I'm not sure how many chapters this will be. Let me know if I should continue...
"DADDY!" yelled the little girl as she entered the office and ran towards the male occupant of the room sat behind his desk.
On hearing his daughter call his name, the man broke off his conversation with the female in the room who looked quite shocked at the interruption, and stood up with arms open wide as the little girl ran towards her father as fast as her little legs would carry her.
"Livvy!" He exclaimed as he scooped her up and proceeded to throw her in the air a few times catching her safely each time. The youngster shrieked with excitement on each throw into the air. It was obvious to all that this was a game father and daughter played regularly.
"Olivia! What did I just finish telling you about shouting in chambers?" Asked her mother who had remained at the office door but now entered, towing a suitcase behind her. She wasn't really mad, in fact she was happy that daughter and father had such a great relationship. She didn't think it would have been possible given his reaction when she had first told him she was pregnant. They had only slept together once, and their daughter had been conceived after they had been too drunk to even consider contraception.
She had intended to have a termination, but when push came to shove she had been unable to attend the hospital for the procedure and had changed her mind to keep her baby. It had been the best decision she had ever made. He had told her he would support her, but being the charmer she knew him to be, she hadn't really believed him at the time, thinking he would be off with the next good looking woman that he happened to meet. But, he had proved her wrong and much to the surprise of herself and all their colleagues, he had proven himself to be a rather good father. Olivia adored him, and he doted on her.
Her own relationship with the man in question had also grown stronger and they raised their daughter together, but as best friends, not lovers. That was what they told their family and friends although nobody quite believed them. Anybody could see that they were more than friends and all hoped (especially both their mothers) that they would realise this fact in the near future.
"Sowwy Mummy," said the young child who was now safely on her fathers hip with her arms around his neck.
"And you only encourage her, Clive," she admonished lightly as she reached her desk and parked the suitcase behind it.
"Sorry Marth," replied Clive whilst making a face at his daughter implying they were both in trouble. "I've just missed her so much," he continued as he launched a tickling attack on his daughter and proceeded to throw her around again to the accompaniment of Olivia's laughter. When he eventually stopped, she was upside down over his shoulder.
"Careful, she hasn't long had lunch," warned Martha recalling the last time he had done the same thing with not such a great ending as Olivia had been sick right down the back of one of his suits. On hearing that he quickly turned her the right way also remembering the same event.
"Did you have a good time at Nanna's?" He asked Olivia as he settled her on his hip again. She replied with an emphatic nod.
"She was spoilt rotten as usual," replied Martha who then looked around the room and became aware they were not alone. "I'm sorry. Have we interrupted something?" She asked remembering that Clive and the unfamiliar woman sitting opposite Clive's desk had been in conversation as they had entered the office.
"Don't worry. We were basically finishing anyway," Clive answered whilst focusing his attention on his daughter. He hadn't seen her for two weeks as she had gone to Bolton with Martha to visit Martha's mother. It was the first time he had been away from her for so long.
The impending ending of their meeting was news to the woman who Martha saw gave an annoyed look in Clive's direction. "By the way," Clive continued as he now looked at the two women in the room," this is Harriet Hammond, Marth, our new Practise Manager. She started here the other day. Harriet, this is Martha Costello, QC,".
"Nice to meet you," said Martha holding her hand out, to which Harriet finally shook but only after giving Martha a fully appraising stare. Martha took an instant dislike to her. "Sorry for barging in on your conversation, but Olivia was quite keen to see her father," she apologised.
"That's ok. As Clive said, we were nearly done,". Harriet replied feeling smug when she registered the surprised look on the female barristers face when she had called Clive by his first name. But she wanted to get the upper hand in this meeting, after the surprise she had just received. Unbeknownst to either Clive or Martha, Harriet had plans for Shoe Lane and she thought she had found the perfect person to help her with this scheme, when she had been introduced to the ambitious male prosecutor not long after starting. The fact that he was very attractive and single was an added bonus...at least that is what she had been told by Billy. She realised he hadn't been entirely truthful with her on that final point for some reason, and her dislike of the senior clerk grew. The appearance of an unknown daughter, not to mention the very friendly relationship Clive had with her mother were going to affect her plans somewhat.
Martha decided she should probably leave before she said something she would regret to this new manager. "Come on you," she said to her daughter, "why don't we go find Uncle Billy and the others and show them the picture you drew for them, so that Daddy and Harriet can finish their talk?" She reached for her daughter and Clive handed her over so she was now settled on her mothers hip.
"I'll come find you when we're done," Clive said as he headed back to his seat whilst Martha headed for the clerks room.
