Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was midday, and they were the only two in the house. Johnny had a bug and was off school and Vanessa hadn’t been able to get the day off work so Charity had volunteered to stay home with him. They had spent the day on the sofa watching TV and, if asked she would deny it, but Charity had enjoyed spending the day with her step-son. She and Vanessa weren’t married yet, but they were living together and had been a couple for long enough that they considered themselves one family. The landlady and the young boy had a strong bond already, but days spent together, just the two of them, served to solidify that bond. Of course, Charity would prefer it if Johnny wasn’t ill, but she couldn’t deny that she enjoyed the child’s company. He was so much like his mother in so many ways that it always made Charity laugh. He was a Woodfield through and through.

“Charity?” the feature of her thoughts drawled out from beside her.

“Yes, darling?”

“You’re Moses’ mummy, aren’t you?” he asked, fairly certain that he was right. He had heard Moses call her Mummy loads of times.

Charity’s brow furrowed, “Yeah I am,” she replied. She knew that Johnny knew this. She and Vanessa had sat their two youngest children down when they first moved in together to explain their burgeoning family to the two boys. Both had been delighted that they were to become step-brothers and had quickly become practically inseparable in the ensuing months. Wherever one went, the other wasn’t far behind.

“And Noah’s and Debbie’s,” he nodded.

“That’s right,” she was getting more confused by the second. She could tell that Johnny was heading somewhere but she couldn’t figure out where.

“Are you my Mummy?” he asked, his face the picture of innocent curiosity.

Charity’s eyes went wide. She had not been expecting this. Sure, people had mistaken Johnny for hers from time to time as was want to happen when strangers saw a woman with a child, but she hadn’t thought about Johnny himself thinking that she was his mother. Surprisingly, she didn’t hate the idea. She already loved Johnny as if he was one of her own, it was hard not to, but she and Vanessa had never discussed what their children would call the other. They had just assumed that their kids would call their girlfriend by her name. It’s what most kids did with step-parents so they thought that it would be the same for their kids.

“No, love. I’m your step-mum,” she said slowly, “remember me and your mummy explained it to you and Moses when we all first started living together?”

Johnny nodded, “But that was a long time ago and you do mummy stuff for me all the time.”

“I do?”

“You make my breakfast and you read me a bedtime story and you look after me when I’m sick,” Johnny listed, “and that’s all stuff mummies do for kids.”

Suddenly feeling very cornered, and wishing that Vanessa was here for this conversation, she started softly hoping she could help Johnny understand, “Yeah okay that’s true but-”

“Don’t you want to be my mummy?” he asked, his face falling. The sight broke Charity’s heart.

“Oh, love, no that’s not it at all,” she rushed to reassure the boy, “it’s just that this is a big decision and you should probably talk to your Mum about it first.”

“Mummy will say yes, I know she will,” he smiled, “she loves you as much as I do.”

“And I love you both, too. But still, talk to her about it first okay?”

“Okay,” he grinned and turned back to watching the TV as if he hadn’t just completely thrown his step-mother for one of the biggest loops of her life.

After Noah, she hadn’t wanted another kid; hell, her lack of desire for more children had even been the downfall of her two previous marriages, amongst other things. Moses had been a surprise, but she loved him nonetheless. When she had him though, she had vowed to never have another child. She was certain that she didn’t want anymore, and she was comfortable with that decision. Then, her relationship with Vanessa had brought with it another child. Sure, Johnny wasn’t biologically hers and she was just ‘Charity’ to him – at least that’s what she had thought – but she loved him all the same. She loved him and Vanessa loved her kids and things were good for their mish-mash little family and she didn’t want to rock the boat.

She had no clue how Vanessa would react if Johnny actually brought up calling her ‘Mum’. She was worried that Vanessa would think that she had put the idea in his head and the last thing she wanted was to step on Vanessa’s toes. Especially considering the other woman’s sensitivity about Johnny’s parentage. The whole paternity mess-up was still a sore subject for the vet who still felt bad for Adam, even though it was not remotely her fault, but even that paled in comparison to how sensitive Vanessa was about Kirin and the fact that he wasn’t around for his son. Vanessa and Johnny had been through a lot, even if the boy didn’t know it yet, and there was no way Charity was going to let this mess with the other woman’s head. She would just have to speak to Vanessa before Johnny could.

