AUTHORS NOTE: I would just like to say, that despite the fact I have used Facebook a few times in this story I am not on social media. I used to be years ago but didn't really see the point of it and so deleted my Facebook page and have never gone back, so anything that I write about it comes from what I could dredge from my memory about the time I was on there. I have no idea if things have changed over the years and I realise what I am writing could no longer be accurate and for that I apologise. Also please remember that the basic details of this chapter were written back in 2015 so I am aware that Notre Dame now probably isn't open to the public anymore after the fire.

CHAPTER 29

The next morning as I awaken and am met with the sight of drapes above my head and around me, I am momentarily disorientated. I look around the room trying to figure out where I am, then as consciousness fills me so do the events of yesterday and memories of my wedding day surge through my mind. I look down at my hand, flex my fingers and I touch my wedding ring and then I smile. I turn my head and the smile fades to a frown as I see the bed is empty beside me. I roll and touch the empty space; it is still warm so Gideon hasn't been gone long.

I take a moment to really take in the room, I didn't really pay much attention last night as my mind was on other things. It really is a beautiful room, and it suddenly hits me I have been sleeping in a four-poster bed, with drapes and everything. I feel a bit ashamed I didn't even notice any of this last night but as I recall I was more than a little distracted by my husband. I blush at the memory and as I sit up, I feel the effects of last night's activities and I wince slightly. I glance at the clock and see it is only just seven o clock, but the room is gently lit even though it is still dark outside.

As I look around the massive bedroom, I spot Gideon over in the far corner texting, beside a small table lamp which is what is discreetly lighting the room. My eyes drift over his body as he is only wearing a pair of tight white boxer shorts, and I feast my eyes on his well-toned muscular body, once again hardly believing that this magnificent man is mine. As if he feels my eyes on him he turns to face me and smiles.

"Well, good morning Mrs Cross, I'm sorry did I wake you?" he says.

I can't help the grin that fills my face when I hear that. "Good morning to you too, and no it's fine you didn't wake me, although I would like to know why I woke up without my husband beside me?" I tease gently.

Gideon immediately stands, dropping his phone on the table and walks over to me and climbs on to the bed and kisses me gently. "There, is that better" he whispers.

I wrap my arms around his neck and nod, "Much" I say. I move again and once more wince at the soreness deep inside. Gideon notices immediately.

"Are you ok, what's wrong?" he asks, looking at me carefully.

I blush, "Erm…last night we may have over done it a bit, and this morning… well erm… I'm a bit sore" I say carefully. I watch as the concern morphs into self satisfied male pride and he smirks at me. I shove his shoulder playfully and he grabs me and presses me into the mattress covering me with his body and kisses me soundly.

After a shower and a huge breakfast Gideon is on the phone once again, and I'm not really paying attention to what he is talking about or who he is talking to. I assume he is organising our transportation to the airport, so I decide not to bother him and I busy myself getting all our things together and packed. I am excited about this but also a little bit nervous, I've never flown before and it is worrying me a little. The only other time I went abroad was a school trip and we went on the ferry to France. I am also thinking about Maisie, wondering if she is ok and what she is doing. Eventually I can't stand it anymore and call my gran.

"Good morning Gran" I say brightly as she answers.

"Hello love, how are you?" she says.

"I'm fine; did you know what Gideon was planning for our honeymoon?" I ask, immediately realising that was a stupid question before I have even finished asking it.

"Of course I did, we worked things out weeks ago and before you start fretting I don't mind and Maisie will be fine" gran says kindly.

"Ok, can I speak to her?" I ask.

"She's still asleep at the moment, I think she wore herself out yesterday with the excitement of everything" gran says kindly.

"Oh ok" I say slightly disappointed, but I should have realised as it is still quite early. "Look, I'll try again later. I'm not sure how long it takes to fly to France but I'll call when we get there" I say.

"Alright, and don't worry about anything here, you go and enjoy yourself you and Gideon are on your honeymoon so just go and make the most of your time alone together" she says.

"Ok gran" I say, "I love you and thank you for everything" I add my voice cracking slightly.

"No need to thank me sweetheart and I love you too, now go and enjoy your new life" she says.

We talk a while longer before I eventually and slightly reluctantly bring the call to an end. As I hang up her words are going around in my head, 'my new life'. That is exactly what I have now and it's a world away from the one I was living just a few months ago and never in my wildest dreams did I think anything like this would happen to me. I remember my cynical comments the day I had talked to gran after Nathan had attacked me and she had been so taken with Gideon and I had pointed out that fairytales aren't real, well it seems as though in my case that they just might be. I look up and see Gideon watching me.

