Once again thank you all so much for the reviews and I'm sorry it's been a while hopefully I'll be able to get a little more up over the Christmas period…..

But hopefully you'll still read and enjoy this…

Abby had just finished changing, ready to get into bed; she'd left Amelia and Eric smoking on the back porch, she figured they needed some 'catch up time' and as it was she was pretty exhausted.

Stopping Imogen getting run over had taken it out of her; and as much as she'd spent the rest of the day engaged in light hearted banter with her siblings and mother and the girls, the images of Imogen and the car splashing by had been running through her minds eye all day. She pulled a sweater over her head and down her body as she heard the catch on the door to Maggie's spare room click open and the door slip slowly over the carpeted floor with a swoosh. She turned as she pulled a sweater over her head to see Imogen's little face peering around the gap she'd made between the door and it's frame. Abby headed around from the far side of the bed and towards her as she took a slightly tentative step into the room and looked up at Abby.

"Hey, why aren't you asleep?" Abby asked softly as she crouched down to Imogen who, as ever, was clutching Alice to her chest.

"I waked up." Imogen said quietly looking into Abby's eyes.

"And you couldn't go back to sleep?" Abby questioned as Imogen nodded at her almost forlornly. "You want to come and sleep in my bed?" Abby offered, guessing that that had been Imogen's intent. Imogen nodded silently again as she moved towards the bed and began to clamber up as Abby pulled the sheets and quilt back for her to climb under.

Imogen snuggled herself deep into the bed, pulling a bunch of blanket up under her chin, nuzzling her head into a pillow as her thumb found it's way into her mouth. Abby made her way around the bed; flicking off the main light and exchanging it for the warm orange glow of the bedside lamp, aware of Imogen watching her every move, she got in the other side as Imogen shuffled a little. Her toes grazed Abby's leg as Abby lay down, pulling back a little as she felt Imogen's ice like feet through the cotton of her pajama pants.

"Imm, your feet are freezing." Abby said frowning a little as she reached her hand down and took hold of one of her little feet.

"I know." Imogen nodded at her taking her thumb out of her mouth momentarily. Abby pulled the blankets back off her body and moved instantly to search through her bag, after a couple of seconds she came up with what she was looking for and headed back towards Imogen, climbing back into bed.

"Give me your feet." Abby said almost conspiratorially as she brandished a pair of socks and smiled at Imogen who looked a little confused but sat up anyway, shuffling her feet towards Abby.

"There." Abby said after she'd pulled her socks onto Imogen's feet, and halfway up her legs, almost to her knees. Imogen grinned from her feet, up to Abby, back to her feet and finally back to Abby; she looked delighted with the solution as she beamed, snuggling back down into the covers, her thumb making it's way back into her mouth, occasionally she peered under the blankets to look at her feet and smiled back to Abby.

It was something that Abby would never admit to herself, but she knew really, she was aware that Imogen wasn't smiling because her feet were getting warmer, she was smiling because she had on a pair of Abby's socks, she was smiling because Abby had put them there, no one else, she looked almost proud of herself, as she lifted the covers again and looked at her feet, wiggling her toes in the green and blue and pink stripy socks that were so much too big for her, hanging off the ends of her toes. For her this was it, this was the kind of thing a Mom did, this was the kind of thing she'd always wanted someone to do for her, and her Daddy did it, he looked after her, but he wouldn't have put socks on her feet, he would have held them between his big hands until they were warm and he would have made her smile and laugh while he did it and she would have liked that, but he wouldn't have put socks on her feet. She and Lauren did all this stuff with Amelia, Amelia had, in the past, always been the one who looked after her and Lauren like this, but on so many occasions her Daddy had arrived and taken her home, which was something she always wanted but at the same time she felt like she wanted to stay with Amelia and wanted Amelia to look after her and Lauren, but Amelia had never been her Mom, she'd always been there but Imogen had always known she was Lauren's Mom, not hers. Now though that wasn't something she wanted so much anymore, she wanted Abby to do it, and Abby did do it, Abby was the first real Mom she ever had, and, for the first time in her short life, she wasn't harboring a secret desire to switch places with Lauren.

