The next morning Dec woke up to the uncomfortable ache to his cheek.He dragged himself out of bed and peered into the mirror on the inside of his wardrobe door.

He could easily see the imprint from his Dads hand and the cut from his ring.

His eyes were also puffy and swollen from crying and he felt utterly miserable.

He hadn't been able to sleep very well and he couldn't get the events of the previous day out of his mind as much as he would have liked to.

He now felt incredibly guilty for ruining his Fathers birthday and wished he hadn't reacted the way he did,but it was too late now,he couldn't change what had happened and he was terrified of facing everyone.

He could hear his parents and some of his siblings chatting downstairs although he couldn't make out exactly what they were saying.Nevertheless,he was pretty sure he was the topic of conversation.

He was too scared to join them,putting off the inevitable as long as he could.

But by 11am,his rumbling tummy was getting the better of him.He hadn't had any lunch or dinner yesterday and was beginning to feel slightly faint at the lack of nutrition.

He reluctantly padded quietly downstairs,still in his pyjamas to get some breakfast.

When he entered the living room,he avoided eye contact with everyone,but could sense that Anne,Fonsey,Pat and Martin were all staring intently at him.

Anne gasped when she saw Decs bruised cheek,but tried to hide her shock so Fonsey wouldn't feel any worse than he already did.Her husband had cried in her arms last night after they had gone to bed,he felt both distraught and devastated at the events of the day.

"Good morning baby" Anne

smiled,getting up and hugging Dec warmly.She couldn't help but run a gentle finger down Decs sore cheek,just as she used to when he was a baby.

"Have some breakfast sweetheart.We're all going out so you and Daddy can talk in peace"

She kissed Dec and Fonsey goodbye and left along with Martin and Patricia.

Dec went about making his breakfast,deliberately avoiding looking over in Fonseys direction,but he could still feel he was being watched constantly,he felt like a deer in headlights and hated the feeling.

Fonsey waited patiently for him to finish eating,knowing he was deliberately taking his time in a futile attempt to postpone the inevitable.

Eventually Dec finished his food and took his cereal bowl to the sink to wash it up.

Fonsey stood up and moved to stand behind him,as Dec turned around,Fonsey went to place a hand on his shoulder but Dec flinched and took a step backwards,avoiding his touch.

"Oh my God Decky" Fonsey exclaimed alarmed "are you scared of me?"

He paused thoughtfully for a while before continuing with a heavy heart.

"I'm so sorry I did this to you,please don't be scared,come and sit down"

They both made their way over to the sofa but Dec sat as far away from his Dad as he possibly could.Usually he would have snuggled in close to him or any other member of his family for that matter as they were such a tight knit unit.

Fonsey thought his heart would break in two seeing his beloved youngest child avoiding any contact with him,but he knew it was his own fault that Dec was reacting this way.

He wasn't going to let it go though and moved closer to Dec so their legs were resting against each others.

Dec looked down at the floor nervously as his Father began to speak.

"Decky,you know I love you right?"

Dec nodded sadly as Fonsey continued.

"And nothing in the world could ever change that.But what happened yesterday should never have happened and I'm sorry,so desperately sorry.I just hope one day you'll be able to forgive me?I should never,ever have laid a finger on you and I swear on my life that it will never happen again."

Fonsey paused to think about his next words as Dec shuffled uncomfortably next to him.

"I don't know what I was thinking,striking you like that?you of all people,my dear,sweet boy.I'm twice your size and I know I frightened you and I am truly ashamed of that and will be until my dying day"

He placed a loving arm around Dec as tears gathered in his eyes.He was delighted when Dec didn't refuse him so pulled him in even closer.Dec rested his head on Fonseys chest and listened to his soothing,rhythmic heartbeat.

"I'm sorry too Daddy" Dec whispered,his tears now dripping freely onto Fonseys shirt.

"I said some horrible things,I didn't mean it,I really am sorry,I love you too Daddy"

Fonsey pulled his son even closer to him,holding his small frame lovingly and swearing to himself that he would always be there for this amazing child.Right now he felt like he was holding on to someone no bigger than a nine or ten year old as Dec wept gently into the safety of his Fathers arms.

Fonsey rubbed Decs back and kissed his head,he was so full of love for this small boy.

"I can't deny that it was a shock hearing those vile words coming from your mouth" he sighed heavily "but I know that's not the real you.I know you're sweet and loving,caring,kind and compassionate.That wasn't you yesterday"

"I'm sorry" Dec whispered again "please forgive me?"

Fonsey smiled "of course I forgive you,I only hope you can forgive me too?"

Dec nodded and snuggled up comfortably.

"I guess we're good now then?" Fonsey enquired.

