It had been a few months now since Tina had died. Mum and I went over to LA in the summer holidays and today we were flying home, ready to move into our new flat tomorrow. Mum had been to see it, but I hadn't so I was excited to get home. I was excited to see Michelle and Rob too.
"We're about to land Orlie." Mum said to me as she tapped on my shoulder. I took my earphones out and put my seatbelt on before resting my head on Mum's shoulder. "Can you imagine this time next year; we'll be going over to LA with your little sister too." Mum said, stroking my hair with one hand and her bump with the other. She only had a few more months before she was due to have the baby.
"Suzie will be so excited to meet her." I said. Suzie had no children of her own, but was always good with me when I was little and I knew she would be the same with the baby too.
"She will, last night after you went up to bed, the two of us were talking about names for the baby. I was wondering if you had any good ideas." She asked.
'I was thinking about this and I like names that end in -la, like yours is Carla and mine is Orabella, or Orla so maybe something like Lyla or Bella, my favourite is Isla. And LA is somewhere we really love as the sound is at the end of all our names." I told her.
"I like that idea, you're good, aren't you?" she said.
"And what about a middle name? You're named after Michelle; I don't know if we can do the same for your sister?" she said.
"Well, if I'm named after someone who means a lot to you, then maybe the baby should be too. Not Michelle this time, may be a little repetitive, maybe someone else?" I paused and thought for a moment. We couldn't name the baby after Grandma, or Mum's Mum and if we'd already used Michelle's name then we couldn't use that again. I gasped, "I know, Hayley. Something Hayley Connor."
"I love it, we just need to decide on the something, but I think once we see her face, we'll know, that's how me and Daddy knew with you. He loved Saoirse but I thought it was too Irish and I loved Orabella or Arabella and once we held you in our arms, there was no way you were a Saoirse. So, we decided on Orabella, with Orla for short because that was Irish enough for Grandma and Grandad. And you have our little Orlie ever since." She said before kissing me on the top of my head. The plane shortly landed, and we got off, went through the airport to get our bags.
Michelle had sent Steve to get us from the airport and he helped load our suitcases back into the car before we got in and he drove us home. Mum was desperate to see Michelle so before we went home, we popped into the pub where Michelle was stood behind the bar.
"Hello, you two, Oh, I've missed you." She said coming out from behind the bar and pulling me into a hug, then pulling Mum in too. "You're the size of house Carla." She continued as the three of us stood hugging. We all laughed.
"Hey, your little niece is in there, no being horrible." Mum replied as the three of us pulled away.
"Have you got time for a quick cuppa before you go home?" she asked.
"Of course, we do, I'm gasping for a proper cup of tea." Mum said as we followed Michelle through to the back room.
After a cup of tea and a catch up, Mum and I went back over to the flat. It was cold and dark; despite the fact it was part way through August. I could see Mum shiver as I shut the front door behind us.
"Right my girl, we best get packing. Steve and Rob are going to be over first thing in the morning to do the moving of stuff, we just have to pack it before then. All the stuff in here is staying, because we're getting new furniture for the kitchen and living room for the new place." I nodded before going into my room and beginning to pack up my things.
"I'm not sure what we're going to do with that. Orlie isn't a wine fan yet and a certain someone needs to make an appearance before I go near that." Mum said as Michelle appeared at the front door with a pizza in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other.
"Well, in all honesty, I completely forgot, but I guess that means there's more for me to enjoy. I can't wait until you can drink again." Michelle said. Mum got three plates out, a wine glass and two glasses of water.
"Me too, but for now, it's just water for me." She said as we all sat down at the table. I had finished packing my room apart from a couple of things I needed in the morning and Mum was almost finished with hers. We ate pizza and chatted and laughed before Mum started to get tired.
"You look tired love, why don't you go and get into bed?" Michelle said, "We'll tidy up here and I'll be here first thing to help you pack the last few things."
"No, no, I'm alright." Mum said, putting her head in her hands. She was exhausted, I could tell. Michelle and I both watched as she began to sob. Michelle got up from her chair and put her arms around Mum.
"Hey, hey, what's brought all this on?" she said to her as Mum sobbed into Michelle's arm.
"It's here, this flat, this place, that room, I can't. I just can't." she said.
"Mum, it's only for one more night. Tomorrow, we'll be in our very own Connor girls flat." I said, trying to reassure her. "What about a sleepover, in my room? Like we used to, we can even watch a chick flick before we go to sleep." I said. Mum looked up at me across the table. Michelle did too and winked at me.
