Carole Hobson had been listening to Robbie and James talk about the case of the small bombs and Brad's role in defusing the last two incendiary devices. She knew her husband was often called in to work on 'special projects', that his computer programming skills were used for much more than writing the code to create the scheme for the number plates on vehicles. Carole watched her granddaughter sleeping peacefully and was happy she was safely ensconced in the home of Laura and Robbie. Brad's job put him, and by extension his family and home, in harm's way.

Two men approached Robbie and Laura's house from opposite directions. As they neared the entrance and recognized each other, Bradley Hobson asked the other man, "What are you doing here? This is a family meeting!"

Before he could answer a taxi pulled up to the curb and a woman got out and joined the second man.

Now Brad was even more puzzled. "Who is she?"

A bit of shouting ensued and Laura went outside to see what was going on. She tried to calm her brother down. "Brad, this is Flavia's father. I told you he would be here. She, I presume is his solicitor."

The woman nodded and gave her name, "Felicity Prior, Esquire."

Laura's neighbor was walking Donald past the house. "Is everything okay Dr. Hobson?"

"Yes, fine. We were all just going inside for a meeting." She herded them all through the front door and into the front room to join the others.

Brad went over to Carole and Flavia. Carole had many questions for her husband about his recent activities but those would have to wait.

Laura made introductions as Robbie held a chair for the lady. "This is the solicitor Felicity Prior." After Ms. Prior was seated, Laura waved her arm at the man standing by her side. "This is Flavia's father, Cale."

Brad looked incredulous. "Cale!"

The young man with gray in his hair said, "Actually I go by Cale Pickman now, except at work where I am known as-"

Brad interrupted, "Mick Capelan!"

Robbie moved closer to Brad, "Calm down Brad."

"Calm down! How can I when I find out my colleague has been having a relationship with my daughter and is the father of my granddaughter!"

Cale reminded Brad, "We don't talk about our personal lives in our line of work."

"No, we don't hold hands and sing Kumbaya, but surely after all these years we know each other's basic family dynamics. Me not knowing your real name and that Flavia has your DNA would be as ridiculous as you not knowing I have a pathologist sister called Laura." Brad gently transferred Flavia back to Carole. "Apparently I don't know anything."

Mrs. Collinson entered the room with a tea tray and the scones. "Perhaps now is a good time for everyone to sit down and take a break."

Laura introduced Mrs. Collinson to the others telling them she was a former neighbor. Everyone made a polite reply and both Cale and Brad nodded at her and said, "Ma'am."

Robbie and James each noticed the respectful address and exchanged meaningful looks. Over her teacup Laura surveyed the room. All of the men had their eyes on Mrs. Collinson. She turned to the older woman and asked, "Ma'am? I had my suspicions."

Mrs. Collinson went and retrieved her handbag from the kitchen. From it she produced her warrant card, with the brief title of 'ID'. It turned out that she was the Intelligence Direction for MI5 and Cale and Brad both worked for her.

Carole had heard about Brad's boss but never met her. She smiled as she recalled Brad's nickname for her, 'Iron Drawers.'

Laura looked at her old acquaintance in a new light. "All that ironing, no one would suspect a thing."

Mrs. Collinson laughed. "Ironers learn more about their clients than hairdressers. I had a bit of a reputation as a gossip. It came in very handy in my line of work." She passed around the plate of scones. "My Aunt Bridget liked to play amateur sleuth. She got me my start."

Brad was pacing about the crowded room. When the doorbell rang he made a three point turn and marched to the door. He returned with Ellen Jacoby in tow.

Everyone stared at her as Cale spoke. "For those of you who don't know, Ellen Jacoby is my mother. I called and asked her to be here. She is Flavia's grandmother after all."

Laura was transported back to an earlier time, where another secret pregnancy, lies, false accusations, and a near death experience chilled her to the bone. Robbie saw the color drain from her and quickly made his way over to catch her before she hit the floor.

Mrs. Collinson ran for a cold towel and pressed it to Laura's forehead while Robbie held her. After a few minutes she was able to sit up. Embarrassed about fainting Laura insisted she was fine. Then she had a story to tell.

"Caroline told me who the father of her baby was. She first knew him as Cale Jacoby. Cale told her he did his own investigation to learn the identity of his father. Upon learning Alec Pickman was his father and that his mother had kept the information from him all his life, he legally changed his surname." Everyone turned their attention to Cale for a moment.

"The day she told me she was pregnant was the day I told her I joined MI5, that I was going undercover for an indefinite period of time."

Laura continued and kept her eyes on Cale. "That's when Caroline decided to go to New Zealand, far away from you in harm's way. As an illustrator of children's books, she can work anywhere. One of her authors lived in New Zealand, told her how lovely it was there, and she decided to make a clean break." Laura held back tears. "She knew how important the job was to you. She told you to go, be brilliant."

Cale shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Yeah, I was a bit of a fool."

Robbie spoke for all of them when he gave Cale some fatherly advice, "No lad, you were a lot of a fool."


A/N: I hope this chapter answered some of your questions.