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'Last day of school!' Ava declared happily as she launched herself at her Aunts bed and landed on the mattress next to her.

'Urgh, Ava! Seriously?' Jac grumbled rolling onto her side to give the child a stern look.

'I'm excited' Ava shrugged in way of apology. 'Why did Uncle Jonny go to work so early?'

'Major RTA' Jac yawned sitting herself up 'he needed to go in to help coordinate.'

'Why didn't you get called in?' Ava asked, having become increasingly suspicious as to why her aunt still hadn't fully returned to work yet.

'I guess my skills weren't need' Jac mumbled in way of reply, getting out of bed and starting to get some clothes together.

'Why haven't you gone back to work properly yet?' Ava decided to just ask her aunt directly.

'I have been working' Jac answered her, searching through a draw for a t-shirt 'on the Hertzig'.

'Yeah but you haven't gone back properly, like, surgery and stuff' Ava pressed.

'Surgery and stuff?' Jac laughed at Ava's youthful turn of phrase 'and please don't randomly over use the word 'like', you know it's irksome.'

'Ok fine' Ava rolled her eyes 'why hasn't one returned in full capacity to one's employment Auntie Jac?'

'Don't be smart' Jac jestingly cuffed Ava over the head as she sat back down on the bed next to the child. 'You know I've been seeing a counsellor?'

'Yep' Ava nodded 'for the nightmares'

'Yes for the nightmares' Jac nodded 'well she doesn't think returning to the stresses of surgery would be beneficial for me at the moment so I'm still taking a bit of a break and concentrating on my research instead.'

'Don't you miss surgery?' Ava asked.

'Of course' Jac nodded 'but I'm still getting paid and I've written another paper to be published' Jac shrugged 'so I can't really complain.'

'Can I ask you something else?' Ava twisted her fingers together anxiously 'you don't have to answer it.'

'Go on then' Jac reached out a hand and lightly smoothed Ava's hair.

'What do you have nightmares about?' the question hung in the air for moment.

'I can't answer that Ava, at least not yet' Jac swallowed hard 'maybe when you're older.'

'Ok' Ava kissed her aunts cheek 'I promise I'll never ask again, you can just tell me one day, when you're ready.'

'Ok' Jac forced herself to smile reassuringly at the child 'now come on you'd better get ready for that last day of school.'

'I can't believe this time next week I'll be flying to New York!' Ava's morning enthusiasm returned in a flash.

'Don't spend an age in the shower' Jac called after the child as she bounced from the room 'it does not need to take twenty minutes.'


Jac laid on top of her husband as they stretched out together on the sofa in his office. She had caught him having a sneaky nap when she'd popped her head in to say hello after her morning therapy session. Seeing the washed out look on her face as she walked into the room Jonny had wordlessly offered his arms out to her and she gratefully allowed herself to be enveloped into them. They had lain together ever since, losing track of time.

'I wish you'd let me go the sessions with you' Jonny softly broke the silence, running his fingers through her soft silky hair as he spoke.

'You don't want to' Jac buried her head against his neck 'I've had to talk through it all so many times, you don't want to listen to all those details again and again.'

'If I had to I would' Jonny reassured her 'I would do it for you.'

'I know you would' Jac mumbled 'but I don't want you to, it hurts you to hear about it doesn't it?'

'It's not pleasant to hear you describe what that evil piece of filth did to you' Jonny agreed with her 'but I want to support you.'

'You are' Jac lifted her head to smile at him 'you always have done' she kissed him gently. 'Ava asked me what my nightmares were about this morning.'

'Och, Jac' Jonny looked at her with sympathy 'what did you say?'

'That I couldn't tell her at the moment but that I would one day' Jac traced the features of her husband face with her finger as she spoke 'I suppose its progress that I think one day I'll be able to have that conversation with our daughter.'

'I guess so' Jonny grasped hold of her hand she had on his face and kissed it tenderly 'so do you think it is helping? The PTSD stuff?'

Jac nodded 'it's helping; it's just not an instant cure.'

'You thought you a month's worth of sessions would be enough didn't you?' Jonny laughed softly as she nodded her confession 'what are we going to do with you?' he held her tightly 'you keep things so well hidden I'm surprised Dr Janette Ellison has made as much progress as she has.'

