Chapter 51
One of Eddie's cousins was getting married on Saturday near Milton Keynes, so the Rachel, Eddie and the children were going to spend a few days up there before hand.
"Time to go" Rachel shouted up the stairs to the kids. They'd all packed and the bags were in the boot. Lily and Michael were quick to come downstairs, but Phoebe and Chloe weren't. Rachel was starting to get stressed because it was later than they'd planned to leave.
"Come on girls, we need to get going" Rachel called again. Luckily, they both came downstairs this time.
"Sorry Mum, this little one decided to dirty her nappy" Phoebe said coming down the stairs carrying Amelia.
"That's alright love, let's get going"
They all got into the car and started the drive.
"I'm bored, are we nearly there?" Michael asked only a little way into the journey
"Not yet Michael, why don't you try and have a little sleep? It will make the journey quicker" Rachel suggested
"Okay then"
It wasn't long before both Michael and Lily were asleep in the back of the car.
"What are we going to do tonight?" Phoebe asked, she always liked to have a plan of the day set out in her head.
"Well, that's something we wanted to talk to you about actually. We were wondering if you would mind babysitting tonight for us whilst we go out for a meal. And you can order room service" Eddie said
"Oh charming, you go out and leave us behind to babysit" Phoebe replied
"You don't have to. It's just we haven't been out just the two of us for a while"
"I was only joking. Of course we don't mind, do we Chlo?"
"No, that's fine. As long as we can order dessert too"
They had to have a quick wee stop a little while later. The joys of travelling with little kids. But they'd arrived at their hotel just after lunchtime.
"Hello, we have a reservation in the name of Lawson" Rachel said to the lady at reception.
"Ah yes, here we are. You've booked a joining room from today for three nights. Is that correct?"
"Yes"
They were soon given their room key, so made their way to it to unpack.
"Are you sure we shouldn't tell them we're here?" Rachel asked beginning to feel guilty for telling Eddie's family they weren't arriving until tomorrow. The only reason they weren't telling them was because they just wanted to have a little break away from Rochdale as a family, even if it was only for one day.
"No, it really doesn't matter. I'm sure they wouldn't even mind if they knew"
After doing a little bit of unpacking they headed into Milton Keynes. The girls, apart from Lily, were excited to do a bit of shopping; Eddie and Michael weren't sharing their enthusiasm.
"Why don't you take Lily and Michael to the cinema whilst we go shopping. And then we can meet up in a couple of hours and all go bowling?" Rachel suggested
"That sounds like a better plan to me, what do you two think?" Eddie asked
"Yes please" Lily and Michael both replied in unison before they went their seperate ways
"Wow, I love these" Chloe said picking up a pair of sparkly high heels
"They're very nice, but they're also very high. Do you think you'll be able to walk in them?"
"Yeah. And they'll go perfectly with my dress" Chloe said trying to persuade her Mum"
"Try them on and if they fit I'll buy them for you"
"Thanks Mum"
Chloe tried on the shoes and they fitted so Rachel paid for the shoes before they carried on shopping. After a couple of hours they went to the bowling alley to meet Michael and the other two kids and had a game of bowling before going back to the hotel.
"Wow Mummy, that's a very pretty dress" Lily said as Rachel slipped her black, floaty dress over her head.
"Thanks sweetie, I bought it today. Do you two think it looks okay?" Rachel asked her eldest two daughters
"Yeah, you look great Mum" Chloe said
"You look lovely. You should listen to what I say more often" Phoebe said, she was the one who picked out the dress for Rachel in the first place
"Wow Rach, you look amazing" Eddie said after coming out of the bathroom
"Thanks Eddie, you're looking rather lovely tonight too" Rachel replied walking up to him and resting her hands on his chest
"You all ready to go?"
"Yes I think so" Rachel replied before picking up her handbag and quickly spraying some perfume
"We won't be back until later. Remember you two need to be in bed by 8:30 Michael, and Lily you need to be in bed by 9" Rachel said. She wanted to make sure they got an earlyish night because she knew tomorrow would be a quite late one, and she didn't want them tired and teezy at the wedding.
"Okay Mummy" Michael said coming up and giving her a big hug, before giving one to Michael too. Lily also gave them both a hug.
"Bye Mum, bye Eddie" Chloe said
"Have a good time" Phoebe said coming out of the bedroom that her, Chloe, Lily and Amelia were sleeping in.
"So do you two want to watch a film or something before bedtime?" Phoebe asked. Rachel had already bathed them and put them in their pyjamas so it was only a case of keeping them occupied until bedtime.
"Yes please" they both replied before jumping up on Rachel and Eddie's bed whilst Phoebe put on the Bee Movie for them.
Bedtime for Michael soon came around so Chloe took Lily into their bedroom whilst Phoebe put Michael down.
"You go for a wee and brush your teeth, and I'll find your stories"
"Which book do you want to read tonight?" Phoebe asked once he came out of the bathroom
"I want Mummy to read my it to me, she always reads my book before I go to sleep"
"I know she does but Mummy and Daddy aren't here, so will I make do?" Phoebe asked, knowing he was only being like this because he was starting to get tired
"I guess so" Michael huffed before climbing into his single bed
Phoebe read the story to Michael, doing funny voices that made Michael giggle.
"Night Michael" Phoebe whispered getting him all comfy
"I miss Mummy and Daddy" Michael said beginning to cry
"They're going to be back very soon. So the quicker you get to sleep, the sooner you'll be able to see them"
"But I want them now" Michael began to cry quite a lot so Phoebe got him out of bed and him on her lap. She began to rub his back to try and soothe him. Eventually he nodded off to sleep in her arms so she put him back into bed and pulled the duvet up.
They then put Lily to bed before watching a bit of TV. It wasn't long before Rachel and Eddie were back.
"Hiya girls, everything alright?" Rachel said rather loudly as they walked into the bedroom
"Everything's fine. Have you had too much to drink Mum" Phoebe said watching her Mum giggling away as she tried to take her high heels off
"You know what your mother gets like after a couple of glasses of wine" Eddie said chuckling at his wife
As they were all feeling rather tired they decided to have an early night. However they hadn't been asleep for long when they woke up to Michael crying. Rachel immediately got out of bed to go and see what was wrong. Eddie stayed fast asleep, oblivious.
"What's wrong Michael?" Rachel asked perching on his bed
"I had a horrible dream, that you and Daddy weren't ever coming back"
"Well that doesn't sound very nice. But you know it's only a dream, me and Daddy would never leave you. Do you want to sleep with us tonight though?"
Michael nodded his head before getting out of his bed and into Rachel and Eddie. Rachel put her arms around the little boy, who quickly dropped off to sleep.