"I just wanted to check on Maisie, she's still asleep though so I didn't get to speak to her" I say.

Gideon nods, "Ok, well don't worry you can try again and talk to her when we land in Paris" he says.

I nod and gran's words go through my mind once more and I feel guilty, "I'm sorry, I'm on honeymoon and I'm spoiling our time alone together" I say.

Gideon shakes his head and pulls me up and into his arms, "Never apologise for being a good mother Eva. You were Maisie's mum before you became my wife, and I know and accept that. That little girl will always come first and that is only right" he says sternly.

"Ooh" I say suddenly and I grin at Gideon, as by the look on his face he is wondering what I have got into my head now. I look around and spot my phone on the bedside table, I quickly grab it and call up my Facebook page.

"What are you doing?" Gideon asks as he peers over my shoulder.

"Something of the greatest importance" I say solemnly.

He watches me while I change my relationship status to 'Married', change my surname to Cross and add the date I got married, and I tag Gideon as the person I married and wait, sure enough a moment later his phone pings with the notification for him to confirm this. He opens it and rolls his eyes as he reads it.

He then confirms the notification and he taps something into his phone. A moment later my phone pings I look and see he has done the same and changed his relationship status to 'married'. He has also updated his status, making a comment and then tagged me in it.

I click on it and read it and my breath catches as I read what he put.

'First day as a married man, looking forward to the rest of my life with my beautiful wife Eva Cross by my side'

Almost immediately my mum, gran, Elizabeth, Ireland and Christopher like the status and leave their own comments on how wonderful the wedding was.

"There we go we are officially married, now it's on Facebook!" Gideon says with a grin.

oooOOOooo

Later that day…

We are in a taxi in Paris and my head is on a swivel taking in all the sights of this beautiful city. Every few moments I am making loud exclamations and pointing at all the different things I am seeing. Gideon is holding my hand tightly and smiling indulgently at me as I behave like a five-year-old. I discovered that he can speak fluent French, which is handy as my entire French vocabulary consists of 'Bonjour' and 'Au Revoir'. The flight had been relatively quick and we weren't delayed too much after we arrived.

As we speed through the French capital I remember the flight earlier…

"Why did we fly when we could have taken the train?" I ask as I take in the jet we are about to board and I hesitate not really wanting to get on it.

I am gripping Gideon's hand tightly and I'm sure he can tell I am about to have a meltdown as he keeps telling me everything is ok and that there is nothing to worry about.

"Because the Eurostar doesn't operate from Stoke, so it's all a pain in the arse. The train from Stoke arrives at Euston, which means we have to then transfer to St Pancras which is not far but is a faff to then catch the Eurostar train to Paris and believe me I have experienced Gard du Nord arrivals and it isn't pleasant, it can take ages to get a taxi sometimes".

"What about from Birmingham? I mean we are flying from Birmingham airport, what about a train from Birmingham to London?" I ask hopefully.

"Birmingham arrivals are at Euston as well, we would have to travel to Leicester to have a direct train to St Pancras" he explains.

I take a deep breath, "So this is better?" I ask.

He nods "I think it is, it costs about the same, and although we have customs and security when we arrive in Paris when we fly rather than before we leave in London if travelling by Eurostar, I personally prefer to fly out, but when we come home we will go on the Eurostar if you want as I'm sure you'll want to get Maisie some gifts and there isn't a weight restriction on the Eurostar, plus I'll be able to get some French wine to take home as well, but it also means carting it across between St Pancras and Euston Station" he explains patiently.

"Ok" I say as I psyche myself up to board the plane.

When we get on board, Gideon lets me sit near the window. I can feel my heart beating in my chest and my hands are shaking and sweaty. Gideon takes the seat next to me and immediately reaches for my hand.

"It's ok" he says gently.

"I'm sorry" I whisper, "I've just never been on a plane before" I add.

"I know, and don't apologise everything is absolutely fine" he says…

The memories of the earlier flight disappear from my mind, and how I had actually enjoyed it once we were in the air as I glimpse the Eiffel Tower, "Gideon look" I exclaim pointing.

I watch as he smiles, then I see the driver looking at me through the rear-view mirror and Gideon says something to him in French, the taxi driver nods and smiles at me and says back something in rapid French.

