by Jane Plume
‘It’s okay,’ I coaxed. ‘You can go up if you want to,’ and that’s just what they did. Gina and Lewis’s enthusiastic personalities obviously rubbed off on Marco and Millie, and within minutes we could hear them all chatting away excitedly. Marco soon took on the role of ‘big brother’ to Lewis and would organise what the kids were going to play or do. It wasn’t just bossing the others about, though; he was loving and encouraging with it. I remember the first time that Marco and Lewis had a game of football and Marco kept letting Lewis score a goal by pretending to fall over and then praising him for how good he was. It was lovely to see.
With the children now firm friends, Gina and I started doing things with them on our days off, whether it was going to the park, day trips out, or just chilling at each other’s houses with the kids playing contentedly while we caught up over a cuppa. Over time we discovered more and more mutual interests and we grew closer and closer. I introduced Gina to my other friends and family, and Gina likewise.
Emma was one of these. She had been a friend of Gina and Shaun for many years and I met her on one of our group girly nights. I instantly liked her and soon classed her as a friend. In turn, my friends all thought Gina was amazing, caring and funny, and were soon including her in any plans that we were making together.
We socialised together, we would stay over at each other’s homes with the children and have meals together. Within about four months we saw each other every day and became pretty inseparable. My children already called her Auntie Gina and Lewis called me Auntie Jane.
Although Gina and Shaun were separated, as Lewis’s father he was still part of Gina’s life. The first time that I saw him he was working as a bouncer at one of the pubs that Gina and I often went to. As we walked to the pub, she told me that Shaun would be working and she pointed him out as we approached, but in all honesty I didn’t take much notice. Having had one too many drinks I was more interested in getting into the warm with a glass of something in my hand.
The first time I met Shaun properly was at Halloween. Whenever there was an occasion, Gina would throw herself into it. Halloween was no exception and that year we decided to throw a party together. It was originally just going to be us and the kids, but she soon changed her mind about that. She invited other friends with children, and some without. Marco and Millie were also allowed to bring friends along. And all the guests were in fancy dress! Gina decorated the house and organised the games and everyone joined in – they didn’t really have a choice. The apple bobbing was hilarious and even the adults had a go at it.
The party wasn’t the best setting for the first meeting between Shaun and me. Shaun had promised Lewis he would come over to see him in his costume but he was late and Gina was annoyed, as was I on her behalf. When Shaun did arrive, Gina introduced us briefly. He was a big bloke, solid rather than fat, but I found him a bit stand-offish and I was a little intimidated by him. Part of me was wary of him – after all, he was Gina’s ex and I couldn’t help feeling protective of both her and Lewis. I said a quick hello and made my excuses to leave them alone in the kitchen, having no doubt that Gina would be waiting to give him a telling-off.
As I walked out, I spotted Lewis, who asked, ‘Where’s Mummy?’
‘In the kitchen with Daddy,’ I told him.
I wasn’t quite prepared for his reaction. The look of joy on that little boy’s face was one that I’ll remember forever. No matter what had happened, his daddy meant everything to him.
It was my first glimpse of seeing Shaun through his son’s eyes. Perhaps he wasn’t all bad.
• • •
Now that Halloween was over and winter beginning to bite, my thoughts turned to Christmas shopping.
Christmas time with Gina as my friend really was magical. We both loved the build-up and I think we were more excited than the kids. We booked a day off work to scour the town centre for the perfect gifts and spent a couple of child-free evenings together with a bottle of wine, a Christmas CD and lots of wrapping paper. On Christmas morning, by 5.30, we were already on the phone to each other and we had regular telephone updates throughout the day. As it happened, that Boxing Day we were both going to be without the kids and Gina already had her day planned with her friends. ‘Why don’t you come along?’ she asked.
‘I don’t really know many of them,’ I replied. ‘I wouldn’t want to intrude.’
She told me off for being silly and said, ‘That’s it then. It’s arranged.’
‘Do I have a choice?’ I laughed.
