It was midday, and they were the only two in the house. Johnny had a bug and was off school and Vanessa hadn't been able to get the day off work so Charity had volunteered to stay home with him. They had spent the day on the sofa watching TV and, if asked she would deny it, but Charity had enjoyed spending he day with her step-son. She and Vanessa weren't married yet, but they were living together and had been a couple for long enough that they considered themselves one family. The landlady and the young boy had a strong bond already, but days spent together, just the two of them, served to solidify that bond. Of course, Charity would prefer it if Johnny wasn't ill, but she couldn't deny that she enjoyed the child's company. He was so much like his mother in so many ways that it always made Charity laugh. He was a Woodfield through and through.
"Charity?" the feature of her thoughts drawled out from beside her.
"Yes, darling?"
"You're Moses' mummy, aren't you?" he asked, fairly certain that he was right. He had heard Moses call her Mummy loads of times.
Charity's brow furrowed, "Yeah I am," she replied. She knew that Johnny knew this. She and Vanessa had sat their two youngest children down when they first moved in together to explain their burgeoning family to the two boys. Both had been delighted that they were to become step-brothers and had quickly become practically inseparable in the ensuing months. Wherever one went, the other wasn't far behind.
"And Noah's and Debbie's," he nodded.
"That's right," she was getting more confused by the second. She could tell that Johnny was heading somewhere but she couldn't figure out where.
"Are you my Mummy?" he asked, his face the picture of innocent curiosity.
Charity's eyes went wide. She had not been expecting this. Sure, people had mistaken Johnny for hers from time to time as was want to happen when strangers saw a woman with a child, but she hadn't thought about Johnny himself thinking that she was his mother. Surprisingly, she didn't hate the idea. She already loved Johnny as if he was one of her own, it was hard not to, but she and Vanessa had never discussed what their children would call the other. They had just assumed that their kids would call their girlfriend by her name. It's what most kids did with step-parents so they thought that it would be the same for their kids.
"No, love. I'm your step-mum," she said slowly, "remember me and your mummy explained it to you and Moses when we all first started living together?"
Johnny nodded, "But that was a long time ago and you do mummy stuff for me all the time."
"I do?"
"You make my breakfast and you read me a bedtime story and you look after me when I'm sick," Johnny listed, "and that's all stuff mummies do for kids."
Suddenly feeling very cornered, and wishing that Vanessa was here for this conversation, she started softly hoping she could help Johnny understand, "Yeah okay that's true but-"
"Don't you want to be my mummy?" he asked, his face falling. The sight broke Charity's heart.
"Oh, love, no that's not it at all," she rushed to reassure the boy, "it's just that this is a big decision and you should probably talk to your Mum about it first."
"Mummy will say yes, I know she will," he smiled, "she loves you as much as I do."
"And I love you both, too. But still, talk to her about it first okay?"
"Okay," he grinned and turned back to watching the TV as if he hadn't just completely thrown his step-mother for one of the biggest loops of her life.
After Noah, she hadn't wanted another kid; hell, her lack of desire for more children had even been the downfall of her two previous marriages, amongst other things. Moses had been a surprise, but she loved him nonetheless. When she had him though, she had vowed to never have another child. She was certain that she didn't want anymore, and she was comfortable with that decision. Then, her relationship with Vanessa had brought with it another child. Sure, Johnny wasn't biologically hers and she was just 'Charity' to him – at least that's what she had thought – but she loved him all the same. She loved him and Vanessa loved her kids and things were good for their mish-mash little family and she didn't want to rock the boat.
She had no clue how Vanessa would react if Johnny actually brought up calling her 'Mum'. She was worried that Vanessa would think that she had put the idea in his head and the last thing she wanted was to step on Vanessa's toes. Especially considering the other woman's sensitivity about Johnny's parentage. The whole paternity mess-up was still a sore subject for the vet who still felt bad for Adam, even though it was not remotely her fault, but even that paled in comparison to how sensitive Vanessa was about Kirin and the fact that he wasn't around for his son. Vanessa and Johnny had been through a lot, even if the boy didn't know it yet, and there was no way Charity was going to let this mess with the other woman's head. She would just have to speak to Vanessa before Johnny could.
She was slightly on edge all day waiting for her girlfriend to come home and when the other woman finally returned home she almost pounced on her.
"Hi babe how was work?"
Vanessa stumbled backwards slightly, shocked at her girlfriend's intense welcome, "Uh, yeah it was alright I gue-"
"That's great," Charity cut her off, "listen, can I have a word?" she nodded towards the ceiling, indicating her desire to speak to the other woman without any little ears listening in on their conversation.
Walking over to check on her son, she threw a confused look at the other woman, "Course, just let me check on Johnny okay?"
"Sure, sure, sure," Charity rushed out, fairly confident that Johnny wouldn't say anything to his mother the minute she walked thought the door.
Leaning over the back of the couch Vanessa placed a kiss in Johnny's hair and felt his forehead to check his temperature. He looked a lot better than he had done when she had left for work that morning.
"How you doing, bud?"
He looked up at his mother, "My tummy still hurts but Charity said that I look a lot less peaky now," his brow furrowed, "what does peaky mean?"
"Just means that you looked a bit grey this morning," Vanessa laughed out.
