Ant sat down next to Isla,wondering what he should do next.

Dec was obviously very upset and Ant's natural instinct was to go after him,but was that even practical right now?

He still had Isla here and wandering the streets with a three year old in tow,wouldn't be much fun for either of them and then there was the dogs that he was supposed to be walking very soon.

Ant didn't doubt that the owners would be very understanding of his situation,but it wasn't very professional and all it would take is one person to leave a bad review online about his now thriving business for it to have very negative consequences.

He stared down at Isla for a moment,who was still engrossed in Peppa pig,before taking his phone out of his pocket and started scrolling down for available babysitters.

Dec had obviously only just started looking for childminders,so that wasn't a possibility yet,but hiring a babysitter for the afternoon was doable.

Ant started browsing through several online profiles,before putting his phone down on the coffee table.

He just didn't feel comfortable with that,not yet anyway.

Getting to know a childminder was one thing,but just getting some random stranger to come over to his house and leave Isla with them there and then was a whole different kettle of fish.

He knew these girls would very likely be very good at what they did,but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

There was only one thing for it.

He'd have to leave Dec alone for the time being and hope he would eventually calm down and get all the upset and guilt he felt out of his system and come home.

And Ant would just have to take Isla on the dog walks with him.

He decided he would take the car to pick the two dogs up,usually he would walk as they were both pretty local,plus he'd have the other two dogs that were boarding with him,so this way,he could drive to the park so Isla wouldn't be too tired before they even got there,he just hoped that none of the owners would object to her presence.

He knew all the dogs pretty well by now and trusted them around a young child and knew they'd probably be more interested in having fun in the park and meeting other dogs than they would be in Isla.

"Sweetheart" Ant said gently "how would you like to go to the park?"

"Peppa pig" Isla stated firmly.

"Well" Ant smiled "you've already watched a fair bit of Peppa pig haven't you eh?how about we take the dogs for a walk and maybe you can go on the swings later"

"Ok Daddy" Isla beamed.

"Not daddy" Ant said seriously "I'm uncle Ant remember?"

Isla calling another man daddy was probably the last thing Dec needed right now,Ant thought to himself,even if it was a very good friend,it was still inappropriate,so he was determined to nip that in the bud straight away.

"Ok Uncle Ant" Isla replied casually.

The afternoon panned out much more successfully than Ant had hoped.

All the dogs owners had been happy for Isla to tag along and were delighted to meet her,although the dogs showed little to no interest in her apart from when she attempted to throw a ball for them,which inevitably never travelled more than a couple of feet.

After their walk,Ant put the dogs back in the van with bowls of water and opened a window slightly,it wasn't very hot so he didn't have to worry about them overheating while he took Isla to the playground.

He wouldn't be there long anyway,Isla was only ever interested in going on the swings and Ant hoped after ten or fifteen minutes of that,she would be happy to leave and he was right.

After dropping the dogs off at their respective homes,Ant took Isla home,fed the dogs that were boarding and started preparing her dinner.

He had hoped that Dec might be back by now,but he wasn't and Ant couldn't help but be slightly worried.

"Here we are" Ant announced,as he placed a plate of cheesy pasta down on the kitchen table in front of Isla "your favourite"

"Ooh yummy" Isla cooed as she tucked into her meal.

Ant watched her contently,she'd certainly built up an appetite on the walk and even had a second helping of pasta.

"Where's Daddy?" She suddenly asked.

"Daddy's gone for a walk" Ant replied "he'll be back soon"

"Daddy's gone for a long walk" Isla observed.

"Yeah,he has" Ant nodded.

He stroked Isla's hair,wondering if he should tell her a bit more,but not knowing how much a three year old would actually understand,but he decided to give it a go anyway.

"Daddy was very upset earlier" Ant stated "you know,when you went out...and afterwards"

"Daddy didn't take me to the toy shop" Isla frowned.

"No he didn't" Ant replied "but that was because he was sad,so just wanted to come home"

"Why was Daddy sad?" Isla asked curiously.

"Because he had some bad news" Ant continued "when you were still living with mummy,Daddy had a good friend near to where you went today"

"What friend?" Isla enquired.

"Her name was Betty" Ant smiled "and your daddy found out today that she has died,that's why he was so sad and couldn't go to the toy shop"

"Daddy died?" Isla asked.

