"Wake Up Pops." They were the words that would haunt him for a long time.

Alfie flew out of his room, still half dressed as his daughter's voice got more desperate. "Wake Up, Wake Up. Pops Wake up."

He knew before he even stepped foot in the room.

He looked peaceful, the photo of his wife smiling down on him beside his bed. It was the only photo in his room. The house was littered with photos of his family but his bedroom was just for Kim.

Quietly in the night he closed his eyes, no doubt after saying goodnight to her one more time and now he was with her, at last. He was with his wife and his daughter again.

"Daddy." Addy cried, snapping him out of his inertia. "Pops won't wake up."

"It's okay Sweetheart." He flew across the room and pulled her away from his side and almost by instinct he felt his neck, hoping that he'd feel something. But he was still, everything was still and quiet, unnervingly quiet. "Pops." He bent down and kissed his forehead. A tear splashed down and he wiped it away. "I love you Pops."

"Daddy."

"Come here Addy." He picked her up. "Pops is gone Darlin'."

"Where he go?"

"To heaven to see MiMi and my Mom." Alfie held his daughter tightly against his body. "He died."

"Will he come back?"

"No, no he won't but we will always love him."

She reached up and touched his face. "You crying Daddy."

"I am."

Addy burst into tears. "Don't cry Daddy. Don't cry."

"Oh Addy." He buried his head into his daughter.

He called Gus. It was a short call, he'd said four words. "Gus, Sorry, he's gone." That was all he could say. The phone line went dead and he knew he was on his way.

Alfie took Addy downstairs, he made her some toast, put a movie on and headed straight back upstairs to Adam. Rhiannon arrived first, she was at home while Gus was across town and he'd called her the moment that his nephew's words sunk in. "Where's Daddy?" she bent down and kissed the top of the little girl's head.

"With Pops. I tried to wake him up."

They had been expecting this but that didn't make it easier or any less devastating. The past few weeks had been rough for them knowing that the end was getting so close. He had been talking more about Kim, muttering away to himself, looking at photos with tears on his cheeks. Polly started coming up more often. He called Poppy by his daughter's name. "That's Poppy." Mae would gently remind him.

"I know Mabel." He'd snap at her so she just let him go.

He would sit and talk to Quinn and tell her about Alfie growing up, his mother and father and make her promise to look after him. Riley, George and Colton all got the same talk, they had to look after his grandchildren, he was trusting them with his precious grandchildren. He'd ring Gus and beg him to come see him and he wanted to see Vivienne and Charlie. He apologised to them for not being there for them as much as he wanted too, especially when they were little. They didn't remember any of that, but they did remember that MiMi and Pops were always at their games, assemblies, graduations and birthdays. They had a special place in his heart because he never felt like he had to fix them. When he was with Viv and Charlie it was just about them and they adored him.

Viv and Charlie came to see him every day lately and would sit and talk to him about their Dad. Everyone knew this day was near. No one wanted it to come though.

One day he gave Gus his badge. "You hang onto that Dad."

"No Angus, I want you to have it. Just so you know that I'm safe, I'm okay Angus." Adam got upset with him and Gus knew why and went home and cried in his wife's arms, clutching his Dad's badge in his hand. "I love you Angus; you've been the light in my darkness for so long."

Everyone could see what was happening, Adam was getting ready to let go.

Rhiannon found Alfie sitting on the edge of Adam's bed, holding his hand. He heard someone come up but didn't look to see who it was.

"I couldn't leave him alone." He whispered quietly and Rhiannon saw his chest heave as he sobbed. She rubbed his back tenderly and rested her head on the top of his. Looking at her father-in-law she was surprised at how peaceful he looked. He'd been good to her, he was a good Dad to Angus, a wonderful grandfather to her children, an amazing guardian to her nieces and nephews and he was fun and larger than life. Angus was going to be a complete mess without him.

"Gus will be here soon."

"I didn't want to call him."

"Alfie why don't you go see Addy, I'll sit with him for a minute." She imagined he'd barely left his side.

Alfie didn't seem to hear her. "I heard Addy telling him to wake up…" she had to listen closely because he spoke so softly. "…and I knew."

"Alfie, he always said this was how he wanted to go, without a fuss."

"I didn't want him to die, not yet. I wasn't ready."

