Author's Note: I must admit that I think I'm on a bit of a roll at the moment! I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please review! x


'Are you sure you're going to be alright on your own?' Shelagh sighed as she buttoned up the front of her coat when she was stood next to the settee the following week, Angela giving a weak nod as she was wrapped in her quilt and her back was propped up with pillows as she was reclined on the piece of furniture. 'I hate the thought of leaving you home alone when you're unwell, but I shouldn't be too long; I only need to get a few things.' She then swept several strands of errant blonde hair out of her daughter's face with the tips of her fingers, hearing the soft sigh that Angela let out when she leaned down to press a lingering kiss to the crown of her head. 'Try and get some rest, sweet-pea.' She said.

Angela gave her a gentle smile when she returned to her mediocre height before bringing her tissue to her nose and sneezing into it, Shelagh running the back of her palm down her heated cheek when she leaned further back into her soft pillows. 'When I get back I'll make you some tea with honey and lemon – you'd like that, wouldn't you?' She felt her heart swell with love for her daughter when her hazel brown eyes lit up and she nodded in response, a quiet giggle escaping her lips when she leaned down to press another tender kiss to the top of her head. 'I love you so much, angel.' She whispered.

'I love you too.' Angela reassured her before she pulled her quilt a little tighter around herself.

'Your Dad asked me to tell you that if you need anything while I'm out then all you have to do is call the surgery and he'll come home to check on you.' Shelagh told her. 'I won't be gone for long though – an hour at most – so I think you'll be fine.' She then checked her coat pocket to make certain that she had her shopping list before walking over to her armchair and picking up her bag. 'Lie down and get some sleep, darling, it'll help you feel better.' She instructed as she walked over to the front door, a soft sigh escaping her when she turned back to look at Angela and watched as she lay herself down on the settee. Once she was certain that her little girl was comfortable and that she would be able to get some rest, she opened the front door before stepping out of the house and closing it behind her.

Once she was alone, Angela sighed in disappointment as she snuggled further beneath her quilt. She and Walter had planned to spend the afternoon in the park together and now she had caught a cold. She had telephoned him earlier that morning to apologise and to explain her situation to him, and he had been nothing but understanding and loving with her. He had reassured her that her health was far more important than a walk in the park, and that the two of them could reschedule for when she was feeling more like herself again. Walter was so compassionate and kind and she loved him for that.

She knew that she needed to put herself and her child first from now on and that she needed to wait for a few months at least before even thinking about getting herself into another courtship, but she was finding it harder and harder to keep Walter at arm's length. The two of them had gone on a walk together just a few days earlier and she had known – when they had reached her house after he had walked her home – that he had wanted to kiss her. He made her feel so special whenever they were together; he treated her like she was the most precious thing on the face of the earth to him, and she wanted nothing more than to know how it felt to walk hand-in-hand with him. To have him hold her.

When he had been walking her home she had longed to reach out and take his hand in hers – to have him lace their fingers together – but she hadn't dared. She hadn't wanted to give him the wrong idea. She had feelings for him, yes, but she knew that if she started a relationship with him then she would have to attempt to keep him content while also attempting to cope with her antenatal appointments and preparing for the birth of her child. She knew that it would become far too overwhelming for her.

For now, she needed to be patient.

She needed to get her life back on track before she could talk to Walter about a relationship.

She knew that he understood that though, and it made her happier than she could hope to explain.


It was the sound of the doorbell ringing out through the house that roused Angela from the slumber that she had fallen into a short time later, her brow creasing somewhat as she wondered who could be at the door. It wouldn't be her mother; she had taken her house key with her. It wouldn't be her father either; she hadn't called him which meant that he was still at work. When the shrill ring of the doorbell sounded once again and made her head pound, however, she peeled back her quilt before rising from the settee and walking over to the front door. She went up onto her tiptoes once she had reached the door and peered through the little peep-hole before a delicate smile graced her features.

She unlocked the front door with the spare key that sat on the small shelf beside her before opening it and coming face-to-face with Walter as he was standing on her doorstep. 'Hello.' She smiled when she leaned against the doorframe, her gentle voice hoarse and rather scratchy due to her sore throat.

'Hi.' He returned her smile before reaching out to stroke her warm cheek. 'How are you feeling?'

'Not good.' She admitted with a sigh. 'I've got a splitting headache, my nose won't stop running and my throat is so sore that it feels as though I've swallowed glass.' Her eyes drifted closed when Walter tucked a strand of blonde hair back behind her ear. 'I don't want you to misunderstand me and think that I'm being rude, but what are you doing here?' She inquired when her brown eyes opened again.

'I saw your Mum when I was walking through town earlier and when I asked her how you were, she told me that you've been feeling a little down since you fell ill.' He told her, Angela nodding while she looked at him. 'So…I thought that – since I was in town – I would get you something to cheer you up.' He then brought a small yet beautiful bouquet of flowers out from behind his back, Angela unable to prevent the enchanting smile from spreading across her features when she accepted them from him.

