Despite their worries, all three girls had settled back into school reasonable well. It had been hard to get Lucy into her classroom for the first couple of days but she seemed to be going in fine again now.
It was a Friday morning and everyone was really looking forward to the weekend, they just had one more day of school first.
Rachel's alarm went off so she slowly sat up and turned it off. When she turned back around she was surprised to see Lucy fast asleep last night, she really couldn't remember her coming in.
Rachel smiled at how especially cute Lucy looked when she was sleeping.
The thought of getting out of bed really wasn't an appealing one for Rachel because she was so warm in bed, however she knew she really need to get up. She sighed before getting out of bed and going into her en suite for a shower.
After having a shower and washing her hair, Rachel got out and brushed her teeth before going back to her bedroom.
When she did she saw that Lucy was just starting to wake up so she went and sat down by her on the bed.
"Good morning sleepy head"
"Morning"
"How come you ended up in here last night?"
"It was really cold in my bed so I came in for a cuddle with you and then I just fell asleep"
"I didn't even know you'd come in" Rachel said laughing "you can go to sleep for a bit if you want you don't need to be up yet"
"Okay" Lucy said before closing her eyes again
Rachel got up and picked out what she was going to wear before getting changed.
She looked up and saw Lucy's eyes were open again
"I thought you were going back to sleep" Rachel said
"I tried but I couldn't I feel too awake now"
"At least you can stay in bed for a little bit longer then"
Rachel finished getting changed and dried her hair before deciding to go and wake Poppy and Amy up.
She knocked on Poppy's door first and walked in however when she did Poppy was only in her underwear.
"Sorry love I didn't realise you were getting changed, I didn't mean to walk in on you"
"Don't worry its okay"
"I was just coming to wake you up, but there's no need"
Rachel was about to close the door again but Poppy stopped her
"Rachel"
"Yeah"
"It doesn't matter actually"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah it's fine"
"Okay" Rachel said before going into Amy's bedroom
Amy was still fast asleep in bed. Rachel felt bad waking her because she really did look extremely cosy but she knew she'd never be ready in time if she didn't wake her now.
"Amy it's time to get up" Rachel said shaking her slightly
Amy started to wake up but immediately shut her eyes tight again when she realised Rachel had come to wake her up.
"Come on you need to get up now"
Amy sighed, but did get out of bed and go into the bathroom
When Rachel went back into her bedroom she put her makeup on before going into Lucy's bedroom to get her changed.
"Is it Friday today Rachel?"
"It is"
"So I don't have to go to school tomorrow?"
"Nope, I'm afraid you're stuck with me"
"I like being stuck with you, you do lots of fun things with me"
"Well we'll have to make sure we do something fun tomorrow won't we?"
Lucy took her pyjamas off so Rachel passed her uniform to her.
She put her knickers and top on but then saw that Rachel had given her trousers to wear.
"I'm not wearing trousers"
"I know you don't like wearing school trousers but both your skirts and your pinafore is in the wash"
"I don't want to wear them" Lucy said starting to put up a fuss
"Okay I'll iron a skirt for you, there's one in the ironing pile. Maybe you could try not getting so dirty at school though then they wouldn't all be in the washing"
"Go and clean your teeth while I iron it for you then"
"But I don't have a skirt on though"
"Well there's no-one here apart from me and your sisters so I don't think it really matters"
Rachel quickly ironed Lucy's skirt for her before going back up to finish getting her changed.
It wasn't long before they were all sat at the table eating breakfast.
"Rachel I really don't want anything this morning" Amy said. Amy really struggled to eat breakfast but Rachel didn't like sending her to school on an empty stomach so had been making her eat before she went
"I know you don't, I'd really rather you have something though"
"You're not eating anything"
"Well no but I don't have to wait until break time to eat do I, just have a banana or something"
"Fine"
"Right what's happening after school are your friends coming straight back here after school?"
Rachel was letting Amy have a few of her friend over for a sleepover as she really wanted Amy to feel as if this was her house now, she seemed to be struggling to settle in more than what Poppy and Lucy were
"Yeah they're bringing all their stuff to school"
"Okay obviously there's not room in the car for me to bring you all home, but they can bring their stuff up to my office before school and then I'll take that home in the car"
"Okay thanks Rachel"
"And what do you want for tea?"
