A/N - there are some characters I don't own but some that are mine! Please read and review! Comments welcome!
This was my first attempt at Fan Fic...
Thanks, Tele xx
Chapter One
It was another hot day as Roman pounded his trainer clad feet into the hot sand. Sweat glistened on his torso as he ran along the beach. His eyes scanned the horizon, although familiar he still loved to look at the view and besides his training had ensured that he take note of everything. He saw Miles sitting in the dunes up ahead and he took that as a sign to rest a while and catch his breath. He pulled his T-shirt from the waistband of his shorts and used that to wipe the sweat from his face.
"Hello there!" Miles called out in his normal tone of voice.
Roman flexed his legs keeping his muscles supple and warmed up.
"You come here to think about Kirsty don't you? Isn't it time you moved on?" Roman came bluntly to the point.
"You would think that I would have gotten over the situation by now don't you?" Miles asked shaking his head. "It's been years."
"You loved her." Roman used the past tense, but he knew his friend had still not resolved his feelings towards her.
"Yes I did and if Kane hadn't have come back well who knows?..." Miles' voice trailed off and for the first time he looked at Roman, his friend and was once again thankful for the special bond they had that could not be broken. His thoughts drifted back to the time when he had first come to the Bay and it had been Roman who had known what he had been through. Roman, a person who had not judged him. Roman who had helped him find acceptance. Encouraged him to find Jai and helped create his family.
"And then Kirsty faced an impossible situation." he finished his sentence.
"Choosing between you and him." Roman finished.
"So I can't blamed her for running away can I?" Miles asked softly.
"But she ran from both you and Kane in the end." Roman concluded. In the power struggle between the two men they had both lost the woman they loved.
"I have Jai and the caravan park and teaching." Miles quickly ran through the list of things that kept him going on the dark days when it seemed too much to even get out of bed in the mornings.
"Has Jai told you what university he has chosen yet?" Roman asked drawing Miles back to the present.
"No still undecided. He doesn't even know exactly what he wants to do. He has been thinking about going into Medicine. Rachel is giving him a tour round the hospital as we speak."
Roman laughed.
"I still can't believe she hasn't gone on Maternity leave yet." he said.
"Well we all know Rachel! Her second child in just a couple of years!"
"Second and third!" Roman exclaimed!
Miles looked up at him in shock.
"Twins?" he asked.
"Yes. Martha let it slip."
Miles looked at him questionably.
Roman shrugged.
He thought back to the time after Jack's death when he and Martha had become close again. He had wanted to confess his feelings for her but had known it was too soon. Luckily, the moment had passed and those feelings he had mistaken for love had evolved into a deep friendship. Something she would need in the time coming up.
He flexed his calf, feeling himself getting stiff legged as he stood there and decided to sink down on to the sand beside his friend.
"Don't you need to finish your run?" Miles asked, his eyes twinkling.
"I think I can give it a miss for one day!"
"So... "Miles said.
"So." Roman answered.
"You know what they are saying don't you?"
"Yes." Roman suddenly wished he had a beer in his hand for this conversation.
"You have to keep this to yourself mate." He made Miles swear before he went on.
"You know I will." Miles confirmed.
Roman's eyes narrowed as he looked out to sea. He caught the movement of a distant seabird in his peripheral vision and then looked about to ensure that no one else could overhear.
"The baby isn't mine." he stated.
"What?" Miles exclaimed.
"Before she went for Chemotherapy she and Jack..."he trailed off not sure how to verbalise the next part." Well they underwent fertility treatment, you know IVF and storing Martha's eggs. She had to be clear of cancer for a year before trying to get pregnant. It took 3 tries."
"So that's why you never told her?" Miles questioned. "She's having Jack's baby!"
Many people had assumed that Roman was the father and he had gone though an uncomfortable couple of months of speculation. Not to mention Irene and Leah were still not talking to him. They had assumed like everyone else and wondered why he, of all people, was not facing up to his responsibility.
"That and well by the time it seemed right to tell her I found that I did love her but in a new way."
Roman grimaced.
He had broken his promise to Martha in telling Miles but it seemed right. And, anyway, he needed to tell someone.
"I take it Nic knows?" Miles asked the only question that seemed less invasive to Roman's emotions.
"Like I could manage to keep it from her, even if I tried." Roman laughed at mention of his impossible daughter.
