A/N: I just couldn't resist adding in his brothers like this.

Part 4

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Somebody in the distance knocked on the front door, and voices filtered up to him, but he assumed it was an idle visitor. His attention was on donning the sweatshirt Karen had loaned him, and trying to get his hair back into an acceptable style.

Failing miserably, and frustrated with the way his hair flopped into his eyes, he went downstairs to ask for a comb to use. "Is there possibly….? Oh! I wanted Karen," Roderick apologetically explained as he entered the lounge and found only Nancy sitting in her chair.

"If you want her, she's yours. You can have her," Nancy announced, gazing at him with appreciation. "Ee, you're bonny lad. And tall with it. She could do with a good man like you in her life."

"Thank you, Mum," Karen sarcastically retort as she returned to the kitchen and switched the kettle on with a flourish. "Pack me off, why don't you?" she added, stepping into the lounge.

"You can't do worse than last time," Nancy commented.

By the side of Karen, Roderick did his best not to twitch. Technically, he had been offered consent. Should he act upon that? Except that it was far too early to consider such a step, even in light of their recent frisson of desire in the bathroom.

Before he the chance to even open his mouth, a slim built man with short dark hair and a pencil moustache walked brazenly into the house. "Oh!" the stranger exclaimed. "Is this your boyfriend or Daniel's dad?"

She could see why he saw a resemblance to Daniel's floppy hair. "He's neither, Steve," Karen slowly emphasised. "This is my friend Roderick, from the school. Roderick, this is my ex-husband," she introduced them.

The two men dutifully shook hands, although Roderick was aware Steve was trying to slightly psyche him out. "Pleased to finally meet you," he politely murmured.

A smug grin broke out across Steve's face. "Heard a lot about me, have you?"

"Only in relation to Charlotte," Roderick replied. "You must be proud of your grandson."

"Oh aye," Steve agreed with another conceited grin.

Was this really what attracted Karen in a man? Roderick couldn't believe his eyes. At least she had since come to her senses, but it brought up rather a lot of questions in his mind. "Well, thank you for the erm… sweatshirt, and I'll see you tomorrow," he said directly to her; now feeling a desperate need to get out of this situation.

"But you never even had your tea," Karen complained in embarrassment. If she could have killed Steve, she would have done in that moment. "I'll see you to the door."

In fact she walked with him right up to his car, leaving behind Steve to collect William's things under the supervision of her mother.

"You didn't need to see me this far," Roderick courteously pointed out whilst being extremely glad that she had. It had given them a small moment of privacy together. "You have an important guest to attend to."

"What him?" she dismissed. "He's only here to pick up Will to look after for a couple of hours. There's nothing between me and Steve; hasn't been since I divorced him before the age of twenty-one."

"Twenty-one!" he repeated in shock. "How old were you when you married?"

"Seventeen," she supplied. "It was a shotgun wedding. A huge mistake, but hindsight is an exact science, they say. We all do stupid things when we're young."

Or in his case, his twin brother had done the stupid things and he'd been left behind, trying to be 'the good son'. "We do indeed," he agreed, and laid a gentle hand on her arm momentarily to offer the only crumb of comfort he felt he was allowed. "Thank you again for the sweatshirt."

"I'm so sorry for everything." Her sad expression broke his heart. "You came here being nice to me, the baby threw up on you and we didn't even get the chance to have a cup of tea. What must you think of me?"

You're lovely. "These things happen," he consoled her, smiling sweetly. "Goodbye."

"Bye then," she returned the farewell. "See you tomorrow."

With a reluctant wave, he was soon driving away down the road, and she was left feeling as though something precious had been snatched from her grasp.

"Loverboy gone then?" Steve asked her as he appeared holding various bags and a baby carrier containing William to place in his car. "He didn't stay long."

She scowled at him. "Just make sure you look after Will properly," she told him with a stab of her finger; and then made her way back into the house where duty never rested.

~o0o~

Should he or shouldn't he? That was the pertinent question.

There were signs that he might not be wasting his time if he asked. And pacing up and down on the hotel room carpet wouldn't solve anything at this rate.

His mind made, up, Roderick brought up the contact details on his phone and pressed the dial button. When it was answered, he began to talk with determination. "Hello Mother. It's Roderick. I need to ask for your consent."

"Consent?" she haughtily repeated. "What do you need my consent for, Roderick?"

This was it: time to confess. "I have met a woman I would like to court, so I am requesting your consent to do so."

"Who is this woman who has turned your head?" she drilled him. "I already have two daughter-in-laws; I think that is plenty for me to cope with."

