A/N Hi long time since i last posted - Quick Recap - Danice were married when they were yung had a child and lost him which made them split up full of animosity. He came to leopards den for a holiday and they made up after Danny left Leopards Den everything pretty much went back to normal, Alice applied for custody of Rosie until Thomas' old social worker got in touch with Alice needing to speak to her regarding Thomas...

Alice spent the majority of the rest of the day in the surgery memorising the telephone number which had written so she didn't have to waste a second waiting to speak to Sandra. She watched the clock as it slowly ticked by, it was almost excruciating, each minute felt like an hour, each hour an eternity. She did everything she could to distract herself, even cleaning the medication cupboard twice!

9:30 finally arrived and Alice was ready for it, as soon as the three zero appeared on the digital clock in the study she picked the phone up and punched in the number she knew she would never forget. The anticipation was killing her listening to the phone ring continually, Alice thought that the answer phone was going to kick in and wanted to rage but then a woman answered, a voice she hadn't heard in so long,

"Hello, Sandra Bullock speaking."

Alice nearly fell off her chair in relief. "Sandra its Alice Collins, you left a message on my answer phone asking me to phone you regarding Thomas Spoor. You told me to ring back so here I am." She almost babbled.

"Alice Collins?" Sandra murmured and there was the rustle of papers on the other end, "Weren't you Alice Trevanion?"

"Danny and I divorced a few years ago now. You rang me about Thomas, is he ok?"

Sandra sighed, "Thomas' parents were involved in a car accident….."

"What?" Alice yelped interrupting her. "Was Thomas with them?" her heart feeling like it was about to pound right out of her chest.

"Yes Thomas was in the car, physically he if fine; he is completely unharmed, sadly both of his parents died."

"Oh," Alice breathed sitting back in her chair stunned She had met his adoptive mother only once and she'd seemed nice enough, poor Thomas. "How is he coping?"

"Well he's a teenage boy who has lost the only parents he has ever known." Sandra was quiet a moment. "You are probably wondering why I got in touch with you?"

"No, I am his mum." Alice told her impulsively.

"Miss Collins you are his birth mother but your parental rights have been terminated. He could have went back into the system had I not accessed your details. I saw where you lived and spoke to some people. We feel that if you prove you are capable of caring for him you re uniquely suited to care Thomas."

"Uniquely suited?" Alice asked disgusted. "Who else could be better? I'm his mum!"

"It's not as much you as where you live. You see Thomas has been in some trouble here in the UK and a lot of it can be attributed to the people around him. We all feel that if he is removed from the negative influences he will flourish."

Alice wasn't sure she liked were this was going, "Negative influences?"

Sandra was going to wait until Alice was back on the UK before she told her about Thomas' record but to ensure that Alice knew that time was of the essence and the longer the boy was in care the more likely he was to run away and go back to her gang she decided to give Alice a little bit background. If Thomas did run it was likely they would never find him and that could only end badly, he'd end up another statistic, either in prison or dead and she knew that both Lisa and Alice didn't want that, hence the reason she had fought Alice's corner so passionately. "Well Thomas is currently on probation for breaking and entering, aggravated assault and assault with a deadly weapon. To be honest he was lucky not to get attempted murder."

Alice was silent on the other end ingesting what she had heard. The only thought she could muster was What. The. Hell! I mean what the freaking hell! This couldn't be HER little boy they were talking about! "Aggravated assault?" Alice croaked voice escaping her. "Assault with a deadly weapon?" her voice growing in intensity. "What the hell have these people been doing with my son!"

Sandra was worried she was losing her and she really wanted to best for this boy, he didn't ask for all this. Had things been different he would never have been taken from his parents in the first place! "Look Miss Collins I'm sorry but I have other appointments and don't really have time to get into this right now, I understand you have lots of questions would it be possible for you to…."

"I'll be right across I'll book the earliest possible flight I should be there some time tomorrow for you."

"How about I pencil you in for an appointment at one thirty then?"

"I'll be there." Alice assured and disconnected already making a mental list of everything she had to do before she left. She bent down and pressed the button to turn in the computer, it whirred as it loaded while Alice picked up a pen.

Dupe appeared at the door, before he could say a word Alice released a heavy breath then cut him off, "Don't try and stop me Du Plessis, please."

He took a step inside.

"He needs me Dupe!" she said seeing what he wouldn't say in his eyes. "You should hear some of the stuff he has been getting up to. Assault! Attempted murder!" Alice said her fingers flying over the keyboard.

