22

5 YEARS ON

"Happy Birthday!" Jess says as Danny runs into the room. She picks him up and spins him round, hugging him tightly. "Look at you, my big boy! Six years old and all grown up!"

"Mum, where's Dad?" Danny says clearly, jumping up and down on the spot.

"Dad has taken Jamie and Sarah to pick up the cake," Jess says. "I'm in charge of getting you ready before the others get here."

"Is Hayley coming?" Danny asks.

"Yeah, they all are, Uncle Connor and Auntie Abby too. I think they're even bringing baby Jack," Jess says.

"What about Uncle Matt?" Danny says.

"You think Uncle Matt would miss your special day?" Jess teases. "He'll be here, and so will Auntie Emily and Georgia."

"Who else is coming?" Danny asks excitedly.

"Uncle Max, Auntie Lucy and Lauren and Stella are coming," Jess says. "So are Lester, Lizzie, Lucas, Nicholas and Jane. John and Rob are bringing their son Jason and I think Phoebe and Mike are coming along too. Grandma and Grandad will be here and Auntie Lexi said she'd come too. I think that's everyone."

"Mummy, I'm so excited," Danny says.

"Me too," Jess says, picking him up and carrying him into his room. "What do you want to wear?"

"Can I wear my army clothes?" Danny says.

"Of course you can," Jess says, but she can't hide a disapproving tut. Becker had bought him some camouflage trousers and ever since then, Danny was obsessed with the army.

"Jess!" Becker shouts and Jess grins.

"Speak of the devil," she says, walking into the hallway and picking up Sarah. "Hi, darling." She kisses Becker lightly and he winks at her. "Did you get the cake?"

"Yes," he says. "Do you want to see it?"

"Of course," Jess says. "Right, Sarah, Jamie, I want you to go and wish Danny a happy birthday, okay?"

"Yay!" Jamie says, leaning up and kissing his mum's hand before running into his older brother's room.

"6 years old," Jess says, leaning into Becker's side. "Where did the time go?"

"It's been the best six years," Becker says. "Look at our three beautiful children."

"You don't regret stopping?" Jess asks.

"Not at all," he says. "Why, do you?"

"I don't know," she says. "We're perfect just the way we are. But I worry sometimes that Danny gets left out, because the twins are so close."

"He's hardly going to be best friends with someone 6 years younger than him, is he?" Becker teases. "Besides which, him and Hayley are as close as two people can be, and Georgia is like another sister to him. He's never going to be left out, babe, I promise you."

"I know, I know," she says. "I just miss them being little, that's all. We could keep them wrapped up and safe with us."

"They're still safe," Becker says, stroking her cheek gently. "Look at who they've got for parents. You can hack into anything and me…I'm a bit of a badass."

"That you are," Jess laughs. "I'm just…I live in fear that an anomaly will open in their school and…"

"I know," Becker says. "Me too. Actually that's not true. I live in fear of the day we have to explain to them what we actually do."

"You're terrible," Jess says, shoving him. "Come on, what time are the others arriving?"

"Connor said they were gonna come at about half 10 to help us set up," Becker says, checking his phone. "And that's in ten minutes. What needs to be done before they get here?"

"I need to change," Jess says. "You need to change and the twins need to be changed."

"Alright, I'll change them," Becker says. "But I'm warning you now, Sarah will not let me dress her in anything apart from her Elsa dress."

"I'll dress Sarah then," Jess laughs. "Hurry up, babe."

"So you won that fight then?" Becker teases Jess as Sarah chases Danny across the room, dressed in her Elsa dress and her hair in a long plait.

"Yeah, no I did not," Jess laughs, as the doorbell rings. "I'll go and let Connor and Abby in." She walks to her front door and pulls it open, picking up Hayley before she can run through her legs. "Hello you!" she says, hugging the little girl.

"Hi, Auntie Jess," Hayley says, beaming. "Where's Danny?"

"In the living room," Jess says. "He's wearing his favourite outfit."

"The army one?" Hayley says confidently, nodding to her parents, who are grinning.

"Yep," Jess says, putting her down. "Go and say hi, babe." She watches her run away and then turns back to her best friends. She hugs Abby, kisses Jack who is sleeping in her arms, and then takes Connor's face in her hands, examining a cut over his right eyebrow. "That's healing nicely, isn't it?" she says.

"Yeah, it is," Connor says, kissing her cheek and handing over two bags full of presents.

"You shouldn't have bought him all this," Jess says sternly. "He's spoiled enough as it is."

"He's loved," Connor says. "Besides, you and Becker are the ones doing the spoiling really."

"True," Jess says, rolling her eyes with a grin.

"What time are the others getting here?" Abby asks, coming back into the hall after depositing Jack in Becker's arms.

"Matt and Emily and Georgia should be here any minute now," Jess says, checking her phone. "And then everybody else will probably be here about 2ish?"

"Sounds good," Connor says. "What do you want us to do?"

"Balloons?" Jess suggests. "It's Danny's new favourite thing, he wants as many as possible."

"Of course he does," Abby laughs. "Alright, come on Connor, let's go blow up some balloons."

"Great party, Jess," Matt says, hugging his wife from behind. "I've not seen the kids so happy since the last birthday."

"Yeah, I think everybody else enjoyed that more than Jack did," Abby laughs.

"He's the last one," Jess says. "Our last little baby. Unless you two are going to have another one, Matt?"

"I don't think so," Emily laughs. "One's enough for us. Besides, we've got an even six now – just because you two decided to have three doesn't mean the rest of us should suffer."

"Alright, alright," Becker chuckles. "They're going to be an absolute nightmare when they get older, you know?"

"Yep," Connor says. "Danny and Hayley are already a menace when they team up; God help us when they hit their teens."

"The twins are too clever for their own good too," Matt says. "I pray for any boss of theirs."

"It'll be us," Abby says.

"What?" Jess says.

"You know they're going to end up working for the ARC, and there's no point in pretending otherwise," Abby says. "Danny's already obsessed with dinosaurs and you know he wants to follow in his dad's footsteps. The others take their lead from him. And besides, there'll be no-one better qualified for the job than them – look at who they've got for parents."

"I guess it would be naïve to think we could keep them out of it," Jess sighs. "I just hoped they would find something else to do."

"Maybe they will," Matt says. "But we're going to have to get used to the idea of them joining the ARC."

"Well I for one would be proud to hand it on to our children," Becker says.

"Yeah, it's gonna have to be pretty soon, old man," Connor teases.

"I'll be going long after you retire, you weakling," Becker laughs, nudging him in the side.

"Alright, alright," Jess says, "Come on, guys, I think it's time to cut the cake."

"Hooray," Emily laughs, running into the living room and picking up her daughter. Abby and Connor do the same with their kids, but Becker and Jess stand back slightly.

"Life is pretty good right now, huh?" Becker says, pulling her close.

"The best," Jess smiles.

And that's the end! I know the pacing was poor and sometimes it didn't make much sense but I hope you enjoyed. Drop me a review if you did and thanks for reading :)