"Merc, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Lindsey spoke angrily, crossing her arms as her friend strutted into her flat.

"I was only trying to do you a favour! You said you wanted Joe out ya' life didn't ya'?" Mercedes replied, placing a hand on her hip as she turned to look at Lindsey.

"When I told you what had happened, I didn't mean go and tell Joe I told you!" She shouted, glaring at Mercedes.

"Girls, can you keep the noise down? You'll wake the kids!" Freddie said quietly, peering out of the bedroom and looking at Lindsey.

"Sorry." She mouthed, flashing a smile at him. "You had no right to go and do that behind my back!"

"I'm trying to protect you, I'm trying to keep him in prison for you sake!"

"Did you tell the police? About everything?" She asked.

"No, of course not. I wouldn't do that without asking you but I just needed to see Joe and threaten him I would."

"I just want to forget about this, I don't want to tell the police or anything. You know what, just go Mercedes.

"But-"

"Merc, just go." Freddie spoke, stepping out of the bedroom and walking over to Lindsey. "Linds doesn't need this stress, you can come back tomorrow or something."

"Fine, fine!" Mercedes replied sarkily, throwing her hands in the air and walking out of the flat, slamming the door behind her.

"She's only trying to help you, you know? She's not trying to cause trouble." He said, wrapping his arms around Lindsey's waist from behind.

"I just wanted to put this all behind me, focus on what's important and not dwell on the past." She said, sighing quietly.

"We can put it behind us but don't be so harsh on Merc, alright?" He added, placing a kiss onto her cheek.

"Alright, I just need to forget about everything. We've got our little family, we've got two kids we need to focus on and Joe is out of our life and that's important right now." She turned around, smiling softly and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Joe's in the past, we don't need to bring him up again because we've got exactly everything we need right here." He smiled slightly, leaning down and kissing her softly to which she reciprocated. "Go get yourself to bed, it's been a long day."

"Only if you're coming too?" She looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Obviously." He smirked down at her, grabbing her hand as they both ran into the bedroom.

Lindsey was fast asleep after the previous nights activites, completely forgetting that today was the day the council were meeting the couple about JJ's adoption. Her alarm buzzed and she woke up suddenly, glancing around to see Freddie gone as well as Daisy not in her cot. Her instincts were to jump out of bed and run into the front room, letting out a sigh of relief as she saw Daisy fast asleep in the baby swing.

"And you didn't think about waking me up, why?" Lindsey asked, placing her hand on her hip.

"Well, I thought you were going to be tired after last night." Freddie shouted from the kitchen.

"I was pretty tired but that's not the point!" She walked through into the kitchen, standing up on her tiptoes and winding her arms over his shoulders from behind. "You know you're amazing right?" She whispered.

"I know, you don't have to tell me." He joked, lifting her up onto his back and into a piggy back.

"Fred, put me down!" She gasped, giggling as she clung on for dear life.

"No chance." He grinned, walking quickly into the front room and dropping Lindsey carefully down on the sofa.

"If you even think-"Before Lindsey could finish her sentence, Freddie captured her lips in a gentle kiss.

"I'm sorry?" He said unconvincingly after pulling away from her.

"You so aren't!" She chuckled, nudging him slightly as a loud knock was heard at the door. "No way! That'll be the social worker and I'm not even ready!"

"Go get yourself ready, I'll get the door."

Lindsey smiled softly and nodded, jumping up from the sofa and running to get dressed whilst Freddie got the door.

"Thankyou. We'll be in touch." The social worker ended, smiling at the couple with a nod before leaving the flat.

"Well, this time next week JJ could officially ours and not just mine!" Lindsey exclaimed, rocking Daisy in her arms whilst Freddie had JJ in his.

"There's still a part of me that thinks this is so wrong, I mean JJ is Joe's not mine." He sighed heavily, taking a seat beside Lindsey and putting JJ on the floor.

"You've gotta stop thinking that, alright?" She said softly, turning to look at him. "Joe isn't a dad to JJ and he never will be but you? You can be and I couldn't think of a better father for my little boy. Don't think otherwise because you are an amazing dad to Daisy and amazing step-dad to JJ, I just think it'd be nice for him to know you as his real dad, the one that he looks up to and when he goes to school, points to you and tells all his friends 'That's my dad', you can be that person."

"You really think so? Joe made it clear that he never wanted me around JJ, I dread to think what he'd say if he found out about this."

"Hey, look at me." She turned his head to face her, smiling. "I know so. Forget about what Joe has ever said, this is about us and what's best for the kids. I love you."

"I love you too, all three of you." He replied, glancing down at Daisy in Lindsey's arm and stroking her small hand softly.

Lindsey nodded and smiled, planting a kiss on his cheek as she pulled him into a hugwith her spare arm.