The here and now

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Hi everyone! Hope you are all enjoying reading, lots is still to come. More twists and turns and excitement! And maybe even the pitter patter of some tiny feet... You'll have to decide whether I'm talking fury feet or something else ;)

"Hey love bug!" Rachel smiled as she entered Madeline's room to see her occupational therapist with her, doing some colouring.

"Mommy!" Madeleine exclaimed joyfully.

"How's she been?" Rachel asked as she kissed Madeleine's head.

"Golden. She's really doing well. She's loving colouring and is doing really well holding her pencil." The therapist smiled as she waved goodbye to Madeleine before leaving.

"Good job!" Rachel praised as she sat beside Madeleine.


"Home?" Madeleine questioned.


"Not yet love. You need to get a little bit more better before you can come home." Rachel tried to explain as Madeleine began to cry.

"I know it's hard. But i promise as soon as you can leave, we will bring you home." Rachel reassured Madeleine who nodded sadly, unshed tears still in her eyes. 

"Anyways, I need you to get better soon as you have someone who is very desperate to meet you." Rachel smiled as she thought of Emma.

"Who?" Madeleine asked, curiously.

"Her name is Emma and she's your half-sister. So that means that she has the same daddy as you but a different mommy. Does that make sense?" Rachel asked as Madeleine frowned for a few moments before nodding.

"What's she like mama?" Madeleine asked.


"She's...She's funny. She loves books just like you and she loves the colour yellow, hates when she has to tidy her room and absolutely hates bananas." Rachel smiled.

"She doesn't like 'nanas?" Madeleine said, her eyes wide.

"Nope. But she likes her toast slightly burnt just like you do and she hates any veggies." Rachel smiled as she tickled Madeleine's stomach, making her giggle.


"Well isn't this a lovely sight!" Dr Whale smiled as he entered the room.

"Hi Dr Whale." Rachel smiled warmly as she sorted out Madeleine's sheets which had now got tangled.


"I just thought i'd pop in to tell you how well Miss Maddie is doing." Dr Whale.

"She's now begun to eat unaided again, though we are having some issues with her left wrist. Some light physical therapy should clear that issue up. She's getting used to her wheelchair and walker frame, the latter causing more issues. We want to start increasing her therapy times to twice a day to maximise the support she is getting. We've also decided to try some speech therapy too." Dr Whale explained.

"But I thought her speech wasn't affected?" Rachel asked, confused.

"It's not but she seems to be having some difficulty pronouncing some words. The quicker we help her, the less she has to struggle long term." Dr Whale replied.

"Right okay." Rachel nodded.

"If all goes well, we aim to have her discharged within the next six weeks. It just depends on how her progress goes with her walking frame." Dr Whale announced as Rachel beamed.

"That's..That'd be incredible!" Rachel smiled happily.

"Do you have any questions?" Dr Whale asked.


"Will she need support once home?" Rachel asked as she glanced at Madeleine who was now fast asleep, sucking her thumb. 

"At least at first, yes. I'm recommending she has her physical therapy at home, three times a week. But there's no point getting too ahead of ourselves. as I mentioned originally, she's on a long road." Dr Whale reassured Rachel.

"Thank you for everything." Rachel said appreciatively.

"You're welcome. I'd better get going, please don't hesitate to contact me if you or your partner have any questions." Dr Whale said as he left. 


Seeing how Madeleine was settled, Rachel decided to head home as she didn't want to disturb her. 

15 minutes later and she arrived to near chaos.


"Okay... I leave for an hour and everything goes to hell. What happened?!" Rachel asked loudly as the kids all pointed their fingers at Will.


"Hey don't blame me! You are all the ones who wanted a musical!" Will said as the twins giggled and Emma frowned.

"I can tidy it." Emma said softly.


"No baby, thank you for your offer but i can manage. Why don't you go get your book and we can read some before dinner?" Rachel suggested as Emma's eyes lit up.

"Now you two.." Rachel frowned playfully as the twins continued to laugh. 


"Can you please tidy the mess up? If you can do it within 5 minutes then I'll give you both a sticker." Rachel offered as Everleigh jumped up and quickly starting to tidy, Alex following behind.


"Can I speak to you?" Rachel asked as Will nodded.


"How was Maddie?" Will asked.

"Tired. But I think she had, had a long day already." Rachel replied as she leaned against the counter. 

"Dr Whale came and spoke to me." Rachel added.


"He did? What did he have to say?" Will asked curiously.

"He said Maddie was doing well. It's just an issue with her left wrist and her mobility that is causing issues currently." Rachel explained. 

"He wants to increase her physical therapy and start speech therapy too." Rachel continued.


"Speech? Is that necessary?" Will frowned. 

"It is. She's struggling to pronounce some words and he wants her getting help as soon as possible rather than struggling." Rachel said honestly. 

"Fair enough but i didn't think her speech was that bad." Will admitted. 

"He also said that if things go well, then hopefully she can come home in the next six weeks." Rachel beamed as Will's eyes lit up. 

"Seriously? She'll be coming home?!" Will exclaimed.


After such a long period of uncertainty and trauma, they were finally coming out the other side. 

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