"Attempted what!" Dupe declared eyes wide wondering whether Alice knew what she was letting herself in for. "Alice are you sure you can help this boy?"

"I need to at least try Dupe. He's my son!" nodding at the computer screen when she found what she was looking for.

"And what of Rosie?" he challenged.

"I'm going to call her team tomorrow before I go, there are extenuating circumstances. It'll only be for a day or two initially and I'll go from there. Which leads me to ask for one thing…."

"Of course we'll take care of Rosie." He replied, she didn't even have to ask. He didn't see the use of denying her; nothing would deter her from this.

"You're one in a million Dupe." smiled at him gratefully. She sighed her smile becoming wider, "I'm getting my son back Dupe, I can't believe it but I am!" she was almost giddy with joy.

Dupe watched her worried about whether or not she was aware of the amount of work that was going to go into getting her boy back, getting him settled here. He hoped she wasn't going to the UK with the misguided assumption that Thomas would see her and be happy and just come here without a fight. If the boy was anything like his mother and anything like his father Danny then this was gonna be a fight every step of the way!

It was obvious to him that Alice felt like she owed the boy something, he didn't know why she thought that she did! She had done what she felt was right at the time, now just because the kid turned out to be a little swine didn't make her responsible in any way! She'd never believe that though. She'd find a way to make it her fault and for that reason alone he didn't want to bring it up. He also knew how much she wanted to get her son back and because he loved her he'd give her his support, and he always would too….because at the end of all this he had a feeling she was going to need him to pick up all the pieces.

Alice sat in a contact centre the next day yawning. She had no sleep since …well she was struggling to work it out as the time difference from South Africa to the UK was confusing her. All she knew was it had been a long time and she was beginning to feel it! The room she was sat in was warm and the soft music was beginning to lull her to sleep. She would have already been there but thoughts of seeing her son always jerked her from the place and gave her a least a small amount of alertness.

After Dupe had left the study before she came here she had begun making preparations for the flight over here. That had taken longer than had anticipated, after that she had packed her things, got in touch with the social regarding Rosie leaving a contact number for them to reach her at any time of the day. She had to wake Rosie to talk to her as her flight was departing at 6am. The flight to the UK seemed to be interminably long but in reality it took the same amount of time as it always did. As soon as the flight touched the ground she had went straight to the hotel but found herself too wired to sleep….now on the other hand was a different matter, it was all catching up to her.

Alice got up, walked over to the sink in the corner of the room, ran the cold tap and splashed her face with cold water. It helped marginally and after drying her hands with paper towels she pulled her brush from her bag and brushed her hair once again resisting the urge to check the clock. She could barely believe that she would be seeing her son soon. She wasn't trying to kid herself that it might be today, that would be great but not exactly practical, if not today then someday soon and she could barely wait!

The door opened abruptly and Sandra breezed in. Alice couldn't help but note that she looked much different to how she remembered her. She was still small, still unremarkable but there was a confidence about her that was noticeably absent a decade ago. Of course the most obvious reason was the circumstances, this time she was getting her son back and this time nothing was stopping it! She didn't think she'd survive having her hopes dashed once again! Ok back then maybe her and Danny hadn't been in the best place to have him back then but now was a whole different matter. She had her own house, her own business which was doing well and she was more confident in herself as a person and that was why she was going to stop at nothing to get him back where he belonged.

"Alice!" Sandra said warmly extending her hand to shake, "I appreciate your promptness in getting here."

What else would she have done, was the instinctive reply and the one she would have said a decade ago, instead she chose, "It's no problem." This time Alice knew which battles to pick!

Sandra motioned to a table after shaking her hand and pulled a file from her bag. "First I need an update on your current circumstances; he'll get some forms signed and go from there." Sandra opened it and pushed some photos aside then she began rifling through papers. Alice saw a smiling face and sat up straighter eyeing them, but couldn't quite see them clearly. "Do you mind if I look at those?" she asked Sandra.

Sandra looked at her.

"I haven't seen Thomas in over ten years and I'm curious." Alice elaborated.

Sandra scooped up the pictures and handed them to her. Then she began ticking boxes while Alice studied the four pictures of her son. One of them was the baby he had been, one of them was at the age they had lost him. Alice flicked to the next one and saw a picture of a smiling boy sat on a towel at the beach. "Danny." She whispered taken back to the age of fourteen at the image before her.

