A few minutes later, Zoe was sitting in the chair facing Max, who sat on the edge of the table. He was waiting silently for her to begin, his eyes focused on their hands that were linked before them.

"When I…" Zoe began, and then drew in a deep breath.

Max glanced up to find her watching him, and he offered a gentle smile.

"When I was a little girl, I used to imagine that when I was older I would have everything I wanted. I'd have the job, the husband, the house, the friends, the children…and when I found out I was pregnant the first time, I finally thought I would get it all. Except Nick didn't want anyone to know, he said it would compromise his position with the staff…but those staff were the only friends I had, so when I got sick no one knew about it. I suppose that made it easier in a way, because after Thomas died…we wanted to call him Thomas, no one was feeling sorry for me, so I could just pretend it hadn't happened all day and then go home and spend time with Nick. Then when he left, I was all alone with the body that had…betrayed me, and my guilt and sadness."

"I won't leave you, Zoe." Max offered softly.

"I know, and that somehow makes it worse. That this time, my body might not just let me down, but let you down too, and I couldn't bare that. So I thought if you didn't know, if no one knew, then I could just do what I did last time and just deal with it myself. I suppose I never thought about how you might feel not knowing."

Max drew Zoe's hands to his mouth and dropped a kiss to them as a tear fell down her cheek.

"…But when I saw your face, I realised this is what I needed last time. I needed to see someone happy, and if something bad happens, I need someone to share it with. I needed to be strong last time, but this time, I don't need to be, because I have you. Since I've known you, the friends that I was losing one by one have all come back because I'm…happier. I'm me again. And that's because of you, Max." Zoe finally glanced up at Max and gave him a fragile smile. "I'm not saying I won't try to run, or want to hide things from you, but I'm going to really, really try."

Max smiled back and let go of one of her hands to reach out and wipe a tear from her cheek. "About what happened last time, I have an idea."

"I don't-" Zoe began.

"Do you trust me?"

Zoe nodded.

"Ok, well, I heard Dylan saying a patient of his who has an at risk pregnancy is being visited here by some big shot in London, and I thought maybe you'd like to go and see him?"

"We'd never get an appointment, Max."

"We already have. I called in a favour yesterday. We have an appointment at 4, if you want to go. In the conference room, so no one else has to know until you want them to."

Zoe smiled again, this time with more confident. "What would I do without you?"

"You'd probably have turned into Connie years ago."

"Excuse me! I'll have you know that I may be emotional, but I've never been heartless! And just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean-""

Max grinned. "Say it again."

"What, heartless?" Zoe asked with a teasing smile, the tears now drying on her cheeks in streaks.

"Alright, cheeky. You stay here and I'll go and find you some chocolate."

Zoe nodded and watched Max until he shut the door, and then rested back with a sigh. She felt so much lighter now. Perhaps it was true that a problem shared was a problem halved.

"Where's Ruby?" As they walked towards Zoe's car at about 6 that evening, Zoe suddenly realised she hadn't seen her daughter since lunch.

"You've only just noticed? Robyn took her to get her nails done for tomorrow, and then they went to the movies, I think."

Zoe gave a relieved sigh. "I think I'd forget my head if it wasn't screwed on at the moment."

"And why is that?"

"If you're expecting me to say baby brain you can forget it, Mr Walker. Can you drive, please?"

"With pleasure." Max took the keys from her and Zoe sat in the passenger seat with a sigh.

"I'm going to have to talk to Connie and sort out cover, and-"

"No, you're not. I'll sort it. You just enjoy your fortnight off, and by the time you go back to work it will all be dealt with."

Zoe turned her head to look at the side and finally gave Max a smile, reaching out to pull him closer. "I love you."

"Enough to tell me what Lofty has planned for my birthday tomorrow?"

"It's your birthday tomorrow?! See, I told you I'm forgetting things at the moment. I haven't even got you a present."

Max grinned and pulled his seatbelt on. "Fine, don't tell me."

...

They were stuck at a traffic light a few minutes later when Max looked towards Zoe hesitantly. "When do you want to tell Ruby?"

Zoe sighed and turned to him. "…Maybe in a couple of days so she can get used to it before she goes back to school?"

Max nodded. "You'd better put that away, then." He motioned to the scan she'd held tightly in her hand since the doctor had passed it to her.

Zoe nodded and gazed down at it, stroking her thumb across the picture.

"Remind me again how many weeks you are."

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Are you going to ask me this every day? 12."

"You know what that means, don't you?"

"It means that the baby is looking more human and less like his or her daddy."

"Oh, very funny. It means that you must have conceived just after Ruby started at school."

"Is that why you went all quiet in there? Were you trying to work out when you did your bit?"

"Well…that and the fact I was trying not to cry and embarrass myself in front of the big shot doctor."

"Which one? Me or Doctor Williams?"

Max smiled again. "Very funny."

"…I think I'm excited, Max." Zoe looked down at her abdomen and once more ran her hand over it.

Max's smile softened and he glanced at her. "Good."