"You may go at the weekend," Jean sighed as Ted asked, yet again, when he could go and see Auntie Alice, now she was out of hospital with Bobby. "Auntie Alice needs some time to get used to having a baby around, and looking after it. You know James, when he came home, he needed a lot of attention."

"Alright," he sighed, "she is ok, though, isn't she?"

"She's absolutely fine," Jean assured him, "and she has Uncle Matthew to help her."

"But what about when he goes back to work," Ted tipped his head, "will she be alright on her own?"

Jean too had wondered, if being on her own with a baby whose conversation revolved around either crying or sleeping, at the moment, would drive the new mother mad. Alice was used to having interesting conversations with people who asked sensible questions; most of the time; and Jean had offered a place at the Blake house if she ever felt the need to socialise.

Alice had said it was very kind of her; understanding Jean was not doubting her ability to care for her baby; and she may pop round, occasionally, on group days ... maybe. Jean had left it at that, sure that Alice would call for help, or just company, if she needed it.

"I'm sure she'll be just fine, but she may pop round, from time to time, for a cuppa."

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"Did Jean say she was bringing the whole tribe round?" Matthew sat watching her feed Bobby, still amazed how natural she looked and how well she seemed to have taken to motherhood.

"That's why she is coming before you head back to work," Alice smiled and stroked her son's cheek, "Julia has been asking for you and Ted has nagged her to come over and see Bobby."

"Won't it be a bit much for you?"

She raised an eyebrow and stared at him.

"Of course, silly of me to think that," he smirked, "however ..."

"Jean is unlikely to want to be waited on, any anyway, you are perfectly capable of making a cuppa, rather good in fact," she hinted.

"Want one?"

"Please."

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Neither Jean nor Lucien could work out why Ted was so keen to go and visit Alice and baby Bobby.

"I think it is just because he feels he needs to see her to be sure she is alright," Lucien sighed, "he is protective, of everyone, remember. When he first met us he needed to know if I would hit you, when I was drunk, and when Mary attacked Alice in the street ..."

"I expect you're right," she hummed and snuggled closer, "it's a good job he never sees the marks you leave on me ..." she winked.

"Are you running out of proof I love you," he traced his finger down between her breasts.

"Never, dearest doctor," she whispered, "but if you want to brand me, again ..."

'Brand' was an unusual way to describe the love bites he left on her body, but if that was what Jean wanted, that was what she would get.

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It was a rather impressive 'brand' she thought as she took her morning bath. Just over her left breast, but low enough to be hidden by her blouse, it was the largest he had bestowed on her the previous night, there were a few others ... that would teach her, she thought. She dried and dressed, brushed her hair, noting it was in need of a trim, and applied her light makeup then took James off Lucien. He had suggested he feed him while she bathed and she loved the way he took his part in the baby's care. He had changed so much since they had first met, no longer the impetuous drunk, irritating all he came across, interfering in police cases; now he was the caring country doctor, with a family who he loved with every fibre of his being, though he still did 'interfere' in police cases. Calmer, patient with the children but still driven to find justice. Jean thought she loved him more now than she did when she married him, and she didn't think that was possible.

"Are you coming with us, to see Alice?" she asked, undressing James ready for his morning wash.

"Time I did a quick check up on her, I think," he rolled out of bed and pulled on his robe, "the last one was the day she came out of hospital."

"The district nurse will have been round though," she took James into the bathroom, "though I bet she found that a bit intimidating, the nurse that is."

"Reports are," he followed her, "Mrs Lawson and baby Bobby are doing well, he is feeding and has gained weight in line with expectations."

"He wouldn't dare do anything else," Jean laughed.

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It wasn't a long walk to the Lawson's house but they still took the stroller as well as the pram. Ideally the stroller was for Julia but she was her usual stubborn self and insisted on walking, Amelia took advantage of the vacancy and allowed Granddad to push her. Jean said it didn't matter, she could always sit Julia on the end of the pram should she need a ride, "or on the shopping tray underneath."

"Really?" Lucien raised his eyebrows.

"Oh yes, especially if I have both girls and James, I can't take the stroller and pram when I am on my own."

"S'pose not," he hummed. "It will be easier when Amelia starts school won't it? Just the pram, and she and Ted can walk."

"I may have to use the car a bit more, in the beginning," she manoeuvred the pram round a large stone, "and I am going to have to get another baby seat, for James."

