It was 5pm, Gabby had just put Leo down to sleep. She was in her best evening dress and she'd done her hair and makeup. She had a bag on her arm, she was wearing high heeled shoes and she had a little red sparkly dress with a ballerina style net skirt with matching shoes. "So you're okay to watch him by yourself?" She asked Mark, who was sitting in the lounge watching the TV. "I'll be fine, Gabby." He laughed and rolled his eyes. "It's not the first time I've watched him by myself."
Gabby went over next door, and Alba opened the door. She'd been watching out for her like her mum told her to. "Hi Gabby!" She said, holding her arms out to be hugged. Gabby bent down and hugged her. "Hi Alba!" Alba took her by the hand and pulled her into the house, closing the door. "Is that Sophia's dress?" She asked excitedly. Everyone in the house knew what was going on except Sophia. "Yes it is," Gabby showed the dress to Alba, who squealed. "I have one like that!" She touched the sequins. "It's so pretty!" She ran up the stairs to get Sophia.
Sophia jumped down the stairs two at a time and hugged Gabby tight. "Gabby! Alba said you were here to get me! What's going on?"
Gabby bent down to hug Sophia. "Better go up and get ready quickly, baby girl." She said.
"Why?" Sophia asked.
"I'm taking you to your first party."
6.45 pm
Gabby stopped outside the Lucky Voice club, but Sophia walked right past it. "Sophia!" Gabby called her back. Sophia turned, came back, and stared up at the club, reading the sign. "Lucky Voice." She stared at Gabby. "This is a cocktail bar! It's for grown ups I can't go in."
Gabby smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry Soph, it's a karaoke bar as well, and they have pizza. You are going to be the only kid, but guess what? It's your dad's surprise party! So you have to be there." Sophia squealed excitedly. "My daddy! It's his birthday! I'm so excited!" She ran inside and started talking excitedly to some of the staff. Gabby followed her in and led her upstairs to the room the party was being held in.
Joseph's parents were there, and so were all Joseph's friends and family. They hugged and kissed Gabby, and when they saw Sophia they all went crazy over her, because like Gabby they hadn't seen her since she was a baby. "I can't believe you're blonde!" Joseph's mum said. "Your hair was just like Amy's, so dark."
"Is it naturally blonde, Sophia?" Joseph's dad asked. Sophia giggled. "No, it's dyed!" She said, and lifted a piece of her hair up. "It's starting to go dark again already, see?" The others all leaned closer to see her hair in the dim light in the room.
Outside the club
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"Jules, I really don't think this is a good idea." Amy said, hanging around outside the door. Juliette tugged her arm. "Why not?"
"Well," Amy pulled at her tight red dress. "A pregnant woman in a bar isn't a good idea, for one. Second, I don't want to see Joseph, he's mad at me for upsetting then losing his daughter. And so are his family, who are all going to be there." Juliette rolled her eyes and pulled Amy's arm again. "Those aren't problems, Amy! You can have a virgin cocktail or a lemonade or something like that. And they're not mad at you or Gabby wouldn't have invited you and the others would have made her uninvite you if they were mad at you." Amy stopped trying to pull her arm away to think, and when she did Juliette used one arm to push the door open and the other to drag Amy inside.
When the two of them got to the upstairs room Gabby had told them to go to, she found them straight away and kissed them both on the cheek. "Juliette, Amy! I'm so glad you both made it! You're just in time, Joseph just texted me and he'll be here in two minutes, so find yourselves a seat and get ready to surprise him!" She said and disappeared into the crowd of people. Juliette sat down, and Amy stood there looking slightly lost in the crowd until Juliette pulled her into the seat next to her.
