Hello! How are we all? I'm fantastic, thanks for asking! I've never really liked Thursdays, you know, but this year Thursdays are pretty good. How were your Thursdays? Okay, that's enough babbling from me.
Read and review, please!
Rhyleigh xoxox
"Dave?" Julie said worriedly. Dave was sitting on the bed the two of them shared, tears running down his face. A photo rested on his lap, of Julie, a newborn baby Rachel and himself, on the day of their first daughter's birth.
"Look how little she is", Dave said, choking up. "Look at her!"
Julie smiled at the photo, remembering it like it was yesterday. "She was so tiny. The smallest of all the kids".
"So little", Dave echoed. "Where is she?"
"In her room, with Isabelle", Julie said. "I'm going to say goodnight to her. Want to come?"
"No, I'll speak to her in the morning". Dave smiled at his wife and wiped away his tears. "I have to, I'm her daddy and it's her wedding day".
"Okay". Julie slipped out of the room, and still smiling, knocked on her daughter's bedroom door. "Rach?"
"Yeah?" Rachel asked, shifting her position. She moved Isabelle into the cot. "You can come in, Mum".
"Hey, darling", Julie said, entering her eldest daughter's room. "Why aren't you asleep yet?"
"I had to feed Isabelle".
Julie sat down on the end of the bed and Rachel crawled over to her, resting her head on her mum's lap like she had done when she was a little girl. "Mummy..."
Julie knew she was only referred to as 'Mummy' to Rachel when she was scared. "Darling, it'll be okay. It's normal to be nervous before your wedding. I was in exactly the same position as you are right now- I wasn't sure if Dad was marrying me in duty or in love. I was lucky, darling. It's love".
Rachel looked at her mother, horrified. "You think Jake's only marrying me out of DUTY?" she squawked.
"No, no, no! Darling, Jake proposed before we knew about you being pregnant".
"Actually... I told Jake, Mel and Sammy the afternoon before Jake proposed".
Julie attempted to hide her horror that her daughter had confided in others rather than herself with something that big and continued to console her.
"But he had had the ring for a while! He loves you, Rach, don't ever forget that. Grace and I weren't joking when you were kids- we knew how much you loved each other, even then. You were so little, but you two have an inseparable bond".
"Is it love?" Rachel almost whispered, the tears in her eyes threatening to spill over.
"It's love". Julie rubbed Rachel's back comfortingly, like she had when Rachel was little. "You've always loved each other, and you know that".
She continued rubbing small circles on her daughter's back, as Rachel cried silently.
"Mummy..."
"Darling, it'll be okay. I promise. Now, you need to get your beauty sleep so you can make as all cry tomorrow. Okay?"
Rachel wiped her eyes. Damn hormones, I can't do anything without crying anymore! "Okay. Are you taking bets with Dad again? Because you know", she giggled to herself. "You'd be much better off taking bets with Carbo".
Julie smiled. "Nope. I'm gonna win this time, I can tell".
It was Julie that had cried at both Nathan and Ben's weddings- Dave had stayed strong. Carbo had cried at both the weddings as well- but not as much as Julie. But, they all knew Dave was going to cry the next day. His princess was getting married.
"Rachel?" Julie said, before opening the door.
"Yeah?" Rachel said, covering her daughter with a blanket.
"I love you".
"I love you too, Mum".
Stroking Isabelle's soft baby cheek, Rachel dreamed for the day where Isabelle would be able to say that to her.