"He was."

Rhiannon heard the footstep on the stairs. Gus took them two at a time. He stood in the doorway and she wasn't surprised by the look of indescribable pain on his face. This was his Dad, he was now all alone. His Mom and his sister were gone and now his Dad, there was only him and he looked lost.

Rhiannon left Alfie's side and led Gus into the room. Alfie jumped up suddenly and hugged him before Gus dropped to his knees beside the bed. His hand shook as he reached out and touched his Dad's face. "Say Hi to Mom for me." His voice shattered and the tears finally fell.

Alfie couldn't watch.

"Have you told the girls?" Rhiannon followed him from the room and he shook his head. He couldn't do it. "I'll call them. Go see Addy."

It was three of the hardest calls she had ever made, each one worse than the last. They were devastated. Knowing it was going to happen sooner rather than later did not make it easier to hear. She called her daughter also who offered to pick up Charlie and bring him with her. Right now she wasn't leaving Gus's side.

"Are you sad Daddy?" Addy climbed into her Dad's lap as soon as he sat down.

"I am."

"Can I see Pops? Is he awake now?"

"Not right now Addy. Bus is with him."

"Is Bus sad too?"

"He is, his Dad just died."

"Like my Mum died."

"Yeah." He had no idea how to talk to her about this. He was struggling to comprehend what was happening himself.

"Are you going to die? Who will look after me?" Addy's sudden distress made her Dad cry again.

He cradled her head to his chest. "Oh Darlin'. I hope not. I want to grow old like Pops did and see you have babies and your babies have babies."

Addy didn't understand a lot but one thing she knew was her Daddy was upset and she didn't like it. She hung onto him like superglue. Alfie appreciated it, his heart was broken. He reached for his phone and tried to call Quinn but her phone rang out and went to voice mail. He couldn't leave a message so he typed a quick one. 'Call me.'

Finally he had stemmed the tears a little and then Lola arrived. Her eyes were red rimmed and she was blubbering mess when she saw her brother. "Where is he?" She dumped Sam and Billy and they didn't know what was going on.

"With Gus, up in his room."

"When? How?" Alfie could barely make out the words and Lola was struggling to speak.

"In his sleep."

She left Sam and Billy downstairs, they were a little subdued by the startling change in their mother. They could feel her distress. Mae wasn't any better when she arrived but it was Iris who was the worst. She was a complete mess and collapsed in Alfie's arms. "Oh Bug." His broken heart tore into smaller pieces, she was always going to take it the hardest because MiMi and Pops were all she remembered. "He's with MiMi and Mum and Dad now."

"No. Not yet Alfie, please." He could barely hold her up. "I didn't say goodbye."

"I know Bug, I know."

The house was in chaos and they had kids screaming around him. Poppy was screaming for her Mom, Addy was trying to comfort her and Sam was attempting to keep Billy amused. Alfie was struggling to control it. He was relieved when Colton arrived and he took over trying to calm the kids. Rhiannon came down and helped until George arrived. Poppy ran at her Daddy and Addy lost it, having her look after Poppy was the only thing keeping her together it seemed.

Alfie took her outside away from the commotion in the house as more and more people arrived. Riley came, Vivienne and Charlie were devastated when they got there and Heidi came over when she got home and saw all the cars outside the house. It was unusual for a Friday morning and she had a sense of dread.

At least she took control inside and tried to get things done and the kids calmed and occupied.

"You okay Darlin'?" Alfie sat down on the step with Addy.

"I don't like it."

"I know Darlin'. Neither do I."

"You not go away?"

"No, I'm staying with you." He tried to call Quinn again but assumed she was still with a client. He really needed her right now. She steadied him. The closer this day got the more Alfie felt like he was suffocating. Quinn had been patient when she copped some angst from him, it had upset her and he had apologised but it had been a little rough for both of them. Addy struggled also with the change in mood in the house and she had been a lot more clingy to Alfie and even told Quinn to 'be nice to my Daddy' after Quinn had told Alfie to 'grow up and stop being a dick.'

Quinn was surprised to see the missed calls and message from Alfie. He rarely called her during the day, especially if he knew she had a full day of clients. This was different and it took her a second to realise why. It may have been Addy, and she was almost wishing it was. Perhaps she'd had a fall, was sick or just wanted to talk to her because she was still asleep when he left but she knew it wasn't going to be that easy.

