Chapter 1
“Video killed the radio star, video killed the radio star” Tegan pulls the duvet up over her head to try and block out the harsh intrusion on her Saturday morning lie in. Im definately gonna have to change that bloody alarm signal! Quickly realising there was a reason for setting her alarm in the first place, She jumps up and grabs her mobile from the bed side table. 10:30am, Shit! Im not gonna have enough time for a shower now, meg is being dropped off at 11:00. Cursing herself for not setting her alarm earlier, she rumages through the pile of folded washing beside the ironing board for something to wear. Why cant I be more organised, I can never find anything in this god damn place! That’ll do! She grabs a pair of khaki combats and a white vest, and plugs the iron in before running to the bathroom to have a quick wash and brush her teeth. She takes a look in the mirror and thinks how lucky she is not to have to spend ages applying the array of lotions and potions all her freinds seemed to use.
Running her fingers through her hair and smoothing out any sticky outie bits, she cringes at the thought of donning a fake smile, and making small talk with the ex’s parents. Deep down she knows she was never really accepted into the family, even when Jake walked out when Meg was only six weeks old, and they promised to be there for her no matter what. Meg was the only reason they were still on the scene and she was well aware of that, but no matter how uncomfortable it made her, she was greatfull of the extra help.
After ironing her clothes and getting dressed Tegan rushes downstairs with ten minutes to spare, and fills the sink hoping to plough through the mountain of dirty dishes before they arrive. How the hell did I use all of these in one night, especially when I was out for half of it! For that moment she was thankfull it was just herself she had to clean up after, then the sick feeling of emptiness she had become so accustumed to engulfed her once again. Hitting her with the realization of how lonley she really was, but before she has time to ponder over it there is a nock at the door.
As Tegan approaches the door she can see the silohette of Carys and Berwyn standing side by side through the frosted glass, little and large suddenly pop into her head and she giggles to herself. With Carys standing no taller than 4’8” and weighing a hefty 15st, and Berwyn towering over her at 6’5” and weighing little over 11st, Tegan had always thought what an odd looking couple they were. The cliche opposites attract definately rings true in their case, not just in looks but personality too. Carys being the domonant decission maker, while Berwyn stands as quiet as a mouse, nodding in agreement with everything she says. They were odviously doing something write though, after 34 years of marrige Carys still claimed they were as solid as the day they met. Childhood sweethearts they started courting when she was sixteen and just finished high school, he was seventeen and earning a living as a trainee book keeper. By her eighteenth birthday they were happily married and planning to start a family, less than twelve months later baby Jake was born and there family unit was complete.
Unfortunately just after Jakes second birthday, Berwyns parents died in a tragic accident, after scaffold erected to repair recent storm damage around their home collapsed. He was awarded a substantial compensation settlement, after an investigation into the deaths revealed structural instability, proving negligance by the company involved.
Realising life was too short, soon after the funeral they moved the family to Landudno, to open the B&B they’d always dreamt of running. But after many years of working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, they decided that enough was enough. And after much deliberating over leaving a place full of wonderfull memories, they came to their decision to take early retirement. They sold their much loved B&B, and bought a touring caravan with the view to travelling eurpoe. But with the unexpected arrival of Meg six months ago, their plans had come to a halt, they had moved to a local caravan park where they took up residence and had been ever since.
“Hi babes! have you been a good girl for your nannie and grandad?”
“Oh she’s been absolutely brilliant, haven’t you my little girl? We love having her you know, anytime you feel you need a break were happy to have her. Oh! and by the way Jake called last night to ask if I could take Meg on Wednesday this week, I told him I dont mind but I needed to speak to you first to confirm it’s ok. I told him I would call him later today to let him no either way.”
“Err.....yeah! I suppose that’d be ok, what’s his excuse this time or shouldn’t I ask?”
“He’s going away for the week, apparantly Beth has a time share in an appartment in the Algarve.”
“I cant believe him! what would I have done if you said you could’nt have Meg? He knows I have a meeting with work on Wednesday. I’ve got to arrange extra maternity cover, I was only intending to have nine months off, but I might aswell take the full twelve months now. With Jake leaving its not worth me going back after that, when you calculate the cost of childcare, I would be no worse off on benefits.”
“Well you know we will take Meg whenever we can, it’s not a full time solution I know, but we could come to some arrangement perhaps if you wanted to go back part time.”
“That would be great but I would feel too guilty, it’s been great having you around but you bought the caravan so you could travel and see different places, not to be stuck here supporting me.”
“Well there’s no need to feel guilty, we could still travel around at weekends and during the holidays. We wouldn’t want to stay away for too long now anyway, we wouldn’t want to miss Meg growing up, and like I say anything we can do to help. Just don’t make any rash decisions before you’ve thought it through, you can always arrange the extra cover, then let them know later if you decide not to go back.”
“Thanks for the offer I really appreciate it, and I promise to give it some thought.”
“Come on then Berwyn, that caravans not going to clean itself! Bye dear! Give nannie a kiss my little girl! Mmmmmmmwagh! See you Wednesday, be good for your mummy! Byeeeeee!” And with a slight raise of the hand from Berwyn, to acknowledge he was saying goodye, they walked through the gate and off towards the car.
“Wave handies to nannie and grandad babes, say bye bye!” Still waving untill they were barely visible, they tuned the corner and out of sight.