She was slightly on edge all day waiting for her girlfriend to come home and when the other woman finally returned home she almost pounced on her.

“Hi babe how was work?”

Vanessa stumbled backwards slightly, shocked at her girlfriend’s intense welcome, “Uh, yeah it was alright I gue-”

“That’s great,” Charity cut her off, “listen, can I have a word?” she nodded towards the ceiling, indicating her desire to speak to the other woman without any little ears listening in on their conversation.

Walking over to check on her son, she threw a confused look at the other woman, “Course, just let me check on Johnny okay?”

“Sure, sure, sure,” Charity rushed out, fairly confident that Johnny wouldn’t say anything to his mother the minute she walked thought the door.

Leaning over the back of the couch Vanessa placed a kiss in Johnny’s hair and felt his forehead to check his temperature. He looked a lot better than he had done when she had left for work that morning.

“How you doing, bud?”

He looked up at his mother, “My tummy still hurts but Charity said that I look a lot less peaky now,” his brow furrowed, “what does peaky mean?”

“Just means that you looked a bit grey this morning,” Vanessa laughed out.

“Like a ghost?” Johnny’s eyes went wide, he loved ghosts.

“Yeah, sweetheart, like a ghost.”

“I’m glad I’m not a ghost anymore, cause ghosts can’t eat sweets,” he looked offended at the very idea.

“You’re right, they can’t,” Vanessa smiled at the way her son’s mind worked. Only a child could think that the biggest pitfall of being a ghost would be not being able to eat sweets anymore. Ruffling his hair, Vanessa turned back around to face Charity who was looking at her like a bit of a mad woman. She had no clue what had rattled the woman so much, but she looked as if the top of her head was about to blow off.

“Alright, come on then, let’s talk before you burst,” she rolled her eyes and turned back to Johnny briefly, “Mummy’ll just be upstairs with Charity for a minute okay? Shout if you need me.”

“Okay,” he nodded, barely taking his eyes off the cartoon playing in front of him, and then remembering his earlier conversation with his step-mother, he spoke again, “Mummy?”

“What’s up, love?”

“Can Charity be my mummy, too?”

As he spoke, Charity slowly closed her eyes. The room went completely still and she braced herself for the fallout that was sure to come. She couldn’t believe that this was happening again. She always managed to screw up the good things in her life, and although that this wasn’t technically her doing she knew no one else would see it that way. She just hoped that Vanessa was gentle with her because this was going to be hard enough on her heart as it was.

“Is that something you want, baby?” Vanessa asked Johnny softly, not exactly surprised that he had been thinking about this. He had been asking questions lately about Charity being Moses and Noah’s mum and she had sensed that he was trying to come to some type of conclusion in his mind. This isn’t exactly what she had been expecting but she found that the thought made her happy. She just hoped that some day Moses, and maybe even Noah, thought of her the same way.

Johnny nodded quickly, “I love Charity.”

The woman in question smiled despite herself, “I love you, too, kiddo,” she whispered.

Looking at Charity, Vanessa saw the crestfallen look on her face. She knew that look. Charity was expecting trouble and she was bracing herself for impact. She had often worn that look at the start of their relationship when they were getting used to one another, but it had been a long-time since Vanessa had seen it and it broke her heart. She needed Charity to know that her becoming Johnny’s other mummy was more than okay with her.

Smiling at the interaction between the love of her life and her child, she leaned close to Johnny and pretended to whisper, “Why don’t you ask her then?”

Charity’s head shot up and she clapped eyes on Vanessa’s beaming face. The message was pretty clear: if this is something you want, it’s okay with me. This was not what Charity had been expecting. She stood, shocked, as Johnny got up off the sofa and shuffled over to her.

“Charity?”

Crouching down to his height, she smiled, “Yes, darling?” a sense of déjà vu passing over her. She was sure this whole thing was kicked off with the exact same interaction earlier in the day.

“Will you be my mummy?” he asked sweetly, before clarifying, “I still want Mummy to be my mummy, but can you be my mummy too?” He looked back at Vanessa who nodded encouragingly at him.

