Chapter 38
It was the following morning and everyone was up except from Ivy. Rachel was reluctant to wake her as she knew it would mean she was in a bad mood for the rest of the day, but everyone was waiting on her to go. So Rachel went upstairs and into the room where Ivy was sleeping.
She was pleased to see that Ivy was starting to stir anyway so went and sat by her on the bed and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.
"Morning sleepyhead" Rachel said gently
"About 9, very late for you"
"I was tired"
"Yes because someone went to bed very late last night. Now let's quickly get you dressed and then go down and get some breakfast because then we're going out for the day"
Rachel helped Ivy to get dressed before going downstairs. Eddie then got Ivy's breakfast, as everyone else had already eaten, whilst Rachel went and packed the bags ready to take.
"What are we doing today?" Ivy asked
"We're going to go into Milton Keynes. Do a bit of shopping and then we're probably going to go snowboarding at the indoor ski slope" Eddie said
"I've never been snowboarding before"
"I know but Ben, Ella and Hannah are all very good so I think they're going to teach us. But if you want you can just go on the rings instead"
Once they were all ready they got into the cars and started the drive into Milton Keynes.
"Why are we going in the car again? We were in it for ages yesterday" Ivy moaned
"I know but it's not that far" Rachel replied
"How long will it take?"
"About half an hour"
"That's ages" Ivy said causing Rachel to roll her eyes
When they got there Rachel and Allison let Ella and Ivy go off on their own for a bit but arranged to meet for lunch.
"So where do you want to go first?" Ella asked
"Please can we go to that shop we used to go to, I think it was called girls heaven?"
"I wish we could, but it shut down"
"Oh, that's a shame" Taylor said thinking back to all of the fun she'd had in there when she was younger. They used to dress you up and you got to sit on the Princess Throne.
In the end they decided to go to Hollister first as they were right by it. After going to a few more shops both girls needed to go to the loo so they walked in the direction of some toilets. Surprisingly when they got there no one else was in there.
Taylor was in the cubicle next to Ella and she heard her let out a sigh.
"That was a heavy sigh"
"Oh, yeah I guess"
"What's wrong?" Taylor asked
"Nothing, it doesn't matter"
"It can't be nothing, please tell me"
"Okay I'll tell you in a minute"
They came out of the loo and started to wash their hands.
"If I tell you this you have to promise you won't tell anyone else, okay?"
"I promise. Why, what's happened?"
"I was hoping my period had come…"
"What? Why would you want your period to come? They're horrible" Taylor interrupted
"Yeah I know but mine's a few weeks late, and when you get to my age and they get regular if you're late it might mean something"
"Are you saying you think you're pregnant?"
"I don't know, I guess it's possible. But remember you promised you wouldn't tell anyone"
"I won't if you don't want me to. But don't you think you should tell your Mum? She's be able to help you out"
"No she'd go ballistic, she wouldn't understand"
"I could get my Mum for you. She's really understanding and I'm sure she won't go mad at you"
Ella thought for a moment before agreeing to speak to Rachel, she didn't know what else to do. After all she didn't really fancy buying the test herself as she thought it would be really embarrassing and it would be just her luck to bump into one of her friends or something.
Soon it was time to meet back up with everyone else.
"Hi girls, did you buy anything nice?" Rachel asked
"I found a couple of things" Taylor said showing Rachel what she had bought
They quickly had a sandwich for lunch in M&S before going back to the car and driving to the ski slope.
"How come there's snow even though it's warm outside?" Ivy asked confused
"It's not real snow, it's pretend" Rachel said
"Wow, that's so cool. So could we make loads of pretend snow and put it in the garden"
"No I don't think so love"
Taylor, Ivy and Eddie all had to borrow the equipment as they didn't have their own. They quickly got ready before going into the slope. Rachel and Allison were just going to watch because obviously someone needed to look after the twins.
With the help of Ella and Ben, Taylor was quick to pick snowboarding up. Ivy was quite good too considering she was only six. Eddie, however, couldn't manage it at all. He kept falling over, much to the amusement of the others. Rachel especially couldn't stop laughing at him. In the end Eddie gave up and decided to take Ivy on the rings instead with Chris.
Ella and Ben took Taylor further up the slope because she'd got the hang of it really well. When she was on the lift however she started to feel really nervous and didn't know if she wanted to do it anymore. But after she'd been down once she really enjoyed it and wanted to go back up.
After a couple of hours on the slope everyone was starting to get quite tired so they decided it was time to leave.
When they got back Taylor followed Ella up to her bedroom.
"Ella, shall I go and tell Mum now?" Taylor asked
"Okay, but just tell her I want to talk to her. Don't tell her what about in case I change my mind"
"Okay" Taylor said before going downstairs
"Mum, Ella needs you. She's in her bedroom" Taylor said quietly so no one else could hear
"Okay, what's up with her?"
"She just wants to talk to you"
Rachel walked upstairs wondering what was wrong with Ella. And wondering why she wanted her, and not her Mum or something.
Rachel knocked on the door to Ella's bedroom.
"Come in" Ella said and then saw it was Rachel. Rachel noticed straight away how pale and worried she looked
"Is everything alright?" Rachel asked
Ella immediately burst into tears. The situation that she was in beginning to feel more real. Rachel was quick to go over and comfort her. She pulled the girl into her chest and stroked her hair.
"You want to tell me what's wrong?" Rachel asked gently and Ella just shook her head. She wasn't so sure she wanted to do the test anymore
"It always helps if you tell someone what you're upset about. And I'm sure it's not as bad as all that"
"My- my periods three weeks late" Ella blurted out
It took Rachel a few moments to process what had just been said.
