Sam jumped a little when he heard the slightly annoyed wail of his daughter and opened his eyes to find her squirming naked body being held out towards him while he showered.

"She needs a wash, she's just covered herself in glory." Polly handed her to Sam and disappeared back into the bedroom to clean up the mess she had just created. As well as chucking up some of her milk onto the bed Lola had also managed to get poo everywhere. They were constantly surprised at the mess she could make, regurgitated milk, wee, poo and snot. She was little and mighty and she was disgustingly beautiful.

To say she loved a shower would be an understatement; she seemed to like it more than a bath. For some reason the water tumbling over her always soothed her and Sam often found himself clutching her slippery squirming body in the shower. The first time it happened he was terrified of dropping her and even now he held onto her with a vice like grip and it always seemed like he was the one left holding the wet baby.

He kissed and blew raspberries on her sweet little face and neck and loved how she would burrow her head into his neck, if he couldn't have Polly snuggling into his neck then he'd take Lola any day of the week. The joy was short lived however when she managed to grab hold of one of his nipples in a death grip. "Oww, Charlotte. Gentle." He whined and winced as worked to release her hand.

"What's wrong?" Polly reappeared. Sam calling her Charlotte wasn't because she was being good.

"Just her super human grip and ability to find the one piece of flesh that she can hold onto."

Polly just laughed as she leant in and pumped some soap into her hand. "You torturing your Daddy." She smiled at Lola who gurgled back at her and spluttered as she got a mouth full of water as Sam clutched her tightly. "Lucky it is so weeny. Daddy is such a softie." Rubbing her hands over her legs continued to talk to her "Let's make sure all those crevices are clean. It never ceases to amaze me how you manage to get it everywhere."

"She's a shit machine."

"I know. Lucky I was changing her on your side of the bed."

"Then I guess we will need to both sleep on your side then." Sam teased her. "So you want to be on top or on the bottom?"

"You wish Baby." Polly rinsed the soap off Lola. "Your Daddy is a silly man."

"Hey Baby, while I'm kinda busy here." He flicked Lola's legs in her direction splashing her with water. "You want to make sure all my crevices are clean?"

Polly laughed as she reached for some more soap and teased Sam with a quick once over his 'crevice'. He covered Lola's eyes with his hand. "Don't watch chicken. Mommy's being cheeky."

"You're done." She stepped back and grabbed a towel and held it out while Sam handed over Lola.

"Half done. It doesn't take much." He nodded at his groin. "You wanna finish what you've started."

"Nope." Wrapping the towel around Lola she quickly disappeared from the bathroom.

"You are on top later."

It was a brief moment, a brief happy moment on a day of overwhelming sadness. By the time Sam got out of the shower, shaved and started getting dressed Lola was already in a cute little dark green floral dress, lying in the middle of the bed absolutely fascinated with her hands and ready for her Grandpa's funeral.

He sat on the bed and talked to her while Polly got ready. Polly then took a moment to straighten his tie before pressing her lips against his and letting them linger for a moment. "I love you Baby, we both do. Whatever you need today just ask."

"Hold my hand." He whispered. "And my heart."

Hand in hand they headed downstairs. Lola nestled in her father's arms as they face the worst day of Sam's life.

The church was overflowing and Polly didn't let go of his hand. Kim had taken Lola while they greeted the congregation. Too many people wanted a piece of her and she could see that that was agitating Sam. He was unapologetically protective of his daughter and had begged Polly to get her mother to take her away from the crowd. They took Lola inside out of the cold and Adam and Gus were the ever-present bodyguards for her. Gus had come from work so was in uniform and Adam had always cut an imposing figure so people were reluctant to approach them.

Polly wasn't really sure why Sam was being so particular about it but let him go, he had to do what he needed to do today, she would tell him if he went too far but so far he just wanted to make sure that Lola was not overwhelmed by all the people milling around. He hadn't told her that over the past few days he had put up with more than enough people commenting on how shocked they were about Lola and his wedding. Now everyone wanted to see his baby and touch her and hold her and he snatched it, today wasn't about Lola it was about his Dad.

Once they were in the church Kim handed Lola back to her parents and Sam clutched her to his chest and held Polly's hand tightly as they walked up the aisle to take their seats in the front row.

Phil's oldest friend, Roger delivered the eulogy.

'Phillip John Hollister was passionate about a few things and would tell anyone who would listen. His animals, he loved his job and didn't think twice about getting up in the middle of a freezing cold winter's night to go and tend to a desperate call for help. He never stopped learning about them, loving them and helping them and his delicate touch and empathy towards them was appreciated. You could tell that by the copious amount of letters and photos that he had in his office.

It was his passion in life, helping people by helping their pets and sometimes he knew he let that get in the way of his family. He also knew he could keep doing what he did and loved because of that family.

