The Meeting

The Aftermath

Alex Ryan-Williamson loses father just months after comeback tour.

PressDaily has been made aware that the father of Alex Ryan-Williamson passed away on Tuesday night in a Northern Ireland hospital. The singer is said to be distraught, flying home to spend his final hours at his bedside.

Fans of the popular artist have reached out on social media to offer their condolences. The singer was pictured leaving the funeral, which was held just two days after the death occurred. PressDaily were informed that this is normal in NI with demands for funerals being much smaller than on the mainland.

A close pal of Alex told us that Alex was "beyond inconsolable" and that Leah and Alex had been facing their own "health issues" as a fan spotted the pair leaving a GP surgery in tears. The Daily Bizz have also reported that Ryan-Williamson's father was known to be a recovering alcoholic.

It is unknown whether Peter Ryan's grandchildren attended his funeral.

— — — —

"What the fuck? Who do they think they are! A recovering alcoholic? He didn't even drink! What's their address? I'm going there. Find me their address, Leah. Hurry up!" Alex paced the kitchen of our home.
"Alex please calm down, I'm angry too but this isn't going to help you, or the baby." I said softly.
"Not everything is about the baby, Leah!" She stormed upstairs, slamming the bathroom door.

Grief had been difficult, made worse by the fact that Alex had now lost both of her parents during important times in her life. The addition of a pregnancy, had meant that Alex had dealt with the exhaustion of funeral planning, alongside the exhaustion of carrying a baby. After much discussion, Alex and I had decided that both children were too young to attend her Dad's funeral, opting to leave them with my Mum until we returned to London the day after the funeral. I think this was the tip of the iceberg for Alex, who was normally calm about press interest in our lives.

— — — —

Flashback:

"Aoife has been a bit off, misbehaving and a lot of attitude. I've tried to talk to her but had no joy, maybe she has just missed you both." Mum told us as she dropped the kids home.

Aoife had walked right by both of us, breaking Alex's heart. She had been so excited to hold the kids again, to feel the comfort of having them back in her arms after so many days apart. I watched as Alex stared into the distance, my Mum placing her hand onto her shoulder as she reassured her that we would be there every step of this new journey she found herself on. Alex was so polite with my Mum, no matter what was going on, it was something I had always admired about her; the way she was with my family had never changed the more she settled in, she continued to give them reasons to want her as my wife even when she no longer needed to. I thought of how hard it must be for her to witness my Mum hugging me, supporting me and helping me throughout a time when Alex had lost the last of her parents, but she didn't seem to have any envy towards me, just love.

Mum didn't stay, I suppose she wanted to give us privacy to tell Aoife and Theo ourselves. We waved her off and found Aoife sitting at the kitchen table and Theo already fast asleep on the sofa. A quick glance to one another was how we signalled that we would tell Aoife right away, letting Theo sleep on for a while. Alex pulled out a chair beside our daughter whilst I sat across from them. I watched as she struggled to hold back her tears, gently removing the coloured pencil from Aoife's hand before she spoke, gently telling her that Peter was gone before reassuring her that he was in the sky watching over us all. Aoife glanced up at Alex for a second, her face screwing up.

"I already knowd that." She blurted out.
"You knew that, Aoifs. How did you know?" Alex was staring at me with confusion on her face.
"On my iPad." Aoife shrugged.
"What do you mean? Where did you see it? You were told that you weren't to be on anything BUT your games on that iPad, Aoife."
"YouTube."
"You know you are only allowed on YouTube if you are with one of us!" Alex was slightly irate.
"Aoifs, you know the rules." I tried to back Alex up but with a softer approach.
"You don't go by the rules, Mum." She looked directly at Alex.
"Aoife Williamson!" I shouted, having never witnessed this level of attitude from her before.
"You lied to me." She began to cry.

Alex tried to wrap her arms around Aoife, but she squirmed out of them and ran into mine. It broke my heart to see the look of rejection on Alex's face, the pain that became so clear through her eyes. She stood from the table, tears falling from her face, kissed the top of Aoife's head and whispered I'm sorry before disappearing upstairs. It felt like my family had broken in two, like nothing was ever going to be okay again.

Aoife eventually tired herself out after her crying match, falling asleep in my arms at the kitchen table. I carried her to the sofa, placing her beside Theo and wrapping the two in a blanket; I would be lying if I said I wasn't relieved when I realised she was asleep, Alex had been alone upstairs for a long time now.

I crept upstairs, slowly opening the door to find Alex fast asleep on our bed, the teddy that I had given her all those years ago tucked under her chin. Her phone was still unlocked in her hand, leaning slightly off the bed. My heart felt heavy as I lifted it to set it on the beside table, noticing that she had a picture of her Dad and his grandchildren opened. This was killing her and I had no idea what I could do to make it better.

I climbed onto the bed beside her, wrapping my arms around her as gently as I could in a bid not to waken her. I knew I wouldn't have long, worried about the kids waking up downstairs, but I had to hold her. I had to. After a few minutes, I felt her stir awake in my arms, a few sniffles escaping her tired body. Her body moved even closer to mine, her arms gripping me tight and a long breath exhaling from her as she spoke.

"What the fuck am I going to do about Aoife, Le? She hates me." She cried.
"No she doesn't, silly. A few cuddles, some sweets, and maybe some new football boots and she'll be mummy's best friend again." I laughed as I heard her giggle at the football boots comment.
"I thought we were doing the right thing, not telling her."
"We did. Both of us. She's only angry at you because Ireland is your place. We will talk to her, babe. Together. You and me, always. Yeah?" I kissed her forehead.
"Always." She managed.

The kids woke up soon after our conversation, the four of us sitting down whilst we explained death to Theo. He was young enough to carry on with his day, but old enough to understand that this had made Alex extremely upset. He affectionately stroked her hair, getting the idea from watching me do it his entire life. Alex let herself cry, probably the first time she had cried sad tears in front of the children, her crying getting more intense as Aoife left the room. I think in that moment Alex and I both thought that Aoife was still huffing, so when she returned with a few bits of kitchen roll and started drying Alex's eyes whilst whispering shhh mummy, it's okay, you still have us both of us let out a silent sigh of relief.

— — — —

Grief, and the nothingness that comes with it, causes the mind to become angry. As time passed, Alex became more and more angry at the situation. Angry that the press had felt it appropriate to report on the death of her Dad before she had the chance to tell her children. Angry that they had the audacity to publicly state that he was a recovering alcoholic when that couldn't be further from the truth. Most of all, she was angry that fame wasn't something that you could turn off when it was no longer positive. This anger brought out an Alex I hadn't witnessed before; an Alex that had a short fuse, a lack of drive, and a complete disinterest in life outside our front door. Nonetheless, still My Alex. The person I loved more than anything in the world. I needed to do something, but I had no idea what that was.