A/N: I know! I know! It's been a while. I have just been exhausted with everything going on with my brother (who is now back out of hospital). There have been one or two incidents that have taken it out of me.

In the space of a week and a half, I have spent the night in A & E with my Dad – he's still in hospital and tomorrow marks 2 weeks, Spent last Friday night in A & E with my brother having a suspected broken hand and then the following night another overnight trip to A & E as my brother was experiencing sudden chest pains...

... as you can probably tell, I am stressed up to the eyeballs and it's hard enough finding time to visit my dad, let alone sit at the computer and write!

But here is the next chapter – and this did happen between me and my 3 year old nephew!

"Yeah Sarah, We're fine." Sam said holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder and rummaging in his back pocket for a piece of paper.

He didn't find one and it took him a couple of seconds to realise that he had put a twenty dollar bill in the pocket of his jeans. It took a couple more seconds to realise it was missing.

"Damn!" he exclaimed, patting down all of his other pockets.

"Sammy? What's wrong?" Sarah asked him.

"I put $20 in my jeans this morning and now I can't find it. I must have dropped it at the shop."

"Sam?"

"I can't have dropped it in the shop. I didn't take anything out of that pocket."

"Sam?!"

"I was going to buy Katie a new toy with that."

"SAM!"

"What?"

"Ask your niece what she's done with it." Sarah told him, laughing.

"Whaddya mean?"

"Your angel faced niece has probably pick pocketed you."

"Sar, I'm a cop. I'm sure I'd feel her take a folded up note out of my back pocket. Especially one that's at the bottom of it."

"She took my phone out of my pocket last week. I didn't feel a thing. First I knew of it was when she dropped it."

Sam eyed Katie up quizzically. She was looking at him with wide eyes and putting her tumbler of juice back on the coffee table.

"Katie, did you go in my pocket?"

She continued looking at Sam with a wide eyed blank expression.

"Thanks for the tip. I am going to interrogate my niece now. I'll call you later."

"I haven't been here in years!" Andy exclaimed as she and Gail looked around the pearls on display.

"I have been through your entire jewellery collection and I didn't see any pearls. If I had I would have discovered this place sooner." Gail said, peering into the cabinets holding rows upon rows of precious, colourful pearls.

"I had to sell them when things got tough with my dad." Andy admitted. She felt a sudden sharp pang of pain as she remembered the day she had to pawn all of her pearls to make sure that she had a roof over her head.

Gail didn't say anything, but continued to browse the store, watching Andy to make sure that she was ok.

Andy followed, looking at the pearls. Her dad had given her some money so that she could get something, but she couldn't decide what she should get. She wasn't a necklace wearing person and pearl rings looked a little odd.

She had followed Gail around the entire shop, thinking she might go get the dress she had liked, when she saw the perfect pair of earrings. They were silver and dangly, with a long ultra thin bar holding the shiny slate grey pearl to the finding.

"Excuse me?" Andy called to the attendant.

Gail was curious over what Andy had found and slowly migrated over too.

"Can I help you ma'am?"

"Yes. Please can I see that pair of grey dangly ones please?"

"Certainly."

The shop assistant opened the cabinet and pulled the pair of earrings out and set them gently on top of the glass cabinet.

"Ooo. They're pretty!" Gail squealed in a whisper.

Andy ignored her and picked up one of the earrings. She wanted to see how heavy they felt and how they would move when they were in her ears. She was surprised when the earring felt like it had no weight to it.

She jingled the earring and it swung freely and smoothly from the finding.

Finally she handed it to the attendant who fastened it to a piece of clear plastic which Andy held up to her ear before looking in a mirror.

"Looking good Andy. Do your hair right and Sam will lose his mind."

Andy couldn't tear her eyes away from the pearls and begrudgingly handed the plastic back to the sales assistant when Gail pointed out they were close to eating into their sightseeing time.

Andy objected when Gail paid extra to have the pearls delivered to the hotel, but relented when she pointed out she would then have at least one thing to open for her birthday.

Sam opened the oven door and checked on the cookies. They were a nice shade of golden brown.

He turned the oven off and placed the tray on the hob to allow them to cool enough before putting them on a rack to ice.

He was also debating with himself how to get the truth out of a three year old.

"All gone!" Katie announced as she came into the kitchen from the living room and tipping her tumbler up.

"I can see that."

Sam watched as Katie reached up on her tiptoes and put it on the counter top.

"Katie, did you take something out of Uncle Sammy's pocket?"

"No-oh" She replied in a sing song voice.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked her again, cocking his eyebrow.

Katie tilted her head and looked at him. She clearly hadn't understood the question.

"Did you go in my pocket?"

"No. Mummy did it."

Sam shook his head. Sarah was right. He had been expertly pick-pocketed by a three year old, who then had the audacity to blame her absent parent.

"Where is it?" he asked

"Mummy did it." Katie repeated.

Sam gave up. He would find the cash eventually, or Katie would.