"Hey Babe." She tried to sound breezy but it came out strangled and when she heard him struggle to speak her heart fell through the floor. "What's wrong Alfie?"

"Pops."

"Is he okay?"

"He's gone."

"Oh, Alfie. When? Are you okay?"

"No."

"I'm on my way Baby. Are you alone?" He muttered something she couldn't understand.

She asked her colleague to take her next client who was waiting and the receptionist to deal with the rest of her appointments for the day.

They had been living together for three months. It was decided that Addy was better staying at the house than her tiny apartment so Iris and Colton moved out and Quinn moved in. It worked well for everyone and she did love spending time with Adam because she learnt a lot about Alfie and also his parents. Addy thrived with the stability of her home life but this day was coming and she never dreaded a day so much.

"Where is he?" Heidi was the first person she saw.

"He's upstairs having a shower I think." The kids were down the park. Hudson had taken them all out of the house because it was getting too much. She briefly saw Lola and Mae, Iris was in with Pops and Gus and had a quick word to them and they shed a few more tears but she almost dreaded seeing Alfie though because she hated seeing him in pain.

Alfie was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring into space. Quinn said nothing but wrapped him up in her arms and held him while he sobbed his heart out. It was gut wrenching. There was nothing she could say that would make this any better. Words weren't needed, she just had to show him how much she loved him.

"What happened?" He eventually pushed away from her a little and wiped his face.

"In his sleep. Addy tried to wake him up, I heard her and I kinda knew. I just wasn't expecting it, ya know. I didn't want Addy to see that."

"We'll look after her. I know you are not okay but what can I do?"

"Nothing. I'm glad you are here."

"I love you so much Alfie, so much. I know you are heartbroken."

"Yeah. It feels, final you know. Like Mom and Dad are really finally gone now, while Pops was still here they were too, he could talk about them and remember them and that kept them alive a little bit. That's fucked right?"

"No, no it's not. If that's how it feels, that's how it feels."

He buried his head in Quinn's lap and sobbed all over again. She never knew that's how he felt, that hanging onto Pops was his last little thread to his parents. That made this all the more shattering for her. She imagined that this was what it was like for MiMi and Pops when he was a heartbroken little boy. Adam had told him how much Alfie struggled to deal with his parents death, when it first happened and sparodically over the years when big moments came. This was hurting her more than she thought humanly possible.

Riley knocked quietly on the door; he knew that Quinn was in there with him. "They are here to take Adam." He told her quietly.

"Come on Sweetheart."

"I don't want Addy to be here."

"Addy's with the other kids. Hudson took them down the park to run around." Quinn explained and he just nodded. She had no idea whether he even heard her.

Splashing some cold water on his face he took a quick look in the mirror. "Well I look like shit."

"Who cares." She followed him out but headed downstairs when he went into Adam's room. The girls and Gus were in there, along with Vivienne and Charlie. Riley, George and Colton were waiting downstairs with Heidi and Vivienne's partner, Jackson.

"How's Alfie?"

"Finding it hard to comprehend, he's a little confused about how he should feel and he's heartbroken." Heidi informed her that Addy was doing fine and they were all having a drink and something to eat over at her house. Once the funeral home had left Hudson would bring them back.

Heidi looked at the four of them and while Lola, Mae, Alfie and Iris were closer than many families, so were their partners. If you loved one of them, you had to love them all, they all learnt that early on. Loving them also meant you had to let them get into their tight little huddle, it was up to them to circle the wagons around them and let them do their thing. Riley, George and Colton knew this, Quinn was about to learn it.

"I'm sorry it was Addy." Riley added. For a little girl to stumble in on something like that, especially when she had already dealt with the death of her mother, meeting her Dad for the first time, moving to another country and settling in to her new home at only four years of age he worried it was too much for a fragile little girl and while Addy was doing well they all knew how precarious things with her were.

"He hasn't said much about that yet, he's more struggling to deal with Pops being his last link to his Mom and Dad. That's hitting him really hard." Quinn was a little torn, she didn't know whether to stay here and be here for Alfie once they say their last goodbye or go and make sure Addy was okay. She decided to go see Addy. Alfie had his sisters and Uncle; Addy was small and alone and had the tendency to fret.

