What do I say?

Poor Rose was leaning on Alec's shoulder, him kissing the top of her head, her shampoo smelling of strawberries like it used to. He guessed she hadn't been able to let go of her old habits that reminded her of when they were together.

"Rose, sweetheart," Alec whispered. "Come on, get some sleep eh?" he suggested.

"Yeah," Rose replied hoarsely. "I guess it was just a bit too much?"

"Aye love, probably," he had to agree. "If it is, I can go downstairs and get you another room?" he offered.

"What?" Rose was confused. "No, I don't need another room Alec, now I've found ya again."

"It was just a thought love. You get comfortable eh and I'll get changed in the bathroom," he offered again, thankful he'd bought some pyjamas but hadn't worn them often.

Rose nodded and went to get into the double bed and Alec collected what he needed from the drawer, seeing Rose had taken the one below.

"Did you manage to buy what you needed?" he asked her before going off.

"Yeah, I went to that discount department store," Rose managed to smile. "I might be better off now but me and mum still like a bargain."

That made Alec smile. "I bet you both do."

Rose sat and waited for him coming out, wondering why she'd not told him to stay but they had to get used to each other again. She had tried not to think it was possible to contact Alec after all that time but now she'd actually seen him again had began to wonder what had stopped her.

Why hadn't she just gone barging in and ruined Tess's life like Tess had messed with hers and stopped Jamie being with his real father? Now she knew about his daughter though, Daisy would have grown up without her father and she knew from her own experience what that had been like and she'd always rebelled and not taken any notice at school.

At least Jamie had been brought up by herself and James. She looked up when Alec came out of the bathroom.

"Alec, can we talk a while longer?" she asked him as he hung up his suit.

"Whatever you want love," he agreed.

"It was good to hear from John," she admitted as he got into bed. "Sarah-Jane sounded as enthusiastic as he did," she smiled.

"That was how they got on so well," Alec told her.

"So she's a journalist?" Rose recalled.

"Yes, I will let John tell you how they met," Alec replied as Rose snuggled into his shoulder. "Did I say he tried to talk me out of marrying Tess?"

"Yeah. Alec, I know it was all Tess, I don't blame ya."

"You are too forgiving," Alec reminded her.

They kissed for a while then Rose really was tired.

"It's all been a bit much," Rose yawned.

"I know love. Maybe I was worried so much, that was what affected my heart problem?" Alec wondered.

"Well ya have me and Jamie now," Rose replied sleepily. "Don't forget that Alec."

"I won't love," he replied but Rose was already asleep.

He smiled to himself that he was just as happy to have her back in his life as she was to have him. Just let Tess try and spoil it. He was going to the court tomorrow and if she objected, he would name Dave as the other party, Rose wouldn't want to be kept out of it, not now.

Jackie had been waiting for Rose to call again and Jamie had finally gone to bed.

"I'm sure she would have rung sweetheart," Jackie had told him. "She was probably telling your dad about ya."

"Yeah?" Jamie wondered. "She might ring before I go to school?"

"Well if she rings ya on ya mobile, don't let anyone overhear about ya dad," Jackie had warned him. "Ya mum will have to explain to the school that ya might be changing ya name."

"Do you think mum will want me to?" Jamie had asked her.

"Well yeah sweetheart, she only agreed before so no-one would know. Not even Donna knew," Jackie had replied.

"Gran, will she move down there to be with my dad?" he had then wanted to know.

"Jamie, ya have to do exams first, she won't move ya before then. I'll be with ya," Jackie reminded him.

"I know Gran, mum will probably find a college or school first," Jamie agreed.

"You're takin' it really well," Jackie had then told him, going to hug him.

When John and Sarah-Jane had finished talking to Rose and Alec, John wanted to go wake Luke up to tell him he had another cousin.

"We'll tell him in the morning," Sarah-Jane told him, patting John on the shoulder.

"Yeah, good idea," John grinned. "Well fancy that then?"

"You do know you go back to your London accent when you're excited?" she told him. "How did you first start it?"

"Didn't I ever tell you?" he was surprised.

His wife shook her head, knowing he was going to tell her at some point but had never got around to doing it.

"It was when I got a job at Paisley grammar school," he started to tell her. "It was Rose's first day and she'd already met Alec. They were both thirteen."

"Wow, they've known each other a long time then?" Sarah-Jane gasped, covering her mouth. "What went wrong?"

John thought she already knew and looked at her.

"Oh, it was Tess?" she realised. "I never liked her."

John knew she got on with everyone, Tess was the exception. His adopted mother had liked her a lot but he'd resigned himself to the fact she'd never quite taken to her like she had Rose. Rose had been a constant worry for all of them once she'd told them what was happening and Alec had seen it for himself.

It had been such a shame that Alec had not gone looking for her sooner than he had. The next morning, Rose could still hardly believe Alec had accepted it all so well. They went down for an early breakfast and he asked Rose what she was going to do that day.

