United State of Love by Sue Fortin

going to the park!’
    ‘Can we go now?’
    Anna was nearly bowled over as Jake, Alex and Henry threw themselves at her for a group hug.
    ‘Sshhhh! Boys! Sssshhh!’ pleaded Zoe, trying to calm them down and prise them away from their aunt. ‘You're going to wake Emily up.’ Too late. Emily didn't want to be left out of the fun and began crying. ‘Thanks a lot, boys.’
    Anna looked at Zoe who was now pulling a crumpled tissue from her sleeve. She wasn't sure if Zoe was dabbing her eyes and nose because of her cold or because she was upset. This wasn't good.
    ‘Come on, boys,’ cajoled Anna. ‘Why don't you go in the garden for ten minutes? I'm not quite ready yet. Come on. And you, Henry. Here, I'll carry you. There we go. Come on, Jake. Alex. Let's go outside for a bit.’
    Zoe looked at her gratefully before disappearing upstairs.
    ‘There's a cup of tea for you,’ smiled Anna as Zoe came back down carrying Emily. ‘Ooh hello, Emily darling. Did those boys wake you up? Never mind. Come here for a cuddle while mummy has a cup of tea.’ Anna took Emily before either mother or daughter could protest, and gently bobbing the child up and down, she wandered over to the window. ‘Look, can you see your brothers? There's Alex and Jake and little Henry. Aren't they having fun?’ She turned to her sister-in-law. ‘You okay, Zoe?’
    ‘Thanks, Anna. That's the first time someone's made a cup of tea for me in ages.’
    ‘Why don't I take Emily out as well? She doesn't seem too full of cold this morning. As long as you wrap her up warm the fresh air will do her good. What do you think, Emily? Want to come to the park? Mummy can have a nice, long soak in the bath, or sleep in bed, do whatever she fancies. Veg out in front of some cooking show.’
    Zoe didn't even pretend to make a ‘oh, you don't have to’ or ‘it'll be too much for you’ type of protest. She didn't have the energy or the inclination, it seemed.
    Having spent a good couple of hours at the park with the children then walking into town, treating them all to a McDonald's, Anna was glad to be back home. She really could do with a sleep. A boozy night, followed by an early morning and all that running around in the park had worn her out.
    Any notion she had of a quiet afternoon was shattered pretty much as soon as she walked through the front door to her house. Luke jumped up from the sofa and turned to face her angrily.
    ‘What did you say to Dad?’ he demanded.
    ‘Oh, hello, Mum. How are you? Want a cup of tea? Oh, I'm fine thanks, Luke. A bit tired but I'd love a cup of tea,’ she said, annoyed at the abruptness of Luke's greeting.
    ‘Sorry,’ mumbled Luke. He went out to the kitchen and reappeared a couple of minutes later with a cup of tea.
    ‘Thank you.’ She took the cup from Luke and put it on the coffee table in front of her. ‘Now, what’s up?’
    Luke flopped down into the chair by the fireplace. ‘Dad! He was supposed to be taking me out for a curry tonight and then we were coming back to watch the football.’
    ‘And now?’
    ‘He phoned to say he wasn’t coming back tonight because of you.’ Luke glanced up at Anna before reverting his gaze to the television.
    ‘Me? What have I done?’ What had she done to make Mark leave? She had no idea. ‘Did he say anything?’
    Luke let out a sigh. ‘No, just that he thought it was best if he stayed out of your way for a bit.’
    Anna could see the disappointment Luke was trying to hide behind his sullen expression. So it hadn’t taken Mark long to let Luke down. Selfish pig. And as for using her as an excuse! Right, where was her phone? She was going to phone Mark and get to the bottom of this.
    He answered on the fifth ring.
    ‘Mark, I just wanted to check if you were coming back tonight or not? Only Luke doesn't seem to think so.’ She tried to sound as nonchalant as possible.
    ‘No, that's right. Thought I'd stay over here the night. Why, is there a problem? I didn't think I