Chapter 1

It was a Friday night, but no one was in a very nice mood. Rachel and her husband Joe were sat downstairs watching TV. A few months ago Joe's ex-wife had passed away from cancer and this meant that his daughters were staying with him. The youngest daughter Chloe, who was 5 seemed to be okay, but was very quiet around Rachel and still felt a little bit uncertain around her, the middle daughter-Olivia who was 11 also seemed to have taken to her reasonably well, however the real problem was with Joe's 15 year old daughter Jessica, who just seemed to love causing trouble wherever she could. She used to be so shy and quiet but since her Mum had died she'd just seemed to want to rebel and wanted to upset Rachel whenever she could.

They were about to put coronation street on, but suddenly the phone started ringing so Joe went to answer it.

As soon as he started talking, Rachel could tell that it was work on the phone and presumed they wanted him to come in, Joe was a firefighter and would often get called away at short notice, which would be a bit of a pain for Rachel, when she wanted a nice night in with him after the end of a busy week at work, but she knew it couldn't really be helped.

"Rach I've got to go in, they said they wouldn't need me tonight but…"

"I know, I'm guessing it's another emergency then"

"Yep they said they need me there urgently"

"It's fine, just go"

"Will you mind looking after the girls"

"Nope but I think they will" Rachel sighed "or rather jess will"

"Look don't let her get to you Rachel, she's just being awkward because she's getting used to you, give her a month and she'll be fine"

"You've been saying that for the past 4 months" Rachel said but she gave him a small smile

Joe kissed her on the lips, before getting his stuff together and going out the front door leaving Rachel alone with the girls.

She sighed, although she really wanted to try and have some sort of relationship with the girls, it didn't look like she was going to get a chance to anytime soon.

She glanced at the clock and realised she needed to get Chloe off to bed, Joe would normally make her go up at 7 but Rachel always let her stay up a bit later whenever she was in charge.

She went up to the toy room and found Chloe in there.

She jumped when she saw Rachel come in and looked a bit scared.

Rachel wished Chloe would feel a bit more comfortable with her, she knew that she was only frightened of her because of the way Jess was

"Hey love, we need to get you off to bed I'm afraid it's getting late" Rachel said

"Okay" Chloe said standing up and going to her bedroom

Rachel got her some pyjamas out and helped her get changed into them

"There we go, you're looking all cosy"

"Rachel can I stay up a bit longer?" Chloe asked sounding scared

"It's late enough as it is love" Rachel said gently "I don't think your Daddy would be too happy if I let you stay up late would he huh?

Chloe just shook her head in response

"are you going to go to the bathroom before bed?"

"Yeah"

"Okay well off you go then, and I'll tuck you in when you get back"

Once Chloe had been to the bathroom, Rachel got her tucked into bed

"Do you want me to a leave a light on for 10 minutes, and then I'll come and switch it off"

"Yes please"

Rachel left her room before going downstairs

She was shocked when she saw Jess coming down the stairs behind her, with her hair and makeup all done and a very revealing dress on, Rachel knew she was at a party tonight but hadn't expected her to come down looking like that

"And where do you think you're going dressed like that?" Rachel asked frostily

"To my party"

"Erm no I don't think so young lady"

"Well much as I appreciate you giving your opinion, unfortunately I won't be taking it"

"Don't you dare speak to me like that"

"I'll speak to you however I want, you're not my mum"

"You're still in my house and you'll still show basic levels of respect if you want to carry on living here"

"What you threatening to kick me out?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and sighed

"Go and change right now" she said firmly

"No way"

"Fine then you're not going out"

"yes I am and you can't stop me, and if you try to stop me I'll just climb out my window to get out and if I break my neck it'll all be your fault"

Rachel really didn't know what to say to this, she couldn't believe how rude Jess would be to her at times, but as Jess had said it wasn't like Rachel was her mum so she didn't really know how to stop her going out

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing anyway?"

"Oh Jess where do I even start, the skirts so short I can practically see your knickers, if it were a couple centimetres shorter they'd be on full display, it's incredibly tight, and let's just say it hardly sends out the right impression to boys does it?"

"I don't care"

"Well I do"

Jess had had enough by this point and shoved passed Rachel

Rachel sighed but knew that there was nothing she could do, this wasn't the first time something like this had happened with Jess and she was sure it wouldn't be the last.

Of course Rachel felt extremely worried about her being out looking like she did and just hoped she'd be sensible and stay safe

Once Rachel had calmed down a bit, she went upstairs to turn Chloe's light off, she found her sat up in bed biting her nails and knew she only did this when she was worried about something, so decided to go in and see if she could help at all

"Chloe love is everything okay?"

