'Any calls whilst I've been out?' Ruth asked, bundling back in from work, her arms full of books and her bag over her shoulder.

'Just Malcolm.'

'That's nice, how did he sound?'

'Better I think, he was all apologies for it being last minute, asking if he could bring a friend with him,'

'Harry you don't think?' didn't require an explanation.

'I don't think anything anymore, well that's not strictly true,' was said with his eyes twinkling wickedly, as rushed over to help relieve her of the books that were spilling out of her arms.

'Harry, one or two rooms, you did ask didn't you?' and Ruth was back to the practical.

'It's a school day tomorrow otherwise you know could have come,' Harry told Thomas, who unusually for him was throwing a wobbler about being told that he couldn't come to the airport to meet Malcolm, because his flight didn't arrive until after 10pm.

'If I'm still awake when you get back, will I be allowed to say hello?' and Harry said yes, knowing full well that by then, Thomas would be asleep and quite probably Ruth as well.

In what he now knew would be two trips to the airport in the space of a month, Harry was more than happy to do it. Malcolm wasn't hiring a car and besides which he was keen to meet the friend who had become the subject of further conjecture, since Malcolm had called again confirming two rooms.

The small plane was generally full and tonight was no exception, as Harry watched from the gallery as it taxied along the runway before the passengers alighted and trundled across the tarmac towards the terminal building. Despite or perhaps because of the lights and his best efforts, he couldn't decide which of the thirty or so pairs of legs belonged to Malcolm. Perhaps he should think about having his eyes tested he wondered.

Going back downstairs he headed for arrivals gate, teeming with what he presumed were other people's friends and relatives and a smattering of taxi drivers. He recalled the night when he'd first arrived and there'd been no one waiting to meet him. How he'd been desperately tired but so full of hope at the thought of seeing Ruth again. The deep snow on the road over 'The Crags' and arriving in the village with the road full of sheep and angels, God now he came to think of it, one of those must have been Thomas. His near miss when he'd driven down the lane to her house far too fast, and then that incredible sensation in the church when she'd walked so close to him without realising it. Was it really only be eighteen months ago?

'Sorry if I'm not quite what you expected,' said a young man that he hadn't seen since he'd left London and hadn't imagined that he'd ever see again. 'It's good to see you Harry,' said Tariq.

In a former life Harry would have said, 'shouldn't you be at work or good to see you too Tariq,' but he said neither. He was wondering whether or not Tariq had got through his barging in unannounced phase, otherwise this was going to be a very short visit.

An announcement over the speakers, roused them into action to make their way out of the terminal building and into the car park before they closed it for the night.

'Do you want us to explain now or wait until we get home?' Malcolm continued, 'Ruth will still be awake, won't she?'

'I very much doubt it, she's got school in the morning, but you never know,' said a more than curious Harry, as Tariq lifted their luggage into the car, 'but best to wait just in case.'

Ruth had tried to sleep, but the combination of Harry driving on darkened roads on his own which still worried her, Malcolm and whoever was arriving with him and the fact that she wasn't really tired, meant that she lain there and heard the car coming down the lane in advance of it pulling up. Dragging her dressing gown from the hook behind the door, she padded into the kitchen and put the kettle on. Everyone liked a cup of tea or coffee didn't they?

'Oh my god,' escaped her lips without her knowing it, as unlike Harry, she raced across the room and embraced Tariq. 'What on earth are you doing here?' was a ridiculous though valid question.

'Malcolm said that you could do with some extra help,' he said in his familiarly gentle way, before going on to explain, what Ruth considered to be the best news she'd heard in ages.

'Jones and Masood, genie plus one, at you service,' Tariq told them, going on to explain that he'd made what at first had felt like a ridiculous decision, by quitting MI5. How he'd bumped into Malcolm purely by accident, and how over a few drinks in The George, they'd contrived a plan to go into business together. 'We work well together, it's purely on line and it's thriving,' he told them. 'It's surprising how many people are interested in gadgetry and all else besides.'

Harry yawned. 'Sorry,' said Tariq, 'you're tired, we'll tell you more in the morning, we should say goodnight.'

'Here let me give you a hand with those,' said Harry, lifting one of Malcolm's bags.

