Set a few weeks later
Friday had arrived and Rachel was busy getting ready for work. She was really tired and definitely looking forward to the weekend.
She noticed the time and realised she needed to wake the kids up.
After waking Phil, Chloe and Ellie up she went into Ruby's bedroom and crouched down beside her bed.
Rachel started stroking her niece's hair to gently wake her up.
After a while Ruby started to open her eyes but stayed lying down in bed.
"Morning sleepy head, it's time to get up for school now"
"I feel sick"
Rachel ran her hand through her hair. Getting Ruby to go to school had been a constant battle for nearly a month now. Everyday it was something, a tummy ache or a headache or she felt sick or she was too tired. Rachel was wondering what it was that was making her not want to go to school.
"Are you sure Ruby? Or do you just not want to go to school?"
"I really do feel sick"
Rachel sat down on the edge of Ruby's bed.
"The thing is love, you've been telling me a lot lies recently about feeling poorly haven't you?"
"But I really do feel poorly today"
"Well just give school a go for me, it's Friday today anyway so you've got the whole weekend to rest if you are poorly" Rachel said not believing her again
Ruby got out of bed and took her pyjamas off, but she was finding it hard to do anything because she really actually was feeling poorly this time. She felt really sick.
Rachel helped her to get dressed and then brushed her hair before taking her downstairs for breakfast.
She made up some porridge for everyone and then called the others down.
Even Rachel was trying to eat breakfast now to set a good example for the kids, Ellie and Chloe were especially bad for always trying to get out of breakfast.
Ruby couldn't eat any of hers as she was feeling really sick. Rachel was trying to make her eat it but in the end she just gave up.
After breakfast Rachel went upstairs to straighten her hair. She was doing it as quickly as she could as she was running late when Ruby came in.
"Auntie Rachel, I really don't think I'm well enough to go to school"
Rachel had noticed she was quite pale, but she thought it was more than likely that it was just tiredness. By the end of the week Ruby always was shattered.
"We've already talked about this, just give it a try for me yeah? I'm sure you'll feel better once you get there"
Ruby walked out of her Auntie's room and Rachel didn't notice the tears in her eyes because she really was feeling poorly and just wanted to go back to bed.
Once they were all ready they got in the car to leave. Just like usual Rachel dropped Ruby at her primary school before driving onto Waterloo Road.
Even though it was Friday it felt like the weekend was still so far away for Rachel as she had so much work to do, so as soon as she'd parked she went straight up to her office to get on with the work.
It was at about 11 when Rachel got a call from Ruby's teacher saying she'd been sick at school so needed picking up.
Rachel felt bad for not believing her so drove round to her primary school as quickly as she could.
When she got into reception Ruby was sat on the sofa crying looking really scared.
As soon as Rachel came and sat by her she leaned into her chest and started to cry even more.
"I'm sorry for not believing you darling, let's get you home"
Rachel signed Ruby out and she was just about to leave with her when Miss Middleton walked into reception.
"Rachel I was hoping to have a quick chat with you before you left"
"Okay" Rachel said smiling
"Shall we go into the classroom? The children are all outside anyway with the teaching assistant"
Ruby got up to go with them too but Miss Middleton stopped her.
"Just wait here for a little bit longer for me please Ruby"
"I want to come with you" Ruby said whilst holding on tightly to Rachel's hand
"I need to have a word with Miss Middleton"
"We won't be long Ruby, Auntie Rachel will be back soon I promise"
Sadly Ruby sat back on the sofa so Rachel left with Miss Middleton.
"I just wanted to talk to you about Ruby, she seems to be having a bit of trouble at school at the minute. She can barely concentrate on her work, she's always saying she wants you or she needs to go home because she's not feeling very well"
"I've been having a lot of trouble just trying to get her to come into school, I really don't know what I can do"
"Well I think it's likely Ruby might be suffering from separation anxiety"
Rachel was a little surprised by this, she knew Ruby was struggling at the minute but this sounded quite serious.
"But why? She's never had a problem with going to school before"
"Well it can be caused by a number of things, but the death of a parent can often cause it which is why I think it's likely that this is what Ruby is suffering from"
"Right" Rachel sad feeling quite worried "so what do I need to do?"
"I would take her to a doctor and see if they can arrange for her to talk to someone, but other than that give her lots of cuddles and just really emphasise that you're not going to leave her"
"I'll ring the doctors straight away then"
"Probably for the best, anyway shall we get back to Ruby? We don't want her getting anymore upset"
The two of them went back to reception where the receptionist had come over to try and comfort Ruby as she was getting worked up and kept saying that she wanted Rachel.
