A ring of the telephone pierced through the silent night in the Blake house. Stirring from her slumber Jean slipped out of bed as gingerly as possible so not to disturb her slumbering husband, and quietly rushed down the hall.

"Blake residence," She quietly replied, hoping that the voice on the other side wouldn't be at the station to summon her husband and Matthew away at such an early hour.

"Mom?" came the tentative response from the other end of the line.

She felt her heart jump at the recognition of her wayward son's voice. "Jack?"

"Yes mom, it's me… Listen I know I've made a royal messy of things…."

"Jack! Are you okay?" she quickly interjected.

"Yeah mom, I'm fine. Actually I was wondering if you and Dr. Blake would mind my visiting for a few days while I'm in the area? I'm getting a job in Melbourne and there's just so much I need to explain."

"Let me talk to Lucien at a decent time but I don't see why not!… Why are you calling so early to begin with?" Jean questioned.

"It's a long story for another day. I'm staying with a friend in Melbourne for now, so I'll give you a ring tonight? Love you mum!" and with that the line clicked into silence.

Hanging up the phone, Jean walked over to put the kettle on and fix a cup of tea before taking a seat at the kitchen table. She had so many questions, but first she had to determine where they were all to live when Jack came to visit. Mattie was on her way from England for a month, maybe more, and was due to arrive any day. Danny and Matthew would stay in their current arrangements, Mattie could take Jean had occupied before she had married the doctor, which meant Jack would be staying in Lucien's old room. Now they just had to hope the Charlie didn't decide to spring a surprise visit back to Ballarat with Mattie coming back into town. She was thankful once again that Lucien had decided to turn his mother's old studio into a bedroom for them, both for the extra guest space it provided and the seclusion from the other bedrooms.

Lucien stood leaned in the doorway watching his beautiful bride deep in thought. He had overheard the last of the conversation with her wayward son and could only assume that she was planning how to accommodate so many… colorful.. people in there filling household.

Not wanting to startle her, he quickly cleared his throat as he crossed the room, stopping when her reached her to give her a brief kiss… Well, he had intended it to be brief, but in the nine months since they had married they had yet to move out of the happy honeymoon phase, which was fine by him, and Jean didn't seem to mind it much either as she stood and deepened their embrace.

Breaking the kiss, Jean raised her eyebrows at him, "It's too early for you to be up. Why don't you head back to bed? I'm fine, but I don't think I could sleep any more at this point."

"I can think of a few more enjoyable things to pass the time if you'll come back to bed?" Lucien replied, his voice dropping to a whisper as he nibbled her neck, his deft hands already at work divesting her of her dressing gown.

"Well then doctor," she teased, "if you insist... Please lead the way" And she let out a slight squeal as the doctor whisked her back to their oasis for an early morning pleasure.

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While this vision of marital bliss unfolded in the kitchen, Matthew was lying wide awake planning. He had known from the moment he lay down that night that sleep would never come. After all, sitting on his nightstand was a tiny box with a simple engagement ring inside. It was shocking really how such a small item could cause a man so much trouble. He tossed a turned throughout the night debating what to say, where to say anything, how to say it… Every possible question that could be asked about a woman like Dr. Alice Harvey. Granted they hadn't been dating long, but neither had ever been married and there didn't seem to be a need for much more wait. Calming himself with the thought of see Alice tomorrow for an actual date with no bodies involved gave him reason to sleep and he finally drifted off to sleep.