"Mom. Are you busy?"

Kim was finally sitting down. It had been a busy day, even though the kids were all at school they needed to move some furniture around. Lola was getting her own room 'finally' and so did Mae. Iris and Alfie were continuing to share and that was Alfie's choice. He wasn't ready to sleep in a room by himself or let his little sister go. As a trade off they got the biggest room, which also happened to be their Mom's old room which also caused some friction. Mae particularly didn't like that piece of information and protested loudly. Her other choice was to share with Alfie and that put an end to the whinging. It was 'nasty' according to her to share a room with a boy.

"I'm enjoying a quiet cuppa while your Dad picks the mob up from school, he's taken them shopping apparently for my birthday present." Gus laughed as he imagined his Dad shopping with those four. "He's whinging."

"He always whinges. So you are sitting down…" He paused. "…I have an early birthday present for you." He waited for some response from his mother but got nothing. "A new grandson."

"Wait, what?" She sat bolt upright. "You've had the baby. It's not due yet. Are they okay? How's Rhiannon? What happened?" He now had his mother's undivided attention. The baby wasn't due for another two weeks and Kim had joked that she would love to have a baby for her birthday in a few days times but it was still a surprise. It was her first birthday without Polly and they were trying to make her happy and forget about what she was missing out on by showing her everything she still had. A new baby would do that.

"Hold up. One at a time. About an hour ago, as only Rhiannon can do it was a short labour but we made it to hospital, just. He's beautiful Mom, 7lbs 10ozs, he's perfect. They are both really good, really good." Gus sounded so happy. Missing Vivienne's birth had always niggled away at him, like he knew it niggled at his brother-in-law that he missed Mae's birth. It was a moment in time that you'd never get back.

"That's wonderful Gus, I'm so happy, I'm happy for you." His Mom was getting more emotional by the minute. "Congratulations. Does he have a name?"

"Not yet."

"Oh, another little boy. I'm so excited." Gus was waiting for it and Kim delivered in spades. She burst into tears. The year had been such an emotional rollercoaster and the troughs had been deep and they had struggled and she was tired, exhausted actually and the only thing that was getting her through at the moment was the thought of a new baby to love. And now he was here. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay Mom. Will you come and meet him?"

"I can't wait. Give him a big kiss from his MiMi and give Rhiannon one too. Hey how's Viv taking the news, is she happy?"

"She is, she wanted a brother, this week anyway. Something about being lucky like Iris to have a brother. Although he is going to be a little brother not a big one she told me a couple of days ago. Rhiannon's Dad is bringing her in now."

"Do you want me to leave the kids with Heidi?" There was no way Kim wasn't going to see her new grandson as soon as Adam got home.

"Yeah, is that okay? Just today, Rhiannon's tired. I want you and Dad to meet him first." He didn't want to add the rest but he guessed his mom knew, that's why she asked. They wanted today to about their baby, about his family.

Gus had done it tough too. He missed his sister and had watched his parents become consumed by Polly's kids and that was okay because they needed all the love and support in the world. Sometimes though he felt that Vivienne missed out on her grandparents attention, while they were living overseas Vivienne was the centre of their world and she struggled a little being pushed to the side once Polly and Sam had the accident.

It was selfish of him and he struggled with it and Rhiannon was amazingly patient with him while he dealt with his grief and anger. He had gone from being their son to Polly's brother, it was a label that never bothered him in the past but it was all he was now and that was a hard thing to get past. It was unusual circumstances and everyone was doing their best and Vivienne had started spending more and more time with her grandparents lately, especially as Rhiannon got later into her pregnancy. Viv and Alfie got on well, there was only a year between them in age. Iris loved her and was always excited to see her and followed her around and asked a million questions and the more the kids enjoyed being together the more Gus relaxed.

She called Adam and he barely got the chance to say hello. "How long are you going to be?"

"Not sure. Knowing this mob it could be hours. They are fucking clueless." He muttered as he watched Lola and Iris dithering over what 'flavour' soap Iris wanted to buy for MiMi. "What's up?"

"Gus called. It's a boy." She squealed.

"What's a boy?"

"Our grandson, our new little grandson."

"Oh." Adam took a shaky breath. He was surprised how it had suddenly overwhelmed him.

Kim was bursting at the seams and if Adam was going to take too long she'd go without him. "An hour or so ago, and they are all really good, no name yet. They want us to come and meet him and I want to go so you need to hurry up."

"I can meet you at the hospital."

"Can you drop the kids off at Heidi's? I'll call her, she'll be happy to look after them. I'll see you at Heidi's in half an hour." Kim was impatient. "Hurry up."

