Free A Family Holiday by Bella Osborne Page A

letting Charlie and Fleur keep in touch after they adopted Fleur, as the girls had shared an early bond in their foster placement together. It was thanks to the Van Bentons that she had got this job. They were good friends with Helen and Toby and knowing the Cobley’s situation they had engineered a meeting and waxed lyrical about how well Charlie was doing, having achieved her level one in childcare. The Van Bentons had been incredibly good to her.
    ‘Maybe I should have gone to Borneo for the honeymoon on my own,’ mused Fleur, staring up at the branches of the tree above her.
    ‘Great, so that would have kept you occupied for two weeks. Still leaves the question of the next seventy or so years,’ said Charlie, losing sight of Millie and half getting to her feet before spotting Ted supporting Millie on the climbing equipment.
    ‘Pa is driving me potty as well, so a break from the parents would be a good thing.’
    ‘What’s your dad done?’
    ‘Nothing he hasn’t done before. He just takes over everything. He cancelled the honeymoon, sorted out the return of all the presents. He’s sorting out the divorce. He does everything and it drives me mad,’ said Fleur, waving her arms and from her prone position looking a little like a dying fly.
    ‘Eleanor washes her own hair now,’ said Charlie after a pause.
    ‘Random.’
    ‘I don’t remind her, because I know she can do it herself. Before, I used to have to remind her and before that I had to do it for her.’
    ‘Riveting,’ said Fleur. ‘Should I book a holiday?’
    ‘What I mean is, you need to show your parents that you can do things for yourself. Start by sorting out the divorce. Show them you’re not a little girl any more,’ said Charlie, taking a quick glance at Fleur, who was pouting.
    ‘Pa knows solicitors and it’s all a bit upsetting.’
    ‘Don’t be so lazy! Google solicitors and pick one. Ring them up and ask them if they’ll take you on as their client. It’s not hard!’ said Charlie, shaking her head in dismay. Sometimes she wanted to give Fleur a good shake and this was one of them. ‘Right, I’ll round up the troops, you unpack the hamper,’ and Charlie strode off towards where she’d last seen Wriggly trying to wee up a litterbin.
    The children all ate their sandwiches in silence apart from Eleanor, who lay on the rug copying Fleur. Some teenagers walked close by them and Millie waved at them. When this elicited no response, she happily called after them, ‘Riff Raff!’ George started to chuckle and a smile broke out on Eleanor’s face and then, like the best disease ever, they all started to laugh. Fleur lifted her sunglasses to survey them all. It was like a release valve and the laughter went on a fraction longer than was sane.
    The laughter trickled away and Charlie saw her opportunity. ‘I’m glad we’re together. I need to talk to you about going back to school,’ she said, checking each face in turn and waiting for the deluge of complaints. ‘I’ve been speaking to your schools regularly and they’re keen to have you back.’
    Ted looked at his siblings and shrugged at Charlie. ‘Fine, it’s boring at home,’ he said.
    ‘Even more boring than school,’ said George. They all turned to look at Eleanor.
    ‘I’ve missed school. Can I go tomorrow?’
    ‘If you want to,’ said Charlie, totally stunned by the reaction. Maybe getting back into their normal routine was what they were missing, but she couldn’t help but worry how they would manage all the questions and curiosity that would surely come their way from their classmates. She knew she couldn’t protect them from that. All she could do was be there when they came home.
    ‘Are there any crisps?’ asked Eleanor, and Charlie handed them over and resisted the urge to hug her.
    After the food, the children disappeared with the football and whatever the game was they were playing Wriggly appeared to be at the centre of it. Charlie packed away all the