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Chapter 66 - Let the fun begin...

It was early morning, surprisingly Cesca was up and dressed despite it only being 6.30 am, she had been up with the twins early, Jonah was still in a deep sleep, Cesca wanted to let him sleep plus she felt more organised if she was able to just get ready, it was a struggle getting herself up let alone organising three children to be ready to leave at the same time. She was dressed, hair and makeup perfected to a T, she was beginning to feel the benefits of being up earlier, she wasn’t feeling as tired, though she wasn’t sure whether that was simply down to the fact that she had finally had a decent amount of sleep the night before, Jonah was on duty with the twins in the evening and it was showing, he was absolutely shattered. Cesca sat down for a few minutes, trying to see if she could snatch a few minutes of time alone, just a few moments to think about everything she needed for today, today all the students would be back in school, it being their first day back. Cesca was to meet Nikki and Esme her new mentees, it was always nice to meet new faces, especially these two they sounded like they were going to be positive influences on others and waterloo road for that matter. Esme was fresh from Spain so Cesca would be able to sympathise with her, knowing what she would be going it’s hard to leave the one place you have known all your life to then walk into somewhere new that doesn’t speak your language or embrace your culture. Cesca was also excited about Nikki, she’d had a hard time  recently and Cesca was willing and wanting to help her through it all, plus Nikki’s favourite subject was Spanish so that didn’t sound hard, all Nikki needed really was something to distract her mind. Cesca finished the last sip of her much needed coffee before heading on up to get Mia up, it was soon approaching 7, they needed to leave in an hour and a half and knowing what Mia was like, it would take her at least half an hour to be willing to get up. Cesca took a deep breath in before going up and walking into Mia’s room, it startled her to find Mia sat on her bedroom floor dressed in her school uniform, “Mummy”, Mia said, “Are you alright?”, Mia asked, “yes Mia, just wasn’t expecting you to be up yet”, “Well I wanted to surprise you”, “you certainly did that”, Cesca said walking over and giving her little girl a hug, “So how are you wanting your hair today?”. “Can you plait it please mummy”, “Of course baby, sit still”, Cesca began to plait her little girl’s beautiful locks, she finished by tying the ends with a hair band and added in a clip to keep her fringe back, she couldn’t believe how grown up her little Mia was getting, she was only 5, but the time really had flown by. Mia bounced up once she was ready for school and headed downstairs, “Mia your toast is on the table”, “I don’t want toast”, “Mia called up the stairs, “You can’t have coco pops everyday Mia”, Mia sighed, Cesca couldn’t help but giggle, Mia really was a little madam at times.

Cesca walked through to the twin’s room they were both crying, Cesca picked up baby Oscar rocking him to and thro, she hoped Betsy’s cries might wake Jonah up but there was no hope there “Oh come on Jonah”, Cesca whispered under her breath, Oscar wouldn’t stop crying and Betsy was crying because Oscar was. Cesca decided to go and walk into their room with a screaming Oscar hoping that might just do the trick. She waited at the door, little Oscar bawled his eyes out; there were no actual tears because he was still too little but boy did he make a lot of racket. “Jonah”, Cesca’s voice was stern, “What...what”, Jonah was woken and not sure what was going on, “Yes, the twins are screaming are you really that  oblivious to it all”, “I’m just coming”, Cesca walked away, Jonah rolled out of bed, rubbed his eyes and scratched his head. Cesca paced the floor boards of the twin’s room trying to calm Oscar down but it was no use. Jonah walked towards her, she wanted to be mad at him for being so laid back she couldn’t help but smile as he walked towards her kissing her as well as their son, “Now what’s all this racket, aye”, Jonah said to Oscar as he took him off Cesca’s hands. Betsy was calming as was Oscar, she picked up her baby girl, “it’s alright, shh”, Betsy was beginning to calm down as soon as she was in Cesca’s arms she snuggled into her mummy’s embrace. Cesca smiled, she couldn’t believe how delicate and beautiful her baby twins were. “Shall we get you dressed? “, Cesca said as she placed Betsy down on to the changing table. “Mummmmyy”, Mia said as she happily pranced into Betsy’s room, “Yes baby”, “I’m finished”, “Aw well done Mia, have you brushed your teeth?”, Mia looked guilty as charged, “Can you go and do them then please....properly”, Cesca called out to Mia who had left the room doing as she was told whilst Cesca carefully got Betsy out of her little red and white polka dotted baby grow, Cesca handled her little girl as if she were made of China. Betsy stretched out her legs and scrunched up her little hands, Cesca kissed her forehead just as Mia returned, “All clean”, Mia gave Cesca a big cheesy grin showing off her teeth “Beautiful”, Cesca gave her little girl a kiss, “Can I help you?”, Mia asked, she was such a good big sister to Betsy and Oscar, “Of course, do you want to help me choose Betsy’s outfit?”, “Yes!” Mia was so excited, giving her little sister fashion advice already.

