Forever & Always

8. Shopping

I woke up the next morning and looked down to se Keira on her phone, still in the same position that we feel asleep in. "Morning" I said as I leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
"Good morning" she said as she turned and looked up at me smiling.
"How are you feeling today" I asked her softly
"Better" she said as she leaned up and pecked my lips.
"How come your awake so early"
We'll I could hear someone mocking on your bedroom door this morning and then I could hear your aunt Tara telling her to leave us alone because we were asleep but she kept saying that she wanted to come in and wake us up" Keira said chuckling.
"Should we let her in" I asked smiling
"If you want" I took out my phone and texted Tara telling her she could let Nathalie in because we were both awake. Less than 10 seconds later we heard the door open as Nathalie screamed "Keira" and jumped on the bed and onto me and Keira
"Awh, good morning Nat" Keira said as she cuddles into the both of us.
"Are you getting up for breakfast Lele" she asked as she looked up at me with her big brown eyes.
"Yeah I am, me and Keira are getting up now ok"
"Ok"
"What are you having for breakfast" Keira asked her in a sweet tone.
"I'm having toast with jam, what are you having"
"I don't know I'll have to wait and se what's there" Keira said smile at how cute the little girl was.
"I'll ding out for you" she said as she screams "MOM COME HERE" she is now lying in between me and Keira who are still in the same position if Keira's on my chest and my hand around her. Tara soon came into the room after hearing Nathalie scream.
"Yes Nat what do you need"
"Mom, what can Keira have for breakfast" she asked and me Keira and Tara all burst out laughing.
"Nathalie I think you should leave the girls alone and give them a chance to get ready for breakfast" Tara said as she put her hand out to grab Nathalie's and lead her out if the room.
"Are ye ok" Tara asked smirking, clearly at the position of us in the bed "yeah" I reply smiling
"We're getting up now"
"Ok don't be long" she says as she closes the door.
We both looked at each other and laughed. We decided to get up and go out for breakfast but just as I was about to open the door Keira grabbed my hand
"Is it ok to go out wearing this, do I look ok" she's asks referring to the clothes she's wearing.we were both still in our pyjamas. I was wearing a pair of city shorts and an oversized t-shirt and Keira was wearing a pair of black Nike shorts and a plain white t-shirt with her hair in a messy bun.
"Kei stop worrying ok, you look perfect" I say as I bring her into a hug. "Plus most of my family probably came  in their pyjamas as-well" I say laughing. "Ok" she says softly as she pull away.
"We ok to go out so" I ask and she nods so I open the door and we head into the kitchen. I walked in first and when everyone saw us they all said good morning. We just stood there for a second. Keira had her phone in one hand as she was rubbing the sleep from her eyes with the other. "You look exhausted pet" my aunt Tara said to her
"Yeah I am really tired" she replied laughing a small bit before looking up at me a and smiling. All I wanted to do in that moment was pull her in for a hug and comfort her but I didn't want anyone to be suspicious so I left it. We sat on the inside of the table after a few minutes and everyone started eating. The people at breakfast consisted of me Keira, my mum and dad, my brother and sister, my aunt Tara her partner James and their daughter Nathalie, my other aunt Caroline and her partner Daniel and their daughter Shauna, and my Nan and grandad.
"So Lee, how's life over in Manchester" my grandad asked me
"Yeh it's good really, it's been quiet relaxed lately which is nice for a change but when it's busy it can all be a bit hectic"
"What kind of things do ye do in yer free time" my aunt Tara asks
"We'll it depends like usually a group of us will go and grab a coffee and have a chat or sometimes we organise team dinners or a trip to a driving range and things like that"
"So are you girls like housemates or how did ye meet" my uncle asks intrigued
"Am no we're teammates and friends" I say looking at Keira smiling "we met obviously when I went to city, Keira had already been there for a few years and she kind of showed me the ropes and then we just became friends, it's nice tho because everyone at city is so nice like there's no clicks or groups like everyone is friends with everyone"
I felt a really bad calling Keira my teammates and my friend, because we both knew that we were so much more than that. I knew she understood that we weren't telling my family but I still felt bad so I reached over and put my hand on her thigh and squeezed it in a reassuring way just to let her know that I was sorry. She just looks up and smiles at me.
