"Did you tell them you weren't coming alone?"

"Not exactly."

"Did you tell them I was coming?"

"No."

"You didn't tell them about Little miss chatterbox either?" He pointed to the backseat where Addy was looking out the window singing some song she was making up as she went along.

"Yes I did, I told them I was bringing some random child that I picked up from the Supermarket with me." Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Is this going to freak them out?"

"Well yes it is. Trust me, it's better this way. Mom will go insane if she knows, she will have a bedroom repainted, half the toy store bought and there will be no food in the fridge suitable for anyone over the age of four." Alfie peered at her from the corner of her eye and was very amused, he'd swear she was almost having a Ruzek Rant. "My Mom wants to be a grandmother. She may have discussed artificial insemination with me once, for when I am almost passed my used by date and still single. She has concerns about my ability to land a decent man."

"Really? That's intense. What about your sister?"

"My sister is not sure she wants children. She doesn't see how she can climb mountains with a baby strapped to her back and she thinks that kids are you know, bad for the environment." Quinn explained little sarcastically.

"What? How so?"

"More kids, more carbon footprint, more animals dying because you know we eat meat and more trees being cut down."

"And without kids, no more humans."

"I am not sure she cares to be honest." Quinn scoffed. "So I am my mother's only hope and you know, tick tock." He'd had figured that Quinn wasn't especially close to her sister, Isla was a free spirit apparently and Quinn rarely talked about her.

"I'm worried."

"Don't be. She will play nice this time, it's next time she will have a list of questions as long as your arm." Quinn shrugged. "And she may request a sperm count, although the cacophony of noise in the backseat proves you are capable of reproducing."

"Is that all I am to you, a genetic material provider?" Quinn had heard the full 'little fucker' story when Mae told her class about her mother's pregnancy. She laughed constantly during family dinners; they were hilarious.

"Yes, comes in a pretty package though."

"I've never had someone call it pretty before. Effective obviously, I mean it does its job but not pretty." Alfie teased her; he was loving that she was freaking out a little.

"I am not talking about that specifically, I mean all of you. You are pretty, it is not."

"Daddy is pretty." Addy chimed in from the backseat.

"Thank you Darlin'. And here I was worried that you wouldn't cope with a Ruzek family dinner, were you at all worried about me?"

"No." she scoffed. "Are you upset that I haven't told them you are coming?"

"Nope. Amused. As long as they don't mind and there is room for us."

"If there isn't, Addy can sleep with us."

"Ummm…."

"I will not being having sex with you this weekend." She replied, a little hysterically. "In my parent's house."

"You have sex with me Daddy?" Addy had impeccable timing and ears like a freakin' bat. Pity she couldn't hear her name when you wanted her to do something. Then she was deaf as a post.

Alfie saw Quinn's horrified look and nipped the whole thing in the bud. "No Adelaide. It's for grown-ups and for Daddy and Quinn."

"But we do sex all the time."

"Ummm, no we don't."

"I sex with Bug and Colt and Sam."

"Adelaide. You do not sex with Bug and Colt and Sam or me. Sleeping in someone's bed is not sex."

"Oh No." Addy sighed. "You and Quinn do sex."

"Yes Addy, now let's talk about something else."

"Who cooking Pops dinner?" Thankfully she moved on quickly albeit briefly.

"Iris and Colton."

"Oh. Do they sex?"

"Yes."

"Oh, that's good." She sighed. They weren't quite sure whether she was sighing because of the fact that Pops dinner was taken care of or she was sighing because she was happy that Colt and Iris were having sex even though she obviously did not know what it involved and the longer it stayed that way the better.

He was hoping like hell Addy had forgotten about it by the time they got to her parent's house. It was not the way to impress your girlfriend's parents when you rocked up unannounced with a four year old in tow. He did not need Addy making out like he was a paedophile, his family would laugh, he wasn't sure what Quinn's family would do, there was a good chance he might get arrested.

"Let's talk about something else please."

"Oh." She sounded disappointed, although not as disappointed as Alfie was about the startling hysterical announcement from Quinn. He wasn't spending the weekend with Quinn and refraining from getting his leg over. They didn't get a lot of time together during the week.

"Cheer up buttercup. It's only two nights." Quinn patted him on the cheek.

Meg heard the front door open and rushed up from the basement. "Mom." Quinn called out; she was surprised she wasn't waiting for her to arrive at the door. Meg didn't see her daughter as much as she liked anymore so when Quinn said she was coming home she drove her husband nuts with excitement.

