A car pulled up outside Leo's house and Harry stepped out and round the car to open the door for Nikki

"A perfect gentleman, now why isn't your bedside manner so great?" Nikki said with a grin as she stepped out of the car

"You weren't complaining last night" Harry teased

"I didn't get a chance" She smiled wryly

They walked up the path towards Leo's front door and as Nikki knocked, Harry placed his arms around Nikki's waist and pulled her close to him

"Harry!" Nikki said turning red at the display of affection

"What can't I kiss my incredibly beautiful and intelligent girlfriend?" he said stroking her face with the back of his hand

Nikki nuzzled his neck "You can but that fact of the matter is, you have really cold hands"

Harry laughed "Warm heart"

"I severely doubt it" Nikki said as the door was opened "Hi Leo" she smiled as he greeted them

"Come in" he let them pass into the warmth of the house

"Is Janet here yet?" Nikki said shrugging off her jacket and handing it to Harry who sighed dramatically

Leo shook his head "Not yet, she's been held up at work though she should be here soon"

"How's Erin holding up?" Nikki asked

Leo shrugged "She's alright except when I mention Janet"

"I'm sure she'll be fine when they're introduced" Nikki reassured Leo who gave her a grateful smile in return

"I'm sure you're right. Anyway come through into the living room, Erin will be down in a minute" he said leading them through a door and into the cosy room


Erin was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling when she heard a brief knock at the door, however she ignored it and rolled over to face the wall

"Erin?" Leo called "Can I come in?"

"Yes" Erin said resignedly

The door clicked open and Leo stepped in as Erin pushed herself up to a sitting position on the bed

"Nikki and Harry are here" he informed the young girl as she started playing with a strand of hair to distract herself

"I thought I heard someone at the door" she said not looking up at him

"Janet will be here soon" Leo said and this time Erin did not reply "Will you come downstairs and keep Harry and Nikki in order whilst I check on the food?"

"They don't want my company" she said wrinkling her nose "They've got each other"

"They see each other everyday, your company is a nice change" Leo said with a small smile

Erin sighed "Ok…"

"You'll come down?" she nodded

"Thank you Erin, I know you're not best keen on strangers but you've been a real help these last couple of days"

"Really?" she said beaming at his praise

Leo nodded "Now come on, go downstairs and keep an eye on Harry and Nikki for me"

Erin smiled and got off her bed, she ducked under Leo's arm and made her way downstairs still feeling a pit of nervousness in her stomach


"Hey stranger" Harry greeted Erin with a grin as she walked into the living room "We were wondering where you got to"

"I was upstairs getting ready" she said curling up on a chair opposite Harry who had his arm around Nikki

"Well you take a much shorter time than Nikki" Harry chuckled and received a slap on the arm from Nikki

"I do not take that long!" Nikki protested

"Three hours of my life wasted whilst you worked out what to wear" Harry teased the woman in his arms

"I think you look nice" Erin said glancing at Nikki's black skirt and blouse

"Oh I see how it is" Harry said shaking his head "I'm getting ganged up on just for being a bloke"

"Yes" Nikki and Erin said in unison and Harry rolled his eyes

They chatted a little longer, the gentle banter making the atmosphere in the room relaxed. Harry was playing with Nikki's hair whilst she and Erin were talking about their favourite books when the doorbell rang. Erin froze and looked towards the house, startled at the sudden noise

"Erin, can you get that for me?" Leo called "That'll be Janet"

However Erin sat frozen to her seat, eyes wide and saying nothing

"I'll get it" Nikki said uncurling herself from Harry and making her way towards the door

"Erin?" Harry said trying to coax the girl back into speaking however she did not stir. Harry got off the sofa and crouched down in front of Erin "Erin look at me" he said as the girl moved her gaze towards Harry "It's perfectly fine, Janet's a friend and is not going to hurt you, I promise you that"

Harry's soothing tones seemed to snap the girl out of her trance and she blinked a couple of times before nodding in acknowledgement of what Harry had said. He gave the girl a comforting squeeze on the arm before resuming his place and distracting her with another topic of conversation


"Janet!" Nikki said as the woman stepped into the warm house still shivering slightly from the cold winter weather "Hi!"