Nicole and Geoff were still very much an item. Nicole going as far as to be baptised when she'd found out from her mother that she never had been. It was even fun to hear her discussing the bible with Geoff, of course this was whilst she still had her copy of vogue open in front of her. He had the feeling that if she and Geoff decided to get married Nic would make the best dressed Pastor's wife ever!
"So if not Martha being the love of your life then who?" Miles asked.
"You know Miles, when I stopped running and decided to chat I thought I would be cheering you up, not you depressing me." Romans' eyes narrowed again as he looked his friend straight in the face.
"Someone has to ask the difficult questions!"
"Yeah, but I was trained to resist all types of interrogation, how do you think I've managed to keep Martha's secret from Irene for so long!"
They shared a moment of laughter before Roman looked serious.
"There was someone once, a long time ago."
The rough material of his uniform rubbed against his skin as he lay still in the hot desert sand. He had been wearing it for more than eight days while he laid low in the hot Afghanistan desert. His eyes were shaded from the burning sun, netting covering his position as he trained the scope of his rifle on the target. Just a squeeze of the trigger and it would be all over for another Human being. But that was not his mission. He was to observe only. His shoulder was stiff where the barrel of the rifle was pressed and he felt the need to stretch his legs and not only that, a more pressing need was starting to enter into his consciousness. He clamped down on this and all the other concerns from his mind and concentrated on his mission.
Five days later he was back in camp, amongst his men. The mission was completed and noted as a success. Now was the time to relax a little. He made his way to the showers fantasying only about hot water. He made his way to the showers a towel draped round his neck, his shower kit under one arm anther towel round his waist, although he was wearing a pair of board shorts underneath them. The thought of the surf near his hometown never that far away from his thoughts these days.
With his mind elsewhere he was for once not concentrating on where he was going. His boots were stuck once again on his feet but the laces remained loose. Normally not a problem but somehow today fateful. He felt the impact before he saw the person he'd bumped into. He reached out instinctively the towel falling from around his neck and his soap kit crashing to the ground.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, his hands reaching to clasp the person who'd managed to knock him off stride. He felt his ankle twisting under him, with the loosened boot, as the effort to stop them both tumbling to the hard ground. A bolt of pain shot up his leg and in an effort to stop any further damage to his ankle he shifted his balance. He felt the impact knock him backward and he pulled the person with him unwittingly. As he landed flat on his back he felt his head bounce on the hard ground, once and then a second time. He couldn't stop the swearword that escaped past his lips.
"Hey Soldier if that how you normally greet women perhaps you should brush up on your technique!"
He looked up in surprise as the hat tumbled off her head and her long dark hair fell in bouncy waves around her heart shaped face. Her eyes were a striking shade of blue and her lips, luscious and ripe looking. His heart thudded in his chest as he looked at her. It had been too long since his last downtime he decided quickly, as the poetic description of her took him by surprise.
She pushed herself up and managed to get into a sitting position beside him, he noticed then that she had a camera strapped to her and that she was wearing army issue camouflage the same as him, and yet he knew immediately from instinct that she wasn't in any of the forces.
She brushed off the camera first, he noticed the name on the camera strap then reached for his wash kit and towel.
He eased himself to a sitting position beside her and looked at her properly for the first time.
"Hello." he said for want of something better. Here he was tired and dirty and yes even very smelly sitting in the dirt trying to get his mind round what exactly had happened.
She pushed herself to her feet and extending a hand to him, he didn't want to accept it but knew his ankle would need looking at.
He stood up slowly testing how much weight he could put on his foot. He towered above her, thinking how here head would only just reach his heart. The flowery language again taking him by surprise.
"Hi I'm ..." she began to introduce herself, her voice soft, smiling at him
"Your Ella?" he murmured, indicating the name on the strap.
"If you like." she said after a brief laugh.
And that was how they met.
"You can't leave it there!" Miles exclaimed. "What happened then?"
"Nothing much, my ankle kept me back from two missions, then came the business with Elliot's brother." Roman's eyes clouded with mention of that incident. "And after that we came back to Australia and Ella, well she seemed to be part of something I didn't want to remember for a long while. Then came Iraq, some training in England and then the Tsunami, until I finally decided that leaving the army was what I needed to do and travelling around until I came here."
"But you were close?" Miles questioned.
"Closer than I have been to anyone until Martha. Charlie, well, that is another story." Roman concluded. "She was one of my men's sister. I shouldn't have dated her."
