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Disclaimer - Emmerdale & its characters do not belong to me, they belong to ITV

A/N - Hope you like! :)


It was late Thursday afternoon. Just after 4.30 and Aaron was waiting on Lucy coming home from school. They needed to have a chat.

Jackson wouldn't be home until late. Aaron couldn't remember exactly why, he either had to work late or was meeting his mates. At eight in the morning Aaron hadn't paid much attention, he had been tired and slightly hung over.

"Anyone home?" he heard Lucy call out, he hadn't even heard the front door open "In here" he called from the living room.

She didn't reply but he could hear footsteps, then heard them on the stairs "In here, now" he demanded and Lucy swore to herself before dropping her bag at the bottom of the stairs and making her way to the living room door.

"Hey!" she said with confidence she really was feeling. Aaron gave her a look and her bravado fell "I told you I wanted you home" he tells her in a calm voice which shocks her. She expected him to go off on her.

"I know" she starts and walks further into the room, perching herself on the arm of the sofa "but she asked and Deena asked, I couldn't say no"

"She asked you to stay just to wind me up" Aaron informs his daughter and Lucy shrugs.

When Carly had first asked her to stay the night Lucy hadn't though she had a hidden agenda but as the evening progressed it became clear she did because all she did was pump Lucy for information about Jackson and talk about how Aaron would do anything for Jackson and how he would chose Jackson over anyone in his life.

"I know" she admits "I'm sorry Daddy" she says plastering on her best little girl lost look and pouting.

Aaron shakes his head "Come here!" he says, standing up and pulling her to him "The woman hates me!" he tells her "but you love her and I'll not stop you seeing her unless she pushes me" he informs her

"She said you told her she couldn't see me if she said anything about Jackson, did you?"

Aaron nods, he wasn't about to lie "I was angry but I wouldn't stop her seeing you for that. It's nothing to do with Jackson, I'd just put her in her place"

Lucy nods, her arms are still around her Dad's waist and she's still hugging him "Where is…?"

Aaron doesn't need to ask who she is talking about "at work" he tells her "or actually I think he's just giving us space" he informs her "no builder works till this time in the middle of Winter"

Lucy laughs "Does that mean I get you all to myself?"

Aaron pulls back and looks at her, a smile playing on his lips "Yeah. What do you want me to spend?" he jokes and she slaps him playfully

"Nothing" she says quickly "But you can take me out to eat, yeah?"

Aaron nods and Lucy grins "Great! I'll just go change"

When Aaron and Lucy get home, it's just after ten and Aaron notices that Jackson's van isn't parked outside the house. Where was he? Aaron didn't know.

"I'm knackered" Lucy announces as she closes the front door behind them "and full" she grins "thanks, I had fun tonight" she tells her Father and Aaron smiles at her "Me too"

"Same time next week?" he asks, setting a date but Lucy shakes her head "make it a Friday" she tells him "no school the next day means you can spend more"

Aaron laughs "Right, I'll keep that in mind" he shakes his head "but you have school tomorrow, so maybe you should go do whatever it is you need to do?" he suggests and with a roll of her eyes and a sigh, Lucy agrees.

She's halfway up the stairs when she stops, looks around and asks "where's loverboy? Shouldn't he be back by now?"

Aaron scowls at her, for her use of "loverboy" but shrugs "I'm not his keeper"

Lucy scoffs "oh but how you wish you were" she comments as she climbs the rest of the stairs. Aaron ignores her comment because his mind is elsewhere. He's wondering why Jackson wasn't home yet. OK, so it was only just after ten and Jackson was a fully grown man but Aaron missed him when he wasn't around.

Jackson had finished work at just after 4pm. After work he had headed back to his place just to make sure everything was alright and prepare himself for going home in two days time. He loved Aaron and he loved Lucy and living with Aaron, sharing his bed had been amazing and he could get used to it but Jackson knew that Lucy wasn't too happy about it.

After he was done at his house he had two options. Go back to Aaron's or go with his mates. He chose to go with his mates. It would give Aaron and Lucy some time alone and it was given them some space because in the 5 days he'd lived there they had barely had any time apart except for the times they had to work.

It was now just after ten and Jackson was in his van, on his way back to Emmerdale when his phone suddenly started ringing. His gaze flicked between the phone and the road and just for a minute, like always, he debated whether or not to answer it, he doesn't and a couple of seconds later he pulls up on the side of the road.

Picking the phone up he sees that it is Aaron calling him. He had expected a call from him, sooner or later.

Before he can even say "hello" Aaron is already talking "Where are you?" he demands to know and Jackson, instead of being annoyed finds it amusing and rather sweet

"I told you this morning I'd be back late" Jackson reminds him and Aaron scoffs "it's almost midnight!"

Jackson rolls his eyes "No" he tells him "It's barely even ten, now how about you stop bending my ear and I can drive the last two miles and be back at the house in no time?" he suggests.

He doesn't receive a reply from Aaron instead the line just goes dead and Jackson laughs while dropping his phone onto the vacant seat.

Three days later and Jackson is just throwing his clothes into a bag as he prepares to go home. He's due to pick Harry up from the airport 3pm and it's currently just gone 11am

Lucy had just gone out with her friends and Aaron walked into the bedroom "all packed and ready to go?" he asks coming up behind Jackson and wrapping his arms around Jackson's waist.

Aaron's arms around him didn't stop him packing, he continued, even as Aaron's head dropped onto his shoulder.

"Can't believe it's been a week" Aaron admits, sounding far soppier than he would have liked.