"Nikki, its lovely to see you, how have you been?" Janet said smiling warmly at the young girl

"Oh you know it's been the usual chaos down at the morgue" Nikki smiled

At that moment Leo stepped into the hallway and greeted Janet with a small peck on the cheek

"I'm glad you could make it" Leo said gazing lovingly at Janet

"Well I'm glad I could come" Janet said retuning the gaze

"Erin's been looking forward to meeting you as well" Leo said as the three of them made their way into the living room


Both Erin and Harry looked up as the door opened and Leo and Nikki entered followed by an unfamiliar woman which Erin assumed must be Janet

"Hi Janet" Harry said standing up to greet the woman at the same he passed Nikki a flirty look

"Harry, you haven't changed a bit" Janet said smiling as she caught sight if the look passed between Harry and Nikki

"Janet, this is Erin" Leo said gesturing to Erin who had her gaze fixed on Janet

"It's lovely to meet you Erin, I've heard a lot about you from Leo" Janet said holding her hand out to the girl

Erin looked at the outstretched hand suspiciously; she glanced across at Leo who nodded his head. She wrinkled her nose before taking Janet's hand as they shook in greeting

"This is for you Erin" Janet said passing the young girl a package wrapped in pink tissue paper

Erin took the package cautiously and started to unwrap it, finding a copy of Wuthering Heights at the centre

"Leo told me that you liked reading"

"What do you say Erin?" Leo said looking at the young girl who gaze still laid on the book

"Thank you very much for the book, it was very thoughtful of you" Erin reeled off still keeping her gaze downwards

There was an awkward pause in the room, Leo popped back into the kitchen and announced that he would be serving up dinner shortly. Everyone gathered round the table hoping that dinner wouldn't be as awkward as the introductions


The meal was a relaxed occasion with the adults chatting among themselves about their work and the latest scientific developments. Erin meanwhile did not say a word and just picked at her food barely eating it. Eventually she made her excuses to go to the toilet and left the room.

"She's a lovely girl" Janet said as Erin left the room and everyone gave a murmur of agreement

"That was kind of you to give her that book" Leo said nodding his thanks to Janet

"Oh it was nothing" Janet said modestly

At that moment Harry slid his hand under the table and squeezed Nikki's leg, Nikki let out a squeal at the action and reddened when Janet and Leo started at her

"Nikki is everything ok?" Leo said taking a sip of wine

"Yes" she said smiling innocently

"How long have you two been together?" Janet asked and Nikki and Harry gawped at her in shock

"Are we really that obvious?" Harry asked

"Yes" Janet laughed "It's very sweet"

"I'm just glad they got their act together after all these years" Leo teased

"And is it working out alright?" Janet asked Nikki

She nodded "In fact we're moving in together" Nikki said smiling at Harry

"Really?" Leo said raising his eyebrows

"For economic reasons obviously" Harry said grinning at Nikki and Leo rolled his eyes

"You two are impossible" he laughed

The conversation resumed its natural flow although Erin was still absent from the table

"She's been a while" Leo said looking concerned

"I'll go and check on her if you want, anyway I need to fix my make-up" Nikki said as she left the table


Erin was sitting on the stairs with her head leaning against the wall as she listened to the conversation from the adults. The gentle banter and laughter made her smile but she still felt awkward and ashamed that she couldn't fit in

"Erin?" Nikki said as she made her way up the stairs "What are you doing sitting here on your own?"

Erin shrugged "I don't know…" was all that she answered

"We were wondering where you went" Nikki said sitting down next to Erin

"I can't do it" Erin said, her voice was on the verge of tears

"You can't do what?" Nikki questioned

"I want to like Janet but I cant" Erin said and a few stray tears ran down her face

"Oh Erin" Nikki sighed "She's not going to hurt you; she's not at all like your mother. Not all women are going to hurt you like your mother did, Janet wants to get to know you, she doesn't understand your thought processes like we do, you have to help her understand you"

"Does she know?" Erin said brushing away the tears "Does she know what Mum and Ryan did to me?"

Nikki shook her head "Leo didn't tell her that because he knows that it has to be your decision if and when you decide to tell someone"

"But Dan knows…"

"…Dan being your psychologist?" Nikki asked trying to recall where she knew the name from and Erin nodded "He knows because he's trying to help you deal with all of this but he has to stick to the doctor-patient confidentiality rules where he cant tell anyone else what you and him talk about"

"Oh…" Erin said sounding more reassured

"Erin no one is going to push you into speaking about what happened but if and when you want to, we'll always be here to help and listen to you. Janet included, she won't think badly of you because of it. She likes you very much; she was just saying what a lovely girl you are. She wants to get to know you some more and I think that deep down in your heart you want to get to know her too, am I right?"

