I'm going to have to deviate from the series quite a bit now in order to keep things happy...
Martha's mobile phone started to ring just as she was gathering her things together before a con with Sean. He had finally been arrested for the murder of Jimmy Monk shortly after his reappearance in Martha's life again, and was in prison awaiting his trial. With Clive's blessing, Martha had eventually decided to let him know she would defend him, and this was to be one of the last meetings before his trial started.
"Hello?" She answered as she tucked the phone under her chin, continuing to pack all her necessary files together.
"Is this Martha Costello?" Enquired her caller.
"It is," she confirmed.
"This is the nursery. I'm really sorry to tell you this but Olivia has had a little accident...,"
"Is she ok?" Martha interrupted, files now forgotten, and holding the phone firmly to her ear.
"Well, she's had a bump to her head but it's her arm that seems to be troubling her most. We've sent her to hospital with a member of staff for it to be checked,".
"Which hospital?" Martha asked, making plans in her head about the sudden changes to her afternoon. There was no way she wasn't going to the hospital to be with her daughter. Sean would just have to understand.
Once she had been told where Olivia had been taken, she hung up and contacted Sean's solicitor explaining why the con had to be cancelled. They tentatively rescheduled for the next day. Having done that she then searched chambers looking for Clive. She found him with Harriet, working on his campaign speech for head of chambers.
"The nursery just phoned," she blurted out, as soon as she saw him. Clive looked up at the interruption. "Liv's been taken to hospital. I'm on my way there now,".
"I'm coming with you," replied Clive.
Martha noticed that Harriet was obviously annoyed but was trying not to show it. Voting for head was getting very close now and Harriet desperately needed Clive to win, but had come to realise that work would always come second to his family...For the time being at least. That would change if Clive became head with the plans she was putting in place. She was quietly confident that she would get what she wanted. With Martha out of the competition there was no way they could lose against Caroline Warwick. She just had to keep him on side until the result had been declared so she hadn't offered any objection to his remark.
"Is she ok?" He asked very concerned.
"She's hurt her arm or something," replied Martha as they headed to their car.
Once at the hospital they headed to the children's Emergency Department, where they were directed to Olivia's cubicle. They found her on a bed looking very sorry for herself, with a nursery person sat beside her. She left the family alone when Martha and Clive arrived.
Once she saw her parents Olivia burst into tears. "Mummy it hurts," she wailed as she lifted her good arm up indicating she wanted a cuddle. Her bad arm had been placed in a sling.
"Come here baby," comforted Martha as she lifted her into her arms. "What happened?" She asked her daughter as she checked her over herself. There was a graze to her forehead which had stopped bleeding now, but there was blood matting some of her hair. The graze was already beginning to turn into a lovely big bump. Her lip and tongue were also swollen where she had cut them as she had bitten them accidentally.
"I was runnin' and I tipped over," she managed to get out between sniffs.
The doctor arrived shortly afterwards and explained to Martha and Clive that they were going to have to X-ray Olivia's arm in case it was broken. Olivia started crying again, not fully understanding what that meant, but calmed down when it was explained to her it was only like a photograph and that it wouldn't hurt.
Clive accompanied Olivia into the X-ray room, whilst Martha had stayed outside. He had seen a poster whilst waiting for the X-ray about pregnancy and X-rays, and deemed it safer that Martha shouldn't go near any machine just incase she was pregnant.
A little while later and the doctor was back explaining that Olivia had sustained a green stick fracture to her arm. Because her bones were soft and bendy unlike an adults, they had bent and split like a fresh twig rather than broken. She would need a cast for a few weeks and be seen by the paediatric orthopaedic team to make sure it was healing ok.
With a little encouragement from her parents, they chose a bright pink cast for Olivia who had gone all shy and wasn't going to choose a colour by herself. With the treatment completed, an information leaflet on head injuries for Martha and Clive to look at, and a bravery certificate for Olivia, the family headed home.
Olivia remained attached to her mother for the rest of the evening and was very subdued. Both Clive and Martha putting it down to the bump on her head. She was treated to her favourite meal by her father, but didn't eat much sat on Martha's lap. Even the ice cream dished up for dessert to try and help her swollen lip was rejected, which was most unusual for her.
