"I think I should have waited until the baby was born to tell Zoe. It would have saved a whole lot of hassle" Dylan muttered as he climbed into bed next to Sam that night.

"Don't be such a grump" Sam rolled over to face him and stroked the stubble that was growing on his face

"Sam, she dragged you round Mothercare, and I actually swear that she would have brought the whole bloody shop if we'd have let her" He was still sulking that she had been let loose with his credit card.

"She can probably hear you right now, she is only a few doors away" Sam grinned into the darkness

He lay awake long after she'd fallen asleep, his mind whirring around with thoughts. What if he wasn't a good father or something happened to Sam, or the baby and he couldn't save them.

Eventually he gave up trying to sleep and got up and went through to the living room, he was shocked to see Zoe up as well "Couldn't sleep?" He asked as he sat down in the armchair.

"Jet lag sucks" Zoe replied simply "What about you"

"OCD" he said quietly almost as if he was ashamed

"Bad day?" She turned off the TV and turned her full attention to him

"I'm worried about Sam and the baby Zoe" He admitted wringing his hands

"Why everything is fine isn't it?" She moved forward and took his hands

"Yeah but..." Dylan looked at her

"No buts Dylan. You are going to be a fantastic Dad and Sam is going to be a great Mum" Zoe squeezed his hands reassuringly.

Little did he know everything was about to change.

Everything was normal for a while. Zoe drove them mad buying baby things until one day they came to a head.

"Nick, you have to come and get her, I don't know how but she appears to have brought the whole of Mothercare, she swears she hasn't, but I don't believe her" Dylan pleaded with his ex-boss down the phone after a disastrous day where Zoe had dragged a pregnant Sam around the shopping centre and came back with at least 4 bags of baby clothes and toys.

"Dylan I'm already on it. My credit card company contacted me today to say that my card had been used for a large transaction and I knew it was probably my wife, so I've frozen both her cards and I'm booking onto the next flight available as we speak" He knew it was a massive mistake to allow Zoe to travel to England in possession of her own credit cards with the temptation of baby shops.

He arrived at their house the next night. "Zoe we're going and leaving these people in peace. You've been here for too long now and they deserve some peace before the baby arrives, now get your bags we are leaving no matter what you say" He practically had to drag Zoe out of the house to the taxi.

Dylan breathed an exaggerated sigh of relief and Sam giggled "Dylan don't be mean"

"Don't get me wrong she's my friend and all but she can get very annoying very quickly" He made them both a hot chocolate and they curled up under a blanket on the sofa with Dervla at their feet.

Sam rested her head on his shoulder and curled into his side as best she could "I love you Dylan"

"I love you too Sam and I love you too peanut" He kissed her 6-month bump and she smiled and cuddled into him once again.

A few days later Dylan arrived home from work to a letter with an American stamp, he growled in frustration knowing without opening it that the letter was from Zoe

"Bloody nuisance" He growled as he posted the letter through the paper shredder.

Sam soon appeared in the doorway wearing one of the t shirts she brought him for their honeymoon many years ago and some maternity leggings "What was that" She yawned and folded her arms around her bump

"A letter from the most annoying person ever" he said without looking up

"Zoe?" She giggled a little

"Sam it's not funny" He growled

"It is a little you have to admit Dylan" She padded through to the Kitchen and made them each a hot drink.

Soon weeks went by, and it was soon November which meant Sam decorated the house from head to toe with Christmas decorations whilst Dylan protested when he secretly loved it.

"That box there Dylan, I think that has all the tinsel in" Sam instructed from the bottom of the step ladder that allowed Dylan to access all their Christmas decorations

"Sam seriously, tinsel is a choking hazard for small children and dogs" He protested

"Dylan, the baby isn't due for two months yet and the tinsel is going to be out of reach of both Dervla and the baby" She glared up at him as he pretended to overlook the box of tinsel

"Why do we have to have so many decorations Sam, there's only two of us and a dog" He protested as she tuned into the Christmas music channel, and he started to assemble their Christmas Tree that reached the ceiling.

"Don't be such a Grinch Grumpy, Christmas is the best time of the year" She trailed off mid-sentence as the landline phone rang for the 5th time that day.

"If that's Zoe again, do it not answer it Sam I swear" Dylan warned

Zoe was back in Michigan with Nick, but she had not left them alone since. She had started out sending letters continuously for at least two months until Dylan had threatened to move house if she didn't stop and so all was quiet for a while until she started to continuously call the house. Nick had done everything in his power to stop her from making herself a nuisance to Sam and Dylan especially in the last few months of Sam's pregnancy when she had had a few scares. She was two months away from giving birth and she was surprisingly small for someone who was 7 months pregnant.

Dylan had threatened to change the landline number if she didn't stop calling them, but this made no impact on Zoe who had also resorted to sending emails which had slightly amused Sam who didn't see what Dylan was going to achieve by ignoring his emails and turning off both their phones.

"Dylan you cannot ignore your emails forever, it is physically impossible" She had tried reasoning with him but the only way he learned to stop ignoring emails was when Connie turned up on their doorstep because he'd missed an important email asking him to cover a shift which had resulted in Sam having to apologise to Connie on his behalf because Dylan- a grown man about to become a father was too afraid to explain to his boss that the reason he was ignoring his emails was because his best friend was being slightly Stalker-like and constantly emailing them.

Meanwhile, in Michigan Nick had tried every which way to combat Zoe. He had taken away her cigarettes and vape in hopes that she would crack and stop emailing and texting if he gave her them back. That didn't work she just brought more, he'd even gone as far as telling the airports not to allow her to book flights, he'd even offered to pay for Dylan to change their landline number. It eventually came to a head at 3am one morning when Nick was awoken by the glare of Zoe's laptop "Zoe what on earth are you doing, it's 3am"

"Dylan isn't answering the phone" She told him without looking up from the screen

"Zoe, this is getting a bit creepy now. Put your laptop away and come to bed" He took away her laptop and folded his wife into the tightest hug so she was unable to escape determined that Dylan and Sam should get some peace from his wife before the birth. Back in Holby, Sam was driving Dylan crazy by insisting that Dervla was going to wear a Santa hat. "Sam she's a dog, she does not need a Santa hat!"

"Why not! She looks cute don't you think" Sam protested grinning like the Cheshire Cat also sporting a far too glittery Santa hat.

Then before Dylan could have a chance to reply his world was turned upside down and all in slow motion he felt. Sam was rushed into an emergency c-section and all he could do was to wait outside helplessly pacing up and down the corridor. This couldn't be happening, it was too early for the baby to come, two months too early. This was his fault, he should have made sure she rested more, he should have done more.