"Sort of…" Erin shrugged

"We'll take it little steps at a time, so when you go back in there try and strike u a conversation with her and I bet she'll love to hear what you have to say"

"Do you think so?" Erin asked looking up at her

"I know so" Nikki smiled gently "Now come on, we'll go back in their together"


"Do you think Nikki's ok?" Leo asked starting to look worried

"Nikki's fine" Nikki answered for herself as she entered the room followed by Erin who sat down at her seat at the table

"Is everything ok?" Harry whispered noticing the stray tears on Erin's face

"It is now" Nikki reassured him and squeezed his hand

Erin finally looked up at the people around her; she saw Leo's worried looking face as he cast his gaze from Janet to Erin. She knew he wanted her to get on with Janet and she really wanted to make him happy but there was still a pit of doubt inside of her. She glanced across at Nikki who nodded and smiled encouragingly at her, Erin took one last glance at Leo and saw the strain on his face and decided that her mind was made up.

"I've never read Wuthering Heights before" she said quietly and Janet looked across at her with surprise on her face, it was the first time that Erin had directly spoken to her without being prompted to

"I think I was about your age when I first read it, I studied it at school. I think you'll enjoy it. You like reading don't you?" Janet said making her tone friendly so as not to make Erin lam up again
Erin nodded "I like drawing to"

Leo broke into a smile, pleased that Erin was finally talking to Janet "Erin's fantastic at drawing, she's going to take it as a subject at her new school"

"Did you find a place then?" Harry said glancing across at Erin

"Yes" Erin confirmed "They said I can start there after Christmas"

"She's going to Park lane school, they've got a nice sixth form there and they are a specialist arts school" Leo said filling in the details

"Oh you'll fit in perfectly then Erin" Harry smiled

"Do you want to see some of my drawings later?" Erin asked Janet shyly

"I would like that very much Erin" Janet said smiling affectionately at the young girl

The rest of the meal was spent in perfect harmony and Leo was overjoyed to see the bond developing between Erin and Janet


A few hours later and the guests were starting to make their way home. Harry and Nikki left first making the excuse of having some 'unfinished business' to attend to

"I'm so proud of you Erin" Nikki whispered in Erin's ear as she hugged her goodbye

"Thanks for coming" Leo said as he saw them out of the door "And Nikki…"

"Yes Leo?"

"I don't know what you said to Erin but thank you" Leo said and the gratitude was evident in his voice

"Well sometimes it takes a woman's touch" Nikki explained

"Can I experience some of that later?" Harry asked wrapping his arm around Nikki's waist

"I'll see you tomorrow bright and early" Leo said as the two of them made their way back towards Harry's car giggling and laughing like children

After that it was Janet's turn to leave. She gave Leo a kiss on the cheek and they said a fond farewell, promising to meet up again soon. As Janet made her way down the path she heard a voice calling her name and she stopped

"Janet!" the voice called again and she turned around to see Erin catching up after her

"Erin you have no shoes on" Janet said pointing to the young girl's bare feet

"This will only take a second" Erin said hopping from one foot to the other as the cold set in on her bare skin "I like you" she blurted out

"Thanks" Janet smiled "I like you too Erin"

"And I like it when you're with Leo too" Erin continued "I think I like you even more then"

Janet chuckled "I think what you're trying to say is that you give mine and Leo's relationship your blessing" Erin nodded "Well I'm glad you approve"

"This is for you" Erin said thrusting a piece of paper into Janet's hands "You gave me a present and now I'm giving you one"

In the fading light of the day Janet was able to make out that it was one of Erin's sketches she held in her hands, this one was a pencil drawing of some water lilies in a pond

"Erin it's beautiful" Janet said beaming at the young girl's gift

"Leo said you like water lilies" She explained

"They're my favourite" she said thanking the young girl "Thank you very much, now you should probably go back inside before you catch frostbite"

"I probably should" Erin agreed, her feet were hurting they were so cold "Bye Janet"

"Bye Erin" Janet smiled as she made her way to her car "Take care now"


"Thank you for today" Leo said, he was standing in the doorway of Erin's bedroom as she climbed into bed

"I'm sorry I disappeared for so long…" she began

Leo cut her off "…You don't need to explain"

"I like Janet" Erin said as she snuggled down into her pillow

"I like her too" Leo smiled

"Do you love her?" Erin asked and Leo could see a cheeky grin playing on Erin's lips

Leo sighed "Goodnight Erin" he said turning off the light

"You're blushing" she called after him as he left her room

"Goodnight Erin" he called again but she could hear the amusement in his voice

Erin felt a wave of tiredness wash over her and soon she was fast asleep, she wasn't having nightmares of her mother and she wasn't having the scary dreams of her father, Erin Jones was dreaming the good dreams, the dreams where she was happy and safe with Leo, Nikki and Harry and now it appeared that Janet was included in that list as well.

Author's note: Phew! Long chapter, 6 pages on Microsoft word, which has to be a new record for me!