By late November, the new relationship between Patrick and Shelagh had grown comfortable. She had been back in Poplar for a few weeks, and ever since their engagement, they had been spending as much time together as possible despite his erratic work hours. Shelagh had gotten into the habit of walking Timothy home from school and helping him with his homework while treating him to tea and biscuits. She would also frequently make tea for both Turner boys and herself, ensuring that they had something better than fish and chips. But it was the time after dinner that they all treasured the most. They would play board games, or read, or talk about their day. Spending as much time being with each other as possible. Once Timothy was sent upstairs for his bath and to get ready for bed, the evening belonged to just Patrick and Shelagh. Usually, they sat on the settee holding each other close and talked about wedding plans or patients or a new article from the Lancet. But a few nights per week, Patrick would put on a record or turn on the radio, and they would dance. It was on a cold Wednesday evening like this that they found their song.

"May I have this dance?" Patrick asked as he turned the radio on after Timothy left the room.

"Yes you may." Shelagh responded as she stood up and took his offered hand.

Neither of them would call themselves a great dancer. Shelagh had been shy growing up and never really learned as a teen, then as a nun she hadn't had a chance to practice, but she did love all kinds of music. Patrick was decent at it due to his athleticism growing up, but med school had left him too busy for dances as a young man, now he simply used dancing as an excuse to hold Shelagh close.

They danced in a simple square step waltz to any song that was played on the hits of the decade station that Patrick favored. Shelagh hummed along to any of the ones she knew. They swayed together, getting closer with each song until Patrick's hand was on her lower back and Shelagh's head leaned on his chest with no space between them

The songs came and went for half an hour before Patrick murmured, "I should be taking you to your boarding house soon."

"Please, just one more song." Shelagh whispered into his chest.

He chuckled slightly at her need to stay in his embrace but he acquiesced.

The next song opened with harps and horns. Then a shining voice intoned "Once I had a Secret Love, that lived within the heart of me..."

They stopped swaying immediately but stayed together in their close embrace. As the song continued on describing the revealing of a secret love, they slowly stepped back to look into each other's eyes.

Once the song finished, Patrick leaned down and kissed her gently. He then leaned in to hug her, resting his head on her shoulder.

"My heart is an open door for you, and I would shout it from the highest hill if it would please you." Patrick whispered to her.

"No need to shout from the hills, telling me is enough. Oh Patrick, I'm glad our Secret Love isn't secret anymore." Shelagh whispered back to him.

A month later they returned to Patrick's house after having a late Christmas with Timothy in the hospital. They had taken most of his presents for him to open there but decided to open their gifts for each other privately. Patrick helped Shelagh out of her coat and hung it up before removing his own. Then Patrick grabbed his gift off the mantel while Shelagh grabbed hers off the kitchen hatch before they both made their way to the settee. They smiled before swapping the gifts. They went back and forth for a few moments encouraging each other to open first.

"Patrick, would you please go first? You know I am not accustomed to receiving gifts." Shelagh questioned with a worried frown, lines formed between her eyebrows. Patrick agreed, only remembering after her comment that she had not been allowed gifts or personal possessions in her former life as a nun so this might be awkward for her.

He ripped into the red paper on his small square package, small shreds of the paper falling to the floor. Shelagh smiled at his enthusiasm, forgetting the mess. He looked up at her in surprise at the gold watch twinkling up at him.

"Are you implying that I need more assistance to be on time?" Patrick asked with an amused smile.

"Not at all. Look at the back." Shelagh replied with a grin.

Patrick took the watch out of the box and flipped it over. On the back it read simply "Our Love is Timeless P & S" Patrick's joking smile at what he thought was a jab at his constant tardiness soon turned to a smile full of love for the woman before him. He thanked her profusely before putting the watch on his wrist. He then encouraged her to open her gift.

She slowly peeled the tape from the gold paper covering the large flat square that was her first Christmas present from Patrick. By the time she was done she could have reused the paper. Patrick chuckled at how neat and tidy she was, even when unwrapping a present. Shelagh's eyes lit up at the record she now held in her hands, the look of delight soon turned to one of confusion as she tried to understand why he had bought this particular one for her.

"I know it is an unusual one but look at song eight." Patrick quickly said in order to end her confusion and not make her think poorly of his gift.

There on the back of the Calamity Jane by Doris Day and Howard Keel record she saw the words "Secret Love" next to song number eight. Her eyes lit up once again.

"You found the song!" She exclaimed as she quickly took it to the record player.

"Of course I did. It took a couple of different shops to find it, but I would have gone to all the record shops in London to get it for you." Patrick said as he followed her to the record player.

He pulled her to him and started swaying as the harps and horns began. This time as they danced they both sang with the music, "Once I had a Secret Love, that lived within the heart of me..."

As the song came to an end they stopped swaying. Shelagh stood up on her tip toes and kissed Patrick softly then embraced him, leaving her head on his chest.

"Thank you for my gift. I hope we continue to use it a lot" Shelagh said softly.

"We can dance to it every night if that is what you want." He replied before kissing the top of her head.