sweeet-as-honey: We'll soon see! Lily is a good mum, I'd love for her and Ethan to have kids in the show haha :-)

Let me know what you think of the chapter x

Chapter Ten

Lily was sick again the next morning. Ethan had woken up to see the right side of the bed empty and he'd walked into the bathroom to see Lily bent over the toilet, throwing up. Of course he'd acted like a loving husband should and made sure that she was okay before taking her back to bed. He was worried though, he hated to see Lily so unwell especially as she was hardly ever sick. The two of them could hear Ava playing in her bedroom and Ethan realised that he'd need to sort out someone to collect her from school again. Either that or he'd have to ask Connie if he could leave early.

"Ava can stay home," Lily said to him, as she lay under the covers with a sick bowl in front of her. "Please. I'm worried that she might have caught what I've got."

"She seems fine," Ethan said.

"Just in case," Lily said. "If there's sickness going around, I don't want her going to school. It's just for one day, Ethan."

"Fine," Ethan sighed. "She can stay home but I would like you to rest for me. I know what you're like Lily and you are absolutely terrible when it comes to relaxing, I'll tell Ava that you're not feeling well and she can maybe sit quietly and do some drawing or something."

"Okay," Lily said. "Have a good day at work, yeah? Please let Mrs Beauchamp know."

"Don't worry," Ethan chuckled and gave her a kiss. "You just concentrate on getting better. Just make sure that you contact Ava's school, okay? They need to know that she won't be in."

"I promise," Lily said.

It was late afternoon and Lily was making some toast in the kitchen, whilst Ava sat on the sofa in the living room watching an episode of Dora the Explorer. She'd showered and dressed and was just spending the rest of the day relaxing, before Ethan returned home from work. Lily finished buttering her toast and carried her plate into the living room so that she could sit with her daughter. Lily had made sure that her mobile phone was switched off and she'd even unplugged the house phone, she didn't want anything or anyone to ruin her day with her daughter.

"Mummy, why couldn't I go to school?" Ava asked quietly.

"Because mummy isn't feeling well," Lily said. "And I'm scared that you might have caught it. If you go to school, you'll end up passing it onto everyone."

"But you seem fine now," Ava pointed out, as she sat sucking her thumb.

"It's just to be on the safe side," Lily told her.

There was a sudden knock at the door and Lily jumped anxiously, almost dropping her plate of toast. Ava giggled hysterically, finding her mothers nerves extremely amusing. Lily placed her plate on the table and slowly made her way into the kitchen, following the loud knocking. She gulped and unlocked the door to see the postman standing there. She let out a sigh of relief and shakily took the parcel from him.

"Have a good day now," he said, clearly not worried about his lateness and he was on his way.

Lily stared down at the parcel in her hands. It was addressed to Ethan. Ethan hardly ever ordered things, he much preferred to save his money and if he ever really wanted something, he'd ask someone to buy it for Christmas or his birthday. She bit her lip and fingered the parcel, before quickly ripping it open. It was a book about Huntington's Disease. Lily felt tears prick her eyes as she sniffed and placed the book in the top drawer of the kitchen counter by the door.

There was a loud crash from outside and she jumped out of her skin, a small scream escaping her mouth. She didn't feel safe, she didn't feel like Ava was safe. Gasping for air, she hurried into the living room.

"Ava, get your coat," she ordered. "We're going out."

"Yay!" Ava squealed and jumped off of the sofa. "Are you feeling better now, mummy?"

"Um...Yes..." Lily answered. "Something like that. Come on, we need to scoot."

As soon as Ava had her coat and shoes on, Lily called them a taxi to go straight to Holby ED. Ava kept asking if they were going to see her daddy and Lily kept having to tell her that they were going to see Aunt Connie instead. As soon as they arrived, Lily paid the driver and rushed her and Ava inside and towards Connie's office.

"Come in!" Connie called, after Lily had knocked a few times. Lily squeezed Ava's hand and dragged the young, reluctant girl inside. "Lily, I...I thought you were off sick. What are you doing here?"

"You need to look after Ava," Lily panicked.

"Why isn't she at school?" Connie yelled, standing up from her desk.

"Please, Mrs Beauchamp," Lily pleaded and sat Ava down on the sofa. "You have to look after her. She...She isn't safe, she needs someone to keep an eye on her and I...I trust you. Just please do not let anyone near her."

"Lily, what on earth are you talking about?" Connie asked her. "You're rambling."

"He's after her," Lily sobbed. "Please just look after her for me, make sure that he doesn't get hold of her. Please!"

"Lily, take a seat and calm yourself down," Connie said. "Come on, you're scaring your little girl here." She placed her hands on Lily's shoulders and gently sat her down in the chair at her desk, just as Rita entered the office with a stack of notes. "Ah, Staff Nurse Freeman. Could you do me a favour and look after Ava for me?"

