Flac
~Based after interruption from Frieda and Emma~
Knock knock.
"Come in Fletch." He smiled at the fact that she knew it was him before he even entered and pushed open the door.
"Hey. Are you busy?" He asked. Jac quirked an eyebrow in surprise. It wasn't often that Fletch actually considered that she might be doing actual work, usually he just blundered straight into whatever he came for.
"No, I've just finished. What's up?" She replied.
"I was just thinking, seeing as Emma is already dressed up for the occasion, why don't you bring her round to mine and my lot can take her trick or treating with them?"
"Fletch..." She began and took her glasses off her nose.
"I know what you said about our kids getting close but it's just one night. Let them be kids and have fun. Please?"
"Fine." She gave in and he grinned broadly.
"Great, drop her round about seven?" He suggested happily.
"Okay."
"Seems my daughter isn't the only one fluent in one word answers." The nurse muttered under his breath as he turned to leave the room with a smirk on his face.
"Don't push it Fletcher." She smiled her rare smile back at him and watched as he left the office.
At 7pm on the dot, Jac was stood on Fletch's garden path with her four year old daughter, waiting for him to open the door.
"Hey you two!" He greeted them cheerfully and then glanced down at Emma. "Argh! Emma you got me again!" He pretended to be frightened and clutched a hand to his chest as Jac smiled once again that day. "Right come in Jacula. The others are upstairs." The small girl ran past the nurse and up the stairs.
"Want to come in for a cuppa?"
"No I need to get back to Sacha. But thanks anyway." She replied and turned to walk back down the path.
"Jac, Sacha will be fine on his own for a bit. Please...just come in for a bit, just as friends." He placed a hand on her arm to stop her leaving any further.
"Okay but only because there's no point me going home and coming back again." She gave in for the second time that day and he ushered her into the kitchen.
Jac watched his every movement as he filled up and flicked on the kettle and began to prepare the coffee.
"So." He started as he turned round to find her leaning back against one of the counters.
"So?" She asked, prompting him to carry on.
"I haven't had much time to ask how you really are lately, what with our week of silent treatment. So how's your back?" He asked, a look of concern filling his features.
"Oh uh, it's fine I guess." The surgeon shrugged.
"Jac..." Fletch stepped forwards towards her. "Please stop lying to me. I want to help you, I really do." He reached out and placed a hand on her upper arm and squeezed. Jac sucked in a breath and diverted her gaze away from his eyes.
"Right kettles boiled, don't let it go cold." She reached up and patted the hand that was on her arm, trying to change the topic. Fletch rolled his eyes and moved back over to the kettle to make the coffees.
Fletch handed Jac one of the mugs and the pair moved through to the living room. The woman curled her legs up underneath her as she sat beside the nurse and turned slightly to face him, cradling the steaming mug. A silence filled the room for a few moments, neither really knowing what to say.
"So how's Emma coping without Jonny?" Fletch asked, breaking the ice.
"Not well, her routine is changing and she keeps asking where he is." She sighed. "I never thought I would say it but the sooner he's back the better. She's been a nightmare recently."
"I could take her off your hands one night a week if it helps? She loves my lot so she'll be no problem." He offered sincerely.
"Fletch you know what I said about the kids getting close."
"This is different Jac, I'm only doing what any decent friend would do. Our friendship isn't going to go pear-shaped is it? So I don't see what the problem is." He protested.
"I'll think about it." She replied quietly.
The friends chatted for a while longer, each sipping their coffee every now and then until Evie appeared through the door with four others traipsing behind.
"Hey Dad. Oh hi Jac." She smirked noticing the minimal space between the two adults. "We were just about to head out now and I was wondering if you wanted to come with us? And Jac as well obviously."
Fletch looked at Jac in questioning and prompted her to answer for the both of them.
"Come on Mummy! Uncle Fletch! Come with us!" Emma yelled.
"Yeah alright." She smiled slightly and then turned to Emma. "Only if you Missy, stop calling Fletch Uncle Fletch, it's just Fletch. Okay?"
"Fineeeee. Let's go! Let's go!" The girl jumped up and down and Theo began to copy her.
"Alright alright you noisy lot, everyone out the door please!" Fletch yelled over the excitable children and ushered them all out, grabbing his coat on the way past the pegs. I could get used to this family malarkey, Jac thought as she pulled on her own coat and watched Fletch mess around with their combined five children. No no stop it Naylor you'll just hurt him, her brain argued back.
The troop of children all skipped down the road with their pumpkin sweet baskets and Jac and Fletch walking side by side behind them. After about ten minutes of walking and stopping at each house, the surgeon began to shiver, feeling the cold air hit her exposed skin on her neck and cheeks.
"Are you okay?" Fletch asked, a concerned look filling his features.
"Yep just a little cold but I'll be fine in a minute."
"Okay. We can go back home anytime you want." He replied with a comforting smile. A few moments of silence later and Jac felt a warm hand slip into her cold one. Their fingers interlocked and Fletch waited for her to pull away but she didn't so they walked hand in hand the rest of the way around the streets.
The pair came to a stop outside a house which was secluded by large bushes.
"Jac...I can't deny these feelings anymore. I love you, I need you. Please." The children had already ran on ahead and gone up the path so they were left alone in the darkened street. Fletch turned the surgeon by her hands to face him and looked her directly in the eyes.
"I know and neither can I. I can't believe I'm about to say this but...I love you too. And what I was going to say earlier was my head tells me I don't need you but my heart...my heart screams I need you so much Fletch." She replied and reached up to kiss him. They were still kissing when they heard children's chatter coming back down the path from the other side of the bushes but neither pulled away.
"Oh my god! Finally!" Evie yelled as she appeared from the gateway and saw her dad and the woman she knew he had loved for months finally kissing.
"What, what, what?" Mikey asked trying to push past his gobsmacked sister to see what was happening. "Oh. Well. Go dad! You got yourself a Jacula."
The pair pulled away at this point but stayed with their eyes locked on each other's and laughed at the two teenagers.
"She's not Jacula! I am!" Emma yelled, also pushing forward and making everyone else laugh at her cuteness.
"Finally." Fletch whispered and pulled Jac into a hug.
