This should be the last of the fluffy chapters (at least for a while). Am not sure when the next update will be up - have a very busy few weeks with assignments and work so please bear with me, but I promise it will be done as quickly as I can. Hope you enjoy this one and please, as ever post a review if you can - it's so nice to hear what people think...

Saturday Evening, Darwin

Jonny walked past Jac's office on his way back from the sluice room. He had been sorely tempted on his way there to peep through the glass in the door, and had managed to resist but now found that, even though he knew what it did, his curiosity had got the better of him and so stopped outside the door to see what he could see. Unfortunately this wasn't much – they must be at the other end of the office he surmised – maybe he'd be able to see more from the other door.

"What are you doing?" A loud voice assailed him from behind.

He turned guiltily, and after quickly bringing his finger to his lips, replied quietly, "Spying, or trying to at any rate."

"What?" Mo asked incredulously, at, if anything, a greater volume than before. "Why? What's goin…."

"Oh for goodness sake" Jonny said flustered, quickly walking up to her and bustling her away from Jac's office towards the nurse's station, "do you not understand the international sign for keep a lid on things woman?"

"What?" Mo asked again, now completely confused, and if she was honest more than a little peeved at Jonny's reaction to what seemed to her a perfectly reasonable question. I mean how often did you walk into work to see your best friend peering through the door of your boss's empty office?

"Fingers on lips Mo, fingers on lips – generally recognised as a sign to keep the volume down. Well by most people anyway." Jonny concluded, as they arrived at the desk.

"But why would I need to keep my volume down? And what were you doing anyway? If you need something from the office why didn't you just go in? You know the code?"

"I didn't need anything from the office – and even if I had done I couldn't have just got in, Jil would probably have killed me if I'd tried."

"Jil? What's she got to do with anything? Is she here?" Mo asked, as they both sat down behind the nurse's station.

"Yes, she's with Jac in the office getting ready for their big night out." Jonny explained.

"Jac's here too?" Mo asked, now even more confused, "Why is…what's she? Sorry, I don't get it!" she concluded suddenly, as she struggled to put all this unexpected information together to make some kind of sense.

"Right, OK," Jonny said who, now that the threat of imminent discovery had passed, felt much calmer. "Elliott isn't well – upset stomach" he elaborated, pre-empting Mo's next question, "and we had an urgent case come in and Jac's second-on-call today. But she's got Jil staying with her this weekend and they're going out tonight to some Ball. With me so far?" he asked, and seeing Mo nod continued, "And Jil had said that I was in for a treat when I saw Jac dressed up to the nines, and I was curious so I was.."

"Trying to sneak a peek." Mo finished off for him. "It's all starting to make sense now. You know I've never had you down as a Peeping Tom before."

"Hey, that's not fair" Jonny objected, "like I said I was just curious."

"Yes, well we all know what curiosity did, don't we?" Mo replied, before continuing, "So what did you see?"

"Now who's trying to get a cat killed?" Jonny asked smiling. "But to answer your question, nothing I couldn't see anything. They must have been at the other end of the office, although to be fair" he continued, glancing up at the clock, "I don't think I'll have to long to wait to see them legitimately now anyway. I'm sure I heard Jil say the cab was booked for 8, and it's nearly quarter to now, so they can't be too much longer in there anyway"

"I still can't believe you brought this dress." Jac said, looking her reflection up and down in the full length mirror Jil had somehow persuaded her to wheel into her office from the locker room, before continuing to apply her make-up. "I mean, what possessed you?"

"How much did you pay for it?" Jil asked, as she brushed her hair.

"What's that got to do wi…."

"How much, Jac?" Jil persisted.

"I can't remember really - £200 or so." Jac admitted.

"And how many times have you worn it?" Jil asked. Then when she received no answer, saying "Jac?!"

"I don't know," Jac replied, then seeing the look of disbelief on her friend's face finally confessing, "Twice, I suppose"

"Exactly – I'm helping you get your money's worth!" Jil explained, before continuing, "Whereas this" she said indicating her dress, "my dress was £56 from the Red Herring sale, and I've already worn it four times. Although to be honest, think this might be the last occasion I can wear it this time round – mum had to help me take it out this week, and I don't think there's any more wiggle room left in it."

"Oh hark at you with your bargain hunting and getting your money's worth from all your clothes," Jac said sarcastically, "what does that make it, £14 a wear?" Before something Jil had said, in amongst all that, finally penetrated her consciousness. "This time round? You mean you're planning to have another baby?"

