"you have to stop her chris" Karen sobbed "you can't let her take your kids away" she was incredibly upset now and so was chris the pair of them were an emotional disaster.
"I don't know what to do Karen! She could be on that plane right now, she might even already be in Canada!"
"cant you ring her? You have to at least try, you can't let her take your kids away from you just like that it will be horrible for them too not to see you"
"it would be awful... What am I going to do if theyre already out there?" he said emotionally not being able to imagine life without his beautiful children, pulling out his phone and frantically trying to find Jill's number and dialing it as quickly as his fingers would let him.
"please please please pick up pick up pick up" he said under his breath as the phone rang, and rang, and rang...
"there's no answer! Does that mean shes on the plane? Or just ignoring me?"
"I don't know, it could easily be either!" Karen replied "just keep ringing so when she does look at her phone she'll feel more guilty!" karen plotted.
'hi you've reached Jill! I can't reach the phone right now, so please leave me a message and if I want to speak to you I will return your call.' the voicemail service played over and over as chris kept ringing and leaving lots of messages in order to attempt to make her feel guilty.
"ok chris I think thats enough now honey, youve done all you can I think..." Karen said in a soft hushed voice.
"I know... She'll have to ring me back at some point won't she? And she's got to let me see the kids at some stage?" chris told himself optimistically.
"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough, put the laptop on Skype so as soon as she comes online you can pounce..." Karen said nodding her head in the direction of the laptop case they had bought with them just in case.
"good idea" chris said as he set it up, and then a thought popped into his head. "what about this baby that's only about a month and a half old surely it can't be good for him to fly"
"well no it's not a brilliant idea but it is her decision it probably won't do the baby any good" Karen said wisely.
"I wonder what the boys think of it all... I miss them so much Karen"
"I know you do baby... But we' ll just have to be strong together eh? I'll help you through it all I promise, I'll always be here..." she said hugging him tightly and kissing his cheek gently.
"thank you Karen I don't think I could do this without you" he said sadly, hugging her back gratefully.
"look baby jaynes calling on Skype...probably wondering why I'm logged on there actually..."
"does she know we're here then?" Karen enquired.
"she sure does... Actually she helped me a bit with it" he replied a little sheepishly.
"ah bless her I'll have to thank her too then... Accept the call come on let's tell her about all this commotion" Karen said using a Kleenex to dab at her tear stained cheeks. They both went over to the laptop and accepted the video call, made it full screen and carried it over to the sofa.
"hello you two" jayne said laughing as she wasn't sure what they'd been up to and hadn't expected to be talking to them, but then she noticed both their slightly bloodshot eyes and tear stained faces. "whatever's the matter?" she asked a little shocked.
"oh it's just that bitch I married a few years ago... Take a look at this" chris said holding up the newspaper for Jayne to see over the webcam.
"whats all that about? Have you spoken to her?"
"no ive tried ringing her, she's either already on the plane to Canada with my kids or just plainly ignoring me... I've left about 30 voicemails and 20 texts, I think i made my point"
"ah I'm so sorry chris... I'm sure it'll all be better soon enough, she can't take your kids away forever" she reassured him "anyway how's your weekend going"
"it was fantastic until all this happened this morning... We were having a fabulous time, bath tubs, jacuzzis, fancy restaurants" Karen said to Jayne
"ah I'm glad you're both enjoying it... Did chris tell you I helped plan" Jayne asked proudly
"yes he did actually, about 10 minutes ago, thank you so much Jayne it's been wonderful"
"ok well I'll let you go and pack I'm sure you'll be wanting to head back home soon, and see you tomorrow yeah?" they said their goodbyes and Jayne blew kisses to them, before they packed the laptop and went back to casually chilling on the sofa, and a little while later went to go and pack their things.
It took them a while to sort everything out ready to leave but eventually they did and ever single item was packed up, and chris took their bags out to the car.
"I guess it's time to say goodbye to this place then" chris said as he walked back into the house and stood closely in front of Karen, facing her. She kissed him tenderly for a few seconds.
"thank you so so much for such an amazing weekend chris..."
"no thank you... I think we'll definitely be coming here again don't you" he said putting another final kiss on her shiny lips.
"time to go then..."
