter Rabbit.’

‘I didn’t mean to upset you,’ her dad said helplessly to her mum.

Michael stepped closer to him and patted Jason’s shoulder in solidarity. Lily was stuck in familiar ground: standing in the middle of her parents whilst they fired shots at each other, unable to offer comfort to either one, as it would be seen as taking a side.