Abby smiled warmly at Imogen as she settled herself against her pillow again, moving onto her side, her body facing Imogen's as she watched Imogen take one last grinning, almost amazed look at her little feet before settling her head back on her own pillow and turning towards Abby, but she didn't shuffle in to her, which was slightly unusual, usually she would just curl up into either her or Nick, but she didn't she lay there, a little way away her dark gaze fixed on Abby's face as her smile faded slightly.

"Why couldn't you sleep Imm?" Abby asked quietly, watching Imogen watching her; she got no response. "Is something the matter sweetie?" Abby tried again, brushing a few strands of dark hair from around Imogen's face, looking from her eyes to the smattering of freckles on and around her nose, smiling involuntarily at the child in front of her; Abby had always seen Imogen as a cute kid, she'd always thought she was beautiful, but at that moment she realized just how beautiful Imogen truly was, with her deep, dark, serious gaze fixed on Abby, her long eyelashes brushing against the top of her lightly freckled cheeks as she moved her eyes down and back up; Abby knew that the day was going to come where she and Nick would have a lot on their hands as far as Imogen and boys were concerned. Imogen paused for a moment still watching Abby as she drew her hand back from Imogen's chestnut hair and Imogen slipped her thumb out of her mouth and nodded slowly, her eyes wide, almost sad all of a sudden. "Do you want to talk about it?" Abby asked gently, her eyes almost sparkling with an adoration she'd never really felt before. Imogen paused and Abby could see her thinking before she spoke.

"Are we still friends?" Imogen asked quietly, her eyes still holding Abby's as she swallowed looking a little scared of what the answer might be.

"Why wouldn't we be friends?" Abby questioned studying Imogen's face, a flash of concern entering her eyes.

"Cause I made your heart go all bumpy." She said quietly as her bottom lip looked as though it was milliseconds away from trembling uncontrollably, her eyes darting from her hands to Abby's face and back, genuine upset in her voice.

"That's why you can't sleep?" Abby asked smiling a little at her as she began to nod and her mouth pulled at the corners as her brow furrowed and her eyes shone with tears she was about to shed.

"I didn't mean to." She whispered, her hushed voice cracking as she took a deep ragged breath and blinked as the first tears escaped from her eyes and she buried her head deeper into the pillow.

Abby frowned as she watched Imogen crack, she was amazed that something like this was keeping her awake, and not only that, but it was making her cry, that she felt as guilty as she clearly did about something Abby had simply assumed was long forgotten.

"Hey, no, Immo, look, it's fine now…see." Abby said quietly as she drew Imogen's hand towards her heart, Imogen focused her gaze on her hand and sniffed, stopping her tears and balancing her breath as she concentrated her attention on the rhythm of Abby's heart.

"But I made it go all bumpy like it was going to splode before." She whispered, biting her lip as she pulled her hand back and looked up into Abby's eyes.

"Immo, I was scared before, I thought you were going to get hurt before and I didn't want that to happen." Abby tried to explain.

"But you can fix people when they get hurt, that's your job." Imogen countered, frowning a little, her voice still hushed, her eyes focused on Abby's face, Abby paused and almost smiled as she digested what Imogen said.

"Sweetie," She started sweeping a clump of fallen hair out of Imogen's eyes, frowning, taking a breath as she looked for a way to explain this. "Just because I can fix people doesn't mean that I want them to get hurt to start with, and I really don't want you to get hurt." She said quietly as Imogen's eyes looked uncomfortably away and then back to Abby's face.

"So we can still be friends?" She asked, her eyes holding a hopeful tint.

"We're always going to be friends." Abby nodded back, smiling an almost laughing smile as Imogen nodded back at her and allowed a small smile onto her lips before her thumb found it's way back into her mouth and her spare arm clutched 'Alice' tighter as she snuggled herself towards Abby. As ever in the recent past Abby did as she always did, it had been a while since the action had been anything other than automatic, less than a year ago, doing this had felt like the most awkward action in the world, now though, it was a reaction. She moved her arm as Imogen snuggled towards her and Imogen shifted her feather like body over Abby's upper arm and Abby bent her arm up at the elbow and held her forearm along Imogen's spine, her hand settling around and over the little bone of Imogen's hip as she secured her. Automatically Abby bent her head and her lips met the smooth skin of Imogen's baby soft forehead, she felt Imogen let out a quiet sigh, her body moving under Abby's arm and Abby opened her eyes to watch Imogen close hers.