"Right, we'll have a look, shall we?"

Mattie had offered to do school runs when she was free, but Jean felt she couldn't rely on the nurse's kindness all the time and she should be prepared for all eventualities.

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Alice was changing Bobby when the visitors arrived. He had just been fed and would probably sleep for the next two to three hours, though being passed around may wake him. Lucien shook Matthew's hand as he let them in.

"Alright, old friend?" he grinned.

"Yeah," Mathew nodded, "very much so. Alice'll be down in a few minutes."

"How is she doing?" Jean lifted James out of the pram and smiled as Ted lifted the basket with his bottles in, "coping?"

"A natural," he beamed, "honestly, Jean I would never have believed it, if you had told me two years ago we would marry, never mind become parents."

"Funny old world," Lucien mumbled.

"That's the truth," Matthew grinned, "come on in, I'll put the kettle on."

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In the bedroom Alice checked her reflection in the mirror. Hair neatly brushed, make-up applied. A good start, she thought. She checked her blouse for any signs of Bobby's approval of his feed and decided she was perfectly presentable. The baby was settled in her arms, blissfully unaware he was about to be shown off, to meet his extended family.

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Jean looked up when she heard Alice's tread on the stairs. She smiled and the smile was returned. Alice still had some of her pregnancy weight but most of that was hidden by the loose fitting blouse over her skirt, and she looked radiant.

"Sorry we're a bit late," she laughed, "Bobby has a good appetite."

"Glad to hear it," Lucien stood up, "you look very well, Alice, motherhood suits you."

"Thank you, Lucien," she sat next to Jean and looked at Ted's eager face, "would you like to hold him, Ted?"

"Can I?" his eyes wide with wonder.

"Settle yourself back into the couch and let's get you both comfortable."

Ted hardly dare breathe as the tiny bundle was placed in his arms and Bobby's bottom was rested on his thigh, to take some of the weight off his arms.

As soon as Alice's arms were clear Amelia went over and started to climb onto her lap.

"Alright, miss," Alice laughed, "miss me?"

Amelia nodded and snuggled into her. Alice smelled different to what she remembered, now she smelled a bit like James, after his bath, and how Mama smelled. She remembered her smelling of perfume and antiseptic.

Seeing as how Amelia was settled with Auntie Alice and Ted had the baby, Mama had James, Julia tugged Matthew's trouser leg.

"Hello, gorgeous," he smiled and swung her up, "how are you?"

Julia cuddled into his neck and sighed. "'lo Uncle Maffoo," she murmured.

"Someone's tired," he smiled, "long walk?"

"Just from ours," Jean shrugged, "but she wouldn't use the stroller."

"Not changed then?"

"Not a bit," Jean agreed, "now, seeing as all are occupied, Lucien, either you make the tea or I do, and you can have James."

"I'll do it, love," her husband headed towards the kitchen, "it's one thing you allow me to do in the kitchen."

"Not even you can mess up tea, dear," she teased.

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They spent a happy couple of hours or so with the Lawson family. Bobby behaved beautifully even when he was passed from Ted to Jean, and then to Amelia.

"I never realised families were like this," Alice hummed, "I have never felt so safe and happy."

"That's good to hear," Matthew leaned over the back of the couch to kiss his wife, "got something right, then, did I?"

"Don't be silly, Matthew," Alice looked up at him, "you get many things right."

"Well," Lucien stood up, "before we go and leave you in peace, may I give you a quick check up, Alice, or would you prefer to be booked into the surgery?"

"I'll pop down to the surgery, if it's alright with you, doctor," she emphasised his title, "Matthew goes back to work this week so he won't be able to fuss."

"I do not fuss!"

"Yes you do, dear," she laughed, "but it's quite delightful fussing."

Matthew harrumphed.

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Julia agreed to be settled in the stroller on the way back so Amelia skipped happily beside papa.

"Alright, Ted?" Jean looked down on her boy, "now you've seen them."

"Yes, thank you, mum," he looked up and smiled his sunny smile, "Bobby's so small."

"He'll grow," Lucien laughed, "just like you and Julia have. and Amelia, and James too."

"I guess so," Ted hummed, "hey, mum, what's that man doing at our gate?"

Ted was right, a tall dark man was leaning against the pillar with his hands in his pockets. He was whistling tunelessly and staring into space. As he heard the sound of voices, mainly Amelia asking if she could have cake after lunch, his whistling tailed off. Jean stopped mid stride and Lucien gasped, "Jack?"

