CHAPTER 42

 

“You’re missing Mummy, aren’t you?” Kian woke up in the middle of the night to hear his youngest daughter crying. When he walked into the nursery, Sierra was stood up at the bars of her cot, her face all red and blotchy, her chubby cheeks wet with tears. Kian picked her up and held her close to his chest, trying to comfort her. But she wouldn’t stop crying. Her little body wriggled in his arms, keeping her black eyes firmly fixed on the nursery door as if she expected Cate to come in at any moment.

He didn’t want to wake up Lola and Mats so he took Sierra downstairs. He sat on the sofa with Sierra curled up against his chest and covered them both with the thick quilt. Sierra was still quietly whimpering. “She’ll be home soon, baby girl.” He stroked her inky-black hair; it was tough to see his little girl so upset.

He switched on the flat-screen TV and found the most recent episode of Stepping Out. As soon as she saw Cate on screen, Sierra stopped crying.

“Dad?” Lola came down the stairs. Her black hair was all mussed with sleep. “What’s wrong?”

“Your sister couldn’t sleep, that’s all,” Kian reassured her. “Did we wake you up?”

Lola shook her head, “I can’t sleep either, I’m too nervous about tomorrow.”

Kian pulled back the quilt so Lola could snuggle up on the sofa with him and Sierra. “Why are you nervous, sweetheart?”

“I really want Mum to win Stepping Out,” Lola admitted.

“Me too,” Kian looked at his wife on screen, dancing the American Smooth with Declan, “but even if she doesn’t win tomorrow night, we’re still going to be really proud of her. She’s been so brave, going out there and dancing in front of millions of people.”

“I miss her,” Lola chewed on her bottom lip. She gently stroked her baby sister’s hand.

“I know you do, sweetheart,” Kian said softly, “me too but we’ll see her tomorrow night.” He’d arranged one final surprise for Cate. Although Lola wasn’t allowed to be in the studio audience because she was too young, the producers had agreed that she could watch from backstage.

 

“What am I going to do with you three?” Nate laughed when he came downstairs the following morning to find Kian, Sierra and Lola all asleep on the sofa.

Kian opened his eyes; the sun was shining brightly through the large windows. “Fu…” He panicked that he’d overslept and they were going to miss their flight to L.A. Nate frowned at him and Kian looked down, realising that his two daughters were snuggled up against him. “Fudge,” he said quickly.

“Don’t worry,” Nate said, picking up Sierra, “you’ve still got about an hour before you’ve got to leave for the airport.”

“Thank fu… fudge!” Kian relaxed. He patted Lola’s shoulder, “come on, sweetheart. It’s time to wake up.”

“No,” Lola burrowed deeper under the quilt, “it’s too early.”

Kian chuckled; his daughter had never been very good at waking up in the mornings. “OK but if you’re not ready, I’ll have to leave for the airport without you.”

“No, don’t do that,” Lola quickly sat up and pushed her hair out of her eyes.

“Tell you what,” Nate laughed, “why don’t you go upstairs and get ready while Miss Sierra and I make your favourite chocolate chip pancakes?”

“Will you make them into smiley faces like Abby does?” Lola asked.

“Of course,” Nate smiled.

After Lola had gone upstairs, Nate and Kian walked into the kitchen. “I’m a terrible liar,” Nate admitted, “what do I say if Cate calls and wants to talk to Lola?”

“Just tell her that she’s next door playing football with Luke,” Kian said. “It’s really important that she doesn’t suspect anything. I want it to be a big surprise.”

“You do realise that she’s going to bawl like a baby,” Nate said as he settled Sierra into her highchair, “when she sees the VT of good luck messages you’ve all filmed for her.”

Kian shrugged, “I just want her to know proud we all are.”

As they were just about to leave the house, Mateo had a tantrum. “I want to come too.”

Kian knelt down in front of his son, “I’m sorry Mats but you’re too young. Besides, you’ve got a really important job to do today. While I’m gone, you’re the man of the house. You’ve got to help Uncle Nate take care of your baby sister.”

Nate ruffled Mateo’s black hair, “if you like, we could go to the aquarium this afternoon? They’ve got a brand-new exhibit of harbour seals. That sounds like fun, right?”

“I guess,” Mateo chewed his lip in what had become a Warner family trait.

“And then Mummy, Daddy and Lola will be home tomorrow.”

 Lola gave her brother a big hug, “I’m so jealous that you’re going to see the harbour seals today, Mats. Will you say hi to them for me?”

“I will,” Mateo nodded. “I love you more than ferryboats.”

“I love you more than football, little man.” Kian laughed.