"What did you say?" I ask.

Gideon kisses my hand, "I was just explaining that it is your first time in Paris and we are on our honeymoon" he says.

"And what did he say?" I ask.

"He congratulated us on our marriage and hopes we have a wonderful honeymoon" he says.

"Oh, that's nice, what's thank you in French?" I ask as I try and wrack my brains trying to remember French classes from school which I hadn't really taken much interest in or paid attention to and most of the time not attended at all, preferring to skive off instead.

"Merci" Gideon says with a perfect French accent.

I nod and look at the driver, "Mercy" I say although I'm certain the way I said it didn't sound as good.

The driver acknowledges my effort with a nod and returns his attention to the road.

"Eva look, the Arc de Triomphe" Gideon says pointing out of the window; I lean forward and see the most enormous archway in the middle of the road with hundreds of cars travelling around it.

"Fucking hell" I whisper as I take it in.

We soon arrive at our hotel and Gideon pays the driver and taking my hand leads me inside. I watch as he greets the girl behind the desk and they converse in fluent French, the paperwork is quickly done and a man in uniform arrives and takes our bags. We follow him upstairs to a room and he says something to Gideon to which Gideon thanks him.

He nods at me and I quickly thank him too.

Gideon opens the door and I gasp, the room is gorgeous. I look out of the window and the view over Paris is magnificent. We have a brilliant view of the Eiffel Tower. I quickly whip out my phone and snap a picture of the view. I hesitate and then call Gideon over.

"Come and get a selfie with me with this view behind us" I say and he immediately co-operates and my heart lurches at the photograph of us, he has his arm around me and his head resting against mine and the happiness and love in both our eyes is clear to see.

"Let me take one with mine" he says and I watch as he lines up the shot, then just before he takes the picture he turns his head and kisses me, he shows me the picture and I giggle at the look of surprise on my face.

I look around the room and Gideon watches me as I behave a bit like a kid in a sweet shop. "Do you like it, it's the honeymoon suite?" he asks with an amused grin.

I turn towards him and nod, "Like it, I love it!" I say and I rush at him and fling my arms around him, "You are spoiling me" I whisper as I kiss him.

He pulls me close and wraps his arms tightly around me, "Because you deserve it" he says.

I manage to call Gran and I tell her all about Paris and our hotel and I get to speak to Maisie which reassures me that she is ok, everyone is happy and well at home, which eases my worry a little.

Gran also mentions in passing she has seen some of the photographs that Kyle took and she said that they were brilliant. She doesn't say anything more and I hope he will share them with us when we get home. When I end my call I turn towards Gideon who is also on the phone again, I wait and it becomes apparent he is talking to Tez. When he hangs up he smiles at me.

"So, what would you like to do while you are in Paris?" he asks.

"Why were you calling granddad?" I ask, he seemed to be talking but not really saying anything.

He sighs, "He is getting me a few bits from work for the house and he is going to fit them for us while we are here" he says dismissively.

I realise this was probably a surprise for me for when we return and I have spoilt it by being nosy.

"Oh ok" I say but don't ask anything more. I return to his question about what I want to do.

I look out of the window, "I want to visit the Eiffel Tower - that's a given, and I'd like to see that cathedral, Notre Dame" I pause as Gideon looks at me questioningly waiting for me to continue.

"Can we go and see the Mona Lisa? I mean as paintings go that has to be one of the most famous and when we are actually in the same city as it, well it has to be done" I say.

I stop as that is about all the knowledge I have of Paris and so I wait for Gideon to speak.

"Is that all?" he asks.

I shrug, "I'm not sure what else there is to do, those are the only things I've really heard of" I say slightly embarrassed by my lack of knowledge.

Gideon smiles, "Then it is up to me to show you everything this beautiful city has to offer". He walks around the bed and grabs my hand, "But first I'm starving, let's go and get some lunch" he says.

I nod and follow him, making sure I hang on to his hand as it's not lost on me that I am totally dependent on him in this city.

"I will take you on a boat trip down the Seine" he says as we walk through the streets of Paris, and I nod, I am speechless my head continually turning to take in all the beautiful buildings.

"Kyle would love it here, all these buildings" I murmur, as I see all the different architecture.

"Well, I'm planning on returning. I would like to bring Maisie as I'm sure she would love Disneyland Paris, so if your mum and Vic are happy with the idea, we could bring your brothers as well, I'm sure we could handle Declan for a couple of days" he says with a grin.

