‘Judi-moo,’ he whispered.

He wasn’t agitated for sure. The generous doses of morphine had seen to that.

The hours lost all definition. Only the sunlight outside, or lack of it, gave some kind of structure to the day. They hardly spoke to each other, hardly ate. Friends and family came into the house and left like passing ghosts.

On the fifth day of their visit, Judith was sat with him, reading whilst he slept. Suddenly he moved and awoke. She asked him if he wanted something to drink – she could see he was struggling to speak. She lifted an ice cube from a bowl on the small table next to the couch and gently ran it along his dry lips.

He gathered strength and then he whispered, ‘Parakaló proséxte o énas ton állon.’ She knew enough Greek by then to understand that he was asking them to look after each other.

She leant in closer and replied, ‘S’agapó Papa,’ as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and she realized it was the first time she’d ever told her father in Greek that she loved him.

He smiled a final smile, breathed a final breath, and peacefully Georgios Andreas Charalambos departed this world.

Cleo emitted a sub-human scream and threw herself upon the couch; Sofia crossed herself, weeping and praying aloud. Gareth hugged Jack, who was crying like a little boy. But Judith remained silent, offering up her own vote of thanks that this good and honest soul, who had touched her own life so significantly, was now no longer in pain.

41

Catrin

‘Bye, Dad!’ Catrin shouted as she watched her parents get into Lana’s car and drive away.

Liz, Huw and Lana had come over for a very small tea to celebrate Romy’s first birthday, Lana having come home especially for the occasion.

‘You really don’t have to,’ Sol had said to her on the phone the week before.

‘She’s my god-daughter. Of course I’m coming to her birthday party. I want her to know she can always rely on her Aunty Larn.’

Sol and Cat had laughed about this – Lana had taken the role of godmother very seriously. Though neither of them were sure how long it would last, and both had the sneaky suspicion that Lana was secretly competing with Judith to out-do her in the godparent stakes.

Seeing as the family had had such a big bash for Romy’s christening barely a month before, they’d decided to keep her actual birthday low-key. And Catrin was glad of this. Because she’d made a decision of her own: that today would be the best day to bring up the dreaded subject with Sol of their trying for another baby. She couldn’t put it off any longer. And with Romy now falling asleep in her arms, she felt somehow protected by her. So she took a deep breath and said the words, dropping a bombshell bang smash into the middle of their evening.