"Excuse me?" Sandra said looking up at her.

"He looks like his dad, well his biological father anyway." Thomas was sat in just shorts as the sun shone down; his long legs were crossed at the ankle, leaning back on his hands laughing at the camera looking carefree. His black hair was flat and plastered his head, obviously wet. It was the obvious physical features which hit her, he had his dad's deep endless green eyes, his nose but what was most striking was his smile. It was like looking at his dad at the same age. And even though Danny was obviously there she could see a hint of her dad in the boys' face. She sat just drinking in the sight, he looked so young and happy…. She moved on to the next picture and was taken aback. It was the mugshot that was taken when he had been arrested. He had a cold blank expression on his face looking nothing like the boy in the previous picture. Danny's dad flashed into mind and she couldn't help but note the comparison. The flat eyes, the scowl, the slant of the unsmiling mouth….

"That was taken about a month ago when he was last arrested." Sandra informed her when she saw the shock on her face.

Alice nodded putting that picture to the back, preferring to look at the happy smiling child on the beach. "How is he?"

"How about we do the paperwork then I'll fill you in." Sandra suggested. "Anyway, what is your current marital status? You said you were divorced. Are you remarried or is there a significant other on the horizon?"

"Not remarried but I am dating…" she used the term loosely. "… a man named Terry Phillips in South Africa."

"Mmmm hmmm." Sandra scribbled the name down. "How long?"

"About nine months. He works away but we stay in contact over the telephone and we see each other when we can."

"Does he live with you?"

Alice shook her head. "No, and if I am successful at gaining custody of Thomas he won't be meeting him for a long time."

"So you live alone?" Sandra asked like she hadn't spoke.

"No, I own half of a game reserve called Leopards Den and I share the house with a few people. There is Anders DuPlessis, Caroline DuPlessis his wife, Nomsa N'Guni and Rosie Collins. Rosie is my younger sister and I'm currently in the process of getting permanent physical custody of her."

Sandra looked at her ad frowned, "Do you feel capable of caring for two children?"

"Completely." Alice said without hesitation. "Rosie was in a bad situation and on a way one track to nowhere. I couldn't leave her in it, she's my baby sister. Thomas is the same. They are both my family, both my blood. Rosie is Thomas' aunt and close to him in age I think if anything having her there may help him settle quicker."

"Hmmm." Sandra murmured.

The sound irritated Alice and she quickly found herself on the defensive, "Rosie needed me, Thomas needs me! What else can I do? I would have eventually gained custody of Rosie anyway if I hadn't lost Thomas. Our mum abandoned her child and disappeared. God knows she doesn't deserve the title! As it was I lost Thomas and no judge in the land would give me custody of another child after that. I had to wait."

"I understand all this Alice but please understand those circumstances were completely different, you weren't a single parent then."

Alice clenched her jaw.

"About his biological father…." Sandra began.

"Danny." Alice supplied for her when she saw her rifling through papers.

"Will he be involved?"

"I have no doubt he will be. I last saw him about a year ago. Up until then he was unmarried with no children it may have changed now. If I get in touch with him telling him I have custody of Thomas I know he'll come right over to South Africa to help get him settled and establish some sort of regular contact."

Sandra nodded. Most of the interview followed in the same way, size of the house, number of rooms, Alice's job, how many hours she worked. How she would support them all, whether she had a support network, criminal convictions that sort of thing. Then they moved on to Thomas, Sandra didn't go into any sort of detail, gave her a quick rundown on him growing up, it had all sounded pretty good until he ended in trouble with the police. Then after his parents passed away in a car accident his only 'living' relative Lisa Spoor's sister refused to take him. Thomas had found out not too long ago about being adopted, his cousin, Adele's son was the one who told him. He didn't take it too well and assaulted his cousin Leyton. After finding out he was adopted he went off the rails and joined a gang and that is when Jack Lloyd comes into it. Jack Lloyd and Thomas had been best friends before Thomas joined the gang; they grew up on the same street, attended the same football group after school and were inseparable as kids. Jack had been banned from seeing him when Thomas fell into the wrong crowd. Alice had listened intently her heart breaking for the boy she didn't know but who was a massive part of her.

"Anyway," Sandra said gathering her papers up, "That's all Alice, I'll make a start on getting these forms process right away and we will go from there. If you are successful we will have a lot of checks to conduct but since you are already in the system in South Africa that should hopefully speed up the process a little bit."

