The sun was shining as they walked around the festival. In her years of residing in Ballarat - and watching Jean coax her best blooms to fruition in the sunroom - Alice had never gone to Ballarat's biggest attraction until now. Hazel and Bernice pulled on Peggy's hands, leaving Frank and Alice to walk at a slower pace a short distance away.

"You don't have to walk slower because of me," Alice told the former superintendent.

"Eh," Frank shrugged with a crooked smile, "I don't quite have the stamina anymore to keep up - been riding a desk too long."

"Oh, bullshit."

He laughed and stuck his hands in his pockets, "You could always see right through me, Alice. Your sister's the same way."

"Someone's got to keep you grounded," Alice smiled and rested a hand on top of her belly as they walked. "How'd you meet?"

"At the hospital, one of the cadets at the academy got injured and Peggy was on call in the emergency department when I brought him in. She… she was very kind, even though she gave me a stern talking to for being a little hard on the cadet in the first place."

Alice smirked, "That does sound like a Harvey."

"We continued to run into each occasionally at the hospital and I eventually asked her out. Can you believe that she turned me down the first time, just like you did?"

That made Alice laugh, "Then what happened?"

"Well, like us, I respected her decision," Frank smiled. "We danced around each other for a bit, and then I met Bernice. She had me wrapped around her little finger from day one."

"So my niece brought the two of you together?"

He shrugged and nodded, "Yeah, we kind of… naturally fell together after spending time around each other outside of the hospital."

"Do you love her?"

"With an intensity that scares me, Alice."

She reached out and patted his arm with a smile, "I'm glad you found each other, Frank. She's much better suited for you than I ever was."

He grinned, "I picked the wrong Harvey first time around."

"Not to sound like an older sister, but what are your intentions with Peggy?"

Frank's grin turned soft and he rubbed at the back of his neck, "I, uh… I'm hoping to propose soon, actually."

"That's wonderful! Have you spoken with her older kids?"

"Yeah, Arthur's happy and so are the girls. We get on, but with Arthur at his apprenticeship at the jeweler and the girls at university, I don't get to see them as much as Bernice. Bernice is the one I'm actually the most worried about, Peggy's husband, John, died shortly after she was born and so I'm the first man that Peggy really let get close to her. God, Alice, it's like my mind thinks she's my own kid most of the time… I almost forget that she isn't."

"You're there for her when she needs you and I've seen the way you interact, Frank, Bernice may not be yours biologically, but she's yours."

"I just hope she actually wants me to be her new dad."

Alice squeezed his hand, "She does, at least I think she does."

"Thanks, Alice," Frank smiled. "Now, what's the story with Hazel?"

"Mind if we sit first? I need a breather."

"Of course!" Frank escorted her over to the morgue nearby fountain where they sat on the wide brim.

Alice sighed in relief, "Do you know if they make flatter shoes? I'm asking for a friend."

"Unfortunately women's shoes are not an area of expertise for me," Frank laughed.

"Damn," she muttered. "So… you want to know about Hazel."

"Yeah. I know the Blakes had a habit of adopting strays, I didn't know it had spread to you."

She swatted at his elbow as Peggy approached.

"Frank, stop antagonizing my sister," Peggy stopped in front of them with her hands on her hips.

"But she was about to tell me about Hazel."

"Frank."

Alice laughed and took pity on him, "It's alright, Peg, I know you've been wondering about it all too."

"I would like to know," Peggy nodded.

"As long as Frank promises to behave, I'll tell you all you want to know."

"Ouch, Alice, ouch," Frank put his hand over his heart as Peggy laughed. "I'll behave, I promise."

Alice launched into the whole tale of Hazel Jones - from her being a reluctant witness to the abuse of her step-brother, and finally to her frequent visits to 7 Mycroft Avenue, the police station, and the hospital when she had free time.

"So… you didn't adopt her, she adopted all of you?"

Alice rolled her eyes as Frank grinned. "We… we were a safe place for her to come to when she needed it."

"I'm glad she found you all," Peggy squeezed Alice's hand. "She seems to really enjoy spending time with you."

