Lora struggled as she heaved the grocery bags out from the backseat while Siena and Aiden got out from the other side of the car.

"Siena, don't forget your bag. Aiden, come help your sister." Both kids turned back to get the remaining bags and held hands as Lora locked the car. Her phone rang and she awkwardly fished it out from her handbag. "Stay on the pavement," she shouted in the children's direction before answering.

"Lora, it's Owen," Dr Shaw's smooth voice said in her ear.

A gentle warmth spread to her extremities. Over the past few days, they had grown close, and while Lora felt they were still bordering friendship, being around him gave her a sense of completion, a comfortable security which pulled her towards him like gravity.

"Good afternoon, Dr Shaw," she greeted back. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, yes everything is fine. I came down to the ICU but you weren't there."

Her lips stretched into a smile. She thought about calling him before leaving knowing there hasn't been a day when he hasn't stopped by to check on Jona. But she changed her mind at the last minute thinking he was probably busy. "I had to pick up Aiden and Siena from school. My brother and his wife had an appointment."

"Oh... So you left?" He sounded disappointed.

"Yes. I'm sorry, I'll have to miss coffee today." His familiar soft laugh reached her ears, making her heart pound strangely.

"Actually, I kind of wanted to talk to you," he went on. "Would you mind if we met in about an hour?"

Concern inevitably grew in the woman's stomach. "No, of course not. Did something happen? Jona was fine before I left. Dr Brandon said they will try and wake him tomorrow. He's stable enough-"

"Jonathan is fine, Lora," Dr Shaw interrupted impatiently. Then, he cleared his throat. "Can we meet at my house? I'll text you the address."

"Yes. Yes, of course. Bye."

Lora hung up feeling terribly uneasy. What on earth could be so urgent it can't wait till tomorrow and so important that he couldn't tell her over the phone?

She slowly approached Jess and Krista's front door where Aiden and Siena were waiting for her playing Eye Spy.

"Aiden, can you reach the doorbell?" Lora asked absent-mindedly.

The young boy smiled wide. He jumped up and hit the black doorbell button. A buzz sounded soon after and the door clicked open. The three of them pushed their way inside and climbed up the first flight of stairs. Krista was on the landing, waiting for them at the door to their humble apartment.

"Hello, Aunt Lora. Hello, munchkins," she said ruffling Aiden's hair before taking the grocery bags out of Lora's hands.

Lora put down the rest of her stuff on the floor by the door as the smell of warm food hit her nostrils. Her stomach growled, a guilty reminder that she hadn't eaten anything yet.

"Yay! James is cooking!" came Siena's happy squeal from the kitchen.

Lora smiled as she followed her to find James and Jess working side by side.

"We're making fajitas!" Jess chirped happily removing her oven mitts and slapping them down on the counter. "I made some non-spicy, just for you two!"

Siena rested a hand on her hips and clicked her tongue. "Not you, Jess. James did them. You can't cook!"

"Siena!" Lora said reproachfully, but she had to purse her lips to hide the smile threatening to spread over her face as the rest of them chuckled.

"Jess helped a lot, Siena. She's getting better. She didn't burn anything at all today!" James added lovingly.

Jess swatted his arm but Lora noticed how her eyes twinkled playfully at her boyfriend. She couldn't ignore the slight tightening in her chest. Of course, she wanted them to be happy. And they certainly looked happy. But why couldn't they do things the right way? Why couldn't they get married before living together? Why did they have to live in sin like this?

Because Jess couldn't move out of her father's house soon enough, that's why.

Jona hated it. So did she but she couldn't tell him that. She told him to be patient. She told him they will find their way back to them. To him. But the more time went by, the less she believed it. She prayed and prayed but was ashamed to admit that her hope was dwindling. They hadn't been to see him at the hospital for the past three days and that broke her heart.

But Lora wanted them to come tomorrow. She wanted them to be there when Jona woke up from the induced coma he was being kept in until his condition stabilised.

"What would you like to drink, Aunt Lora?" Krista offered as she handed a glass of warm milk to each of the kids.

"Just some water please," she said softly.

James cleared the table and wiped it clean so that Aiden and Siena could spread their copybooks on the table and start their homework. "Okay, what have we got today?" he said clapping his hands together once as though he was starting an important business meeting.

Her young kids didn't flinch. "English and Religion, but it's easy," Siena answered nonchalantly shrugging her shoulders.