"Hi Mom." Quinn laughed as she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Alfie standing behind her with Addy bundled up and still groggy after falling asleep in the car. "This is Alfie and Adelaide." She pushed him forward and Alfie knew she was nervous.

Alfie did his best not to laugh at her mother's stunned look and smiled politely instead. "It's so lovely to meet you. I apologise for turning up uninvited but Quinn assured me that you liked surprises. My grandmother would have lectured me for hours about my appalling lack of manners, but your daughter is cute and I find it hard to say no to her." Quinn wasn't the only nervous one.

"Me too. It's nice to meet you Alfie. My daughter thinks I like surprises, but no matter how many times I tell her she just keeps doing it. Anyway, welcome to our home. To you and your daughter?" He didn't miss the inflection in her voice at the end of the sentence. It was obvious it was a question and she was shocked.

Quinn took the jacket that Alfie had covered Addy with to protect her from the rain, the temperature had definitely dropped in the last hour or so and the rain had started to fall just before they got out of the car. "This is Adelaide, or Addy as she likes to be called." Quinn casually announced. "Hope it's okay that we bought her?"

"Oh, goodness, of course it's okay." Meg recovered quickly and tried to hide her surprise. This was completely unexpected; Quinn had not breathed a word that her new boyfriend had a child.

Addy was stirring but she hadn't been asleep for long enough and refused to say hello. "Sorry." Alfie tried to get her to at least say hi "She doesn't do waking up well, at least not after falling asleep in the car. Mornings are another story." She was clutching her Echidna under her arm and staring at Quinn's mom with her big brown eyes.

"Please come in." She ushered them out of the entrance hall into the lounge.

Alfie sat on the couch with Addy still hanging onto his neck for dear life and accepted the cup of coffee that Meg offered to make for him. "Go talk to your Mom, she looks freaked." He whispered to Quinn when her Mom left them. He would try and thaw Addy out.

"So surprise." Quinn giggled nervously.

"You could say that." Her Mom looked pissed. "A little bit of notice would have been nice. You know, some mention of the fact he had a daughter. Why the big secret?"

"It's not a secret and it's not what you think Mom. Firstly, Alfie is such a sweetheart, I adore him and he is such a good dad. Addy is a lovely little girl. She won't be a problem."

"I am sure they are lovely. Just some advance warning next time."

"He's her only parent." Quinn rushed to fill the silence. "Addy's mom died almost a year ago, Alfie didn't know he even had a daughter until then. She was born in Australia and he was back living in Chicago, she never told him about the baby. He found out after she died and he got a phone call from lawyer. He flew back to Australia and took custody of her and bought her back here. His family is all here." She rambled. "Alfie's parents died in a car accident when he was seven. He has three sisters, he was bought up by his grandparents and he still lives with his grandfather and his youngest sister, Iris and now Addy. They are all very close and such a great family, they help him with Addy and he works hard. He's a sweet, sweet man, I adore him and he's so kind and smart and I know he loves me."

Meg looked bemused as Quinn finally took a breath. "That's a lot of information sweetheart."

"I know." Quinn was shaking a little. At the very least she could read her mother's reaction and that was one of the reasons she wanted to tell her face to face. "It was a verbal vomit wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"Mom, I just really want you to like him. Alfie is the nicest man I've ever met."

"He seems nice but I don't really know him yet so I will take your word for it for now. He makes you happy?" Her voice was a little clipped but Quinn had faith that Alfie would win her over and it wouldn't take long for Addy to steal her heart. That was Addy's speciality.

"Very."

Addy was sitting up on her Daddy's lap. "Quinn, this is your house?" Alfie had explained to her where they were, despite telling her repeatedly that they were coming to meet Quinn's Mom and Dad. She did have the memory of a gnat when it suited her.

"It is."

"You growed up here?"

"I certainly did."

"And that your Mum?" She pointed shyly at Meg.

"It is my Mom, her name is Meg." Meg just sat and watched them interacting and liked how the little girl was responding to Quinn.

"You so lucky. I don't have a Mum."

"I am very lucky."

"I have a Daddy; you have a Daddy?"

"I do, he will be home soon and you can meet him too."

"My Alfie doesn't have a Daddy." Alfie did think it was curious that she called him Alfie, perhaps he wasn't the only nervous nelly here.

Quinn smiled a little sadly at Alfie. "I know, you are lucky you girl though. We love your Daddy." Addy hugged Alfie quickly. She did love her Daddy.

