Dimitri got to the top of the stairs and couldn't help but smile as he looked down at the little girl who laid asleep in his arms. Kids had never truly been his forte. He knew how to entertain his three year old nephew, but other than that he'd never been around any other kids. Work always took up so much of his time that when he finished work he loved nothing more than getting home, flicking on the TV and eating a ready meal or a takeaway with a few beers before falling asleep. The idea of getting home to a house full of children and an exhausted wife never appealed to him. The idea of having to waste time entertaining then putting the kids to bed before having to stay up and hold long conversations or arguments with his wife was a horrible idea. But as he thought back to the past couple of hours, and as he looked down at the little girl in his arms, he wondered if Rosie had perhaps changed his mind. She hadn't been a complete nightmare, and nor had Erin. Though he wondered if they'd been on their best behaviour because he was a guest. But Dimitri had to admit he'd enjoyed sharing dinner with them, this was especially down to the way Rosie had given him the role of 'dustbin' which he felt obliged to live up to:

ROSIE: You know, Naomi…

Dimitri distracted his attention from the five year old for a fleeting moment to look questioningly at Erin who mouthed at him with a smile 'friend from school'.

ROSIE: …she says her Daddy is the only boy in the house because her mum and sisters and cats are all girls. So because he's the boy he has to eat everything left on the plates when everyone's finished their food.

Dimitri looked over at Erin again who still wore a smile as she raised her eyebrows at him. They both knew Rosie was about to insist he ate her final slice of pizza, and Dimitri was sure the little girl was using this story as an excuse so she didn't have to finish her dinner.

DIMITRI: Riiiight…?

ROSIE: So as the Daddy of the house tonight you're the dustbin. You've got to finish what's left. Like this piece here…

Dimitri looked down at the crust of pizza she held out to him. He would've been a little more put off by being handed a piece of crust if he wasn't still hung up on the title she'd just given him. Did she really just call him the Daddy of the house? As he watched Erin tell Rosie in a low tone not to handle food that people might eat, he could tell his colleague was just as surprised at what her daughter had said. But he couldn't correct such an innocent little girl who didn't really know that what she was saying would possibly make someone uncomfortable, so instead he shrugged off the previous comment and smiled as he pulled her plate in front of him to begin tucking into the little girl's last slice of cold pizza. He looked from Rosie who looked up at him with glee, over to her mother, who looked at him with the same relaxed smile she'd been wearing on her face for over an hour now. And the thought that she felt comfortable around him made him feel very comfortable indeed.

Following dinner, Rosie was popped into her pyjamas, before the three of them settled down on the sofa, the little girl squeezing between the two adults while opening up her school book bag and pulling out her new reading book. Dimitri smiled as he thought back to how excited Rosie had been to show him how well she could read the book that her school had assigned her, even if she had struggled with the odd word here and there. Then it had been his turn to read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, one of Rosie's favourite's (apparently). A book that he'd not read since he was a little boy. An old time classic that he wasn't too surprised to see went down from generation to generation. So he read it in the best way he could, having never had a huge amount of confidence in his ability to read out loud, nor had he had any experience in reading a story to a child before, not even to his own nephew. Once he'd finished the book Rosie had handed it to her mother to read, and as Erin read the words to her daughter, Dimitri had become hypnotised by her voice. She read with such a softness to her voice that he suddenly understood how badly he'd read the book. It had been as though he'd been attacking every word. Trying to make his voice sound as exciting as possible. But in fact the way he should've read the book should've been the way Erin had read it, with a soothness to her voice that would encourage her daughter to calmly fall asleep. And fall asleep Rosie did.

Dimitri gently followed Erin along the landing and into a room that already had a lamp on expectantly. He tried to remain as calm as possible despite the shock he received as he entered the room and realised it wasn't Rosie's room at all, but Erin's. He presumed the little girl had her own room, but understood that perhaps just for tonight his colleague wanted to keep her daughter close to her, especially after today. He watched Erin as she sat on the edge of the double bed, plumped up a couple of pillows, then opened up the duvet on the other side of the bed for her daughter. He continued watching as the woman paused, before looking up at him with a tired smile. Dimitri took that as his cue to walk around the bed and gently place the little girl in the space her mother had provided for her, which he did so with such caution, not wanting to wake the child in any way. As he let her go and Erin wrapped the duvet around her daughter he suddenly felt slightly empty, the weight having left his arms, while his colleague tenderly tucked Rosie up.

