Chapter 6
Things had been going well between Karen and Rob since the cake baking events. The moment
they decided to make a go of things. They were taking things slowly for Harry and Jess's sake as
much as their own. It was the start of spring and Karen was outside in the garden watching her two
monkeys run around and play NICELY together, it was days like this that she wouldn't swap
motherhood for the world. Harry and Jess were busy blowing bubbles with some mixture that
Karen had concocted, and were competing to see who could make the biggest as Karen's phone
rang.
'Look mummy, look how big it is'
'wow Harry' Karen replied to her little boy who was rather proud of himself before she took the call.
'hello'
'Karen', it was Rob, but something wasn't right. Karen could hear something was wrong.
'Rob… are you ok? Is everything alright?' Karen could have sworn she'd heard the distinctive
sound of muffled crying. This wasn't like Rob. Karen's whole body went cold.
'I … urr' Rob tried to tell her, he wanted more than anything to tell her. He needed her. Just the
sound of her voice was soothing.
'hey, what's the matter. You can tell me' Karen was patient and calming, Rob was so grateful. He
was kicking himself for not having the ability to tell her. Karen caught Harry out of the corner of her
eye just as Rob began to start opening up.
'Sorry Rob, one second… Harry don't water the plants with the bubble mix they'll die.' Rob could
hear Karen and he couldn't help but smile at least inside at Harry's antics.
'Rob i'm so sorry, seems Harry sees himself as a bit of an Alan Titchmarsh' Karen wanted Rob to
understand that she really was there for him to confide in.
'okay, urm Karen… I urr. Look..' Rob really struggled to get his words out, Karen held back and
allowed him the time to catch his breathe and take a moment.
'Is there anyway I could see you?' Karen could hear the desperation in his voice.
'Rob, I have the kids' Karen could almost hear him breaking down further within the silence.
'I'll ring my mum and as her to watch them for a bit, I'll call you back in a bit yeah. I hate knowing
that somethings eating you up inside like this'
'thanks Karen' was all Rob could manage as their conversation ended. Karen's head was full of the
worst situations, she was worried about Rob. Something was seriously not right.
'mummy was that Rob?' Jess asked sweetly
'Is he coming to play with us?' Harry bounced over. Karen was really caught off guard, she didn't
know how to approach the whole situation with her children.
'urm not today Harry'
'but why not?' Harry wined
'because'
'WHY?' Harry persisted which caused Karen to flip
'because I said so Harry!' which was shortly followed by Harry screaming. Brilliant.
'please Harry not right now, I need to make a phone call.'
Karen went inside to phone her mum, hoping the neighbours wouldn't report her for disturbing the
peace as Harry continued to throw a tantrum. 'I want Rob to come and play with us' could be heard
in the background as the dialling tone proceeded. Karen sat at the kitchen table feeling
overwhelmed by the whole situation.
'hello darling' the distinct soft irish voice answered
'mum' was all Karen had to say for her mum to understand everything.
'Is everything ok?' a moment of deja vu, words Karen had only recently spoken to Rob.
'I was wondering if you'd be able to come and watch Harry and Jess for a bit for me? I have a …'
Karen hesitated 'a friend who really needs me and something really isn't right'
her mum could hear how distressed her daughter was.
'of course darling, i'll be over as soon as I can'
'thanks mum, I love you'
'I love you too darling.'
Her mum really had been her rock since her whole world fell apart, she'd helped with childcare,
helped her rebuild herself, been there to talk to. She was a pretty special lady. Karen composed
herself before heading out to find a rather red faced little boy who was still crying and had gotten
himself in such a state that he was now struggling to breathe.
'Oh Harry, come here' Karen bent down to give him a hug but he just screamed more, Karen was
really losing the will to live.
'Harry stop screaming!'
He continued and Jess didn't know what to do.
Karen had managed to bring him inside, in hope that they would still be on speaking terms with at
least some of their neighbours, he began to calm down but he wouldn't stop asking for Rob.
'I just want to see Rob'
'Harry, i've already said that's not going to happen. But listen..listen to me' Karen tried to soothe
her little boy who really was in a right state bless him. She had found it quite sweet how her little
boy had such a soft spot for Rob.
'Listen to me, Nanny's going to come because mummy has to pop out for a little bit'
'will you be coming back?' Jess asked which threw Karen completely, the first signs of deep rooted
wounds that Charlie had caused,
'of course I am sweetheart'
Harry was still crying as the doorbell rang.
'mum'
Karen was so pleased to see her
'hi darling, got his as quickly as I could' Karen saw her mum in who was greeted by a big hug from
her granddaughter
'and how is my beautiful Jessi'
'good Jess replied' Karen's mum smiled but then turned her attention to her rather distraught
Grandson, she sat next to him and put her arm around him. He instinctively wrapped his arms
around his nanny for a much needed cuddle. Tears still fell and harsh intakes of breath followed.
'Now what's the matter with you aye?' Karen's mum asked, Harry replied very sweetly between the
whimpers he so desperately wanted to control
'I just wanted Rob to come and play with me?
'Is Rob one of your friends?' Karen's mum asked Harry. Karen's whole body went rigid, she hadn't
had the conversation with her mum about Rob, it was all still so new.
'no he's mummy's friend' Harry replied
Karen's cheeks flushed and her mum saw, giving her daughter a warm smile.
'why don't you two go play in the living room for a bit?' Karen's mum suggested. They went off
happily 'will you come and play too?' Harry asked.
'In a bit poppit, I'm just going to have a chat with mummy' Karen's mum replied and off Harry went.
'Look mum I' Karen felt like some sort of naughty school girl who'd been caught red handed by her
mum.
'hey, calm down' Karen's mum tried her hardest to show that she wasn't annoyed.
