Chapter 1

This story is different to anything I've done before (or the first few chapters will be) I'm a massive Rachel fan, as you'd have probably guessed if you've read any of the stories I've done over the past few years and I have always tried to show her in a positive light. However I thought if was time I tried something a bit different, as I feel I've been writing the same type of fics for ages now and Rachel's character in these first few chapters doesn't show her in a nice light at all, but it'll all become clear. Anyway hope you all enjoy please review and let me know what you think :)

It was early on a Saturday morning and both Rachel and her husband Thomas had a day off together. It was quite unusual for this to happen with her working as a head teacher and him being a doctor, they both had pretty hectic lives however they were planning on making the most of there time off together today.

As usual Rachel woke up first and jumped straight into her warm shower letting the water run over her body for a few minutes, she always did like having a long shower first thing on Saturdays and Sundays, as normally she's have to rush to get to work early through the week.

When she eventually came out she saw that Thomas was already up, which surprised her a bit as on his days off he normally loved having a lie in.

"What are you doing out of bed?" She asked smiling slightly

Thomas sighed and ran his hands through his dark brown hair "I'm sorry Rach there's an emergency at woke they need me down there"

Rachel sighed heavily, she might have known that a full day off together would be too much to ask.

"You're a doctor, there's always going to be an emergency at work, they still need to give you your days off" she said a little too sharply. She knew it wasn't exactly his fault but she couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed that there day had been ruined.

"I know, I know, but there 2 members of staff down as it is and they really need me in, I'm sorry honestly I am"

"It's fine, you go in" Rachel said forcing a smile

Thomas quickly got changed and headed towards the front door

"Erm don't I get a proper goodbye" Rachel said

Thomas turned his attention back to his wife and kissed her on the lips

"Go on then you, go and save some lives" she said smiling

"See you later, I'll try and get away as quickly as I can, make up for missing today with you"

"Well you better make sure you do" she said laughing

He gave Rachel a final kiss goodbye before heading for his car and driving off

Rachel sighed as she closed the door behind her, wondering what she was going to do with herself for the day now, she'd made sure she'd caught up on all her work last night as she'd really wanted just to have the weekend to relax with her husband.

In the end she decided to get caught up with all the housework on the morning and then she'd arranged to meet her friend Sammy for lunch and then do some shopping.

The morning seemed to pass quite quickly once she started the housework, at about 12 she started to get herself ready to go out to meet Sammy. Although it wasn't like she was going anywhere particularly fancy Rachel still tried to make an effort, especially when she was meeting Sammy who always looked so glamorous.

Rachel was just about to leave when the phone rang.

"Hello is this Rachel mason?"

Rachel didn't recognise the voice and wondered who it was

"It is yes, but I'm actually in a bit of a hurry" she said

"Well hopefully it won't take long, it's Jennifer Stone, the headmistress of your daughters school"

Rachel was shocked when she heard this and was wondering why on earth she'd be calling. Both of Rachel's daughters were at an all girls boarding school, they had a very distant relationship with their mum and always had, in fact when Rachel thought about it she couldn't quite remember the last time she'd seen them. They'd stay at the school for the holidays and she'd very occasionally come to visit them however other than that they would never see each other.

"Is there a problem?" Rachel asked

"Well yes I suppose there is" Jennifer said, it was unusual for her to be talking to Rachel, she'd only seen her nice and that was to enrol the girls however even then she seemed like a stranger to the girls and more like a distant aunt than a mother however she never really liked to pry into family relationships.

"You see the thing is miss mason, we're going to have to close the school, for at least a month, possibly longer depending on if we have any new cases"

"What are you talking about, why are you closing the school?' Rachel said instantly panicked

"There's been an outbreak of meningitis, there's already been 4 cases and we're worried they'll be more, most of the parents are coming down this afternoon to pick their girls up. Now we're doing our best to organise tutors for all the girls while school is closed, but it's proving challenging...look it's difficult to go over all this on the phone it'll be easier once you get to the school"

"What...I mean where are the girls going to go?" She said weakly

"Well since you're the only relative they have their going to have to stay with you miss mason" she said trying to hide the anger from her voice however she was sure it still came through

"No you don't understand they can't stay with me...it isn't appropriate"

Rachel was well aware of what she must sound like, however she couldn't help it. Ever since the girls had been born she'd never connected with them, both for different reasons. Her eldest daughter Holly was just a reminder of the life she used to lead and her youngest daughter Lexi reminded her all too much of the man she'd been trying to forget for so long now, the first 7 years of Holly's life had been spent mainly at her grandmas house with boarding school in between, even then she'd rarely see her mum and when Lexi was old enough Rachel sent them both off together.

