CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO

THREE WEEKS LATER

The next three weeks seemed to fly by rather quickly. Jack and Martha had settled into life with a new baby really well. Laila was an absolute joy to have around; they adored her and couldn't imagine their lives without her.

And to make things even better, Jack and Martha's wedding was now only a month away. Martha was starting to get really excited; she'd been dreaming about her wedding since she was ten years old. Martha didn't think she'd ever been this happy in her whole life.

Martha was in the process of giving Laila a bath. She was trying to be quite quick; Jack had popped out for a little while and would be home soon, and then they were heading over to her grandad's house. He was making them lunch.

"Oh, look at you," Martha cooed, as she splashed water over Laila's belly. "You're such a little cutie, aren't you?" she laughed.

Martha pulled Laila out of the bath and wrapped her up tightly in a warm towel. "Come on, let's get you dressed," she started. "Daddy will be home soon and then we can go and see grandad," she said as she placed Laila down on the bed.

Martha dried Laila off and put her into some clean clothes; a pink jumpsuit and a little pink beanie. She then picked her and hugged her to her chest.

"I'm home," Jack's voice called from the lounge room.

"In here," Martha yelled out to him.

A few moments later Jack appeared in the door way with a big smile on his face.

"Why are you so happy?" Martha asked.

"I've got great news," Jack answered as he kissed her quickly.

"And what would that great news be?" Martha wanted to know.

"I've just been speaking to McGrath and he's given me a month off work; starting two days before we get married," Jack explained.

"Oh my god," Martha practically squealed, as she placed Laila in her bassinet and then threw herself into Jack's arms. "I can't believe he's given you a whole month off," she said as she hugged him tight.

"I know. I was so surprised when he told me," Jack said.

"This is so exciting," Martha smiled. "This means we get you to ourselves for an entire month," she said in between quick kisses to Jack's lips.

She was just about to pull away, but Jack pulled her in for a hot, long kiss. Martha moaned against his lips; and kissed him harder as they fell on to the bed. Martha was really starting to get into it and she really would have loved to have kept going. She and Jack hadn't been intimate in that way since before Laila's birth. They had both talked about it, and had decided that there was to be no sex until Martha was healed.

Martha knew that it had been hard on Jack; but god, it had been hard on her too. Martha was just about to pull Jack's shirt over his head, when she heard a small cry come from Laila. Whoops, Martha thought. She'd forgotten about their daughter.

Martha quickly rolled out from underneath Jack and stood up; straightening her clothes. "So close," she heard Jack mutter as he slumped down on the bed.

Martha laughed. "We have to be at grandads in twenty minutes anyway," she told him. "And, I don't know about you, but I'd really like a little more than twenty minutes," she teased.

Jack sat up quickly and pulled Martha back towards him. "Twenty minutes is plenty of time. We could so do it in twenty minutes," he said seriously.

Martha laughed at him again as she pushed him away. "We can't; Laila's awake," she grinned.

"Fine," Jack sulked; sounding defeated.

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Martha and Jack were sitting at the dining table; Alf was sitting opposite them; cradling Laila in his arms.

"Thanks for lunch grandad," Martha smiled across at Alf.

"Yeah, it was great," Jack added.

"No problem," Alf said to them. "It's also nice to spend some time with Laila," he smiled as he stood up and moved over towards the couch. He wanted to sit somewhere a little more comfortable.

Martha was just about to stand up when she felt Jack's hand on her leg. He started tracing tiny circles on her thigh.

"Jack," Martha scolded in a whispered voice.

"What?" he looked at her innocently.

"Incase you hadn't noticed, my grandfather is in the room. Stop it," Martha laughed.

Jack smirked. "Maybe we could ask Alf to watch Laila for an hour or so," he suggested knowingly.

"No way Jack," Martha grinned. "I'm not asking grandad to watch our daughter just so we can go off and have sex," she hissed. She gave him a quick pat on the shoulder and got up; making her way over to the couch. She was just about to sit down when there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it," she told Alf.

She quickly made her way to the door and swung it open. She grinned when she saw who it was.

"Macca," she screeched and lunged at him; pulling him into a hug.

"I'm guessing that you missed me then bug," Macca exclaimed.

"Of course," Martha laughed as she pulled him into the apartment.

Jack walked over and said hello; shaking hands with Macca.

"Alright, where's this kid," Macca smiled. "I need to see her," he said.

"Nice to see you too," Martha muttered with a laugh.

Macca gave her another quick hug before heading over to where Alf was now standing with Laila. Alf gently placed Laila into Macca's arms.

"Look at her; she's gorgeous" he exclaimed. Macca looked over at Martha. "She looks just like you," he smiled.

"I try," Martha joked.

"Dad and mum would have loved her bug," Macca added.

Martha nodded. She knew.

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They hung around at Alf's for another half an hour; before heading home. Macca would be staying at Alf's but he decided to head off to Martha and Jack's for a while. Kim and Robbie were there when they got home.

The boys all sat down and had a beer; while Martha tried to put Laila asleep. But she wouldn't go to sleep; she was crying hard and Martha was starting to feel a little overwhelmed. "Come on, go to sleep," Martha cooed, as she rested Laila on her shoulder and rubbed her back.

A moment later Martha felt a warm liquid dripping down her neck and into her top. "Gross," she cried out. She rushed over to Jack and handed Laila to him. "Can you hold her for second? I need to get changed; she just puked down my top," she exclaimed before rushing off.

Jack, Macca, Kim and Robbie all laughed at her as she walked off. "You feel better now?" Jack smiled down at his daughter. "You just needed to chuck, didn't you?" he laughed.

"She's great, isn't she?" Macca smiled as he looked at Laila.

"Yeah, she is," Jack agreed.

"There is one bad thing about having a baby around though," Robbie started. "All the girls are going ga ga over her. Next thing we know; they'll all be wanting a baby aswell," he said.

"Well, you know what that means?" Jack said. "No sex," he exclaimed.

"What?" the three guys looked at him in horror.

"You do know where babies come from, right?" Jack laughed.

Kim scoffed. "Of course we know where babies come from," he said. "But unlike you; we also know how and when to use protection," Kim teased.

"Hey, it isn't my fault that my girlfriend is so hot, and I couldn't wait until I got home," Jack pointed out.

"Hey," Macca yelled as he screwed up his face in disgust. "I don't need to know about the dirty things you do with my sister," he cried out.

"Yeah, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk about 'dirty' things in front of my daughter," Martha added with a laugh as she walked over and took Laila away from Jack.

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