This was a little oneshot inspired by last night's episode. I can't believe it's been over a year since I published anything! But I am working on a new story for Holby City involving quite a few characters so hopefully I should have something else up in a few weeks :)
"Oh." Jonny frowned. "What are you doing opening the door my wee miss?" He asked as he stepped into Jac's house and closed the door behind him.
"Mummy's poorly. She told me to open the door." Emma explained as her father hung his back up on the hook in the hallway.
"And what are you still doing in your PJs at nine o'clock in the morning?" He frowned knowing that she had a routine that both parents stuck to regardless of who was looking after her in order to give her some sort of normality as she frequently swapped between the two homes. If he ever ignored the schedule he'd get an ear bashing about how they were trying to make the most of co-parenting so he knew Jac must've been rather unwell. She had called him half an hour ago to ask if he could take her for the day as she wasn't well enough to make it into work but knowing Jac, he knew it would take more than a sniffle to make her call in sick.
"Mummy's still in her PJs." The three and a half year old stated.
"Where is Mummy?"
"She's still in bed." Emma replied. "Can Daddy make me toast please? I'm hungry."
"Have you not had breakfast yet?" He asked out of astonishment and he was met with an enthusiastic shake of her head, her just-below-shoulder length hair spinning around with it. "It's up to you, I came to pick you up today so you can either have toast here or wait until we get to my place and have toast with chocolate spread." He whispered to her, knowing Jac wouldn't approve of such a breakfast choice. "Which would you prefer?"
"But I'm hungry now." She whined.
"How about one slice with butter here, and then I'll make a slice with chocolate spread in my flat and we'll have half each?" He suggested.
"Hmm…" Emma carefully considered the offer, concentrating as though her life depended on it, before she asked another question. "Mummy always cuts my toast into squares but Daddy always cut them into triangles. Can I have squares here and little triangles in Daddy's flat?"
"Of course you can. Now you go and sit on your beanbag and I'll bring it over." Jonny told her and his feisty little girl skipped through to the lounge and sat on her favourite seat by her toy box. He stood in the doorway and watched her use the TV remote to turn it onto CBeebies and smiled at her intelligence before he walked to the kitchen and put a slice of bread in the toaster. He quickly prepared her breakfast and poured some semi-skimmed milk into a little plastic beaker and then placed them on the coffee table in the lounge. "Right you be careful with that drink, make sure you use both hands. And wipe your hands on this once you've finished, not your mother's carpet. Okay?" Jonny explained as he placed a sheet of kitchen roll next to her plate.
"Mmhmm." She nodded before she began devouring her toast.
"Right I'm just going to pack you a bag for today." He stated, guessing that if Jac really was ill enough to have to not go to work and not be able to look after their daughter, she probably wouldn't have prepared her overnight bag yet. Once he got to the top of the stairs he grabbed the teddy, that Emma had to have with her no matter who she was staying with, from the floor of her playroom and then went into her immaculate bedroom and grabbed her little rucksack. He had clothes and other essentials at his own place but he knew he'd need her yellow blanket that she couldn't sleep without and the book on her bedside table that her parents read to her at bedtime. Once the rucksack was packed and he had laid out a set of clothes for Emma to wear for the day he realised that he hadn't actually heard a sound from Emma's mother since he arrived so he cautiously walked across the landing to her bedroom where he found her curled up in bed under the covers, facing away from the door in darkness as the curtains hadn't yet been pulled. "What's wrong then? Upset stomach?" He asked knowing that a cold or even the flu wouldn't keep her away from Darwin; she'd worked through both before.
"No, it's nothing contagious; Emma's safe." Jac replied without even bothering to twist her neck to face him.
"That's not why I was asking." Jonny stated. He walked into the bedroom with a pink rucksack over his shoulder to find that she was as white as a sheet with dark circles under her eyes. "Endometriosis?" He guessed.
"I'm sorry I haven't got her dressed or packed her bag or anything but can you just grab Emma and go please?" She requested wearily.
"Is the pain really that bad that you can't even get out of bed?"
"I said I'm sorry, it won't happen again. Just take her and go." Jac snapped.
"No I wasn't having a go at you, honestly. I just meant… Maybe you should see someone rather urgently for better pain relief. Do you want me to take you to the walk-in centre?"
"I'll be fine."
"I believe that's what you said not long before you collapsed in December and I had to come and pick up Emma from the Surgical Recovery Unit where she was visiting her sick Mummy. Jac you can't even move–"
"This isn't another cyst, I only had an ultrasound last week. It's just a flare up." She protested.