'She still doesn't believe me when I say the routine and order of the operating theatre helps' Jac grumbled.

'Well maybe after the Hertzig launch I'll try again with Guy, see if he'll let you have some theatre time' Jonny kissed the top of her head 'there has to be some perks to this job right?'

'Jonny, if you wanted to go back to just being a nurse you know I wouldn't mind don't you?' Jac asked him tentatively.

'I know' Jonny reassured her 'I know you don't really care what pay grade I am but I promised myself I'd give this director of nursing thing a go for at least a year.'

'There would be no shame in admitting you missed nursing patients' Jac pressed, wanting him know she didn't want him to stick at a job that made him unhappy for the sake of a higher pay grade.

'I do miss nursing patients' Jonny agreed 'which is why I've decided to spend more time on the wards and less time doing ridiculous paperwork in the office all day.'

'You do know you can't just shred the paperwork and pretend you never got it don't you?' Jac joked with him.

'Well I was going to burn it but I thought the smoke signal would give me away' Jonny snorted. 'I actually just pointed out to Guy the reason I took this job was to make sure Holby City Hospital has the best nurses in the country but I couldn't do that stuck in the office. I threatened to quit so he decided to hire me a PA to do most of the boring stuff for me.'

'When was this?' Jac looked at him in amazement; Jonny might have a temper but he was never one for dramatic throwing the toys out of pram.

'A few weeks back' Jonny smirked at her 'see? Living with you has taught me something.'

'Why didn't you tell me about it?' Jac brushed her lips against his, trying not to feel left out he hadn't told her or curiously jealous as to who his new PA might be.

'You had a lot on your plate' Jonny kissed her back 'sorry, I just didn't think.'

'That's ok' Jac spoke nonchalantly but Jonny could tell something was bothering her.

'It wasn't like I was intentionally keeping a secret from you Jac' he tried to reassure her.

'It's fine Jonny' Jac kissed him again 'I'm glad you've worked out a way to make things better.'

'It's already so much better' Jonny smiled at her 'how else would I have the time to do this with you?'

'I thought you'd just turned your phone off' Jac laughed.

'Och no , it's much more believable if you divert calls to your assistant and get them to tell people you're in a meeting all day' Jonny smirked.

'You're such an idiot' Jac laughed kissing him again 'but it's part of the reason I love you.'

'I love you too Naylor' Jonny laughed with surprise at her declaration for him. 'I've been thinking, you know how Ava keeps begging us to let her have her own ipad?' Jonny spoke as he ran his fingers through her hair.

'Jonny no' Jac looked at him sternly, guessing where this was heading 'I thought we'd decided she's too young and it' she kissed him quickly 'would be' she kissed him again 'spoiling her.'

'Just hear me out woman' Jonny rolled his eyes at her 'I'm thinking she can skype us from New York whenever she starts to get home sick.'

'I'm not sure, they're always warning parents about the dangers of the internet' Jac frowned at him.

'I have two counter arguments' Jonny kissed her forehead 'one; we use parental controls and two; we trust Ava because, let's face it, she's a trustworthy kid.'

'But it would be randomly giving her gift and we said we'd never spoil her however tempting' Jac held his gaze, looking stern but in reality she was starting to give in to Jonny's way of thinking.

'Maybe Michael is right, maybe she does need spoiling a little to cheer her up' Jonny cupped her face in his hands 'and maybe instead of random present buying you look at it as a half term surprise.' He watched her as she thought it through, all of Ava's friends had one and she was the only one without.

'We make her promise that she absolutely has to skype us every day she's away' Jac gave in reluctantly 'and we limit how much time she spends on it.'

'Oh absolutely' Jonny nodded in agreement, grinning at the thought of Ava's face when she opened the present.

'Sometimes I'm not sure who's the bigger kid, you or Ava' Jac rolled her eyes at him before laying her head back down on his chest.

The office door suddenly opened and a young male voice spoke 'Mr Maconie, Mr Self is looking for you and I don't think I can…' Jac looked up and saw a young man of about mid twenties stood in the door way of the office with an embarrassed look of horror on his face '... I'm sorry I didn't realise I would be… interrupting…' he spoke as he made to move out of the room.

