Nikki was playing Alice when the doorbell rang. Scooping the infant up who just squealed in delight she went to the door and opened it, already pre-empting who it was
"Hey Leo" she smiled as she saw her boss standing there with a weary look on his face "Hello Erin" she said noticing the young girl standing behind Leo like his shadow
She stood back to let them come in, although she noticed that Leo had to practically drag Erin into the house and she frowned at this
"Thanks for doing this Nikki" he told her "This conference couldn't have come at a worse time and I've tried to get out of it but…"
"Leo its fine" Nikki cut him off and gave him a smile "You know we love to have Erin over" Leo nodded with a grateful expression on his face "Anyway she can help out with this little one" Nikki said hoisting Alice up onto her hip
Leo smiled as the infant looked up at him and clenched and unclenched her fists and gurgled happily
"Erin, will you take Alice for me?" Nikki said noticing that Erin was still very much clinging to Leo
"Come on Erin" Leo said pulling her gently round in front of him
Alice let out a shriek of delight when she saw Erin and immediately started to squirm in Nikki's hold
"Someone's happy to see you" Nikki chuckled as she passed the infant over to Erin who took her cautiously "Why don't you go inside and I'll be with you in a minute" she told Erin who nodded.
Leo gave her a gentle push through the doorway and reluctantly Erin stepped inside carrying Alice on her hip
"Is she okay?" Nikki asked looking back after Erin
Leo sighed "She thinks I'm abandoning her. I'm sorry, I know you've got enough on your plate but you know how Erin hates to be alone"
Nikki nodded sympathetically "It's understandable considering what she's been through"
Leo gave another sigh and quickly recomposed himself "I'll be back tommorow evening to pick her up"
"That's great" Nikki smiled as she and Leo said their goodbyes
"Keep an eye on her for me?" Leo asked and Nikki nodded
Leo turned away and back towards his car, Nikki waited for a moment before shutting the door and going to find Alice and Erin.
When she walked into the living room she couldn't help but smile. Alice was sat in Erin's lap and playing with a loose stand of Erin's hair despite the girl's attempts to release it from the grasp of the infant
"Do you need rescuing?" Nikki said and Erin nodded
Nikki went over to the pair and picked up Alice who started to squawk as soon as she was removed from her favourite toy; Erin
"You've got to be nice to Aunty Erin" she told her daughter "She's our guest"
Alice just gurgled in response and then absorbed herself in trying to stick her feet in her mouth
"We've set you up on the sofa" Nikki told Erin "I know it's not great but…"
"…It's fine" Erin said quietly
"Harry will be back soon" Nikki said checking her watch "We're planning on getting a pizza, well it was either that or face Harry's cooking" Nikki pulled a face and Erin gave a weak smile back
When Harry got back later that evening he opened the door to the sound of his daughter's happy shrieks from the living room. Nikki came to greet him and pecked a kiss on the cheek
"Is Erin here?" Harry asked
Nikki nodded "Alice is currently trying to use her as a climbing frame and a teething ring at the same time"
Harry chuckled and stuck his head round the living room door "Hello Erin"
"Hi" Erin said softly and Harry noted the girl's despondent tone
Nikki jerked her head towards the kitchen and Harry followed her there so they could talk in private
"She's been like that since Leo left her" Nikki sighed
"It'll take her a while to settle you know what Erin's like"
Nikki nodded "I forget sometimes how close Erin gets to people"
"It's hardly surprising given what she's been through" Harry said, remembering Erin as the scrawny little girl that Leo had brought in almost a year ago
"She'll be alright" He said trying to reassure his wife as he followed her into the living room
"We're going to keep a close eye on her though" Nikki said firmly and Harry smiled as he saw that his wife's maternal instincts were now at full blast.
As they entered the living room they saw Erin sitting on the floor trying to do her homework, unfortunately she was being hindered by Alice who had decided to sit right on the page Erin was trying to write on. Despite Erin's attempts, the infant would not move and just let out a squeal of laughter every time Erin tried to move her an inch. Erin sighed and sat up straight just as Alice launched into a gurgling song of squeaks and squeals, evidently trying to keep Erin's spirits up. Despite Erin trying to keep up her stoicism, both Harry and Nikki could see the smile creeping into Erin's face
"Alice!" Nikki laughed "Stop being so mean to Erin"
"She's alright" Erin said giving Alice a quick tickle in the ribs which made the infant squeal with laughter
Nikki and Harry glanced at each other, both had acknowledged the smile playing on Erin's face and both were much reassured by this
Later that night Harry and Nikki were in bed asleep when their peaceful slumber was broken by the shrill wails from Alice
"It's your turn…" Nikki mumbled in her sleep and rolled over pulling the duvet away from Harry and wrapping it around herself
"Yes dear" Harry sighed as he got out of bed and padded down the hallway to Alice's room
He gently pushed open the door and aided by the soft glow of the night light he could see his young daughter sitting up in her cot, red in the face from crying
"Hey" he soothed as he scooped the crying infant up into his arms "What's the matter little one?"
