Gone Forever (Adam Gontier #2)

Chapter 10

Lara's POV - THE NEXT MORNING

"Rhia! Come on! It's time to get up! We need to start packing!" I call out, turning on Rhia's bedroom light as she groans and throws her toy bear at me. I grin, remembering how I'd acted in the mornings when I was younger; it had been very similar to her reaction, only I'd been older - in my teenage years - and there'd been a long series of bad language following a throwing of several harder objects than a stuffed bear. "Come on, wake up, Miss Morning Grump."

"Mommy, no! I'm sleepy."

"Sleeping people don't talk, Rhia. Up. Now." I pull the bedsheets away from her, trying to suppress a smile at her high-pitched squeal of resistance. Her feet kick out and she curls up against the wall, shouting at me. "Rhia. Get up or you're not having any candy or TV for a week. I'm serious."

She immediately jumps up, tripping over the rumpled bedsheets and stumbling over to me. "I'm up." I grin and pass her bear back to her.

"Good. Get dressed and then go brush your teeth, okay?"

She glares at me and steps over to her famous clothes pile. I bought her a wardrobe before she was even born, but from the time she learnt to dress herself she'd been either too small or too lazy to put the clothes back where they belonged and had instead just left them to pile up in the corner. Every week, I put them back where they should be, but the pile grows just as fast as it shrinks. She's one quick hoarder.

I turn and leave the room, glancing at her Peppa Pig themed clock as I do so. I turn to my room, pulling out my old suitcase and quickly packing only the essentials - several changes of clothes, toiletries, and everything else necessary for a road trip. I make a mental note to take out all the money I've got left in my bank account - money is something I should really have with me. I don't want to have to rely on the guys this time round. I need to prove to them that I can hold my own perfectly well.

"Mommy?"

I turn around and drop the back. "Shit," I mutter, rushing over to her and lifting her on my hip, running straight to the kitchen where I keep all my medical supplies. "What happened?"

"I fell over when I getted out of bed," she says to me, flinching when I press an ice pack to her swollen, red cheek, a thin line of blood on her cheekbone.

"No, you didn't," I say in confusion, picking up a antibacterial wipe and gently wiping the blood away. "I was there. You tripped on your sheets but you got up fine. Then you went and got dressed. I saw you. What really happened?"

"I getted back into bed then I heareded you moving things so I got scared and getted out again and fell over. I landed on Lily's House," she says, glancing up at me with an ashamed look on her face, referring to the doll's house she has against the wall next to her bed and under the windowsill. I sigh, tutting at her before carefully applying a Band-Aid to her cheek.

"You'll live, but you'll have a deadly bruise. Now come on, go get dressed. Sensibly, this time. We need to go get the bus with Daddy." She applauds my words as she jumps down and runs off to her bedroom, shouting about wearing her party dress for 'Daddy'. I smile, rolling my eyes as I pack away the first aid kit. I can't believe how often I've had to use this stuff in the past few days. I know Rhia's a little kid but even she shouldn't injure herself that often. It's probably something I should address with her at some point, especially with going on tour today. There's gonna be plenty of opportunities for her to nearly kill herself or someone else, and she needs to learn how to hold her own and make sure she doesn't get hurt. That's something she just can't skip out on.

I sigh, going back to my bedroom and picking up what I'd dropped from my packing. Shoving it into the bag, I skim over everything that I'd put in. Do I need anything else? I glance over at the wardrobe and take a deep breath before stepping towards it. I don't really need this but I can't leave it here to gather dust. It needs to come with me but I can't let Rhia get a hold of it.