Quinn offered to take Addy when she asked to use the toilet and she was happy to hold her hand and go with her and was chatting away to Quinn. Alfie felt a little awkward being left with her mother, he had no idea what Quinn had told her in the kitchen but she did have the tendency to talk when she was nervous so he was just going to assume she gave the whole shebang.

"She's a lovely little girl Alfie."

"Thank you. I think so too, but I am biased." Talking about Addy was a good buffer. "I understand that this is a bit of a shock, I didn't know that Quinn hadn't told you we were coming or about Adelaide but we love having her in our life, both of us. I adore Quinn. I was upfront about Addy very early on, Quinn really wanted to get to know her and I love seeing them together. We are really happy." Alfie spoke at a million miles an hour. "Quinn is amazing, I am a lucky man. Addy is a lucky to have someone like Quinn in her life." It was the second verbal vomit that Meg had endured.

"We are happy to have you both here."

"Daddy." Addy bounded back into the room and cut the conversation short, he did see Quinn look at both of them in a bit of a panic, probably searching for any sign that things had gone badly. Quinn was desperate for her parents to like Alfie. "They have a pool." She flung herself at her Dad. "Can we swim?"

"Ahh, it's raining and cold." Alfie reminded her. "Like, really raining."

"I good swimming."

"I know you are but it's too cold and you don't have swimmers either."

"We go shops and buy them."

"Addy, it is too cold." Addy looked like her balloon had just been popped. "Maybe next time."

"We come back?" Quinn promised her they would be back and she begrudgingly accepted that she wasn't going swimming this time.

Meg showed them to their room and made up the bed in Isla's old room for Addy. "Will she be okay in here?"

"We will give it a go, don't go to too much trouble though, she rarely stays in her own bed all night." Alfie was nervous that Addy was going to misbehave, which she didn't often do but Addy struggled with changes to her routine, she fretted if she didn't know where she was at night and was a bit of a nervous nelly in new places.

Alfie jumped in the shower with Addy while Quinn helped her mother with dinner and Meg told her to call her father. "He will have a heart attack if he walks in on this."

"Are you okay Mom? I really want you to be okay with this." Quinn was desperate for her mother to get on board, her Dad would be fine, he worried less about things like this. "I really love Alfie. He's a really good man."

"Oh sweetheart, I am glad you are all here." She tapped her phone. "Call your father."

"Hey Dad."

"Quinn, please don't tell me this is a phone call to tell me you are still stuck in Chicago. There is a game on tonight with our name on it." Alfie had been impressed that she loved watching football as much as he did and he loved that it was a thing with her Dad. "No, I'm at home, helping Mom with dinner. What time will you be home?"

"An hour, tops."

"Okay. I can't wait to see you."

"When did you arrive? I am guessing about the time your mother stopped harassing me?"

"We got here about an hour ago."

"We?" Her Dad was quick, he picked up on her choice of words.

"Yes, Alfie came with me."

"The new man? You finally bought him?"

"Yes."

"Does he like football?"

"He does. He's looking forward to having some beers and putting his feet up and yelling at the TV with you." Quinn took a deep breath. "We also bought his daughter Adelaide with us."

"Quinn…" Joel sighed. "…is your mother flipping out?"

"A little. Dad, please don't wig out too, one of you is enough. You'll love Adelaide, she's only three and the sweetest little girl and I know you will really like Alfie."

Addy came down all dressed in her pyjamas.

"Where's your Daddy?"

"Making himself pretty." Quinn knew that was exactly what he would have told Addy. In all likelihood he was either tidying up after cyclone Addy got out of the shower or on the phone to work checking up on some animal, probably both.

Meg was worried that she didn't have food for Addy to eat, she had almost dashed to the shops already, not that she had any idea what Addy would like. She was cooking her squash and spinach Rotolo for dinner, which was Quinn's favourite. "She'll love it." Quinn assured her. "Addy doesn't like peas , mushrooms, beetroot or fish but that's about it."

Addy was listening and screwed up her nose. "It cat food."

"But you love pumpkin?"

"Yes. Daddy loves pumpkin. He makes soup." Addy declared proudly. "And pancakes for breakfast. Ohhh and bacon." This was the Addy that Quinn was used too, she was hitting her stride. "Pops is old but he cooks meat."

Quinn filled her Mom in quickly on the family dynamic. It sounded crazy when you had to explain it to someone.

"Pops is funny." Addy added. She was listening intently as she watched Meg roll up the pasta sheets. "I laugh."

"He is funny isn't he? Daddy's checking on that elephant isn't he?"

"She having baby soon." Addy couldn't wait, although it was still a good month away. "Daddy will took me when they borned." He had very pregnant first time elephant mom at the zoo and they were eagerly awaiting the new arrival.