"Ah, go window shopping?" Rose smiled across at him.

"So you and your mother still like your bargains eh?" Alec smiled back as they ate.

"Yeah, old habits die hard with my mum," Rose replied. "So, are ya gonna look up what happened to James?"

"I think you deserve to know more of what happened love," he told her. "You would not have got the full story."

"Yeah, you're probably right Alec? Even Donna accepted it was an accident, the police never suspected anything else. What made ya think it was him when you came across that report?"

"I don't know, I just did," Alec admitted. "We should call Jamie before I go off to work. Rose, don't be alarmed if I am late back tonight, I will try to be back in time for the evening meal but go ahead if I'm not. Tess always used to go on at me for being late home but I know now it was just an excuse to have an argument with me."

"You'd better keep her away from me Alec or I swear I'll scratch her eyes out," Rose told him.

Alec wasn't sure if she meant it or not but whatever the reason, Tess deserved it but what did he deserve for letting Rose get away?

"I did not hear that," he told her as he got up from the table and held his hand out to help her up. "I want you to know if there was anything else about the accident."

"I know Alec, thanks. Let's call my mum or I won't get a word in if I call Jamie," Rose smiled as she accepted help.

Jamie was glancing at his mobile phone all throughout eating his breakfast, making Jackie smile.

"It's not gonna ring any sooner if ya stare at it," Jamie was told. "You're as bad as ya mother used to be when your real dad was on his way to visit."

"Sorry Gran," Jamie replied. "I'm just a bit nervous. I still can't take it all in properly. What do I say to him?"

"Whatever ya feel like saying. Ya must have a lot of questions for him. Jamie, ya have to understand that all that time ago, it wasn't easy being an unmarried mother. She would have raised ya on her own if she'd had to but your other dad didn't want her to struggle," Jackie explained as best she could.

"I understand that Gran. It's not just that though," Jamie told her. "How will she deal with my real dad being back?"

"Just leave it to them sweetheart," Jackie had to smile at his concern.

She knew he'd been worried since Rose had gone off to find Alec. It hadn't been fair that James had been taken before his time. She wondered if Alec would be able to find out any more about it. She had been there when Rose had broken down the next day. Then she'd suddenly found herself moving in with Rose and Jamie and ended up staying.

What would happen now? Would Rose and Jamie move to Sandbrook or would Alec finally go to work in the district they now lived in? That was up to them, she wouldn't stop them, they all deserved to be together now. Would they all still live together if Alec decided to work here? She jumped out of her thoughts when her mobile rang and it was Rose.

"How's it going?" Jackie wanted to know, looking at Jamie.

"It's fine Mum," Rose assured her. "Is Jamie there?"

"Yeah, he's eager to talk to ya," Jackie replied.

Rose said hello to him and asked if he wanted to talk to Alec. She then asked if Alec wanted to talk to Jamie alone.

"I have nothing to hide Rose," Alec assured her as he took the phone from her. Then to Jamie he just said his newfound son's name. "Jamie?"

They talked for about ten minutes, Jamie telling Alec how he was doing at school and what he liked to do in his spare time. He was relieved that Jamie didn't write stories in his spare time and wondered if Rose still had the ones he'd written for her?

He told Jamie they'd talk later and turned to kiss Rose goodbye.

"See ya tonight Alec," Rose smiled at him as he didn't bother to tie his tie properly. "Ya've not changed much."

"I will take that as a compliment," he smiled back. "We should talk about what's wrong with me when I get back."

"Alec, it's okay, we'll get through it, ya have me and Jamie now but I should tell mum first. She'll make even more fuss over ya when we go back," she teased him.

"Do you want me to feel better or worse?" he teased her back. "Bye sweetheart, don't go spending up in the shops will you?"

"I do work part-time," she reminded him. "Only 'cos my mum would drive me crazy otherwise and so she has something to do."

"You did the right thing Rose, sometimes it helps getting over losing someone if you have something to focus on," Alec reminded her. "I would meet you later but I want to go to the court before Tess finds out for sure you are back."

"Doesn't she know?" Rose wondered.

"Someone may have told her I met you at the front desk," he admitted. "She confronted me yesterday afternoon but she has no proof yet."

"She'll know then," Rose regretted to say. "I didn't want to cause any bother."

"Rose, you are not. Tess is the one with a problem love," he reminded her again. "Just leave it with me. There may be a way around it, since we got married in Paisley."

"Are the laws different?" Rose wondered.

He'd only just thought about it yesterday.

"They may contact the registrar up there. Don't worry about it eh?" he suggested to her.

Alec went off to work, Rose thinking she'd call her mother back first before going out. She had to trust Alec was going to do something about his divorce and his health scare. Once at the office, Alec called the personnel office and asked them to get on with either finding him somewhere more suitable to live or get him a transfer, he wasn't really bothered which but he had to consult with Rose where she would be willing to move to.

