When they'd gone to bed, neither of them had made mention of what Thomas had said. Ruth, because she'd been waiting for Harry to say something and Harry concerned that Ruth might be upset because there was little chance, if ever, of Thomas calling her Mummy. Ruth woke relaxed, Harry didn't.

Malcolm woke up with a hangover having drunk far too much wine and went downstairs to find Ruth in the kitchen humming happily whilst rifling through the fridge for the contents of what looked like an enormous fry up designed to start their day with a bang and Harry multi-tasking by pouring over his computer whilst persuading Thomas to hurry up and eat his breakfast.

'Coffee's there Malcolm help yourself,' said Ruth cheerily over her shoulder as Harry pinched a piece of Thomas's toast in a effort to speed up proceedings.

The clock ticked round and it was time for Thomas to be walked to school but it wasn't one of the days when Ruth had lessons and she was still in her dressing gown. She wanted to test the water and see if Thomas's comment had been a one off and the only way to do that was for her to pre-empt a repeat. No time like the present she thought as she watched Thomas struggling to pull his coat on whilst looking for Whisky's lead. The dog needed a walk and with them all gone it would give her some quiet time to really talk to Malcolm before the day got underway, so taking a deep breath she took the gamble.

'I'm cooking breakfast for Uncle Malcolm sweetheart, I'm sure Daddy will take you,' she suggested, with less confidence than her voice portrayed.

It was clear that Harry had heard her but how he would react she didn't know, until he got to his feet as though what she'd said was an everyday occurrence, shuffling the pile of coats in search of his own before walking back across the kitchen and planting what Malcolm realised was the first kiss that he had seen between them in the almost nine years that he'd known them, on Ruth's cheek. Before pointing to the impending breakfast and telling her to save some of that for him and that he wouldn't be long.

'I'm sorry it's so chaotic this morning Malcolm, we're usually far better organised,' Ruth told him once the door closed behind the men in her life, going on to tell him how the previous couple of days had been a rollercoaster one way or another and that Whisky was a new acquisition.

'Very appropriate name for a dog of Harry's I would have thought,' said Malcolm grinning, until Ruth told him that Harry hadn't touched a drop of whisky for the best part of a year.

'I stand corrected,' said Malcolm, only to be interrupted by the arrival of Brian apologising for oversleeping.

'So how do you to know each other?' Ruth asked, unaware until now that Malcolm had had any friends other than Colin, which was ridiculous on reflection because he must have had some. They'd been neighbours when they'd been children and had been through senior school together and then life as it invariably did had taken them in different directions. He obviously had no idea as to what Malcolm had done for a living or his connection with her and Harry and didn't seem interested enough to press it. He was here for one reason only and had already had a quick look around upstairs and as soon as Harry made an appearance, he said in a voice that made him sound superior, he was looking forward to discussing their plans. Ruth refrained from saying that Harry had been up for hours, not quite sure what she made of Brian or whether or not she liked him. Still he was there to do them a favour and she shouldn't really have expected him to be a carbon copy of Colin.

Breakfast turned out to be quite a jolly affair with gentle looks that said we're OK aren't we, going back and forth between Ruth and Harry and Brian warming up and letting the cat out of the bag by waxing lyrical about his and Malcolm's misspent youth, most of which had involved scrumping for apples in the vicar's orchard. Ruth couldn't quite picture Malcolm in short trousers climbing a tree, his legs skinny as opposed to Harry's that still paced in a way that did unspeakable things to her body, but it had obviously happened. Dear sweet Malcolm sat through all the ribbing announcing that when he came to visit them again assuming that he was invited, he'd bring his shorts and prove to them that he still he had a fine pair of legs.

'So tell me more about Thomas,' Malcolm asked her when they were washing up again for the second time, and Harry and Brian had disappeared out into the garden armed with all sorts of equipment that meant nothing to Ruth. 'Was it difficult after Nico?'

It was an unexpected question and it threw her for a moment, as Malcolm apologised for being so insensitive, only for Ruth to tell him not to be silly.

