'Yeah, look around you, Rox, you were all dragged up in her den of shit!' Freddie was laughing now, but he shocked them as he hugged his daughter briefly, pleased she was going to have a child, pleased that she had turned out so well. Suddenly that was important to him.

He was proud of her. People talked about her in glowing terms, and he was impressed that she had made such a success of her young life. Considering how she had been brought up it was amazing she wasn't on to her second or even third baby by now, he knew a lot of her mates were. He should know, he had fucked half of them.

She could do a lot worse than young Dicky and all. The boy always gave him his due and was respectful and polite. But if he ever mugged her off he would put the little fucker in his place, no danger.

Freddie went into the lounge and, picking up his coat, he took out a wad of money and peeled off five hundred pounds. He walked back to the kitchen and said almost shyly, 'Open an account up for it, babe, so it'll have a start in life. That is what Mags and Jimmy did and that kid's worth a fucking fortune now.'

Jackie and Roxanna looked at the man who had been the thorn in their sides for so long that they had forgotten how to like him, and their mouths were open and their eyes were round.

Rox saw the confusion in his eyes, and she knew it was mirrored in her own. Of all the things she had expected this morning, this was not one of them.

'Fucking hell, thanks, Dad.'

She was on the verge of tears, and for the first time in years Freddie understood what a small act of kindness could accomplish.

Rox hugged him back then, and he smelled the cleanliness of her, smelled her happiness and he also felt the love of a child he had never really taken any notice of.

She was a good girl, his Roxanna. He suddenly knew that they were all good girls really. Even his Kimberley, and especially his Dianna.

Why did he never appreciate that fact before?

'He must still be dead to the world, him, it's nearly nine o'clock!'

Joe's voice was high and Lena grinned. Joe loved that little child and she knew the feeling was reciprocated, since Jimmy Junior would listen to his old crap for hours.

'Go and wake him up, then, you rotten old sod. You know how much he likes his kip.'

'Have you done him his boiled egg and soldiers?'

She turned from the draining board where she was cutting the bread and butter into thin strips.

''Course I have. He would do 'is crust if they weren't waiting for him!'

Joe laughed with her. They were happy these days and it was mostly because of that little child. Maggie's postnatal depression had meant they had been privileged to be a very big part of his little life, and they were grateful for that.

'Go and get him, Joe, and I'll make him his cup of tea. He loves his cuppa in the morning does our little man.'

Lena watched as her husband raced off to wake their grandson. She would have let him sleep, he loved his Sooty and Sweep, bless him.

Little Freddie sat with his father and ate his cereal. Freddie watched as his son shoved the Coco Pops into his mouth with no manners whatsoever. He was too busy watching Mighty Morphing Power Rangers on Sky. Jackie was pretending to drink black tea, which he knew was sherry, because the smell was overpowering, and the house reminded him of a fucking rubbish tip. There were overflowing ashtrays, the curtains were half drawn as they were most of the time, and the feel of decay was everywhere. He had spent fortunes on this drum and it was still like a fucking squat.

An advert came on the TV and there was a lovely family, with lovely kids. They were being urged to borrow money, but as they sat there, eating toast and jam and being nice to each other, he knew that other than the poncing to pay off debts they shouldn't have had anyway, that was probably how Maggie and Jimmy acted first thing in the morning.

Jimmy Junior probably had egg on toast, or fresh fruit, they drank tea from a teapot and Jimmy probably read a paper that had been delivered by a smiling paper boy.

As he looked around his own home, he was suddenly pleased his Rox had got out of it all. He had seen her drum, it was clean and tidy and decorated to death.

She would pore over catalogues for hours just to find the right cushion, or the right blind. And he knew that if Maggie had not been in her life she would not have known about anything like that. Would never have realised that people like them were just as entitled as everyone else to have a nice home, a nice life.

Jackie cared about nothing, except maybe the drink and then him, and then Little Freddie, in that order. But Maggie and her fussy ways also angered him, and his daughters' utter adoration of her irritated him. He felt that she and Jimmy were living his life and it was this which made him so bitter.

'Eat properly, shut your fucking mouth!'

Little Freddie stared for long seconds at his father and then did as he was asked.

Jackie was still sitting on the sofa in her grubby dressing gown. She was smoking a cigarette and drinking her sherry out of a chipped white cup.

It took all his willpower not to kick off there and then, and smash her face in.

Joe was staring down at his grandchild and the tears were running down his face. This could not be happening, this could not he true, he had to be in a nightmare. His heart was pounding in his breast, and he was sure it would stop at any second. Wanted it to stop completely, so he would die and this scene would he wiped from his memory.

He was panting. He had wondered, briefly, if it was the child breathing so heavily, wondered if it was the child making this awful wheezing noise but he knew that this child had not taken a breath for a long time.

His little face, when he had pulled the quilt back and seen it, had been the single most terrifying thing he had ever experienced.

He was so small, so small and so stiff and he was all wrong. He was lying all wrong, and they had slept in the room next door all night, and this little child had been dead. They had not gone in to tuck him in because he was such a light sleeper and as Jackie had been round causing ructions, they had left him. Left him alone, and he was dead.

He had tiptoed in and seen the little lump in the bed and then closed the door on him, his little grandson, the light of his life, and the reason his Lena got up in the morning.

Why hadn't he gone to him then? Looked at him properly and made sure the child was all right?

He was clutching his chest, and he felt the pain in his fingers.

'Hurry up, your egg's getting cold! What are you two doing?'

It was Lena's voice that finally made him move. Lena's happy voice, Lena, the woman he had hurt so much over the years and who he knew he could never be without. It was her, and the thought of her seeing this, that made him move at last.

Joe left the room and shut the door behind him.

She was in the hallway when he walked outside and she saw the tears on his face. 'What's going on, where's me boy?' Her voice was harsh, high and she was looking concerned, frightened.

He was shaking his head.

'What's wrong, you stupid old fucker, where is me little man, me little fella?'

He could feel the fear coming off her in waves, hear it in her voice.

'Let me see him, get out of my way…'

He was holding her now, struggling with her, making her stay outside, stopping her seeing what he had seen. The sight would kill her, he knew it would.

She was staring into his eyes now, and he was holding her by the forearms, afraid to let her go in case she went into the room, the mausoleum that was now holding the body of their dead grandchild.