'Oh Magda, you should have told me sooner..' Shelagh soothed as she held the young woman close to her in the early hours of the morning and the young woman sobbed softly into her neck as the two of them were sat together on the settee, gentle tears stinging in her own eyes she had an arm wrapped securely around her waist and she drew tender circles into the centre of Magda's spine with the palm of her other hand. Just ten minutes earlier she had come downstairs to the sound of Magda's gentle whimpers from behind the closed door of the lavatory, her motherly instinct kicking in instantly when the young woman had unlocked the door and stepped out of the room with soft tears in her eyes.

Magda had broken down into gentle sobs the moment she had met Shelagh's gaze - the discomfort of her body adjusting to carry her baby and the fear of knowing that her ex-fiancé, that beast of a man who had treated her so violently when she'd been living in Paris that she had felt as though she had had no choice but to take up work as an au pair in order to escape from him, had left her in the family way finally becoming to big of a burden to carry by herself for a moment longer. Shelagh had drawn her immediately into her arms then, stroking her hair and hushing her soothingly as she had tried to comfort the young woman to the best of her ability and Magda's sobs had been loud and broken as she had nuzzled into the side of her neck.

As her cries had started to cease somewhat and she had managed to compose herself a little she'd allowed Shelagh to lead her by the hand towards the settee, the two of them sitting down together before she had let everything out. She hadn't held anything back, telling her employer about how the abuse that she had suffered at the hands of her ex-fiancé had started just weeks after he had proposed to her and how he had never allowed her to talk to other men because he hadn't had the slightest bit of faith in her, and as soon as she had told Shelagh everything she had allowed herself to just break down into gut-wrenching sobs and allowed her new friend to pull her close once again and soothe her.

'Magda, listen to me.' Shelagh told her as she carefully brought her out of her arms a few moments later, reaching up to wipe the warm tears off of her cheeks. 'I need you to be completely honest with me and tell me if you've done anything to try and cause an abortion, because if you have we need to get you to hospital to get you checked over.'

'I haven't, I swear.' Magda sniffed as her chest rose and fell heavily from her previous sobs. 'I've heard about women who I could go to who could get rid of it for me if I asked them but when I mentioned it to Valerie she looked as though she was going to throw up and she told me that if I knew what those women did to people then I wouldn't have even considered it.'

'She's right,' Shelagh shivered slightly, a wave of nausea washing over her at the thought of one of those women laying a finger on the young woman before her. 'If I had it my way every single one of those women would be put into prison for attempted murder because it is extremely rare when a procedure of that sort is carried out - a procedure that is done with no care whatsoever for the woman in question; with no experience and no sterilised equipment - that the patient survives it. You must promise me, Magda, promise me that you will never visit one of those women.'

'I promise.' Magda sniffed, gazing down at her hands as they rested in her lap. 'But Mrs. Turner, what am I going to do? I have no home; no family, no way of providing for my baby when it is born, so how could I ever expect to be an adequate mother?'

'Oh, Magda.' Shelagh smiled warmly as she took the young woman's hand in her own and brushed her thumb lightly across her knuckles. 'This is your home for as long as you would like it to be. We are your family, I and Patrick and the children, and I promise you that if you let me speak to him about this; if you let me explain your condition to him and you let me tell him about what happened to you before you came to us I know he will support you. He'll let you stay here.'

A small smile spread across Magda's lips. 'If I were to accept your offer,' She started. 'Would you come to my appointments with me? Would you help me through the birth?'

'If you were to accept,' Shelagh smiled. 'I would be beside you through everything.'

Magda fell silent for a moment as she thought things over in her head, her dark eyes glistening when she looked up and met Shelagh's gaze. 'Alright.' She nodded. 'I will stay and I will have this baby, but when my baby is born I will find my own house. I can't go back to Hungary and I can't go back to Paris, but I also can't go on as an au pair if I have a baby with me so I will have to stay here in Poplar.'

'You'll hear no objection from this family.' Shelagh reassured her. 'Especially not from Angela!'

- CTM -

Dawn was just beginning to break as Shelagh tiptoes quietly back into the bedroom that she shared with her husband after she had tucked Magda back into bed with a hot water-bottle to help with the stomach cramps from her body's adjusting and a fresh cup of tea to help with the shaking, a soft yawn escaping her as she closed the door gently behind herself before making her way over to her bed.

She couldn't help but sigh deeply as she lowered herself down onto the edge of it. She had meant it when she had told Magda that Patrick would support her and that he would be understanding and when she had told her that she had a home; a family with them. She just hoped Magda would do as she had promised and stay well away from those wretched women.

'Shelagh?' Patrick's sleepy voice prompted her to turn in her space on the bed a few moments later, a loving smile forming upon her lips as she watched him push himself up onto his hands. 'What's the matter? Is everything okay?' He shifted closer to her on their bed before reaching out to cup the free of her cheek in his palm.

'Everything's fine, dearest,' She leaned in for a soft kiss. 'Magda's feeling unwell so I told her to stay in bed today and I will stay home to care for the children. Go back to sleep, Patrick, you have to be up in less than two hours.'

'I can't sleep properly without you in my arms, Mrs. Turner.' He reminded her as he buried his face in her neck and began to leave sweet kisses upon her skin as he wrapped his arm around her waist from behind. 'Come and get into bed and snuggle with me.' He allowed her to stand from their bed then before he pulled back the quilt for her and allowed her to climb onto the mattress, a deep sigh of contentment escaping her as she lay down beside him and he pressed his lips to the back of her head in a slow kiss as he wrapped his arm around her middle before bringing her back against his chest. 'Mmm...I love you so much.'

'I love you too, darling.' She whispered as she nuzzled into her pillow and her eyes fell closed, a deep sigh escaping her as images of Magda and the baby that she was carrying began to fill her head. 'Patrick?' She spoke gently.

'Hm?' He hummed into her neck.

'Hold me tighter.' She told him as she took his hand and pulled his arm tighter around her, a sleepy smile forming upon her lips as she snuggled back against him.

It was then that she knew everything was going to be okay Patrick was going to support every decision that she made and she was going to support a decision that Magda made regarding her baby, and so with love for her husband and support for Magda in her heart Shelagh was finally able to drift off into a blissful slumber.

- CTM -

Authors note: I hope you all enjoye the first chapter! I'm not sure what I think about this but if you liked this idea and want to see more please let me know with a review! I am still working on my other stories, it's just that inspiration hasn't really been coming to me for them for a while. They are still in progress though, so please don't give up on them. Once again, I hope you enjoyed and please review!