Haunted

Prologue

The past year and 11 months have been a busy one. Jack and I are now 20. Our 21st birthdays are in a few days. Shannon has just turned two, along with as it seemed the other hundred babies born in my family at the same time as her.

After that New Year's Eve, Jack and I were fine but it took a while before Jack and TJ solved their problems between each other. This made it difficult for Amy and I to meet up at first as we desperately didn't want to upset our other halves. Now though, TJ and Jack are the best of mates. This is because Jack was scouted for the rugby team that TJ manages, six months ago. Jack had dropped out of university to pursue his rugby career, but it didn't bother me because he was doing something that he loved and it was great to see him so happy again. It also meant that TJ, Amy, Jack and I could meet up, without the risk of an explosive argument. At the moment Jack is away on a rugby tour, but he is meant to be back in time for my 21st birthday, and then our third anniversary.

Last year Jack, Shannon and I had moved out of Dad's house and into our own little flat. It was small but it did us just fine. It was a short walk away from Dad's house, so practically spent most of our time there. Especially for dinner as neither Jack or myself possessed the skills to cook very well. Like I had thought, Dad had spent more time with Tina and Lily which was to be expected, however they had moved up north for a few months after the New Year to be with Tina's parents. They were now back and they were spending time with us, as a family which was nice. Dad and Tina got married last year, it was a big bash but if I'm honest I don't remember anything after 6pm as it is safe to say I got a little drunk.

Mum still lived down the road from Dad. I have not forgiven her for anything- and I doubt I ever will- but I was more lenient and I had let her spend some with Shannon and myself. Harry and Jax would still give me the regular verbal abuse, but I had got my own back on them. I had pleaded Aidan to give them a fake caution and so he did. Harry and Jax thought that it was a real caution and that if they carried on with the verbal abuse they would go to prison. Now they barely say a word to me which is a good thing because I can't be bothered to put up with their shit.

Jimmy, Dexter and Aidan all still worked at the police station. Jimmy's health was deteriorating and Aidan was now the man in charge. They told me frequently that if I ever wanted to return I could but I didn't feel as if it was the job for me anymore. Also that cocky little shit Austin still worked there and I was afraid that if I did go back I would probably knock him out and get fired on my first day back. But I was keeping the job in the back of my mind.

Shannon was christened in the February after her birth. In the end Beth, Cam, Sally, Charlie, Finn and Hanna became Shannon's godparents. When the rest of the people in attendance at the christening saw how many godparents there was they were all shocked, but they said it was down to the fact that we were 'young parents'. I had wanted Amy to be a godparent but given the awkward situation that we were in at that time, I had decided to just leave it be. However, Amy had asked Jack and I to be godparents to Leo, in an attempt to make and keep the peace. Leo was christened two months after Shannon and at this point the awkwardness between the four of us had disappeared and so we agreed to be his godparents.

Beth and Cam were still knocking about together and earlier this year Cam proposed to Beth with the cutest speech ever. Their wedding is planned for next year. To me it seemed a bit soon but Beth had explained that they were getting married so soon after their engagement because she wanted to be married before having children. This conversation with Beth had made me feel so awkward as the situation I was in, was one she never wanted to be in.

Finn was still single at 23, despite my desperate attempts to set him up with some of the nicest girls in town. He would often bring up the pact I had made with him on the field, tactfully reminding me that there was only nine years left. Finn was also a rugby player, as was Cam and they also played for the same team as Jack.

Eve, the waitress from my holiday in America had come over shortly after the eventful New Year. She enjoyed her time with us so much, that she returned later on in the year. At this visit she had flashed us the bling, as her and Connor were engaged. My "you regret what you don't say" speech was basically the start of that relationship so credit to me.

Scott and Aunty Andrea were now the proud parents of a little girl; Mollie. She was the most adorable thing ever and Scott was so good with her. He was still an anger management/learning support guy at the school. Currently I still relied on Scott for help when I was in trouble, but sadly his excuse notes did not work anymore and they didn't go down well with my boss.

At the moment I am working as a magazine writer. I had fired from an endless amount of jobs in shops for being "too mouthy" or "too honest to customers in clothes shops". I was happy in my job but I didn't feel like this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Sally, Joe, Claire, Tom and Charlie were now all 16 and in their last year of secondary school. Sally and Charlie were in a relationship together, and so Claire and Tom were as well. Joe was my little single pringle of a brother, so he would always be my babysitter when I needed one. He didn't like this and so he was desperately trying to find a girlfriend.

Amy and Pat had moved to Australia to be close to Julie. Jack and I don't think that Amy knows that we had told Julie the truth about Dan being our son. This was because Julie told us that Amy would frequently call Dan 'my son' to Julie. It was still another four years before I had any chance of getting Dan back. It was getting ridiculous. He is my son for God's sake and I'm now an adult.

Julie and I had reached a conclusion following on from our disagreement at Christmas. We were now slowly back where we had been when Jack and I first got together. She understood why Jack had proposed and that it was not just because my Dad had made him. It was nice to know that Dad and Julie were now both on our sides. It showed a real change in attitudes towards us.

Mason and Matt had also moved to Australia. Matt wanted to be with Hanna, as their relationship was still going strong. Danielle, Mason's girlfriend and Hanna's best friend had also moved out there with them. I missed them a lot because even though it never seemed like we got on, they were frankly my best friends. I had known them all my life and we were so close. I also missed them because now I had no one to take the piss out of.

I had reached out to Megan in the weeks following the New Year. I had felt guilty about the way I had treated her and how I had patronised her. It wasn't my fault that our family wasn't perfect but it wasn't hers either, and I had taken my own anger about not having this perfect family out on her. We now met up twice a month, just enough to build bridges between us without tearing them down in the process. We weren't as close as we would maybe like to be, however we were slowly but surely getting there.

To answer the biggest question of all, Jack and I are not married. The ring is still on my finger but somehow over the past year and 11 months we hadn't found the time what with having a baby and everything . However, we had started to plan what we were going to do, when it was going to be and where it was going to be. The plan just has to take off and become an actual wedding.

Welcome back to my crazy life.