Ellie was the first of the three people in Steve's flat to wake up, and to her dismay she still wasn't feeling great. She needed a cuddle.
Clutching Piglet and Seahorse, Ellie got out of bed and padded in to the living room where she spied her daddy fast asleep on the sofa and softly snoring.
She stared at him whilst she thought about her problem. Daddy cuddles were really nice but right now when she wasn't feeling very well, she really needed a Mummy cuddle. She remembered her Mummy giving her a cuddle when she wasn't feeling very well and it made everything better. She didn't know why. Maybe Mummy cuddles were a bit more gentle than Daddy ones. She really missed her Mummy right now.
Ellie turned her head towards Steve's bedroom as she remembered that Kate was sleeping in there. Kate wasn't her Mummy but Kate was a Mummy to Josh so she must know how to give a Mummy cuddle. Maybe she would cuddle her if she asked nicely?
Ellie turned back to Steve. She remembered promising her Daddy that she wouldn't disturb Kate which was a bit of a problem. But this was an emergency she decided, and Daddy had told her lots of times that if ever she was in trouble she should contact Kate if she couldn't speak to him. He had even shown her how to find Kate's number on his mobile phone. He would be pleased she had done the right thing she decided as she headed towards the bedroom.
Opening the door quietly, Ellie saw Kate was asleep. She could see that Kate had hurt her ankle and had lots of cuts and bruises to her face. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
Sensing she was being watched, Kate woke up. "Hey," she said sleepily to Ellie who was stood shyly at the bedroom door. "You ok?".
Ellie shook her head slowly.
Sensing what Ellie had come in to the room for, Kate pulled down the duvet on the empty side of the bed in invitation. Ellie smiled and quickly clambered on to the bed next to Kate who had the arm closest to Ellie outstretched. It didn't take the little girl long to snuggle up close to Kate, her head resting on Kate's chest. Kate instinctively wrapped her arm around Ellie and softly started stroking her hair. Ellie sighed. This was what she wanted.
"This is nice," Kate whispered. It had been a long time since she had a little person need her so much and she relished it. It was her biggest regret that Josh spent most of his time with Mark following their separation.
It wasn't long before Ellie and Kate were both fast asleep again.
In the lovong room, Steve startled awake a bit later. Rubbing his eyes to clear the sleep from them he caught sight of the time on his wrist watch. He'd been asleep for two hours! Shit! He thought as he quickly sat up. He'd better do a quick check on his patients again.
Walking in to Ellie's room he was a little shocked to find her bed empty, and Piglet and Seahorse were also missing. Thinking Ellie had probably needed a bathroom trip, he went to the closed door and gave a little knock. "Elle?" he called out gently.
Not receiving a reply, Steve opened the door. Ellie was not their either and suddenly he started to panic. Had he been that deeply asleep he had failed to notice an intruder carry his daughter off? Had Ellie just walked out of the flat? He was pretty sure that hadn't happened as he had drilled 'Stranger Danger' in to her multiple times.
Suddenly remembering there was a temporary third person in the flat, Steve's panic subsided a bit. Opening the door to his bedroom Steve breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Ellie and Kate sleeping soundly together. His daughter had obviously totally reneged on her promise but he didn't mind so much. In fact, he felt a little jealous seeing Elle with her head resting on Kate's bosom. What he would do to trade places with her right now?
Where did that thought come from? Steve wondered before he pushed it right back down again and tried to ignore his feelings.
For the second time that day, Kate sensed she was being observed and woke to find Steve staring at her this time. "Hi," she said sleepily.
"Hey," Steve said. "I was just looking for Ellie and I see I've found her," he continued to explain his presence. "How long's she been here?".
"About thirty minutes,".
"Sorry," Steve apologised. "I made her promise not to disturb you but she appears not to have able to keep it,".
"She's fine, Steve," Kate promised as she squeezed Ellie a bit tighter.
"You feeling a bit better?" Steve asked.
"Yeah," Kate said.
"Feeling up to having something to eat?".
"What you got?".
"Mum made some chicken soup. I can heat it up and do us all some toast,".
Kate's stomach grumbled at the mention of the homemade snack. It was just what she wanted. "That would be great," she decided.
"I'll get on it," Steve said. "Can you wake her up?".
"Sure," Kate replied.
By the time Steve was buttering the toast, Kate and Ellie had appeared and were sat at the table waiting for food. Thankfully Kate had put a hoodie on so Steve wouldn't be distracted by her nipples as they ate.
Ellie seemed to have turned a corner and was a little more cheerful after all the sleep she'd had that day. Over dinner she was chattering away non- stop which Steve was glad to see. He was also pleased to see both Kate and Ellie finish their food after hardly eating anything all day.
Afterwards the trio sat on the sofa and watched something of Ellie's choice. Despite the numerous hours she had already spent in bed, it wasn't long before she had crashed out on Steve's chest and he was gently tucking her in to bed.
Kate and Steve managed to watch a bit more on TV before they too were calling it a night and heading to Steve's bed to sleep. It was going to be a little awkward as it was the first time they would be sharing a bed but they were going to be adult about it. They both knew nothing was going to happen, it was just two friends sharing a bed platonically.
"I think there's a strong possibility we might get an overnight visitor," Steve warned Kate who was already in bed and taking some pain meds before she settled down. If he knew his daughter then she definitely wouldn't like being on her own if Steve and Kate were together. "I'll take her back to her room if she does decide to invade,".
"She's fine, Steve," Kate said as he joined her under the covers.
"Are you sure?".
"Positive," Kate reiterated.
Steve's prediction came true at about 2:30am when he was awoken by a little prod to his shoulder. "What's up?" he asked Ellie sleepily as she stood by the bed.
"I want to sleep with you and Kate," Ellie declared.
"OK," Steve said as he moved over to make room for Ellie. Ellie climbed on to the mattress and then started to climb over Steve as she headed for the middle of the bed. "I don't think so, Elle," Steve said.
"But I wanna sleep in the middle," Elle protested.
"You'll wake Kate," Steve whispered. She was still asleep and hadn't been woken by Elle.
"It's fine," Kate mumbled, proving she was in fact awake as she shuffled a little bit to create some space between her and Steve so that Ellie could fit between them.
Smiling, Ellie jumped over Steve and settled down between the adults. Nice and warm and snug, sandwiched between the two grown ups she was soon fast asleep again and Kate and Steve swiftly followed.