Jonny liked the way Jac held his hand as they walked around the hospital grounds talking about Jac's meeting with her sister. He can't recall the point in their relationship when she had started doing it unconsciously but even after all this time it still gave him a 'butterflies in the stomach' feeling whenever she slipped her hand into his. As they walked past the small children's play park Jac suddenly stopped.

'Jonny look'. She pointed to a small red haired child playing with a group of children 'that's Ava.'

'Oh' Jonny gasps as he takes in the child's appearance 'I see what you mean. Definitely belongs to your family doesn't she?' He grinned at Jac and Jac couldn't help but grin back. 'Shall we go in and meet her?' Jonny asked tentatively.

'I suppose we should' Jac agrees 'I did promise Jasmine I would spend time with her.' Jonny opened the small gate in the fence surrounding the play park. He waved to Chantelle who was sitting on a bench.

'Oh hello you two!' Chantelle beamed at the couple. 'I thought a bit of fresh air might tire Ava out a bit. You'd never have thought she'd been awake since four this morning would you?' Chantelle explained as the three of them watched the little girl happily playing hop scotch with her new friends.

'Is she running you ragged?' Jac asked the nurse good-naturedly.

'Oh no! Not at all!' Chantelle exclaimed. 'She's a lovely sweet little girl. I've enjoyed spending the day with her.' Chantelle smiled kindly at Jac 'Why don't I introduce you?'

Jac nodded her head and Chantelle called the little girl over. 'Ava I want you to meet someone very special' she tells the little girl. She points to Jac as she says 'This is your Auntie Jac'.

'Hello' Ava said shyly as she leaned into Chantelle a little. Jac crouches down so she is at the same level as the child.

'Hello Ava' she says softly with a smile. 'Its nice to meet you.'

'You've got hair like my Mummy' the little girl says now with a bit more confidence.

Jac laughed softly at this. 'I'm your mum's sister so we would look a bit alike.'

'Would you push me on the swings?' Ava asks her Auntie having fully regained her confidence.

'I'd love to.' Jac smiles at Ava who positively beams in response. She takes the little girl by the hand and they walked off to the swing set together.

'Well that went well' Jonny said with ill-disguised relief in his voice. He takes a seat next to Chantelle.

'Ava's not afraid of meeting new people so I just knew they'd get on like a house on fire' Chantelle said confidently as they watched Jac lift her niece into the swing and gave it a light push to start it in motion. 'Ms Naylor is very natural with her isn't she?' Chantelle says with surprise. The nurse put her hand over her mouth 'I'm sorry Jonny I didn't mean that to sound the way it did.'

Jonny laughed 'Don't worry Chantelle' he waves the young nurses embarrassment away with one hand. 'There's a lot to Jac that she doesn't show at work. Jac secretly is a natural mother and always has been. You should see her when we babysit Sacha's son Daniel.'

'I think Ms Naylor had a bit of a shock when she first saw Ava' Chantelle confides to Jonny.

'She did'. Jonny confirms for his fellow nurse 'it brought up a few things which we've talked through.'

'I don't like to see Ms Naylor upset' Chantelle said compassionately. 'I feel like you two deserve only happiness after all that has happened.'

Jonny was silent whist he composed himself. 'Thank you Chantelle' he managed at last. Chantelle responded with a brief rub of his arm. They watched as Jac lifted Ava out of swing and carried the child on her hip back towards them.

'I think it's time to go in' Jac said 'I'm worried Ava's skin is starting to burn.' Although the temperature was relatively cool for mid-July the sun had been shinning down on them throughout their play park adventure. The little girl suddenly gave a huge yawn 'and I think someone's early morning is catching up with her'.

They walked together back to the hospital with Jac still carrying Ava. By the time they had reached the hospital entrance Ava was falling asleep on Jac's shoulder. Jonny felt his heart melt a little as he watched his fiancée carefully carry the sleepy little girl through the hospital. Jac gently laid the sleeping child down on the bed in Keller's on call room. 'Sweet dreams little pumpkin' she said softly as she half covered Ava with a blanket.

…

'Hi' Jac said softly as she stood in the doorway of Jasmines room. Jasmine looked up from the book she was reading she smiled at her sister and returned the greeting.

'I'm sorry about rushing out before' Jac said as she takes up her earlier position in the chair beside Jasmines bed. 'I…'

Jasmine interrupted her 'It's ok Jac. Michael explained to me about Amelia. I should be the one apologising to you. I'm such an idiot. I don't know what I was thinking rushing here, dragging Ava with me and making demands of you without even knowing you or your situation. I should have listened to Granddad...'

'Hey slow down!' Jac interrupts her sister's speech. 'You are going to tire yourself out and I still have a lot of questions.' Jac smiles at her sister. 'I'm glad you came.'

