Chapter 35

It was a Friday and Rachel was busy in the kitchen getting breakfast ready, it had been a particularly stressful week so she was glad that the weekend was fast approaching.

A few minutes later the girls came down, Gaby had been really quiet all week and Rachel was getting quite worried about her, it was really unlike her to be so withdrawn and she wasn't sure what was going on.

"Rachel is it still ok if I go to the cinema tonight?" Hannah asked

"Yeah, but remember we're going into town tomorrow for some shopping and I want to go early before it gets busy so don't be back late ok?"

Hannah nodded her head; she was really looking forward to going out with her friends later.

"What are your plans Gaby?" Rachel asked her daughter

Gaby just shrugged her shoulders in response.

Gaby was not herself at all at the moment, a few weeks ago she'd been at a party and had ended up having sex with one of the boys. She'd regretted it almost instantly; she'd just been so confused about her sexuality lately and wanted to try it. Ever since it had happened, she'd been consumed by anxiety, she hadn't said a word to anyone about it, but now her period was late, and she was getting more and more worried that she was pregnant.

After a while, it was time to go to school so Rachel quickly cleared up.

She shouted the girls down and Amy, Gaby and Hannah all came downstairs to get in the car.

"Where's Ivy? Rachel asked, getting frustrated as they were running late.

"I'm not sure, I think she's on the loo" Amy replied

Rachel sighed, "Why does she always leave it until we're ready to go, Ivy come on we're running late" She shouted

When Ivy still hadn't come down a minute or so later, Rachel went upstairs and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Ivy we're going to be late, are you nearly done?"

Ivy came out a few seconds later.

"Are you ok?" Rachel asked thinking she looked a bit pale

"My stomach really hurts"

"Ok, well I'll keep an eye on you, let me know if it gets any worse"

Ivy then followed Rachel downstairs and into the car. Her stomach was really hurting her and she didn't really want to go to school but knew she didn't have a choice.

They arrived at Ivy's school first and Rachel quickly dropped her off.

"Bye darling, have a good day" She said kissing her on the cheek.

Ivy then sloped off, Rachel noticed she wasn't her normal self at all and felt a bit bad for not properly checking her over before school, she'd just been in such a rush to get out the house.

She then drove into Waterloo road and the other girls all went off.

Rachel went up to her office and switched on her laptop, she sighed when she saw the amount of email that she needed to respond to.

She made herself a strong coffee and then got started on working her way through them.

By break time, Rachel was truly stressed, it seemed that she'd not stopped all morning and had another meeting to go to in just a few minutes.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

Rachel sighed, really hoping this wasn't going to be another behaviour problem being sent her way. "Yes" she called

To her surprise, Gaby opened the door, the girls would normally spend their days at school avoiding her so Rachel was surprised to see her.

"Mum can I talk to you?" Gaby asked sounding nervous

"Love I've got a meeting in a few minutes; can it wait until later? Or is It urgent?"

"No it's nothing important, it doesn't matter actually"

Gaby then quickly walked out of the office, Rachel was a bit confused by this and was about to call her back when her phone started ringing, she saw that it was Ivy's school so answered straight away.

"Hi there, is this Rachel?"

"It is, is everything ok with Ivy?"

"Not really, she'd not been herself at all this morning and she's in tears over her stomach, she's saying it really hurts. It's not like her to make a fuss, so we thought it was best for her to go home"

"Ok, I'll come and pick her up as soon as I can." Rachel said, this really was the last thing she needed today.

She quickly phoned to cancel her next meeting and then drove over to Ivy's school.

Ivy was sat in reception looking very pale and sorry for herself. She did smile though when she saw her auntie and ran over to hug her.

"Hey darling, are you not feeling well?"

"My stomach really hurts"

"Well, that's no good is it? I'm afraid though you'll have to come into work with me, it'll have to be a boring day in my office"

"Can't we go home?"

