Cathy and Chris Ch. 13

"Reprobate?" It was Chris's turn to get angry, "how dare you, that boy is a model citizen and a credit to his family. Who's called him a reprobate?"

"Steady Chris," said Cathy, "Was it Mike?" Maureen took too long to answer, "Maureen?"

"Mike was worried about how things were going," she said, "he asked me for your new address so he could check that you was all still OK."

"Maureen!" Cathy snapped, "I specifically asked you not to give it to anyone didn't I? I remember sitting in your living room and telling you NOT TO GIVE MY DETAILS TO ANYONE!!"

"The man was worried!" snapped Maureen in return.

"I don't care!" she snapped, "so if the milkman says he hasn't seen me in a few months you going to give him this number as well?"

"Don't be daft," said Maureen, "Mike is like family,"

"Not my bloody family." Said Chris acidly, "I think he's bloody strange; and the only reason he thanks Dan is a reprobate as he calls it, is because he was talking down to Dan like he was a bloody idiot and Dan wasn't having any of it and stood up to him."

"All of this aside," said Maureen sitting up straight, "My only concern is for my Brothers children and makin' sure that they are brought up in a way he would have wanted."

"For instance?" Cathy put down her mug and folded her arms.

"I happen to know Brian wanted Daniel to go into the army."

"Really?" I lived with Brian every day of seventeen years, funny he never mentioned it to me."

Maureen sipped her tea, making no answer, and Cathy continued,

"Well if Dan wants to join the army I will of course let him, BUT at the moment Dan wants to go to university. Even if Brian was still alive, it would still be Dan's choice."

"Well," said Maureen flapping her hands again, desperately trying to regain some ground added with a fluster, "Well Daniel is lucky that Mike never called the police on him, I think he's minded to call them or the social services after the abuse he got from him." Maureen folded her arms.

"ABUSE?" Cathy and Chris said together? Chris carried on,

"We were both in the room, Dan didn't say any kind of abuse to him. He didn't agree with what Mike said but then neither did I, and Mike couldn't stand anyone not agreeing with him, least of all our Dan."

"Well, all that aside I still want..."

Cathy had listened enough,

"Maureen, I pleased you a so worried about the kids, they both have a stable home here and are in a great school..."

"Yes," Maureen butted in, "You dragged them away from..."

"I moved them to a better school that is rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted and doesn't need barbed wire and CCTV on the roof, and where the teachers don't have to keep an emergency, and quite illegal, supply of Ritalin in their desk drawer."

Chris looked at this appauling almost elderly woman sat at his kitchen table and didn't feel half as scared as he had two hours ago. Cathy glowered a protective she-cat look at her sister in law.

"I moved them with the full support of the council and both schools."

"I promised Brian..." the older woman would not let go, but Cathy had heard enough.

"Maureen," Cathy sighed, "I'm bored with this now; I am Dan and Colleen's remaining parent and legal guardian. I have Brian's Will and it doesn't say anything about you having a say in his children's upbringing." Maureen sniffed, and Cathy and Chris both waited for the waterworks.

Cathy had one more try and moved to Maureen's side. "Maureen," she said, "I do want you in Dan and Colleen's lives, honestly I do but please don't think for a second that I'm changing anything. End of story."

Maureen's face had a pained expression, and Cathy held up a single peremptory finger, "You can report me to whoever you like, even the social services. I have their phone number on my work Blackberry if you want it, I deal with them on an almost weekly basis, I'm absolutely sure that they'll want me to take them back to that squalid little two bedroom house on that war zone that passes for a housing estate, rather than live here in this six bedroom mansion in its own grounds, what do you reckon?"

Maureen started to wail; Cathy and Chris both rolled their eyes, and folded their arms. Chris closed the living room door, wincing.

"There," said Cathy shouting over the noise, "knew we'd get to the hysteria as soon as she couldn't get her way."

"Mike was right," she snapped looking at both Cathy and Chris. Then she jabbed an accusatory finger at Chris, "You are fookin' trouble sunshine, I can't believe I ever thought about gettin' together with you."

"Ah well," said Chris, "My loss." Cathy looked away hoping that her sister in law wouldn't see the smile creasing her face, "Maureen, like Cathy said, please don't let us fall out over this, you're family."