Then Aiden, who was already nose deep in his book announced, "I just have Math. I started it during my break, so I only have two sums left to do."

"Alright, well, let's hop to it. Then we can play Fortnight," James said briskly.

Siena crumpled her face adorably at him and James sighed with mock impatience. "What?" he asked, his eyes widening playfully.

"What about me?" she huffed.

Krista put her hand on her sister's shoulder, stepping in to save the day. "It's okay. I need you to do my nail polish anyway. Do you mind? I bought glittery pink!"

The little girl's eyes went round with awe and excitement. "Now, that's more like it!" she announced and they all laughed.

Krista opened her laptop and started working on her assignment next to the kids. James returned to the dishes in the sink and Jess looped her arm through Lora's, dragging her into the living room.

It was a small apartment meant for rentals but the three of them had set it up nicely. The open plan was a bit too cluttered for Lora's liking, but it was clean. The door to the main bedroom, where Jess and James probably slept was left ajar and Lora could see the rumpled bedsheets. She riveted her eyes away and ignored the sickening feeling in her stomach.

"So, how are you?" Jess asked her aunt when they were out of earshot.

Lora gave her a small smile. "Holding on. Your dad is doing great. They're going to try and wake him tomorrow. You should be there."

Jess nodded slowly. "Okay."

Lora could sense the resistance behind Jess's short reply and it hurt her chest. "He's your father, Jess. He loves you. He misses you."

"He doesn't miss us. If anything, he misses having someone to yell at and pin his frustrations on."

"That is not true," she replied empathetically. "He's a bit rough but he loves you the way he knows how."

"Aunt Lora, we'll be there," Jess said factually. "But I'm not going to pretend that it won't be mostly to support you."

Lora looked down at her slight, fidgeting fingers. She was touched that the girls wanted to be there for her. She knew they always had her back just as much as she had theirs. But she wanted them to make amends with their father. It was like they were on different frequencies and she had no idea how to ever merge their paths together again.

"What you have done for us is amazing," Jess went on. "After mum died, you just swooped in, made sure we were okay. Dad had no idea how to take care of us. He still doesn't. If it wasn't for you, God knows what would have happened to us."

"He would never let any harm come to you," Lora replied and she meant every word.

"Not intentionally, no. But he doesn't know better and he won't accept that because he can't see anything past his own selfish needs. You know I'm right, you're just too loyal to admit it."

Jess's words hit her deeply. How was she ever going to thaw the ice this girl held in her heart for her own father? They had never gotten along. Even when she was little. She would always argue with Jona until she was blue in the face and Jona was purple and she would storm off to her room. And then one day, she stomped out of the front door and never came back except to collect her belongings.

"I'm loyal for a reason. I know the sacrifices your father made for us. All of us. It's true that sometimes his flaws are louder than his actions but that doesn't mean the good things count any less. You broke his heart when you moved out. You broke my heart too," Lora shrugged. "Maybe we were overbearing and too protective but it wasn't anything we couldn't have sorted if we just sat down and talked."

"Us moving out had nothing to do with you. You can't reason with that man. I mean, you can. But only you! I don't know how you do it. He gives you such a hard time about every little thing, even more so than he did with Mum, and yet you stand your ground without flinching."

This made Lora sad. She knew he gave her a hard time. She knew deep down he was the cruellest with her. But she also knew why and she didn't blame him one bit. On the contrary, she understood perfectly.

"Of course, we still love him. But living with him was tiring. Even before the accident. We can't go back to that. You may be able to handle him but we can't. Just be careful. We don't want the same thing that happened to Mum to happen to you."

Lora's eyes darkened and her heart started to race. She felt like screaming but somehow, she managed to keep her voice steady when she next spoke. "Don't ever say that again! Your father is heartbroken over what happened to your mother."

"It was his fault!" Jess snapped coldly.

Lora felt her hand slam hard against Jess's cheek before she even realised she had lifted it. It took her a while to realise what she'd done but when she saw Jess's eyes widen with shock, and then close with remorse, she was horrified.

"I should have told you," Jess said slowly, cupping her stinging cheek. She wasn't angry. If anything her voice was apologetic. "I should have told you not to marry him. But I was young. Too young to take care of Krista. I needed a mother. Mine was gone and you were the next best thing. I was scared you would leave us."

"I would never, ever leave you."