There was something else Abby had noticed Imogen had started doing; not just when it was quiet time, or 'snuggle time' as Nick and Imogen had this kind of time dubbed, but she did it whenever she didn't feel quite comfortable, she'd done it earlier, when she'd been introduced to Eric, she'd done it when Amelia had been angry with Lauren earlier, she'd paused and done it when Maggie was about to put her to bed. She held the third finger on Abby's left hand, her entire fist would lock around Abby's engagement ring and she'd hold it, when she felt uncomfortable, but now, when they were talking or just being quiet, or when she was tired even, she'd play with the ring on Abby's finger. Her fingertips would tap out little beats over the rock, or she'd twirl it around Abby's finger, she'd just play with it, it was sometimes almost as if she was just checking it was still there, that it was real.

Abby watched Imogen's fingers on her finger, for a moment, before moving her eyes to Imogen's down turned face, a small smile passed over her lips momentarily as her eyes diverted back to her hand.

"Immo, is there anything else that's the matter?" She asked quietly, she figured now was as good a time as any to tackle the 'evil stepmother' issue. Imogen's head moved to look up at Abby, a little frown passing over her face as she thought for a second before shaking her head, her eyes honest.

"Are you worried about what's going to happen after Daddy and I get married?" She asked, there was no point in beating around the bush with Imogen and stuff like this, subtlety wasn't an art Imogen had mastered yet; Imogen frowned again, her face making it clear that she wasn't entirely sure what Abby was on about. "When I'm your step mom." Abby explained quietly, her eyes watching Imogen, but she didn't need to watch Imogen's face to ascertain her reaction to the prospect, she felt Imogen's little body tense up immediately and shuffle away. Abby watched, perturbed by the response; it definitely wasn't good.

Imogen tried to push herself away from Abby, but Abby held her firm, she began to wiggle and kick out slightly in an effort to escape but still, Abby didn't relent, instead she sat up still holding onto Imogen who had a decidedly upset frown on her face, her eyes looking honestly scared as tears began to spill out over her cheeks.

"Immo, listen to me sweetie." Abby said calmly as she held Imogen's now desperately wiggling body.

"No, no, Abby no." She half choked out as she continued to fight her, by no means was this a kiddy tantrum cry, her voice was nothing more than a whined whisper as she twisted her head so she didn't have to look at Abby, and her chest heaved. Abby was genuinely shocked by just how desperate Imogen was not to discuss this, or think about it or register it even.

"Immo, hey, Imm, it's ok, it's ok." Abby told her, her voice hushed as she twisted to try to get Imogen to look at her.

"No Mommy." Imogen cried, still desperately trying to pull herself away, She didn't have to try very hard though as disbelief spread over Abby's face; she released her grip on Imogen who flew off the bed and headed instantly to the door, still crying; she began to pull at the door handle. It didn't take long for Abby to regain her composure and slip off the bed, heading towards Imogen who was tugging angrily at the door; pulling at it with every ounce of strength she could muster in an effort to run away from this, but the handle was sticky and she was too desperate to stop and think about how to get it open, after a second more Abby was crouched by her side and she gave up, her arms dropping limply to her sides, her cheeks stained with old and new tears.

Tentatively Abby reached one hand out and brushed at a fat tear snaking it's way down Imogen's cheek with her thumb. Imogen swallowed hard and looked towards Abby, her eyes red and shiny in their dark irises.

"What did you just call me?" Abby asked her eyes serious as she watched Imogen, who sniffed and rubbed at her eye before whispering her reply.

"Abby" Imogen whispered forlornly. Abby held her eyes as she began to shake her head, telling Imogen that she hadn't just called her 'Abby'.

"No Immo, you didn't call me Abby, tell me what you called me." She said quietly, her voice calm as she crouched in front of Imogen, her eyes still serious as she watched Imogen lower her head.

Imogen stayed silent, she twisted her head away from Abby letting out a small squeak of desperation as the muscles in her torso tensed and the dip between her collar bones hollowed eerily. Her breaths verged on erratic in her upset; she looked at the door, and then away, over at the other side of the room, then at the carpet, and away again; desperate to avoid Abby's eyes.

"Imm, tell me." Abby whispered again, her head moving with Imogen's, attempting to catch her gaze, the rest of her body almost rigid as she crouched in front of Imogen, holding her arms, her eyes shining with emotional anticipation as her brow furrowed. "Immo, tell me." She almost begged.

