The next five days will be more than enough time they've concluded to explain to Ian and Alice the series of events which have led them to move somewhere that is not only quiet but that their decision to get married had it not been for Oliver Mace might have happened earlier, or in other words tell them what up until now only Malcolm knows when it comes to Ruth's time in Cyprus, which is that as well as losing Nico, George hadn't been the pillar of the community that he had set himself up to be. Why because anything less would be an injustice not only to the man who is going to marry them but in Harry's opinion to Ruth herself, for the simple reason that had he known what had been happening he would have almost certainly ignored Ros's advice and found a way to bring her home. That and the not so small matter that they want to start a family and from what they can remember from the day of Ros's funeral is news which will be received with genuine smiles and without the suggestion that they need to change things up or use their imagination which they already have on both counts and very nice it was thank you very much.

That had been yesterday, whereas today the brakes have been firmly put on and will be until their guests go home, the sound of the car pulling up outside causing an unexpected feeling of pure pleasure at which point Harry heads into the hall and opens the front door.

'Ruth's in the kitchen you go through,' he tells Alice who he would have hugged had she not been carrying three-year old Lucy, at a time when five-year old Freddie is trailing in her wake with bucket and spade, which given it is winter, with what Harry presumes is optimism despite one of the items on the child friendly list being a burger and bonfire afternoon on the beach weather permitting, before heading out to the car to help Ian with the luggage. Most of which is for the children who apparently eat anything which is why Ruth has been able to take the easy route and a shepherd's pie is due out of the oven in the next half hour. Time enough for him and Ian to carry their luggage upstairs and for Ian to say, 'it wasn't until we drove into the village that I remembered that this is the first time since Lucy was born that we've had what amounts to a holiday and to be able to do it so soon after Christmas, which as much as I celebrate it given my vocation, I always feel grateful when it's over, so thank you.'

'Not at all just make yourselves at home, the bathroom's through there and if there's anything else you need just ask?' Harry tells him.

'With a view like that to wake up to I may well spend the entire time in bed, but seriously how on earth did you find a house like this?'

'Luck or with some help from your friend upstairs either way we will never take it for granted.'

A call from downstairs prevents any further questions. Not that Harry would have held back, because just as he had expected Ian has shown that a mixture of seriousness and levity, an ideal combination to ease them into the whatever the week holds, but more importantly that Ruth had been right to suggest that he and Alice were the couple they should talk to, because having two children much younger than Nico had been, surely will enable them to visualise the future they want and by whatever means as the doctor pointed out will achieve.

Only to see it take a take a huge step forward which causes Harry to re – evaluate the impact that having a child of their own will have on Ruth, who when Lucy having dropped her beaker of juice, a beaker which along with cutlery and a plate and bowl which Ian and Alice had brought from home starts to cry, sees her picking it up and in a voice which leaves nothing to the imagination says, 'it doesn't matter sweetheart, let's just wash it shall we and then I'll give you some more.'

Stopping himself from following her is difficult enough which means that he is still in the moment and for that reason fails to see the look which passes between Ian and Alice when Ruth returns to the table and with the gentlest of touches wipes Lucy's eyes. That they have read more into Ruth's reaction is realised when the end of the meal he says, 'leave it we'll clear up later,' to which Ian responds, 'if you and I do it now then Ruth can help Alice get the kids ready for bed.'

Which in a room that they haven't slept in before and with no street lights sees Alice producing a night light, another reminder that travelling with young children requires a list that needs to be updated as the years go by, although it's not until they have washed their hands and faces and with the door ajar do both Harry and Ian hear Alice say to Ruth, 'I'm sure Lucy would like you to read them their bedtime story wouldn't you darling, but they'll be asleep before you know it.'

What they don't see is Ruth expression as a wave of nostalgia washes over her, brought on by the memory of her father reading The Tale of Benjamin Bunny as he had all the multiple of characterful stories in the combined works of Beatrix Potter when she had been barely older than Lucy is now, combined with the thought of Harry reading the same stories to their own child, before turning to page one and having taken a deep breath, looks at the pictures that after all these years are still hauntingly familiar.

As is the way she adjusts her voice to one which Harry recognises had been known on the grid as Ruth's ability to calm a tornado, as she says, 'one morning a little rabbit sat on a bank. He pricked his ears and listened to the trit - trot, trit - trot of a pony. A gig was coming along the road driven by Mr. McGregor, and beside him sat Mrs. McGregor in her best bonnet. As soon as they had passed little Benjamin Bunny slid down into the road and set off with a hop, skip and a jump to call upon his relations who live at the back of Mr. McGregor's garden but not much wanting to see his Aunt, instead he came round the back of the fir tree and nearly tumbled upon the top of his Cousin Peter,' which was as far as Ruth got, because just as Alice had predicted both children were asleep, allowing her to go back downstairs in time to hear Harry say, 'there's so much we haven't told you and now can, a good deal of which will explain why Ruth is so much at ease with young children.'

Opening a bottle of wine which eventually stretches to three with gaps in between to allow their guests to regain their composure, Harry starts by telling them that Ros had been the last in a long line of colleagues whose funerals he had attended including Ruth's and why it had been necessary to fake her death. Moving on to her time in Cyprus and how in addition to her job at the hospital she had accepted the offer of accommodation in exchange for looking after Nico and how the no strings attached promise had been shattered. Only to be forced to come home, watch George die and the blame game which had followed. That the decision to retire and move away from London had been kick started during a visit to see Malcolm, something which Ros herself had insisted despite it coming at a busy time, whilst saving until the last moment that they are trying for a baby of their own.

'Why us?' Asks Ian, having found a way to smile again, a smile which deepens when Harry tells him about the visit to the doctor, before adding, 'you'll make wonderful parents.'

Words which despite having drunk more wine than he has in a long while plus a later than usual night are the first thing Harry remembers when he wakes up in the morning and pads downstairs to put the kettle on and stoke the fire, happy in the knowledge that he isn't the only father who had considered himself to be lacking owing to the number of times he had taken the children on holiday, that and during Ian's time as a vicar the number of couples that had approached him with the same concerns as he and Ruth have, had and gone on to have a child are the assurances he needs.

Assurances which gain momentum when breakfast comes and goes without any spillages or tears despite him being invited to cut Lucy's toast into soldiers and dip them into her boiled egg, supervised by Freddie which he obviously does at home. That it has been set up for Ruth's benefit they both know, but that this simple action removes any remaining tension as well as setting the tone for the rest of the day and because the sun is shining allows them walk into the village where there is still has a Christmassy feel due decorations in the shop windows and the tree. All of which are heightened through the eyes of two small children who having seen the ducks on the village pond for the first time just stand there opened mouthed.

A combination of which causes Ian to say, 'all this, the sea on your doorstep and a wedding to look forward to after all you've been through, I just hope the vicar who you've chosen to conduct the service is up to the task.'

'Ruth seems to think so,' says Harry, trying and failing not to smile, before turning to the children and saying, 'now who fancies a mug of hot chocolate?'