A/N thank you for all the lovely reviews, follows and favourites so far! I hope you enjoy this chapter, please read and review! Xx
Coral awoke quickly, jumping out of her bed and looking around the unfamiliar room. Walking quietly over to the large bay window she opened the curtains, peering out onto the street. For autumn it was still fairly warm and the bright sunshine illuminated everything in its path in a soft golden light.
The small child stood there for a few moments before sitting back down on the bed and picking up the teddy bear that she couldn't sleep without.
Hearing Coral moving about in her bedroom, Zoe smiled, quickly getting up herself and pulling on her dressing gown before heading to see the young girl.
"Morning" she greeted her, smiling.
"Zoe!" she beamed, moving over to where Zoe was sat on the bed and clambering into her lap, cuddling into her.
Zoe smiled back at her, hugging her back as she sat up "Right, let's get some breakfast and then head out to the shops to get some clothes for you Lila. Sound good?" she said, grinning as Coral nodded her head in excitement.
…
"Coral, I washed your dress and tights so you can wear those again until you've got more clothes to wear"
"Thank you Zoe!"
Soon, both were ready and Zoe helped Coral into her car seat, making sure that it was secure before shutting the door and getting in herself.
When they finally arrived at the shopping centre, Zoe held onto the girl's hand tightly, making sure that she didn't wander off. They headed into the nearest shop and went over to the children's section "Okay, what sort of clothes do you like?" Zoe queried, grabbing several packs of underwear and socks and putting them in the trolley.
"Clothes with flowers, Lila likes butterflies" she explained while twirling around.
"Let's start with tops then. How about this?" she offered, pointing to a pastel pink t-shirt with flowers on.
Coral nodded "Yeah! And this for Lila?" she suggested, picking up a purple t-shirt with a glittery butterfly on.
Zoe smiled; it was sweet how she automatically thought of her twin sister even though she wasn't there "Okay. You know Lila better than me, so you can help me pick out clothes for her"
"Okay!" Coral agreed, moving over to the shelf and picking up another top.
They repeated the process until they reached the night time section where Coral ran over to the bed and picked up a midnight blue sparkly bear in one hand and a matching dark purple one in the other "Please, Zoe!" she begged, her big brown eyes sparkling as she saw the consultant nod her head.
Zoe couldn't help but laugh as she watched the girl place the purple bear into the trolley but kept a tight hold of her own "Right, we need pyjamas and new bedsheets seeing as you're going to be staying with me for a while" she paused for a moment before continuing "Sara rang me last night, and she says you can stay with me, and Lila too when she's feeling better"
Coral didn't verbally reply, but nodded her head as she took Zoe's hand and turned to look at the items in the trolley.
Zoe was about to speak when her phone rang. Letting go of her hand for a minute, she smiled at her whilst she answered "Hello, Zoe Hanna speaking. Yes. Oh, I see. That's brilliant news, we were going to come this evening anyway so we'll pick her up around 8. Thank you, bye" putting her phone away she turned to face Coral "That was the doctor from the hospital, we can go and pick Lila up later" she grinned when she saw her face light up and added, looking at her watch "Which means that I need you to help me get your room ready for when she gets home. Okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Coral beamed, jumping up and down.
…
Clothes and shoes bought, Zoe walked towards the toy shop. Now that the girls had the essentials, she knew that they would need toys and books to keep them entertained. She was bought from her thoughts as Coral gasped in awe "Wow! This shop is really big!" she danced over to the book section, picking one up and then placing it carefully back on the shelf. After a few minutes they had picked out a good selection of books and headed to the next part of the shop.
"So, what do you like to play with?" Zoe asked her as she looked around "And what does Lila like?"
Coral thought for a moment "I like teddies!" she grinned "Lila does too. We both like drawing"
Zoe helped her to choose some art supplies before she spotted the stuffed animals "Go on!" she laughed "Go and choose some for you and your sister, then we need to get going"
…
Back at the house and after they had finished unloading all the bags from the car, Zoe made them both some lunch.
"Coral!" Zoe called to her "I need you to a job for me. Can you find all the books we bought and put them over there?" she said, pointing to the bookcase. "While you do that, I'll make your beds. Thanks sweetheart"
Coral nodded eagerly and started her task while Zoe got out the new bedsheets, butterflies for Lila and flowers for Coral. Coral's bed was by the window where she had slept the previous night, and Lila's was closer to the door.
"Okay, now the clothes are put away, let's sort out all these toys!" Zoe smiled, sitting down on the floor with Coral "Do you want to take your sparkly bears to the hospital and give Lila hers there or leave them here?"
"Take them with us!"
Zoe laughed; she should have guessed "Alright. So…" she began to divide up the stuffed animals, the girls had got some that were the same but some that were different as well.
…
"Coral, you ready?" Zoe shouted up the stairs to her, smiling as she came downstairs in her new blue starry dress "You look lovely, let's go and get your sister"