"So girls what are yer plans for the day" my mum ask me. "I'm not sure, do ye have any"? I ask unsure
"No I think today will just be a chill day" my mum said yawning and everyone laughs.
"We'll I need to do a small bit of shopping so I might go and do that but I'll see" I said looking at Keira, almost asking her.
"Can I go with you Lele" Nathalie asks from her mothers lap beside me.
"Course you can Nat" I say as I bring her over onto my lap and she cuddles into my chest.
"Hi Keira" she says as she looks at her smiling
"Hi Nathalie" Keira says smiling back
"Are you coming shopping" Nathalie ask
"I will if you want me to" Keira says
"I want you to" Nathalie says as she look up at me and asks "can she come"
I just nod while I can't stop laughing and everyone else is laughing to. Once everyone is finished eating we decide to head back into my bedroom to get ready for the day. I decide to wear some back jeans, a plain white t-shirt and some white airforces, while Keira decides to wear some ripped denim jeans, a black essentials hoodie and black and white dunks.
We walked back out to the kitchen and everyone was still there.
"Are ye going out to watch the city match Lee" my grandad asked me because city men were playing tonight.
"I actually forget forgot about that grandad" I say smiling. I looked over at Keira.
"Do you want to" I asked her
"Yeah I don't mind I'll do whatever your doing" she says shyly.
"Awh come on Lee you have to take her to the local pub at least once while yer here" my aunt Caroline says laughing
"Yeah we will so" I tell them
"Are ye all going too" I ask making sure it's not just us and they all nod.
"Ok we're going go does anybody need anything" I ask but nobody does. Just before we walk out the door I turn and look at Nathalie, "are you coming Nat" the minute I say that she jumps up off her mums lap and runs straight over to Keira and grabs her hand. I go and get Nathalie car seat and put it into my car before the 3 of us get in. I had to stop at a garage on the way to get some fuel for the car and on my way out after paying I can see Keira leaning into the back seat giving Nathalie her phone. "What are you doing" I ask when I get in.
"She wanted to watch peppa pig so I gave her my phone" she says smiling
"You'll be lucky to get that back" I say laughing
"It's ok I don't mind" she says smiling.
We drive for about another 20 minutes, spending the whole time laughing at Nathalie because she's singing every song that come on. We finally get there and park. "Let's go shopping" Nathalie screams from the back seat as I unstrap her from the car seat and lift her out of the car seat. When she get out she runs straight over to Keira and grabs her hand and then drags she'd back to me and uses her free hand to hold mine. We walk around like this for about an hour until Nathalie said she needed to use the toilet.
"I actually need to use the atm" Keira says.
"Ok I'll take Nat to the toilet and you can go and use the atm"
"Ok" she says smiling before walking away to use the atm and we go and use the toilet. When we finished we walked back to Keira and she was still in the cue so she told us to go back to the car and she'll come out when she was done. As me and Nat were walking out we walked past Tesco and she grabbed my hand and dragged me in.
"What are you doing Nat, what do you want in here" I asked but she wouldn't answer she just kept dragging me until we reached the flowers section and she stopped.
"What, you want flowers" I asked confused
"Yeah, for Keira" she replied shyly
"Awh, you want to get flowers for Keira" I asked sweetly.
"Yeah, cuz I love here Lele" she said looking at the ground shyly. I couldn't help but smile happily know how much my family like the girl that I did.
"You and me both kid, you and me both" I muttered under my breath.
"What's her favourite ones Lele"
"Roses"
"What ones are that" she asked innocently
"These ones" I said as I picked up a bunch of red roses.
"Ooh I like them" she said inspecting the flowers
"Do you want to get her them so" I asked and she nodded. "Ok we need to run tho so we can hide them before she gets to the car" when I say this I pick her up in my arms and we jog to the till to pay. Once we've paid we jog back to the car and put the flowers in the boot so Keira won't see them. When Keira got back to the car Nathalie couldn't stop laughing.
"What are you laughing at" Keira asked her as he turned around to see her. "Nothing" Nathalie said with a mischievous look on her face.
We all felt a bit hungry so we decided to go to a cafe and get something to eat.
