A/N: This isn't the way I originally planned this to go, but it's the way it's gone so hey-ho. Thanks, as ever, to everyone who has read and reviewed so far :)

Sarah x

"Does the bloke in front have any idea how bloody annoying that is?!"

The utterance of frustration made Jac look around, Serena turn to see what was going on and Hanssen look in the rear view mirror.

Jac studied the car carefully. As far as she could tell, the driver was not causing hold up or inconvenience. "What? He's not doing anything wrong!" Jac said

Serena just looked totally confused as to why Jonny was so irritated and, to be honest, so was Jac.

But their confusion did nothing to placate Jonny, who was glaring out the windscreen past Serena. "His wheel trims are about to go flying," he explained. Jac couldn't help but smile at his immaturity. "I hate it when people drive about with those things hanging off!" he quickly defended himself. So he did know how crazy he sounded, then.

"Just don't look then," Serena suggested.

"But I know it's there now," he protested loudly. Hanssen, Jac noticed, was wearing wry and resigned smirk; had he been waiting for Jonny's first real display of immaturity? Even though the men were barely on speaking terms over Serena, Jac knew Hanssen had become quite fond of Jonny, whose personality and brightness was the remedy to his pessimism and darkness.

Five minutes later, they were stuck at traffic light on the Kingsway, waiting for an accident to be cleared and all lanes to be reopened, or else for the traffic to trickle through sometime in the next few decades.

"It's annoying me," Jonny warned.

"Oh, pipe down," Serena grinned. "It's a wheel trim. No big deal."

"It isn't a wheel trim. Three of them are loose!" he argued back. Jac shook her head in amused despair and stared out the window at the unfamiliar and snow covered city. She shouldn't have been surprised, but he wasn't going to let it go until that car was miles in front of them. "I'm gonna go and push them back on," he decided.

Jac's head snapped around, as did Serena and Hanssen's. "You can't do that!" Jac shouted, alarmed that he wanted to get out of the car on a busy dual carriageway at rush hour over dislodged wheel trims. Not to mention that the driver could well get out and start a fight if Jonny were to lay a hand, or any other extremity, on his car. A fight in the middle of the Kingsway would not be a good idea.

"Course I can!" he grinned; he unclipped his seatbelt and opened the door.

"Jonny-" she began, but he had shut the door and jogged ahead before she could say anything else.

"What an idiot," Serena and Hanssen said in unison. Finally, something they agreed on. Jac watched as the father of her child drew his foot back and kicked the back passenger side wheel trim back on. He did the same with the back driver's side and ran forward, careful to avoid getting run over, and did the same at the front driver's side as well.

A thumb appeared out the driver's side window and Jonny slapped the man's hand as he passed on his way back to the car. So that was another thing they got away with here, was it? Kicking other people's cars, if it was to achieve something other than aggravation. "I can't believe you just did that," Jac informed him when he was back on the car and putting his seatbelt on.

"Told you it'd be fine!" he smiled brightly. Jac just smiled. How could she not? Even Hanssen was smirking.

Traffic moved slowly but surely until they were on the A92 once more. Serena soon made a suggestion that surprised them all. "Why don't we go to Arbroath?" she asked.

"What on Earth for?" Hanssen sighed, and Jac didn't like the exasperated tone he constantly saved for his reply to Serena every time she spoke.

Serena, however, seemed not to be fazed by it as she grinned, "To see the crazy people with the swords, of course!" Hanssen glared at her and Jonny laughed. "But really. It's been a stressful day. Why don't we just take a wander? Take a walk around Keptie Park or something?"

"At night?" Hanssen raised an eyebrow at the idea.

"In the dark?" Jonny added.

"In the snow?" demanded Jac.

"What's wrong with that?" Serena asked.

"It's bloody freezing!" Jac protested.

"That's what your coat is for," she smiled, and Jac couldn't help but take note of that motherly, maternal tone to the woman's voice. "Come on. We can't just stay in the house every night, can we?" Jac realised quite suddenly that Serena just wanted to cut the time she had to spend in Hanssen's sole company, because they were still disagreeing over their baby.

Jonny seemed to understand as soon as Jac did, because the glance they exchanged told her to just agree and overrule Hanssen for Serena's sake. "Aye, OK then," Jonny spoke up. "We can take an hour to chill out, can't we? No pun intended," he added, causing Jac to roll her eyes at him.

"Yeah," Jac agreed. "A little bit of snow won't kill us, will it?" Of course, it wasn't a little bit, but Arbroath was on the coast, so perhaps there was going to be less snow there. She could only hope. Hanssen did not speak but she knew he would uphold democracy and do what the majority wanted.

By the time they reached Arbroath and were parked, night had most definitely fallen, the sky above them pitch black, clear of almost everything expect bright stars, the moon and the occasional thin cloud. It was cold but not unbearable once the body got accustomed to the extremes.

It was quite sad, Jac decided, that Serena was looking for ways to spend less time alone with Hanssen. When they had arrived here they had been happy, relaxed and really quite passionate, if Jonny's story of walking in on them was anything to go by. The man was the father of Serena's child and he was having nothing to do with her or the baby.

