Cain helped the children's DJ carry his speakers from his van into the small village hall. Once again he had been roped into helping his younger sister at his nephew's party. He was lad he didn't have the responsibility of a child when he saw how much Chas done for little Aaron. Not so long ago he had to drive Chas to the hospital with her son after she had frantically called him explaining how ill Aaron was and how she had no means of transport to the doctors surgery or hospital. Cain had stepped up and driven to his sister and nephew to the hospital cursing Gordon being away on business when his only child was ill, especially so soon before Christmas. It had turned out to be some sort of virus that Aaron had picked up at School, baffling the doctors completely. None of them could forget how small Aaron had looked in the hospital bed, with a temperature Sky high, doped up on a painkiller from the doctors to ease his tummy ache, all skin and bones because he wouldn't eat or couldn't keep anything down, not even water. Cain had been straight on the phone to Gordon, insisting that he drove home from London, straight away. He did, not that he helped keep Chas calm.

Aaron had lost no end of weight whilst he had come down with the virus, not that he could afford to. However ever so slowly he was gaining it back, bit by bit, which Chas was glad about. He had started school in September and was one of the smallest ones in his class. Everyone else was a lot bigger than what Aaron was, worrying Chas that he would get hurt in the playground, so Chas and Lisa made sure to include all of Aaron's favourite food in the party food spread, in hopes that he would eat a lot. Cain wasn't going to grumble at that, considering him and his nephew had the same taste in food.

"Woah! Watch out Aaron." Cain exclaimed as Aaron ran past him in the hall nearly tripping him over as he carried one end of the speakers with the DJ helping him on the other end.

"Sorry!" Aaron shouted back as he carried n running outside.

"Aaron! Can you stay inside please?" Chas called to her son from the Village hall Kitchen.

The little boy rolled his eyes after halting just outside the main doors, huffing loudly as he turned round and dragged his feet back inside. He wanted to help his Uncle Cain grab things in from the van.

With just two minutes to spare before people would start arriving the DJ had finished setting things up and everything else had been put into place.

"Hate to think how much you spent on this." Gordon hissed to Chas as he sidled up beside her as she finished tying a balloon to the side.

"Here we go, bringing up money again." Chas snapped, keeping her voice low so people (the DJ, Aaron, Lisa, Uncle Zac and Cain) wouldn't hear.

"Hate to think how much that DJ costs!" Gordon questioned. He was fed up of Chas being careless with money.

"Don't worry I paid for him with my wages, didn't use a penny of yours. You can still afford to buy that Car!" Chas flew at him. "Besides he's a children's party DJ, he doesn't cost much."

"Good!" Gordon commented.

Biting her tongue, Chas glared at him before walking away. She couldn't trust herself to not say something she would regret later.

"You alright sis?" Cain asked the young woman, as she strode past him, having seen what he gone on between her and Gordon.

"Never better."

Throughout the party, both Cain and Lisa, noticed many heated words between the couple. It wasn't the first time they had seen the two grow angry with each other. It seemed the two could never go a day without being nasty to one and other. But lately hit had been getting worse.

"They shouldn't be acting like this, especially in front of Aaron. On his birthday even!" Lisa fumed as Cain, Zac and her stood in the kitchen watching the party through the hatchway.

"Yeah well. . . " Zac sighed. "Be thankful it's just snapping at one and other, unlike Cain and Charity who scream at each other and fight like kids!"

"Oi!" Cain protested, Why did he have to bring up his and Charity's disagreements.

"I'm just saying." Zac said, holding his hands up. "I'd rather they were like that then shouting the building down."

"I'd rather they were civil with each other. Hate to think what this is doing to our Aaron. How it will effect him." Lisa commented.

"Uncle Cain! Uncle Cain!" A little voice shouted before they rocketed into the room, and launched themselves at Cain's legs, hugging them.

"Woah! Careful kid!" Cain exclaimed, grabbing hold of the counter top to keep his balance due to the unexpected force.

"I want you on my team." Aaron told his uncle, reaching for his arm and tugging him back towards the hall.

"Team? For what?" Cain questioned as he tried to hold back.

Go on, don't disappoint the lad." Zac grinned lending a helping hand.

Making Aaron squeal, Cain grabbed the boy and flung him over his shoulder into a fireman's lift, marching into the hall with the boy giggling on his shoulder.

It turned out Cain was roped into Aaron's team to play party games, as his team was one team mate less than the other team. There were many party games to be played, passing a ball down the line between your knees without dropping it a race against the other team, a dance battle (Much to Cain's displeasure), making shapes in their teams under a time limit and much more, Aaron's Uncle supplied loads of giggles to both children and adults as he played the games against his will, especially when he had to dance against a five year old, there was no end of comedy material.

