It was a Saturday and the day of Sadie's party, which she was so excited about! Her actual Birthday was earlier on in the week.
Rachel had a very busy day ahead. She had to take Emily to cheerleading try outs this morning and then come back to set up for the party.
It was 7 o clock when Rachel's alarm went off. Usually she didn't set an alarm for the weekend, but she had to leave with Emily at 8 today to leave.
Rachel got out of bed straight away and headed for the shower.
She showered as quickly as she could because she didn't have much time before getting out and wrapping a towel around her body and head.
After this she went to check that Emily was up.
Rachel wasn't surprised that when she went in Emily was still fast asleep, as she'd been up really late last night as she couldn't sleep from worrying about today.
It didn't take long for Emily to wake up though, and as soon as she was she got straight out of bed and started getting ready.
"I'll get dressed and quickly dry my hair, and then I'll go down and make your breakfast love"
"Okay thanks Rachel"
When Rachel and Emily left Steve, Sadie and Lily were all still asleep.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm so nervous"
"You're going to be fine love, and besides if you don't get in it really doesn't matter, there are other clubs around here"
"I know, it would just feel weird joining a different cheerleading club"
Emily had started cheerleading at quite a young age but had stopped when she was about ten, but from what Rachel had heard it sounded like she used to be quite good.
Recently though, Emily and one of her friends had decided to start again and Emily was really excited about it.
When they arrived Emily was so nervous, and had really bad butterflies in her stomach.
Just as they were getting out the car though Emily spotted her friend with her Mum walking through the car park, so they walked over to them.
Once Emily was with her friend Sophie she her butterflies settled a tiny bit, but it didn't stop her from feeling extremely nervous.
They went and got the girls signed in, and then Rachel and Sophie's Mum went to find a seat while the girls went to join the other girls also trying out.
Emily knew her chances of getting in were quite slim as she'd only just turned twelve so was going to be one of the youngest, if not the youngest, in this group as it was for 12 to 15 year olds.
She was determined to do her best and get in though because it was something that she really wanted to do.
Rachel was sat watching but she too felt really nervous.
Once it was all over Rachel and Sophie's Mum headed back to the entrance to meet Emily and Sophie.
"How was that girls?"
"Good" they both said although Rachel picked up at once that Emily didn't look very happy
"Are you okay darling?" Rachel asked once they were back in the car
"I'm definitely not going to get in, I was one of the youngest there and I definitely didn't perform my best"
"I thought you did an amazing job, but they're obviously going to understand that you're going to be a bit nervous"
"I suppose, but I still don't think I've got in" Emily said sounding quite fed up
"We'll just have to wait and see won't we?"
"Yeah"
Rachel took her to Costa on the way home to try and cheer her up a bit. By the time they'd left Costa Emily did seem a bit happier than she had before.
When they arrived home Steve, Sadie and Lily were all out in the garden as it was a really nice day.
Steve had put the paddling pool up so Lily was in there, Sadie was on a sun lounger and Steve was cleaning the BBQ as Sadie was having a few of her closest friends over a bit earlier for a BBQ and to get ready together.
"I hope you've got sun cream on girls"
"I do Mummy, Steve did it for me"
"Good, what about you Sadie?"
"I've only been out here for ten minutes and we're leaving soon so there's no point is there?"
"I'm going to make lunch before we go so if you're going to stay out here for any longer I want you to put some on, the last thing you want is to be burnt for your party"
Sadie rolled her eyes, but grabbed the sun cream and put some on.
After lunch it was time for Rachel and Sadie to go shopping to get the stuff ready for tonight.
They just had the food and drinks left to buy.
Rachel ended up spending a fortune, but it was Sadie's 16th Birthday party so it didn't really matter.
After they'd done the shopping Rachel dropped Sadie off to get her nails done before heading home.
Rachel made a start on getting everything prepared but it was soon time to go and pick Sadie up.
"Shall I go?"
"Yeah if you don't mind that would be great, remember you've got to pick up three of her friends as well"
Rachel was in the middle of putting some lights up outside with Emily when Lily suddenly shouted.
"Mummy" Lily said sounding worried, she was in the paddling pool for the second time that day
"I need a wee" Lily said
"Go to the toilet then, you know where it is"
"I'm not going to make it, I'm desperate"
"Just try your best, the longer you leave it the worst it's going to be"
Lily climbed out of the paddling pool and ran as quickly as she could into the house.
"Careful you don't slip" Rachel shouted
A couple of minutes later Lily returned to the garden.
"Did you make it?"
"Yes"
"Good, don't leave it so long next time huh?"
"Sorry Mum"
"It's fine, anyway we need to get you bathed because we're going to have the BBQ at about 4"
"Do I have to? Can't I just have a bath after the BBQ?"
"I suppose so, but don't forget your sleeping at Grandma's tonight"
"Oh yeah, what time am I going there?"
"About six probably love"
Steve and Lily were both staying at Steve's Mum's house tonight as Sadie didn't want them to stay. After a lot of persuasion she was letting Rachel stay at home though.
