A Wartime Christmas by Carol Rivers

He was clearly upset. She
hoped that Alan would be able to calm troubled waters and explain satisfactorily their reason for wanting to take their son home.
    Doris led her upstairs along a thickly carpeted landing and into a large room filled with soft toys and a small bed in which Alfie lay asleep. Beside it was a yellow painted chair and desk. The
window above was open letting in the scents of the farms and the fields and the lace curtain moved slightly with the summer breeze.
    Kay tore her eyes away from the coloured drawings pinned above the desk as Doris sat on the bed and drew back the cover. Kay remembered how, as a baby, Alfie had always been slow to wake. So she
squeezed into the yellow chair and waited. On the floor were several pairs of lace-up shoes and open-toed sandals.
    ‘Your Uncle Len has just come home,’ Doris told Alfie, as he struggled to sit up. ‘Shall Nanty take you downstairs?’ Doris glanced across at Kay. ‘He calls me
Nanty. It’s his version of Aunty Doris.’
    ‘Does he say anything else?’ Kay asked, as Alfie rubbed his eyes.
    ‘Oh yes,’ Doris said and nodded. ‘He’s quite a chatterbox. Though you have to listen carefully as he has his own language.’
    To Kay’s surprise, Alfie still had the blanket that she had given him in his hands. After a long yawn, he smiled. The first smile Kay had witnessed.
    ‘Oh, Alfie, you have your teeth!’ Kay gasped.
    ‘Not all of them,’ warned Doris. ‘Just the front ones. He’s teething quite badly.’
    Once again Kay had the feeling she had missed so much about his growing-up. She swallowed, returning his smile. ‘Can I help you to put on your sandals?’ she asked.
    ‘He likes doing that himself,’ Doris said abruptly.
    Kay watched Alfie climb out of bed and slip down to the floor. He wore just his cotton top and a pair of underpants. ‘He’s dry then, Doris?’ Kay asked.
    ‘Yes, no mishaps at all.’
    ‘Nanty says you’re very clever at this,’ Kay encouraged as he pulled on his sandals.
    Kay thought how very much like Alan he was. He had broad shoulders for a young child, and long legs. His hair grew in exactly the same way as Alan’s, without a parting and flopping over
his forehead.
    ‘It took him some time to master the buckles,’ Doris said. ‘But he persevered. He’s a very bright boy.’
    Kay could only gaze in wonder at her son. ‘How clever,’ she murmured, admiring his strong legs, uncluttered by clothes, browned by the sunshine. He had lost none of his baby charm
though. Rather, he had grown in proportion. Eventually, despite Doris’s previous warning, she couldn’t resist bending down to help him. She felt a tingling sensation all along her spine
as her fingers touched his soft skin for the first time.
    ‘Yes,’ agreed Doris. ‘And confident, He’s come on leaps and bounds living here. I just can’t understand why you should want to take him right now.’
    ‘Doris, I know how upset you must be.’ Kay was genuinely concerned for Doris, who was obviously under strain. ‘I can see this must be very difficult for you.’
    ‘You saw how upset Len was.’
    ‘Yes, and I’m sorry about that too.’
    Doris’s tight face softened as she looked at Alfie. ‘He’s become a big part of our lives.’
    ‘Then tell me how he’s been, what he’s done, all the things that have happened,’ Kay urged as Alfie began to play with his toys. Suddenly it seemed important to get to
know Doris better and understand the relationship she had shared with Alfie. Doris had acted as a replacement mother and it could not be easy for her to part from Alfie. ‘I’d like to
know as you didn’t write very often.’
    ‘I haven’t had the time,’ Doris said dismissively. ‘What more can I say other than he’s kept very well and been a good boy.’
    ‘Is that all?’ Kay persisted.
    Doris turned on her, the resentment clear in her face. ‘What do you want me to say, Kay? That he’s missed you – pined for you?