Beth's POV

"Mum?"

Where is it? I think.

"Muuum?"

Everyone else has theirs, where the hell is mine?

"MUM!"

I turn and look at my daughter who has moved further around the luggage carousel and is pointing to a lone suitcase that had been taken off the revolving ride.

My suitcase.

Currently being examined by two airport security guards.

Shit.

I quickly move around the carousel and towards the two men.

"Is this yours?" one of them questions me.

"Yes, yes it is," I reply, wide-eyed as they both stare at me.

Like, really stare at me.

Down,

Stare down.

"You realise you should not leave your luggage unattended like this?" the other guard asks me, "it could be mistaken for a potential bomb threat."

I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing as I picture my suitcase exploding and my knickers going everywhere.

Yes that could very well blind some poor unsuspecting soul.

Blinded by exploding knickers.

"Well to be fair," I reply, "someone else actually took it off. I've been standing on the other side waiting for it to come around."

They both look at me like I'm an idiot.

"I can't see the other side from here..." I trail off.

They keep looking at me.

"Can I go now?" I ask.

They both nod at me before walking off.

I exhale to the point my lips make that weird flapping noise.

"Mum?"

I hear the whisper behind me, causing me to turn and look at my three young children.

Youngish, I guess.
Well Nick is 12, Jamie is 11 and Chloe is 9.

Not so young that I still need to wipe their asses after the toilet but not quite old enough that I would let them cook on the stove top unattended.

"Let's go my little cherubs," I say wearily.

They follow me out of the airport and towards the nearby waiting line of taxis.

We find an older looking man who has a bit of a twinkle in his eye. He actually gets out of the car and walks over to help us.

"Where are you headed to love?" he asks.

"Uh...a town called Holmes Chapel?" I reply, hoping he knows of it and how to get there.

"Village love, it's a village," he says smiling.

At this point you could call it a tube of toothpaste because I'm so tired that I just want to get there.

After our luggage is loaded in and the kids are all seatbelted in the back, we head off.

"So where you from love?" he asks in an attempt to draw me into conversation.

Maybe I should engage so I stay awake. He could drive us anywhere. I am a mother with three young children.

A prime target.

And clearly fucking sleep deprived.

"Uh...Australia. Victoria to be specific," I reply.

"Ah!" his face lights up with recognition, "do you like to throw another shrimp on the barbie?" he attempts an Australian accent.

I inwardly roll my eyes. Thank goodness he's good at driving because his imitation sucks.

"Not personally, no," I smile which had him chuckling.

"Do you have those kangaroos jumping down your street?" he asks.

I raise my eyebrows at him.

What the hell has this bloke been told about Australia?

It's almost comical because it actually is true.

About the kangaroos.

They actually do jump along my road. Well, more so leap in front of my car during the summer months.

Stupid things.

And what was how the drive went. The lovely taxi driver, whose name I learnt was George, asking me numerous questions and me doing my best to answer them.

"Which place are you staying at?" George asks as the lights from the taxi shine on the welcoming sign of Holmes Chapel.

"It's called Bridge Farm B&B," I tell him.

"Lovely little spot," he exclaims, "how long you staying for?"

"I'm not sure," I answer truthfully, "indefinitely. I'm seeing how it goes I guess."

There was a comfortable silence as we drive through the quaint little town, sorry, village.

I notice the row of small shops as we drive down the main street. A small supermarket catches my eye and I make a mental note that we should pop down to grab a couple of things for the night.

"Well you've picked a good little place to think about it all," he says as he slows the taxi before turning into a driveway.

I could just make out the double story cottage in the dark and began to feel a little bit excited that we were finally here.

"I'm staying at the small individual cottage at the rear," I explain to George, who nods in understanding.

He pulls up at the front door and I see the white front door is illuminated by the porch light. I silently thank the owner for not letting me fumble around in the dark.

Cause it's hard.

And I'm clumsy as hell.

With our bags now at the door, I thank George profusely, he couldn't have been more lovelier.

"Enjoy your stay love," he says as he walks towards the taxi and opens the door, sitting himself inside it. He rolls down the window after starting the engine.

"I hope you find what you're looking for," he says, "or what you're not."

I smile and wave as he reverses out.

