Roseann sighed as she looked at her wedding pictures from three years earlier.
"We were so happy" she murmured sadly."I thought we were the perfect match."
She still loved Mick,but the relationship had lost its sparkle.They were always bickering about something.
Ever since their first son,Liam,was born a year before in
January 1993,all the passion had gone.
Roseann,36,opened the shiny carrier bag on her lap,and pulled out her slinky new skirt.
This would do the trick! She smiled as she remembered how Mick used to lust over the tiny mini-skirts she used to wear.
But as she tottered downstairs,her teenage stepdaughter Keeley sneered "He's not interested in you.He's got someone else!"
Roseann felt as if she'd been punched in the stomach.Was Keeley lying?
It had been years since Mick,34,split from his first wife,but it was hard for Keeley to see her dad with someone else.Roseann had never felt at ease with with Keeley and her sister Kirstie.
When she confronted Mick,a factory worker,he didn't deny it for long.A storm of emotion welled up inside her - she couldn't believe her ears.
"If you want a prostitute you can have one!" she screamed hysterically,as she tore her clothes off and marched into the Burnley street where they lived.
He ran after her and dragged her back to the house,begging her to forgive him.
"How can I trust you again?" she raged."Just get out and don't you dare set foot in this house again!"
Mick moved into his own flat,and ended the affair,but he couldn't persuade Roseann to let him move back home.
They saw each other fairly often - they even slept together sometimes.They talked endlessly about getting back together,but always ended up arguing.
"You'll only sleep with some tart" Roseann hissed.
The sex continued however,and their son Michael was born in May 1994.Their first daughter,Chantelle,came along in June 1996.
Roseann and Mick rejoiced over the children,but it wasn't enough to bring them back together.
All the hurt was still there - even after four years.But in August 1997,a near tragedy changed their lives forever.
They'd spent the evening together - watching TV until they dozed off in the lounge as the children slept upstairs.
Roseann woke to find little Liam shaking
her."Wake up mummy...Chantelle's screaming.Fire,fire
mummy!" he screeched.
In a blur,Roseann tore upstairs,straining to see through the billowing smoke.The heat was so intense it was like walking into a red-hot furnace.
She grabbed hold of Michael,but couldn't get through the bedroom door to Chantelle,who was only 14 months old.
In sheer panic,Roseann kicked and hit the door,but it was jammed shut.She could hear screaming - then silence....
"She's dead.She must be dead" Roseann sobbed uncontrollably as she ran from the house for help.Neighbours ushered her away to safety and held her back from the fire.
Chantelle had stopped breathing by the time she was rescued from the blazing house.
An ambulance crew revived her,but as they sped to Burnley General Hospital,her chances were next to nothing.
"Someone's called a priest" Mick told Roseann gently."The doctor says she's got a fifty-fifty chance."
"She's not going to die" Roseann whimpered."I'm the one who should be dead."
Tears streamed down their faces as they held each other and gazed down at little Chantelle.
They thought of her sweet,pretty face...how she had been smiling just a few hours earlier.
Now her face and body was swollen out of all proportion.She had suffered severe burns and smoke inhalation.
"I can't even recognise her.She looks like the Michelin man" Roseann wailed."I feel so guilty.If I'd been in bed this wouldn't have happened.She was so perfect."
One of the boys had been playing with a cigarette lighter,and lit the duvet cover on the bed next to Chantelle's cot.
The heat had been so intense that a television in the bedroom had melted,and polysterene ceiling tiles had dripped all over helpless little Chantelle.
With severe 25 per cent burns,she was
transferred to Booth Hall Children's Hospital in nearby
Manchester,where she had a five-hour operation to graft skin on
to her charred body.
"The only thing we can do is wait and hope" the doctor told Roseann gently."We're taking it hour by hour."
Her life hung in the balance for the next two weeks.Mick and Roseann were at her bedside constantly.
"She's still with us.God must be on our side" Mick whispered one week after the fire."You're being very brave Roseann.I'm proud of you."
Roseann squeezed his hand.It was ages since she'd felt this close to Mick."I love you for giving me that child" she said.
The arguments got flung to one side.They were a team again - mummy and daddy.
It was agony seeing Chantelle going through four long ops.She had skin grafts on her arms,legs,chest and head - but at least they had each other.
Roseann had a new council house by the time Chantelle came home after five weeks in hospital.
Mick stayed with them for a few days.Watching him care for their little girl,Roseann felt love welling up inside her.He was such a great dad!
They worked together for hours as they bathed Chantelle and smoothed cream on her damaged body several times a day.Mick was always there.
Three times a week,he took Chantelle on the 25-mile journey to the hospital - nothing was too much trouble.
When the skin had healed well enough to take away the bandages,Chantelle began wearing pressure garments to hold down the grafts.Splints were put on to straighten her fingers.
Their local newspaper,the Burnley Express,had run an appeal,and the family were flooded with over œ500 in donations - money to help them make Chantelle's life more comfortable.
Most of the family's possessions had been destroyed in the fire.And poor Chantelle needed lots of toys and videos to keep her amused,not to mention special cotton clothing.
Six months after the fire,Mick looked deadly serious when he sat Roseann down.
"I know how much I hurt you before" he said."But please just listen to this record."
Roseann's heart melted as the song played.
"I love you so much....I know the mistakes I have made....If I could bring back the clock I would never have done it to you...."
When it finished,she was quiet for a few minutes."I'll give you another chance" she said at last.
When Mick moved back in,she was
determined to make it work.
Neither of them had jobs - they were too busy caring for Chantelle - but they would get by.
With all the skill of a secret service spy,Roseann put a plan into action.The invitations were printed,the church booked....
Her first marriage had nearly ended in tears,but now they would have a blessing with all the trimmings of a second wedding.
(The Happy Couple Have Their Vows Confirmed)
There were a million things to organise - little suits for the boys,flowing pink dresses for the girls,the list was endless.
"I'll take you to McDonalds if you don't tell daddy" she promised Liam and Michael on the way home from buying their page boy outfits.
Every evening,she bribed them with toffees to keep them quiet.
Mick was gob-smacked when a friend let slip the secret just days before the service.
"You should see your face" Roseann giggled nervously as he stared at her open-mouthed."Don't worry...I've been saving up in secret!"
And so almost exactly seven years after their first wedding,Roseann and Mick had their marriage blessed at their local church in Burnley.
"Who would have thought that we'd get back together? I just wish it hadn't taken something as terrible as the fire" Roseanne whispered as they stood at the altar.
Ten months later,Chantelle is well on the way to beating her injuries.She has just become the youngest patient to have a special pressure mask fitted to her face.
Doctors hope it will rid her of the horrific scars left by the fire 18 months ago.
"You may have to wear this for a few years,but it'll be worth it in the end,my little princess" Roseann told her.
"You're our very brave little girl,and only someone as special as you could mend our marriage."