“You alright sweetheart?” she said when the boy himself walked in, looking smart and handsome in his brand new black jeans and red footie top.
“I want a drink please,” he said.
She beamed. It had been so long since he’d been polite. “Help yourself sweetheart. I’ve got your favourite juice in the fridge.”
“Thank you,” he replied, shocking her even more.
Archie walked to the fridge and opened it, peering round the door to watch his mum cooking, humming happily to herself. He smiled. He couldn’t wait for her to find the surprise he’d left her.
The Laws, along with Battler and Bruiser and family burst into the house amid a lot of noise, laden down with bags bulging with Christmas presents. Greetings and hugs were exchanged, which did go some way to cheering up their party.
Rachel was almost stifled by the hug Mikey gave her. They’d always been close, he was the little brother she’d never had and they shared a close bond, so close they could always tell when the other was upset and she sensed that in Mikey now. She didn’t even need to ask the cause. Jules’s coma had hit him like a sledgehammer. When he finally released her she was confronted by the second cause of his upset. Amber.
Rachel swallowed down her annoyance as she stepped forward to greet her, both her and Amber bestowing icy kisses on each other’s cheeks. Amber was the only person who had ever been able to fool Rachel into thinking she was someone she wasn’t and that rankled with her. Plus she was making Mikey unhappy and - according to Beth and Cathy- she was practically ignoring her own kids. That put her on Rachel’s shit list but she was helpless to act while she was Mikey’s wife.
Leah greeted her cousin Alfie with the same enthusiasm as her mum greeted Mikey. They’d always got on well and at fourteen he was just a year younger than herself.
“What’s up with you?” he said, sensing her unease, turning red, as he always did when he was near a pretty girl.
For one horrible moment the whole awful mess nearly tumbled out of her mouth and it just went to show how heavily it was weighing on her young shoulders. But she managed to keep it in. “Nothing. Just missed you.”
Alfie blushed harder. “Yeah, missed you too,” he mumbled to the floor.
Leah beamed at her cousin, feeling better already. Alfie was big and hulking, like Alex had been and he was pretty good looking, she had to admit with his dark Maguire hair and eyes. Fortunately he’d inherited his mother’s sweetness and none of Alex’s scariness.
She forced herself not to take a step back when Archie stepped up to greet her, quiet and creepy as usual. “Hello Archie,” she said.
“Hello,” he replied.
“How are you?” she added when he just stood there silently, staring at her.
“Fine.”
He just continued to stand there not speaking but she was saved by Ruby charging up to her for a hug.
The family gathered in the large living room to open their presents and Beth was relieved when the mood felt to lift even more. The sound of the children laughing and playing together - apart from Archie - only contributed to that even more. The drink started flowing and finally they all began to relax. Happily, she headed back into the kitchen to check on dinner, which was cooking nicely.
“Need a hand?” said Riley, following her in.
“No thanks,” she smiled. “Everything’s under control.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. “Well I’m here to help. I don’t want you overdoing it in your condition.”
“I’m fine, honestly. Go and sit with Ryan, it’s not often you get to see him. Besides, I enjoy cooking.”
“I know that but there’s a lot of mouths to feed. Let me help.”
“Fine, if you insist,” she said, loving the way he fussed over her. “If you really want to help you can fetch me the gravy mix out of the pantry.”
Riley headed into the small walk-in pantry in the corner of the room and his left foot went out from under him. He only stopped himself from falling by grabbing onto the door frame.
“You alright?” Beth called to him.
“Yeah, just slipped,” he replied.
“Clumsy,” she said, a smile in her voice.
Looking down he saw what appeared to be butter smeared across the floor, right across the doorway where anyone walking in could fall on it. His blood ran cold. What if Beth had walked in here instead and in her condition too? It didn’t bear thinking about. It could have been an accident, someone dropped a blob of butter without realising but they didn’t store butter in the pantry, it was kept in a dish on the kitchen unit. More likely it was the fault of some malicious little git. Beth had been keeping it from him but he knew Archie wasn’t happy about the baby and it wasn’t the first time he’d set something up to hurt his mother. Only last week a tennis ball had been mysteriously left at the top of the stairs, which she’d only just managed to avoid falling over. Well he wasn’t putting up with it any longer. As soon as the family left he was going to sort him out once and for all.
He retrieved the gravy mix and returned to Beth’s side, smiling at the sight of her humming happily to herself and pottering about the kitchen. It was then he caught sight of a small face peering around the doorway, a face that looked very disappointed to see Beth on her feet, unharmed. Riley’s blood boiled. He’d gone out of his way to be nice to that kid, to help him recover from what had been a horrific trauma but when that same child began hurting his wife and unborn child he knew he had to act. The question was, what should he do?
“You going to give me the gravy mix then or what?” said Beth, turning to face him, looking so happy.
Riley’s heart broke. She deserved so much better.
He looked back at Archie, who gave him a sunny smile. It was chilling how easily that boy could go from sullen bordering on psychotic to looking like a sweet little boy. But the smile never reached his eyes, which were always cold. When he didn’t smile back Archie’s grin dropped and Riley could practically feel the ice wash over him then the boy vanished back into the lounge.