I didn't know how pertinent those words would prove to be.

~~~

"Okay guys, let's get our stuff in and we'll take a quick walk into town to grab some snacks and stuff for breakfast," I say as I open the door.

Turning the inside light on, the kids suddenly find their second wind as they drag their luggage upstairs.

"Stairs mum! There are stairs!" James says with excitement.

It's not like we don't have stairs in Australia. It's just that WE don't have stairs.

I can hear them fighting over who is sleeping where before a very heated exchange of 'rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock' takes place.

Thank you Big Bang Theory.

Silence.

I think they worked it out.

Footsteps, or a small herd of elephants, descend on the stairs.

"We sorted it out mum!" James tells me, "we're gonna take it in turns to share the big bed and the bunk on top."

"No, no, no!" I cut him off, "Chloe cannot sleep on the top bunk so it'll just have to be between you two boys if you swap."

"Oh yeah!" Nick points to his sister, "you're not allowed on bunks!"

I watch her pout.

It's not that I think she's too young, she has just been known to sleepwalk and I really don't fancy concussion or broken bones on this trip.

So sue me for playing it safe.

"Come on," I say, grabbing my bag, "let's go down to the supermarket then we can settle in for the night."

I remember to grab the house keys off the kitchen table as well as Chloe's outstretched hand as we all head out the door.

It's not cold, but it is a little nippy as we make our way into town, the little street lights illuminating the path for us. We don't even have street lights where I live.

The boys talk animatedly amongst themselves about creepers and mining for gold and other Minecraft related stuff.

The shit that these kids build amazes me.

Chloe just showed me 'The Stampy Supreme' hotel owned by her pet rabbit Stampy. It's four levels high complete with beds, couches, cupboards, flower arrangements and a waterfall. And a giant carrot rocket. Cause all rabbits have that apparently.

We soon reach the lit up shops and stop at the small supermarket.

Waitrose.

Cute name.

It doesn't seem overly busy as we enter and I pick up a shopping basket. There only seems to be about half a dozen people in here as I head to the fridge for milk, margarine and juice then towards the back for some bread.

I find my kids in front of the lollies and chips.

Of course.

"I've got stuff for breakfast, let's just grab something quick for tonight's dinner and a couple of snacks? We'll do a proper shop tomorrow."

I watch them walk around the aisles as I head over to the produce section and place some apples and bananas in the basket.

They come back armed with several cups.

"Noodles?" I ask.

"Yeah, we're good with that mum," Nick says as they throw them into the basket.

"O-kay," I reply as they already walk off.

"Can we get some chips mum? Please?" they all seem to chorus together, as innocent as newborn babes.

My ass they are.

"Alright, choose something each as a treat and then we're done," I answer.

Fist pumps and several 'yeses' are uttered.

With our basket full, we head up to the counter to pay. The young girl behind the counter seems so enthused to be there, barely even looking at me.

"That'll be £43.75," she says in a monotone voice.

I swipe my card and wait for the machine to tell me it's not approved.

Oh my fuck.

"It's declined," she says.

Thanks Einstein, I think to myself.

"Can I try again?" I ask.

She taps a few buttons and nods for me to go again.

And it's declined.

I feel my face begin to flame with embarrassment.

Like, I know there's money there.

A shitload actually.

I'm suddenly aware there's another person standing a couple of metres away waiting to pay for their purchases.

"Look, I have the money but obviously my card isn't working," I begin, "we've just flown in, it's taken us over a day, I'm staying just down the road at Bridge Farm," I gesture to my kids, "they're tired and hungry..."

She stares blankly at me.

I'm panicking now.

Panicked and embarrassed.

"I can leave my drivers' licence here and come back in the morning once I've gone to the bank to sort it out?" I offer.

"I'm afraid I can't ma'am," she says.

The realisation that she's going to send me packing with three hangry (hungry and angry) children frightens me. And I teach 3-year old kindergarten. Not to mention that Jamie tends to lose his shit if he doesn't eat enough.

"Look, you can have one of my kids. I've got three, I can spare one?" I say with a smile on my face, using humour as a last ditch attempt with her.

But her eyes widen in shock.

Hell I just offered to trade one, I didn't say I wanted to kill any of them.

"Fine," I sigh tiredly, "thank you for thinking outside the box."

I look at my kids, getting their attention.

"Come on, leave it and let's go," I say to them.

"Aren't we getting the food?" James asks, a worried look on his face.

I smile apologetically.

"My card's not working so we'll have to wait until the morning," I tell him.

"But we're hungry!" Chloe pleads.

I scoot them out the door amid further protests of starvation and disbelief.

"I promise we'll go for a huge breakfast in the morning," I say as the doors close behind us.

~~~

It's not until we begin walking home that I realise how much my head is beginning to hurt.

Now I have a headache.

Great.

We make it back to the cottage and now that I've had time to look around, I notice there's provisions for tea, coffee and hot chocolate.

"Hey!" I say to them, "why don't you go upstairs and put your jammies on and I can at least make you all a hot chocolate before bed?"

They grumpily agree with my offer and I busy myself setting up three mugs as I wait for the kettle to boil. They all come racing down the stairs just as it starts to whistle. I'm about to pick it up when there's a knock at the door. I frown in confusion as to who could be calling so late, and why. Maybe it was just the owner, Mrs. Watkins. We'd talked over email several times and she seemed lovely.

Of course it must be her, wanting to introduce herself.

I open the door and stand there.

It's not Mrs. Watkins.

It's a young man holding bags of groceries.

I'm wondering if he's lost.

I realise I'm still frowning until I hear Chloe's voice behind me.

"It's Harry!" she yells in disbelief.

The frown disappears as my eyebrows rise as far as they go in shock as Harry Styles stands there smiling at me.

Sooooo...let me know what you think!

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