Flora was entranced by the whiteness of the fresh snow and was stomping around the garden enjoying the little explosions of powder that erupted beneath her feet. Giggling as she stopped, Flora bent in half to pat the snow into shapes on the ground.

Caroline silently thanked Gillian for the thoughtful gift of the snow mittens that Flora now used to draw in the snow. She smiled affectionately from her vantage point on the garden bench, using the steaming mug of coffee to keep her hands warm while she watched her daughter play. It made her think of the boys at that age and the differences between them all. Flora was neater and more thoughtful in her play than either of her boys, but that was her temperament. It made her think of Kate and the genetic inheritance she had passed on to Flora. A wave of grief hit Caroline again, washing over her and leaving her feeling grey and tired. She breathed slowly, waiting for the moment to pass. There were times that Flora reminded her so much of Kate that it shattered her heart again and it felt like she was bleeding on the inside, but these passed too.

"Hiya," came a call from around the side of the house.

Caroline perked up, recognising Gillian's voice. She called out, "Gillian! We're in the garden. We're playing in the snow."

Gillian rounded the corner of the house with Calamity in tow. Calamity saw Flora and squealed with delight, running to greet her small friend. Gillian laughed, watching the two girls working out their next game, the older Calamity leading the way.

"We were passing and I thought we'd drop in. I'd love a cuppa."

"Sure. Coffee or tea?" Caroline stood to hug Gillian. She turned to the children, "Girls, we'll just be in the kitchen," and the two women walked inside, leaving the door ajar so they could hear the girls play.

"Tea thanks."

"We're having a lovely day. Mum and Alan said they'd go to yours yesterday, so it's just been Flora and me for a change. We did some coloring and built a puzzle together. It's been a delight actually. She hasn't hit the grumpy stage yet, but it must be coming."

"Calam is coming out the other end of it fortunately. She threw a huge tantrum in the supermarket three weeks ago; that was fun. Can't tell you how many other mothers gave me dirty looks like I was a shit grandparent while she went off."

Caroline chuckled, knowingly. "It's coming for me, I can feel it. I don't know if it's worse knowing its coming or better to be living without prior knowledge. Was it worse with Calamity than Raff?"

"No idea. I'm different so it hard to tell. I swear that parenting is wiping out my brain cells faster than I can grow 'em so who knows."

Caroline smiled and passed over the mug as they moved outside to keep an eye on the girls. There was a mini snow figure growing in the yard and a cleared patch of grass providing visual contrast around it.

"So how are you managing with her while you're at work?" Gillian asked, nodding at Flora.

"Well, starting this week, Greg will have her two days, I'll take her to Bumble Bees child care on the other weekdays and Mum and Alan will look after her some afternoons. It gives her a mix of social activities and parenting. They say it takes a village. It's early days, but hopefully it will work."

"So Greg will have her for two days a week? In Manchester?"

"Yep. I'll take her down there later this afternoon. I'll really miss her, but I think she needs him too now they've got to know each other." She sighed. "I don't like it, but I think I have to share her, for her sake."

Gillian thought Caroline looked sad, and a little haunted. She wondered if she was thinking of Kate again.

They watched the two girls build the round snow head and Calamity lifted it onto the two body segments and settled it into place. Gillian took off her scarf and headed over to the small snow human and wrapped the scarf around its neck. Caroline smiled. It looked instantly friendlier with the green scarf draped around its shoulders. It made the girls squeal with delight. They were shouting names for their snow person, who apparently was female this time around.

Caroline watched as Gillian helped the girls find twigs and stones for the eyes, nose and mouth for the newly christened Henrietta. She always loved watching Gillian join in and play with the girls; she was so good with them. For a while the years of terror slipped away and the joyful, youthful Gillian appeared, if only briefly. It was like watching a different Gillian; the one who hadn't married Eddie, revealing just how much Eddie had changed her. It saddened Caroline in ways she couldn't even express when this happened.

Gillian stood and watched the girls interact with Henrietta, enjoying the play. Flora was fairly graceful which she figured must have come from Kate, as her dad Greg was a big blundering goof. A decent chap with a good heart and a kindness about him, Greg was also a nerd happy to play the fool. As she watched, she could see little of Greg in Flora's physicality, but she presumed that some of his characteristics would become apparent soon.

