"All packed and ready to go?" Nick asked as he walked into the bedroom to find Zoe still packing. They had 1 hour until they needed to be at the airport so last minute packing was rather manic.
"Just about" Zoe said, rushing around to put the last bits of her wardrobe into her suitcase, "knowing us we will forget something though"
Phoebe came racing into their bedroom, pushing the door open forcefully in excitement, "I'm all packed" She proudly announced. Zoe had let them all pack their own clothes this time, however she knew they were likely to miss something.
"I'm going to come and check it Phoebe" Zoe told her as Phoebe sat down on their bed, intently watching Zoe rush around, "Make sure you've got everything that you need" She added.
"I have" Phoebe reassured her, confident in her packing skills.
"You got the passports Zo?" Nick interrupted making sure that everything ran smoothly today.
"Shit" Zoe exclaimed, realising she had forgotten all about the passports.
Phoebe gasped at Zoe's comment, putting her hand over her mouth knowing that it was bad word she had just said.
"Sorry Phoebe, don't listen to me" She said, as Nick chuckled at her exclamation.
Zoe shot him a look which read 'shut up'. "I don't know where they are" Zoe admitted. She was always such a disorganised person, Nick should have known this.
"I'll go and have a look" Nick said, racing out the room to find them as quick as they could, else their trip would be completely over before it even started.
"Darling can you go and check Maisie and Ollie are ready please?" Zoe politely asked, trying to get rid of Phoebe as she kept distracting her from packing. Phoebe did as she said and headed off to her brother and sisters bedrooms.
30 minutes later and Zoe was finally packing and she had also checked the children's suitcases to ensure they all had everything that they need before leaving. She carried the cases downstairs into the hall to discover Nick still routing around in the kitchen draws to find their passports.
"Found them" He exclaimed in relief, causing Zoe to also let out a huge sigh of relief, "Thank god for that" She said.
"Right then, I think we're ready to go" Nick said as he carried their cases out into the car and they all climbed in.
It only took them 20 minutes to reach the airport, just in time for check in. They headed straight inside and much to their relief there was no Que what so ever at the check in desk so they went straight through Airport security without any problems what so ever and straight into the departure lounge where they could sit back and relax for 15 minutes before the boarding gates opened.
"I've forgot my pony" Phoebe gasped, realising that she had left her teddy behind at home. A look of worry came across her face, she never went anywhere without it and couldn't sleep without her teddies.
Zoe looked at Nick, she knew they would forget something.
"How about we go and choose a new teddy?" Nick suggested, trying to calm her down as she became more and more upset.
"OK" She agreed, taking Nick's hand as they stood up, but still sulking at the thought of not having her pony.
"She's such a baby" Maisie mocked as Nick and Phoebe headed off to duty free.
"You were just the same" Zoe said, shaking her head at Maisie's comment.
"I hope not" Maisie said, putting her headphones in and listening to her iPod.
The gate was now opening and Nick and Phoebe were still not back so Zoe started to become a little concerned. Eventually she saw them making their way over, Phoebe happily skipping along with a new teddy in her hand.
"Look mum, it's a unicorn" She held her toy out for Zoe to see.
"Oh wow" Zoe said looking at it "aren't you a lucky girl" She said, flashing Nick a smile at how happy he had now made her.
"Come on it's time to board" Nick said, ushering them all to their allocated gate.
As they boarded the plane the air hostess noticed Zoe's now noticeable bump "If you need anything like pillows, just give us a buzz madam" She smiled, which Nick and Zoe thanked her for and she also pointed them into the direction of their seats.
"Here we are" Nick pointed as they walked down the gangway of the plane and reached their allocated seats. They were right in the middle of the plane, looking over the wings, much to Phoebe's delight who had gone on all week about where she wanted to sit. The plane was pretty quiet, which was considered seeing as it was still school term time and there weren't many children on the plane at all.
"Can I sit by the window dad" Phoebe excitedly asked Nick, trying to shuffle her way past him in the tight gangway so that she could get to the window seat before her brother or sister did.
"Of course you can sweetheart" Nick said as she made her way into the seat. They were seated so that they had 1 row consisting of 3 seats each side of the gangway.
"Sit with me" Phoebe excitedly pleaded to her dad, patting the empty seat beside her indicating to him that she wanted him to sit with her.
Nick nodded and took the empty seat beside her, "Maisie are you going to sit with your mum?" He said as they still hadn't sat down yet.
"Yeah OK" Maisie agreed, knowing that this was more of an order than a question. She was happy to sit with her mum anyway, she didn't want her younger brother and sister annoying her during their approximate 3 hour flight.
Zoe and Maisie took their seats on the opposite side of the gangway. Maisie took the middle seat so that she was close to the window and Zoe took the isle seat, whilst Ollie decided to sit beside Nick so that he was in between both his mum and dad, he was a little apprehensive about flying unlike his sisters who were bouncing with energy at thought of take off.
When everybody was finally seated they had to wait around 30 minutes for bad weather to clear before the pilot pushed down the runaway and climbed into the sky.
As they wheels lifted off the ground, Phoebe's excitement had definitely worn off while Ollie was now enjoying the experience, "Dad I don't like it" Phoebe cried in fear at the strange feeling of lifting high into the sky.
"It'll be over soon baby" He tried to calm her down, holding her hand tightly for comfort as she closed her eyes for take off to be over.
They were then soon high in the sky gliding at an impressive pace and were allowed to now take their seat belts off and get out any devices.
3 hours later they eventually touched down at Fiumicino Airport in the city of Rome and all excitedly exited the plane, lucky for them the sun was shinning and the temperature was slightly warmer than the dull cold day they had left behind in England. They quickly made their way into the airport to collect their luggage excited to start their holiday.