Marriage Reunited: Baby on the Way. Sharon Archer

a four-year-old according to the notes.

      A mountain of a man stood up, his muscular, tattooed arms cradling a small blonde urchin.

      ‘Come through, Mr Burns.’ She led the way into the cubicle and shut the door. ‘I’m Liz Campbell. Have a seat.’

      Liz slid onto a second chair and smiled at the child. ‘Hello, Grace. Tell me why you’ve come to see me today.’

      ‘I got somefing in my ear.’ Solemn blue eyes were wide with caution.

      ‘Have you? How did it get there?’

      ‘I put it dere.’ Golden ringlets bobbed as she tilted her head to look up at her father. ‘Didn’t I, Daddy?’

      Liz suppressed a smile. Grace was adorable.

      ‘I found her in my wife’s studio with the bead box, Doc. She must have got in while I was getting the other kids off to school.’ The man spoke quickly, obviously nervous. ‘I managed to get one of the beads out, but I couldn’t reach the red one. And Gracie said it was hurting.’

      ‘Let’s have a look, then, shall we, Grace?’

      The girl watched with saucer-like eyes as Liz picked up the otoscope and attached a speculum. ‘I’m going to shine this light and look inside your ear through this magnifying glass. See?’

      Grace squinted at the instrument doubtfully.

      ‘I need you to keep very still for me. Can you do that, Grace?’

      ‘Will it hurt?’

      ‘It shouldn’t, but I want you to tell me if it does, okay?’

      Grace checked with her father for reassurance. His smile must have given it because the big blue eyes swivelled back to Liz and the blonde head nodded.

      Using a pair of forceps, Liz extracted the red bead easily and dropped it into a waiting kidney dish.