"Well, you've certainly landed on your feet."

Rita's father was speaking as both Connie and Alistair retired back into the sitting room. Connie sat back down in the arm chair by the door, there was a breeze coming from somewhere and she found herself shivering despite the prickle of heat that spider danced across the skin of her back sending goosebumps rising across her flesh.

She drew in a breath, above her she could hear the quiet close of Grace's bedroom door and the sound of her on the landing.

"Oh, this is all Connie's..."

Rita was speaking, she suddenly realised. Sitting down seemed to have had an odd effect on her ears, all of a sudden she was more blocked up than she had realised she was, and she had to part her lips in order to be able to breathe easily.

"...she's asked me to move in, but it's not official yet."

Ali leant against the arm of Rita's chair as she finished speaking, deliberately leaning against her, nudging her with his elbow. She nudged him back, harder, but without saying a word.

"So what do you have to do to end up in a place like this?"

Ali asked before his father could say anything else, and he raised his coffee to his lips again, sipping slowly so as not to scald himself.

"Or rather, what do you do?"

He added, swallowing, squinting at Connie through the steam.

She inhaled, she could hear Grace's steps on the stairs, and the sound of her own breath as she exhaled.

"Oh, I'm...a surgeon by trade. But right now I'm clinical lead of the emergency department."

She couldn't help but wince at her own words, and she wished there was a way of saying such a thing without sounding so pretentious, but Ali just smiled and Rita curled her legs back underneath her again. Looking across at the two of them now Connie could see the obvious family resemblance, the straight angular lines of their jaw, the wide eyes, full lips and the honeyed blonde of their hair...

"So she's your boss?"

Phil asked, the sofa creaking as he leant forward slightly without thinking, reaching out for the coffee table where a plate of biscuits had been arranged earlier...the plate Connie had forgotten to offer round...

Rita exhaled through a breath and Connie allowed herself a smile.

"Ah no, Rita will be the first to tell you that I'm not her boss! Rita manages the nursing staff...we work as a team."

"And who's this?"

Alice asked, almost but not quite cutting Connie off as Grace appeared in the doorway, her phone in her hand.

Connie glanced up, relieved to have an interruption – something to take the attention away from herself, and Rita reached her free hand back behind where her brother was sat on the arm of the chair, she squeezed Grace's forearm gently.

"Grace, this is my mum, Alice, my dad, Phil...and this is my brother, Ali."

She paused and cast her eyes up towards Ali who had turned himself just enough to be able to be able to see behind himself.

Grace smiled slightly, she screwed up her toes into the carpet and rocked back on her feet, clutching the phone against her chest, not quite sure what to say or do...

"Grace is Connie's daughter."

Rita added, suddenly realising that she had forgotten that important piece of information.

"We can see that!"

Alice smiled, though she retained a look of mild confusion. She cast a hesitant glance to where Connie sat, her mug in her lap.

"So you haven't always been..."

"Oh! No! No..."

Connie cleared her throat, aware that she had pounced on the other woman's words, eager to silence them.

"No."

She repeated, more quietly this time, and she caught the flash of Ali's teeth, he was enjoying this far more than anyone else was, and she couldn't help but feel vaguely irritated by him. She watched as he crossed his legs and tapped his fingers gently against his jeans. He'd run his fingers through his hair and, like Rita's did so often, it had tufted up at one side. She followed his gaze, he was looking upon his mother with vague amusement - she had placed her coffee down gently against her lap and pursed her lips in the way that she did before she said exactly what she thought, and Connie found herself smiling just the same way she did for her patients at the hospital.

-.-

Quick chapter. Grace has appeared, there was a reason she suddenly disappeared...she was busy up in her room ;)

Thank you so much, the reviews I got for the last couple of chapters were absolutely lovely! I will publish a longer chapter tomorrow for you all, but for now, I hope this is OK, and that you're all having a lovely evening :) xxx