Patsy left her sister's home after they had made plans for Patsy to visit on a regular basis. She would come round for tea on her days off like this after her therapy so she and her sister could catch up properly and she could see Teddy regularly.

She zipped up her coat and shoved her hands in her pockets as she walked along the streets of Chelsea, her body still rather humming with adrenaline as she thought back on what she and her sister chatted about after the two had put Teddy down for his morning nap. Sophie had been so excited to catch Patsy up on what had been going on in her life the last three years, how she and Michael were still as much in love as they were on their wedding day, how he was getting on with his job, the birth of Teddy and how they were excited to have more children when the time was right. Patsy interjected that she would be happy to act as midwife for any future children she had.

'Are you happy working?' Sophie asked as she refreshed Patsy's hot water, 'I mean, given… you know, the money we received when Gran died. I figured you would have done something more with it.'

'I did do something with it,' Patsy remarked, thinking back to when she received her share of the rather large inheritance and threw the vast majority of it into the market because she didn't know what else to do with it. She had spent the last 10 years watching her money rise and dip with the trends of the market, but mostly rise. The amount she had in the market had grown so vast that she found it rather overwhelming and thought it best to keep living her life and not think about it for the time being.

'Yes but I thought you would have bought into some real estate at least,' Sophie remarked, blowing on her tea.

Patsy shook her head, 'I can't believe you threw the bulk of yours into buying this house,' she marveled slightly as she looked around.

'I bought it outright, thank you, and I don't regret it. No mortgage payment and,' she pointed a finger toward the ceiling, 'this property alone has gone up by 10 million in the last 10 years since I bought it.'

Patsy nearly spit out her tea, 'Ten! Blimey. Suppose I've missed my chance.'

'There's never a bad time to get into real estate, Pat's,' Sophie nodded knowingly.

Patsy rolled her eyes, 'That's debatable. You bought it when the price was rock bottom after the crash, didn't you? Besides, if I'm going to spend my money I would rather do something fun. Maybe retire at a ridiculously early age. Move to Fiji. Take up surfing and sit on the beach and eat mangos every day for the rest of my life.'

'Are you serious or are you just making this up?' Sophie asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow to Patsy.

Patsy shrugged and sipped her tea.

'You don't have plans for… I don't know, marriage? A family? Anything remotely like that?' Sophie asked.

Patsy faltered, clearing her throat somewhat as she thought about her question.

'Teddy could use some cousins, you know,' Sophie quipped as she sipped her tea, looking to Patsy expectantly.

'Ah, well,' Patsy blushed bashfully under her sisters gaze, 'I honestly thought it wasn't in the cards for me. Never really had a long term relationship and over the years have just... kind of busied myself in my work. I do genuinely enjoy being a nurse and midwife,' Patsy said reassuringly, 'I'm good at it. Damn good at it. I like helping people and giving back to the community in that small way, and I just,' Patsy shrugged, 'I don't know. I'm already in my 30's and have only just started seeing someone that has some potential. Nowhere near close to even hinting at long term though, let alone marriage and kids,' Patsy blushed profusely at the thought of marrying Delia. It still bothered her slightly that Delia was so young, and at 21, Patsy couldn't imagine Delia would even entertain the idea of marriage at her age. Even then, Patsy wouldn't be comfortable broaching the subject until Delia was at least 25 and she felt ready for it. If they were still together then. Even so, which one of them would have children? Would Patsy be too old by then?

Patsy blinked and shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of these thoughts.

Three weeks, Patsy, she thought to herself, you've been together three weeks, get a grip.

'Oh!' Sophie exclaimed, and Patsy looked up at her rather startled, 'so you are seeing someone!'

Patsy could feel her ears turn red under her sisters gaze. She placed her tea down on the table and rubbed the back of her neck shyly.

'Ah, yeah, suppose for a few weeks now...' Patsy trailed off, unsure of what to say.

'Well how is it? What's she like? It is another woman isn't it? How did you meet? Things going well, yeah? Shall I invite her round for tea? Oh, I do want to meet her now, this is exciting!'

Patsy looked back at her sister with wide eyes as her brain processed her sisters enthusiastic questions, watching the woman practically bounce in her seat.

'Um, well, to start,' Patsy began slowly, 'Yes, she is a woman-,'

'What's her name?' Sophie interrupted.