Jac sat up and moved off her husband biting down on her lip to keep from laughing as Jonny quickly spoke 'Richard, wait this isn't what it looks like, this is Jac, my wife.'

'Hello, nice to meet you' Jac gained control over herself enough to politely offer the young man her hand 'and it really wasn't what it looks like, we weren't doing anything. We prefer on call rooms and linen cupboards for that sort of activity' she smiled sweetly.

'oh…well…its nice to meet you' Richard stuttered, blushing a deeper hue of scarlet.

'She's kidding' Jonny forced a jovial laugh whist pinching Jac's arm, warning her not to play with his PA. 'So Mr Self was looking for me…?'

'Yes, right' Richard refocused 'something about nursing levels on AAU.'

'Tell him I'll be with him in five minutes, I just want to walk Jac out to her car.'

'Sure' Richard smiled with reprieve at being able to leave the room.

As the office door shut Jac causally spoke 'so that's your PA?' but Jonny didn't miss the look of relief on her face

'Were you jealous Ms Naylor?' Jonny teased her, pulling her into his arms

'Curious, just curious' Jac didn't look him the eye as she spoke coyly 'I thought you might have gone for young, leggy and blonde.'

'I did go for young, leggy and blonde' Jonny laughed at her 'but I also opted for male to be less of a temptation for Guy Self.' He kissed her firmly 'Jac as far as I am concerned no other woman could ever come close to you so even if Richard had been a Rochelle it wouldn't make any difference to us. You don't need to worry ok?

'Ok' Jac nodded her agreement to him.

'Now how do you think he would fair at picking out ipad accessories for a twelve year old girl?' Jonny asked her.

'Probably much better than us' Jac laughed.


'…so anyway then Mr Patterson got really mad and sent Julia to Mrs Benson's office and no one has seen her since. Rumour has it she's been expelled' Ava eyes lit up animatedly as she spoke about the days scandal to Jac as they sat in a tearoom enjoying a cream tea as an end-of –half- term afternoon treat.

'Well you should never just go by rumours Ava and I think you'd have to do a lot more than just wind up the physics teacher to get expelled.' Jac smiled, amused by the child's glee at this gossip.

'But Julia's such a bully everyone knows it' Ava rolled her eyes at her aunt. 'Anyway the twins want to know if I can go over to their house on Tuesday to watch DVD's and stuff. Can I go?'

'Well we'll have to see. Will Markus be home?' Jac asked causally, still not comfortable with the idea of Ava hanging around this boy who thought of her as pretty.

'I don't know, I guess so' Ava shrugged 'so can I go?'

'We'll have to check with Uncle Jonny' Jac answered finally, hoping her husband would have some sort of reason as to why Ava couldn't hang out with her friends at a house that contained an infatuated teenaged boy.

'Ok then' Ava nodded as she piled liberal amounts of clotted cream on a scone. 'Auntie Jac if I asked you something would you promise not to tell Uncle Jonny?'

'Well that depends what it is, Uncle Jonny and I don't keep secrets from each other, you know that.'

'I do' Ava nodded, expertly placing tea spoon of strawberry jam on the top of her scone 'but this would be kind of like a white-lie secret. You'll understand why when I ask it.'

'Go on then' Jac sighed.

'Do you know who my real father is?' Ava licked the teaspoon clean of Jam. 'I don't want to meet him or anything. I don't even really want to know his name. I just wandered if you knew. '

'Oh right' Jac was a bit taken aback. She considered the child carefully. 'Why are you asking this now?'

'Just , you know all the stuff that's been going on with Uncle Jonny' Ava took a bite of her scone, chewed and then swallowed it 'and Julia was saying that my mother probably didn't even know who my father was.' Ava looked down at her tea as she spoke softly 'she said she was probably a whore.'

'Did you tell any of your teachers she said that?' Jac asked softly, making a mental note to email Mrs Benson suggesting she muzzled that evil little witch of a child.

'No' Ava looked up and stared her aunt in the eye 'because a part of me worried it was true.'

'Its not true, your mother was not a whore' Jac spoke firmly, ignoring the startled chinking of china coming from the table directly behind her 'she knew exactly who your father was but she made a choice not to put his name on your birth certificate because you belonged to her and her alone.'

'So you know his name?' Ava asked, relieved she wasn't the bastard orphan Julia described her to be.