She stroked the tips of her fingers against the petals of one of the daisies in the small bouquet before meeting his tender gaze. 'Walter, they're beautiful but you didn't have to get them for me.' She told him as she felt her heart swell with the deep affection that she possessed for him, Arthur releasing a quiet chuckle as he stepped closer to her before taking her free hand in his and kissing the back of it.

'I know I didn't have to,' He admitted as he brushed his thumb across her knuckles, 'But I wanted to.'

'Do you want to come inside while I put these in some water?' She asked, raising her brow at him.

'Will your Mum be alright with us being alone together in the house?' He replied.

'She trusts me.' She reassured him as she shook her head. 'She'll be fine with it.'

He relented then before stepping inside the house and removing his shoes, Angela blessing him with a small smile when she began to lead him through to the kitchen. She then retrieved the unused vase from one of the cupboards beside the sink, a gentle sigh leaving her when she filled it with cold water before slipping the flowers that Walter had bought for her into it. 'Thank you so much for them.' She said when she turned back to him before approaching him and slipping his arms around his middle, a contented hum escaping her when he slipped his arms around her and nuzzled her hair. 'I love them.'

'I'm glad.' He smiled before kissing the top of her head.

The two of them stood together in a comfortable silence for a time – Angela revelling in his warmth as he ran his large hands over the length of her back – before she tilted her head back on his chest in order to look into his eyes. 'Would you like to stay and watch a film with me?' She asked with a smile.

'Aren't you supposed to be resting?' He teased while tracing her jaw with his fingers.

'I doubt I'll get worse by sitting on the settee and watching a movie.' She giggled. 'It will make up for us not being able to spend time in the park as well.' She knew that he was coming round to the idea by the way that his deep blue eyes sparkled before he pressed his lips to her forehead in a warm kiss.

'Alright.' He told her. 'One movie and then I'm going to leave so that you can get some rest.'

She removed her arms from around his waist then before the two of them left the kitchen area and walked over to the settee, Angela moving the quilt aside for a moment so that the two of them could slip beneath it before she replaced it and took hold of the television remote. 'Can we watch The Black Stallion?' She asked when she looked up into his eyes a few moments later. 'Teddy and I watched it with Mum and Dad last night and I loved it.' Walter nodded in response as he gave her a loving smile.

'We can watch whatever you want, Ange.' He told her.

The two of them shared one final smile then before she turned on the movie and set the television remote down on the arm of the settee, Walter feeling his heart race within his chest when he felt her shift a little closer to him beneath the quilt. It was clear to him that Angela was growing tired a short time later because her head had fallen to his shoulder and whenever he turned his head towards her he could see that her eyes were becoming heavier and heavier. 'You need to rest.' He told her softly.

'I don't want you to leave yet.' She mumbled before taking his hand in his and drawing his arm around her shoulders, a deep sigh escaping her as she rested her head on his broad chest and curled up into his side. 'Will you stay until I'm asleep at least?' She asked as she draped her arm across his stomach.

'Alright.' He whispered as he brushed his thumb against her upper arm through the thin fabric of her pyjama shirt. 'But once you're asleep I'm going to leave so that you can get some rest, Ange, alright?'

'Mhm…' She nodded before settling in his embrace.

He knew that it wasn't going to take long for her to fall asleep and he knew that once she had drifted off he was going to be unable to move without waking her, but if he was honest he didn't care much. He knew that she needed him to hold her; he knew that she needed to know that he was close, and he was more than happy to give that to her. She had been put through so much over the last month-or-so and he was determined to help her move on from it all and to support her in any way he could.

Because he loved her more than he could ever hope to tell her and that would never change.

Even if she didn't love him back.


It was a few minutes after lunchtime when the front door to the house opened and Walter turned his head in the direction of the sound as he held a sleeping Angela to his chest and ran the fingers on his free hand through her long blonde hair, the nervousness that had overtaken him when Shelagh made her way into the house disappearing when she gave him a soft smile. 'Hello, Walter.' She greeted him.

'Hello, Mrs. Turner.' He kept his voice soft and low as he replied to her so not to disturb Angela.

'I had a feeling you might be here.' She admitted when she headed for the kitchen with the two bags of groceries in her hands, Walter chuckling as she approached the settee after setting the bags down on the kitchen table. 'How is she?' She asked as she lowered herself down into the space beside her daughter on the settee, Angela stirring in Walter's embrace for a moment when she stroked her face.

'She had a temperature when we were watching a movie together,' He admitted before he stopped running his fingers through Angela's hair and pressed the back of his palm against her forehead, 'But it seems to have gone now.' Shelagh was unable to stop the smile from spreading across her features when she saw how gentle he was with her little girl. 'I wasn't planning on staying; I came over to give her some flowers that I bought for her, but then she asked me inside.' He said when he looked at her.

Shelagh shook her head in response. 'You don't have to explain.' She reassured him. 'I trust her and I have known you since you were ten, Walter, and I trust the two of you to be sensible if you're home alone together.' Walter nodded with a gentle smile in response before Angela snuggled further into his warmth and curled her fingers into the thin fabric of his shirt, a sigh of complete bliss leaving her.

