It was the following morning and Lottie was the first one awake. She moved over and noticed that her mother and sister were snuggled up together. That was not her. She was always the one left out.
She stood up and made her way into the kitchen. She noticed Peggy and nervously stood at the door.
"Oh hello darling" Peggy said inviting Lottie into the kitchen.
"Now remind me again, what is your name?" Peggy said not knowing which of Ronnie's children were who.
"I'm Lottie" She said nervo+usly.
"Lottie, that's a very pretty name" Peggy said smiling at the girl.
"It's actually Charlotte but I like to get called Lottie" Lottie explained as she sat down. Peggy smiled at the girl. She really liked her. They spoke for a bit longer as Peggy made the girl some toast.
"I really want to get ready but my mum and Libby are still sleeping" Lottie complained and Peggy laughed.
"Do you want to have a shower?" Peggy asked and Lottie nodded.
"That would be really good if I could" Lottie said nervously.
"Of course you can" Peggy said as she guided the girl into the bathroom.
"In you go and I'll get you some towels" Peggy said and Lottie nodded. She was nervous as to what to do while she waited on Peggy. She didn't want the woman walking in on her naked. She decided to get the shower ready and set the water.
Peggy soon returned with towels and placed them on the floor.
"There you go darling" She said and Lottie nodded.
"Thank you" She replied nervously before locking the door behind her aunt.
Lottie quickly jumped in the shower. As soon as she was in the shower, she just lost her imagination. She always did this in the shower. She always imagined that she had an older sister. Someone she could speak to during this time. That's what she needed. She wished she had someone she could speak to about anything. Someone who would listen to her and who she trusted.
Her mind was elsewhere when she heard frantic hitting on the door.
"Hurry the hell up, there is only one bathroom and we are all waiting on you" Roxy shouted. It made Lottie jump. She quickly got out of the shower and dried herself before opening the door.
"God about time, you are so selfish Lottie" Roxy said storming into the bathroom and slamming the door shut. Lottie felt the tears well up in her eyes.
"You need to be more considerate, Lots" Ronnie said. Lottie knew her mum was ashamed of her. She was always such a disappointment. She didn't say anything instead she ran past her mum and into the bedroom. She locked the door behind her and feel forward onto the bed. She hide her head in the covers.
"What's wrong with Lottie?" Libby asked Ronnie as they were both standing outside the bathroom.
"I have no idea" Ronnie said. Ronnie walked over to the door and tried to open it. She cursed when she realised that Lottie had locked the door.
"Lottie I want you to unlock the door now" Ronnie said. She knew that Lottie was often nervous and did whatever her mum asked of her.
"Lottie, now" Ronnie said after giving the girl a couple of minutes. Ronnie heard movement and the door unlocked. She gave herself and her daughter a minute before opening the door. The girl was back to lying on the bed with her head hidden in the duvet.
"Lots" Ronnie said sitting down on the edge of the bed.
"Come and speak to me" Ronnie said as she tried to get her daughter to sit up but it wasn't working.
"Lots" Ronnie said a lot stricter this time. She picked the girl up and moved her to be in her arms. She was able to see the girl's face and noticed that she was crying.
"Baby girl, what's up?" Ronnie asked softly and that just caused Lottie to burst into tears even more.
"Come here, darling, come here" Ronnie said pulling the girl into her arms and rocking her softly. She didn't think it was going to be this hard having a teenager. She just wished that the girl would speak to her a bit more.
"Come on, why the tears?" Ronnie asked once the girl had calmed down slightly.
"I do everything wrong and no one is ever happy with me" Lottie cried.
"What is this about?" Ronnie asked confused.
"I was doing what Peggy said. She said I could have a shower and then everyone was shouting at me and Roxy said I'm selfish and" Lottie said starting to hyperventilate.
"Baby calm down and take some deep breathes for me" Ronnie said and Lottie copied her mother before feeling more relaxed again.
"Now I'm sorry Roxy shouted at you. You know what she is like though" Ronnie said "Don't take it personally"
Lottie nodded. Usually she didn't take things like that personally but she really did today.
"I'm sorry you must think I'm such a cry baby" Lottie said blushing as she wiped her eyes. She was so embarrassed.
"No I don't. I'm your mum. You can cry to me whenever you need to" Ronnie explained and Lottie shrugged. She hated crying in front of anyone.
"Lottie, you never have to rid how you are feeling from me" Ronnie said and Lottie nodded.
"I don't know why I keep crying all the time" Lottie said annoyed at herself.
"It's because you are hormonal" Ronnie said and Lottie shook her head.
"No it's not" Lottie said adamantly.
"It is sweetie" Ronnie said pulling the girl into her arms and she knew there was nothing more she could say other than just hold the girl.
"Right, I need to go and get ready" Ronnie said after about 10 minutes and Lottie nodded. She quickly got changed before heading back to the kitchen. Her aunt was causing a fuss because she had managed to get nail polish remover on her skin.
It wasn't long until Ronnie came through too and then laughed at Roxy still complaining. Roxy stood up and stormed out of the room just as Ben walked in. He came in and asked how to make breakfast.
"Don't worry I'll do it" Ronnie said getting up.
"No, don't worry" Peggy said. Peggy and Ben continued to talk while Ronnie looked at Lottie.
"Have you had breakfast?" Ronnie asked and Lottie nodded nervously. Ronnie cursed. How could the girl be nervous again? They were never getting anywhere.
Once they were all ready, they headed into the living room. All four of them were there will Peggy and Phil were outside the room having a heated argument. Roxy sat listening and they were shocked when they found out what was going on.
"Now that is a family at war" Ronnie said. "We're going to have to wade in"
Roxy knew that look. Lottie and Libby glanced between the two of them. They were both confused. What did this mean?
Lottie and Libby quickly got settled in front of the TV. They didn't know what to do here as none of their friends were here. Ronnie and Roxy were down the stairs speaking to Peggy. Ronnie ran up the stairs to speak to the kids.
"So me and Rox are going to be working on the bar so you need to keep yourself occupied" Ronnie explained and the girls nodded.
"Why?" Libby asked always been the nosy of the two.
"Because I say so" Ronnie said and the girls nodded quickly. They didn't want to upset their mum.
They ended up having a lazy day watching the TV which was definitely needed. They could hear their aunt trying to convince their mum to go out tonight but Ronnie was having none of it. For once Ronnie stood to her own and didn't go out. She wandered up the stairs to join her daughters.
"Let's watch a film" Ronnie said as she sat in between the two girls. Ronnie put her arms around Lottie and moved to allow the girl to lean back on her. Usually it would be Libby she would have done this with but she was trying to build a more positive relationship with Lottie.