Then he had another idea. He had thought them all living where she already was may be confusing, especially for poor Jamie and people who had known James. Where he had in mind may be of Rose's liking so he called the personnel officer back and corrected where he'd be prepared to move to.

His chief got to know about it and called Alec to his office.

"I don't want any more complaints from Tess," he was warned.

"I know she's a problem but if you transfer me, she will have nothing to complain about," Alec tried to convince him.

"You had better be right about that Alec but I can't transfer you in the middle of a murder and disappearance case," the chief warned Alec.

"It has only just got started and there is a reason I need to move fast," Alec objected. "Tess used me to get back to Sandbrook. Remember she only got transferred here when things were changed around?"

"I remember and I did object to her coming here Alec," the chief sympathised. "I knew there was going to be trouble between the two of you. What are you doing about your divorce?"

"Being taken care of. I may need some time off for another personal matter," Alec replied.

"You are joking Alec?" he was asked. "What are you doing about suspects?"

"Getting nowhere, the other neighbours claim they know nothing. It's a new estate, people are reluctant to point fingers."

"Well something had better happen Alec," he was warned. "Or you may have no choice in where you want transferring to. So what did you want to tell me?"

"Someone I was engaged to before Tess has come looking for me," Alec had to admit.

"Well, well, well," the chief was surprised. "I thought you were going to say you had recently met someone else, since Tess no longer chooses to hide her relationship with Dave."

"No, her name is Rose and we met when she moved to Scotland with her mother. We were both at the same school and when she moved back to London, we stayed friends. Then we got engaged but it started to go wrong when I got transferred to Aberdeen," Alec tried to keep it to a minimum.

"I see then? So you split up and then married Tess?" the chief guessed.

"Tess split us up, intentionally. She saw a chance to get a promotion and she set out to lure me away from visiting Rose. I swear I don't know what came over me," Alec admitted. "My family tried to warn me off getting married, they all loved Rose like she was family."

"Well, she must have been something then?" the chief asked. "So what's happening about it?"

"She arrived yesterday and don't tell Tess," Alec replied. "The best of all is that she was pregnant when we split up, I have a fifteen year old son called Jamie. Rose married someone else, someone she'd known for a while but he died in a car accident some time ago. I want to look into it for her, I owe her that much."

"Do it in your own time then Alec," the chief suggested to him. "If a transfer happens to come up, I will put your name forward but don't turn too many down Alec," he was warned.

He went to his office, avoiding Tess who would surely barge into his office and start asking questions. What did she expect when she was the cause of him and Rose being apart? He turned on his monitor and tried to find what he'd seen a few years ago about a car accident in north London.

He was horrified to see the actual photos from the scene, he hoped poor Rose hadn't been shown them. He also saw the photos of James, all crumpled up over what had been the steering wheel, which was smashed. He looked at the details of what the local police thought had happened and since there was no evidence another car had hit James's, they had ruled accidental death at the inquest.

From what he knew of Rose's friend Donna, he thought she would have challenged the ruling but maybe she hadn't been as tough as people thought where her cousin and Rose were concerned. He gathered the information up and tried to make a report that wouldn't hurt Rose any more than at the time it happened.

Now though, he was determined to call his friend and arrange to have done what was necessary, now he had more of a reason than just Daisy, whom he still had to tell she had a half brother. It was a bit ironic really, having a cousin who had been his own half brother all along.

When he thought about it, it could be the turning point of his relationship with his daughter. She would either accept Jamie or say she never wanted to see him again and Tess would of course kick up a fuss. He printed out what he thought Rose would want to read but it probably wasn't any more than she'd already been told.

After that, he decided to phone the court to see the clerk he'd spoken to before and ask if getting married in Scotland meant that if he went up there in person, he might get things speeded up. The clerk was free to speak to him on the phone and explained that the papers could be sent to the Scottish court if they both consented and explained what would happen.

This was just what Alec needed, he had already fulfilled the main requirement and asked how soon after the divorce went through he could get married again. He didn't really care what was thought of him, he was going to put things right with Rose and Jamie by asking Rose to finally marry him then see what could be done over Jamie.

He tried calling Rose, who was browsing through the discount clothing store to find something nice to wear should Alec want to go out before she went back home.

"Hi, wasn't expecting ya to call," Rose laughed as she tried to find a spot to speak to him.

"Want to meet for lunch after all?" he sounded pleased, Rose thought.

"Yeah, I can try and find my way around, I'm in that store again," Rose replied, wondering now what he was up to.

"Good, I will meet you outside in say half an hour?" he asked, looking at the time and how long he'd been looking up James's accident. "Why don't you buy something nice and we will go out tomorrow night? I have some news to tell you, besides I hope I have more to tell you about the car accident than you already know."

"Thanks. Yeah, I'll meet ya outside then? So, is it some good news?" she wanted to know.

"Oh yes Rose, it most certainly is good news love," he told her, Rose noticing he sounded excited.