Jasmine lets out a snort 'I bet you won't be saying that when Granddad figures out what I've done and comes storming up here.'

'He does know you're here?' Jac gives her sister a stern look.

'Not exactly no.' Jasmine says looking down at the sheets.

'It's a yes or no answer to the question really Jasmine. Does he know you are here or have you disappeared on him?'

'I told him last night I was going to find you. He told me not too. We both got a bit angry and words were exchanged. He expressly forbade me to find you. So I snuck out in the car at 4am before he woke up and turned off my phone.' Jasmine looked guilty.

'Right well' Jac looks at her sister even more sternly 'I suppose there's no harm done. Give me his number and I'll get one of the nurses to phone him'.

'Not yet' Jasmine meets Jacs gaze with a determined look on her face. 'I want to get to know you first.'

'He'll be worried sick'

'Maybe he deserves a little time to think' Jasmine has a steely look on her face that Jac knows well 'and maybe, just maybe, I deserve a little time to be selfish'.

They sit in silence for a while.

'I met Ava in the play park'. Jac breaks the silence. 'She's a lovely little girl. You must be very proud'.

Jasmines face breaks into a smile. 'I am thank you. I'm glad you two finally met.' She looks down at the bed sheets again. 'Jac I'm sorry to hear about Amelia. I can't even begin to imagine the pain you're going through'

'It gets easier to live with' Jac sighed sadly 'but if it wasn't for Jonny I don't think I would have made through, especially the first few days.'

'Do you have any photographs of her? I'd love to see her' Jasmine asks.

Jac nods and gets her phone out her pocket. She finds the pictures she wants and the stands beside Jasmine so they can look at them together.

'This is her at a few hours old' Jac said as she shows her sister the first photograph of a small baby wired up to various pieces of medical equipment in an incubator.

'Wow. She looks so small' Jasmine says as she takes in the details of the picture.

'Well she was delivered a month early but was still a respectable five pounds two ounces' Jac smiles enjoying being able to share these details with Jasmine.

'Ava was two weeks over due and weighed in at eight pounds ten ounces so in comparison Amelia looks tiny'.

'Jonny took a lot of these and sent them to me to keep me quiet before I was allowed to see her' Jac says as she scrolled through a lot of photographs. 'Believe it or not it was actually just a few hours rather than a few months' she jokes as she scrolled through yet more photographs of the first few hours of Amelia's life 'here you go. This is a much better one of her' Jac shows Jasmine a photo taken on Christmas day, 8 days after her birth. Amelia was laid asleep in Jonny's arms covered in far less tubes and wires. In this photograph you were able to see the trade mark red hair that seemed to dominate in their female family line.

'Oh Jac. She's beautiful' Jasmine says softly. Jac scrolls to the next picture. This is one Sacha had taken and Jac had used it as the background picture for her phone and laptop. The photograph captured Amelia laid in Jac's arms with Jonny stood beside them. The baby was looking up at her parents as they stared adoringly down on their creation. 'I'm guessing that is Jonny?' Jasmine asks. Jac nods her head in response. 'He's very handsome' Jasmine grinned at her sister.

'For god's sake don't ever let him hear you say that.' Jac laughs as she sits back down in the chair.

'Why did she die?' Jasmine asks quietly. Jac had been waiting for this question whilst they were looking at the photographs together.

'She had problems with her heart.' Jac gives a sad smile. 'We knew about it long before she was born. They advised us to terminate.' Jac closed her eyes 'but Jonny and I both felt if there was a small chance that she might make it we owed her the opportunity to try. We had to have her delivered early by emergency C-section to give her the best chance. We were waiting for her to grow a bit bigger so she could have surgery but at two months she suddenly declined.' Jac pulled out the crumpled tissue Michael had given her earlier from her pocket and wiped away the few tears that had formed.

'Sorry I didn't mean to make you cry' Jasmine said holding out a box of fresh tissues to her sister.

'It's ok' Jac reassured the young girl taking the offered tissues 'it helps to talk about it.' She dried her eyes and smiled at her sister. 'Sacha once told me that one day I wouldn't just be sad that Amelia had gone but I would treasure the fact that she had been. He is right but it's not always easy.'

The two women suddenly heard the sound of a small child crying. Within seconds Nurse Lane appeared at the door with a disgruntled looking Ava balanced on her hip.

'She woke up from her nap and I think she was confused as to where she was' the young nurse handed the child to her mother.

'It's ok' Jasmine says softly as she pulls the little girl into her arms. 'You must be getting fed up of waking up in all these strange places huh?'

'Yes' Ava snivelled as she sat up on her mother's bed. She looked over at Jac. 'You are real' the little girl said with surprise, her tears suddenly forgotten. 'I thought I'd dreamed you up' she says rubbing her eyes.

'I can assure you I most definitely am real' Jac confirms for the little girl with a grin on her face as the other two woman chuckle.