It was the following day, Liam was the first one up and went running over to his mum. He started jumping up and down.

"Hey, stay quiet" Maria encouraged "Grace is still sleeping"

Maria climbed out of bed and grabbed her light silk dressing gown.

"Let's go and see if Nana and Papa are up" She encouraged wanting Liam out of the room before he woke his teenage sister up. The girl would not be happy to be woken at such an early time especially when on holiday.

"Oh hello dear, you can leave Liam with us if you want to go back to bed for a bit" Dot encouraged and for once Maria agreed. She was still tired after travelling yesterday especially having gotten up so early the day before after so little sleep due to worrying.

Maria returned to bed and clambered in with her daughter. She snuggled up with her daughter and ended up drifting to sleep. She thought that she would merely rest, not intending to fall asleep.

Almost 2 hours later, at 10 o'clock, Maria rose again and this time she was joined by her 15-year-old daughter.

"Good morning, I take it you slept well?" Maria asked and Grace nodded as she stretched.

"I slept so well. I don't want to get up" Grace complained before she jumped out of the bed with a start.

"I'm going for a shower" She demanded. Maria laughed at how the girl could be so tired one second and then wide away the next. Maria nodded and left the room to check on her son. She noticed that he was sitting on the sofa with a truck in his hand.

"Hey" Maria said walking over to Liam.

"Nana said that once Grace is ready, we can go to the beach" Liam said excitedly.

"Oh that does sound good, shall we go and get dressed?" Maria asked and Liam nodded. They retreated back to their room where Grace had just walked out in her towel.

"Everything okay?" Maria asked when she saw her daughter hunting for something in the room. Grace nodded nervously.

"Liam, go and find a pair of swim shorts to put on" Maria encouraged pointing the young child over to the wardrobe on the other side of the room. She was glad that her room was large and she would be able to talk quietly to her daughter without Liam hearing.

"What's the matter?" She asked walking right over to her daughter and whispering softly to her.

"Do you have any tampons?" She asked nervously and Maria nodded. She walked into the bathroom and gave the girl her toiletry bag.

"I'll go and buy more, didn't you bring any with you?" Maria asked and Grace shook her head.

"I forgot that I was due" Grace admitted.

"Download an app on your phone to keep track. I should have checked with you" Maria said as she kissed the girl on the head.

"Are you feeling okay though?" She asked supportively and Grace smiled. She returned to the bathroom and sorted herself out before walking out in a bikini and shorts.

"We are going to the beach" Maria instructed as she quickly walked past her daughter into the bathroom. Maria quickly had a shower and then throw clothes on. She pulled a brush through her hair and then put it into a messy bun. She knew she needed to wash her hair tonight.

They walked through to the living room where Dot and Eric were waiting for them.

"Are you ready to go? We thought that we should just walk to the beach, it's only 5 minutes away and parking is a nightmare" Eric explained. Maria agreed and they went about getting sun cream on and shoes on before leaving.

Instantly, Dot and Eric each took a hand of Liam's and walked ahead. Maria was used to this and hung back behind them but she could see that it was hurting Grace. Maria put a strong arm and her daughter and offered her a reassuring smile. It clicked to Grace that her face was showing her feelings and she quickly put the cover on. She didn't want anyone knowing how she was feeling. Even her mother. She just needed to get through the 2 weeks.

They arrived at the beach and quickly set up an area for them to bathe. Eric helped Liam with his floaties and then took him into the sea.

"So Maria" Dot said completing turning her back to her granddaughter.

"What is the latest? It's been a while since you've been in touch" Dot said.

"Sorry, I've just been so busy, you know getting Grace settled in and everything. She's doing fantastically at school and is ready to move up a year group and get her GCSEs" Maria said proudly.

"What about you and Marcus" Dot said pushing the conversation off of Grace and back onto her daughter.

"Mum, why are you being like this everytime I speak about Grace?" Maria snapped. Maria stood up and walked to her daughter sitting directly behind her.

"What do you mean?" Dot asked.

"She is your granddaughter, and you haven't even tried to have a conversation with her since she got here" Maria snapped.

"I just don't understand why you got her back now, she was adopted. She was doing so well, she's 15 now, that's when things can start going wrong" Dot said.

"You mean that's when I got pregnant" Maria snorted.

"And you know nothing because Grace wasn't adopted, and she wasn't doing so well before she moved in with me" Maria snapped.

"You weren't adopted. They told me that they had a range of families lined up" Dot said taking the time now to look at her granddaughter.

"I got ill when I was 2 days old. I ended up needing an operation as I had two holes in my heart" Grace went on to say. She moved her t-shirt slightly and there was a large scar down the middle of her chest easily seen due to the small coverage of her bikini.

"Oh I didn't realise. I lived in a care home for girls and it was horrible. I was a nightmare, so no, I wasn't doing well. I'm doing so much better now that I'm with my mum" Grace said she leant back against her mother. Maria smiled and kissed the girl on the head.

"I'm sorry Grace" Dot admitted.

"I didn't want to get to close to you because I was embarrassed about the fact that it was myself who made you go up for adoption" Dot explained.

"I thought you'd hold it against me" Dot said.

"I'm not particularly happy about it but it was 15 years ago, and my mum explained everything to me so I can see why you both did it. I forgave my mum, and I can forgive you. People see I'm a very forgiving person" Grace explained and both Maria and Dot smiled.

"You are so like your mother when she was your age" Dot said.

"She is like me but she's got more a sensible head on her" Maria said as she ruffled her daughter's hair.

"And she has a lot nicer hair, see if you only let me dye me hair" Maria said and Dot laughed.

"You'll never stop going on about that will you" Dot said. They relaxed into a more pleasant conversation and Grace felt more included as well. They stayed at the beach for a couple of hours before going to a café for lunch.

They all ate before going back to the house. It was hot now and they all needed a break. After an hour inside relaxing, they went to the pool where Grace played with her brother and kept him occupied while her grandparents and mother relaxed at the side. Maria then went in Grace space and allowed her to spend some quality time with her grandparents. Grace loved it and they were already spoiling her more than anyone else had.

The evening drew in and they returned to the apartment. They decided they were going to have a games night. After dinner, they changed into lounge wear and all had showers before returning down the stairs. They started off with some easy games so that Liam could join in, Dot then took him off to bed and when she returned them moved onto the more complicated games. They had a great night and Grace really felt like part of the family again.

Sorry it's been so long! I'm really not good at updating regularly just now.