Lucie Wheeler - Mums Just Wanna Have Fun

A division of HarperCollins Publishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Harper Impulse an imprint of

HarperColl‌insPublishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2018

Copyright © Lucie Wheeler 2018

Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2018

Cover illustrations © Shutterstock.com

Lucie Wheeler asserts the moral right

to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is

available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are

the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to

actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is

entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International

and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

By payment of the required fees, you have been granted

the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access

and read the text of this e-book on screen.

No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted,

downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or

stored in or introduced into any information storage and

retrieval system, in any form or by any means,

whether electronic or mechanical, now known or

hereinafter invented, without the express

written permission of HarperCollins.

Souce ISBN: 9780008216566

Ebook Edition © May 2018 ISBN: 9780008216559

Version 2018-02-23

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page A division of HarperCollins Publishers www.harpercollins.co.uk

Copyright Harper Impulse an imprint of HarperColl‌insPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2018 Copyright © Lucie Wheeler 2018 Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2018 Cover illustrations © Shutterstock.com Lucie Wheeler asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Souce ISBN: 9780008216566 Ebook Edition © May 2018 ISBN: 9780008216559 Version 2018-02-23

Dedication Dedication To all the mums and dads all over the world. Whether you are a biological parent, step parent, grandparent, adoptive parent, foster parent, surrogate parent, carer, guardian… whatever your capacity is, just remember that you are doing an incredible thing. Keep sharing the love with children all over the world and remember that it is ok to not know what you are doing, because to your children, you are doing everything they will ever need just by being there and loving them. You are not alone – remember that.

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Also by Lucie Wheeler

About HarperImpulse

About the Publisher

To all the mums and dads all over the world.

Whether you are a biological parent, step parent, grandparent, adoptive parent, foster parent, surrogate parent, carer, guardian… whatever your capacity is, just remember that you are doing an incredible thing.

Keep sharing the love with children all over the world and remember that it is ok to not know what you are doing, because to your children, you are doing everything they will ever need just by being there and loving them.

You are not alone – remember that.

‘Are you for real?’ Nancy exhaled hard in disbelief as she stared open-eyed at her husband.

‘Don’t be like that, Nance; try to see it from my point of view.’

He looked tired, unshaven and pretty much like he had given up on life. Nancy couldn’t blame him; it had been a hard few years for the pair of them – for all of them actually. But she didn’t have the option of giving up, and neither should he.

‘Your point of view? Are you actually saying these words? Can you hear yourself, Pete?’

He slammed down his glass of wine and stomped into the kitchen, leaning his hands on the butler sink edge and dropping his head in shame. Nancy followed closely behind him, not trusting him to finish what he’d started. They were supposed to be having a nice romantic meal tonight. Jack was upstairs in bed (although not asleep because he didn’t really do sleep), the dining table in the living room was set out with a bottle of red wine and candles and Pete had chosen the break between their lentil soup starter and the chicken and chorizo tray bake that was in the oven to tell her he was leaving her.

‘I … I … I don’t understand.’

He stayed facing the sink, not giving her the eye contact she so desperately wanted. ‘It’s too hard.’

‘What is?’

‘Him!’ Pete shouted, as he turned round and gestured his finger to the ceiling, indicating their six-year-old son upstairs.

Nancy felt her stomach turn as she listened to Pete talk about Jack with such frustration. A mix of anger and pain churning round together. She took a deep breath. ‘He’s our son,’ she said, the words barely coming out as a whisper.

Pete threw his hands to his head and covered his eyes, groaning in frustration. Nancy wasn’t sure if it was with her, Jack or himself. Either way, she was heartbroken. ‘I know! I just … I can’t keep doing this. I can’t handle his funny little quirks and his demands and his … you know … his … stupid little things!’

‘Stupid?’ she gasped. ‘Pete, he can’t help it!’

‘There must be a way to make him better.’

‘He’s not ill!’ She was starting to get annoyed now.

‘Well, he’s not right though, is he!’ he challenged, staring her straight in the eyes for the first time since he’d announced his departure from their family.