"Hi, come in!".
In was Saturday morning and Mark, Sarah and Becky had just arrived at Ben and Heather's house. They were planning to take the kids out for the day.
Mark sat down on the sofa. "So, have we decided where we're going? I was thinking of Chessington,".
Sarah shook her head. "No, we only took Becky there a couple of weeks ago,".
Ben walked in and handed them both a cup of tea and gave Becky a carton of ribina. "How about Thorpe Park? It's only down the road,".
Nicole was at the other end of the room, watching CD:UK. "Yes! Can we mum, please?".
Heather crossed her arms. "I don't think you deserve it after the way you've been acting, young lady!".
Nicole frowned and turned away, Ben noticed this. "Come on Heather, let her come. She needs cheering up,".
"Has she said sorry to Ben and Jamie yet?" Sarah asked.
Heather shook her head. "No,".
Nicole got up and walked out of the room, brushing past Ben and almost knocking over Becky.
Ben glared at her then glanced at Heather.
That was the final straw for Heather. "Nicole!" she shouted, grabbing her shoulder and dragging her out of the room. She led her up to Nicole's bedroom and sat her on the bed.
"This has gone too far!" Heather shouted at the top of her lungs. "You're being extremely rude! How would you feel if you didn't have a daddy? You need to be nicer to him, he really loves you. You owe your dad an apology, Jamie and Sam too,".
Nicole nodded, sobbing. "Ok," she whispered, upset about being told off.
At the bottom of the stairs, Ben was laughing with Mark. "She's in trouble, poor Nicole!".
Nicole walked down the stairs and stood facing Ben. "I'm sorry dad," she said as he bent down to cuddle her.
He smiled and gave her a kiss. "So, are you ready to go to Thorpe Park?".
Nicole's face lit up. "Yes!".
Heather lay some paper and felt pens on the table. "When we get back this evening you've got some apology letters to write," she reminded Nicole.
Sam and Tasha were also going out that day. "Where's Marat today?" Sam asked as they sat in her Mercedes and drove to a sports function in London.
"He's training for the US Open which is in a couple of weeks time," Tasha informed her. "I really miss him!".
The US Open... that got Sam thinking back to when she had met Pete. She sighed, it had been a while since she had been involved with anyone.
They soon arrived at the sports function and went inside. Several British sports stars were giving talks then there would be a lunch laid out for everyone. Marat had got tickets for him and Tasha, but since he couldn't make it, Tasha had brought Sam along instead.
They sat down in their seats and listened to the talks. Afterwards, they went to the buffet tables and got some lunch.
"He's nice," Sam said to herself, looking in the direction of a cute looking man nearby, who was spooning some salad onto his plate.
"Oh, he's Johnny Wilkinson, a rugby player for Newcastle. Heather used to go to playgroup with him. I'll call him over,".
Sam was delighted when Tasha approached him and led him in her direction.
"Johnny, this is my friend Samantha," Tasha introduced. "Sam, this is Johnny,".
"Hi," he grinned, looking right into Sam's eyes.
"Hi," Sam said back, feeling weak at the knees.
They got talking about rugby, Sam and Johnny got on really well. "I'll be back soon," Tasha said, slipping away.
But Sam and Johnny hardly noticed she'd gone. "I'm going out to a club tonight with a group of friends, want to come along?" he asked.
"Thanks!" Sam smiled. "OK then,".
Meanwhile at Thorpe Park, everyone was having a good time. Sarah and Heather had taken the kids to the children's rides and were now on their way to meet Ben and Mark.
"You look wet!" Sarah laughed as she saw how Mark were dripping.
"We went on Loggers Leap!" Ben told her, showing the girls the photo of them on it.
"Ha ha, your face!" Heather giggled, looking at the picture. In it, Ben looked absolutely terrified.
"Can we go on Flying Fish?" Nicole pleaded as they walked through Model World which was next to Flying Fish.
"Becky's too small to go on that so I'll wait here with her," Mark said, taking Becky's buggy from Sarah and sitting on a bench next to the ride.
Heather, Nicole, Sarah and Ben queued up and soon got on the ride. "I want to go with Auntie Sarah," Nicole demanded.
Ben looked at Heather and smiled. "Looks like I'll be going on with you darling!".
