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fucking loaf for once in your life!’
    Jimmy looked at his wife and felt overwhelmed with despair. Life could not get much worse, surely? His children lived at his mother-in-law’s and his home was a permanent battlegroundbecause his wife no longer hid her disdain for him. He was earning a good wage, but it still wasn’t enough for what they owed. He had allowed her to do what she wanted, and he had stood back while she sunk them further and further into debt. He had not been man enough to put his foot down – in fact, he had not even thought about curbing her spending. But, now she knew he wasn’t on the fast track, now she knew he wasn’t going to become the boss of bosses, she treated him like dirt. Like he was nothing. And it hurt.

‘Oh, Celeste, you’ll look stunning in that, babe. I’m so proud of you.’
    Jonny was thrilled at his fiancée’s choice of dress for their engagement party. It wasn’t cheap but, in fairness, it wasn’t really expensive either. It was just like Celeste in many respects – quietly beautiful.
    ‘Do you like it really, Jonny?’
    He grinned happily at her and she caught her breath. He was so good-looking, with thick dark hair, and dark blue eyes, well built and always well dressed. Celeste wondered every day how she had been lucky enough to catch his eye.
    Gabby grabbed her hand and she laughed delightedly. ‘Don’t worry, you. You’ll be the chief bridesmaid.’
    Jonny picked the little girl up, and threw her into the air. Gabby screamed with delight and, as he placed her back on to the ground, she said happily, ‘Can I live with you two when you get married?’
    Celeste looked into Jonny’s eyes and she saw the sadness in her own mirrored there. She knelt down and hugged her little niece tightly. ‘You can stay with us any time you want, right?’
    Gabby nodded seriously, understanding that she wasn’t being invited for any real length of time. But already in her short life she understood that people came and went. And often let you down. One thing she had learned was that everyone eventually let you down,
that
was real life, that was how it all worked. Butit hurt her, because she would love nothing more than to become a part of her auntie’s life. She would love to be a part of something that she felt would last for a long, long time.
    She knew her daddy loved her, but he never came to get her any more from her nana’s, and her mummy
never
came to see her, never gave her the time of day.
    It was as if she had done something wrong and her mother was punishing her for it. But she hadn’t done anything – she had tried her hardest to be a good girl. She tried everything in her power to make her mummy want her again, but nothing had worked in any way, shape or form. It was hard for her, because she didn’t know what she was supposed to do. She didn’t know
how
to make her mummy love her. She didn’t know why she wasn’t wanted by her mummy.
    Her nana loved her, of that much she was sure. Because, no matter what happened to her, she always ended up back at her nana’s, which was strange because, according to her mummy, her nana’s house was a filthy shithole that she wouldn’t let a dog live in. Gabby supposed that was why she couldn’t have a puppy, though she would love one dearly. Her nana’s house wasn’t clean like her mummy’s, but it felt better than her mummy’s house because she didn’t have to be on her best behaviour all the time. And the nicest thing of all was she never wet the bed at her nana’s. Her granddad said that was because she could kip in peace without her mummy watching her every move. Her granddad also said that her mother was a stuck-up bitch, who needed a right-hander, and that her dad was a lovely bloke but he needed to toughen up and stop letting his old woman walk all over him like a second-hand carpet. He was funny, her granddad.
    As she saw her auntie smiling and laughing, she felt warm inside. She loved her auntie Celeste,