Rachel was up early on a Saturday morning to try and get on with some work as she knew she wasn't going to have a lot of time over the weekend with having Emily to stay and also having Kim and Andrew over for dinner tonight.

She was sat at her desk in the study when she heard the door open.

"Morning love" Rachel said when she saw Ruby stood at the door

Ruby was really sleepy just like she always was when she first woke up so didn't say anything but went and sat on Rachel's knee and cuddled into her.

"Auntie Rachel I'm hungry" Ruby said after a few minutes

"Can you ask Uncle Chris to make you some?"

"He's sleeping, I already tried to wake him up to ask him where you were but he wouldn't wake up"

"Okay then love, but I haven't got time to make you pancakes this morning because I need to get on with some work"

Rachel brought her laptop out to the kitchen and then made Ruby some Weetabix before carrying on with her work again whilst Ruby ate.

"What time is Emily coming?"

"Her Mum's dropping her off at about ten, so I need to jump in the shower soon" Rachel said as she was still in her pyjamas and dressing gown

"Can we go swimming?" Ruby asked excitedly

Swimming really was the last place Rachel fancied being on a Saturday afternoon. Normally she didn't mind but today she just couldn't think she could face it for some reason.

"We could do, or we could go to the park instead and we can take some bread to feed the ducks"

"We haven't done that for ages"

Rachel was glad Ruby hadn't taken much persuasion to do something different.

"Well we'll have to check that Emily wants to do that too first" Rachel said however Emily was really easy going and Rachel was sure she'd be just as excited as what Ruby was about doing it

Once Ruby had finished her breakfast the two of them both went upstairs and Rachel got straight in the shower.

Once she was out she got dressed and dried her hair before getting Ruby dressed.

Rachel had literally just finished helping Ruby when the doorbell rang.

By the time Rachel got downstairs Chloe had answered the door and let Emily and Jane in.

"Hi Rachel, are you sure you don't mind having Emily?"

"Of course not she's never any trouble"

Ruby and Emily both went upstairs straight away so Jane and Rachel went into the kitchen to have a coffee.

"How's Emily doing?"

"Not too bad. Most of the time she's back to her normal self but she does still get scared and upset sometimes, especially around men"

"That's understandable I suppose. She's so young though she might not even remember it as she gets older"

"That would be good"

Jane stayed and talked to Rachel for a bit longer. She was having a really hard time at the minute so was glad her Mum was taking her away.

"Emily, Mummy's going to leave now are you going to come down and say goodbye?"

Emily and Ruby both came rushing downstairs both laughing which was nice for Jane to see.

Once they'd said goodbye Jane left.

"Right girls, do you want to just play around here this morning and then this afternoon I'll take you to the park?"

"And we're going to feed the ducks" Ruby told Emily

Emily was happy with this so Rachel went to find out who else wanted to come.

Much to her surprise Chloe and Ellie both wanted to come too. She'd been expecting them to both want to stay in. Phil was going out with his mates later though.

After having a lazy morning around the house, meaning Rachel managed to get quite a lot of her work done, Rachel rounded all the kids up to get going.

"Are you not going to put any makeup on Mum?" Chloe asked surprised that her Mum was going out without any on

Rachel glanced in the mirror and saw she didn't have any on, she'd completely forgotten.

"Do you know what I'd completely forgotten I hadn't done my makeup, give me ten minutes" Rachel said before running upstairs

Once she had her makeup done Rachel took the four of them to the park.

Chris said he'd do the shopping for Rachel which she was glad about, so he wasn't coming with them.

When they got to the park they had a little walk around and fed the ducks and then Ruby and Emily both wanted to play for a bit.

"I'm going to go and get a coffee from the café, do you girls want anything?"

"Can I have a coffee too please Mum?"

"Yep, Ellie?"

"Can I have a hot chocolate please?"

"I would think so, can you keep an eye on Ruby and Emily for me?"

"We will"

Rachel went and got the drinks and then came back to the bench that Chloe and Ellie were sat on.

They'd been playing for quite a while when Rachel noticed Emily crouching down on the floor so wondered what had happened. She decided to go in and check she was okay.

"Emily are you okay?"

"I really need a wee"

"Let's go to the toilets then"

"But I'm bursting"

"We'd better run then"

Rachel took hold of Emily and Ruby's hand before taking them both to the loo. Luckily Emily just made it.

Once they'd both been they headed back to Chloe and Ellie.

"I think it's time we made a move"

"Can we stay for a bit longer?" Ruby asked

"Five more minutes, but then we need to go because I've got lots to do when we get back"

Rachel ended up giving them another ten minutes but then she went and got them so they all went back to the car.

They headed home and Chloe and Ellie both went up to their rooms, and Ruby and Emily went to the play room.

Rachel decided to start preparing for tonight. She was really looking forward to having Kim and Andrew over for dinner, it felt like it had been ages since she'd done anything with Kim outside of school.