'You'll get an early call,' Ruth called after Malcolm who was still lingering, 'there's one very excited little boy that's looking forward to seeing you again,' nodding to him to follow Harry and Tariq up the stairs.

'It's so good to be here again,' he said, walking back and hugging her, 'I'll walk with you to school in the morning if that's alright. Tariq wants to talk to Harry.'

Thomas was standing on the landing without his dressing gown or his slippers. He'd been for a wee and washed his hands and he should have gone back to bed, because his usual wake – up call Whisky was still snoring, so it was early. Confronted by two doors, he knew that he'd be in trouble if he walked in on the lady that was sleeping behind one of them, whereas Uncle Malcolm wouldn't be cross, he'd be pleased to see him.

There was a lump in the bed, but there was also a tee shirt draped across the chair that said Geeks rule, which couldn't be Uncle Malcolm's because he knew that he didn't wear tee shirts. He beat a hasty retreat and crept towards the other door.

'I've been expecting you, come on in,' and Thomas was up on his bed in a flash and talking twenty to the dozen, as Malcolm put down the book that he'd been reading and listened patiently about the changes to the house, the wedding and that there was going to be a party on the beach, all of which he knew.

'I've been mobilised Uncle Malcolm,' had much the same effect on Malcolm as it had on Harry and Ruth, although unlike them, Malcolm succeeded in keeping a straight face as he received full chapter and verse as to exactly what role in the evening Thomas was going to playing.

'It's a secret, so you won't tell will you?' said his earnest little face, as he went on to explain that there was going to be a bonfire, lots of food and music as well. 'All my friends are coming, including Liam, he's the new one and Alice will be there as well. She's in Canada at the moment but she's flying on a huge aeroplane, just like I did,' was rattled off almost without a breath being taken.

'Go and fetch your dressing gown and then how about you take me downstairs and show me where the kettle is in the new kitchen,' Malcolm suggested, conscious that the rest of the household were still asleep, but wouldn't be much longer if Thomas kept going at the rate he was. Despite which he fancied a cup of tea.

He had so many tales of his own to tell, but those could come later, including an explanation as to who Tariq was, as he sat and listened to the child that had grown in confidence in leaps and bounds, even in the short time since he'd last seen him. He'd clearly accepted that Harry and Ruth were his parents and that alone warmed Malcolm's heart. He'd watched them together when he'd last been there, as they'd stuttered and stumbled their way in an attempt to prove to him how much they loved him and it had clearly worked. Malcolm was elated.

'Mind if I join you?' asked Ruth, who had walked into the kitchen unheard.

'Thomas and I were just discussing gadgets,' he said with a wink to Thomas, to assure him that he wouldn't say anything, although there was the distinct possibility that Ruth had overheard what Thomas had been saying.

'I need tea, is there any more in the pot?' asked Ruth, possibly playing along.

'So you found Uncle Malcolm, I hope you didn't wake him up,' Ruth continued, turning back from where she was making a fresh pot of tea, only to be told that he hadn't and that Uncle Malcolm had been reading a book.

'What's a Geek?' followed the confession that he'd opened Tariq's door.

'Over to you Malcolm,' Ruth told him, 'but not too long. I need to get showered and changed and then sort Thomas out, before Harry makes breakfast. He does that on the days that I work.'

Listening to what Ruth had just said was so down to earth as to be normal, and as far as Malcolm was concerned was wonderful. They'd gone from teetering on the brink of oblivion to becoming a proper family in the space of less than eighteen months. He felt privileged that he'd been offered the chance to witness it, and not only that to be Harry's best man at their wedding.

'Good morning,' said the man in question, planting a kiss in Ruth's hair, before telling Thomas if he wanted any breakfast that he needed to go and get ready.

An hour later when Malcolm had left with Thomas and Ruth, announcing that he was going to take himself off for a walk before he came home, Harry and Tariq were sitting in the garden.

'You don't have to explain your decision to me Tariq, I'm not your boss anymore,' had been prompted by Tariq telling Harry that he needed and wanted to explain his decision to resign.

'My disillusion if that's the right word, started when Lucas ….,'

'Died,' Harry suggested.

