Less than a week after her Mothers' death, Gina had arranged the funeral and the wake to take place on Wednesday afternoon. She had insisted on doing everything by herself but Alex managed to get her say every now and then. Alex was feeling guilty after hearing what her Mum had to say at the hospital, and since then they hadn't said anything more about it.
Gina had been affected by her Mothers' death more than she thought she would have been, but Gina Gold being Gina Gold, she didn't voice how she was feeling to anybody. Her daughter had picked up on her Mums' pain, but she couldn't get Gina to open up.
Finally the morning of the funeral arrived and Gina was preparing food and drink for afterwards. She didn't expect many people to come, but she thought she had better organise some food just in case.
"Can I help you with anything Mum?" Alex asked as she walked in through the kitchen door.
"No thanks I think I'm just about finished now." Gina replied.
Alex was feeling a little helpless. She was used to her Mum dealing badly with sympathy and help, but she hated being pushed away. Gina realised that that was what she was doing and felt immediately guilty.
"I'm sorry darlin' I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but you know what I'm like. I've never been able to cope with people fussing or being sympathetic, it's just not me." She explained whilst hugging her daughter.
"Its fine honest." Alex replied quietly, but Gina picked up on something that she was telling her.
"Come on talk to me, what's on your mind?" She pressed.
Alex gave in.
"Since that night at the hospital we've hardly spoken to each other. I don't know if it's just because you want your space or..." She started to explain before trailing off.
"...or what?" Gina asked.
"Is everything ok between you and me? I mean a lot of old wounds were opened up the other night; I'm pretty surprised you're still talking to me actually." Alex said, managing a weak smile.
"Oh don't be daft; do you think I would go through all of that just to stop talking to you now?" She replied raising an eyebrow. "Come on we'd better get ready to head out because traffic is murder out there and I don't want to rush or be late." She added.
An hour or so later Gina arrived at the church with Davey, as did Alex with Smithy. They were surprised to see two other cars parked in the church car park. One of them belonged to Ginas' Aunt and Uncle; and the other belonged to a previous neighbour from Commercial Square.
"Who's that older couple?" Alex whispered curiously to her Mum.
"That is my Uncle Martin and his wife Barbara. He was my Mums' brother. I'd better greet them otherwise I'll never live it down." Gina said, rolling her eyes as she approached her family members, making Alex smile.
"Uncle Martin, thank you for coming." She said as she walked over to him.
He smiled at her and mumbled his condolences.
"Who's that young woman you were talking to, can't say I recognise her?" He asked.
Gina smiled inwardly. She had forgotten that none of her family knew about Alex, and it gave her great pleasure to introduce her daughter.
"Her name is Alex and she is my daughter." She explained to a surprised and confused Aunt and Uncle.
"Your daughter? Since when did you have kids?" Her Aunt said.
"It's a long story, but her Father and I finally married about six months ago as well." Gina added nodding in Daveys direction.
She spoke to them for a few minutes before joining her daughter, husband and son-in-law again. A further four cars pulled up into the car park, followed by a man in his mid forties on foot. Gina recognised him straight away and was surprised to see him. She quickly approached him and pulled him to one side.
"Richard, what are you doing here?" She nervously asked her brother.
He was still supposed to be in witness protection; however, since Jack Marshalls' conviction for the murder that Richard had originally been imprisoned for, he was willing to take more risks to be with his sister.
"You don't think I could let you do this on your own do you?" He replied.
"I'm not on my own; I have my daughter here with me, as well as Davey. Putting yourself at risk isn't exactly going to help me is it?" She said.
"True but she was my Mum too and anyway Marshall is in prison, how's he gonna find me?"
"We both know he's a sneaky bas..."
"GINA"
"...person, he has contacts on the outside so being in prison won't stop him will it?" She finished.
"Hang on a minute, what do you mean your daughter?" Richard exclaimed suddenly.
"It took you long enough to realise what I said. Yes my daughter." She smiled happily.
She explained to him all about Alex and her Grandchildren with great pride. Once she finished it was time to go in for the funeral service. With the enjoyment of seeing her brother again she almost forgot the real reason they were all there.
The service lasted an hour before the mourners walked to the graveside where Gina and Richards' Mum was laid in her final resting place. Alex stood beside her Mum with her arm around her waist pulling her into a comforting hug. Gina appreciated having her family there but wanted some time on her own once the others' left for the wake at Ginas' house.
"I'll be round to the house in a while; I just want some time to think." She said to them.
"Ok Mum, take as much time as you need." Alex said, squeezing her Mum a tight smile. "Would you like me to wait at the car for you?" She added.
"Don't worry about me; I'll walk back in a while." Gina replied.
Once she was on her own Gina thought about everything that had happened in the last week. It also made her question a few things as well. When she felt ready to head home, she walked briskly across the London streets to Tubbs Lane. It only took her fifteen minutes or so to get back into the warmth. She walked into the kitchen and was glad she had prepared some food for everyone. They all milled round chatting to each other whilst Gina remained in the background.
Alex was walking round the room making sure everyone had something to eat and didn't want anything else. She glanced up and noticed Gina disappearing out of the kitchen and up the stairs. She decided to follow her, just to make sure she was ok.
She knocked lightly on the bedroom door and walked in holding a mug of hot tea.
"This will warm you up." She said as she handed Gina the hot drink.
"Thanks." Gina replied.
"Do you want to be left on your own?" Alex asked as she hovered at the side of the bed.