"bye house"
"bye jacuzzi hot tub"
They were playing around and pretty much said goodbye to everything in the house before they finally shared one last cuddle and walked out hand in hand to the car. It was just starting to spit with rain as they got in, and the clouds were getting darker by the second.
"we're in for a lovely ride home aren't we?" chris stated sarcastically as he glanced up at the dull grey sky.
"we'll swap half way, how does that sound?" Karen offered.
"well lets just see how I go eh babe " he said appreciating her offer, and then releasing her hand from his while he started the car and their journey began.
About an hour into it, they were almost back in London, chriss phone rang a number neither of them recognised, but he picked up anyway using the hands free.
"hello?"
"hi chris."
"who is it?" Karen whispered over from the passenger seat.
"Jill. What a surprise. Did you get my calls? My texts? "
"yes actually I did... What do you want chris"
" I'd like to know what the hell is going on, where are you? Where are my kids?"
"I'm in Canada" Jill replied bluntly.
"with the kids?"
"yes sorry is that a problem?" she said back rudely.
"actually yes it is a bloody problem! You've taken my kids away from me, out of the ****ing country and you wonder why I have a problem?? You are so unbelievable..." he ranted back to her angrily, while Karen sat nervously next to him.
"chris look theres a layby here please pull over" she begged worriedly as chris got more and more worked up. He did as Karen suggested and continued arguing with Jill about his rights to see his kids.
"can I at least speak to them?" he pleaded, about to give in hope of ever seeing them again, he knew hearing their voices would totally break his heart.
"mmm I suppose so" Jill agreed reluctantly. "jack! Sam! Tommy! Come here please"
Chris put the phone on speaker and unplugged it, so Karen could hear to, the rain was now lashing down on the windscreen.
"hello?" jack spoke first as Jill thrust the phone towards him.
"jack baby!" chris's face lit up to hear his voice but his heart was breaking.
"daddy!"
"daddy?
"hi dad" the last voice was an uneasy feeling jack, the eldest son who missed chris the most.
"hi boys...how are you all?"
"we miss you daddy"
"I miss you too... All of you so much" he said , his voice breaking up a little but he tried his best to hold it together for their sake.
"mummy mean to us" tommy said.
"I hope not baby... Why?"
"she spends all the time with the new baby"
A tear rolled down karen's cheek at the young boys talking, and chris had almost gone too.
"dad, the baby's not yours is it?" jack asked.
"no son, but I think you're the only one that will understand all that so lets leave it for now, I'll talk to you about it some other time if you still want me to... Now, tell me about where you're staying?"
"mummy bought a big house and we have a bedroom each and a play room and a computer and a big garden with a trampoline" Sam told him excitedly.
"ok it sounds great... How long have you been there?"
"we got here this morning" jack said.
The 3 boys and chris chatted for a bit longer, it hurt chris a great deal to hear it all .
"mummy says we have to go now and she wants to talk to you" said sam
"okay then babies... Goodbye for now but I promise I will see you very soon, I love you all so so so so much" he said as a tear rolled down his cold cheek.
"love you daddy"
"love you"
"love you lots and lots and lots"
"Jill when can I see them?" chris begged as the phone got passed back and a screaming baby could be heard in the background.
"unless you want to fly over here and see them then I guess the answer is never" Jill answered icily.
"you can't do that Jill... And if that's what it takes I will fly out there, I'd like the address of the house please, and I'm booking the first flights over there "
"oh and I don't want to see that slut with you either" Jill added before cutting off the call and slamming the phone down, chris burst into tears, not like him at all and Karen gave him a comforting hug.
Monday morning came around very quickly and training was upon them, for once Karen and Chris weren't late arriving so that was a huge shock to Jayne when she walked in at quarter to 9, 15 minutes later than she should of been, infact for the first time that series Karen and Chris had been 20 minutes early, and were skating around the rink all wrapped up (they always started off wrapped up in winter clothing with lots of layers, and by the end of the day Karen would often be just in shorts, tights and a little t-shirt, maybe with a cardigan), discussing what was needed to be done. Over the weekend the celebrities had all been for their very last costume fittings before the first show on the up coming Sunday. The nerves were kicking in with everyone, including Jayne, Chris and Karen, and everybody could tell the pressure was on. The day went quite slowly and they got quite a lot of work done, but there was still a lot to do. As it was the beginning of the series in the brand new rink and studio set, they were having a rehersal on Friday to test it all out, and a full dress rehersal including hair and make-up on Saturday.
