Friday 31st July 2020

Jac was taking a very long time to pack her suitcases simply because Emma and Anna were sat on the bed 'helping' her and Jonny was also attempting to help. And because she was going for a full 4 weeks, she needed two suitcases to hold all of her things and the trust were picking up the tab for extra luggage.

"You two need to have an early night if you're coming with me to drop Mummy off at the airport tomorrow morning. We'll have to leave here about 3am." Jonny warned.

"I don't want to go to bed yet." Emma moaned as she sat cross legged in her pyjamas.

"You don't have to; you can have a lie in the morning to catch up on sleep." Jac stated. "I'm just gonna get some stuff from the bathroom." Jac stated before she disappeared into the ensuite.

"How long is the flight?" Anna asked curiously.

"Well, because it's all the way across the world, the flight is in two sections. Mummy will fly to Hong Kong first, then from Hong Kong to Melbourne in Australia." Jonny stated. "And from the moment she takes off at Bristol, she won't land in Australia for about 30 hours. That's a long journey isn't it?"

"That more than a day!" Emma exclaimed.

"Tell me about it." Jac remarked with a smile as she re-entered the bedroom with her hands filled with toiletries like toothpaste and shower gel, which she dumped in one of the suitcases before she returned to the bathroom to get some towels.

"What are these?" Emma asked as she and Anna leant forward and started picking up some of her things.

"They are something you don't need to worry about until you're older." Jonny stated as he took a box of sanitary products out of Anna's hands and put it back in the suitcase to Jac's amusement as she returned with two white towels.

"But when you do, Daddy'll be there to explain everything." Jac smiled sweetly.

"Explain what?" Anna asked.

"Don't confuse them." Jonny moaned.

"Will you be back before we go start school?" Emma asked.

"Yes, I'll be back a couple of days before you start. But your Dad will sort out your new uniforms and school bags." Jac stated.


"Have you got all of your medication?" Jonny asked as he and Jac packed her final few things after the twins had gone to bed.

"Yeah, I got Mr T to run my prescriptions a week early." Jac stated as she showed him the four different boxes packed amongst her many clothes.

"Just remember, if you're in pain and you just want to talk, even if it's 3am here you can call me okay?"

"I know." Jac nodded.

"I'm gonna miss you so much." Jonny stated as she zipped the suitcase closed.

"I know you are." Jac replied smugly before she stood in front of him and placed her hands on his chest. "I'm absolutely knackered, but what do you say to one last time?" Jac asked as she glanced at the bed and back.

"I say, that is a brilliant idea Mrs Maconie." Jonny said slowly and seductively. "And I'm gonna make this so special, you'll remember it so vividly so that you won't need sex for the next two weeks." He whispered as he put his hands on her hips.

"Why only two weeks when I'm only going to be gone for four?" Jac asked confusedly.

"So that when you come back to Holby, you'll be so desperate for me that you'll drag me into a bathroom at the airport when I come to pick you up." He grinned.


Saturday 1st August 2020, 5am

Jonny waved as Jac walked through the check-in gates with her suitcases being pulled by each hand and her handbag over her shoulder. The mother gave one last wave before she disappeared through the doors leaving her family behind. Jonny crouched down and gave cuddle to his daughters who – once Jac had gone – had burst in to tears.

"The time is going to fly by, alright. We're going to do so many activities together that you'll forget Mummy's not here." Jonny whispered reassuringly. "This isn't goodbye because we're going to speak to her all the time and it'll be like she never left."

"I miss her already." Emma sobbed.

"I know, but you're both just emotional because you've had very little sleep." Jonny half-heartedly chuckled as he tried to lighten the atmosphere. "Come on, you can sleep in the car on the way home." He said softly as he put his arms around their bums and then lifted them both onto his hips. He then carried his daughters away from the airport knowing that he wasn't going to be intimate with his wife for almost a whole month and that he was the primary carer of his daughters for that amount of time too.


Sunday 2nd August 2020, 10am

"Girls, I know you're upset but mummy's flight only landed in Australia five minutes ago according to the airline. She's going to be exhausted so just give her some time; she'll ring us when she can." Jonny stated as Emma and Anna sat on the carpet next to the table which had the home phone on it as they awaited a call from their mother. "And when it does ring, I'll answer it and put it on speaker for you – don't both fight over the phone." He said sternly. Though as much as he had to try to reassure his children, he too was getting anxious about the fact that he hadn't heard from his wife since she had landed in Hong Kong and even then it had only been a text to inform him that she had landed safely and that her second flight (from Hong Kong to Australia) had been brought forward by an hour so she wasn't going to leave the airport and stay in a hotel, she was merely going to go to the first class departure lounge and attempt to get some rest. "It might not even be that phone, I could be my mobile or it could be skype on the laptop or the TV."

"Do you think she's forgotten?" Anna asked.

"No, of course she hasn't. Like she could forget either of you!" Jonny laughed. "Mummy will–" Jonny was interrupted as his iPhone began buzzing on the kitchen counter. "Ooh, here we go." He smiled as both girls jumped up from the floor. "Hello? Hang on, just let me put you on speaker." Jonny smiled as he put his phone on the coffee table after sitting on the sofa and his daughters had dived on the carpet in front of him.

"Mummy!"

"Are you two driving your dad mad yet?" Jac questioned and Jonny could hear the fatigue in her voice – travelling never was her strong suit, even if she had been in first class.

"No, we've been really good." Anna stated.

"Is that right?" She asked.

"Yeah, I suppose so." Jonny chuckled. "You decided to give skyping a miss I see."

"I'll just let you imagine how I look after travelling half way around the world." Jac retorted.

"Where are you then? At the airport?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm just waiting for the luggage to arrive." Jac replied.

"Is it hot there?" Emma asked curiously.

"Er, I'm in an air conditioned room at the moment but it looks scorching outside."

"What time is it there?" Jonny asked.

"9pm." Jac stated.

"That's past our bedtime!" Anna protested.

"Mm, it's past mine as well." Jac sighed. "I just need to get my bags, get a taxi to the hotel and then crash out in a big double bed to myself without someone else taking up all the room."

"I do not take up all the room." Jonny protested.

"You practically sleep horizontally across our bed!" Jac argued which caused their children to laugh.

"Ugh, I just remembered I got work tomorrow." Jonny complained. "And I won't have my beautiful wife to keep me company."

"Ugh."

"Yuck." Emma and Anna both grimaced at the thought of her parents being romantic.


10pm

Jonny had had a lot of difficulty trying to put Emma and Anna to bed for the first night without their mother he had ended up letting them sleep either side of him in his double bed. Firstly, they had laid in bed and tried to get to sleep and because they went to bed earlier than Jonny, he had then sat on the sofa and watched some TV. But ten minutes after putting his children to bed, Emma had come out of her room with a frown on her face because she missed her mummy. Jonny had taken her back to bed, tucked her in and kissed her goodnight, but not long after she had settled, Anna had approached her father with tears rolling down her cheeks because she also missed her mother.

Jonny stared up at the ceiling with a child either side of him and he knew in the morning he'd have to slide out of bed by the footboard when he would get up for work. But he was determined that the second night without Jac was going to go much smoother than the first. It couldn't be any worse, could it?