“Course I will,” she croaked out, emotion making it difficult to swallow and suddenly her arms were full of a very excited little boy. Looking over his shoulder, she watched her girlfriend wipe away a tear. She knew this was a big moment for the other woman who had only ever wanted what was best for her son. She was floored that the vet considered her good enough to be a parent to her son. She knew she hadn’t always been the best mother to her own kids, but she was getting better every day and that was all thanks to the blonde looking at her like she hung the stars in the sky.

Pulling back slightly from the young boy in her arms, Charity spoke softly, “Can you do me a favour?” she asked him, and continued at his nod, “can you run upstairs and grab me the hoodie off mine and Mummy’s bed please?” She watched Johnny climb the stairs before turning to his mother.

“So…” she started, unsure of what to say.

“Thank you.”

“Eh? What for?”

“For being the parent my son deserves,” the vet croaked out, “the parent Kirin never was.” The past few minutes had made her more emotional than she would’ve expected. She knew she had unresolved anger towards Kirin for abandoning Johnny, but she didn’t realise how affected she would be by someone stepping up and being there for Johnny like his father should have. She knew why Kirin had left but she couldn’t understand it. He had abandoned his own flesh and blood to save his own skin. She could never forgive him for that.

“Can’t say no to those eyes, can I? Got your eyes, han’t he, and lord knows I’ve never been able to say no to you,” she rolled her eyes in mock annoyance.

“Doesn’t stop you from trying sometimes,” Vanessa laughed.

“Gotta at least try to maintain my bad girl image, haven’t I?”

Smiling, Vanessa leaned forwards and brought her lips to the other woman’s. She hoped the kiss conveyed everything she felt towards her because she wasn’t sure she could put into words how grateful she was or how much she loved her. She never would have even imagined that this is where she and Johnny would have ended up but now that she was here she couldn’t imagine her life any other way. The sound of footsteps on the stairs pulled her back into the present and she and Charity broke apart.

“Mummy?”

“Yeah?” Vanessa answered.

“No not you,” Johnny shouted down, “I want Mummy Charity.”

Shooting Vanessa a smug look Charity muttered, “He wants his Mummy Charity,” before she raised her voice, “What’s up, kid?”

“I can’t find your jumper.”

She replied “Alright, I’ll be up now,” before she turned to Vanessa, “That’s gonna get really confusing, really fast.”

“Worth it, in’t it?”

“Definitely.”

Chapter Text

Once Johnny started calling Charity ‘Mummy’ the two blonde women knew it was only a matter of time before Moses cottoned on and started doing the same for Vanessa. They had discussed it and come to the conclusion that if – when – it happened then they would go with the flow and allow it to happen. Vanessa had tried to play it cool, but Charity knew that if Moses did decide to call her Mum then the vet would be thrilled; and Charity would be too. After everything she had put her kids through with her choice in men, she had finally found someone who was the step-parent they deserved.

It finally happened two days later, and it came as though the most natural thing in the world. So ordinary was it that it took both women a couple of minutes to notice it had even happened. Noah had just left for school and Vanessa was rushing around getting Johnny and Moses’s stuff ready for nursery when she asked if anyone had seen her keys. It was an innocent enough question and when she asked it didn’t even cross her mind where it would lead them.

“They’re here, Mummy,” Moses let her know, holding up the keys that had been under a magazine on the table in front of him.

“Thanks, love” Vanessa smiled, ruffling his hair as she took the offered keys before turning to her girlfriend, “don’t forget you’re picking them up today,” she reminded the half-sleeping woman. Charity never had been a morning person and she knew she would have to text her later in the day to remind her again. She didn’t mind though, especially when she considered that her keeping Charity up late into the night on most nights was probably a contributing factor to the other woman’s grumpiness in the morning. Although, she mused, it wasn’t as if her girlfriend complained at the time.

“Course, babe,” Charity grunted into the mug of coffee in front of her. It would be another hour and two mugs of coffee before she was fit for proper human conversation.

“Come on then kiddos, say bye to your mother.”

“Bye, Mummy!” came the perfectly synced and chipper reply from the two young boys, both of whom were used to Charity in the morning by now and knew not to take it personally when she was less than talkative in the mornings.