Jack pushed himself off the stonework and waited for them to come to him. He wasn't sure how he should approach Blake, but Chris had said their mother was very happy and Blake was a good husband and father. So, knowing Blake was a good doctor he had done his best to put his previous feelings of resentment and gone to ask for advice.

Lucien hoped that Jack was ready to mend his relationship with his mother and greeted him heartily and warmly, inviting him to the house where he could be introduced to the family.

Jean touched his arm, "hello, Jack," she smiled softly, "it's lovely to see you."

"Hi mum," he bent and kissed her cheek, "ok?"

"Yes, love, very much so."

She didn't really care much why he was there, just that he was and he looked healthy and prosperous, dressed in smart shirt and trousers, tie slightly loose at the neck and his jacket slung over his shoulder. Christopher had said he was well and working hard but not at what. Perhaps she would find out, if not, her son, Ted, would wheedle it out of him.

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Jack noticed the house hadn't changed much. There were children's coats on the hooks, as well as his mother's and the doctor's, a cricket bat and ball were propped up to one side and in the kitchen a high chair stood in the corner by the fridge. Aside from that the house looked much the same.

The children were strangely silent. Ted eyed him up and down and waited. He'd heard there was another son that mum had, from long ago, was this him? Amelia was always shy around strangers and stood close to Jean, Julia toddled through into the living room to find her favourite rag book - here was another person to read to her.

"Pop James in his cot, please, Lucien," Jean smiled, "he can finish his nap there."

Jack watched him take the baby from his mother and gently cradle him as he headed towards the studio bedroom.

"Tea, Jack?" Jean broke through his thoughts.

"Er, yeah, thanks," he nodded and followed her and Amelia into the kitchen. Ted followed him.

"Full house, eh?" he nodded to the children.

"These days, yes," she smiled, "cups are up there," she nodded to the cupboard. "Let me introduce you, this is Amelia, your niece, Julia is the one with the book, which she expects you to read to her, and the one behind you is Ted. Ted and Julia are mine and Lucien's, by adoption." She wasn't sure how much Christopher had told him. "Children this is Jack, he is Christopher's brother and my other son."

Apparently Christopher had told him quite a lot because when Ted stood square in front of him and asked if he was going to be nice to Jean he smiled.

"She's my mum, too, Ted," he squatted down, "I made some bad choices when I was younger, and I wasn't nice to her, but I am going to be now."

Ted chewed at his lip and decided that he'd give him the benefit of the doubt - for now.

Julia tapped his knee, "book," she waved the rag book at him and tried to get on his knee. He was so surprised he over-balanced and landed on his rear. Amelia giggled but Jean just roared with laughter. Her son was probably nearly six feet tall and he was felled by a small, auburn-haired person, barely two and a half feet tall.

"Let Jack sit down first, Julia," Ted muttered, "you don't do that to Uncle Matthew ..."

"Uncle Matthew?" Jack took the opportunity to stand up and find a chair at the table, Julia wandered off having decided that Jack wasn't going to read to her.

"Matthew Lawson," Jean set the tea on the table, "she calls him Uncle Maffoo."

Jack raised his eyebrows, he remember Lawson as a stern police officer and couldn't imagine him accepting being called 'Uncle Maffoo'.

Jean smiled, "things have changed round here, Jack," she lifted Amelia onto her knee, "I'm sure Christopher told you some of it."

"He told me you had adopted Ted and Julia and were guardians to his two, but nothing about Lawson."

"Matthew is a family friend, Jack, whatever your feelings about him or your memories," Jean pursed her lips, "he is good with our children and has a son of his own now, Bobby is two weeks old."

Jack sat back in his seat and whistled, who would have thought it?

"Well, I have to get lunch, you are staying, aren't you?"

"While I don't want to put you out mum, I have come here to speak to the doc," he started to take his cup to the sink, "I know," he held his hand up, "I've been an idiot, was stupid over the Dennison case, and I should have contacted you, but I didn't and I'm sorry. I'm glad things are working out for you, you look happier than I remember you ever looking, even when Dad was alive."

"Times were much harder then, Jack, Lucien and I, we are certainly better able to give the children more, but it doesn't mean I didn't love you and Christopher any less."

"I know mum, I know," he squeezed her elbow, "now, about lunch - what can I do to help."

