Jonny led Jac up the stairs, one hand over her eyes and another on her arm guiding the pregnant woman.

'Right, just a few more steps' he informed his wife

Jac held onto the banister, taking each step tentatively 'Believe it or not Jonny, I do know how many steps are in our house'

All her husband could do was smirk. Of course she knew how many steps there were; Jac liked to be in control, and that very much included the sixteen steps from the ground floor to the first. As they reached the door of one of the spare bedrooms the nurse leant around Jac and pushed the door open. He manoeuvred her to the doorway and with a beam on his face shouted 'Tadaaa' as he took his hand away from the woman's eyes. It took several seconds for the red haired consultant's eyes to adjust to the light, but once they had she too smiled. For the first time in months Jac stood there speechless, taking in her surroundings.

The room in which they stood had been painted in several coats of light pink, along with a newly laid thick cream carpet on the floor. In the middle stood a large white wooden cot; already fully dressed with bedding. Matching wardrobes, changing units and drawers adorned one wall whilst the other han 'Maconie' painted in black swirly writing- with room for a first name to go above. As usual, the windows were fitted with wooden blinds but had also been teamed with pink curtains.

'What'cha think?' enquired the male, pleased with his work.

'It's...' started Jac, trying to conjure up the correct words for how she felt 'It's fantastic' she stated several seconds later, turning round and planting a well deserved kiss on her husband's lips.

'Really!? You like it?' he replied, slightly taken aback. He'd braced himself for what he thought was the inevitable backlash of Jac's dislike. 'So the hard work was worth it then...thank goodness for that!' Jonny leaned his head back, releasing a sigh of relief.

'No, no. It's better than I could have imagined...Our daughters lucky to have you as her father'

'Woah, where'd that come from?-'

'Just as I am to have you as my husband' she continued, before reaching up slightly and kissing Jonny again. He wrapped his arms around his wife's back and held her close in a warm embrace. Gently he smoothed her red hair down and stroked the side of the woman's face.

'You old softy!'

The house lay pretty silent; with just the two of them it wasn't rare. From the hall the booming of the television could be heard through the door- as well as Jonny laughing at irregular intervals. The kitchen on the other side of the wall was lit with the over head spot lights. Jac stood at the island that lay in the middle, carefully chopping a variety of vegetables and then chucking them into a small pot on the hob. Music from her iPhone, which was plugged into the docking station, played out at a reasonable level; not too loud but not too quiet.

'JONNY...JONNY!' she shouted, trying to be heard above the television 'JONATHON MACONIE!'

Quickly the living room door could be heard opening and Jonny popped his head around the kitchen door.

'D'ya call me?' he smiled, as if butter wouldn't melt.

'Only about three times...tea will be ready in an hour'

'Righty ho. Anything else? You coming to watch tv with me?'

'I would rather scratch my eye balls out than listen to Michael McIntyre tell unfunny jokes'

'Come on, he's not that bad'

'Miranda on the other hand is another matter entirely-'

'We'll watch Miranda then! I'll put it on now' the male replied in his deep Scottish voice as he dashed into the living room to change the DVD over. Jac laughed for several seconds before following him, picking up her mug of tea on the way out of the room.

The married couple sat at their oversized oak table in the corner of the kitchen, both opposite each other. Both of them were tucking into a rather wholesome home-cooked meal of stew and dumplings accompanied by a glass of fresh orange juice.

'Top marks on the food sweetheart' mumbled Jonny with his mouth full of meat

'You would say that, the only decent meal you've managed to create recently was beef stroganoff'

'I'll have you know that's a very complex dish!'

'Yeah-yeah. It's your turn tomorrow and I expect some-' started Jac before she was interrupted by the house phone ringing. She leant across the table and grabbed the discarded phone that had been left off its charging base.

'Hello, Jac Naylor'

Jonny carried on eating his food, watching his wife's face carefully for any clues to as who may be on the phone.

'Yes, right...okay. Give me fifteen minutes' she continued before hanging up and placing the phone on the table. As usual the use of 'goodbye' was absent indicating it was work related.

'That was Hanssen. I'm needed on Darwin. He was his usual guarded self so I'm not entirely sure what's going on' Jac stood up 'I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't wait up though' she kissed her husband's cheek as she walked past him into the hall way where she proceeded to put her boots and coat on.

'Take it easy Jac. I mean it' warned the male who had twisted himself around in his seat to watch the woman. 'I love you'

'Stop fussing Jonny... I love you too' she added before heading out the door with the car keys in hand. A minute or so later Jonny could hear the rumble of the car as it moved off the drive. He sat there, alone, finishing off his meal; a sense of silence and emptiness filled the house.

As the clock struck 1am Jac rolled onto the drive; or rather she reversed onto the drive. After turning the engine off and grabbing her bags from the passenger seat the tired woman climbed out of the driver's door and gently shut the door. After taking several seconds to locate the right key on the key ring Jac slid it into the front door and pushed the door open, pulling the latch down to shut it quietly behind her. Their house was immaculate- an easy task with just two adults living in the building; two adults that were quite frankly very rarely at home. Usually Jac insisted on order to make their hectic lives easier but on this particular late night she instead dumped the holdall and bag in the hall way, and slung her coat on the hook.

Although having told Jonny not to wait up for her she knew he had. He always did. It was obvious he'd cleared their plates away from the numerous hours previously, and the male nurse was now sprawled out across the corner sofa asleep.

'Jonny' Jac whispered as she tried her best to kneel down beside him 'Jonny, I'm home'

Slowly the male opened his eyes, yawned and then stretched.

'I thought I told you not to wait up' she added

'I wasn't going to leave my wife to come home to a silent house, was I? Anything serious?'

'Turns out they needed some assistance on AAU'

'And they couldn't have called someone else in?'

'We've been over this time and time again. Do you want me to spell it out for you?'

'You're pregnant Jac! ' exclaimed her husband as he sat bolt upright holding her hand

After a brief pause she replied 'I know- I know...and a tired one at that'