After that his life did get into a routine and he felt better because of it, he was much calmer than before.
He was happy about work keeping him very busy. He had been spending more time with Helen, he always chose her when he devided the teams. Annie seemed fine with it, well she hadn't complained so she was probably fine with it. And if she wasn't he wouldn't change it, he wasn't ready to be alone with her yet.
It still hurt everytime he saw her with David. She looked so happy and it killed him that David was the cause of it. On those days the temptation was always there to open a big bottle of whiskey and drown in it, but he had changed. He had developed a system. Usually he would go for a long walk after work to tire himself out and fall into bed completely exhausted. On Thursdays he still went to the football sessions and on weekends to the matches.
Bourbon had also made a huge difference, it was nice to come home to a warm welcome. It took some time for Alan to get used to having someone else in the house. He had to learn not to put anything breakable in the window sills as Bourbon would surely push it off. She had already broken two vases. Also no matter how hard he shut his bedroom door, he would always wake up with Bourbon standing on his chest demanding to be fed. Alan almost had a heart attack the first time he woke up and all he could see was the kittens face. And she always knew when he had a really hard day at work. She would follow him around and keep a close eye on him. Then as soon as he'd sit down on the sofa she would make herself comfortable on his lap and purr. That had a very calming affect on him. Alan had even begun to talk to Bourbon about his cases, yes it was a little weird and he felt rediculous, but she was a good listener.
Tracy had also been a big help. She had started vet school three weeks ago and Alan was seeing a lot of her. Being a student instantly meant you were poor, so usually in the weekends Tracy would come round and do her laundry, eat all of his food and take all the leftovers home with her. He didn't mind though as they were spending more time together. She continued to beat him at Scrabble and he would sometimes help her with her studies.
One weekend she had even talked him into going shopping with him to buy some new suits. He had lost some weight since he started playing football again, so nearly all of his suits had to be taken in at the waist. And he needed new shirts as well. That weekend he spend well over £300, but it didn't matter, all that counted was that he got to spent time with his daughter.
He had also spoken to Brian a few times. Tracy had gotten him onto Skype. Brian was still touring in Scandinavia, they had even been on swedish TV. It was great to be that close to his kids. He had never really bothered before. It also made him feel a little bad, because he had missed out on a lot with them, so he was trying to make it better now.
Ken had also been there for him. They had become very good friends and Alan enjoyed being on the football team. Ken was still the only one at work who knew about his struggle and Alan could rely on him for it to stay that way. And Ken seemed to value Alan's freindship too, as three weeks earlier he had asked Alan to help him pick out an engagement ring for Lydia, his fruit shop owning girlfriend.
So all in all five months into being sober, his live seemed to finally be on an even keel, but things were about to change...