Sorry this took so long I've been having some major laptop issues (it gives me electric shocks).
I spent the remainder of the summer holdidays at home, keeping up with the endless loads of laundry, sterilising and making up bottles, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the girls.
Dad spent his mornings in bed, hungover from the previous evenings drinking and his afternoons either in the pub or visiting Hannah's distant friends. He was so desperate to find her that he didn't even seem to care about his baby daughter who was in the hands of an incompetent fourteen year old. He only just remembered to give me some money to go food shopping, something I never wanted to experience again after I had to change Annie on my hoodie on the floor of the mens after shooing Leah into an empty cubicle because there was no baby changing facilities in the mens toilets.
Luckily childcare had already been arranged five days a week for baby Annie in the form of a local childminder as Hannah was planning to go back part time to the salon she was assistant manager of so all I had to do was make up a tangible excuse as to why we would need five day childcare. I decided that I would tell people that Hannah had gone to take care of a terminally ill relative in Australia.
I woke up even earlier than usual on the first day at school, pulled on my school uniform then set about getting the girls ready for the day. I dropped Annie off with the smiley childminder before saying goodbye to Leah at her classroom door.
School flew by. It was the first time I had seen my friends in three weeks but messing with the teachers and talking about what we were going to do at the skate park that night seemed so trivial now I had the weight of my newly formed family on my shoulders and Evie was still abroad with her was the first time I had sat down properly in weeks and I wanted to burst in to tears when my first lesson teacher asked me to do something. I felt like a child again, like someone else was in control. I ran to the bus as soon as the ear splitting soind of the bell rang thoughout the school sitting at the front on my own rather than at the back with my rowdy friends so I could make a swift getaway and not be late for the girls.
Leah's teacher finally let us go after consulting with a teaching assistant who had worked with her before and knew I often picked up Leah from school. I picked Annie up from the childminder who told me that she was very sorry about my Great Aunt Roberta, the ill relative I had made up.
At home I began the evening routine, helping Leah with her homework and doing last nights washing up. Dad came in just as Leah had gone upstairs to play. I was stood at the stove rocking Annie to sleep as I made dinner.
"I think I've found her Ben!" he said a little too loudly, earning him a shush from me "her friend Cheryl said she's gone travelling with her boyfriend for three months, I'll go and talk to her then win her back!" he babbled excitedly.
I knew deep down that Hannah wouldn't come back but I couldn't help holding onto the hope that she would. I wanted her to come back and take over with the house and the kids and the finances, I wanted Dad to be around more so I didn't have to manage the flats he was renting out around the corner along with everything else.
After that he went back to work, stopped drinking during the day and even started helping out with the girls and around the house. I was making better progress at school, Annie was happy at the childminders and Leah started to make more friends at school. Things were looking up but it seemed to good to last...