Lucien had decided to let Jack and his mother talk things through before leaping to her defence, especially if she didn't need defending, and it seemed she didn't. When he heard the pots being washed he decided it was time to head into the kitchen and see if he was needed to do anything.

"Alright, Jean?" he had Julia on his hip, which Jack found faintly amusing, "anything I can do?"

"Slice the ham please, love," she laughed, "Julia get down off papa, or he can't help with lunch. Ted!" she called through to the living room, "will you set the table please, set an extra place for Jack."

"Ok mum," Ted got up from playing with his train set and went to join his mother in the kitchen.

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Over lunch they talked about Alice and Matthew, how things were so different in their small corner of Ballarat. Ted's prowess on the soccer field and he witnessed Julia's tendency to get her dinner in her hair - still! James woke for a bottle half way through and Jean took him into the kitchen to be fed. Jack watched her sway from side to side while she waited for the milk to warm, stroking his cheek and singing softly to him. She looked so serene.

"So Jack," Lucien sat back in his seat with Amelia on his knee, "what brings you here?"

"OK, it's true I do have an ulterior motive, but," he leant forward on the table, "I need your help, doc. My wife ..." he looked around the table, "tell you more later, my wife collapsed two weeks ago and has been unconscious ever since. Our local hospital has been unable to find a reason but, to be honest, I don't trust them, they didn't seem to want to do anything. Her name is Anoushka, Noush to me. I flew her from Albury, the road trip would have been too much - doc," his eyes filled with tears, "doc, she ..."

Lucien stood up and went to put his hand on his shoulder, "it's ok, son, we understand. You'll stay with us while I see what we can do for her. I take it you've taken her to Ballarat General?"

"Yeah, this morning," Jack sniffed and brushed away the tears that threatened to fall, "they've made her comfortable."

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A nurse sat next to Anoushka's bed. Lucien lifted her notes from the tray and scanned them. Jack went to his wife's side and lifted her hand to his lips, "hey, Noush," he whispered, "I've brought Dr Blake to see you, like I promised."

Lucien looked at the woman in the bed. He didn't know what he expected but it wasn't this - she was as fragile as a china doll. Elfin, fair, quite beautiful, her hair was long, braided over each shoulder to keep it out of the way.

"No x-rays," he leafed through the pages, "didn't they take x-rays?"

Jack nodded, "yeah, didn't they send them?"

"Right," Lucien dropped the file on the tray, "let's get some more done first of all." He left to organise the x-rays and some blood tests, it could be anything, from a blow to the head to an infection.

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While they waited for the x-rays Lucien quizzed Jack on the circumstances the day Anoushka had collapsed.

"She was in the field, checking the vines," he paced the floor while Lucien checked her heart rate, temperature and blood pressure, "we run a winery; I was in the office going through some paperwork, the orders for the coming year, and one of the other field hands came running in saying the missus had fainted. I took her into the house but I couldn't rouse her so I called the ambos and they took us to the nearest hospital. It's a small place, we're not in the city, and even when they called somebody in from Albury they couldn't work out why she had collapsed. Doc, I know we have had our differences but with your history I figured you would be the one to find out why and what we do. I want my girl back."

"Well, from what I see they didn't try very hard," Lucien shrugged, "ah, the x-rays," he held out his hand, "let's have a look."

There were no signs of any fractures to Anoushka's skull and her chest x-ray was clear.

"Blood results then," Lucien ran his hand through his hair, "meanwhile, you say she was checking the grapes, any marks on her hands?"

"Yeah, she does that every morning, especially as harvest approaches. We took over from the original owner, he said we knew what we were doing so he would retire - he's in his seventies - keep ownership but retain us as managers of the winery. We have a little cottage that looks over the vines ... anyway her hands, I don't think so."

Lucien inspected each hand and arm closely with a small light and a magnifying glass.

"What're you looking for, doc?"

"Puncture marks, stings, anything that could have provoked an allergic reaction. What insects do you have on the land?"

"Not much, there are mites we have to watch out for damaging the vines but apart from the usual spiders the only thing we've had recently has been mud wasps, but they're not harmful, are they?"

"Not usually but the sting is painful," Lucien move to the other arm, "it all depends on a person's sensitivity. Some people are allergic to wasp and bee stings ..."

"What happens then?"

"Well, the reaction can be anything from severe swelling around the area to shock, inability to breathe, collapse, even - sorry Jack - even death. But, Anoushka has come this far I'm hoping if it is a sting or allergic reaction, it's her body's way of fighting it."

