Finding Abigail

Chapter One - Christmas Eve

 She grabbed her belly and started rolling left and right in her seat.

 "I'm hungrryyy can we go to Mc Donald's?"

 Lucy sighed "No" Abigail sniffed and stared out the window, leaning her arms on the door. She spotted something and sat up excitedly.

 "Lucy! Lucy! Look, there's one there!" She turned back and grabbed Lucy's arm.

 "Please please pleasssseeee can we go? I promise I won't kick your car" Lucy looked suspiciously out the left window past Abigail's head, and then down at Abigail's pleading face. She sighed deeply, tired and hungry herself.

 "Fine" She groaned, caving in to Abigail's little tinny insisting voice and her own rumbling tummy.

 "But you better keep your promise" She switched on the indicator and pulled into the layby pull off. Abigail's squeaks of excitement and victory bounced around almost as much as she did, her face glued to the glass causing condensation from her warm breath.

 "Promise, promise, promise! Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a finger in my eye!"

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They pulled up onto the driveway of Liz and John's house. Christmas decorations were artfully placed everywhere. Liz was a Doctor, but John was an architect. Red, green and blue fairy lights were hung in the trees, the Holly bushes that ran down the sides of their property were also covered in yellow fairy lights. A huge snowman stood sloped on the lawn, with a small... thing, probably the youngest's try at a snowman, next to it.

 "You ready?" Lucy unclipped her own seatbelt and held her hands over Abigail's so that she couldn't escape.

 "Yes yes yes yes yes!" She cheered breathlessly. Lucy smiled and gave Abigail a quick kiss on the forehead.

  "Okay, let's go" She unclipped Abigail's seat belt and watched her ram at the car door, almost fall out the car and run up to the door, slipping and sliding on the ice in her brand new red shoes, her first laced ones. Lucy laughed and shook her head lovingly, turning off the TomTom and carefully getting out the car herself.

 "Abigail! Lucy! Welcome back! We'd thought you'd never arrive!" Liz called merrily, wrapping them both in a hug. She kissed their foreheads, leaning far down for Abigail since she was quite tall and Abigail a small five year old. Abigail giggled and grinned ear to ear.

 "What's all that racket about?" John came through and Abigail squealed running at him. He chuckled in his deep voice and swooped her up in his arms.

 "Ho Ho Ho!" He shouted cladded in a fake Father Christmas beard and hat. Abigail squealed some more and hugged round his neck tightly. John chucked some more and Lucy and Liz watched smiling. Her little sister had that effect on people. Lucy found herself relaxing back into the family, a pang of regret shot through her but she pushed it away. What's done is done, there's nothing she can do now. But there was a digging feeling of guilt, that Abigail would have thrived much better here than at a care home. But because of her, she was back in one instead of with a loving family. Because of her.

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 They pulled the crackers around the table and ate merrily the beautifully cooked Christmas dinner. Liz and John let the older two drink wine, Lucy and their eldest, Katelyn, who was 17. They had red and gold confetti all over the table, some plastic 'Merry Christmas' confetti as well which they kept having to pry out of their youngest's hands before they ate them.