‘No,’ was all I got back.
So the following morning I met Gina at her house, we got ready together, then we met up with other people in town throughout the day. Everyone was very friendly and I instantly felt at ease. I had a great time and it certainly beat being sat on my own at home watching the TV.
By the end of that first year, Gina and I were inseparable. I felt lucky to have her as a friend. She was one of those people who lit up a room – loving, loud, caring, compassionate, considerate. At the same time, if she didn’t agree with something, she would tell you straight away and then that would be it – she had said her piece and then the subject was dropped.
A little while after our friendship was cemented, I started dating a guy. As guys are sometimes wont to do, he was blowing a bit hot and cold on me, and I would bend Gina’s ear about it every time he let me down. But Gina, as usual, didn’t hesitate in pointing out the facts.
‘He only wants you when it suits him,’ she scolded, and though she was being blunt, her eyes looked carefully for my reaction. She squeezed my hand. ‘You deserve so much better!’
At the time I thought she was quite harsh – but it soon turned out that she was right, of course. She only ever had my best interests at heart.
Gina was honest, kind and beautiful. I honestly can’t think of a bad thing to say about her.
Over the years we had some wonderful times together, laughed together, cried together, my beautiful best friend. My sister of choice.
• • •
Both Gina and I suffered from frequent tonsillitis. Unfortunately, so did Lewis. When, in 2002, I booked in to have my tonsils out on a Monday, I couldn’t believe it when I learned that Lewis was to come in the following day to have the same operation. I wasn’t well and had to stay in overnight, and he was in the room next to me. Poor Gina was running backwards and forwards between the two rooms fussing over both of us. Shaun came to visit Lewis and I watched as he and Gina both warmly cared for their son. They made a good team and Lewis made a quick recovery. I, on the other hand, felt awful and was in a lot of pain for a couple of weeks, but Gina was there helping out despite everything she had going on with Lewis, cooking meals for us, just being an amazing friend.
Soon after we had both recovered from the op, at about 9.30 on a freezing cold Wednesday night, I was just thinking about going to bed because I couldn’t get warm, when the phone rang. I didn’t answer it but it rang again straight away. I smiled to myself because I knew it was Gina – she could be very persistent when she wanted to. I picked up with a cheery ‘Hey you’.
‘We are going on holiday,’ was all I got back.
‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Where’s this come from?’
‘It’s freezing and miserable, so we need a break and some sunshine,’ she replied.
I couldn’t argue with that!
‘Sounds like a plan. Where and when you thinking?’ I asked.
‘Hayley’s mum and dad’s apartment, 22nd of May,’ she answered firmly – and specifically. I was a bit flabbergasted but excited all the same. ‘You have it all planned then,’ I laughed. It turned out that Gina had already spoken to Hayley’s parents and their apartment was empty that week, and she had jumped online to find the flights.
‘Well?’ she asked impatiently. ‘Shall we do it?’
She didn’t need to ask twice. ‘Yes!’ I said excitedly.
We met up the next day and got on the computer to book the flights and the c
ar hire, and that was it. Let the countdown begin – and it really did. Every day, when I logged on to my computer at work there was an email… ‘24 days’… ‘23 days’, then, finally, ‘TOMORROW!!!!’
The kids were all as excited as Gina and me as we headed off to the airport. The kids chatted happily on the plane and Gina and I were like a couple of schoolgirls, giggling and chatting. We landed safely, collected our baggage and headed off to pick up our hire car. We had agreed that I would do the driving and Gina would navigate. What a big mistake that was! We had been in the car about an hour longer than we needed to be before Gina realised we had gone about 80 miles in the wrong direction. Hayley’s parents had drawn a map for us and Gina had had it upside down. You might have expected us to get a bit niggly with each other, but no. We just burst out laughing, so much so that I had to pull over for a minute as I couldn’t see where I was driving because of the tears running down my face.
