Free A Last Kiss for Mummy by Casey Watson

fun.’
    ‘We are. We are, aren’t we, my little man?’ Emma said as she continued with her game. ‘Sorry I was such a narky pants earlier, Casey. I just get a bit tired, that’s all. And I miss Tarim. I really wish he was here with us.’
    ‘I know, love. I do.’ I wondered then if it was an opportunity to try to get Emma to talk a little about Tarim, but quickly decided against it. Better to approach the situation in hand first, while she was being reasonable. ‘You’ll just have to write him an extra-long letter when you’re feeling lonely. I’m sure he won’t mind you having a rant to him, will he?’
    Emma looked up and giggled. ‘I suppose not. And even if he does, it’s not like he can do anything about it, is it? Mind you, if I got him annoyed he’d probably get me back by not phoning me or something. It’s hard for him, Casey, being locked up and not knowing what I’m up to.’
    ‘Up to?’ I laughed. ‘What, doing feeds and changing nappies?’ I nearly added that he was having it easier than she was, in my opinion. But I didn’t want to joke about him. I had my concerns about this boyfriend of hers. Every time she mentioned him I got the feeling that he must be quite controlling and it made me a little uncomfortable. I would definitely be bringing this up again. But for now I had to persuade her to join a group or two. Maybe then she wouldn’t be so reliant on her boyfriend.
    ‘Listen, love,’ I said instead, ‘I had an idea. A friend of Kieron’s runs a brilliant young mum and baby group. There’s loads of girls around your age and babies the same age as Roman. I think you’d really enjoy it.’
    ‘Oh I don’t know, Casey. I’m not really a group person. And girls my age don’t usually like me. They all think I’m out to snag their boyfriends or something,’ Emma said.
    ‘Don’t be daft. How could they not like you?’ I decided to play it slightly differently. ‘Also, imagine what Hannah would think? She’d be so impressed that you were doing something off your own steam for Roman’s benefit.’
    Emma thought for a moment and then stood up. ‘You might be right, Casey. It would be like a slap in her face if I did it, wouldn’t it? She’d have no reason to keep snooping around so much if I got my arse into gear, would she?’
    This wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but still, if it got her doing something. ‘Well, she’d still have her usual visits, love, but she would have to record in her notes that you were showing initiative and trying to do something nice for Roman. You never know, you might meet some nice friends too.’
    ‘Doubt it,’ Emma grimaced as she spoke, ‘and besides, I could never be mates with anyone that Tarim didn’t know. He’s good like that. He can read people like books. He always knows who would be right for me.’
    I had to bite my lip to prevent myself from commenting. Maybe this was one of those instances where there were many little battles to be won before attempting the war. Maybe I needed to be more canny. Do some manoeuvring where all that was concerned.
    ‘Right, that’s settled then,’ I said. ‘I’ll let Hannah know, and we’ll go to the first session on Thursday. I’m looking forward to it.’
    I was right. Hannah, who called the next day, was super-impressed that Emma had agreed to attend a group, and she told her how well she had been doing recently. After checking the baby over and speaking with Emma for a while, she asked if she could have a quick chat with me before leaving. We went through to the kitchen for a coffee.
    ‘Just going through my list, Casey,’ Hannah explained as she took a notebook out of her bag. ‘It’s nothing major, but I need to check how she’s doing with Roman. The day-to-day stuff, and emotionally.’
    She then went on to ask about Emma’s routines and asked if I thought she was attending to Roman’s needs, etc. In fact everything was fine until she asked, ‘And what about this