When they got back downstairs Laura was getting out plates and glasses. 'Robbie said you have to go back to work to finish up. He reckoned you've got time to stop for some food first so he's gone to get fish and chips. That ok?'

Lyn and James both assented and sat down, fish and chips not needing much in the way of table preparation. They chatted about the case Lewis and Hathaway had just solved until Lewis himself returned. While they ate Lyn regaled them with baby stories to the delight of Lewis and Laura. James simply tuned out. It was agreed before they headed back to work that Lyn could sleep in Laura's guest room if Robbie couldn't get away in time. The policemen returned to work and Laura topped up Lyn's wine as the sat at the table.

Lyn, James' rder echoing in hr head, thought she'd better just go for it. 'Laura, can I ask you something?' Laura was wary, thinking she probably knew what the younger woman was going to ask and not sure how to answer. She dealt with her discomfort by replying more sharply than she intended. 'You can ask me anything, I can't promise I'll answer.' Lyn wasn't deterred but she pretended she was. She really was enjoying this investigation. 'No, its... it's ok. It's none of my business really. I just worry, that's all.' Laura softened. 'Go on then, ask me what it is you want to know.' This time Lyn didn't have to play act. She genuinely searched for the right words. 'I just wondered... well...what the deal is with you and Dad?'

Her question hung in the air. Laura took a big swig of wine and a deep breath. 'I'm not sure what to tell you. It's complicated.' Lyn couldn't help it, she laughed out loud. Laura looked puzzled. Lyn tried to explain. 'Of course it's complicated. If it wasn't I wouldn't have to ask, would I? I just worry about Dad, that's all. I need to know that there are people around who love him, that he's not lonely.' Laura sighed and spoke to her wine glass. 'He's well loved, you don't have to worry about that. And if he's lonely then that is his choice. He doesn't have to be. I've made that quite clear.'

Lyn was confused. 'Stop talking in riddles. Are you together or not?' Laura laughed, a little smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. 'I told you it's complicated but if you need a black and white answer I suppose I would have to say yes.' Lyn smiled and tactically topped up their glasses. 'Yes. Good. Can I ask how long you've been together?' Laura looked a bit harassed but she actually felt relieved that Lyn knew. More so that she knew and seemed pleased. 'Now that really is complicated' she said. 'I wouldn't know where to start.' Lyn gestured at the sofa. 'How about at the beginning?'

Laura took a deep breath. 'Well Robbie and I have known each other for, God, years now. I remember my first case as head pathologist. He was just a sergeant then. A fresh faced young sergeant. Happily married, two young kids. You'd have been at school I guess. I vaguely remember him being proud of your A level results. I liked him from the start. He was friendly, open, but we were just colleagues. I wouldn't even say we became friends until a few years later. You know, after, well...' she trailed off, not sure what to say.

Lyn put her hand on Laura's knee and looked her in the face. 'You don't have to be scared to talk about Mum. Not to me anyway, I can't speak for Dad. It was horrible when she died. I thought the world stopped when I heard. I thought I'd never stop crying. I felt awful but seeing Dad, seeing Dad was the worst. He really was lost and I had no idea how to help.' She shrugged. 'Well you know, you were there. You came to Mum's funeral didn't you?' Laura nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

Lyn nodded. 'I remember that day like it was yesterday. Every detail is etched into my memory. Everyone was so nice, so kind, but Dad, well he was just a mess. '

Laura nodded. 'I know. It was so sad. We all tried to help but, well, there wasn't anything anyone could say or do to bring Val back.' Lyn agreed. 'No there wasn't then and there isn't now. Look, I can't say I don't miss my Mum, but I've accepted that she's gone and I don't begrudge you and Dad anything. I just want him to be happy and I think you make him happy. And anything you tow have together in no way has anything to do with my Mum. I know Dad's found it hard to move on, to grieve. Much harder than I have.'

Laura smiled sympathetically. 'I suppose you're younger, you've got a new family now and your whole life ahead of you. Robbie spends more time looking backwards. '

'True, but also...' Lyn hesitated. 'Don't think I'm weird for saying this, I've never told anyone this, not even Tim. But I think I coped better with Mum's death because I was kind of prepared.'

Laura frowned with incomprehension. 'Prepared for what?'

Lyn screwed up her face, trying to put something into words a feeling she'd never expressed before. 'Prepared to lose a parent.'

Laura was even more puzzled. 'How? Why? What do you mean?'

Lyn realised how odd it sounded and tried to explain. 'Not Mum. I don't mean that I predicted the accident. You can't predict what cars'll do ever. But as a kid, me and me brother sometimes worried that one day Dad wouldn't come home from work. Nobody ever said anything to us but you pick up on things, don't you? Being a copper's not a particularly safe job and Dad often came home from work with bruises and bandages. I remember a neighbour sitting with us one time when Mum had to pick him up from the JR. He never said what happened, just that the guy who'd hurt him was safely locked up now. We'd hear him and Mum talking in hushed voices about guns and shovels and all kinds of things. They were always cheerful in front of us, and we never let on that we knew anything, but we did. Plus, I'm a Nurse. I know what kinds of bizarre things can happen, by accident and on purpose. A slip here and you bang your head just the wrong way, a trip there and you've fallen down the stairs. You know what I mean. You must have seen it all?'

Laura nodded and reached out, placing her hand over the younger woman's in support. 'I have. I know.'

Lyn continued. 'Factor in a bunch of crazy murderers and anything could have happened. Did you know Dad was sent home on forced sick leave once 'coz he was attacked by an old woman with a frying pan?'

Laura couldn't stop a small smile escaping. 'Actually he's been attacked by women with frying pans on at least three occasions that I know of.'

Lyn rolled her eyes. 'What a hero! But you see what I mean. With all the crazy people on top of all the possible accidents and it's a miracle he's lasted this long. So I suppose, after years of wondering if one day there'd be a policeman at the door telling us that something had happened to Dad, I had some kind of protection from it all when Dad called and said it was Mum. I'd already imagined how I'd feel and dealt with a thousand imaginary scenarios in my head. Does that sound crazy?'

Laura patted her hand in what she hoped was a comforting manner. 'Not at all, it actually makes perfect sense. Robbie wasn't prepared though. I think he thought the same as you, that he'd go first.'

Lyn nodded slowly. 'Yes, I think he did. Me brother once told me he overheard Dad making Mum promise that if something ever happened to him that she wouldn't feel bad about moving on, finding someone else like.'

Laura didn't know whether to laugh at Lyn's use of her dad's Geordie expressions in her own slightly Oxfordshire accent, or cry at how hard it had been for the man she loved to do just that, move on. 'He told me that's what he'd made Val promise. He found it hard to take is own advice though. He still does sometimes.'

Lyn moved her hand to lay it on top of Laura's and looked at encouragingly. 'Tell me' she said, and Laura did.