Thanks to everyone who reviewed- it motivates me! And thanks to anyone who corrected me, I don't know a lot of things so you really help. Please read and review, and most of all- enjoy this chapter.

Danny isn't Maddie's twin. Peter and Abby weren't married and therefore aren't divorced. Hope that helps a few people who were confused :0D


"Hello Abby Wysinski speaking."

"Hi Abby, It's Luka."

"Luka! How are you?" She squealed. "I haven't heard from you for ages!"

"Yeah, it's been too long. What's happened in your world?"

"Well me and Peter had a baby and then broke up. That was about 9 months ago. Lara's just turned one."

"Wow, I'm sorry. But how many's that now…3?"

"Yep, sure is- Danny, Maddie and the baby. What about you and Sam? How are you both?"

"We had another one just over 7 months ago- that's sort of why I'm calling. I wanted to invite you to Lily's christening."

"That would be great, is it in Chicago?"

"Yeah, nearly all the people who worked at County before you left are still here now- Chuny, Haleh, Lydia, Pratt…and Carter." Luka stopped. "Hope you can make it, it's on the 23rd of March."

Abby wandered into the kitchen with the phone on her shoulder and ran her finger down the calendar.

"Three weeks away? That seems to befine. I'll write it on the calendar so I don't double book. I wonder if Pete will take the kids." She said; more to herself than anyone else but Luka jumped in.

"Bring the kids. It'll be nice to actually meet them and I'm sure Sam will be happy to have them around. How old is Danny?"

"He's 5."

"WellJay isjust turned 5so they can play together."

"Oh, thank you Luka. I'll make sure they're on their best behaviour."

"I'm sure they will be. Okay, I'll speak to you later about plans and things. Bye."

"Bye." They both rang off.


"And then the wall fell over and squashed me."

"So you weren't say…climbing on the wall?"

"No." The boy looked up at her earnestly.

"Okay. I'll do you some stitches but you seem to be fine." Abby laughed and pulled on some gloves, deftly stitching up the little boy's cut.

Suddenly the door opened.

"Abby- someone on line 3 for you." Penny, the nurse came in.

"Thanks. I'll be right back Bradlee." She walked out and picked up the phone, hitting number 3.

"Hello?"

"Abby? It's Luka, I'm sorry to call you at work but I needed to tell you- Eric's turned up here. He's manic and seems to be looking for you, didn't know you had left."

"Oh Boy; Just what I need! Thanks Luka, I'll get a flight out and stay in a hotel or something."

"Stay with us."

"What? Don't be stupid- I'll have 3 kids with me!"

"So, I already have 4 kids, 3 more can't hurt." He laughed.

"Okay, I'll think about it. But if Eric needs supervision, I'll go to a hotel."

"Deal." They both smiled and rung off.

"Is everything alright?" Penny came over and touched Abby's arm. They had worked together for nearly 5 years and were quite close. Penny was the closest thing to a best friend Abby had.

"My brother Eric had turned up in Chicago looking for me. It's been 5 years since I left, he should know that. But he's manic." She shook her head.

"I'm sorry. Are you going out there?"

"Yeah. I'll stay with my friend or in a hotel. Kids are coming too, I can't leave them here cos I don't know how long I'm gonna be away. Shit! I'm gonna have to speak to Tanya about time off." Penny grimaced, knowing the way Tanya was about holidays and things.

"I'd better go now. Could you finish up with Bradlee Symons in 4? Thanks Pen, you're a star." Abby hugged her friend and dashed off.

After speaking to Tanya and only just escaping with all limbs attached Abby flew home, picking up Lara from nursery on the way. Peter was meant to bring the kids home that night but Abby knew this couldn't wait. They'd be out the door before they were in it.

She settled Lara in the sitting room with a bottle and dashed around packing all the clothes they all might need for a fortnight as well as all the credit cards, cash and food coupons she could find.

The doorbell rang at 5 on the dot and Abby nearly ripped the handle off in her haste.

"Hiya kids, was it fun?"

"Yes." Maddie nodded.

"No." Danny pouted and dumped his knapsack on the floor.