“Bye boys,” she replied, accepting the hugs that they both offered her, albeit still clutching her coffee as though it was the only thing tethering her to wakefulness. The sight made Vanessa chuckle. For a woman who claimed to be a ‘badass’, she couldn’t look further from that image in the morning. Bed hair, arms full of toddler, and a matching plaid pyjama set did not an intimidating image make.

“See ya later,” she murmured, while stooping down to peck Charity’s lips. Straightening up, she pulled the keys out of the pocket she had put them in for safe keeping. Catching sight of them she remembered what Moses had said when he had found them.

“Uhhh, Charity?” she began slapping the other woman on her arm to get her full attention.

“Ow, Ness, what?!”

“He called me Mummy,” she whispered, almost as if she was afraid that if she spoke too loudly that it wouldn’t be true. She hadn’t told Charity how much she wanted this, but ever since Johnny had called her girlfriend ‘Mummy’ a few days previously she had been hoping that this moment would come. She loves Moses, as well as Noah and even Debbie, as much as she loved Johnny, and that he considered her worthy of the title ‘Mummy’ meant more than she could ever explain, especially to someone as young as him. She knew Charity would understand the significance of this for her, though. After all, she had been in this position herself not that long ago.

“What? Who?” Charity was more awake than she had been a few minutes previously, her mug now empty of coffee, but she still wasn’t firing on all cylinders.

“Moses!” she hissed, prompting the landlady to sit up straight, fully awake now.

“Oh!” Charity’s eyes went wide. They had expected this, but she had at least thought that they would notice when it happened. Vanessa watched as realisation dawned in Charity’s eyes and then as emotions flew over her face. She knew that the other woman was wondering what to do now. They had both agreed that they would have to talk to Moses about it and make sure he understood the implications of calling Vanessa ‘Mummy’ but they hadn’t discussed how they would broach it with the young boy. She decided to let Charity to take the lead and she stood back and watched as mother and son spoke.

“Moses, sweetheart?” the blonde started, “did you just call Vanessa ‘Mummy’?”

Looking over from where he was stood playing with Johnny, Moses smiled, “Yep.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Well, you’re Johnny’s Mummy now, too, so Vanessa’s mine,” he shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Vanessa supposed it was.

“And you’re okay with that?” Charity asked, smiling at the beautiful simplicity of it all.

Moses nodded once, adding, “I love Vanessa.”

Vanessa beamed and scooped her newly acquired son into her arms, “I love you, too, kiddo,” she laughed out loudly over the sound of Moses’s squeals.

Putting him back on the ground she looked over to see her girlfriend smiling at them. In that moment she realised that she had never been happier. Her life was perfect and a big part of that was because of Charity Dingle and her children. The thought made her laugh once more, knowing that if someone had told her a few years ago that this is where she would end up that she would have fallen over in disbelief. Now that she was here though, she couldn’t imagine her life any other way.

The sound of Charity’s voice puled her from her thoughts, “Earth to Vanessa! Hello? You there babe?”

“Hmm, what? Yeah sorry I was just thinking,” she shook her head to clear her thoughts, “right boys, we better be off hadn’t we? Don’t wanna be late.”

After another round of goodbyes Vanessa and the two boys were out of the front door, all three beaming, leaving behind them an equally happy woman. It was amazing how much a simple word could mean to so many people. In all honesty, Vanessa knew that no matter what Moses had wanted to call her that she would love him the same and always see herself as his mother, just as she knew Charity felt the same about Johnny, but the fact that Moses loved her enough to make him want to call her ‘Mummy’ made her heart swell with pride. She loved that little boy, and just as she had when Johnny was born, she silently vowed to always do right by him, no matter what.

Chapter Text

Noah had been moping around the house for days and Vanessa could tell that it was wearing thin with his mother. They had both tried talking to him when he has first started showing signs of something being wrong, but he had brushed them off. They had chalked it up to typical teenage hormones and let him be. But that had been 3 days ago, and he was still stomping around, seemingly with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and neither of them had a clue why. All they knew was that it was beginning to affect everyone else in the house. Even the two youngest members of the family had picked up on it.