Dimitri found his eyes wandering away from the mother and daughter before him and over to the fireplace beside him, one which boasted a large pile of books that he wasn't 100% sure that Erin had ever got around to reading. All of a sudden his eyes fell upon a framed photo. The image showed a younger Erin, looking fresh-faced and relaxed, stood cuddling up to a man who had his arm around her. He hadn't seen this man in any other photo that had been scattered about the house here and there, but from the look of Erin's body position Dimitri got the feeling he was Rosie's dad. They looked comfortable together and very happy.

Erin couldn't describe how she felt right now. The day had been a rollercoaster of emotions, from the beginning right to the very end. Now she was tired, and had run out of energy to keep her emotions in tact. She was so relieved that her daughter was safe, that she was in her bed right now, safe in her arms. She couldn't express how grateful she was to Dimitri for all that he'd done today. For all that he'd done this evening. He'd been just what Rosie had needed. Just what she'd needed. A man to bring a little bit of balance to the house. The thought of Dimitri being that man brought a small smile to Erin's face and she looked up at him briefly. Her heart dropping for a moment as she saw him staring at that old photo she'd still kept on her fireplace. That photo of her with Rosie's Dad, a photo that had been taken when Erin was just six months pregnant. As she looked back down at her daughter, the smile that she'd given to Dimitri drifted away and she returned her focus to Rosie, all she had left of the man she'd once been so in love with. She heard her colleague slowly walk out of the room with a sigh but she didn't watch him go. She couldn't. She could tell he had plenty of questions. Everyone always did the moment they found out she had a daughter. Wanting to know who and where the father was. How long they'd been together and what had happened to him. She'd spent years locking the information away. The information was personal memories, all her personal memories that were shut away so she could no longer be hurt by them.

As she heard Rosie's heavy breathing, Erin knew it was time to reluctantly let her daughter sleep in peace. So the woman gently lifted herself off the bed, silently wandering over to the door and looking over her shoulder at the little girl one last time. The noise of a coat being pulled off the coat stand brought her attention away from the contents of her bedroom. Her heart rate increased as she realised her colleague might be leaving. Why would he want to stay of course? He'd only stayed until now just to be polite, so he wouldn't upset Rosie. But now Rosie was asleep he didn't need to stay. Erin would be fine. But Erin wasn't fine and as her feet led her down the stairs her eyes focused on the figure of the man she'd spent most of the day and most of the evening with, reaching out for the front door and opening it. She froze, her voice getting caught in her throat as she whispered his name, hardly able to believe she was almost calling him back:

ERIN: Dee?

Her heart skipped a beat as he looked back at her, his deep brown eyes locking with hers. To her relief he closed the door and slowly walked over to her.

DIMITRI: You should get some rest.

With each step he took she found herself becoming closer and closer to tears. It had been such a long time since a man been in the house. As much as she needed a man's company in one sense, right now she needed a man to comfort her, to just wrap his arms around her and tell her everything was going to be alright. Without realising, she found herself nodding in agreement to his statement, her heart catching in her mouth as he stopped directly in front of her, inches from her body. His eyes bore into hers so that she had no time to think about how tall he was, that her being three steps up the staircase to only just be over half an inch shorter than him. Her blue eyes found their way to his lips, and as tempted as she was to kiss him, she held back, all too aware that her emotions were getting the better of her. In a sudden act of desperation she wound her arms around his neck, and held him tightly. The feel of his strong arms winding their way around her small waist encouraged the pending tears to begin flowing from her eyes. As he squeezed her, she sobbed into his neck, all the emotions she'd felt from the day emanating from her exhausted body to the one person she felt she trusted the most at that time.

Dimitri had initially been caught by surprise. He was impressed it hadn't happened sooner. His colleague crying that was, not his colleague flinging herself into his arms. This was the sort of emotion he'd always known she'd possessed, but one he could tell she'd always refused to reveal. As he wrapped his arms tighter around her waist and buried his face further into her neck, he felt overwhelmed by her intimacy. The smell of her hair and whatever products she seemed to use in it, the feel of her slim body against his, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck as though she never wanted him to go. He wasn't entirely sure if all this emotion was just because of what had happened to Rosie, or if there were other things that had happened. Things that Erin had had to push deep down to forget about. So she could stay strong for her daughter. With a great deal of self-control Dimitri reluctantly reached up and un-peeled the venerable woman's arms from around his neck to speak softly to her:

DIMITRI: Come on, lets go into the living room.

He kept a hand held onto hers and to his surprise she didn't pull away, instead he watched her eyes dart from one of his eyes to the other and back, as though she were trying to read his mind. As though she were trying to work out if she was right to trust him, or if she should come back to her senses, to put the defences back up again.

DIMITRI: Come on.