"You know doc," Jack held his wife's hand, "if I hadn't met this lady I would still be the angry man I was when I left Ballarat that time. She may be small but she is as strong as mum and she made me see what an idiot I was and still she stayed by my side. You'd think, looking at us, how tiny she is, that I would be the one protecting her, and I try to, but ..."

"She protects you, probably from yourself, like your mother does to me."

"We're a bit too alike, aren't we, doc?" Jack smiled at him for the first time, "nothing without our girls."

"That we are Jack, that we are ... hello, what's this?" Lucien peered closer at Anoushka's arm, "nip outside and ask the nurse for some fine tweezers, please."

Lucien turned the arm to get a better look. In the crook of her elbow, on a freckle, was a tiny, microscopic mark. Any swelling there might have been had long disappeared but this looked like the site of a sting.

Jack returned with the tweezers in a kidney dish and held it out to the doctor.

"Hold that light there, steady ..." Lucien carefully and very slowly teased the sting out from the freckle and transferred it to the dish with the tweezers. He put it on the trolley and cleaned the site before checking again to see if there was anything else there. There was some redness but nothing to worry about.

"Right," Lucien straightened his back, "I'm going to give her a low dose antihistamine then I'm going to put that under the microscope."

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Lucien left Jack sitting with his wife while he headed to the morgue, where he could work in peace. He would have liked Alice to be in on this one, she was always a little less emotional about such things, but she was busy with Bobby.

He was musing on the sting when the phone rang. At first he ignored it, but then, remembering Alice was not there picked it up and listened. He smiled, "I'll be right there."

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Jack was still holding Anoushka's hand but now she was awake - just.

"She spoke to me, doc," he jumped up and grinned, "just for a second or two, but she woke up and recognised me!" He was like a small boy with a new toy, or Ted with his train set and it made Lucien smile.

"Good, very good," he went over to the bed, "Anoushka, can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can, my name is Dr Lucien Blake."

He felt the slight pressure on his hand and nodded, "a little more antihistamine I think," he patted her hand, "shan't be a tick."

Lucien was more than happy, he had solved the mystery of why Anoushka Beazley was in a coma, helped Jack and proved to the younger man that his mother was right to trust him. It was an unusual reaction, but no two patients were the same, every person on the planet was an individual, so why shouldn't she just go into a coma until someone came up with the idea that antihistamine might work? He went back into the room and administered another dose, slightly less than the first, he didn't want to take chances, and both men sat and waited.

"When she's able to leave the hospital, Jack," Lucien checked her pulse, "you must come and stay until she's ready to travel. Jean would want that, and to meet her daughter in law."

"She's got a lot to do, with the kids ..." Jack sighed.

"And when did something like that stop her," Lucien gave a little laugh, "how far do you think we would get if you went to stay in a boarding house or hotel, no," he shook his head, "come and stay with us."

"You've got a point doc," he laughed back, "and I'd like to get to know my step siblings. Ted's a quiet one."

"He's just weighing you up, checking you out. He's very protective, is Ted."

"Right."

"We'll tell you one evening."

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Jean was trying to explain to Ted why Jack had been such an angry young man.

"It was because his father was killed in the war, Ted," she sat in the sun room with him, the girls played in the garden where she could see them. "Jack was very young and he needed a father's hand to guide him. I suppose I wasn't enough, and I was sad because I had lost my husband and he just couldn't cope. He wasn't a bad boy, just lost his way, a bit. But now, now he looks happy and well, I just hope his wife is alright."

"You'll always be enough for me, mum," he wriggled closer and she put her arm round him.

"I hope so Ted, I'll do my best."

"Do your best at what?" Lucien had returned, a spring in his step.

"To be enough for Ted, because I wasn't for Jack."

"Don't think like that, Jean," he bent forward to kiss her, "times were hard then, we all lost our way to a greater or lesser extent. You couldn't be everything and everywhere, you did your best and he seems to have turned out alright."

"What's he doing, now?"

"Running a winery, as a manager," he squeezed next to them, "he and Anoushka."

"That's a pretty name," Ted climbed on Lucien's knee to make more space.

"It is isn't it? And she's a pretty lady but so tiny," his father nodded, "like a china ornament on the mantle-piece. Jack says she's as strong as you, Jean, keeps him in line, but she looks as if she would blow over in a breeze."

