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There was a soft knock on Jonny Maconie's office door as he sat at his desk trying to fight his way through the mountain of paperwork that had developed during his time off work to care for Jac. 'Come in' he called out half-heartedly, not really wanting to deal with staff nurse problems on a day he wasn't officially meant to be working.

'Jonny' Ric smiled cautiously as he stepped into the room 'I know I'm not a man you particularly want to see right now but I just thought you should know the solicitor and I tracked down Paula yesterday morning.'

'I gathered that' Jonny sat back in his chair and crossed his arms, reminding himself to keep a civil tongue in his head. 'Yesterday afternoon Paula was at Ava's school trying to abduct her in some sort of plan to get hold of George's money via my child.'

'I'm sorry Jonny' Ric shook his head remorsefully 'I don't know what to say.'

'There's nothing you can say' Jonny sighed 'Paula Burrows existence is hardly your fault.' They lapsed into silence for a moment until Jonny rhetorically asked 'how could someone that evil have created my Jac?'

'Is Ava alright?' Ric asked helping himself to one of the seats in front of Jonny's desk.

'She's shook up but basically ok' Jonny shrugged. 'I left her at home in charge of Jac's meds, she seemed pleased to be trusted with that responsibility.'

'She's not at school today then?' Ric kept asking questions hoping the longer he kept Jonny talking the closer he would be to the man's forgiveness. He had always liked Jonny and felt they had a good rapport which was vital in Team Naylor's quest to protect Jac.

'No and as far as Jac is concerned Ava will never be going back there' Jonny played with his pen, wanting to ask for the elder man's advice but unsure if he had forgiven him enough to trust him once more. 'I want to leave Holby, to get away from all this mess.'

'Jac doesn't want to?' Ric gave an understanding nod as Jonny shook his head in answer. 'She has a lot here to leave behind.'

'She could set up her research anywhere and we all know the Prof wants to retire soon. Jac is just too blinkered to want to acknowledge that.'

'That isn't what is anchoring her here Jonny' Ric gave him a sad smile 'think about all you have lost here.'

'That's why I think a fresh start would be so good for her' Jonny huffed 'and for Ava too, she could have her pick of schools.'

'Ava will succeed which ever school she attends' Ric spoke seriously 'she finds everything so easy.'

'Well she's not getting any education at all now is she?' Jonny muttered 'another thing Jac is too blinkered on. How the hell did you cope with her stubbornness when she was your registrar?'

'I didn't always' Ric laughed 'which sometimes was a good thing, Jac has this annoying habit of being right a lot of the time'.

'Give it a week and Ava will be driving her mad' Jonny scowled 'believe me she is not right about this one, that child needs to be in school, we learnt that when she was coming up to age four.'

'You still trust St Catherine's with Ava's safety?' Ric asked him, guessing he would have had this conversation with his wife if she were in any state of mind to listen.

'If they can make a few security changes then yeah I absolutely would' Jonny nodded. 'That and I will be outside that school entrance at least half an hour before Ava is due to finish from now on. God knows what would have happened if we hadn't arrived when we did.' Jonny shook his head as though trying to rid it of the worst case scenarios that had plagued him all last night in his sleep.

'But you did get there, Ava is fine, you protected her as best you could.' Ric spoke reassuringly.

'It wasn't me, it was Jac' Jonny recalled the events 'she was out of the car before I'd even cut the engine, a furiousness about her that even I've not seen before.'

'Jac was there?' Ric spoke with surprise.

'She wanted see Ava's face when she saw she had been discharged from hospital.' Jonny sighed 'that woman just has a habit at cropping up at all the worst moments doesn't she? We were so happy yesterday afternoon and then there she is.'

'What did she say this time?'

'That we only wanted Ava because she is the sole heir of George's estate' Jonny swallowed hard before he added the bit Jac had found most hurtful 'and Jac had only taken to mothering Ava because her own child hadn't lived beyond infancy' Jonny closed his eyes as he choked out 'Paula referred to Amelia as it.'

'In my experience of Paula Burrow she can be a nice as pie each time she wants something and then turn horribly nasty when she realises her scheming won't get it for her.' Ric spoke softly as he watched Jonny battling to keep his emotions in check. 'I take it Ava wasn't remotely interested in going with her?'

'No' Jonny smiled ruefully 'Jac had insisted we discussed Paula with Ava after she first approached her the day of George's funeral. Another thing my darling wife was right about.'

'See?' Ric chuckled before becoming serious. 'Paula probably thought it would be easy to charm the child with tales of India, the place her biological mother grew up in. When she realised Jac had told the child the truth she would have wanted to hurt her, to sting her as much as her poison words could.'

'Well it worked' Jonny sniffed.

'Jac wouldn't have taken them to heart surely?'

Jonny shook his head 'She's too used to her mother's poison but it hurt it her for a moment just the same.'

'We both know Jac has survived far worse from the hands of that woman' Ric spoke comfortingly.

'It's made her so much more protective of Ava' Jonny looked down at his hands 'as though she is too afraid to let her out of either of our sights. She only took the sedative last night after I reassured her five times I would check on Ava throughout the night and this morning she refused to let Ava spend the day wedding planning with Mo at her house.' Jonny looked up at Ric, concern etched all over his face. 'Ava would have loved that normally, but she actually agreed with Jac, saying she wanted to stay home today. I mentioned perhaps she might like to walk Apollo and Ava looked terrified and Jac as though she could murder me on the spot'

'Understandable' Ric tried to reassure Jonny 'it frightened Ava yesterday and if you feel frightened you nearly lost her believe me it would have been nothing compared to how Jac was feeling. We can't even begin to comprehend what a mother goes through.'

'Mo tried to tell me that once, I was a bit dismissive.' Jonny frowned. 'So how do I get things back to the way they were?'

'Give it a little time' Ric suggested 'and perhaps I could lend you the services of Lola again?'

'She still hasn't left?' Jonny laughed exasperatedly.

'Apparently she needs to finish knitting my sweater' Ric rolled his eyes 'personally I don't think retirement is suiting her too well. So how about I give her call and you could chat this out with her? She'll understand precisely where Jac is coming from as a mother, I guarantee it.'

Jonny thought for a minute, considering how useful Lola had proven herself to be in the last couple of weeks. 'Ok' he nodded, a smile now forming on his lips. 'I still don't agree with what you did, giving George that file Ric, but thank you. You've been a big help today.'

'It's my pleasure' Ric smiled warmly hunting in his jacket pocket for his phone 'you know it's only because I have such a soft spot for Jac and Ava.'

'They're like two peas in a pod aren't they?' Jonny spoke proudly straightening up the picture frame containing a recent snap shot of his two red-haired girls laughing contentedly, their arms wrapped around each other without a care in the world.