"Much as I'd love that I've got too much work to do I'm afraid"

Rachel signed Ivy out and took her bag off her, before walking back to the car.

"Has it got worse since this morning?" Rachel asked

Ivy nodded her head

"Do you feel sick?"

"A bit, but it's mainly just my tummy that really hurts"

"I wonder what's caused that?" Rachel said

When they got back, Rachel took hold of Ivy's hand and led her upstairs, Ivy always felt a bit scared when she went to Rachel's school as everyone looked so old.

"Right, I need to get on, so do you want to play on my phone or read a book quietly?"

"I'm just going to lie down"

Rachel did feel a bit worried about Ivy, it was unlike her to be so quiet.

When Ivy laid down, she tried to close her eyes and sleep, but the pain became so bad that she started to cry.

It took a few minutes for Rachel to notice as she was so caught up in her work.

When she did, she instantly went over and crouched next to her.

"Hey, hey it's ok? Is your stomach really sore?"

Ivy nodded her head.

Rachel started to wonder if something more serious was going on and began to worry it might be appendicitis.

"When did this all start huh?"

"It's been a bit sore for a few days, but it got really bad today"

"And does it hurt all over or in one area?"

"All over"

"Do you need to go to the toilet?"

"I don't know"

"Well, when did you last go?"

"I went for a wee at school"

"When did you last go for a poo?"

"I haven't been in ages"

"How long ago?"

"I think about 6 days ago"

"Ivy no wonder you're feeling poorly then! Why didn't you tell me, that can make you really poorly" Rachel said shocked by this, "Why haven't you gone in so long?"

"Because I don't like the toilets at school, people can hear me so then I hold it and now I can't go"

Rachel shook her head in disbelief, "Darling, that is so silly, everybody has to go to the toilet, it's natural and now look how poorly you've made yourself by not going"

Ivy started to cry again, "Will I be ok?"

"Yes, I'm going to try and get you a doctor's appointment and they'll be able to give you some medicine to help, but you promise me you'll never be so silly again ok?"

"Ok, my tummy really, really hurts"

"Well at least we know why now don't we?" Rachel sighed "I'm going to ring the doctors and see what they say, now try and get comfy on the sofa while I get on with some work ok?"

Ivy tried to get comfortable on the sofa and Rachel got on with her work for a bit. After a while, Ivy fell asleep, she hadn't been feeling very well last night so hadn't managed to sleep very well.

Rachel smiled when she saw Ivy asleep, she did look really cute.

The day seemed to pass quite quickly after that and before long the bell well to signal the end of school.

Before long Gaby and Amy both headed upstairs to Rachel's office, Hannah had gone straight over to her friends house

Gaby was consumed by worry now, she was sure her period would start today but there was still no sign of it, she had no idea what to do, she couldn't even begin to imagine telling her Mum. Gaby knew that she had to find out one way or another, but the thought of taking the test made her feel sick.

"Hello, you two, did you have a good day"

"Yeah, it was fun" Amy said sitting on Rachel's desk

"You know there are lots of perfectly functioning chairs in here" Rachel said sarcastically

"Why are you here Ivy?" Amy asked, ignoring Rachel's comment.

"I've got a really poorly tummy so I got sent home from school" Ivy explained, 'I've got to go to the doctors later"

"Oh really, it must be bad then"

"Yep, so I've got to take Ivy for her appointment at 5 which means unless you two want to be hanging around in the car while she goes in, we better get home quickly" Rachel said

Gaby and Amy had no problem with this at all so quickly got their stuff together and followed Rachel out.

When they got home, Gaby went straight upstairs to her room and got changed. She decided that she would nip out to get the test while her Mum was out with Ivy, it seemed like the perfect time as Rachel wouldn't be there to ask her where she was going.

A few moments later, there was a knock on her door and Rachel came in.

