Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Day 13 (Saturday 5th June)

   Our `Birthday Girl' came downstairs and Ellen gave her a birthday card
we had got for her and signed inside with kisses, so we got kisses.  Ellen
said "Do you want to wait till this afternoon for your presents or have
them now?" Libby said tentatively, "Can I have them after breakfast, if you
don't mind?" Ellen said "Breakfast it is then, no porridge this morning we
had other things on our minds last night" Libby said "Oh, so that's why we
don't get porridge every morning, I think I'll take over soaking the oats,
then you two can concentrate on other things" She giggled and laughed then
we both joined in, Ellen said, when she calmed down, "Okay Libby that is
your job from now on." She giggled again "Then we can have porridge on a
more regular basis" I said "Good that's sorted, now we will have cereals
and some toast, I'll get the coffee going" We finished and took coffee cups
into the lounge and then I said "I'll start if you like, but I don't have
anything to show you for this present, I'll tell you about it.  I have
decided to pay for driving lessons for you, Libby, I'm hoping you will only
need ten maybe twelve to pass your test" Libby jumped up and said "Oh,
thank you Daddy, I'll do my best for you, are you going to let me drive
your car?" "That's not the end, I'll get you a car to run around in if you
pass your test as soon as you are old enough, I will pay your insurance for
that car.  I'm afraid you won't be driving my car for a while until I think
you are mature enough to drive it safely, but you'll have your own, are you
okay with that?" "Oh god.  Yes, who wouldn't be, you are so good to me"
Ellen said "I have got you something which you can use tonight with your
friends, I'll get Ken to bring it out, please" So I went out into the
hallway and opened up the cupboard under the stairs and brought out the
Karaoke machine, I took it and put it beside the unit under the TV, plugged
it in and handed the microphone to a stunned Libby, I turned on the TV and
the machine and they fired up and the on-screen graphics asked for a
number, I gave Libby the list of songs with corresponding numbers and she
pointed to one.  I punched in the numbers and the music began and the words
came up on the screen.  Libby started singing, she wasn't bad, I suppose if
she had practice she would get better.  She sang it all the way through,
then put the mike down and ran into her mum's arm's "This is great, oh, my
friends will love to go on this, thank you mum" I said "Because I didn't
get you anything visual, I've put another present in your room, under your
bed.  You can go and see it now.  She left the lounge at full speed, we
heard her racing up the stairs, then a pause then loud squeals from her
bedroom.  Then a more sedate sound of her coming down the stairs and she
came back into the lounge, she said "Daddy it's beautiful, I've always
wanted one, everybody at school was always talking about them and I
couldn't, now I'm one of them, thank you.  You'll have to help me set it
up, does it plug into my telly?" I said "Of course I'll help you, but we'll
get cleared up down here first, okay?" "Yes" was the reply We spent the
rest of the morning setting up her games console and her starting to learn
how to work it with both of us two looking over her shoulder giving out
useless tips.  We had lunch, Libby took a break from the games console,
while we were having lunch I explained that Libby had better restrict the
amount of time she spent on the console, didn't want her to have to go for
glasses before her next birthday.  After lunch I asked if we could plan our
trip on Sunday as we wouldn't have time later, I asked if they seriously
wanted to go to Stirling Castle, a chorus of yeses said of course, so I
fired up my new laptop, plugged it into the nearest telephone socket and
started searching for the cd-rom for the broadband service in the house
along with installation instructions, I found it all in the cupboard under
the stairs on top of the gas meter, I put it in the laptop, let it install,
restarted the laptop and we were up and running, I put in the generic
password and went to the web page to personalise the system for me, changed
the password to my own choice and that was it.  All the while I had an
audience over my shoulder, I said for them to draw up chairs so we could
surf the web together, Ellen didn't know what I meant but Libby knew from
lessons at school.  I `Googled' Stirling restaurants and a whole list came
up, Ellen was very impressed, we had a look through the list, found a
couple we liked the look of and I went on the phone to see if we could book
at short notice, we got to the third one, an Italian and booked it for
6:30pm and hung up, I noted down their address and postcode from the web
page, then I did a search on the castle and got pictures and location
information and a map asking for my location, I tapped in our postcode and
it came up with a map showing the route to take and a rough idea of how
long it would take under ideal conditions, I added ½ hour for roadwork's
and said "It will take us around 1¼ hours or less to get there if we rush,
we don't want to rush, do we?" A chorus of no's, so I shut down the
website, then shut off the computer.  I looked at my watch and said that it
was time we were getting ready to go out, so we all went upstairs to get
ourselves ready and we met downstairs in the kitchen and had some juice
while we waited, it seemed to be a reasonably nice day out so at 4:10 I
opened the front door and we waited for everyone to arrive and within 5
minutes they were there, I only saw girls and a couple of mothers so I
assumed that George and Bob couldn't come, though there were 5 girls
including Charley in her wheelchair, all the girls were crowded around her,
I interrupted them and said "Libby, good manners?  An introduction would be
nice" She came over to me and then all the girls stood in a row, I saw twin
girls at one end and thought `I smell a rat', Libby started at the other
end and said "You know Charley" I shook her hand, the next girl was
introduced as Karen then came Shelagh (that was spelled out for me) then
she said "The twins are George and Bob, I'm sorry for misleading you, it
was a joke, George and Bob do it all the time, their parents started it,