Rachel went straight over to Ruby to try and soothe her.
Once she'd stopped crying Rachel signed Ruby out before taking her back to the car.
"Right if you think you're going to be sick again, tell me and I'll try and pull over okay?"
"Okay, Auntie Rachel don't you have to be at work today?"
"Yes so Grandma's coming over to look after you so I can go back to work"
Hearing this made Ruby's bottom lip wobble and it wasn't long before she was in tears again.
"What's wrong love, why are you crying?"
"I want you to stay with me"
"But I've got to go to my school to do my job, but I'll be with you as soon as school finishes and then you'll have me for the whole weekend"
"Can't you just work from home like you've done before when I was poorly?"
"All of my stuff is still at school so I can't"
Ruby didn't respond to this but went extremely quiet.
"Are you okay Ruby?"
"I think I'm going to be sick"
Luckily Rachel was able to pull in straight away so she got Ruby out of the car as quickly as she could where she was sick in the bush.
Ruby managed to avoid being sick all down herself which Rachel was glad about so as soon as she'd finished Rachel got her straight back in the car as she was shivering.
Rachel drove home as quickly as she could and got Ruby inside.
"Shall we get you changed into something more comfortable?" Rachel asked and Ruby nodded
They went up to Ruby's bedroom and Rachel got her a clean pair of pyjamas out of her drawer and helped her to change into them.
"Please don't go to work Auntie Rachel, I want you to stay here with me" Ruby said as she began to cry
Rachel sat down on the bed and lifted Ruby onto her lap.
"I'll only be gone for a few hours, and Grandma's going to be here to look after you"
"But I don't want you to leave me" Ruby cried beginning to get herself quite worked up
Rachel began to think maybe she should just take the afternoon off. After all it was only paperwork that she needed to do, and she did think it might be good for her to spend some time alone with Ruby.
"Ok I'll tell you what love, I'll work from home but I'm going to have to be in the study quite a lot I won't be able to sit on the sofa with you for the whole time"
"I don't mind" Ruby said as she instantly began to calm down
Rachel got Ruby settled on the sofa with a blanket over her before ringing Eddie to ask him to bring all of her stuff round, as she'd left it all at work.
It wasn't long before Chris's Mum arrived, obviously she didn't need to look after Ruby anymore but she stayed for a cup of tea before leaving again.
Rachel didn't know whether Ruby was really poorly or whether she'd been sick from getting herself so worked up.
"Please can I have something to eat Auntie Rachel? I'm really hungry"
"Aren't you feeling sick anymore?"
"No I feel lots better now"
"Well I'll get you some toast then, but I don't want you to eat too much in case you start feeling sick again"
Rachel went out to the kitchen and made a sandwich for herself and got Ruby some toast. She was pretty sure now that Ruby wasn't poorly but she still wanted to play it safe and not give her too much to eat.
While the two of them ate their lunch they watched Tangled and then Rachel left Ruby watching it as she really needed to get on with some work.
The first thing Rachel did when she sat at the desk was ring the doctors to make an appointment for Ruby. They managed to get her one on Monday morning, but Rachel wasn't planning on speaking to Ruby about the appointment until Monday.
Taking Ruby to the doctors was never an easy task anyway as she always got really anxious about going, so Rachel didn't want to give her anything else to worry about.
Rachel did a couple of hours work but then decided the rest could wait until Saturday or Sunday as she wanted to spend a bit of time with Ruby.
When she went into the lounge she found Ruby playing Just Dance on the wii.
"Well I think it's safe to say someone's feeling better"
"I am, but I promise I was feeling poorly before I didn't lie so I could come home"
"I know love, you were sick remember?"
"Will you play this with me?"
"I don't see why not"
Rachel and Ruby spent the next half an hour playing Just Dance and by the time they'd finished Ruby was hungry again so Rachel went and got her a snack.
"Ruby, come out to the kitchen for your snack"
Rachel had given her some strawberries and grapes which Ruby wasn't too happy about.
"Can't I have something yummy?"
"If you eat all of your fruit, you can have one of the cookies we made yesterday"
Ruby really wanted a cookie so ate her fruit with little fuss so then Rachel went and got her one of the chocolate cookies.
"Phil, Chloe and Ellie should be home soon so I reckon it would be nice if we all go out for a nice walk somewhere, we haven't had much fresh air today"
"Can we wait for Daddy too?"
"No he won't be home until about 6 so it will be too late then"
With that Chloe got home and came into the kitchen.
"Hi love how was your day?"