"Yeah" Chloe replied

"Are you sure, you look a bit upset that's all"

"What time is Daddy getting back?"

"I'm not sure Chloe, you'll be fast asleep by the time he does though"

"oh"

"Are you sure there's nothing the matter sweetie?" she asked sounding concerned

"Yeah I'm sure"

"Okay well I think it's sleeptime now yeah, or you're going to be ever so tired in the morning"

"Okay"

Rachel made sure she was comfortable before leaving

She was really worried about Jess by the point, she half thought about going in the car to see if she could spot her but knew that she couldn't really leave the other two girls and she probably wouldn't see her anyway.

Rachel made herself a cup of coffee before going and sitting in the living room.

Before long Olivia came down and sat next to her, Rachel smiled at her out of the three girls Olivia was the one that seemed to be the most relaxed around her and the two of them got on quite well and were becoming closer.

"Hey liv" Rachel said smiling

"Rachel if I told you something would you tell my Dad?"

"Well that all depends on what it is, why is there something you want to tell me?"

"Yes"

"Go on then"

"I don't want you to tell Dad though"

"Well I can't promise that I'm afraid liv, I'm not going to keep big secrets from your Dad and you know that"

"Oh" Olivia said

"but you can try me can't you, and I do promise that I'll only tell your Dad if I really have to"

"It's just I got into trouble today at school and I've got to get a signature off someone"

"Ah" Rachel said raising her eyebrows "What was it you got into trouble for?"

"Just not paying attention and being cheeky"

"That doesn't sound like you liv, I've been led to believe you're very well behaved at school, but maybe I'm mistaken"

"No I am normally, I just wasn't today"

"Oh and whys that?"

Olivia just shrugged her shoulders in response

"I can't help unless you talk to me"

"I just had things on my mind, you know like sometimes I start thinking about Mum and I just get upset and I start acting up a bit"

Rachel sighed, realising she couldn't really get annoyed over this and she really did feel sorry for her at times as she knew how tough it must be for her.

"Sweetheart it's bound to be hard for you at times, living without your Mum and it's perfectly understandable that you'll get upset sometimes"

Suddenly tears started forming in Olivia's eyes and soon she started sobbing

"Oh dear" Rachel said gently "I'll go and get a tissue"

Rachel nipped across to the bathroom and grabbed some tissue before sitting down and putting her arm round Olivia

"Hey don't cry its okay sweetheart" Rachel said gently

"I'm sorry"

"Don't be daft, you don't need to be sorry, sometimes you need a good old cry don't you huh?"

"I don't know why I'm crying, it's just really hard when I hear everyone else talking about their Mums all the time but obviously I can't because I don't have a mum anymore"

"Oh love, I know how hard it is, really I do my Mum died when I was just a little bit older than you are so I do understand just how tough everything seems especially at first"

"I didn't know your Mum died"

"Well It was a very long time ago and to be honest my Mum and I were never particularly close anyway she wasn't the best Mum in the world"

"Why?"

"Well let's just say she loved going out and getting drunk a lot more than she loved us"

"Oh that must have been awful"

"Well like I said it was a long time ago and I didn't turn out too bad in the end" Rachel said smiling slightly "But all I'm saying is I do understand how hard it is to grow up without your Mum, I know you've got your Dad who cares about you so so much but there are some things that you just need your Mum to talk to about"

"I know I love Dad but I can't talk to him about some things, it's just too hard"

"I know that love, listen I've made it clear from that start that I'll never try and replace your Mum or try to be like her in any way but if ever you need somebody to talk to, I'm here for you"

"Thanks Rachel" she said wrapping her arms round her

"That's okay, now are you going to fetch that letter for me to sign then?"

Olivia went to her bag and handed it to Rachel, Rachel skimmed through it quickly before signing it

"Your signature would be even harder for me to try and copy than Dads" Olivia said causing Rachel to laugh

"Don't you even think about it young lady"

"Are you going to tell Dad"

"Don't you think he'd want to know you've been feeling a bit unhappy?" Rachel asked

"No please don't tell him Rachel"

"Okay then I won't, but just this once, you know how much I hate keeping things from your Dad, so make sure it doesn't happen again"

"It won't I promise"

"Good girl"

"I think I might go to bed now"

"Are you sure? Its only just turned 9 and it is a Friday"

"I'm really tired though"

"Okay well I'm going to get into my pyjamas so I'll come up with you"

The two of them went upstairs and Rachel was about to go into her bedroom when she heard sobs coming from Chloe's bedroom so went in.

