So I am in tears because of Lily's last episode, but writing this story cheered me up immensely. I hope you all like it.
Chapter One
Lily thought that her daughter was the most wonderful thing in the world.
Of course, she was probably just being biased. She had always wanted children, but she never thought that she'd get the chance to have them, she never thought that she'd meet someone special enough to have children with. Finding out that she was pregnant, shortly after leaving Holby, had been a huge but wonderful surprise.
It had taken ages to choose a name for her daughter, but she knew that she wanted something with a bit of her dad's name in as well. Nia seemed like a good fit. It was hard, bringing her up on her own, but at the same time she'd enjoyed every minute of it. She and Nia were the dream team and they did everything together, and despite their differences Lily's family had been really supportive during pregnancy and parenthood.
Having a daughter changed Lily completely. Shortly after Nia's seventh birthday though, Lily realised that her daughter deserved to know who her father was.
"Do you want chocolate or crisps?" Lily asked, as the two of them walked down the treat aisle of the little, corner shop.
"Um..." Nia lifted her eyes off of her Nintendo DS for a few seconds and thought about it. "Can I have both?"
Under her baseball cap, she fluttered her eyelashes. Her sparkly, pink t-shirt read 'Part Time Mermaid' and she wore a pair of skinny jeans and white converse to go with it. Lily often called her 'Her Fashion Little Diva' as she was forever matching outfits and buying different accessories with her pocket money.
"No you can't, Greedy Guts," Lily laughed. "Choose quickly, because I have to go and pay."
"I'll go with Salt and Vinegar crisps," Nia said, snatching a pack from the shelf and chucking them into the basket.
"You can't possibly be my daughter if that's the flavour you like," Lily joked. "They're disgusting."
"Maybe I get it from my dad," Nia said hopefully. "Will I really get to see him, Mum?"
"Yes. That's why we're going back to Holby," Lily sighed, as they reached the till to pay for their shopping. "Put the DS away for me now, and help me pack, alright?"
Nia nodded and gently shut her DS, placing it in the little black bag that hung around her. She grabbed a bag from the end and waited until they'd been scanned, so that she could start packing. Soft things on top, just like Lily had taught her at the tender age of four.
"What's he like?" Nia asked, then a pause. "Do I look like him?"
"Well, you look more like your mummy," Lily said, winking at her as she handed her debit card over. "But you certainly have your dad's personality, and his temper."
"I do not have a temper!" Nia laughed, standing dramatically with her hands on her hips. "Dad sounds cool though. I can't wait to meet him."
"Yeah," Lily sighed, as she took the bag of shopping from Nia. "I can't wait for you to meet him either."
The rest of the car journey to Holby was noisy as usual. Nia popped in her favourite Taylor Swift CD, turned the volume up at full blast and the two of them began to sing along. Car journeys, although stressful, were one of Lily's favourite things. She was just able to spend some quality one on one time with her daughter, with no interruptions from anybody else.
Lily couldn't believe that she was going back to the ED, after seven years of being away from it. She felt sick with nerves, especially because no one knew about Nia, not even Iain. What would their reactions be?
"Are you nervous to be back, Mum?" Nia asked, as they parked the car.
"What makes you say that?" Lily asked, turning off the engine.
"You keep touching your hair," Nia stated. "You always do that when you're nervous."
Lily hadn't even realised that she'd been doing it. Her eyes diverted to her right hand that was indeed fiddling with some of her hair, and she forced a smile for her daughter, before stepping out of the car.
"It will be okay, you know?" Nia said, climbing out of the car and slamming the door behind her.
"Slam it louder, I don't think the people in Australia heard you," Lily joked, shutting her own door. "Since when did you become the responsible adult anyway?"
Nia shrugged her shoulders and gave a small smile, as Lily locked up the car. She took hold of Nia's hand and the two of them left the car park to head towards the ED. She hoped that they'd be able to make it to Connie's office without being stopped, but Alicia was standing outside with a coffee and Max was standing next to her with a cigarette.
Lily exhaled deeply, thankful that Iain was nowhere to be seen.
She wasn't ready. Not yet anyway.
"Oh god. There's two of them," she heard Max mutter under his breath.
"Lily?" Alicia seemed stunned to see her. Of course she would. It had been seven years. "Oh my god. I...I didn't think that we'd ever see you again."
She walked over to Lily and her eyes turned to Nia, a confused look on her face. Nia stayed silent and kept hold of Lily's hand.
"Who's this?" Alicia asked, her voice soft and quiet.
"Nia," Lily introduced the young girl. "She's my daughter." She looked down at Nia and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Say hello, sweetheart. This is Alicia Munroe, she used to work with mummy."
"Good morning," Nia said politely, and held a hand out to Alicia.
"Well..." Alicia reached out and shook hands with the seven year old. "You're incredibly lovely and polite, aren't you? This is quite a surprise, Lily. Does um...Does Iain know?" Lily shook her head and her smile faded. "Okay," Alicia whispered. "I'll take you to Mrs Beauchamp's office, but you probably remember where it is."
"Thank you, Alicia." Lily nodded at her, and she and Nia followed the doctor into the ED.
There were a lot of head turns, but Lily kept hold of Nia's hand the entire time. Alicia knocked on the door of Connie's office for them and waited until Connie called for whoever it was to enter. Alicia gave Lily's shoulder a comforting rub, waved goodbye to Nia, and got back to work.
Lily knew that it wouldn't be long until news of her return spread around the ED.
"Mrs Beauchamp," Lily spoke, as she nervously stepped into the office.
There was a pause and the only sound that could be heard was the door clicking shut behind them. Connie's eyes were fixated on Nia and Lily felt that she probably shouldn't have brought her in after all. Then again, where would she have stayed? She was only seven.
"Morning," Lily whispered, and gave a small shrug.
"It's really good to have you back," Connie whispered back. "However, when we spoke on the phone I don't recall you telling me about this. Who is she?"
"My name is Nia," Nia introduced herself to the clinical lead. "I just turned seven."
"It's um...It's lovely to meet you," Connie said, struggling with her words. "I thought you were older than seven."
"She's very tall for her age," Lily piped up.
"Clearly," Connie said. "She's very confident, reminds me of Grace."
Lily smiled and asked, "How is Grace? Do you see much of her?"
"Not much, no," Connie sighed, a small smile on her face. "She's eighteen now though, studying medicine in America. I see her in the holidays and we talk on the phone occasionally but it isn't the same. They grow up fast. I realise now that I've missed out on most of her childhood, and I regret every second."
"She loves you though," Lily said, but could tell that Connie didn't want to talk about it anymore. "Is Iain working today?" She asked instead/
"He has the day off," Connie said. "If you're avoiding him, you came on the right day."
"It's not like that," Lily said. "Is he well? Has he um...Found some happiness?"
"To answer your real question," Connie replied. "No, he's not involved with anyone as far as I'm aware. He never really did move on properly."
"Sounds just like you, Mum!" Nia laughed, looking up at her mother with big eyes. "You must've been a right pair when you were together!"
Lily gave her an embarrassed smile, and noticed that Connie was restraining a smirk out of the corner of her eye.
"Lily," Connie spoke, and Lily somehow knew exactly what she was going to ask. "Does Iain know about Nia at all?"
"No," Lily sighed, and shook her head. "No, he doesn't."
So I wasn't going to post anything new for a while because I already have other stories on the go, but I really wanted to post this after Lily's last episode. Let me know what you think.
I'm gutted that Crystal has left Casualty but I can't wait to see what else she does, and I really hope that she returns to the show some day xx