When the curtains close

20.

"Hello guys" Leigh greeted opening the main door and finding a smiling Axel, an upset Izzy, and a tired Perrie standing outside.

"Come in" she moved to the side allowing them to walk inside her London house. She couldn't help but furrow a bit observing the little girl's expression.

As if she could read her mind, Perrie clarified. "She is mad at me because I woke her from her nap"

"If she's tired she can sleep here" Leigh suggested while helping Axel take out his coat and stroking his hair after receiving a thankful smile.

"No, no" Perrie shook her head. "If it was up to her she would sleep the whole afternoon"

Leigh laughed a little, well those two not only looked identical and had the same cheerful attitude, but they were also similar in their love for sleep. "She reminds me of someone" she teased a little making Perrie chuckle.

"Please tell me that Jade and Jaz are already here" she almost begged.

"Yes," Leigh nodded guiding them to the living room where the twins, Jade, and her daughter were.


After the initial greetings, Leigh walked all the kids to the playroom. She absolutely needed to be left alone with girls, she needed to have the time and quietness to introduce Jade and Perrie to the piece of information she had recently encountered.

She looked at the kids running in different directions and taking out some toys. She couldn't help but smile after thinking about how quickly they immediately got along long. They truly were a little, little mix.

"Okay kids, door open" she informed before leaving. "And please don't do dangerous games" she eyed the two little kids that were the perfect mix of her and Andre. "So don't try seeing who can jump from the highest height and please don't run someone over with your toy cars"

"Okay mommy" The twins immediately laughed while looking at each other, they knew why their mom used those activities as an example. "Okay", the other kids said looking at her.

"Good, have fun" she smiled. Those five kids definitely had completely different attitudes: the twins were super energetic and loved doing dangerous activities, they considered them funny; Axel was calmer and more relaxed but when he was with Leigh's children he completely transformed and turned into the third reckless twin. Izzy was like a small Perrie super bubbly, cheerful, and excited to do things. And then Jazzy, she was the cutest and calmest 3 years old Leigh had ever seen, so shy and well-behaved.

Leigh walked back to the living room where Perrie and Jade were sitting on the sofa. "Do you want something to drink or eat?" she offer but the two girls shook their heads.

"No thank you, maybe later"

"So, how's life treating you?" the house owner asked before taking a seat next to them on the couch.

"Good, I'm just tired because of the imminent album release, but besides that everything is fine"

"And you?" Leigh turned around to look at the brunette.

"I'm just having a few problems with Jordan", she said; "but I'm good" she tried to reassure them without actually managing to.

The other two girls just nodded, wanting to know more but perfectly aware that some boundaries needed to be respected. If it was hard to get information and details from the old Jade, what could they expect from this new one who they had just recently started rebuilding their friendship with? Nevertheless, there was something that the two didn't know.

For how raw and heartbreaking all the events the brunette went through, they still taught her something. Keeping thoughts, emotions, and feeling inside was never a good solution, it wasn't going to help her and it even wasn't going to be beneficial to the people around her, to those that truly loved her and sincerely cared for her good.