I look up in surprise, "You'd do that?" I ask incredulously.

Gideon nods, "They are your family Eva and I would do anything for you, you should know that by now" he says.

We have a fabulous lunch in a café, Gideon translates the menu for me and we sit and watch the world go by. It is bitterly cold after all it is December but I am wrapped up warm and I'm so happy I don't really notice the temperature. Everywhere is festooned with Christmas decorations and it all looks very festive.

When we have finished Gideon stands and holds out his hand, "Ready to go?" he asks, I stand and take his outstretched hand.

"Where are we going now?" I ask, eager to see more of the city.

"First stop on our Paris adventure is a pretty obvious choice considering we are on our honeymoon" he says cryptically.

"Ok?" I say as I follow him through the streets.

We eventually arrive at a narrow bridge and wonder why we are here. I look up at Gideon questioningly and he rummages in his pocket and produces a padlock and keys. I stare at it and then him thinking for a moment he has lost his mind, until he explains.

"Welcome to The Pont de l'Archevêché Eva, this is the bridge of loving couples, it is one of the narrowest bridges in Paris, and is the spot for couples who want to immortalise their love. We attach this padlock which symbolises our love to the bridge and then we throw the keys in the river, so the padlock can't be removed" he says.

We walk along the bridge and see the thousands of padlocks, eventually we find a spot and Gideon unlocks the padlock before handing it to me, as I take it from him I see he has had our names engraved on it along with the date we first met. I carefully hook the padlock in place and Gideon photographs me doing so then he hands me one of the two keys as I snap it shut and lock it.

"Ok that's done" I say.

Gideon nods, "Ok, now we throw the keys into the river" he says, and without another word he tosses the key in his hand into the river below. I copy him and watch as the tiny key hits the water and sinks. I take a photograph of our padlock on the bridge along with a more extended view of all the locks attached to the bridge. I look up at Gideon and he smiles before raising his phone and taking the now obligatory selfie of us with the padlock bridge behind us.

I look around at the view and Gideon points at the huge cathedral building, "That building there is Notre Dame we will go there tomorrow if you like?" he says. I immediately lift my phone and snap a picture of the imposing cathedral.

oooOOOooo

By the end of our time in Paris I have seen and learnt so much and I can even speak a little French now, admittedly it is fairly limited and I generally resort to pointing at things and saying s'il vous plait when I am in a shop.

It has been the most amazing experience, Gideon took me to Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower and The Louvre which I had requested and he was really knowledgeable about everywhere we went. When we went to the Eiffel Tower, we had lunch in the restaurant there as well as going right to the top and getting some really spectacular views over Paris. I was really shocked at how small the Mona Lisa painting was when we went to the Louvre, I had expected it to be huge but it was really tiny, and I saw many other famous works of art which I had only ever seen on the TV or in books before. He had also taken me to the Montmartre district of Paris and to the beautiful Sacré-Coeur basilica, before walking around the whole Montmartre district. I saw Place du Tertre and its famous caricaturists, the Espace Dalí, the Montmartre grapevines, the cabaret du Lapin Agile, the Musée Montmartre before ending up at the world famous Moulin Rouge.

He took me to The Opera Nationale de Paris, The Pantheon and the Arc de Triomphe, I never knew you could actually go into that but you can and there is a museum inside retracing the history of the Arc de Triomphe and you can go to the top where you get some amazing views over Paris. He had taken me to the beautiful Luxembourg gardens and I had seen the Medici fountain along with lots of other statues and he had taken me on a boat trip down the Seine, which although incredibly cold, was very romantic.

The most surprising place he took me to was The Cimetiere due Père Lachaise, when we had arrived the first words out of my mouth were 'you are taking me to a cemetery…seriously?!' he had explained it was more than just an ordinary cemetery as I had discovered when we had gone in. The cemetery was a mix between an English park and a shrine. All funerary art style were represented; there were Gothic graves, burial chambers and ancient mausoleums. On the green paths, visitors cross the burial places of famous men and women; I saw the graves of Frédéric Chopin, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, and Oscar Wilde.

I picked up gifts for all my family and I was surprised at just how much I had bought as we had to buy another suitcase to put it all in. Gideon had presented me with my own credit card which was linked to his account along with a new bank card which he told me was our new joint current account which I was to use for everyday expenditure. I really wasn't used to this and I had broken out in a cold sweat the first time I had used the credit card as I'd never had one before and I was almost paranoid about keeping track of just how much I was spending on it and how many times I'd used it.

