My life-coronation street fan fiction

Happy Birthday Elsa

It was September 2016. Mum was 8 months pregnant. Bella had started school and despite everything that had happened she had made friends and everyday her best friend changed. I picked her up everyday and we would walk to the restaurant that mum and Nick owned. It opened mid-August and kept them both busy. We would sit at our table in the corner and do homework then eat dinner before heading home for baths and showers and tv and bed. I would usually hear them get home at around 11pm then I knew they were home so I could go to sleep.

It was the 10th of September, I woke up and rolled over to see a picture of Bella Elsa and I sitting on a park bench back in Manchester a few weeks before she died. After getting dressed and ready I went downstairs where I found Bella munching away on the pancakes Nick had made, he was standing at the sink washing up and staring at a picture of Elsa on the window sill. He looked at me as I sat down next to Bella, he smiled. I ate some breakfast and then mum came down, she stroked my hair and kissed it, she did the same to Bella before walking over to Nick, who wrapped his arms around her growing bump and kissed her.
"She would have been seven today." She said, trying to be quiet as if Bella and I didn't know how important today was.
"I know babe" Nick said
"She should be here giggling and pushing pancakes in her face" I could see the tears gently falling down her cheeks
"Hey sshh" Nick said as he pulled her into him and she rested her head on his chest.

It was break time at school when I realised I had taken mums phone and mine by accident. I text Nick and he said give it to her later. But at lunchtime I got a call on her phone from Bella's school.

*phonecall*
Me: hello
Teacher: hello Mrs Tilsley, it's Bella's teacher Miss Albright
Me: hi miss Albright, this is Bella's sister Isla, I've taken my mums phone by accident, is there a problem?
Miss Albright: yes this lunchtime Bella hid under the table and won't come out, she is clearly upset we were wondering if someone could come and collect her
Me: well my mum and step dad are at a suppliers all day, I can come over and get her, I have two free periods this afternoon
Miss Albright: that would be great, we don't want her being upset and disrupting the other children
Me: ok, i will be about ten minutes.

*phonecall*

I arrived at Bella's school and was greeted by a teaching assistant at reception, who took me to her classroom. The other children were having lunch so inside it was relatively quiet. I walked in the door and saw Bella under a table in the corner, she was clutching a small blanket which only after taking my glasses off the top of my head and putting them on my face, I realised it was Elsa's blanket that I bought her when mum was pregnant, Bella slept with it every night but must have put it in her bag this morning.

"Hey belle" I said as I crouched down next to the table.
"Isla I want her back" she said bursting into tears again.
"I know, so do I, why don't you come out and talk to me and miss Albright about it."
"Ok" she said as she crawled out with her blanket in her hand.
I lifted her up and put her on my hip.

"Who is her? Who do you want back?" Miss Albright said to Bella. Bella stayed quiet. I stood for a minute using my eyes to urge her to speak. She didn't.
"Her older sister Elsa died in May, today would have been seventh birthday"
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry"
"It's alright, it's just Bella, like me, doesn't talk about it, she bottles it all up and keeps quiet. Which she shouldn't" I said looking at her.
After a while miss Albright decided it would be better if I took her home, so I did and when we got home. We put on our pyjamas and watched peppa pig on the TV, because we both knew it was Elsa's favourite. We snuggled with her blanket between us and a picture of her so we could both see and imagined her being here, dancing in the middle of the room to the theme tunes then falling asleep on the soft rug which was mums favourite.
After a while I glanced down to see that Bella had fallen asleep. I switched off the tv and looked outside.
"I love you Elsa Connor" I whispered as I looked towards the clouds.
"I love you too Isla" I could imagine her saying as a tear fell down my face.
"Happy birthday baby girl" I whispered again.