'Nico was never mine to love,' she told him, 'although I did, but what I have now with Harry is, well I don't quite know how to describe it without sounding ….?'

'Romantic?' suggested Malcolm.

'Yes,' said Ruth, 'it is.'

'And always was, Harry would never have made it through his injuries if we hadn't been able to find you Ruth,' took her back to what was now over a year ago, realising how quickly time had gone and how much in their lives had changed.

'All the ridiculous barriers that we'd constructed over the years just fell away, the moment that I turned round to see Harry in the church,' she told him, 'I will never forget that moment. Right from the beginning we were happy, still terrified that something might happen to tear us apart again until we heard from Callum that they'd found Dolby. But it was when Graham arrived with Catherine that everything finally came together and Alice, well what can I say she's just the icing on Harry's cake.'

'And Thomas, how did he become a part of your lives?' Malcolm asked her again, getting back to his original question.

'Sorry Malcolm I'm rambling, well Thomas wasn't planned, far from it,' she continued, going on to explain how Graham and particularly Catherine had made less than subtle hints about what they got up to in the bedroom, was her description in an effort not to embarrass Malcolm. 'We did talk about trying for a child of our own but can you really see Harry changing nappies and me for that matter and then suddenly there was this tiny might who had lost everything that they were threatening to send to a children's home on the mainland.'

'Never!'

'Harry said it was inhumane and he was right,'

'Thomas?' Malcolm urged her, intrigued by Ruth's description of him as a tiny mite.

'Yes, he's a beautiful child that begs to be loved and Harry's been incredible, and as things have turned out it's the best thing that we've ever done.'

Ruth was clearly on a roll and Malcom wasn't about to stop her, so he just nodded.

'You wait until you really see them together Malcolm, they fit they really do and after what Thomas said yesterday, I couldn't be more happy,' required an explanation and Malcolm reiterating how pleased he was to be there. Malcolm really wanted to tell her that they all fitted that she was too giving and shouldn't underplay her roll in having made this happen, but he didn't it would keep.

'Come on I think we deserve another cup of tea don't you and then I'll give you a tour of the garden, but you have to promise me that you're not going to rush off home any time soon, we've got so much more to tell you,' she said hugging him.

With the washing up finished Ruth made a pot of coffee before they headed out into the garden in search of Harry and to see what was happening. He was sitting under the veranda watching the world go by, but there was no sign of Brian.

'Over there,' Harry told them pointing towards the sea, where a red and black bobble hat bounced around, its owner taking photographs of the house from a distance. Ruth thought he looked like a character from where's Wally, but he was Malcolm's friend and it would have been rude to say so.

'I know that he's a bit of an oddball,' said Malcolm, as though he'd read her mind and by way of an apology, when Harry said that he'd been ordered to wait where he was, 'but he's a brilliant and inventive architect and left to it, I'm sure that he'll come up with a whole host of ideas that you wouldn't have thought of, so bear with him.'

As they sat and waited, Malcolm took in the scene, still marvelling at how relaxed Harry and Ruth were with each other, whilst appreciating what a truly beautiful spot that they lived in, despite the fact that it was January and to Malcolm's way of thinking was bloody cold. Harry sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him his hands behind his head and Ruth without even realising it tucked tight against him her hand on his leg. She was right it was romantic, in a simple and almost ethereal sort of way. If Ruth was serious though and they would welcome him staying on after Brian had gone home then he'd certainly like to do so. It would give him the time to really reacquaint himself with the two people that he'd always considered to be his friends that at long last had been afforded the life that they both deserved.

Brian arrived back, announcing that he had all the photos that he needed and if Harry was ready then they should find somewhere quiet with a table where they could work. Both he and Ruth refrained from saying that they'd find it hard to find somewhere that was noisy as Harry led him back into the house with a quick glance back at Ruth who said she and Malcolm were going to have a walk around the garden and then maybe down as far as the coastal path, before she came in and thought about lunch.

