Growing Pains. Part 25c (NSFW)
"Yeh. I've got a track upstairs. It makes the car jump and spin!" Paul explained excitedly.
Peter held his hand out to his brother, “Show me?”
"OK." Paul took hold of Peter's hand and led his brother up to the room he shared with Oliver. He moved the ramp slightly. "If I put it here then the cars hit Oli's head when he's asleep!" The youngster explained with a huge grin on his face.
“Paul, that’s not nice.” Peter shook his head fondly.
"Its funny though!" Paul laughed.
“Maybe so.” Peter smiled.
Paul set up the cars on the track to show Peter. "What did you get for Christmas?" He asked.
“I got some money and some new clothes.” Peter smiled, sitting on the floor.
"Cool." Paul laughed as the car hit Oli's bed.
“Paul, you should be nicer to your brother.” Peter laughed.
"You call Jake 'doofus'." Paul pointed out with a mischievous shrug.
“Ok, you’ve got a point.” Peter rolled his eyes playfully.
Paul continued to play for several minutes before he spoke again. "Is mum gunna be OK?" He asked quietly, not looking up from his toy.
“Yeah. What makes you think she won’t be?” Peter asked gently, trying to work out what was going on in Paul’s head.
"She keeps getting hurt."
“I know.” Peter kissed his little brother's head. “Are you scared?”
"She was fine when she went out yesterday and then she came back hurt. Can't she just stay here? Then she won't get hurt."
“Sometimes mum and dad’s job is scary.” Peter kissed his head again, “And they get hurt.”
"Why do they still do it?"
“Because they like to care for other people.”
"Like Holly cares for animals?"
"I like Holly." Paul smiled.
"She's not icky like the girls at school."
“You’re too young to be looking at girls.”
"I don't look at them, they smell!" Paul replied, pulling a face.
"Are you and Holly gunna get married? All the girls at school like to play weddings but I run away when they try and make me play!"
“I’d like to get married one day.”
“When you’re a bit older, you’ll change your mind.”
Peter played with Paul and his car for ages.
Eventually Holly came upstairs to see where they'd gone. "You boys having fun?" She smiled.
Peter blushed as he looked up, “Yes we are.”
"The girls put a film on. Your mum was asleep within ten minutes and your dad was barely keeping his eyes open when I left to come up here."
“I don’t think they’ve slept much from their shift last night.” Peter replied.
"Yeh I imagine it was pretty busy there last night."
“Paul? Do you want to go and watch the film with your sisters and brothers?”
"Yeh!" Paul beemed, jumping up and running out the room.
Peter remained sat on the floor and held his hand out to Holly.
She took his hand and sat down next to him.
“Can you believe it’s been a whole year?”
"I know, it's gone so fast!" She grinned.
He kissed her gently, “Maybe this year we can start some new chapters together?” He placed his hand on her stomach and met her gaze.
"I'd like to get married first." She smiled, placing her hand over his.
“I know. And we will.” He smiled.
"I want my mum to be at my wedding." She whispered.
“Then let’s start looking for her?”
"I filled out the request form for my file but I've been too scared to post it."
"Its been in my bag since before Christmas." She admitted.
“Tonight on the way home, let’s post it?”
"O-ok." She smiled nervously.
There was a silence between them, Peter’s thumb stroking over the back of Holly’s hand.
"Do you think we'll find her?"
"I want to be able to tell our children about where I came from."
“You never know, your mum could be looking for you too.”
He smiled and kissed her again.
"Can I ask you something?" She asked hesitantly.
“You can ask me anything, babe.”
"Did it make you feel different? When you found out about your dad."
He nodded. “Yeah it did.”
“I don’t know, I can’t explain it. I was a bit pissed off at first..” He admitted.
"Coz they hadn't told you sooner?"
He nodded, “I mean, it was pretty obvious who my dad was...”
"You do look a lot like him." She agreed.
“Mum and dad were just... Caught up in the idea they were just friends.”
"I can't imagine those two ever being 'just friends'." She chuckled.
He laughed, “I don’t think it was ever a stage for them.”
"So they hooked up and then pretended it never happened even though your mum got pregnant? How they manage to keep that a secret for so long?"
“Ask my parents. They’ll tell you.”
"I'm not sure I wanna have that kinda chat with your mum and dad..!" She giggled.
He giggled. “Nah, neither do I really.”
"That's one of the few upsides of my parents total lack of emotional interaction with each other - no awkward conversations!"
“Awkward conversations aren’t the worst, trust me.”
“Hearing them engaging in physical activity.” He laughed.
"Oh..!" Her eyes widened.
“Yeah, they’re not exactly quiet.” He chuckled.
"That's not a mental image I needed..!" She giggled.
"I imagine they'll be a bit more restrained for a while..."
“You’d like to think, wouldn’t you?”
"You don't sound convinced..." She chuckled.
“I don’t think anything would stop them.”
"But your mum can't walk unaided right now..."
“If mum wants something, she’ll usually get it.” He shuddered, “Can we change the subject? I think my lunch might make a reappearance.”
“What are you two laughing at?” Charlie asked from the doorway as he was passing. He’d come upstairs to grab a blanket for Duffy as she seemed colder than usual.
"Nothing!" Holly giggled. "I thought you were asleep."
“I was but I was cold, so I’ve come to grab a blanket. Are you both okay?”
"Yeh, we're OK. I'm amazed Lisa can sleep, her ankle must be agony!"
"She's not having much luck with broken bones lately." Holly remarked.
“I know.” Charlie sighed.
"Dad..?" Peter questioned, picking up on the tone in his father's voice.
"What's going on?" Peter pressed. "It wasn't just an accident was it?"
“Of course it was an accident.” Charlie paused, “I think your mum’s got brittle bones. It makes them easier to break.”
"I'm not surprised. She's lost weight since the last time we saw her. That was only a week ago dad!"
“I’m really trying, son.”
"I'm not blaming you." Peter sighed.
“I know.” Charlie sat on the edge of Paul’s bed and paused. “You know your mum’s problem, don’t you?”
"I know she's not getting any better. If anything, she's getting worse. She's a nurse, surely she knows the damage she's doing to herself." Peter sighed.
“It’s an addiction.” Charlie paused, “Like Louis’.”
“If only it was easy to ask for help.”
"What are her options?" Peter asked, he really wanted to help as best he could. It was obvious that it was tearing his parents apart.
“There’s three. One of which hasn’t worked so far.”
"The therapy sessions she's being going to?"
“Yeah. Anyway, come on, let’s go downstairs..?”
"OK." Peter agreed, though he wanted to press his father further he knew now was not the time.
Charlie smiled sadly as all three of them went downstairs, Charlie with the blanket in his hand. He was concerned to see that Duffy looked even paler than when he had left her to go upstairs and was still sleeping heavily despite the surrounding noise from the children.
Charlie took her wrist and discreetly tried to take her pulse, observing her respiration rate.
Peter moved to stand beside his dad, giving him a nervous look.
Peter became increasingly agitated though tried to hide it from his younger siblings.
Charlie counted twice before sighing and putting her arm back under the blanket.