Initially Charity had decided that she was going to talk to him but that hadn’t gone well. It had ended with doors slamming and mother and child refusing to talk to each other for the rest of the evening. Vanessa had tried to ask Charity about their fallout, but her girlfriend had just mumbled something about how Noah was a brat and refused to say anything else. Vanessa had struggled to keep a straight face. Noah and Charity were more alike than either of them were willing to admit, but she wasn’t going to tell the other woman that. Tentatively she had asked if Charity wanted her to speak to Noah. Charity had agreed and smiled her thanks. Rather than badgering Noah, they decided that it was probably best to let him cool down some more and to try and speak to him again the next day.

That was how Vanessa found herself waiting at the bus stop for her step-son. She shuffled from foot to foot as she waited, oddly nervous. She didn’t know why but something in her gut was telling her that whatever was wrong with Noah was big. Standing up straight as she watched the bus approach and pull to a stop, she waited for the familiar mop of blonde hair to appear in the crowd of teenagers spilling off it.

“Noah! Over here, mate!” she waved to catch his attention, just in case he somehow hadn’t heard her shouting.

“Vanessa? What are you doing here?” his brow furrowed, “Is everything alright? Is it Mum?”

“Oh no no nothing like that,” she reached out to reassure him, “just thought we could go for a walk? Maybe have a kick about?” she nodded to the football he was carrying.

“Uhhh okay” he grumbled, clearly suspicious. Vanessa hated football and had never shown interest in playing with him before. Her out of character behaviour spooked him a bit.

Silently, they both headed off towards the cricket pitch, both lost in their own thoughts. Vanessa was busy wondering how to broach Noah about his recent mood without making it worse and Noah was running through the past few days in his mind, trying to figure out if he had done anything that would warrant being told off because he couldn’t think of another reason for this one-on-one with his stepmother.

As they reached the edge of the pitch, Noah threw his school bag on the ground and kicked the ball as far across the field as he could, trying his best to put as much distance between himself and Vanessa in the hopes of putting off whatever conversation she was clearly planning. Vanessa watched as he ran off after the ball. He took his time returning to her, but when he was close enough he kicked the ball to her gently. Surprising herself, she managed to stop it from rolling away from her, albeit clumsily.

Noah laughed at the look on her face, “I thought you wanted a kick about?” he asked.

“To be honest Noah, I wanted to talk to ya,” she smiled, tight-lipped.

“Yeah, I figured,” he grunted out, “what about?”

“You.”

“Me? What about me?”

“You’ve been knocking about acting all hard done by for days,” she started, “and you had that big barney with your Mum last night. So, out with it. What’s going on?”

Blunt is the approach she had settled on, apparently. She hadn’t known what she was going to say to the boy until she opened her mouth, but she figured that straight forward was best. Noah wasn’t a baby anymore and he didn’t need her pussyfooting about him.

“Nothing’s going on,” he answered a bit too fast for it to be true. He was shifty, and Vanessa could tell that if she went about this the right way that she could get him to open up.

“Don’t give me that, there’s something going on,” she tried to catch his eye as he did his best to look anywhere but at her.

“S’nothing,” he mumbled.

“Is it school? Is someone giving you grief?” she questioned, “’cause you know your Mum’ll be straight down there to sort it out if that’s the case.”

“No, no it’s not school,” Noah rushed to reassure her, visions of his Mum making a scene flying through his head.

“Alright then, what is it?” she asked again. He had all but admitted that there was something, so she knew that he knew that there was no getting out of this conversation now.

“Fine,” he huffed, clearly unhappy that he had backed himself into a corner, “how come Moses is calling you ‘Mum’ now?” he mumbled out.

“Pardon?” Vanessa asked, leaning in so she could hear him.

“How come Moses is calling you ‘Mum’ now?” he asked again, this time clear enough that Vanessa could hear him.

Oh, she thought. She supposed that she shouldn’t be surprised. She and Charity hadn’t really spoken to him about Johnny and Moses’s decision to call them both Mummy, and obviously that hadn’t been the smartest decision. They had both just assumed that he would be okay with it. Clearly, they had been wrong.

“He asked if he could and I said yes,” she told him, “same with Johnny and your Mum.”

“Oh,” was his only reply.

“Is that okay?” she tried to look as approachable and understanding as she could. She wanted Noah to talk to her about this. It was obviously weighing heavily on his mind and him keeping it bottled up hadn’t done any of them any favours over the past few days.