'You know that I have feelings for her, don't you?' He inquired when he met Shelagh's gaze after he had pulled the soft quilt further over Angela in order to keep out the chill. 'You know that I love her.'

'I do.' She revealed.

'I would never do anything to hurt her, Mrs. Turner, I mean that. She's so precious to me.' He sighed.

'I know that, Walter.' She said. 'And Angela knows that too. She's just going through so much at the moment and I don't think she's sure of anything right now. I know that she loves you though – even though she won't tell you herself – and I know that she doesn't want you to feel like she doesn't. You just need to be patient with her for a while.' She ran a hand over her sleeping daughter's blonde hair.

Walter smiled as he gazed down at Angela for a moment. 'She knows that I'm not going to rush her into anything. I've told her that I'm here to support her and that I don't care if it takes years for her to feel strong enough to let me love her properly, because I know how scared she is. I know that she has been finding it hard to trust people ever since she ended things with Arthur.' Shelagh's heart sank at the mention of the boy who had caused her precious Angela to lose almost all of her self-confidence.

'Aside from the family, you're the only person she trusts right now.' She told him.

'I won't let her down, Mrs. Turner.' He reassured her. 'I swear.'

'I'm glad to hear it.' She smiled. 'Now, I had better start preparing the vegetables for dinner tonight.'

'Would you like me to leave?' He asked her as she rose from the settee. 'I don't want to be a bother.'

She glanced down at her slumbering little girl for a moment before shaking her head at him. 'You can stay for a while if you would like to. Angela seems quite comfortable there and – if I'm honest – that's the most relaxed I've seen her in weeks.' Walter chuckled in response before he kissed Angela on her hairline, revelling in the way that she tightened her hold of him before pressing her face into his neck.

He ran his hand up and down the length of her back once Shelagh had set about putting the groceries away, his eyes filled with nothing but deep love for her as he watched her slumbering in his embrace. 'My beautiful, beautiful girl.' He whispered to her as her warm breath hit against his neck. 'I love you.'

As he leaned back against the settee he saw Angela's lips curl up into a smile as she slept soundly.

It was the most beautiful sight in the world.


'I thought I would come and check on you before I go to bed.' Patrick said when he lowered himself down onto the edge of his daughter's bed after entering her bedroom late that evening, his voice soft and gentle as he gazed down at her before tracing the outline of her beautiful face with the back of his palm and earning himself a tired smile from her. 'How are you feeling, sweetheart?' He asked her.

'Better than I did when I woke up this morning.' She admitted as she revelled in the sensation of him caressing her face. 'Mum gave me some paracetamol and I took my antidepressants before I came to bed and I feel like I'll be able to sleep now.' Patrick leaned down to feather a kiss against her hairline before he drew back and met her gaze, his heart fit to burst with the passionate love he held for her.

'You make me so proud.' He whispered. 'I know that the situation we're in at the moment isn't ideal and I know that things have been far from straightforward for you for the last month-or-so, princess, but you've been so strong and you've kept so positive. You could have just given up, but you didn't.'

Angela smiled up at him. 'For as long as I can remember, you and Mum have always told me and the boys to never give up. The two of you have always told us that there's always a way to get through a bad situation, and that's what I keep telling myself whenever I start finding things hard. I don't know where I would be now if the two of you hadn't given me that advice, and I'm so grateful that you did.'

'I know you're nervous about becoming a Mum.' He told her after a few seconds of sitting in silence. 'I know that you think you're going to mess up and do everything wrong, but I know that you're not. You've always been incredible with babies, Angela, and I know without a shred of a doubt that you're going to be one of the best mothers in all of Poplar.' Angela sighed as she held his affectionate gaze.

'I do love my baby, Daddy.' She told him. 'Even though I can't feel it moving yet I love it and I want it more than anything, but whenever I think about how much pain I'm going to be in when labour starts I feel sick to my stomach. I know that Mum is going to be there to hold my hand and I know that I can have gas and air if I want it, but I'm still scared.' Patrick shushed her soothingly when her voice broke.

'I don't want you to start worrying about the birth for months yet.' He soothed. 'For now I want you to concentrate on your schoolwork and growing this little one. Your Mum and I are going to help you with everything, sweetheart, I promise.' Angela nodded as the exhaustion she felt was evident in her eyes. 'You need to get some rest.' He pointed out before pressing several slow kisses onto the centre of her forehead. 'I love you so much, my beautiful girl.' He murmured against her smooth warm skin.

'I love you too, Daddy.' She reassured him.

He then rose from the edge of her bed before drawing the floral quilt further over her and watching her turn over, his heart and eyes filled with pure love and devotion for her as he began to walk over to her bedroom door. Once he had opened it and stepped out onto the landing he closed it behind himself and released a deep sigh. His little girl was one of the most precious things on the face of the earth to him and it had always made his heart hurt to see her worried or emotional about something.

She was strong, however, he knew that and he knew that she was going to get through this.

There was no doubt in his mind that she was going to make the perfect mother to her child, also.

Because she was magnificent.


Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and that you will all come back for chapter 12 when it goes up! Please review! x