Friday 7th April 2023, 7pm

"Will you stop bouncing about like you're going to wet yourself?" Tom laughed at his 4 year old daughter's behaviour because Tom had just carried the second large, heavy cardboard box into the back garden which contained various parts for a brand new trampoline that Sam and Tom had bought.

"But... But..."

"But you're excited?" Tom suggested.

"Yeah!" Ella nodded.

"Well the longer you're out here, the more likely you are to distract me. And if you distract me, then it's going to take longer for me to put it together." Tom stated. "Go on, go inside and play with mummy and Daniel for a while and I'll call you out here as soon as it's finished." Tom ordered and so Ella skipped into the house and into the living room where Sam was polishing the coffee table and the 8 year old Daniel was reluctantly cleaning up the toys and putting them into the toy box.

"I told you daddy wouldn't need a helping hand." Sam laughed as her grumpy daughter toddled into the room. "Here, you sit down. I'm nearly finished." Sam said as she put the cloth down and then lifted her daughter onto the sofa.

"Mummy, what's this?" Daniel asked curiously as he stood with a small wooden box with paw prints on it.

"Don't touch that!" Sam ordered as she jumped over and grabbed it out of his clumsy little hands. "I'm sorry, okay. But this this very precious and I don't want you touching it." Sam let out a sigh of relief once she had it in her hands.

"But what is it?" Daniel asked confusedly.

"It's Zoe's ashes." Sam stated but Daniel was still confused so Sam lifted Daniel onto the sofa next to his sister and then crouched down on the carpet. "When pets, or people, die, you can either bury their body, or you can have them cremated, which basically means burnt and then you get their ashes, which is just like the powder you get at the bottom of a fire, but it's the ashes of your loved one. This box, has Zoe's ashes in it." Sam explained.

"Who's Zoe?" Daniel asked.

"Well you know that Panda and Alex are Shadow's puppies, well they're not puppies anymore, but Shadow is their mum. Shadow had another little girl called Zoe, but she was put down because she..." Sam trailed off as she felt her eyes watering at the sad memory. "Zoe was a very brave dog and she died for being a very, very loyal friend." Sam smiled sadly as she remembered that Zoe had been put down after being called 'vicious' for protecting Daniel when he was very young, from another dog.

"But why do you keep them?" Daniel asked.

"Because Zoe was a part of out family. And I wanted to keep her close." Sam stated. "I keep her ashes on the fireplace, so that whenever I see the box, I remember how brave she was." Sam stated as she put the box back in its place. "I don't want either of you touching that box okay?" Sam said sternly and Ella shook her head in reply.

"I won't." Daniel stated.

"Right, who's going on first?" Tom shouted through the house and suddenly, Daniel and Ella appeared out of nowhere, closely followed by Sam as they went out to the garden where, at the side of the grassy area was a large circular trampoline with a net around it for safety.

"Me! Me! Me!" Both of the kids shouted but Tom stood in the way of the ladder and zip in the net where they could climb on.

"I don't know, mummy who do you think should get to go first?" Tom asked.

"Me." Sam replied bluntly.

"Let me rephrase that, which of the kids should go on first?" Tom queried.

"Well before you announced that this was finished, Ella asked to go to the toilet so Daniel can go first while I take her to the bathroom." Sam stated.

"Muuuuum." Ella moaned.

"Come on, otherwise you'll have an accident." Sam said as she put her hands on Ella's shoulders and guided her back inside. Meanwhile, Tom unzipped the vertical zip on the trampoline net and Daniel climbed on. Daniel bounced as high as he could for a few minutes until Sam came back out with Ella who was holding her hand.

"Right, come on. Off you get Daniel." Tom ordered and Daniel had one last bounce before he climbed off.

"You want me to come on with you?" Sam asked as Ella kept a hold of Sam's hand and dragged her to the trampoline.

"Yeah." Ella nodded.

"Right, take your shoes off first." Sam stated as she lifted Ella up onto the edge of the trampoline and pulled her trainers off before Ella scrambled onto the centre of the trampoline but she got a little wobbly and fell back onto her bum. "Oops, you okay?" Sam asked worriedly as she climbed on and lifted Ella up onto her feet.

"Yeah." Ella nodded again and Sam smiled as she stood behind her daughter and held both of her tiny hands, though it was Ella who was holding on tight, not Sam.

"She's not even bouncing." Daniel moaned as he waited for his next go and Ella frowned before she looked up at Sam.

