A wide-eyed Lenny broke into uncontrollable laughter.
“Grandad!” he spluttered.
“Keep it down please,” said a passing nurse.
“Grandad!” gasped Lenny, a little more quietly.
Danny was struggling to take it in. There had always been a bond between him and Albert, but this was incredible. They were family. Albert was his dad’s father. Albert was his grandfather.
He could not help himself. He bent down and hugged Albert.
Something stirred in Albert’s eyes. “Nice, son,” he whispered in Danny’s ear. “But this is really hurting my ribs.”
Danny pulled back, half-laughing. “Sorry! I couldn’t help it. This is… This…”
“We’ve got a lot to catch up on, Danny,” said Albert steadily.
“We have, Grandad,” agreed Danny, catching hold of Albert’s hand with tears in his eyes. “We have.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
OVER the next few weeks Danny visited his new grandfather every day. Lenny came too, although Danny was not really convinced if the visits from Lenny were for Albert, or for the nurse from Lenny’s home town of Kingston, Jamaica, who always seemed to be on the ward.
When he’d got used to the idea of having Albert as his grandfather, Danny steeled himself to call Wendy. He hadn’t seen her since that strange day at Rosie’s house, and he had no idea how she was going to take this news.
“You’re joking,” Wendy said when Danny called and told her. “You’ve taken too much of something.”
“This ain’t just wishful thinking, Wendy. It’s true. Will you come to the hospital with me so Ruby can meet her great- grandfather?”
“I’m not ready to take you back, Danny,” warned Wendy. “Not yet. I need to see a change. A big change. I ain’t seen it yet.”
“I understand that. But this is for Ruby, Wend. Will you come? Please?”
“Fine,” said Wendy after a moment. “Tomorrow afternoon at the hospital. I’ll be there at two o’clock.”
“I can give you a lift if you want,” said Danny hopefully.
“We’ll get there by ourselves. Don’t be late.”
At two o’clock, Danny waited anxiously outside the hospital for Wendy and Ruby to arrive. When he saw them turn the corner, he ran to meet them.
He wanted to hug Wendy and pick up his little girl and hold them close, but Ruby looked at him like a stranger and there was still a coldness in Wendy’s eyes.
“Thanks for coming,” he said awkwardly. “Can you believe this?” He smiled at Ruby, hoping she might warm to him. “Do you want to meet your great-grandad, Ruby?”
Ruby looked up to her mother for approval. “Grandad,” she said. “Yes.”
“Come on then,” Danny said.
Wendy and Ruby followed Danny to Albert’s ward. Ruby seemed fascinated by this new and strange place, waving to almost everyone she passed. Danny showed her which button to push in the lift, which pleased Ruby no end. Not quite a breakthrough, but a smile to Danny melted his heart.
“Oh my goodness,” said Albert as they came into the ward. “How wonderful to see you, Wendy. And you, look at you, Ruby, you big girl!”
“Why is your leg up in the air?” asked Ruby.
“That is a very good question,” said Albert. “The nice nurse said it would make it better.”
“Oh, better,” Ruby replied.
Albert looked at Wendy. “She’s beautiful,” he said. “You’re doing a great job, Wendy, it can’t be easy.”
Danny flushed, but Wendy smiled.
“I got a new dolly called Pinky,” Ruby announced.
“What a nice name,” said Albert, returning his attention to the little girl. “Is pink your favourite colour?”
They chatted for a while about dolls and colours, animals and the weather and Albert’s bandages. Danny watched, and wondered if he’d ever get to chat to Ruby that way again.
“Hope you’ll be back on your feet soon, Albert,” said Wendy at last, taking Ruby’s hand. She glanced at Danny. “Bye then.”
“Do you want me to show you the way out?” Danny asked.
“We’ll find it,” said Wendy.
Ruby looked back as they reached the door of the ward. Albert blew her a kiss, and she blew one back. Danny got a wave too. It was a start, he thought. Definitely a start.
Albert was slowly on the mend, uplifted by recent events, and Danny’s visits were frequent and often. He loved hearing the stories of his late father’s adventures as a scallawag in East London.
“Your father was fearless,” Albert told him. “Him and his mate Charlie used to swim across the Thames trying to race the Woolwich Ferry. That was until he got a clip round the ear from a copper.”
Danny fell quiet. “Do you know where Dad’s buried?” he asked after a moment.
“In a war cemetery in France.”
“Whereabouts in France?”
“A place called Brouay,” Albert answered, “along with many others.”
“Have you been there?”
“A long time ago,” said Albert. “Just after the war, I went with the wife: your grandmother and the love of my life. I doubt if I’ll see it again.”
Danny smiled. “What was my nan’s name?”
“Vera. And she was beautiful.”
“Was my dad interested in boxing?”
Albert nodded. “He was, and he was a decent little fighter. But football was really his first love.”
“Why did you lose contact with my mum?” Danny asked. “You knew she’d had me.”
“These things happen,” Albert said.
Hearing the pain in Albert’s response, Danny put the question on the back burner.
When Danny told Rosie that Albert was his grandfather, the colour seemed to drain from her face.
“How do you know?” she asked faintly.
“The photo of Albert’s son is the photo of Dad.”
Rosie sat down. “Oh my gawd,” she said.
“I should have worked it out quicker,” said Danny. “His surname’s Kemp, same as Dad’s.”
“I can’t believe it,” said Rosie. “I haven’t seen Albert for what? Over twenty-five years.”
“I know,” said Danny. “He told me.”
Rosie became defensive. “We didn’t get on,” she said.
“Why not?”
“I don’t think he ever liked me,” Rosie said. “He never thought I was good enough for his son, especially after…” She stopped.
“I know you went off with my step-dad soon after Dad was killed,” Danny said. “Albert was upset about that.”
“It was hard on me own,” Rosie said plaintively. “And perhaps Albert was right. Perhaps I wasn’t good enough.” She leaned against the kitchen table, looking tired and sad. “Albert Kemp,” she said, almost to herself. “Dear me.”
“Perhaps you can meet up,” Danny suggested. “Talk about Dad.”
Rosie’s face closed up. “Too much water under the bridge,” she said. And Danny couldn’t push her any further on the subject.
It wasn’t long before Albert was up and hobbling impatiently around the hospital corridors with the aid of a crutch, dressed in a new pair of tartan pyjamas and some slippers with pom poms on that Wendy and Ruby had bought for him. He actually looked, for the first time, like a grandad.
He was ready to go now, more than ready to leave. He made his feelings known to nurses and doctors alike whenever one came by. After wearing the medical staff down to a ravelling, he was finally given the green light.
Hobbling and bobbling as fast as his plaster cast let him, down the familiar brown and cream corridor, he almost collided with a grumpy lady being wheeled along in a wheelchair on his way to the phone kiosk in reception.
“Clifton Garage,” said Lenny, after what felt like an eternity.
“Hello, Lenny,” said Albert. “I’ve got this broken-down wreck that needs picking up.”
Lenny laughed. “So, you got me cake with the file in it that I sent you?”
“Yeah, it worked a treat,” Albert replied, grinning. “I filed through the iron bars and I’m free. Do you reckon you could pick me up?”