Completely & Stupidly: Forever and Ever

Chapter 13. Charity

 This particular Thursday was for the kids. Nursery wasn't in session for Johnny and Moses due to an irregular teacher training day, and with Noah being suspended for the rest of the week, thanks to his fight with Tom, Charity and Vanessa had decided to let Sarah stay home too, with the condition being that each of them tidied their bedrooms and helped out with entertaining the little ones while Charity and Vanessa had to finish the last of the wedding prep. Once they agreed, Vanessa counted backwards from three, as she usually did, to encourage Johnny and Moses to tidy up by letting them think it was a race. A race in which they always won, because unbeknownst to them, they were the only ones participating. The four kids, and Charity, all stood in their positions in the living room as they waited to dart upstairs and start. "Three, Two, One, go" Vanessa shouted loudly. In a fit of giggles, the little ones roared with laughter all the way up the stairs, excited to make it to their bedroom where their countless toys scattered the room, hiding the carpet away beneath racing cars, teddy bears and Legos. Sarah and Noah, with an equal lack of enthusiasm, followed behind to make a start on their own dreaded cleaning, with each of them carrying a black bag for their rubbish to be brought back down in. Which just left Charity, who had lost a game of rock, paper, scissors to Vanessa, meaning Vanessa had won the easy job of straightening up the living room, while Charity herself had to clean the bathroom. With her rubber gloves pulled right up to her elbows, she trudged up the stairs and pouted, picking up the toilet brush and before scrubbing away at the inside of the bowl. 

Once everything was pristine and Johnny and Moses subsided from their now immaculate bedroom, Vanessa named them the winners and awarded them with choosing which game they'd all play as a family as a treat. After whispering in secret and incoherent child talk, they eventually settled on hide and seek. Charity's eyes lit up. Her favourite game, due to the fact that she would let the kids hide and then not bother trying to find them until they'd been silent for too long, or after she'd finished a glass of wine. Though they normally played at tea time, not at midday, so she weighed up the options that played out in her head and decided that a nice strong cup of coffee would do just as well. "You have to hide first" Moses called out, pointing to Charity and Vanessa. "No, that's not how this game works" Charity told, hoping Vanessa would agree, but found herself giving in almost immediately as the rest of them agreed with the four-year-old. "Give me strength" Charity muttered under her breath as she tried to think up where she was going to hide in their tiny cottage. "Let's play in the village" Sarah suggested, not liking the idea of anyone snooping around in her bedroom. "Yeah, that'll be better," Noah agreed. Almost suspicious at the teenagers' shift in attitude, Charity and Vanessa agreed. "Alright, but team up, a big person and a little person hides together, okay?" Vanessa insisted, thinking of the safety of the kids out on the street. "Okay" everyone chorused at once. Moses held out his arms to Noah so that he could be picked up. Copying his brother, Johnny jumped up at Sarah and was picked up and placed onto her hip. Vanessa did a double take at Charity, who had a smile on her face, a smile that usually came with mischief. "No" Vanessa warned with laughter as Charity launched herself towards her and swooped her up off the floor. Vanessa screamed as she towered above Charity's head, fearing that she would topple over her shoulders. "Right, everyone got their little person?" Charity asked. Her family all laughed together as Vanessa tried desperately to kick her way back to the ground, tears in her eyes as she giggled happily. As Charity slipped Vanessa carefully back onto her feet, she kissed her playfully on the nose. "Okay, let's go" she shouted, ushering the kids through the door. Out on the pavement, they stood huddled together for a moment, going over the rules of sticking together and not running off. Then once the boys nodded that they understood, Moses and Noah turned their backs and began counting to thirty. Sarah and Johnny headed off in one direction, and Charity and Vanessa in another, holding hands as they half ran, half jogged, away from their kids. "Where should we go?" Vanessa asked, glancing around. "The pub" Charity joked. Vanessa shook her