Now that Dec had cleared the air with Anne and he'd agreed to the family dinner,he was starting to feel excited. He hadn't seen any of his family since Fonseys funeral and he knew it was going to be great.
"You'll ask Ant and Christine to come too won't you Dec?" Anne enquired.
"Of course I will,I'll text him now"
Dec immediately sent the text to Ant, inviting him and his Mam to dinner the following day.Just a couple of minutes later,his phone buzzed with Ants reply.
"What is it?" Anne asked curiously as she noticed Decs frown as he read the message.
"He thanks you for the invitation but he doesn't want to intrude on our family time"
"Give me that phone" Anne scowled,practically snatching it out of Decs hand before pressing the call button.
"Hi Dec,how's it going?" came Ants cheerful voice.
"I'll tell you how it's going young man" Anne snapped,Ant was totally taken aback that it wasn't Dec on the phone as he expected.
"Now we are having a family dinner tomorrow which I want you and your Mam to come to,so what's this nonsense about not wanting to intrude on our family time?since when have you not been family?you have been a part of our family since you were thirteen years old,so I'll expect you both around 1 o'clock tomorrow ok?make sure you're hungry,it will be a feast" Anne could hear Ant chuckling on the other end of the phone as he couldn't get a word in.
Eventually she paused for breath.
"Ok Anne,that will be lovely,we'll both see you tomorrow"
After she hung up,she set about calling everyone else to inform them that the sunday dinner was going ahead.Meanwhile she had given Dec the daunting task of ordering the online shopping,he was basically just used to doing grocery shopping for himself,this was a whole different ballgame,there would be alot of them tomorrow so he got on to the task immediately.He also had a sneaky suspicion his Mam was just trying to keep him busy to stop the sadness from creeping back in,he didn't mind though!
"What meat are we having Mam?" He called out.
"You choose darling" came back the reply.
"Chicken it is then" Dec whispered to himself as he ordered his favourite.
Soon all the shopping was ordered to be delivered early the next morning and Anne had finished letting everyone know about tomorrows plans which they were all delighted with.
Anne and Dec spent the rest of the day chatting and watching television.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow" Dec stated.
"Yes it will be lovely" Anne confirmed "they're all looking forward to seeing you too and it will be a much happier occasion than last time"
Everyone was acutely aware that they hadn't all been together in the same room since Fonseys funeral.
They soon said their goodnights and both of them had a better nights sleep than they had had in a long time.
The next morning Anne soon set Dec to work peeling potatoes and chopping vegetables.This was one part of the cooking process she knew Dec couldn't mess up with his very limited culinary skills.soon everything was done and ready to be cooked once everyone arrived although the two very large chickens and mountains of roast potatoes were already in the oven and the gorgeous smells were already teasing his taste buds.
He had loved helping Anne out just like he did when he was a little boy.The awkwardness of the last couple of months had totally disappeared as they chatted,laughed and sang along to the radio.He was so happy they'd had that talk and told each other how they were feeling and he was also incredibly grateful that Ant had talked him into it!
