Girl in a Hoodie: Where the Future Lies

Chapter 53

Riley's POV:

I sat on the sofa at Deborah and Ian's house with Ellie on my lap, wide awake but somewhat absent-minded as she stared up at me like she was thinking over all sorts. She was probably wondering where we were, seeing as it's not so often that she comes to her grandparents house, and babies have ridiculously good senses of where they are and what's happening around them. 

I was holding a cup of tea in my hand, making sure to keep it far away from her so as not to burn her fragile skin but smiled down at her, rubbing my nose softly against her own. Laci was sat on the kitchen island behind me, helping Piper with her homework and Jasper was upstairs, apparently on call to Isla. I'm not too sure what's going on between them but their relationship seems to be going well by the sound of it.

"So how have things been with you? I heard you started your training course a few weeks ago?" Deborah asks me. She was sat on the opposite sofa beside Ian but her eyes constantly reached the eyes of my daughter which made me laugh a little as I notice Ellie make eye contact with her grandmother who waves in response.

"Yeah, it's great. I'm doing the PGCE course." I look at the expression on my father-in-law's face and chuckle, knowing he had no clue what that meant. "Post-Graduate Certificate of Education in the Early Years scenery. I'm actually supposed to receive an e-mail tonight which gives me my placement. I know I'll be teaching in a class with four to five year olds but that's all. There'll be two of us, one of the other students and me, so I won't be alone."

"And you had to do a test, right?" Ian questions. His arm was wrapped around Deborah's with their backs resting against the leather. In spite of their age, I have to admit that they were a cute couple. I just wish I had been able to grow up with parents who had a relationship as potent as theirs.

"Yeah. Most people did. There're over one-hundred-and-fifty of us who were accepted in total because of either our already qualified graduation certificates or because we got over seventy-five percent on the test. I only had to do a science test though." I don't explain to them why. It wasn't something I was particularly proud of. The truth is that I qualified in Maths and English in our end of year exams in school, but along the lines of the pregnancy, my scientific knowledge degraded and I failed in that certain subject. It's disappointing considering it was the subject I was once the strongest at. "But on the test, I did get ninety-seven percent anyway."

"That's great, sweetie," Deborah responds. "It's good to see you're still schooling and haven't decided to become a stay at home mother. You made the right choice." I smile and look up at the sound of footsteps coming down the staircase as the floor creaked, and see Rose causally strolling down with her hand gripping onto the banister which was inches taller than her tiny frame. She seemed rather excited though, with a large grin on her face and she jumps off on the last step before running over to me and leaps onto the sofa, almost causing my hot drink to spill. I managed to put my hand out in time for it to not pour over Ellie's face otherwise it would have led to one large crying fest.

"Riley!" she had squealed, adjusting herself on the sofa. I take it upon myself to place the mug on the plate on the coffee table in front of me, just to be safe, when Rose grabs my arm and nuzzles her head into my side so that she was resting on my shoulder.

"Hey, Ro," I laugh, patting the side of her head with one hand. Deborah gets up to go to the kitchen, presumably to check on the rice she was cooking for us all to eat and so Ian sits upright, giving me an eyeroll to express his agitation of how annoying his daughter could be at the best of times. It was only to present a small bit of humour though, and Rose doesn't even acknowledge it.

"Is Ellie awake?" she asks me, moving her face towards Elouise's so that their heads were just inches apart. I sigh in the same mood Ian was in right now, but nod.