Shelagh had always been an early riser, and today was no different as she had awaken at six. Shelagh decided that instead of sitting idly in the hotel room waiting for the boys wake that she would go for a walk around the city.
With no particular route in mind she began walking, just taking in the familiar sites she knew and loved.
Having walked through the empty and tranquil city gardens she decided to head towards her favourite coffee shop.
As she entered the smell of roasted coffee beans and freshly baked pastries hit her. Smiling she walked over to the barista.
"Good morning, what can I get for you?" The barista asked with a friendly smile.
"May I have a small hot chocolate, two medium cappuccinos and three of those butter croissants?" Shelagh said as she studied the menu board.
"Sure thing, that will be £9.50 please"
Shelagh pulled out her purse to pay just as her phone started to ring.
"Why don't you take a seat while I get your drinks ready" the barista offered, Shelagh smiled a quick thank you before walk over to the sofa and sitting down to answer her phone.
She panicked as she noticed she had three unopened messages from Patrick.
"Patrick is everything alright?" She asked with a hushed voice.
"Shelagh where on earth are you?" Patrick interjected, panic evident in his voice.
"I'm in the city, I went for a walk and to get us some breakfast" Shelagh explained trying it calm him of his worries.
"At this time? Shelagh what if something happened?" He breathed
"Patrick nothing has happened and I doubt anything will. You forget that I grew up here so I know my way. I'll be back at the hotel in five minutes, go back to bed" Shelagh reassured as she heard Patrick sigh in defeat. She hung up the call as she noticed the barista finishing off her order.
Picking up her order Shelagh thanked the barista once more before heading back out into the deserted streets.
After a short walk she had made it back to the hotel. As she let herself into the room she carefully kicked her shoes off before walking over to the sofa and placing the drinks on the coffee table.
Patrick hurried out for the bathroom and assessed Shelagh before pulling her into a hug.
"Please don't do that again, you worried me" He said with a sigh, glad she was back in one piece.
Shelagh looked up at Patrick while still enveloped in his arms and smiled at the daft man.
Their friendship had always been a physical one, as they would often huddle together on the sofa during lunch breaks or when watching a movie and they often hugged one another after a long and draining day at work.
But today it felt different as Shelagh had a small glimmer of hope that Patrick liked her. I mean why else would you travel 500 miles to spend Christmas with strangers? And why would he go into so much detail over the summer fate story?
"I'm sorry, I won't do it again. But you really are worried for nothing!" Shelagh counteracted as she slipped out of her thoughts, and out of his embrace. She walked over to the small sofa and hinted for him to do the same.
"Now sit down and eat up" She ordered as she handed him a croissant before picking one for herself.
Patrick sat down next to her and Shelagh instinctively rested her head on his shoulder and huddled in closer.
The pair sat there in silence, simply enjoying eachothers company, only moving to pick up their coffees.
After spending a few hours together in the hotel they were now heading to meet Shelagh's parents for a walk.
"Where are we going again?" Timothy asked as he stared out the window looking at the frost covered streets.
"To Hazlehead Park" She answered "Oh turn left here Patrick".
"What's that?" Tim continued, he was clearly in one of his inquisitive moods.
"It's my favourite park" Shelagh smiled as she looked back at him "There's a small zoo, statues everywhere, plenty of hidden trail walks and a quaint cafe that make the best cakes" Shelagh sighed contently, as the memories came flooding in.
Turning into the car park they waved as she saw Shelagh's parents standing by the entrance to the park.
Once Patrick turned the engine off Timothy jumped out the car and ran towards Julienne, who he had taken a liking too.
"Good morning Timothy!" Julienne greeted as the boy hugged her.
"Morning Julienne and Peter" Timothy chimed.
"Let's get going shall we?" Peter asked making Timothy grin as they walked towards the park gates.
Julienne, Timothy and Peter lead the way, whilst Patrick and Shelagh followed from behind going at their own pace.
"No wonder you love it here" Patrick spoke in awe as he looked around the park.
"I use to come here all the time. I use to go to the cafe, order tea and sit outside on a bench to study. I found the parks calming presence made me focus more" Shelagh explained.
"What made you come to London?" Patrick questioned as he noticed her smile drop.
"It's what I felt called to do" Shelagh shrugged "I had spent so much time in Aberdeen, everything feels the same after a while and I suppose i felt like I was stuck. So once I qualified I looked for job postings and that's when I found Nonnatus. When I came to Poplar I felt like I was needed and that I was in the right place" Shelagh finished as she looked up at Patrick. She offered him a small smile before taking a hold is his hand.
"Well I'm glad you did" Patrick expressed as she gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
"Dad, Shelagh, come look at this!" Timothy called as he waved for them to come closer. Patrick led Shelagh towards Tim who was standing next to a reindeer at the mini zoo.
"Oh look at you" Julienne said with a smile "Stand together with the reindeer, I'll take a photo"
Patrick let go of Shelagh's hand and gently wrapped it around her waist, pulling her in closer for the photo. Shelagh couldn't help but blush as he did so, luckily she could blame her rosy cheeks on the brisk weather.
"Say cheese" Peter beckoned.
"Cheese!" Timothy cheered, as they posed for the photo.
"Lovely!" Peter smiled before crouching down infront of Tim and whispering "Now let's go get some cake".
As they walked off Shelagh and Patrick stood there for a moment, both enjoying their embrace.
"Thank you" Shelagh smiled "this time with you and Tim has been wonderful"
Patrick smiled and placed a delicate kiss on her forehead.
Shelagh stood there for a second trying to comprehend what had just happened.
Do something back you idiot Shelagh scolded. She desperately wanted to lean up and kiss him, but she couldn't be bold like that.
Instead she just looked up at him with her rosy cheeks and smiled,
"Come on, we better keep an eye on Tim otherwise my parents will let him eat the whole cafe" She joked as she took ahold of his hand and led them to the cafe.