"Okay." Gus had talked to Adam about how he was feeling about all the time they had to spend with Polly's kids. He actually admired them and was proud of the way his parents stepped up but he felt a little pushed out and he really wanted them to enjoy their new grandchild and just be grandparents for a while. "I will try and herd these cats into the car. Hey, congratulations hot Nan."

"Baby, just hurry up." Kim didn't have time to talk to him, she hung up abruptly.

The first thing Adam did was ring his son. "Wow Gus, congratulations Dad. Welcome to the life of being a Dad to a boy."

"Thanks Dad. It's pretty amazing. I can't stop looking at him. I can't believe he is here and it's a boy. This family loves popping out girls."

"This is nothing like raising girls I can tell you. I'm so happy for you. How's Rhiannon?"

"She's good, a bit tired but still on a high."

"Give her a hug and a kiss from me and your Mom and I will be there soon."

"Have you told the mob?" That's what they all called them, they had started calling them that a long time ago and it had stuck. They were like a rolling maul.

"Not yet, they are too busy doing shit knows what. And I wanted to talk to you first. This is a big day for you Bud, I love you and wanted to tell you that, I want you to know that."

"Thanks Dad."

"And anyway Lola and Iris are too busy arguing over whether the strawberry soap is pretty enough for MiMi, I think Iris is winning and Alfie and Mae are discussing if a 10000 piece jigsaw puzzle is big enough. Fuck knows when MiMi will get time to do a jigsaw puzzle but they are happy." Adam groaned. "I hate fucking shopping with kids."

"I can't wait."

"I can't wait to see my new boy, and my Viv." Adam really wanted Gus to know how excited he was. His son was important to him, more so than ever now. "I'm proud of you Angus. I love you Bud."

"Love you too Dad. See you soon."

The kids were disappointed that they didn't get to go and see the baby and they promised to take them in tomorrow to meet their new cousin. They explained that Rhiannon was tired after having the baby and because it was late afternoon they only allowed grandparents and Viv on the first day.

"Oh my god, he's so beautiful." Kim was beside herself when Gus handed him over for a cuddle. "He's precious." She bent down to kiss his little head. "Thank you sweet sweet boy. You don't know how loved you are, but I will show you. I promise. Look Adam, he looks just like Angus."

Adam was sitting beside her, playing with his grandson's fingers. "He does. I feel old."

"You are old Pops." Vivienne chimed in and they had to laugh. He certainly felt old these days.

"Thank you Darlin'." He sat her up on his lap. It was nice to see them be grandparents for a change. "What are we going to call him?"

"I wanted him to be called Billy Bob but Mom doesn't like it." When Kim looked at Rhiannon she was screwing up her nose. Gus didn't mind it, the Billy part at least but she hated it. Gus had told his mother a little while ago that they wouldn't be naming the baby either Polly or Sam. The kids had hounded them about it constantly and they thought they would put it to bed early. Rhiannon had suggested it and wouldn't have minded but Gus didn't want it at all. Kim agreed with Gus, 'they need to have their own identity and live their own life. Polly and Sam wouldn't have wanted you to saddled your new baby with that legacy. It's too soon.'

Mae was disappointed. "Didn't you like them?"

Gus sat down beside Mae and gave her a hug. "Monkey Mae, I love them like crazy. I still do. There is only one Polly in my life, she was my sister and there was only one Sam. Like there is only one Mabel."

"I wanted them to call Iris 'Mabels' so we could have two Mabels."

"Nope, no way. There is only one Mabel Ruzek Hollister and we love her like, really madly." He kissed her cheek. "Do you want to write us a list?"

"No." she said flatly. She didn't do that anymore. Her Dad loved her lists and Mae was adamant that it was only something she did for her Mom and Dad.

Kim reluctantly handed the little boy to Adam for a cuddle. "Wow, little man. I forgot how little you guys are. Your Daddy was a pain in our ass, make sure you give him grief." Gus loved how happy his parents looked and Rhiannon reached for his hand and held onto it tightly. "MiMi and Pops love you so much." He was the spitting image of Gus when he was born, just a little bigger but it was so long ago it was hard to remember. His hair was dark like his Daddy's and his hand was up near his face like Gus always did. "Welcome to this crazy world Adam junior."

"No." Kim warned him. "Just no."

"Don't listen to your MiMi. Adam is a good name, she loves me, imagine how much she'd love you if you were called Adam Junior."

"Ahhh, Dad." Gus shook his head.

Kim and Adam could have stayed all night, cuddling their little boy, hugging his big sister and enjoying the company of their son and his wife. Life, for a brief moment felt normal. This was how their life was supposed to be now. Happy, relaxed, indulgent. They wanted to travel, to spoil their grandkids, have dinner with whoever they wanted, whenever they wanted and do all the things they should have done before they had their family. They didn't regret a single moment of their life together. If only they could turn back the clock and change one thing.

That Day.