"She's come out of her shell a lot since her brother was sent away, yes," Alice nodded. "Her grades are improving and so is the relationship between her and her father. I just hope the rest of her life goes on without anymore traumatic changes."

"Even if they happen, Hazel will still have you, Allie."

Frank and Peggy chatted with her a bit more before she shooed them away to go enjoy the festival. ("I'll only slow you down; I still want to sit some more.") Alice tilted her head back - enjoying the sun on her face and the happy noise of the crowds around her - as she gently rubbed her belly and felt Baby Lawson move around.

"You're getting rambunctious," she told them with a smile as the baby kicked beneath her palm. "I hope it's not too tight of a squeeze for you in there. Your Uncle Lucien says you're about the size of a head of cauliflower, which he thought was funny seeing as your Auntie Jean decided to cook that for dinner the other night. Uncle Lucien likes his jokes, you see," Alice let out a soft laugh. "We're not quite ready for you yet, Baby Lawson, so keep growing and stay in there a bit longer."

Her child moved around more and Alice's smile widened.

"Alice!" Rose's bright voice preceded her arrival and Alice looked up as Matthew's niece sat next to her. "Enjoying the festival?"

Alice nodded - chuckling lightly when Rose gave her a side hug, "My sister is in town and so we decided to see the Begonia Festival. Are you covering it for The Courier?"

"Yeah," Rose smiled. "Might even make it above the fold this time."

"That's great!"

"It is," Rose's smile widened. "I actually have some news."

"Good, I hope?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I… I got a job offer in Melbourne for a new magazine. It's more photography opportunities and it's small enough that I can branch out into other kinds of articles. As much as I love Ballarat and being here, my work at The Courier has…"

"Soured? Stalled?"

Rose laughed and nodded. "Yeah, it's steady, but not as… challenging anymore."

"You'll do great in Melbourne, Rose," Alice squeezed the younger woman's shoulder. "And maybe your mother will stop bothering you to visit."

Matthew's niece rolled her eyes with a fond smile, "No, she still will. I just can't cite the distance between cities as a reason."

"I'm sure that brain of yours will come up with plenty of new ones."

Rose gave her another side hug, "I knew I liked you for a reason. How is everything? I've been meaning to stop by more."

"It's going," Alice smiled. "Life is… starting to settle more after the wedding and Matthew being in Melbourne not long after. Lucien keeps making remarks about me cutting back at work, but…"

"You're not ready."

"No, no I'm not," Alice shook her head. "I might cut back to part time… in a couple of weeks, but really, I still feel fine enough to work! He's just being…"

"Lucien?"

"Yes," she sighed as Rose laughed. "Insufferable know-it-all… luckily Jean and Matthew are siding with me on this. He might be my physician, but I know my body."

"Hear hear," Rose grinned. "How's my little cousin-to-be coming along?"

"Growing, moving, and healthy as far as we know… would you like to feel?"

The journalist looked at her with wide eyes, but she nodded slowly, "I… if you're sure?"

"I only glare at the people I don't want to come near me, Rose," Alice teased. "You're family… and you're… you're my friend, I hope."

"Of course! Since you've married Uncle Matthew, I suppose should call you aunt."

Alice laughed, "It's your choice, Rose."

"I'll think on it, but I will say my curiosity over feeling a baby move is getting the better of me; I don't have much experience with this."

"Lucky for you," Alice reached out and gently placed Rose's palm on her belly as she continued to speak, "I don't have much experience either. Give it a second… but Baby Lawson's been active today."

Rose's eyes widened further when she felt a kick, "Goodness, I think you've got a future footie player on your hands in there, Alice."

"With a bit of me and Matthew, who knows what our child will end up being like."

Her niece (it was slightly odd to refer to Rose in that way, but she was right - Rose was her niece by marriage) smiled, "A good kid between the two of you. Uncle Matthew always did right by me, even at my most obnoxious moments and his more cantankerous ones. And you, Aunt Alice, I count you amongst those I hold dear."

"Oh, Rose…" Alice clucked her tongue and briefly put her hand to Rose's cheek - drawing it away after the barest touch (physical affection was still hard for Alice outside of Matthew and the Blakes).

