Page 43 of Silver Tears

She mumbles incoherently, her eyes remaining shut.

“Will you help me get her into bed?” I ask him. There’s no way I can shift her on my own. It’s a good job he’s here with me tonight, even if I didn’t want him involved in this side of my life.

“Sure. She’s going to need watching tonight, you know?”

I nod my head and step in to assist as he lifts her in his arms and moves towards the door. “I’ve got her, Mills. You just get the doors for me.”

Charlie meets us in the hallway and his smile drops when he sees his mum in Sebs’ arms.

“She just needs sleep, Charlie,” I reassure him. “Seb and I are putting her to bed. You go get in bed and choose a bedtime story, okay?”

“I want Seb to read it to me,” he announces, and I’m about to say no when Seb surprises me again.

“Sure thing. Go pick your book and I’ll be in soon, Charlie,” Seb says to him.

I mouth a thank you to him over the top of Charlie’s head and he winks at me before he heads into mum’s bedroom. Charlie skips off to his room, made up that Seb is going to read to him. I rush past Seb and pull back the covers on the bed for him to place her down. “You’ll need to grab a bucket and a large glass of water.”

I head back downstairs into the kitchen and grab a black bucket from under the sink and fill a drinks bottle with water. I meet Seb on the landing, and he gestures to the room down from mums. “That his room?”

“Yeah, if you leave his night light on when you’re done and then I’ll bob in and say goodnight to him.”

“Sure thing.” He smiles warmly at me, and it causes a fuzzy feeling in my tummy. Clearing my throat, I squeeze past him. I set up the bowl at mum’s bedside and put the bottle on her bedside drawers. I lean down and brush her hair off her face. Once upon a time, my mum was a real looker. Right now, she looks tired and haggard.

I pause in the hallway when I hear Charlie belly-laughing. I detour from my journey down to the kitchen and stick my head in his bedroom doorway. When I do, I find Seb putting on an animated pirate voice as he reads the adventure story to Charlie. Charlie watches him avidly, listening to his every word with a big grin on his face. Trust Seb to add drama into reading a bedtime story. Smiling to myself, I leave them to it and head down to the kitchen. I pick up the empty vodka bottle and place it in the recycling bin and set about tidying up the kitchen, once again.

“He’s ready for you,” Seb announces. I jump slightly as I hadn’t heard him come into the room. “I’ll wash those pots while you say goodnight.”

“Oh, you don’t need to do that,” I protest. It’s bad enough that he has seen the state of my mum tonight and now he wants to help clean her messy house. “Have you ever washed up before?” I grin. I can’t help teasing him. It’s our thing.

“Funny, Mills. Go on, get out of here and let me get to work.” He steps to the side of the doorframe and gestures for me to pass him.

Charlie is lying in bed, cuddled up with his favourite soft dinosaur. I kneel beside his bed and ensure he’s tucked in properly. “Did you enjoy your story with Seb?”

Charlie nods his head with a wide smile. “He’s so funny. Can he come and read to me again?”

I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know, Charlie. Seb is busy with his own life.” I watch his smile turn into a sulky pout.

“I like him.”

I tweak his nose playfully. “I know you do, Chops. We’ll see, huh? Now it’s late and you need to get to sleep.”

Charlie settles down into his bed, and I lean over and kiss him on the forehead. “Night, night, sleep tight.”

“Milly,”

I stop halfway to the door. “Yeah, Chops?”

He pauses for a second and cuddles his dinosaur tighter. “You’re not leaving tonight, are you?”

“No, Charlie. I’ll be here in the morning. I’m going to stay and look after mum. Shall we have bacon and egg for breakfast?”

He relaxes, reassured. “Can we have hash browns as well?”

“I don’t see why not. Now get to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.” I close his bedroom door and make my way back downstairs to find Seb.

“There is a sight I like to see. A guy at the kitchen sink.” I lean against the doorway, watching him. He briefly glances over his shoulder and grins.

“How about you get over here and dry the dishes instead of perving on me?”

---