"Hey you, I was just coming to check you were ok, I thought you seemed a bit quiet"

"Yeah, I'm ok, just a bit tired"

"Well at least it's the weekend huh?" Rachel said, sitting on the bed next to her. 'Sorry we didn't get chance to talk earlier when you came up, I was just so stressed and busy, then Ivy's school called so I've been looking after her all day"

"Oh it's ok" Gaby said

"What was it you wanted?" Rachel asked

"Oh it was nothing really, just to ask for some extra dinner money"

Rachel couldn't help but think Gaby was acting a bit strangely.

"Are you sure, you know you can always talk to me if there is something, up don't you?"

Gaby nodded her head in response to this.

'Ok, well I need to take Ivy now, but how about when I get back, I make dinner and then once Ivy's gone to bed, me, you and Amy have a nice film night or something?"

"Yeah, that sounds good"

"Ok darling, I'll see you soon then"

Rachel gave Gaby a quick kiss on the forehead before heading out, the fact that her Mum was being so nice to her made Gaby feel even worse about everything.

As soon as Gaby heard the door go, she decided to nip out to the shop, she didn't bother telling Amy where she was going as she was worried, she'd want to come too. It didn't take Gaby long to find what she was looking for, although when she did, she felt even more anxious than before. She felt embarrassed buying it and wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.

When she got home, she rushed upstairs to the bathroom and took the test, her heart was beating fast, she had absolutely no idea what she was going to do if it did come back positive.

A few minutes later she turned over the test.

After a while, the front door opened and Rachel and Ivy came back in.

"How did you get on Ivy?" Amy asked

"I've got to have some medicine , the doctor said it doesn't taste very nice"

"Well at least it will make you better" Amy said

"Ivy why don't you go upstairs and get changed, I'm going to start cooking dinner soon"

Ivy did as she was told.

Rachel chatted to Amy for a bit in the kitchen before deciding to get changed into something a bit more comfortable herself. She put on a comfy jumper and jeans, before tying her hair back.

After she was done, she decided to start on a bit of cleaning. She went into the main bathroom and started polishing the mirror, as she was doing it something caught her eye. It looked like a set of instructions. She didn't think anything of it at first, thinking it must have fallen out the back of a medicine box, however when she went to throw it away, she got a shock when she saw it was the instructions for a pregnancy test. Rachel couldn't believe it. She rummaged in the bin and right at the bottom found the test, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was negative.

She assumed it was Amy's, as far as she knew Amy wasn't seeing anyone at the moment, she worried that she must be sleeping around.

Without taking much time to process what she had found; Rachel went straight downstairs to find Amy.

"Amy, I need to talk to you" Rachel said her voice sounding serious

"What is it?" Amy asked, confused by Rachel's sudden change of mood.

"I wasn't snooping, I just found it when I was cleaning the bathroom, now I know you're 16 and if you had a steady boyfriend I would understand but as far as I know you don't so …."

"Rachel what the hell are you talking about?" Amy asked, not understanding what this was about.

Rachel sighed, "I found the instructions for a pregnancy test in the bathroom and I know for a fact it's not mine, so let's talk about it"

"Rachel, it's not mine" Amy said genuinely

"What? It has to be, there's no one else it could …." Rachel stopped midsentence as it suddenly dawned on her, she gasped in horror, Gaby was only 14, but it all made sense now.

"No way" Amy said realising what Rachel must be thinking "It can't be hers"

"Well, it has to be" Rachel said "It's not going to be Hannah's or Ivy's is it?"

"No surely not"

Rachel went to go upstairs but Amy stopped her

"Rachel just don't go mad at her? Be calm about it" Amy said

"Excuse me but don't you tell me how I should react" Rachel snapped, before pushing Amy away slightly and marching upstairs to confront Gaby.

As she was going upstairs Ivy saw her and walked over, "Rachel will you run my bath for me, I'm tired"

"Not now, go and find Amy, I want you both to go out and get me some milk from the shop". Rachel said, needing them both out the way while she spoke to Gaby.

"But Rachel…"

"But nothing, do as I say please"

Ivy did as Rachel said and went downstairs.

