Count On Me

Part Fifty Five

A/N Not sure that this chapter is as fluent as it could or should be, I may go back and heavily edit it, but I'm away in a few days, and I need to finish this story before I go. So sorry if it seems rushed. xx

Chapter Fifty Five

Did life get any better? Oscar mused that as he lay in bed, Lizzie fast asleep wrapped around him, her Wonder Woman pyjamas on the floor somewhere. He kissed the top of her head, musing at the woman in his arms. Who the hell was she, and what the hell had she done to the shy, insecure Lizzie Breen? He grinned as he closed his eyes; this was everything he'd wanted. As confident and secure as she should be.

It didn't take long for the apartment to be raided of all that he wanted, then he paid a company to come in and empty out everything else. It was rented, so the tie ended there and then. Coop and Freya were flying to the UK in less than ten days, so they spent the evenings looking at suitable places to rent initially. Lizzie knew the area well, and was able to advise them, but Freya also confessed that she'd like to be fairly close to her and Oscar, as she knew no one else, and whilst Coop would be involved in helping to progress the team, she'd be quite isolated with the kids.

They were sad to leave the family, when they had to, but three days after the confrontation with Krystal, they were back in Manchester. Back to a life which had changed dramatically for them all.

Nate settled back into life as he always did, he was so adaptable, which was miraculous considering all that had happened to him, but when Oscar started to talk about a holiday, a proper planned one, not a trip for necessity, but one to relax, and enjoy time away from home. He felt it was what they needed, especially as they were struggling to fit into a new routine.

Oscar was on his garden leave, and whilst he spent a lot of time networking, building up his contacts, he was largely quiet...and bored. That was fuelling his desire to do more. Lizzie had applied for the Masters program, and had started on the pre course reading. So she had a few days at the university library researching. But it was a false situation for them both, without structure and reason, they had both been used to working more hours than they were paid to do, and their lives had been dominated by their work.

But Lizzie protested. She was really concerned that since Janis had died, she'd taken Nate out of school quite a bit. Oscar tried to constantly reassure her that it was the right thing to do, that meeting his new family was more important to a little boy who'd had his world turned upside down. But Lizzie kept coming back to the fact that a stable routine was the best basis for a child.

They'd been home a week when Oscar broached the topic of a holiday again. Two weeks in the sun with Nate, and of course Lizzie, relaxed, her preferably mostly in a bikini, sounded like heaven to him, but she was as usual, resistant.

As they sat across the table from each other one evening, the same argument sat between them. Oscar leaned across the table and took her hands in his.

"So you REALLY think that routine, school, regiment makes for a well rounded kid?" When she didn't answer he groaned, "like you. Cos that's all you know?"

She blushed and dropped her eyes, "I don't know what you mean."

He sighed, "stop beating yourself up. You are a great parent to Nate. Better than I imagine Janis was. But you only know what you describe. Nate is having everything you didn't, love, devotion, he's spoilt on times, of course, but all kids should be. This is what life should be about. It should've been about for you."