Even though she tried not to Rachel would often think about her daughters and the life they could have lived if things had worked out differently. Thomas knew she had children however he knew the story too and although he disproved of the way things were between Rachel and her daughters he was aware there was little he could do to change things.

"It's the only option"

Rachel knew there was no getting out and in the end made arrangements to pick the girls up later this afternoon

Rachel felt sick when she got off the phone and found herself shaking slightly. She remembered the lunch she was meant to have with Sammy and quickly rang up to cancel before getting straight on the phone to Thomas and told him everything.

Luckily things had quietened down at work and Thomas was about to come away anyway so made his way back to the house to find his wife nearly in tears

"Rachel we'll make it work somehow" he said

"How are we going to do that, you don't get it do you?" She said "those girls mean nothing to me, there just a reminder of all the crap that I've worked bloody hard to put behind me, and if that makes me a terrible person then that's what I am but I can't help it"

Thomas had never seen his wife like this before And it was worrying him a lot

He embraced her in his big strong arms and let her cling to him for a few moments

"I'm sorry" Rachel mumbled "we'll work something out, it's only for a month anyway we'll get through it"

"Of course we will, do you want me there when you go to get them?" He asked

"Yes please, they hate my guts you know, so I could do with some protection" she said laughing weakly

"They won't hate you Rachel"

"Of course they do, I don't blame them one bit either, but there's nothing I can do to change it is there?"

Thomas was secretly looking forward to meeting Rachel's daughters and spending time with them, he had a feeling this month might change all there lives quite considerably, for better or worse though he wasn't quite sure yet.

At about 3 they both started driving down to the school, it was a good 2 hours away though so as they got closer both of them were ready to stretch their legs.

Rachel began to feel sick as they started walking up.

"How old are they now Rachel?" Thomas asked

"Oh erm holly is 15 and Lexi will be 5 now"

Thomas couldn't believe it when he heard how young Lexi was and began to wonder just how his wife could leave her at such a young age even after everything that had happened, but he knew it wasn't the right time to say any of that. Thomas had met Rachel 3 years ago and they'd very quickly fallen in love with each other and were married just a year later.

Together they walked up the drive of the, very posh looking, school"

Before long they were greeted by lexis house mistress

"Are you lexis mother?" She asked in a very posh sounding voice

"I am" Rachel said wondering how she knew as she'd never seen her before

"She's the only girl of mine left, all the other parents have been here as soon as they found out"

"Well me and my husband have had a lot on our plates this afternoon" she said however she could hear just how pathetic she must sound

"Haven't we all" the housemistress said haughtily

Rachel resisted the urge to make any sort of remark and followed her up to lexis dormitory

"I'll give you some time to help her pack, she's feeling rather nervous about seeing you"

Rachel sighed as she left and went into the small room

She saw Lexi sat on her bed looking all upset. It was strange seeing her again after all this time, Rachel thought, she couldn't help but also notice how much of her she could see in Lexi, she was very pretty even at a young age and had her mothers big brown eyes.

Lexi didn't say anything but just looked up at her mum, she looked different to how Lexi had imagined her in her head, she couldn't really remember what her mum had looked like so she'd made a picture. Lexi had always seen her mum as a scary cold figure and had imagined her to look accordingly however on the outside her gentle pretty face made her seem almost warm to Lexi. Rachel was struggling for something to say to start the conversation off.

"So erm you're going to be staying with me and Thomas for a while then huh?"

Rachel realised the first thing she'd said to her daughter hadn't exactly been filled with sentiment, like you may expect having not seen her in ages however she wasn't sure what else to say

Lexi guessed Thomas was the man stood next to Rachel though she didn't know who he was, he looked very kind and had warm, caring eyes so Lexi took a liking to hIm at once

"Yes" Lexi mumbled in response to her mums question

"Right well we'd better get going then hadn't we" Rachel said getting up and ready to leave to find Holly

"Wait Rachel aren't you going to introduce me" Thomas said

"Oh of course, Lexi this is Thomas my husband"

"Hi Lexi" Thomas said coming over to her "it's very nice to meet you, your mums told me loads about you"

This wasn't true at all, however Thomas wanted to make the girl at least a bit at ease after the less than warm welcome Rachel had given

"It'll be lovely having you come and stay with us, we'll have to do something special tonight since it's your first night, I'll tell you what I can make fantastic pizzas do you fancy that?"

