It had been a long afternoon for Paul and he was so glad when he could leave and head home to his little girl. As much as he needed the job the separation from Lucy was hard for him as he hadn't spent a minute away from her in the six months since she had been born.

Paul put his key in the front door and turned the lock pushing the door open and stepping inside, "I'm home."

"In the lounge Paul."

Paul took the first right and smiled seeing Lucy laying on the floor on her playmat he quickly walked over to her and scooped her up in his arms and smothered her with kisses, "Daddy missed you so much today baby girl. Were you good for your Grandma?"

"She was an excellent little girl, as I knew she would be. Honestly Paul she was no trouble whatsoever and I even had some help when Neysa came over after school to play with her. I gave Lucy her dinner but I haven't bathed her as I thought you'd like to do that before you put her to bed."

"Thanks Mum, I appreciate it." Paul headed upstairs with Lucy to give her a bath and put her to bed and with any luck she would be in bed right on time and her sleep schedule wouldn't be messed up so he would get some sleep tonight.

Once Lucy had her bath and was ready for bed Paul took her into the nursery and sat down in the rocking chair by the window with her, "You know Daddy's only doing this for you right? I want you to have the life that you should have and for you not to be punished because of your Mum. I'm trying to hard to make things right for you and getting this job will only be the first step but it's something and I hope it's something you'll be proud of me for when you're older."

Patricia stood just outside the door eavesdropping on Paul, she hadn't started off intending to eavesdrop as she was going to say goodnight to her grandaughter but when she heard him talking she had stopped to listen to him. Her heart broke as she listened to him though, she knew things were hard for him living at home again with a young baby but she didn't realise exactly how hard and personally he was taking it all.

Paul looked down at his daughter and smiled softly seeing her sounds asleep in his arms, "Yeah you're real proud of me aren't you baby?" He laughed softly to himself before he got up to lay her down in the crib.

Once Paul stood up Patricia quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and stepped inside the nursery, "I'm not too late to say goodnight am I?"

"Of course not Mom, she may be sound asleep but you can still have a little kiss and a cuddle if you want."

"No no it's okay, I don't want to risk waking her and her keeping you up all night. Goodnight Lucy." And she kissed the little girl on the top of the head and ran her hand over her hair before standing back and watched as Paul lay her down and covered her up with her blanket before kissing her on the top of the head also and turning the baby monitor on so he could hear her if she woke up.

"Dinner is in the oven for you Paul, it's your favourite as I figured you deserved it after today."

"Thanks Mum."

Patricia and Paul walked out of the nursery pulling the door to behind them before she headed downstairs and he went to his bedroom to change before he ate.

Paul sat down at the kitchen table just as Patricia placed the plate of food in front of him, "So tell me about your day."

"Don't I get to eat dinner first?"

"You can multi-task can't you? It's really not that hard to do Paul."

Paul rolled his eyes at her, "So what is it exactly that you would like to know?"

"Everything."

Paul took a bite of his steak, "There's not really a lot to tell, I mean I poured hot coffee all down my new boss' front ruining her coat and paperwork, she acted like a real ogre and she gave me a two week trial on the strength of my coffee making skills."

Patricia choked on the cup of tea she was drinking, "Are you sure that actually happened and you didn't just make it all up Paul?"

"Oh I'm positive. Whilst I was searching for the right building I accidentally walked straight into her and she tipped her coffee all down her white coat and over the paperwork she as carrying and then when she realised I was Shawn's friend she was pretty livid and acted like a real bitch towards me. Shawn decided to make me make her coffee so I did and he gave it to her but after she'd drunk it she complimented Shawn on it actually being drinkable but Shawn told her the truth and how it was me who had made it so she said she'd give me a two week trial to see how I did."

"Well I'm proud of you son for managing to pull it all together to get this two week trial and I am even more confident that you will get the job at the end of it. What are you going to do about Lucy's six month check up on Wednesday?"