"Well not straight away" Jil said, smiling, "but if everything goes according to plan – then yes, at some point, hopefully. Although, dad keeps saying we should wait till the first ones arrived before we even begin to think about the possibility of a second. But I think, if we can, we will – I wouldn't be without Rob now, and I don't think I'd want Robin to be an only child if I could help it."

"Yeah," Jac said, "I always liked the idea of a having a big brother, although Rob wasn't a bad substitute"

"Mmm – reckon that's why my whole marriage dream never went anywhere, but up in smoke" Jil agreed.

"Oh, you're not STILL going on about that are you?" Jac said, disbelievingly, "I can't believe you ever thought there was even the remotest chance of it being a possibility!"

"No, it's just I was telling Jonny about it this evening and you saying that reminded me about it, that's all" Jil explained.

"Why on earth were you telling Jonny about it?" Jac asked. "What's it got to do with him?"

"I was telling him how lucky he was to have you." Jil said, silencing whatever comment Jac had been about to make, "and then just happened to mention that you were meant to marry my brother. Poor guy nearly choked," she said, trying to stifle a giggle.

"I'm not surprised," Jac said, "I hope you told him it was in all your head?"

"Yep, I managed to explain eventually, but think he was quite shocked before I did. I don't think he could quite figure out how we'd managed to get over you dumping my brother at the altar."

"No I suppose that would have been a big ask," Jac agreed. "But I reckon we might have done it, you know."

"Mmm, maybe – I wouldn't put anything past us" Jil said, "but it's probably best that it was never an option. I can't imagine my life without you in it, well I can, but I'd rather not."

"I don't believe it!" Jac exclaimed, trying, as she normally did when things started to become emotional, to lighten the mood. "You don't mean to tell me that Julianna Lovell nee Santini has finally forgiven me for NOT marrying her brother, do you? Miracles will never cease!"

"Mmm, I suppose I have," Jil said smiling over at Jac, before saying after a quick glance at her watch, "Have you decided what you're doing with your hair yet? Because we've only got just over 10 minutes before we need to leave if we're going to get to the taxi for 8."

"I don't know," Jac replied. "What do you think?"

"Well I could put it up for you if you want – I've got enough clips, and we could leave some curls round your face to frame it. But then your hair always looks lovely, so however you have it you'll look stunning. And to be honest, in that dress I don't think anyone will even notice your hair."

"Alright, go on then Nicky Clarke do your worst. Put it up."

"Oh brilliant – I was hoping you'd say that – you are going to look SO gorgeous!"

Mo emerged from the staff room carrying a bowl of Jil's Eton Mess and made her way over to the nurse's station, where Jonny, who had just completed what felt like his hundredth set of half hourly obs, was writing up some patient notes. "You were right about this mate" Mo said, "it's gorgeous. Is Jil coming down on any other weekends that I'm working?"

Jonny looked across at her briefly before saying, "Sorry, no. Apparently, this is the last time her Daniel's going to be away until the baby's born, so she won't need to come down again."

"Oh right," Mo replied, sounding disappointed, as she sat down behind the desk, opposite Jonny. "I better make the most of this then I suppose. Although, it's probably not such a bad thing actually – I don't suppose Eton Mess is one of the recommended meals in the Holby Fit Club canon. "

"I'm sure it isn't." Jonny advised.

"But it's ok at the moment," Mo said, "cos night shift calories don't count!"

"What are you talking about?" Jonny asked, looking over at her.

"Oh yes, it's a well known scientific and medical fact that any calories consumed on a night shift don't count as part of your recommended daily allowance. I'm surprised a well-informed medical professional like you doesn't know that!"

"Yeah, yeah," Jonny said. "You keep on telling yourself that – just don't blame me when Sacha's lost more weight than you come Tuesday."

Mo shot a death ray stare over at him, but realised there was no point as he had turned back to carry on writing his notes. Reckoning that she had plenty of time before his shift ended to get him back for that comment, she was content to just carry on enjoying her pudding. She was doing just that when she heard a slight noise, and looking up saw Jac and Jil emerging from Jac's office. "Oh my!" she said softly before, without turning her head, continuing, "Jonny….Jonny – don't look now, cos if you do I think she'll have you!"

"What on earth are you going on about now woma….." Jonny, turning round, started to say before he too saw what she could see and stopped, automatically standing up as he did so, temporarily speechless, mid-sentence. It was Jac, his Jac but like he had never seen her before. He had thought she had looked good on 'that date' but that was as nothing compared to how she looked now. She was wearing a full length, one shouldered red dress, which served to emphasise the alabaster-like quality of her skin. She also had her hair properly up (something he'd never seen before), complete with bejewelled, sparkling grips and a flower to hold it all in place, which showed off her neck in a way that, when she had her hair down you just couldn't see. And he was totally transfixed…..!

