"Bye kids, have a nice day," Helen said as she left Heather's house and walked over to her car.
It was the following day and Helen was off to work, while Heather looked after the twins.
After a fifteen minute drive, she arrived at Terminal Four to board that day's flight. As she got on the plane, she passed Stuart, the new captain. She gave him a friendly smile.
"Hello Helen," he said, returning the smile.
Helen walked on by, still smiling. She couldn't help thinking he was cute...
Heather handed packets of crisps to the kids as they all sat in the garden that morning. It was another warm, sunny day and she had the sprinkler on the water the grass.
Kris and Nicole were full of energy, chasing each other around the garden. "I'm gonna get you!" Kris shouted, aiming his Super Soaker at Nicole.
"Eeeek!" Nicole squealed as she got covered in water. "Right, I'll get you back!".
Jamie wasn't joining in though. He sat on a sun lounger, watching with a sad face.
"Are you feeling alright?" Heather quizzed, concerned about him.
"Yeah, I suppose so," Jamie replied. "Auntie Heather, can we go inside?".
"On a sunny day like this? Well, if you want to...". Heather opened the patio door and they went in.
"Can we make cakes or something?" Jamie asked as they approached the kitchen.
"Sure," Heather agreed, getting some flour, eggs, butter and sugar out.
Jamie mixed up the ingredients, then with Heather's help spooned the mix into cake cases. "Can we ice them too?" he asked.
"Yes, of course," Heather said, putting the tray of cakes into the oven.
Heather stayed in the kitchen to wash up while Jamie wandered outside again. His brother and Nicole were still chasing each other around.
"I'll go and get my football," Kris announced, before squeezing through the gap in the fence into his own garden.
Nicole was balancing along the narrow wall and lost her footing. She tumbled to the ground and let out a cry.
Jamie rushed to her side. "Are you OK?" he asked, putting his arm around her.
"My knee!" Nicole wailed, tears pouring down her cheeks.
Jamie looked at her knee to see it was grazed. "Let's go inside and put a plaster on it," he said, helping her walk towards the house.
What's wrong?" Heather asked as they came in the door.
"She's hurt her knee, she fell off the wall," Jamie explained. He handed Nicole a tissue to wipe her tears.
Kris enter the room and saw Nicole crying. "What happened?" he asked.
"I hurt my knee," she told him. "Kiss it better for me,".
Heather wiped it with antiseptic then put on a plaster. "The cakes are ready now, who wants to ice them?".
"Me!" Nicole and Kris both cried.
Nicole soon forgot about her knee as she and the twins put different coloured icing in the cakes. Jamie put pink icing on one and drew a red heart on it with some red icing. He handed it to Nicole. "I hope this makes you feel better," he said, blushing with shyness.
"Thanks!" she said, taking it from him and putting it in her mouth.
"Nicole, let's go and write the wedding invitations," Kris suggested after the cakes were all iced.
"Cool! OK Kris," Nicole said, running into the playroom with him.
Jamie stood and watched, feeling jealous of his brother.
In the studios, the four boys were laying down new tracks for the next a1 album.
Sarah and Naomi were with them, but were getting bored. "Let's go out, it's too sunny to be cooped up indoors," Sarah suggested.
Naomi nodded. "OK, shopping maybe?".
"OK," Sarah agreed. "Mark, we're going out, see you at home this evening,".
Mark took his headphones off and turned to her. "OK babe, see you later,".
The girls got into Sarah's car and drove across London to the West End. "Let's go around Oxford Street first," Naomi said. "I want to get a new pair of jeans,".
They went into Top Shop, then looked around Selfridges. "I still can't see any I like," Naomi moaned. "Let's go and have something to eat now,".
They found a cafe in Selfridges and ordered lunch. "Are you and Chris going to Lucy's party?" Sarah asked.
"Yep," Naomi nodded. "That reminds me, I want to get a new outfit to wear to it,".
Sarah looked at her watch. "We'd better leave in the next hour in time to pick Becky up from playgroup. Becky was Sarah and Mark's four-year old daughter.
"OK, we'll go back to Topshop then leave," Naomi agreed.
After eating lunch, the two of them went back to Topshop, where they bought a few things. Then they drove straight to Becky's playgroup.
"Mummy!" Becky cried as she skipped out of the building to where Naomi and Sarah were standing. "I've done this for you,".
"Oh, that's lovely!" Sarah said, smiling as she looked at the painting Becky had handed her.
"That's daddy, that's you and that's me," Becky explained, pointing to the splodges of paint on the paper.
"It's great, I'll put it on the wall when we get home," Sarah promised as she strapped Becky into her seat.
Late that afternoon, Ben and Paul returned from the studios. "Come on boys, home time," Paul called out.
"I wanna stay here!" Kris complained.
"Me too," Jamie added.
Heather looked at Paul. "Stay for dinner," she suggested.
"OK, thanks," Paul said, he didn't really want to cook dinner so he was glad for the invite.
Heather served up roast chicken and the five of them sat at the table.
"When's mum home?" Kris asked, picking up the gravy jug and pouring some on his plate.
"Tomorrow afternoon, she's on a long flight," Paul replied.
Helen walked into the staff area of the plane for her break. "You're doing a great job,".
She turned around to see Stuart standing behind her, smiling. She blushed. "Thanks,".
"I'm on my break too, let's sit and have a coffee together," he suggested.
They sat next to each other and chat for a few minutes. Helen felt like she'd know Stuart for ages despite only meeting him a few days ago. They got on so well together.
"What did you do before you came to work at Heathrow?" Helen questioned.
"Well, I used to work at Manchester Airport. My ex-wife and I divorced so I moved back to the London area where I'd grown up. I got a job offer at Heathrow so I took it...". He looked into Helen's eyes. "I'm glad I did,".
Helen blushed again, not knowing what to say.
"So," Stuart continued. "How long have you been in this job?".
"Only a year," Helen told him. "My sons are seven now, I didn't work until they started school. I went on a training course then started this job at the start of last year...".
Helen stopped talking when the plane suddenly tipped downwards. "Aghh!" she cried.
Stuart took her hand. "Don't panic, we're OK!".
Helen had been really frightened and clung onto Stuart's hand.
"Don't worry, it's OK now," Stuart comforted, giving her a hug and kissing her cheek lightly.
Helen couldn't help getting a shiver up her spine. "Thanks," she said quietly, looking up at Stuart. She had enjoyed that kiss.
.