“Bloody hell, who are you calling gran? I’m only fifty with a bit to spare. Do I look that old?” she grumbled, setting a bowl of soup and a breadbasket on the table.
“Gran, put something on the table. I’m starving,” Michael announced as he walked in, hanging his dusty cap on the hook by the door.
Tanya huffed.
“Who are you calling gran? I’m barely fifty! Do I look like some old woman?” she muttered, slamming down the soup and bread.
Michael washed his hands and gave her a light smack on the backside as he passed.
“Well, what else should I call you? Youve got a two-year-old granddaughterthat makes you a gran. And Im proud to be a grandad,” he chuckled, slurping his hot soup.
“Fine, call me that at home, not in public. Remember yesterday at the shop? You shouted, ‘Gran, your wellies are over here!'” she mimicked. “Dyou know how embarrassing that was? Everyone burst out laughing behind my back.”
Michael snorted.
“They werent laughing at you. They were laughing at Michael bloody Thompson, who dropped his change and made a spectacle trying to pick it up. Thought he was gonna get on his knees and lick it off the floor.”
Tanya smirked.
“So thats why you bought him another pint?”
Michael shrugged between spoonfuls.
“Felt sorry for the bloke.”
Tanya rolled her eyes.
“Thats why you never keep a penny to your name. Waster.”
When Michael finished eating and Tanya started clearing the table, she hesitated before speaking.
“Mick, theres something you should know. Anthonys comingand hes not alone.”
Her husbands mood soured instantly.
“Whats he want here? Remember what he said last time? ‘Piss off, youre nothing to me.’ Left poor Nadia right outside the registry office and drove off. All because she supposedly met up with his mate before the wedding. The poor girl cried, swore it was just to pick up a CD. But no, Mr. High and Mighty wouldnt hear it. And now hes dragging God knows who along. Probably some posh tart hes waiting on hand and foot. Call him, text him, do what you likejust keep him out of my sight,” Michael snapped.
Tanya lowered her head guiltily.
“Sorry, love Theyll be here by tonight.”
Michael slammed the door on his way out, throwing over his shoulder,
“Fine. You deal with em then.”
Tanya sighed as she watched him leave. Stubborn as a mule, the pair of them. All because of that Nadia. When Anthony announced he was marrying her, something didnt sit right. She seemed polite enough, but there was a falseness about her. And when they split after that row, Nadia didnt waste time cryingshe married that very same friend of his. Proof enough: where theres smoke, theres fire.
Tanya slid a pie into the oven. Mick would cool off and come backwhere else would he go? But after eight years without her eldest, she missed him terribly. Their daughter visited nearly every week, living close by. But Anthony? Her heart ached for him. She just hoped hed stay awhileand that he and his dad wouldnt clash again.
Anthony arrived just as Tanya had given up waiting. Michael, though, had spent the evening needling her.
“Keep staring out that window, youll wear a hole in it,” hed joked.
“Anthony, love!” Tanya burst into tears, throwing her arms around him. “Look at youspitting image of your dad.” Then she noticed the little girl clutching a backpack.
“Oh, and whos this? Whats your name, sweetheart?”
The girl offered a small hand.
“Im Katie. Whore you?”
Tanya straightened, glancing at her son. Just who was she to her?
Anthony dropped his bags by the door and slumped onto a chair.
“Mum, meet Katie. My stepdaughterOlgas girl.”
Tanya beamed and crouched to Katies level.
“You can call me Nanny Tanya. That makes you my granddaughter.”
Katie looked to Anthony.
“Uncle Tony, is that true? Is this lady my nanny?”
He nodded tiredly.
“Yeah.”
Katie hugged Tanya politely.
“Hello, Nanny.”
Then Michael stepped into the room.
“Hold onwhats this ‘Uncle Tony’ business? And since when do we have a granddaughter?”
Anthony stood and held out his hand.
“Hello, Dad. And Im sorry about how we left things. I was young. Didnt know life yet.”
Michael smirked.
“Know it now, do you?”
Anthony sighed.
“Too well.”
His father pulled him into a tight hug.
“Welcome home, son.” Tears glinted in both their eyes.
Tanya exhaled in relief. Theyd made peace.
That night, after Katie was asleep, Anthony explained everything.
“When I left, I was furious. You didnt know the full story, and I wouldnt throw Nadia under the bus. That night, I went to say goodnightlike an idiotand caught her with bloody Vicky in the bushes. I went to teach him a lesson, but she stopped me. Screamed she loved him. So I walked away.”
But that was the past. Hed gone to London, drowned his sorrows till his money ran out, then found work as a security guard. Thats where he met Olga at the till. Petite, fragile. One day, some bloke yelled at her over change, and she fled to the back in tears. Anthony, on his break, offered,
“Want me to sort him out?”
She smiled weakly.
“If you did that to every rude customer, the shopd go bust.”
He scoffed.
“Shouldnt you be used to it by now?”
Then she admitted,
“Its not that My landlords evicting me and my daughter. Nowhere to go.”
Anthony asked,
“How olds your girl?”
Olga showed him a photo proudly.
“Three. My neighbour, old Betty, watches her while I work. Shed take us in, but her sons selling her flat. And my wages wont come till next week.”
She returned to the till, head bowed.
Anthony hadnt fallen for her thenjust pitied her. Some cad had tricked and abandoned her, leaving her struggling. So after his shift, he offered her his rented room in the shared house. She refused at firstprobably scaredbut eventually agreed. Better than the streets.
They lived as housemates. She cooked, he worked opposite shifts, looking after Katie. The girl was quiet, seriousnothing like Olga. After six months, they became a proper family.
Then two years ago, Olga fell ill. They fought hard, but she passed six months back. A month before, Anthony adopted Katie to keep her out of care. And she still called him “Uncle Tony.”
Olga had been fiercely honestconfessing Katies real father had abandoned them. Theyd argued, didnt speak for a week, till Olga explained: shed grown up in foster care, never knowing the truth till she was tricked out of her council flat at eighteen. Since then, she vowed always to be truthful.
Now Anthony needed help. His mate Paul had landed him a well-paying job, but Katie couldnt come.
“Could you look after her while Im away?” he pleaded.
Michael and Tanya exchanged glances, then said together,
“Course she can stay. But you stick around a week firstlet her settle.”
And so it was decided.
Katie warmed to her grandparents slowly. She fed the chickens, helped Tanya, and though she was shy with Grandad Mick at first, he won her over with a giant teddy bear.
“My grandads Mick, so this bears Michael!” she declared, hugging it tight.
When their daughter visited with her toddler, Katie was the best little helperplaying, pushing the pram.
And when Anthony returned three months later, Katie spotted him first.
“Grandad! Nanny! Dads home!” she cheered, sprinting to hug him.
The adults wept. Katie had found her real family at last.