The tears continued to stream down Imogen's cheeks as she shivered and shook, partly from the emotions coursing through her body and partly because not only did Maggie believe in uncomfortable beds but she appeared also to have developed a disbelief in heating. Never the less, Abby crouched there, holding her arms, still moving her head, trying to see Imogen's eyes.

"Honey, tell me." She asked again.

This wasn't for Imogen, and it was harsh, but something had clicked inside Abby when Imogen had called her 'mommy', it wasn't a flash of lightning, it wasn't a thunderbolt, it wasn't a light bulb switching on inside of her. She just, she wanted to hear her say it again, she wanted to hear her say it a lot, it sounded astonishing to Abby's ears, it sounded amazing. It sounded like something Imogen wanted to say and Abby wouldn't mind hearing.

Imogen mumbled, and all Abby caught was a whispered, almost inaudible.

"memerd"

"Imm, sweetie, tell me." She said in an earnest, quiet voice as she watched Imogen raise her head, rubbing her fist against her little padded cheek, reducing the waterfall cascading over the rim of her eyes as she sniffed.

"The 'M' word." Imogen admitted, looking into the pools of Abby's eyes. A smile almost crossed Abby's lips as she looked into the little girls eyes; her grip on Imogen's arms loosened as she rolled her legs underneath her, landing herself in a cross-legged position on the floor beside the door. Imogen quickly followed her, curling herself into a smaller cross-legged version of Abby.

Abby's lips twitched as she watched Imogen's still shivering body curl herself around itself, the 'M' word in Abby's mind likened it to the 'F' word, that, Imogen definitely wasn't allowed to say, that, along with at least three 'B' words, a 'W' word, a couple of 'A' words Abby could think of.

The only thing was that the 'M' word Imogen was talking about wasn't actually something she shouldn't say. There was an element of pride in Abby's mind that went along with the 'mother' reference. Manic Maggie aside, she only ever called Maggie 'Mom' when she was being a 'Mom', when she was being the mother she always could have been, then, and when she was trying to get a point across, but then it was more of a pointed 'mother' reference. A frown curled over her lips as she thought, likening the manner in which Imogen was using the word was entirely alien to the way in which she herself had used the reference, and slightly begrudgingly she admitted that Amelia had been right; there wasn't any point in denying herself the things she wanted, and this was one of them. The doubts she had about the role she had to take on, wanted to take on, still remained; however she had an inkling they'd remain always, biological mother, stepmother, whatever-other mother she was. All she had to go on was the little girl playing uncomfortably with the ends of her socks sitting in front of her and the guy waiting for them at home. So she started.

"Imm, I think you can say Mommy, not the 'M' word." She said quietly as she watched Imogen play with the socks.

"I'm not 'lowed." Imogen whispered back, her voice a little croaky as she ridded herself of the last of the tears in her voice, her eyes remaining firmly on the tips of her toes.

"No, Immo, when Daddy and I told you, you weren't allowed to before that was different, that was a while ago now, and things have changed since then, so sweetie, I think now that we can think about this, and if you still want to call me the 'M' word then when we get home we'll talk to Daddy and see what he has to say about it, how does that sound?" She asked narrowing her eyes questioningly at a somewhat stubborn looking Imogen.

"He'll say no though, that's what he said last time." She said her face contorting into a frown in a fraction of a second.

"Lots of things have changed since then though Imm, I don't think he'll say no." Abby told her, looking a little perturbed as she continued. "But we need to talk about something else." She said as she met Imogen's eyes meaningfully.

"Bout you being my stepmommy." She whispered as her eyes took on concern again and Abby nodded her reply.

"Sweetie do you not want me to marry Daddy?" She asked, her eyes looking confused and concerned as she studied Imogen's little face.

"No, you have to marry Daddy, I want you to marry Daddy." She responded instantly in what Abby had come to appreciate was her best persuasive voice, although this time it held a hint of desperation.

"When I marry Daddy Immo, that's going to make me your stepmom, which you don't want, is that right?" Abby frowned, there was no way that Imogen could have one of these without the other. Imogen was nodding now though, refusing to meet Abby's eyes.

"I don't want you to be like a stepmommy and if you are my stepmommy then you have to be like a stepmommy." Imogen said quietly her eyes worried as she looked back up at Abby.

