Emma woke, lying on something soft. Opening her eyes she saw that her head was still resting on Will's chest and she was lying directly on top of him. She ran her hand down her side to check that she was still wearing her pyjamas and sighed in relief that she was, she couldn't begin to imagine the embarrassment that she would feel if Ruby had walked in on them. She lay like that for some time until she saw a little blonde head pop round the door and then disappear quickly.
"Is that you Rubes?" Emma asked softly so as not to wake up Will. No reply came so she slid off of him and padded over towards the door. "Oh there you are, how are you sweetie?" She said upon seeing Ruby looking mischievously up at her.
"I'm fine, can I have breakfast I'm hungry?" Ruby asked sliding her hand into Emma's. Emma nodded and picked her up, taking her through into the kitchen and sitting her on top of one of the units. She let Ruby choose her breakfast and then sat opposite her at the table, both of them eating Coco Pops and drinking orange juice.
"Shhh don't tell Will we're eating his Coco Pops." Emma said giggling at the thought. Will was very protective of his food, especially the Coco Pops! Ruby giggled back and put her finger to her lips just as Will came into the kitchen.
"Hey missy, are you eating my Coco Pops?" Will asked her laughing.
"But they're yummy!" Ruby exclaimed, smiling sweetly up at him with her face covered in milk and chocolate. Will leaned in and kissed Emma softly. She responded and then disappeared off into the bathroom.
"Emma and I are going to go and have a shower, can you be a good girl for me and sit and play a game in the living room?" Will asked her, picking her up and swinging her round. Ruby nodded and grinned at him. "Good." Will said putting her down in the middle of the couch.
He then walked along the corridor and let himself into the bathroom. Locking the door behind him, he removed his pyjama trousers and followed Emma into the shower. "Mmmmm I was expecting you." Emma said seductively as Will kissed her neck and shoulders from behind.
"Oh Will." She muttered as he pushed inside her. Running her fingers through his hair, he lifted her up so her legs were wrapped around his waist. Pushing her against the wall, her moans became louder so he silenced her with a kiss.
Thirty minutes later, they both stepped out of the shower and began drying themselves. "Well that was…eventful." Will commented, buttoning up his work shirt. Emma pulled a turquoise smock top over her head and let Will carefully tie the ribbons at the back. Grabbing her jeans off the chair she slipped them on and found a pair of flip-flops to match her outfit. They left the bedroom together; hand in hand they walked into the living room and saw Ruby playing happily with her dollies.
"I've gotta go to work babe, Inspector Gold won't be happy if I'm late on my first day back! I'll see you tonight babe, bye Ruby." He called, kissing Emma quickly on the cheek before darting out the door.
"I think we should get you dressed munchkin." Emma said holding out her hand for Ruby and taking her through to her bedroom. "What do you want to wear to nursery?" She asked as they stood in front of the wardrobe. Ruby pulled out a pair of jean 3/4s and a stripy t-shirt. "Good taste Rubes." Emma commented as she helped her to get changed. Sitting Ruby on the end of the bed, she pulled on a pair of doodles and then they were all set to go to nursery.
Kissing Ruby goodbye at the gate Emma waved to her until she'd disappeared inside the doors to the nursery. Turning and walking back down the road, Emma stopped at a hardware store and bought two tins of pink paint for Ruby's bedroom. Crossing the street to another shop she bought pink bedcovers and lampshades and curtains to match. Then returning home she set to work on the room. In no time, the walls were painted a dried and the room looked more homely.
Emma sat down on the end of the bed and sighed happily. Ruby was sure to love it; it looked just like Emma's room had when she was a little girl. Changing the bedcovers, Emma placed Ruby's teddies and dolls in the centre of the bed and stood back to admire her good work. The only thing that needed fixing now was the furniture that needed put back into the bedroom. Emma thought to herself that she'd get Will to do that when he returned from work.