"Well we're going to Chicago tonight, to see everyone I used to work with and Uncle Eric maybe." She smiled at them. "Thanks Peter, I'll ring you about next weekend."

"No probs. See ya kids." He smiled, waved and kissed her cheek. They'd decided when they split that they needed to stay friends for the kid's sake, but Abby was happy cos Pete was a nice guy, a great father and someone Danny in particular can look up to.

"Come on you two. Mads please go and wee please and then change your shirt." She grins and rushes upstairs.

"Now Dan, what's the matter? You've been sad every time you've come home from dad's the last three times."

"Melinda yelled at me for putting my elbows on the table and not using my knife properly. She took my dinner away and I couldn't have any jelly." He scrunched his face up and began to cry again. Abby pulled him onto her lap and shushed him, silently hating Peter's new girlfriend more than ever before. Danny was such a sweet boy- he'd do anything to please people and hated being yelled at. Of course, if he deserved the telling off, then that was a different thing but he's 5! Table manners weren't at the pinnacle of her problems a lot of the time.

Danny stopped crying after a few minutes and even laughed when Maddie decided she wanted to join in and dived from the third step into her mom and brother at the bottom. Their laughter woke up Lara who also joined the hug-a-thon.

Finally they unravelled and Abby hauled the bags into the car before tucking Lara into her seat with a bottle, Maddie into her corner with a blanket and Danny in the front seat with a comic. Lara was asleep before Abby had even turned on the engine and Maddie dozed on and off until they stopped at a McDonalds for dinner.

"Hi, Can I have one double cheeseburger and fries with a coke, two chicken nugget happy meals with orange juice and one small packet of fries."

"That's 7.50." Droned the spotty youth behind the counter. Remembering she was once that spotty youth Abby didn't pass judgement, but hoped her kids don't choose this as their place of work.

They all tucked into the food, Danny gobbling as quickly as possible, Maddie taking her time and Abby taking bites between feeding a very tired Lara chips. Surprisingly, they were the last few in here so two of the McD's girls crept out from behind the counter and cooed over the kids.

"Aint she just adorable?" The young girl bounced Lara on her knee.

"She's just turned one." Maddie proclaimed, grinning.

"Oh wow. And how old are you?" The red headed girl smiled at Maddie who held up three fingers and hid her face in her coat.

"Three? So you're old then?"

"Not as old as him." Maddie pointed at her brother, who stopped eating for a moment to look at them, mystified. "He's reeeeeeeeally old. He's five!" The girl's faces showed mock horror before cracking smiles.

"So, what are your names? I'm Kirsty…"

"…and I'm Naomi." The quieter blonde spoke softly whilst stroking Lara's hand.

"I'm Abby…" they shook hands.

"I'm Maddie and that's Lara."

"And I'm Danny." The two girls turned to each other.

"What cute names." They said together. "Those two louts over there are Derik and Brad. The guy behind the grill is Eamonn and the two girls next to him are Sofia and Natalia."

"Debrik…Bad…Emon…Sofa…Nalala." Maddie twisted her tongue around the array of names she'd never heard before.

"Bad? Spot on Maddie!" the girls wiped their eyes and bit their farewell. "Come back someday." Abby nodded and waved, dragging the kids back to the car.

"Mommy, I don't want to go to Chargo!" Maddie nestled into the corner and stuck her thumb in her mouth as if that was the end of it. Abby chuckled.

"Well sweetie, you're going to meet Luka and Sam's children and everyone I used to work with. You've never met them before."

"And I don't want to."

"Maddie, please don't make a fuss. Uncle Eric is sick and I need to see if he's okay. Otherwise we wouldn't need to come."

"What's wrong with him?" Danny piped up.

"He has problems with being happy. Now please go to sleep you two." The two children shrugged and pulled brightly coloured blankets up to reach their noses before drifting off to sleep.

After a further 3 hours they pulled up to Luka's apartment block. Having had to ring for directions both Luka and Sam were waiting for them.

"Oh my Abby! You've changed so much!" Sam exclaimed, pulling her into a hug.

"So have you. Your hair is dark! And you're skinnier!"

"So are you! So, where are the little ones?" Luka hugged her and kissed her cheek.

