Holly reveals the contents of the letter that upset her

Ed expected that they would drive back home so was surprised when his mom diverted the car making a detour to a local park which just happened to be his favourite park from childhood.

"Come on" Holly instructed her son as she led him to a nearby ice cream shop where they bought cones before making their way to some empty swings. Soon mother and son found themselves sitting side by side on some swings eating ice cream in silence.

"This was always your favorite place when you were little. I'd take both you and Manolo here practically every weekend. You'd run off and find mischief whereas I'd sit and avoid the local single, or just plain bored, dads trying to hit on me. I did want mischief then but the time wasn't right and I gladly gave up that part of my life to be fully part of yours. You'll always be my little boy but while you were gone I discovered that I still wanted to cause mischief and I met Idris."

"I don't think he's right for you mom" Ed replied as he licked his ice cream "its not just that you're dating again, I knew it would happen one day. It's him, he's been kind of a jerk to me."

Holly licked her ice cream before replying "he's had a tough life too you know and that daughter of his is trouble who causes him sleepless nights. He's just insecure an Alpha male who is adjusting to life as a Beta, give him time."

"He's now a Beta?" Ed asked.

Holly laughed to herself "why do children always underestimate their parents? Of course he's a Beta, you're the number one man in my life. I carried you in my tummy, raised you and watched you grow into someone I thought until recently was a fine young man."

Ed looked crestfallen at his mom's judgemental backwards compliment "I'm sorry mom, I wanted to be strong and help you but I... "

Holly laughed again "You got, shall we say distracted. I do understand, I was young too once and your father and I used to get into all sorts of situations which is just part of growing up before you settle down, get old and your libido drops." Ed looked away, he'd heard his mom with Idris at all times of the day and night since he got back, if his mom's libido had dropped what the hell had she been like when she was younger, some things a child doesn't want to know about their parents. "Plus, you do know that I get to hold this story over you as ****, especially when you have teenage kids of your own" his mom added.

Ed shrugged, grinning "no more than I deserve I guess. I am sorry for creating all this drama. I thought if I could speak to Cory she would tell me what was going on and I could help you."

Holly chuckled this time "oh my poor naive son, you thought my BFF would betray me. After everything Cory and I have been through there's no chance of that." She paused and her mood darkened "I'm sorry for losing my temper at the police station, its just been difficult recently. And I'm sorry for not being honest with you earlier, its just hard for a parent to let their child down, I feel as though I failed you. I wanted to protect you but I should have acknowledged that you had a right to know... I just wanted there to more time for you to be my little boy."

Ed moved over to Holly and gave her a big cuddle before returning to his swing seat, they sat in silence for awhile until their ice cream was finished and Ed again asked the question his mom's refusal to answer had indirectly led to so much drama, "so mom, please tell me, what happened with that letter?"

Holly sighed deeply and looked over to her son, for perhaps the first time truely seeing a glimpse of the man he was becoming and not the child she had always viewed him as. She pulled out the letter from her jacket and handed it over to Ed, he nervously took it and read it.

"But wouldn't our insurance cover this?" Ed asked confused by what the issue was.

Holly sighed deeply "No... I.. Ummm... I cancelled your medical cover while you were away since you had already had worldwide insurance and I didn't want to pay for duplicate cover, your travel insurance ran out the day you came back but I was so excited at seeing you again that I forgot to renew your medical cover for being back home. I'm so sorry, I just didn't think..."

"Fuck" was his assessment when he'd finished the letter.

"Language!" His mom scolded him. "But yes, its why I wanted to protect you. It IS my responsibility but Idris viewed things differently" his mom commented.

"I just didn't think.... " Ed replied

"What teenager does?" Holly lamented.

Ed looked at the letter again, it was the bill from the hospital for his treatment after Jamal assaulted him. Without medical insurance they demanded payment of $46,071, the bill was addressed to Ed but had been intercepted by his mom. "Its ok mom, I can take care of this" the unemployed Ed tried to reassure his mom despite his shock.

"Oh honey, I don't think mowing Nikki's lawn is going to cover this" his mom commented.

"I could get a loan..." Ed offered .

"No, I can't let you have this debt, this amount would ruin the rest of your life and besides no bank is going to lend an unemployed teenager that sort of money" his mom stated.

"Can you afford it?" Ed asked his mom.

Holly hesitated before she replied, "well I'll have to remortgage and then downsize the house, my wage as a yoga instructor wouldn't quite cover everything otherwise."

"Downsize?" Ed asked

"Yes sweetie, as in sell the house to pay for the medical bills" Holly momplained.

Ed sat stunned by his self guilt as the full impact of his tryst with Nyomi hit home. Maybe if he'd reported Jamal to the police things would have been different, could he go back and file a police report to try to somehow get compensation to cover his medical ? Would they believe him after his recent antics with Preeti? How was his mom able to afford his bail?

"There has to be another way," Ed complained "what about Idris?"

Holly sighed "well, he thought part of you growing up and being independent was that you should take the debt but I told him it was my house, my son, my responsibility and my choice. He... didn't react well and was angry when he left. I tried to get in touch with him but he's had his phone switched off."

"Maybe its for the best mom, he's honestly been kind of a dick to me, trying to pressure me to leave, saying all sorts of shit and..." Ed began.

"Honey, please... He was raised to be independent and thinks you should be the same, he sees you as a son but he didn't grow up with a father and doesn't know how to express himself to you. It's a period of adjustment for all of us, please Ed, try to be patient. I really think things will get better in time" Holly implored.

Ed looked at his mom doubting that anything would get better in the near future unless he took action. He doubted that Idris would change and the prospect of his mom having to sell her house, the house he had grown up in and his fathers life insurance had paid for made him feel sick.

Ed didn't want to worry his mom anymore since it was his carelessness that was responsible for the financial problems she now faced. Instead he told her what she needed to hear "sure mom, things will get better."

Holly smiled at him as she replied with a simple "thank you".

Holly stood and took Ed's arm before leading him arm in arm on a walk around the park as they distracted themselves from that days events by reminiscing about happier times. Holly looked over at Ed as he laughed at a childhood memory, she knew that like all children her son would never really understand how much she loved him until he himself became a parent. For a brief moment there was respite from debt hanging over them as the years slipped away and they could be happy as mother and son simply enjoying each others company while they walked in the park.