Chapter Text
Bernie spends her first day back at work buried up to her elbows in trauma surgery. She had missed this, she loves the twins so much, but this makes her whole life better. Spending her day in an operating theatre with Serena across the table is the best part of it. Everything is great until their back on the ward doing rounds and one of the patient's spouses has brought their baby onto the ward and the baby starts to cry.
"Bernie, what's wrong?" Serena asks going to stand next to her by the nurses station.
"Crying baby." The blonde replies, looking over at her, the feeling of having abandoned her children suddenly over whelming her. Bernie felt her chest suddenly get soaked. "Oh no."
"Did you pump during your break?"
"I haven't taken one." Bernie replied, turning towards their office.
"I'll grab you a new top." Serena said, going towards the locker room.
"Thanks, darling." Bernie replied going into their office and pulling the blinds and grabbing the pump from her bag.
Serena opened the door to their office as Bernie pulled off her top and undid her bra.
Bernie started the pump, leaning back in her chair turning to look at Serena. "I like July for a wedding, what do you think?"
"Either July or December."
"Why the extremes?"
"Flowers or snow. December would give us time to plan everything out and the twins would be old enough to be in the wedding if only a little. Then they'd be old enough for us to go on a vacation. Spend New Years in Paris or Prague or Kyiv." Serena replied.
"Would you wear the hat on this winter honeymoon?" Bernie asked.
"That and nothing else if you'd like." Serena told her, a playful twinkle in her eyes.
"I'd very much like." Bernie told her.
Suddenly a knock on the door and then suddenly the door flew open to reveal a very angry and red faced Marcus Dunn.
Bernie rushed to stop the pump and cover herself.
"What the hell is this that I hear of twin babies?" He yelled at Bernie.
"Yes, I've had twin girls." Bernie told him, pulling her scrub top over her head.
"They're mine aren't they?" He questioned, glaring at her.
"Yes, biologically they are yours, but you will never be anywhere near them." Bernie told him.
"I will, you abandoned Cameron and Charlotte. You'll abandon them too. I will take you to court and I will get my children." He told her.
"Charlotte moved out four months ago. Did you notice? She moved out the day the twins were born. She's been living with us since then, so has Cameron." Bernie asked him.
"The court will side with me and those twins will live with me."
"You will go no where near my children." Bernie yelled as he left the office.
Serena moved across the room to her. "Darling, finish here. I'm going to go grab a social worker and be right back, okay?" She asked, stopping Bernie from doing anything irrational.
"Why would we need a social worker?" Bernie asked, conceding enough to sit down and take off her scrub top.
"To talk over the legal things of if he tries to take this to court." Serena tells her, placing a kiss on top of her head.
"Alright." The blonde replies, pulling out the pump once more, watching as Serena moved towards the entrance to the ward.
"Fletch, Raf, that man who just left the office if you ever see him here again immediately call security." Serena told them.
"Who is he?" Fletch tentatively asked, knowing one wrong move might end with his death.
"A man who is trying to take away two of my children." Serena told him, going towards the door.
Raf looked to his friend and they shared an identical look of understanding.
Bernie sat in the office and finished pumping and put the pump away and placed the two full bottles on the mini fridge behind her desk. She knew that Marcus would eventually find out she had only hoped that he wouldn't try to take the twins.
Serena came back to the ward with Michelle Romano, the head of Holby City's social worker programme with her. She knocked on the door. "Bernie, I'm back."
"Decent." The blonde yelled back.
"Hello my name is Michelle." The young woman said, extending her hand out to Bernie.
"Bernie." The blonde replied, shaking her hand.
"Do you know why exactly your ex-husband wants to take your children?"
"He thinks that I'm incapable to raising them, because with our older children I was on tours of duty with the RAMC." Bernie tells her as Serena moved to sit at her desk.
"At the time of the divorce did you know about the twins existence?"
"No idea until I went into labor."
"Where are the twins right now?"
"At home with their older sisters. My biological daughter and Serena's daughter."
"How older at these two?"
"Eighteen and twenty."
"Legal guardians?"
"Myself and Serena."
"People currently in the house?"
"The two of us, the twins, my children, Serena's daughter and nephew."
"Ages of the other children?"
"Twenty four and twenty three."
"Why are they all living with you?"
"My son Cam is a junior Doctor and doesn't have the money to rent and didn't want to live with his father. My daughter Charlotte hated living with her father and after she graduated from secondary school she moved in with us in January. Right after the twins were born."
"My nephew Jason is living with us because he has Aspergers. My daughter Elinor suffered a brain injury right after New Years and has been living with us while she recovers." Serena tells her.
"If they could and money wasn't an issue could the children live on their own?"
"Yes, with the exception of Elinor for right now, but at the rate she's going she'll be back to normal in a couple of months." Serena replied.
"How do the older children feel about the twins?"
"They love them and would be devastated if they were taken." Bernie tells her.
"Has Marcus ever seen the twins?"
"Never and I don't want him to."
"Do you know how he found out about them?"
"The NHS rumor mill, is the most likely culprit." Serena said.
"I can tell you that you have a very solid case to keep the twins. He is single and living alone correct?"
"Yes."
"I'll go talk with legal and get back to you tomorrow, but since the twins have two parents now it will be incredibly hard for him to take the twins." Michelle told them, leaving the office.
"Serena, what are we going to do if he comes for the twins?" Bernie asked, looking across the desks.
"We fight, no one messes with our babies." Serena tells her, moving to kneel in front of Bernie and gently kissing her.
"I love you, Fraülein. I think December for our wedding."
"You just want to see me wear the hat."
"It's hot." Bernie tells her, a smile playing on her lips.
"Play your cards right and I'll get it out sooner. Now we need to finish our shift and then get home to the kids." Serena tells her.
"Alright." Bernie replies, kissing Serena one more time before they go back to the ward.