Even if the balance got out of whack on occasions one thing Phil always knew was that the only reason he breathed was because of his wife Jolene and their four spectacular children Andrew, Lauren, Heidi and Sam. In his office there was always a photo of all of them proudly on his desk. His regular clients always asked about them because his face would light up when he talked about them.

Jolene was the love of his life, his light in the dark, his moon and stars. She was his biggest supporter and his harshest critic and he always knew when he'd gone too far or things had got too out of balance because Jolene would read him the riot act and he would scuttle away, tail between his legs, lick his wounds and go home to her waiting arms.

His children were his proudest achievement. Andrew, he was always telling anyone who would listen that you had to go to his restaurant because it was the best in town. He'd eaten things he never thought possible and coming from a meat and three veg upbringing it was way out of his comfort zone but he did it because it was Andrew. He was proud of the man he was, the man he is. If Andrew was happy, so was Phil.

Lauren was his free spirit, never one to be tied down but he'd get a tear in his eye, each and every week when she'd send him a message. 'l love you Dad and I miss you.' He missed her but loved the wonder and wanderlust in her soul. He knew she would never be tied down to one spot and he loved that about her. He loved sharing her adventures and seeing where she had been but he always reminded her to just make sure she was happy, wherever in the world she was, just be happy Loz.

Heidi was his anchor. Her gentle nature and raucous laugh filled his heart constantly. Heidi would call him up and ramble on for half an hour and when you asked Phil what that was about he would just shrug and say its just Heidi. And that's what it was. Heidi just keeping him in the loop about boys, men, skirt lengths, politics, the weather and hairstyles of the rich and not so famous. It didn't matter she just loved talking to her Dad.

Phil never expected his children to follow in his footsteps but when Sam did he was beside himself. Perhaps he wasn't always around as much as he should have been. By the time Sam came along the family camping trips and weekends away had all but disappeared. The older kids wanted to spend time with their own friends so Sam found himself immersed in his father's world of four-legged creatures. His determination to succeed was a constant source of pride for his father and he was always waiting on that next video or email about Sam's latest achievement.

If the measure of a man is in his legacy, then Phil Hollister was one hell of a man because his legacy is sitting just over there and he loved every single part of them.

Just when Phil thought he'd achieved everything in life. That he had everything he needed to be happy he got more. Noah and Lucas, his grandsons were lucky. They got a grandpa who was passionate about them and would always have them glued to his hip, down in the shed doing god knows what. He immersed himself in their life and celebrated every milestone and achievement. He was front and centre in their lives. He was immensely proud of Hudson his son-in-law and was happy that his daughter found someone with as big a heart as she had.

And then along came his princess, not so long ago. Sweet little Charlotte. Lola may not get Grandpa in the front row of her first school play, he may not get to celebrate her first tooth and see her take her first steps but she does always have a Grandpa who was head over heels in love with her. She will always have that one final photo and get to see the love in his eyes for his sweet princess. No one was happier than Phil when Sam declared he was coming home, that he'd fallen in love again and that he'd bought Polly back into their lives was just the icing on the cake. Charlotte was the cherry on top.

When I asked him one day what he wanted to be remembered for. He told me. 'I want people to think that I did okay, that I wasn't an asshole and that I'd raised good people.' And I thought fair enough and then he added. 'I want to be remembered as a man who loved his wife and his children and I want my children to be people that everyone looks up to, who are loved and adored and who are happy. That's all I want.'

Well Phil, you've knocked it out of the park. You will be remembered for all that and more. You will also be remembered as a phenomenal vet, kind generous man and the best friend a man could ask for.'

Andrew did speak briefly and behalf of his sisters and brother. "We were lucky. Mom and Dad embraced our quirks, our various personalities and our choices. They celebrated our successes and stood by us when we failed. Dad would always say that failures need to be written in sand, own them while they are there and then let the tide of tomorrow wash them away.

Nothing can wash away this pain though. We never imagined not being able to pick up the phone and have a chat; we never thought that we could send him a message or a video and that he'd never see it. He was meant to live forever. Noah and Lucas were supposed to point to him in the stands at one of their games and say that's my grandpa. Lola was supposed to slip her little hand in his and look up at him in wonder, like we all did.

"Just to indulge in myself for one minute. My Dad, one day he hugged me like I'd never been hugged before. It was the day I told him I'd met someone. He didn't bat an eyelid when I told him his name was Jason. He hugged me and told me he loved me and he was happy for me." Andrew wiped away a tear. "He lived my heartbreaks with me and I have never been more grateful for that hug that day and I remember it like it was yesterday and I am going to hang onto it, if that's ok."

It was then that he saw it, he had scanned the crowded church and found his friends, down the back but he couldn't see him. Then he did, just a few rows behind him sat Dylan with Polly's parents and brother. Gus had sought him out before the service started. He hadn't met him yet but his Mom pointed him out.

