"So, Dad, why are you so happy this morning?"

Fletch looked up from his cereal, unable to hide the smirk as he stared at his curious children across the table.

"It's just a beautiful morning," he smiled, as he thought about the surgeon he had smuggled out of his house less than ten minutes ago. As they had stepped on to the doorstep, sharing a couple of quick pecks, Jac had muttered that she felt like a ridiculous teenager.

"It feels good though, right?" he asked, slightly warily.

"Yeah," she agreed, "It does." As Fletch had pulled her into a hug, he heard her mutter something. Pulling back slightly, but still holding her in his arms, he raised his eyebrows in question.

"I said thank you for last night. For being there for me. I'm sorry for just turning up on your doorstep like that."

Reassuring her that it was absolutely fine, they shared one last kiss before Jac walked down the driveway, heading home to get changed for work.

"Dad? Dad?"

Shaking his head, he dragged himself back to the present.

"Sorry, what?" he asked.

"I said," Mikey repeated, "It isn't a beautiful morning; it's grey and windy."

"Aah, my young son," Fletch said in a mock philosophical tone, "The real skill in life is looking for the beauty in things that at first appear ugly." Standing behind him and ruffling his hair, much to Mikey's disgust, he announced loudly, clapping his hands together, "Right then! Brush your teeth, wash your face, get dressed, and report to the front door in twenty minutes. Chop chop!"

Whistling an unknown tune, Fletch walked down the corridor of Darwin. He was heading towards Jac's office with a salad, a front which gave him a reason to just drop in. Hopefully he could come back later and actually eat with her.

Gently pushing the door to her office opened, he paused when he heard a tinny, Scottish voice coming out of the loud speaker on Jac's mobile. Raising a hand in apology, he started to back out again, when Jac, who was pacing around her office, shook her head, beckoning him in. Nodding, he closed the door behind him, taking a seat on the sofa, and waited as the conversation continued.

"So," Jac said, continuing her sentence, "I don't know if she's said it whilst she's with you or not, but when you and Clara came last night to pick Emma up, she called Clara 'mummy'. And I just thought that maybe we could talk to her when you brought her back tomorrow."

They both listened as they heard Jonny pause. "Talk to her about what, Jac?"

"About calling Clara 'mummy'."

"Is it really a big deal?" Jonny asked, and Jac shot an incredulous look at Fletch, who was frowning. "She's four years old," he continued. "She knows you're her mum, does it matter if she sees Clara as part of her family too?"

"No," Jac said, gritting her teeth as she ran a hand through her hair. "I don't have a problem with Clara being part of Emma's family. You know that. I have a problem with Emma thinking that Clara is now her mum, rather than her step mum. I just hoped that together we could discuss with her how step-families work, and perhaps think of how she could refer to her together."

Fletch smiled at her, nodding his approval as she echoed what Fletch had said last night.

"Look, Jac, I think you're the only one with an issue here."

"How would you feel if I was in a relationship, and Emma started referring to him as 'daddy'?"

Jac froze by the phone as she heard him laugh.

"You? In a stable, long term relationship? I think that's a bit unlikely, don't you? Anyway-"

Jonny was cut off as Jac angrily hung up the phone.

"Well, that went well," she spat out. Standing up quickly, Fletch walked over to her, wrapping her in his arms. She allowed herself to be comforted for a second, before pushing him away.

"I'm sorry, Jac, Jonny was out of line."

"Leave me alone," Jac said, her voice shaking.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because the last time you said that, you had a panic attack," Fletch reminded her gently.

"Well, I'm not panicking this time, I'm just angry. So get out of my office."

Jac stood there, arms folded, watching as Fletch placed his hands on his hips, studying her face.

"He's wrong, you know."

"About what?" Jac asked shakily, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"All of it. It's wrong not to explain to a child in a blended family how that family works. It's Emma's right to know what role each member of her family plays."

Nodding, Jac averted her eyes. Just as she thought that he wouldn't acknowledge what else was said, he stepped forward, placing a finger under her chin, encouraging her to look up at him. When they made eye contact, Jac's shimmering with the tears that she was trying to suppress, he removed his hand, reaching down to clasp both her hands in his.

"And," he continued, "I think we both know that you are capable of a long term relationship if you want one. You just like to be sure, rather than jumping in with both feet."

Jac bit her lip, interlacing her fingers between his. "Fletch," she started.

"It's okay," he said. "That isn't a conversation for us to have yet. We only acknowledged that our feelings for each other were more than friendly yesterday. No need to force any deep conversations yet."

"Thank you," she whispered.

Fletch nodded, leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek, close to the corner of her mouth, smiling when she pulled her hands out of his, only to wrap her arms around his waist in a tight hug that he was only too happy to return.

"Anyway," Fletch whispered, "Good morning… again!"

He couldn't help but smile when her body shook as she quietly laughed, before tucking her head into his chest.

"Hey," he whispered, "I saw that blush."

He waited as Jac stood there, face hidden in his chest, before she stepped back, a mock serious look on her face.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Laughing, he went to kiss her on the head, but Jac stood on her tiptoes at the last second so that their lips met. They paused for a second, before Jac stepped back, giving his hands a gentle squeeze.

"Right, Fletcher, haven't you got work to do?"

Laughing, he shot her a wink before heading off to his own office, trying, and failing, to wipe the smug grin off his face; a grin that was, coincidentally, echoed on a certain surgeon's face.

A/N: So this was originally meant to be a one-shot, but then I had this little idea. I think I might have one more chapter in me, so I'm going to change the status to 'In progress' for now. Please review and let me know if you like it!