Miles looked at him.
"I guess there is another story there." He said.
"He was killed in Afghanistan. She was with us at the time, taking pictures of the village."
He stood and extended his hand to Miles.
"Come on time to go get some lunch."
Miles looked down at his wrist and saw that it was nearing 1pm. He had had no idea they had been talking for so long and as he clasped Roman's hand and allowed him to pull him to his feet he noticed the other man wore no watch.
"Don't ask." Roman said guessing what Miles had been about to say.
They walked slowly to the Diner.
Miles and Roman ate lunch slowly, the conversation was non-existent as they contemplated what had been said between them on the beach. Leah had slammed the plates on the table in front of Roman as she served them causing Miles to smile at the situation.
"Do you think they will ever forgive you?" he asked Roman when they were alone again.
Roman shrugged.
"I've been trained to deal with hostile situations." he joked.
"But perhaps your training should have covered a few extras such as Dealing with Teenagers 101 and..." Miles apt but true comment was interrupted by the arrival of someone into the Diner. His jaw dropped.
Roman turned around and saw Ollie standing in the doorway. The boy had still been a child when Kirsty had left and now standing before them was a taller more confident young man, fast approaching teenage-hood. Miles starred. No words came to him. Moment's later Kirtsy followed. She wore a short skirt and cream blouse. A smart handbag Nicole would have immediately labelled as designer, and matching shoes completed the outfit. Her hair was sleek and smooth, pulled away from her face into a tight bun. Her eyes ran around the room and locked onto Miles surprised face. They travelled over his face looking for changes and for a sign. She smiled at him. A radiant smile. It lit up her whole face as she saw him.
Miles took a deep breath. And when that didn't work he exhaled and took another one. He blinked but when he opened his eyes she was still there, in fact she was walking towards him, a halo of light from the open door behind her making her look like an angel.
"Hello Miles." She said softly.
Roman looked at his friend and rather than make a comment he waited for a sign, a gesture or a simple glance of his eyes to see if he needed to leave them alone. Kirsty was still very much in his friends heart however much Miles had tried to move on.
"Hello Kirsty." Miles returned the greeting and was grateful that his voice sounded normal.
"I know we have things we should talk about Miles" Kirsty began, "and I can't tell you why I'm here now but if I can I'd like a chance to talk to you later." Her voice was modulated and even as if she had practised the speech, yet from his long association with her he knew somehow that wasn't the case.
Ollie stood silent in the background.
Miles took a bite of his sandwich before replying. Roman recognised it as a classic delaying tactic. While Miles chewed slowly the seconds slipped in a full minute.
"Darl!" came an exclamation from the counter near the kitchen.
Irene opened her arms and Ollie moved into them to get in the first hug, grateful there was someone who offered him some warmth. He had thought his mum mad for asking him if they could do this but then on the other hand he had missed everyone, Jai his brother and Annie and Auntie Irene as he thought of her. Irene looked at Miles and Roman and Kirsty over the top of Ollie's head. She wanted to interrupt the moment with some meaningless chatter to ease the tension the same way she always did but suspected that it was not appropriate.
"Kirsty I'm, not sure we have that much to say to one another after all this time but sure I'm willing to listen to you." Miles attempted nonchalance.
"Then if its ok perhaps we could meet up later in the Noah's?" she suggested.
Roman's eyebrow shot up as he looked at Miles. The suggestion for the neutral location for the talk had surprised him.
Miles looked at the Kirsty before him; the hair, the clothes and even the voice had changed. He wondered what had happened to her in the years she had been away and knew that he needed to know. All caution flew away as he replied.
"Noah's at 7 tonight." he confirmed.
He couldn't quite meet Roman's gaze across the table because he knew there would be questions that he had no answers for.
"Thank-you, I'll see you there." Kirsty confirmed. She turned and walked over to where Irene and her son were in conversation and joined them, greeting Irene with a hug. Telling Irene she would catch up with the news later, she asked for a drink and a something for Ollie and they took it outside.
Roman finished his sandwich in silence allowing his friend to take the moment he needed to take in the events that had just happened.
Miles sat and after a moment pushed away what was his favourite sandwich, now half eaten, and reached out to take a very long drink of his coffee. After a moment he looked up and then realised that he had not drunk his coffee, because he had not ordered coffee preferring a soda today, and had instead finished off what had been Roman's drink.
The two men looked at each other and burst out laughing.