'Yes, but it was before that when he called from the Enver Tower and said that you had to come on your own. You turned to Ruth and said that it was your turn and then walked away. Dimitri wanted to shadow you but she wouldn't let him. she was so contained, so in control. she was incredible. It was only after the others left to go and diffuse the bomb that her resolve slipped, it was terrible, I felt so helpless.'

'Terrible?' wasn't a statement, but a question.

'She believed that you were going to die, we both did. She wept uncontrollably and I suddenly realised that somewhere down the line, there would be someone that loved me as much as Ruth loved you, who one day would crying for me. It changed everything.'

Harry waited pouring them both another coffee, Tariq clearly hadn't finished.

'If you'd come back to work Harry, after the extradition,'

'Yes?'

'I'd have stayed, but you didn't and I knew that it could never be the same.'

'Change can be good.' Harry told him, still pondering what Tariq had said about Ruth.

'Not this one, and once Callum said that he was leaving, that just left Erin, and I don't want to sound disloyal, but the stability that you and Ruth brought to section D had gone and I became an outsider and felt less valued, if that makes sense?

Harry did understand it had been the same for years. Governments had come and gone and with them a new Home Secretary had arrived, colleagues that he'd been close to had died, always leaving him with the mountain of rebuilding his section.

'Go on,' he told Tariq.

'Then just as I was floundering I bumped into Malcolm who was at a loose end, and the rest as they say is history.'

'I appreciate you telling me Tariq, but I hope you realise that you're going to have to earn your keep while you're here?' Harry told him, in an effort to lighten the mood. 'Ruth hasn't changed, for which I will be eternally grateful and she's got a whole list of jobs she wants doing before the wedding which aren't gadget related.' He pointed to the garden and the state that it was in after the builders had left.

'When do I start, or do I have to wait until the boss gets back?' Tariq ribbed him.

Tariq was young, Tariq was a geek, as for the next two weeks Thomas didn't so much as change his affections as side line them for a bit, from his parents and Malcolm to Tariq who was cool. Racing home from school to get into what were designated his scruffies, to help with whatever Tariq was doing.

'It's temporary, it will pass and there's nothing wrong with him saying cool,' was Ruth's attempt to pacify Harry, who was suffering more than she was by Thomas being distracted.

'Just wait until he announces that he's got a girlfriend,' to which Harry's response was unrepeatable.

With just over a week until the wedding, the skip that contained the accumulated rubbish had been taken away, the huge planter that had been the cause of far too many stubbed toes and swearing had been moved, and the garden was now pristine and ready for the small family gathering that would follow the actual ceremony.

When it came to dealing Thomas, Ruth was the one whose feet were firmly on the ground and Harry was more than happy with that unspoken arrangement. She was the home maker and the mediator that kept him grounded. On the odd occasion when he needed to feel if not get the upper hand, intimating that he was still the boss he played a game, which in this case was mercifully short.

'Please Daddy,' Thomas pleaded on the evening when they were due to meet the flight that was bringing not only Catherine and Callum, but Graham, Lucy and Alice to their wedding.

They'd kept the date from him, purely because they knew that they'd get no peace or possibly sleep if they told him in advance.

'Of course,' you can come, Harry eventually told him, creating exactly the effect that they'd so far managed to, as he raced up to his room shouting that he was going to get ready, with Ruth in his wake, telling him that it was far too early and to come back downstairs and finish his dinner.

Malcolm turned to Harry.

'Would you be kind enough to tell Catherine that I need to speak to her as soon as possible?' he asked him, with the usual politeness that was so very Malcolm and so rare these days.

'Plots and plans eh Malcolm,' and Malcolm blushed. 'Don't worry we know that there's an army out there that's plotting behind our backs, though hopefully not as dangerous as the old days?'

The airport was as busy as ever with expectant relatives and bored taxi drivers, as Ruth took Thomas to one side and found the only available seat, while Harry joined the throng that were meeting the plane.

'Give Daddy a minute,' had been met with only mild resistance, because Thomas knew better than to argue with Ruth. She loved him he knew that but he also knew that when she said no it was for a good reason, whereas with Harry he always stood a chance of winning him round.

