A quiet night-in was a long sought after privilege. Evie and Mikey were both staying with friends and the youngsters were in bed by 7:30.
They curled up in the sofa and put on a David Attenborough documentary and started to chat about their day. It was hard to believe that they worked in the same building and still each had so little clue about what the other did with their day.
"I can't believe Serena's forcing me to take on two F1s. She's punishing me for what happened with Frieda," Jac complained.
Fletch laughed at her. She really was taking it personally, and he knew it was entirely Serena's intention.
The pair of them nattered as middle-aged couples did for a couple of hours, making the most of the freedom to absolutely nothing. Fletch moaned about how much resistance he was facing at work over his new recruitment initiatives, and Jac wondered how anybody could ever say no to him.
Even before, when he had been the infuriatingly jolly presence on Darwin that she tried to avoid all costs, he had been the hardest person to say no to bar Emma alone.
"Just give them the old Fletcher charm and they'll be throwing money at you," Jac teased, running her fingers up and down the length of his forearm.
"Sorry to tell you that I save that particular charm for a special few, and I'm not sure you'd be too pleased about me flaunting it around the entire hospital," he quipped, turning his arm under her touch. "You want another cuppa?"
She shook her head, nestling further into his side so that he wouldn't stand up, and continued her ministrations. Jac knew he wouldn't move, wouldn't break this moment when her affection was so hard to come by, even after all these months.
Something about this moment made her want to put it into a bottle and cork it tight, to keep it safe from withering memories in aging minds. It was so simple and yet it was the most genuinely happy she had been in forever, with her heart at ease and her mind clear of all concern.
"What would you do if I dropped dead tomorrow?"
Jac had asked Joseph this question an age ago and he had answered incorrectly; with his anger. Jac had asked Jonny this question when she had been pregnant with Emma and he had answered falsely; with his sadness.
He furrowed his brow, wondered why on Earth she would ask such a question but knew she wouldn't appreciate his ramblings and instead, responded concisely:
"I'd tell Emma every story I could remember about you and I'd make damn sure that Darwin didn't fall apart under whatever second-rate imbecile took the helm." Fletch answered correctly; with her in mind.
Fletch knew her perhaps better than anybody else ever had. Joseph had empathised with her, and when she did that which he could not comprehend, he left. Jonny had seen only the good in her, and when he had been faced with the ugly truth, he had left. Fletch knew her faults and he held her to account for them, so he had little reason remaining to leave.
Jac shifted slightly, pressing a tender kiss to his jaw and lingering there. Turning his head easily, he found her lips with his own and languished in this rarely-seen Jac Naylor who cuddled out of choice rather than obligation.
"You better not die tonight or I'll be having some words with 'im upstairs," Fletch drawled sarcastically, only for Jac to shut him up the best way she knew how.
She curled her fingers into his hair as she kissed him, longing to consume herself entirely in this moment of divine bliss. It was only the sound of a screaming Ella that pulled her back to reality.
Fletch darted up and headed for the door, halfway up the stairs by the time Jac had processed what was going on. Ella was well and truly into her night terrors stage, she'd woken up crying almost every night for two weeks now and Fletch had gotten into a system for it.
The thought that she was going to have to through this with Emma filled her with dread. Much as she prided herself on being a good mother, it didn't mean she had magically developed the skill of empathy postnatally.
She turned off the television and headed to the kitchen to do the washing up before heading up to bed. It was getting late and there was no chance Fletch was going to be down anytime soon, he'd stay until she was fast asleep again now.
As she padded lightly past Ella's bedroom door, she heard the girl's sniffling and it broke her heart just a little. The kids didn't feel like hers and she didn't think they ever would, but it didn't mean she hadn't come to care for them deeply in all of the time she had spent with them. They were still a part of her everyday life and she couldn't help but take into consideration their feelings even subconsciously.
"She's asleep already," Fletch whispered as he entered the master bedroom fifteen minutes later to find Jac laid in bed. "Barely had to calm her down, it was over as soon as it started."
"Poor thing," Jac mumbled as Fletch kicked off his jeans and hung them over the foot of the bed before climbing in beside her.
Fletch wrapped his arms around her waist, and the two carried a light conversation until Jac heard his breath slacken against her neck and knew he was asleep.