When we were packing Gideon commented on how it was a good job we were going home on the Eurostar rather than a plane, due to how much I had bought. I had pointed out that he had been pretty free and easy with his credit card while in Paris, he had bought me shoes, clothes and jewellery and he had also bought Maisie a number of 'French things' including a very corny beret.

"Earth to Eva".

I am drawn from my thoughts by Gideon talking to me, "What?" I ask as I acknowledge him.

"I said we are about to arrive in London" he says, "You were away with the fairies then" he adds.

I laugh, "Just remembering all the stuff we did" I say, I can't help but notice the tinge of sadness in my voice. I really didn't want to leave the dreamlike fairytale I had been experiencing and Gideon has obviously noticed it too by what he says next.

"We will go back" he promises and he wraps his arm around me and gives me a tender hug.

I look up at him, "I really loved it and if I'd never met you I would never have gone there, so… thank you for loving me" I whisper.

I watch as his nostrils flare as he sucks in a deep breath then without a word he leans down and just kisses me sweetly.

We leave St Pancras and walk the short distance to Euston and I see what Gideon meant when he said it was a bit of a faff, especially with all the extra stuff we have bought. It wasn't far but it was still a bit weird dragging suitcases through the streets.

We have to wait a while until our train which will take us home to Stoke arrives and Gideon gets us a drink and a snack. I take this time to call Gran and tell her we are back in the UK and in London waiting to get the train home. She is pleased to hear from us and excited to hear all about our honeymoon. I had posted photographs of our time in Paris on my Facebook page so Gran and mum could see them and show them to Maisie and we had talked via Skype to Maisie every evening. She tells me that she is going to pick up Maisie from school and that my mum is getting us some groceries so we don't have to go shopping when we get back.

When the train eventually pulls into Stoke station I am glad to be back, we gather all our belongings and clamber off the train.

"Ok so let's go and get a taxi, I just want to get home now" I say as I step towards the taxi rank in front of me, but Gideon pulls me back.

"I think we can do better than that" he says and leads me out to the car park, and there leaning against our car is Vic grinning widely.

"About bloody time" he says, "Your train was nearly 20 minutes late!" he adds.

I leave my cases and run to my stepfather and fling myself at him, he seems surprised by my reaction but pulls me close.

"Hi dad" I whisper and I feel him freeze as I say that, but after what he said at the wedding I am determined that from now on I am going to call him dad instead of Vic, because that is exactly what he is to me.

I watch as he swallows hard and smiles at me, "Did you have a good time? Your mum and I have been looking at all the pictures you posted on your Facebook, it looks like you had a brilliant time" he says.

"We did" I say quietly.

We load the car and Vic hands over the keys to Gideon and climbs into the back as I take my seat in the front with Gideon. The short drive home is filled with talk of our honeymoon, and what has been happening at home while we have been gone.

Vic looks up and meets Gideon's gaze in the rear-view mirror, "Tez said to say it's all done and everything looks fab" Vic says evasively and he takes a shot look at me.

I realise this must be the things Gideon was talking to Tez about when we first arrived in Paris and periodically throughout the honeymoon.

Gideon nods and smiles gratefully, "Thank you both, it couldn't have been easy" he says.

Vic shrugs, "We had help, a hell of a lot of help and we didn't even have to call in any favours as everyone volunteered, but it was all pretty straight forward" he says and I wonder exactly what has been going on while we have been gone. I don't say anything though as I don't want to spoil Gideon's surprise.

As we pull into our driveway, I see the first differences immediately. There is a brand new front door, complete with a doorbell and we have new windows as well. I stare at it and Gideon looks at me carefully.

"Surprise!" he says with a grin.

"You organised this?" I ask.

Gideon nods, "I thought while we were away was the best time for it to be done, plus because it was done at this time of year I could pretty much name my day" he says.

I glance down the side of the house and I see a new gate. I point, "A new gate too" I say.

"Yep, Tez and I put that up, much better than that old one which was there, this one shuts properly and has bolts on the back so it's totally secure" Vic says as he leans forward.

I climb out of the car and make my way to the gate and look at it, I run my hand over it, it looks amazing. I turn, "Thanks dad" I say and Vic just smiles.