I have so many magical memories of that holiday. My good friend Hazel had moved out to Spain the year before with her family and we managed to meet up with them for a day on the beach, which was a wonderful day out. On another afternoon, the kids were playing happily in the sand when Gina let out a deafening screech. I looked up to see her pointing at a bird that had just plucked a squid from the sea. As it flew towards us it dropped the squid, which missed Lewis’s head by an inch, then hit the floor with a thud. Lewis turned and saw the squid on the sand and screamed his head off. It was pretty grim at the time but we soon all saw the funny side of it.
One day we decided to venture out in the car to Benidorm, which was only a few miles away. The sun was red hot so I went out to the car and started the engine to allow the air conditioning to kick in while Gina rounded up the kids and made sure they were ready to go. They piled into the car chatting and giggling away with each other. We made sure all seatbelts were on and I teased Gina, ‘Don’t even think about navigating. After last time, I’ll follow the road signs and take my chances.’
There was a quiet road that led from the apartment block to the main road and we started heading down it. I became aware of a car coming in the opposite direction on my side of the road, so I slowed down and waited for him to move over but he didn’t. I started commenting on the driver, ‘What’s he playing at? He needs to pull over,’ I grouched as I flashed my headlights. Gina was laughing but I didn’t find it funny. He now had his hand out of the window shaking his fist, at which point I put my window down and held my hand up as though to say, ‘What are you doing?’ He started to shout at me in Spanish saying who knows what. I started to say something back. Gina was in stitches, but between gasps of air she managed to blurt out, ‘It’s us on the wrong side of the road! We’re in Spain remember?’ Realisation hit. I was horrified. I put my hand up in apology and moved over to the right side of the road. Gina couldn’t contain herself, she was hysterical. In the end I couldn’t help but laugh along, because Gina’s incontrollable giggle was so infectious. Just like her warmth.
One of my favourite memories of the holiday is Shrek. Yes, the film. The three children were addicted to it, so every evening, once we had eaten and showered, the kids sat down to watch it while Gina and I had a bottle of wine and a good gossip. The best bit was at the end, though, as soon as the credits started to go up and the ‘karaoke party’ starts with the Sir Mix-a-Lot song ‘Baby Got Back’: that track that has the line about liking ‘big butts’. Gina and I would already be laughing. We’d jump up onto our feet and, with the kids, dance around the room sticking our bums in the air. It was a silly thing but it sticks in my mind clear as day and as soon as I think of it, even now, I can’t help but smile.
The apartment came with a pool, which was shared with a handful of other families but was very quiet. Marco, now eight, could swim, whereas six-year-old Millie and three-year-old Lewis couldn’t. As soon as we arrived, Gina and I set very firm ground rules: none of them were to enter the pool without asking first, and Millie and Lewis could only go in with their armbands on, and only when at least one of us was around to keep an eye on them. The kids accepted that and would run happily around the surrounding area when they couldn’t go in.
On one occasion, Gina and I were lounging in the sun while the kids played with a plastic golf set on the grass nearby. I closed my eyes for a second, feeling the warm sun on my face. Bliss. I could hear the giggles of the children and smiled to myself; it was such a lovely sound. The crickets chirped in the sunshine and I may have dozed a little, happily letting my thoughts wander lazily wherever they pleased.
All of a sudden, I heard a splash and a scream from Gina. I leaped instantly to my feet and pure instinct told me to run. I reached the pool in seconds, being only a few feet away, and I jumped straight in, oblivious to the shock of the cold water. In a flash I grabbed Lewis, who was flailing desperately in the water, pulled him to the side and lifted him up and out.
By now Gina was at the edge of the pool and I passed him up to her. They were both frightened and in tears, and Marco and Millie looked on open-mouthed. I reassured Lewis and Gina and, after a little rest, he bounded off to play golf again. It turned out that Lewis had hit the ball the wrong way and had heard it plop into the water. He had simply gone to look over the side to see where his ball was – but had leaned too far and toppled in.