"I'm going to be there, I don't care what it takes I will be there. I am not missing out on this as it is important and I will be there for every single important appointment and if my potential boss can't understand that then maybe I'm looking in the wrong place for a job."

"Paul you can't be too set in your ways about this, you'll have to talk to her and explain the situation to her because you won't get anywhere if you tell her 'I'm doing . . .' you have to ask her permission really."

"But she's my daughter, I have to be there for it because it's not like her Mother will be."

"I know Paul but I will be there even if you can't be. If you want to make things right for Lucy then you need this job and that includes playing by her rules whatever they may be."

Paul grumbled, as much as he hated to admit it he knew his Mom was right, she always was, but he felt bad enough that Lucy only had one parent as it was so he didn't want her to feel like he was abandoning her to, "I know I have to play by her rules if I want to get and keep the job so I can get enough money to buy a new house but she's going to have to understand how important it is for me to be there with Lucy too otherwise I really will be in the wrong job."

"Alright Paul, just keep an open mind and try not to be too pig headed about it all please."

Paul nodded his head and went back to eating his dinner.

Back at the office Shawn was just finishing off for the night, he'd stayed back to tie up a few loose ends which other people would class as tidying up the mess that was his desk because if he was going to show Paul how things were done Paul would actually need to be able to see the desk and everything around it.

Once Shawn had finished up what he felt he needed to do he grabbed his coat and went to say goodnight to Stephanie before he left.

Shawn stood in Stephanie's doorway and saw her staring out over the city, "I'm off for the night."

Stephanie jumped a mile at the sound of Shawn's voice, "Oh my God, did you have to scare me so much?"

"I'm sorry Steph, I honestly thought you knew I was still here."

"I did but my mind drifted so you scared me. What did you say?"

"I said I'm leaving for the night. Are you okay though?"

"Oh yeah, I couldn't be better, things are just going swimmingly for me right now."

Shawn took a step inside of her office, she may be his boss but they were also pretty close friends, "Okay Steph, spill."

Stephanie turned to face him, "There's just a ton of crap with my parents and with Luke."

Shawn groaned, "Luke? Again? What the hell is his problem?"

Stephanie shrugged her shoulders, "Like I know. He pops up every six months or something because he reckons I'm hiding something and my parents are giving me hell because I'm not going home early enough but the problem I have is that I'm scared he's following me and the last thing I want is for him to find out. I'm between a rock and a hard place and then on top of that there's Paul, what if I'm making the wrong decision in letting you further your career and getting a new Personal Assistant? At least you knew Luke and knew the deal with him and could protect me."

Shawn placed his hands on Stephanie's shoulders, "Do you know why I suggested Paul for this job? Apart from him being my best friend in the whole entire universe?"

Stephanie shook her head, "Because you were too lazy to actually place ads?"

Shawn's lips turned into a slight smile, "There's that sense of humor I know and love. No though, you're very wrong. The reason I suggested Paul is for many reasons, apart from him desperately needing the money he is also hellish protective over people and he doesn't take shit from nobody. If you do decide to keep him on you're going to have to brief him on Luke though or I will. Once Paul knows the deal with Luke you will not have to worry about him at all whilst at work because Paul will make sure he gets nowhere near you either in person or on the phone."

Stephanie nodded her head slowly "I know Shawn and I will I promise. You'd better get home to Becca though before she thinks we are having an affair."

Shawn wriggled his eyebrows, "What exactly are you suggesting?"

Stephanie pushed his hands off of her shoulders and took a step back with a look of mock disgust on her face, "Get over yourself, I wouldn't touch you if you were the last man on earth."

Shawn laughed, "Always good to know. See you tomorrow Steph." Shawn turned and left the office to head home to his wife.

As soon as Shawn had left Stephanie turned back to the window and a solitary tear slipped down her cheek as she watched the people going up and down the sidewalk heading home to their families whilst she was stuck here afraid for her own family.