The atmosphere was so much livelier than it had been on Christmas Day, the entire family gathered around the table. Despite the fact that it was a huge dining table, they were all still a bit squashed, Ethan and Aaron jabbing at each other with their elbows in an effort to push the other one aside. As he was older and larger Ethan inevitably won the contest, causing Aaron to rap him on the knuckles with his spoon.
“Ow, Dad,” he wailed. “Aaron hit me with a spoon.”
“Enough boys,” was his reply, voice soft, eyes hard.
Both of them shut up and decided to play with the toys Rachel had allowed them to bring to the table to keep them occupied. Rachel was concerned by how subdued Mikey was. She knew this was down to Jules’s condition, they talked often on the phone. He was also downhearted by the fact that he couldn’t stand his wife. At least Jackson wasn’t here, he and Cara were spending the day with his family, so Amber wasn’t ogling him. She’d given Riley a couple of flirtatious glances, she’d even run her fingertip up and down his arm but he’d just given her a disgusted look in response and sat by his wife. At least she didn’t try it on with Ryan, who she seemed to be a little afraid of, which was fine by her because if she did Rachel might have been tempted to knock the bitch out. She also loathed the way she practically ignored her kids, leaving Mikey to do everything, who sat between the two boys, helping feed Zach while making sure Josh didn’t stuff any vegetables up his nose, which he had a worrying fondness for. Amber just sat there picking at her food and steadily consuming copious amounts of wine. For someone so small she could certainly hold her liquor. Rachel noticed her scowl when the conversation inevitably came back round to Jules.
“We’re going to see Aunty Jules tomorrow,” Leah announced to the table. “I can’t wait to see her, I miss her so much.”
Rachel frowned. It wasn’t like Leah to betray so much overt emotion like that to a table full of people, even
if they were her family. She was usually far too busy being the cool, sophisticated teenager.
“We all do honey,” said Cathy.
Leah’s gaze snapped on Amber. “What are you rolling your eyes at?” she demanded.
“Eh?” said Amber, taking another swig of wine.
“I saw you. You rolled your eyes when Aunty Cathy said we all do. Why would you do that?”
“I didn’t.”
“Yes you did, I saw you.”
“Leah, take it easy sweetheart,” said Rachel.
“But she did Mum.”
“Has she been on the wine or something?” said Amber, pointing at Leah.
“How could I? You’ve drunk it all.”
“You cheeky little…so and so,” she said, managing to stop herself before she came out with a swear word. “I’m just sitting here innocently having my dinner and I’m attacked.”
“Everyone knows you can’t stand Aunty Jules because everyone likes her better than you.”
“Leah, that’s enough,” said Rachel.
But Leah was hurting and scared and desperate to vent on someone. She’d never liked Amber so she was the perfect target. “But it’s true Mum. I bet she’d prefer it if Aunty Jules had died.”
“That is not true,” retorted Amber, trying not to think about the time she’d told Jules she hoped she snuffed it just after she’d been put in the coma.
“Yes it is. Everyone knows it.”
“Leah,” said Rachel, louder. “Enough.”
Leah looked back at her mum and - seeing how black her eyes had gone - she decided she’d pushed things far enough. She didn’t want to spoil Boxing Day for the family. So she looked down at her plate, cheeks pink and huffed out a breath.
“It’s becoming a regular habit of yours,” Cathy said to Amber, her eyes twinkling with good humour. “Arguing with people around dinner tables. It’s a good job Beth hasn’t made a trifle or she’d be threatening to throw it at you.” Cathy said this in a friendly way, hoping to break the awkward moment but, to her chagrin, Amber leapt up, trembling with indignation.
“How dare you,” she hissed at her.
“Eh?” said Cathy.
“How dare you speak to me like that. What is this, gang up on Amber day?”
“No one’s ganging up on you,” said Beth. “Cathy was only having a joke, weren’t you?”
“At my expense,” said Amber.
“Amber, sit down,” said Mikey, blushing, wishing his wife would stop putting him in embarrassing situations.
“Not until I get an apology,” she announced.
“Well I’m not apologising,” said Leah, folding her arms across her chest. “She did roll her eyes, I saw it.”
“I meant from her,” said Amber, pointing at Cathy.
“For God’s sake,” said Cathy. “I was only having a bit of fun. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Yes you did.” Tears welled in her eyes. “You’re always picking on me.”
“Oh please don’t cry,” sighed Mikey. He already had two kids to look after, he didn’t want a third.
“I want to go home,” she said.
“We’re in the middle of dinner.”
“So? Why should I stay where I’m not wanted?”
“The boys are still eating,” said Mikey. “And I am not interrupting them.”
Amber stamped her foot. “We’re leaving.”
Mikey’s patience snapped. He shot to his feet, tossing his napkin onto the table. “And I say we’re bloody staying,” he bellowed in her face, showing her for the very first time the Mikey Maguire the hard men of Manchester were afraid of and it shocked her to the core. “For once in your life stop being a drama queen and making a bastarding spectacle of yourself because I’m sick of it.”