"What are stepmommies like?" Abby asked, her face lightly questioning; at least now Imogen wasn't trying to run away from her, there was now a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel in terms of talking this out with Imogen.

"They're mean." She asserted quietly.

"Mean how?" Abby pushed as Imogen eyed her suspiciously. "Tell me." She encouraged, bowing her head to look at Imogen. Imogen swallowed, deciding Abby wasn't a stepmom yet, and she was safe telling her about this.

"They make you live in the basement and they don't ever let you see your Daddy and they take away all your toys and you're not lowed watch TV or go swimming with your Daddy and you don't get to go to Birthday parties, you don't get to get birthday parties, and at Christmas you don't get presents and you're not lowed to go to school and see your friends and you're not lowed to have friends over for tea ever, and you're only 'lowed to eat brussel sprouts and yogurt." Imogen explained earnestly to Abby as if she was teaching her. Abby looked back into Imogen's dark eyes, they held so much wisdom and yet so much innocence, they were sad and happy at the same time, and they held genuine unmistakable concern.

"And all stepmoms' do this?" Abby asked frowning.

"All of them." Imogen told her nodding.

"But then what happens if I don't want to do all of those things? What happens if I still want to hang out with you and be your friend and stuff like that?" Abby asked, looking questioningly at Imogen who it seemed had all the answers on this subject.

"You won't, as soon as you get to be a stepmommy you don't want to be like you were before." Imogen assured her.

"Who told you all of this?" Abby asked frowning a little bit.

"Hattie." Imogen replied instantly.

"Does Hattie have a stepmom?" Abby asked still frowning as Imogen shook her head. "Ok, so if Hattie doesn't have a stepmom then how does she know about all of this?" She questioned as Imogen shrugged her reply. Abby tensed her forehead, pulling her mouth into a contemplative expression. "Do you really think I'm going to make you do things like that?" She asked frowning, perplexed.

"Not at the moment but it's in the rules, you have to do it, that's how it works, I told you." She pushed frowning back.

"Ok well, I don't know how we're going to stop this, because I don't want to be a stepmom like that so we need to make a plan." Abby said, her eyebrows raised as she shook her head and half shrugged at Imogen.

"I don't think we can stop it." Imogen said earnestly, shrugging back at Abby.

"I think we can, we'll figure something out." Abby nodded back at her.

"The only way is for you not to marry my Daddy and then you won't be my stepmommy but I want you to marry my Daddy and Daddy wants you to and you want to marry Daddy too right? and if you don't marry Daddy then we never get to be a family and I want us to be." She explained perplexed. "See so you have to marry Daddy."

Abby smiled at her, tucking a clump of dark hair behind Imogen's little ear.

"Ok, well, how about I never be your stepmom." She started, almost instantly cut off by a protesting Imogen.

"No you can't not marry Daddy, cause then you'll leave and…and …and…" She stopped getting more and more agitated.

"I'm not going to leave Immo, I'm not going to leave you or Daddy, who would I have to hang out with if I wasn't with you and Daddy?" She said shaking her head, her hand running up and down Imogen's back. "But how about I don't be your stepmom, how about we don't use that word at all, so I'm never your stepmom and you're never my stepdaughter." Abby asked her head tipped as Imogen pondered the proposition.

"Then what would we be?" Imogen asked frowning, squinting questioningly at Abby.

"We'd just be us, Immo and Abby, that's all, and I'd be married to Daddy and that's it, and that way there won't be any rules so I won't have to be like anything." Abby explained with a shrug.

"What if I don't want it to be just Immo and Abby and Daddy." Imogen asked looking a little tentative.

"What do you want it to be?" Abby asked conspiratorially. Imogen paused, looking a little embarrassed. "Whisper it to me." She told her, bending her head as Imogen cupped her hand around Abby's ear and a smile passed onto her lips as she listened, her arms holding Imogen a little closer. Imogen leaned back and looked into Abby's eyes, an honest, pure smile cracked across Abby's face as she looked at Imogen, leaning down towards her. "That sounds pretty good to me." Her eyes smiled as a huge grin cracked across Imogen's face. She laughed and shook her head, pulling Imogen into a hug which Imogen reciprocated more than willingly. "God." She almost whispered, laughingly, holding Imogen tightly. "It's bed time Immo." She smiled as Imogen pulled away and grinned at her, nodding her agreement.