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Allie grunted in annoyance as she looked down at the form in front of her. Sparing a glance to the papers all around her on the dining room table, she lamented that she always left this to the last possible minute. Always.

The last date to submit taxes was tomorrow, and she would be damned if she wasn't going to finish it by then. Her mother was an accountant, but along with her mother's lessons growing up about the finer points of completing one's taxes oneself – something that she had not taken to like a duck to water, but unavoidably persevered with – she'd inherited her father's gene for leaving everything to the last minute.

And so here she sat on All Hallows Eve muttering away as Nick got ready to take Mia to a friend's Halloween-themed birthday party. Speaking of the devil, her husband entered the kitchen. When he made his way over to her and leaned down to press a kiss to her temple, she pulled away crossly and waved him off. "Go away. I'm busy."

She managed to be slightly more civilised when her daughter skipped into the kitchen wearing her Tinkerbell costume. Standing up long enough to snap a few pictures, Allie hugged Mia before she sprinted out of the kitchen. Pressing her lips to Nick's briefly, her mind was already back on the dastardly taxes.

She hadn't seen her mother – or her father for that matter – in seven years, but that didn't mean that they weren't with her, peering over her shoulder, especially at tax time. "Damn you Mother," she muttered to herself as she took her seat once again and prepared to buckle down.

Three hours later, Allie signed her name and threw down her pen with a feeling of great satisfaction. Stretching her arms over her head, her tight muscles screaming at the treatment, she realised it was dark.

Gathering up the neat papers and sliding them into a large envelope, she slapped the package down on the kitchen bench as a reminder to send it off tomorrow. Looking at her watch, she realised that Nick and Mia would be home soon, her husband having wisely holed up at Matt's place to watch a footy game during the interim of their daughter's party.

Deciding there would be just enough time to have a shower before they got home, Allie headed for the bedroom. She'd pulled off her jumper and was tugging down the zip of her jeans when the phone suddenly rang. Momentarily debating letting the answering machine pick it up, she sighed and zipped her pants up once again. Leaving her bedroom, she picked up the handset in the kitchen. "Hello?"

"Is this Allie Kingston?" asked an uncertain voice.

"Yes this is," confirmed Allie warily, wondering where she knew that voice from.

"Oh good," came the relieved reply. "I wasn't sure if I'd looked up the right number."

It hit her. "Shana?" Allie asked in a surprised tone. Why would her cousin be calling her now?

"Hey cuz," came the reply that should have sounded happy but fell rather flat. "I need you to sit down, because I'm going to tell you something..."

When Nick unlocked the front door and stepped into the hall, he sincerely hoped that Allie had finished her taxes. She'd been irritable and tired all week, and when he'd made the suggestion that she just take it all to the accountant like he did, she'd exploded.

He'd refrained from suggesting it again.

As the six year old dashed by him to her bedroom – looking decidedly less fairy-like than when they had left earlier – Nick shut the door behind him. "Al?" he called as he noticed that none of the lights were on.

Wondering if he'd find her asleep on the table, he turned left into the kitchen. He did find her seated at the table, but she wasn't sleeping. Instead, she seemed to be frozen to the spot. Moving toward her quickly in concern, he saw that she in shock. Kneeling before his wife, he removed the phone she held in a death grip and reached up a hand to her cheek, trying to draw her back to earth. "Al?" he said softly. "Allie? What's wrong?"

"He's dead," was the emotionless response.

Nick was confused. "Who's dead Al?"

Recognition began to return to her eyes as she turned her face to his. "My dad," she whispered and he could hear the pain. "The grandfather that I never let Mia meet is dead." Her disbelieving laugh was brittle as Nick rose and tugged her into his arms. "Her Grandad is dead," she whimpered into his chest.

"Grandad died?" exclaimed a voice from the doorway. Mia was distressed as she ran into the kitchen and looked up at Nick. "Your Dad died?"

"No sweetheart, my Grandad didn't die," explained Nick as he took a seat on a chair, Allie now in his lap, her head resting against his shoulder. She still hadn't cried yet. "Your Mummy's father died."

"Mummy has a Grandad too?" asked Mia in confusion as she moved closer to her parents, resting one hand on Nick's shoulder, the other on Allie's knee. "Why haven't I met him?"

Feeling her heart clench at the innocent question, Allie sat up and drew her daughter close to her. "Mummy hasn't spoken to her Daddy in a very long time sweetheart," she explained softly.

Mia patted her mother's cheek sombrely. "It's okay Mummy. You don't need to cry, we can get you another Grandad," suggested Mia. "Just like Stella now has Baggy."

Stella's puppy Frodo had escaped the yard and been hit by a car three months earlier. Nothing could be done and the dog was put down. It had been Mia's first tender experience with death, but upon discovering that the much loved dog was to be replaced by a Scottish terrier, she had been much heartened. Unfortunately, the same principles could not be applied here.

Sensing Allie floundering, Nick stepped in. "Mummy only has one Grandad," he said carefully. "And he's not coming back."

"Oh," said Mia, her expression thoughtful. "We should go and dig him a hole in the backyard too, like we did for Frodo, so he can be buried nice and safe."

Allie laughed, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes as Nick's hand ran up and down her back. "That's a nice idea squirt, but Grandad will be buried in a special place with other people who have" – she paused a moment to collect herself – "have passed away."

"I've heard about them," agreed Mia. "You bury them in a seminary."

"Cemetery, sweetheart," corrected Allie with a wan smile as she brushed away the tears that were most certainly not falling.

They may not have been falling then, but when Nick woke up suddenly in the middle of the night and found his wife smothering her cries into her pillow beside him, he slipped his arms around her and tugged her close to him. "Oh Al."

Next chapter:

A sudden arrival.