"Arabella I am so sorry about last night" Nikki apologised as she stood on the other woman's doorstep, Arabella just gave her a smile and a nod "It's just Harry and I we..um.." she realised she had said too much when the other woman started to chuckle and shake her head.
"It's understandable" she laughed "I saw anyway"
"Excuse me?" Nikki choked out "Saw what?"
"Harry dragging you back into the house" Arabella's eyes darkened slightly "You did consent didn't you ?"
"Of course" Nikki nodded 'Very much so' she thought "Harry wouldn't do anything to me without my consent" 'Quite annoying really'
"That's good" Arabella replied and smiled at Nikki "You'll be pregnant in no time if you keep that up"
Nikki's smile faded and her heart sunk into her stomach when she heard this.
"Nikki are you alright?"
"Yeah I'm fine" Nikki nodded absentmindedly and looked behind her "Look I have to go, Harry wants those reports done today"
"Will we see you in the pub tonight?" Arabella called after her as Nikki backed away and the blonde woman nodded and waved to her as she walked away.
Nikki tried to stop the feeling of rising dread as she thought about what Arabella had said, she remembered that her and Harry hadn't used anything. Well it wasn't like they thought they were going to do anything with anyone all the way up here so nothing was prepared and Nikki wasn't on anything either. She ran her hand through her hair, she knew there was no way on earth that the pharmacy up here would sell the morning after pill either, they had clear views on things like that. Nikki pushed it to the back of her mind, she wouldn't worry Harry with anything as trivial as her worries and she knew there was only a small chance of her getting pregnant. 'There's still a chance' she thought to herself but pushed the thought away again, she wasn't about to ruin anything she had with Harry just because of a silly comment.
"Hello" Harry greeted as her as she walked into the morgue "Did she understand?"
"Of course" Nikki smiled and nodded "She saw anyway"
"Saw what?" Harry asked as he looked up from his notes to his lover who was unbuttoning her coat a pointed look on her face "Oh, me dragging you into the house" he realised then grinned at the memory of the night before "I think everyone with a house around there saw, but I think Alec will be pleased that I am keeping you in line"
"I'm sure he will" Nikki nodded and looked away from Harry and to the notes in his hands and she walked over to him. Harry placed his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him as she read the results in his hands. He pressed a small kiss onto her shoulder and Nikki sighed contentedly. "I don't think this is what Leo intended us to do"
"Ah well we have him to thank actually" Harry shrugged "Without him sending us to this God forsaken place in the middle of no-where we wouldn't have sorted ourselves out"
"Maybe" Nikki shrugged but said no more
"What's wrong?" Harry asked automatically and Nikki shook her head and looked up at him giving him a smile and a kiss.
"Nothing" she replied
"Don't lie to me Nikki please" Harry sighed "I know when there's something wrong, was it last night? Do you regret it?"
"No!" Nikki replied loudly and shook her head gripping Harry's shirt in her hands "No Harry I don't regret anything we did last night I promise, I'm just tired that's all"
Harry looked her over for a few seconds then nodded slightly and gave her a kiss.
"If you're sure" he mumbled and Nikki nodded in confirmation "Come on I want to look at the scene again"
"Up that hill?" Nikki whined, their conversation immediately forgotten "I think you should carry me"
"I think you shouldn't be so lazy" Harry countered as he held Nikki's coat up for her and helped her to put it on before pressing a kiss to her neck "You are looking extremely beautiful today"
Nikki blushed and looked away from him as he took her hand in his and lead her out of the morgue.
"You told me that this morning"
"Well I'm telling you again"
When they exited the building they turned left and started to walk down the deserted street and towards the farm. They stopped suddenly when they saw a small child of about five or six standing in the street crying. Nikki's heart melted slightly as she walked cautiously over to the little boy and crouched down in front of him.
"Hello" she whispered and he looked up at her with large tearful brown eyes "Where's your mummy?"
The little boy shrugged and blinked, letting more tears run down his face before he launched himself into Nikki's arms and she automatically wrapped them around him trying to comfort him. Behind her, Harry's throat constricted when he saw this and he marvelled at what a great mother she would be. He cleared his throat and pushed those images away as he looked back down the street trying to avoid looking at the scene in front of him.