Jackson zips up his back before turning around and facing his lover "Yeah. Time flies when you're having fun"

Aaron's eyes widen playfully "you had fun?" he asks "is that all I am to you? A bit of fun?"

Jackson nods and Aaron kisses him. Aaron kisses him and he's backing him down onto the bed, pushing the bag Jackson had just packed to the floor in the process.

Jackson allows himself to become lost in the kiss for a little while, that is until he feels Aaron's hands fumbling at his belt buckle. Feeling Aaron trying to loosen his belt brings Jackson back to his senses. Breaking their kiss Jackson pulls away "Jackson!" Aaron groans at the loss. He was quite enjoying himself.

Jackson laughs and pushes his lover up a little more as he sits up "Quit your whinging" Jackson tells him "I've got somewhere to be"

"Not till three" Aaron reminds him as he gets to his feet and straightens his clothes.

Jackson stands up also while explaining that, yes he had to pick Harry up from the airport at three but he had things to do before then. Like make sure there was food for him to eat and make sure everything he needed to do was done.

Aaron wasn't best pleased, mostly because he didn't want him to go. He was used to it, used to him but all good things come to an end sooner or later, right?

Aaron wasn't sure what time it was but he had been lying on his bed ever since Jackson had left and that was just after midday.


He heard the front door open and knew it could only be one person. A couple of seconds later he heard "DAD! Where are you?"

With a heavy sigh Aaron pulls himself to his feet and makes his way downstairs

"You look rough" Lucy tells him when he gets to the front door where she is stood waiting on him "thanks for that" he says with a small laugh "what time is it?" he asks her as he heads towards the kitchen and she follows him

"Just before three, were you asleep?"

Aaron sticks the kettle on and shakes his head "What you doing back so early?" he questions but Lucy shrugs "its cold out there" she informs him "wanted to come home, problem?"

Aaron gives her a look and she shrugs "so if you weren't sleeping what were you doing?" Lucy questions as she drops down onto a chair.

"Just thinking" he tells her but doesn't elaborate anymore than that because he had a lot more thinking to do before he gets her opinion on his thoughts. He needs her opinion because he wouldn't do anything without her.

A knock at the door interrupts their conversation and interferes with the night, even although they had nothing planned. It was Adam, demanding that the two, well three he still thought Jackson was around came up to the farm for their dinner and some fun. That's why it was almost 9pm when they got back into the comfort of their own home

"They're all mad!" Lucy exclaimed with a laugh, she loved the Barton's they were like her family but there was too many of them sometimes. She liked it being just her and her Dad. It was good, it was quiet.

"Make me a Coffee eh?" he asks his daughter as he heads into the living room. Lucy's eyebrows pull together "what did your last slave die of?"

Aaron grins "She's still alive and kicking, hurry along now"

She glares at him for a few minutes before sighing and heading into the kitchen to make them both a cup of Coffee.

Aaron rests his head against the back of the couch. While at Adam's his mind hadn't been there. He had been thinking about other things. He'd been thinking about Jackson.

I took Lucy five minutes to come back with his Coffee and when she did, he had something he had to ask/tell her. He was optimistic about her reaction.

"What you thinking about?" she asks as she curls up on the couch with her Coffee.

Aaron's eyebrows pull together "What?"

"You have that face" she tells him "that face where you want to say something but think I'll throw a fit"

"I'm going to ask Jackson to move in" he says and he looks at her, to see her reaction.

At first, her face doesn't change which he takes as a good sign.

Lucy was in shock. She hadn't expected to hear those words from her Dad's mouth. He wanted him to move in? What about Harry?

"What about Harry?" she asks

"Him too" Aaron assures her quickly "we have plenty room, too big for just us and you like Jackson, don't you?"

Lucy nods her head. She does like Jackson, he's a really nice guy but did she want him living with her? That was another question

"No" she says and Aaron's eyebrows lift "What?" he asks in a soft, somewhat confused tone

"I don't want him to live here" she tells him

"Why not?"

"Cause it's my house and I don't want it to happen" she tells him, her attitude kicking in as she becomes defensive

"It's my house, I was just asking your opinion, you don't get the end vote" he informs her and she scoffs. That's not how it works in her head; in her head she gets the last say on everything.

"So you'll move him in no matter what I say?"

Aaron shrugs

"Great" Lucy says, putting her Coffee down "Well if you'd rather have him than me, I'll move out. I'll move in with Carly"

"What? You're not going anywhere" Aaron states "Over my dead body"

"If you move in Jackson and Harry, I'm off"

"I thought you liked them?"

Lucy nods "doesn't mean I wanna live with them though. I like Adam and his kids; I don't wanna live with them"

Aaron couldn't believe what he was hearing. He honestly hadn't expected her to have a problem with them moving in. It was what she said next that really knocked him for six though.

"I wish you weren't seeing him" she tells him without looking at him, then meeting his gaze she says "I want you to decide who's more important, me or him. I don't want him around here anymore dad"

"What?"

She stands up "I'm sorry but I'm not happy with you and him. It's weird and I don't have my dad when he's around. Me or him, you have to choose"

Aaron watched as she walked away. He was unable to reply to her right away because he couldn't quite believe it. Had she really just said that? She wanted him to split up with Jackson and gave him a choice between her and him?

What was he going to do? He didn't know but he did know that Lucy would always come first. He sighed, there was no way he would be sleeping at all that tonight.


A/N - TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! THANK YOU! REVIEWS AS ALWAYS ARE WELCOME, WANTED AND APPRECIATED!