"When do I get to meet him?" Alice finally asked the question which had been eating her since Sandra walked in.

Sandra pulled put her diary and made a considering face as she flicked through the pages, the only time I have free is ten o'clock tomorrow. "

"Tomorrow?" Alice practically gasped.

"I understand if you feel it is too early….."

"Oh no, tomorrow is fine!" Alice told her quickly before Sandra changed her mind. She had expected some sort of wait!

"Ok then, I will be in touch with his foster carers and see about getting him here tomorrow."

After shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries Alice went outside to get herself a taxi, before seeing Sandra she had been tired, now she felt invigorated. In less than 24 hours she would be seeing her son! After all this time, after all the pain and tears she was going to be seeing him! The image of his mug shot sprang unbidden into her mind but she refused to let it douse the joy she felt. Instead she focused her thoughts on the beach photo, the one where he looked so much like Danny….should she call Danny?

Best not make Thomas feel surrounded, just her for now. Sandra would get in touch with him when the time came. There would be plenty of time for him to meet and get reacquainted with his father. Alice couldn't help but smile as she began to make plans in her mind for their life. She felt like jumping for joy

After a restless night Alice arrived at the contact centre bright and early the next morning. She was physically incapable of sitting still. She had tried but ended up tapping her hands on her thighs or her feet on the floor constantly checking the clock for the time. At 10:07 Sandra breezed into the room, Alice hadn't been expecting her and stood up abruptly.

"Sorry I'm late, traffic has been a nightmare."

Alice nodded mute, her heart pounding with anticipation.

"I spoke to his foster carers and he's here if you're ready…."

Alice had been ready since the day he had been taken away! Instead of saying anything she nodded vigorously. She was ushered out of the room and led down a narrow hallway fidgeting as she went. Her heart began to pound and she was finding it impossible to order her thoughts. What was he like? How was he going to react?

"I'll just go in there and tell them you are here in case he needs time to prepare himself." Sandra told her breaking her thoughts.

"Ok." Alice whispered although in truth she wanted to burst in there and gather her little boy into her arms. She had to remember though she was a stranger to him, that although she had loved and missed him since the day she lost him he didn't know her. She had to remember to take things slow, to go at his pace…

Sandra opened the door and gestured her inside. Alice inhaled deeply then exhaled and walked inside. A second didn't pass before she caught sight of her little…..not so little boy sat slouching on a chair arms crossed looking anywhere except at her.

Alice drank in the sight of him. The beach picture must be a few years old now as his face was leaner now; he was taller by the looks of it. His green eyes which had been alight with fun were shuttered and she knew he was hiding from her….he had no idea how much like his father he was, his posture alone screamed it. She approached the area slowly.

Sandra spoke up, "Thomas, this is Alice Collins."

Alice saw a cold expression fly across his face then it contorted. "Am I supposed to care about that?" he spat. "Is that name supposed to mean something to me?" he was instinctively defensive, his face never changing from the distant aloof expression….not only that but a touch of vulnerability there too.

Sandra exhaled softly. Not all reunions were happy; more often than not this happened!

"She isn't anything to me ok!" he seethed then looked Sandra dead in the eye, "And if you call her my mother and I'll swing for you!" he told her with promise. "My mother is…." He stopped, closed his eyes as emotion seemed to overwhelm him. Thomas swallowed hard to force it back down.

Alice saw this all and her heart was instantly breaking for her son. All her maternal instincts were telling her to go to him and comfort him, the rational side of her brain told her not to even think about it, he'd never accept it and might just make this worse! In his eyes she could see something flickering in their depths whether it was pain or fear she didn't know. She didn't know him well enough yet. He seemed to resemble and act like Danny a lot but she wasn't going to try to base everything about him on his dad, Thomas was part of her too after all. Still she decided to make the first move and sat on the sofa opposite him.

"Hi," she told him softly giving him a wry smile. The only evidence of her nervousness was she was wringing her hands almost frantically.

Thomas gave her no reply and made no move to even look at her.

"As Sandra said I am Alice Collins." deciding not to elaborate further in case it antagonised him. "I'm happy to finally meet you."

Alice could see the pulse pounding in his jaw and knew that his teeth were clenched. "Are you wondering why I am here?" without waiting for a reply she carried on, "Since your mum and dad had the accident…." Again Alice saw a whole array of emotions fly across his face in the space of a second. He masked them quickly enough but she seen them and began to think he wasn't as tough as he liked to portray "…the social decided that the best placement for you would be with me. I live in a quiet secluded area….."