Lexi began to feel more relaxed hearing Thomas speak so kindly to her and warmed to him instantly, she just hoped he'd be round a lot so she wouldn't be with her mum alone

"Yes please" Lexi said

"Okay that's what we'll do then"

Thomas took lexis small bag of stuff and carried it for her

"Where's all your other things Lexi?" Rachel asked "come on we need to get going of we're going to be very late back"

Lexi could tell her mum was irritated and it made her feel all shaky

"I d..d..don't h.. any other th..th..things" Lexi said sounding terrified

Thomas noticed she spoke with quite a bad stammer, he wondered if this was just because she was scared though however in actual fact Lexi had developed a stammer over the last year or so and got very set about it sometimes.

"Of course you do what about all your clothes and everything" Rachel said realising they only looked to be a couple of outfits in there

"I d..d..don't h..have many"

"Well what on earth do you wear then?" Rachel sighed

"Right I think a quick trip to the shops is due when we get back" Thomas said

"If there still open" Rachel added

After a brief discussion with lexis housemistress, which involved them exchanging contact details so they could sort out lexis tutor in a few day time they went off however Thomas stayed back

"Sorry I won't bother you for long, it's just I wanted to ask a few questions about Lexi, I don't know her at all you see"

"Oh yes I'm well aware miss masons visits to her 5 year old daughter are very few and far between, so I don't imagine you would"

"Yes well, she has her reasons but...I was just wondering if maybe you could tell me a bit about her"

"Well she's a lovely girl, very shy but she's starting to come out of her shell and she's got lots of friends, but she does lack confidence, but that's not unusual when the mother isn't present"

"And the stammer..."

"Oh yes...she's had that for a while now, it's not as noticeable when she feels relaxed but when she's a bit upset or unsettled then it's very noticeable"

Thomas chatted for a bit longer before running to catch them up

He could see even from a distance how frightened Lexi looked in just her mothers company

"Where have you been" Rachel asked

"Sorry I left something in lexis room I had to run back for it" he said casually "so how many are they in that room Lexi?"

"4" Lexi replied

"That sounds like fun, so what do you all get up to then, is it all staying up late and midnight feats?" He joked

"No" Lexi said giggling slightly, she decided she quite liked Thomas

Lexi and Thomas continued to talk as they walked a long and Thomas realised that the previously very prominent stammer had become considerably less noticeable as she continued chatting to him.

Thomas gave Rachel a strange look as they reached Holly's room, he'd never seen her act so coldly before and it was a side to her he didn't much like.

She quickly met up with Holly's housemistress, who seemed even more cold towards her than lexis did.

Eventually she was shown through and found Holly in a similar way to how she'd found Lexi, sat on her bed looking upset.

Rachel took a few moments to take in her daughters appearance, she really was very beautiful and had similar looks to her sister however her hair was a chestnut brown colour where as lexis was blonde. She'd grown up a lot since Rachel had last seen her.

"Hi mum" Holly said

"Hi holly are you all ready to get going?"

"Yep"

After briefly introducing Thomas they all set off towards the car.

Both girls could see it was a very nice looking car and figured that Thomas must have quite a lot of money.

They drove back in silence, with only Thomas attempting to make conversation with the girls.

About half an hour into the Journey Lexi suddenly felt really tired and fell asleep on her sisters lap.

She woke up about 40 minutes later and realised she badly needed the toilet however she didn't want to say anything. As she got more desperate though she began to fidget a lot and luckily Holly saw and knew her sister wouldn't be able to wait for much longer

"Lexi has to go to the toilet" Holly said causing lexis cheeks to flush

"Well she's going to have to hold on, especially if we are wanting to go to the shops before they shut, I told you it was a long journey Lexi why on earth didn't you go before we left?"

Hearing her mum speak harshly to her brought tears to Lexis eyes

"I..I'm s..s..sorry" Lexi stammered

"She's 5 years old, she can't wait and she was probably so nervous about everything before you came she forgot to go" Holly cut in sharply, she wasn't frightened of her mum like Lexi was, she just understandably felt a lot hatred towards her.