head. "I'm kidding," Charity insisted, only half telling the truth. "What about there?" Vanessa asked, pointing towards the park, "Or the cricket pavilion?", "I'm not going there ever again" Charity spat, as memories of nudity and Paddy's horrified face came flooding back to her. Vanessa attempted to hold back a laugh, which turned into a scoff, then together they turned and their faces became that obvious picture of a lightbulb moment. "The pirate ship" they said in unison, and quickly, they scarpered towards Mulberry Cottage. As they sped around the corner, after hearing Moses shout 'Ready or not here I come', they almost ran right into Laurel who was heading out of the house. "What's going on?" Laurel asked as she saw the two grown women attempt to climb into the children's playhouse. "Sorry Laurel," Vanessa called, poking her head back out of the entrance as Charity pulled herself up and inside the ship. "You never saw us, okay?" She threatened playfully, before pulling Vanessa further inside and closing the door behind them. Laurel stood baffled, and shook her head. "Right" She spoke to herself, and then carried on walking as if nothing had happened. Inside, Charity peeked through the small circular window to see if any of the kids were heading their way. "Get away from there, you're going to blow our cover" Vanessa coaxed, tugging at Charity's arm. "Fine" Charity whispered. "It's quite nice in here isn't it?" Vanessa pointed out, sitting down in one of the bean bags. "Yeah, it's alright" Charity shrugged, though secretly she did think the pirate ship was a little bit cooler than she'd have imagined it to be. Bored already, Charity flicked a switch on the wall and jumped as a light flickered on. "Switch that off" Vanessa muttered, "I didn't know that was going to happen" Charity told, having flicked the switch back off just as quickly as it had come on. "You didn't know the light switch was going to turn on the light?" Vanessa questioned, as if she were stupid. "I didn't know it was a light," Charity insisted. Vanessa shook her head. "You can be so dumb sometimes" she scoffed. "And you can be really bossy" Charity spat back. Vanessa raised an eyebrow and smiled cheekily. "You don't normally complain about that" she muttered, causing Charity to duck her head coyly. As a wave of embarrassment crashed over her, it was actually quite fitting she thought, as she remembered they were hiding inside a ship. When she lifted her gaze, her eyes fell upon a captain's hat, hanging on a hook on the wall. Reaching out for it, Charity pulled it down and popped it on Vanessa's head. "Ah" Vanessa piped up, realising what it was that had been forced over her ponytail. "That's more like it" She nodded, refitting the cap so that it sat more comfortably around her face. "Now get down will you, if the kids go by that window, they'll definitely see you, and we'll lose, and we'll be reminded of just how big a pair of losers we are, all night", "Aye Aye Captain" Charity winked, obeying her tiny Captain's commands.
"Right, what the hell are they up to?" Charity sighed boredly after half an hour had passed by and the clock ticked closer towards the next hour. "I don't know. Reckon we've been played?" Vanessa asked, still laying in the bean bag wearing the captain's hat. "What if they've had an accident?", "They won't have", "They might have", "No, they'll be fine, Charity. They're probably just letting us stew. Stop worrying" Vanessa cooed. "I'm going to call them" Charity insisted, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "You're playing right into their hands" Vanessa told, but Charity was already pressing speed dial before she could finish her sentence. As the phone rang, she paced the ship, waiting for an answer. "Where are you?" She shouted as Sarah picked up. "Back home. We couldn't find you. We tried calling but you must have had no signal" She explained. Charity ran her hand across her forehead, rubbing it in relief as she realised, they were all safe. "Idiots. Stick the kettle on we'll be home in a minute" she barked, and hung up the phone abruptly. "Can you believe that?" Charity sighed. "Why'd you tell them we were coming back now. We've got this place all to ourselves" Vanessa pointed out. Charity pulled a face. "A children's play area?" Charity questioned, thinking less of Vanessa in that moment as she watched a hopeful expression creep up her face, "Yeah, you're right. Let's go" Vanessa shook her head, removing the dirty thoughts that attempted to plant their roots in her mind.
