Songbird [H.S]

FIFTY-FOUR

"Panic over, reinforcements are here!" Aliyah's joyful voice echoed down the hallway, catching Marley's attention from the sewing machine where she was doing her best to juggle watching Josie while finishing the hem on the tiny dress on the table.

Heavy footsteps trudged further into the house, muffled conversation drifting with them as Aliyah complained about carrying the heavy bags of donated clothes while Zayn had the easy job of carrying bags full of balls of yarn. The pair followed the sound of Josie's babbles mixed with the soft melodies of Fleetwood Mac songs, entering the dining room and immediately freezing at the complete mess of the house. Scrap pieces of material littered every available space, looking like scraps on a building site. At first, all they could see was mess but the longer they looked, an organised system could be made out spread across the table.

Materials and second hand clothes were sorted according to size, colour and material type and knowing Marley's need for a system, she was going to be very particular over where Allie placed the bags of donated clothes so everything remained in order.

"Jesus Christ, Marley. There's no room to fucking move in here." Zayn remarked, brows raising in surprise as he remained standing on the spot. He knew from experience how picky Marley was about her system when it came to sewing and he didn't want to risk getting yelled at because he messed everything up.

"I know, that's why I need your help." The blonde sighed from across the room, grabbing Josie's hand to stop her from reaching out and playing with the buttons on the sewing machine. Instead, she offered her a rattle to play with that was promptly thrown onto the floor as Josie refused to play with it. "Oh, just dump all that crap in the lounge, I'll get Harry to take it upstairs when he gets home from the studio."

It had been a few days since Marley and Josie had recovered from the sickness bug they'd caught and gradually things were starting to settle into a new routine. Marley had spoken to Harry about the possibility of selling clothes and teaching some classes down at the town hall two days a week and he was more than supportive about it all. He knew that no matter how much she enjoyed working at the record store, Marley was getting bored of it. She would come home complaining of how dull her day was when she wasn't on a shift with Aliyah. She didn't want to be working in a record shop on minimum wage for the rest of her life. If she had her own way she would be working for herself, allowing the possibility to be flexible enough to look after her kids and this second job was a chance for her to spark the transition into her ideal career choice.

After speaking to June, they arranged for Marley to teach two sewing classes a week, one on Wednesday, one on Thursday after she got back from work in the afternoon. Additionally, she would be able to set up a little shop selling some clothes that would be open in the town hall for all the mothers to buy from throughout the day as they came in and out for the various classes held there.

Marley had never thought that she would be good enough to start selling the things she made but now it was becoming a possibility, she was throwing her entire heart and soul into making everything perfect. She was enjoying herself and couldn't wait to see if this was something she could make a proper career out of. The girl had needed some help though, with Harry spending a lot of time settling into his new job at the gallery, it meant she was left to juggle childcare and making clothes most of the day on her own. That was why she had called Aliyah to ask if she could generously spend her day off collecting donated old clothes from people around town and picking up some wool she'd reserved from the craft shop. What she didn't expect was for Zayn to be dragged along too, something that she was definitely going to interrogate Aliyah about when she had the time.

"Today both of us are your workers, just tell us where you want us and we'll do it." Aliyah smiled, more than eager to lend a helping hand. Zayn on the other hand seemingly hadn't been told that this is what he was doing the rest of the day and frowned at the girl.