Rachel opened Gaby's door, not bothering to knock

"Mum .." Gaby protested but she soon stopped when she saw the test in Rachel's hand.

"I think we need a little chat don't you?" Rachel said icily

"It's not mine" Gaby replied her voice shaking slightly, she couldn't believe she'd been so careless as to let her mum find it

Rachel just raised her eyebrows in response

"Well it is but .. but I was just being silly, I just wanted to see what one looked like"

"Oh Gaby cut the crap, you can stop with the lying"

Gaby burst into floods of tears, "Mum I'm sorry, it was so stupid I .. I …"

"Have you had sex?" Rachel asked simply

"I don't want to talk about it" Gaby cried

"Well I'm afraid you're going to have to young lady" Rachel said, her voice raising

"It was just one time, it was really stupid"

"So you have?" Rachel asked in shock

"I didn't mean to, it just sort of happened and it didn't last long, I …"

"How could you be so stupid Gaby?" Rachel shouted, "You are 14 years old, it's not even bloody legal at your age"

"I was just so confused about everything, I don't know whether I like boys or girls and I just thought …."

"You thought what? You thought you'd have sex with someone to figure it out, great idea that Gaby"

"Mum stop shouting at me"

"No you know what I won't stop shouting because I just don't believe you Gaby"

"I know it was wrong"

"Who was it with?"

"Joe Alexander, he's in the year above" Gaby sobbed

"How did it happen?"

"Do I need to draw you a picture?"

"Don't you dare try and be clever, have you got any idea how angry I am?"

"Yes, I've got a pretty good idea by the way you're screaming at me, I might have known you wouldn't understand"

Rachel just shook her head, "You know what, I can't have this conversation now" She said before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

She stormed downstairs and poured herself a large glass of red wine, thinking she needed it.

It was after a few minutes that she started to reflect on the situation, she realised how badly she'd handled it all

She knew she needed to calm, down before she tried to talk to Gaby again, she took a few more sips of her wine and sat alone with her thoughts for a bit.

After a while, she decided to go back up. This time she knocked on the door and waited for Gaby to answer.

"Gaby I'm sorry I shouldn't have shouted at you like that"

"It's ok, I know you're mad at me" Gaby said

"Yes I am" Rachel said sighing and sitting down next to her, "But I do also want to talk about it properly with you"

"I don't know why I did it, I think since me and Ellie broke up, I've just been so confused and I thought I might know better if I had sex with a boy whether I fancied them or not and well it just sort of happened"

"Gaby you're so young, now I know that figuring out your sexuality is difficult, and I'll support you no matter what you are, it makes no difference to me, but you've got years and years to figure that out, you didn't need to rush into this" Rachel said "Sex is … well it's a big deal and not something to do because you think you should or to rush into"

"If I remember rightly I found you in bed with Daniel after you'd only just brought him round"

"Well I'm quite a bit older than you, and when you're an adult sex is something that can be fun and exciting .."

"Ew Mum that's gross"

"Well I'm just saying, it's important that as an adult it's something that you have a healthy relationship with, but not now Gaby .. not yet"

"I hated it Mum" Gaby said starting to cry again

"Oh darling, come here" Rachel said pulling her into her chest "It's ok, it's all going to be ok, you made a mistake but that's ok, you'll get through it"

"I was just so stupid"

"Did you use protection?"

"Yeah but now my periods really late and I'm scared"

"How long ago did this happen?"

"About three weeks"

"The pregnancy test would have been positive by now if you were pregnant and if you used protection, I think it's safe to say you're not pregnant. But you have got to learn from this Gaby ok?"

"I will I promise"

"Ok, is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about while it's just the two of us?"

Gaby shook her head, wanting this conversation to be over.

"Right well I'm going to start making dinner so why don't you sort your face out and then come down and watch some telly with Amy?

"Ok, thanks Mum, I love you"

"I love you too"