AUTHORS NOTE: So I'm living again without a laptop. It's slowly killing me inside but I have managed to borrow my friend's laptop for this weekend so here I am with new chapters/one shots! Be proud my little ones, be proud!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters created by Glenn Chandler!

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[Breaking The News]

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Telling the boss had gone easier than he had at first expected. He had realised that the boss would get a little upset at the idea but he wouldn't show his emotions because that's how the boss rolled. Whereas telling Stuart... That was a different matter completely. Stuart and Robbie had a friendship that was a little more open than Robbie had ever intended. He hadn't wanted to become close to any of his work colleagues when he had first started the job because being close is what caused problems whenever you were out on the field. Yet here he was, years later with the closest friends he'd ever had in the world. He had failed his one thought and here he was about to tell his best friend that he was dying.

He rapped on the door, a bottle of wine in his hand knowing that Ewan was working late tonight so it would just be Stuart and Ronan. The door opened and Robbie smiled at his beautiful niece, "Hello princess, is your dad in?"

"Dad, it's uncle Robbie!" She cried holding up her arms as a hint that she wanted him to pick her up. He smiled as he put the bottle of wine down on the table that rested behind the door before scooping her up into his arms. The girl hadn't been a part of their family for a long time and yet he still felt as if she had been with him as long as she'd been living. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and giggled, "Stubbly!" She said running her hands across his unshaved chin and he smiled.

"I know, you're uncle Robbie is such a scruff." Her dad said from the door and Robbie could tell from his face that he was confused to as why Robbie was here at this time.

"Well not everyone in the world can be as handsome as her daddy." He said softly before pressing a small kiss to her nose, his heart leaping in his chest as he heard her happy giggle. He felt that bitter sting at the back of his eyes that showed he was going to cry because he realised that that soon he'd never hear that little giggle again. Stuart must have sensed something was wrong because he looked at Ronan and said,

"Ronan darling, it's past your bedtime."

"Can Uncle Robbie tuck me in?" She pleaded and Stuart just rolled his eyes. His daughter loved Uncle Robbie the most out of his three work colleagues and that had always made Stuart smile because he had thought she'd cling to Jackie but watching Robbie with his daughter made him smile and realise that he did have a wonderful friend.

"Oh please, daddy let uncle Robbie tuck her in!" Robbie pleaded too and Stuart just chuckled before moving so that Robbie could carry Ronan upstairs. He placed her down on the bed and smiled as she held her hands up in the air. "Oh you're royalty are you?"

"Well I am your princess." She retorted and Robbie laughed happily as he realised that she was so luck him in so many ways and he hoped she continued that once he was gone, he ran his hand over the gorgeous ginger hair that he'd always loved about her and nodded.

"Touché, my little one, touché!" He pulled the tee shirt up over her head and laughed as she wriggled out of the mini skirt that she wore. The girl might be eight years old but she was mentally young due to the years of abuse that she had gone through when she'd lived with her mother and that broke Robbie's heart every time he was reminded of it. He pulled her nightgown on over her head and then kicked off his shoes so that he could curl up on the bed with her.

Cuddling close to him, Ronan pressed her small hand against his larger hand and smiled. "You don't come to see me often anymore." She pouted and he felt the tears coming back as he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"I know, shame on me. How about me, you, auntie Jackie and your two dads go on a picnic this weekend?"

"What about Uncle Burke?" Robbie chuckled at the idea of Burke going on a picnic but promised the little girl that he would ask her uncle if he would like to come to a picnic. She sighed happily as she looked up at him. "I love you, Uncle Robbie." She said sleepily, a final kiss being pressed to his cheek before she cuddled up with her bear and fell asleep. He stayed there a few more minutes before climbing off the bed and going on a hunt for Stuart.

"What's wrong?" Stuart's question was blunt and Robbie smiled. He could always count on Stuart to keep him grounded and for him not to cower out of telling him what was wrong. He sat down on the couch, accepted the glass of wine that Stuart gave to him and sighed.

"I finally went to the doctors like you asked me to." He admitted quietly and Stuart leant forward in his armchair, his glass balanced in his two hands as he looked over at his best friend, he decided to stay silent and Robbie tell him when he was ready. "It's cancer, Stuart." He said finally letting the tears that had been threatening since Ronan had giggled in his arms slide down his cheeks and he didn't care that he was doing this in front of Stuart. He just needed to let them out.

"Oh Robbie..." Stuart put his glass down on the glass coffee table, his hand reaching over for the one Robbie held and placing it next to his before moving to sit next to him and pulling him into a hug. This wasn't a position that Stuart and Robbie normally shared, no matter how close they were, but it was one that was needed now and Robbie welcomed the strength and the support. His face nuzzled into Stuart's neck as his body shuddered with heavy sobs that he'd not cried since hearing the news. He'd just thought of his love for Jackie but now the thoughts had hit him. He was leaving behind everyone that he loved. "is it curable?" Robbie shook his head and Stuart's throat tightened. They'd always joked that their lives would be better without Robbie polluting them with his ways but now that the idea he was actually going to leave was depressing. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going on a picnic with your daughter on Saturday..."

"Robbie..." but his comment went ignored.

"... I'm going to spend every spare minute with her, Jamie, Jackie, you and Ewan. I don't want you guys to lose me and feel cheated." Stuart looked at Robbie and decided not to question his thoughts because he doubted his friend was going to be thinking straight.

"Does Jackie know?" Robbie knew almost immediately why Stuart would ask that question. Stuart was the confidante for the pair of them and he would obviously know how Jackie felt about him and how Robbie felt about Jackie. He had probably been playing Cupid secretly for years now but the pair of them were too stubborn to see that.

"No but she knows I love her."

"Robbie, you need to tell her before things get outta hand!" Stuart warned as the door opened and Ewan stepped into the room, his hand raised in a wave as he smiled at Robbie. "Hi handsome," he said accepting his kiss. "Robbie..." he said as his friend stood up.

"I have to get going," at Stuart's face, he nodded. "I'll tell her, Stuart. I promise to tell her." He gave Stuart's hand a friendly squeeze before patting Ewan on the shoulder. "Picnic on Saturday, I hope you're both there with me and your daughter."

"We'll be there." Stuart promised through his tears and he just watched as his friend turned around and left.

"Stuart..."

"He's got cancer." He eventually cried out after a few moments of silence, his arms wrapping around Ewan as he let all the emotions he'd controlled in front of Robbie out. Ewan's own heart sunk at the news and he stroked his partner's back as he held him.

***

Jackie had expected to find Robbie waiting outside her flat that night after they'd finished work but instead she found her hallway empty and there wasn't even any sign of him breaking in. She sighed as she realised that he'd obviously gotten cold feet. She didn't give it a second thought as she let herself into her flat and dropped her stuff down on the small table.

That's when she saw it. The brown envelope Robbie had been clinging to last night as if it was some sort of life preserve. She should have known better than to look at it but curiosity was winning because it wasn't like Robbie to protect anything important and especially not paperwork. She sat down on her couch and picked up the letter, her heart already starting to race as she recognised the hospital stamp in the corner. Opening it, she pulled out the letter and started to read. She heard herself gasp, her hand reaching up to cover her mouth as tears started to fall.

How could he not tell her? They had all seen what she was like when Brian had died and here he was telling her that he loved her knowing that she'd loved him since forever but yet, he hadn't bother to tell her that he was dying! The tears that fell down her cheeks were a mix of sadness and the anger she felt towards him and both herself because she knew there was only one question floating through her mind.

Could she go this again?

TO BE CONTINUED...