| Part 15 (Bryan) We walked down to breakfast, the four of us, like we normally did. I saw Mark sitting talking to Kian, while Shane and Nicky sat at a different table. "You guys grab a tabel, I'm just going to talk to Mark." I said, and glanced over at the table. "Sure." Robyn said and they walked over. "Mark." He looked up from his conversation with Kian. "Yeah?" The attitude was still there. "What?" Ki looked at the two of us, obviously confused as to the atmosphere,and feeling out of place. "I'm just gonna..." He pointed at Robyn's table , stood up, and walked over. "Sure Ki." I smiled at him, I wasn't angry at him any way. "About last night Mark." I sat down. "Yeah. What's going on? One day she's just your childminder, now, now she's your girlfriend?!" I slowly nodded my head. "Somethiing did happen, that night, the nect morning, when I saw you leave the room, didn't it?" "No I told you at the time, I stayed there-" "Yeah, for Jess. Sure Bry. Don't use the kids as an excuse for lying. I thought we were mates!" "We are, and I didn't lie. I did stay there because Jess was upset!" I cried defensively. "Honestly, last night was the first night anything happened." "Fine, I believe you!" He cried. "The others don't know?" "I've not told them, have you?" "Of course not, not MY place, is it." He answered sarcastically. "Is this because I didn't tell you why I was upset last night? Just because I didn't go running to you guys?!" "Well, you went running to HER, we've been through loads, 8 years, but you went to her, do you know how that makes us feel?" He said, a little upset. "It wasn't like that. She was just there, with the phone call." "Phonecall?" "Derek." "Oh, how is he? Not really seen him since, well, you know." We never seemed to mention the death. Since then, the phrase 'day she died' was the same as 'you know', or ' the accident' or 'that day'. "Derek's fine. More than fine. He's so fine, in fact, he thinks he can handle Dylan full time." "He what?" "He told me he wants him." "Oh, hell, Bry. What are you going to do?" I buried my head in my hands and thought. I really didn't have a clue. "I-i don't know. He's my son, for God's sake! Not biologically, but, that's never mattered, not to me, or him..." "But it does to Derek." He finished. "Yeah." I sighed, "I'm going to lose him, I know I am." "You don't know that. Do you think a court is going to ake a 6 year old kid away from his father, less than a year after he lost his mother?" "We're trying not to involve courts." I explained. "The fact that Dylan's his, BIOLOGICALLY, will go against me. Why bother fighting it?" "So you're just going to hand him over? Not worry about what it'll do to him?! He doesn't know that Derek's his dad, all he knows is that you are. How would this affect Jess too, losing her brother too, you know what those two are like. Bry, think about this!" "I AM! It's all I thought about since last night. I'm scared of losing someone else." I realsied I was crying. "When are you seeing him again?" "Next week, back home." "Maybe he won't go for custody, if he sees what it's going to do to him. It's not as if he never sees him, the kids stay over all the time, don't they?" I nodded. "Maybe you won't lose him." "Mark...." He looked up from his cup. "What if-" "What if what?" "What if he wants Jess too?" "Huh? How can he? Jess is yours." He stared at Jess, sitting over at the table with Dylan, Kian and Robyn. "We don't know for sure, there's a chance." "You're not telling me that that kid over there is his?!" He laughed a little. "Look at the hair..." "We never did a test, not officially, to find out, because Derek seemed happy that she was mines, but now. WHAT IF he makes us do the test. WHAT IF she's his? WHAT IF I lose them both?" "What if Bry? Thise are two very little words. None of this is going to happen. Listen to me, I bet you, let's say.." He thought for a moment. "�100, that in 18 months time you will be sitting here, with those kids and Robyn too, still altogether." "Hmmm." "Come on Bry! I know you're a gambling man." He teased. "�100?" I asked, teasing too. "Yeah, think how many pints I could buy with that!" He grinned. "So, if I still have Dylan, Jess AND Robyn here, you get �100?" He nodded his head. "Deal!" We shook hands, both wishing that Mark would win the bet. "I'll talk to you later. Thanks mate." I said, and stood up. "Any time." He said. And I walked back over to the table too see Robyn and the kids. |