When Chris and Karen got home there was a voicemail from Jill, which was surprsing to say the least. She'd called diliberatly during the day so that she wouldn't have to talk to Chris, but the thought was still there in leaving the message. The message contained the address of the canadian house and the details of how to get there from the nearest airport, but it was a short and rushed message as Jill was under a lot of stress with the new baby and the other three boys.
"I need to look up flights, I'm getting the earliest ones I can, I'll go for a couple of days and be back by Friday," Chris decided.
"I don't want you to go..." Karen sighed, not wanting him to leave her. "but I know you have to, to see your babies..."
"I know darling.... it won't be easy but I have to go, it's only a couple of days anyway, and I'll be back by Friday, it'll be as if I never left, I promise"
"I'll get you the laptop..." Karen went over and got the charger and set up the laptop which loaded fairly quickly, before Chris took it from Karen's lap and began searching for return flights, leaving preferably the following morning.
"The only one I can find for the rest of this week is midnight tonight...I'm going to have to take it," Chris said.
"Oh I didn't expect it to be so soon! I thought we'd be able to spend tonight together before you went at least..." Karen sighed again.
"I know baby... what am I going to do without you..." Chris sighed as well cuddling in close to Karen. "but I've got to go and see the boys, and sort Jill out while I'm at it... she's a nightmare"
Tears welled up in Karen's usually bright eyes as Chris booked the flights.
"I wish you could come..."
"I really don't think that's a good idea with Jill's current state... We'll work up to it. I bet the boys will be asking about you,they loved it when you looked after them that time," Chris said wiping Karen's cheek and kissing her softly, and then confirming the flight details.
"Let me help you pack, and then I'll drive you to the airport," Karen said standing up. Chris put the laptop down on the coffee table and followed Karen up the stairs, where she'd pulled out Chris's suitcase that he'd bought with him.
"Is this going to be enough for you?"
"Yes I'll be fine don't worry," Chris said glancing at the couple of sweaters and a pair of jeans he had in the small suitcase. "Listen, next week, when we have the first show out the way, and hopefully Jill sorted out, on our day off Thursday, we will go back to mine, and pack some stuff over and I'll come and live with you properly... if that's what you want of course," he said placing a kiss on Karen's cheek.
"That would be wonderful..." Karen said as she kissed him back, and then zipped up his suitcase for him.
"right we'd better get going if you want to get there on time for the flight, otherwise you won't ever get out there... Have you got the address and everything?"
"Yep... wallet...check...passport...check...directions...check...suitcase...check..." he went through a mental list in his head.
After an hour long drive to heathrow airport, Karen had to say an emotional goodbye to Chris as he left to go through security and hugged and kissed Karen goodbye it took them ages to seperate themselves but it had to be done. The sooner Chris sorted everything out with Jill the sooner him and Karen could be in a proper serious relationship together, hopefully living at Karen's, and Chris could sell the house and get money from it to have more for the two of them. Karen had an even longer drive home than it had taken them to get there, she didn't get home until almost 11 and she missed Chris already she just wanted to cry, but Chris promised to ring her as soon as the plane landed. She didn't quite feel herself when she got in and both the girls had decided to stay out so she was all alone, so she simply just locked up and went to bed instead of watching tv, and got herself as much sleep as possible before her 6am alarm the following morning. She had a long hot shower and washed her hair, then spent as long as she liked picking out what to wear, all black, leggings with lace trim and a black hoodie with 'Skater' written in silver diamante scroll font across the back. She had some quick breakfast and for once in her life was early for work, so got in the car grabbing the healthy breakfast option of a banana as she went out the door and got in the car, for the first time by herself in ages apart from the previous night, because they had been using Chris's car as it was first on the drive.
"Blimey Karen you're here bright and early" said Dan as she walked into the rink to skate around by herself for a while before anyone else got there.
"Yep..." she sighed pulling on her skates, and leg warmers pulled over the top.
"What's up darling this isn't like you and you're wearing all black," Dan said knowing it wasn't at all like Karen.
