Chapter Text
Charity grabs her coat, wrapping it around her and zipping it up to the top to hide the top Vanessa bought her. She finds the corners of her lips curl into a smile, thinking about Vanessa and how offended she was when Charity wasn't all that impressed at getting a cashmere cardigan for her birthday. I mean, a cardigan? Really? That was so Vanessa. Charity rolls her eyes now, dragging herself from her train of thought. She has really missed Ness but she knows a lot has changed since they were together. She's determined, though, to make the most of their time together. She gives herself one last look in the mirror, fixing her hair before she heads out.
"C'mon Moses, we're gonna be late!"
She hears his footsteps plodding down the stairs, his little body filled with excitement to see the Woodfield that he has dearly missed. Charity knows exactly how he feels.
Today's a big day, today's the day she has a (play)date with Vanessa.
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Vanessa's in the cafe, having a coffee with Rhona before the playdate. Johnny's busy picking snacks with Bob, while Rhona questions her friend.
"So who do you reckon is more excited for this playdate then, you or Johnny?"
Vanessa lets a playful gasp out. "Ummm, definitely Johnny. He hasn't stopped going on about it since I told him!"
"Aww, bless him. Are you sure you're not even a little bit excited too though? You haven't really talked to her all that much since you've been back..." Rhona throws her a questioning look, but Vanessa is quick to shut her down.
"It's just for the kids, Rhona. It'll be nice for them to spend time again together, like-"
"Like brothers?" Rhona interrupts, which only causes to annoy Vanessa. She stands up, grabbing her coat.
"I haven't forgiven her Rhona. She really hurt me, incase you've forgotten." Rhona's eyes hit the floor.
"C'mon Johnny, let's go."
They walk towards the door, bumping (literally) into Mack.
"Oh, hey Vanessa! Off to your date with my girlfri-"
Vanessa rolls her eyes, grunting in frustration as she walks out. This isn't a date, she's only doing this for Johnny. She keeps telling herself that, hoping that it might be true...
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As soon as Moses spots Johnny, he's off like a rocket. They start running around the park chasing each other, before settling on the swings for a breather. Charity has sat herself down on the bench, hoping Vanessa will join her. She can feel her stomach doing somersaults she's so nervous. She checks her reflection on her phone before Vanessa appears, taking a seat beside her.
Charity's glad she was already sitting before Vanessa came, otherwise she couldn't have resisted a hug. She makes eye contact and clears her throat.
"Hey."
"Hey."
Charity nods, avoiding eye contact now. "So, uh, the boys are happy to be back together. Moses really missed Johnny."
Vanessa smiles, looking over at the two boys. "Yeah, Johnny was so excited he barely slept last night. He hasn't stopped talking about him since we left. Or you, for that matter."
Charity's eyes widen at the thought of her adopted son missing her. She sometimes forgets the feeling of having a child miss her, or love her. All her kids seem to spend most of their time mad at her. "Really? Johnny missed me?"
"Course he did, which made it even harder to explain to him that we'd broken up." Vanessa's face hardens now, remembering the pain she's felt all because of the woman in front of her. "You know, if you go messing this up and he has to stop seeing Moses again-" Charity desperately interrupts, "I won't!! I promise."
Vanessa shakes her head, questioning if agreeing to this playdate was a good idea after all. "Look Charity, this was a mistake." "What? No! C'mon Ness, just stay. I promise I won't mess this up. The boys have waited so long for this, let's just let them be. Yeah?"
Vanessa sighs, admitting defeat. She knows if she drags Johnny away now, he's only going to resent her for it. She also noticed Charity called her Ness, but she decides to let it slide. She realises the need to be civil for the boys, so she tries to lighten the mood.
"Johnny keeps asking for a Charity story before bedtime you know. Insists I tell him a Thomas the Tank turns electric story. That's your fault!" She gives Charity a smile, offering an olive branch in doing so.
Charity smirks in return. "What can I say? The kid has good taste in stories. Moses keeps asking me to make him dinosaur toast for his brekkie but I can never cut it like you. Always ends up looking like a potato with legs."
Ness laughs, enjoying the flowing conversation between them both. She glances over in the direction of the pub.
"It's awful what happened to the pub, isn't it? There's some happy memories in there. And not so happy.."
Charity nods in agreement. "Yeah. The happiest memories I have from the pub is when I was with you, though." She glances at Vanessa to see her reaction, but quickly looks to the ground. She daren't make eye contact.
"What, like when you told everyone I'd slept with you while I was on a date with Daz?"
Charity snorts. "Yeah, well. I was doing you a favour. You can do a lot better than Daz."
Vanessa rolls her eyes. "Remember that time you told Veronica to trot on?"
They're both laughing now. "She was a miserable mare that one. Do you remember what we did in the cellar after, though?"
Vanessa blushes, lifting her hand to her lips to try to hide the smile she finds. "Poor Paddy got a bit of a shock then.."
"Ha! Yeah, well that taught him to knock first. Come to think of it, I think all my favourite memories from the pub happened in the cellar..."
"Oh, when you locked us in you mean?" Vanessa knows they're verging on dangerous territory but she just can't help it with Charity.
"Uhh, you're the one closed the door remember! Anyone would think you wanted to be locked in there with me..."
"Well I didn't know the lock was busted, did I? I still remember the hangover I had from drinking that whiskey, too!"
Charity raises her eyebrows. "If my memory serves me right, I helped you with a cure for that hangover..."
Before Vanessa can respond, she hears the boys running towards them.
"Mummy! Can we get a milkshake?" Johnny is beaming from ear to ear, as is Moses. Looks like the playdate is continuing to the cafe.
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They sit down in the cafe while the boys are at the counter picking some cake to eat with their milkshakes. Charity takes her coat off, forgetting about the cardigan underneath until she sees Vanessa's face.
"So you do like it then? I thought you'd have taken it to the charity shop by now..."
Charity cringes, remembering the yellow coat of Vanessa's.
"Funny you should mention that, I think some stuff did end up at the shop..."
Ness snorts, "Oh like my coat you mean? It's a good job Tracy spotted it and bought it back then isn't it. VW was still written on the label inside."
Charity closes her eyes, trying to hide the wave of emotions that hits her. Putting her initials inside a coat? God she missed the silly things Vanessa does. Things that once annoyed her are now the things she misses the most. The two boys rejoin them, Johnny sitting down beside Charity and Moses plopping beside Vanessa. They sit in silence for a bit while the boys munch on their cake and slurp on their 'shakes. They both enjoy the familiarity of it all and realise how much they've missed it. The comfortable silence is broken by Moses, staring up into Vanessa's eyes.
"Can we meet up again tomorrow?"
Vanessa smiles, looking up to Charity and Johnny on the sofa opposite. She notes the hopeful smile on her son's face, and how Charity has her arm wrapped around him. She looks back down at Moses again, gives his shoulder a squeeze and resists revealing she'd love to do it all over again.
"We'll see."