This is set on the morning of Rhys and Beth's wedding, which we've just seen today in the UK. However, I've taken it completely AU, and written the events my own way.
This is dedicated to Muzzy-Olorea: Sorry, no Hayley/Noah in this one! It just wouldn't have fitted. But I've got another idea planned, which they will definitely be in :)
The Morning DawnsBy the time Summer Bay began to wake up to Sunday morning, Beth was already up and about, thinking about the day ahead. She was getting married! She had woken up half an hour ago, briefly contemplated waking Rhys to share her excitement, and then decided to let him sleep while she went to make a start on the picnic. It was only eight o'clock, but Jade and Robbie, both early risers, would be up soon and Beth wanted to be alone for a little while before the chaos of the combined Sutherland and Hunter families really started. She made some coffee for herself and thought about all her own and Rhys' kids. Scott and Dani, as the two eldest, were able to take care of themselves, and were reasonably problem-free now that all the worry over the court case was finished with. Kit, next in line, was doing well, though Beth spent a moment worrying about how her daughter would manage by herself in the city. However, that was where the pleasant thoughts ended. Jade and Kirsty, at seventeen, ought to be above the petty arguments that sounded from the Caravan Park night and day; but even though Beth knew that they were only reacting to the drastic changes they had all gone through recently, she couldn't help thinking that they should at least try to make life easier for their father. Thankfully, it now seemed as if all their trouble with Kane Phillips was over, and she was sure that the tension would lessen greatly, at least between the Sutherland twins and their father. Her own twins were a different story entirely. They seemed to go out of their way to make life difficult for everyone else, particularly their new step-brothers and sisters. Robbie seemed to be okay with everything, for the most part, though she had noticed a change in him lately. He was showing an interest in girls, Tasha to be specific, and he was thoroughly embarrassed by any mention of it, a fact Kit loved to take advantage of. Sometimes she thought that Max was the worst affected by all this; he was so good and quiet that it was easy to overlook him, and she had seen how unfriendly Matilda and Henry were towards him. She frowned, sipping her coffee; she had hoped that this wedding-picnic would bring the two families closer together, but it seemed unlikely.
"Good morning," she said brightly to Jade, the first to put in an appearance downstairs.
"You're up early," remarked Jade, noticing that Beth was already dressed.
"I couldn't sleep," Beth relied, brushing off the remark, as she didn't want to show too much excitement. "Do you want some coffee?"
"No thanks," Jade answered, getting herself a bowl of cereal and sitting down at the table to eat it.
"How's Kirsty?" Beth asked cautiously.
"She's still asleep. She was up really late last night crying. I think today will be good for her, you know, it'll help her to have some fun and take her mind off things."
"I only hope it is fun," Beth sighed, already envisioning fights on board the Blaxland ending with one of more of them going overboard. Jade gave her a friendly grimace, imagining something along the same lines, and turned back to her breakfast.
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In another house, the day was not getting off to such a good start. Scott was jerked awake by a rush of cold air as the bed covers were pulled suddenly away from him and he felt Dani's warm body being torn from his arms. By the time he was fully awake, she was gone from the room, and he could hear her being sick in the bathroom. He rushed to her in time to find her leaning on the sink with one hand and wetting a flannel under the tap with the other. With a gentle arm around her waist, he allowed her to lean on him while he took the flannel from her hand and lovingly washed her face with it. He guided her back to their room – she had only been staying with him for a few weeks, but already it was their room rather than his room – and it was not until she was lying back in bed that either of them spoke.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, the concern obvious in his voice, and written all over his face.
"Sick," she answered, almost sarcastically, pointing out with a slightly raised eyebrow the ridiculousness of the question.
He laughed quietly, pushing her hair out of her eyes with his fingertips. "You can't be too bad – you're still making jokes. Do you think you're going to be sick again?"
She shook her head and pulled him back into bed with her, a move he was only too happy to comply with. She smiled slightly, knowing that he was only worried about her and that she shouldn't make fun of his concern. She sighed when he cuddled her as close to him as he could, closing her eyes tightly and wishing that the feeling in her stomach would go away so that she could enjoy waking up with her boyfriend. Scott kissed her forehead, frowning slightly when he saw her eyes screwed up like that. She was obviously not well. He looked at the clock, wondering what he should do. It was almost nine o'clock; the Picnic Party was leaving at eleven, which meant he needed to be down at the boat by ten so that he could get everything ready without having to step over his and Dani's siblings. Dani was in no state to be going out, and he didn't want to leave her. But if he didn't go, the whole thing would have to be called off. Unless he could persuade Alf to take them out... He turned these options over and over in his mind, all the time keeping an eye on Dani and stroking her hair in attempt to make her feel better. Eventually, he decided that he would have to call Beth and see what she said. He placed a lingering kiss on the top of Dani's head, and carefully untangled himself from her.