"Speaking of animals would you like to come with me, I have something I think you will love." Meg rinsed her hands under the tap and dried them off on her apron. "Quinn can finish this."

Addy followed her happily and Quinn heard her little excited squeal. Alfie was going to kill her.

"Where's Addy?" Alfie finally reappeared. He kissed Quinn's cheek and told her the elephant was still pregnant when she asked about his phone call. "And yes I cleaned up after her. She got water everywhere as per usual. Has she been good?"

She assured him that Addy was on her best behaviour but that she was. "…down in the basement. I think that's where she will be all weekend."

"Seems harsh." He grabbed a quick drink of water and headed off to find her. "Should I be worried?"

"Yes, yes you should."

His life was over. Addy was in heaven; this was her personal nirvana. He found her sitting in the middle of the floor, Meg was sitting with her and she was covered in kittens. She could not look happier if she tried. "Here you are."

"Daddy." Addy gushed. "Look Daddy, it's kittens. Misty had kittens. This is Misty." She pointed to the mother cat sitting calmly in Meg's lap watching her babies. Surrounding Addy was six little kittens and she couldn't even sit still. "Come see Daddy. They so cute."

Sitting down behind Addy he did love watching how careful she was with them. They looked about five weeks old. "You don't mind?" Meg had asked Quinn if Addy would like to see them and she assured her that she'd love it and Alfie wouldn't mind. She had spent a lot of time with him at the zoo and played with lots of babies.

"Not at all. This is what we spend a lot of time doing."

"Daddy, I have one?"

"Sorry Darlin'." He cut her down early. "You know Pops can't have cats around." He wasn't going to tell Meg that his Pops hated cats, they just told Addy that he was allergic to them. "They are very cute though aren't they." He scooped one up and checked it out. It barely filled his hand. "Hello..." He took a quick look underneath the tail. "…Little lady."

"That's how Daddy knows, he look at her bum." Addy reliably informed Meg.

"Thank you Adelaide." Alfie sighed. She was getting a little too comfortable.

"We will probably keep her, Misty's getting a little long in the tooth to breed. I think this might be her last litter." Misty was a Chocolate Champagne Burmese and they were beautiful cats. Meg was a cat breeder. She had two females that she kept and would bring a male in to mate. It was a process that Alfie understood well. Tish, the other female was due to give birth any day now, heaven help him if she went into labour over the weekend, Addy would never leave.

"She's beautiful. She's a good Mom and these ones look great."

"She's is and very trusting. Addy is very sweet with them and Misty can sense that." Meg was surprised to see how gentle Addy was and how calm Misty was as she kept a close eye on her babies. "You've taught her well."

Alfie wasn't surprised. When he took her to meet some Tiger Cubs they had at the zoo she was beside herself and lay on the floor with them for an hour letting them crawl all over her. If it involved baby animals she had the patience of a saint, if it involved doing a chore, like picking up her toys she had the concentration span of a half chewed peanut.

"She's an animal lover that's for sure. I grew up surrounded by animals so it's nice to share that with her." He ran his hand over her back and Meg loved how attentive he was to Addy; he was very gentle and patient with her. "I think it really helped us in the beginning. It was the first place I took Addy when we first met, out to the Zoo my Dad opened in Australia. I thought that was really sweet, we had a great day."

"Quinn says that's why you choose Zoology, because of your Dad?"

"It was, initially, when he was still alive I told him I was going to be a Cop like my Pops. I think he'd be happy I changed my mind. He wanted one of us to love animals as much as he did." He handed the kitten back to Addy who put her down with the other kittens before she wiggled around and lay flat on her tummy so she could talk to them. "I am not sure we'll ever get her out of here. I suggest when we leave you do a head count to make sure they are all accounted for."

They could hear voices upstairs and assumed that Quinn's Dad had arrived. "Come on Addy, time to go leave Misty and her babies in peace."

"Okay." She was disappointed but knew the rules and didn't argue with her Dad. She also knew that she wasn't allowed to kiss them but she did say goodbye to each one of them individually and promised to come back soon. Slipping her hand in her Dad's as they climbed the stairs Meg could see why her daughter was in love with both of them. "Daddy, I love them so much."

"I'm not surprised Darlin'." It was all they were going to hear about. As soon as they were back upstairs she bolted down to the kitchen, she had certainly made herself at home and barrelled into Quinn.

"Quinn, there are kittens." Her excitement was off the charts as she bounced on her feet.