When she went in she found Chloe sat up in bed crying

"Chloe it's okay it's just me" she said gently "Is it okay if I flick this light on?"

Chloe nodded so Rachel flicked the light on and got into bed next to her

"I'm sorry"

"sorry for what love?"

"For crying and being awake"

"oh sweetie nobody's angry I promise, it's okay you're nice and safe, you don't need to be frightened"

"Am I not in trouble?"

"Of course you're not in trouble" Rachel said "you've got to tell me what's upset you so much though"

"I had a really horrible dream"

"oh dear that's no good, what was the dream about?"

"I don't want to say"

"well that's okay, you don't have to tell me" Rachel said putting an arm around the little girl "do they happen often these dreams huh?"

"Yes, almost every night"

"And does Daddy know about them?"

Chloe shook her head as more tears slid down her face

"oh darling don't tell me you just sit up here crying on your own"

"I'm always okay after a while"

"Why didn't you say something to me or your Dad huh, neither of us want you to be upset all by yourself"

"Because I'd have woken you if I got Daddy, and I thought you'd be really mad"

"Well I know your sister would have you believe I'm some sort of monster, but I'm not love and the last thing I want is you getting upset and not being able to talk to one of us"

"I just get really scared"

Rachel could see how shaken up Chloe was and decided to take her downstairs with her

"Love why don't we pop downstairs and I'll make you a nice drink of hot chocolate, I know you like that"

"Yeah"

"Come on then you"

Rachel led her downstairs and sat her on the sofa while she made a hot chocolate

Once it was ready Rachel sat down next to her and gave her a cuddle

"There are you starting to feel a bit calmer now hmm?"

"Yeah"

"good girl, are you sure you don't want to tell me what that dream was all about?"

Chloe nodded her head but then shook it

"They're about mummy"

"ah okay, do you want to tell me about them then?"

"I just dream that she's still alive sometimes and then I dream about the last time I saw her and it makes me feel really sad when I wake up"

"Oh love and have these been going on since you moved here?"

"Yes"

"Do you know what I think? I think that you're feeling really unsettled and a bit scared and that is absolutely fine, everything seems really strange and scary but I promise me and daddy just want to help, we both know how hard everything is at the moment and we need you to start feeling a bit more relaxed"

"When will the dreams stop"

"I don't know love, but I promise before long things will start to seem more normal again and you'll get used to things here, but you're never going to stop missing your mummy either"

Rachel stayed downstairs with her for ages but after a while Chloe was getting tired so Rachel took her upstairs to bed

She stayed with her till she fell asleep and then tiptoed out

It was getting late by now an Rachel hoped Jess would be home soon

She waited up till about 12 and was getting really worried by now as jess wouldn't normally stay out this late-she was only 15 after all.

Eventually she heard the door open and relief flooded through her but it didn't take her long to realise Jess was very drunk

Rachel didn't know what to do, although Jess went to a few parties, Jess had never come back drunk before, but she knew getting mad would be the worst thing she could do right now, she needed to stay calm

"Jess lets get you upstairs"

"No I don't want to go"

"I know but bed is exactly the place you need to be trust me"

"No you're not my mum you can't tell me what to do" Jess slurred

"I know but I'm the only one around right now aren't I, so we're going to have to cope"

Jess could barely walk and she was extremely shocked that Rachel was being kind to her

"I think I'm a bit drunk" Jess said laughing hysterically and falling round everywhere

"You think? I think the fact you can barely walk suggests you've had far too much to drink young lady. Your Dad is going to go mad"

"no don't tell him"

"I've got to I'm afraid my love"

Suddenly jess burst into tears but then clutched her stomach and threw up everywhere

"I didn't mean to do that"

"I know, I'm the poor sod who'll have to clean it up, but let's get you to bed first yeah?"

"I can't go upstairs I can't walk" Jess said before bursting out laughing

"Well I've had enough practice on nights out getting drunken people to get up to bed so I dare say we'll manage, come on put your arm round me"

Rachel eventually managed to get her upstairs and into bed

"I'm sorry" Jess slurred

"It's okay, though you really will be sorry in the morning when you've got a sore head and your dad to answer to"

"No don't tell him"

Rachel sighed but knew that now wasn't the time for a sensible discussion

"We'll talk in the morning jess"

"Please don't"

"Jess I said we'll talk in the morning, when you've had chance to sober up, just sleep it off yeah"

"Okay" Jess said through tears

Rachel made sure she was tucked in okay before flicking the light off

"Rachel"

"Yes?"

"Thankyou" Jess whispered through tears

Hope you enjoyed it, please review! xxxx