They got onto the ride and the fish-design train sped off. "Eeek!" Nicole cried excitedly.
Ben grabbed onto Heather and cried out excitedly. "Wooo hooo!".
After getting off the ride, they walked back to find mark. He was sitting on the bench, signing autographs for a crowd of girls. Becky was even signing a few autographs for them too, well, scribbles.
Sarah smiled. "He's great with the fans. Mark's such a sweetheart!".
"Let's go on Tidal Wave," Sarah suggested. "It's the best ride here,".
Ben shook his head. "I'm not, I'll get soaked!" he exclaimed. "I'll look after the kids while you three go on it,".
"I don't fancy it," Heather said. "I'll look after the kids instead,".
Mark laughed. "Come on Ben, scared of it?!".
"Of course not!" Ben stated.
"What, don't you want to get your hair wet?" Mark teased.
Ben gave in. "OK, I'll go on it,".
Heather sat on the little beach area with Nicole and Becky while the others went on Tidal Wave. She laughed as she saw them come back. Ben was drenched
"Let me dry off," Heather said, getting a towel out of her bag and putting it around Ben, who was wearing Mark's cap.
Heather tried to take it off him but Ben stopped her. "Don't! My hair has gone all frizzy, leave it on!" Ben warned.
Heather laughed. "OK then,".
That evening, Ben, Heather and Nicole arrived back home. "You know what you've got to do now," Heather told Nicole.
Nicole frowned. "Yeah,".
Ben unlocked the door and went upstairs to change as his clothes were still wet.
Heather opened the patio doors and stepped outside. It was a beautiful evening. She picked up her mobile and called Helen. "Hi, what do you think about having a barbecue tonight?".
"Cool, OK then," Helen agreed.
Heather and Helen phoned everyone and invited them over. She went upstairs to tell Ben. "I'm going to pop up Tescos and buy some burgers and stuff, I won't be long,".
Ben buttoned up his shirt and plugged in his hair straighteners. "OK then. I'll call Mark and Chris, see if they can make it too,".
A couple of hours later, everyone was over in Helen and Heather's gardens, enjoying the barbecue.
Nicole came outside holding a piece of paper. "This is for you, Auntie Sam," she said quietly, handing it over.
Sam grinned. "That's lovely, thankyou!". It was a card saying sorry for misbehaving, and on the front she had drawn a trophy saying 'world's best babysitter'.
Jamie was sitting on the swing, still upset over the little episode with Nicole. He watched her from a distance, feeling too shy to go and talk to her.
To his surprise, Nicole came over to him and handed him a piece of red card. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.
Jamie's face lit up us he read the message. Nicole was saying sorry for pouring water over him and said that she hoped they were still friends.
"Of course we are," Jamie said, giving her a big hug.
Sam's phone rang, it was Johnny. "I'm outside, ready to go?".
Sam grinned. "OK, see you in a second,". She hung up and walked over to Heather. "I'm off on my date now, thanks for inviting me,".
"That's OK," Heather told her. "Have a nice time,".
Christian and Naomi were at the party and were controlling the CD player. "Let's stick some a1 on," Naomi suggested.
"Ok, but nothing to embarrassing," Christian warned her.
Naomi grinned and put 'The A List' on track 11.
Paul was chatting with Ben as 'Celebrate Our Love' started up. "Cool, let's dance!" he laughed.
Ben agreed and pulled Christian and Mark over. "You know the routine lads,".
Everyone danced and clapped as the four of them sang along and danced. "Gotta move, you know we gotta groove into the light," Ben sang. "Tonight will be the night that we're breaking it up. Break it down baby!". He danced up to Heather and took a bowl of fruit from the table and placed it on her head.
Heather took the bowl off her and gave Ben a look. But she couldn't help laughing.
Kris came up and grabbed some of the grapes from the bowl. "Ha ha!" he cried as he threw them at Jamie and Nicole.
The kids ran around throwing food at each other, shrieking with excitment. Heather turned to Helen with a smile. "I'm glad she's being nice to Jamie tonight,".
Ben came up behind Nicole and grabbed her. "Caught you!" he cried, scooping her up in his arms.
Nicole turned to him. "Are you still angry with me, dad?".
Ben gave her a smile. "No, not at all. You know I love you,".
"I love you too daddy," Nicole said, giving Ben a big hug.
.