It was a Friday morning and Rachel had just been into wake Poppy up to tell her it was time to get up for school.
Poppy had stayed in bed for as long as she could but she knew that she really needed to get up now.
She got up and made her bed before going into the bathroom, however when she was sat on the loo she began to feel really sick.
It had come on really suddenly so she stood up thinking she was going to be sick however when she did she started to feel really dizzy and ended up collapsing onto the bath. She managed to pick herself up and stumble back to her bed where she passed out.
Rachel had just come out from getting Lucy dressed so had seen Poppy not looking very well at all so followed her into her bedroom.
When Rachel walked in and saw Poppy passed out on her bed she rushed over and tried to wake her up.
"Poppy can you hear me?"
Poppy started to come round at the sound of Rachel's voice although she was still feeling really groggy.
Poppy hadn't seemed right all week, she'd been really tired and pale and this was the second time she'd fainted in the last few days as well.
"Poppy are you okay?" Rachel asked sounding worried
"Yeah I'm fine now"
"I'm going to go and get you a glass of water"
Rachel quickly went down to the kitchen and got Poppy a drink before taking it back up to her.
Poppy slowly sipped the water and after a while she began to feel better again.
"Right I think we need to get you checked out"
"I feel fine now Rach, honestly we don't need to"
"I think we do love something's clearly not right, I'm going to give the doctor's a ring and see if they can see you today"
Poppy hated going to the doctors so really didn't want to go however she knew there was no getting out of it.
"Do you think you need a day off?"
"No I'll be fine"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah"
"Well just come and see me if you feel unwell again, anyway I'll leave you to get ready"
Rachel went and finished getting ready before going downstairs to get breakfast for everyone.
She rang the doctors as soon as they opened and managed to get Poppy an appointment after lunch.
"Girls, breakfast"
The three girls came down and started eating their breakfast.
"Poppy I've made you an appointment for two thirty"
"But I've got English last"
"Yeah well you'll have to come out there wasn't anything else until next week and I thought it was better to get you seen today"
"Okay"
After they'd eaten it was time to leave for school so they all got their stuff together before getting into the car.
It wasn't long before they arrived at Waterloo Road so they all got out of the car.
"If you come up to my office at the start of period 5 Poppy and then we'll head straight off"
"Okay see you later"
"Have a good day girls"
The day passed really quickly and it was nearly time for Poppy to go up to Rachel's office. She was getting really nervous because she hated having to do to the doctors and she was also feeling quite worried about what could be wrong with her.
As soon as the bell went for fifth period Poppy made her way to Rachel's office. She was considering just not going but she knew Rachel would just come and find her.
Rachel had her stuff all packed up when Poppy got there so they left straight away and went out to the car.
"How've you been feeling today?" Rachel asked
"Just tired really"
"You haven't felt dizzy again?"
"No"
They got to the doctors and Rachel signed Poppy in before they both took a seat in the waiting room.
As usual the doctors were running late so it was quite a while before Poppy was seen. Eventually she was called through.
"Do you want me to come in with you or wait here?"
"Come in with me"
Rachel picked up her bag and followed Poppy in. They knocked on the door and then went in and took a seat.
Poppy told the doctor what was going on but Rachel added in on the bits that Poppy forgot to mention.
"Okay it sounds to me like you might be anaemic, so we'll need to do a blood test to find out"
Hearing this made Poppy turn extremely pale and she started to feel all dizzy again.
"I don't want a blood test" Poppy sad tears beginning to form in her eyes
"But you need to find out what's wrong Poppy so they can make you feel better" Rachel said
"I don't have to have it today though do I?"
"I'd just as well do it for you now while you're here" the doctor said "save you worrying about it all weekend"
Poppy was crying loads and getting herself all worked up. She felt like she was being really babyish but she couldn't help it, she felt really scared.
She tried to get off the seat and run out the door but Rachel stopped her.
"Come on just lie down on the bed Poppy"
"No I'm not having it done" Poppy said adamantly
"You need to Poppy, come on the sooner you lie down the sooner it will all be over"
The doctor got it all ready while Rachel tried to calm Poppy down. She eventually got her onto the bed.
Rachel took hold of Poppy's hand which was really clammy as she could tell the doctor was nearly ready.
"Just look away" Rachel sad
Seeing how worked up she'd been Rachel was worried she was going to move or something when the doctor put the needle in but luckily she stayed really calm and still.
"There you go you're all done"
"Already?" Poppy asked sounding shocked
"Yep that wasn't so bad was it" the doctor said however when she looked at Poppy she'd turned extremely pale
Poppy nodded but she was feeling a bit funny now. She tried to get up but Rachel quickly stopped her.