The only table other than the one where they ate their meals was in a corner which was currently designated as Thomas's play space. It was covered with his drawings, which because they'd been so busy the previous evening Ruth hadn't piled together. They were priceless as far as they were concerned, a history of Thomas's life since he'd been with them and Harry was just about to lean over and gather them together when Brian stepped in.

'These are quite extraordinary,' he said, stilling Harry's hand, ' if they're your sons, he's clearly very talented.'

Not quite knowing how to reply but realising that Brian wasn't about to sweep them to one side, he told him that Thomas had an obsession with the local landscape and with drawing buildings in the village.

'That's exactly how I started, you should encourage him at every opportunity, he's a gifted little boy and maybe when he gets home he'd like to see what we've come up with regarding the house,' had Harry revising his opinion about stuffy Brian. Maybe he wasn't the arrogant prick that he'd thought him to be or the mad professor as Ruth had christened him. He just still couldn't get his head around his friendship with Malcolm who was an open book, but then who was he to judge, he'd been thought to be arrogant by better men than him.

On most days and on school days in particular, they always stuck to a routine and always ate together as a family. So after putting the casserole in the oven and telling Harry that they'd eat at five thirty, Ruth and Malcolm headed up the hill with Whisky in tow to collect Thomas from school. It was a beautiful afternoon, one of Harry's blue sky days and the higher they climbed, Malcolm who had arrived much later the previous evening got his bearings and a full appreciation as to why Harry didn't want to move to a different location.

The small group of buildings one of which was the church in question, Ruth explained unnecessarily, but made Malcolm smile, the vicarage where their closest friends lived with their children and the school where a small group of parents were already waiting for their offspring, were the sum total of the centre of the village, she told him.

'What a wonderful setting for a school,' exclaimed Malcolm, but Ruth hadn't finished yet and taking his arm, she told him that there was something else that she wanted him to see, taking him up to The High Point and to her bench.

'I used to sit here for hours thinking about Harry, back in the day when I was Susan Barnes the writer,' she explained, 'look at that view Malcolm isn't it just beautiful, it became my salvation.'

With her honesty, she'd opened the door for Malcolm to tell her what he really wanted to.

'Don't ever underestimate your worth Ruth or think that you're silly. You're the kindest and sweetest person that I've ever known and a perfect balance for Harry. Whatever Thomas's background you're his Mum now and fit just as much as Harry does.'

'You're a sweet man,' Ruth told him, squeezing his hand.

With that the school bell rang and with it a melee of young voices as they headed back towards the playground and Thomas. With their bags on the wall, Thomas, Rory and Liam were kicking a football and in no particular rush to go home. As the playground slowly emptied, parents with their offspring in tow stopped and said hello to both Ruth and Malcolm.

'You're right they're a friendly bunch,' was Malcom's observation.

'So you must be Malcolm,' said Rose appearing as if by magic and tapping him on the shoulder, inviting them to have a cup of tea and then calling to the boys that there were biscuits on offer if they came in and washed their hands. Maisie announced that she was Rory's twin to a now overwhelmed Malcolm surrounded by small children. Thomas of course took centre stage, this was his Uncle Malcolm he told everybody and he was staying with them. Malcolm tried to picture Harry in the same situation and the only similarity he could come up with, was that it was like the chaos of the meeting room, except that Adam and Zaf were wearing short trousers.

Ruth broke up the party by saying that they really needed to go, but not before telling Rose that weather permitting they were going for their customary walk to the beach on Saturday and that the children were welcome if they wanted to join them, and that she'd invited Mary and Liam.

'See you at ten,' said Rose predictably.

Why was it that children always manage to take their coats off and leave them with one of the sleeves inside out Ruth wondered, as she handed Whisky's lead to Malcolm and helped Thomas who was struggling to don his coat.

'See you tomorrow everyone,' she called back as they left the chaos of Rose's kitchen behind them and set off with her assorted little group in the direction of home, wondering how Harry was getting on with his drawings and hoping that he hadn't murdered Brian. With Thomas bouncing happily beside her and Malcolm in charge of Whisky, it felt good to be alive. Ruth was really happy.

'Are you coming to the wedding Uncle Malcolm?' Thomas asked him.