WARNING: this assumes you have seen all of S1 as it contains a major spoiler.
A/N: this was written for cookie-moi and anyone else who wants to read it.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything here, but I have watched Shaun the Sheep.

Shocking Shaun

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With a satisfied sigh, Ellie put the finishing touches to clearing up after dinner. It felt so good to be home again, in her own house, without having to worry about getting Fred to the child-minder in the morning, or worrying whether Tom would ever talk to her. Dinner had been pizza, your average, everyday pizza bought from the supermarket; so it was nothing special. Tom had helped her before disappearing off to his bedroom, no doubt to talk to his friends on some internet social website or other whilst playing the latest 'in' videogame, and Fred was currently in her lounge with Hardy.

It still felt wrong to call him Alec, but somehow he had become a vital part of their family unit. Nothing untoward had happened; no indiscretion. Things had moved on between them like good friends do.

Unfortunately Tom was still wary of the man who had taken his father's confession, but Fred had no such qualms. In fact young Fred had taken to 'Uncle Alec' so much that he had insisted Uncle Alec wasn't going to help Mummy but had to stay right where he was, on the lounge sofa, rewatching Shaun the Sheep on the telly.

When Ellie peeped into the living room seconds later with a cup of tea for them all, Fred was snuggled up next to Hardy, forcing him to wrap a possessive arm around him.

"Fred, you shouldn't keeping making Uncle Alec watch Shaun," Ellie had chided him as she placed the cups of tea down onto the coffee table.

"No!" Fred yelled out as Ellie went to switch Shaun off. "Me an' Uncle Alec want Shaun."

"It's okay, Miller," Hardy reasoned; quite pleasantly in the circumstances. "It'll be over any moment now. The farmer will soon appear. Won't he, Fred?"

Fred fervently nodded as he gazed up at Hardy with adoring eyes. "Then Timmy laughs," Fred added.

Knowing she'd been defeated, Ellie tried a different tactic. "Come and sit with me over here," she enticed Fred. "We can see the end of this and then it's off to bed with you."

But to her amazement Fred shook his head again and cuddled even further into Hardy's side. "Uncle Alec come wiv me."

"No, I don't think so," Ellie denied, but Fred started to gear himself up for another defiant tantrum.

"Want Uncle Alec!" Fred demanded, and he leapt up to throw his tiny arms around Hardy's neck.

"Get off him!" She angrily moved forward to forcibly remove Fred from clinging onto Hardy, but Hardy held up his hand to halt her progress.

"It's okay, Miller. He's tired and it's just this once," he appeased her. "You don't mind me putting you to bed, do you, Fred?" he softly asked the boy.

There was another shake of little Fred's head, and he then rested against Hardy's shoulder, adding in a wide yawn of surrender. "Read me a story, Daddy Alec," Fred quietly requested as his eyes fluttered shut.

It was all Ellie could do to hold in her shriek of "What?!" but the stunned expression on Hardy's face was the best antidote to her horror. "He's just copying what that woman outside the playschool said today," she justified the slipup. "It means nothing."

Hardy pulled himself up, nimbly taking Fred with him as he stood, and practically growled at her as he walked passed on his route to Fred's bedroom. 'Pissed off' described his expression perfectly.

Oh it meant something alright, Ellie knew that, but nothing would be said about it in front of Fred. This was all she needed right now to complicate things further between them. In an effort to calm her sudden and unexpected nerves, she gulped down her hot tea. Should she get herself a stiff drink instead? Yeah, she really wasn't looking forward to the awkwardness when Hardy came back down from putting Fred to bed.

"Bloody Shaun the Sheep!" she exclaimed to no one in particular. "Shit!"