He rummages in his pocket and pulls out some keys and hands them to Gideon, "Those are for the front door, those are for your new back door" he says and Gideon nods and thanks him he unlocks the front door and pushes it open.

"Come here Angel" he says after he has unlocked and opened the door.

I walk towards him and he pulls me up into his arms and carries me into the house. I burst out laughing as I cling to him, once we are inside he lowers me to my feet and I see the next difference and I gasp. The hallway has been painted and there is a laminated floor with rugs which match the painted walls, there is a shoe rack near the door along with a coat stand. My mouth drops open as I take it all in. I had said what I liked and the colours I liked and Gideon has made it happen.

"Did you?" I ask turning to Vic and he nods.

"Yep, not just me, Tez, Mark and Rob and also quite a few of our other mates did it all and it's all been done right. Gideon was going to pay the earth getting professionals in so we told him not to be so stupid and that we would do it, also a few of the blokes Tez works with at B&Q gave us a hand as well when he told them what was happening so we had more help than we knew what to do with. We all know what we are doing and Tez got a couple of his mates in the trade to do the electrical stuff and the plumbing plus we got all the stuff from B&Q with Tez working there, the only things that were done professionally by people we didn't know, were the doors and windows".

I take in what he has just said, "plumbing? electrical?" I ask wondering what else has been done.

Vic grins, "You'd better see your kitchen and bathroom" he says. I walk into the kitchen and stop dead, the kitchen I had picked out as liking the best is now in place, along with a tiled floor and freshly tiled and painted walls in the colours I had chosen. Gideon is watching me warily, we had talked and he had asked me repeatedly what I liked best and what I wanted and I had assumed it was so we could get it all done gradually in the New Year. I am shocked but his constant phone calls and texting while we were in Paris now make complete sense.

I walk out of the kitchen and go to the stairs, the wood has been stripped back sanded and varnished to match the laminate floor and there is a carpet runner up the stairs matching the rugs, I reach the freshly painted landing and see the new flooring and rugs, I walk into the bathroom and let out a loud exclamation as I see the bathroom suite I had practically drooled over. My head whips around to Gideon, who has followed me up; I had loved this one but discounted it as being too expensive and I had settled for a different one.

"This…" I begin.

"You deserve the best, I knew this one was your favourite and so I made it happen" Gideon says with a shrug.

"I can't believe this" I say, shocked, overwhelmed and slightly panic stricken are the emotions going through me and the words drop out of my mouth before I can stop them, "Can we afford all this?" I ask.

Gideon smiles, and automatically pulls me into his arms, my arms snake around his waist as he holds me tightly.

"Stop worrying, I told you I had a budget for all the improvements – I just didn't tell you how much was in the budget and believe me, because Vic and Tez have helped us out we have money left over for other things, even though everyone who did help has been compensated well for their time and effort. We haven't gone mad, we haven't been extravagant but we have made improvements and we have made ourselves a beautiful home" he says.

I stare once more at the bathroom, I see Vic appear in the doorway, "Do you like it?" he asks.

I laugh, "I love it, I'm just astounded you managed to do all this in such a short space of time" I say.

Vic laughs, "You haven't seen it all yet, and as I said there were loads of us. The house was full, this has been planned for weeks. Everyone who helped who works took the time off work on Monday and Tuesday to come and do this and we all just got on with it, and as I said a few of Tez's colleagues from B&Q also showed up to help which we weren't expecting and even though they didn't stay all day it helped get things done quicker. We started really early first thing last Saturday morning and worked right through so by Sunday night all the big stuff was done, you know the kitchen and bathroom. We spent Monday on the stairs and all the flooring, so we all spent yesterday and this morning doing the little stuff like all the painting and tiling, and the odd bits that didn't get done yesterday were finished this morning, that's why there's no pictures or anything up as the walls are probably still a bit wet in places. The kitchen was done in no time as it's not a big space, as was the bathroom and funnily enough it was the stairs which took the longest and we had to make sure everything in the bathroom and landing was done before we started on the stairs as obviously once they were varnished we couldn't use them till they were dry. All the laminate flooring and the tiles in the kitchen were a piece of piss and all the walls were good so we didn't have to do any plastering, when we ripped all the old stuff out" he says.

I go back downstairs and walk into the living room and stop dead it's like I have walked into Santa's grotto. After I have taken in all the Christmas decorations I see the new laminate floor and the new rugs. We had already painted this room and furnished it how we wanted it, as after Maisie's room it was the highest priority and Gideon had said we would get all the flooring done in the New Year, but all the while he was planning this.