"I don't mind"
"You can choose anything you like"
"I don't mind"
"Well why don't you speak to your friends and then let me know"
"Okay I'll do that"
After breakfast they all finished getting ready before going to get in the car. At the start of the week Poppy and Amy walked to school but it had been really cold so now they just got a lift with Rachel even if it did mean having to leave a bit earlier.
They drove to Lucy's primary school. Amy and Poppy waited in the car while Rachel walked Lucy in.
"Amy" Poppy said
"Yeah"
"Do you like it here? You know staying with Rachel?" Poppy asked, she always had been very protective over her little sisters so wanted to check that Amy was definitely happy
"Yeah I like it, why don't you?"
"I really like it, I just wanted to check you did too, that's all"
"It still feels weird calling her Rachel, rather than Miss Mason"
"I know who would have thought we'd end up living with our head teacher"
"She's so nice though"
The girls were still talking about her when Rachel got back in the car so they immediately stopped when she did.
"What were you two talking about?"
"Just… stuff" Poppy said
Rachel smiled at them both before starting up the car and driving to Waterloo Road.
She parked the car in her usual space before saying goodbye to the girls and then going up to her office.
Rachel was just preparing for the meeting she had this morning when there was a knock at the door.
"Come in"
The door opened and Amy came in along with her three friends.
"Morning girls, just put your stuff down behind my desk"
The girls went and put their stuff down but then they all started laughing.
"What are you all giggling at?"
"It just feels really weird" Beth said
"What is?"
"Coming for a sleepover at your house, I didn't think I'd ever be doing that"
"I have to say it does feel a bit weird for me too having students coming for a sleepover" Rachel said laughing too
The girls stayed up in Rachel's office until the bell went and then they made their way to registration.
The morning passed reasonably quickly and it was soon lunchtime. Rachel had had to deal with quite a few students but this wasn't unusual for a Friday.
Rachel made her way down to the canteen and got some lunch before joining Steph and Grantly at a table.
As she was eating she looked around and spotted Poppy; she was sure that she was crying.
Rachel wanted to go over and check that Poppy was okay but she knew that Poppy wouldn't want any special treatment so she decided to just leave it.
By the time Rachel had finished eating Poppy had gone out with her friends anyway.
"Will you be joining us at the pub tonight Miss Mason?" Grantly asked "we haven't seen you there for a while"
"Not tonight no, Amy's got some friends coming over for a sleepover"
"Eddie certainly misses you coming" Steph said
Rachel didn't really know what to say to this so stood up with her tray
"Maybe I'll go next week" Rachel said before walking off
Rachel spent the rest of the afternoon doing paperwork in the hope that she wouldn't have to do too much work over the weekend.
It seemed that hardly any time had passed at all when the bell went signalling the end of the day.
Rachel continued with what she was doing until Poppy came up to the office.
"Hi Poppy have you had a good day?"
"It was okay thank you" poppy said but she wasn't very convincing "how about you?"
"Yeah it's been fine, I'm glad it's the weekend though"
"Me too"
"Shall we get going then?" Rachel said and Poppy nodded
Rachel shut her laptop down and packed up all her stuff.
The two of them then picked up Amy's friends stuff before going out to the car.
"Who's actually sleeping over tonight?"
"Beth, Ella and Sophie"
Poppy barely spoke for the rest of the journey to pick up Lucy. It was obvious to Rachel that there was something up but she decided not to say anything for the minute.
"Are you coming in with me to get Lucy?" Rachel asked once she'd parked up
"I'll just wait here"
Rachel got out of the car and walked into the playground.
As soon as she saw Rachel arrive Lucy ran out of her classroom and wrapped her arms around Rachel.
"Hi sweetheart"
"Hi Rachel, look what I did for you" Lucy said before passing her a painting that she'd done at school
It was a picture of her, Rachel, Poppy and Amy all outside of a house.
"That's lovely darling, I'll tell you what I'll put it up on the fridge when we get home"
Lucy smiled before holding onto Rachel's hand and walking back to the car
Lucy was really chatty the whole way home but Poppy was just staring out of the window barely saying a word.
They were nearly home when they drove past Amy and her friends still walking home from school.
By the time they'd pulled up on the drive and got out of the car Amy was there too.
"Hi girls"
"Hi Rachel" Amy said
"Hi Miss Mason"
"You can call me Rachel girls, when we're not at school anyway"
Rachel then opened up the boot so that they could all get their stuff out
The girls put their stuff up in Amy's bedroom before coming down to get a drink
"Did you decide what you wanted for tea?" Rachel asked
"Urmm.. what are the options?"