"It was okay, I'm so tired now but I have so much homework to do"
"Well you've got all weekend to do it"
"I just as well make a start on it now I suppose"
"Not on a Friday love"
"You always say that, but I'd rather just get it out the way"
"Yes but you've been working hard all week, and I think it does you good to have Friday evenings free from any homework and revision. I never used to let Amy do anything on a Friday evening"
Chloe rolled her eyes, but actually realised it would be nice to just have a relaxing Friday evening.
"I'm going up to get changed"
"Ok, and then we're going to go to the woods for a walk"
"Really?"
"Yes really, me and Ruby need some fresh air we've been stuck inside all day"
"Why?"
"Ruby was sick at school this morning so we've been at home since"
"Are you feeling better now Ruby?"
"I feel fine now"
They were still talking when Ellie came into the kitchen.
She was just as reluctant as Chloe to go for a walk but Rachel was insistent that they all went.
Ellie and Chloe both went upstairs to get changed, as did Ruby.
Ruby came down first wearing one of her summer dresses.
"What are you wearing a summer dress for? You'll be freezing"
"But it's really sunny outside"
"I know it looks sunny out but it's still cold, definitely not the weather for a summer dress"
"But it's pretty"
"Yes so you don't want to get it all muddy by wearing it to the woods do you?"
"No"
"Let's get you changed into something else then"
Rachel went upstairs as she could never take the dress off on her own, and then got a top and a pair of leggings out for Ruby to put on.
Rachel was beginning to wonder where Phil was, but then she remembered he was staying at Bolton's tonight and was going straight there from school.
Once they were all ready Rachel drove to the woods and parked the car where they usually did.
Even though Chloe and Elle both didn't really want to go when they got there they did quite enjoy it. It was nice to be out in the fresh air after a day at school.
"Is Amy coming home soon?" Ruby asked as they were walking through the woods
"No not yet, but we're going to see her in a couple of weeks"
"I can't wait to see her"
"Me neither" Rachel said, it was true it felt like ages since she'd seen her eldest daughter and she really couldn't wait to see her
They'd all been really missing Amy, it felt so strange not having her around the house. Amy seemed to be having a great time though so Rachel was just glad that she'd settled in well.
"Are we going on Friday or Saturday?" Chloe asked
"Saturday morning" Rachel replied
"Good because it's Tilly's Birthday on the Friday and she's having a party"
"We're leaving early mind you so you'd better not be hungover" Rachel said raising her eyebrows
After walking through the woods they got into the car to come home again. They stopped in Tesco on the way home to pick up a few bits.
When they got back Ellie and Chloe both went up to their rooms, Ruby went into the play room and Rachel went into the kitchen to make a start on tea.
They were having fajitas but now Rachel really couldn't be bothered to cook, but she knew she had to.
She was cooking when Chris got in from work. It was really nice to have him home. He'd been working late quite a lot this week so Rachel was really pleased it was the weekend.
Chris had just gone upstairs to get changed out of his work clothes when Ellie came rushing downstairs and bounded into the kitchen.
"Mum please can I go camping tomorrow night?"
"Camping? Who do you want to go camping with?"
"Someone's having people over to camp in their field"
"Who?" Rachel asked suspiciously when Ellie didn't say a name
"Finn, but there's going to be a girls tent and a boys tent don't worry"
Rachel didn't really like the sound of this.
"How close is the field to Finn's house?"
"It's like a 15 minute walk"
"Are his parents going to be there"
"No, why would they be there?"
"To keep an eye on things. I'm going to have to say no to this one I'm afraid love"
"Why? Everyone else is allowed to go"
"I'm not keen on the idea of you spending the night alone with boys"
"There's going to be girls too, you didn't mind when I went to the cinema last weekend and there were boys there"
"That's slightly different to a bunch of 11 year olds alone in a field for the night"
"Please Mum, I really want to go"
"The answer's no Ellie" Rachel said firmly, there was no way she was going to change her mind on this
"I'll be the only one not going, thanks a lot Mum" Ellie said before bursting into tears and running off
Rachel sighed, Ellie certainly did seem to be very emotional at the minute. It only took the smallest of things to set her off but Rachel knew this was probably because she was getting to a difficult age
There wasn't much she could now, so decided to wait until later to go and speak to Ellie.
Chris came back into the kitchen and laid the table.
Tea was soon ready so Rachel called the kids down.
Ellie was in a mood all through tea and was being horrible to Rachel which wasn't very nice for everyone.
"Ellie if you've finished you can put your plate in the dishwasher and go up to your room"
"But you're all still eating"
"Yes and you're in a bad mood, and no-one wants to be around you when you're being like this"
Ellie scowled at Rachel before leaving the table and going up to her room.
