Chapter 24
Charity and Vanessa had taken the boys to see a Panto in Leeds at the weekend and ever since then they had been shouting: ‘It’s behind you!’ at any opportunity and then enjoying ‘Oh no, it isn’t! Oh yes, it is!’ arguments with each other (and anyone else who would join in) for the next five minutes. It was quite funny and cute the first couple of times but after nearly a week with barely any let up it was starting to get slightly tedious for the two mums who were each secretly delighted when it was the other’s turn to look after the boys.
Tonight they were all having a meal together (which they’d promised they would do once a week for the boys) and Tracy and Frankie had joined them. Then it was Charity’s turn to have them for the night. She could already feel a headache coming on and was counting down the minutes until they were in bed and she could have some peace..
“Okay monsters, have you finished your dinner?”
“Yeeeeaaaaaaaahh” they both cheered
“Right then, what are we doing tonight? Shall we watch a film, eh?”
“PANTO!” they shouted
Tracy chuckles. She’d experienced their Panto obsession too.
“Boys, we can’t just go to the Panto whenever we want – we don’t have tickets for tonight, last weekend was a special treat.” Vanessa tries to explain
“Can we watch Panto on the telly then?”
“No Wigglebum, it’s not on the TV tonight and we don’t have it recorded. But if there’s one on TV sometime soon then we’ll record it so you can watch it as many times as you want.”
“You’ll regret saying that.” Charity mutters under her breath. She knows how many times they can watch the same thing over and over, seemingly without ever becoming bored of it. Their Paw Patrol obsession was rather painful for the taller blonde.
The boys looked disappointed and went quiet for a minute, then put their heads together and started whispering back and forth. Charity and Vanessa both looked on adoringly at their boys; happy to see them back together and as thick as thieves once again.
“Mummies do a Panto!” Moses suddenly shouted.
Tracy cackled. “Oh brilliant! I was going to go home but this I’ve got to see!” she clutches her stomach with the laughter.
Charity looks absolutely horrified. “No, no, no, no, no. Not a chance! Trace, you and Ness can crack on but I’d rather pull out my own toenails. I’ll be in the bathroom if you need me.”
Tracy looks horrified. “Oh my God, you’re not actually going to do that, are you?”
“Of course she isn’t..” Vanessa replies, but doesn’t sound completely convinced.
“No Trace, I’m going to go for a bath whilst you two make idiots of yourselves.”
“Aw Charity, come on. It’ll be fun! And the boys will love it! Plus, I think you’d make a lovely Dame..” Vanessa teases.
A look of outrage crosses Charity’s face. “You cheeky..”
“Charity..” Vanessa admonishes, not sure Charity can be trusted to say something suitable in front of the boys.
“I’d definitely be the handsome Prince wouldn’t I boys? Cos Mummy knows how to wear a suit.” she winks.
“Fine, I’ll be the Princess then. Sorted.”
“Errrrr…..I wasn’t actually saying I’d do it, babe.”
“Princess Vanessa!” Moses shouted
“Can I be a Prince like Mummy Chatty, Mummy?” Johnny asks shyly.
“Well, not if she won’t join in, you can’t.”
“And where are we getting a script from exactly?! Hmmmmm, Princess Vanessa?”
“There’ll be loads online I bet.” Vanessa says hopefully.
Charity rolls her eyes.
“Here you go.” Tracy offers, showing them her phone and the script that she’d pulled up online whilst they’d been bickering.
“Oh great.” Charity mutters. “Remind me again why I bothered inviting you?!”
“Come on Charity….pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaase! It’ll be fun, I promise!” Vanessa begs.
“Please Mummy, please!” Moses joins in.
“Pease?” Johnny says quietly looking up at her with those big blue eyes of his. She didn’t stand a chance really, did she?
“Ergh…..fine!” she sighs dramatically. “But if you tell anyone about this, you’re dead!” she warns glaring at Tracy, who makes a zipper mime across her lips with a face of pure innocence.
“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy!” the boys cheered, jumping around in front of the sofa.