"With him?" Thomas spat vehemently.

"Who?" Alice asked startled that he had actually spoken to her.

"HIM!" he repeated. "The sperm donor! The one who couldn't be bothered today!"

Alice shook her head, "No, I don't live with Danny, not for a long time." Surprised by the venom in his tone. Why did he automatically seem to loathe Danny so much?

Thomas sneered, "Figures, no guesses on how I came about."

"Um…anyway." Alice carried on knowing here wasn't the time or the place for that conversation, "If you can come with me you'll be living on a game reserve in South Africa called…"

Thomas sat up, "South Africa?" he yelled inserting a curse word between South and Africa, "NO! I refuse!"

"Can you not swear please?" Alice requested.

Thomas smirked, "Oh do you not like that?" and began reciting very swear word he knew. "How's that." He asked smiling like he won.

Sandra was looking at Alice to see how she reacted.

Alice looked unperturbed, she'd been dealing with behaviour like this from Rosie for the last year so she knew the best way to act was nonchalant, "Got that out of your system?"

"No!" he spat and recited more, this time menacingly. When that still didn't get the reaction he hoped he sat back, crossed his arms and began to ignore her again.

"As I was saying." Alice carried on, "You will live in South Africa on a game reserve called Leopards Den with my business partner Dupe, his wife Caroline, Nomsa and my sister Rosie."

"Oh how cosy." sarcasm dripping from every word.

"I think so." She agreed ignoring the tone. "It's surprising how relaxed and content you can feel when you get used to it."

Thomas sat up once again, "Well I can tell you I am not going! I have friends here; they will take care of me!"

"If these friends were at all suitable they would be here, not me. I seem to be one of your last chances before care."

"Like you were the first time!" he shouted hopping to his feet. "If it wasn't for you I wouldn't even be here! You should have thought before bringing a kid into the world then just giving it away when you couldn't be bothered!" Alice flinched when she heard his thoughts on the matter. "And don't be knocking my friends or you might find them paying you a visit!"

Sandra stepped in. "I think this is enough for today."

Thomas was reseated but the anger flowing from him was almost tangible, he didn't even try to hide it, it was evident on his features. Alice got up to leave feeling so deflated from the initial meeting. She knew it wasn't going to be easy but she hadn't expected this.

"Goodbye Thomas."

His eyes darkened further at her words, he didn't even glance in her direction just stared away. When the door closed behind her she scrubbed her face with her hands, "Well that could have went better." she murmured.

"Could have been far worse too." Sandra told her softly. "I've seen far worse. Problem he is a grieving wounded young man and has lost the only people who he felt loved him unconditionally. It'll take him time to trust you…."

"If ever." Alice added.

Sandra looked at her after hearing the certainty in her tone.

"I know Thomas' father and he is just like him. He doesn't trust easy. Comes from his upbringing."

Sandra nodded. "It might be best if he was here."

"I'll double my efforts to try and contact him. But like I say it has been over a year since we last had contact."

"I'll find time to make some enquiries too. His living in the UK may change things with you…."

Alice froze. "What do you mean?" interrupting her.

"Daniel is his birth father and if he wishes has the choice whether he would like custody of Thomas too. If Thomas is adamant that he wants to remain in the UK then we have to take that into account whether or not we feel somewhere else would be far better for him. Since you and Daniel are no longer married the court may feel that he could be better suited caring for someone with the emotional needs that Thomas has especially if he has no other dependents."

Alice paled knowing hell would freeze over before Danny refused custody of Thomas….an image of her and Danny on opposite sides of a court room filled her mind. She had no doubt that it would come to that. "I want Thomas with me!" Alice told her determination on her features.

"And Daniel may feel the same; we have to explore every possible avenue. What is best for Thomas is paramount."

"You sad that last time and this happened!" Alice yelled. Closed her eyes and composed herself, her son suddenly feeling as far away as ever. "Sorry." She murmured.

Sandra didn't say anything just gestured her towards the exit. Alice's head was spinning. Thomas had to be with her, she had so much making up to do with him. She didn't want to be a part time mum with visitation here and there, this was her chance! She couldn't let anything stand in her way, even Danny.

A/N oooo those last words sounded omnious, this could all end very badly...but why has Danny been so hard to contact? hmmmm.

Anyway will defo try to get the next chappie up quicker, working nights though makes it hard to find time to write/type :( Hope you all are well x