New families

In it for the long haul

Jac rang Sacha who said the he and Ric were going to try and make it back later and Fletch spoke to Steven who said he would keep the kids again and try get them back tomorrow.
"I'll walk back to yours with you and see if there's any chance of digging the car out"
"If you can't, you could always camp out at mine"
"Mmmm tempting. I should probably go and see if everything is ok back at the ranch"
They again walked home hand in hand. The snow had stopped and the streets were eerily quiet given that it was mid morning
Jac's street was still very snowbound. There had been more since they'd been at work and the snow was well over the wheel arches of Fletch 's car
"Looks like I'll be walking home " he chuckled
"Come inside and get warm" Jac yawned again which set Fletch off
"We should get some sleep"she stated unlocking the door. Heating on, hot chocolate made, they sat on the sofa each with heavy eyes. They must have drifted off to sleep because when Sacha came in about 5 hours later, Jac was curled up against Fletch's side, her head on his chest. He had his arm loosely on her waist. At some point one of them had obviously pulled the blanket from the back of the sofa over them and they were sleeping soundly.
"He wasn't joking then" Sacha said to himself smiling "she deserves some happiness"
He tried to be quiet so as to not wake them but his pottering in the kitchen had Jac stirring.
She lay for a moment savouring the warmth of Fletch, his regular breathing. She felt contented.
Carefully she managed to extricate herself from him and joined Sacha in the kitchen
"Hi" she said "you're back"
"Yes - just. The tow company have a four wheel drive so they brought Ric and I home. You know with us being indispensable members of society. Saving lives and all that" he paused "it all looks very cosy in there" he said gesturing to the living room
"We must have dropped off having been at work for over 24 hours"
"Uhuh. Spill Naylor, tell me exactly why Adrian Fletcher turned up at a fancy hotel pretending to be your husband and then I come home to find you cuddled up together on the sofa"
"Alright Dad . If you must know we kinda got together on Boxing Day when you had the kids out at the panto"
Sacha raised his eyebrows "well l must say it's about bloody time"
"I know" agreed Jac grinning
"Is it serious?"
"Well we love each other but obviously it's a little complicated with the kids and everything"
"So he's in it for the long haul?"
"Yes I am" Fletch said appearing in the doorway "we both are"
Jac's heart skipped a beat
"Hey" she turned round in her chair "join us for a cuppa"
He placed a chaste kiss on her lips
"Sacha" nodded Fletch
"Hey Fletch. How are you?"
Fletch glanced at Jac "couldn't be better"
"Sacha, about this" Jac gestured between her and Fletch "have you told anyone?"
"Well no because I still wasn't sure whether it was a joke him saying that it had been him pretending to be your husband"
"Ok now you know it's true, we would really appreciate it if you could not tell anyone- particularly Emma for now"
"Scouts honour and cross my heart" Sacha said