"Just stay laying there for a minute love"
The doctor got Poppy a glass of water so she started taking small sips.
"So what happens if the results come back positive?" Rachel asked
"We'd recommend that she takes an iron supplement tablet"
"What would be causing it, is she not getting enough iron in her diet?"
"The most likely cause is her periods, when was your last period Poppy?"
"A few days ago"
"And was it heavy?"
"Yeah it was really heavy"
"I'm afraid that heavy periods can cause anaemia"
After ten minutes Poppy had a lot more colour in her cheeks so Rachel thanked the doctor before they walked out.
"Rach can we go to the loo?"
"Yeah course we can, come on"
Poppy wanted to go and sort her face out because she'd got really worked up so knew she must be looking a mess.
"Do you have your makeup bag with you?"
"Yeah here you go" Rachel said going through her bag until she came across her makeup bag
Poppy gave her tearstained face a little wash before reapplying some makeup. Once she was done they drove to Waterloo Road to pick Amy up. School hadn't quite finished when they got back there.
"I need to get something else from my office, are you waiting here or coming in?"
"I'll come up with you"
They went up and waited in Rachel's office until the bell went and not long after Amy came rushing in with her two friends Beth and Louise looking very happy.
"Rach please can I go swimming tonight and then sleep at Beth's house afterwards?"
"Yeah that's fine with me as long as it's okay with Beth's Mum"
"Mum said I could have some friends over tonight"
"That's fine then, what time are you going?"
"We're going swimming at 6 so can we drop my stuff at Beth's house before hand and then pick up Louise and Beth to take them to the swimming pool"
"It sounds like you've got this all figured out"
"We've been talking about it all day"
"Okay we're going now, see you later Amy bye Miss Mason"
"Bye girls, do you need a lift home?"
"No it's okay we can walk"
"Okay bye then"
Once Beth and Louise had left Rachel started walking towards the car with Poppy and Amy.
"You're in a very good mood tonight Amy"
"Yeah well it's Friday"
"That's very true"
They drove to the primary school and Amy and Poppy decided to wait in the car while Rachel went in to collect Lucy.
Almost as soon as Rachel walked outside her classroom Lucy spotted her so came running straight out and wrapped her arms around Rachel.
"Hiya love have you had a good day?"
"Yeah it's been really fun, we had music today and then we had free time all afternoon"
"It's alright for some isn't it"
They were starting to walk back to the car when Rachel noticed Lucy had forgotten her PE kit again. They'd forgotten it last week too so Rachel really did want to get it in the wash this weekend.
"Where's your PE kit?"
"Oh it's still on my peg"
"You'd better run back in and get it then"
Lucy passed her other bags to Rachel before running back into her classroom.
Once she'd come back out again the two of them went back to the car.
When they got home the three girls ran straight up to their bedrooms to get changed out of their uniform just like they always did.
Rachel followed them up wanting to get all of their uniform so she could get it all onto wash.
She decided to go in and help Lucy to get changed.
Lucy had taken all of her uniform out so was just in her knickers when she realised she was really bursting for the loo so started standing funny.
"I really need a wee"
"Well go to the loo then"
"But I have no clothes on"
"It doesn't matter, go on quick or it looks like you're going to have an accident"
Lucy quickly ran into the bathroom and once she'd been came back to her bedroom to finish getting changed.
Rachel got changed herself before collecting the other two girl's uniform and then going down to put it all in the wash. She then went to the bottom of the stairs
"Girls I'm going out to Tesco, does anyone want to come with me?"
"I'll come" Lucy said coming down the stairs straight away
"Anyone else"
"No thanks" both girls said
"Okay well do you need anything?"
"Please could you get me some of those little bottles of shampoo and conditioner to take swimming?"
"Yeah okay, Poppy do you want anything?"
"No thank you"
Once Lucy and Rachel had their coats on they drove to Tesco and started walking around.
"Rachel when's Amy going swimming?"
"Tonight love"
"Please can I go?"
"You're not allowed to go in tonight, it's for over 8s only I'm afraid"
"No it's not you're just lying to me because you don't want to take me"
"No I promise you you're not allowed in on a Friday night if you're under 8 because they get the big inflatable out"
"That's not fair"
"I tell you what how about I take you tomorrow morning instead?"
"Okay then"
They walked around Tesco and picked up everything they needed before going to pay and then heading home again.
When they got in Rachel unpacked the shopping before going upstairs to give Amy her shampoo and conditioner.
When Rachel opened the door Amy was stood in a very tight fitting bikini that didn't cover very much.
