Saturday 7th January 2033
With Ella, 14, and Daniel, 18, sitting at their dining room table, Sam and Tom had decided to discuss finances with their children on the rare occasion that both of their offspring were at home and not with their partners or friends.
"Right, to put it simply, me and your dad won a bit of money on the postcode lottery about 13 or 14 years ago-"
"How much?" Daniel asked eagerly.
"None of your concern." Sam replied slowly. "But, we would like to pay for you two to go to university so that you don't end up with a massive student loan debt." Sam added.
"What? So like, for my tuition fees?" Daniel asked curiously, as he was going to be studying medicine at the University of Bristol which he would be starting in September.
"Well, we're going to pay for your tuition fees, accommodation and cost of living fees, but that doesn't mean that you can go mad and buy whatever you want; we will be giving you budgets and things like that." Tom explained.
"Seriously though, how much did you win on that lottery because my tuition fees are going to be £45,000 alone." Daniel asked.
"Don't worry your little head about that, we've got enough for both of you to go through university." Sam stated as she glanced at Ella so that she knew she was involved in the conversation too. "And there is something else we wanted to talk to you about." Sam began. "Before Daniel goes off to university, we want to take you two on a holiday somewhere in the summer and we wanted to ask you guys where you'd like to go." Sam stated.
"I'm not going anywhere without Elodie." Daniel stated bluntly.
"If he gets to take Elodie, I have to bring Ivy." Ella stated as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Honestly, can't you two go anywhere without your girlfriends?" Tom huffed.
"I'm sure you and mum were the same when you were our age." Daniel protested.
"I wasn't actually, because in 'those days' as you like to call my era, I wasn't allowed a boyfriend until I was 18." Sam stated. "Plus, me and your dad didn't meet each other until about two years before we had you Daniel so no, we weren't like that at your ages." Sam added.
"Well if Elodie can't come then I'm staying here at home." Daniel said adamantly.
"So am I." Ella added.
"You're not staying at home, you're not old enough." Sam said sternly to her daughter.
"What?"
"Right, we'll let you bring your girlfriends, if, we will sit down and have dinner together - not all separately - and do activities together or just do things together. Agreed?" Tom queried.
"Only if me and Elodie have a room to ourselves." Daniel added.
"Deal." Tom said quickly before Ella made more demands. He and Sam knew that their son was sexually active, but he was 18 and had been with her since he was 14 - give and take a few petty arguments that they would soon make up after - and given that he was over 16, they couldn't stop him. All they could do was make sure that he was practicing safe sex by using protection and that they did it discreetly and in a private location.
"Right, what sort of holiday do we want then?" Sam asked.
"Nowhere by plane, Elodie hates flying." Daniel stated.
"A cruise?" Tom suggested.
"No, I don't want to get stuck on a boat and then hear that everyone's got struck down with a vomiting bug." Sam stated. "Wait. There was that leaflet that came through the front door the other day." Sam stated as she got to her feet and got a bit of paper out of the kitchen draw and placed it on the dining table.
"Centre Parcs?" Daniel complained.
"Oh come on. Look, we'll stay in our own cabin and there are all sorts of things you can do like horse riding, swimming, climbing, bike rides, nice walks, quad biking, high ropes courses, golf, canoeing. There's are loads of things to do, there's bound to be something you'll like." Sam stated. "Look, there're three bedroom cabins so you and Elodie can go in one, and you and Ivy can share another." Sam added.
"Will I be allowed to go off separately with Elodie?" Daniel questioned.
"As long as we haven't got an activity to do together, then yes. You can." Tom nodded. "Tell you what, we'll plan the activities before we leave, and then you two can plan what you want to do with your girlfriends in the spare time."
"Well, you book it, I'll go and tell Elodie." Daniel stated before he disappeared up to his.
"And you have to keep the snogging to a minimum around me and your mum." Tom shouted.
