It had been a couple of days since everything happened and the Lomax siblings were... well they didn't hate each other at least, but they weren't coping well.
Peri seemed to be blowing hot and cold towards Leela, one minute she was fine and the next she wasn't, but one thing Leela had came to notice was that Peri was slowly coming around to the idea of her and Cameron being her parents.
Tegan had fallen apart, trying to hold it together for the sake of her daughter didn't work and eventually she crumbled meaning Leela was left caring for young Rose.
A screaming 6 month old sat on Leela's hip as she rushed around the kitchen.
"I know you want your Mum but she's not here at the minute" Leela spoke through Rose's sequels "Come on..." she bounced Rose on her hip "Isn't your Auntie Leela good enough?" she asked only to get more screams in her ears "Of course she's not, she never is" Leela muttered under her breath.
Tegan was still at home but she hardly ever got up, she was in a bad way and Leela took it on herself to look after her young daughter.
"Shhh, please be quiet, can you do that for me?" Leela asked why rushing back and forth, trying to sort her bottle out.
Rose suddenly stopped her wails and nested into her aunt's side causing Leela to sigh with relief.
Rose silently observed as Leela finished making her bottle and gave it to her only for her to throw it to the ground.
"Rose, don't you want your milk?" Leela asked, feeling stressed with the young infant.
Rose had recently started drinking from sippy cups but as Leela learned Rose was stubborn, always throwing her drinks to the ground and making a mess so she swapped back to bottles; she was already struggling enough, Ste was hardly around to help because he was often working in 'The Hutch' or spending his time with John-Paul.
Leela placed Rose in her highchair as she picked the bottle up and placed it on the highchair in front of her; Rose could now eat and drink by herself so if she wanted it she would take it.
Rose sat in her highchair as her eyes followed her aunt all the while making little whining noises.
Leela sat down on the sofa and closed her eyes, putting her head in her hands; she couldn't blame Rose, she was a baby, none of this was her fault but she picked up on the atmosphere, she knew her Mum wasn't around at the moment and Leela didn't know what to do, she tried getting Tegan to come down but she didn't, the occasional times she did she didn't do anything, she was too withdrawn so she just ended up going back to her room and shutting herself away again.
Some days Peri would help Leela with Rose but at the moment she was in her room.
Rose fussed from her place in her highchair so Leela got up to see what was wrong and when she saw what Rose was doing she was panicked; Rose had managed to stand up in her highchair on wobbly legs.
Leela rushed over to her niece and quickly secured her in her arms "You're going to be a right little mischief when you're older" she said as Rose giggled.
Suddenly the doorbell went off but as Leela went to answer it Rose grabbed hold of the table causing Leela to nearly drop her.
"Rose please..." Leela sighed as she tried to get Rose to stop but she started complaining.
"I'll get it Mum" came Peri's voice.
Leela gasped as Peri froze where she stood, both of them forgetting about the door.
"I mean... um..." Peri trailed off as she stared at Leela; what had she just done? She called her Mum.
Leela stared back while holding a struggling Rose.
Rose got free from Leela's grip and crawled of but Leela just stood there, still reeling from the shock of being called Mum; I am her Mum, it shouldn't be weird her mind shouted at her.
"Pez..." Leela breathed, giving her a small smile and earning a weak one in return.
Peri felt something run into her so she looked down and saw Rose staring up at her, picking Rose up she placed her on her hip and went to open the door as the doorbell sounded again.
She opened the door, shoving Rose at the person before quickly hurrying back upstairs.
"Hey, what's up with her?" Cameron said as Leela let out a heavy sigh and walked over to him, taking Rose from his arms, she ignored his question and turned her back to him.
"Leela" he said in his Scottish twang.
"She just called me Mum" Leela whispered with her back to him as she placed Rose back in her highchair making sure she couldn't try to escape again.
Leela turned to face Cameron and he was right there, she nearly stumbled into him he was that close so she took a step back, creating some distance between them.
"Isn't that good?" Cameron muttered but Leela didn't answer she just shrugged as she looked vacantly towards Rose who was playing with her almost empty milk bottle.
Cameron stood watching Leela before putting a hand on her shoulder making her jump slightly "Anyway I just came to give you this, well it's for Peri, I thought she might like it" he said holding up a 'PS4'
"Thanks" Leela said absentmindedly.
"Should I set it up" Cameron asked.
"Do what you like" Leela told him dismissively.
Cameron went to the television and started setting it up; he just wanted to do something for his daughter, he knew this was only small but it would take time and he knew eventually he would be able to be there for her properly, eventually when all the dust settled and she was ready.
Cameron set to work as Leela stayed quiet, the only sounds being heard in the room were coming from Rose, as he worked he noticed Peri standing at the top of the stairs watching him so he looked up and offered her a smile which she returned.
Peri walked downstairs and approached Leela who was deep in thought.
"I didn't mean to... you know..." Peri said causing Leela to turn around and look at her daughter.
"Peri, it's fine, I don't mind, I was just... it was just a shock"
"Yeah" Peri agreed with a small smile "You don't think that Mum and Dad will hate me?"
Leela took her daughter's hands and held them in her own; she knew that Sam and Danny would always have a special place in her heart, maybe even more special than her place but they were slowly getting there and maybe one day in the future Peri would be more open to calling her Mum.
"No Peri, Mum and Dad loved you, they loved us all, but you were special... you are special, they will just want you to be happy, you were their little girl" Leela told her daughter.
"I will always love and miss them but I think I'm ready to accept that they weren't my real parents" Peri said.
"Mum..." Peri said testing the word as she felt uncertain about this new chapter in her life, but she needed to more on; she had to accept that they weren't coming back no matter how much she hated it, it was true and she had to accept it "Is it okay if I call you that?" she questioned as she eyed Leela carefully.
"If you're comfortable then I would love that, but it's your choice" Leela told her.
"I want to try" Peri told her Mum; her real Mum and it was time she came to accept it; not everyone was as lucky as her, she still had two parents who loved and wanted her and she needed to stop being so stubborn and acknowledge that.
Suddenly Rose laughed, interrupting the moment..
As Leela and Peri both looked towards Rose they saw the mess she had made; she had managed to get the top off of her bottle and had tipped the reminding milk over her head.
"Rose..." Peri laughed as she looked towards Leela and smiled "I'll leave that to you..." Peri said indicating towards her baby cousin before running upstairs.
"Great" Leela mumbled but she couldn't hide the grin that was on her face; maybe she would get her daughter after all.
Cameron had silently watched the scene before him and he was happy for Leela; maybe one day she would accept him like that but for now he had to just be patient, after all Peri had known Leela her whole life whereas she had only known him a matter of weeks, he had accepted it was going to take time.
As Peri disappeared Leela started sorting Rose out before catching Cameron's eye.
"Well I'm just going to go, it's all done" Cameron said from the lounge.
Cam, it'll take time" Leela said to him as she understood that he just wanted to be part of his daughter's life.
"Yeah, I gotta go" Cameron said, rushing out of the door leaving Leela staring after him.
"Right, come on you" Leela said after a while before picking Rose up "You need changing now, you've got milk all over you" she tickled Rose under the chin causing her to squeal in laughter "This isn't funny missy" she told her niece as she made her way upstairs with baby Rose firmly in her arms.
This is it guys! I really enjoyed writing this :) So I hope you like it