20 Dougie's POV
"Right, so let me get this straight, your wife told you that Buzz would be taken from you, because you weren't capable of looking after him yourself?" Harry asked, Tom nodded sadly.
I couldn't believe it. Tom's wife sparked this off, told Tom he wasn't capable of raising his son, that he would 'screw him up?' His wife? She didn't... why the hell would she say something like that? Why would anyone say anything like that to anybody? Let alone someone like Tom, who was clearly an amazing father? I didn't understand, why would she say something like that?
"I, why would she say something like that? Was this when she left?" Danny looked as confused as I felt. This didn't make sense, none of this made any sense. She couldn't have told him this, could she? Not even in the heat of the moment, and Tom couldn't believe it too. He couldn't honestly believe this.
"She, she said it all the time. Told me whenever I made a mistake." Tom whispered, he looked... the look on his face; it was shame, so much shame. He actually believed this, truly believed that Buzz would be taken from him. How many times had she said this to him? How many 'mistakes' had he made? Enough times to make the fear very, very real for Tom.
"Is she... what else did she tell you?" I was scared to find out the answer, I had a bad feeling that she was behind all of this. All the behaviour changes, the silence, the apologising. But if that was true, how hadn't we noticed before? How hadn't we noticed any changes in him? Had there been any changes before she left? I didn't know, I couldn't think, not past the fact that Tom's wife had been telling him that his son would be taken from him!
She couldn't have said that, she'd always been so nice. She'd never been cruel to any of us, or done any bad to any of us. Even to Tom, she had never been mean, not in our presence anyway. There hadn't been any hint of it either. They'd always been happy, she had always been kind. She was a kind person, how could this be true? It couldn't be... but if Tom was saying it was, then it had to be, he wouldn't lie about his. He never lied to us.
"The truth." Tom answered, unable to look at any of us.
"What would that truth be?" Harry reached out to hold my hand, and stopped Danny from getting closer to Tom, who I doubted would open up more if we got any closer.
"You, you already know, you've been living here." Tom still wasn't looking at us, still holding his son close to his chest.
"Humour us, for a minute." Harry encouraged.
"If you don't mind." Danny continued, he'd gone worryingly pale at some point.
"Please, don't make me admit it, please." Tom begged, his hold on Buzz had to be painful, but nobody dared mention it, or try to step in. Not now, possibly not ever.
"Tom, we need to know. Just tell us." Danny pleaded him back.
Tom hesitated, then took a deep breath, seemingly readying himself. I felt my stomach fall through the floor in fear of what he was going to say next.
"She, she told me all about how stupid I am, how useless. I can't do anything right, even when I have a detailed list to go from. I can't do the simplest task by myself, or keep the house clean, or cook anything on time, or make it taste good. Buzz is never kept on schedule, I can't stop him crying, or get him to sleep, or play with him right. I didn't pay attention to any part of our relationship, and never made her feel wanted or loved, I was never home enough because we were out so often. I'm not good at talking to people, or being social in any way, I'm ugly." Tom was tearing up, but seriously looked like he believed all of this. He really, really believed it.
She had made him feel like this, his wife; his damn wife had made him feel this way, made him act like this. I couldn't believe it. I really couldn't believe that he had been told all of this, and that he believed it. How had... how the hell had this happened?