they were told they were expecting boys and girls came out so they named
them Georgina and Roberta" She was giggling and I was looking serious when
I shook their hands, they looked sheepishly at me, then I broke up laughing
and they started giggling.  I was then introduced to the three other
mother's and they said that now they knew their girls were safe they were
going home I said to them all "My name is Ken Richards, I want you to call
me Ken, I'm going to be Libbies new daddy eventually.  Can you all wait a
few minutes?" They all said yes, I got a digital camera out and said I want
to take a photo or two, I managed to get a couple and there was a hoot of a
horn and they all turned round to look at the street and saw a pink
limousine draw up.  Libby looked at me and I nodded.  She rushed into my
arms and I got such a hug.  The driver got out and opened the door and I
said to them all "Well girls, I have hired this for an hour, it's going to
take us for a tour round the area with the windows open, you four girls get
in and I'll get Charley in and sort out her chair" I turned to a gobsmacked
Ellen and Stella and said "Okay ladies, you too" I lifted Charley up and
got her onto a seat beside an open window and put a seatbelt on her.  Then
I went back outside, locked the house up and put the wheelchair into the
boot, got back into the limo and the driver came into the back and served
fizzy drinks to the girls and Champagne to us three grownups all in
champagne flutes, then showed me where the bottles were for refills and got
out and into the drivers seat and we were off.  The girls loved it,
travelling around their own area, shouting out the windows when they saw
someone they knew, it seemed to be over too soon, but I had been taking
photo's in the limo and after piling out at the McDonalds I got them all to
pose around it, they certainly enjoyed that.  Then the limo left and we
went into the eatery, one of the girls volunteered to go up with Charley in
the lift.  We all got sat down, I got sent with a list for the various
types of hamburgers and fries and I was helped in the serving by two of the
staff.  Even I enjoyed it and I know Ellen and Stella did, I got such a hug
from Stella and a kiss at the end of the meal, she turned to Ellen and said
"Ellen you have a man in a million here, he has done more today for Charley
than her father ever thought of doing, he never took us out, he didn't want
people to see him with a disabled daughter.  He blamed me for her being the
way she is.  She fell in the park and never walked again" She had tears in
her eyes, so I said "Stella you are not to blame for his failings, you have
a lovely daughter, she mixes in so well with the girls and you can see in
all their eyes the laughter, there's no pity here, only friendship" She
looked around her and saw I was talking the truth, she said "You know now
that Charley won't be a stranger in your house?" I answered "Both Ellen and
myself have discussed this and I said that I will carry Charley up and down
stairs but if it becomes a constant thing I'll put in a mini-lift for her"
Ellen nodded and said "Yes Stella" She looked at me and burst into tears,
Charley shouted "What's wrong?  Why is my mum crying?  What's happening?"
Ellen went over to her and calmed her down and said everything was alright
and that her mum was crying because she is happy that's all and for her to
just carry on having a good time.  Ellen came over to Stella and me, by
this time she had calmed herself down enough to talk.  She said "My husband
wouldn't do that and he got her bed put down in the lounge, so that's her
bedroom now, I have a television in my bedroom if I want to watch something
Charley doesn't" I said "Stella, we would like to come into your house to
discuss something you might enjoy" I turned to Ellen and she said "We don't
want you to be upset, but Ken has something he would like to share part of
with you, I won't go into details but be assured we both have your best
interests in our hearts and no, we aren't religious zealot's, we'll come in
as soon as we can this week if you don't mind.  It may not be on Monday as
we will be busy" Stella said she was fascinated as to what it could be and
said for us to let her know when we wanted to come in.  Then the girls got
us going and they were all congregated out the front while I paid the bill
and gave out a generous tip for the staff to enjoy.  We walked back to our
house, the girls had clubbed together for a present for Libby, an mp3
player and Charley had got her a music cd, Libby was over the moon with her
presents and tried the player but someone had forgotten that it would need
batteries so I said I would get some for her.  We arrived back at the house
and they all rushed into the lounge and we listened to a couple of hours of
the Karaoke machine then one of the mothers turned up and said she had come
for Shelagh and Karen, we all said our goodbyes and we were left with four
girls and Stella.  Charley looked pretty tired, she was fighting it but the
sleepy eyes were winning and Stella said goodnight to us and Charley said
her goodbyes and wheeled herself over to my chair "Ken I wish my daddy
could have been more like you, he was horrid, not just to me but to my mum
too, the only thing good he did was to leave" I said "Darling Charley, he
didn't deserve you or your mum, you are better people without him, I know
that and I never knew him, you are welcome to come into this house anytime
any of us are home, okay?" She said a sleepy thank you and I leaned over
and gave her a kiss on the cheek.  She quickly turned away, not before I
saw the tears, her mum saw she was having difficulty in seeing and wheeled
her out.  Ellen and I saw them out of the door and then we turned to each
other and had a hug.  A voice behind me reminded me we had others here "My
mum and Ken do that a lot so you lot'll have to get used to them, just to
let you know we're going upstairs to play on the console, we'll go to bed
at a reasonable time, won't we girls?" She looked at them and George and
Bob both nodded, I said that I would be keeping an eye on the time as well
and they trooped up the stairs into Libbies room.  We stayed downstairs
Ellen soaked a load of oats.  We watched a little tellie then went to bed
and just cuddled and slept.