John had returned to Cardiff to resume shooting, which meant that some of the plans they had made were now messed up and needed to be changed. One of those was going to Glasgow to see John's family. When he called to tell his sister that they weren't likely going to make it up before their wedding, she wouldn't stand for it and insisted on bringing the kids down one weekend when he would be in London to help with packing his house. He really didn't want to put them out like that, but she wouldn't take no for an answer and John knew to never argue with her.

He managed to get a few days off about a month after going back and was currently back in London, lying in bed with Clara after enjoying a post shag cuddle. His sister would be arriving tomorrow and the likelihood of them getting more alone time was going to be slim.

"So, do you think your sister will like me?" Clara asked as she was snuggled into John's side.

"We just had sex and your first thought is my sister. Should I be worried?" He teased.

"No silly." She replied as she lightly slapped his arm. "I just want her to like me. I've never had a sister."

"She's going to love you. I'm certain of that." He said as he placed a light kiss on her forehead.

"Tell me about her."

"Well Hannah was always referred to as a happy accident by my parents. They had tried many times after me to have another child but it just wasn't happening. Then one day after they had stopped and least expected it, there she was. I was 13 when she was born, so we weren't very close growing up, but we got closer after we lost our parents. "

"And how old are the kids again?"

"Max is 8 and Heather is 5. They're really great kids and I wish I got to see more of them, but it's hard with my schedule, as you know." He said. "I'm really looking forward to seeing them tomorrow."

"Well I'm really looking forward to finally meeting them." Clara said.

"Good because it's going to be crazy around here and we're going to have zero privacy."

"Fun family crazy will be nice for a change." She said.

"That it will." He answered. "That it will."


The next day, John and Clara were packing up some stuff in the kitchen, when there was a knock at the door. John smiled and left to answer it, throwing the door open to very happy children and a tired looking sister.

"Uncle John!" Heather and Max both said when they saw their uncle.

"My favourite niece and nephew!" He replied as he bent down to hug the kids. "Come in!"

He took one of the bags his sister was holding and held the door open wider for her to enter. They set the bags down and gave each other a hug.

"Where is my future sister-in-law?" Hannah asked happily.

"Hello to you too." John replied feigning hurt. Just then Clara walked out from the kitchen.

"Hi everyone." Clara said nervously. John smiled when he saw her.

"Ohh, it's so good to finally meet you!" Hannah said as she walked over and gave her a big hug.

"You too!" Clara said, instantly feeling at ease. "I'm sorry we didn't come sooner."

"Oh, that's okay. I'm very familiar with his busy schedule." She said as she pointed at John.

"And who do we have here?" Clara asked as she looked at the kids who were being shy.

"This is Max and Heather." John said as he picked up his niece and ruffled his nephew's hair.

"Why hello there, Max." She said as she kneeled down to his level. "My name is Clara and it's very nice to meet you."

"Hi." He smiled at her, but then turned to John and hugged his leg. Clara smiled at his shyness.

"And hello to you Heather." Clara said as she stood up and smiled at the little girl John was holding.

"Hi. You have pretty hair." She said, clearly not as shy as her brother.

"Why thank you. You have pretty hair as well. It's curly just like your uncle's." She replied and smiled at John.

"Yes, but his is grey." She replied and pointed at his hair.

"Hey!" John said and Heather giggled.

"Well I happen to like his hair that colour." Clara added and winked at him.

"And thank goodness for that." His sister said.

"Alright you women. Enough with teasing the old man. Who wants to help me with the bags?" He replied changing the subject.

John and Clara got everyone settled into the guest room. Later that day Hannah and Clara settled into packing up the living room, while John decided to spend some quality time with the kids, working on his office. This gave the women a chance to get to know each other without him being around. So far things were going great between them and they were very quickly becoming fast friends. John came downstairs at one point to get the kids a drink and saw that they were both laughing so hard they didn't even notice him. Lord knew he didn't want to know what they found so funny because it was probably something he had done. But it didn't matter, it just warmed his heart to see Clara getting on so well with his family.

After a couple of hours, Max came down looking for something to eat. Hannah looked at the time and the women decided to stop for lunch, so Clara said she'd go up and get Heather and John. When she got to his office door she stopped in the door frame, unnoticed, and couldn't help but smile at the image before her. John had taken an empty box and turned it upside down to use as a makeshift table and he and Heather were sitting cross legged on the floor around it. There were some cups sitting in front of them and Heather was pretending to pour liquid into each one, while John was going right along with their tea party. Clara suddenly got a flash of him doing that with a little girl of their own and realised that there was no doubt in her mind, she wanted to have a family with him. John glanced over and saw her standing there and smiled at her, motioning for her to join them.

"Hey." She said as she entered. "I came to tell you two that lunch is ready."

"Oh goody!" Heather exclaimed as she jumped up. "Let's go Uncle John!"

The little girl ran out of the room leaving Clara and John behind.

"Tea?" He asked as he motioned toward the "table". Clara laughed and walked over to help him up off the ground.

"I'll pass for now. I thought you were packing?" She asked.

