Extreme Takeover, Holby Edition

Their parents ran the hospital during their life, and now that they're older, it's their turn.

Pairings are Jac/Joseph, Maddy/Linden, Connie/Sam, Diane/Ric and Chrissie/Olly.

Noticing the time, Max said, 'Right, we have half an hour before we have to leave, think you can get dressed?'

'I think I can manage that,' she said with a smile.

'Are you sure you're okay?' asked Max, wrapping his arm around Erin's waist and holding her close, kissing the side of her face. He could tell that she was really nervous about what may happen tonight.

'Max,' she said, squirming out of his embrace, although yearning to be closer to him. But now wasn't the time or place for that. 'We're right outside, our family doesn't know yet.'

'I know, you just look scared. Wanted to reassure you,' he replied. 'How are we going to do this again?'

'Ummm, we walk in hand in hand, if anyone notices we do it that way. Or we catch the attention of everyone and get them to be quiet, one of us blurts it and between us we explain it,' said Erin, running through the possibilities in her mind.

'Sounds good,' said Max, taking a deep breath. 'You ready?'

'No,' she replied.

'Ready or not, here we go,' he said, taking her hand and leading her through the drive way and front garden into the house of Jac and Joseph Byrne. It was spectacular to say the least, it still made Erin gasp in awe at its beauty, as she'd done so many times before, since they bought the house when she was 8. She used to think that it was a castle, and she could be a princess there. Princess Erin. A fitting setting for her and Max's big secret to be announced to their family.

Once they'd entered the house, they began to circulate around the room, hand in hand. No one seemed to notice that they were holding hands as a couple would.

'Everyone,' said Max, pulling Erin by the hand into the centre of the room so that the focus was on them and they could be seen by everyone. 'Can we have your attention for a minute?'

'Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?' asked 8 year old Cameron. 'You're holding hands like Mummy and Daddy do…'

'That's what we want to talk to you about,' said Erin as the room quietened down. 'Everyone, Max and I are together. We love each other, and when the time's right, in the not so distant future, we want to get married and have a family. We were so close to having that dream…'

'As you know,' said Max, sensing that Erin would not be able to explain without tears. 'Erin had a miscarriage 4 weeks ago, losing a baby that she named Alex. Everyone figured out that it wasn't possible for Jay to be Alex's father because the dates did not add up; he'd been away in Ghana when Alex was conceived. Erin couldn't remember who Alex's father was because of her amnesia, but she realised as Adi went into labour that the man she cheated on Jay with, was me. We had a chance to talk, about how we ended up in bed together that night, and we decided that we wanted to explore the idea of having a relationship, and taking things slowly. I moved in to help Erin recover, and we quickly realised how much we loved each other and how much we wanted to be together.'

'We had a bench put up in Alex's memory,' said Erin. 'It's in the park close to the flat near the river. I know it's a lot for you lot to take in, but we're together, and we're happy. Things with Jay affected me badly, and I'm not saying that he's solely to blame, we all had a hand in this, but I hope that we can all move on and be friends again.'

The room applauded as Erin finished speaking.

'Congratulations,' said everyone.

'May I propose a toast?' said Olly, raising his glass. 'To Max and Erin, may they lead a happy life together.'

'With lots of children,' added Chrissie, raising her own glass.

'Mum!' protested Max in embarrassment.

'I never thought I would see the day that my son settled down,' said Chrissie with a beam. 'I'm so happy.'

'To Max and Erin,' said everyone, raising their glasses.

Snuggling into Max's side, Erin whispered, 'That went a hell of a lot better than I thought it would.'

'Even Diane and Ric seem happy,' he added, kissing her cheek. 'And Mum's thrilled. She'll be nagging at us for grandchildren within weeks.'

'Mum and Dad look really happy,' commented Erin, looking at the bright smiles on her parents faces. 'They never approved of Jay really, I think you're a much better match for me.'

'The only one who doesn't look happy is Mason,' added Max, looking over at his best friend. 'We were like brothers of bachelorism, promising never to settle down.'

'We all have to grow up eventually,' said Erin, rubbing his arm to reassure him.