*waves nervously*

Hello everyone, I hope you're not all too mad at me for vanishing… I was going through a challenging time in RL, and like a lot of people I think, I was highly disappointed with the new 'Our Girl' and found it more and more difficult to write. The absolute nail on the head for me was the scenes in the jungle with Charles and Georgie, I stopped watching the series, shelved all fanfiction I had and moved on with my life. Fast forward eighteen months, I got an itch to rewatch 'Our Girl' (only the Molly episodes obviously), which in turn led me back here again! I had so many ideas for this story, I'm excited to come back to it with fresh eyes, and hopefully, all you lovely lot are still here to read it! Enough of my rambling… Enjoy!

P.S – I haven't forgotten about the wedding! I really struggled with it before, but now I'm in the process of planning my own wedding, I might find it a lot easier… Watch this space!

On with the story!

Charles always made an effort to make Molly's birthdays special…

"Happy birthday Molly!" Sam exclaimed as he jumped into bed with his beloved stepmother, Molly who had been dozing jumped and instinctively wrapped her arms protectively around Sam.

"Woah, thanks Sammy! Caught me by surprise there you did!" Molly said as she caught her breath back and started tickling her stepson. Sam giggled and squirmed away from her.

"Dad and I made you breakfast Molly look!" Sam told her as he pointed to Charles who was sitting on the end of their bed with a tray in his hands that held a large selection of breakfast items, and of course the all important cup of tea.

"Wow! Thank you mate!" Molly gasped as she sat herself up further in bed. Charles waited until she was sat comfortably and then he passed the breakfast tray over onto her lap.

Molly grinned at the man she loved and leant up to kiss him.

"Thank you too." She told him in between kisses

"Eww! Dad, stop kissing Molly!" Sam told his father crossly.

The two adults laughed at the small boy before everyone tucked into breakfast.

After breakfast and everyone had got washed and dressed, Charles and Molly were in their kitchen watching Sam in the garden. Charles laughed fondly as he realised that his son was playing 'army', a game he made up, where he pretended to be a tough soldier just like his dad and Molly.

"I can't wait for him to have a younger sibling to play out there with, " Charles told Molly with a wistful sigh. Molly gave her fiancé a small smile in response. The two of them had agreed that once their wedding was out of the way, they'd officially start trying for a baby of their own. Their wedding date was drawing ever nearer, therefore so was their own little baby James.

"Only a matter of time, " Molly replied reaching out to hold Charles' hand. "Thank you for breakfast this morning, I really did appreciate it, even if our beloved son almost gave me a 'eart attack!" She added with a laugh.

Charles' heart always swelled when Molly referred to Sam as 'their' son, when he and Rebecca had separated, the only thing that really gave him any cause for concern was Sam, he worried that the boy would grow up without his father. However, he was so happy and relieved that he'd been able to start this new life and still have his son very much a part of it.

"Least we can do for our favourite Molly on her birthday!" Charles laughed "Quick," He added, double checking outside and then pulling his fiancée into his arms "Sam's distracted, I can kiss you as much as I like now!"

Molly burst out into a fit of hysterical laughter but stood up on her tiptoes and happily accepted his advances.

They were still kissing a little while later when Sam came in for some juice.

"Eww, dad! How many times do I have to tell you, stop kissing Molly!" Exclaimed the young boy exasperatedly whilst the two adults sprang apart almost comically. Molly burst out into another fit of laughter whilst Charles scowled at his son.

"You wait until you're old enough to get your first girlfriend Samuel Charles James!" He said jokingly, struggling to keep a straight face. At that moment he was interrupted by his mobile phone ringing. "James here." He spoke into his phone, and then paused to listen to the person on the other end, his face dropped significantly as he listened. "Are you sure? I mean it's Molly's birthd… Yes, I understand. Ok fine, I'll see you in an hour or so depending on traffic." Charles sighed dramatically and locked his phone before slipping it back into his pocket. He looked up at Molly "I'm really sorry, but I've got to go into work, there's an incident unwinding and they need all hands on deck."

Molly smiled sadly, but reassuringly. She was disappointed, not to spend her birthday with Charles, but she understood how these things worked, and they probably really did need him. She'd have other birthdays they could spend together.

"No, it's fine don't worry about it. I've still got Sammy here to make sure I have the best birthday ever!" She told Charles genuinely. Charles just reached over and pulled Molly into a hug. What Molly didn't realise was that this was all part of Charles' plan.

Around 4 pm there was a ring at the doorbell. Molly was watching a film with Sam in the living room and wasn't expecting anyone, so she got up and checked cautiously who was behind the door before opening it. Stood on her doorstep was Penny James beside her husband who was holding a very large gift bag and what appeared to be a dress in a suit carrier.

"Happy birthday Molly dear!" Penny exclaimed leaning in to hug Molly as she let her in.

Molly stood looking at her parents in law with a very confused expression on her face.

"I'm afraid I can't say anything dear," Penny told her reading the expression on her face "all I can say is that you need to take these upstairs." She handed Molly the gift bag that was actually very heavy, and suit carrier "All should become clear once you've read the instructions. Now, where is my grandson?!" She asked whilst walking towards the living room.

"Don't worry, it's a good surprise." Richard added with a grin as he followed his wife.