"I'll pull in at the next service station Lexi don't worry" Thomas said kindly

Luckily they saw a sign for a service stop just a few miles away and they got there quite quickly

Holly and Thomas both wanted to stop in the car so it was left up to Rachel to take her in

She took hold of lexis hand and firmly led her inside towards the toilets

When they were there they realised there was quite a big queue causing Lexi to panic and Rachel to sigh heavily

By the time they were near the front Lexi was fidgeting a lot

"Stop fidgeting and stand properly Lexi" Rachel said

"I..I r..r..really need t...to go" Lexi said nearly in tears

"Well you're old enough now to wait aren't you, you're a big girl now Lexi"

By the time they got to the front Lexi couldn't wait any longer and when it was finally her turn she bolted she managed to make it.

When she was sat down on the loo though Lexi suddenly began to cry because of everything that was happening. She knew she couldn't come out like that so tried to wipe her tears away however they didn't seem to stop.

After about 5 minutes Rachel began to get impatient as she really wanted to get back home

"Lexi what on earth are you doing in there, hurry up" she said

Hearing her mums voice just brought more tears to lexis eyes and she desperately tried to wipe them up

After another couple of minutes Rachel said "Lexi this is ridiculous if you're not out in the next ten seconds I'm going to walk back"

Lexi quickly came out and Rachel could tell instantly she'd been crying. If it were any other child Rachel would have been desperately trying to comfort them however she couldn't seem to do this with her own daughter. She made a promise to herself though not to speak too harshly to Lexi, as she knew none of this was her fault and she didn't deserve to be upset.

"Right let's get back to the car then shall we?"

Lexi gave a small nod of the head

She followed her mum back to the car and sat back down

"You were a while, is everything okay?" Thomas asked sounding a bit worried especially when he saw lexis tear stained face

"Yep everything's fine"

Lexi fell asleep again for the rest of the journey and only woke once they were at the shopping centre

"Right is it best if we split up, I'll take Lexi of you want and you can take Holly" Thomas offered

"Yeah fine" Rachel said although she wasn't particularly looking forward to being alone with her eldest daughter

Thomas and Lexi went off together and started chatting, again Thomas noticed how much better her stammer was when she was with him, anything she'd said with her mum there had been very difficult for her but now she was talking almost normally

"Thomas d...d..do you live w.. my all the t..time?" Lexi asked

"Yes I do, she's my wife, but I'll be away on a few night times though because if my job"

"W...w..what job do you h..have"

"I'm a doctor in a big hospital, so I try and make lots of people better"

"So d..do you h..have one of t..th..those funny th..th..things on your neck" Lexi asked curiously

Thomas smiled young children always were Interested in that

"Yes do you know what that thing is called?"

Lexi shook her head, though actually she did have an idea because they'd learnt about it at school when a doctor came to visit

"It's got quite a big name actually it's called a stethoscope, I'll show you one later if you like"

"Really" Lexi said excited

"Yeah sure"

Lexi smiled at him, it was the first time she'd looked genuinely happy since they'd seen her

Rachel and Holly were traipsing round the shops together however neither of them were saying much

"Look I need to go off and do a few things so how about I just give you the money and you can get whatever you fancy"

Holly knew fine well that Rachel didn't want to walk round with her and it was nothing to do with the fact she had things to do, but she didn't particularly fancy walking in silence with her mum for much longer either and she wasn't going to say no to money for new clothes so agreed to this

"How much do you need?" Rachel asked

Holly just shrugged her shoulders in response to this

"Will £80 be enough for now? I'll give you more some time later this week it's just I don't want to be here that long"

Holly couldn't believe her mum was going to give her £80 just to do what she wanted with, she'd never had so much money before just for her

"£80 will be fine" she said casually

"Well it won't get you that much but like I said I'll give you more later, meet me back here in an hour"

Holly went off and spent ages looking round all the shops and buying new things

She ended up being quite late back which Rachel wasn't happy about

"When I tell you to be somewhere at a certain time, the least you could do is make an effort to be there" she snapped

Holly just rolled her eyes at her

"Don't roll your eyes at me you cheeky..."

"Shut up, you don't have the right to tell me where I should be or what I should be doing, I'm only living with you because I absolutely have to, though if it was up to me I'd rather be living in an orphanage, but don't try and act like my mum"

Rachel was surprised by her daughters sudden outburst and didn't retaliate. Instead she did her best to just ignore it and went to meet up with Lexi and Thomas

When she saw them they both had big smiles in there faces and lots of bags in there hands

"T...t..Thomas b..b...bought me l..l..loads mum" Lexi said beaming

"Did he? Well that's good then isn't it, come on let's get going"

They all got in the car and drove back home.