"Whatever you like, I can get pizza or we can order a takeaway or…"
"Can we get Chinese?" Amy asked
"Yep course we can if that's what you want, are you happy with that girls?"
They all nodded so Rachel got a menu out so that they could choose what they wanted.
"I need to nip to Tesco in a minute to get some bits, so do you want anything?"
"Can we have some chocolate?"
"Yeah, do you want me to get you a film or anything to watch?"
"Yes please Rachel"
"Okay well I'm going to go in a minute you'll be okay here won't you?"
"Yep"
The girls finished their drinks before going up to Amy's bedroom.
Rachel shouted Poppy and Lucy down, who had been up in their bedrooms getting changed out of their school uniform, to tell them she was going shopping.
Lucy wanted to come with her but Poppy decided to stay at home.
Rachel got a trolley as she needed quite a few things. They were walking down the first isle when Lucy realised she really needed to go for a wee. She was just about to go when they were at home but then Rachel had called them down to the kitchen, so she was quite desperate now.
"Rachel I need a wee" Lucy said quietly so that no-one else would hear
"We've just started shopping, can you hold on until we're finished?"
Lucy nodded, she wasn't sure if she could but she didn't want to be a pain for Rachel.
Rachel noticed Lucy walking funny so realised that she couldn't hold.
"We'd just as well go now, come on let's go"
Lucy was relieved when she heard Rachel say this as she was feeling really worried.
They quickly went to the toilets and left the trolley outside while they went in.
Lucy went straight in while Rachel waited. She came out a minute or so later and washed her hands.
"Come on then, let's get this shopping done"
They got everything they needed before going to pay and then going home again.
When they got in Lucy went up to her bedroom to play with her toys while Rachel unpacked the shopping.
She decided to get some jobs done so that then she could relax for the rest of the evening with Lucy and Poppy.
After about an hour or so Rachel ordered the Chinese knowing that everyone would be hungry soon.
"The Chinese will be here in about half an hour" Rachel shouted up the stairs
Lucy came running down the stairs immediately
"I'm really hungry Rachel"
"Not too much longer to wait now, why don't you give me a hand laying the table that wll make the time go quicker"
"Okay" Lucy sighed
"I love chinse"
"Me too"
"Mummy didn't let us have it very often though because she said it was too expensive"
"Mummy's right, it's a nice Friday night treat though isn't it?"
"Will it be here soon?"
"About another fifteen minutes love" Rachel said looking at her watch "thanks for your help you've done an excellent job"
The Chinese arrived late but eventually there was a knock at the door.
Rachel went and answered the front door and paid the delivery man before shouting everyone down.
Poppy came in first. It looked as though she'd been crying again so Rachel knew that she definitely needed to have a little chat with her later.
"Amy, Chinese" Rachel shouted again when the girls still hadn't come down
"Okay coming"
The four of them came down a few minutes later. They'd been giving each other makeovers up in Amy's bedroom.
As soon as Rachel saw Amy she realised that she had a bra on. She knew that Amy didn't wear a bra yet because she'd barely developed yet so wondered where she'd got it from. She didn't say anything though because she knew it would only embarrass Amy, especially with everyone around.
Rachel put all the food in middle of the table.
"Help yourself, I think we've got enough food here to feed the entire neighbourhood" Rachel said after realising just how much they'd ordered
Rachel helped Lucy to dish hers out before doing her own.
It was nice to see Amy so relaxed with her friends there, Rachel was just getting a bit worried about Poppy now as she was really quiet and barely touching her food.
"Sorry but I'm not really hungry Rachel" Poppy said
"That's alright, just eat what you can"
"Please can I have some more of that chicken Rachel?" Lucy asked after she'd finished her plate
"Of course you can" Rachel said dishing her up some more
Once they'd all finished eating there was still quite a bit left but no-one could eat anymore.
Amy and her friends put their plates in the dishwasher before going back upstairs.
Once Rachel had finished clearing up with Poppy's help she went to find Lucy.
She found her in the lounge crying on the sofa.
"Hey what's happened?" Rachel asked rushing over to her
"I have a tummy ache" Lucy cried
"There's no wonder with the amount you ate tonight, try lying down stretching your tummy out might help"
"Will you sit with me?"
"Of course I will, shall I put something on the TV?"
Lucy nodded so Rachel put the film on that they'd started watching last night but had to stop because Lucy needed to go up to bed.
