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of the day he would catch up on his sleep whilst the rest of the family were out.
    Sandra, meanwhile lay awake after hearing Roger come home. She was pleased to hear the front room door open and close, for this told her he had chosen the armchair instead of bed. This was becoming a familiar pattern in their marriage. They had not made love since just after Rachel had been born, that was even on the rare occasions they shared the bed.
    Although Sandra was on the wrong side of forty five she did ache for adult love. She had been in situations where her sexual needs could be met but backed off as she remembered her vows. She was bought up to value commitment. Her only wish was to go back to the days before Roger had been sent to prison. These were the best times. It seemed that prison had destroyed the man she had married.
    As she lay awake reliving those times the tears began to seep from her eyes. She knew that nothing she could do now would repair the damage done to their marriage. If it wasn’t for the girls and the lifelong commitment she had made in front of the priest she would have left Roger by now.
    The sleep pattern for the remainder of the night was to drift off for a while only to wake to more of the same memories. She glanced at the clock on the bedside cabinet which told her it was ten passed five. She would soon have to get up for work and take the children to her mums before hand.
    The work Sandra did was hard and sometimes unthankful but she enjoyed most of it. Her clients were on the whole pretty reasonable. She would call daily on five elderly people, three women and two men. The men were always kind and looked forward to her coming. The women on the other hand were more critical. She thought this might be as a result of not being able to do the things they used to for themselves.
    Eventually the alarm shook her out of her thoughts. The clock she knew would tell her it was six thirty. Once up she made the bed even though she knew it would soon be filled again. Roger would come up as soon a she went to the bathroom. Once she had washed she would call the girls.
    Julie never wanted to get out of bed in the mornings especially as this was holiday time. She could sleep for England her mother would tease.
    As for Rachel she was much better at getting up, partly because she liked to get in the bathroom before Julie, as she knew only too well her sister would take ages. Another reason was because she hated cold toast which was the most regular thing for breakfast.
    Sandra looked forward to the girls coming down as they would both plant a kiss on her cheek as they said good morning to her. This helped to wipe out all the negative things she had lay awake thinking about. It also reminded her that no matter what the future held two good things had come out of her union with Roger.
          “Mum, can I come and help you today, we never have much time together”, asked Julie.
          “You know I would love to say yes Julie, but the service won’t allow it” replied Sandra.  “I promise we will do something on Sunday, perhaps a picnic if the weather holds”, she suggested.
          “Will dad be coming with us”, was an optimistic response from Rachel.
          “I don’t want to get your hopes up Rachel, but you know your dad likes to play bowls on Sundays. We could ask Nan if you like”? She proposed.
         “If we do go mum can I ask Mandy, she will be back from her holiday by then and I will be seeing her on Saturday”? Julie pleaded.
          “I don’t see why not”, replied Sandra.
    With the breakfast pots cleared away they finished getting ready to leave. As Sandra’s mum lived in a bungalow not far from them she walked the girls round whilst wheeling her bike. This was her only form of transport as she rarely had the use of the van. Once a week she would use it to get the groceries from the supermarket but even then it was hit and miss as to whether Roger would be using