A Smile- That's My Home "Will you be okay here mum?" Sandra asked once she was ready to go back to work and Olivia was ready for playground. "Yeah. I might go for a walk." Grace replied looking up from the tv. "A walk?! Are you sure you're okay mum?!" "Well you know, new area, new environment might as well see what there is to do around here." "Well I left you a key on the table by the door and you know how to contact me. We have to go now, so have fun." "Bye." Sandra strapped Olivia into her car and left to take Liv to her playgroup where she could be better entertained and see all her friends again. Sandra on the other hand was going back to work today, Max had been understanding while she was gone but she had to get back into the office. "Miss Pullman, Olivia. You're back." Welcomed the leader of the playgroup who luckily was bilingual. "Yeah, I'll be back around the normal time." "Do you have her epi-pen with you?" "I'm so sorry, I forgot it." Sandra sighed. Tears were forming in her eyes and the other woman had noticed. "It's fine, we all forget things occasionally and with the stress of your mum being ill I'm not surprised." "I'm such a rubbish mum." Sandra insisted. "You aren't! You care and that's what important, no ones perfect Sandra we just have to do our best." "I need to go." Sandra walked over to where Olivia already was. "Bye sweetie, see you later." **************************************** "You look awful." Max said as Sandra walked into their joint office. "That's always what I like to hear first thing in the morning. And sorry, I feel awful." Max walked back over to the exit of their office and for a second she thought that he was about to leave. However he surprised her by closing the door and turning the locks. "What's up?" "I saw Olivia's dad only it's not necessarily who I thought it was. So now everything's a mess and I'm waiting on the results of a DNA test. I don't deserve to have as daughter as wonderful as mine." "Sandra you do, she gets all of it from you. Don't worry about that mess because you're home now and it's time to get you back to normality." "Home is somewhere where you're happy and smile and that isn't here right now." "You'll get there, you just need to carry on as usual though because you still have that little girl. You don't have time to have a breakdown." "I know, anyway right now I'm ready to throw myself into work and forget it all." "Sandra I don't want you here for the wrong reasons. I've said take as much time as you need, your job is safe. I'm not going to be able to get anyone as great as you, take sometime and figure out what you're doing." "Max don't do this. I don't need anymore time off, I need to work." "You need to get things sorted." "They're getting sorted, it's out of my hands now. So what are you working on?" Her ability to dodge things that she didn't want to do was extraordinary and it wasn't something that had failed her as he started running her though their new case.