“Yeah, of course! I just...” he trailed off and Vanessa watched him fidget with the ball at his feet. There was something he wanted to say but obviously didn’t know how to put it into words. So, she waited. As she stood there she watched him open his mouth to speak before giving up at least three times before she decided to gently try and push him into finishing his thought.

“You just?” she asked, still doing her best to keep an open look on her face.

“I just,” he sighed, “I just thought that you always loved me and Moses the same amount, but you obviously see him as a son more than you see me as one.”

The look on his face broke Vanessa’s heart. He looked so much like his mother in her most vulnerable moments that the vet couldn’t take it. Rushing forwards, she pulled the teenager into her arms. She knew all too well how turbulent Noah’s past had been with his step-parents and she also knew exactly what it felt like to be unwanted by one of the people who was supposed to love you more than anyone on the planet. His pain resonated within her for a long moment before she pulled back to look him in the face.

“Noah Dingle, I love you just as much as I love your brother,” she croaked, her voice thick with emotion.

“Why are you his Mum and not mine then?” the teenager asked. At that moment Vanessa was reminded just how young he actually was. She sometimes forgot that, despite the fact that he was a grumpy teenager who insisted that he was ‘grown up now’, he was still just a child. A child who had been let down by the adults in his life more times than she could count.

“Oh, love, I am your Mum,” she smiled tearily.

“You are?”

“Of course I am,” she pulled him in for another hug, “and you don’t have to, but you can call me Mum, too, if you want.”

Noah nodded against her shoulder, “I think I’d like that.”

“Well alright then,” she chuckled, “now that that’s settled, it’s time for us to go home and for you to apologise to your Mum for giving her lip last night.”

He nodded again, knowing she was right. He had been rude to his mother the night before and she hadn’t done anything to deserve it. Pulling back from each other Vanessa saw that Noah’s eyes were watery, but she pretended not to notice. He picked up his bag and ball and they fell into step next to each other. As they walked back home Vanessa flung her arm around Noah’s shoulder, still feeling the need to reassure him that she wasn’t going anywhere and that she loved him.

Walking into the house they were greeted by Noah’s other mother, who had obviously been waiting for them.

“Hey up, you two look happy,” she raised her eyebrows a Vanessa, her eyes asking if everything was alright now.

Vanessa nodded, “Very happy.”

“Yeah?” the landlady asked, curiosity lacing her voice.

Putting her out of her misery, Noah answered the unasked question with one of his own, “I’m gonna start calling Vanessa ‘Mum’, is that okay?”

Charity’s eyes went wide and flew from her son to her girlfriend who was smiling shyly, “Of-of course it is, kid. As long as it’s okay with Vanessa?”

“More than okay,” Vanessa answered. In the space of less than a week she had gained two new children. To say it had been an emotional week would be an understatement. As she watched her girlfriend and son talk about how his day at school had been she slipped her hand into her coat pocket. Her fingers gripped tightly around the ring box hid within and she smiled. Yes, it had been emotional, and she figured that within the next few days emotions would run even higher. She couldn’t wait.

Chapter Text

“So, the boys are calling you ‘Mum’ now, are they?” Debbie asked, doing little to hide the judgment in her voice. Luckily, Vanessa had grown used to the holier-than-thou attitude Charity’s daughter sometimes had. Debbie’s inability to be consistent with her opinion of Vanessa and Charity’s relationship would almost be laughable if Vanessa didn’t know how much it tore up her girlfriend.

They both understood Debbie’s hesitancy toward their relationship, especially given Charity’s track record with her exes but Vanessa felt as if they had proven themselves as a couple in the few years that they had been together. She and Debbie had a decent relationship when the younger woman was on-board with her relationship with her mother, but on the days when she wasn’t too keen their relationship was remarkably similar to that of step-mother and teenager, which, considering Debbie’s age and status as a mother herself, wore a bit thin on the vet sometimes.

Vanessa had known that this conversation was coming from the moment Moses had first called her ‘Mummy’ in front of his sister, but she wished that Debbie hadn’t waited until Charity had disappeared to The Woolpack toilets before bringing it up. She knew that she had done it on purpose; Debbie liked to test Vanessa’s commitment to Charity. But the support of her girlfriend in this conversation would have been helpful. Vanessa was still wary of upsetting Debbie, knowing how important it was to have a good relationship with all oh her other half’s children, but Charity would have shut Debbie down immediately.