The girls realised that Rachel must have moved since she last saw them, they both stared at her house it was absolutely huge, they couldn't believe they were actually going to live here for a bit. Although neither of them were looking forward to spending time with their mum they were excited about living here.

They walked up the large driveway and Rachel opened the door.

"Right here we are" she said her voice still sounding strained.

Lexi stared open mouthed at the big house, she'd never seen a house so big before.

"How about you two go and choose your rooms" Thomas said "there's four guest rooms so you can take your pick"

Lexi and holly immediately went upstairs and started searching round, they couldn't believe how many rooms they were to explore and Lexi saw that outside there was even a swimming pool in the garden, not that Thomas and Rachel got chance to use it much in England.

They realised that there was another floor once they'd been upstairs and went up. Holly immediately chose the room up there when she saw how big and pretty it was and it even had it's own en suite.

Lexi went back downstairs as the only other room up there was quite small and very plain, Rachel and Thomas very rarely used it.

She then opened a door just next to Rachel and Thomas's room and smiled when she looked inside. It was a very girly room and had lots of pretty pictures on the wall, with a big double bed and a huge dressing table, Lexi felt like a princess in there.

A few minutes later Rachel and Thomas came upstairs to check on the girls. They'd had a bit of an argument about the way Rachel was treating the girls and if had resulted in them both feeling pretty angry at one another.

Rachel sighed when she realised Lexi had chosen the room right next to hers and hoped she wouldn't keep them up at all during the night.

"Nice choice Lexi" Thomas said smiling

"Its r...r..really p..p..pretty" Lexi said sounding genuinely happy

"It is isn't it, not really my style though, your mum decorated this one didn't you Rach?"

"Yep" Rachel said

Thomas looked at her and frowned, he hated the way his wife was treating the girls but didn't what he could do to make her see sense, even after everything that had happened she could still try and make an effort he thought, surely she could see how harsh and almost cruel she was being

"Anyway should we get you unpacked Lexi?"

Lexi nodded her head and Thomas spent the next half hour with Lexi unpacking while Rachel very briefly checked in on holly before starting tea as after not having lunch today she was starving.

It was weird cooking for four people when she was used to just cooking for her and Thomas. She wasn't sure what to make as she didn't know what the girls liked and she needed them to eat something, in the end she decided on spaghetti Bolognese as she didn't think anyone would have much objection to that and she could make it quite quickly.

About half an hour later she called everyone down for tea and served it up.

Holly was ravenous as she hadn't eaten any of her lunch at school so ate her dinner really quickly before putting her plate in the dishwasher and getting away as quickly as possible

Lexi was trying to force it down herself however she really wasn't hungry and it was making her feel a bit sick.

"Lexi don't play with your food" Rachel scolded "if you don't want to eat any more then leave it"

Lexi jumped when she heard her mum talking to her.

She ate a bit more but then got down from the table and to put her plate away

"It's okay Lexi I'll do that" Thomas offered

Lexi was about to hand it to him when it suddenly dropped out of her hand and shattered over the floor

"Oh Lexi you could at least try and be careful" Rachel snapped

Tears immediately started to fill in lexis eyes

"I'm s..s..sorry I d..d..didn't m..mean to" Lexi said her stammer worse than ever

"Lexi can you try and talk clearly please"

Lexi looked extremely upset and burst into floods of tears before running upstairs

Thomas just looked at his wife in disgust "she's a five year old kid Rachel, how dare you speak to her like that"

Rachel was taken aback by his tone, Thomas was a very gentle man and Rachel rarely heard him shout at anyone

"Don't tell me how to speak to my daughter"

"How could you treat your daughters like this Rachel, how do you have the heart to reduce them to tears, fair enough you have your reasons for being detached from them, but if you ask me no reasons good enough to abandon your own kids"

Rachel knew there wasn't anything she could say to this so just turned away from her husband as tears filled in her own eyes.

She knew exactly how unfair she was being, particularly towards Lexi who was just a baby really but she couldn't seem to stop herself.

Thomas quickly went upstairs after Lexi and he felt awful when he heard gentle sobs coming from lexis room

He pushed open the door and found her crying into a pillow

Lexi say up when she saw someone come in and tried to brush her tears away

"I'm sorry about your mum shouting, she wasn't being very nice at all"

"I d..d...didn't m..mean to"

"I know you didn't, your mum knows that too, I think she's just a bit stressed today"

"I d..don't mean to n..not t..t..talk properly"

"We all know that Lexi, lots of people have a stammer, I know a few things we could try to help make it a bit better for you though, but it's not that bad anyway"

"Really" Lexi said smiling, she really would like to be able to talk clearly again as it caused her to feel quite stressed and upset when she couldn't say things

"Yeah we'll have to have a try at a few"

Lexi was about to reply when suddenly she began to feel really sick, she clutched her tummy and ran to the bathroom next door.