"Oh it's Chris, he's gone and not coming back till Thursday and I miss him already..." she trailed off her eyes welling up again.
"Oh Karen come here, gimme a hug" he said his arms open wide welcoming her in.
"hey you should be giving me a hug not the other way around" said Karen laughing a bit already cheered up a little by her good friend Dan.
"there you go there's that beautiful smile on your face again..." dan said proudly as he gave Karen a big warm hug holding her tightly into him.
"Thanks Dan...fancy a skate now eh?" she suggested as she quickly bent down and tightened her boots one more time before stepping onto the ice, hand in hand with Dan.
"Of course babe" he said in a friendly way.
About half an hour later a couple of the pros came stumbling in with their partners looking worse for the wear, but grudgingly getting their skates on anyway and heading for the ice, just doing their own thing because no one told them what to do and no one seemed to really care either. Half an hour after that Jayne walked in yawning looking a tad sleepy having been up with the kids a lot of the night, Jess had been a bit poorly and just wanted Jayne's attention all the time and it was exhausting for her, especially when Phil was away on business.
"Right I think we'd better get to work don't you...?" she said as she realised no one was really doing anything and just skating around randomly and generally messing around being stupid. "Karen what have you done with Chris?" she joked.
"Nothing..."
"Where is he then?"
"Canada" Karen replied grumpily, looking down at the ice as she did, she'd just stopped thinking about it for a little while and there was Jayne making it pop back up again.
"What the **** is he doing there" Jayne said shocked. "Does he bloody realise we have less than 4 days really left of this and then we are broadcast live on british television in front of millions of people?"
"It's not his fault... he didn't choose to get a ****ing flight at midnight and fly out there on the very first flights availible that cost an arm and a leg... it's that bloody Jill" Karen ranted on getting emotional again.
"Oh don't worry you weren't to realise... Chris will be back on Thursday he had to get the first flight out to Canada where Jill has gone with all the kids, bloody cheek. Until then we will just have to make do won't we without him I suppose, he's doing his best, but it's hard with all the hassle Jill is making this into. She's left the house in god knows what state without Chris even realising, luckily he still has a key, but he's been living with me... So the first chance we get we are going down to the house to sort it out, put it up for sale and see what Jill's left for Chris, not a lot I suppose, she'd run off with this Canadian bloke Chris has never even heard of, apparently the father of that baby," Karen went on.
"He must be in an awful state... you should have told me before, how come I'm only just getting all the gossip eh?"
"Sorry I know its been ages I haven't really seen you much at all lately have I... been busy with Chris and the wedding I guess"
"Your engaged? What have I missed here?"
"No Emma's wedding you ninkinpoop! Jayne I can assure you that you will be the first person on this Earth to know if I ever get engaged again I promise...."
"Ok... good I got a bit worried there I have to admit" Jayne laughed. "Right everyone! Come on let's get some work done round here!" ]
"You can tell Chris is normally in charge..." Karen muttered under her breath laughing to Jayne as slowly they managed to get everyone's attention, and eventually go through all the routines turn by turn, and do some more filming footage.
Training went reasonably well but it wasn't the same without Chris. The day went incredibly slow for Karen and she got bored easily without Chris to entertain her.
"Jayne, will you come round mine for a girly evening and catch up later? I don't like the thought of an empty house, and I think the girls are out too.." she suggested at the end of the day when they were taking off their skates.
"Sorry Kaz, I can't though because I've got the kids while Phil is away" she said sadly as she realised they hadn't had a girly evening in ages.
"Oh"
"I could bring the kids?"
"Okay yeah, might make the house feel a bit more lively... and I haven't seen my baby princess Jess in so long"
"I know you haven't, she was asking about you the other day you know... 'when is auntie karen coming over'" Jayne impersonated her daughter.
"Ah bless her, yeah do that then bring them both over for a bit whenever you like, I can give you dinner if you like"
"Ah no I'll sort the kids out with some food first and then I'll get us a curry takeaway on the way over, about half 5? How does that sound?" she said glancing at her watch which read half past four.
"Okay that sounds brilliant, see you later" Karen said quickly zipping up her skate bag, picking up her handbag and heading out to the car.
It didn't seem like any time at all before Jayne was on the doorstep with her babies.