“Yeah, they are,” despite Debbie’s tone, Vanessa couldn’t help the soft smile that broke out on her face. She really did love those boys as though they were her own, “and Johnny’s calling Charity ‘Mum’, too.”

“Is that a good idea?” the younger of the two asked.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Vanessa countered. She knew exactly what Debbie was thinking, but she wasn’t going to make it easy for her. If Debbie wanted to, once again, question her mother’s relationship then Vanessa wasn’t going to help her do it.

“C’mon,” Debbie started, “my Mum’s past speaks for itself.”

Vanessa’s brow furrowed, “What’s your Mum’s past got to do with the price of bacon?”

Leaning forward, annoyed at Vanessa obvious attempt at playing dumb, Debbie hissed, “It’s not gonna be fair on them boys when she breaks your heart and you don’t wanna be their Mum anymore.”

Vanessa reeled back. Debbie’s words were like a punch to the gut. Sure, she had heard the ‘my mum’s gonna break your heart’ speech plenty of times before and she was sick of hearing it, but the idea that she would ever abandon Noah and Moses was inconceivable to her. She couldn’t believe that anyone would actually think that her love for Charity’s kids was that shallow. She had every confidence in her relationship with Charity, but beyond that she knew that no matter what happened between them they would always be there for the other’s children.

“What are you going on about, Debbie?” Vanessa was genuinely confused now, “I love those boys.”

“You love them now, but you know what Mum’s like, and when she messes up it’ll be those boys who suffer,” Debbie rushed out, wanting to make Vanessa understand, “and Noah’s already suffered enough because Mum can’t hold down a relationship.”

Vanessa sighed. She was tired of this constant cycle that Debbie was stuck in. She understood that the mechanic had a complicated relationship with her mother, but Charity had proved herself over the past couple of years. She really had changed and the fact that Debbie was refusing to acknowledge that was starting to wind her up.

“Look, Debbie, I know you and your Mum have a complicated history,” she started, holding her hand up when she saw Debbie tried to interrupt, “and I know that she’s done some things in her past that she’s not proud of, but she’s changed.”

Shaking her head, Debbie wasn’t done, “You think she’s changed but she hasn’t. She always says she has but she’s too set in her ways.” Vanessa could see that Debbie was frustrated. The younger woman really thought that she was helping her mother’s girlfriend out, but what she couldn’t see was that she was allowing her own past to cloud what was clearly in front of her. Even though she knew this, Vanessa couldn’t help the anger she could feel bubbling up inside her. She thought that the days of defending Charity were behind her. Everyone could see that the landlady had changed; everyone other than her own daughter.

Snapping, Vanessa leaned forward as though getting closer would make Debbie understand her, “I love your mother and she loves me. I don’t care what anyone says about her, not even you, Debbie, because we’re good for each other. And yes, she’s done things in her past that you clearly can’t forgive her for, but I don’t need to forgive her because that’s not who she is anymore.”

Vanessa took a big breath, she wasn’t done but she wanted to make sure that Debbie was properly listening to her this time because she refused to have this conversation with her again. It was getting boring and repetitive.

“Vanes-” Debbie started, only to be shushed by the woman.

“No, I’m still talking,” Vanessa cut her off, “a lot of the things your mother has done she did because she had no other choice, or at least that’s what she thought, and after everything she went through as a teenager can you blame her?” the question was rhetorical, so Vanessa continued, “I love your Mum because of her past, not in spite of it, so I’m not going anywhere, right?”

Vanessa fell silent, breath coming in short, fast bursts, as if she had just run a marathon. She knew she shouldn’t have snapped with Debbie, but she couldn’t hold her tongue anymore. Charity had suffered a lifetime of being let down by men who let others say what they wanted about her, so she was not about to continue that behaviour. Someone had to defend Charity, even if it was to her own daughter. She didn’t know whether the other woman would finally get that Vanessa truly loved Charity, warts and all, or if she would continue to bad mouth her mother, but she had just made it clear either way that the topic of conversation was buried moving forward.