Thomas followed her concerned and saw her being sick so held her hair back for her.

"S..s..sorry" Lexi said once she'd finished

"That's okay, I'm a doctor I'm used to it Lexi, anyway you did it very neatly down the toilet, I'm used to my patients doing it over me"

"Really" Lexi said giggling

"Oh yeah, I'm actually a children's doctor you know, so I'm used to sick by now" he said "but I do think we should get you cleaned up a bit."

He started filling up the large jacuzzi bath ready for her, it occurred to him that it should really be Rachel doing all this as she was her mum after all but he wanted someone to be there for Lexi and for now it looked like it would be him, he'd always been brilliant with kids though and wanted some of his own very badly, this was one of the reasons he'd trained as a paediatrician.

"What time do you go to bed at school?" He asked

"7:15" Lexi answered

"Well it's 8 now so it's passed your bedtime"

Once Lexi had finished in the bath she got some pyjamas on and by now she was feeling very tired

"Are you going to nip down and say night to mum and Holly"

Lexi nodded and followed him down

She gave her sister a big kiss goodnight before going in to see her mum

When Rachel looked up she was surprised to see her in pyjamas and her her hair was still damp from her bath, she did look very young and cute and Rachel was feeling bad for upsetting her

"Are you off to bed now then?"

"Yes"

"Right well goodnight then, sleep well" she said

"Goodnight m..m..mummy" Lexi said

"Night Lexi" Thomas said

Lexi then made her way up to bed, it felt weird being on her own and she didn't like it very much, she felt all lonely and frightened. She began to cry properly and once she started she couldn't seem to stop, she couldn't understand why her mum hated her so much even though she was trying to be good.

Thomas sat down on the sofa beside Rachel, though after the way she'd been today he didn't fancy chatting to her for long.

"Thanks for sorting Lexi out"

"She was devastated about the way you'd been towards her, she ended up being sick"

"Well we all say things we don't mean" Rachel said sharply "I don't think you understand how hard it is for me to have the girls here, what it brings back"

"I understand it, but don't you think you're being just a little bit selfish"

"Yes you know what I am, but I can't help it"

"All Lexi wants is a mum that wants her, can't you at least pretend to"

With that Rachel walked off, not wanting to talk about it any more

A few hours later Thomas and Rachel were going up to bed when they heard sobs coming from lexis room

The two of them went in and found her sat up in bed crying her eyes out

Despite how things were between Rachel and both her daughters she knew knew it would be down right cruel to let a 5 year old sit there crying so she went over

"Lexi come on try and sleep" she said in a softer voice than she'd used earlier "I know you must be feeling unsettled here but you'll feel better after some rest"

It wasn't a lot but it was something, Thomas thought to himself, at least she hadn't shouted at her like she had done previously

He was glad to see Rachel did at least look a little worried about her and watched as she tucked her back in.

He could see how upset Lexi still was, so hung back as Rachel left.

"What's wrong Lexi?"

"I..I h..have a tummy ache" she lied

"Well there should be something I can do about that"

He pulled back the cover and started feeling her tummy

"Does it hurt here?" He asked

Lexi nodded

He felt all over and at every place Lexi told him it hurt.

"Well I've seen lots of little girls with poorly tummies Lexi and normally I know exactly how to make them better. Do you know what I think will make this one better?"

"W..what?"

"A really good nights sleep and a teddy to cuddle into. Do you have one?"

Lexi nodded her head

"I l..l..left her d..downstairs th..though"

Thomas quickly went down to find her and brought it back up and put it in the bed next to her

"There she's back where she belongs, now I think it's time for all of us to go to sleep isn't it?"

Lexi nodded her head, she was already feeling sleepy now

"T..Thomas, why d..does mummy h..hate me?" Lexi asked as Thomas was about to get up to go back to bed

Thomas stopped and turned back round not knowing what to say to this

"Your mummy doesn't hate you, she's just stressed at the moment, it's a big adjustment for everyone, just give it time Lexi"

"Okay" Lexi said

"Anything you need just give us a shout"

With that he flicked off the light and luckily Lexi feel asleep pretty quickly this time.

Please review x