"Leave her alone, one: she's never been on a trampoline before and you have, and two: she only learnt to climb up the stairs a few months ago, and she's doing really well." Sam said as she gave Ella's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Right, bend your knees a little bit and then stand back up." Sam instructed as she held Ella and gently used her weight advantage over Ella to move up and down a few inches on the black stretchy material, but she didn't lift her child's feet off of it yet because she wanted to get her used to it. After a few minutes of bending and then standing back up, Sam decided to continue. "Good girl. Right, do you want to try and bounce? Ready, three, two, one, jump!" Sam smiled as she held Ella's hand tightly and lighted her off of the trampoline but Ella didn't jump, it was just Sam's strength pulling her up. "That's it, now put your legs back down." Sam said and Tom laughed as Ella kept her knees bent but she soon adjusted and landed back on her feet.

Saturday 6th April 2024, 7:30am

Tom opened his sleepy eyes after being awoken by a familiar noise, but because he was still pretty groggy, it took him a few moments until he realised that that noise, was his wife laughing. She wasn't besides him, and the noise wasn't loud enough for him to be in the same room so he got up, pulled back the curtains and looked out in the back garden where he saw Sam sitting at the edge of the trampoline inside of the net. He frowned in confusion before he pulled his thick blue dressing gown on over his boxers and padded downstairs. He went into the back garden where he found both his wife and daughter who were still in their pyjamas. Sam was sitting at the edge of the trampoline whilst Ella walked around with a bounce in her step on the trampoline.

"What on earth are you doing up at this time of the morning?" Tom complained.

"Ella came and woke me up because she wanted to come out on here again." Sam stated happily. "Look, watch this. Ella, say hello to Daddy." Sam said encouragingly and Tom watched as Ella faced away from him, put her legs slightly apart, bent over, put her hands out in front of her and then looked at Tom from between her legs, upside down with her hair falling below her.

"'Ello!" Ella giggled.

"Hello." Tom chuckled.

"Y'know this trampoline was a really good idea, because she pretty much can't hurt herself on it because she can't bounce yet, she can't undo the zip on the net and it's a soft landing." Sam stated.

10pm

Sam and Tom had just gone upstairs to go to bed, with both of their children already fast asleep and Sam went into the ensuite bathroom first. Tom was sitting on the edge of the bed in his boxers, when a couple of minutes later Sam came out.

"Tom..."

"Yeah?" Tom replied as he turned around to face his unusually pale wife.

"I um... I'm sorry but I don't feel very well and I haven't got... I didn't realise, but last time used up everything and I've got nothing left and I've just started so I'm using a panty liner but it's heavy so I can't wear them all night and-" Sam explained disjointedly before she was interrupted.

"Hey, don't get upset about it. It's alright, I'll go and get what you need now." Tom stated as he eagerly got up and pulled his jeans on over his boxers.

"I'm not upset, my eyes are watering because it's really painful." Sam admitted as she wiped underneath her eyes and then sniffed.

"Have you taken painkillers?" Tom queried.

"Paracetamol and ibuprofen." Sam nodded. "I've just got to wait for them to kick in."

"Alright, well if you text me the brand and type of whatever you want, I'll leave now okay? I'll be as quick as I can." Tom stated as he pulled on a shirt.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Tom smiled as he grabbed his wallet and then headed downstairs.

Tom arrived home carrying a bag for Sam and he quickly grabbed something from the kitchen and headed upstairs where he found Sam standing in their bedroom.

"There you go. And I got you a couple of other bits too." Tom winked and Sam emptied the bag onto the bed to find two packs of pads and a box of tampons that she had requested, as well as a bar of chocolate, some ibuprofen just in case they ran out and a tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, cookie dough flavour. "I know your weakness." Tom grinned.

"Thank you." Sam whispered as she went on her tiptoes and kissed Tom passionately on the lips for a few moments, before she grabbed the sanitary products and took them to the ensuite bathroom with her. After sorting herself out, she came into the bedroom where Tom was already in bed, and he was sitting with her ice cream and a single spoon. "Are you gonna spoon feed me?" Sam joked halfheartedly.

"I am actually." Tom stated bluntly and Sam smiled as she got into bed besides him and he put a spoonful of the ice cream into her mouth.

"I'm so lucky to have you." Sam said quietly as she snuggled into his side.

"Luck, had nothing to do with it." Tom quipped.

"Well thank you, I feel a lot better than I did earlier."

"Good." Tom smiled as he nicked a bit of the ice cream and then gave some to Sam again. He continued to feed Sam and himself until the tub was empty and then he snuggled up to his wife and comforted her until she fell asleep.