"Auntie Kareennn!" Jess squealed and straight away ran up to her as Karen picked her up and gave her a massive hug.
"Hi Karen" said Keiron who was a bit older and it had taken a bit of persuasion on Jayne's behalf to get Keiron to come with them as he was a bit older, and didn't particually fancy going over to Karen's for a girly evening, and even more disappointed when he learnt Chris wasn't going to be there.
"Keiron I'm sorry there's really not much you can do here at the moment, Chris hasn't brought his things over yet so there's no xbox or playstation or whatever it is he has"
"Its okay I've got my ds"
"That'll keep him occupied for days, he just bought a new game"
"Ah I see" said Karen laughing, then ushering everyone in the house, still carrying little Jess.
"Right you guys stay here you can watch the tv, Kerion you know how to work it, while me and mummy go and sort out our dinner" Karen put Jess down on the big beanbag in front of the tv and Keiron went to investigate how you worked the tv - it didn't take him long.
"This smells delicious"
"I know I nearly ate it on the way" Jayne laughed as she started taking the tubs out of the brown paper bag and seeing what was there. "I bought us a selection because I didn't know what you wanted, and Keiron will have whatever we don't eat"
"I thought you said he'd already eaten"
"He has but he never stops eating"
They picked out what they wanted and took it out on plates to the living room, balancing the plates on their knees as they began to tuck in, gasping at the heat of the food.
"Karen is it really a good idea for us to eat it here on the sofa considering the colour"
"Ah we'll be fine don't worry me and the girls eat here all the time"
"Ok if you say so but I'll be blaming you if I drop it"
"Auntie Karen" Jess called over from the beanbag in front of them "I'm bored" Keiron had put some boyish cartoon on the tv and Jess didn't approve.
"What do you want Karen to do about it" Jayne said sternly.
"Jess in a minute when me and mummy have finished our dinners, I'll take you upstairs and you can look at my dresses and make up" Karen promised, causing Jess's little face to light up like a lightbulb.
"You don't know what you've let yourself in for" Jayne muttered under her breath as she finished her last mouthful and took her plate out to the kitchen, piling them up on the side.
"Keiron there's still loads out here if you want it!" she shouted from the kitchen knowing her not-so-little-anymore son would jump at the chance for a second dinner, so Jayne put the remains onto a plate for him and handed it over as Kerion came excitedly into the kitchen, still with his ds in his hand. "Right you go to the table with that please I'm not having you eat it on the sofa or on the floor you'll spill it everywhere" Jayne strictly instructed as she followed him back into the lounge.
"Oh whyyyy" he whined.
"Because I said so now do it please"
"You and auntie Karen ate on the sofa though"
"Yes that's because we're older than you so be quiet and eat up if you want it, if not you can take it back in the kitchen" Keiron sulkily carried his plate over to the table and sat down by himself tucking into the food, by this time Karen had finished hers and taken her plate out too.
"Right Jess come here then" said Karen picking her up again and then proceeding to take her upstairs.
"Have you got more pretty dresses now" Jess asked sweetly.
"Yep loads more since you last came over, I haven't seen you in ages have I?" Karen asked Jess soothing her bright blonde locks.
"yayyyy"
"Right here we go then..." she said leading Jess into the huge walk in wardrobe which lead from the master bedroom, she realised Chris didn't even know about the secret wardrobe yet, he'd only ever been in her bedroom upstairs. Jess loved trying on Karen's clothes even though they were far too big for her, every time she came over to visit Karen. Occasionally Karen would do Jess's make up too and she loved that as well, especially the bright red lipstick. Karen daringly left Jess to roam around and try on whatever she liked, dreading to think what state it would be in when she got back.
"That's her sorted for hours" Karen told Jayne as she came back into the front room, picking up a bottle of wine from the rack on her way through, and then getting out two glasses from the cabinet in the corner of the room.
"I'd better not drink too much I'm driving" Jayne said wisely, sipping the glass of red wine Karen had just handed her.
"You'll be fine with one glass, you'll just have to make it last - and it's your fault if I come in with a hangover in the morning because you let me drink the rest of the bottle by myself" Karen said laughing as she poured her own glass right to the top.