"He's making such a Pratt of himself." Gordon commented as he stood at the side of the room watching with his partner.

"He's having fun." Chas corrected him. "At least he can lighten up and this is Cain we're talking about!"

"Yeah Cain. He's not exactly a role model is he?" Gordon snorted. "He's a criminal."

Chas rolled her eyes. "Just shut up will you." She snapped. She was fed up with him attacking her family.

"I'm just saying, I don't feel comfortable with our son spending so much time with him." Gordon told her.

Chas turned to look at him. "And of course you spend so much time with our son." She stated, dripping with sarcasm. "Aaron looks up to him! Cain worships the ground that boy walks on!" She told him.

"I spend as much time as I can with him!" Gordon defended.

"Course." Chas sighed, heaving had enough. Her patients was growing thin with him.

When the party came to an end and all the children had been picked up by parents, Lisa set Aaron up on the floor with pencils and paper and asked him to draw her a picture while they tidied up.

"Aaron why don't you draw me a cat?" Lisa asked as she swept a broom across the hall floor, collecting up all the crumbs and bits of rubbish.

"A cat?!" Aaron protested. "I'm not drawing a cat!" The little boy screwed up his face at the suggestion.

"Well then, what do you want to draw?" Lisa asked the child.

". . . A dog!" Aaron told her after a little thought. He began to scribble on his new pad with new coloured pencils, his tongue creeping out in concentration.

Lisa chuckled. "I'll look forward to you showing me it." She promised him.

"-S'gonna be really strong, and have really sharp teeth, and run really fast, a-and be really really big, a-and it's gonna have blue fur." The five year old rattled off from his place on the floor.

They had all finished clearing the hall by six a clock. The hall had been swept, kitchen cleaned, food cleared away, tables pushed back, chairs stacked and the DJ equipment loaded into the back of his Van. Once the DJ had left, Chas stood by Zac and Lisa's van as they sat inside, thanking them for showing their support. Cian had driven off in his own car a few minutes before, eager to get away on time, up to god knows what. But not before he had given Aaron his birthday present, a blue football and robot. While Chas chatter to her Uncle and Lisa, Gordon was heating the car up, running the engine as he sat idle in the drivers seat, waiting to go home.

"Aaron could you just stop kicking that ball for a minute." Chas told her son, as he kicked the ball at her feet. "Aaron!" She scorned when he continued to kick it. The ball bounced off one of the wheels on the dingles van and rolled towards their car.

The ball stopped just beside the front drivers side wheel. Aaron instantly ran towards it crouching down to pick it up. The five year old went unseen by Gordon, as he opened the drivers door just as Aaron was standing up. The force of the door knocking into the little boy, sent him flying onto his bottom, the ball still clutched in his hands.

"Gordon!" Chas yelled witnessing it all out of the corner of her eyes. "Be careful would you."

"I didn't see him alright!" Gordon snapped at her, stepping out of the car and slamming the car door shut.

"Just be careful will you!" Chas scolded as she walked over. She reached down and picked Aaron up on to his feet, turning him this way and that, checking for marks or grazes as she asked him "You aright, lover?" He hadn't cried out at all when he fell.

Aaron nodded.

"You sure?" She questioned, he had landed pretty hard.

"He said he was fine Chas!" Gordon shot at her losing his patients. "Stop fussing round him"

"You just sent him flying! I'm just checking he's alright." Chas barked at him.

"Stop being so dramatic will you Chas." Gordon snarled.

"-Would you two pack it in!" Zac stopped them. "Not in front of Aaron! He shouldn't have to hear you two at each other's throats. Save it until he's out of ear shot."

"He's right, he shouldn't have to." Lisa agreed. "How is he? Not hurt?" She had seen how hard the boy had fallen.

"Not a single scratch." Chas told her as she straightened Aaron's clothes.

"Alright we'll let you get back home and give him his dinner." Lisa said. "It's getting late."

"Yeah you're right." Chas sighed. "What do you say to Uncle Zac and Lisa?" Chas reminded her son.

"Thank you." Aaron said loudly.

"Good boy." Chas praised.

"Aw, your welcome love. I'm glad you had a good birthday." Lisa smiled. "I'll see you later."

"Bye!"

"Go on you." Chas told him. "Be getting in the car."

The telling off from Zac didn't keep Chas and Gordon from arguing anymore that night. The civil air that had been forced between them didn't last long. But at least they waited until Aaron was in bed. The five year old had only been in bed for an hour before the two were at each other's throats again.