"I was," she snorted, the wailing stopped as quickly as it started, "until you got your nasty claws into us." She turned on Cathy, "My Brian must be turning in his grave after your abandonment of him. I bet you two are at it like fookin' knives, I bet you were fookin' at it before he..." Cathy's face went from anger to pain.

"That's it," said Chris, "I've had enough, Get out!" he growled.

"Part of this place in my brother's house and I won't be..."

"Maureen, get out of my house or so help me I will call the police and they'll fuckin' drag you out," said Mike picking up the kitchen phone, even though his mobile was still in his shirt pocket."

Cathy hadn't recovered and didn't want to give Maureen the satisfaction,

"Maureen, Brian was my life for seventeen years, and I think about him every single day." She didn't point out that it was to compare his shortcomings with the wonderfulness of Chris, "but he has gone, and I can't bring him back, even by staying in the old house. I know you must be devastated, but that is no reason to pick on me because I'm trying to move on."

Maureen stood up and clutched her handbag to her chest protectively.

"Oh yes," said Chris, "can I suggest that you don't take Mike Stafford's word as being gospel? The man has no idea, if he was that worried I'm sure he would have tried to speak to Cathy while she was still at the old house."

Maureen stuck her nose in the air, and headed out of the kitchen at Chris's indication. Cathy followed,

"Maureen, I'm sure after a while you will see it from my perspective."

Maureen spat out "I'd rather burn in hell!" and snatched her coat from the hook.

Chris was stood next to Cathy in flash,

"Ah well, I'll wish you luck with that!" he said and slammed the front door on her angry face.

He held the internal door open for Cathy,

"Always nice to see family, innit?" he said with a grin.

Cathy laughed and made to slap him with her hand.

"Yes," she said, "and if I know Maureen, we haven't heard the last, not by a long way."

"Come on," said Chris, slipping a hand into hers, "We've got kiddies to get showered and into bed."

And like that, the moment was temporarily forgotten. Children were bathed, brushed and put to bed, not before Chris read them more of the current bedtime story, 'The Hobbit,' with all three of them temporarily removed to Middle Earth and dwarves, dragons and gold. Chris always read a few pages, stopping at a bit he knew would keep them interested until the next night.

At the allotted time, he saw his wardrobe open, and a beautiful naked woman stepped out of it, a smile on her face and a glow to her body that made him want to kiss it all over.

Cathy lay by his side and in his arms, sleeping soundly, her steady breathing calming and relaxing him.

Tonight they had made love - simple, passionate, missionary. As he lay there waiting for sleep to take him he started thinking about the last few days and the ups and downs.

Brian and Maureen; what a fucking pair. She was mad and he had encouraged her.

He hadn't even realised that Brian had been ill let alone might die.

Brian had always had a bit of a beer belly on him for someone of his age, but then Chris could never get over what Brian's actual age was.

Chris confessed himself surprised when Jen had told him of Brian and Cathy's real ages all those years ago. Chris could not believe the old boy wasn't in his early sixties but was actually mid forties. Chris had also been convinced that the lady in the clothes that lacked colour, shape or style, with no make-up other than lipstick, was his wife's Aunt and not her sister.

Brian, it turned out was very overweight, took no exercise and ate badly. He was on watch for type two diabetes, had high blood pressure, angina he had failed to tell the doctors about, and was heading for a heart attack and/or a stroke. As Brian wouldn't be told what to do by a solicitor, the same went for Doctors it seemed.

Once Cathy found this out, she changed his diet, reducing as much of the fat, sugar and salt as she could without him noticing, begging him to stop smoking or at least cut down.

When he finally noticed she was using sweeteners in his tea and had stopped making his sandwiches with proper butter, instead opting for an olive oil spread, he lost his temper and threw into the old galvanised rubbish bin much of the good quality, low-fat foods she had spent a small fortune, and a considerable amount of internet research time, on.

He insisted it was his life and he wasn't going to be ruled by a bunch of no-nothing smart arses that weren't long out of bloody school, dropping in the mantra that his father had lived until he was eighty and had smoked fifty roll-ups a day... etc... etc... etc...

