Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction, not for profit, purely for fun, story. I do not own these characters, just borrowing them from Lewis.


"Robbie wait!"

His hand on the door, ready to open it, Robbie paused and turned to Laura. Seeing her reach her arms up around his neck, he bundled her close. He understood. She was trying to delay their return to reality after two weeks in Rimini.

After one last kiss, Laura reluctantly let go. "I'm ready now."

Robbie opened the door and stood aside for her to enter. They each carried a medium sized bag, not packing a lot for the trip, not needing much except for something to wear to the beach and each other.

Monty was not in the entryway to greet them, having decided to punish them for leaving him. The fact that the cat was spoiled by the neighbor while they were away was beside the point. Laura suspected the cat would show himself after a decent interval and after setting her bag down, went to check the plants.

Robbie grabbed Laura's bag and brought it upstairs with his and left them in the bedroom. His bag was half filled with her things. He grinned, mentally adding something else to the list of things he missed in the years between Val and Laura, having someone take over his suitcase. He regarded that as part of putting her first and was happy that this was something Laura would allow. Robbie's need to look after her sometimes clashed with her need for independence, but not always. There were a few other ways, things only he knew about. He would deal with the laundry the next day while Laura went back work. Robbie would exercise his flexible hours contract to extend his time off in order to make sure their house was in order.

Robbie went down the stairs and picked up the mail left on the table near the door by the cat minder. He sorted it into two piles, his and hers. While Laura believed it was okay to open something addressed to Robbie that was clearly junk mail, he would not read anything addressed to her alone.

Satisfied that all the plants were sufficiently watered and flourishing, Laura walked towards Robbie's outstretched hand that held her mail.

He smiled at her as she approached him. "You got a postcard."

"Who from?"

"I didn't read the message or the signature. It was addressed to you." He saw her mock frown and handed over just the card. "Maybe it was personal."

"Robbie, nobody writes anything personal on a postcard."

"Are you sure about that?" His tried to keep his smile from widening as he saw her look at the card.

"It's from Italy." She scrunched up her face just as Robbie expected she would as she studied the photo of Rimini's Gambalunghiana Library, home of more than 280,000 books, including ancient texts and manuscripts. They had intended to visit the library but never found the time. She turned the card around and read the message.

"I was wrong." She couldn't keep the amusement out of her eyes. "This is very personal."

Robbie attempted to look surprised and raised his eyebrows just as she expected he would. "Care to read it aloud?"

She gave him her best Dr. Hobson look, the one she gave a DI when he used up his third strike. "I don't think you are old enough to hear it." She tucked the postcard into the back pocket of her jeans.

"I was old enough to-" He stopped as Laura grabbed the lapels of his jacket and put her face close to his. "Did you mean it?"

"I'm sure I did. We'll have to visit the library next time." He was about to close the small gap between their lips when the doorbell interrupted them. The neighbor was returning the dog home.

After their thank-yous were said and they assured him they had a lovely holiday, the neighbor left. Unlike Monty, the dog did not hold a grudge that they had gone away and immediately showered them with affection of the canine variety.

Robbie handed Laura the rest of her mail and she quickly sorted through it making piles, one to discard and the other to put on her desk to read later. She walked into her small home office and placed the envelopes on her desk in a neat pile.

Having already dealt with his mail, Robbie announced he would make tea. Laura figured she would get through a few envelopes while she waited. The first one was a registration form for a pathology conference in London. Why they mailed the form when she had already signed up online she did not know. The second one contained a notice from an insurance company announcing a rate increase. The third was from the medical center that employed her GP. She had recently had a physical and the routine tests for a woman her age. She wondered why they would mail test results that would be posted on her electronic medical record. She had intended to look them up after they got home.

She pulled the paper out of the envelope. Instead of test results, there was a form letter saying she needed a follow up test. Then there was a hand written note from her doctor that included a few more details including the time, place, and date of a new appointment.

Laura was still staring at the page when Robbie arrived with her mug of tea. He watched her read to the bottom of the page then go up and read it again. She did not say anything about it and he did not ask.

While they drank their tea, Laura loaded the photographs from the camera onto her computer. Then she filed away her mail, leaving one envelope on her desk. The dog came in and settled himself on his bed, happy that were all home again. The cat, still not in a forgiving mood, entered and circled the room with his nose in the air and left.

Robbie picked up the mugs of tea and left to return them to the kitchen. On his way out, he caught sight of the letter that seemed to trouble Laura. Not meaning to pry, he did see that it was from the medical center where her GP worked. He tried to ignore the nagging feeling that something was wrong.

After Robbie left, Laura picked up the letter again. Should she tell him now, or wait? In a few weeks here might be nothing to tell, everything would be fine. If she told him then, would he be upset that she hadn't told him earlier? She didn't want to worry him. For the first time in many years, he was enjoying life, first the stress free days of retirement and now the scaled back duties of a senior Inspector, more of a consultant really. And then two glorious weeks in Italy. She sighed. He would want to know. She didn't care to tell him preferring to wait and see if there was anything to worry about. She was sure there wasn't. Then why did she have this nagging feeling that he needed to know?

Robbie produced a quick dinner from the freezer, lasagna that Laura had made in large portions and divided up and stored for nights such as this. They both were tired from the travelling and happy to be home. This they admitted to each other. Nothing was said about the letter.

After an early night and a good sleep they both agreed that while the trip was lovely, it was the everyday closeness they treasured. Those moments together, whether cooking, walking the dog, listening to music, discussing their work day, or studying Italian, they were the glue that held them together.

Laura left for work at the usual time the next morning leaving Robbie drinking his coffee and reading the paper. Shortly after that, he got up to start the laundry. As he headed for the stairs to go up and sort the clothes, he was drawn to Laura's office. The envelope from the health center was still on her desk. He reached his hand out towards it, then withdrew it. This needed thinking about.

Laura was busy in the morning, getting up to date on the goings on in the mortuary. It wasn't until noon when she opened the container with the lunch Robbie had packed for her that she allowed herself to ponder about the letter. It was nothing. Statistically the odds were in her favor. She had left the letter at home on her desk. It never occurred to her to hide it. Robbie never read her mail.