"No I'm ok, come sit here for a while." She said as she made space for Alex to sit beside her. "I'm sorry about the last few days. About what you were saying this morning, in a way you're right; I have been avoiding you but not for the reasons you think."
"So what are your reasons?"
At that moment Davey walked into the room as well. Gina was pleased to see him because she wanted to tell them both what she had been thinking. He settled on the bed beside Gina, wrapping his arm tightly round her waist. She quickly explained to him what she had been talking about with Alex, and then got back to the point.
"Like I said before, I've not been avoiding you because of you; it's actually because of me. I feel guilty because you were both people I loved and cared about, but I pushed you both away and lost you both. Losing my Mum has made me question everything that has happened over the years and made me wonder if it was all worth it." She explained.
"And what conclusion did you come to?" Alex asked.
"Would you say you were happy growing up?" She asked Alex.
"Yeah I guess I would." Alex answered a little confused.
"What about you? Would you say you are happy with the way your life turned out?" She asked, looking at Davey.
"Yeah." He said nodding his head.
"That's the answers I came up with. Pretty much everything I did was to make sure you both were happy; I also had to make sure the rest of my family was happy too, Mum, Dad and Richard. Look how that turned out, Richard had to fake his own suicide to remain safe; My Mother was never able to stay conscious long enough to know anything was ever going on; and my Father was happiest when he was away from us all and earning himself money. I didn't make any real difference to their lives, and ruined my chances of real happiness with my own family for them. I'm really glad that you both have led happy lives, because it means that my intentions for you have worked; but now I constantly feel like I'm playing catch up. I've finally got my daughter and husband that I should have had in the first place." She continued to explain.
Davey and Alex sat in silence and listened to what Gina had to say. Alex was fighting hard against the tears pricking at her eyes. She understood exactly how Gina was feeling, because sometimes, that was how she felt too. She moved closer to her Mum and held her as close and as tight as she could.
"It's ok Mum, I know how you feel, because I quite often feel like I'm playing catch up too. I know I've known you for 14 years, but 13 of those we spent as friends. I know we were very close friends and still are, but it's not the same. As for you Dad, I'm still getting to know you. At least you both knew each other long before anyone else did, so you know things no one else would." Alex said.
"Well that's true." Davey said thoughtfully, making Alex and Gina look at him.
"What do you mean by that?" Gina asked cautiously.
"It's nothing bad, honest." He replied.
"You can't say something like that and then clam up. Spill!" Alex said cheekily.
"It's really ridiculous little things I remember about your Mum." He began to explain before being interrupted.
"Like what?" Gina asked with a very worried expression.
"Well, like the day you were born for example." He said.
"What, you remember the day Mum was born, seriously?" Alex sounded surprised.
"Yeah I do. You see my Mother was a trained nurse/mid-wife and everyone in Commercial square were on tender hooks because Gina was a few days late. Anyway, one afternoon we got an urgent knock on our door telling us she had gone into labour so my Mother rushed over with me in tow. Within twenty minutes you were born and that was that." He explained whilst looking at Gina.
"You've never told me that before." Gina said with a smile.
"I've never needed to." He replied before kissing Gina on the head.
Alex smiled at her Mum and Dad, feeling proud of them both. She also found it amusing to see Gina in such a different light. She concluded that Gina had mellowed a lot over the last couple of years. Her cancer had started it, knocking quite a bit of her feistiness out of her; but since Gina and Davey got back together, Alex noticed most of the change happen.
"I love you two to absolute pieces, I hope you realise that." Alex said as she hugged them both. "We didn't get the best start and we've all missed out on something; but you are really great parents and I'm really lucky to have you." She added.
The rest of the day past quickly, with the three of them enjoying chatting about their lives. They still felt something was missing but they agreed that they now had the family that they always wanted and that they were no longer going to dwell on the hurt that they all felt from their individual losses.
Once everyone from the funeral had gone home Alex headed back downstairs to start clearing up. She left Davey and Gina to talk for a while longer. Whilst she stood at the sink washing the plates, Smithy walked in behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck.
"Are you alright?" He asked caringly.
"Yeah, I'm fine thanks." She replied. "Here grab a towel and you can help dry." She added, throwing the towel over his head.
Gina walked quietly down the stairs and into the hall way. She stood in the doorway of the kitchen, and watched Alex as she dodged Smithy as he flicked the towel in his hands at her. Alex laughed loudly when Smithy yelped as she stumbled into him, pushing him into the table. Gina smiled at the sight of them and enjoyed seeing her daughter happy.
Davey joined Gina in the hall and creased his eyebrows when Gina placed her finger over her lips. He also smiled when he saw Alex and Smithy as they behaved like big kids.
Gina coughed with amusement which made the young couple stop dead in their tracks. They looked at each other with embarrassment and composed themselves before apologising.
"Sorry Mum." Alex smiled awkwardly.
"I don't know, what are you two like?" Gina laughed.
"Come on, if the four of us start these dishes the quicker we can have them put away." Davey said as he grabbed another dish cloth.
Gina also grabbed a cloth from the draining board and the four of them quickly got through the rest of the washing up. Alex and Smithy headed home to bed a couple of hours later, leaving Gina and Davey alone. Alex had taken Nicola to spend the night with them so that her parents could get some rest.
Davey was already asleep when Gina walked into their bedroom. She quickly changed before sinking under the warmth of her duvet. Closing her eyes she drifted off to sleep, marking the end of a hectic day and week.
Thanks to those of you who have read and reviewed this fic, I hope you liked it. Don't worry though because I have plenty more stories in the pipeline so keep your eyes peeled for the next fic up soon. X