‘How did you get there so quick?’ said Gina, who was still shaken. ‘I just panicked and froze to the spot.’
‘I don’t know,’ I answered. ‘It was instinct.’
‘That’s why we love you,’ she said. ‘You are our guardian angel.’
I will never forget those words.
CHAPTER 2
REUNITED
After that initial meeting at Halloween, I met Shaun a number of times – either when he was working the doors at the bar we went to, or collecting and returning Lewis from a visit. It soon became apparent that he was very different to Gina. He may have looked big and bolshie, but he was far more reserved than her and a lot more private. In the beginning I found him hard work and I thought that he was quite rude, so I voiced this to Gina – but only the once. Even though they were not together, she told me off for saying it.
One thing that was obvious was Shaun’s love for Lewis; he was a great dad and Lewis idolised him. I’m not sure Gina even realised that she was doing it, but she talked about Shaun with such love and warmth, often saying he had made her very happy and that he had made her the person she was today. Yes, she moaned and groaned about him at times, but there was never much conviction in this – and I could see he felt the same about her.
In spite of their living apart, it was blindingly obvious to me that Gina and Shaun still loved each other deeply, so I was genuinely thrilled when they decided they were getting back together. It was 2003, Lewis was now four and it was brilliant for him to see his parents happy together again. And Gina couldn’t wipe the smile off her face, bless her.
The kids and I still saw Gina and Lewis just as much as we always had. The only difference now was that, at times, Shaun was there as well. He really was great with the kids. Millie took a real shine to him and loved it when he showed her any attention. Both Marco and Millie warmed to him as quickly as they had Gina and were soon calling him Uncle Shaun. While I was pleased for my friend that she was happy, I still found Shaun a bit tricky – but all that was about to change.
After my divorce, I had bought a house that needed a lot of work. I was proud of the progress I had made and my brothers helped out whenever they could, but there always seemed to be something that still needed to be done. I was quite taken aback when, a couple of months after they got back together, Gina boldly suggested that Shaun could give me a helping hand with some of the DIY I was struggling with. I felt it was an imposition and that Shaun wouldn’t want to help, but he quietly went along with Gina’s plan – as usual. Marco and Millie, his biggest fans, couldn’t wait for Shaun to see their house.
The following day, Gina, Shaun and Lewis arrived at my house as pro
mised.
‘Hope that kettle’s on!’ said a loud voice as they let themselves in the back door. ‘I’m on strike till I’ve had a cuppa.’
It was the sort of comment I expected from my brothers – but this time it was Shaun. I was stunned. I think that was the most Shaun had ever said to me!
For whatever reason, Shaun appeared more relaxed that day. He wasn’t chatting away ten to the dozen, that wasn’t his style, but he genuinely seemed to make more of an effort and I started to warm to him. I slowly learned that he was a bit of a gentle giant – and not the obnoxious, intimidating person I had initially perceived him to be. I couldn’t help but notice how much pride was in his voice whenever Lewis came into the conversation, and that gave him Brownie points with me.
The next time I saw Gina, I couldn’t help but comment that I’d thought Shaun had disliked me until that day.
‘You’re daft,’ she reassured me. ‘Don’t worry; Shaun is like that with everyone to start with. Believe it or not he is quite shy. It takes a long time for the real Shaun to come out.’ Then she added, with a chuckle, ‘You’re lucky – it’s only been a few months. Sometimes it can take years.’
From that day on, I began to discover that Shaun wasn’t the intimidating, stand-offish man I had believed him to be at first. He was obviously a very private man and, on reflection, my being so guarded with him initially must have made things more awkward. Over the next few months I built up a really good friendship with Shaun. Gina was generally thrilled that we got along so well. As for me, all I knew was that my best friend was so happy – and that was good enough for me!
• • •
Lewis had always been a ‘sickly’ child, constantly having a cough and cold, tonsillitis or a chest infection. Early in 2003 he was unwell again and, at first, we thought it was nothing unusual. He had been given some standard antibiotics by the doctor.