"I know, I thought you'd like them."

"I love them." She hadn't noticed Quinn's Dad standing there. "I play with them all."

"Did you? And Misty was okay?"

"Yes, oh yes, she liked me." She was so excited, Alfie had no idea how he was going to get her to calm down enough to even eat dinner, let alone go to bed.

"Hi." Alfie decided to introduce himself to Quinn's Dad since she was being monopolised right now. "I'm Alfie. Nice to meet you Mr Bentley."

Her father shook his hand and insisted that he call him Joel.

"And this is Adelaide." He rubbed her head and asked her to say hello, distracting her from her detailed description of all six kittens, she remembered every single one of them.

"Hi, I Addy. You've got kittens." When Addy was excited she would talk to anyone. "Six, you've got six."

"We certainly do."

Alfie just shrugged, there was no stopping her. "I'm sorry. She might chew your ear off about them. She's a little excited."

"So is Meg. It's her thing, I just fund it." He rolled his eyes. "Beer?" He offered Alfie a drink and he was more than happy to accept. They left the girls in the kitchen and took the beers through to the lounge and Addy was asking Meg a million questions and telling Quinn how much she loved them. Joel always sat down with a beer when he got home. He was a creature of habit and Alfie didn't mind at all.

"Quinn says you work at the Zoo?"

"I do, I'm a Zoologist and currently just finishing off my Vet's degree." Alfie had no idea how much her parents knew but he was just assuming not a lot. "Followed in my family's footsteps. My Dad was a Zoologist and his Dad was a Vet."

"They must be proud."

"I guess so. I never met my Grandfather, he died well before I was born and my Dad passed away when I was young."

Joel had no idea. "Sorry to hear that." He paused for a moment and decided to change the subject. Where'd you meet Quinn?"

"I met Quinn at my mother's charity ball. She started it more than thirty years ago. I saw Quinn at the bar, thought I'd buy her a drink and the rest is history. It was meant to be." Alfie rolled the beer bottle up and down his leg nervously and knew what was coming so thought he'd get out ahead of it. "My Mom and Dad died together in a car accident when I was seven."

"Shit Alfie, I'm sorry." Joel was genuinely shocked.

"Tough road, Quinn is the first person I've felt comfortable really sharing my past with."

"Not Addy's mother?"

"That was a strange relationship, Addy's mom isn't around anymore. She died a year ago." He shook his head a little wistfully. "Jesus, it sounds like one long miserable story doesn't it.? I'm really not that bad. Addy bought a lot of joy to my life and we love having Quinn in our world. She's amazing."

"Daddy?" Addy wandered in looking for her next victim, she had talked Meg and Quinn's ear off about the kittens and needed to tell someone else now. "I call Pops?"

"Sure."

"I want to ask him if I can have a kitten."

"I don't think so; you can tell him about the kittens but we are not getting a kitten." He pulled out his phone and dialled the number for her. Addy loved talking to Pops and every night before dinner she called him to 'see if he misses me.' And to make sure he was eating.

"Hi Pops. I miss you." She yelled. Adam didn't exactly hear well these days. "There are kittens here."

It was a very one-sided conversation for Alfie and Joel but very cute and Alfie explained that Adam would be grumpily telling her that he was allergic to cats. "He has no patience for the general public or us but his great grandchildren could get away with murder and he'd defend them until his last breath."

"Seems like a grandparent thing to do."

"It used to be us that he defended, now it's Addy and my sister's kids. Addy has three cousins and she adores them; she went from no family to all these people around her and she just loves it. She loves my Pops. He was the first person she met when I bought her home. He's 94 and we live with him and they are as thick as thieves and whenever we go away she worries about who is going to cook Pops dinner." The verbal vomiting seemed to be catching. Alfie eventually asked for the phone back, Addy would talk to him forever given the chance and Adam would hang up on her when he was done. He excused himself and spoke to Adam briefly and Adam reminded him that he hated cats.

"I'm warning you Alfred…"

Alfie laughed. He knew Adam would rant at him. "What? You'd break Addy's heart like that."

"Yes, yes I would." He really could not stand cats and had refused to have one. The kids had convinced him to get a dog once, it lasted seven years and he swore never again. Despite their claims they would help take care of it, like their mother before them it was a short lived promise, certainly a lot shorter than the dog's life.

Leaving Addy with Quinn's Dad knowing she loved a chat he wasn't surprised to come back to find her leaning up against the arm of his chair and talking to him about the kittens. It was all she could think about and before dinner she asked if she could just go see if they were okay. Addy was told she could go to the bottom step but no further and no matter how desperate she was Addy was no rule breaker. Sam broke the rules all the time and it freaked Addy out.