When they arrived back at Jacob's Fold, the four kids were standing out the front waiting in a line, grinning from ear to ear, along with Ryan. "What's going on?" Charity asked suspiciously. "Oh God, you haven't broken anything have you? She added, worried about the tall china lamp that had been teetering on the edge of the coffee table before they'd left the house earlier. "No," Noah swore blind. "Well, you've done something worth worrying over, I can feel it in my bones. Anyway, what are you doing here?" She asked, nodding to her son, though she couldn't hide how happy she was to see him now that he was back from visiting Irene. "These lot invited me over for dinner," Ryan said innocently, laughing a little as Vanessa eyeballed each of them to see who was going to break rank first over what was really going on. "Don't worry, they've not done anything bad, quite the opposite actually" Ryan said, with a mischievous smile. As he did, somebody began opening the front door. "Surprise" a voice chirped as another unexpected face appeared upon the threshold. "Deb's, Jack" Charity mouthed, rushing forward to hug her daughter and grandson, who she'd not seen in person for months. "What are you doing here?" She asked, shocked to see her oldest child and youngest grandchild back in the village. "Well, I managed to sort out my priorities and thought I'd come down a day earlier. Didn't want to miss this Hen do, if that's ok with you?" She explained as she hugged her mum. "Of course, it's ok with me" Charity breathed, taking in Debbie's scent. "Welcome back" Vanessa breathed as she took her turn hugging Debbie. "Right, shall we go in?" Charity asked, with the biggest grin on her face as she felt an immense sense of happiness, having all of her children under one roof. "Ooh, smell that" Vanessa gasped as each of them almost got knocked over by the delicious scent of lasagne. "I tried to copy your recipe. I hope you don't mind" Sarah admitted, looking hopefully to Vanessa. Vanessa's face broke out in a smile. "What's mine is yours" She told her as Charity popped her arm around her waist. Together, they stood and watched as their kids crowded together in the tiny room with a smile and a sense of achievement for the family that their love had brought together.
After dinner, each of them full and content from a delicious meal and flowing conversation, the Dingle's and Dingle's to be kicked back and enjoyed one another's company. They talked about Debbie's life in Scotland, and begged her to spill the beans on the new mysterious man she may have or not have in her life, chatted about the wedding, and gossiped about village life and the goings on over the last few days. "She didn't?" Debbie gasped, "She did, and Chas was not best pleased. She threw everyone out afterwards" Vanessa laughed, filling Debbie and Ryan in on what had gone down at Jimmy's birthday party. "Well, I can't say I blame her, really. You're a nightmare when you're drunk. Hope I'm not lumbered with being your chaperone tomorrow" Debbie replied, turning her head to her mother, who was shaking her head in false offence as they laughed at her expense. "I don't need a babysitter, I'll be on my best behaviour so that I walk down that aisle with a clear head, actually" Charity insisted, not that anyone believed her. "I'm glad I won't have to be there" Ryan laughed, "Me too" Noah chimed in, lifting his head from the bright glare of his mobile. "So, what are you boys going to get up to without us?" Vanessa asked, kissing Johnny on the head as he wandered over for a hug. "Pizza, junk food and loads of tears from him when I kick his butt on his own PlayStation" Noah teased, nudging Ryan's arm. "That's what you think," Ryan exclaimed, pushing his brother back playfully. "As long as you don't stay up too late, we don't want bags under your eyes as well as a bruise" Charity warned. Noah ducked and hid his face as everyone glanced towards it. Luckily, his bruise had turned into more of a yellow shade than black, and was barely noticeable from far away, so he held out hope that it wouldn't pick up on the photos. Charity suddenly felt a little teary eyed as her thoughts turned to somebody important to her who wouldn't be able to celebrate with them. "It's a shame Lisa won't be there tomorrow, and Saturday" Charity mentioned. Everyone nodded and bowed their heads at the thought of Lisa Dingle, the backbone of the family. "She'd have loved a good knees up" Debbie smiled weakly, thinking back on weddings and parties of the past. "Yeah, she would" Charity agreed, nodding. "She'd have been the first to get you to drink from the welly, too" Debbie pointed out to Vanessa. Vanessa laughed, her shoulders raising up with her smile as she felt a warm welcoming feeling flutter in her stomach, thinking about the Dingle tradition. As she grinned, she picked up her lukewarm cup of tea from the table top and held it out in front of her. "To Lisa," She said. "To Lisa" The others joined in, each raising their own cups, clinking them together, celebrating her memory.