"Urmm when did you get that?" Rachel asked quite shocked by what Amy was wearing as it was definitely too grown up for an 11 year old to be wearing"
"The other weekend when I went shopping"
"Well I hope you haven't taken the tags off because you're definitely not keeping it"
"Why not?"
"Probably because of the same reason you didn't show me you bought this when you showed me all the other things you bought"
"What's wrong with it though?"
"It's incredibly revealing and it makes your boobs look twice as big as normal"
"Everyone else wears bikinis that make their figure look nice"
"Your figure still looks lovely when you wear other bikinis"
"No it doesn't I look like a boy wearing a bikini"
"I really don't think that's true, I promise you you still look lovely, you don't want to attract the wrong sort of attention do you?"
"No"
"Well then change into a different one and we'll take that back over the weekend"
"Fine"
"Sorry love, I just wouldn't feel comfortable letting you out wearing that"
"No I guess you're right"
"Thank you for understanding, anyway I've got your shampoo and conditioner"
"Oh yeah thank you"
"No problem, what time do you want to leave here at?"
"Urmm about half five"
"Okay and do you want tea?"
"No we're going to get some chips in the café after, I just had a snack"
"Okay I'll leave you to get changed then"
Rachel went downstairs and started cooking the tea. Lucy had said she wanted lasagne for tea so Rachel was making that.
Lucy came in just as Rachel was getting started
"Please can I help?"
"Yeah of course you can, can you grate some cheese for the cheese sauce?"
"Okay shall I put an apron on first?"
"Good idea"
"Rachel you know Mel's having a baby"
"Yes"
"I don't really understand how the baby got there, because you said to make a baby the Mummy and Daddy have a special kiss and cuddle but what Daddy made Mel's baby?"
This was something that she really didn't know how to explain to Lucy.
"I don't think Mel knows the Daddy anymore"
"But you said the Mummy and Daddy only do it when they love each other lots, so why would Mel not know him anymore if she loved him lots"
"I think she realised she didn't love him anymore so thought she'd be better off not knowing him" Rachel knew she was kind of lying to Lucy but she didn't really know what else to say
"Oh okay, I can't wait to meet the baby"
"Me neither, we've still got a little while to wait though" Rachel said glad that the conversation had moved on a bit
"Rachel have I done enough cheese?"
"Yeah I would say so, thanks love"
"What else can I do?"
"Urmm can you lay the table for me?"
"That's a boring job though"
"Well you did a very good job last time"
"Okay then"
Once the lasagne was ready Rachel put it in the oven and then realised it was nearly time to take Amy swimming so went to find Poppy and ask her to put the garlic bread in when it was time.
Amy made them a little bit late because she hadn't finished packing, but Rachel helped her in the end and then as soon as she was ready they left to go to Beth's.
They dropped her stuff inside and then Rachel dropped the three girls off at the swimming pool.
"Make sure you dry your hair off properly and dress up warm after swimming because it's really cold out"
"We will"
"Have a good time girls, just ring me when you want picking up tomorrow Amy"
"Okay thanks Rach, see you tomorrow"
Rachel watched as they walked in before going back home again.
The tea was ready just as Rachel walked through the door so Rachel dished it out before calling the girls down.
Poppy was still looking quite pale but Rachel was glad they'd kind of found out what was wrong with her now.
Rachel always loved sitting down and talking to the girls about their days as they ate their dinner, it was so much nicer than when she used to just eat in front of the news.
After they'd finished Rachel cleared up a little bit before putting the chocolate puddings in the microwave that she'd bought for pudding, the girls loved them.
"Why aren't you having one Rachel?" Lucy asked
"I'm meant to be on a diet but I don't seem to be doing a very good job do I after eating that lasagne"
"You don't need to go on a diet Rachel, you're already really slim"
"I wish, I do need to lose a little bit after Christmas though"
Once they'd finished and cleared up Rachel decided to get Lucy in the bath to get it out the way so that she could just relax later.
Rachel got it ran and then got Lucy in and let her have a good play.
After she'd been in for a while Rachel got her hair wet and then started massaging in the shampoo before rinsing it off with the shower.
After her bath Rachel got her out and wrapped her in a big, fluffy towel before taking her through to get her sorted in her bedroom.
Once Rachel had dried her hair off a bit they went downstairs and all watched a film together.
Rachel let Lucy stay up to watch all of the film but by the end of it she was nearly falling asleep so Rachel took her straight up to bed before going down and spending a few more hours with Poppy.
It was about 11 and Amy had been having a really good time at Beth's house until now. They'd just settled down and put a film on however Amy had started to feel a bit teary because she really wanted to go home.