'Her name is Delia,' Patsy said, narrowing her eyes.

'Oh, such a pretty name,' her sister swooned, 'Where is she from?'

'Wales.'

'Oh, pretty accent too!'

'I find your enthusiasm a tad unsettling,' Patsy said, crossing her arms and playfully eyeing her sister skeptically. She wondered if Sophie was genuinely excited or if she just thought having a gay sister was kitschy and different, therefore making IherI more interesting in turn. Something she can boast to her straight friends about, no doubt.

'I'm sorry I can't help it. All my friends are married with children and I just love new romance and I'm just so happy for you and I want to hear all about it!'

'Alright just…,' Patsy sighed, 'this is still pretty new, OK?

'OK,' Sophie said as she sipped her tea, batting her eyelashes. Patsy resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

'I just don't want you to get your hopes up if it doesn't work out.'

'Alright, Patsy alright, just tell me about her already!'

'Well we met at work…,' Patsy trailed off, thinking she would be alright if she left out the little detail that she was Delia's boss, 'And at first I hated her and was a complete and total shit to her. I'm surprised things turned out the way they did honestly… but we were sent on some business trip. Ended up getting stuck somewhere up in Scotland and were forced to spend time with one another and, well… lots of fireside chats and snow fort building later we just grew to like one another,' Patsy remarked, her cheeks feeling hot as she recalled their time in the cabin and thought it best to not mention all the fighting and sex.

'Anyway, that set me straight… figuratively speaking,' she added under her breath, 'Admitting our feelings for one another and pursuing a relationship with Delia has been the kick in the ass I needed to change, take better care of myself and the like,' Patsy set her tea down on the table and crossed her arms, feeling shy and not meeting her sisters eye, finding it a bit foreign and challenging to talk so openly with her sister about her feelings, 'Someone else caring about how I treat my body is making me care, too. She held a mirror up to me and I saw just how terrible I was being. Before I didn't even care to learn her name, and now I can't stop thinking about her.'

'Oh, Pat's that's so sweet,' Sophie sighed, and Patsy looked over to see her resting her chin in her hand and looking at her wistfully, 'I really do want to meet her now. Please promise me you'll bring her round sometime soon? Maybe tea on Sunday?'

Patsy couldn't help but blush, nodding, 'I'll ask her.'

'Fabulous,' Sophie said, sipping the last of her tea and Patsy mused at just how nice it felt to have someone else she could talk to about Delia, other than Tony.

And just like that, Patsy recalled Tony's parting words, and she realized that she had let someone else into her village, and the thought made her happy.

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Her recollection of her visit with her sister and Teddy had Patsy smiling as she walked the streets of London. She really wondered if Delia would want to meet her sister for tea. The thought made her nervous all of a sudden, bringing the two most important women in her life together for an afternoon. She imagined things could go well, but what if they didn't? What if Delia didn't like Sophie. What if Sophie didn't like Delia?

Patsy blinked away all these hypothetical scenarios and took a deep breath, working to squelch her anxiety, but damn if it wasn't a pesky bugger.

She raked her hands through her hair and focused on her breathing, thinking that cleaning something would be a good distraction. A good use of her time to spend the rest of her afternoon before she met up with Delia later that night.

That is if she wanted to. Patsy certainly wanted to spend time with Delia later that night, but typically the two of them spent all day together at the clinic, and maybe Delia needed a break? Maybe she would want to spend time doing something else? She had hobbies that Patsy's didn't share, after all. She had other friends…

The thought made Patsy's heart sting slightly. Delia had a lot of friends, actually. A lot of other people in her life she knew from back home and from uni that she texted and talked to and made plans with, and while it didn't make Patsy feel jealous at all, it made her wonder what made her so special. Delia had all these other people in her life she could pick and choose from to have a relationship with and she chose her.

The thought made Patsy feel panicked slightly. She was choosing her for now. She had pursued her. And Patsy gave in. What if this was a fleeting thing for Delia? What if she only wanted Patsy because she thought it was challenging, and now that she had won the challenge she would grow tired of her, grow bored?

'Mummy why is that lady's eyebrows so wiggly?'

The woman holding the child's hand shushed them and scolded them not to stare, and Patsy turned and walked the other way, thinking she needed to start working on not wearing her emotions on her face as much as she did.

