Grace noticed instantly. She got out of bed and grabbed her school uniform and ran to the toilet. She had to sort herself out first. She changed and brushed her teeth before going to find her mother. She scrunched her pyjamas up in her hand.

"Hey" Maria said as Grace walked into the kitchen. She opened her mouth to speak but was cut short when she saw Marcus there. Grace instantly turned around and walked back to her bedroom. She quickly hid her pyjamas underneath her bed covers. She knew that she would have to face Marcus again so went for breakfast.

As she entered the kitchen, Maria was just putting down some toast for her and cereal for Liam.

"Why's Marcus here?" Grace asked interestingly not rudely.

"He's got the day off, so he is going to look after Liam" Maria said, and Grace nodded. She finished her breakfast.

"Remember to make your bed" Maria called through and Grace agreed.

"I'm away" Maria called as Grace came back out of her bedroom. Maria ran over to the girl and kissed her on the head.

Grace arrived at school but still her mind was raising about this morning. She needed to get back to the house. She knew that she was likely to be home before her mother, but she couldn't stop thinking about it.

Before lunch, Grace had PE but decided to miss it and go home. She needed to sort out her bed. She arrived home and quickly stripped the bed and placed her bedding and pyjamas in the washing. She then made herself lunch as she thought it would be easier to eat now. Just as Grace was getting ready to leave, she heard the door open. She panicked and ran into her bedroom. She held her breathe.

"Grace get out here now. I know you are here. I can see your bag" Maria said annoyed and sheepishly Grace appeared.

"What are you doing home?" Maria asked.

"Lunch" Grace admitted.

"Oh so you have clearly managed to have lunch and get here from school in 5 minutes" Maria asked noticing that lunch at school only started 5 minutes ago. Grace looked down and Maria sighed.

"What did you skive?" She asked.

"PE" Grace admitted.

"Why?" Maria asked. She hoped that she was getting a new Grace, she didn't want the girl slipping back to old habits.

Maria anger changed to worry when she saw the upset on her daughter's face.

"Grace, what's going on?" Maria asked softly as she guided her daughter over to the sofa and sat both of them down.

"I had to come home" Grace admitted.

"Why?" Maria asked.

"Because I had to sort my bedding" Grace admitted.

"Your bedding? You could have asked me to do it but I only changed it on Monday" Maria explained.

"I know but I needed to change it again" Grace said.

"Why did you need to change it?" Maria asked. Grace was too embarrassed and looked down.

"Will you show me?" Maria tried again. She stood up and gave her hand to Grace. Grace accepted her mother's hand and together they walked to Grace's bedroom. Maria allowed Grace to pull down her duvet showing a red mark.

"Hey, it's fine. It happens" Maria said as she pulled her daughter into a side hug.

"Will you wash my pyjamas too?" Grace asked and Maria nodded.

"Of course I will" Maria said "If this happens again just tell me. It really isn't an issue. It's not your fault. You can speak to me, right?"

Grace nodded.

"I was going to tell you but then I saw Marcus was there" Grace said blushing.

"I can understand why you wouldn't want to say in front of Marcus, but you can also ask to speak to me in private. I will also find time for you; you are my baby girl" Maria said, and Grace nodded. She still had tears in her eyes.

"Do I have to go back to school?" Grace asked. It was Friday afternoon now.

"No, but only this once. It is only a one off" Maria said, and Grace nodded. Maria had only nipped home to grab some lunch, so she was unable to stay for long before she needed to get back to the salon.

Grace found a movie to watch and snuggled up on the sofa. Halfway through the movie, Marcus and Liam arrived home.

"So Maria should finish at about 5:30 tonight so I thought that we could go out for a meal. It's been a while since we've been out" Marcus said. "And I know it's someone's birthday in a few days"

Grace smiled and nodded.

"I'll go and get changed once this movie is over" She said. Marcus nodded. He hoped that he and Grace would be able to develop a relationship similar to what he had with Liam.

Maria arrived and Grace was quick to tell her that they were going out for dinner. Grace disappeared to get ready and Maria laughed.

"Well I think I'll only have time to top up my makeup and then it looks like Grace will make us go" Maria said giving Marcus a kiss as she walked up to him.

20 minutes later, they were at the Rovers. Maria had told Grace to have whatever she wanted as it was her birthday treat so she ordered steak pie which was her favourite. She smiled at her mum wanting to show her how thankful she was.

They ended up sharing a chocolate cake dessert as well as that was Grace's favourite.

"Are you doing anything for your birthday Grace?" Marcus asked.

"I just want to spend time with Mum and Liam" Grace explained "I'm so happy Mum's off for my birthday"

Maria smiled, Grace's birthday was on Monday, but had it been any day she was working, she would have taken the day off.

"You still have to go to school though" Maria said, and Grace made a face. She didn't think that was fair.

Once they had finished, they walked back to the flat and Marcus said his goodbyes. It was late so Liam went straight to sleep while Grace had a shower. After her shower, she joined her mother.

"Mum" Grace asked and Maria nodded.

"How do you know a guy is going to be nice like Marcus and not like Mr Freeburns" Grace asked.

"You don't know to start with. That's why it's important to meet with people in an open place where other people can keep an eye on you. You should also tell me where you are going as well as if it goes wrong then at least we can help. I know it's hard but there are a lot of nice men in the world" Maria said, and Grace nodded.

"People think it's not as bad because he didn't actually have sex with me but it is still hard and makes me upset" Grace admitted.

"He still sexually abused you, although he didn't rape you, it was still assault and abuse" Maria said. She was proud of her daughter for speaking to her about it.

"I was only 7 and it really hurt" Grace said as she allowed herself to cry. Maria pulled her daughter into her arms. It hurt when Grace told her these things, but she was so relieved that her daughter was starting to open up to her.

They snuggled on the sofa for a while longer before going to bed. Maria knew her daughter well now and knew that after speaking about the abuse, that Grace would need her with her. She got into bed with the girl and held her. Grace was so happy that she didn't even need to ask her mum. She just knew. Grace knew that this was what it was like having a real mum.

Hope this is okay :) Please review and let me know