"I don't know what you're smirking at, that means you as well." Sam said to her daughter. "Go on, go and tell Ivy." Sam smiled as she watched her daughter pull her phone out of her pocket and run upstairs.
"I think I've finally hit menopause and finished completely." Sam admitted as she and her husband got ready for bed.
"Really? I thought your symptoms had gotten worse if anything." Tom replied honestly.
"Well I haven't had a period for-"
"I came in at the wrong point didn't I?" Daniel interrupted as he stood in their doorway.
"Oh, so it's a crime if we enter your bedroom without knocking first but you can just walk straight in to our bedroom." Sam said sarcastically.
"Yeah well, your door was half open anyway." He shrugged.
"Did you want something?" Tom questioned.
"What? Oh, yeah. Elodie said she can come."
"And that's it?" Tom asked.
"Well I thought you wanted to know." Daniel stated.
"Yeah but it could've waited until morning." Tom chuckled. "Go on, you can stay up but keep the noise down we're going to bed now." Tom stated.
"Night." Daniel replied before he closed their bedroom door and once the coast was clear Tom went around Sam's side of the bed, sat down and pulled her onto his lap.
"You were saying?" He asked quietly.
"Um, yeah. I haven't had a period for nearly 8 months now and I took a test at work just to make sure that I'm definitely not pregnant. We've still got 7 months until we go on holiday so hopefully some of the symptoms would've passed by the time we go." Sam said optimistically. "It's just the palpitations and hot flushes that irritate me because they wake me up in the middle of the night and I have trouble sleeping."
"Well, maybe you should get some Diphenhydramine tablets from work." Tom suggested. "In fact, I think they sell them in placed like tescos and boots without needing a prescription so-"
"I'm not keen on taking sleeping pills." Sam admitted slowly whilst Tom slid his hands around her abdomen and he rested his chin on her shoulder.
"Why not?"
"Because... I just, I'd be too worried about something happening like a fire and then I'd be too drowsy and I might not wake up and-"
"Sam, this is anxiety caused by menopause, you'd never be like this normally, and you're being irrational. Do you understand that?" Tom asked as he often helped Sam overcome issues caused by menopause like self esteem problems, anxiety, mild phases of depression and mood swings. "Look, I sleep right next to you every single night. Do you think I'd ever let anything happen to you?"
"No, of course not."
"Then consider taking them if they'll help you. You wouldn't even have to take them every night; you could take them on maybe one or two weekdays when we've got work the next day and you're feeling particularly tired. And the moment you want to stop, I'll help you to. I won't let you take any more."
"Alright, I'll think about it." Sam nodded.
"Good. Right, let's get some sleep then." Tom announced as he let Sam slide off of his lap and he went and laid on bed besides her, without a duvet of course because Sam much preferred to be cold than she did hot, which often triggered her hot flushes in the night. Therefore, Tom just wore thicker pyjamas and he managed without the covers for the benefit of his wife.
"It's scary that Daniel won't be here most've the year by September." Sam admitted.
"You're not gonna get that 'empty nest syndrome' thing are you?" Tom laughed.
"No. I'm gonna get that, 'let's throw a party because I no longer have to clear up after him' thing." Sam quipped. Suddenly, Sam inhaled and placed a hand on her chest before she closed her eyes to conserve energy.
"Palpitations?" Tom questioned and Sam gave a small nod. "I think we should get you checked over by a cardiologist again. I know you had it for the palpitations when you first started getting the, but that was about 3 years ago and it wouldn't hurt just to be on the safe side."
"Fine but I'm not going anywhere near Connie Beauchamp or Jac Naylor." Sam stated adamantly after she took a few deep breaths.
Coming up: Sam, Tom, Daniel, Elodie, Ella and Ivy embark on their holiday to centre parcs!
Sorry it's a short chapter guys but I ran out of ideas for this bit. I've decided that this fic will be ending on chapter 75 because I've just got so many ideas for other fics and I hate leaving things unfinished :) Please review :)