For Life

Part 42

"Dec" Fonsey whispered into his son's ear a couple of hours later "your mum's awake now,she wants to see you"

"Okay" Dec rubbed his eyes sleepily as he'd been dozing on and off in Ant's arms.

All of Dec's siblings,their partners and his nephew had by now,gone for a walk to clear their heads and have a very slight distraction from what was going on,leaving just Ant and Dec alone in the living room.

"You'll be okay Dec" Ant assured him and squeezed his hand.

Dec nodded and made his way to his mum's bedroom,leaving Ant and Fonsey talking in the living room.

"My boy" Anne beamed the moment Dec entered her room "come here"

"Hi Mum" Dec smiled and sat on the edge of her bed.

"Give me a hug then" Anne requested and Dec was only too happy to oblige,the mother and son holding each other tight for what seemed like the longest time.

"Can I get in bed with you?" Dec pleaded.

Anne smiled at the memory of when Dec would do this when he was a little boy and something had frightened or upset him.

"Of course you can" Anne replied and lifted her blanket up and Dec immediately lay down next to her and she wrapped her arms around him.

As awful and sad as this situation was,Dec immediately felt safe in her loving arms,Ant was the only person who had held him in bed like this for years and Ant always made him feel safe too.

"I'm sorry Mum" Dec whispered.

"What for?" Anne asked confused.

"For all of this" Dec sighed "for everything you're going through,for not being able to help you"

"Declan" Anne stated firmly "you've helped me in more ways than you could ever imagine,so don't you worry about that"

Dec nodded unconvinced.

"And anyway" Anne continued "I'm the one who should be saying sorry...sorry for how harsh I've been with you your entire life,for pushing you so hard when you were just a little boy,I should have taken it easier on you"

"No Mum" Dec replied "I'm where I am today because of you,you trained me,I can't imagine where I'd be now if you hadn't"

"You'd still have made it" Anne smiled while tousling Dec's hair just like she had when he was litte "no way would a talent like yours have been wasted"

"Well,you still don't have anything to be sorry for" Dec insisted "I'll always be grateful for everything you've done for me,you've basically dedicated your life to me,maybe I didn't understand when I
I was a kid,but I do now,I wouldn't change a thing"

"Good" Anne smiled "I'd do it all again in a heartbeat if I had to"

"I believe you" Dec replied "do I make you proud?"

"Oh Declan" Anne whispered "do you really need to ask that?you have made me so proud every single day from the moment you were born,don't you ever think otherwise"

"Thanks Mama" Dec whispered.

The two of them were quiet for a few minutes,deep in thought,lying together in a warm embrace until Dec finally spoke.

"We've had some run ins though haven't we?" He grinned.

"Yeah" Anne laughed "you've certainly been a challenge at times"

"Hey" Dec smiled "that's not fair,I wasn't that bad"

"Oh yeah?" Anne replied "what about sneaking out to nightclubs at the age of fourteen?you don't think that scared the hell out of me?"