"What's your name?" Nikki asked the young boy softly and he sniffed and moved away from her but not out of her arms.
"Ronnie" he whispered and Nikki had to strain to hear him "and I'm five" he held up four fingers to Nikki who chuckled and shook her head. She reached up to correct him and held up her hand showing five fingers.
"This is five sweetheart"
Ronnie looked at his own hand where he only had four fingers up and then corrected himself and showed Nikki who ruffled his thick brown hair and nodded.
"Clever boy"
"Who are you?" Ronnie asked, his fears of being lost all gone, he liked Nikki.
"I'm Nikki" Nikki told him and the young boy grinned.
"That's a pretty name" he mumbled and looked at the ground as he shuffled his feet "Who's that?" he asked as he looked up again and pointed at Harry.
"That's Harry" Nikki explained as he glanced at Harry who had a look on his face she couldn't name as he looked at them both "He's my husband" she found the lie was getting easier now "We're on holiday. Now where's your mummy?"
Ronnie shrugged and pointed in the direction that Harry and Nikki were headed.
"Shall we go and find her?" Nikki asked and Ronnie nodded and moved closer to Nikki and wrapped his arms around her neck, Nikki took this as a sign that he wanted to be carried and stood up, unsteady at first but Harry moved forward and steadied her before looking away again. Ronnie lay his head on Nikki's shoulder and looked at Harry as they started to walk.
"Hello" the little boy grinned and Harry smiled at the five year old trying not to wish that it was their son that Nikki was carrying. Harry knew this was bad territory to stray in to, they had only just become lovers, it wouldn't do to think about things like children but he found he couldn't help it.
"Hello" Harry replied "You know you are very lucky to have Nikki at the moment"
"Why?" the boy asked and Harry smiled at Ronnie's inquisitiveness
"Because" Harry whispered and leant closer to him as though telling Ronnie a great big secret "Nikki is a very kind woman and is going to make a brilliant mummy one day"
He thought he heard Nikki draw in a sharp breath but shook it off as his imagination.
"Ronnie?" came a woman's voice as they turned the corner and Ronnie looked up from Nikki's shoulder and grinned at a brown haired woman who had just come out of a house down the street, she was about Nikki's age and height and as they got closer they could see she had light blue eyes.
"Mummy" Ronnie grinned and Nikki put him on the floor and let the boy run to his mother, she felt Harry slip one arm around her waist and moved closer to him.
"Ronnie what have I told you about running off like that?" his mother scolded him as she leant down and pulled him into a hug, both pathologists could see the relieved look on her face as she did so.
"I'm sorry mummy" Ronnie muttered but then brightened up as he pointed to Harry and Nikki "That's Nikki and that's Harry, they found me and Harry said that Nikki is going to be a brilliant mummy one day and can they come in and have a drink because..."
"Calm down Ronnie" his mother laughed and looked back at Harry and Nikki then held her hand out to Nikki who shook it "Thank you for finding him, he always runs off"
"That's alright" Nikki smiled and the woman turned to Harry
"Oh I'm sorry sir" she added diverting her eyes away from his face but Nikki heard a touch of sarcasm in her voice when she said 'sir' "Forgive me for not introducing myself, I'm Lileas. Would you come in for a drink?"
Nikki opened her mouth to reply but Harry cut her off.
"I'm sorry but we must be getting back, we have a case on. We're the pathologists from London" he motioned with his head towards the farm up ahead "Investigating what was found up there"
"Oh I am sorry" Lileas apologised "I didn't know you were working"
"Well I am" Harry shrugged noncommittally "I just bring Nikki wherever I go, she's a beautiful woman as you can see and many men have tried to take her from me" he reached down and grabbed Nikki's hand as she glared at him, both knowing she couldn't do anything, as who they perceived was Lileas' husband came to the door "Well we must be off, I have lots of work to do"
"Thank you for finding Ronnie" the man said to Harry, completely ignoring Nikki as they started to walk down the road.
I recorded the Alan Titschmarsh show on thursday so I will be watching that today...lets hope there is something about Silent Witness on there.
xxx