AUTHORS NOTE: I love how me and Chelle are the ones that suggested the prompt table and yet are the ones that rarely update... Whoops! Well here you are with a lovely story based on one of our beloved OC'S :)

DISCLAIMER: I only own Jenny, Leigh, the mother and Ewan + Ronan (most of the people in this are made up actually, whoops!)

[Grave]

A year ago on this very day, DS Jenny Scott had found herself admitting out loud to Jackie that she was madly in love with their boss. It had been a drunken error, a slip of the tongue and a moment she obviously couldn't take back. It was six months ago today that the three other detectives of their team decided that they'd be a pain in her ass and make sure Burke knew what was wrong with her. They'd been taking it steady ever since but even with the admittance that she believed what she was doing was wrong on her previous partner, Jenny did throw herself into the relationship with next to no cares.

However, today was one of those days where she'd waken up feeling like complete shit and a total mess. She knew that today was just another day in her new life, another day without James but another day with Matt but today was James' birthday. She laughed as she realised that even in her mind she never used the past tense. Jenny never wanted to really believe that James was gone. A small part of her still wanted him to walk through the front door, his arms to wrap around her waist and promise her that it was all going to be okay. She knew it would never happen and with Burke, she'd found another prince charming but she couldn't help but dream at times.

At the breakfast table she was particularly quiet even when Burke phoned her and asked if she wanted to do anything that day. They had the weekend off and she agreed but told him that she needed to do something else first. When she hung up, she saw her mother's concerned look but decided not to say anything as she continued to tuck into her bowl of cereal.

"I know what you're doing today," her mother eventually spoke up as if fed up of the silent. Jenny looked at the woman for a few moments before putting down her spoon, her fingers closing in her lap as she looked over at her. "You have to move on, darling. Do you know what this is doing to your relationship with Matthew?"

Deciding not to lose her patience, Jenny simply smiled before standing up so that she could take her bowl to the sink as she'd lost her appetite. "It's doing nothing to my relationship with Matt, mother but it's doing a lot to our relationship." She coldly pointed out knowing that she shouldn't so harsh to her mother but sometimes she really did hate her mother living at the house as it felt like being a teenager again. When her mother didn't respond, Jenny just shook her head before pressing a kiss to the top of Leigh's head and leaving the house.

It wasn't a long walk to where she wanted to go and when she got there, she smiled as she knelt down on the snowed over grass and removed the dead flowers that had been there since she'd last found the time to get here. "I'm sorry it's been so long," she whispered wiping the snow off of the grave and smiling. "Leigh's getting so big now and she's so sociable now thanks to Ronan.

I know you never really wanted me to become a detective when I decided to go out for my psychology degree and stuff but I do think that it's the best thing to ever happen to our little family, James. I know Leigh rarely gets to see me but she has a family at long last. She has an aunt and three uncles that really love her. She has little Ronan that shows her the ropes and then there's Matt."

She found herself pausing as she thought of her boyfriend. Despite the age difference and the fact that everyone thought he was gruff and sometimes a misery, he loved nothing more than coming over to the house to do things with Leigh. Last week they'd decorated the house with Christmas decorations while Jenny had been out running errands. It had been the best surprise she'd had in a long time. He was always there at her singing or dancing recitals and Leigh always looked out for him more than she did Jenny because she knew her mother would be there almost immediately as Jenny always made sure she had the time off.

"He's perfect for her, James. You'd really like him." Jenny knew that if James had been here then they'd have never really met and she couldn't help but laugh as she realised that in James' death she'd achieved so much more of her life. She'd gone out and got a degree, got a job and got friends that weren't mutual or just simply his. She'd found the confidence to stop her mother being a complete pain, she'd learnt that having a female best friend like Jackie was the best way to live and having a man like Robbie was the best way to stop taking everything so damned serious.

It was a slow process admitting that she needed to say goodbye to the memory of James but even though she knew that she'd still come and put flowers on his grave as she'd promised his mother, she'd not live her life thinking about what he would of thought about her. She was a different person now than what she'd been back when they'd first met and James had spent most of their married life on tour so even the James she loved was a complete memory, someone she wanted to pretend she had been married to.

She knew that she'd always love James. He'd been her first at everything and that was important to her but she knew that her mother was right. She needed to move on if she wanted to have anything of a real chance with Matt. She ran her fingers along the curves of his name, her eyes welling with tears as she tried to say the words that she needed to say. "I'll always love you," she promised before standing up, her hands burying into her pockets before she turned round and saw the four members of the team, Ewan, Ronan and her mother with Leigh standing behind her all holding a single white lily.

"What are you doing here?" She asked using the heel of her hand to wipe away at the tears that she'd shed. They moved towards her, their arms wrapping around her and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, we're a family and we help each other through times like this," Stuart pointed out and she couldn't help but laugh as she pressed a kiss to everyone's cheeks, Matt getting a little bit more before she bent down to pick up Leigh and smiled. It might have taken her a long time to realise this but as they stood around her deceased husband's grave, Leigh in her arms and Matthew holding her hand, she realised that she had finally made the right choice.

NEXT PROMPT COMING SOON...