A/N: As always, thank you so much for your lovely comments! I am currently so busy and tired that I would like nothing more than to hibernate for a month.

Failing that, I'd like you to enjoy this chapter!

x

As the lift reached the correct floor for AAU, Elinor made a big show of having forgotten her bag. Serena rolled her eyes and impatiently told her to go back down and find it if it was that important to her. Anxiously the teenager slammed her hand on the button for the ground floor, dancing from foot to foot as she waited for it to descend.

"Ellie!" Charley grabbed her arm as soon as she stepped out. "What did he want?"

"Worming his way even further into Mum's good books, probably."

"Do you think she saw Mama?"

"I think there's a very good chance she saw me." Bernie announced irritably, frowning between the teenagers. "One of you, I'm not entirely sure which at this moment in time, told me your mother knew I was going to be here today and I'm telling you that the woman I just saw in the lift had absolutely no idea she and I were on the same planet, let alone in the same hospital."

"Sorry…" Her daughters chorused, identical winces covering their faces.

"It was horrible! She looked as though she'd seen the bloody ghost of Christmas past. I told you I wouldn't be nervous seeing her again, but obviously that was a lie! Don't you think I've wondered what it was going to be like to see your mother again after all these years?" The twins looked at each other, but Bernie didn't wait for an answer. "Well, let me tell you; me waving like a lovesick, mindless idiot while Serena Campbell – who still looks so ridiculously beautiful it's highly unfair and apparently hasn't aged at all – is being kissed by some man isn't exactly the scenario I had in mind!"

"Sorry, Mama." Elinor apologised, wincing again. "That's Edward…"

"He's a complete asshole, Mama!" Charlotte cut in quickly. "He wants to get back together with her."

"He is truly awful, Mama… We can't let her go through with it!"

"Girls, your mother is a grown woman and quite capable of deciding who she wants to–"

"But he's all wrong for her. All he ever does is hurt her." Elinor said desperately. "The only way she won't let him come back is…" She turned to her sister quickly, looking uncertain. "You tell her, she knows you better."

"Well… is if he sees you again, Ma." Charlotte finished with a shrug.

Bernie rubbed her forehead tiredly. "You're trying to fix me up with your mother."

Elinor shrugged. "Why not? You're perfect for each other. You said yourself she's the love of your life."

Huffing loudly, defences rising immediately, the blonde shook her head. "I'm going to say this once, alright? Serena Campbell and I have nothing in common anymore. It's nothing to do with me whether she wants to get back together with her ex. The two of you are going to explain to your mother that I am here for one purpose only and that is to switch you two back. Understood?"

"What about the job?"

"Don't be ridiculous! How can I take the job here? That would be… excruciating." Bernie told them angrily. Her daughters thought it was more to do with disappointment than anything else. "That is the end of it. Am I clear?"

They mumbled that they understood and watched as she strode back to the café, composing herself for a moment before settling herself opposite Hanssen once more with a grim expression on her face. Elinor shot Charlotte a look, wondering what their next move should be. The look of abject defeat on her sister's face threw her for a moment.

"You're not thinking that we should give up, are you?"

"Of course not." Charlotte shook her head, fixing her with a determined look. "I'm just wondering where to go from here."

"Well one of us has got to get back upstairs and deal with Mum and Edward. I'll handle that, if you want?"

"OK. You do that. I'll stay here and keep an eye on this situation. Maybe Hanssen will be able to talk Ma round. He's obviously keen for her to work here if he gave her an interview even though her application was after the deadline."

Nodding, Elinor headed towards the lift and pressed the button. She squeezed Charlotte's arm reassuringly before the doors closed and carried her up to AAU. Serena sighed deeply when she saw her daughter, apparently agitated by something and keen to leave the hospital. It didn't take a genius to work out that her change in mood was directly connected to her sighting of the blonde downstairs.

"Come on, let's get going before my lunch break ends." She ordered in a harsher than normal tone.

"Oh!" Elinor spotted Raf by the nurses' station and realised she should probably speak to him. "I need to talk to Uncle Raf for a minute. I'll meet you downstairs. If I take the stairs I'll probably get there before you, anyway."

Serena was about to argue but her daughter had darted away before she could say anything. She took a couple of steps towards her, unwilling to let Elinor head downstairs alone in case she bumped into Bernie, but Edward ambushed her, pulling her into the lift. Serena's eyes fixed on her daughter as the doors closed. While he attempted to wrap his arms around her and steal kisses in the privacy of the lift, Serena frowned, pushing him away and straightening her jacket. She wasn't sure why, but the thought of Bernie catching sight of her looking less than her best was making her uncomfortable.

"Go and wait in the car." She ordered when they walked out into the lobby. When Edward looked at her in confusion, Serena shrugged, her expression not softening in the slightest. "I need a quick word with Hanssen before I can leave. I'll wait for Ellie and then we'll join you."

