Well, here is number 2 of my five part series. This is actually the one I wrote first, before any of the others (including Chapters of our Lives Together). It is probably my favourite of the five and I hope you enjoy. I remember when I started writing this... it was a little over six years ago. Your reviews are much appreciated.

ONE

Martha and Jack woke up not feeling tired for the first morning since Olivia was born. Both of them were full of energy and ready for whatever the day would bring them. As for Martha, she was just happy to have Jack and Olivia in her life. They were the two most amazing people ever and she loved both of them so much. She was going to spend the rest of her life with both of them and she couldn't wait to see what every day brought for them.

Every day, Olivia would change, or she'd do something new and both her and Jack were there to witness every second of it. While she was secretly happy with how her life was going, Jack was hurting. Two weeks ago, he had found out some news and still, he hadn't told Martha. How was he supposed to? Finally, she was happy again. She was smiling every day and she was back to the woman that he married. Once he told her the truth, her heart was going to be bro ken again and perhaps she'd go back to being depressed. He didn't want that. They had worked together to get her over that and now that she was, he didn't want her going back to the way that she used to be.

"Maybe it was the cold that kept her asleep last night?" Martha suggested as they came into the kitchen in search of some breakfast. Not that Martha was hungry. She never ate breakfast and she hadn't since as long as she could remember. "It was the coldest night and is the coldest morning I've ever experienced in Summer Bay," she added, deciding to make herself a coffee.

"I don't think she slept through the whole night," Jack laughed, trying to ignore the fact that Martha was extremely happy. There was no way he could tell her the truth. "She just didn't cry. I woke up around two, I think it was, and there was, chatting away to herself." He smiled at her.

Martha smiled back and shook her head. "I didn't hear her at all," she said. She then wrapped her arms around his body and was about to kiss him, but was interrupted by a cry coming from the baby monitor. She just laughed.

"I'll get her," Jack said, pulling away from her and wandering into his eight week old daughter's bedroom. When he picked her up, all he felt was sadness. Why was he doing it? Why was he going to leave her? If he had just read more about the case that he had signed up for and had realised that it was going to take him away from his family, then maybe he wouldn't be feeling this way. Olivia was only a baby. She needed him in her life and he wasn't going to be there. Not for a couple of years anyway. Sadly, he held her in an upright position and brought her back out to Mar tha.

"You are so lucky that you do not understand any of this, because your mum is going to be heartbroken when she finds out," he whispered to her.

When she saw her daughter, Martha smiled and kissed her soft cheek. She always loved to see her first thing in the morning.

"Morning, sweetie," she said. "You had a good sleep last night. You let us sleep in." She took her off Jack and held her in her arms. "Are you hungry?" she asked her. "Jack, could you please get her, her bottle?" She tickled Olivia under the chin, causing her to smile. "Jack!" she said excitedly. "Did you see that? She smiled!"

Jack looked up from making Olivia a bottle and shook his head, slightly disappointed that he had missed her smile for the first time. "No," he said. It just made him feel worse. It was things like that that he was going to miss. What would happen if he was away and Olivia started to talk, or she started to walk? He wanted to be there for all that and now there was a chance that he wasn't going to be. It really hurt him.

Martha tickled Olivia again and this time, she giggled as well. Martha smiled at her and then gave her a big hug. "You're such a clever little girl," she said to her, handing her back to Jack and then going to get ready. "I have got to tell Cass," she told him. "She told me to tell her when all this happens." She bounded happily into her bed room and was about to get ready when Jack called her back. He had that look on his face that told her something was wrong. Was Olivia sick, was he sick? What was going on?

"I need to talk to you," he told her, deciding that he was never going to find the right time to tell her. There really was no right time. He was going to tell her that he had to go away for who knew how long and that he couldn't come back until this case was finished. Just imaging what she was going to do broke his heart.

"Can't it wait?" Martha asked him, unsure of whether or not she actually wanted to hear what he had to say. "I really need to see Cassie," she added.