He'd known this would be difficult but he hadn't anticipated how frustrating it would be. Most mothers would want all their sons to be happy, after all. Except, he reminded himself, his mother was different from the other mothers he had met. "I merely want to express a genuine interest that might lead to marriage, Mother. I am not immediately proposing so I do not understand your reticence."

"Don't you?!" Verity Smith exclaimed in disbelief. "You were there when Donald ran off and disgraced us; and you saw John make a fool of himself at my birthday party."

"Both cases have resolved themselves," he pointed out with all the patience he could muster. "My brothers are happy."

"Apparently. No, Roderick, I'm not sure about this," she admitted. "It could go badly wrong."

"Or," he proposed, "it could be the most wonderful thing to ever happen to me. Do you not care about my future happiness? Would you prefer me to be lonely in my dotage?"

"I care," she cautiously answered. "Loneliness is a terrible thing in old age."

"You have four children to comfort you whereas I have none," he stated, knowing it was a cruel and below the belt statement, but desperate times need desperate measures.

He knew he was close to that wanted consent when she ended the call by saying, "I need to talk to Donna about this. She will know how this woman feels. Until then, goodbye."

It didn't seem like many minutes later when the phone rang, and someone smugly greeted him, "Hello Roderick."

Inwardly, he sighed. "Hello Andrew. What can I do for you?"

There was a voice from behind Andy. "He must be angry with me already since he's calling me 'Andrew'," he answered the voice. He came closer to the receiver to say, "John says you're being mean to me. All we wanted to do was congratulate you on finding a woman-friend."

"I take it you have spoken to Mother," Roderick drily commented.

"Of course," Andy confirmed. "Finding a woman to court, as you termed it, is a big deal."

"In your world it would be."

Andy ignored that retort and carried on. "Honestly, we thought you had sworn off all that sort of thing. The eternal asexual bachelor; so we were naturally surprised you are finally considering someone. What's she like?"

"I assume you want details," Roderick surmised, and gained an affirmative. "Her name is Karen. She is in her late thirties, works as a classroom assistant…"

"In the state junior school you visited?! My my, you've come down in the world," Andy burst out.

"Don't interrupt," Roderick cautioned him. "Her academic career was cut short due to unavoidable circumstances at the time, but she has returned to education and is now doing a degree part time. Who knows what she could achieve in the future."

"She's already achieved impressing you, and that's no mean feat. The nearest one to ever do that was that Angel woman, and you only let her be nice because she got you on television."

"Do you want to hear about Karen or not?"

"Carry on. We're all ears."

"Ah, you've got me on speakerphone. I might have known. What else do you two want to know?"

"When are we going to meet her?" Andy asked. "You can't properly court the poor woman if she doesn't get to meet your family. She should at least be forewarned. Unless she isn't aware you are trying to woo her," he pondered.

Did they have to tease him? "She is aware," Roderick supplied. "Her mother has even given me her consent."

"Wow! It's serious."

John was heard to agree with his brother. "Please don't rush her into marriage just yet. At least wait until after my wedding or Donna will kill me," he good-naturedly pleaded.

"Talking of your wedding…" Roderick nervously coughed to clear his throat. "You mentioned a plus one on the invitation. Would it be rude of me to request that Karen comes too, as my guest?"

Both Smith brothers tried to suppress happy laughter. They almost succeeded too. "You are very welcome to bring Karen," John jovially approved. "It would be lovely to see her at the wedding."

"But will she be able to see us?" Andy playfully queried. "Any woman that is interested in our Roderick might need her eyes tested."

"Or her faculties might be questionable," John countered.

"That's if she's a real person, of course, and not some android he found in a science lab."

"Enough!" Roderick cried impatiently. "Karen is a loving, warm person, with excellent eyesight and a sound head on her shoulders."

"He's trying to say she's not good looking," Andy commented.

"'Homely' is the correct word for that," John advised him. "No doubt her personality matches his perfectly."

Oh for the love of…! "Why do you have to think the worse? Karen is extremely attractive. She might not seem conventionally stunning to some but I think she is beautiful, inside and out. As you will find out when you meet her!"

"You just got him to say his girlfriend is beautiful."

"I know." The pair of them giggled together on the end of the line.

"Grow up!" Roderick stormed. "What did I do to deserve you two?"

"Won a raffle," John suggested. "Did a good deed in a previous life."

"Collected the right number of vouchers from a cereal box lid," Andy proposed in kind. "Whatever you did, you got your prayers answered."

In that matter, Roderick had to thoroughly agree with him. "I shall see you both at the weekend. Goodbye."

Nevertheless, he was smiling when he ended the call. For some reason he always found them entertaining too.

~o0o~