"I'm just going to call Mum," he said, when she opened her eyes, looking momentarily upset by the loss of contact. "I'll tell her that we can't go to the picnic today."
"The picnic!" Dani cried, sitting up in the bed and immediately putting a hand to her head when she found that sitting up made her feel dizzy. Scott was by her side on the bed in a fraction of a second, putting his arm around her to steady her, and gently laying her back down. "I'd forgotten all about it! Don't cancel – I'll be fine."
"Dan, you can't even sit up. You're not fine," he argued. If he hadn't been so anxious about her, he would have rolled his eyes at how stubborn she was. Dani had never liked letting other people take care of her. She had grown up quickly, taking care of Jade and Kirsty since she was a teenager, and she was never very pleased when anyone else tried to take that role with her. But after everything that had happened to her in the past few years, she had realised that she needed people to lean on, and it had been because of the support her father and Scott had given her that she had managed to survive each day. Scott knew that if she was going to allow anyone to look after her, it would be him, but he was also aware that he was going to have a hard time keeping her from getting up. Realising that he was right, she relented, but she decided that she was not staying in bed all day. If she slept all morning, maybe she would feel better by the afternoon.
"Okay, but tell Beth that I'll be better by the afternoon so we can go later."
"I'll tell her maybe you'll be better by then," said Scott, and left the room before she could argue back.
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Jade snatched up the phone on the second ring; she had picked it up as quickly as possible to avoid waking the rest of the house. Robbie, Henry and Maddy were already downstairs eating breakfast, and Rhys had just gone to take a shower, but Kit, Kirsty and Max were all still asleep, and Jade was particularly anxious for her twin sister to rest because she had seemed so exhausted the night before.
"Summer Bay Caravan Park," she answered, sounding as professional as she could manage at 9:30 in the morning.
"Hey Jade, can I speak to my mum please?"
"Sure," Jade replied, and sent Robbie to get Beth from the back porch where she was enjoying a quiet moment of reflection on the name Beth Sutherland. "Scott's on the phone," she informed Beth, when Robbie returned with his mother.
"Hi, Scott. Is everything alright?" Beth asked, not really expecting anything to be wrong, but wondering why her son was calling her so early when she was going to see him soon anyway.
"Actually, no," Scott told her. "Dani woke up feeling really sick, so we won't be able to make it to the picnic. She's insisting she'll be fine by this afternoon, but I don't think she will be, and I don't want to leave her."
"Oh no! You really don't think it will pass before the afternoon?" Scott could tell by the disappointment in his mother's voice that the picnic was meant to be more than just a day out. Added to the smile he had questioned her about before, he was convinced that something was going on.
In the bedroom, Dani lay curled up on her side with one hand pressed against her stomach. She could hear Scott arguing with Beth on the phone and felt bad about all the fuss she had caused. She knew how much everyone had been looking forward to the day, especially her dad and Beth. She got out of bed shakily and went to the kitchen to see what was happening.
She stood in the doorway listening to Scott talking, privately revelling in how protective of her he was. "Mum, I think even that will be too much for her," he said exasperatedly. "It might be okay if it was just on the beach, but I really don't want her going on the boat like this. She's ill enough as it is, being out on the water would make it so much worse." Dani slowly came forward to the table, putting her hands down and leaning heavily on it to take the weight off her unstable legs. She watched Scott listening with a look of disbelief on his face, whatever Beth was saying was obviously so incredulous that he had not even noticed her come into the room. "No, Mum, this isn't just because it's Dani! Okay, I'm probably only this worried because it's her, but what I'm saying is common sense – I'd say the same thing if it was one of the twins, or Jade, or Robbie – any of them!"
Beth sighed, realising that Scott could not possibly understand why she wanted them to come so desperately, because she had not told him why today was so special. "I'm sorry," she began. "I didn't mean to be so harsh. But there's something you don't know." She took a deep breath. "Rhys and I are getting married today. At the picnic. That's why it's so important that you and Dani are there. If she's really too sick, then I guess we can re-arrange it for another day. I only got so frustrated with you because it seems like we're never going to get married – if it isn't one problem, it's another. Springing the wedding on everyone in a place where no one could escape seemed like the only way it would work."
"Oh, Mum," Scott breathed, not quite sure what to say. "Sorry I got so mad at you. If you'd only told me I would have understood," he teased, prompting a laugh from her. "Tell you what, I'll talk it over with Dani and we'll call you back."
"Talk what over?" Dani asked, as soon as he had hung up the phone.
He turned around, startled, his look of shock dissolving into concern as soon as he saw her leaning on the table, her face pale. "It turns out that the picnic is actually a wedding," he announced, pulling out a chair for her and gently putting his hand on her back while she sat down.