'I wasn't not going to tell you' Karen attempted to justify herself.
'Darling, you don't have to justify yourself to me. I'm glad you are allowing yourself some
happiness after everything Charlie put you through'
'mum' Karen warned her mum off bad mouthing her ex husband.
'He's clearly made quite an impression on those two in there'
'they adore him' Karen explained she couldn't help but smile,
'and it's pretty clear from your face that you adore him' Karen smiled bashfully towards her mum,
she could read her daughter like a book.
'I take it that's where you need to rush off too?' Her mum asked sensitively
'yes, but not for the reasons you think… not to'
'darling, breathe. I know it's not like that. So what's happened, you sounded so worried on the
phone?'
'I don't know, he phoned me earlier, Rob. He couldn't tell me and i'm pretty sure he was crying'
'oh poor Rob' Karen's mum replied compassionately, placing her hand on her daughter's.
'I should probably get going'
'of course darling, i'll hold the fort here. Don't feel you need to rush back, we'll be just fine… Now
you go see to lover boy' Karen's mum tried to lighten the situation and bring a smile to her
daughter's cheeks which she succeeded at.
'ok but I won't be too long.'
Karen found herself sat outside of Rob's house nervous to what she was about to be faced with.
She got out of the car and headed for his front door, she felt more in control knowing that her mum
was looking after Jess and Harry and she could be fully dispensable to Rob's needs. Rob
answered the door, he was still in his pyjamas, his eyes were puffy (confirming Karen's suspicions
that he had been crying) he looked so vulnerable and lost.
'Oh Rob' Karen instinctively wrapped her arms around him as Rob completely broke down all over
again, so grateful that Karen was here for him. She sat him down and made him a cup of tea.
'I'm really glad you came, I know it's meant reorganising the kids and…'
'hey, it's ok. I wanted to be here. You sounded so vulnerable on the phone Rob, i'm really worried
about you' Rob flinched at her words but took her hand for support.
'and don't you worry about those two monsters of mine, my mum's got it all covered and i'm here
for you ok' Rob managed a faint smile but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Karen rubbed her thumb
soothingly along his hand encouraging him to tell her, let her in.
'I had a phone call this morning'
'right' Karen could see Rob fighting every emotion in his body.
'my…my brother. He..he.. he' Karen could feel a tear well in her eye at Rob's battle to contain his
pain and so desperately tell her what had happened.
'he'd been in a motorbike accident' Rob choked on his words
'Oh rob, is he ok?' Karen took her answer from Rob's silence. The tear that had been brewing now
fell down her cheek, it was Rob who was now comforting her as he wiped it away and took her into
a hug that he so desperately needed.
'I'm glad you're here' Rob told her again.
'I'll always be here when you need me' Karen replied her heart breaking with Rob's pain.
'I don't know what i'm going to do without him' Rob was opening up to Karen, he trusted her and
that was important. She put her arm around him and he did the same.
'I know that this is going to be hard for a while, I don't know how Archie is going to cope … or Kate'
'Archie, Kate?' Karen asked softly
'Archie's Dan, my brother's son. He's 13. and Kate's his was'
Talking in the past tense was quite surreal.
'that's tough, it's going to be hard. But you'll get through it together and i'll be there I promise.'
Rob really did feel lucky to have found someone as loving and as caring and beautiful as Karen.
'my little brother's 21 and I'd still worry about how he'd cope in a situation like this.'
'I didn't know you had a brother' Rob and Karen were really getting to know each other out of a
horrible situation.
'I have a little Brother Craig whose 21 and a younger sister Emma whose 30'
'bit of an age gap' Rob commented, Karen was glad that this conversation was taking him out of
the gloom for at least a little while.
'let's just say Craig was an unexpected arrival one christmas' Rob couldn't help but laugh at her
phrasing. 'Do you have any nieces or nephews?' he asked completely in awe of knowing
everything about her. 'I have a 4 year old nephew Noah and a 4 month old baby niece Ella, both
Emma's and they are utterly gorgeous' Rob smiled, Karen was such a maternal person she cared
for everyone and always put them before herself.
'i'm sure you'll get to meet them at some point and when you do you'll be as besotted as I am'
Karen teased
'I'd love that' Rob replied with the most genuine smile he'd managed all day.
Karen had ended up spending the entire day with Rob, his entire mood had changed. She'd tidied
his house so at least he didn't have to think about any of the chores with anything going on and
now they were just sat down watching a movie together, but Karen could tell there were other
things on his mind. 'So what now?'
Karen caught him by surprise, stuck in his thoughts.
'huh?'
'What are you planning to do now?'
'well I should go up to my mum's but'
'you just can't face that yet?'
Rob loved that Karen was so in tune with him.
'yeah…i've spoken to her. She's coping well, better than I expected'
'she's a mum, they're pretty special human beings' Karen smiled thinking of her mum back at
home and how lucky she was to have had her over the last couple of years.
'you have to do things at your own pace, she'll understand. She knows you, remember' Rob smiled
and kissed Karen, he really didn't know what he would have done if he didn't have her.
Karen caught sight of the time, it was nearly half 6 and nearly time for Harry and Jess to be getting
ready for bed. Rob could tell what she was thinking.
'go on you get home, Jess and Harry they'll be wanting to see you before bed'
'Rob I can't just leave you on your own'
Rob's body language changed at the realisation of being pulled back into his pit of gloom, left with
only his own thoughts buzzing around his head.
'your welcome to stay at mine for a few days, if that's what you need. Only if you feel up to coping
with Jess and Harry'
'honestly Karen, that would be brilliant'
'and your sure that Harry and Jess won't be too much for you, you know what kids are like. You're
going through a lot'
'I think a dose of Harry and Jess is just what the doctor ordered and as long as I have you I know it
will get better in time.'