"Oh thanks" she said laughing. They chatted for ages and completely forgot about the kids, Karen was on her third glass and despite Jayne swearing she wouldn't go past one, she was now on her second.
"Auntie Karennnnn" Jayne called from the bottom of the stairs, dressed in a beautiful cream/white long dress which drowned her totally, she had a pair of gold glittery 6 inch heels on, and somehow managed to get herself down the stairs without falling and breaking her neck.
"What darling" Karen said getting up to see what she wanted and where she was. "Careful Jess we don't want any injuries now do we"
"No we don't" she said gripping hold of the banister. "can you do the dress up and can I show mummy"
"Yes come here princess" she said lifting Jess up from the stairs and carrying her on her hip through to see Jayne.
"You look beautiful honey.."
"it's my wedding dress" Jess came out with.
"Is it now baby... who are you going to marry then"
"You" she said hugging Jayne.
"Ah that's sweet baby, are we now husband and wife then?"
"Yes"
"Okay baby... "
"Auntie Karen" Jess said reaching her arms out signalling for Karen to pick her up again.
"shall we go and see what else we can find then? I think i'll carry you up there I don't want you falling"
"stay with me auntie karen lets play"
"What are we going to play"
"dress up" Jess said.
"what about mummy?"
"no mummy"
"that's not very nice... you just married her and now you don't want her" Karen said laughing. "what about if mummy comes to play dress up too? and then we can all play together? how's that?"
"no mummy"
"why no mummy princess?"
"i want you karen"
"and mummy?" Karen said trying to convince her.
"no mummy just you"
"ok well let me go and tell mummy what we're up to and then we can play otherwise she'll wonder what's happened to us won't she" Karen went downstairs and told Jayne that Jess wanted to just play with her but she wouldn't be long.
"Oh well that's nice of my daughter isn't it" Jayne said unenthusiastically.
"She'll come around don't worry she just married you remember" said Karen laughing "see what's on tv"
Then Karen went back up to Jess before she got upset that she wasn't there. For about half an hour they tried on different dresses and Karen did little Jess's make up and took a few pictures to show Jayne, but they didn't really notice the time, and before they knew it it was almost half past 8.
"Right come on let's go and show mummy her supermodel daughter shall we eh? And give her lots of hugs and kisses?" Karen said hopefully.
"Okay" Jess agreed happily making Karen pick her up again to go downstairs.
"Where did my princess baby get to?" Jayne said taking Jess from Karen.
"Love mummy" said Jess hugging Jayne tightly, and placing little kisses on her cheek.
The next couple of days were so busy at the rink no one really had much time to think about anything else other than work, and getting all the couples at the best level they could be before the show on Sunday that was rapidly approaching. Karen missed Chris a lot when she went home as she felt like there was just something missing, but she had the girls to comfort her and keep her company. On Wednesday morning Emma's shoes came through the post, so Karen text her straight away. Karen couldn't resist but get them out the box, so she did - carefully. The shoes were beautiful, and Karen almost wanted to try them on her own feet, but she somehow resisted the temptation, and quickly put them back in and placed them carefully on Emma's bed hoping she wouldn't notice they'd been opened. She didn't.
On Thursday morning Karen was for once, awake before her alarm went off. She knew Chris was coming back, but she had no idea what time his flight was. For all she knew he could be arriving at the airport that minute, and would walk in the house before she left for work... She seemed to get ready a lot quicker than normal, and was ready before the girls left.
"Mum you're early today aren't you" Laura realised, thinking she was running late.
"Yes I am aren't I? Sorry if I confused you"
"Whats the rush?" Emma asked emerging from her bedroom.
"Nothing really, Chris is coming back today" she said happily "but I don't know what time, I think I'm just excited to see him" The girls had noticed that recently, since she started dating Chris, Karen had become a lot happier, and definitely more confident. Her confidence had been growing ever since she split from Stephen, and it still was.
About half an hour after their 10 minute lunch break, no one had noticed who had just walked in, and was secretly watching from the edge of the rink. Chris was there, analysing their every move as they were going through the opening group routine, and he loved what he saw. Jayne of course couldn't do her bit properly because Chris wasn't on the ice, but it still looked fantastic.
"Well done guys, it looks amazing" he said as the music drew to a stop, and every head in the room turned around to see who it was.