"We were and then Heather insisted we have tea. I can't say no to her, she's just so darn cute." He replied.

"And a little girl of your own would have you wrapped around her little finger, no doubt."

John just smiled at her and gave a small nod. They hadn't discussed having kids again since Clara's pregnancy scare and he really didn't want to bring the subject up now, but this comment, along with another she had made to River, told him that she might be more open to the idea now.

The rest of the weekend went by quickly. Clara was able to spend some quality time with the kids, when John and Hannah went out to find more boxes for packing. They had returned to the house to see Clara sitting on the couch with a child snuggled on either side of her, while she was reading them a story. Hannah gave John a look that told him, she was thinking the same thing as him, one day Clara would make an excellent mother.

By the end of the weekend, Clara felt more a part of John's family, especially with Max and Heather calling her Aunt Clara. They saw the little family off at the train station and went back to Clara's flat as most of the stuff at John's was now packed. On their way there their real estate agent called to say he found a couple of places that he thought might be perfect for them. As luck would have it John had a couple of more days off so they made an appointment for the next day to go and take a look.


John decided to meet Clara at the school the next day before going to look at the first house. While he was walking down the hall he spotted Danny standing in the hall talking to another teacher. He had hoped that Danny wouldn't notice him, but John had no such luck. As he got closer, Danny glanced his way and then turned back to the other man, saying something before the other teacher walked away.

"John." Danny said, once John was near.

"Danny." John replied in the same neutral tone.

"Do you have a minute?" The younger man asked.

"Not really, I'm meeting Clara." John answered.

"This will only take a second." Danny replied as he motioned to the empty classroom. John agreed and followed him in.

"Look, I don't like you." Danny said.

"Great, you brought me in here to tell me the obvious." John said as he cut him off.

"Let me finish." Danny replied and John nodded at him to go on. "I'm sorry for the things I did and the way I behaved. I was angry and jealous and couldn't see how I was hurting Clara."

John was surprised that Danny was staying true to his word to Clara and actually apologising.

"Thank you." John replied. "I know it will mean a lot to her that you've done this."

"I hope so." Danny sighed. "She's helped me realise that we would have never been a good match together. But if you ever hurt her, I will hurt you and that's a promise."

"I don't doubt that for one minute. But I won't so no worry of that." John said and extended his hand. "Truce?"

"Truce." Danny said as he shook it.

John left Danny and went to find Clara. She was sitting at her desk lesson planning, when he walked in. She looked up and smiled at him, the smile that made him feel like all was right in the world.

"Hey beautiful. You ready to go find our dream home."

"I am, but I highly doubt that we're going to find it on the first go." She said as she got up and gathered her stuff.

"Oh I don't know, I'm feeling optimistic. After all, PE just apologised to me."

"He did?" Clara asked unsure and surprised.

"He did." John replied as he took Clara's hand and the two walked out of her room.

"Well that's good. I think we can finally put that behind us." Clara responded.

"I think so. Now, let's go get us a house."

The first house they looked at was nice, but both of them agreed that they didn't feel like it was the one. It had almost everything they wanted, but there was just something in Clara's gut that told her this wasn't it. The agent took them to the next house, which was in the same neighbourhood that Clara currently lived in. The house was on a street that she had never been down and was surprised to see the homes that seemed to be sheltered and isolated by a lot of shrubbery. They walked up to a house that appeared small and quaint on the outside, but was actually much bigger when you walked inside. As soon as Clara walked in she felt at home, but didn't get excited about the place just yet. She glanced at John and it looked like he might be feeling the same judging from the smile on his face.

They walked through each room and in each place Clara got a vision of her and John. There was her and John making breakfast in the kitchen. Her and John cuddling on the couch in the living room. Her and John having a dinner party with their friends in the dining room. They moved upstairs and the same visions hit her when she walked into the master bedroom. She walked across the hall to a smaller bedroom and found John standing in the middle of it, clearly thinking about something.

"What do you think?" She asked as she entered, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"I really like it. You?"

"I love it. I feel good here." She answered, as the agent walked in.

"I have one more thing to show you." He said as he walked out of the room and the couple followed him down the stairs.

"It's hard to come by in London, especially in this neighbourhood, but you need to see this backyard."

John and Clara stepped outside and immediately smiled at each other. It was a nice sized space with what they both assumed would be beautiful gardens in the spring and summer. It looked like it could be their own little oasis during warmer months, something that many Londoners only had by going to parks.

"So what do you guys think?" The agent asked.

Clara smiled at John and nodded.

"I think we love it." John answered.

"Fantastic! I'll put an offer in and we should have an answer by tomorrow or the day after."

The group left the house and Clara looked back at it, hopeful that this was going to be their new home. She could really see it. All of it. She could see them standing at the front door bringing a baby home for the first time. Playing with kids in the yard, and reading bedtime stories. It was strange how these thoughts that once scared her were now making her happy. She glanced at John who was chatting with the agent and thought how lucky she was to have this wonderful man in her life and how much she couldn't wait for their future to happen.