AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Hi, Sophie love.’ Her father pulled her in for a hug.
‘Hi, Dad,’ she said, pulling away. ‘Mum.’ Sophie realised her mouth was hanging open.
June shuffled her feet on the spot and wrung her hands together. ‘Hello, Sophie. I owe you an apology.’
‘I didn’t think you would come,’ Sophie said.
‘I didn’t know if you’d want me to, to be honest,’ June said. ‘Not after—’
Sophie interrupted her. ‘Of course I wanted you here. This whole fundraiser has been for you, for the charity.’
‘I know,’ June said. ‘I realise that now. I can see that raising money for the charity, helping other mothers like you – it was really important to you and it was how you were dealing with things.’
It was the first time she had acknowledged the fact that Sophie was a mother, and it meant everything to her.
June reached over and took Sophie’s hand. ‘I do understand how you were, how you are feeling. After what you said, I can see that now. I’m sorry I ever pressured you to move on and to forget. I should have known better. I should have realised that it was far more complicated than that.’
Sophie smiled. ‘Thank you, Mum. That means a lot to me. I’m sorry I lost it with you on the phone.’
‘It was understandable,’ June said, lifting her aged eyes to meet Sophie’s. ‘You were wonderful, by the way.’ She pulled Sophie towards her and squeezed her tightly as her cheeks flushed red. Sophie buried her face in her mother’s hair and inhaled. It was such a familiar scent. She wished they could be like this more often.
‘You really were fantastic,’ David said, who until now had allowed them to make their apologies and stood silently by. His face was all smile, and proud tears threatened to fall from his eyes.
Sophie hugged him too. ‘I didn’t think you were coming,’ she said again.
‘Neither did I,’ said her father, ‘But your mother insisted that she wanted to come and make amends – and find out just how much you’ve raised for the charity, of course.’ He chuckled.
Sophie and her father shared a look. ‘Well, I’m glad you came,’ she said. ‘And at the moment, I think we’ve raised about £700 but by the time we add up the last-minute tickets and programmes and bar money, I think we’ll get that up to over a thousand.’
‘Goodness!’ June clapped her hands together. ‘That’s fantastic news! We can help so many people with that money. People who are going through what you went through.’
Sophie smiled at her mother’s happiness. She might even go as far as to suggest that June looked proud.
Sophie held back the tears of relief that were pooling behind her eyes. ‘Are you staying for Christmas?’
‘We’ve booked into a hotel, so we’re not in your way,’ June said. ‘But yes, we’re here for a few days. It would be lovely to spend some quality time with you. Maybe we could see that flat of yours?’
‘I was going to make Christmas dinner, and there’s definitely enough for all three of us. I can make it stretch. Will you come over for lunch and spend the afternoon with me?’
‘We’d love to,’ David said, before June could answer in any other way. ‘We’re so proud of you,’ he added, nodding his head towards the stage.
‘Thanks, Dad. It means so much that you got to see it.’
‘I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.’
Sophie swallowed the feeling of tears and bit her bottom lip to curb her emotions. ‘A few of us are going across the road for a Christmas drink, I think,’ she said, ‘if you’d like to join us?’
‘Oh, I don’t know if your father …’
‘We’d love to,’ said David, obviously squeezing June’s hand.
‘Great,’ Sophie said. ‘I just need to go and collect my stuff from the dressing room and I’ll be over in a minute.’
‘I’ll get you a drink,’ David said.
Sophie could hear her mother raise concerns about drinking and socialising this late as they left.
‘We’ll be fine, June,’ David said as they tottered through the door and followed the crowd to the pub. ‘Pub?’
