Nikki put the receiver down on the phone. She was at a loss as to what to do for the best. Dan was in the living room rolling around on the rug playing Cars with Ewan and Stuart.

"Bravo!" Nikki clapped. Ewan ran up to her. "Mum, dad is so good at this game and he knows what cars do what and how fast they go."

Nikki gave a wide eyed looked to Ewan and Stuart. "Yes, he is. Now can you go upstairs and get ready for bed please and daddy will be up to read you a story." Both boys kissed their parents and ran upstairs to their room to continue playing and delay getting ready for bed.

Dan turned to Nikki. "Is that the frog? Is she as bad as you thought?" Dan asked concerned.

"He says she hasn't slept or eaten in days. She is very low and not herself. It's more than baby blues. Look if it's ok with you, I am going to go over and stay the night. A good night's sleep might just work and she will relax if Lyn and I double team her."

Dan smirked. "Oh, for the days where that was a possibility." Dan pulled Nikki on to the carpet for a kiss.

"I reckon we have exactly five minutes before they will come down stairs because of a fight. Can you be quick?"

Dan laughed, "You already know the answer to that question." Dan grabbed Nikki to him, forever grateful for his sexy feisty wife.

Five minutes later and a promise to Dan for more of the same later in the week, Nikki took a deep breath in to compose herself and gathered her thoughts to call Lyn.

"Is it as bad as we thought?" Lyn sighed. She had seen Fiona the previous day and she was worried.

"Worse, she has gone from complete lethargy to manic cleaning." Nikki acknowledged. Lyn was now a Health Visitor and probably the most capable of helping  Fiona. Nikki was now a fully trained grief counsellor. She would make sure that Fiona was able to work through her issues.

"Dearie me. Could she come round here before we get her some help? I mean I feel guilty about saying this but my house is a total tip." Lyn's house looked like an explosion in a Barbie shop.

"I thought the same, Lyn. According to Oliver, she isn't sleeping and she is biting his head off at every turn. She told the Health Visitor to fuck off out of her house today."

"We all thought it Nik!" Lyn laughed lightly. "I can't tell you how many times I have been told that."

"We all did but none of us snapped and said it." Nikki signed. "I am worried, she lost a son previously. She has had a boy. The baby isn't that well. I think it is related."

"Sure, I will make a few calls, I know that the baby isn't keeping his feeds down," Lyn added, "What does Oliver want us to do?"

"He wants us to come over and see how bad she is. And..." Nikki wasn't sure how to put the next part of the conversation.

"And?" Lyn was worried about the mental one of her best friends. She had seen how bad Fiona was when she left London five years ago.

"And not to mention how bad Jilly is." Nikki sighed.

"Why? Is she over worried?" Lyn didn't know how they could keep the information from Fiona.

"He thinks it will tip her over the edge," Nikki admitted.

"Ok when Rich gets in I will drive over and pick you up. Then we can go and see for ourselves. What is Heather saying?"

"That she needs treatment. Oliver just wants some conformation." Nikki admitted

"On my way!" Lyn stated. "I think a good nights sleep might stave off any problems."

As soon as Richard got in from work he met a concerned Lyn at the door with a bag packed.

"Bloody hell love, have I been that bad?" Richard asked.

"I am going over to stay at Fiona's. Oliver called. He is really worried and she needs some support." Lyn hugged Richard. "I am so worried. I really think she might need to be admitted again."

"Again? Like after the accident? Bloody hell Lyn that is serious! I take it I am looking after our darlings tonight?" Richard embraced Lyn. He could not love her more at this point. She was a magnificent woman.

"I have Aladdin on the DVD. You know your part. On the rug, three rounds of A whole new world. Books and bed." Lyn pecked him on the cheek.

"What's in it for me?" Richard asked saucily.

"Well...Oliver said we could have the cottage in Brittany and he would take our girls. Remember the last time we were there? Alone....." Lyn lifted her gaze and the look that passed between them was pure lust.

"Lyn! I cannot go in there to my daughters with this stonking hard on thinking about you tying me to that four poster with handcuffs that I had no idea you had." Richard laughed. "Now shift yourself to Le Frog's place and sort Fi out. When you get back tomorrow we can relive a bit of Brittany."

--------------------------------------------

Oliver let them into the house. He looked pale and drawn. The house was gleaming. Every surface was spotless.

"Ladies I am so worried. I have a conference next weekend that I am speaking at. I think I should cancel." Oliver confessed. He had never seen Fiona this bad.

"Look worst comes to the worst she can come and stay with me." Lyn hugged Oliver. She would have to give Fiona ear plugs as she was sure thoughts of Brittany would rekindle Richard for a least a fortnight.

"How is Henry?" Nikki asked as she trundled both her and Lyn's cases into the house.