He spoke softly again, hoping she wouldn't back away. And she didn't. He took a deep breath as she began making her way down the stairs not letting go of his hand as he led her through to the living room. They both sat on the sofa at the same time, Dimitri never taking his eyes off her for fear that she may block him out again. It wasn't often he was given the chance to be there for anyone, let alone someone he admired so much, someone who rarely let anyone into her life for a minute. But she'd been letting him into her life for the past three hours. He was slowly gaining her trust. He could feel an unusual sensation on his hand and realised that Erin's hand was still gripped onto his, her other hand reaching into her t-shirt sleeve and pulling out a tissue to wipe her nose with before speaking shakily:

ERIN: I'm sorry…I shouldn't have done that.

DIMITRI: Don't be silly.

Erin looked into his eyes. He looked at her with such care and affection that it took her all the strength she had left not to kiss him. No one had looked at her like that in a long time. Not since-

DIMITRI: You know you don't always have to be so brave.

ERIN: Yes I do.

She practically whispered the words that she couldn't quite believe she was saying. A small part of her knew she didn't always have to be so brave, but she was never given the opportunity to let her guard down. Sure she'd spent many a night over the years crying herself to sleep. Many a night sat in her back garden staring up at the night sky and wondering who was looking back. But never had she had the opportunity to do what she'd just done. To be enveloped in a cuddle and to be given the silent permission to just cry. Erin found her eyes wandering down to her hand that continued to hold onto his as his fingertips caressed her fingertips soothingly. She'd missed this kind of affection. Just the little things. But the important things.

ERIN: I haven't thanked you yet. For saving Rosie.

DIMITRI: No need to thank me.

She watched as a small smile grew on Dimitri's face. She'd always thought he had a nice smile. A reassuring smile. A warm smile. And then there were those eyes. Those deep brown eyes that given half the chance she could get lost in. They were brown with the odd flecks of dark green in, which she'd never noticed before now. Then again, when had she had the chance to look into his eyes for a long period of time before. Right now it seemed there was no where else really to look because his eyes seemed so inviting. So captivating.

DIMITRI: Actually you're lucky Callum mentioned you were a Mum last week, or I would've had no idea who Rosie was let alone what an important part of your life she was.

Erin couldn't help feeling awkward. She knew she was difficult and that it was rare for her to disclose any information about her private life to anyone, particularly colleagues. Erin had had to delay her final year of special intelligence training after becoming pregnant. Several months after giving birth, she returned to complete her final year and there she met Callum who had been fast-tracked through the years after exceeding the high grades in all his exams, and his equally competitive nature had made him an ally during their final year. As far as Erin had been aware the only colleagues who had known about Rosie was Callum, Ruth and Harry, the latter two had read in her file that she had a daughter. As the previous months since joining the grid had passed, Erin had grown closer to Dimitri than anyone else, which was hardly a compliment, as the closest she'd get would be trusting that he could protect her in any situation work put them in. But when it came to him protecting her outside of work, well until this evening that thought hadn't even crossed her mind. Now she couldn't imagine why she'd ever kept Rosie a secret from him before. She'd wanted to tell him about her. They were put on so many jobs together that before, it took everything for her not to talk about what her daughter did at school the previous day, what her favourite food was or what song she'd just learnt to sing. She was besotted with her daughter, even five years on from her birth.

ERIN: I'm sorry you had to find out about her that way.

DIMITRI: Never mind, I know about her now. And even better, I've been able to meet her. And eat her leftovers…

Erin felt a tired smile wipe over her face. He was being so nice. Why was he being so nice? She was nothing special. She was a single mum, very driven at work, very private about her life outside of work, very closed about her feelings, and very difficult to like, let alone love. She watched him lean back into the sofa, his arm opening up as he gave her another one of his warm, reassuring smiles and before she knew it she'd curled up to him. Her head rested in the crook of his armpit and chest and she felt his arm wrap around her, stroking the top of her arm gently as she let out a tired sigh. Bringing an arm out to wind around his stomach she closed her eyes as his other hand glazed softly back and forth across her arm sending tingles down her spine. These sort of cuddles she'd missed. Being curled up on the sofa, leaving the troubled world on the outside. The sort of cuddles that sent her off to sleep knowing that so long as she was with this man she would be safe. And with one last sigh, she felt a comforting kiss on the top of her head before falling asleep.


Well, hope it lived up to the first chapter :)
It's a pity we never knew much about Rosie's Dad in the end, but I guess the less information we know, the more we can imagine eh?

Next chapter is written, will just give it a little proof-read then will upload it as soon as I can.

Thanks for reading :) hope you enjoyed!