"Oh, don't cry, Alice," she leaned in and hugged Alice. "Please don't cry, Uncle Matthew would never forgive me if I made his wife cry."

"Poppycock," Alice muttered. "I'm not crying… I'm just… a bit overwhelmed I guess. You're very sweet, Rose."

She felt Rose draw in a breath as though to say something else when noise of a commotion caught her attention. Looking over Rose's shoulder, Alice frowned at a large, overbearing man grabbing a girl by her arm.

A girl… who looked very much like her sister's child.

"Oh no," Alice drew back from Rose's embrace and ran over towards her niece and the man - Rose's questions falling to the wayside as Alice's blood boiled when she heard Bernice crying.

"Get your hands off my niece!" Alice pushed him off Bernice and glared at him.

The man looked taken aback, surprise flashing in his eyes before anger and disgust twisted his features again. "She should have watched where she was going, the snot-nosed brat! And you! How dare you touch me!"

His hand wrapped around Alice's upper arm to the point of bruising and Alice gasped. Unwillingly, she flashed back to many a similar position in her childhood - her father's hand tight around her arms as he screamed in her face and towed her in for another beating - and Alice felt the blood leave her face when she recognized the man's sharp blue-grey eyes.

The same shade of her own.

"You," Alice pulled against his grip as recognition passed the man's face.

"You still live, I see," her father spat. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, unlike you," she glared. "Let go of me."

"Still just as insolent as you were before," Alistair Harvey tightened his grip on her upper arm and Alice swallowed a cry of pain as she struggled to pull herself away from her father.

"You're in no position to beat it out of me as you once tried, Father," Alice bit out. "Let go of me."

"Who's to say I can't?" He leaned in with a snarl - reeking of so much alcohol it had Alice's stomach turning. "Not like you haven't gotten yourself into some trouble, looks like. In the family way and with no ring?"

Alice curled a protective hand around her bump and ignored the cheap shot at her lack of a wedding band (she'd taken to wearing her rings on a chain around her neck with her fingers starting to swell).

"Let go of me!" she finally pulled her arm from his grasp - stumbling from the force of behind her yank and scraping her palm against a low-bearing wall as her father raised his hand to strike her.

"I think that's enough," Sergeant Hobart pulled Alistair Harvey away from his estranged daughter and soon had his hands cuffed behind his back. "Alright there, Doc?"

Alice nodded shakily.

"D-don't," Alice put up a hand as the others started to crowd her and she flinched away from Frank. "Please don't."

"We've got to go to the station, Alice," Rose spoke up. "Lucien will want to take a look at your hand."

She looked down at her palm and nearly started crying at the sight of her own blood. Cradling it to her chest, Alice let Rose gingerly approach.

"C'mon, Aunt Alice, I'll take you in my car. Your sister and Frank can follow in their car."

"We'll see you at the station, Allie," Peggy held a crying Bernice in her arms - Hazel sticking close by her side as she watched with wide eyes.

"Okay," Alice whispered and let Rose lead her out of the festival.

This was not how she pictured her day going at all, and now all she wanted was to go home.


Her father was carted off to an interview room by Hobart - yelling and shouting about being treated unjustly, ranting and raving about his "bitch of a daughter" until the door closed behind him.

Alice shrank with each echoing word and shook slightly as Lucien examined her palm.

"Does it hurt?" he asked as he cleaned the scrape and gently bandaged it.

She shook her head and kept her gaze on her lap.

"How did this happen, Alice?"

"My father," she whispered. "I'm sure you'll hear the whole thing from him as soon as he sobers up."

"I don't want to hear it from him; I want to hear it from you."

"He was being his usual self… I'm… I'm tired, Lucien, and I just want to know if the baby is alright."

"The baby is fine," Lucien rested a hand on her bump and the other on her shoulder - drawing both back when she pulled away from his touch (similar to the way she had in their first few months of working together). "Your palm might ache and so might your arm from where he apparently grabbed you, but other than that you're as fit as a fiddle… Do you want me to get Matthew for you?"

"Only… only if it won't take him away from his work, and then I want to go home."

"Of course, sit tight and have some tea - the sugar will help."

