It was the Saturday before Christmas in the Lawson house, and Philip was very nervous, today was a big day, it was to be his driving test. He turned 17 in May, and had been taking lessons since his birthday. Eddie had taken him out a few times before, which usually resulted in the 2 of them fighting as Eddie was more than a little protective over his car. Although he was confident that in time Philip would be a very good driver.
"Are you nervous Sweetie" Rachel said as she popped some toast in front of her eldest son.
"Yeah, palms are sweetie"
"Well remember, mirrors, signal, and manoeuvre. Don't speed and make sure you don't drive to slow. And if you do fail it's not a big deal." Rachel said
"Ha-ha, if he fails it will be all over facebook before the end of the day" Aimee replied. Although secretly she was hoping her brother passed, as it would mean that when he got a car he could drive her to and from school and she wouldn't have to get up so early.
Rachel glared at Aimee
"Just you wait till it's your turn young lady" Rachel scolded lightly
"Sorry, hope you pass" Aimee dumped her plate into the sink, grabbed her bag and headed to the front door.
"Aimee where are you going?" Rachel called out with her.
"Shopping, I'm meeting Sam, Lauren, Amy and Siobhan in town, then we were going to go ice skating"
"All right, will you be in for lunch"
"Nah, ill get something out, see you all later"
Eddie came downstairs, his hair still wet from the shower.
"Are you ready to go buddy, Joe should be here soon, although your test might be cancelled" Eddie remarked as he looked out the window to see the snow start.
"Oh, no, I have only driven in snow one, what should I do" Philip said whilst starting to claw at his chest, he still hadn't grown out of the nervous tick he had when he was younger.
"It's OK, just make sure to use your gears to slow down, drive a bit slower and keep calm. If it gets any worse they will reschedule" Eddie said calmly
"Besides, when you pass your test you will need to drive in snow, so it's not a problem" Rachel added.
Soon, Joe, the driving instructor had arrived and Phil was sitting nervously in the test centre with all his documentation, he had never felt so nervous. His examiner came out and introduced her and soon he was answering questions about the car, and then off on his test.
He was so happy at the end, he had felt confident and had sailed the test, and he was given a certificate and then drove home with his instructor. He felt on top of the world.
At the same time, Eddie and Rachel were looking into how much it would be for Phil to be insured on the Volvo or the Mazda, they were shocked at the exuberant prices they were being shown by comparison sites and soon realised that it was far cheaper to buy Phil his own car and insure it. So they decided to have a look at their local car show room. They soon found a 3 year old black corsa that they thought would be perfect, with Phil as the main driver and Eddie and Rachel also on the insurance it was still expensive, but a lot cheaper. They had arranged to come and pick up the car that night if Phil had passed, and if not, it was going to go to a mate of Eddies to sit in his garage until he did pass.
They were leaving the car show room and the 2 younger kids were in the back seat in their car seat, Eddie and Rachel were standing outside, just about to go into the car.
"Eddie, do you think Aimee and Michael will be annoyed that we are buying Phil a car?" Rachel asked
"Why should they be, they can't drive"
"I know, but we are spending an awful lot of money on Phil, and not on the others"
"Rach, calm down, when they pass their driving tests we will do the same for them, and besides, I'm sure Aimee and Michael will benefit from having an older brother with wheels"
Rachel nodded and agreed before getting into the car.
They were driving home when Rachel's eyes were drawn to the group of teenagers on the street. One, being her own daughter. Suddenly she felt anger rise from her chest.
"Eddie, stop the car" Rachel said whilst pointing at the group of teenagers.
Eddie stopped the car next to them and rolled the window down.
Aimee stood shocked, not believing that her parents had just caught her.