Lucy stretched out on the sofa and put her head on Rachel's lap while Rachel stroked her hair.
Poppy came in and watched it with them too. She still looked really upset so Rachel decided to talk to her once she'd put Lucy to bed.
"How's your tummy feeling now?" Rachel asked
"It still hurts"
Rachel started to rub Lucy's tummy for her and eventually it did start to feel a bit better.
By the time the film had finished Lucy was really tired and kept rubbing her eyes so Rachel decided to get her bathed and into bed.
"Come on then missus let's get you ready for bed"
Rachel knew she really must be tired when she didn't put up a fight and just followed Rachel up the stairs.
After giving Lucy a bath and drying off her hair she got her changed into her pyjamas and into bed.
"Hang on a second, you haven't been for a wee or cleaned your teeth"
"Can't I just do it in the morning?" Lucy asked sounding tired
"No, do it now come on"
Lucy reluctantly got out of bed and went into the bathroom.
Once she was done Rachel took her back to bed and got her settled.
After staying with her for a few minutes Rachel kissed her on the forehead and went to get up to go out.
"Don't go yet Rachel, stay with me until I'm asleep" Lucy said opening her eyes
"I thought you already were asleep" Rachel said before sitting back down again
It only took another ten minutes or so before Rachel was sure that Lucy was definitely asleep so she quietly walked out of her bedroom.
She heard lots of giggling and chatting coming from Amy's bedroom so decided to just check they were all okay.
Rachel knocked on the door and waited until Amy said it was okay before going in.
"Everything okay in here girls?"
"Yes thank you"
"Are you going to start settling down in a bit, put a film on or something?"
"Yeah we were going to do that now anyway"
"I bought a selection of films I didn't know what you'd fancy watching, but they're all on the kitchen table"
"Okay thanks Rachel"
"No problem, and try not to be too loud"
"We will"
Rachel left them to it and went back down into the lounge with Poppy. She sat on the other end of the sofa to which Poppy was sat.
"You can change the channel if you want, there's not a lot on" Poppy said going to pass Rachel the remote
"This is fine" Rachel said smiling
"Poppy, is everything okay?"
"Yeah why?"
"You've just been really quiet all evening and not really yourself"
"I'm fine, just a bit tired"
"Are you sure? Because you know you can talk to me, I'm here to listen"
"It's nothing"
"Are you missing your Mum?"
"No not really"
"Well has something happened at school then?" Rachel asked because she could tell there was definitely something up with Poppy
"No everything's fine" Poppy said but as she did tears filled her eyes
Poppy quickly got up and darted out of the room hoping Rachel hadn't seen, but she wasn't quick enough for Rachel to not notice
Rachel decided to give her a few minutes before going to find her. Poppy was clearly upset about something so she wanted to be there to help her.
She went up to Poppy's bedroom and could hear her crying in there.
"Poppy it's just me, can I come in?"
"Two minutes" Poppy replied as she hastily tried to wipe away her tears
Rachel waited for a little bit before going in.
Poppy was sat at the edge of her bed so Rachel went and sat down with her.
As soon as Rachel sat down Poppy couldn't seem to help but cry, as much as she wished she could stop she just couldn't.
Rachel started to rub her back.
"Now then, I don't want any more of this rubbish that you're fine because I can see that you're not so are you going to tell me what's wrong?"
Poppy sighed before deciding to tell Rachel, after all whenever Poppy had been upset before Rachel had always managed to make her feel better.
"It's just… you know Tom?"
"Yeah"
"Well I really thought that he liked me but I just found out today that he slept with this other girl at the weekend"
"That can't have been very nice to find out, was there something going on between the two of you?"
"Kind of, we'd been texting and stuff and then… we kissed at a party a few weeks ago"
Poppy had always found Rachel really easy talk to and really did feel that she could talk to her about anything, but somehow this felt different it was so nice to have someone at home who really cared though. Over the last few years it definitely hadn't felt as if her Mum had been there for her to talk to.
"So then what happened?"
"Well I guess after Mum died he knew he wouldn't be getting what he wanted from me anytime soon, so he went and found it elsewhere" Poppy said starting to sound angry
It didn't take long for her anger to turn back to tears again though, so Rachel pulled her into her chest and gave her a much needed hug.