After a few hours Rachel was feeling quite organised but realised she'd completely forgotten about the kids tea but luckily she had some pizzas in the fridge so she quickly put them in.

Once it was ready she shouted them all down.

"Mum please can I sleep round Leah's house tonight?"

"Yeah okay, Chris can you drop her over please?"

"Yes of course darling"

Once they'd finished eating Rachel took Ruby and Emily upstairs and got them in the bath. The two of them loved having a bath together.

"I'm just going to quickly get Emily's bed ready, so no messing about while I'm gone"

Rachel went and set Emily's bed up before coming back to the bathroom where Ruby and Emily were splashing about.

"Right let's get your hair washed"

They both had their hair washed without any fuss so once that was done Rachel got them out and wrapped them in towels.

"Go and get into your pyjamas, I've put them both on the radiator, and then come into my bedroom so I can dry your hair off"

Rachel let the bath water out before going into her bedroom.

The girls eventually came in so Rachel could dry their hair.

"Do you want to watch a DVD for a bit before you go to sleep?"

"Do you want to watch Frozen Emily?" Ruby asked

"Yeah" Emily said excitedly

Rachel put the film on for them in the play room whilst she went and got ready.

She took off her makeup and had a quick shower but didn't bother to wash her hair again.

Once she was out of the shower she got dressed and then did her makeup and straightened her hair again before putting Ruby and Emily to bed.

She said goodnight but knew she'd have to come back, knowing what they were like she knew they'd be chatting away for half the night otherwise.

Rachel then went downstairs and finished preparing for when Kim and Andrew arrived.

Chris had just finished getting changed himself when the doorbell rang so he went and let Kim and Andrew in.

Rachel poured them all a glass of wine and then they sat and chatted for a bit.

"I just need to check on Ruby, I'll only be a sec"

Much to Rachel's surprise when she went up she found them both fast asleep. Something she definitely wasn't expecting but it had been quite a while since she'd put them to bed and they were both really tired.

Now she knew they were asleep Rachel could enjoy her evening properly.

They were sat at the table eating their main course when Ruby appeared at the door.

"You can come in love" Rachel said smiling "what are you doing out of bed?"

"I came to tell you that Emily's crying"

"Oh dear I'd better come and see what's wrong"

Rachel went upstairs with Ruby and found Emily sat up in bed sobbing.

"Do you want to come with me for a little chat Emily?" Rachel said gently

Emily nodded so Rachel took hold of her little hand and took her into her bedroom.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" Rachel asked and Emily just buried her head into Rachel's chest

"Okay, well how about we just have a little cuddle until you're ready to talk"

Rachel was rubbing Emily's back while she cried. Emily came round lots so felt quite comfortable around Rachel now.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Rachel asked after a couple of minutes

"I had a bad dream"

"What was your dream about?"

"It was about Martin"

Rachel was about to respond when she saw Ruby stood at the door.

"Ruby go back to bed love, Emily will be back in soon"

Ruby left so Rachel turned her attention back to Emily.

"What was Martin doing?"

"He was trying to get me but Mummy was there too but then I woke up before anything else happened"

"Oh Em, dreams can be horrible sometimes can't they but what you've got to remember is that it is only a dream and Martin is never going to come anywhere near you or hurt you again"

"I was scared"

"I know you were, but you're completely safe now I promise" Rachel said running her fingers through Emily's hair

After a while Rachel had manged to calm Emily down so got her back into bed and stayed there until Ruby and Emily both went back to sleep.

Rachel was on her way back downstairs when she passed Ellie's bedroom and saw her daughter lying on her bed clutching so her stomach so she went in.

"Are you alright love?"

"No my stomach is really hurting" Ellie said nearly in tears

"Are you on your period?" Rachel asked and Ellie just nodded

"When did that start?"

"Just now"

"It always makes you feel pretty rubbish when you first come on, but you should be fine in a day or so. Shall I go down and fill you up a hot water bottle?"

Ellie shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Dad and Kim and Andrew are down there and then they'll know"

"They won't think anything of it love, I'll get you one I always find it helps"

Rachel went down and filled a hot water bottle up for her before bringing back upstairs for Ellie.

"Thanks Mum" Ellie said as she placed it against her stomach

"That's alright, if you can't get to sleep because of it come and tell me and I'll give you some paracetamol"

"Okay thank you"

"Are you happy up here or do you want to watch TV in the lounge?"

"I'm happy up here"

"Okay well if you want anything don't be afraid to come down"

Rachel left her to it and went back to her guests.

"Sorry I was so long"

Rachel's meal had gone cold by now but she'd nearly finished anyway.

Rachel and Chris both really enjoyed their evening with Kim and Andrew.

It was really late by the time they left so Rachel and Chris did a bit of tidying up but decided to do the rest in the morning.

Rachel had had a really nice day and was looking forward to spending another day with the kids tomorrow, and she was really looking forward to Amy coming home for Christmas.