"Sure," Rita agreed, glancing across at the five year old.

"Don't let him near her!" Lily shouted at Rita through gritted teeth.

"Okay, okay, ssshh," Connie comforted and rubbed Lily's back. "Rita will look after her." Ava shyly stood up, taking a quick glance at her mum.

"Be good princess," Lily said, taking Ava's hand and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Mummy loves you. You'll...You'll be okay."

"Come on, darling," Rita said in a gentle voice and wrapped her arm around Ava, before leading her out.

"Now, what is all this nonsense?" Connie asked and crouched in front of Lily. "Who is after Ava?"

"Cal," Lily choked out.

"Cal as in our Cal?" Connie questioned. "Caleb Knight?" Lily gave a faint nod with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Now, why would Cal be after your daughter? He has a perfectly good daughter of his own, doesn't he?"

"But he wants Ava," Lily cried. "He keeps spending time with her and talking about her and I am certain that he was in my house earlier!"

"Lily, Cal is her uncle," Connie had to remind her. "And he can't have been in your house, he's at work today. You were just imagining things."

"No I wasn't!" Lily screeched.

"Lily, are you sure you're not going back to your old ways?" Connie sighed deeply. "It's just, before when Ava was born you...You were increasingly paranoid then, thinking that everyone around you wanted to take Ava away from you."

"This is different," Lily cried. "Cal is after her."

Ethan suddenly arrived at the door, mobile phone in his hand.

"Rita said you were here," he said to Lily. "I have only just had a chance to check my phone and I see a missed call and a voicemail from Miss Bailey asking why Ava wasn't there today. Lily, you told me that you would contact them."

"Sorry," Lily apologised under her breath. "I forgot."

"But they had tried ringing you first," Ethan mentioned. "House phone and mobile. What happened?"

"I...I'd switched my phone off," Lily stuttered. "And...I...I unplugged the house phone."

Connie sighed and stood up, hands on hips. She pursed her lips together and held a hand to her head, not quite believing what she was hearing. Lily had had one rough patch after giving birth and it had been a scary time for everyone but Ava was five now and for four years, Lily had been absolutely fine.

"You're meant to be in bed anyway," Ethan whispered.

"I think that is the least of our worries right now," Connie said, holding a hand up to Ethan. "Lily thinks that your brother is trying to kidnap Ava."

"Thinks?" Lily snapped. "I know!"

"What have you got against Cal?" Ethan shouted at his wife. "She...She...Anyway, she is his niece, Lily! He has a right to see her."

"Ava," Lily whispered, looking up at Ethan out of the corner of her eye.

"What?" Ethan scowled at her.

"Ava is our daughter's name," Lily said. "You clearly couldn't remember."

"Of course I remembered!" Ethan yelled in frustration. "Look, don't try and change the subject here. My brother has a right to be in her life and if you can't accept that, then...Well, maybe we need to rethink things a bit."

"What's going on, Lily?" Connie asked, shaking her head at her. "Is there something that you're not telling us here?"

"No," Lily whispered and looked down at the floor. "I'm a good mum," she added, glancing back up at Connie.

"I know." Connie nodded and gave her a sympathetic smile. "I know you are, I don't doubt that one bit." She sighed and pulled up a chair, before sitting down on it. "I guess some people just...Well, they just need a little bit more help than others. I know how much you love Ava but you can't shut her away from the world, especially away from her own uncle. It isn't fair on Cal, it isn't fair on Ethan and it especially is not fair on Ava. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"I just don't want anything to happen to her," Lily admitted. "I'll never be able to live with myself if something does. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"And you think that something is going to happen to her if she's around Cal?" Connie asked. "Cal's a father himself, Lily. He isn't going to hurt her. Maybe we need to look at putting those counselling sessions back into place."

Lily stood up and knocked the chair flying backwards, before storming out of the office. Ethan stood back against the wall and Connie tried to shout after her but she wasn't listening.

"She was sick again this morning," Ethan mentioned and Connie turned to look at him, sighing quietly to herself. "It's my fault, right?"

"Why would it be your fault?" Connie asked.

"This...This illness..." Ethan went to say. He hated talking about it. "Lily's scared that I'm developing the symptoms already and she's even more scared that Ava is going to inherit it the gene as well. That's why she's acting like this."

"It isn't your fault, Ethan," Connie said. "Don't think like that."

"But...Do you think that I could already be getting the symptoms?" Ethan stuttered in a small, childlike voice.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Ethan," Connie said. "I think it could be possible."

I would just like to say a massive GOOD LUCK to everyone who will be taking their GCSE's soon. I took mine like five/six years ago so I know how stressful they can be, I'm sure you'll all be fine though. Good luck :-) x