He’d never spoken to her like that before and the shock - combined with the humiliation of it being done in front of everyone - rendered her speechless. White-faced, she sank back into her chair, refusing to look at anyone and downed the contents of her wineglass.
Mikey, realising how pale and still his sons had gone, sat back down too, put his arms around them and grinned. “It’s okay boys.”
His smile reassured them and they grinned back and returned to eating their dinner.
Mikey looked across the table to Rachel, who nodded approvingly. It was high time someone put that cow in her place.
Alfie wasn’t really concerned with any of this, he was too busy watching Leah. He adored his cousin, they’d grown up together and he could tell something was bothering her, something not actually to do with Amber, who’d just been a convenient scapegoat.
He managed to collar her when the excruciating dinner finally ended and everyone split off into different rooms, Amber remaining in the dining room alone, polishing off the wine.
“Come on Leah, I’ll show you the new X-Box I got for Christmas,” he said chirpily. Even though she wouldn’t admit it, Leah loved playing on the X-Box.
“Okay,” she grinned, thinking it would be a good distraction.
She followed him up to his bedroom, which was covered in posters of racing cars, Alfie’s passion. He loved anything that went fast and made a loud noise while it did it.
“Awesome,” grinned Leah when she saw the stack of games, plonking herself down crossed-legged on the floor and picking up a controller. “You going to switch the telly on then?”
“In a minute,” he said, sitting beside her. “First you’re going to tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
His eyes narrowed at her forced smile. “Come on, it’s me. You might be able to hide it from your parents but you can’t from me.”
Leah’s smile slipped and she sighed heavily as the weight of the situation felt to press down even heavier on her shoulders. Maybe she should tell Alfie? She was desperate to tell someone and she knew he could be trusted to keep it to himself. “I’ve got myself in a mess,” she began.
“What mess?”
“I met this man, Reid. He’s twenty. We’ve been sort of…seeing each other.”
“Twenty years old? Do your mum and dad know?”
“Course not, they’d probably cut his balls off. But that’s not the worst of it, not by a long way.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re pregnant.”
“No,” she retorted. “We’ve never gone all the way. Me and Reid and three of his friends started sort of…righting some wrongs.”
“What do you mean?”
“We…sorted out people who pissed off other people.”
“Sorted them how?”
“Well, beat them up.”
“Oh my God Leah.”
“I know,” she sighed. “At first it was so exciting, it felt like we were helping people, doing good. But Reid and his friends started getting more and more violent. I…I got scared. I refused to go on the last job with them, which was on Christmas Day. I couldn’t anyway because I was spending the day with the family, thank God because it didn’t end well.”
“Why, what happened?”
“Well, they took on four men suspected of rape and killed one of them. Another one died in hospital.”
“Bloody hell Leah, what were you thinking?”
“I know, you don’t need to tell me I’ve been stupid. I wanted to be like Mum and Dad.”
“You’re not even sixteen. They’ve been doing stuff like this their whole lives.”
“I understand that now. But you don’t know what Reid’s like, he’s violent and he enjoys it. The worst thing is a police officer came to the house Christmas Day accusing Mum and Dad of killing that man. Fortunately there are witnesses to testify we were at Gran’s house when it happened, so they’re off the hook but it could have gone the other way. I’m scared Alfie. I’ve got myself in deep and I don’t know how to get out.”
“You have to tell your Mum and Dad.”
“I can’t. They’ll kill me.”
“They won’t, they’ll want to help and i
f anyone can they can.”
“I want to get out of this without them finding out, they’ll go mental.”
“Probably but they can help. They’re not like regular parents who would be scared shitless by stuff like this. They’re Ryan and Rachel Law and they can handle it.”
“I wish Aunty Jules was awake. She’d help me and they’d never need to know.”
“They’ll probably end up finding out anyway. Tell them.”
“I can’t,” she said. “It’ll make everything worse and they’ve got enough on their plate with Aunty Jules being in a coma. I don’t want to add to that.”
“If you won’t tell them how about telling Uncle Jez or Uncle Mikey?”
“I thought about that and I might. But they’re all the way up here and Reid’s all the way down in Devon. I’d rather keep them all out of it if I can. The police are involved and they don’t mix well with police.”
“You’re making a mistake. You can’t handle this alone. What if this Reid gets violent with you?”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I know but what if you can’t handle him? I’ve never seen you look so scared.”
“I wish I’d never met the bastard now,” she said, wiping away a tear when it trickled down her cheek.
“Come here you silly sod,” he said, pulling her to him.
Leah rested her head on his shoulder and let the tears fall. Alfie could seem a lot older than his years and talking to him felt like talking to a grown-up, so she actually felt better for confiding in him. She just wished he was old enough to help her out with Reid. She knew he was right, she had to tell someone. Perhaps she would go to Uncle Mikey? She’d always been able to talk to him, more so than Uncle Jez. Maybe he’d help her tell her parents so they wouldn’t kill her?
Jack was happily playing alone in the playroom while the other children were in the lounge with the grown-ups. He’d come in here to get away from Archie, who scared him. He was always glaring at him and sometimes he even threatened to hurt him or tried to push him over. Jack loved all his cousins, except Archie. He wished he’d just go away and leave them all alone.
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