"Oh Alfie, I forget to ask Pops." Addy face palmed herself dramatically.

"What did you forget?"

"Who cooks him dinner."

"Bug is cooking him dinner tonight, don't worry."

"Oh thank god." She sighed with relief and Joel thought it was hilarious. Alfie had a suspicion that she'd won him over already. Meg seemed to enjoy her too and Addy was bursting at the seams during dinner and several times Alfie had to tell her to take a breath and let someone else talk.

Addy had come into their bed about 4am, slept for another couple of hours and then asked to go to the bathroom. When she didn't come back Alfie went looking for her and knew precisely where to look. Sitting on the step, in the dark, her knees pulled up to her chin. She was 'waiting for the kittens to wake up.' He actually had no idea how they were going to get her to leave tomorrow.

Making himself a coffee he joined Addy on the step and enjoyed the quiet time with her, Addy had her chin resting on his knee as she waited. He was only allowed to whisper so he didn't wake them even though all she wanted was for them to wake up. He heard someone come downstairs and left Addy watching the darkened basement for any sign of movement.

"Good Morning." Meg was surprised to see him.

"Morning. I hope you don't mind. I made a coffee. Addy is up, sitting on the step patiently waiting for the slightest movement or noise. I'm sorry."

"How cute? I'll take her down when I feed Misty and Tish."

"I think she'd feed them her own fingers if she could."

"Can I ask you something?" Meg seemed nervous. "You can tell me to mind my own business."

Alfie just nodded. He wasn't stupid, he knew he had to answer questions and subject himself to whatever grilling Quinn's parents saw fit. She'd put up with his family, it was only fair.

"I know Quinn wants to have children…"

He didn't let her finish. While it was way too early to even think about that, he was very aware that Quinn wanted children one day and he couldn't imagine only having Addy. "I don't want Addy to be an only child. I grew up with three sisters, I loved it, even though they were a pain in my butt and still are, I couldn't imagine not having them around. I really want Addy to have that opportunity too. That's all I can tell you right now."

"Okay."

"Meg, I know you are worried. I am crazy in love with Quinn, she has made me a better man and a better Dad and I love having her in my life and so does Addy. I miss her when she's not around. You've raised a beautiful daughter and I am really love watching her help Addy be amazing."

"Addy seems to really like Quinn."

"They are as thick as thieves and they have been from the moment they met; I don't get a look in some days."

Addy's shriek interrupted them and Alfie cringed. She'd heard them meowing and Misty talking back to them. Meg asked her if she would like to help her give Misty and Tish breakfast while her Daddy took Quinn up a coffee.

He put the cup on the side table and stretched out on top of his sleeping beauty and started nuzzling her neck. "Good morning." He chuckled as she tried to swat him away. "Wake up."

"It's early." Quinn refused to open her eyes. "Go away."

"I've been up for an hour."

Quinn opened one eye. "Where's Addy?"

"Give you one guess."

"With the kittens."

"Sitting on the bottom step in the dark waiting to hear them wake up. FYI they are now awake , you didn't hear her ear piercing scream? It would have woken the dead. She is feeding them with your Mum."

"How are you going to deal with this?"

He rolled off to the side when Quinn wiggled. Unless he was planning on getting jiggy with her he was heavy. "Don't you mean we?"

"Nope. I'm not breaking her heart, she loves me."

"She loves me too."

"She has to love you, you're her Daddy. She doesn't actually have to love me."

Alfie scoffed at her and told her she was talking bullshit then rolled away when he heard Addy stomping up the stairs. "Daddy. I cuddled kittens. They love me."

"I am sure they do."

"I go to the shops?"

"Not by yourself. You can't drive."

"cos my legs are too short?" They'd had this conversation many times.

"Who is going to the shops?"

"Me and Quinn's Mum and Dad. I go too?" She was hopping from foot to foot. Alfie knew better than to take her at her word. She once told him she was going out with Bug and it was news to his sister. As soon as he made a move to get up Addy shot out the door and into her room while he went down and checked that it really was Meg's idea and not Addy's.

"Is it okay if we take Addy with us?" Meg asked when Alfie appeared back downstairs.

"Well she's already getting dressed. Are you sure it's okay?" Alfie was worried that Addy was being a little too demanding. "She didn't invite herself did she? She has a tendency to do that."

"It's fine. We'd love to take her with us. We like to go for a coffee on a Saturday morning." Meg assured him. "She loved the kittens this morning and was so gentle with them. She wants to name them all."

