"Declan,don't be so ridiculous" Anne laughed "we don't need you to buy us a house"
"But I want to Mam" Dec stated,feeling slightly hurt at his mothers reaction.
"I agree with your Mam Dec" Fonsey smiled "we're just fine where we are"
"But you've been in this house for years" Dec pointed out "since we were all little"
"Yeah,we have pet" Anne nodded "and that's why we love it here,it's got all our memories of you kids growing up and now that you've all left home,we've got more space"
"But I can buy you something nicer" Dec insisted.
"This is as nice as we need Declan" Fonsey smiled "we're simple people,your mother and me,you know that,we don't need anything fancy,do we dear?"
"No,we don't" Anne nodded "and we know the neighbours here and all our friends are nearby,why would we want to move away from that?"
"I didn't say you have to move away" Dec sighed,feeling increasingly dejected "you don't have to go very far to find a bigger,better house"
"We don't need anything bigger son" Fonsey smiled.
"What about when all the kids want to come and stay?" Dec enquired,referring to the regular occasions when his nieces and nephews wanted to have sleepovers at their Grandparents place.
"We manage just fine as we are" Anne replied "listen Declan,this is such a lovely offer and I know what a generous boy you are,but we don't want or need anything from you,your father and I are very set in our ways and besides,it's your money,you've worked hard for it so we want you to enjoy what you've earned,you deserve it"
"Yeah,you do" Fonsey agreed "reap the rewards of your hard work son and don't worry about us"
"I just wanted to do something nice for you that's all" Dec sighed,still finding it hard to hide his disappointment,he'd been so excited about this idea and it never even crossed his mind that his parents would refuse his offer.
"Just you visiting is nicer than anything money could ever buy" Anne gushed affectionately and kissed Dec on the cheek.
"I tell you what though?" she continued.
"What?" Dec enquired.
"If you want to do something really nice for me?" Anne smiled.
"Yeah,of course I do" Dec replied curiously "what is it?"
"You could try phoning your poor old Mam a bit more often" Anne laughed.
"Yeah,alright Mam" Dec shook his head "not this again,I will do my best,I promise"
"Good" Anne "smiled "that's all I ask,now how about we give cooking a miss for tonight and go out somewhere for dinner?"
"Yeah that would be good" Fonsey smiled "a nice,generous portion of steak and chips with a cold pint of Guinness would go down perfectly right now"
"Ok" Dec smiled "but this definitely is my treat,I won't take no for an answer"
"And we wouldn't have it any other way" Fonsey grinned.
Ant and Dec both had a great time up north,spending a lot of time catching up with friends and family,but of course they also couldn't resist seeing each other at least every other day.Their friendship by now was so unbelievably close,that it didn't feel right to be apart for very long.
They spent many happy hours on the golf course where they had first been introduced to the game with Fonsey and his friends.
Dec had informed Ant of his parents reaction to him wanting to buy them a house over a pint in a Newcastle pub one day.Although Ant understood why Dec was disappointed,he totally saw it from Anne and Fonseys point of view too.