Addy's cried when she saw Quinn come in, she scrambled off the couch where she was watching a movie with Sam and flung herself at Quinn. George had come with her to check on Poppy and she was just as happy to see her Daddy.

"Quinn, is Daddy still sad."

"He is sweetheart."

"Did you hug him? I hugged him."

"I did and in a few minutes we will go back home and you can hug the stuffing out of him."

"Is Pops better?"

Alife hadn't really said much about what Addy understood. "Sweetheart, Pops died. He was very old and it was time for him to go. That's why Daddy is sad because we don't get to see Pops anymore." Quinn sat down with Addy on her lap. "Everyone is sad, Lola, Mae and Iris. Uncle Bus, Viv and Charlie all miss Pops very much. I'm sad, George is, Colt and Riley too and that's okay. We can all be sad."

"Is Alfie going away too?" The change in her language didn't go unnoticed by Quinn and she was worried she'd said the wrong thing. Maybe Alfie hadn't told her that Pops died. Her heart thudded in her chest, she would hate to make things worse.

"No, sweetheart. Daddy is staying here with us."

Addy suddenly burst into tears. "I want Alfie."

"We will go back soon."

"No, No. I want Alfie. He stay with me." Addy just wanted her Daddy and that was it. Her crying started Poppy off and Billy joined in. "Where's Alfie? I want Alfie." Quinn knew that Addy was fretting and anxious. They were always conscious of it. When she felt unsafe or if other people were upset it came out. Even randomly, when she was doing things she felt comfortable with or was staying with people she knew she would freak out sometimes and ask for 'Alfie' or 'Daddy Alfie'. It would take a few days to even her out again. The last time they heard it was when Quinn's sister came to town and stirred up a lot of shit.

"Okay." George checked with Riley and they were fine to bring the kids home. As soon as they crossed the road Addy pulled her hand from Quinn's and ran.

Alfie heard her before he saw her. The fact that she was calling him 'Alfie' worried him. "Hey, Addy. Come here Darlin'." She climbed into his lap, curled her hands up in front of her, like a tight ball and rested her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and bent down and snuggled into her. It was mutual comfort. "Daddy loves you so much Adelaide."

It was a long hard day for everyone, especially for the kids. They struggled and got frustrated and wanted attention that they weren't getting, people were coming and going and it was all too much. George called his Mom and she came and took Poppy home with her. Mae couldn't cope with her whinging at all. Riley took Billy home when Billy was ready for his afternoon sleep, he didn't sleep well out of the house and the house was noisy and the last thing they needed was a cranky toddler. He would bring him back before dinner, Lola wasn't leaving just yet and Sam wanted to stay with his Mom.

"Mom needs my help." He had told his Dad. "She needs my cuddles."

"That she does." Riley crouched down and talked to his son. "Take good care of your Mom, also keep an eye on Mae and Bug. Alfie might need a hug too."

"Addy is hugging him."

"You can help though, you're my guy." He gave his son a fist bump. "And don't forget Bus. I think you should go and give him a great big hug right now." He kissed Sam's forehead. Gus was staring out the window, looking a little lost. Riley watched Sam wrap his arms around his great uncle's legs.

Gus reached down and ruffled Sam's dark hair. He was all Riley, dark hair and bright blue eyes, dark eyelashes and a wicked smile and funny personality. He was friendly and silly and always into something. He loved climbing trees, building secret houses in the garden and making all sorts of mess. If he came inside clean they were worried and he often wigged Addy out by making her do things she didn't think she should, it was amusing to watch them negotiate with each other.

Like the time that they tried to make themselves a chocolate milk drink while Lola was feeding Billy and putting him to bed. She came back down to find Sam sitting in the lounge, watching TV and happily drinking his milk while Addy was struggling to clean up the chocolate all over the floor in the kitchen. When they had dropped the container on the floor Sam did try and help but once they decided to use a wet towel to clean it up it just made it worse and he bailed and left it to Addy. There was chocolate everywhere. As soon as Lola came into the kitchen Addy crumbled like a cookie. "I'm sorry, I tried." She was covered in just as much chocolate as the floor. Lola couldn't be angry at Addy, but Sam was a walking disaster and needed the entitled male attitude knocked out of him.