Molly stood bolted to the ground for a few moments before she did as Penny told her and took the items upstairs into her bedroom. She hung what she presumed was a dress carefully on her wardrobe door, noting that it had a big number 6 drawn on it. Then she carefully set down the gift bag and peered inside. Inside, there was a variety of different shaped parcels, each with a different number written on the wrapping paper. At the very top of the bag, there was a thick white envelope that had 'Open me first' written in very familiar handwriting on the front. Molly rolled her eyes and tore into the envelope to find out really what her sneaky fiancé had been up to.

Happy birthday to the most beautiful woman I have ever met, I am so lucky to have you in my life. Hopefully, this little gesture will show you just how much I appreciate you, not just as my partner, but as a stepmother for my son, and a mother for our future children. We love you, Molly, thank you for being in our life.

You should find each item in the bag has a different number on. I guess the best place for you to start is number 1.

Molly found the parcel labelled number 1 and opened it. Inside there was a small bottle of Molly's favourite prosecco.

I thought we could start off your evening right with a small bottle of fizz, it might go well with the contents of parcel number 2…

Molly opened the parcel labelled number 2 and laughed out loud when she discovered it a was a bar of her favourite Cadbury's Dairy Milk.

I chose your favourite, I know you don't like that posh muck chocolate as you call it! My lovely Molly, always the connoisseur! You might gonna need to take parcel 3 into the bathroom. By the way, I took the liberty of leaving you a wine glass in there this morning for your prosecco. Go and relax for an hour or so, the rest of the parcels will be waiting for you.

Molly frowned slightly before taking parcel 3 and her prosecco and chocolate into the bathroom. When in there she ripped into the wrapping paper and to her delight found one of her favourite bath bombs from Lush. She ran herself a hot bath, and just like Charles in the letter said, she took some time to relax.

An hour later, Molly wrapped in a fluffy white towel, picked up her letter from Charles and continued reading.

I hope you enjoyed your bath sweetheart, I'll have you know I braved the absolute stench of Lush to buy that bath bomb for you! Anyway, parcel 4 should benefit us both, you know how I like to feel your soft silky skin against me…

Inside parcel 4 was one of Molly's favourite luxury body lotions. She took no time at all in applying that liberally all over her body, enjoying the delicious tropical smell of coconuts as she went.

Now, hopefully, you've guessed by now that you're heading out somewhere, so I guess you'll be doing your makeup now, not that someone as beautiful as you need to wear makeup. I chose parcel 5 because I think it's the perfect colour for you, check back in with me when you're wearing it.

Molly giggled slightly and found a very expensive brand of red lipstick inside parcel 5, and followed the instructions and got on with her makeup. Once she was finished, after taking extra care on her lips, she picked up the letter from Charles once again.

Hey beautiful, now here's time for the big reveal. You should have been handed a white suit carrier with the number 6 on it, I hope you like what's inside. Of course, if you don't please feel free to wear whatever you'd like. You could wear a bin bag and still be beautiful. If it were up to me, you'd be in your underwear all the time anyway…

Molly rolled her eyes and unzipped the suit carrier. Inside was a beautiful velvet little black dress. It had a low neckline and off the shoulder sleeves. Molly could see that it had a short skirt, but she was in love with it and put it on straight away, it fit her like a glove. She caught sight of herself in a mirror and her heart skipped a beat when she saw how good she looked. She managed to eventually tear herself away from the mirror and turned her attention back to her note.

I really do hope it fits. I really can't wait to see you. Just the finishing touches left to go really, you can open parcels 7 and 8 together.

Molly did as she was told. Inside parcel 7 was a bottle of her favourite perfume, which she sprayed liberally over herself and inside parcel 8 was a pair of black designer heels that had a telltale red sole. Molly couldn't even begin to think about the expense of such a gift, and she was incredibly grateful.

This is where I leave you, for now, my beautiful Molly. Open parcel 9 before you go downstairs, my mum will be waiting, she'll be able to fill you in on everything else. I love you, and can't wait to see you.

Yours forever, CJ xxx

With shaking hands Molly tore into parcel 9, which contained a small black box. When Molly opened that she found a silver locket inside that contained a picture of her, Charles and Sam all together laughing on a recent day trip to the zoo together. She fastened the locket carefully around her neck, picked up a small clutch bag with her essentials in it, and then walked downstairs.

Penny was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh, you look wonderful darling!" She exclaimed when she caught sight of Molly.

"Thank you, Penny and Richard, for raising such an amazing son." Molly told the pair in earnest.

"He is an amazing man, you're right." Richard said, walking from the living room to see Molly "But we're very lucky to also have you as an amazing daughter."

Molly grinned at her father in law.

"Now sweetheart," Said Penny "There is a taxi waiting for you outside, have a wonderful evening, we'll see you tomorrow!" She added with a wink, guiding Molly outside to where there was indeed a taxi waiting for her. Once she was inside the taxi, the driver didn't need any instructions, he just drove.

A short time later, the taxi driver stopped the car outside of a very fancy looking restaurant.

"We're here miss," The taxi driver told Molly "this journey has already been paid for, I've got to tell you to go inside though. Have a great evening miss!"

Molly handed the driver a £10 tip and stepped out of the taxi and into the restaurant. The staff were obviously waiting for her and quickly guided her towards her table.

Waiting for her at the table was one certain Charles James who had a badge with the number 10 pinned on his shirt and the biggest grin ever on his face

"Happy Birthday Molly." Was all he had to say.

Well, there we go! My first bit of writing in 18 months! Hope it wasn't too terrible! I don't think I'm going to be able to go back to daily updates as I had before, but I can absolutely promise, there won't be another almost two-year wait for the next chapter!

Until then, see you soon! Em xxx