"Typical."

Quinn bought her down, all ready to go. It would have to be the quickest she ever got dressed, although apparently her room looked like a bomb has gone off. Alfie reminded her to be a 'Djinda', and explained to Meg that it meant star in her mother's language.

"Will you look after the kittens?" She hugged her Dad as he helped her into her jacket and boots. He tugged the beanie down onto her head to make sure her ears were covered and asked for a kiss which Addy happily gave him. They come a long way since last winter when she refused to go outside.

"I think their Mummy will do that." Quinn just hoped that her parents didn't go mad with her and spoil her, that's not what Alfie wanted but she did love that they really seemed to like her and that Addy felt comfortable and confident with them as well. They suspected it was a promise to buy 'cat food' and some 'toys' for them that bolstered her confidence.

"So?" Alife's arm snaked around her waist as they pulled out of the driveway. "How long have we got?"

"A good hour."

As soon as they were through the door his hands were all over her. "Let's go warm up?"

They had certainly warmed each other up and they were both up and Quinn was cooking them some breakfast when they arrived home. Alfie didn't love the size of the bag Addy was lugging in. "What did you buy?" he groaned.

"Toys." She dumped them on the floor and showed him every single one of them. She had apparently bought a toy for every kitten and Misty and Tish as well. He asked Meg to let him pay for them but she refused.

"We've promised her that we will take photos of the kittens with their toys when they were leaving to go to their forever homes." Meg seemed completely unbothered by it. She was loving sharing the kittens with Addy and Joel just rolled his eyes. His wife was besotted already.

"Oh Adelaide." He sighed. "We'll never be invited back."

She bundled up the toys and Meg helped her take them down to the basement. "This one is for Petal."

"Who's Petal?" Alfie wasn't surprised that Addy was all over this.

Meg laughed. "I guess we now have a cat called Petal."

"Sorry."

Addy was lying prostrate and letting the kittens chew her hair and Alfie gave up. "Was she the perfect little lady?"

"Perfect. Alfie, she was lovely." Meg was worried that they had bought Addy a hot chocolate, she had insisted that her Daddy bought her one 'all the time'.

"She loves them. Thanks for taking her out, she seemed to really enjoy it. I am not sure how I am going to convince her to leave tomorrow."

Meg and Quinn took her out to the markets in the afternoon to buy fruit and vegetables while Alfie and Joel stayed home watching a game. Quinn wasn't the least bit concerned about leaving her Dad at home with Alfie unsupervised. He hadn't exactly been a fan of her previous boyfriend and she never would have left them, but he seemed to like Alfie and Alfie was no shrinking violet, he was a big boy and could put up with some ribbing.

"Daddy, we home." She charged through the door. Her face was painted to look like a cat.

Alfie rolled his head back and called out to Quinn. "Hey Quinn, babe, what did you do with Addy?"

"I'm here Daddy, it's me Addy." She jumped up and down squealing. "It's me."

"Did you lose her?"

"Daddy, it's me Adelaide." She tugged on his hand. "Alfred, it's me. Surprise. I'm a cat. Meow."

"Oh…" he sighed dramatically, clutching his chest. "I didn't see you, I thought you were a cat and they forgot to bring my Addy home."

"We tricked you." Addy thought it was hysterical. Joel and Meg watched on and loved the delight in Addy and how much Alfie responded to her, he never blew her off or ignored her. He had told her to wait until someone had finished speaking a few times but he never told her she couldn't speak. "Quinn, Daddy thought you losed me."

"Your Daddy is silly sometimes. Isn't he?"

And then Tish went into labour just after dinner and Addy was ecstatic. She came bolting up the stairs when Meg discovered that Tish was about to give birth. "Daddy." She screeched, arriving at his side breathless with excitement while he was watching a game with Joel. "Daddy. Come quick, we need you."

"What Adelaide?"

"The kittens are being borned, right now. Come…" she tugged his hand. "…quickly. Hurry up. We neeeeeed you."

"Can I watch the end of the game?"

"Noooooo….." Addy stamped her feet and almost burst into tears; she was close to a complete meltdown. "….please Daddy come, they being borned now."

She dragged him downstairs, whispering at him to be quiet and she made him sit and Addy plonked herself in his lap and watched in amazement as Tish delivered her first kitten. She was bouncing in his lap with her hand clapped over her mouth trying desperately hard to stop herself from yelling out. "Daddy…" She whispered. "…look, a kitten, Is it okay?"

