Not Just for Christmas Ch. 07-09

"Have I a chance?" she asked plaintively.

"No," he said. "You left me because you were bored. That was really the finish between us, Cheryl. Claire on the other hand has some notion that I only want her out of duty now she is disfigured. She's set me free out of love. If I end up with anyone it'll be with her.

"Go and find some rich bloke and work your charm on him. Get on with your life."

Further talk between them ended because Siobhán came into the room and stopped short. There was a long silence as the two females stared at each other.

"I thought..." started Cheryl and stopped.

"Claire might have left but I am the children's guardian in the absence of their father. Siobhán is my ward and she's come to visit for the weekend."

"I'd better be going," Cheryl said, and he could not read her expression. She stood; he stood. She came to him and hugged him while he held her by the arms. Then without a second glance at Siobhán she left.

Siobhán was staring at him, accusation in her eyes.

"So what Mum heard was right," she shouted. "You're going back to that woman; you're talking about getting together."

"What gives you that idea?"

"The two of you've been talking for ages," she was still shouting. "I heard your voices."

"Sit down and stop shouting at me!" he hissed. She looked shocked and sat on the sofa, where Cheryl had been sitting.

"What did you hear?"

"I didn't hear what you were saying. I just heard your voices upstairs."

"She came to ask me to take her back now that your mother has left me. I just told her it would never happen."

Silence. Then, "Sorry Dad."

"You're forgiven, but you're as bad as your mother for jumping to the wrong conclusions."

The day passed quickly and before long he was drawing up at Claire's house. Siobhán hugged and kissed him and got out. He waited until she opened the front door and went inside, and then drove away. There was no sign of Claire, though the curtains twitched.

--

On Monday, Victor rang Mike to tell him that it was the day of Claire's Decree Absolute. He had deferred the application because of her injuries. So Mike phoned the house from work to congratulate her but got the answer phone. He gave the message anyway, with a plea to ring him back. There was no response.

The folk at the Home were upset at his troubles: they had been hoping for a wedding. At least that is what Gloria was telling him. She was thirty-eight years old and had the mind of a child of seven. He thought she had her sights on being a bridesmaid.

On Thursday he got a phone call from Ginny asking if Ryan and she could come for the day on Saturday. He was delighted and told them he would pick them up and bring them home again.

On Friday night he went out with Tom again. They saw Tracy briefly, but when she saw them she disappeared. They searched but could not find her. They saw no one else that they knew.

On Saturday he picked the children up at ten and they had a good day together, simple things that divorced Dads do with their children: the park, a meal at a trashy restaurant, board games and TV, then back home again at eight.

They told him that Claire got his message, muttered something they couldn't hear and deleted it. They also told him they were staying on at the school but Claire insisted on taking them and picking them up each day. He wondered if she was avoiding any occasion when he might actually meet her.

So a routine was established, meaning that Siobhán came one weekend and the children for a day on the alternate one, broken only by a trip he had to take to Germany to sort out a contract, when he was away for a couple of weeks. He didn't really need to be absent that long but felt the need for a break. He came back feeling a lot better though he was still homesick for Claire and the children. Work was hectic, and he had no time to follow up on the people who visited Claire in hospital.

Claire took the children on holiday for a few days just before they went back to school. It hit Mike hard. He had longed for a family holiday before the 'trouble' and now he suffered a further exclusion from the family he had come to see as his own.

This is not to say he had cut himself off from Claire though she had from him. He sent regular emails assuring her he still loved her and wanted her to change her mind. He got no replies; no reaction.

He would ask the children how their Mum was, and they gave non-committal replies, she was well. Siobhán was more forthcoming. Claire was well but quiet and did not seem to be very happy. She never went out in the evenings. Apparently the children kept on at her to contact Mike early on, but eventually she told them to stop nagging her; there would be no going back. It was for the best. So they were forbidden from mentioning the matter again.