"Are you sure you don't want me to ring an ambulance? They'll be able to give you morphine even if you refuse to go to hospital–"
"I can manage on my own. Please… just look after Emma."
"Sure."
"Oh, her lunchbox is on the side in the kitchen and her sandwiches are in the fridge."
"Right."
"And I haven't told her about her dentist appointment next week yet so don't mention it to her."
"I won't. Don't worry." Jonny assured her. "Change of plan Emma, Daddy's staying here to look after you and Mummy today." Jonny shouted at the top of the stairs.
"No you're not." Jac groaned.
"Yaaayyyy!" They both heard Emma giggle.
"I probably know the answer to this but do you want anything to eat?" Jonny asked as he entered Jac's bedroom with a bottle of water to replace the empty one on her bedside table.
"No. And I'd feel a lot better if you took Emma to your place." Jac stated.
"I know that's not true. And I know this is just about your pride but I don't care if you spend the whole day in your pyjamas. And I'm not going to tell anyone anything that happens today so just be a normal person and have a lazy day. Come downstairs with your duvet and we'll watch a film with Emma."
"Not gonna happen." Jac grimaced as she pushed herself up the bed and leant against the headboard so she could have a drink. In doing so, she pulled the covers off of herself and Jonny noticed the black hot water bottle on the mattress.
"Shall I fill this up for you?" He offered. After picking it up he realised that it was stone cold and that she'd probably first used it when the pain had started but it had since become too intense for her to be able to go downstairs without feeling lightheaded.
"If you wouldn't mind." Jac replied coyly.
"Sure."
"Where's Emma?" Jac asked.
"She's getting dressed. If you lay the clothes out for her, she can do it herself. Just don't expect her to do any–"
"Buttons, I know. They're too fiddly for her little fingers." Jac smiled to herself.
"Well I'll go fill this up for you."
"When you come back up, could you bring my laptop and charger please?"
"You're not going to do work are you?" He complained.
"No, just some medical journal reading I've been meaning to catch up on."
"That counts as work." Jonny rolled his eyes on the way out of her room.
"Keep the noise down, Mummy'll be resting." Jonny said softly to his daughter as she ran into the house upon returning from the park.
"No. She's cooking dinner." Emma responded as she ran through to the kitchen. Jonny followed her and found Jac wearing a pair of joggers and a hoodie as she put a lid on a simmering pot on the stove.
"You're looking better." Jonny commented as their daughter ran up to her. "Careful Em." He warned. As Jac picked their daughter up, he watched her grimace, but she still cuddled her little girl and held her close despite the pain.
"Are you not poorly now?" Emma asked.
"No Emma, I'm better now." Jac reassured her little girl.
"Does that mean Daddy has to go?" She pouted.
"He can stay for dinner if he wants to." Jac offered. "But only if he hasn't already got plans, don't forget he wasn't supposed to look after you today."
"I'm sure I can stay a little longer for my wee princess." Jonny smiled.
"Can Daddy sleepover?"
"Er–"
"Sorry princess, I don't think that that's a good idea." Jonny interrupted Jac's awkwardness. He understood that she didn't want to upset their daughter but he knew she didn't want him staying the night. "I've got my own bed to sleep in. But I'll be here on Sunday morning and you'll be sleeping over in my flat for two nights."
"Can we go strawberry picking on Sunday?"
"Again? Emma you're going to look like a strawberry if you eat any more." Jonny laughed at the child who was balanced on her mother's hip. "Come on, why don't we set the table for dinner?" He suggested.
"Okay." She grinned as she ran through to the dining room.
"Jonny?" Jac grabbed his attention before he left the room.
"Yeah."
"Thank you for looking after her today."
"You don't need to thank me, she's my daughter. I'd do anything for her."
"Yeah I know, what I should have said was thank you for looking after us today. You didn't have to stay; you could've just taken Emma."
"What kind of nurse would I be if I'd have left you on your own, in pain?" He asked rhetorically. "I know we're not together – that ship sailed a long time ago – and I know we agreed not to try to be together again because we didn't want to confuse Emma. But that doesn't mean we can't be good friends."
"Mummy do we need a big knife with dinner or a little knife?" Emma shouted.
"You'd better go and supervise." Jac advised him.
"What is for dinner, by the way?"
"Chicken soup."
Thank you for reading. Please review and let me know what you think :)