Mummy’s Little Helper: The heartrending true story of a young girl secretly caring for her severely disabled mother

Mummy’s Little Helper: The heartrending true story of a young girl secretly caring for her severely disabled mother
Casey Watson

The fifth book from bestselling author and specialist foster carer Casey Watson.A recent census shows that there are at least 175,000 child carers in the UK, 13,000 of whom care for more than 50 hours a week. Many remain invisible to a system that would otherwise help them. Abigail is one of those children. This is her story.Ten-year-old Abigail has never known her father. Her mother, Sarah, has multiple sclerosis, and Abigail has been her carer since she was a toddler – shopping, cooking, cleaning and attending to her personal needs. When Sarah is rushed to hospital, suddenly this comes to the attention of the social services, and Abigail has nowhere to go.Though she doesn’t fit the usual profile of a child that specialist foster carers Casey and Mike Watson would take on, they are happy to step in and look after Abigail. It’s an emergency, after all – and all that’s needed is a loving temporary home, while social services look into how to support the family so that they can be reunited.But it soon becomes clear that this isn’t going to happen. Sarah’s MS is now at a very advanced stage, and the doctors are certain that there will no longer be periods of remission. Abigail’s emotional state starts to spiral out of control as she struggles to let go of the burden of responsibilities she has carried for so long.Sarah and Abigail insist that they do not need help, but with no other family to contact, social services are left with no choice but to find long-term care for Abigail, against their wishes. But Casey never gives up on a child in need, and she knows there must be another solution…Includes a sample chapter of Sunday Times bestseller Trafficked.

Contents

Cover (#udf6cff08-70d5-5362-bde0-400108c20f46)

Title Page (#u64eddc3e-76bc-5ee9-aafc-a1bb18813650)

Dedication (#ulink_1ab5c7c2-220d-511b-a809-40956bbd55e6)

Acknowledgements (#ulink_2533977c-c7dd-59ec-afc5-d236d7f9701a)

Chapter 1 (#ulink_45b6efe2-96e6-5226-8a90-000c7239a07b)

Chapter 2 (#ulink_e76c984a-f549-5d01-8a8d-be1ca7d7f3d5)

Chapter 3 (#ulink_d0b4ff3a-a480-5b42-b5db-0bdde3eb7e46)

Chapter 4 (#ulink_4259581e-d241-5706-9cc5-152accdd4c6f)

Chapter 5 (#ulink_498043f5-feea-5239-ac09-6cccea5221ff)

Chapter 6 (#ulink_98327911-ec6e-5652-bbf9-b2c4e78c706e)

Chapter 7 (#ulink_6dafc529-1d58-5b69-9ce4-2a925e0b9b2a)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 22 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 23 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 24 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 25 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 26 (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Exclusive sample chapter (#litres_trial_promo)

Casey Watson (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

(#ufa41eb4c-5d98-5c52-909f-581fdc2a7e00)

To my wonderful and supportive family

Acknowledgements (#ufa41eb4c-5d98-5c52-909f-581fdc2a7e00)

I would like to thank all of the team at HarperCollins, the lovely Andrew Lownie, and my friend and mentor, Lynne.

Chapter 1 (#ufa41eb4c-5d98-5c52-909f-581fdc2a7e00)

I love my family. I really do. They’re the best in the world in almost every respect. But sometimes they do tend to gang up on me.

‘Mum, that’s bonkers,’ my daughter Riley said, as I brandished the clutch of paint-colour cards I had collected that morning from the local DIY superstore. ‘You said it yourself. Trust me, I remember very clearly. You said, “The upstairs is just fine as it is.”’

‘Perfect,’ my husband Mike chipped in pointedly. I glared at him. ‘Honest!’ he persisted, ignoring it. ‘That’s what you said, love. That the whole house was perfect. Perfect as it was, you said. Remember?’

That was true, certainly. But I chose to pretend I hadn’t heard him. Instead I looked at my Kieron, for support. If I could rely on one person at this point, it would be my son. He wouldn’t let them browbeat me in this scurrilous fashion, surely? But I was sorely mistaken.

‘Come on, you did, Mum,’ he said, his face a picture of innocence, even as he threw me to the lions. ‘And we did do the downstairs …’

‘The whole of the downstairs,’ added Riley. ‘And in a week. Look. I still have the blisters to prove it!’

I fanned my rainbow of blues and pinks and fixed them all with a steely glare. ‘All right then,’ I said. ‘I’ll be the little red hen, then. I shall just have to do it by myself!’