"Come on, you can do it," I encourage Erin who is on her hands and knees in front of me and so close to crawling.

"It's her left leg, she can't quite figure out how to use," Cory muses from the other end of the rom.

Both of us are sat on the floor with Erin in between the two of us. She repositions herself so that she is no longer on all fours but instead is sitting up, still facing me though. I try clapping to gain her attention hoping that she will try again but instead she opens her mouth into a wide smile and begins to laugh. Not really what I had in mind.

"I don't think it's going to be today," Cory says to me, picking up one of Erin's toys as he does so.

"You don't say," I reply to him while still trying to encourage the eight-month old child in front of me.

Cory moves so that he is no longer behind Erin but is now lying down beside her, showing off the toy in his hand. This turns her attention away from me causing her to swivel around on her bum so that she is facing him. Her laugh still fills the room as attempts to take the toy off of Cory only for her to not be able to reach. She falls forwards so that she is on all fours again and I watch hesitantly as she moves her right arm in front of her, and then followed by her left. Her legs trail behind her though, not moving in the way she wants them to.

"So close," I say to Erin, lying down so that I am in a similar position to Cory.

I lay down so that I am on my back and pick Erin up so that she is straddling my waist. Keeping a tight hold of her body, I begin planting kisses all over her face and arms, causing her to laugh even more. It doesn't take long for her to star grabbing onto my hair which mistakenly I left down today. As soon as she gets a tight enough grip, she lowers her own face down so it is close to mine before nuzzling against my neck.

I close my eyes, savouring these precious moments, enjoying the feel of my daughter against me. While I have my eyes closed I feel my hair being stroked so I look up to see Cory facing down at me. He kisses the top of Erin's head before directing his lips to mine.

"Sorry to break this apart but these have just come in the post," my mother's voice breaks the brief silence.

Slowly I start to sit up, carefully so that I don't wake Erin up who had apparently fallen asleep in a matter of moments.

"What is it?" Cory asks her.

I noticed that my mum is holding two envelopes in her hands.

"They're from your school. Progress reports. I didn't open yours Cory because even though technically I guess I'm your guardian it just didn't feel right. You on the other hand," my mum cuts her sentence short before handing me the letter.

I take the letter out of the already opened envelope to read what it has to say. All it is, is a brief summary of how my grades currently are and what I am predicted to get in my exams. And it's not looking good.

"D's Kristen? They are predicting by the end of the year you will come out with three D's? You told me you were on top of everything, that classes were going well," she sighs at me.

Cory takes Erin out of my arms, realising that this is probably not the best time for me to be holding her.

"You had no right to open this letter," I raise my voice back at her, trying to deflect the subject.

"It was addressed to the parent or carer of Kristen Mason which is me, so yes I did. Now back to the three D's. Why didn't you say something before?" my mum asks me with her hands resting on her hips.

I don't know what to say so I don't say anything at all. I reread the letter again, still in shock because I didn't even realise I was doing this poorly.

"It says that you have failed to hand some assignments in and that your coursework for Dance is late. I was speaking to Chris and he said-"

"Who?" I interrupt my mum.

"Chris Reynolds, your teacher," and your boyfriend I add silently in my head as my mum continues to rant at me. "He says that you have been doing okay in classes but not at your usual standards. Are you alright? Has something happened?" my mum asks me causing me to laugh at her.

"Has something happened? Did you really just ask me that? Of course something happened, I had a baby which has a changed a lot of things for me. I guess I've just not had as much time to study as I thought I did. I've been trying my best which apparently isn't enough," I tell my mum and notice that Cory is no longer in the room; I assume he has taken Erin upstairs.

My mum walks over to me, shaking her head before sitting down on the sofa. "Are you able to drop a subject? Would that make it easier?"

Now it is my turn to shake my head at her. "Even if I wanted to, it's too late in the year to drop anything. Also most uni's look for three A-levels or more. If I dropped one then it would only ruin my chances even more," I say to her, joining her on the sofa.

My mum doesn't say anything but instead takes the letter out of my hands and reads over it again. "I'm annoyed too. I thought I was doing better than what I am. I want to try and finish with at least C's by the end of the year," I tell my mum, trying to keep my voice as calm as I can.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" my mum asks.

"I don't think so. The only thing I could think of is if you looked after Erin more but that isn't your responsibility. Maybe I could drop her off earlier at Mary-Anne's? Most of my lessons are in the afternoon so I could maybe do work in the mornings there where I can focus better," I tell her, shrugging my shoulders as I do so.

"That sounds like a good plan. What about the money side of things? Do you expect me to pay for the extra hours?"

"No, I'll figure it out. Cory already puts most of his work money towards it. I could sell old clothes online or something?" I try and laugh as I say it receiving a small one back from my mum.

"Just don't sell any of the clothes with baby sick on them. I don't think they will sell for much," I hear Cory say from the doorway.

He walks into the living room and takes a seat next to me on the sofa. I notice his letter is poking out of the backside pocket of his jeans.

"I'm glad we got that sorted," my mum says as she gets up from the sofa. "I need to go out and get some things so I'll see you both soon," I'm unsure as to whether that is just an excuse to leave the house but I say goodbye anyway.

Once I know that my mum has left the house for sure, I turn my attention to Cory who has a hand wrapped around my waist.

"What are you predicted to get?" I jump straight to the point, tugging on the letter in his pocket.

"C's and B's," he replies meekly as he must have heard everything my mum and I said.