#

An hour and a half later, Lora was at the address Dr Owen Shaw texted her. She faced a beautiful, quaint house with a white facade and blue-grey doors and windows. She rang the doorbell but she barely heard it over her wildly beating heart. She was anxious about whatever it was he wanted to talk to her about. She was anxious because she was late and she was anxious because she was at his house. She told herself it was okay. She wasn't doing anything wrong.

"Mama, I'm hungry," Siena whined tugging on her sleeve.

"You just ate!" Lora replied astonished.

At that moment, the door opened and the three of them fell quiet as though they were in a classroom and the teacher had just walked in. Dr Shaw's face broke into a wide grin as his brilliant, green eyes landed on Lora, Aiden and Siena.

"Hey. Come in!"

Siena pushed past his legs and strode in as though it was her own personal castle. Aiden, on the other hand, looked up at his mother, seeking permission before setting foot into the strange house. Lora smiled at her blue-eyed boy and nodded for him to go ahead.

Dr Shaw looked at Lora again and his smile faltered slightly. If Lora didn't know any better, she would have thought he was nervous too. But she did know better and such a thought never even crossed her mind. She walked into a cosy hallway with a spiral staircase on her left and a large glass door at the other end, allowing a beautiful glow of natural light to bounce against the stone walls. The room was bare save for a round rustic rug, a few pieces of modern sculptures and a majestic Maltese clock that hung on the wall to her right. She saw Siena looking at it, completely mesmerised, as she absent-mindedly reached out to trace the intricate, gold patterns on it.

"Siena, don't touch anything!" Lora directed pulling her back. Jona had a few of those clocks in his shop and she knew exactly how rare and expensive they were.

Dr Shaw chuckled behind them and the familiar sound eased her nerves instantly. "It's okay, Siena. Do you want a closer look?"

The girl's eyes went wide as she nodded her head, a cheeky smile spreading over her lips. Lora shook her head resignedly. Her daughter was going to be a heartbreaker when she grew up. Everyone she came in touch with was absolutely smitten with her and she could see she already had Dr Shaw wrapped around her finger. He picked her up and lifted her onto his hip so that she was at eye level with the beautiful artefact. "Do you know what that is?"

"A clock," the girl answered with great certainty.

"Yes, but it's not just any clock. This is a special piece of furniture. It belonged to my great-grandfather and was passed down in the family from generation to generation. Do you see these patterns here? Feel them," he told her stepping closer so that she could reach with her little fingers. "Those are vine leaves. My great-grandfather loved wine, you see? And he had a craftsman guild vine leaves with gold. Now, do you see that part on the top? That's called the crown. It wasn't there in the original one-pound clock but then, the rich men who used to buy them wanted their clocks to be better and prettier than everybody else's. So as time went by, the one-pound clock got smaller and the designs got more elaborate."

"It's not very expensive if it's only one pound," Siena pitched in wisely causing Dr Shaw to laugh again.

"It costs a lot more than that, Siena, it's only called that. The Maltese pound wasn't used back when these were first invented."

"Really? Wow! It must be ancient then! We don't even use the pound anymore!"

"That's right. It might be called that because we used to call the pound Lira and that is also what we call the lyrebird in Maltese. People think they used to draw lyrebirds on the original clocks," he answered in all seriousness. "Now look at the face of this clock here. It doesn't have any birds drawn on it. Instead, it has a picture of a place that was very dear to my great-grandfather. Do you know where that is?"

Siena narrowed her eyes as she peered at the pretty painting carefully drawn around the clock's hands, then when she was absolutely sure she didn't know, she shook her head shyly.

"That's a painting of a valley nearby. It's called il-Maqluba. It's where my great-grandfather proposed to my great-grandmother."

Siena's eyes lit up with excitement. Lora's daughter was only four years old but she was nothing if not a hopeless romantic.

"Have you ever been?"

The child turned to her mother, who had her arm around a very intrigued Aiden. "No," Lora answered. "I've never been there myself, to be honest. I have no idea where it is!"

Dr Shaw clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "Well, that won't do. Come on, let's go!"

"What?" Lora asked at the same time as Aiden grinned and Siena clapped her hands happily.

"It's five minutes away on foot. It's a beautiful place, I promise. You're in for a treat!"

He flashed the flabbergasted Lora with his lopsided, dimpled, breath-taking smile and she knew it was pointless to argue. 

"Okay, lead the way."