I'm Home

A fun day

Downstairs a doorbell rang. Lydia looked at Victoria and saw her grinning at the Maitlands. It was the happiest her daughter had looked for a long time and it made her really happy. 

'Hey, Tori bear, wanna stay up here and get to know the Maitlands a little more? I'll be right downstairs but stay up here, tell them more about daddy' she kissed her daughters small cheek and left the attic with a smile. 

'So, Victoria is it?' asked Barbara, smiling at the small child. 

'Mummy calls me Tori Bear. Lexi and Will call me Tori. Gran calls me Tori Boo. Grandma and Grandpa call me Vicky and Vick. And daddy calls me his little pixie' she grinned at the Maitlands and climbed up onto the couch in between them. 'What are your nicknames?'

'Oh well' Barbara looked at Adam and giggled 'Adam calls me Barbie or Barbie Doll. I've been called Babs and B-town, but mostly I'm Barbara or Barb' she lightly nudged Victoria in the side, making the girl giggle 'I don't have as many cool nicknames as you'

'What about you?' asked Victoria, turning to Adam.

'Yeah, what about you?' smirked Barbara, looking at her husband with a smile.

'I'm boring, I'm mostly Adam. Sometimes A-dog, sometimes Ad. Thats it' he smiled 'Oh and your mum used to call me her Plaid Dad, because of my shirt. But thats her being weird' 

'Hmm, well...' Victoria put a hand on her chin and looked at the Maitlands 'I'm calling you' she sharply turned her head to Barbara 'Barbsy. and you' she looked at Adam, who jumped 'Adam'

'Doesn't he get a nickname?' asked Barbara

'I need time to think of one' said Victoria 'But he does get a hug' she climbed onto Adam's lap and hugged him tightly. 'Don't worry, you'll have a nickname soon. I just need time to think of a good one' 

'Thank you' said Adam 'I'll wait'

'You're too cute Victoria' said Barbara, smiling at her husband and the small child, letting herself imagine for a moment that it was their child who was sitting on his lap and not their niece. 

'Wait!' said Victoria 'I need a nickname from you'

'Hmm' Barbara studied her with thought 'Adam, any ideas?'

'Toria' said Adam. 

'I love it' squealed Victoria, throwing her arms around Adam's neck and hugging him tightly. Adam smiled and hugged her back. Then, Victoria pulled away and looked at Adam 'Mummy taught me that I have to say Thank you when people give me something. So thank you for my nickname' 

'You're welcome' said Adam, hugging her again and smiling at Barbara over the three year olds head. 

'So, Toria, you ticklish?' asked Barbara. Victoria lifted her head off Adam's shoulder and turned to look at her with wide eyes.

'N-no' she said with a guilty smile 

'Adam, how about we test that theory' said Barbara and Adam nodded.

'No!' squealed Victoria, hopping off Adam's lap and diving  into the pile of beanbags, attempting to hide in them. The Maitlands smirked at each other walked over to the big black and white beanbag (that'd once been Beetlejuice's) and sat down either side of it.

'Y'know Adam, I really like this black and white one' said Barbara

'Same Barbara' Adam noticed the beanbag shaking a little 'A shame Toria isn't here to see it'

'Where did she go anyway?' asked Barbara, they could hear the little girls laughter from underneath the beanbag. 'Oh well, lets just take this over to the other side of the attic' Adam lifted the bean bag up to reveal Victoria curled up underneath on a purple one.

'Toria!' said Adam. Victoria scrambled to her feet and tried to run away, only to have Barbara grab her round the waist and lift her into the air. 

'Caught you!' she smiled, swinging the little girl onto her hip 

'No tickles' giggled Victoria looking at Barbara 'Please no tickles'

'We won't tickle you yet' said Barbara 'We'll wait for your mum to help us' Victoria's eyes widened and she shook her head frantically. Barbara laughed 'Don't worry. You can relax sweetheart, we won't do anything' Victoria nodded and laid her head on Barbara's shoulder yawning slightly. 

'Wanna just sit and talk?' asked Adam, noticing the little girls exhaustion. Victoria sleepily nodded and she wrapped her tiny arms around Barbara's neck too, making sure Flopsy was still safe under her arms too. Barbara smiled and walked over to the couch, sitting down on it and Adam joining her. Victoria smiled and snuggled into Barbara's chest, sticking one of Flopsy's ears in her mouth and closing her eyes.

Lydia flopped onto the couch with a sigh. The movers had finally left. They'd been so helpful and moved all the stuff into the appropriate rooms, but Lydia was still exhausted. Delia had texted her to let her know they'd be back in 20 minutes and Lydia decided to use that time to convince Victoria not to tell her siblings about the Maitlands. Slowly and tiredly, she climbed the familiar path up to the attic and knocked on the door.

'Come in Lyd' said Barbara. Lydia opened the door and saw Victoria sitting on Adam's lap, showing him a drawing on a piece of paper. Victoria spotted her and ran to her. 

'Mummy!' she exclaimed, throwing herself at her mothers legs. 

'Hey sweetheart' said Lydia, picking her up and walking over to the couch. 'What've you guys been up to?'

'We were drawing' said Victoria, reaching over to Adam and taking the drawing from him 'Look, this is us. Thats you, Barbsy, Adam, Lexi, Will, Grandma, Grandpa, Gran and Daddy' she pointed to the different people with a proud smile on her face.

'Thats beautiful sweetheart' said Lydia. She kissed Victoria on the nose and looked at the Maitlands, who were smiling at her. 'I hope she wasn't too much trouble'

'Oh none at all' said Barbara 'She's wonderful. Very entertaining'

'I'll introduce you to Lex and Will some other time. Lex'll probably be terrified and Will won't believe me so I'll have to ease them into it. Dad and Delia are coming over, want me to send them up here?' 

'You guys have family time' said Adam 'We'll be ok up here'

'Ok, thanks you guys so much. Tori looks like she had a lot of fun' she stood up and walked towards the door.

'Wait' Victoria scrambled out of her mothers arms and ran over to the Maitlands, hugging each of them tightly. 'Thank you for spending time with me'

'You're welcome sweetie' said Barbara, feeling her heart swell with love for the young girl. Victoria smiled and waved at them before running back to Lydia and walking out of attic. Lydia smiled at the Maitlands before closing the door behind her.