"What do you want Nat" I want chips. Me and Keira both laugh. "I don't think they have chips here Nat"
"What can I have so" she says about to have a tantrum. "Do you want a ham and cheese sandwich"
"No" she says as she starts crying.
"Awh come here" Keira says as she opens her arms and Nathalie gets off her chair and walk over and sits in Keira's lap. She tucks her head into Keira's chest and Keira puts a protective arm around her rocking her back and forth. "What's the matter" Keira ask her as she kisses the top of Nathalie's head.
"I'm tired" Nathalie says still sobbing.
Keira turns Nathalie around in her lap so she was now facing her. "How about we get you a nice ham and cheese sandwich, and then once you've finished and your belly's all full we ask Lele to drive us to the toy shop and I'll get you anything you want, will that make you feel better" Keira and as she smiles at Nathalie. Nathalie nods and leans forward to give Keira a kiss and hug. She turns herself around so she's now facing forward but still on Keira's lap and she looks at me and smiles.
"Are you going to go back to your own seat" I ask smiling at her. "No I like it here" she says as she turns around and smiles at Keira. We all decided to get a ham and cheese toasties and me and Keira got a cup of coffee as-well. Once we've finished I drive to the toy shop and we all head inside. Yet again Nathalie is in the middle of me and Keira holding both of our hands. "What can I get" Nathalie asks looking up at Keira.
"Anything you want" Keira says smiling down at her.
When we walk in the shop she runs straight to the dolls section and picks up one and says "can I have this please"
"Yeah of course you can" Keira says laughing at how fast she decided what she wanted. As Keira and Nathalie walk to the till I stand to the side waiting for them.
"Excuse me, are you Leah Murphy" I hear from behind me and when I turn around I see a little girl and her mum standing there.
"Yeah I am" I say smiling down at her
"Could I get a picture with you please"
"Yeah of course" I say as she walks over to me and I crouch down next to her as her mum takes the picture.
"What your name"
"Leah" the little girl looks up at me smiling
"No way, that's so cool, do you play football"
"Yeah I play defence like you" she says smiling
"That's so cool"
"Could you sing my jersey for me"
"Of course" I say as she unzips her cardigan and turns around so I can sign the back of her jersey
"Thank you so much Leah, she's such a massive fan honestly, she never stops talking about you" the little girls mom says to me
"That's no problem, have a nice day" I say as they walk away
"That was cute" Keira says as she's walks towards we smiling
"Your cute" I say teasing her as she looks at the ground blushing. We all got back in the car and headed home. The drive was fairly boring as both Nathalie and Keira fell asleep but I didn't mind. One we got to my aunt Tara's house I woke both of them up and I went to lift Nathalie out of her car seat as she was tired and didn't want to walk
"No" she slapped my hand away
"What ma wrong" I asked
"I want Keira" she says pointing at Keira
"Looks like duty calls" I say turning around and smiling at Keira.
Keira lifted her out and she tucked her head into Keira's neck. When we walked into the house Keira put her down and she ran straight to her mom
"Mom look what keke got me" she says as she waves her doll in the air.
"Oh wow, thank you so much, you didn't have to" Tara said to Keira.
"It's ok I don't mind" Keira says shyly as she moves closer to me.
I discreetly move my hand around and place it in her lower back.
"Are ye going out tonight Tar"
"Yeah me and James are, my mum is looking after Nathalie so we're child free for the night" she says with a sigh of relief
Me and Keira both just laugh
"We'll head away so we can sort ourselves out for tonight, see you later Tar"
"Bye girls" she says as we're walking out the door
Just as we're about to get into the car we hear a screaming Nathalie
"LELE WAIT" I turn my head and look at her concerned. She stops a few metres away from the car and stands there shyly.
"What's wrong" I ask
She waves me over and whispers in my ear "what about the flowers" she says and I crouch down to whisper back "do you want to give them to her now" and she just nods so I take her hand and walk over to the boot and grab the flowers, she puts them behind her back and walks over to a very confused looking Keira.
"I got you these" she says as she pulls them out from behind the her back and hands them to Keira.
"Awh thank you so much Nat, I love them" Keira says and she crouches down and Nathalie gives her a hug. As soon as they pull away Nathalie runs away showing "BYE" me and Keira both just look at each other and burst out laughing before getting in the car to go home.