"So what do you think?" Jil asked beaming.

"Wow, you two really scrub up well." Mo commented, just about hiding her astonishment at the transformation that had occurred in her boss.

"Oh well I know ball gowns and bumps don't make the best bedfellows," Jil said, stroking her bump affectionately, "but beggars can't be choosers, and I don't think I look too bad in this.

"You look beautiful in it!" Jac said, "Both of you do" she added, giving Jil's bump an affectionate stroke of her own. "That colour really suits you. I've always thought you looked good in green."

"Yeah, that's true" Mo agreed, "that green coat you were wearing the first time you came here looked lovely on you too."

"Ahh, thanks" Jil said, beaming even brighter. "What about you Jonny, what do you think?... Jonny?...Jonny?"

"Oi, Jonny Mac" Mo said, rather more loudly than Jil had, and when he still didn't reply or even look at her, seemingly incapable, as he appeared to be of tearing his eyes away from Jac, she stood up and after walking the short distance to where he was standing lightly punched his arm and said again. "Oi, Jonny Mac – Jil's talking to you?"

"What?...Oww!" Jonny said, turning to look at Mo and rubbing his arm.

"I said 'Jil asked you a question'." Mo repeated, enunciating each word very slowly and clearly. "So it might be polite if you answered her," she continued.

"Oh right, yes," Jonny replied, still appearing slightly shell-shocked, before transferring his attention to Jil, "Sooo?"

Jil, who in the interlude between asking her original question had been exchanging amused smiles with Jac at Jonny's reaction, took pity on him, "I was wondering what you thought" she asked. "Will we do?"

"Oh, erm, yes," was all Jonny could come up with, his normal Celtic charm deserting him, having been bamboozled by the sight of Jac, "definitely!" he managed to add.

"I told you you were in for a treat, didn't I" Jil continued.

"Erm, yes" Jonny replied, the power of intelligent speech still eluding him. "Yes, you did. You just look so….so…" he began, looking over at Jac once more, and losing the power of speech again

"I don't believe it," Jac said, smiling "he actually can't think what to say. We've rendered Jonathon Maconie, the man who has an answer for everything, speechless."

"I'd say that was all down to you!" Jil replied, "but come on we've really got to get going. Don't want anyone to steal our cab do we? You got everything?" she asked. And when Jac nodded, obviously still amused by the reaction she'd caused in Jonny, they both started to walk towards the ward doors, stopping once to wave at Mo and Jonny. Then, just before they reached the exit Jil called back over her shoulder. "Don't worry Jonny - I'll protect her from the marauding hordes!" and then they were away.

'Marauding hordes!' Jonny was suddenly blasted from his Jac-filled fugue, like a rocket at Cape Canavarel. He hadn't thought of that, why hadn't he thought of that? "I wouldn't worry mate," Mo said, "don't think the hunting and fishing brigade are really Jac's cup of tea." And Jonny knew this was true, and also knew that, even if they were, the way things had been between him and Jac lately there was no way that any of the 'marauding hordes' would stand a chance with her. But he was still filled with an almost irresistible urge to abandon the rest of his shift and go after them – ask if he could come along too. Not because he thought he needed to but because he wanted to – he wanted to be there when she walked into that room and everyone turned to look at his gorgeous girl (as he was absolutely sure they would). He wanted to see the admiring glances she would garner and hear the compliments she would no doubt receive, and watch as she blushed, so very fetchingly, as she did so. He wanted to be with her tonight so he could proudly show to the world (or at least the members of the Wyvern and Somerby Hunt) that Jacqueline Naylor, consultant cardio-thoracic surgeon was his, and that he Jonathon Maconie, Transplant Co-Ordinator and Ward Manager, was hers!

"And that's the other reason I brought that dress." Jil said triumphantly, just after she and Jac had walked through the ward doors. "Because I knew it'd make him react like that – I mean how could it not!"

If anyone would like to see the dress Jac is meant to be wearing you can catch a glimpse of it in this video on you tube (just copy and paste this link into the youtube search bar: watch?v=zHMJ03IhroE). I think it might be from the episode where Jac wins mentor of the year, but couldn't swear to it.

Also, if anyone was following my other story Jac&Jil I did add another chapter recently (I know I said it was finished before but I couldn't resist) so if you haven't already caught up on it, you might like to...