It's early morning and Nikki is slowly waking up, Jack is laid next to her fast asleep when she feels something climb onto the bed, at first she thinks it's their cat 'Merlin' who has made its way through to her and is about to alert her to his feeding routine.
But then she feels something pat her arm gently, "Mummy, Mummy... wake up" a small voice says.
Nikki groans and rolls onto her side causing the small child to slip in between them. "What? It's half five Rube... go back to bed" Nikki groans realizing her five-year-old daughter isn't going to leave her alone she sits herself up and looks at her. Her blonde hair wild and crazy from her sleep and her big brown eyes looking back at Nikki in awe.
"Mummy it's snowed..." She smiles cheekily.
Nikki smiles and cups her daughter's cheeks. "Ruby Hodgson... you are crackers... go back to bed baby" Nikki smiles and kisses her head.
"But Noah is awake too" Ruby smiles and looks across at her Dad who is fast asleep.
She raises an eyebrow and looks at her daughter "are you sure you didn't wake him up because you were excited?" Nikki smirks knowing exactly what her five-year-old daughter is like with her younger brother.
Ruby looks at her Mum innocently and shakes her head. Nikki smiles and lies back down and so does Ruby. She lies there looking at her Mum with the biggest grin in the world plastered across her face.
Nikki closes her eyes again and hopes that her daughter will understand that she won't get out of bed just yet.
Ruby giggles thinking it's a game and opens Nikki's one eye with her fingers. "I'm sleeping" Nikki mutters and Ruby moves again. Realizing she's not giving in she lies there beside her parents and cuddles up to her Mum to keep warm. Nikki cuddles up to her also and strokes her head ever so gently.
Soon they both fall asleep cuddled up together. It's not until an hour later that Jack wakes up and rolls over to see Wife and daughter cuddled up together. He instantly smiles and knows Ruby has been getting up to her old tricks.
He lies on his side for a moment and admires his wife and daughter he couldn't get over how much of a carbon copy Ruby is of Nikki, even the way she behaves and acts is almost like Nikki too.
Jack soon sits up causing Nikki to stir. She opens her eyes and looks up at Jack tiredly. "Hey" he smiles noticing she is awake.
"What time is it?" Nikki mumbles.
"Half seven" Jack replies.
She stretches herself out and then sits up and attempts to wake Ruby. "Better get them up" she smiles.
"I shall go do the rounds" Jack smiles as he walks out the bedroom. He walks into the first room on the left and walks over to the bed.
"Come on Lucinda, wakey wakey" He smiles waking his 6-year-old daughter.
He turns around and walks across the room and past the empty bed where Ruby is meant to be sleeping and opens up the curtains. Lucinda opens her eyes and looks up at her Dad for a while before sitting herself up and heading out of the room towards the bathroom.
Jack leaves the bedroom and then heads back through to their bedroom and looks at Nikki who is cuddling Ruby against her chest. "Text message from the school, they're closed. Heating is broken... I've phoned Thomas and he understands, going to get a locum to cover me" Nikki smiles before planting a kiss on her daughters head.
"At least we don't have to wake Charlotte, I don't think I could handle any more of her attitude recently" Nikki smiles.
"Well you better get used to it, she'll hit her teen years fast soon, and then there is Lucinda, Ruby and the Noah..." Jacks smirks and Nikki rolls her eyes at the thought of all her children practically hitting their teen years at the same time.
"Charlotte is ten, Jack... just save me those few years of having my firstborn as a child" Nikki smiles.
"How did I ever get this lucky" he smiles as he walks back over to the bed and sits beside Nikki and pulls her into his side. His youngest daughter still glued to Nikki's side.
