It felt strange, this return to normality. It had been so long since she had felt like this, she had forgotten what it was like to just sit and think like other people.

Just to be.

She was happy again, but this was a happiness based on the truth. Like her Jimmy had said, all that time ago, sometimes things are best left unsaid, and she was now a devotee of that herself.

She kissed Joseph's head as she swapped breasts, and the smell of him alone filled her with delight. She was happy, really happy and no one was going to interfere with that.

Jimmy never tired of this spectacle. He could watch Mags feed his Joseph all day and all night, it was to him the most beautiful sight in the world. They had been given a second chance and they were determined to make it work.

Freddie Jackson had blighted all their lives in one way or another and now he was long buried and the wounds he had inflicted on them all were healing over.

He felt the difference more and more every day. Even the girls were coming to terms with the devastation that had passed for their lives. They were closer than ever before, and they were gradually fleeing the nest that he had provided for them with Maggie.

He had achieved so much in his life, he had worked for his family, he had tried to live a good life, and it was his duty now not to let Freddie Jackson spoil his happiness in any way.

If Freddie had left a legacy, it was to push the remaining family closer together. As Ozzy had always told him, find a positive instead of a negative, and you will find your life is much easier to bear. The Jackson clan was still strong and new recruits would be added all the time. Rox had already started the ball rolling for the girls.

The Jackson empire would live on, and he was determined to pass it over to this little lad here. Otherwise, what the fuck was it all for?

He smiled at his lovely wife and basked in his own happiness, because being a Jackson he had learned the hard way that you never knew how long this feeling was going to last.

Acknowledgements:

I would like to thank all the people who kept me company through the long nights of writing. Beenie Man, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Barrington Levy, Usher, 50 Cent, Free, Ms Dynamite, The Stones, The Doors, Oasis, The Prodigy, Bob Marley, Neil Young, Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Janis Joplin, Ian Dury, Clint Eastwood and General Saint, Bessie Smith, Muddy Waters, Charles Mingus, Edith Piaf, Canned Heat, Steel Pulse, Peter Tosh, Alabama 3… to name but a few.

About the Author

Martina Cole is the No. 1 bestselling author of eleven hugely successful novels. Her most recent novel, The Graft, was No. 1 on the Sunday Times hardback bestseller list for eleven weeks, as well as a Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller in paperback, and The Know was selected by Channel 4's Richard amp;Judy as one of the Top Ten Best Reads of 2003. Maura's Game and Faceless both shot straight to No. 1 on the Sunday Times bestseller lists and total sales of Martina's novels now exceed four million copies. Dangerous Lady and The Jump have gone on to become hugely popular TV drama series and several of her other novels are in production for TV. Martina Cole has a son and daughter and she lives in Essex.