"What's up with her?" Chris asked
"She wants to go to some camp out tomorrow night at Finn's house but I said no"
"Good, she's too young to be doing things like that" Chris said
Rachel was surprised Chloe didn't chip in saying how unfair she was being.
"I'm surprised your not sticking up for your sister Chlo, you used to be exactly like her when you were that age"
"I can see why you said no, she is quite young to be doing things like that now"
Rachel was impressed by her daughter, but Chloe did seem to be maturing quite a lot. She'd certainly knuckled down now that she was in year 11 and was working really hard at school which Rachel was pleased about.
Once they'd finished eating and had cleared up Rachel went up to Ellie's bedroom.
Ellie was lying on her bed and it was obvious she'd been crying.
"I'm sorry for being horrible to you" Ellie said, now she'd calmed down she realised she had been unfair to Rachel
Rachel closed the door before going down and sitting down next to Ellie.
"When I say no it's not just to be mean you know"
"I know, I just really wanted to go"
"The thing is love I know it seems really fun but you have to understand that as your Mum I don't want you doing things that I don't think you're ready to do yet. And to be honest and the thought of you spending the night with lots of boys as well as girls with no adult supervision is actually quite worrying for me" Rachel said laughing
"I guess, Jen isn't allowed to go either"
"Well there you go, so I'm not the only worst Mum in the world then?"
"No" Ellie said smiling now
"How about you invite Jen over here for a sleepover tomorrow night instead?"
"That would be nice. I really am sorry for how I was before though Mum"
"It's alright love, I know your at that age now where these… how should I put it, outbursts are going to be quite normal which is why I sent you up to your room earlier because I thought you probably just needed a bit of time to yourself to calm down"
Rachel gave Ellie a hug and then the two of them went downstairs ready for a family night in front of the TV.
They were watching Coronation Street when the house phone rang. Rachel picked it up and it was Amy.
"Hi love, how are you?"
"Mum I want to come home" Amy said who was clearly in tears
"Why do you want to come home?"
"Because I miss you and Dad, and everyone and I just want to see you"
"I miss you too Amy but we're coming to see you in a couple of weeks"
"That's ages away"
"No it's not, the time will fly by and before you know it we'll be there"
"But I want to come home for the weekend as well"
Of course Rachel would have loved for her to come home for the weekend. But Rachel also knew the worst thing you can do when your home sick is to come home, because it only makes it harder when you're back.
"Sweetheart I really don't think it's a good idea to come home if you're feeling homesick. As much as I want to see you, it's just going to make it worse for you when you have to go back on Sunday"
It was breaking Rachel's heart hearing Amy so upset but Rachel was trying her best to stay strong for Amy's sake, but her eyes were swimming with tears.
"I suppose"
"What's everyone doing tonight? Are they going out?"
"No everyone's really tired"
"So I reckon you should have a movie night with Abbie, go to Tesco and buy chocolate and Ben and Jerry's and just have a girly night"
"Okay I'll do that"
Rachel stayed talking with Amy for a few more minutes glad that she'd persuaded her not to come home.
"Right you go and find Abbie and choose a film to put on"
"Okay"
"I'll speak to you tomorrow Amy, love you lots"
"Love you too Mum"
As soon as Rachel put the phone down she burst into tears. There was nothing she wanted to do more than to cuddle Amy and make her feel better. She hated not being able to comfort her daughter when she was sad.
Chris came into the kitchen a few minutes later and found Rachel in tears.
"What's wrong Rach?"
"Amy's homesick, she wanted to come home for the weekend"
"Is she?"
"No I convinced her not to, I don't think it's a good idea if she's feeling homesick"
"You're right, what's she going to do then?"
"I told her to have a girly night with Abbie"
"She's going to be fine Rach, you know how much she's been enjoying it up to now. She was bound to feel homesick at some point and she'll soon be over it and then she'll be absolutely fine again"
"I know, I just hate to think of her upset"
"Of course you do Rach, you're her Mum"
Chris wiped Rachel's tears away and gave her a big cuddle.
Once Rachel had calmed down they went back into the lounge and watched the end of Coronation Street.
When Amy got off he phone from her Mum she cried for a bit longer before deciding she needed to pull herself together. So she did her best to stop crying and then she took off her makeup, washed her face and changed into her pyjamas before going into Abbie's room.
The girls decided to watch Wild Child but first they went across to Tesco to buy some chocolate and ice cream.
When they got back they sat on Amy's bed and watched the film.
Amy was starting to feel better already. She was stll missing home but now she was with Abbie she was feeling a lot better.
She got her phone out and text her Mum that she was feeling a lot happier now.
Rachel was relieved when she got the text. Now she really was looking forward to seeing Amy.