Nodding, he headed out into the car park and Serena let out a breath of relief she hadn't known she was holding. Spotting Bernie standing beside one of the columns, completely distracted by fiddling with the buckle on her coat, the brunette strode towards her, rubbing at the nape of her neck nervously.

"Bernie…"

The other woman's head whipped up at her voice, her eyes softening as they met the brunette's. "Serena, hello, long time no see." She smiled nervously. "Please try not to go crazy…"

"What's going on? I haven't seen or heard from you in thirteen years and suddenly you're here… at my place of work?" Serena hissed angrily.

"I got you a double shot… figured you might need the extra…" Charlotte trailed off as she looked up from her phone and realised that Bernie was no longer alone. "Oh… hi?"

Serena looked gobsmacked. "Elinor… you know who this is?"

The teenager smiled weakly. "Actually, yes… and actually I'm not Ellie."

"I am." Elinor announced, appearing on Bernie's other side and sending her mother an identical smile to her sister. "Hi, Mum."

Looking as though she was about to faint, Serena looked between them almost desperately. "Both of them… Charlotte? Elinor?"

"Hi." They chorused weakly.

"Apparently you think alike, because you both sent us on the same drama course." Charlotte informed her quickly.

"We figured it all out and decided to switch places so that Charley could meet you and I could meet Mama."

"So…" Serena rubbed her forehead agitatedly. "Let me get this straight… I've had Charlotte with me for the past few days?"

Bernie nodded weakly. "They tricked us, Serena."

"Sorry…" Charlotte winced. "We just really wanted to get to know our mothers."

The information took a moment to sink in; with Serena staring between the three faces looking at her. Breath hitching, she reached out and pulled Charlotte into her arms, burying her face in the teenager's hair. When she looked up, Bernie was standing with her arm around Elinor's shoulders, smiling fondly at them.

"I can't believe it… you… the last time I saw you… my darling…"

Charlotte smiled and hugged her again. Elinor was unable to hold back and launched herself into the hug as well, both of them pressing kisses to Serena's cheeks at the same time. She laughed, batting them off before stepping back and regarding them with a disbelieving smile.

"My beautiful girls…"

"I, for one, don't understand why you broke up in the first place." Charlotte said bluntly, glancing over her shoulder at Bernie. "You're both so amazing."

"She's right." Elinor agreed seriously, folding her arms across her chest and nodding. "You must have been mad."

Bernie cleared her throat, her eyes never leaving Serena's. "Girls, go and grab yourselves a coffee or something. I think we need to talk for a couple of minutes… without you two here."

The two women stood for a moment, watching their daughters joining the queue at the counter. They looked so at ease with each other, as though they'd never been separated. The sight warmed both women's hearts.

"I can't believe this." Serena murmured finally. "Both of them… together. And you…"

"How are you, Serena?"

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"I've had better days." Bernie admitted, shrugging her shoulders and pushing her hands into her trouser pockets. "I'm really sorry… I had no idea you didn't know I'd be here."

"Why are you here?"

"I had an interview with Mr Hanssen."

"The Trauma post?"

Bernie nodded. "Obviously if it's a problem, me being in the same hospital, then–"

"Try the same ward." Serena told her with a wry smile. "I put the 'Co' in the Co-Clinical Lead."

"Oh…" She smiled sadly. "I'm guessing you'd prefer if I turned it down, then."

Before Serena could answer, a man appeared beside her, reaching out and touching her waist lightly. Bernie's hackles rose instantly at the proprietorial air that seemed to surround the way he was regarding Serena and she couldn't help her eyes narrowing as she stared at him. The other woman, seeing where her gaze was directed, straightened slightly so that his hand dropped to his side and smiled tightly.

"Bernie, this is Edward Campbell, my ex-husband." Serena introduced them. Bernie's face darkened. "Edward, this is Ms Berenice Wolfe."

"Ms Wolfe!" He reached out and shook her hand enthusiastically, not noticing the way she was looking at him. "A pleasure to meet you. I read your paper on the need for thoracotomy in blunt traumas and I have to say you raised some interesting arguments."

"Thank you."

"So, how do you ladies know each other?" He asked looking between them, apparently not noticing both women flinching at the question.

"They're our Mums." Elinor announced, she and Charlotte making their presence known and fixing him with the same fierce stare.

Edward looked between the two teenagers in abject astonishment. "There… two of you?"

"Didn't I mention Ellie was a twin?" Serena asked lightly, already knowing the answer.

"No, actually, you didn't."

"Don't worry, Edward." Elinor said with a sarcastic smile. "It slipped her mind whenever she spoke to me, too. Charlotte and I met, completely by accident, on that drama course. It's a small world, huh?"

"And Mama's here to accept a job from Mr Hanssen, which will be excellent because it means we'll all be back together again." Charlotte added, much to their mothers' consternation. "One big, happy family."