But he was also a loving little boy who melted his parent's hearts regularly.

"Bus." Sam looked up at him. "Do you miss Pops?"

"I do Emu."

"Do you need me to hug you to make you feel better?"

"Sounds perfect." He got down on his knees and hugged the little boy. He wasn't a grandparent yet but he may as well have been. Polly's tribe had filled that gap until his time came with Viv and Charlie. "Thanks Buddy."

"Do you feel better?"

"A little. I am still sad."

"Me too. I miss Pops." He added sadly. "I love you Bus."

The house kept filling as word got out. Adam had touched a lot of people's lives and while he was the last of his friends to go, all their children were certainly still connected to Adam and it was nice to see them. Food and flowers started to turn up, people they hadn't seen in years and friends and work colleagues all filtered through.

Lola spotted her as Mae snuck upstairs. She looked weary. Keeping an eye on her she noticed that George was very attentive, more than he usually was. She expected him to be a little protective and make sure she was okay, he knew how this was going to upset her and how Mae withdrew when she was hurting, but there was just something else there.

She had leant on him for a few minutes and he was talking to her quietly and then she went upstairs. Lola left her a couple of minutes and the followed her.

"You okay Monkey?" Lola found her in the spare room, lying down, eyes closed and her whole body language screamed exhaustion. She perched on the edge of the bed and rubbed her leg. "How far along are you?"

"Eight weeks." Mae figured that Lola would work it out. "I'm good Lola Bear, just really tired."

"Congratulations. I am so happy for you both."

"Thanks. Feels a bit weird, up until this morning we were so happy. We are excited and can't wait. I really wanted to tell Pops. I thought, you know that might make him hang on a bit longer." As soon as Mae started Lola cried and Mae was emotional anyway so it didn't take much, they were two blubbering messes. "We were just waiting for our scan next week and then I was going to tell him. I wish he knew."

"I know."

"Is this what if felt like losing MiMi just before Sam was born?"

"It's okay to be happy about the baby Mae."

"I don't know if I should tell everyone or not. It might be something to look forward too, a bit of joy but it's still so early." Mae hadn't even talked to George about whether or not to tell anyone. He was so strict with the three month thing with Poppy. "I mean what if something goes wrong?"

"I am not sure you will be able to hide it. You know George is going to be over protective, he already is." Lola had noticed it all morning. This was no surprise to her; she knew they had wanted another baby for a little while. "We will be there for you no matter what."

"I think I want Bug and Alfie to know."

"Do you want me to get them?"

"No, I need to talk to George first."

Lola left Mae to rest but she did ask if she could send George up. He felt a flutter of panic when Lola rested her hand on his arm and whispered Mae wanted him. "She's okay, she just wants a hug or two."

He slid onto the bed and wrapped himself around his wife, one hand on her stomach. Since the day they got the positive pregnancy test George had touched her stomach every chance he got. He'd even started talking to the baby at night. "You okay?"

"Lola knows, she figured it out."

"Of course she did." Mae rolled over to face him. He hated how sad she was, her eyes were red raw from crying all day. "You want to tell Alfie and Bug?"

"Would you mind?"

"No."

"Really? I mean last time you were so adamant."

"Well, it's different now Mae. This worries me more." He waved his arm in the general direction of downstairs. "I know the next few days will be intense and you will be here more than not, stressing out, writing lists, organising and the like. Knowing that Bug and Alfie and Lola will be keeping an eye on you and making sure you are not overdoing things eases my mind. If I can't be here, they will look after you."

"They will drive me nuts."

"Yep, so don't care."

"Didn't think you would. I think you'd get a kick out of having some allies."

George sent them all up.

"So here's some good news." Mae started and barely got the words out through her tears. "I am eight weeks pregnant."

Iris literally flung herself at Mae. "This is amazing."

"Thanks Bug." Mae gave her a watery smile. "Lola figured it out and we know it's early but all this kinda messed things up. I really wanted Pops to know, but he didn't." The tears tumbled down her cheeks. "So I wanted you to know because I love you guys so much, we've all we've got now and I know I am the luckiest unlucky person in the world."

"You know, I think he did." Alfie spoke suddenly. "He told me the other day that Mae's boobs looked big and he reckoned you were 'with child'…" He paused for a second and let that sink in. "…Yes they were his words."

