Chapter 5
"Oh! Hi Debbie. Sorry. Erm....is Charity in?"
"No, she's in Hotten. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Erm....yeah. Never mind"
"Never mind what?"
Vanessa sighs "Well, it's just that she's meant to be having Johnny later but I've just been asked to cover a call out because everyone else is busy so I was just wondering if she could take him a bit earlier, but it doesn't matter."
"Well, I can watch him until she gets back if you like?"
"No, it's fine, I don't want to impose"
"It's fine, honestly"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, of course. And Mum won't mind either. She hasn't shut up about seeing him since you agreed to it!"
Vanessa's mouth quirks into a sad smile
"Okay, well, I'll be back as soon as I can. Thanks for this Debbie!" She looks down at Johnny. "Are you going to go and play with Debbie and wait for Charity to come home?"
He nods silently without looking up, slightly shy in Debbie's company but willing to go along with it if it means he gets to see his favourite person. Vanessa thanks Debbie again and rushes back down the path towards her car.
Debbie gets Johnny settled on the rug in the living room with some of Moses' toys and pours him a drink before texting Charity. 'Get your arse home, mother'
Charity comes through the door a little while later, laden down with shopping bags. She sees Debbie and looks at her questioningly. "What's going on? Why did I have to cut my shopping trip short?"
Debbie smiles and nods her head towards the little boy on the floor who had stopped playing as soon as he'd heard Charity come through the door and was now sat with a big grin on his face and his arms outstretched impatiently waiting for a cuddle.
"Johnny!" Charity smiles "What are you doing here? You're not meant to be here 'til later!" She puts the shopping bags down near the bottom of the stairs as she's talking and then turns back towards Johnny.
"Mummy gots to look after some sheeps so I came to play with you!" He beams
"Well lucky me, then eh?" and she heads over to sit with Johnny on the floor, scooping him up onto her lap and giving him a squeeze, both of them happy to be reunited.
They stay that way for the next hour or more, completely wrapped up in each others company and oblivious to Debbie's presence. Might as well not exist! She thinks to herself whilst pottering around the house doing little chores. But really she's happy for her Mum. It's so good to see her smile properly for the first time in months. It's obvious how much Johnny means to her. And Vanessa too, no matter how much she insists that Vanessa's better off without her.
Eventually Charity's body objects to being on the floor for so long and she lifts herself up onto the chair next to Johnny with a groan. Johnny carries on playing whilst Charity watches on and she startles slightly when Debbie nudges her to pass her a cup of tea. "Thanks Debs" she says with a soft smile. "I wish Moses was here. He'd have been so happy to have his brother back" she sighs wistfully.
"I know, but I'm sure you and Ness can arrange something for them both soon"
"Yeah, I hope so"
Johnny has seemingly had enough of playing on his own and stands up next to Charity. "Mummy Chatty?"
"Yes sweetheart?"
"Can we read a book please?"
"Yeah, of course we can kid" she smiles "Can you remember where they are?"
"Yeah" he shouts and toddles off up the stairs to Moses' room to pick a book (or several probably, knowing Johnny!)
Charity gulps down some more of her tea and then moves and sits in the corner of the sofa to give them a bit more space. She needn't have bothered because when Johnny comes back downstairs he clambers up onto the sofa with his books and drops himself down in Charity's lap. She smiles and ruffles his hair whilst he turns his little body to the side and snuggles into her chest, tangling his hand into the front of her shirt. She opens the first book and holds it out to the side so Johnny can see the pages. She's going to get a crick in her neck reading like this but she doesn't care.
They stay like that for half an hour, reading book after book until Johnny snuffles slightly and Charity realises he's dropped off to sleep. Must be all the excitement, bless him. She puts the book down and tries to shuffle her body down the sofa slightly into a more comfortable position without disturbing Johnny, and it's not long before she joins him in the land of nod.
Debbie takes the opportunity to check in on the garage's booking system and accounts whilst the house is quiet and is only interrupted by a knock on the door a little while later. She opens the door to see a slightly disheveled looking Vanessa on the doorstep.
"Hi Debbie" Vanessa says as cheerfully as she can manage
Debbie just holds an index finger up to her mouth and silently signals for Vanessa to follow her into the house. Vanessa looks at her quizzically but follows her in nonetheless. Her eyes fall upon the sleepy bundle on the sofa that is Charity and Johnny and her heart flip flops in her chest.
"They've been inseparable from the second she got home and they look so happy and peaceful I didn't dare wake them. We probably should though or we'll never get them to sleep later." Vanessa chuckles at Debbie lumping Charity in with Johnny like she's a child too. She heads around the sofa and tries not to think about how much her heart swells at the sight in front of her before she bends down to stroke Johnny's head to try and gently rouse him. He starts to stir and the movement makes Charity wake with a little snore.
"Sorry" she says as she comes to and sheepishly realises that she must have fallen asleep not long after Johnny. "We were just reading and.." she trails off
"It's okay" Vanessa whispers back. She quickly clears her throat, trying to get her voice back to normal.
"Come on then Johnny, shall we go home and see Aunty Tracy?"
"Yeah" comes the tired reply as he rubs his eyes
"Say bye and thank you to Charity"
"Bye Mummy Chatty. Love you"
Charity's heart thumps in her chest "Love you too Johnnybobs, see you soon" kissing him on the head one last time
"Thank you" she mouths to Vanessa, who just smiles at her shyly. Johnny and Vanessa walk out of the door together and Debbie turns to her Mum
"You okay?"
"Yeah" she whispers back with a smile on her lips and her eyes shining with tears. She holds out her arms for a hug which Debbie gladly walks into. Hopefully her Mum can keep hold of this happiness now.