"How the fuck do you do it? It's not fair," I scream into a pillow before throwing it across the room. "You have a child too so how come your grades aren't bad?" I ask him.

"I don't know. Maybe it is to do with being able to study at school without distractions," he tells me as he pulls me closer to him.

I end up resting my head in his lap as hestrokes my hair, feeling so frustrated at everything. How was it only momentsago I was lying on the floor with Erin, playing and feeling care free and now I'mstressing over my grades and my entire future.

***

For the time being, I manage to push those negative thoughts out of my head as I make my way over to Maddie's with Laura. She has invited us over for a sleepover where we also get to meet Leigh for the first time.

"Remember we have to pretend that they are just friends because her parents don't know yet," Laura tells me once I have met her at her house.

"Yes I know. You've only told me about a hundred times so far," I reply to her.

It doesn't take us long to reach Maddie's house. Her parents cars are parked in the driveway and all the lights are on. As we get closer to the front door I hear voices room inside.

"Sounds like everyone is already here," Laura comments.

"Of course they are, they live here you dimwit," I say to her as she knocks on the door.

After only a few seconds the door swings open to Maddie standing there.

"Hey guys, come in. Leigh is already here but you know the deal right?" Maddie whispers the last part of the sentence so her don't overhear.

"We know," I tell her as we walk in.

The first thing I see are her parents sat on the sofa watching a film. They greet Laura and I as we walk in but then soon get back to watching their film. Maddie leads us through the hallway towards the staircase where we make our way to her bedroom.

"Should you be allowed in your room alone with a girl," I tease with Maddie.

"Says the girl with a child. Anyway as far as my parents we're just friends so they have nothing to be concerned about," Maddie tells me as we reach her room. "Girls meet Leigh," as she swings her bedroom door open I see a girl lying in the middle of Maddie's bed, scrolling through her phone.

"Oh hi," she says, looking up from her phone as she does so.

Leigh gets up from the bed and stands rather awkwardly in front of us, probably mirroring the same poses as Laura and I. The three of us seem unsure how to greet each other. A hug seems too informal but a handshake seems too formal and I can't think of a middle ground. Instead I settle on saying 'hi' back.

"This is Laura and Kristen," Maddie introduces us to Leigh, pointing to us as she says our names. "Is everyone alright if I order pizza? I was going to order it later but I'm starving," she then asks.

We all tell her that is fine so she grabs her phone and orders the food.

"Should be about an hour," Maddie tells us once she hangs up. "Did you two get that letter from school? The one with the predicted grades?" she asks us causing me to groan out loud.

"Let's not talk about it," I say to her, perching on the end of the bed.

"Not looking good?" Laura asks me so I shake my head at her. "Mine could be better as well."

"I'm bored of A-levels as well. They're not what I expected them to be," Leigh tells us, joining in the conversation.

"I don't mind them, I just wish I had more time to actually do the work," I tell Leigh.

"Ahh so you're the one with the kid I'm guessing?" Leigh asks, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I am indeed,"

"Must be hard. I can't even imagine what that must be like," she says. "Do you have any pictures?"

I get my phone out of my bag and begin showing Leigh some pictures of Erin. She 'oohs' and 'ahhs' as she flicks through them. After a while she hands me my phone back and we decide to put a film on. Laura sits on the small sofa that Maddie has in her room so I decide to join her there. Maddie and Leigh sit next to each other on the bed. From where I'm sat you can tell that they have their hands are linked but it isn't obvious unless you're looking for it.

About forty-five minutes into the film there is a knock at the front door.

"My dad will get it," Maddie says not bothering to get up.

A few seconds later I can hear the sound of footsteps climbing up the stairs. They get louder as they get closer and the smell of pizza soon fills the room.

"Maddison, the next time you order food will you please collect it yourself?" her dad asks her, throwing the pizza's down on the bed.

"Sure, whatever," Maddie says, opening one of the boxes of pizza.

"What are you girls watching?" Mr Square asks, turning his attention to the telly.

At that exact moment two girls on screen begin kissing rather passionately.

"Why is this kind of behaviour all over the telly nowadays? I swear every programme you see has gay people in it. It's like they're trying to force it down our throats," Maddie's dad says.

"Seriously dad? That's what you think? Nothing is being shoved down our throats, people are just starting to be treated equally. It's long overdue really," Maddie snaps back him.

"If that's how you think Mads. I guess the one of the only good parts of being gay is that you wouldn't get yourself knocked up without meaning to," he then says with a small smirk on his face.

"Right get out now!" Maddie screams at him, slamming the door behind her dad as he leaves the room. "I am so sorry about that but now you can see why I can't come out to them," Maddie apologises mainly to Leigh.

"I understand. I can't believe he acted that way," Leigh comments.

"My mum is just as bad. I also can't believe he made that comment about getting knocked up. Kristen, I'm so sorry,"

"It's not your fault," I tell her.

"So are you already out to your parents?" Laura asks Leigh when there is a slight pause in the conversation.

"Yeah, mine were really accepting and have been ever since. I just wish Maddie was able to feel the same way,"

"So do I babes," Maddie tells her, wrapping her arms around her as she does so. "Right, lets east this pizza and enjoy the rest of the night. I want to forget everything that my dad said." Maddie says, holding a slice of pizza in the air as she does so.

"Sounds good with me," Laura helps herself to a slice and I get one after her.

For the rest of the night we are able to put everything that happened behind us. We dance around the room to music from our childhood in our pyjamas which shoving pizza down our throats. Sometime during the night we end up collapsing down on the bed and eventually falling asleep.