She could tell she was about to cry so quickly got up and said she was going to the loo because she didn't want her friends to see that she was crying.
Amy didn't really like going to other people's houses especially for sleepovers, usually she would just invite them to her house instead which was why Rachel had been quite surprised that Amy was so happy about sleeping at Beth's.
She locked the door in the bathroom before sitting on the toilet and having a good cry, she really did just want to be at home.
She felt bad ringing Rachel but in the end she decided to because she really didn't want to stay here anymore.
Amy went back into Beth's bedroom and got her phone out of her bag.
"I'm really sorry but I think I'm going to have to ring Rachel to come and pick me up because I don't feel very well"
"Aw what's wrong Amy?" Beth asked
"I've got a really bad stomach ache"
"That's a shame do you want me to ask my Mum to take you home?"
"No it's okay Rachel won't mind picking me up, I'll just go and ring her now"
Amy went outside and rang Rachel.
"Amy is everything okay love?"
As soon as she heard Rachel's voice she started to cry again and get all choked up.
"I'm really sorry but would you be able to come and pick me up?"
"Of course I will love, what's wrong?" Rachel asked as she could tell that Amy was crying
"I've got a bad stomach" Amy said just in case her friends were listening
"Okay I'll be there as soon as I can"
Amy put her coat on on top of her pyjamas and then the girls went downstairs and waited in the lounge for Rachel to come.
As soon as Amy saw Rachel pull up outside she said goodbye before running out to the car.
"Hi love, you not feeling too well?"
Amy just shook her head, as she didn't want to tell Rachel that she just wanted to sleep at home because she felt like she was being a bit babyish.
"Okay well we'll get you some medicine when we get in then"
"You're wearing your pyjamas too" Amy said smiling a little bit, she felt instantly happier now she was back with Rachel
"Yeah I couldn't be bothered to get dressed, I hope I don't have to get out the car for anything"
"That would be funny"
"Not for me"
When they got in Amy went upstairs to her bedroom and climbed straight into her bed as she was feeling quite tired.
Rachel got her some paracetamol and filled up a hot water bottle like she always did whenever one of them had a stomach ache.
She went upstairs into Amy's bedroom and passed her the paracetamol. Amy knew she shouldn't really take them because she wasn't really poorly.
"I don't think I need any tablets, I'll just have the hot water bottle"
"Okay love"
Rachel thought for a moment but then it clicked that maybe Amy wasn't actually poorly.
"Amy do you really have a stomach ache?"
"No" Amy said looking down
"How come you wanted to come home then?"
"I just didn't really like it, I was really missing you and I just wanted to come home I'm really sorry"
"It's not a problem darling, you could've just said that though you didn't need to lie to me"
"Well I was only saying it before because I didn't want Beth and Louise hearing and I was going to tell you when I got into the car but I didn't want you thinking I was a baby"
"Hey of course I don't think that, it's quite understandable that you just feel happier sleeping at home at the minute"
"I don't know why, I was fine until we started getting ready for bed"
"Well you often start to feel different about things once you're all tired, I'm glad you rang me and didn't stay there feeling all upset"
"I couldn't seem to stop crying so I thought I'd better"
"Well at least you're home now, anyway are you going to try and go to sleep now sweetheart?"
"Yeah I'm really tired, and I'm really sorry for making you come out"
"I don't mind one bit love, just as long as you're happy that's my main concern"
"I love you Rachel"
"I love you too darling, see you in the morning"
Rachel flicked the lamp off and went out before making her way back to her own bedroom.
However just as she was she saw Lucy shuffle across the landing and into Rachel's room.
When Rachel got in there Lucy had just climbed into her bed and was getting herself comfy.
"And what would you be doing in here madam?"
"I wanted a cuddle from you"
"Well why didn't you come and find me then?"
"Because I like it when we cuddle all night, please can I sleep in with you tonight Rachel?"
"Go on then, soon as it's Friday"
Secretly she loved it when Lucy came in with her for the night she loved cuddling up with her, however she knew it was important to make Lucy sleep in her own bed most of the time.
"I'm just going to brush my teeth and then I'll be in"
Rachel got herself sorted before climbing in next to Lucy and wrapping her arms around her.
"I heard you going for a wee" Lucy said giggling
"Did you that's nice, if you're in here no talking"
"Okay but I just have one more question"
"Go on then"
"What time are we going swimming tomorrow?"
"Whatever time you like"
"And…"
"No more you said one question"
"Okay night Rachel, love you"
"Love you too, see you in the morning"
Lucy snuggled up against Rachel and it didn't take long until they were both fast asleep and both snoring.
Please review xxxxx