Intertwined

Chapter 59: Family and Secrets and Lies

A/N: Sorry it has taken me forever. I will try and be quicker in future, as a lot is about to happen... Enjoy beautiful readers. Thank you for your support.

Mia groaned when she realised it was her phone ringing, far too loudly, that woke her. More annoyingly, she couldn't find it.

'Where the bloody hell is my fucking phone?' She said throwing her pillow to the floor and trying to look under the bed.

'Mia, what are you doing at,' Charlotte opened one eye and looked at the clock on her bedside, '5:15am?' the redhead's phone began to ring again, and she slipped off the bed with a thud on the floor when she spotted it.

She answered it, gritting her teeth, 'Reecey this better be fu,' Mia paused, and Charlotte watched as the colour drained from her face and she began to walk towards their wardrobe, 'We'll be there as soon as we can. Thanks, Reecey,' as she ended the call the brunette was already behind her, 'Leni has been taken to hospital. They think it's a kidney infection, but we need to take over from Reece and Marjorie with the kids this morning. They have a scan for the baby,' Mia took a deep breath to collect herself, before reaching for the closest jeans and shirt to put on.

'Of course. Penny and Andreas have school, right?' Mia nodded silently. 'Not that they will probably want to go,' Charlotte said as she found clothing to put on and Mia nodded again.

'I'll go make us a coffee to go sweetheart,' her shoulders rounded as she went through the doorway of their room. Their haven. It was like slipping out of a bubble and back to the real world. The real world where people you cared about, even when you tried not to, could get sick and hurt.

Charlotte made her way into the kitchen to see Mia standing by the jug, their travel mugs waiting, steam rising and the redhead's eyes focused on the back garden as she quietly talked to herself. She recognised Mia's self-talk now and let her finish before they looked at each other. Unspoken acknowledgement steadied them both. They would talk more later, right now their friends needed them, Leni and Marcus' children needed them.

Mia drove with extra focus, Charlotte's hand on her thigh reminding her they weren't dreaming but functioning in the real world and conveying some hope that things could work out. They had before and they would again. I'm a match for her. For Leni. What if she needs a new kidney now and I'm pregnant. I'm ten weeks pregnant. Can her body wait thirty weeks? What if there's no one else? Rather than face those questions she watched the road, closely. Counted cars and corners and the dotted lines between her car and the one in front.

Charlotte knew Mia's mind would be going like a bat out of hell. She could feel the whirlwind in the car. Through her touch, her hand on her fiancé, she tried to pass thoughts of love, of comfort, of reassurance that no matter what she would be there with her.

When they arrived and walked in Leni's home, they could smell cooking coming from the kitchen, Reece. Marjorie was holding piles of linen, walking upstairs, 'Char, can you help me up here please, my love?' The brunette took the stairs two at a time and followed Marjorie.

Mia headed for the kitchen where Reece was instructing Galen how to make an omelet, 'that's it, whisk the eggs a bit more and then add them to the pan when all the butter has melted,' the teenager held his tongue between his lips in concentration as though performing a lifesaving medical procedure. Reece looked up and nodded at Mia who offered him a small smile. Reece was always good at finding ways to keep people busy in a crisis.

'He'll be better than you soon Reecey,' she quipped and the blonde raised his brow with a small nod.

'Reece is a good teacher, and cooking is a good temporary distraction from my mother being sick with a possible life-threatening infection in the hospital,' Galen had a very direct, honest way of looking at the world.