He flew out of the house in a rage, returning home that night from the club late and extremely pissed, reeking of the Irish whiskey he liked so much, with a large doner kebab and chips, which he ate in front of her, laughing and feigning chest pains every few minutes, even following her to their bedroom when she walked out on his ignorance. She complained that the rank smell of kebab stank the house out for days.

She still tried to reduce the whole family's fat intake, but it was an uphill struggle. Finally, two months after a Christmas of one huge meal or party after another, she received a phone call at work to say that her husband had been admitted to hospital and she should come straight away.

Carole drove her to the hospital, Cathy fearing the news but not the worst. At the accident and emergency reception she was taken through to an office, while Carole parked the car. A very tall, young, female doctor came and invited Cathy to sit down then sat down and introduced herself.

Brian had been working in a large house it seemed, and was having a disagreement with the builder he was working for. The builder said that Brian had gone almost white and stopped talking halfway through his sentence, then fell to the ground. The builder and some of his mates had tried to bring him round and had called an ambulance.

The doctor said that she was so very sorry, but Brian had suffered a massive coronary embolism which had killed him. As the doctor asked if there was someone she could call, Carole arrived. The doctor said that Brian's death would have been almost instantaneous and painless, probably before he even hit the ground.

A paramedic on a motorbike with a defibrillator had been there within minutes, and tried to bring Brian back and was joined by another paramedic in a car and then an ambulance.

He was brought to the hospital in the ambulance where the A&E doctor declared him dead on arrival. Again, she said that she was so very sorry and said that if Cathy wanted to come through and see him, they had prepared a room.

Cathy said she would like to see him one last time, and with Carole was taken through to where Brian lay covered by a white hospital blanket. She had very little recollection of that moment, other than talking quietly to Brian reassuring him that she would be fine and promising to look after the children above all else. The one thing she could remember was straightening his hair in the style he always wore, and then breaking down. He had been a month short of his fifty fourth birthday. She was thirty two.

Carole, her best friend, former bridesmaid and confidante, had her gently kiss him and they both covered his face with the blanket and went home to tell the children, who had still to be collected from school. She rang her parents on her mobile phone on the way, and her mother insisted she go and get the much younger Colleen.

Dan and Colleen of course were both inconsolable, and were given compassionate leave from school. Working where she did, she knew better than most what to do, and both she and Brian had written wills.

A funeral was arranged, and she gave the directors the number of the legion club, knowing well that this was what Brian would have wanted. She told the funeral director that she had set aside £500 for the wake, but the funeral director reported back that the branch chairman had said the legion would cover the cost of this as Brian was 'one of their own'.

Carole was back at work and promising to see her on the day of the funeral. She went to the house Brian had been working on, and collected the car. Driving it home, the smell of cigarette smoke and all of the smells of his trade finally drove her to tears. Passing a local car sales place she pulled straight in and part exchanged it for a Ford Focus, taking the salesman's first offer on the Astra, and to pay the balance in cash. He promised to tax and MOT the Focus for her by tomorrow; the next day would do, she said, she was busy tomorrow.

Chris made sure he was there for her, first by coming to her parents place as often as he could, with his two children Karen and Robert who played, chatted and sometimes just sat with Colleen.

Chris talked to Daniel, the way he always had, and sometimes took him out for tea in the evening or to various sporting events. Dan responded to his gentle kindnesses but was still very withdrawn. Not that Chris had ever said at the time, but he and his father in law Jeff were concerned about how Brian, and Cathy sometimes, treated the boy.

Both he and Cathy were like best friends with similar issues, and would regularly babysit for the other – often they would meet in town on a Saturday as they both shopped for similar things at the same time. They had a few 'days out' - glorified shopping trips really, but enough to get everyone out of a rut.

Colleen and Karen were best friends and always on the phone to each other and met for tea at either house at least once a week.

Nearly a year after Brian's death, all three children had been invited to the birthday party of another young relative, which found Cathy and Chris at her house, on their own, lonely and horny. The rest was history.

He reached over and turned off his bedside light, pulling the duvet further over the beautiful naked woman lying in his arms; she sighed and snuggled into him, her arm across his chest. He kissed her forehead,

"Night Cath," he whispered.