No Child of Mine by Susan Lewis

stay, please?’ he begged.
    ‘You haven’t got to say things like that,’ Daniel scolded. ‘I’ve got to go and take care of my old lady, you know what I mean? She can’t get by without me, but Maggie and Ron, they’re going to take care of you. They’re good people, do you hear what I’m saying?’
    Stepping forward Alex said softly, ‘Are you ready, Daniel? Shall we get in the car?’
    Averting his eyes, Daniel walked over to her Punto and plonked himself in the passenger seat.
    ‘Bye,’ Alex said to Ron and Maggie, ‘and thank you. Sounds like he’s had a very special time.’
    ‘I think we all did,’ Maggie replied, smiling fondly in Daniel’s direction.
    Going down to Oliver’s height, Alex took his hand as she whispered, ‘Thank you for looking after Daniel. He needed to find a friend and you strike me as being one of the best ones to have.’
    He turned his tear-blotched face to look at her, but was too overcome to speak.
    As she got into the car Alex could sense how bereft Daniel was feeling, but as she reversed out he didn’t speak, or move a muscle, he simply kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, not even glancing at Oliver or the Fenns.
    What a terrible shame it was, Alex was reflecting as they headed back towards the Temple Fields estate, that he couldn’t just stay with the Fenns and Oliver, how different his life would be, how much better his chances. However, she had no right to think that way, when his mother, for all her faults – of which there were many, most of them criminal – had never given the authorities any reason to doubt that she loved her son. She might have a different way of showing it, with all her loud-mouthed belligerence and failure to send him to school or keep him clean, but that didn’t make the bond she shared with him any less genuine or heartfelt. She simply hadn’t had any of the advantages life had thrown the Fenns’ way, starting with the family she’d been born into.
    Now here she was, all tattoos, piercings and peroxide hair, striding down the path to meet her boy, looking ready to thump anyone who got in her way.
    ‘Come on you little bugger,’ she growled, tugging Daniel out of the passenger seat. ‘Bet you’ve missed me, haven’t you?’
    Daniel nodded, and gave himself stiffly to the rough shake and hug that conveyed her pleasure to see him.
    ‘Where’s your stuff?’ she demanded.
    ‘Here,’ Alex answered, going to take the bag out of the boot.
    Laura pulled a face as she saw it. ‘What the bloody hell’s that when it’s at home?’ she snapped. Then, rolling her eyes, ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, you haven’t been out robbing again, have you, Daniel? I’ve told you about that.’
    ‘He was given it,’ Alex said quietly.
    Laura scowled at her. ‘Yeah, right,’ she retorted, snatching it from her. ‘Well, we won’t be needing the likes of you no more, thanks very much, so you can be on your way. Come on, Dan,’ and grabbing his arm she began marching him off down the path. At the front door she turned back, saying, ‘Cops got the wrong person, didn’t they, same as they always do. I told ’em, it’s that fucking Prince family they ought to be going after and leave the rest of us the fuck alone.’
    As the door slammed behind her Alex could only wonder what was going through Daniel’s mind now, whether he was glad to be home, if he’d tell his mother where he’d been, or who he’d been with. He’d no doubt be furious when he found out he no longer had the silver photograph frame, but she couldn’t have allowed him to walk away from the house with something that wasn’t his. Especially not after the Fenns had been so kind to him.
    Getting back into her car, she quickly pushed the button to lock all the doors, and started the engine. Laura’s little rant against the Prince family had been all the reminder she’d needed of how keen she was to get off the estate before any of them spotted her.
    Twenty minutes later, after