(In the current climate especially here in Britain, which sees the emergency services stretched to the limit and the security services criticised at every turn, this story which after this chapter will be concluded with an epilogue, has been my attempt to cheer myself up and put Harry and Ruth into that happy place, that sadly never happened.) Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed it.

When you're a nine year old boy and it's your birthday, the general rule is that you get to choose how you spend it. There had been the usual opening of presents after breakfast and a swim during the afternoon, but the evening was to eclipse anything that Ruth had ever seen and was to end on a moment that she would never forget. Having a birthday party on the boat, was in this instance considered to be boring, so with no idea as to the embarrassment that was to follow, Harry and Mike had dutifully done what Nico and his co - conspirator James had asked of them and had built a BBQ on the beach.

'Save me now,' he whispered to Ruth, as the sun went down and Nico announced that they had to join in with the songs that they had been singing round the camp fire the previous evening. It got worse when he and James, with what Ruth explained to Harry were supposed to be moves, broke into an out of tune rendition of 'She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes.'

He'd already endured the inevitable sausage with his steak, although Mike had made a good job of ensuring that they hadn't been burnt. He'd avoided the beans and had opted for the salad which for the first time in his life he was enjoying and was being sustained by the copious bottles of beer that Mike was producing from the cool box.

'Don't you bloody dare,' he told a now laughing Ruth who was attempting to take his photo on her phone, only to be interrupted when James and Nico went into another huddle and came out again, to announce that they had to get into teams and were going to play charades.

'Christ all bloody mighty,' was muttered for Ruth's ears only, although in truth with the help of the beers he was starting to enjoy himself. This new found happiness was unfortunately short lived, when some late night revellers and a couple of families who had heard the singing of Happy Birthday to You, decided to join the party and set themselves up as an audience. With the next announcement that this was going to be Pearce against Robinson, Harry regained his competitive streak and what was left of his dignity and gathered his loved ones around him.

Harry pretending to be a wardrobe as in the lion, the witch and the aforementioned item of furniture was so far removed from his previous life as to be absurd, as was Mike's attempt to look like Dopey from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. To the sound of what could only be described as a mixed reception, Harry and Mike went in search of some spades with which to bury themselves and to drink some more beers.

'When it comes to James's birthday, I hope you'll understand if I don't make it,' he told Mike, to which Mike's response was to say, 'he'd be lucky if he got one.'

What for Nico had been the perfect birthday ended with the inevitable paddle, a water fight and then a very slow walk home.

'Thank you for everything,' Ruth whispered, when they were finally in bed and Harry was at peace once more.

'Everything,' said a honeyed voice, that suggested that he thought that his evening was about to take a turn for the better.

'Yes, that as well, but I'm being serious Harry, so please listen to me. I'm not talking about us Harry, I'm talking about Nico. When I came back from, well just let's say when I came back, it was as a package and I know how difficult it must have been for you to take on a child. We've always loved each other you and I, so that was the easy part, but today wouldn't have happened without you and I saw the way you looked at him this morning when he was walking towards us, you were just as pleased to see him as I was. So no more pretending to be Mr Grumpy because it's a façade Harry, you love him just as much as I do.'

'Oh and by the way,' she added after a pause and handed him the letter.

It could have waited until they got home but she was desperate to see it in writing, so she'd asked Malcolm do them one last favour. The embassy had called her to say that the panel's decision had been made and that their letter of confirmation and the form for them to sign was on its way. Malcolm had called in at the house and had forwarded it to the harbour master and it was this that Harry reading. Ruth more than anyone on earth could read Harry's emotions and for anyone other than her to have expected him to cry, would have seemed so out of character as to have appeared laughable. She knew differently, this was her Harry and his reaction was the one that she had been expecting which was why she had waited until now.

'Come on, let's lie down,' she encouraged him as she snuggled beneath the duvet. He was there in a second, his head on Ruth's shoulder and cradled in her arms, safe, loved and very soon asleep. She lay there, running her fingers through what was left of the curls in his hair, savouring the moment, the intimacy that they shared and the knowledge that by the middle of the following week, they would become a family.

The time that it took them to drive home was considerably less than the time it had taken them to get there when Harry had taken the scenic route. With a promise to catch up with Mike and Sue before too long and maybe for the six of them to spend a week on the boat during the next school holidays, they had said their goodbyes. Scarlet was ecstatic when Harry and Nico called at Daisy's to collect her, although she seemed woefully short of comprehension when Nico told her he'd had a birthday and was nine. Unpacking was a fairly simple affair, they'd left a lot of their things on the boat and as Daisy had made them one of her homemade pies for their dinner, it was a reasonably quiet reintroduction to home.

The documents that they needed to sign had to be witnessed by a solicitor, at which point Nico was also required to be present. Before that though was one of those now or never moments, where there was never any doubt as to the outcome other than to Ruth who felt as though her whole life was hanging by a thread. They'd had their meal and were sitting in the garden, it felt less claustrophobic than being indoors and Harry was trying to avoid looking at Ruth's nervous hands.

'Nico, there's something that we want to tell to you,' he said taking the bull by the horns and speaking in as gentle a voice as he could muster. He made it simple, avoiding the legalities that would have been explained to an older child but giving Nico time to absorb what he was saying and to ask them questions if he wanted to. 'We both love you Nico and it's what we want to happen,' he concluded, 'but we need to know if you're happy about what I've just told you, or if you have any questions?'

'Can I tell James?' wasn't quite the response that they had been expecting, but it was obviously all they were getting and more than sufficient to make them smile.

It was the middle of July and the start of the summer holidays. James and Nico, now officially their son, were still the terrible twosome as Harry and Mike had christened them, but had gained two other friends. In order to retain his and Ruth's sanity and the once peaceful garden at Riverside, Harry had designed a designated play area that was well away from the house. It was a children's paradise, he'd even commissioned someone to build a tree house which would guarantee that four small boys armed with sufficient food and drink to sustain them, would be missing for hours.

'I've still got a trick or two up my sleeve when it comes to organising,' he told Mike and Sue one evening, after the Nico and James had disappeared with a football and they were sitting on the patio and sharing a bottle of wine. 'Now we need to think about that holiday.'