"No,not daddy" Ant sighed "Betty,his friend"

"What's died?" Isla asked confused.

"Well" Ant replied,not sure how he was going to explain this one,but would try his best "died means you go to sleep and don't wake up again"

"Why?" Isla frowned.

"Because you're dead" Ant stated "your life is finished and it's very sad when someone you love dies"

"Like giraffe?" Isla said excitedly,picking up her stuffed toy from beside her "he's always asleep"

"No darling" Ant laughed "not like giraffe,you see he isn't real,he's a toy that someone has made especially for you,but people are real and one day they will all die"

"Giraffe's asleep" Isla announced and Ant thought it was best to leave it at that,he now knew he was being rather optimistic expecting such a young child to understand the concept of death,he should have just made some little story up about Dec and his whereabouts.

"We'd better get you ready for bed soon hadn't we eh?" Ant announced,while glancing at the clock on the wall "you must be tired?you've had a busy day so how about Uncle Ant gives you a quick bath,then reads you a story?"

"Let's go" Isla ordered,immediately getting down from her chair and Ant laughed at her enthusiasm,he knew how much she loved her bath and story time.

Soon the two of them were snuggled up on Isla's small bed,which was quite a squeeze for Ant,but he didn't mind,he and Dec usually took turns putting her to bed and these were the times Ant felt closest to her.

"What shall we read tonight then?" Ant asked.

"This one" Isla jumped off the bed and took a book from her bookshelf.

"Guess how much I love you" Ant read the title "ah your favourite"

Ant and Dec had both read this particular book to Isla for what felt like thousands of times,but they all loved the sweet story and both men and even Isla now knew it off by heart,nevertheless Ant still read slowly from each page so the little girl could savour every moment.

After reading most of the book,he slowly read out the last sentence.

"I love you to the moon...and back"

He smiled and turned to kiss Isla goodnight,but unbeknownst to him,she had already fallen asleep,while sucking her thumb.

He got off the bed as quietly as he could,kissed the little girls forehead,before turning the light off,leaving the door slightly ajar and the landing light on.

"Goodnight" he whispered to the sleeping child "sweet dreams"

He made his way downstairs and got himself a cold beer from the fridge,plonking down heavily on the sofa and grabbing the remote to turn the TV on.

He couldn't concentrate on any of the programmes though,as he absent mindedly flicked through the channels.

All he could think of now was Dec.

Where the hell was he?was he ok?

Ant couldn't help but worry,it had been a good few hours now since he had stormed out,yes he was a grown man who could take care of himself,he'd done it for months when living on the streets after all,but Ant still couldn't help but feel concerned.

But now he was beginning to feel another emotion...anger!

How could Dec just go off like that?

Leaving him to deal with both Isla and the dogs at the same time?

This was Isla's first week in what was now her full time home and Dec had put a spanner in the works.

He was an adult who and had stormed off like a petulant child and that was unacceptable in Ant's books,as worried as he was about Dec,this wasn't the way to deal with things.

Ant wondered if he should go and look for him,but it wasn't like he could leave Isla alone anyway.

It did cross his mind to ask his next door neighbour Carole to come and sit with her,but he thought that was a bit cheeky.

He had known Carole for years and was pretty friendly with her and he was pretty sure she would say yes,but he didn't want to risk Isla waking up with someone she barely knew as there were still many nights where the little girl didn't sleep through,she'd had so much disruptions to her life lately and Ant certainly didn't want to add to it.

He wondered if he should call Dec's family,thinking maybe he was on his way to Newcastle to see them,but soon decided that that was ridiculous,no way would he clear off up north without Isla.

Ant tried calling his phone,which went to voicemail yet again.

"Answer the fucking phone you bloody idiot" Ant mumbled to himself.

He glanced out of the window as it began to rain.

"Great" Ant stated,trying to remember what Dec had been wearing,he couldn't be a hundred percent sure,but he thought it was just jeans and a T shirt,in which case he was probably soaked through by now,or hopefully he was just sitting in a cafe somewhere.

Ant decided he had no option other than to wait for Dec to come home,where they could hopefully talk and Dec could come to terms with what had happened.

But then Ant heard the sound of a key in the door.

And he was shocked at the amount of rage that he felt boiling up inside himself!