"Is she alright?" Jean asked.

"Hopefully, looks like a strange reaction to a mud wasp sting. She has come round but I want her to stay in hospital at least another twenty-four hours. I've suggested Jack stay here and when I release her that they both come to us until she is ready to travel, ok?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, the room we put the double in, when Ted and Julia arrived, I think," Jean made to get up, "the bed needs making and the room needs a quick dust .."

"What can I do to help?" Lucien could see there was no use suggesting she relax.

"Keep the children occupied ..."

"I'll help you mum," Ted wriggled off Lucien's knee, "I want to."

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Ted did his best with the duster, wiping down the vanity unit and the chest of drawers, though Jean did have to do the top. She handed him the bed linen from the cupboard and together they made the bed and put out fresh towels.

"Thank you, Ted," Jean ruffled his hair, "now we'd best get on with dinner."

"What're we having today?"

"Rabbit stew," Jean smiled, "one of Jack's favourites, and dad's a bit partial to it."

Ted licked his lips in anticipation, Lucien and Jack weren't the only ones a 'bit partial' to Jean's rabbit stew.

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Jack arrived home from the hospital with his and Anoushka's belongings, that had been stored in the Ward Sister's office.

He smiled at the familiar smell drifting up the hall and headed straight to the kitchen. He had to smile again at the sight of Ted doing what he used to do about the same age - help his mum prepare the dinner by cutting the peeled potatoes and carrots and throwing them into the dish, passing her things she asked for and taking utensils and plates to the sink ready to be washed.

"Something smells good," he kissed his mother's cheek, "still making the rabbit stew eh, mum?"

"Lucien is fond of it and Ted has discovered a liking for it too," she laughed, "Julia and Amelia pick out the vegetables, I think the meat is a little too strong for them, just yet. How's your wife?" she asked, "on the mend, Lucien suggested."

"Noush is going to be okay, as long as she stays away from mud wasps, it would appear," he picked up a stray slice of carrot and nibbled it, "the doc, I think, went with his gut feeling when I told him what she had been doing that day and what insects we have. He said she has an unusual sensitivity to mud wasps and will prescribe some antihistamine in case it happens again."

"That's good," Jean tipped her head to one side, "I hope you will take up the offer to stay with us before you go back."

"Thanks, mum, as long as it won't be too much ..."

Jean pursed her lips and stared at him.

"...we'd love to," he added, hastily.

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Dinner was quite relaxed, Jack told them all about how he had come to be running a winery, how he had met Anoushka and fallen in love. They hadn't been married long, he said, under a year, but the life suited them and there was room for them to start a family should then want to.

"Do you?" Jean wiped Julia's sticky fingers, "want children."

"We have discussed it but at the moment we are learning to live together as a couple, in the long run we will try," he helped himself to another potato, "if it happens that's good, but we won't be upset if it doesn't, at least we don't think so."

"Time will tell, Jack," she started to pile the plates up, "Matthew and Alice weren't planning on starting a family but ..."

"Still sounds odd to think of him as a father," Jack mused,

"He has two grown up daughters," Lucien stood to help clear the table, "they came over for the wedding, though his younger one is not happy about her father's second marriage."

"Louise was mean," Ted piped up, "she wouldn't tell me how she trained birds."

"Hm," Jean stroked his head, "don't let it bother you, sweetheart, Uncle Matthew and Auntie Alice are happy and that's all that matters."

He nodded.

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Jack headed out to spend visiting time with Anoushka, saying he would be back and they could tell him all about how they came to adopt Ted and Julia and why Ted was so protective of his family and friends.

Jean put the children to bed, fed James and settled him in his cot and Lucien listened to Ted read. They were just sitting down to their evening drinks when Jack came back, He had a broad grin on his face and accepted a whisky from Lucien.

"She's doing great, doc," he raised his glass, "thanks to you. We had a good chat for most of the hour then I saw her settled for the night and made sure the hospital know where I am staying."

"Good, sit down," Lucien smiled with relief, "we'll tell you all about Ted and Julia."

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Jack found the whole story fascinating and saddening that someone treat children they way Pat and Ramsay had treated the two children. He made a mental note that if he and Anoushka were blessed then they would love their children as he and Christopher had been and how his mother and the doctor cared so deeply for their new family.

"Well, all I can say is they are a lucky couple of kids, to have taken the milk off your doorstep."

"We feel much the same way," Lucien smiled.