Mia opened Betsy and Oscar’s wardrobe carefully she flicked through the many hanging clothes, Cesca had constantly bought clothes throughout her pregnancy, she was a fashionable gal, she couldn’t help it. “So what do you like the look of Mia?”, “I’m not sure....how about this”, “Aw good choice Mia, Betsy will look so cute in her beige chinos”, Cesca smiled, her fashion sense was rubbing off on Mia. Mia passed her mummy the trousers whilst flicking through for a top. “What about this mummy”, Mia pulled out a navy blue t-shirt, it was tiny and complete with a large navy bow which covered the surface area of the t-shirt, “that’s perfect Mia, you have been a great help unlike your daddy. I wonder what he’s up to.” Cesca giggled to Mia, they had a good idea that it wouldn’t involve getting ready.  Cesca got Betsy into the clothes that Mia had chosen  for her little sister before remembering that she had a perfect pair of pram shoes she had been given be Adanna for this outfit, she watched Betsy as she lay calmly on the changing table, her legs scrunched up as she grabbed the shoes from the cupboard. She pulled out a cute pair of red brogues, it was hard to believe they even made them this small, she carefully placed them on to Betsy’s feet, Betsy didn’t seem so impressed, though a cuddle soon sorted that out, “Mia if you sit on the chair I’ll let you hold Betsy whilst I sort out what Oscar is going to wear so daddy can get him dressed”, Mia eagerly sat down Cesca walked over and carefully placed Betsy in Mia’s arms, “Hold her tightly”, Cesca smiled, Mia held her little sister so carefully, Mia’s legs swung down from the chair, she wasn’t quite big enough to reach the floor just yet. Cesca let out another smile before walking back over to the wardrobe where all the cute baby clothes hanged, she browsed through the array of different items in different shades and fabrics until she found a pair of cute skinny styled jeans and a grey jumper to match, Oscar was also going to wear some shoes today, Cesca picked out the tiny pair of military boots that Jonah had bought for his little boy the day after he was born, Oscar really was the coolest 3 month old baby, well to be honest the twins were in general. Cesca laid out the clothes on the other changing table so Jonah could just get Oscar changed, she then walked back over to Mia, Betsy was quietly content in Mia’s arms, “your such a good big sister Mia”, Cesca said which lit up Mia’s little face, she was feeling rather proud of herself. Cesca took Betsy in her arms so they could all walk downstairs, “are you my gorgeous little girl, are you”, She said to Betsy, “What about me”, Mia butted in Cesca laughed, “Of course your my other beautiful girl”, Mia smiled, “Now shall we go and hurry up the boys”, Mia nodded and they walked downstairs.

Betsy was content and calm in Cesca’s arm which was the least that could be said for Jonah and Oscar, who was no longer crying but giggling, the special giggle that new born babies possessed. Jonah was carefully holding his little boy above his head and kissing his stomach before giving him a big smile, “He’s going to be sick if you keep doing that”, Cesca said, almost predicting the future, Mia sat down on the sofa and Cesca once again passed her little sister into her arms. As she did so Oscar projectile vomited all over Jonah, Cesca bit her lip, “Alright save the I told you so’s”, “Well I did”, Cesca couldn’t resist, “I’ll go get ready”, “While you’re at it you can clean Oscar up, his clothes are laid out”, Jonah went in for a kiss, “Uh uh , no way am I risking stinking of baby sick all day”, Jonah managed to sneak her a kiss despite her mini speech, Cesca smiled, “Now go get ready, you absolutely reek”, Jonah went upstairs , “Thanks Oscar”, he said finally looking at the extent of the baby sick. Cesca sat down with her girls as they watched Mia’s favourite programme pixel face. “Mummy do you think Betsy likes it”, “I’m sure she loves it Mia”, it was so sweet what Mia came out with sometimes. Cesca could hear Jonah plodding down the stairs with Oscar so she took Betsy and put her into her car seat and began to get ready. “Mia, can you put your shoes on and grab your jacket”, “But I’m watching this”, “Mia”, Cesca said again. Mia’s eyes stayed fixed to the screen, Jonah picked up the remote from the arm of the sofa and turned it off, Mia sighed in a huff, “Mummy asked you to do something Mia, which means you do it”, “Thanks”, “no problem, we’re a team”, Cesca smiled, Jonah crouched down and kissed his beautiful wife as he put Oscar into his car seat so they could finally leave for work and school. Cesca rested her hand on his thigh and looked up at her gorgeous man “I love you”, “I know you do”, Cesca couldn’t help but smile, his humour was something she loved about him. They grabbed all their belongings a twin in each arm and headed for the door, they had a few pit stops to make before finally making it to work so they needed to get on with it really, they had plenty of time but who knew what the traffic was like.