Vanessa smiled at how easily Charity had caved. She pretended to be hard as nails, but Vanessa knew she’d do anything for their boys.
Twenty minutes, and a quick costume change, later (which saw Vanessa wearing one of Charity’s dresses and a makeshift tinfoil tiara, and Charity changing into one of her famous suits) Charity and Vanessa were stood at the front of the living room, having pushed as much furniture out of the way as possible. They each held their phones in front of them and were reading their lines out, with Tracy reading any narration, additional character lines, and stage directions for them from her own phone.
The boys were having the time of their lives, shouting at the top of their lungs whenever there was any chance for audience participation. They particularly enjoyed it when there was a comment about how ugly the audience were, and when the Prince had arrogantly stated that he was the answer to all of the Princesses dreams and Tracy had muttered “Nightmares, more like!” loud enough for the boys to hear. And of course there was the obligatory ‘Oh no, it isn’t’ and ‘Oh yes, it is’ exchange when the Prince was looking for his horse who was lazy and had taken to hiding whenever the Prince mentioned needing him.
Charity had really started getting into it, not that she’d actually admit that, obviously. The final scene quickly came ‘round. The Prince and Princess had eventually fallen in love and were getting their happily ever after, starting with a wedding in front of the audience. It had been a little awkward as they both thought about what could have been but tried to stay in character and get through the scene for the boys.
“Kiiiiiiiisssss!” Moses shouted when the nuptials ended. After all, that was what had happened when they’d seen the Panto in Leeds.
Charity and Vanessa froze, both stunned by the demand and not sure what to do with themselves.
“Errrr......that’s the end boys. Clap your hands and say thank you to your mummies.” Tracy encouraged.
“Kiss?” Johnny said.
Charity looked down at her boots and then took a deep breath before leaning in and placing a gentle kiss on Vanessa’s cheek. As she pulled away their eyes met for a second, making Vanessa’s breath catch momentarily, and Charity’s heart start pounding.
“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!” the boys cheered, oblivious to the swirl of feelings and emotions their demand had caused for their mothers.
The two ladies stood together awkwardly for another moment trying to avoid the elephant in the room.
“Sorry.” Vanessa muttered quietly.
“It’s fine, Ness.” Charity replied. “Right then boys, bath time! Come on, up we go.” Charity shepherded them towards the stairs as quickly as she could. “Bye Trace. Say n’night boys”
Vanessa followed them upstairs and slipped into Charity’s room to get changed back into her own clothes whilst Charity ran a bath for the little ones and started stripping them down.
“Mummy Chatty? Is Mummy really a Princess?” Johnny asked shyly.
“Of course she is, baba! The most beautiful Princess in all of the land, that’s what the Prince said, right?”
“And are you really a Prince?”
“No kid. I’m more like the village idiot, aren’t I.”
“But you still love the Princess, don’t you?” he asks worriedly.
She swallows and pulls him in close, cradling his head in her hand before whispering “Always” and kissing him softly.
Vanessa had been hovering in the doorway waiting for the right moment to make her presence known.
“Right boys” she says brightly as she enters. Charity freezes again, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment and her gaze fixed on the wall opposite her as she desperately tries to avoid Vanessa’s focus. “Be good for Charity” she says as she drops a kiss on the top of each of their heads. “And I’ll see you in the morning.” They give her a chorus of goodbyes, waving her off as she turns to leave the bathroom. “Thank you for tonight, Charity.”
“No problem. See you tomorrow, Ness.” Still not daring to meet her eye.
Tracy’s sat on the sofa in Tug Ghyll when Vanessa gets back.
“So….that looked like quite the moment at the end there.” She says without any preamble.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Vanessa denies, not sounding quite as convincing as she would have liked.
“If you say so." She pauses. "Just make sure you’re sure about what, or who, you want your happily ever after to be, Vee.”
Vanessa flops down onto the sofa. She thought she’d covered it quite well. Clearly not. Her feelings for Charity would apparently always be obvious to anyone bothering to look at either of them. Could she give her heart to Charity again though? Was she worth the risk?