"Like a ghost?" Johnny's eyes went wide, he loved ghosts.
"Yeah, sweetheart, like a ghost."
"I'm glad I'm not a ghost anymore, cause ghosts can't eat sweets," he looked offended at the very idea.
"You're right, they can't," Vanessa smiled at the way her son's mind worked. Only a child could think that the biggest pitfall of being a ghost would be not being able to eat sweets anymore. Ruffling his hair, Vanessa turned back around to face Charity who was looking at her like a bit of a mad woman. She had no clue what had rattled the woman so much, but she looked as if the top of her head was about to blow off.
"Alright, come on then, let's talk before you burst," she rolled her eyes and turned back to Johnny briefly, "Mummy'll just be upstairs with Charity for a minute okay? Shout if you need me."
"Okay," he nodded, barely taking his eyes off the cartoon playing in front of him, and then remembering his earlier conversation with his step-mother, he spoke again, "Mummy?"
"What's up, love?"
"Can Charity be my mummy, too?"
As he spoke, Charity slowly closed her eyes. The room went completely still and she braced herself for the fallout that was sure to come. She couldn't believe that this was happening again. She always managed to screw up the good things in her life, and although that this wasn't technically her doing she knew no one else would see it that way. She just hoped that Vanessa was gentle with her because this was going to be hard enough on her heart as it was.
"Is that something you want, baby?" Vanessa asked Johnny softly, not exactly surprised that he had been thinking about this. He had been asking questions lately about Charity being Moses and Noah's mum and she had sensed that he was trying to come to some type of conclusion in his mind. This isn't exactly what she had been expecting but she found that the thought made her happy. She just hoped that some day Moses, and maybe even Noah, thought of her the same way.
Johnny nodded quickly, "I love Charity."
The woman in question smiled despite herself, "I love you, too, kiddo," she whispered.
Looking at Charity, Vanessa saw the crestfallen look on her face. She knew that look. Charity was expecting trouble and she was bracing herself for impact. She had often worn that look at the start of their relationship when they were getting used to one another, but it had been a long-time since Vanessa had seen it and it broke her heart. She needed Charity to know that her becoming Johnny's other mummy was more than okay with her.
Smiling at the interaction between the love of her life and her child, she leaned close to Johnny and pretended to whisper, "Why don't you ask her then?"
Charity's head shot up and she clapped eyes on Vanessa's beaming face. The message was pretty clear: if this is something you want, it's okay with me. This was not what Charity had been expecting. She stood, shocked, as Johnny got up off the sofa and shuffled over to her.
"Charity?"
Crouching down to his height, she smiled, "Yes, darling?" a sense of déjà vu passing over her. She was sure this whole thing was kicked off with the exact same interaction earlier in the day.
"Will you be my mummy?" he asked sweetly, before clarifying, "I still want Mummy to be my mummy, but can you be my mummy too?" He looked back at Vanessa who nodded encouragingly at him.
"Course I will," she croaked out, emotion making it difficult to swallow and suddenly her arms were full of a very excited little boy. Looking over his shoulder, she watched her girlfriend wipe away a tear. She knew this was a big moment for the other woman who had only ever wanted what was best for her son. She was floored that the vet considered her good enough to be a parent to her son. She knew she hadn't always been the best mother to her own kids, but she was getting better every day and that was all thanks to the blonde looking at her like she hung the stars in the sky.
Pulling back slightly from the young boy in her arms, Charity spoke softly, "Can you do me a favour?" she asked him, and continued at his nod, "can you run upstairs and grab me the hoodie off mine and Mummy's bed please?" She watched Johnny climb the stairs before turning to his mother.
"So…" she started, unsure of what to say.
"Thank you."
"Eh? What for?"
"For being the parent my son deserves," the vet croaked out, "the parent Kirin never was." The past few minutes had made her more emotional than she would've expected. She knew she had unresolved anger towards Kirin for abandoning Johnny, but she didn't realise how affected she would be by someone stepping up and being there for Johnny like his father should have. She knew why Kirin had left but she couldn't understand it. He had abandoned his own flesh and blood to save his own skin. She could never forgive him for that.
"Can't say no to those eyes, can I? Got your eyes, han't he, and lord knows I've never been able to say no to you," she rolled her eyes in mock annoyance.
"Doesn't stop you from trying sometimes," Vanessa laughed.
"Gotta at least try to maintain my bad girl image, haven't I?"
Smiling, Vanessa leaned forwards and brought her lips to the other woman's. She hoped the kiss conveyed everything she felt towards her because she wasn't sure she could put into words how grateful she was or how much she loved her. She never would have even imagined that this is where she and Johnny would have ended up but now that she was here she couldn't imagine her life any other way. The sound of footsteps on the stairs pulled her back into the present and she and Charity broke apart.
"Mummy?"
"Yeah?" Vanessa answered.
"No not you," Johnny shouted down, "I want Mummy Charity."
Shooting Vanessa a smug look Charity muttered, "He wants his Mummy Charity," before she raised her voice, "What's up, kid?"
"I can't find your jumper."
She replied "Alright, I'll be up now," before she turned to Vanessa, "That's gonna get really confusing, really fast."
"Worth it, in't it?"
"Definitely."