Breakeven

Chapter 50

           

"Adam, get the door" I shouted as I was sat braiding Alleysha's hair.

A few minutes later, Rina and Sophie came into the living room.

"I won't be a minute" I said to them barely looking up to acknowledge their arrival. 

"Have you seen the paps outside Kay?" Sophie asked as she sat down.

"No, but I'm not surprised they are there." I replied, refusing to get stressed out today.

"How do they know?" Rina asked.

"You've not been on twitter recently then?" I asked with a forced laugh.  "Danny in his wisdom did a tweet spree last night and said on there that he's coming home today."

"Well it's a circus out there" Sophie said, acknowledging from my tone that I wasn't really impressed with the situation.

"Right, turn around and let me see" I said as I secured the hair tie in Alleysha's hair.  She turned and smiled "Beautiful" I declared before sending her to get her shoes and coat.

"Where's Mark and Glen?" I asked once Alleysha went upstairs.

"They're meeting us there, they said they needed to speak to Danny first so they've already gone over to the centre." Sophie said with an eye roll, we all realised that it wouldn't be long now til the lads would be itching to get back on the road.

"Which shoes Mum?" Adam said as he ran into the living room holding 2 pairs of shoes which to me looked almost identical.

"Those ones" I said, pointing to one of the shoes in his hands. He turned immediately to go and put them on.

"Do you want a drink?" I asked Sophie and Rina who both nodded. "Tea? Coffee? Something stronger?" I asked them with a laugh as I went to put the kettle on.

After making their drinks I lifted Keira onto my knee and started to brush through her hair.  Keira would never sit still long enough for me to do anything fancy with her hair, so I settled for a clip holding it off her face.

"Mum, can I borrow your lipstick?" Jessica shouted from the top of the stairs.

"Don't put too much make up on Jess" I shouted back, knowing that she would use my lipstick anyway.

"Welcome to the mad house" I laughed as I took a sip from my coffee.

"How are you feeling about today?" Sophie asked.

"A bit nervous about having Danny back here if I'm honest but he can't stay in the centre forever" I told her.

"So, what happens today?" Rina asked looking a bit confused about the whole thing.

"I don't know really" I admitted "It's a bit of a celebration of everyone who has completed their time at the centre, apparently it shouldn't be the elephant in the room and we should talk openly about what they've been through.  I think they get like a certificate or something to show their achievements, but I don't really get it."

One by one the kids reappeared in the living room, finally all dressed and ready to go.

"Right, there are paparazzi outside the house because they know that your dad is coming home today" I told them.  "So what do we have to do?"

"Straight into the car and don't say anything" Adam answered immediately.  I didn't know if I should be impressed with how he knew how to deal with paparazzi or not.  They don't regularly bother us at home but every now and then we get some attention from the press.

"Alleysha, you hold onto Auntie Rina's hand when we go out ok? Don't let go."  Alleysha nodded, unfortunately she has dealt with paparazzi before as well.

"Are you ok Jess?" I asked, knowing that she really hates when the paparazzi are here.  She nodded unconvincingly.  "I know you don't like them being here but just think, when we come back home your Dad will be with us so that makes it worth it, doesn't it?" I wrapped my arm around her shoulder to offer her comfort.

"I just don't get why they have to be here" Jessica complained.

"I know honey, but they just come sometimes, there's nothing we can do about it." I tried to reason with her.

"Stick with me kid, I don't like them much either" Sophie said to Jessica which made Jess smile.

"Are we ready?" Rina said as we hovered at the door.  Everyone nodded as I lifted Keira to make the trip to the car quicker for us.

Rina opened the door and we were greeted by the flashes from the cameras and bombarded with questions of "How do you feel about Danny coming home?"

Jessica and Sophie were quick to the car with Adam not far behind them, Rina and I walked over and got Alleysha and Keira strapped into their car seats before getting in ourselves.  The press continued to snap their cameras at the blacked-out windows as the car pulled away.  I turned to check that the kids were ok and thankfully they were all fine.

As we arrived at the centre, there were more paparazzi just outside the gates along with a few fans of the band who I recognised.  Luckily they weren't able to get access to the centre so once we had driven past the gates we were free of the outside attention.

We went into a huge hall, with rows of seats laid out ready for the presentation.  I spoke to a few of the people from my support group briefly while we waited but it was soon time to take our seats for the presentation.

The manager of the centre started by welcoming everybody and thanking us for coming.  He talked about the importance of recovery and how the centre was only the first part of the journey, reminding us all that although our loved ones are now clean and ready to come back to their normal lives, they will always be in recovery from their addictions.  He spoke about how it is now our job to offer support as the recovery continues.  He spoke a lot about the program that they used in the centre and about how they would welcome anybody back if they ever felt it was necessary.

"...But you didn't come here today to listen to me talk about our centre.  Today is about celebrating the huge achievements that these people have made in their lives.  They have made a choice and a conscious effort to live their lives free of addiction and we are here today to celebrate that choice and the progress they have made, so please give a round of applause for our graduates."

The room erupted in applause as one by one each person was called to the stage to receive their certificate and a special recovery medallion.  The medallions were engraved with 'Out of the Ashes of Addiction Comes Renewal and Growth'.

I could see the pride etched on Danny's face as he was presented with his, and I knew in that instant that this would be the first day of the rest of our lives.

At the end of the presentation, Danny came bounding from the stage and wrapped his arms around me. "I'm so proud of you" I beamed, feeling as though my heart could burst.

There was a short reception after the presentation, but most families only stayed for one cup of tea, like us, I think everyone just wanted to go home and get on with their lives.  Unfortunately, we couldn't go home until we had dealt with the circus outside.