"Hey, my girl, how was school?" Mum asked as I appeared in front of her at the office door in the factory.

"Hi Orla." Frank said, briefly looking up from his desk.

"Hi Frank, Hi Mumma, it was good." I said as I walked towards Mum and she put her arm around me from her desk chair.

"I'm gonna be a while here Orlie. Do you wanna go over to the Kabin, get yourself a snack? And then you can park yourself over there with some homework?" she asked.

"We don't get homework this close to the end of Year 6 you know Mumma." I told her.

"Well, you could park yourself there with a book." She said. I rolled my eyes, "Or my phone? As long as you keep the volume low, Frank and I are really busy." I smiled and she handed me her phone and a five-pound note.

"Do you want anything from the Kabin?" I asked them both. Mum shook her head.

"No thanks Orla." Frank said as Mum's phone rang. I handed it back to her before leaving the office and going to the Kabin.

When I came back out, Mum was sat on the front steps of the factory with her phone in her hands. I walked over and sat down beside her. She reached her hand over and held onto mine.

"You alright?" I asked.

"My Mum's died Orlie." She said, putting her arm around me. I had only ever met Sharon once that I could remember, and I knew her and Mum weren't close at all, but it didn't mean it wasn't sad for her.

"I'm sorry Mumma." I said.

"It's alright, I'm fine. Now why don't you take your sweets home and I'll be home in a little while with some fish and chips for tea?" she said.

"Are you sure? I don't mind staying." I told her.

"No, no. You go home and get out of your uniform and chuck the telly on." She said. "And tonight, when I get home, I want all of the Orlie cuddles ok?" I nodded and we both got up and hugged each other again.

"Come here and sit down." Mum said as I walked out of my room to find her sat on the sofa sobbing.

"It's New Year's Eve, I thought you'd be over at the pub with Peter and Chelle." I said as I walked around the sofa and sat down beside her. Her face was red and wet with tears. She wiped it with her sleeve as she put her arms around me, my head resting on her chest.

"I've got some bad news." She began, "Hayley's been told that she hasn't got long left now." She whispered before stroking my hair and kissing my head.

"How long is not long?" I asked.

"Weeks angel, just a few weeks they think." She told me. The room fell to a long silence as I listened to the beating of Mum's heart, and she gently stroked my hair as I felt tears drip from her eyes to the top of my head.

"Will she be in pain? When she dies Mum?" I whispered quietly.

"No darling, she's on lots of pain killers. She won't be in pain angel." She told me.

"And will I get to say goodbye to her?" I asked.

"I'm sure that can be arranged. You know that she loves seeing you." Mum said.

"And she loves seeing you Mumma." I told her. Another long silence held in the room before I asked, "Does Hayley feel a little bit like your Mum, because your Mum wasn't really a proper Mum?"

"Yeah, I guess so. But not like a Mum who looks after you when you're little. But when you're older and you need someone to have a chat with, one day, when you're an adult you'll come and find me for a chat about something going on in your life, like a boyfriend or a work thing or when you have a baby of your own, you'll come and find me, or call me up for a chat and I guess that's what Hayley is for me. You never ever stop being a Mum Orlie, even when you're a grown up, I'll always be your Mummy." She said.

"You'll look after your Mum, won't you?" Hayley asked as I lay on her bed beside her.

"Of course, I will. She's gonna be really sad without you." I said.

"I know love, but she has so much to live for, a successful business, lovely husband, a great flat and how could I forget, a beautiful daughter. There was a time when she nearly lost all of that." Hayley told me as she took my hand in her and held onto it.

"She always had you though. Even when she nearly lost everything else." I said.

"She saved me, when she was losing everything else, she saved me." Hayley added. "Which is why, I am so grateful for these extra years I've had. These extra years with Roy, and with you and her. I never had children but the two of you, are like my adopted daughter and granddaughter."

"And we couldn't ask for anyone better." I said. Hayley took a deep breath and I wondered if maybe she was tired and I should go home soon.

"Do you know what she said to me when you were lying in that hospital after the factory was set on fire by Tony?" I shook my head. "She didn't move for days, she never even let go of your hands and she talked and talked to you as if you were listening to all of her stories. I tried to tell her to go home and shower and get changed and eat something, but she would never leave you. And she sat there beside me, and she told me she was a fool to ever let you get hurt. She never wanted to be a Mum before she had you, you know that don't you?" I nodded as I listened to her. "But she said that if her life were to start all over again, having you would be the only thing she'd do again, the only thing. Now me and you, we don't understand how that feels, because we aren't Mums, but one day, you will be, and you'll understand how much her love means to you. How much she adores you."

It was a week or so later when Mum climbed into my bed late. I had finished my homework and washed my hair after playing netball and then got into bed. Peter wasn't here and Mum hadn't come back so I assumed Peter was over at the pub with Steve and Mum was working late. The coldness came into my room when Mum opened the door and pulled back my duvet and climbed into bed beside me. I shivered as she pulled me into her and kissed the top of my head.

"Are you awake my girl?" she whispered, stroking my still wet hair against my head.

"Yeah." I replied. I rolled over so that I faced her. The light shining through the crack of my door shone straight onto Mum's face which was red and sore.

"I need to tell you something Orlie." She said, choking on her words slightly as tears fell from her face. She took several deep breaths before beginning. "Hayley's died Orla." I didn't say anything, I just tucked my head against Mum's cold coat, and she squeezed me tight.

In the morning, Mum agreed that I didn't need to go to school. The two of us spent the morning on the sofa. Mum barely letting go of me. I think I was bringing her more comfort that she was bringing me. Peter was being a bit absent, which at a time like this wasn't ideal for Mum. In the afternoon, we got dressed and went over to see Roy, expecting him to be up in the flat, but instead he'd opened up the café. I guess it was his way of keeping busy, but Mum thought he should be taking a bit of a break. He refused, so eventually Mum and I had some cheese on toast and then went over to the factory.

"I'll miss her stories." I said to Mum that evening as she sat at the end of my bed. She very rarely tucked me into bed now I was fourteen, but I think, on a day like today, she still did. Mum smiled, "She told me about when I was in hospital after the fire at the factory."

"Did she now? I bet she told you all sorts." Mum said, before pausing, "Did she tell you I didn't eat, and I didn't move and all I wanted to do was sit there and hold your hand?" I nodded. "Because I was so scared, I'd lose you. And now, I feel a bit like I've lost my Mum."

"I'm sorry Mum." I said as I pushed the duvet off me and climbed across the bed towards her. She put her arms around me, and I rested my head on her shoulder. "I hope that having me helps you feel less pain about Hayley."

"Oh Orlie, you bring so much joy to my life. I promise you, I promise that that will never change." She whispered in my ear.