The evening was spent on the sofa watching Peppa Pig, until it was time for bed. She became totally uncooperative at that point, refusing to sleep in her own bed so that Martha and Clive were forced to take her into their bed. She finally fell asleep sandwiched between her parents. Keen to let her sleep, her parents decided on an early night as well.
"Are you alright Marth?" Clive asked once they had settled themselves in bed. "She'll be ok you know," he comforted. Martha had seemed a little distant towards the end of the evening and Clive had put it down to worry over her daughter.
"I know," replied Martha. "She's not the reason I've been a little quiet. I had a phone message whilst we were at the hospital, and I only got to hear it once we got home. Sean's fired me!" She revealed. "I can't believe it! I've never had my services refused before and I'm furious,".
"Why would he do that?" Clive asked.
"He didn't like me cancelling his con this afternoon because I was putting Olivia first. It was the same when we were teenagers. He got jealous when I started university. Suddenly he wasn't the centre of my universe anymore and he didn't like it,".
"Well he's an idiot" comforted Clive although he was secretly relieved that Martha wouldn't be representing her ex anymore. "He's just got rid of the best defence lawyer in London,".
The next morning, Olivia accompanied her parents to work after they felt she needed a quiet day away from the other children at nursery. Martha was unemployed now that Sean had found another barrister, so she was going to look after Liv whilst Clive was in court all day.
Olivia was in a much better mood that morning. Her pink plaster cast was now a badge of honour. "Look what I done!" She announced to the clerks as she proudly showed off her injury. They in response all made appropriate remarks to the little girl, commenting on how brave she must have been. "I was bave wasn't I, Mummy?" She asked her mother for confirmation for everyone.
Martha took the opportunity to tell the clerks she was available for work after being relieved of Sean's case. In the meantime she would be occupying Olivia in her office. Being a barrister in high demand, it didn't take long for another brief to find its way onto Martha's desk. Michael Connelly had contacted the office specifically asking for Martha. He had a new waif and stray that had fallen on hard times and was now in trouble with the law. They had worked together on a number of occasions and the solicitor knew she was the barrister for him for this particular case.
When Clive arrived back at chambers to see if he could take his family out to lunch, he smiled to himself when he saw both his girls hard at work. Martha was busy looking at something on her laptop and was making notes on a pad of paper every so often. Liv was sat on another chair beside her watching something on an iPad through a pair of earphones. Her iPad had been set up to look like Martha's laptop. Every time Martha wrote something down, Liv did the same although it looked more like a scribble from where Clive was standing.
"What's going on?" Asked Clive from the doorway. Martha looked up and explained all about her new case. "And what are you doing, Liv?".
"Playin' at bein' Mummy," she told her father. "I've got a new case as well,".
"Who's your client?" Clive asked, before catching sight of what his daughter was watching. "Dora the Explorer. That looks like a tough case, Liv,".
"Uh huh,".
"Are you going to win?"
"Yep," she confirmed. "I'm like Mummy. I always win!".
"Excellent! Can I tempt either of you away from your work for a spot of lunch. The judge adjourned us early so I have a bit of time before the afternoon session,".
He received a positive reply from both mother and daughter so the family went off for a lovely lunch together.
When Clive returned to chambers at the end of the day, Martha was in much the same position at her desk. His daughter was no where to be seen until he moved to his desk where he spied her lying on the floor on her stomach by her mother. She was staring transfixed into a cardboard box.
"What you got there Liv?".
"It's a kitty, Daddy!" She exclaimed excitedly.
"And where did you find it?".
"He was at the front door when I went out wiv Unca Jake," she explained. Clive looked to Martha for confirmation that she was telling the truth, and got a nod. "So we bringed him inside and gave him some milk in case he was t'irsty. I'm gonna call him Bob and he can sleep in my bed so dat he doesn't get cold at night,".
"Have we decided that he's coming home with us?" He asked, again looking at Martha, a bit shocked that this had been decided without his involvement.
"No we haven't. I said we weren't going to decide anything until we had talked to you," Martha explained.