'Yes' Jac nodded.

'Did he know about me?' Ava asked next.

'Yes' Jac nodded again, dreading the idea that Ava may want to meet this man who had categorically stated he wanted nothing to do with the child.

'Did he know my mother died?' Ava asked her next question slightly quieter.

'I don't know, I'm not sure' Jac shifted in her seat uncomfortably, wondering how she could change the subject.

'But if he did know surely he'd want to make sure I was alright wouldn't he?' Ava asked, searching for reassurance.

'Ava, I don't know' Jac lied, reaching out a hand to smooth the child's cheek 'I only know his name and that your mother wanted to bring you up alone, that's it. What does it matter if you don't want to meet him anyway?'

'I don't know' Ava shrugged 'I guess it just would be nice to know my father loved me as much as Uncle Jonny loves Amelia.'

'You are very much loved and wanted Pumpkin' Jac smiled reassuringly at the child.

'I know' Ava nodded 'I'm just curious I guess. You understand right?'

'Of course' Jac nodded, understanding perfectly that feeling of something missing when you didn't know the whole truth of your parentage. 'Maybe when you're an adult, if you want his name I'll give it to you.'

'Ok' Ava smiled as she nodded in agreement.

'Good' Jac drank the last of her tea, feeling as though she had just dodged a mine field.


'We're home' Jac called out to her husband as herself and Ava hung up their coats in the hall. 'Go and changed Pumpkin, dinner smells like its almost ready' Jac prompted the child, who happily skipped up the stairs to rid herself of the detested school uniform.

'You've been gone ages' Jonny appeared at the kitchen doorway drying his hands on a tea towel

'It was a nice afternoon so we went for a walk as well' Jac explained 'it was good, just me and her, having a chat' she kissed her husband in greeting as she pushed past him into the warmth of the kitchen. 'So did you get it?'

'Of course' Jonny indicated to gift wrapped box sat on the kitchen table. 'It turns out not only can Richard accessorise he is also a talented gift wrapper.'

'Nice bow' Jac rolled her eyes at the girly pink wrapping.

'You know I think he finds me odd' Jonny mused as he marinated the beef he was cooking for dinner.

'Jonny most people find you odd' Jac rolled her eyes as she poured herself a glass of wine.

'Well he seemed to think it was strange I actually wanted to go shopping with him to pick out a gift for my daughter, kept on saying most of his employers just left it up to him. And then we got onto the whole she's actually my niece but we adopted her scenario, and well I'm fairly convinced he thinks I'm nuts.' Jonny laughed 'I don't think meeting you helped. He kept asking all these questions about you, like as though he couldn't understand why a beautiful world class surgeon like you would have married a skinny Scottish chump like me'

'Eh well you can't influence and win them all' Jac shrugged 'it works for us and that's all that matters.'

'Yeah that and I told him no one else would have you' Jonny teased her as he put the meat back in the oven.

'Oh really?' Jac smirked as she sidled up to him 'because I reckon I could pretty much seduce any man I wanted' she kissed him.

'Yes but would they be crazy enough to stay?' Jonny joked kissing her back. 'I love you Mrs Naylor-Maconie' he spoke seriously now, looking deep into her eyes.

'and I love you' she smiled softly 'that's why it works' she kissed him tenderly, letting it linger.

'Urgh gross!' Ava complained behind them as she walked into the kitchen.

'Och you should be pleased your aunt and I still love each other this much' Jonny teased her.

'It's still gross' Ava pulled a face.

'Anyway my wee miss' Jonny excitedly walked over to the table and picked up his gift for Ava 'happy end of half term!' he exclaimed happily handing the gift to her.

'What's this for?!' Ava asked delightedly accepting the gift.

'For sticking it out at St Catherine's, for putting up with all the comings and goings in this house and because we love you and are so proud of you' Jonny kissed her cheek. 'Well go on open it' he laughed it her as she still held the present in her hands in shock. He watched her as tore away the wrappings to reveal the item she so desperately wanted.

'You are you serious?!' She squealed happily 'you're letting me have my own ipad?!'

'With a few conditions' Jac spoke firmly but with a laugh.

'I'll do anything you want' Ava declared happily hugging her uncle and then her aunt 'thank you, thank you, thank you! This is going to be the best half term ever!'