"Oh, they're asleep in the car. I'll need to wake them to get them in so watch out if they're a bit grumpy."

"Don't worry; Alex is as grumpy as hell most of the day." Sam laughed. They followed Abby out to the car and Luka carried all their bags in whilst Abby took Maddie still wrapped in a blanket, Sam took Lara in her seat and Danny trailed sleepily behind until Luka swept down and scooped him up.

"Hello, who are you?" Danny asked, frowning.

"I'm Luka, your mom's friend."

"Oh yes, she talked bout you." Luka chuckled and they went inside.

"So this is Danny…" Abby took the sleepy boy off her friend 'and he's five. This is Maddie, she's 3 and a half…" she waved and snuggled into the sofa. 'And that's Lara who's just turned one." Sam cooed over the girls whilst Luka tickled Danny and Abby checked out the photos scattered around the large room. They'd done well for themselves.

One photo was of the family with Sam and Luka in the back, Alex holding a small girl on his lap and an older boy standing next to him.

"That was 2 years ago. Ellie was nearly two and Jayko was 3. That was before Lily."

"It's cute. Sweet names too."

"Wellit's actuacllyEleinna but it's naturally shortened to Ellie. Jayko was his idea…" Sam pointed at her husband '…But I made sure Lily wasn't Croatianised." They laughed and Luka looked up.

"What?"

"Nothing nosey." Sam said, smiling. "It's so nice to see you again." She looked at Abby. "You have changed so much. I really can't believe it."

"So, how much has County changed since I left?"

"It's bigger, better and fuller. There's a new chief of staff, a couple of hundred more med students have passed through and no shootings."

"Pretty good then."

"What is the hospital like where you work?"

"Fairview? It's…different to County. It still doesn't feel like home when I walk in, even though I see the faces of my close friends every time. One of the guys who joined at the same time as me is Maddie's god father. His name is Derek and he's as straight as a roundabout." They both laughed and Luka looked up again and shrugged.

"And their father?" Sam asked.

"He lives about half an hour away. They were staying with him this weekend; they didn't even have time to unpack before I whisked them down here. Poor things." Abby stroked Maddie's cheek and she stirred in her sleep. "Shhh."

Suddenly there was a screeching from upstairs and Sam rushed off.

"Lily's awake." Luka said, laughing. "She's like spring whenever that baby is asleep." Sure enough Sam appeared again holding a tiny bundle.

"This is Lily Elizabeth." Sam said, holding out the baby. Abby softened as she stroked her cheek.

"She is so beautiful." Lily watched them all as they bustled around, her eyes flickering. With Luka's darkness and Sam's delicateness, Lily was a stunning baby.

"Ah, I think Lara is just as beautiful." Sam shook her head and looked down at the sleeping baby in the seat.

"Can I hold her?" Abby asked. Sam nodded and handed the baby over willingly, nodding towards Lara who seemed to be waking what with all the noise around.

"You're lucky Abs; she never lets anyone hold the baby."

"Well, she's a mother. She knows what to do." Sam pointed out.

"I'll go and put Dan to bed. Is it okay if he shares with Jayko?"

"No, that's fine. If you wake him up he'll show you his pj's." Luka smiled and carried the little boy upstairs. "He's a natural isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is pretty good with kids. Him and Jay go fishing and swimming and play sports together all the time but then he'll come home and spend time showing Alex complex algebra or make dolls clothes with Ellie, whereas I'm just here for food and hugs."

"Food and hugs are important too. I sometimes worry that the kids only have me and the nanny instead of a proper full time father. Pete sees them enough but Danny is so quiet and I worry that he doesn't have enough male support."

"Move back here, the guys at County love to practise their paeds skills on any child they find. The amount of times I've been worried sick cos one of the kids has gone missing, only to find Louis or Dale playing ball in the bay with them. It drives me mad."

"I've been thinking about moving back since me and Peter broke up but I just can't. Danny and Maddie are settled at pre-school and my house is cheap."

"There are pre-schools here and I'm sure I heard a patient telling someone yesterday that prices downtown are plummeting." Abby pulled a face.

"I'll think about it. That's not a yes though."

"Great!" Sam grinned and rocked Lara gently.

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