They all piled in the car, the twins were settled and Mia was still in a hump after being told off but she wasn’t causing trouble. Jonah was driving they had decided to use his car it had that much more room and being a family of 5 it could be quite cramped. They reached Mia’s school, Cesca walked her up to the school gates, Mia didn’t say a word “I’ll see you later, have a good day”. Mia didn’t budge, “Oh you stubborn wotsit”, Cesca said under her breath as she got back into the car, “Everything alright”, Jonah said placing his hand on to Cesca’s thigh, “Yeah she is just in her usual strop”, “Oh, well I think she takes after you on that front”, “You cheeky ...”, Cesca chose to not finish her sentence, but Jonah made it up to her with a passionate kiss, “I think I might just forgive you”, Cesca bit her lip, Jonah just made her feel all warm inside. They headed off to Jonah’s dads; they really were bound to have been round the whole of Rochdale by the time they actually came anywhere close to arriving at school. They pulled up outside the Kirby’s house and got the twins out of the car, Cesca delicately knocked on the door, “hey you two”, Marcus greeted them  all, “So here they are”, Jonah said “aw they look so peaceful”, “Wait till later”, Cesca said not wanting to ruin the beautiful moment”, “Thanks, I bet they have a set of lungs on them”, “Oh they do”, Cesca said, “Right well we better be going, dad call me if you need anything , thanks for this”, “Anytime, I’m looking forward to spending the day with my granddaughter and grandson”, Cesca smiled and took Jonah’s hand in hers. They walked back to the car and headed off to school. The drive was quiet it was nice to just get a few moments of it being the pair of them. They reached school grabbed their bags and once again interlocked their fingers like they did most mornings, Cesca and Jonah thrived off this body contact it just put them both in a good mood to know they had each other whatever the day was going to throw at them. They walked up the steps and headed for staffroom briefly, chatting to their colleagues and grabbing a coffee, Cesca was already feeling the need for another. Jonah wrapped his arm around her waist; a smile instantly hit her face. “I didn’t get a chance to do this, this morning”, “What’s that smell”, Cesca teased him, “Is that baby sick”, Cesca smiled, “Ha-ha, funny”, Jonah said, he knew she was just reminding him off that morning. They finished their drinks and morning chats before heading off to their classrooms for mentoring.

A young girl made her way through the doors of waterloo road, “You must be Nikki Armstrong?”, “Yes that’s me”, Nikki replied, “Welcome to waterloo road, this is Kayleigh she will take you to mentoring, she’s a lovely girl an were are sure you’ll get on well”, Karen left the girls to bond, “So who do you have for mentoring”, “FKI”, Nikki replied, “Ah, you have Mrs Kirby, she is lovely, she’s the Spanish teacher here”, “oh so I am bound to have her for Spanish to”, “Yeah probably”, “Great, I love Spanish”, “Me too”, The girls continued to natter until they reached Cesca’s classroom, Kayleigh knocked at the door calmly, the class was seated. “Esme if you sit their next to Lola”, Cesca looked up with a smile on her face as she saw people at the door, “Kayleigh what can I do for you”, “This is your new mentee”, “ah you must be Nikki”, “Yeah”, “Welcome come on in, thanks Kayleigh”, “I’ll see you next lesson Nikki we have English with Mr Clarkson together”, “No need to feel nervous, there a lovely bunch, if you sit over there next to Harry”, Harry smiled at Cesca, her mentor group were lovely, they all got on well. “Right guys we have a few new additions to our mentor group, we’ll start off with the year 7’s, we shall go round the room and if you could introduce yourselves”, “Lily”, “Sammie”, “Lewis”, “Freya”, “James”, all the year 7’s seemed quite shy except for Lily who had bags of confidence, Cesca could see her being a great asset to her mentor group, she fit right in as it were. “ Okay, so we will all make them feel really welcome, we also have 2 other new mentees Nikki and Esme, Esme has just come over from Spain and Nikki is new to the area, so they don’t know anybody so please make an effort, they are both in year 8 so I am sure they will  be in some of your classes”, Cesca wrapped things up with discussions about Spain, Esme joined in talking about some of her experiences all those amazing memories, the class were on the edge of their seats, Esme was feeling at ease with Cesca as a mentor she really felt like she had a small piece of home still with her, she was also beginning to open up to the people in the group especially Lola and Sophie, Sophie was an older girl in year 11, she was making sure that the younger students were okay and knew where they were going next lesson, this sort of behaviour made Cesca very proud, but then she didn’t expect anything less from Sophie, she was definitely one of her favourite students. “So miss how’s those gorgeous twins of yours and Mia?”, Sophie asked “They’re perfect thanks and Mia well that’s another story, she is such a little madam”, Cesca had a good relationship with her pupils even if it was more on friendship grounds but that was important, they felt like they could trust her which they could as well as learning the things she was teaching, she was possibly the most popular teacher as well as Jonah of course, they really were so similar on so many levels, a match made in heaven wouldn’t you say.