‘We don’t want to see Mummy in prison,’ Georgie said immediately.

‘And why do you not want to see your mother?’ the judge asked.

‘’Cause we don’t. We do love our mummy, but we don’t want to go to prison,’ Georgie said bluntly.

Larry shook his head in disbelief as the judge spoke to Harry and he virtually repeated word for word what his sister had said. It was obvious to any fool that these children had been brainwashed, so why couldn’t the dopey tart who had been put in charge of the case see that?

The judge asked the children a couple more questions, then told Jed to take them outside while she delivered her verdict.

Larry had extremely bad vibes about the verdict. He had told Eddie that this case was a foregone conclusion and had promised to ring him straight after the hearing.

Jed walked back into the room and sat down next to his solicitor. The judge cleared her throat to gain everybody’s attention and spoke clearly and abruptly. ‘I have decided that it is not in the best interests of the children to have contact with their mother while she is in prison. If and when Francesca Mitchell is released, we can review the situation once more.’

Jed wanted to laugh as Larry stormed out of the room with a face like thunder. Fuck Frankie and her idle threats, who did she think she was?

Jimmy and Alice were thrilled when Jed told them the verdict. They had sort of guessed what had happened when they’d seen Larry stomp past, but having confirmation that Georgie and Harry were all theirs was a fantastic feeling. Alice was overjoyed, as she loved looking after the kids, and Jimmy was as pleased as punch, knowing how annoyed Eddie Mitchell would be.

Jed thanked his solicitor once more, then smiled at his children.

‘I’m hungry, Daddy,’ Harry said, tugging his leg.

‘Did we say the right thing, Daddy?’ Georgie asked innocently.

Lifting up both of his children, one in either arm, Jed swung them around. ‘You both did good and now no one is gonna take you away from me, ever.’

‘We will see Mummy again one day though, won’t we?’ Georgie asked, remembering her father’s promise. Her dad had told her and Harry that if they told the judge that they didn’t want to visit their mother in prison, then he would let them visit her when she came out of prison, which would be very soon.

Jed ignored his daughter’s awkward question. The kids had barely mentioned Frankie over the past few weeks and, give it another six months or so, their young minds would forget all about the evil bitch. He turned to his parents. ‘Come on, let’s go to a boozer and fucking celebrate.’

* * *