The build up to this moment had felt like a lifetime in the making, perhaps the longest seven months in Ruth's life, although now it had arrived, it felt less so. All the chats they'd had via the computer, would pale into insignificance the moment that Harry saw Alice and she him. Graham and Lucy were fully aware as to how Harry would be feeling and they'd spoken to Catherine and Callum.

'Just give him a moment,' Graham had told them.

Ruth sat and watched, chatting aimlessly to Thomas about anything and everything that she could think of to distract him, until suddenly the doors swung open and the passengers started to file out.

Somewhere on the periphery she saw Callum and Catherine walking towards the hire car desk and Graham and Lucy follow them. In the middle of the melee, Alice who had grown so much taller in the seven months since she'd last seen her was off her feet and cuddled into Harry. Even from behind him, Ruth could see his shoulders rising and falling and how hard he was trying to control his breathing and his emotions. She knew every inch of him and that his eyes would be closed as he breathed her in. He was vulnerable, he always had been and she loved him so much in that moment.

'Come on then, time to go and find Alice,' she told Thomas.

There were Hi Dad's and Hi Ruth's, coming at them from all sides as they headed out into the car park in search of Graham's hire car. The flight had been great, Alice had slept for a lot of the time and yes the rest of them were tired.

'It's only ten minutes to your house,' Harry told them, as Graham picked up the directions, 'we'll see you in the morning.'

'I want to go with Grandad,' said the bundle that Harry was still holding.

'Just for one tonight,' Ruth heard Lucy say, handing her Alice's small travel bag with a change of clothing, as Graham lifted the child seat out of his car and strapped it into Harrys. Ruth very much doubted it.

'They'll have to top and tail if that's OK,' she told Lucy, nodding towards Thomas and Alice, 'we've got a house full.

In the week that followed, the protagonists or wedding planners as Harry finally agreed to call them had been conspicuous by their absence. Apart from being there each evening for a meal before they went home, they'd seen little of his older children or Malcolm and Tariq. Banned from going to the beach or the vicarage where they were holding their meetings, they'd done very little other than to spend their days with Thomas and Alice. Thursday however was the wedding rehearsal day and when reality set in.

'I'm not sure about this,' Harry announce as he opened the gate to the church, ushering Thomas and Alice ahead of them.

For some unspeakable reason that Ruth couldn't fathom, she'd finally relaxed which had had the opposite effect on Harry.

'For goodness sake Harry ….,' she didn't know how to finish that sentence. She knew for certain that he hadn't changed his mind, as certain as ever that they were destined to be together, so perhaps it was all the razzmatazz that was being planned for the evening that he was worrying about?

'Good morning everybody,' said the ever cheerful Michael, as though the church was filled with people which it wasn't, other than them and Aidan's parents that had been enlisted as stand in guests, and Ron as Harry's best man.

They knew that what they wanted was unconventional as they stood at the top of the aisle and waited until Aidan's mother pressed play. To Beethoven's Ode to Joy, poignant to the point of being hair-raising on the back to anyone that knew its significance, they walked side by side down the aisle with Thomas next to Ruth and Alice next to Harry.

'Well that's about it, apart from you telling me at what point the children can sing,' Michael told them, having gone through the order of service which had included them reciting their vows.

'I've been thinking about that, could we take a minute?' Harry asked him, wanting to talk to Ruth.

'Take all the time you need,' Michael, told them. He'd officiated at weddings far more complicated than theirs was likely to be.

Ten minutes later while Thomas and Alice were sitting outside the church enjoying an ice cream, Harry explained what had been troubling him and how he should have told her rather than bottling it up.

'It's our wedding Ruth and the only two children that should be taking centre stage are ours,' he said, nodding towards Thomas and Alice, going on to explain that he thought it would be more appropriate for the other children to sing in the evening.

Ruth could have said that she agreed with him, that she hadn't seen him this impassioned since the day that they'd made the decision to adopt Thomas. But she didn't, she kissed him. Carrying on doing so, until there could be no doubt in his mind, that this journey that they were about to embark on together, was for as long as they both should live.

'The evening it is then if that's what you'd prefer, we've got plenty of time to change it,' Michael told them. Twenty for hours of daylight give or take. He needed to find Rose.

It's wedding day bliss next, I promise.