"You really should have your hair touched up. Or at least have some highlights added. The harsh black colour washes you out your already pale skin," my darling, asshole mother-in-law suggests. I think this is the twenty-something insults she has come out with since she came over this morning. I look her over, wishing I could be honest and say that I don’t think the fake nose she had recorrected recently looks good on her pulled back, injected face. Her fake tan is too orange, and her blonde hair is too bright. But I’m not a total asshole, so I keep those things to myself as I keep ushering her to the door, wishing she would just leave. I don't know if she means well, or if she just can't help the words that escape her mouth. Parker loves her, and she is good with him, that’s what I make myself remember every time she is here.

"Well, as usual, it was lovely to see you," I say, lying my ass off. Parker shouts my name from the kitchen where I left him eating his dinner that I cooked while he played toys with his grandma. "Right, well I have to go and check him."

"Oh, okay," she says, actually moving quickly to the door now, which is a relief. Thank you, Parker. After I wave goodbye to her, I go into the kitchen where Parker is struggling to get ketchup out of the bottle.

"Here," I say, taking the bottle off him and undoing the lid. I pull the plastic cap off before putting the lid back on and handing it back to him.

"Thanks, mum," he says, pouring a load of ketchup all over his chips and chicken nuggets. And the salad. This kid has ketchup on everything. The doorbell rings again, and I frown, wondering who it could be considering Eric is pretending he has work on a Sunday to escape his mum and me. I go to the front door, pulling it open to see Tilly, Maisy, and Allie.

"Hey guys, I wasn't expecting you all over," I say, running my eyes over their causal appearances and the iPad Tilly has in her hands.

"We came to talk to you and left the kids with their dads," Maisy explains.

"It's called an intervention. I got the idea from this old tv show," Allie fills me in on the real reason they are all here.

"I know what an intervention is," I say, stepping aside. "I'm just curious what it is about."

"Luke," Allie says, winking at me and I let out a little groan as I shut the door behind them all.

"What about Luke?" I ask, almost not wanting to hear the answer.

"Wait, we have to skype Izzy before we have this conversation," Tilly says, walking into the lounge with Allie and Maisy following. I glance in on Parker, seeing him slowly eat as he watches videos of some kid opening toys on his iPad. Parker could watch those videos all day, and I know he’ll come to find me if he needs me. I walk into the lounge and sit on the sofa next to Allie as Tilly rings Izzy on iPad that she’s holding on her lap so we can all see. A few moments later Izzy's face pops into the picture, a pretty beach right behind her, and she already has a tan and a nice glow about her. Lucky girl. Her blonde hair is down, and it almost looks white now as it moves slightly in the warm breeze. I spot Blake in the ocean in the background, looking like he’s having surfing lessons with an instructor.

"Holy crap you look hot!" Allie shouts, and Izzy laughs as does everyone one else. “Lucky Blake!”

"How is your honeymoon?" I ask her.

"Perfect. So damn perfect," Izzy sighs. "But I'm not here to talk about me. Tell us about Luke and you."

"There is no Luke and me," I quickly counter.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire," Allie mutters and elbows me in the side. I look towards the closed door just to double check Parker can’t hear before telling them the kind of truth.

"We kissed yesterday, and he made it clear he isn't going to give up on me. Luke knows I'm not exactly in a happy marriage," I explain to them, and Allie does a little cheer. Maisy, Tilly, and Izzy grin like they already knew. If they knew we kissed at The Cage, they might not be so thrilled.

"Happy? You hate your husband who sleeps with the entire town. Literally," Maisy gently says, showing her dislike for Eric in the tone of her voice. They all hate him and think he is horrible to treat me the way he does. I don't see it in that way, because we don't really have a relationship so I can't expect him to be loyal to anything.

"Maisy has a point. You aren't happy, and there was always something between you and Luke. You clearly had sex at some point to have Parker," Allie says. “Which you’ve never told us, even on our drinking nights! What kind friend are you to let us miss out on this story!”

"You’re so overdramatic,” I tease, and she winks at me. “It was two times. One when I was younger and stupid. My brothers nearly killed Luke for that night.”

"I remember," Izzy says, realization appearing over her eyes. “Maisy was pregnant, and Luke got beaten up outside The Cage. He was in a bad state for a bit.” I remember the night in vivid detail. My oldest brother made his friend hold me as they beat Luke up until his brothers got there and stopped it. I hated Darren for doing that, but he died two weeks later on a job for Arthur. It’s hard to hate the dead, and I knew there was no point to it. I’ve never been extremely close to my brothers as we all grew up apart. We all have different mums. I wish I could speak to my mum about all this, but I haven’t seen or heard from her in five years. If I’m honest with myself, I think she’s dead, and I haven’t had time to process that. I don’t speak to my father anymore, not unless he comes with my mother-in-law to a family party and we exchange words for a moment before I walk away. I can’t forgive him for selling me and my brothers to The Cage. I don’t want him around Parker; he’s a bad influence.

"The second time was after a meal at Harley's. Luke promised he wouldn't leave me. Then he did," I eventually say, and I can see they have all picked up on my sadness with the looks on their faces. I wish I could tell them why thinking of the past makes me this way, but they wouldn’t understand. Tilly knows I work there, but that’s it.

"But Luke is back," Izzy says. “And he looks at you…well, like you’ve never been apart.”

"Yeah, I guess he is back," I mutter, not really understanding why he looks at me differently.

"Then I think you should both try to make a relationship somehow," Maisy says. "It would be good for you. You've been sad and lonely for years, trying to pretend everything is fine for Parker, but it's not enough. You know it is not enough."

"You deserve love, babe," Allie says, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. "You're a good person." I hate that none of the people in this room actually know the truth and I'm not a good person at all. I spy on them for Allie's dad. I send him photos, information, and anything else he asks for. I strip dance every weekend, teasing men with my body and losing a little bit of my soul each and every time.

"I don't deserve him," I say, pushing up off the sofa and walking to the door. "I never did." None of them says anything as I walk out, heading straight for my son because he is the only good thing in my life. He always was.