Patsy shoved her hands in her pockets as she continued walking, feeling rather horrible. Maybe she should start putting her guard back up, just in case… in case this was temporary. Patsy paused for a moment, thinking that of course it was temporary. Delia was so young. There was no possible way she would want to be with Patsy long term. Maybe a year, maybe two. She had so much life ahead of her, there was absolutely no way Patsy should even entertain the thought of her being in her life like this six months from now.

Probably.

Patsy felt sad, but speaking of now, Patsy thought to herself that she should try to focus on the now.

And now her phone was chiming incessantly in her pocket. She pulled it out to see several texts from Delia. Patsy raised a curious eyebrow as she opened her phone, wondering if there was a crisis at the clinic.

Hey sweetie, hope you're having a good day off!

I know it's only your first day off but your absence is really being felt right about now! Especially by me!

I didn't know how much I would miss you not being here. Even if we can't really talk or touch, just you being here makes me feel better.

I feel all out of sorts now.

I hope I can see you later. I miss you.

Patsy couldn't help but smile, her heart felt like it was swelling with joy. No crisis thankfully. Delia just missed her.

The thought was touching, and Patsy was able to push away her self deprecating thoughts from earlier.

Patsy took a deep breath, thanking Delia's impeccable timing to send a flurry if texts to reassure her that they were doing the right thing. It made her want to do something nice for the brunette.

Patsy looked around to see that she had almost walked all the way back to Poplar from Chelsea, and she began typing a message back.

I miss you too, and I want to tell you about about my rather interesting day later tonight if you want to come over later.

I absolutely want to come over! I might be a little late because I promised Cynthia I would take care of a bit of cleaning around the flat. I've admittedly been a little lazy this week.

I actually know someone with an entire afternoon to kill who could help you with that. All you need to do is tell them where they can find the spare key.

Delia sent back a myriad of happy faces and heart emojis with several exclamation points.

They can find the spare key tucked under the mat… and only if they do not judge me too harsh for the current state of things in that flat.

They don't know the meaning of the word.

Patsy tucked her phone back into her pocket and turned on her heel, making her way towards Delia's flat with a little kick in her step, feeling rather happy that Delia missed her, and she was going to spend her time doing something that she not only enjoyed, but would free up Delia's evening to spend more time together with her.

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When Patsy entered Delias flat, she shut the door behind her and hung up her coat, looking around slightly to assess the situation.

To her left was the kitchen. Every drawer and cupboard door was left open, crumpled up packets of tea were strewn about, dirty dishes on the countertops and in the sink. The rubbish bin looked as if it had been stepped in more than once to compact the rubbish that piled up.

Patsy took a step forward and almost fell on her face when she tripped on a pair of boots that seemed to have been hastily kicked off upon entering the flat. Patsy caught herself before she fell and saw that the entire entryway was littered with what looked like every pair of shoes Delia and Cynthia owned.

She stepped over them and looked into the lounge. More clutter was scattered about. More half empty cups of tea and water and empty cans of fizzy water littered the end tables and dirty plates and utensils on the coffee table, evidence left behind of another hasty meal eaten in front of the television, probably. Odd bits of clothing littered the floor here and there. A bundled up cardigan, several pairs of socks, some pajama bottoms.

Patsy could only guess that their shared bathroom was left in a similar state, and she could only imagine that everything Delia owned was in a giant pile on her bedroom floor.

She walked down the hallway to peek her head into Delia's room, and her suspicions were confirmed. Her pillow and duvet were on the floor, along with several pairs of dirty scrubs and other articles of clothing Patsy recalled she wore earlier that week.

Good grief, Patsy thought with a shake of her head. Both of these women lived like they slept in until five minutes before they had to leave every morning and rushed to get out.

Patsy mused that this flat was this messy for one of three reasons. The two were probably just really messy. Or maybe they were used to their parents picking up after them back home? Not likely in Delia's case, since she practically was a parent to her four brothers back home. Perhaps the two just had such a busy week that they let the place fall apart and cleaned on the weekends?

Whatever the case, Patsy was rather looking forward to doing something she actually enjoyed and would help take a bit of the stress out of Delia's day. It was a win win for the both of them.

Patsy cracked her knuckles and got to work. She picked up the empty laundry bin in Delia's closet and began to strip the bed.