she was married and then divorced things seemed to happen that way the children were confused sometimes they d fight sitting in their toys and games to them she s mummy and i am their friend who sits with them on his lap and sleeps on the sofa on alternate weekends no substitute for their dad she s a very good mum as she tries to explain everything that she can but a child s mind is sharp they imagine the worst sometimes can t understand that there s so much to learn when you open a can of worms so to the park to play on the swings to give their mother a break when i saw their father walking down the path heading down towards the gate i froze on the spot heart in my throat i hoped he d not see us there he soon disappeared and the kids on the slide were happy and unaware i read the papers and made scrambled eggs the kids got ready to leave their dad was taking them for the weekend with pocket money and sweets they were excited as they waved goodbye and i went straight back to bed their mother stood and waved as they drove away standing on the front door step