"Is Emily staying there too?"
"No she's got a sleepover tonight"
When Steve got back with the girls, he turned the BBQ on.
It was nice for Rachel to finally sit down and relax for a bit.
After they'd eaten, Sadie went upstairs with her friends to start getting ready and Rachel mopped the floor before getting Lily bathed.
At about six Steve was getting ready to leave.
"Sadie, can you come down here a minute please?"
Steve was shocked when he saw how grown up his daughter looked. She was wearing a red dress with black heels, and had a full face of makeup on with curly hair. She was also wearing the Tiffany necklace that Rachel and Steve had bought her for her Birthday.
Rachel smiled when she saw how gorgeous she looked.
"Look at you Sadie, you look gorgeous" Rachel said but then she laughed when she saw Steve's face
"What's wrong with you Steve?"
"Don't you think that dress is a bit grown up for her?"
"No I think it's lovely, I helped her choose it, just be thankful it's actually covering the places that it should"
"Only just, and what about her makeup?"
"I am still here you know Dad"
"Why shouldn't she dress up a bit Steve, it's her Birthday party"
Rachel had to admit that she did look grown up, but she also looked beautiful and in her opinion she hadn't made herself look too grown up.
"Okay okay, you do look lovely Sadie" Steve finally said
"Thanks Dad"
"Anyway I'm off now, but I just wanted to say remember the rules we talked about"
"Yes I remember Dad, you don't need to go through them again"
"I know I know, I also wanted to say to enjoy yourself"
"I think I will don't worry"
"Bye then darling"
"Bye Dad"
Rachel said goodbye to Steve, Emily and Lily and then the three of them left.
"Are you nearly ready love?"
"Yeah nearly, I just need to do my lipstick and put some perfume on"
"Okay, well come down when you're ready and I'll pour you all a glass of fizz"
"Aw thanks Rach"
"No problem love"
Sadie went back up and finished getting ready with her friends.
Once they were all ready they came down to the kitchen.
"Have you made the punch yet Rachel?" Sadie asked
Rachel had agreed to make a bowl of punch, but she definitely wasn't planning on making it very strong.
"I'm going to do it now"
Rachel got the prosecco out of the fridge before pouring them each a glass.
She poured one for herself too before handing one each to the girls.
"Cheers" they all said before taking a sip
Rachel looked at Sadie and saw how happy and excited she was looking.
Once Rachel had made the punch they decided to sit in the garden for a bit as it was a beautiful evening.
"The lights look well pretty Rach"
"Yeah they look good don't they"
After chatting for a while Rachel topped their glasses up.
Rachel and the girls were all enjoying talking, Rachel could tell the bubbles had gone to their head already though as they all already seemed a bit tipsy.
Suddenly the doorbell went.
"Are you going upstairs now then Rach?"
"Yes okay, I'm going. Be sensible girls and please don't drink too much"
"Don't worry, we won't" Sadie said giving her a smile
Rachel grabbed a glass and a bottle of wine before heading upstairs.
Sadie got the door and saw it was a couple more of her friends so let them in.
"Look what my Dad bought me Sadie" one of her friends said showing her a bottle of vodka
"Oh my god he let you bring that? No way!"
"I know I couldn't believe it when I asked him and he actually said yes. I'm sure if Mum was at home before I left she'd have stopped me though"
The girls had finished their prosecco now so Sadie added more vodka to the punch before getting everyone a glass.
The doorbell went again and this time it was Bradley.
Sadie let them in before the two of them started kissing rather passionately. Sadie was already fairly tipsy.
It wasn't long before loads of people arrived and the island in the kitchen was filling up with booze.
Sadie was still drinking quickly so was getting more and more drunk.
Rachel had left them for a couple of hours, but she felt like she ought to go down to have a quick check on them.
She was extremely shocked when she noticed the amount of alcohol in the kitchen but there wasn't really anything she could do about it.
Rachel looked and nobody seemed to be causing any damage.
They were clearly drunk but everyone seemed to be behaving.
Sadie spotted Rachel so came straight over.
Rachel was expecting Sadie to tell her to leave but much to her surprise she didn't.
"Rach, come join in the party"
"No it's okay love I'm going back upstairs now I was just checking everything's okay"
"But Rach I love you so much you're just the most amazing woman, I wish you were my Mum, but I don't really mind because you basically are my Mum now aren't you?" Sadie said babbling on in her drunken way
"Yes sweetheart, you know I will always be here for you and I love you too. Are you having a good party?"
"Yes I'm having the best night ever, please come and dance with me it is my Birthday" Sadie said taking hold of Rachel's hand and dragging her outside onto the patio
"Okay love but just for one song"
Rachel had had a few glasses of wine herself so was feeling a bit on the tipsy side.
Rachel danced for a bit before going back upstairs again.
Sadie was inside with one of best friends when they decided to do a vodka shot each.
