Who's the real you?

Chapter Forty- Five

February 2009

Channing loved having Hannah's kids around, he loved watching the way their personality jumped around his house. He loved letting Harley go wild with his photos while he let Meredith throw a million and one questions at him.

"Mum."

Hannah knew that tone in her son's voice as he held her phone.

"Harley, can you just make sure all your photos are away please." She took her phone from her son.

Channing watched as Hannah walked out of the lounge room, he could hear her step out through the front door closing it behind her.

"Mum."

Channing changed his gaze to Meredith as she walked out from the kitchen. "She's on the phone. Can I help you?"

"I want to talk to my dad."

Harley studied Channing, to see what he'd say.

"Once she's off the phone, maybe you could ask her to call your dad." Channing knew he'd never cross the line of forcing Alytain out of the kids lives, that wasn't his choice to make.

"She's on the phone!? Maybe she's talking to dad." Meredith ran out of the lounge room, she tried to find Hannah.

"Alytain." Channing heard as the front door open "Meredith, shut the door." He tried his hardest to listen to the conversation.

"I wouldn't if I was you." Harley's voice ruined the ears drop.

Channing moved his attention to Harley. "Your parent's don't get along do they?"

Harley shrugged "Grandad thinks mum made a mistake."

"He said that to you?"

Harley nodded "I grew up hearing a lot. I know a lot to." He fumbled with the printed photos in his hands.

Channing wanted to ask but stopped himself "Do you want a hand carrying them up to your room?"

Harley nodded "Their in order, so don't drop them."

"Alright." Channing lifted himself off the lounge before helping Harley lifted up the photos. He had seen most of them, Harley had taken pride in showing all the photos he had taken recently. Channing noticed a few he hadn't seen before, some of what he assumed were old photos of Hannah with Alytain. He could see something in the photos, he sensed that there was some hint of true love in them, but he could see in Hannah's eyes that she was hiding something with each photo he looked at.

"We once loved each other, or at least I thought we did."

Channing pulled his focus away from the photos and up at Hannah as she stood in the entrance of the lounge room.

Hannah let Harley pass her before he made his way up the stairs. She stepped over and helped Channing pick up the photos "Sometimes it's hard to look at these photos and knew the trouble he and I caused with our lives." She rose up to her feet.

Channing rose up to his feet as he held the photos in his hands.

"it's all in the past." There was some truth in her words.