What was already visible was the influence of Caroline, in speech patterns and some of her facial expressions. Flora would pull expressions of disdain or phrases that came directly from the snotty bitch herself, which were hilariously wrong coming from someone not quite two. She let one loose now, with her little arms crossed and a serious expression on her face, "You're ridicolos."

Calamity just looked at Flora, not understanding the words but getting the meaning from her stance. "No I'm not. She should have a stick for a nose. She has a big nose." Calamity was pouting now and a barney was in the offing.

Gillian sniggered and turned to look at Caroline who was slightly mortified. "Well, at least she didn't swear. Two days ago she came out with 'About bloody time!' when Mum put the dinner on the table." She laughed remembering. "Mum nearly burnt a hole in my soul with that one." Gillian was cackling at the thought of it, propping herself up with her hands on her knees to stop falling over.

Catching her breath, Gillian was still chuckling when she stepped forward to the two girls to sort it out before there were tears. "Why don't we find her a slightly shorter twig for her nose? That way she still has a twig nose but not so big. Okay?" Gillian looked at both girls, and they looked at each other and moved off happily to find another nose, the dispute quickly forgotten.

Gillian walked over to sit next to Caroline on the bench, nudging her with her shoulder. "Well, you are ridiculous sometimes too, you snotty bitch." They both chuckled, knowing there was no sting in the barb anymore.

"Yep. It's a bit horrifying. It's like having a little mirror running around. I'm terrified she won't be like Kate, who she was meant to emulate. Instead, she's copying me and we both know that's going to be a disaster."

"You're all right though Caroline." Caroline looked down at the table. Gillian continued, "Flora will be fine. She's loved and between you and Greg, she'll be okay. There's enough of Kate in her and you can see that already. You're doing fine."

Caroline nodded, trying to take it in. She had never needed support like this in the past, but life had kicked her around for the last two years. Now she needed reassurance because it had become so much harder to keep out the voices of everyone else in the family who appeared for the public flogging that was now her life. Caroline sighed, needing the compliment but finding it hard to accept it.

They sat in a comfortable silence watching the girls find a new nose for Henrietta and sit on the grass to watch their creation. Gillian wondered what it was that she found so fascinating about the woman sitting next to her. It wasn't just her looks, although she was stunning. There was a depth to her, a complexity that was revealed by the chaos just under the gloriously pretentious surface, the chaos the Gillian could relate to. There were times like now that she just wanted to hold Caroline, to soften the pain and the damage life had wrought in the last two years.

"We'll need to go soon. Greg is expecting us by 5 so I'll need to pack up her things. It's weird but I guess this is the start of it, the two homes for Flora."

Gillian nodded. "I'd better head off too. Get Calam back to Raff and Ellie." She stood and dusted the snow off her jeans and jumper.

Caroline watched, wondering about the shape of the body under that loose jumper. She thought about what it would be like to run her hands over it, to feel the curves, the musculature. Caroline blinked, her mind backing out into the daylight from whatever Freudian cave she'd delved into. Where the hell had that come from? She shook her head, realising that she'd missed time while she had disappeared into the alternate universe of her psyche. She was hoping she could pick up the thread of the conversation so that Gillian wouldn't notice when Gillian call out to Calamity, "We're going now Calam. Say goodbye to Flora and Caroline."

Calamity ran towards Caroline, who stood and picked Calamity up and held her. "Thank you for the hug, and for coming to play with us. I hope you have a lovely week Miss Calamity." She kissed her on the cheek and put her back down, watching her run towards the side of the house.

Gillian pulled the blonde into a hug. "Lovely to see you. Good luck this week. I'll see you on Friday. Bye." she gave her a squeeze and let go, following Calamity around the side of the house.

"You too. Bye. Bye bye."

Caroline watched them go. She turned to find Flora by her side. "Let's go inside and get warm and have some juice. Then we'll go to Dad's."

"Okay. Juice."

Caroline smiled and chatted to Flora as they moved inside hand in hand, leaving Henrietta outside with Gillian's scarf for warmth.