"Dylan?" He had made him jump. "I'm Gus Ruzek, nice to meet you. Mom and Dad want you to join us. You should be up near Andrew and his family."

"It's okay. I can stay back here."

"Bullshit. Andrew would want you with family. Polly would have my guts for garters if I took no for an answer." He grabbed him by the elbow and led him to the front of the church and that's where Andrew found him, sitting beside Polly's Dad, he'd only met the man a handful of times but Sam often talked about him and how much he thought of him.

"I asked him once if he loved Sam more than me because Sam was more of a man than I was and he told me that he hoped that my youngest brother grew up to be half the man I was. By the way, he is probably a touch more than half." Andrew laughed, as did half the church. "Love you little Bro."

"My sisters are my ultimate fag hags but my parents were my rocks. They embraced me for me, like they embrace Loz's need to live amongst the stars in another continent, they embraced Heid's love of story telling, some of those emergency department mishaps she shared around the dinner table still make your stomach churn and they embraced Sam's willingness to throw his whole heart into his life. They even embraced his wild side, evidence by the result of a night of 'teenage' madness that he indulged in about 12 months ago that involved a car bonnet on a freezing cold night in the zoo parking lot and nine months later we said hello to Charlotte and Dad couldn't be happier." Andrew loved that story, he loved that Sam just lived his life on his own terms and that he'd found someone who let him. More than anything he loved that half their relatives would find that horrifying, the half that found Andrew horrifying because of whom he loved.

"And to our darling Mom. We never wanted your heart to break like this, but all four of us hold a piece of it and we will help you put it back together the best we can. It's what Dad raised us to do."

Andrew, Sam, Hudson, Roger and Phil's two brothers Richard and Joe shouldered his casket out of the church followed by their mother flanked by Lauren and Heidi and Polly with Charlotte, Noah and Lucas.

"Hey Baby, can I talk to you?" Sam grabbed her hand and took her outside, fetching their coats and beanies on the way out. It was freezing so everyone was inside. As soon as they were alone Sam adjusted her beanie on her head, grabbed the collar of her coat and pulled her in for a kiss.

"You okay?"

"I want to thank you. I just want to say this, so don't interrupt me."

Polly nodded.

"I love you. You are my strength and my weakness, you are my home and you make me want to leave it each day to go to work so that I can build the home that you thrive in, that our family will grow in. You are the reason I come home. I survived without you but I never really lived until you. You hold my heart in the palm of your hand and you treasure it, you foster it, nourish it and protect it. You are holding it together right now when it is broken. You will help me mend it. You've given me the very best of you, your heart, your love and your flesh. The best thing I ever did was make a little human with you, because I couldn't imagine doing that with anyone else. I will protect her and love her until my dying breath because she is part of me and because she is part of you.

You Polly, my wife, my best friend, my biggest supporter, my rock, my healer, my guide, my sounding board, my strength and my kryptonite and my lover. Making love to you never ceases to amaze me and fill me with love and joy, every single time but some days that pales into insignificance when I wake up and you are there beside me. I love the way you look at me, I love the way you touch me, I love the way you love me and I love watching you with our daughter." He let a little sigh escape his lips and closed his eyes momentarily.

"Thank you. You told me the other day that I had all of your heart and I've felt it, every step of the way. I've felt you with me. Thank you." He held her face in his hands. "This doesn't end, this doesn't stop." His kiss was soft. "Don't say anything, not right now." Sam stepped back and grabbed her hand and led her back inside out of the cold.

It had left Polly at little stunned. It was a brief moment on a day that had broken her husband into pieces. He had fallen into her arms as they watched the hearse disappear from view but they had barely spent more than a few moments alone together and even the moment on outside was brief.

They had mingled around, waxing and waning their moments taking care of Lola. Andrew had thanked her parents and Polly for what they did for him and Dylan. It had meant the world to him, he had always worried that his family would never accept his life choice and some of them didn't, but the ones that mattered did and both Polly and Hudson were included in that.

Polly was sitting cross-legged on the bed waiting for him to come up. She'd bought Lola up a little while ago to feed her and settle her and knew that Sam would come check on them eventually so she waited.

"Can I tell you something?" Polly whispered. She patted the bed and made him sit. "Actually I am not going to say anything and I don't want you to say anything, just feel." Polly reached for his hand and laid it on her chest. "Just feel this. Feel me."

Sam closed his eyes, his breathing was slow and steady and he rested his head on her shoulder. "Do you feel it?" Polly played with the hair that curled around his ear.

"Yes."

"I've got you Baby."

"I know."

"Fall if you need to fall Sam, I'll pick you up." And a few days later he fell and Polly and Lola picked him up.