Floral

TWENTY FIVE

Flo POV:

"Lux?" I see her nodding as I look in my mirror. "What are shiny stars?"

"Mama says if I get enough school stars Uncle Harry has an extra special surprise."

Hmm, I haven't heard anything about this but then again why would I. A surprise eh? Now I'm curious about what it is, I'll have to ask Harry about that.

"How many stars do you have to get Luxy?"

"Twenty, I have twelve already!"

We've reached the venue, it's already quarter past two so Lux is a little late, five more minutes won't hurt. I unbuckle my seat belt and clamber into the back seat next to Lux.

"Aunt Flo, what're you doing?!" She squeals before climbing onto my lap. I hug her tightly and kiss the top of her head.

"Well, you've been such a good girl working for those stars..." Lux nods again, "that Aunt Flo thinks you can have a treat when you get to fifteen."

Lux's eyes widen in excitement, she wraps her arms round my neck and hugs me tightly. "Don't tell mummy or Uncle Harry when he rings, okay? Our secret. The surprise can be whatever you want...ice cream? The cinema? Swimming?"

"Yeah!" She nods. "Let's go party." With a laugh, I open the door and climb out lifting Lux after.

"Oh wait we almost forgot the present." Lux reaches in and grabs the brightly wrapped gift. "I'll take you're backpack home and put it in your room."

"Okay. Uncle Harry's still away right?"

Oh my heart, lying to her is not what I want to be doing but it'll be worth the surprise. I give her a sympathetic smile and crouch down so I can see her face. "You know he is, what's up?"

"Can I sleep with you, in Uncle Harry's bed? I never stay there without him." She mumbles.

"Look at me sweetheart." She lifts her head, I give her my best smile. This breaks my heart, seeing how much she misses him, little does she know she'll be seeing him in a couple hours. "Of course you can, you miss him, I know....so do I." Without warning she throws herself into my arms.

"Love you." I feel tears pricking the corners of my eyes, she's never said that before.

"Oh I love you too darling, lets go inside." I compose myself and stand up.

She grabs my hand as we walk into the venue. Fucking hell, this is very London. This place looks more like it's for adults than kids; the parties at 'Beaufort House' which seems to be an upmarket restaurant in Chelsea, although Lux does go to a private school and therefore I shouldn't be shocked.

"What's your friends name Lux?" I ask.

"Ava." She replies.

To my surprise, inside is actually quite child friendly. Hand in hand we stroll through the dining room; it's decorated with pastel coloured bunting and fairy lights, nice vibes. In the back there's a kids stage lit with colourful fairy lights, blankets cover the floor along with a bunch of balloons. It's cute, if I was Lux's age I'd adore this. Lux's friends are sitting on the blankets talking and laughing amongst themselves, she leaves go of my hand.

"Bye bye." She hugs me again before running off.

Walking back towards the door, I see a few women sitting at the pink dining table, mums of the others I guess. Maybe they can tell me what time to come back.

I wander over with a friendly smile on my face, "Hey, are you Ava's mum?"

A youngish woman turns round towards me, "Hi, yeah. Who are you?"