When Harry returned home at quarter to four Sam was still in the house and Nikki still in bed. As soon as Sam told Harry that Nikki was ill he rushed upstairs and into the bedroom to check on her.

"Hey beautiful" he whispered as he crouched down next to the bed. He reached out and moved some of her hair away from her slightly sweaty face as she gave him a weak smile.

"Hey. Did you have a nice day?"

"It was good. Edward and Graham learnt some news words and Darius seemed keen to crawl after the poor ducks in the park" Nikki chuckled as he said this then Harry became serious "Why didn't you tell me you were feeling ill this morning?"

"I didn't want to stop you going out with the boys" Nikki said quietly because she still had a pounding headache. "Sam insisted on staying and looking after me"

"Well I'm glad she did" Harry nodded as he leant over and kiss her on the cheek. "You know how bad flu can sometimes get"

Nikki rolled her eyes slightly and gave a small laugh.

"That's what Sam said" she mumbled and closed her eyes as Harry placed the back of his hand on her forehead.

"You're burning up"

"I'm freezing" Nikki replied quietly and pulled the duvet further up her body.

"Fever" Harry muttered quietly "If it gets any worse I want you to tell me"

"Okay" came Nikki's quiet reply and Harry nodded. Standing up he gave her a kiss on her hot, flushed cheek before walking out of the room and down stairs to sort his sons out.

"How is she?" Sam asked as he walked into the kitchen "Does she still have the fever?"

Harry nodded slightly

"Thank you for looking after her"

"What are friends for?" she asked "When I phoned her up this morning she sounded so ill I didn't have the heart to leave her on her own all day"

Harry gave Sam a smile and offered to make her a drink. Sam declined.

"No thank you I have to be at work soon so I'd better go"

Harry walked her to the door and waved her off as she climbed into her car.

--------------------

Nikki was worse the next day but due to her stubbornness and the fact she felt too ill to move, she refused to go to the doctors surgery causing Harry to call the on call doctor and have him come to the house to see Nikki. The doctor prescribed some stronger painkillers than the normal ones Nikki kept in the house and had told Nikki to spend at least three days in bed getting proper rest. This caused Harry to have those days off to look after her and their three very demanding boys. Sam visited one day to see how her friend was doing and had tried to talk about the conversation they had a few day previously but Nikki refused to talk about it. Harry had walked in on one conversation the women were having and had known something was wrong when they both instantly stopped talking and refused to look at him. He didn't push it however since Nikki had been grumpy lately and tended to jump down his throat at times. A week and a bit later and Nikki was almost better and had resumed her roll as mother and wife.

"How are you feeling now?" Sam asked the Saturday afterwards when she visited Nikki.

"All better" Nikki replied as they sat in the living room watching the three boys playing on the carpet "Still a bit stiff at times"

"Have you talked to Harry about…"

"No" Nikki interrupted and shot a look into the kitchen where Harry was standing making drinks "I haven't"

"Why?" Sam asked quietly

"Because I haven't" Nikki hissed as Harry walked into the room carrying drinks and plastered a fake smile on her face as he handed her the mug of coffee.

"Haven't done what?" he enquired as he passed the mug of coffee to Sam which she accepted gratefully.

"Nothing" Nikki said too quickly and Harry frowned slightly before nodding and walking out of the room the phone rang.

"That wasn't obvious at all" Sam muttered sarcastically and Nikki threw her a dirty look.

"What the hell am I meant to do?" she asked in a low voice and Sam shrugged

"How about tell him you might be pregnant and go and do a bloody test" she hissed and looked round at Harry when he walked back into the room.

"That was Leo" he said to Sam "He wondered if you could go into the lab, there's been more evidence found for your case and he wants you in"

"Okay" Sam nodded and drained her mug before standing up. Nikki did the same and Sam hugged her. "Tell him" she whispered before she broke away and walked into the hallway and to the front door. When she had gone Harry walked back into the living room with a stern look on his face.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" he asked Nikki who shook her head

"There's nothing wrong Harry" she said, unable to meet his eye "Really"

Harry nodded slightly and Nikki knew he didn't believe her. Without another word he turned and walked into the kitchen, picking up the two empty mugs on the way. Making a split second decision Nikki stood up and walked over to the doorway.

"Harry I'm going out to the shop for something" she said and he just nodded without looking up at her.

"Okay"

Nikki nodded slightly and glanced back at the three boys who were still playing on the carpet.

"Look after the boys" she said

"Of course" Harry said shortly and Nikki sighed and walked into the hallway to put on her shoes and coat. Grabbing her keys she walked out of the door and to her car. Once she was sitting in the drivers seat she couldn't help the sob that escaped her lips or the tears that fell down her cheeks.

There probably won't be any more updates during the day today, it's my grandad's birthday and we're having a 'family get together' *shudder*...which means I have to be sociable..the pain! lol! There might be another update tonight though. ;)

xxx