Alice stopped struggling as she relaxed into Harry's arms but the tears kept coming thick and fast
"Are you hungry?" he asked her "Let's feed you then"
He gently took the grizzling baby towards the kitchen and as they passed the open living room door where Harry could see Erin's form tucked up on the sofa Harry gently whispered to Alice
"Don't you start crying again, or you'll wake up Erin"
Alice let out a squeal as she heard Erin's name and Harry tried to get her to be quiet
"Its okay" a voice came from the sofa "I'm not asleep"
"See what you did Alice?" Harry teased the baby who was trying to struggle out of Harry's grip "How long have you been awake?"
"I don't think I ever got to sleep" Erin said as Harry walked into the room and switched on the small lamp on the table which gave them just enough illumination to see each other but not enough to wake Nikki up
"Can you take her for a second?" Harry said placing Alice in Erin's lap "I'm just going to fix her a bottle"
Erin nodded and took the squawking baby who seemed rather happy to be reunited with her favourite toy
Soon Harry was back and Erin moved over slightly to let Harry sit down next to the pair of them. Harry gently took Alice back from Erin and although the infant started to grizzle again she was soon soothed by the bottle Harry had prepared for her
"Right now this one's quiet, do you want to tell me what's wrong?" he asked
Erin shrugged "Nothing's wrong"
"Come on Erin" He said gently "I thought me and you could tell each other anything"
"We can…" Erin protested
"So what's wrong?" he asked again
"I miss him…" she said quietly
"Leo?" Harry said although he was already sure of the answer
Erin made a noise of affirmation "This is the first time he's left me since he was in hospital"
Harry nodded as he cast his mind back to that time "He'll be back soon though"
"I know" she sniffed "I'm just being silly"
Harry shook his head "Of course you're not, I miss Nikki when she's away"
"Really?"
"Of course" Harry grinned "Who else is there to yell at me for all the tiny mistakes I make"
Erin let out a weak laugh which caught Alice's attention. The infant held out her arms to Erin, the young girl moved forward and immediately Alice closed a small chubby fist around one of Erin's fingers and began to chew it
"You're lucky she hasn't got teeth yet" Harry chuckled
"I look forward to it" Erin said sarcastically
"Are you going to try and get some sleep now?" he asked her
"I'm not tired" Erin said
"Alice is going to need you full of energy tomorrow. I have a suspicion she might use you as a climbing frame tomorrow"
Erin laughed and eventually managed to untangle herself from the infant who had just fallen asleep
"I'll see you in the morning" Harry said lifting himself and the sleeping infant up from the sofa
"Night" Erin said settling back down
"Goodnight Erin" Harry said with a smile as he turned off the light and went to settle his daughter down
The next day seemed to fly by for Erin and when she wasn't helping Nikki around the house, Alice was using her for her own means. Soon it was the evening and Erin was waiting for Leo to come and pick her up. Harry had arrived home from work about an hour ago and was curled up with Nikki on the sofa
"What did you say to her?" Nikki quietly asked her husband
"Who?" he questioned
"Erin" Nikki replied "She's been in a much brighter mood today"
"Nothing" Harry grinned
Nikki laughed and shook her head "You're a terrible liar" she grinned "But thank you all the same"
Harry nodded and at that moment the doorbell rang so he uncurled himself from Nikki and pulled open the front door to meet a tired looking Leo. At once the older man was met by a squealing Erin who rushed over to hug him. All traces of tiredness were gone from his face as soon as he saw Erin and the two of the embraced in a living hug
"How was she?" Leo asked as they prepared to leave. He'd sent Erin off to put her stuff away in the car so he could talk to Nikki and Harry privately
"Fine" Nikki smiled
"How was she in the night?" Leo asked knowing how little Erin slept when she was worried "She looks a little tired"
"That's because Alice has worn her out today" Nikki said shifting the squawking infant up onto her hip
"She was fine Leo" Harry assured the older man "She just missed you that's all"
"The feeling is mutual there" Leo smiled "Thank you for looking after her"
"It's no problem" Nikki smiled
"I'll see you in work tomorrow" Harry nodded to Leo who smiled and made his way back towards his car
Nikki closed the door to shut the cold evening weather out and moved back towards the living room. She noticed a scrap of paper on the coffee table and on closer inspection she saw it was one of Erin's drawings
"Harry" she called "Come and look at this"
She passed the paper over to Harry who grinned when he saw it; on the paper was a carefully drawn sketch of their baby daughter in perfect detail
"That girl never fails to amaze me" Harry said shaking his head in awe
Alice started to squirm in Nikki's grasp and as Harry lent forward to give his daughter a kiss, she gave him a nip on the hand
"She's getting her teeth" Harry grimaced
"Well you'd better hope Leo has another conference soon" Nikki grinned "I have a felling Erin's going to be a useful asset to us in the very near future!"
Author's note: So what do we think? Quite long for a one shot! Do you want anymore stories about Erin or Alice?