They picked Emma and Theo up from Sacha's half an hour later.
"Hey you two" said Fletch "I hope you've caused Uncle Sacha a lot of trouble "
"We've been good" Emma said indignantly. She was a Naylor alright "haven't we Uncle Sacha"
"Well......."
Emma gave him the stare
Sacha laughed "of course they've been no trouble" he ruffled Theo's hair
"She OK?" Sacha asked as the kids ran off to the car
"Shaken but ok. You were right she was on the roof. I've persuaded her to stay at mine tonight"
"The rumours are true then" Sacha smiled
"Yeah" Fletch confirmed
"Don't tell her I said this but you are the best thing that's happened to her in years. I saw how you were with her after the shootings"
"Yeah well" said Fletch embarrassed. "She scared everyone else off"
Sacha laughed "true story"
Fletch jogged back to the car Jac had efficiently got them both in their car seats and they were arguing about some Lego movie characters.
She sat listening to her daughter and Theo, it sounded like a brother and sister bickering
Jac laid her head back and closed her eyes. This is what is important she thought. She reasoned with herself, I could have done no more to save that man but talking to his family who had obviously loved him and were supporting each other was so touching.
There had been times in Jac's life where she knew that if she had died, literally no one would have cared but now, she dared to hope that there would eventually be a family that would definitely care if she weren't around.
She opened her eyes and smiled at Fletch as he got into the car.
He returned the smile, squeezed her hand and drove them home.
No one at the Fletcher household was surprised to see Jac and Emma, normal family life continued, no one stood on ceremony, no one viewed them as guests. Later when the were sharing a bottle of wine on the sofa Fletch spoke
"So I was talking to Donna earlier"
"Donna Jackson?"
He started grinning "didn't know that you two had known each other so long"
"OK" she said hesitantly
"She called you 'Olive' but didn't say why. Spill Naylor"
Jac put her hands over her face embarrassed
"Dan Clifford"
"Dan Clifford - ex?"
"God no. Consultant when I was a registrar. Used to call me Olive. Apparently I had a more than passing resemblance to Popeye's girlfriend Olive Oyl"
Fletch couldn't hold in his laugh "and that would make me Popeye then?"
"Well it would if I'm your girlfriend" Jac teased, not really knowing what they were. No label had ever been attached to their relationship
Fletch took her in his arms and shuffled her onto his lap "Oh you're so much more than that Olive" he gently kissed her gauging her reaction. Jac responded hungrily, she kissed him urgently.
Pulling away she said "you know I said I didn't want to be alone tonight. I meant in every sense"
"Then why are we still sitting down here?" asked Fletch
They headed up to his bedroom. They had shared a lot of passion in this room. That first day and night together felt like so long ago even though it was so recent. The intensity of their relationship before getting together meant that they knew each other better than anyone else. Fletch always knew how to comfort her and Jac was learning to accept the love and comfort whilst trying to offer him the same. She still felt like an emotional fuck up
compared to him but they had all the time in the world to fix that.
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Guess who's been watching old episodes of Holby x