Alice just shrugged again and stood over by the windows behind Matthew's desk as her friend strode from the room. Rose approached within her view and waited for Alice to look at her.

"Can I get you anything?" her niece asked quietly.

"I… Lucien said tea might help."

"Extra honey?" Rose smiled and Alice nodded. The journalist walked away towards the back of the bullpen where the small kettle and teapot resided; Alice could hear her rattle around the corner over the slight bustle of the police station. It helped her relax a little as the adrenaline from her encounter with her father started to wear off.

"Where's my husband?" a voice made Alice look over her shoulder to see an older version of Peggy as she bulldozed her way into the bullpen - Constable Wade struggling to keep up behind her. "My husband has done nothing wrong, where is he?"

Alice snorted at her mother's shouting - nothing at all had changed with her parents; her father was still a brutal drunk and her mother still made excuses for him.

"You," her mother's venomous voice had Alice straightening out of habit - ready to defend herself (physically or verbally would depend on her mother's mood) as her mother recognized her.

"Hello, Mother."

"I should have known you'd be behind all this," Lavinia Harvey spat out and walked closer to Alice. "What lies have you been cooking up this time?"

"They weren't lies, they were never lies. You just couldn't possibly believe the man you married is a drunken brute."

"Lies!"


Matthew limped into the bullpen at the raised voices - one of which he recognized as Alice. He arrived just in time to hear Alice yell, "You could never get over the fact that he wanted sons and you couldn't give that to him, so you just stood aside while he beat me and Peg, Mother!"

Before Matthew could reach them, the older woman lashed out and slapped his wife across her face with an audible crack.

"Ungrateful brat!" the woman screamed. "You always threw my love and care back in my face like you were better than it. You're never going to be loved, Alice!"

"That's enough!" Matthew shouted and stood in between the woman and his wife as Alice turned away. "Dr. Lawson is a well-respected-"

"Lawson?" the woman let out a disbelieving laugh, "You mean she actually convinced some poor bastard to marry her? I'd be surprised if the bastard child she carries is even his!"

"Dr. Lawson is a well-respected member of the Ballarat community and you will give her the respect she deserves," Matthew glared at the woman as he caught the stiffening of Alice's shoulders out of the corner of his eye. "Touch her again-"

"I barely tapped her!"

"Touch her again," Matthew spoke over her interruption, "and I'll add a second assault charge to your arrest. Interrupt me again, and I'll add an obstruction charge to the mix."

"On what grounds!"

"On the grounds that this is my station, my rules! And if you ever, ever speak one more word of your bile to my wife again, I'll knock you and your husband into next week. Am I clear!"

That stopped the woman - his mother-in-law, he supposed from the argument - in her tracks and he nodded to Constable Wade over her shoulder. As she was led to another part of the bullpen, Matthew turned to Alice and his heart nearly broke and the sight of her hunched and shaking shoulders.

"Alice?" he asked quietly, slowing his approach when she flinched at the sound of her name. "Sweetheart, look at me please."

She turned, slowly - her eyes heavy with tears and a red welt in the shape of her mother's hand swelling on her pale, drawn cheek as Matthew silently held out his hand. Alice looked down at his hand and then back up at his face before she ignored the hand and rushed into his arms. He leaned back against his desk as Alice curled an arm around his back, tucked her head under his chin, and clutched at her bump with her injured hand; Matthew slid an arm around her waist and rested his hand on top of hers as he felt her shake in his arms.

"I've got you," he whispered as his wife struggled not to breakdown in public. "I've got you, sweetheart."

"I'm… I'm sorry that you had to hear that… she always brought the worst out in me - both of them did."

"I'm just glad you're safe."

Alice hummed and leaned further into his arms; Matthew obliged and held her closer.

"I love you, Alice."

"I'm not worth it," she whispered.

Matthew tightened his arms around her and kissed her forehead - ignoring whomever might be watching them. "You are, sweetheart, you are. I love you; I always will, and our kid will love you too once they get here. You're nothing like your parents, neither you nor Peg are anything like those two dickheads."

He smiled at her huff of a laugh against his neck. "I don't deserve you, Matthew."

"I don't deserve you, sweetheart, but how about we agree that both of us deserve happiness and we've found that in each other?"