“Uh, yeah,” Debbie mumbled, “we both get it.”

“Both?” Vanessa questioned, turning her body around in the booth when Debbie nodded her head at something over her shoulder.

Charity was stood behind her and from the look on her face Vanessa could tell that she had heard everything that she had just said. Vanessa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn’t know how the other woman was going to react. She mused that it could have been worse. At least she had been defending her girlfriend rather than slagging her off. Although, she would have preferred that her girlfriend didn’t know that her own daughter was sill questioning her motives. Steeling herself, she waited for a reaction but after a couple of seconds it became clear that Charity was too caught up in the emotions that she was feeling to muster up a reply.

“Charity,” Vanessa whispered, as she stood up and walked over to her girlfriend. Taking her hands, she squeezed them once and waited for the other woman to look her in the eye. When she did, she smiled slightly and waited once more for the woman in front of her to compose herself. For the other woman to be showing this much emotion, or vulnerability as she would call it, in public she must have been affected by what she had heard.

“Ness,” Charity croaked out, voice thick, “did you mean all that?”

Vanessa was taken aback by the uncertainty in Charity’s voice, “What? Of course I did, babe.”

She knew that Charity was still shocked that their relationship ever moved past a one nigh stand, but she had no idea that the woman she shared her life with still couldn’t see how much she loved her. The ring that sat in her pocket felt heavy and the plans she had made to propose the next night suddenly seemed insignificant. She had to do everything she could to make the extraordinary woman in front of her see how much she loved her.

Well, she thought to herself, could be worse times to do it.

“Guess I’ll have to prove it, huh?” she asked aloud, before turning to Debbie who, for her part looked ashamed of herself, “Debbie, you mind if I ask your Mum to marry me?”

The pub suddenly went quiet. Vanessa’s voice had carried across the room and now the whole place was looking their way. The silence allowed Vanessa to hear Charity’s gasp.

“What?” Debbie asked, taken aback by the question, “She’s a grown up, she can marry who she wants.”

“Your blessing would mean a lot to me,” she paused before adding, “to us.”

“Oh, well then yeah, go for it, I guess,” Vanessa knew that Debbie still had her reservations, but the look on her mother’s face was enough to make her feel bad about what she had said and there was no way the mechanic was going to cause her mother more pain, despite whatever she felt about their relationship.

Turning back to her shocked girlfriend, she pulled the ring box out of her pocket, opened it to reveal the diamond ring within and knelt down on one knee, right there in the middle of The Woolpack. She couldn’t quite believe she was doing this and from the look on her face, neither could Charity.

“I had a whole thing planned, with music and flowers and all that mushy stuff you claim to hate but secretly love,” she winked, “but what you just heard me say to Debbie is everything I want you to know, so no point putting it off anymore.

“Charity Dingle, please will you marry me?”

As she knelt on the floor, waiting for her girlfriend’s reply she thought briefly about everything that had led them to this moment, and in her mind’s eye the most frequent image she saw was them with their kids, just living their lives and being happy. It seemed so simple, but it had taken hem a long time to get to where they were now. They had carved out a life for themselves and had built a single, whole, loving family out of two broken ones. Not everyone would understand what they had but she knew, in that moment, she wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Skeptical step-daughter and all.

“Yes,” Charity breathed out, tears glistening in her green eyes, making them almost sparkle.

Vanessa jumped up and pulled Charity to her. Their lips crashed together and something between them shifted. It was subtle, and if Vanessa wasn’t so wired up she wouldn’t have noticed it. As it was, it screamed at them both in the silence of the pub. Home. They had found shelter and love in one another and either woman had become the other’s home. Pulling away, Vanessa beamed as she slid the ring on Charity’s finger.

From behind her she heard Debbie sigh, “Don’t think this means I’m gonna start calling you Mum, too.”

“Oi, don’t be rude you. You’re still in trouble,” Charity admonished her daughter. She clearly wasn’t happy with her attempt at making Vanessa rethink their relationship, and despite how it all turned out, Charity was still hurt.

“I’ll settle for you being happy for us?” Vanessa asked with a scrunched-up face, hoping that she could diffuse some of the tension between mother and daughter.

Smiling slightly Debbie tried her best to look apologetic, “I think I can manage that.”