"We're good Dad" Dec smiled for what seemed like the first time in ages "and I really am so sorry I spoilt your birthday.I wanted to be there,I really did"

Fonsey was surprised.

"Really?then why weren't you?I don't understand?"

"They wouldn't let me" Dec mumbled.

"What?who?who wouldn't let you?Dec,what on earth are you talking about?" He genuinely had no idea what Dec meant and started to feel incredibly worried.

Dec all of a sudden sat up and burst into uncontrollable tears,his body shaking with every sob as his Dad pulled him back in to comfort him.

"Decky please" Fonsey said in a calm,loving tone "come on lad,please tell me what's wrong then I'll be able to help you.I can't bear to see you so unhappy.Tell your old Dad what's upsetting you so much?"

"The bullies Dad" Dec sobbed,unable to hold on to his devasting secret any longer "they won't leave me alone,it's every day,it's relentless,it never stops.They tease me,punch and kick me,steal my lunch money,they're so horrible and I'm really scared of them.I don't know why they pick on me all the time?"

Fonsey was shocked to the core.He had no idea his treasured son was being bullied.With Decs confidence,it was something that had never even crossed his mind.He was pretty sure none of the rest of the family knew about it either.

"Oh Decky" Fonsey sighed "why didn't you tell us?"

"They said they'd kill me if I told anyone and I believed them.There's four of them and they always kick and hit me on parts of my body where no one can see it"

He slowly lifted up his pyjama top to reveal a tiny stomach covered in deep purple bruises.

"Oh Dec" Fonsey put a hand to his mouth in shock.He could see the bruises continued round to his back.

Dec then dropped his pyjama bottoms to reveal his equally bruised legs.

"They tease me for being small" Dec said sadly,while pulling them back up "they say no one will ever love a runt of the litter like me and even my family don't love me as I'm the seventh child and all your love will have been used up on the others.I told them you and Mam tell me every day how much you love me and they said you only say that to keep me quiet"

Fonsey was now becoming increasingly angry as Dec continued.

"I roll myself up into a ball when they're beating me up so it hurts less and I've not had lunch for months as they take any food or money I have.My friends have stopped hanging out with me as they're scared they'll get beaten up too if they're with me,so I spend every break and lunchtime alone"

"They even put a dead pigeon in my desk once because they know I'm terrified of birds.I screamed and had to run to the toilet to throw up when I saw it.Theyre not even In my year,they're a couple of years older but they always do things just before the lessons begin and the teacher hasn't appeared yet,so they never get caught.They've gone back to their own class by the time anyone comes and no one would ever dare grass them up"

Dec was visibly trembling now as he retold his story,recalling several horrific incidences from the last few months.

Fonseys tears were flowing freely down his face as he held Dec in his arms,totally shocked at what he was hearing.

"Yesterday was the worse yet Dad" Dec sobbed "they cornered me in the park and wouldn't let me go.I begged them to,I tried to leave,I really did.I told them I had to be home by 2 o'clock for your birthday party,but they didn't care,they just laughed at me.They dragged me into the woods and tied me to a tree for three hours.They just sat there,smoking and drinking and laughing at me,sometimes kicking me in the stomach.It hurt so much Daddy"

Dec had to stop to catch his breath as he was crying so much.Fonsey stayed quiet,knowing he would continue when he was ready.

"And Daddy" Dec whispered and hung his head "I was so scared,I wet myself"

He looked up to check his Dads reaction,wondering if he would get a look of disgust,but he only saw love in Fonseys eyes.

"At one point I could see Martin in the distance and I knew he was looking for me.I wanted to call out for him so badly but I knew if I did,they'd beat me again,probably an even worse beating.I doubt Martin would have heard me anyway,so there wouldn't have been any point"

Dec sat up and turned to face Fonsey,now more than happy to look into his Dads caring eyes.

"They finally let me go around 5 o'clock,but how could I come home and let everyone see that I'd wet myself?so I walked around the park for an hour until it dried and then I came home.All I could think of while I was in the woods was you Dad and how disappointed you'd be with me,I'm so sorry"

Fonsey was overcome with emotions by now,deep sorrow and empathy for his sons suffering as well as guilt for not realising what he was going through and raging anger that anyone would dare to treat any child of his like that.

He held Declan once again as he sobbed.

"You don't need to be sorry Decky" Fonsey gently whispered "none of this is your fault,I just wish I'd known.You went through all of that and then the one person who you should be able to trust and depend on most in the world hits you too,I'm so sorry"

The next words to come from Decs mouth completely broke him.

"You do have enough love for me too don't you Dad?it's not true is it that seven kids are too many to love?I couldn't stand it if you didn't love me"

How could Dec think that?Even under these awful circumstances,Fonsey never imagined Dec would ever really doubt that his parents loved him?

This was all just getting too much to bear!