When Hanssen parked the car on Keptie Street, outside a garage, Jac was helped out of the car by Jonny; even though she was relentlessly offered to sit in the front, she preferred to sit with Jonny. That, and she couldn't see as much of the chaotic roads and their users from the back seat. "Thanks," she muttered, manoeuvring her bump out of the car.

She heard swearing from the open door to the garage, and a young man of about seventeen or eighteen stormed to the front exit, shouting back into the garage, "Stick the car up yer fuckin' arse then!"

An older, deeper voice called back, "I'd sooner stick it up yours, pal!"

The boy turned around, walking backwards past them, and roared back, "Another three years o' this! Fuckin' kill me now!" Just then, as the two men were moving out of each other's earshot, the young man slipped on the ice, landing on his side into the soft snow. Jac glanced at Jonny, seeing through the orange sodium light that he was fighting back laughter. The boy got up and stalked off, pulling his phone out.

Jac shook her head to herself and took Jonny's hand with a smile; she felt quite at ease and content just now. It was like everything, after years of loneliness and fear, was falling into place. She had found a man, and a normal man at that. She was due do give birth to their daughter next month. All they needed was the house and the dog to complete Jonny's idea of their family. It could be a beautiful thing. But then she was involved. It was bound to go pear shaped.

But for now all was fine, and it was a conscious effort her to refrain from doing anything to blow it apart; she made sure she let him in when it was necessary because she simply did not want to lose him. If she were to lose him, she could just about guarantee it would be her doing.

She looked over at Serena and Hanssen, who were arguing in a hushed tone that Jac couldn't hear until she moved forward towards them a bit.

"Do you know what?" Serena said, holding her hands up. "I don't even want to talk about it. But bear in mind in ten years when your son doesn't even recognise you that this is your decision. I haven't stopped you seeing him or anything like that. This is you being a coward!" she half-shouted. Jac had been waiting for Serena's anger to bubble up to the surface.

"You're being ridiculous!" he argued. "As far as I am aware, you have two perfectly valid options, both of which can be achieved without me."

"Yeah? And they are?" Serena demanded. Jac looked at Jonny, and they both knew what they options were. Neither had any idea how far this was going to go in the middle of an unfamiliar street. So much for the relaxing walk around the pond.

"You raise the child on your own. Like you said, for all the help you had from Edward, you might as well be a single parent," he reasoned.

"And the second option?"

"You put a stop to this."

"Abortion."

"Yes."

Silence fell onto them all, broken only by the sound of the machinery and local radio from inside the garage. Even in the lowest of light, Serena's fury was evident. "How dare you?!" Serena shouted. "You want me to kill our – your – child?!" Hanssen didn't have time to answer before Serena lost her temper and attempted to push him. He, however, was stronger than her and she slipped backwards into the garage and onto the concrete floor.

The machinery suddenly stopped and footsteps approached as Jonny dropped Jac's hand and Hanssen stood frozen. Two men, one far shorter than the other. "Alright, darlin'," said the shorter of the two. Jonny took her by the arm, the short man taking the other and the taller mechanic lifting her back. "Are ye hurt, hun?"

"I think I'm OK," replied Serena, but she did seem a bit dazed.

"She's pregnant," Jac said. As she said it, Serena's hand fell onto her abdomen and she shut her eyes – she was in pain.

"Derek," the taller man said. "We need tae get her up tae the infirmary." Derek, as he had been addressed, nodded his head.

"Do yehs ken where it is?" Derek asked. Jac, Jonny and Hanssen shook their heads, all slightly stunned at what had happened. "Kev, get me the keys tae that BMW Jack just finished." Hanssen stood still, watching in silence. Why wasn't he helping? Why wasn't he checking her over. "It's OK, sweetheart," he assured Serena. He put a hand on her back but she shrugged it off, making Jac smirk. Kev came back with the keys and handed them to Derek.

"We're doctors," Jac said. "Well, he's a nurse," she added, pointing to Jonny. "We can check her over."

"Would ye not be better doin' that at a hospital?" Jac tilted her head in acknowledgement that, yes, Serena would be better in an accident and emergency department than on a cold, icy street. "I'll take her up and youse can follow?" he suggested. Hanssen said nothing but handed Jonny the keys to the car. "I'll be back in a sec."

Derek ran around and they heard him tell the other mechanic to lock up and call it a night. "Happy now?" Serena demanded of Hanssen. "You may have got your wish," she winced, her hand pressed against her womb and child, clearly pained. Her dark eyes were shining and Jac could tell she was close to tears over this pain, both the physical pain and the emotional trauma Hanssen seemed intent on inflicting on her.

A silver BMW 5 Series appeared and Derek jumped out and helped Serena into the car, waiting for Jonny to start the car and Jac and Hanssen to get in and put their seatbelts on. Jac glared at Hanssen from the back seat, unable to afford him no blame for what had just happened. Even if he hadn't pushed her himself, if he hadn't suggested abortion, Serena would not have attempted to push him and she would not have fallen.

They set off through the dark, following the BMW around the corner, and Jac could only hope it all hadn't gone badly wrong. She could see that Hanssen did feel guilty – he wouldn't still be here, following a mechanic and the mother of his child to an A&E department if he didn't – but she didn't know if he could swallow his pride and apologise for his behaviour, and its potential consequences.

Hope this is alright!
Please feel free to drop me a review and tell me your thoughts!
Sarah x