Hey all, I'm back again :D This fic is all thanks to Clarkeyfangirl, who gave me the idea, so I dedicate it to her! *MWAH* to you, my dear! I guess this could be seen as my present to WFCTGIO for Part 200! Reviews are always welcome, hope you like :) PS: There's more to come... xx

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"Christian, put it down. I mean it. No..!"

Christian grinned as he raised the paintbrush he'd just loaded with paint. Syed made to duck safely out of the way, but it was in vain. One flick of Christian's wrist and suddenly Syed was covered in flecks of pale yellow. Christian took one look at him, still crouched over, hands poised in front of his face which was looking less than impressed, and struggled to withhold a fit of giggles.

"Guys, unless you want me to start demanding money for getting covered in paint, would you mind not leaving me to do all the work? This is your flat after all."

Roxy turned to face them, hands on hips, hair scraped back into a bun and smears of paint over her dungarees.

"Sorry, Rox. Christian will stop messing around now," Syed said with a glare in Christian's general direction, who was still trying to suppress his laughter.

They'd been painting the walls of their new flat for most of the morning. The living area was covered in a huge plastic sheet to protect the furniture, and the bedroom was piled high with boxes. The other day they'd taken in the garish walls and dark blue doorframes and decided they'd need to give the place a bit of a makeover before they could unpack properly. They needed to make it theirs. Cue a small amount of bickering in the hardware store and many rethinks before finally deciding on a colour. They'd also made sure to get some white paint for the doors as well – the quicker that blue was covered, the better.

Roxy had dropped in earlier with Amy and had been roped in to help out – she always found it hard to say no to Christian, especially when he flashed her that winning smile and thrust a spare pair of dungarees and a tin of paint in her arms before she'd even said yes. Cheeky sod, she'd thought.

Amy, a quiet but mischievous two year old, was now sat at Syed's feet, pulling at his jeans and holding out her hand. Syed threw a tentative look at Roxy, who returned it with a slight smile and a nod. He'd be lying if he said things weren't still a bit strained between the two of them, after what was said last week, but she had apologised and they'd even hugged it out... at Christian's insistence.

He smiled down at Amy, who was still looking up at him expectantly. He momentarily put down his paint roller, hoisted her up to his hip so she was sitting comfortably in the crook of his arm, and handed her a small paintbrush so she could join in on the painting. Christian looked over and paused, paintbrush hovering at the door frame, to let his eyes take in the adorable sight in front of him. He thought once again about what an amazing father Syed would be. He watched him now, jiggling Amy on his hip, smiling at her while they painted together, and as if sensing his gaze, Syed turned his head to meet Christian's eyes. He saw love, tenderness, pride and happiness in them; it made his heart sing with his own happiness. Here they were, decorating their home, planning a wedding and making their way through the adoption process. They had careers; they had friends. It was all falling into place; their life, together.

Roxy's mobile suddenly bleeped from the plastic covered coffee table in the middle of the room; their moment was broken as she rushed to pick it up.

"Yeah alright, Jack, give me five minutes." She ended the call and looked at the three of them with an apologetic look on her face.

"We have to go now, guys. I completely forgot I'd promised Jack he could have Amy and now we're nearly half an hour late. I could come back in a bit if you like..."

Christian cut across her. "We'll be fine, really. You've done enough for us today...thank you, babe." He leant over and kissed her on the cheek before gently lifting Amy out of Syed's arm.

"And thank you as well, Twinkle. Couldn't have done it without you!" he said brightly, nudging his nose against hers.

"You can come back when we're all finished, yeah?"

Amy nodded in response. Gingerly peeling off her paint-covered dungarees, and using a wipe to get most of the paint off Amy's face, Roxy quickly left them to it.

"Not bad for a morning's work, eh?" Christian grinned at his fiancé.

"Not bad at all. Would have been easier if you'd stopped messing around, though," Syed replied, giving him a small poke with his roller.

"Hey, you've put paint on my shirt now!"

"Christian, you've already covered yourself in paint. You do know it's meant to go on the walls, right?"

"Oh, haha. Quit the sarcasm or the paint pot's going over your head."

"Oh, is it? You wouldn't dare."

"Wouldn't I?"

Christian leaned down to pick up the half empty tin of sand-coloured paint and held it out teasingly.

"You know I can never refuse a dare..."

Suddenly the doorbell went. They glanced at the door, then back at each other.