"Wow…very…Christmassy" Gideon says as he walks in behind me and takes in all the Christmas lights and decorations which we had bought and I assumed were still waiting for us to put up when we got back and I laugh whilst nodding in agreement.

Vic laughs, "Yeah, your mum and gran were in charge of that part, but Maisie seemed to have very definite ideas of how it was going to be and as far as she was concerned it was only done when they ran out of decorations".

I go back out to the kitchen and see the new back door, it is much better than the old wooden one which Megan had so easily got past.

"If you go out there, you'll see security lights and a couple of cameras, they were actually being put up last Friday while you were getting married, and then Tez wired them up Saturday morning, and checked it all works" Vic says casually. Vic leads me to the front door, where I see a box.

"What's that?" I ask.

"Alarm" Vic says, "burglar alarm, it's all set up and works, it's all been tested, you have sensors on all the new windows and doors which is better than the standard motion detectors as that detects any break in before they are actually in the house". He pulls out an envelope and hands it to me, "You need to set your code and how long it will take for you to get in and disarm it before it goes off, obviously we have left that for you to do, and at the moment its deactivated till that's done but all the instructions are in here" he says.

"I don't know what to say" I say lamely as I still struggle to take everything in.

Vic wraps his arm around my shoulder, "You don't have to say anything, everyone who helped do this wanted to, they weren't forced, and they wanted to because they all know you. They have all watched you grow up and they have seen what you have had to deal with and now that you have a chance at having a new and much better life… well, they all wanted to help make it happen. Everyone without exception volunteered, as soon as Tez mentioned what we were going to do, every single one of them volunteered to come and help us do it".

I swallow deeply, I know all of Tez and Vic's mates they have come in and out of gran's house for years and they have watched me grow up, many of them are old army friends of Tez who now in civilian life took up tradesman roles and many of them are self-employed which makes their generosity at giving up their time all the more touching.

"Gideon told us what he was planning to do as originally he just wanted someone here to let in the tradesmen and keep an eye while they did the work and we told him not to waste his money and that we'd get it all sorted for him. We originally planned only to do the kitchen and bathroom as it was straight forward and originally we thought it would just be me, Tez, Rob and Mark and two of us would work on the kitchen and the other two on the bathroom but when it became apparent just how much help we had, we decided to go for it and get the stairs and the flooring done as well and in the end we even managed to get the painting done too" Vic says.

He looks towards Gideon and grins, "I think he was having kittens though thinking that it wouldn't be all done in time for when you got back, but we kept him updated on the progress. Didn't you notice him regularly on the phone? We did worry that you'd find out what we were doing because we were in constant contact with him".

"I did ask once why he was talking to granddad and he said that he was getting a few bits done while we were away" I say, "Which considering all this, was the biggest understatement of the century" I add waving my hand around.

We are interrupted by the doorbell and I go to answer it, as soon as the door opens Maisie flings herself at me squealing. I catch her and look up to see my mum, gran, Reece and Declan all standing there grinning at me.

"Welcome home love" my gran says as she engulfs me in a massive hug, before practically shoving me aside to greet Gideon with an equally warm hug.

"Well?" my mum asks as they all troop inside.

"Well what?" I say.

My mum tuts and rolls her eyes, "Well what she says, do you like it? Everything that has been done?"

I nod shyly, "I love it, thank you all, although I think I'm in shock" I say.

They laugh and I am once again engulfed in more hugs and kisses. My mum takes the bags of groceries into the kitchen and dumps them on the work surface.

"I didn't get you too much, just got you some fresh bread, milk and a few bits so you don't have to bother going shopping till the weekend" she says as she unpacks it.

"Thanks mum, how much do I owe you?" I say.

"The receipt is in the bag" she says.

I fish it out and looking I reach for my purse to get some money, I pause as I realise I only have Euros in here and I look towards Gideon.

"I only have Euro's in my purse do you have any English money?" I ask.

Gideon pulls out his wallet and after looking inside nods at me, I hand him the receipt and he quickly reimburses my mum.

I look around at my family all standing chatting, and I suddenly feel quite emotional. These people who I know I can rely on and should I need them will not hesitate to drop everything and do what they can for me. I pull myself together and decide to make myself useful.

"Ok who wants a cuppa?" I shout, immediately everyone responds that they do, so pushing past everyone I grab the kettle and make a pot of tea.