Jack shook his head. "No, it can't wait," he said. "This is important and it's going to affect us, Martha." He paused, watching her face. Maybe that had come out wrong, because the look on her face made him believe that she thought he was leaving her. He wasn't… well not in the way she thought he meant anyway. But he was surprised by what she said.

"I'm not pregnant again, am I?" she asked him jokingly. He smiled at her and shook his head.

"I don't think so," he laughed. "It's something that I know you are not going to like. I don't even like it and if I could take it back, I would…" He looked at her watching him. She seemed to be so confused. "About a month ago," he started. "I took this case that seemed very interesting and I wanted to work on it. And about two weeks ago… my boss, he told me that I was on it." He watched her. She clearly had no idea what he was talking about. Neither did he, really. Why didn't he just pull out of the case? But then he remembered that he had already tried. There's no turning back now, was what McGrath had told him when he had asked.

"Okay," Martha said. "You're telling me this because…" She looked at him. What was he on about? He never told her about any of the cases that he worked on. What was so different now? "It's not dangerous, is it?" she asked.

Jack stared at the ground and shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "It's just, this case, it's in the city," he told her.

"So, what, you'll be gone for a couple of days?" Martha questioned, now seriously confused. Why was he getting so worked up over a case in the city? He went there all the time and he would normally just tell her the night before he went. Why was he upset this time and why was he saying that it was going to change their lives? Was it really that dangerous?

Jack stared at her for a couple of seconds and then back at the ground. A couple of days? If that was all she thought that it was going to be, then she was in for an even bigger shock than what he had first thought. "No, Martha," he said. "Not a couple of days. I can't come back until this case is solved."

Martha felt her heart tear up into a million pieces. "What?" she stuttered. But that means years, she told herself. And he can't even come back. "No," she said. "No. Why?" She couldn't seem to find the right words to say. Five minutes ago, she was the happiest that she had ever been and now… now all of that was gone. Jack was leaving and she had no idea when he was going to come back. "But what about us?" she then asked. "What about our marriage? You're not going to walk away from that, are you?" She had to make sure. She had to make sure that it wasn't the end of her and Jack.

"Of course not," Jack told her. "I get every second Sunday off and I will come back and make sure that I spend every second of that with you and Olivia." He took her hand and held it in his. She had reacted the way that he had thought. But he still had no idea what she was thinking. What if she was wondering if he had done it on purpose? Maybe she thought that he had purposely asked to take this case because he knew what it would do. Well he had to make sure that she didn't think that, be cause it wasn't true. There was no way he would have taken this case if he had known that it would take him away from the ones that he loved.

"Martha, I swear that if I had known that it was in the city and that I would barely see you, I never would have taken it. More than anything, I'd rather be here with you and Olivia, but I'm so, so, so sorry." He took her into his arms and held onto her tightly. He was go ing to miss her. He was going to miss her so much.

"Can't you not go?" Martha then asked him. "Tell your boss that you don't want to go anymore. Tell him that I don't want you to go." She wiped away the few tears that had started to fall down her face. This was so hard. Finally, she had been happy again, but now her happiness had just disappeared.

"I tried," Jack told her. "I've tried every day for the past two weeks, but I can't get out of it. McGrath won't let me. He said that I was the one who chose to do this and I have to live with my mistake."

This just made Martha hate Jack's boss even more than what she already did. It wasn't just Jack that was going to suffer from this. It was also her and their daugh ter. What about their daughter? What was Olivia going to do without her dad around? Jack was the only one that could get her to sleep at night, he was the one who made her the happiest. Without Jack helping her, there was no way that Martha would be able to cope.

"But what about Olivia?" she asked him. "She doesn't have live with it. That's not fair on her." She couldn't keep the tears in any longer. The next thing that she knew, she had tears streaming from her eyes and Jack had his arms tighter around her.

"I leave next Monday," Jack whispered to her.

Next Monday, Martha thought. That gives us three days together and to make the most of it.

What did you think? Please let me know!