Well Ladles and Jellyspoons, the end has come.

However, since I am on such a roll tonight I have posted the first chapter of my new story too...

Anyways, thank you as always for being such cool and groovy readers and thank you especially for all the reviews

x x x x

A Perfect World

Catherine muttered under her breath as she nearly tripped over the suitcase that lay abandoned at the bottom of the stairs. It had been there since they got back from Italy three weeks ago and they had yet to put it away.

A part of her wondered if it was because it acted as a constant reminder of their vacation; if she closed her eyes she could still taste the wine Sara and her had shared their first night in Venice.

Shaking her head and sliding around the case, Cath headed for the living room to find her purse, which she had discarded on the couch earlier.

"Hey." Sara greeted, not tearing her eyes from the TV screen. "Your friend Karen, her husband's called David, right? David Carpenter?"

"She's not my friend anymore." Cat muttered, checking how much cash she had in her purse. "But yeah, why?"

"I think he's gone bust."

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised." She mused, joining Sara stood in front of the TV where a pretty news reader was stood outside Dave Carpenter's former headquarters. "I always thought he was a slippery bastard."

Brushing this new piece of information aside, Catherine turned to Sara and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"Right, I'm meeting Debs for coffee, I won't be long." She announced. "Try not to break the house while I'm gone." Sara grinned down at Lindsey, who had materialised by her side and was clinging to her waist.

"We're not promising anything."

As Catherine made her way to the door she could already hear them cooking up some new way to entertain themselves in her absence. She paused in the threshold, looking back at them with a loving smile.

The last few months had been a whirlwind but staring at her perfect family, she knew it had all been worth it.

Not normally one for believing in fate, she couldn't help but think that some higher power had been pulling some strings.

Why else would she run into Lorna of all people, having not seen her since college? Unless she had come back into her life for a reason …

… to lead her to something, perhaps?

Or perhaps because she was the one person who could get through to her. To help her see where she had gone wrong.

Either way, she was thankful for whoever had been looking out for her. Because this was it.

This was perfection.

~Fin~