Lucy's POV:
We had an afternoon flight today, so we were able to sleep in a little bit longer. I woke up at 8:30 to Ellie crawling on my chest. I gently sat up and noticed Charlie was also awake and was sitting up in bed. I spotted Keira still fast asleep beside me. I carefully got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to get changed. When I came back Charlie went into the bathroom and got ready, while I picked out some clothes for Ellie and started getting her changed. Luckily for me she wasn't too fidgety and I got her changed pretty quickly. I tried to put on her shoes, but gave up when she started kicking her feet. While I got Ellie changed, Keira started to wake up. Once I'd given up on putting Ellie's shoes on, she spotted that Keira was awake and crawled over on the bed to her.
While I was sat chilling on the bed with Keira in the bathroom, getting changed, with Ellie, who was very clingy this morning, Charlie came over to me and stood between my legs. I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her onto my lap. "We will have that visit when we get back to England", I told Charlie as I rubbed her back. She just cuddled into my chest more as an answer. Charlie mumbled something I didn't catch, "I didn't hear you", I gently said. "You'll be there right ?", she quietly said, hiding her face in my neck. "I promise", I replied wrapping her tightly in my arms.
Soon enough we were all headed down for breakfast. I had packed our suitcases up before we left to quicken everything up. Down at breakfast, Charlie sat beside me eating toast because unfortunately there was no Coco Pops left. Charlie hadn't said much since I told her about the upcoming visit. Keira had her hands full with Ellie who was very fussy and clingy this morning.
After a while, it was time to head to the airport. I handed our suitcases to a staff member to put in the bus and then took Keira's small bag and put it above the seats. I saw Keira coming over with Ellie fast asleep in her arms and her dummy in her mouth. I gently smiled at her and moved out of the way so she could sit at the window. She gave me a quick kiss as she passed. Charlie hopped up the bus stairs and walked down the aisle towards me. "Can I sit with you ?", she asked quietly. I didn't respond, instead I just picked her up and sat her down on my lap. Keira looked over at us and smiled.
We arrived at the airport and headed through security with no issues. Once we boarded the plane, I sat with Charlie beside me and Keira had Ellie across the aisle from us. The plane journey wasn't too bad, just a bit boring.
Once we landed back in England we all got on the bus and headed to St George's Park.
We arrived at SGP at 8pm, Charlie was tired and remained pretty quiet but Ellie was wide awake and made it very clear she wasn't the slightest bit tired, so I took her from Keira and kept her entertained to give Keira a break. We headed for a quick dinner, and then we decided to go to the chill room. Charlie hung with Leah as they both watched some football match on the tv. I turned to Keira and told her "I think now's the time to talk", she nodded and then looked around to see who could look after Ellie. "Alex, would you mind looking after Ellie ?", Keira asked Alex who was watching a game of table tennis. "Yeah, course", Alex replied taking Ellie from me and tickling her. While Alex kept Ellie entertained me and Keira slipped out of the room.
I held her hand as we walked down the hallway to an empty meeting room, I closed the door behind us and took the seat beside Keira.
"Yesterday, after the game, when you took Charlie to get the jersey, a staff member came up to me, saying there was someone in the stands asking for Charlie", I tell Keira, who had taken my hand and intertwined our fingers, allowing me to continue. "So I went over to see who it was and it was Mr and Mrs Lowry", I took a breath before I continued. "I went over to them and asked them if I could help them, and they said that they had the right to meet Charlie, and that I had no right keeping her from them", Keira looked over at me and nodded. "I remained calm, I didn't say anything that they could use against me in court, and told them that we would arrange for them to meet Charlie when we got back here". Keira looked at me and replied "I'm glad you didn't blow up after what they said, but what they said is wrong, you didn't keep her from them, they never tried to see her", I nodded as I listened to her, knowing it was their stupidity not to get to know Charlie all those years ago. "I told Charlie, this morning, that's why she's been pretty quiet all day". Keira nodded and then we just sat there in a comfortable silence. I looked at the time and said "we better get back, before Alex decides she never wants kids", Keira laughed and got up. I took her hand and we headed back to the chill room where we took Ellie back from Alex who didn't seem too exhausted. We sat with the other girls watching the match, before Ellie made it known that she wanted her bottle. Keira went to make the bottle, while I walked around the room, trying to settle Ellie and keep her cries to the minimum. Once Keira returned with the bottle, Ellie was quiet and lay on my chest with the bottle in her mouth. Charlie went over and cuddled into Keira's side. "Kei, will you come with me to the visit, with mum too ?", I heard Charlie whisper to Keira. "Don't worry, I'll be there the whole time", Keira whispered back.
Me and Keira decided to head to bed as it was nearly 10:30pm. I carried Ellie while Keira and Charlie walked slowly behind me. Once we reached the room, we all got dressed and ready for bed. I said goodnight to Charlie and then gently placed Ellie in her bed next to Charlie's. Keira came in and said goodnight to them both too. I was soon joined by Keira in our room and we both quickly fell asleep.
