the book tour

♥︎ 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛

°˖✧✿✧˖° lia °˖✧✿✧˖°

The next morning, Annie, Kennedy and I ate breakfast in the bedroom as the final goodbye to Annie. Kennedy was so clingy towards her sister and I didn't blame her at all. This was going to be a tough one. 
"I gon miss woo so much," Ken whispered, snuggling further into Annie. 
"I'm going to miss you too chuck but you're amazing and I know you can manage. You managed the first time, you can do it again," Annie reassured, putting a gentle kiss on her head. Kennedy smiled a little and just stayed in her arms. I stayed next to them and we watched the rubbish tv that was on. 

Half an hour later, there was a sudden knock at the door. Ken had fallen asleep in her sister's arms so I jumped up from the bed and opened the door. Addie stood there, her hand in Blairs and they both had a wide smiles on their faces. 
"You ready to go?"
"My goodness, is it time to go already?" I asked, checking my watch. 
"Yes, are you not ready?" Addie laughed. 
"I am not. Come in quickly," I let them into the hotel room and Annie began waking up Kennedy. All of our stuff was packed, we just hadn't tidied up or gotten dressed! Addie took a seat in the corner of the room, by the table and Blair parked it on her lap. Blair mumbled some things to her but Addie shook her head. 

"Mama?" I heard Kennedy mutter. She sat up and rubbed her eyes sweetly. 
"Hey baby cakes, we gotta go get dressed!" I chuckled, holding my hand out for her. She yawned but slowly got off the bed, climbing over Annie and her teddies and following me into the bathroom. I got to work on quickly changing her pull-up and cleaning her up so she was all comfortable. We were only travelling today so I wasn't too bothered about what she wore. She had a beige tracksuit on and I was going to give her her matching teddy bag! It was a monkey, the same colour as her tracksuit but had a big pocket attached to her back. It was one of her favourite teddies- and bags! 
"Mama," she muttered once I stood her in front of the mirror to do her hair. 
"Yes lovely?" 
"Do woo woves me?" her voice was gentle but I could hear the worry laced in her tone. 
"Of course, I love you darling. Why do you ask?" I pouted and kissed the back of her head, wrapping my arms around her waist. 
"I jus fweel a bit sad dat Annie goin," she whispered, turning to me. I pouted more and held her tighter. 
"We'll see her super soon darling! I bet the time will fly by and you know she's always just a phone call away," I mumbled into her ear, holding her tightly. She nodded gently but just snuggled into my chest. 
"We tavwein wif bwair?" She asked, looking up at me with her puppy dog eyes. I nodded and smiled, putting some hair behind her ear. 
"We are darling! However, I assure you of three things okay," I crouched down in front of her so I was looking up at her, allowing her to trust me at her own pace but also listen to me better. "I won't leave your side the whole time. Blair is super nice when you get to know her, she's a little over the top but it's funny and sweet to see. She's protective and fierce. And also, Addie is a stricter caregiver than me so if Blair was to step out of line then Addie will be quick to correct it!" I told her softly. She sighed and nodded. 
"I woves woo," she mumbled, letting her bottom lip wobble. I giggled and leaned up to kiss her wobbling lips. 
"I love you too my princess." 

An hour later and we were in the car on the way to Birmingham. It was only two and a half hours drive so I wasn't too worried about keeping the little ones entertained. Blair wasn't even too far in her headspace which surprised me considering she hadn't seen her mama in so long. If I was away from Kennedy for more than a week, I bet she'd be little for at least a month to make up for a lost time but each little was different. My sweet little Kennedy though so was silent, with her headphones in and watching out of the window. She did her very sad goodbye to Annie and I saw Annie cry for the first time. I'm not sure what made this goodbye so difficult compared to the others but I didn't have a sister so I couldn't compare the love to anything. I had an older brother but we had never been close. at first, I tried to hold her hand but she kept them between her thighs and I wasn't about to start touching her up. She knew I was here if I needed her. 

"Auntie Lia?" Blair mumbled, looking over at me from the seat at the other side of the car. 
"Yes Bee?" I replied, smiling. 
"Is Kennedy otay?" She asked, glancing over at her. I nodded softly. 
"She's okay- she's just going to miss her sister a lot," I said softly. Blair shook her head and I pouted. I heard Addie gasp looking over at Ken and I frowned- looking over at her, I saw that her legs and thighs were drenched, with what I presume to be pee, and her shoulders were shaking slightly. I pouted and gave Addie the look of 'pretend you didn't know' but gave Blair a little 'thank you' look before turning my attention to my baby. She whimpered when I pulled one of her headphones out but I leaned close. She was shaking her head over and over and I felt so bad for her. The first time properly meeting her new little friend and this happens. I heard Addie mention to the driver to go to the next service which I appreciated. However, her tracksuit was darkened. 
"You're okay," I whispered to Ken, rubbing up and down her arm. "We're going to get you cleaned up as soon as possible, hm?" I sighed. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into me. She began to really cry then and my heart went out to her, she'd done a lot of crying recently, my poor baby.