"The thing is with boys and I know this is really hard to understand especially when you're your age but boys are only interested in one thing, and that's sex. They just don't get how much it means to girls, so they just don't see it as being that big a deal"
"But it is a big deal, he even told me he'd never slept with anyone before and then he goes and sleeps with that slut"
"Hey there's no need for that is there? You have every right to be upset but you don't need to go around calling people names"
"Sorry"
"It's okay, believe me I know how you feel, growing up and having all of these feelings is really not easy but I have been there so I do get what you're going through"
"I just wish boys weren't so insensitive all the time, he doesn't even see that what he's done is wrong"
"That's boys for you" Rachel said and Poppy gave a little smile
"Thanks Rachel"
"It's no problem darling, honestly don't be afraid to come and talk to me whenever you're upset about something even if you think it's really stupid"
"Okay, thank you"
"Anyway I think I'm going to get changed into my pyjamas and then do you fancy putting a film on or something?"
"Yeah that would be nice"
Rachel quickly went into her bedroom and got changed. Poppy did the same before going into the lounge.
"Have you got any plans for the rest of the weekend?"
"I might go to the cinema tomorrow night if that's okay"
"Of course it is"
They decided on a film to watch and then put it on. It was nice for them both to spend a bit of time just the two of them.
They were about halfway through when Lucy walked into the lounge looking all sleepy.
"What are you doing awake?" Rachel asked as she gently placed the little girl up and placed her on her lap
"Amy and her friends are being really loud so they woke me up"
"Okay let's take you back up and I'll tell them to be quiet"
Rachel carried her back up the stairs on her hip and went into Amy's bedroom.
"Girls can you try and be a bit quieter please, Lucy's trying to sleep"
"Yeah sorry Rachel"
Rachel put Lucy back into bed, and the girls had quietened down a bit so Lucy did manage to go back to sleep quite quickly.
Rachel went back downstairs to finish watching the film with Poppy.
It wasn't a particularly sad film but by the end Rachel could feel herself getting all choked up.
Poppy heard Rachel sniff so looked at her and realised she was crying
"Are you crying?" Poppy said laughing
Rachel couldn't help but laugh too.
Once the film had finished they were both feeling really tired so decided to go up to bed.
Rachel said goodnight to Amy and her friends but she knew it would be likely that they would still be awake for hours yet.
Rachel went into her own room and fell asleep quite quickly, however it didn't take long for the morning to come around. She was woken up by Lucy tapping her arm.
"Morning love, do you want to come in for a cuddle?"
Lucy nodded so Rachel moved up a bit so that she could get in.
Rachel wrapped her arms around Lucy and they both fell back asleep for a little bit.
Rachel woke up a little while later and decided to get up. Lucy woke up too and said she wanted to go downstairs with her.
Rachel put her dressing gown on before going downstairs with Lucy. She'd promised to make pancakes for breakfast but thought she'd probably better wait until Poppy, Amy and her friends were up too.
The morning passed quite quickly and by lunchtime all of Amy's friends had gone home so it was just Rachel, Poppy, Amy and Lucy there.
Amy was in her bedroom tidying up a bit so Rachel decided to go in and help her. She also wanted to have a chat with her and find out if she wanted to start wearing a bra, but at the same time she didn't want to make Amy feel embarrassed however she knew that this probably would.
"Amy can I ask you something?"
"Yeah"
"Whose bra was it you were wearing yesterday?"
Hearing Rachel say this made Amy's cheeks burn bright red immediately.
"Ella's"
"Sorry love I didn't mean to embarrass you" Rachel said after seeing how red Amy's cheeks were "I was just wondering if you wanted to start wearing one?"
"Kind of"
"Okay well maybe we could go out shopping later and we could get you some"
"Really?"
"Yeah of course if that's what you want, I'm sure most of your friends are wearing one now so you're bound to want to be doing the same"
"Are Poppy and Lucy going to come too?"
"No we'll leave them at home shall we? Just go the two of us"
"Yes please"
"Okay then. I know it probably feels quite difficult to come and talk to me about these sort of things at the minute, but I am here for you and I do understand what it's like when you're at the age you're at and everything's starting to change"
"I did want to ask you, I just didn't know how"
"Well that's okay, I know now. But whenever there's something else you want to talk about just pull me aside and say it, I promise I'll try my hardest not to embarrass you"
"Thanks Rachel"
After lunch Rachel and Amy went out on their little shopping trip. Rachel finally felt as though Amy was starting to relax around her a bit more which she was so happy about.
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