"Unca Billy!" Chirped Liv as they entered the busy hub of the clerks room.
"Hello Little Miss," replied Billy looking up from his computer. 'Little Miss' was his nickname for the little girl.
The other clerks all greeted the little girl as well. Martha and Clive had made sure their daughter was a frequent visitor to chambers, and as a result she wasn't shy around any of them. This had proved to be a godsend when she had started nursery. With all the sharing of illnesses that occurred when groups of small children got together, there had been numerous occasions when Olivia had been unwell and had had to be looked after by the clerks whilst her parents were in court.
"Did you have a nice holiday?" Asked Billy as he held out his arms indicating to Martha he wanted a hold of the little girl. He had been a big part of her life ever since she was born. Not only was he good friends with her mother, but he had helped her a lot in those first few weeks of her pregnancy when she was really unsure about what to do.
"Uh huh," was Olivia's reply as she settled on his lap. "I drewed you a picture," she proclaimed as her mother placed it in front of her good friend. On it was seven crudely drawn people typical of three year olds.
"Wow!" Enthused Billy not knowing what or rather who he was looking at as all the figures looked the same. "Who are all of these people?" He asked.
"That's you, and Unca Jake, Unca John and Aunty Betney," she recalled pointing to different figures," and that's Mummy, Daddy and me," she finished.
"That's amazing," Billy continued. "I'm going to put this right over here on the mantelpiece next to my favourite West Ham picture," he said as he walked with Olivia to the mantelpiece and set the drawing down. "Now everybody will be able to see it,".
"Daddy come and have a look at my drawin'" instructed Olivia as she spied her father and Harriet entering the clerks room. He obediently followed and enthused over the drawing as any proud father would. "That's you," she pointed to a figure when he asked if he was in it.
"I thought that was me," he exclaimed as he took his daughter from Billy who went back to his desk to continue work.
"Why don't you tell daddy what you want for your birthday?" Prompted Martha. "After a lovely day out with Nanna, she's already decided what she wants!".
"She's only just had her third birthday," said Clive astonished.
"I wanna baby welly!" Olivia proclaimed.
"Baby elephant," translated Martha when she saw a confused look on Clive's face. There was a murmur of laughter from the clerks who were all listening in to the family conversation.
"Mummy said no. Can I have one Daddy?" She pleaded, knowing her father was a softer touch than her mother. He usually gave her what she wanted.
"I think I agree with Mummy. Where would we put it when he grew up to be big?"
"In a garden," she answered with a tone that suggested her father was rather stupid.
"I think he might want somewhere a lot bigger than that Sweetie. That wouldn't be fair on the elephant would it?" He reasoned gently.
"Ok how about a baby 'raffe then?" Olivia asked and again Clive wasn't exactly sure what that was.
"Giraffe," Martha helpfully translated again.
"Same thing Sweetie," Clive said although he could see the making of a lawyer in his daughter with her bargaining skills. He supposed it wasn't really surprising considering both her parents were barristers. "Why all the interest in animals all of a sudden?"
"Nanna took her to the zoo," Martha explained. "Don't worry I have already thanked her for instilling a love of large animals into her granddaughter!"
"How about a baby sister?" Olivia piped up over her mother. Martha and Clive looked a little shocked at that suggestion whilst the clerk's room fell silent.
"You never mentioned that before," Martha exclaimed.
Clive meanwhile had noticed that the conversation was being listened to. "I think we should get a drink and then move to our office where you can tell me all about the zoo and everything else you got up to on your trip. We need to let these people get back to work," he explained as he walked towards the coffee room rather quickly with Martha following as Olivia remained completely unaware of the embarrassment she had just caused her parents.
Billy watched them go with a smile. The two barristers were going to have to get used to their daughter saying unexpected things in company. Once they had gone he switched his gaze to Harriet.
"Something wrong Harriet," he asked when he saw the sour look on her face. He detested this newcomer immensely.
"You said he was single," Harriet replied.
"He is. He's not married. Legally that makes him single," reasoned Billy a little smugly. He had thought he had seen an interest in Clive from the woman but he wasn't going to let that happen. Clive had promised Billy he would be a responsible and caring father to Martha's child and so far he hadn't let him down. He could also see how happy the unorthodox little family was and he wasn't going to let this woman spoil it. "He just happens to have a child with Miss Costello. Did I forget to mention that?" He asked pretending to be all innocent although Harriet wasn't buying it at all. "Maybe now you'll leave Mr Reader alone," he added as a warning. Harriet left the room in disgust.