"It's fine Darlin', Momma's doing a good job. Just watch quietly."

Three hours later Addy was still sitting there, counting each kitten as it was born, providing commentary along the way in the cutest little whisper. At one stage she had six of Misty's kittens crawling around her while she was watching Tish have hers. Tish finally stopped at five and they were healthy and feeding well, Tish was doing a good job as a first time Mom.

Quinn had come down a couple of times to see what was going on. She bought Alfie a beer and she knew he would be loving this as well. He had spent seven hours one night sitting up watching a Lion give birth, this was right up his alley and he would love watching it with Addy.

"Okay Darlin'. Big night for you but it's time for bed." Alfie stood her up. "Say thank you and goodnight to Meg.

"I sleep here."

"Ahhh, no. Time to clean your teeth and into bed please. Tish needs some peace and quiet with her babies. You can see them in the morning."

She gave Meg a big hug which stunned her a little. "Thank you. I love them so much. I come back in morning. Will you wake me?"

"I will sweetheart. It's been lovely having you here. It's been very exciting hasn't it?"

"Can I call Pops?" Addy asked her Daddy as they headed upstairs.

"No, he's in bed already."

"Because he's old?"

"Yes Adelaide." He pushed her gently in the direction of Quinn to say goodnight and then she hugged Joel too but not before she gushed to both of them about the kittens.

"There are five, she's a good Momma." Addy sighed dramatically. "I just love them, so much."

Meg found Addy the next morning and she was back on the top step waiting for any sign of life before dawn. She went to check if she was awake and she wasn't in her bed. Addy hadn't bothered to go into her Dad's room when she woke, she headed straight for the basement apparently. Coming downstairs she heard some whispering and smiled, Addy was talking to the cats. "I'm just going to sit here okay? I be quiet but if you need me I will be right here." Meg stood at the top of the stairs and listened to her. She was the sweetest little girl. "I ask Daddy so I can stay, some more days. I think you need my help. It's very busy now with the babies. I think Meg might like that."

Meg warmed up some milk and grabbed a rug and took it down to Addy. She rugged her up and sat with her for a little while. "Are them okay?"

"I hope so Addy. In a little while we will go have a look but it's a little early. You can stay here if you like."

"I am so happy." Addy gushed. This had been her best weekend ever.

Addy got a little confused. Meg had told her that she could 'stay here' and she took it and ran with it. She woke her Daddy up when she asked if she could go for "coffee with Meg and Joel."

"You can't drink coffee, you are too little."

"Daddy, you silly." She rolled her eyes. "Can I go?"

"Were you asked or did you invite yourself?"

"They ask me, they like me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Meg said I can stay here. Okay? I have holiday here and stay with the kittens. Okay?"

"What?" That woke Alfie up. "Addy we are going home today."

She burst into tears. "Daddy I want to stay, Meg said I stay."

"Addy you are not staying here. Sorry sweetheart but we are leaving today."

"It's not fair." She threw herself face first onto the bed, shocking herself when her chin hit Alfie's knee and suddenly all hell broke loose. She wailed and it was no longer a cry because she did get her way but because she was hurt.

"Adelaide." Alfie pulled her into bed for a cuddle. He checked her mouth to make sure she wasn't bleeding. "Shhh, you are you okay?"

"I hurt Alfie." She sobbed. "I want to stay."

"I know you do, but you can't. We need to go home, Daddy needs to go to work, Quinn needs to go to work and you have pre-school." Alfie kissed her cheeks. "Now I thought you were going out for coffee."

"Oh…" she sat up suddenly. "… I go?"

"Of course you can."

It was ugly. Meg and Joel got to see the ugly side of Addy. Not that she was all that bad but she was devastated that they had to go and wanted to stay 'just one more day'. Meg promised to send her photos of the kittens every day and that perhaps Quinn would call her and she could watch them on the phone. They would let her know when they had the chance to have a look at Tish's kittens and find out if they were boys or girls. They had to say goodbye to them though, which was a long drawn out process, saying goodbye to eleven kittens and two cats was a serious and time consuming business and she thanked Quinn's parents for letting her come. She hugged both of them and Quinn could see how much her mother was already smitten with her. Her Dad saw it too.

Addy made them a card when she got home and asked Quinn to send it to them. Her Daddy wrote out what she wanted to say and Addy wrote her name very haphazardly and drew a cat and a heart, not that it looked anything like it but that's what she told Alfie she drew. 'Dear Meg and Joel, thank you for letting me stay at Quinn's house. I love all the kittens. I will come back soon. Lots of love Adelaide.'