Everything's Changed

THIRTEEN

Chapter Thirteen:

The end of April came quickly – too quickly in everyone's minds. They wanted time to go as slowly as possible, but it seemed like every day was shorter than the last and considering what was going to happen, that was fucking terrifying.

Since the lads had got back from Huntingdon a few weeks ago, not much had happened. Though, Mark had spoken to everyone about his idea of taking everyone away for a week or so something before he died and it was an idea that had gone down well with everyone else. Once all the adults had agreed to the idea, Gary had gone to talk to his kids about it with Dawn, Mark and Emma had spoken to their kids and Howard had got in contact with his children to talk to them about it. All seven kids were extremely excited about it and were looking forward to the day they went on their holiday.

Once everyone was in on the idea, the next thing on the list was the destination. They didn't fancy going anywhere too far away, seven kids on a long flight was probably not such a good idea. Plus, they would have Robbie with them and Mark had to say, he was worried what would happen if Robbie got bored on a long flight. He would be just as bad as the kids – maybe worse. Eventually, they settled on going to Gran Canaria. It was a fairly short flight, only four hours or so, and it was beautiful island. Robbie had immediately got out his laptop and had begun to search it up, trying to find somewhere that they could stay that had something for adults and kids alike.

"What about this hotel guys?" Robbie said putting the laptop on the table in the middle of the living room. Everyone else crowed around the small screen trying to get a look at what Robbie had found.

"Altamadores," Gary read from the screen.

"Look at the view." Mark said pointing at one of the pictures on the screen. Robbie clicked on it to enlarge it. The view from the building was amazing. There was a clear view of the sea and the beach, which looked only about a five or ten minute walk from the hotel entrance.

"I take it we're going to staying there." Jason said looking at Mark who was smiling with excitement.

"I think so," Mark replied. "It looks really nice."

"The good thing is, there's a pool, a small play area for the kids, a bar, a restaurant and entertainment in the evening." Howard said.

"Looks like we've just found our holiday destination." Emma said with a smile.

"Rob, can you print the page off?" Ayda asked. Robbie nodded and pressed print.

"Printed," he said. "Now, one small question: where's the printer?" He asked. Everyone else laughed.

"Rob, you've been here since – like – October and you still have no idea where anything is." Mark laughed.

"Well excuse me; my mind has been occupied by other things. I haven't exactly been able to go on a hunt for the printer." He said.

"I'll go get it." Emma said standing up and making her way to the computer room where they kept the printer.

She returned a moment later with a few pieces of paper in her hand. She then put them on the table next to the laptop and sat back down.

"OK, now we've got the destination sorted, when are we going to go?" Dawn asked after a moment.

"How about we book flights for the last day of term before the kids break up for the summer holidays?" Howard suggested. "That way, they aren't going to miss much at school and, I think, we might be able to get the flights a little cheaper."

"Good idea, what date do the schools break up on?" Jason asked.

"Err... hold on." Mark stood up and made his way to the kitchen where there was a calendar. "They break up on the 20th July." Mark called from the kitchen before making his way back. "And that's a Friday," he said as he walked back into the living room.