"Are you trying to tell me you might be pregnant?" Ella nodded before a fresh flood of tears started to fall from her eyes
"Please don't tell Mum, she's going to tell mental"
"I think I should darling, it's something she'd want to know"
"Please don't. At least until I actually know that I am pregnant"
"Okay. How about I go out and buy a test quickly and then we can find out. It's best if we find out though. And I know at the moment it feels as though you've got yourself into a complete mess, but I promise you things will be okay eventually" Rachel said trying to calm down the girl
"I'm sorry, I don't know how I let it happen. Mum's going to be so disappointed"
"She may be a bit to start with yes, but only because she loves you so much and wants what's best for you. But let's just find out first. I'll be as quick as I can"
Rachel made an excuse saying they needed more nappies before heading to Morrisons. She went straight to the pregnancy tests and then headed to the checkout before remembering she said she needed nappies. She quickly nipped back and picked up a packet of nappies and then paid and headed home.
She put the test into her handbag before going into the house and up to Ella's bedroom. Ella was just laying on her bed staring at the ceiling. Rachel gave the test to Ella, who went into her bathroom to do it. She then came out and passed it to Rachel.
"I can't look" she explained "it hasn't been three minutes yet anyway"
"How long have you been thinking you might be pregnant for?"
"I guess when my period was a few days late. Normally it's either a bit early or dead on time. But I just tried to keep putting it to the back of my mind"
After three minutes Rachel looked at the test and was so relieved when she saw it was negative.
"What does it say?" Ella asked nervously
"It's negative" Rachel said
"What? Are you sure?" Ella replied taking the test from Rachel
Ella had never felt so relieved in all her life. She gave Rachel a massive hug.
"Why do you think my periods so late then?"
"I don't know. It's probably stress though, you're in the middle of doing your exams so I expect it's that"
"Yeah I guess. Rachel can I ask you one more favour please?"
"Yeah of course"
"Don't tell Mum. There's no need for her to know and I don't want her to think I'm completely irresponsible"
"I won't tell her but so long as from now on you make sure you're very very careful"
"Don't worry I will"
Taylor saw Rachel come downstairs so went up to see Ella and see if she knew. She knocked on the door and then walked in after Ella said so.
"Have you done the test?" Taylor asked feeling nervous for her
"Yeah it was negative"
"Really? That's so good"
"I know. I can't imagine how I'd have told Mum, she doesn't even know that I've lost my virginity" Ella admitted
"Really? Why not?"
"I don't know, it's just not something that I think she really wants to know"
"Mum always says to me that she wants me to talk to her about it before I do it, not that I want to do it. It sounds disgusting"
"I'm sure you'll soon change your mind on that" Ella said laughing "Anyway I was thinking we could get dressed up for the meal tonight?"
"Will you do my hair and make up for me?" Taylor asked hopefully
"Yeah of course. If you go and have a shower and I'll have one too and then come back in here. I might even be able to find one of my old dresses for you to wear"
Taylor quickly went for a shower before heading back to Ella's bedroom. On her way she bumped into Rachel.
"Hi love, thanks for getting me earlier when Ella was upset"
"That's okay"
"Did she tell you what she was upset about?" Rachel asked and Taylor nodded
"Thank goodness it was negative, eh? And that's why when you get to that age you must make sure you're responsible"
"Yep" Taylor said before darting into Ella's room as she was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable and embarrassed
"Hey" Ella said after seeing Taylor coming into her bedroom "I was looking through my wardrobe and I found this old dress. Do you like it?"
"Yeah that's so nice" Taylor replied taking the dress out of Ella's hands
"You can have it if you want"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah of course, I don't wear it."
"Thanks"
Taylor tried the dress on and she looked lovely in the navy blue skater type dress.
"So how do you want your hair then?"
"Please will you curl it?"
"Yeah of course"
Taylor sat on Ella's bed whilst she curled her hair. She then did her make up subtly making her look even prettier than usual.
"Right, are you going to curl my hair for me then?"
"What, you'd trust me to do your hair?"
"Yeah course. Your hair always looks lovely so I'm sure you'll do a great job"
Taylor curled her hair for Ella and then Ella did her own make up before the two of them went downstairs.
"Wow, don't you two look nice" Rachel said after seeing the two girls walk into the kitchen
Once everyone was ready then headed to the restaurant.
"Mum are you all staying in tomorrow when I have my party?" Ella asked her Mum. Tomorrow was her 16th Birthday so Allison and Chris had reluctantly agreed to let her have a party to celebrate
"No we're going to go out in the evening which means I am trusting you, but we'll talk more about it tomorrow" Allison replied
"What do you want to eat Ivy?" Rachel asked
"I'm not hungry" Ivy replied grumpily
"Well you've got to have something, or you'll wake up in the middle of the night starving"
"I don't want anything"
Rachel sighed Ivy had been getting really tired and teezy over the last half an hour or so, and she knew this was because of the late night she had last night.
"I'm just going to nip to the loo. Can you come with me please Ivy?"
"No"
"I'm not asking you"
Ivy got down off her chair and followed Rachel to the toilets in a massive strop.
"Right, now I know you're tired but it's no excuse to exact so moodily around everyone. We've come out for a nice evening so please don't ruin it for everyone"
Hearing Rachel cross immediately made Ivy burst into tears. Rachel scooped her up in her arms and started to rub her back.
"I'm sorry Rachel, I just feel really tired"
"I know you do love, and we'll get you to bed as soon as we get back. But do you think you can try and be a good little girl whilst we're at the restaurant"
"Yes"
"Good girl, now let's get back to the table."
"Please can I go for a quick wee before we go back?"
"Course you can, I think I might go too whilst we're here"
After they'd been to the toilet and washed their hands they headed back to the table and ordered their food. Ivy seemed a lot happier now so they all had a lovely evening before heading back to Allison and Chris's.
Please review xxxxxx