Before she knew it, it was lunchtime and she went to pick Ruby up from her nursery. She stood outside with all of the other mums and felt instantly like she fitted in. It was strange to think that just a few days before, she hadn't even thought about having children and now she had her own daughter – almost. "Hi, I haven't seen you here before, is your son or daughter new?" A girl who could be no older than twenty asked her brightly.
"Oh, hi I'm Emma. Erm well my boyfriend and I just adopted Ruby Peters, her mum died a few days ago and she was with us on temporary foster care but we decided to apply for full adoption." Emma explained nervously.
"Wow that sounds like one hell of a few days. Yeah I know Ruby; she's a friend of my daughter Amy. I'm Lisa Bennet; it's great to meet you." Lisa said. She immediately put Emma at ease, as she was so bubbly and genuine.
"Yeah it's really nice to have someone to speak to, I was pretty on edge about coming to pick her up. I mean I'm not actually a mother so I thought I might feel a bit awkward but you've made me feel right at home." Emma said smiling happily.
"No problem Emz." Lisa replied before stooping down to pick up her grinning daughter who was running towards her. "Hello Amy, this is Ruby's new mummy Emma." She said introducing them to each other. Amy waved shyly before burying her head in her mum's shoulder.
Emma felt something tugging at her jeans and she looked down to see Ruby smiling back up at her. "Look what I drawed today Emma!" She said proudly showing Emma the picture of her, Emma and Will all standing together outside a house.
"Awww that's so good honey. Come here." She said holding out her arms for Ruby who launched herself at Emma. She smiled to herself, having a little girl needing her had never felt so good. Lisa and Emma walked together along the street, each of them still carrying their daughters who were nattering away to each other.
"This is us." Emma said, indicating to her and Will's flat as they stopped walking when they reached the gate. "I'll be seeing you tomorrow then I guess." She said before giving Lisa a friendly hug. "Come on missy, do you want me to read you a story?" Emma asked as her and Ruby climbed the steps to their door.
After preparing tea and shoving it in the oven, Emma joined Ruby in the living room and they read aloud for an hour, completely oblivious to Will arriving home and standing watching them from the doorway. He smiled, the perfect sight meeting his eyes. His girlfriend was sitting with his little girl on her knee and the biggest of grins on her face. She was happy, he was happy and so was their baby.
Emma looked up and motioned her head towards Ruby's bedroom. He walked quietly towards it, so as not to disturb them and then he began to shift the furniture back into its position. As he re-entered the living room, Ruby noticed him and threw herself towards him. "Will! I learnded finger painting today!" She said proudly. "I gotses nice and messy!" She added giggling as he inspected the dried paint of her hands.
"Cool I love getting dirty. We've got something to show you now though…don't we Em?" He asked putting Ruby down at his feet and covering her eyes. They walked her through to her room and then opened the door before uncovering her eyes. They lit up at the sight of her newly decorated room. The pink walls and matching bedspread and curtains were covered in fairies. All of her toys were on new shelving and there was a little desk and chair in one corner. A photograph of Will, Emma and Ruby along with one of Ruby, her mum and her dad, rested on the bedside table and Ruby smiled again.
"Thank you." She said softly, turning and burying her head in Emma's leg. "It's so prettiful." Emma looked across at Will and then picked up Ruby, cuddling her close.
"You don't have to thank us sweetheart, we wanted to do it for you. I hope you like it." She said, carrying her through into the living room and sitting down with her on her lap. "It's going to be tea time soon." She added, beginning to play with her hair.
Much later, after Emma had tucked Ruby up in bed, she returned to the kitchen. Rubbing her eyes sleepily she walked right into Will and giggled. "Oops I didn't see you." She mumbled as he swept her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. He took her hand and kissed it before twirling Emma round and round. They danced about the kitchen for a while before Will leant her back over his knee and leaned in to kiss her passionately.
"I can't wait for us to become a proper family." He said softly, picking her up and carrying her through into the bedroom.
waking up i see that everything is ok
the first time in my life and now it's so great
slowing down i look around and i am so amazed
i think about the little things that make life great
Took me while to write but I got there in the end. One more chapter to go...may be up in about a few weeks/one month if your luck please read and review xxxpip