"Deal."

He kissed her forehead again - feeling their child kick at his palm as Alice let out a shaky sigh.

"Can I go home?" she asked him in a small voice. "I… I want to go home and forget this happened."

"Yeah, I'll get Lucien to take you and the others home. I've got some paperwork to wrap up here, but I'll try and get back as soon as I can."

Alice clung to him as close as she could get, "I wish you could leave now."

"I know, sweetheart, I know," he smoothed a hand over her hair. "Let me deal with the arrest paperwork and I'll be home before you know it. Interviewing you and your parents can wait until tomorrow."

"You'll come home as quick as you can?"

"I promise."

She nodded into the crook of his head and slowly eased out of his arms; Lucien waited in the doorway with a knowing look and he nodded at Matthew as Alice walked towards him. His wife abruptly turned halfway across the bullpen and rushed back to him.

"Alice, wha-?"

She interrupted him with a firm kiss and as he cradled her face with his hands, he felt a few tears spill over her cheeks. Alice broke the kiss and bit her lip as she struggled not to cry more, "I love you, Matthew."

Pressing a chaste kiss to her mouth, Matthew brushed away her tears, "I love you too, Alice. I'll be home soon, I promise."

She bit her lip again and nodded, holding on to his hand as long as she could as she walked away and joined Lucien at the door. Matthew watched her go and ran his hand over his face with a sigh.

"What a long, bloody day it's been," pushing himself off of his desk, Matthew sat down behind it and pulled the first set of paperwork in front of him - keen to get home to his wife before long.


Alice didn't even wait for Lucien to come to a complete stop before she was out of the car and through the front door - ignoring the concerned calls of her name from her friend and sister alike. Hot tears nearly blinded her as she hurried down the hall towards the sanctuary of her and Matthew's bedroom; she heard Jean stand from the kitchen table as everyone else trooped indoors, but Alice rushed on ahead. Reaching her room, Alice kicked her shoes to the side and threw her handbag on top of the dresser with more force than necessary, but she didn't care.

All but ripping the cardigan off of her, she tossed it over near the vanity - where it knocked over some of her makeup, but Alice could care less at the moment as she fought to undo the buttons of her dress with shaking fingers. Giving up a couple of buttons in, Alice stifled a sob with the back of her hand and slowly sank to the floor by her bed as the tears finally fell and sobs wracked her body.

She heard footsteps on the hardwood floor behind her and Alice couldn't even yell at whoever it was to leave her alone as she sobbed into her hands. A hand softly touched her knee - fingers gently soothing her when she flinched and Alice looked up through the tears to see Jean's concerned face.

"I- Jean, I-" Alice hiccuped and her friend slowly pulled her into her arms and let Alice cry into her shoulder as she rocked them back and forth.

"It's alright, Alice, it's alright… I've got you, you just let it all out." Jean smoothed a hand up and down Alice's back as Alice clung to her. "Remember to breathe, my darling girl."

Alice did as Jean told, letting it all out in Jean's warm embrace - a motherly embrace Alice never got as she grew up. Vaguely, she felt someone else come in and wrap their arms around Alice from behind, but Alice was too far gone to care. Jean's fingers carded through her hair as her friend hummed a light melody, and eventually Alice's sobs slowed - leaving her with the odd hiccup, a raw throat, and a running nose.

"There, that's better, isn't it?" Jean asked quietly as she handed Alice a handkerchief to dry her eyes and wipe her nose.

"I think so," Alice answered thickly and Jean kissed her forehead with a silent laugh. "Thank you… both of you."

The person behind her pressed a kiss to Alice's cheek and Alice recognized the perfume of her sister, "Rotten luck running into those two, hm?"

"God, I'd hoped they were dead," Alice muttered.

"To hell with both of them, Allie," her baby sister rested her chin on Alice's shoulder - her arms still wrapped around her as Jean stood to get some water from the kitchen. "At least this time, they got arrested, but we're both better off without them."

Alice nodded, "It's just… I never want my child to feel that way about me."

"Your baby won't feel that way, Alice."

"How can you know?"