As soon as Sadie swallowed it though she had to run to the downstairs toilet because she knew she was about to be sick.
As soon as she got there she threw up, but once she'd been sick she felt loads better so went out and carried on drinking and dancing.
Sadie hadn't seen Bradley for a while so went to find him.
When she found him she went up and put her arms around his neck. Bradley snaked his arms around Sadie's waist and rested his hands on her bum.
They started kissing resulting in a lot of wolf whistling, not that they took any notice of this, they just carried on.
Sadie was really enjoying this and wanted to take things a bit further.
"Let's go upstairs" Sadie whispered into Bradley's ear
Bradley had no objections to this so the two of them went up to Sadie's bedroom.
Bradley didn't realise that Sadie had meant she wanted to go all the way but he was really drunk so didn't stop it, luckily he was prepared.
After they'd done it Sadie ran off again straight away and carried on dancing with her friends.
She told her best friend that she'd just lost her virginity, but she didn't tell anyone else.
At about 12 Rachel came downstairs to tell everyone it was time to go home.
It was quite a hard task getting everyone to leave when they were all so drunk.
Eventually she managed to get everyone out, other than the ones that were staying.
Rachel sent Sadie and her friends up to bed, all of whom were very drunk.
She had a quick tidy up but decided the rest could wait until the morning.
The girls all went to sleep fairly quickly once they were in bed.
Sadie woke up at about 5 o clock in the morning.
She'd been lying there for a few moments, when she suddenly remembered what had happened last night.
She couldn't believe she'd lost her virginity.
Her and Bradley had talked about it before and she'd told him that she wasn't ready yet, and she definitely hadn't wanted to lose it when she was drunk.
Sadie was so shocked that she couldn't even cry about it, but she didn't want to be with her friends at the minute, she just wanted Rachel.
So she went and climbed into bed next to Rachel, she was still feeling a bit drunk.
Rachel was in such a deep sleep that she didn't even wake up.
Sadie laid there for ages tossing and turning, just thinking about what had happened last night.
Eventually though she did drop off to sleep again.
When Rachel woke up the next morning she was shocked when she saw Sadie in there and wondered why she was.
Rachel sat up in bed and read her book for a bit waiting for Sadie to wake up.
Eventually Sadie started to stir.
"Morning love"
"Morning Rachel" Sadie said quietly
"How come you came in here last night?"
"Oh I urmm… I don't know I just wanted to"
"Are you not feeling too good this morning?" Rachel said with a small laugh
"I don't feel too bad, I do have a bit of a sore head but I'm okay"
"What's up then sweetheart?"
"I don't know" Sadie said as tears filled her eyes
"You don't know? You're crying so there must be something up. Was it something that happened last night?"
Sadie gave a small nod of her head.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?"
Sadie just turned away from Rachel, she was too embarrassed and ashamed to say.
Rachel reached across and started rubbing her arm.
"Whatever it is you can tell me love"
Sadie couldn't keep it to herself any longer and in the end just came out with it.
"I had sex with Bradley last night"
Rachel hadn't been expecting to hear that and immediately began to feel sorry for Sadie.
She wasn't happy that Sadie had started sleeping with Bradley when they hadn't been going out for that long, but now definitely wasn't the time for a lecture.
"Oh love, come and give us a cuddle"
Rachel sat up and leaned into Rachel and had a good cry into her chest.
"I can't believe it happened, I was just so drunk and I thought it was what I wanted at the time but I know now that it really wasn't"
"I know how you must be feeling, I regretted the first time I had sex too. But the thing is love, it's happened now and there's nothing you can do to change it. You're going to have to just put it behind you and make sure you wait until you're ready next time"
"I can't believe I was so stupid, I feel so dirty. Do you think less of me now Rachel?"
"No love, of course I don't. I still love you and care so much about you, and I always will no matter what you do. Growing up is hard and I get that sometimes you're going to make the wrong decision. What's important though, is that you learn from it. I know this is going to be hard for you to deal with, but a lot of girls still regret losing their virginity even if they had been planning on it because it's such a big thing. I just want you to remember that you're not alone in this, and you can talk to me about it anytime you like"
"Thanks Rachel, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course you can"
"Why did you regret losing your virginity?"
"I was fifteen when it happened, I'd been going out with this boy for a few weeks and well I suppose he pressured me into it really. After it happened I felt horrible and dirty and so alone, but unlike you I didn't have anyone to talk about it with which just made things so much worse"
"I'm glad I have you Rachel, I'd never have told Mum"
"I'm so glad you did, because even though sometimes it's hard to share stuff like this it really does help. Anyway love do you want to have a shower? It might make you feel a bit better"
"Yeah I'll do that, Rach do you think I should tell my friends?"
"I think it would be nice for you to talk about it with your friends, but obviously you don't have to if you'd rather not"
"Well I think I told Zoe last night, but I may tell the other two as well when they're all awake"
"Completely your choice love"
Sadie was still shaken up, but felt a lot better for talking to Rachel about it.