"Trust him to notice that." Lola laughed.

"So, what do we call this one?" Iris was excited, it was taking her mind off everything else.

Alfie jumped in. "It's Billy's turn isn't it?" The rule had been that the last one in picked the next one. Poppy hadn't been old enough to pick Billy's animal so Sam did it and they can only imagine it was a turtle because they'd just heard a story about how Lola had found a half dead turtle on the beach that she begged their Dad to save and was devastated when it died.

"Billy barely knows that he has a turtle. He barely knows his own name." Lola rolled eyes, Billy was clueless. He was more interested in trains thanks to Alfie, most days he'd rather play with them than eat.

"True, but you know that's the rules. It's a good rule."

"What like when you chose a wombat and we hated it?"

Alfie nudged Iris playfully "Well look at our wombat, she's almost perfect."

Iris teased him. "Poppy should do it then, she missed out last time and then when Alfie puts some lead in his pencil and gives Quinn what she wants Billy can choose."

"I have lead in my pencil thank you very much. Does Adelaide ring a bell, she's the cute little Australian?"

"Or maybe Bug…."

Iris just about keeled over at Mae's suggestion. "Dealing with your mob of crackheads is a very effective contraception." The banter felt nice, it felt normal and it was a perfect little break from the overwhelming grief. They couldn't hide up here forever though, it wasn't fair to leave Gus and their partners to deal with the hordes of people.

One thing Iris had asked them early on that they all carried on like nothing had changed for her. She didn't want to be special or treated any differently because of what happened. Right now they had no idea if she could fall pregnant or not so it was better to pretend that they could. It was easier to deal with that way and the positive vibes had to help surely.

Alfie did think about what Iris had said regarding Quinn. He was very aware she wanted children and surprisingly it didn't freak him out. Even if things had changed with Addy, having her hadn't been a conscious choice on his part but he wouldn't have it any other way now. Was he ready for another though? How long was Quinn going to wait? Those questions were hard to answer, what wasn't hard was the question as to whether he wanted Quinn to be the mother of his children and that answer was yes.

The one other question he had to answer was should he take Addy home? His plan was to always go back to Australia once Pops was no longer around and he had talked about it with Quinn a couple of months ago. Now he wasn't sure. They had a life here; they had family support and Addy was settled in school. He couldn't have made it this far with Addy without his family so taking them away from the only family they had and across the world was a big decision. His parents had done it though and survived and he couldn't deny he loved it there and felt closer to his parents in Australia. Was that enough? Was the right reason? He had no idea.

Quinn found him later that night lying on the bed, face down, eyes closed but he wasn't asleep, she could tell that by his breathing. Easing herself onto the bed Quinn covered his body with hers. "Hey."

"Is Addy okay?"

"She's asleep, with Sam. Sam didn't want to go home."

"Sweet."

"It is."

"I was like that, when Mom and Dad died, I wanted to protect Bug."

"You did, you did such a good job." He was quiet and comforted by the weight of Quinn's body, the steadiness of her breathing and gentle touch of her hand through his hair. "Bug talks about it all the time."

"Yeah. I didn't know what to do." He choked back a sob. "I don't know what to do."

"Oh baby…" She pressed a little kiss behind his ear. "…it's okay to be scared and confused. It's okay to feel despair, devastation and hurt. It's okay to ask for help, for comfort and for a helping hand. You don't have to do it all, not anymore, not like you did before. You were a scared little boy then, you can do this."

"I know."

"Whatever you need Alfie, whatever, whenever, just ask. I don't care what it is, when it is. Let me help you."

"Can you help me with Addy? I'm so worried about her. She called me Alfie all day, did you hear that?" It had stressed Alfie out. Addy was still calling him Alfie now, even though she had spent most of the day with him.

"I know. She's okay at the moment, she loved having Sam stay. We'll look after her together."

Alfie tangled his arm around hers. "Stay here."

Right now he couldn't worry about what was going on outside this room. He knew Bug and Colt were staying but everyone else was leaving. When Lola left and took Sam with her they would bring Addy into bed with them. Alfie didn't want her to wake up alone, he could think of nothing worse for her. He didn't want anyone to wake up alone.

"I'm right here."

I'm sorry, I mean he was old, he couldn't live forever.