"I was the same way before my oldest was born," Peggy kissed her cheek again and started on Alice's dress buttons down her back as Jean came back with the water. Alice sipped it as her sister's fingers made quick work of the buttons. "I fretted for months… for the whole pregnancy really until my doctor told me to stop worrying. The moment they handed me Arthur… my doubts just kind of… melted away and I knew in that moment that I'd never hurt my son the way our parents did us. I loved him the moment I felt him move inside me and that love just magnified once I held him in my arms."

"What if… what if the baby finds me odd, Peg?"

"They won't," her sister kissed the back of her head and helped her stand - the dress falling to the floor and Alice took over removing her slip and the rest of her undergarments as Jean pulled out the pair of satin pajamas from Miss Fisher.

"That baby is going to be loved and cherished by you and Matthew," her sister held her hands once the pajamas were on. "I've watched you with Hazel and with my own little one, Allie, you're going to do great."

"And I'll be here to help you," Jean smoothed Alice's hair away from her face as the pathologist looked down at the floor. "You won't be alone in this, Alice."

"Thank you," Alice whispered, a small smile creeping at the corners of her mouth as both Peggy and Jean hugged her tight. "How's Bernice?"

"Scared, but she's asking about you and telling Frank she wants to be a police officer."

"She'd make a great one," this time the smile stayed.

"Hazel is also asking about you, Alice," Jean told her. "Want me to send her in before Harold takes her home?"

"Send both in, please, I'd like to see them before I try to sleep."

"Of course," Jean kissed her cheek as Peggy left to gather the girls. Alice sat down on the edge of the bed as Jean puttered around the room and picked up her discarded clothes before Bernice and Hazel rushed into the room - both girls hugging Alice as tight as they could.

"I'm so proud of you two," Alice whispered into their hair as the girls clung to her. "You've been so brave and strong and I'm so sorry you had to see that."

"We're just glad you're okay, Auntie Alice," Bernice answered for both of them and Alice felt Hazel nod into her shoulder.

"I am, I'm going to be okay. I'm a little scared, but everything's going to be okay," Alice kissed them both on the top of their heads and held them close until Jean gently tapped her shoulder.

"Time to go, girls. I think Alice could do with a nap."

"Okay," Hazel nodded. "Can I come by tomorrow after school?"

"Of course, Hazel."

Hazel hugged Alice again and then hugged her new friend, Bernice, tight around the neck until Jean gently guided her from the room.

"Mummy?" Bernice turned to her mother.

"Yes, Bernie?"

"Can… can I stay with Auntie Alice?"

Peggy looked at Alice with a raised eyebrow and fond smile. Alice smiled back and nodded.

"Come on, I'll help you get into your jammies and we'll have some milk with Auntie Alice before both of you have a nap."

Alice drew back the covers over her bed and slid underneath them as Jean came back with a cup of extra sweet tea for her and a cup of milk for her niece as the niece in question clambered into the bed a few moments later - dressed in her soft lavender pajamas. The tea helped ease the shakiness in Alice's hands and soothed her frazzled nerves; Jean took the empty cup off her hands as Alice settled down on the bed - Bernice curling around the baby bump and drifted off soon after her mother pressed a kiss to the side of her head.

"Sleep, Allie," Peggy kissed Alice's forehead and brushed the backs of her fingers against Alice's cheek. "Sleep, I'll wake you when Matthew gets home or dinner's ready, whichever comes first."

"Okay," Alice whispered. "I'm sorry Bernice got hurt, Peg."

"Don't be silly, this wasn't your fault. It was that bastard of a man we had to call father." She kissed the welt on Alice's cheek. "Everything will look better after the nap, so sleep… and hopefully Bernice won't kick you too much while she dreams."

"Thanks," Alice deadpanned - grinning when her sister chuckled.

"Sleep, silly sister of mine."

She did as her baby sister commanded and settled further into the pillows as Bernice shifted next to her. Her arm and hand ached, the welt on her cheek stung from her tears, but as Peggy's hand smoothed over her hair, Alice felt herself drifting off to sleep - the gentle bumps of her own unborn child tapping an irregular tattoo against her palm as Alice let go of the tension of the day and just slept.