Olivia recognised she needed to work on her father a little bit. Climbing onto his chair, she stood on his lap and placed both her tiny hands on his shoulders which was a little difficult with one arm in a plaster cast. She looked earnestly into his eyes. "Please Daddy. Can we keep Bob? I be good forever I promise. Please Daddy. Please," she begged.
"Hang on a minute. First you wanted a sister, then a puppy and now Bob," Clive summarised. "What would you prefer? A kitty or a puppy? I have a feeling that Bob and a puppy wouldn't get on,".
"It would be ok, Daddy. Bob told me he wouldn't mind a puppy," Olivia explained to her father.
"Is that right?" Clive replied trying not to laugh. "Well it still doesn't change the fact that you can't have everything you want Liv,".
"But...but...but what's gonna happen to Bob?" Asked Olivia starting to get upset. "He hasn't got a mummy or a daddy to look after him. He's all 'lone,".
Despite telling himself he would remain strong and not give in to his daughter, he found himself caving very quickly with her tears.
"What do you think Marth?"
"He is kind of cute," she observed as she cast a glance at the small tabby cat in the box who was curled up fast asleep. "Cats don't require a lot of work. They just like eating and sleeping don't they?".
"Well how about this. We call into the vets on the way home to make sure Bob isn't poorly,".
"I don't think he's poorly," Olivia interjected.
"Well perhaps we should get the vet to make absolutely sure about that," he continued. "We also need to make sure no one is missing him. There might be another little girl out there who's very sad right now because her kitty has gone missing," he explained gently to the three year old.
"I don't think dat there is," she confidently told her father. Clive could see he was losing the battle. She was already very attached to the furry animal. He only hoped she was right or there was going to be a lot of tears...which would probably lead to Clive buying her another kitten just to keep her happy.
"Well, if there isn't then we can keep him," he agreed. Olivia's face lit up.
"Thank you Daddy!" She said as she hugged him. "I go tell da uvvers that you said I can keep him," she continued as she climbed off his lap and headed to the door.
"That's not entirely what I said, Liv," Clive warned but she wasn't listening.
"Can you open the door for me Daddy? It's too heavy for me," she commanded as Clive dutifully obliged her.
"Marth?" Clive said as the door closed behind the little girl.
"Hmm," replied Martha still concentrating on her work.
"You're going to have to teach me how to say no to her otherwise before I know it I'll be agreeing to a tattoo or piercing of objectionable taste!".
"You're getting better Clive," Martha encouraged as she stopped work and looked up at Clive. "She just threw you with the orphan angle,".
"She gets the caring for hopeless cases from you Marth," Clive teased. "This is therefore all your fault!" He continued pointing a finger at her.
"Daddy!" They heard from the other side of the door. Clive opened the door again to allow his daughter to re-enter.
"Are you going to introduce me to Bob?" Clive asked and was led by the hand to the cardboard box.
"This is Bob," Olivia stated. Clive looked into the box. Bob was now awake and gave a little meow as he saw the two faces looking at him. Clive gently reached in to pick him up. "Careful Daddy," Olivia warned her father. "He is very tiny,".
Clive sat on the floor and lifted the kitten up. "Is Bob even a boy?" He questioned trying to see if he could tell.
"I think so," came from Martha.
"Me too," confirmed Clive as he caught sight of what he was looking for before placing the kitten on his lap and petting him with Olivia before Martha was ready to leave.
The vet gave Bob a clean bill of health. He also checked to see if Bob was tagged, but came up negative. It looked like they had a new family member unless someone replied to the posters Shoe Lane had put up around Temple.
The vet gave the family some information on neutering, and advised them it was something they should think about carefully for their new kitten.
"What's newt'rin?" Olivia asked.
"Yes Clive. What is neutering?" Repeated Martha enjoying the uncomfortable look on Clive's face.
The vet decided to help Clive out. "It's an operation for boy cats to stop them fighting and being aggressive," he explained to the curious little girl.
"Have you had the op'ration Daddy 'cause you don't fight?" She asked Clive.
"No!" Answered Clive quickly.
"Are you sure? You might have been a baby like Bob. I'm going to ask Grandma and Grandpa next time I see dem," remarked Olivia to which the vet and Martha both started laughing.