Forty-Four.

                                    

                                          
Alex's POV: 
                          
Vanessa had brought Jordie to Liverpool to stay with us before I left for the Euro's. I'd been named in the squad a few days previously and Jordie wanted to spend some time at mine before I had to go to St. George's Park before the competition.
                          
They pulled up at my house in the late afternoon and I opened the door and waited for them to walk up. 
                          
"Hey Jord." I said, opening my arms for him. He hugged me back and I patted him on the back.
                          
"Hey dad." He grinned. "Nice to see you, but I really need to pee." He continued, slipping past me and immediately running up the stairs. I laughed as he sprinted towards the bathroom.
                          
Turning back outside, I greeted Vanessa, a little awkwardly. We hadn't spoken in person since Jordie had returned to her's but I assumed we were alright because we'd talked civilly on the phone and she'd agreed to drop Jordie off today. I said hi to her and gave her a quick hug, expecting her to leave, but she continued to stand on the doorstep. I knew she wanted to come in but I had no idea why. We stood in an awkward silence for a while, whilst I waited for her to give up and leave and she remained there, looking up at me expectantly.
                          
After a while it got too painfully awkward and I reluctantly I gave in and invited her in. She accepted the invitation gleefully. Wondering what she wanted, I led her into the dining room and we sat down at the table, opposite each other. 
                          
"Your house is so big and pretty, I love it." She smiled as she sat down.
                          
"Thanks." I said. We sat in awkward silence for a few moments, painfully aware that no one was speaking.
                          
"It's quite late, where's your wife?" She asked out of the blue.
                          
"She's at work, but she should be home pretty soon." I answered uneasily.
                          
Vanessa nodded and I wondered if I was mistaken but it looked like she was suppressing a smile. Thinking I was being paranoid, I brushed it off as my imagination. "Can we talk? There's some stuff on my mind that I really need to talk to someone about. Please?" She pleaded.
                          
I was hesitant; if I remembered correctly, Vanessa had always been very over dramatic and would go on and on about her problems, most of which were either completely insignificant or her fault in the first place. However, I decided that as the father of her child, I was partially responsible for making sure she was okay so I reluctantly agreed to hear what she had to say.
                          
"I'm just really worried about my relationship with Jordie at the moment." She appeared to sob. "I feel like he's drifting away from me and there's nothing I can do about it."
                          
"Why, what's happened?"
                          
"So much has happened. I feel like he doesn't even like me anymore and he can't be around my boyfriend either because they just argue all the time. How awful is that? My son hates me and my boyfriend. I'm must be a terrible mother." She wailed, a slight hint of compliment-fishing in her speech, which I decided to ignore.
                          
"Hey, that's not true. You're his mum so of course he doesn't hate you. He's just a teenager - they're always moody and distancing from their parents. And I'm sure he'll get used to your boyfriend, it might just take a little time." I comforted her.
                          
She sighed a little. "It's times like this I think back on the old days, how good it used to be before there was all of this stress. Back in secondary school, you and me just having a laugh." She reminisced. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. 
                          
"Do you remember when we used to go to the sweet shop and I would ask you to buy us something and you said no because you were a professional athlete." She chuckled and I faked a smile. "We had no worries back then, just each other and that was fine." I remained silent.