Chapter Text
Pete Mclltchie was a lonely man who fell in love with a woman 20 years his junior. In 1976 it was not a common thing so they kept their marriage quiet to save both of them from winding up in the paper. He was the happiest man in all of Glasgow the day his wife, Mary, told him she was pregnant. He was a very private man so they decided to wait until the baby was born to make the announcement. What neither of them planned on was that Mary would have complications and die during child birth. Mary was only able to sign the birth certificate with him before she died. They named their beautiful little Girl Penelope but Pete would always call her Penny. He loved his daughter with every fiber of his being but she had the lovely raven hair of her mother when she started growing up as well as Mary's beautiful bright blue eyes. Just looking at her sometimes made him cry and to try and hide the pain he started drinking to the point that by time Penny was 5 years old he was a 50 year old alcoholic. He kept forcing himself to work because he refused to be called a bad father. Whatever Penny needed or wanted he got her. She was always the first thing he thought of everyday. Even when he was drunk he rarely came home useless. He had one neighbor that disapproved of him drinking but knew his little girl always came before even his drinking. The woman's name was Maureen McWall and she would watch Penny during the day while he worked. She knew he was pretty drunk when he came home smelling of whiskey and cigarettes but it was never enough to say he was going to neglect his daughter and he was always home by dinner. He only got completely drunk to the point of falling down once a year. That day was his wedding anniversary. That night his neighbor was supposed to keep Penny for the night because he was unconscious by time he hit his bed but for some reason after she was able to walk she was beside him in bed the next morning. After the first 2 years of her sneaking back home he just gave up trying to keep here away from him when he was like that but he told her she had to stay with him until he woke up or she would be staying at the McWalls again. He was surprised that by time he came out of his coma like state Penny was still right next to him..
In the beginning Penny didn't understand why he father smelt funny all the time but by time she was 5 she had figured out he was a drunk and that was because Mrs. McWall told her. She worried about him all the time because he was a pale, thin except for a slightly pudgy soft belly, sickly looking man and his hands always shook especially on the weekends when he was with her all day long. She knew he loved her. That she never doubted her whole life. He never rejected her if she wanted his attention when he was home and made sure she had everything she needed. She just wished he'd spend more time with her when he wasn't working. There were days when she had to drag him to his bedroom, prompt him to change and lie down. She would curl up in front of him. She would sigh in relief when he finally wrapped his arm around her before falling asleep. She had slept with him since she was a baby so he could keep an eye on her and they never changed that habit because they only had one bed. He always slept with his arm wrapped around her so he knew if she moved. She was always drawn to his scent and tended to stay with him. He smelled of smoke, old spice, peppermint and a bitter smell that got stronger as the years went by that she later realized it was whiskey. His clothes as well as his breath smelt like the whiskey all the time so she never realized it meant he was drunk. She just thought it was normal for him to smell like it because it had been present her whole life as far back as she could remember. Sometimes he would recite poetry by memory to her or tell her stories to lull her to sleep. Once a year her papa didn't come pick her up from Mrs. McWall. She would wait until the woman was asleep and then sneak out back home to find papa completely out of it. She couldn't get him to wake up no matter how hard she tried. She just would curl up next to him and fall asleep.