"Look who it is," Jayne said laughing.
"Looks like you've been doing pretty damn well without me..."
"Oh we have" said Jayne.
Karen's face had lit up as soon as she'd heard Chris's voice, let alone seen him, and she couldn't wait to see him properly.
"Karen" her head whipped around to see him as everyone else got back to work again, to see what Chris thought. "come here then" he almost hissed at her, and without any more delay she skated over and gave him the tightest hug in the world, he feared she would never let go.
"You missed me then babe" she still hadn't let go of him.
"ok Karen you can let go now baby..." he said gently trying to ease her off of him.
"You have no idea how much I've missed you...." she said taking hold of his hand and squeezing it tightly as they both stood and watched the routine.
"What time do you reckon we will get out of here then" Chris whispered.
"God knows, Jayne works on a very strict schedule when she gets the chance to be in charge... you should know that by now"
"Oh I know she does, seems like it does the trick too" Chris said a little mesmerised by how much progress had been made in a couple of days while he'd been away.
"When were you planning on telling me what happened out there" Karen whispered, as now the couples were doing their individual routines and showing each other for the first time.
"Don't you worry, I'll tell you everything when we get back to yours, okay?" Chris assured her.
"Okay" Karen agreed, and then they stood in a strange silence and watched the rest of the routines, applausing the loudest at the end of each one.
They got back to Karen's at about 6:30pm, quite a long day, especially for Karen, but Chris was now exhausted as he'd not had any proper sleep and quite heavily jet lagged.
"I'll get some dinner on and you can tell me everything then yeah?" Karen suggested as they walked in the door kicking off their shoes and coats, and going into the kitchen, Karen calling up the stairs to the girls as they went past.
"Sounds good to me, then I think an early night eh" Chris suggested.
"How do you fancy this chicken pie we bought the other day"
"Sounds perfect" Chris said hugging Karen romantically from behind her as she was searching the fridge-freezer.
Karen turned on the electric oven preheating it at 180 and went to go and prepare the veg while Chris sat down at the kitchen table to tell her everything that had happened while he was in Canada.
"It was awful" he started "it was great seeing the kids, they didn't want to leave me alone once I got there" he said, his heart strings being pulled at as the sound of the children's laughter and pictures of their smiling excited faces filled his head.
"They miss you so much..."
"Me and Jill waited until they'd gone to bed before we started talking about everything, we didn't want them to hear the conversation, at least I didn't. Jill didn't seem to care at all... Anyway, she said I can see the kids as much as I like as long as I fly out there... I think it's ridiculous"
"It is... She's treating you so badly, and the kids are just getting the worst of it..."
"I know... She also decided to inform me that she was moving to America with the kids and her new 'partner' as she puts it. When they're settled I'm buying a property out there, I decided that much at least. Then I'll know the kids have a proper place to come and spend time with me"
"Well we'll sort all that out once we've finished with Dancing on Ice, providing they are settled in the states by then? All this moving around can't be good for the kids either I shouldn't think"Karen said disgusted.
"Once Dancing on Ice is finished I will sort everything out properly and when I'm going to see them, hopefully it'll be every fortnight or something like that, I'm sure everything will eventually sort itself out, at least I hope it will"
"It will I promise" Karen said, who had now finished preparing the dinner, it was all cooking, and she was sitting in the chair next to Chris. She took hold of his hand and kissed his cheek gently. Then Laura emerged from upstairs to get herself a drink, saying hi and welcome back to Chris as she walked into the kitchen, and then returned to her bedroom; she told Emma that Chris was back and then Emma emerged from upstairs after and also said hi and welcome back to Chris before returning upstairs. Both girls were getting to know him very well now seeing as he had been living there a while now, and they liked him a lot.
After dinner they both decided to have a quiet early night in, and turned everything off downstairs, then went to get ready for bed, just lying in Karen's bed with the lights dimmed on the lowest setting; Chris lied there with his eyes closed while Karen just laid and stared at him for a while, but before long they were both fast asleep, it must have been about 9, but they definitely both needed it.