"Still throwing up his feeds. I think he has mild pyloric stenosis." Oliver replied looking more anxious.

"Sounds about right. Is he gaining weight?" Lyn enquired. She wanted to get a look at how the baby was.

"He is fine. It's Fiona I am worried about." Oliver confessed.

"Does she know we are coming?" Nikki asked.

"She thinks it's a normal pop in." Oliver hugged them both. "She is in the kitchen cleaning with Henry strapped to her. Try to get the baby off of her."

"Why?" Lyn asked quietly.

"She won't put him down. She is frantic with worry that he will vomit so she has him upright and on two hourly feeds." Oliver looked as though he was going to drop from worry and lack of sleep.

"How long?"Nikki asked. She needed to know what she was dealing with.

"Ehm, since he was born. The poor little thing he really is a noisy bugger. If we had him first I don't think there would be a second."

"Poor Fi. Mattie was the perfect baby. You are both in shock no doubt." Lyn stated. It was true. Mattie was like a doll and so well behaved from popping out of the womb.

"I have not slept in six weeks. Mind you neither has she. At least I get on calls which allow me to get some shut eye." Oliver admitted. He went to work to get a rest.

"Right!" Nikki stated. "Let's see the damage."

Nikki and Lyn moved into the kitchen. They were met with Fiona making a cake in a spotless kitchen with Henry strapped to her back. Henry was grizzling in the manner that an unsettled baby does.

"Fuck me! Are you Nigella Lawson?" Nikki laughed.

"Not unless Nigella has stopped bathing. When did you last wash for the love of God." Lyn gasped.

"What day is it today?" Fiona looked up from her Kenwood Chef. Hair scraped into a bun. No makeup and signs of breast milk leakage on the front of her dressing gown.

"Friday." Nikki and Lyn exchanged concerned glances.

"Not since Monday, I think. Yes, Monday because Oliver went to work." Fiona needed to make a cake for Mattie's nursery. She didn't want Mattie to be the only child that didn't have a cake made by her mum.

"Ok. This is what is happening. You lady are stopping what you are doing. Do you have some expressed milk?" Lyn said quietly walking towards Fiona.

Fiona nodded towards the freezer. Nikki opened the freezer to find it packed with breast milk and little else.

"Ah. Well unless I am mistaken we have enough to feed the army in here. I will unfreeze some and you can hand over the baby." Nikki made motions for Fiona to hand over Henry.

"Nikki will feed him. You can go for a bath and a snooze. You can then come down here for tea that I will cook." Lyn stated. "Then I am staying overnight so that you and Oliver can get good nights sleep with this monster. Don't argue." Lyn was very firm her Yorkshire accent coming out.

Fiona did not have the energy to fight either of them. She walked towards Nikki and let her take Henry. Who whimpered as he left her.

Nikki gave Fiona a stern look as Lyn led her upstairs for a bath to make sure that she knew resistance was futile.

"You young man need to behave. You are killing your lovely mummy, you little bad tempered git." Nikki sang into the baby's ear.

Fiona took the help begrudgingly. She was bone tired. At the end of her thread and feeling utterly, utterly useless. She slipped into the bath and cried. Cried because she was tired. Cried because she could not do the most basic task which was feed her own baby and cried for the son she lost. As much as Henry cried, Fiona matched his cries on the inside.

Lyn could not settle Henry. She admitted defeat and placed Henry in the back of her car and drove for an hour before the baby cried himself to sleep.

Nikki cooked like the devil in the kitchen. She made and froze two chicken casseroles, two lasagnes and a steak pie. She would make sure that Fiona rested. She would bring the boys over tomorrow and they could play with Mattie as she and Lyn took care of Fiona. She needed it.

Oliver read to Matilda at bed for the first time in six weeks. He missed reading to his daughter.

"Daddy." Mattie looked up, from her blonde curls.

"Yes, Mattie." Oliver brought her in for a cuddle. She was the love of his life.

"Henners has a very bad tummy you know." Mattie said matter of factly.

"Does her now my Cher. How do you know this?" Oliver was bemused.

"That's what he is crying about. He wants to go back inside mummy and be fed by her. He doesn't like being out Daddy. The pain is scaring him."

Oliver stared at Matilda. "How do you know?"

"He tells me. Not with words Daddy. It's kind of in my head."

"You are a funny child Matilda."

"Am I Daddy?" Mattie cuddled up next to Oliver.

"You are. Now snuggle up and I will cuddle you to sleep with Teddy."

Oliver walked from Matilda's room into his. He saw Fiona sprawled on the bed fast asleep. Lyn had pinned 'do not wake this bear' to her nightdress.

Oliver climbed into bed and fell into the deepest sleep he had got in a very long time. He prayed that Fiona did the same and came back to him.