Felix self-consciously brushed back his hair with his fingers and tried to look anywhere except at the many eyes trained on him.
‘You might want to sit over here,’ suggested Charlie gently as she gestured for Felix to move to the opposite sofa.
‘No, I’m fine. Thanks.’
Charlie gave him a look that communicated that staying seated where he was was not an option. Felix looked around him in bemusement. ‘What?’
‘Please move,’ said Charlie. He sighed but did as he was asked and looked further confused when nobody took the place he had vacated. Millie decided to sit on the rug at Charlie’s feet.
Charlie gave a forced smile. ‘This is…’
‘You’re Uncle Felix, aren’t you?’ blurted out George and Millie responded with a dramatic gasp and covered Darth Vader’s mouth with her hand. It was one of her favourite things to do at the moment and for once her timing was spot on.
‘Why are you here exactly?’ asked Ted, leaning forward, his shoulders hunched and his hands clasped tightly together in front of him.
‘Well, the solicitor thought we should meet up and…’
‘Not because you wanted to see how we were,’ stated Ted coldly, as his knuckles turned white.
‘Of course I did.’ Felix looked uncomfortable. ‘You’ve changed since I last saw you, Teddy,’ said Felix.
‘It’s Ted. And yeah that tends to happen when you sod off for years. Things change, Felix.’ He emphasised the name before slumping back into his seat.
‘Look I don’t have all the answers and I’m not here to cause trouble.’ Felix rested his hands on his knees as if trying to keep them still.
Millie climbed up onto Charlie’s lap and turned her back on the room. Charlie removed the Darth Vader mask.
‘Why did you run off?’ asked George.
Felix ran his hand through his hair, ‘It’s complicated, mate. You’d not really understand.’
‘You could at least try to explain,’ said Charlie, locking eyes with Felix and she saw a flash of something – anger, irritation? She wasn’t sure.
Felix swallowed hard. ‘Our father died and it was difficult…’
‘Yes, we know how that feels,’ said Eleanor in a soft and genuinely sympathetic voice.
‘I’m so sorry, of course you do…’ Felix looked suitably chastened.
‘Did you kill him?’ asked George, his interest piqued.
‘Err, no. Of course not.’ Felix was frowning and shaking his head but there was something about his expression that worried Charlie. His words said one thing but his face said another.
‘Why didn’t you come to the funeral?’ Ted asked belligerently.
Felix went pale. ‘Your dad and I… didn’t keep in touch. I suppose it took the solicitors a while to find me and by then I’d missed it. I’m… so sorry.’
There was an uneasy silence before Felix spoke again. ‘I’m seeing Ruth later about the guardianship and the trust fund.’
Ted snorted and shook his head. ‘You know the money comes with strings attached and we’re those strings,’ he said, pointing at himself and the other children.
‘Perhaps this was a bad idea,’ said Felix, looking decidedly awkward.
Charlie raised her eyebrows but said nothing.
‘I am truly sorry about your mum and dad. I loved them too.’ He stood and left the room and Charlie felt she should see him out, so she shifted Millie off her lap and followed him.
‘Here, call first if you want to come again. It’s best they’re forewarned, okay?’ said Charlie, handing him the phone number she’d quickly scribbled on the back of an old envelope.
He nodded, turned up his collar and stepped out into a mild summery London.
Felix raced into the small coffee shop and immediately spotted a vaguely familiar woman, who was staring unblinking at the door.
‘Hello Ruth,’ said Felix, reaching forward to air-kiss her. ‘Really sorry I’m late, I was…’
Ruth recoiled. ‘Yes, well, I still need to be in a meeting at three o’clock, which means we only have thirteen minutes.’
Felix looked longingly at the conga-line queue for coffee and Ruth blinked hard. Felix’s shoulders sagged as he accepted his disappointment and sat down opposite her.
‘I’m truly sorry about your sister. Helen was such a genuinely lovely person, I remember when…’
‘Thank you,’ cut in Ruth, glancing at her watch, ‘I’ll keep this brief. The lawyers are going to keep burning money the longer they debate how we split the guardian role. I’ve spoken to Social Services and they would prefer us to work this out for ourselves and then they’ll review the candidate. I am very happy to take on that responsibility.’
Felix slumped back into his chair and clapped his hands. ‘That is great news. Thank you. The solicitor I spoke to implied you didn’t want to look after the kids but kind of made it clear that one of us had to. So that is a huge relief.’
Ruth scowled, ‘The responsibility of guardian enables me to ensure they have a financially secure future and appoint a childcare professional to administer their care. And let’s be clear, I do not mean the current incumbent.’
Felix looked like he’d just been beaten at Scrabble. ‘What?’
‘Their current nanny will be leaving as soon as I can find a replacement. She isn’t qualified and the children are out of control. She is some stray that my sister took in. I queried it with Helen at the time. I told her she should do proper checks, but Helen was always too soft and naive.’ Ruth’s voice caught in her throat. ‘Anyway, I’ve done some investigating of my own and she’s not fit to care for those children but I’m sure she’s already looking for another job, so we’ll soon be rid of her.’ Ruth checked her watch again and moved her handbag onto her lap. ‘If you could inform the solicitor that you concur, I will notify Social Services of the agreed approach, and we should be able to get things wrapped up quite quickly.’ Ruth stood to leave.
‘Hang on, hang on,’ said Felix, waving her to sit down again. ‘Let’s get this straight. You will be their guardian, and you’ll administer the trust fund. There will be a new nanny…’
‘A qualified nanny,’ interjected Ruth.
‘Yep, to do washing, cleaning and day-to-day stuff. But what’s missing is who is actually looking after them?’
Ruth pursed her lips. ‘A full-time nanny will be there to care for them, they’ll be fine. We could, of course, consider boarding school for the older children,’ said Ruth, with almost a smile. ‘I need to leave.’
‘Yeah, of course. Sorry I was late but I think we need more time to work something else out. I really don’t think Helen and Tobes would have wanted their kids to be left to manage by themselves like this, and certainly not just packed off to boarding school.’
Ruth stood up. ‘Very well, I’ll check my diary so we can discuss this further, but I assure you they’ll be fine. Children are very resilient. Good bye.’
Millie took a big breath for another rendition of the chorus. ‘All the birds