". . . . . . You're unbelievable!" Chas screamed.

"I'm unbelievable?!" Gordon threw back.

"Yes, you. I've had enough of you! You don't do nothing to help. You expect me to do everything!" Chas shouted at him. "It would be nice if you pulled your weight in this house."

Gordon snorted. "I do more than enough."

"No you do not!" Chas corrected him "You do nothing round this house."

"House work if for women."

"For women? What century are you living in?!" Chas yelled. "Men can pick up a duster and whip a Hoover round too, you know!"

"I shouldn't have to." Gordon sighed provoking the young woman.

"You're not your friend's Gordon! You don't have a stay at home wife like they do."Chas reminded him.

"Don't I know it." Gordon sneered.

"I'm sorry that I don't stay at home and live my life to serve you, I have a life of my own! One that I would like to live!" Chas exclaimed. "I'm too young to be playing housewife!" She was twenty-three for gods sake. She envied the life that Charity lived, no partner, no mortgage or child to think about.

"No one's stopping you!" Gordon barked at her.

". . . No they're not. You're right, nothings stopping me." Chas stated. What was she doing staying there, with him, unhappy and trapped. "We're not working, we haven't been for a good while now. This is silly, us trying to make this work." She told him. She had made up her mind in that split second.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, as he watched her head towards the stairs.

"To pack my things." Chas told him. "If that's fine by you. I'm not staying here."

"You're bluffing." Gordon said, she wouldn't leave him. She had it made with him.

"I'm not. We're kidding ourselves." Chas said as she headed up the stairs.

She had just finished packing a few sets of clothes and essentials when Gordon followed her upstairs. He had thought she was bluffing, shouting anything to get a reaction from him, however when he walked into their bedroom and saw he zipping up her packed bag he knew different. He watched her breeze past him, onto the landing where she began to ruffle through a basket of clean folded laundry. As soon as Gordon saw Chas take out items of Aaron's clothing, he grabbed her wrist. No way was she taking him with her.

"You're not taking Aaron with you." Gordon told her.

Chas snorted in disbelief and ripped herself from Gordon's iron grip. He was her son, her baby. She would never leave him behind.

"He's my son, Chas!"

"When it suits you!" Chas exclaimed. "He's better off with me."

"With you? How did you work that out Chas?" Gordon shot at her. "When you leave here what are you going to have? No money, no home, no place for our son to sleep. How's that good for him?"

"I've got family Gordon." Chas screamed at him. "They'll see me right until I find somewhere."

"No way is he staying with your family on a sofa or the floor. God knows what he might catch or pick up." Gordon sneered saying anything to hurt her now. She was leaving him after all. "Your family is nothing but criminals and pathetic drunks."

"How dare you talk about my family like that!" Chas lowered her voice. "They are worth a 100 of you. At least they care for my Aaron."

"Please they're just waiting till he's old enough to go out on the rob with them." Gordon told her.

"He's coming with me." Chas told him.

"No he's not." Gordon threatened, his tone lowering to a chilling level. "It's late, he's asleep, it's cold outside. What kind of irresponsible mother takes their child out at this time of the night with no where to go? Walking the streets in the dark." He had moved to stand in front of Aaron's bedroom door, preventing Chas from getting to their son.

She wasn't going to fight with him, not with that look in his eyes. He was making her feel uneasy. "I'll be back tomorrow for him." Chas promised.

"We'll see." Gordon threatened.

The next morning Aaron woke up with no knowledge that went on to cause his mother to disappear. He couldn't understand where his mum was. He kept asking his dad but all Gordon told him was "She left son." He was confused. He wanted his mum, and she wasn't there. Aaron was left by himself most of the day, while his dad was on the phone to various people. When there was a knock at the door, he was shut in the lounge when Gordon went to answer it. Whoever it was at the door his dad didn't want him to see. Seeing at the lounge was at the front of the house, Aaron clambered over to the front window and peered outside, when he could hear shouting again.

It was his mum outside. Why wouldn't his dad let her in? She was back! Aaron began to tap on the window to get her attention.

"Oh, Aaron, Love!" His mum cried as she rushed over to the window. "You alright? When daddy let's me inside, we're going on a big adventure!" She told him.

Gordon had closed the front door and made his way into the lounge while Chas desperately talked to her little boy. He picked Aaron up and took him out of the room without a word.

"Gordon!" Aaron could hear his mum shouting as he was taken away why wouldn't his mum and dad play nicely anymore?

He wanted his mum.