The next day was set to be as manic as ever, they were up at 6am and Karen took forever to get ready as usual, putting in her best efforts to look perfect. They arrived at the rink at just before 8, and it was Jayne's turn to be late for once. She arrived at half 8, and the celebs and pro skaters began to arrive from 9am onwards. The rehearsals kicked off properly at 12am, by the time everyone had been through hair and make up, and costume. A couple of the costumes had to be last minute adjusted because of weight loss from some of the celebrities in the last week, which wasn't totally expecting to happen. Everything went successfully from then on and they were done by 4:45pm. It took about 15 minutes for each routine as they had to make sure the spotlights were set up correctly and the different lighting effects were programmed properly. When the show had been run through once, Jayne and Chris held a mini meeting on the rink to make sure everyone knew the arrangements for the next day when they were going to do the same again but this time in the brand new, bigger rink in a separate part of Elstree studios. All the lighting and sound equipment had to be transferred over there which was going to be done that evening.
On Sunday morning, everyone was really excited and the nerves were building up, and the pressure was on. Jayne, Chris and Karen got to the studios at around 8:30am, followed shortly by the rest of the team, including Holly and Phil, the judges and the crew backstage. Everyone was sent straight to hair and make-up on a rotation and soon everyone was made up and looking beautiful. Once hair and make up was finished, the girls went back to their changing room and the boys back to theirs. The boys was much more messy and disorganised within half an hour of them being in there, while the girls' was much more sophisticated and organised, calmer and quieter too. All the girls walked around in their big fluffy dressing gowns over their costumes while the men generally wondered around in just their costumes, which were only half done up.
When it was announced there was only an hour to go until the show,everyone's nerves really kicked in and the pressure built up even more, the atmosphere was extremely tense and nerve racking. Karen had made her way to Chris's dressing room and they were busy spending some romantic time together before Karen had to go and sit in her head coach seat, and Chris had to go and find Jayne so they could get ready for the opening routine, which started off just Jayne and Chris for about 3 minutes, then the professional skaters came on with them, and finally the celebrities came on the ice so everyone was on the ice together to open the show.
"Chris I don't like it when you've got your skates on it makes it very difficult to kiss you" Karen said rising up on her tip toes. She hadn't got her killer heels on yet because they hurt her feet so much that it was a good idea to leave it until the last possible minute to put them on.
"Well put your heels on then" he said laughing, bending down to her level.
"I can't not yet, I don't want them on any longer then I have to"
"How about I just do this then..." he said sweeping her off her feet and holding her in his arms as he kissed her.
"Ahh stop Chris you'll crease up my dress" she said squealing and then bursting into giggles, one hand was holding the material of her floor length, backless dress to stop it trailing on the floor, and the other wrapped around Chris's neck.
"No I won't " he said cheekily still kissing her passionately as she did so back.
A little while later, they were interrupted whilst enjoying the endless pleasure by a knock on the door, being called to make their way to the rink to get ready for the show, 10 minutes until they were live on tv. Karen moaned a little saying it wasn't fair as Chris safely put her back on her own feet, and she quickly popped into her own dressing room to get her shoes on, before they both hurried down to the rink where Jayne was waiting for Chris.
"Where the hell have you two been I've been waiting ages" Jayne complained as she removed her skate guards and flattened out her daring costume, which backless having only one thin strap across the top of her back, it was made out of a sheer black fabric and had long net sleeves, a lacy bodice and a tutu-like short skirt which only came half way down her thigh.
"Erm well..." Chris started before he exchanged a cheeky look with Karen and they both burst out laughing which gave Jayne her unsurprising answer straight away.
"Says it all" Jayne said chuckling at them. "Karen shouldn't you be going to sit down by now" Jayne continued as an announcement was made saying 5 minutes till they were on air.
"Yes I suppose I should" she said just about to hurry off over the other side "I love you" she said to Chris quickly giving him a kiss before he went.
"Love you too baby, now off you go" he said shooing her away before she was too late.
"What are the pair of you like" Jayne said tutting. "How's it going with you both anyway?"
"Fantastic if you ask me... we're both in a really good place right now" Chris replied, just as the lights on the rink dimmed and the show began, and the theme tune started.
Reading the bit about the oven just reminded me of when I cooked us dinner and put it on defrost instead of the normal settings and we didn't realise until an hour later lolx :D
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She explained: 'Chris is happy because I am' "Make the most of your time and have no regrets."
