"Maisie can you come downstairs" Nick called as he stood at the bottom waiting for her to emerge from her bedroom, something which was a regular occurrence.
"Why?" Maisie shouted back without opening her door.
"because I want to talk to you all" He called back to her, when at this point she eventually opened her door and came downstairs to see what all the fuss was about.
"What's going on?" She asked Nick who was still stood waiting for her at the bottom.
"Just go and sit in the front room please" He ordered and she looked at him in confusion, wondering what was going on. She did as he said and went and took a seat on the sofa, joined by Phoebe.
"Come on Ol hurry up" Nick said guiding him into the front room, prizing him away from the game which he had been happily playing all morning.
Once they were all finally settled, Nick and Zoe both sat down on the sofa together turning to face the kids "Me and your dad have got something that we'd like to tell you" Zoe began, looking from Nick to the kids as she spoke.
As soon as she said those words Maisie already had an idea of what was coming next "Oh please tell me you're joking" She exclaimed.
"You're going to be having a baby brother or sister" Nick announced, continuing Zoe's sentence.
Ollie and Phoebe were ecstatic with the news as they both smiled widely as Nick spoke.
Maisie however, wasn't as keen with the idea. She rolled her eyes before mumbling "Great" and storming out of the room and upstairs to her bedroom.
Zoe sighed, she knew Maisie was probably feeling a little hormonal right now but she never expected her to react this way, "Well that could have gone better" She said turning to look at Nick who just shook his head, displeased with her reaction.
"Why doesn't Maisie want a brother or sister?" Phoebe asked in confusion, not understanding why her sister wasn't excited as she was.
Nick smiled, happy that they had both taken the news well. He lifted Phoebe onto his knee "I don't know sweetheart, do you though?" He asked as he tenderly moved her hair away from her face.
"Yeah I'd like a sister" She beamed cheerfully.
"I want a brother" Ollie added. Which was expected seeing as he already had two sisters.
Nick and Zoe both laughed knowing that one of them was going to be slightly disappointed when the baby arrived, "Well we're just going to have to wait and see aren't we" Nick told them.
"So it's in your tummy now?" Ollie curiously asked, as he looked at Zoe's tummy obviously trying to work it out.
"Yeah" Zoe nodded, naturally resting her hand on her stomach which was already starting to form a slight bump.
He frowned in confusion, "So why can't you see it?" He asked, looking from Zoe to Nick for an answer.
"Because the baby has to grow yet" She told him, "it's only tiny, so it stays in my tummy for 9 months so that it can grow bigger" She tried to explain to them both.
Ollie nodded to show that he finally understood.
"How did it get there then?" Phoebe curiously added, also trying to figure the whole thing out.
Nick and Zoe both laughed turning to look at each other, they could of guessed this question was coming, "your dad will answer that one" Zoe cheekily smiled at Nick who mouthed 'thanks'.
"Well me and your mum decided that we wanted to have another baby" Nick began "and well girls have eggs inside them" he continued to explain in the best way possible without being too graphic.
"Like a chicken?" Ollie asked, causing Phoebe to laugh.
Nick chuckled at his comment too, "Yeah like a chicken" He nodded, "so mummy's have loads of eggs like chickens inside them and when they decide that they want that egg to become a baby, then well daddy's help it to change" he said slowly, making it up as he went along, he was totally clueless what to say, he'd never had to do this before, Maisie had never asked and just naturally learnt about it in school.
Phoebe frowned as she looked at him, "How do they do that?" she asked, still not understanding it.
"because they're magic" Zoe added, knowing that they would only continue asking questions until they knew every tiny little detail.
"Cool" Oliver exclaimed, believing the story that Nick had just explained.
Phoebe was also satisfied with the explanation that he had given so she nodded in understanding. She then turned and whispered quietly to her dad "please make it a sister", before climbing off his knee and carrying on with the game she was playing before.
Nick laughed at her comment and he got up to join Zoe who had in the meantime gone into the kitchen.
"because they're magic?" Nick laughed as he joined her.
"They are too young to know about sex and you didn't know what to say did you" She laughed as she thought about Nick's explanation.
"They're not too young, I'm sure you knew about sex at 8" He said.
"Well I don't want them to be like me in my younger days"
"Oh i'm sure you weren't that bad" Nick chuckled, knowing exactly what she was like.
"trust me I was" She laughed.
"Phoebe's just asked me to give her a sister"
Zoe moved closer to him, "Well best use your magic then hadn't you" She teased.
Nick chuckled at her comment and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, "I'll go and have a word with Maisie" He said.
"OK, just go easy on her" Zoe told him, understanding that she was probably more hormonal than usual.
Nick shook his head laughing "Have faith in me" He said winking before he left the kitchen.
Nick knocked on Maisie's bedroom door before entering,"Hi darling" he said as he opened the door.
Maisie was lying on her bed,"Hi" she replied as she watched her dad enter the room.
"What was all that about?" He asked, sitting down on the edge of her bed.
Maisie just shrugged in response.
"So do you not want a little brother or sister?" He asked.
"I've already got one of each why would any more?" She said sarcastically.
"Fair point" Nick nodded understanding her, "Nothing's going to change you know" he tried to reassure her.
"Well yes it will" Maisie said in annoyance, "The baby will come along and you'll both be too busy to even bother with me anymore" She muttered, looking down avoiding eye contact with Nick.
"Maisie that's not true" Nick said, lifting her head up so she could look at him, "You'll always be my little girl no matter how many kids we have"
"Yeah but you'll give the baby all your attention you know you will" She said in displeasure. She was so afraid of feeling left out or not wanted anymore.
"I promising you now you'll always have my attention when you want" Nick continued to try and reassure her, "I still have time for all 3 of you now don't I?"
Maisie nodded in response to his question.
"There you go then" Nick said "We know it's a bit of a shock, it was to us as well but it's happening"
"So you didn't plan this?" She asked, much to her surprise.
"No" Nick shook his head, " sometimes these things just happen"
"rather not think about that" Maisie joked.
Nick chuckled, "Still as cheeky as ever" he grinned tickling her slightly under her chin which made her laugh.
Maisie hated upsetting her dad and she knew he'd appreciate her approval, "I am happy if you are" She told him looking him directly in the eyes.
Nick smiled at her, "I'm more than happy" He said.
Maisie smiled back at him, "Well me too then" She finally admitted.
"Come here" Nick gestured pulling her into a hug as he wrapped his arms around her, "I love you" he said kissing the top of her head and holding her tightly.