Sunday 7th April 2024, 8am

Sam slowly opened her eyes to find that crouched in front of her, was her husband holding a steaming mug. In the early hours of the Sunday morning, Sam had woken up in agony because of her period, and she had tried to remain silent because her 4 year old daughter and her 8 year old son were fast asleep. But thankfully, Tom had looked after her well, as he always did, and he had given her an abdominal massage until she managed to get back to sleep.

"How're you feeling?" Tom asked softly.

"Alright now." Sam forced a smile as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Thank you, for what you did last night." Sam said gratefully.

"That's alright." Tom smiled. "Here, I made you a hot chocolate."

"Oh, thanks." Sam slowly sat up and then received the beverage.

"Now, I know you're gonna deny this but it is scientifically proven - by my own personal research - that you're usually a little bit down and grumpy whenever you come on, so how about we do something that'll cheer you up?" Tom suggested.

"Depends what it is." Sam replied sheepishly.

"Well, I know you're excited about this one month holiday to America that you keep on coming up with ideas for, so, we're going to spend the entire day coming up with the itinerary for it, and by tonight, we will have hopefully booked it for next year." Tom explained. "Do you think that'll cheer you up?" Tom grinned as he saw the smile on Sam's face.

"I think it might." Sam smiled. "But I don't want us to tell the kids yet. I want use to give it to them as a surprise or something."

"Yep, sure." Tom nodded.

8pm

"So, do you want to just read through the list of what we want to book before we actually book it?" Tom suggested to his wife as the pair sat next to each other on the sofa with Sam's laptop and a notepad, whilst Ella and Daniel played with their building blocks and tried to make a big tower.

"Yep, sure." Sam nodded as she took the notepad off of him and began reading Tom's scribbled notes.

'~Return flights (London Heathrow - Orlando International Airport) including inflight meals and snacks x 4 = £2264

~Disney Family Package for four (14 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge, 14 day ultimate Disney ticket, Disney deluxe dining plan (3 free meals and 2 free snacks per day, and a refillable mug.), Free use of Disney transport and $200 'free' Disney dollars.) = £4210

~Discovery Cove 1 day tickets (including swimming with dolphins) x 4 = £880

~Sea World 1 day ticket x 4 = £150

~£1000 ($1709) budgeted spending money for extras, meals, souvenirs etc in the first two weeks.

~7 nights Sunset Vista Beachfront suite, Florida Keys, self catering = £537

~7 nights Blue Marlin Hotel, Florida Keys, self catering = £577

~14 day car rental = £210

~Food, activities, toiletries etc for 2 weeks = £1000 ($1709)

~Insurance for 4 people, for 4 weeks = £55

TOTAL = £10882'

"Um... Yeah. I think we've sorted everything out." Sam nodded. "The only other thing is the dogs, but I'll speak to Fletch about maybe paying Evie or Mikey to look after them and walk them. That way we won't have to pay for a kennel, and Fletch'll be happy because he says the kids are always pestering him for money."

"Mummy, what're you talking about?" Daniel asked curiously.

"Er, noth- Ella!" Sam quickly threw the notepad at Tom, jumped up and hoisted Ella into the air as she saw the tower of blocks tilt towards her little girl. And Sam had saved Ella just in time as the blocks let out an almighty crash as they fell to the ground where Ella had previously been standing. "What have I told you about building those things too high?" Sam scalded as she balanced Ella on her hip, but the little girl, who wasn't so little anymore, immediately burst into tears. "Don't cry." Sam sighed as she let her daughter bury her head into her mother's chest and Sam rubbed her back. "I only told you off a bit because I don't want you getting hurt." Sam said softly but Ella just clenched some of Sam's thick, long hair in her fists and sobbed into Sam's plain blue zip-up hoodie. "Right, I'm gonna take her up to bed." Sam said over the wailing, to her husband, and Tom knew that bedtime for Ella took a while until she would go to sleep.

"Okay, me and Daniel'll have a quick game of footie in the garden and then we'll be up too." Tom smiled and Daniel jumped and headed outside with his father whilst Sam carried Ella who was still crying, upstairs.

Sam was getting a little worried about how slowly Ella was learning to speak because she often relied on Sam or Tom to understand what she meant. But she had taken Ella to the doctors and there was nothing more she could do except encourage her daughter to talk and read books aloud.

"Why are you crying?" Sam moaned as she put Ella down on her own two feet in the pink palace that was her bedroom.

"It hurt!" Ella shouted which took Sam by surprise as her daughter toddled over in her room to a corner and sat down on the carpet.

