Thy Sister's Keeper

by MHC1987

James' sister Nell decides to start her own business, to her brother's dismay. Does Nell know anything about running a business? Will this strain brother - sister bonds to breaking point? Maybe a couple of friends can help mend and maintain the siblings' familial bonds. I don't own the characters. I just like to help prolong the enjoyment of the series.

12. Chapter 12 Accomplice

The next morning, Robbie was up early and on the phone to someone. Laura was surprised to find Robbie on his phone, in serious conversation with someone, almost first thing in the morning. Robbie had not been an early adopter of the smart phone, but once properly introduced to them by James and shoved into by his adult children, Robbie became very comfortable with the technology. Mercifully he had never become obsessed with it.

Laura was intrigued to find out who Robbie had been speaking with, before breakfast. Breakfast was their time to start the day together in a gentle manner.

Robbie greeted Laura happily at the breakfast table informing her, "I've found you a surrogate." Laura was rather shocked. She and Robbie had that conversation, about pursuing various means of having children of their own in some manner, and she thought they'd decided that it was not something that they would pursue. Laura swallowed deeply and focused intently on Robbie to hear what he had to say on the matter, asking him "A surrogate?"

"Yes, to help you out with Nell and James. I have to recues myself from the matter, since I'm James' colleague and boss. However, I've enlisted the assistance of my daughter, if you can use her for your mission. "

Laura smiled broadly and nodded her head "That's great Robbie, thank you." She was relieved that Robbie had not been discussing what she initially thought he'd been.

"Lynn figures James is kind of like a brother to her, anyway, given the way he's become part of our extended family. Lynn can be tough on brothers, though. Some of things she did to her brother growing up were brutal. Clever but brutal, from such a sweet innocent seeming girl." Robbie noted to Laura.

"Not that her brother did not repay Lynn in kind for her pranks. They were quite a pair." Robbie further mentioned to Laura. "As I told Morse, at least at work I could actually punish the criminals. At home I had to explain to my misbehaving children why they should be nice to each other and wait for the next sibling disagreement, hoping it did not involve paint, the goldfish, the dog and the piano ever again."

Laura sometimes wished that she and Robbie had little children that they could have watched grow up together. However, hearing Robbie's honest reflections on parenting helped to placate those yearnings, at times.