"Yeah, that would be nice." She said.
"I'll go and get you a pair of pyjamas while Michelle tidies up." I said before getting up from the table and going into her room. I hated it too. I grabbed the pyjamas quickly before leaving the room and shutting the door behind me.
We did exactly as planned that evening, Mum and I watched mean girls for a little while before falling asleep. In the morning, I woke up to the sound of the buzzer phone. Mum was still asleep beside me, so I rolled out of bed and went to answer the door. I answered the door, it was Michelle and Steve. I let them in and then opened the top door.
"Good morning sleepyheads, we've been ringing that bell for almost five minutes." Michelle said as she walked into the flat. "Where's your Mum?"
"Still asleep." I said.
"Not anymore, not thanks to your racket." Mum said as she appeared in the doorway of the living room with her dressing gown wrapped around her, both hands resting on her bump. "Good morning, I'm just gonna jump in the shower and then I'll finish packing up my things." She said.
"Ok, I'll head over to Roy's and get us all some breakfast. Carla chuck Steve the keys and he'll start moving boxes." Michelle said. We all went our separate ways. I got dressed and packed my last few things up in my room before helping Mum with hers. By the end of the day, everything was moved over to the new house, we agreed to meet Michelle and Rob in the pub after Mum had taken me over to the new flat. Mum opened the front door and inside was a spacious living area, currently filled with boxes of our things as well as new pieces of furniture.
"This is so lovely Mum." I said.
"Isn't it so perfect?" she said. I nodded as she lead me towards the kitchen. "The balcony is out there, we could get some nice chairs so we can have a morning coffee out there when it's nice and I've ordered a table and four chairs for this space here, and some bar stools here so you can sit and do your homework while I cook your tea." She said.
"Cook tea? Are you feeling alright?" I asked, laughing slightly.
"I am being serious, you and this baby, you need to eat proper meals and if that means I have to learn to cook them then that's what I'll do." She said. I laughed again slightly before Mum joined in as well. "And then through here will be my bedroom, with the baby's room just next door. She gets the little room, then the bathroom, then next door to that will be your bedroom." Mum said as she opened the door. I walked inside, it was mostly boxes around the edge with a double bed in the middle and a set of drawers on each side. There was a wardrobe near the door and a desk in the far corner next to the window.
"I love it, when did you have time to do all of this?" I asked her.
"Rob did it, yesterday when I first got the keys. He deserves a big thank you because you know how he feels about putting furniture together." I smiled and hugged her. "I think we'll be happy here, don't you?" she whispered in my ear.
"I think all three of us will be happy here Mum." I whispered back, before we both pulled away. Mum had tears in her eyes, which I wiped with my sleeve. "We're gonna be alright Mum, I promise, we're gonna be ok." I said to her. We hugged for a while longer before going over to the pub to join Michelle and Rob for a drink.
In the following days as we unpacked our things and built furniture and made things look pretty in the flat, Mum smiled and laughed, more than I had seen her do in months, even when we were over in LA with Suzie. We found old pictures of me as a child and giggled and laughed more than either of us had done in a long time. We bought new frames and put pictures in them of us that made us laugh. Michelle and I built the baby's cot, while Mum sat on the floor in her nursery and laughed about hilarious stories of when her and Michelle were younger.
When the cot was built the three of us sat on the floor together, each with a cup of tea in hand and raised our cups to the baby. Mum was adamant that Michelle or I weren't to throw her a baby shower, so this was about as close as we'd get.
"To little baby Connor." Michelle said, as we cheersed our mugs together. Mum and I both repeated her as we all smiled to each other. There was a moment of silence in the room as we all stared across at the completed cot.
"I'm scared." Mum said, as tears began to fall from her eyes and her head fell to Michelle's shoulder.
"Hey, it's alright, it's ok to be scared, but you have done this before, you have this little legend, she is proof that you can do this and this time you have her by your side, and me and Rob and believe it or not but I spoke to my parents the other day and even they said they would love for you to come over to Ireland at Christmas with her and Orla. You have got people all around you to support you with this baby Carla, people who love you and love your baby, ok? You will be sick of the sight of me by the time the baby is 6 months old. I'll be round here all the time doing your washing, your cleaning, your cooking, getting all the cuddles in too." Michelle said. Mum giggled.
"Michelle you won't need to cook, Mum's going to do it." I said. Michelle burst out laughing, which made Mum and I do the same.
"You've got to be kidding." Michelle said through her laughs.