"What hurts?" Sam asked worriedly as she crouched down in front of Ella.

"My tummy." Ella mumbled.

"Well why didn't you say?" Sam asked.

"Because... I... Daniel hate me when I'm ill and I don't like it." Ella said disjointedly as tears began rolling down her cheeks again.

"Daniel doesn't hate you when your ill, Daniel loves you just like you love him." Sam said reassuringly though she did know that Daniel got frustrated when Ella had a nosebleed or something similar occurred because of her disease because it meant that Ella got more attention. "Look, do you think you can go to the toilet for me? You need to go before bed anyway but if you could have a poo, that'd be great and it might make you feel a bit better." Sam forced a smiled as she lifted Ella up and carried her to Sam and Tom's ensuite bathroom and closed the door behind the pair of them, because Sam had a feeling that the only reason that Ella's stomach was causing her discomfort, was because the Von Willebrand disease was causing bleeding in her digestive system and often resulted in blood in her stools or urine. And if Sam had evidence of Ella passing blood, the she saw no harm in giving her a very small dose clotting factor to prevent more bleeding from occurring.

"Okay." Ella nodded as she pulled her jeans down and she got herself on the toilet. Sam had to stifle a laugh as she caught a glimpse of her daughter's screwed up face in the corner of her eye but after a few minutes, Ella jumped up, pulled her trousers up and then got down from her step.

"Ella, has it been like this before?" Sam asked worriedly as she saw that her daughter's urine was slightly amber, tinted with blood and there was also specks of blood in her stools too. Ella stepped back up and looked into the toilet bowl out of curiosity.

"Don't know. Why?" Ella asked innocently.

"Well if it is like this again, can you tell me? Because your wee is supposed to be slightly yellow, or near enough clear and your poo isn't supposed to have this blood in it." Sam stated.

"Okay." Ella nodded before she went over to the sinks to wash her hands and after doing so, Sam lifted Ella up and sat her on the counter between the two sinks.

"Let's clean your face because you're all red." Sam stated as her daughter's tear stained face was not pleasant so Sam gently wiped cool water over Ella's skin and under her eyes before she patted it dry with a hand towel. "Right, let's go and get you some clotting factor, and some warm milk." Sam smiled as she lifted Ella onto her hip, went downstairs and sat Ella on the kitchen counter. Whilst Ella was occupied watching Daniel and Tom play football in the garden through the window, Sam injected Ella's clotting factor into her arm and then gave it a little rub before she put a small circular plaster over the puncture wound to prevent a bleed. She warmed up a pink cup of milk and then added a drop of vanilla extract to give the milk a bit of flavour because Ella liked vanilla milk, before Sam carried the cup and Ella upstairs into her bedroom. "It's still a bit hot so let's get you changed into your pyjamas first and let the milk cool down."

After giving Ella her milk, letting her brush her teeth and helping Ella read a bedtime story out loud, Sam managed to get Ella to slip off into a deep sleep as she clutched parts of the duvet in her fists, just like she would with Sam's hair - without pulling it - because it was a comforting gesture.

"Night night Ella." Sam whispered as she gently kissed her daughter on the head and then went into her bedroom where Tom was already lying in bed.

"You took your time." Tom commented. "I've already tucked Daniel in and he's fast asleep."

"Ella wanted to finish the end of the book so we took a bit longer." Sam shrugged as she got changed into her pyjamas and then went into the bathroom. After using the bathroom, Sam switched the light off and slid into bed besides her husband. "I cannot wait until next summer to go on holiday." Sam whispered.

"I know. A whole month, of spending time with the kids, relaxing and having fun. It sounds fantastic." Tom grinned as he wrapped his arms around Sam and kissed the top of her head.

"Do you think Ella's going to be okay? What if she has an accident and she starts bleeding or-"

"The odds of that happening as just as low as they are for her getting injured here Sam, Ella will be completely fine." Tom stated. "Anyway, how're you feeling? Did the holiday planning cheer you up?" Tom asked.

"I didn't need cheering up." Sam protested quietly.

"Yes you did, you were grumpy this morning and now you're smiling."

"It's dark, how can you tell if I'm smiling or not?" Sam retorted.

"Just go to sleep." Tom chuckled softly as he rubbed his arms up and down her back and slowly, he felt her become heavier as she fell into a peaceful sleep.

Coming up: There's an outbreak of the winter vomiting bug at Daniel's primary school and he unfortunately is sent home sick. Who else of the Kent Family will get ill? And who will avoid the horrendous illness?

Thanks for reading, please review :)