"You're kidding!" she gasped, her pain briefly forgotten as she stared up at him in amazement. "That's it then, we have to go."
He paused at the sink, where he was getting her a glass of water, and turned back to her. "Not necessarily. Mum said they could put it off until you're better."
"No way," she shook her head, gratefully accepting the glass and taking a tiny sip the way Shelley had always told her to when she was sick as a child. "Beth must be so excited, and Dad too. I can't let them be disappointed like that."
Scott sighed and sat down opposite her. He took her hands in his and looked at her seriously. "Dani, I'm really worried about you. You're not well; you can't go on the boat feeling sick."
She nodded, seeing the sense in this. It had been an effort to get from the bedroom down to the kitchen; attempting to spend the afternoon on the boat would definitely not be the wisest idea. "True. But if Dr Scott Hunter doesn't have any objections to me sitting on a beach, I can still go," she said teasingly, giving him a flirtatious smile despite the queasy feeling that was starting to get worse again. "If I can get someone to give me a lift to the beach – it's not an island, you know, it's just easier to get there by water than by road – then everything will still work out."
"It's an idea," he agreed, still not convinced that she should be out of bed at all, but sensing that this was an argument he had no hope of winning. "Who could we get to drive you? I would, but I need to be on the Blaxland," he frowned.
She considered suggesting that she would be able to drive herself, but really, she knew that it would be a stupid thing to do, and she couldn't bear to see the look of worry on Scott's face intensify, as she knew it would if she even hinted at such a thing. "What about Dad? They're not getting married until the beach, surely, so it won't matter if he's not on the boat."
"I think they're planning to break the news while on board, so that the little monsters can't get away. Mum might not be able to deal with the fallout by herself."
"She'll have you," Dani pointed out, closing her eyes and willing the sickness to disappear. She opened her eyes again to find Scott's troubled gaze on her, and smiled reassuringly at him, hoping that she looked better than she felt. "And Jade and Kirsty aren't likely to cause any trouble – neither are Robbie or Kit."
"I'll see what Mum says, anyway." Scott got up and picked up the phone again. Dani sat and listened as he began to tell Beth her idea, and then made another dash to the bathroom when she felt herself about to throw up.
By the time she reappeared, even paler than before, everything had been decided, and Scott had brought down a pillow and blanket for her so that she could lie on the sofa until they had to leave. The picnic and wedding would go ahead as planned; Rhys and Beth had protested, saying that they would be glad to put it off for another day or two, but Scott persuaded them that this was the best thing to do, and that Dani would hate for their plans to be ruined on her behalf. At 10:30, Rhys was going to pick up his daughter and drive to the beach, and Scott would go to the Blaxland, cutting his preparation time down by half an hour so that he could stay with Dani. At eleven, the remaining members of the two families would join Scott, and if everything went to plan, everyone would be at the beach by midday.
Dani lay contentedly on the sofa with Scott kneeling on the floor next to her, his fingers brushing softly back and forth across her ashen cheeks, their gazes simply locked together, neither of them speaking but rather communicating with silent looks of loving concern on Scott's part, and appreciation mixed with apology from Dani. Noah let Rhys in when he knocked at the door, and all thoughts of his impending wedding flew from his mind as soon as he saw his daughter.
"Dan, sweetie, are you sure you're going to be okay?" he asked.
"Yeah. I feel a bit better now," she assured him as Scott helped her to sit up. She sat for a moment, getting used to the change of position, and preparing herself to stand. She finally did, gripping Scott's arm for support, and Rhys began to seriously doubt that she was able for the day out. Dani knew what he was thinking, knew that Scott was thinking it too, and shot her boyfriend an imploring glance, begging him not to question the idea that she could go, before turning the same look on her father. Both men gave in to her, much to her relief, and after giving Scott a final hug and a kiss, followed by a whispered "thanks", she accompanied Rhys to the car.
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For once, Fate was kind to the families, and the plan went off without a hitch. Rhys and Dani had only been waiting at the beach for five minutes before the others arrived, and judging by the looks on some of their faces, the surprise announcement had not gone down well. Matilda and Henry, first off the boat, were scowling, Beth looked disappointed and annoyed, Max appeared close to tears and Kirsty looked miserable, though Dani suspected that that had nothing to do with the impromptu wedding, but more to do with Kane. Jade was looking at Kirsty worriedly, and Scott looked as if he had had more than he could take of the lot of them. The only two who stood out were Kit and Robbie, who were both grinning like idiots.
"How did it they take it?" Dani asked her boyfriend, once he had assured himself that she wasn't feeling too bad and that she had been okay in the car.
"You don't want to know," Scott replied. "Tilly and Henry went mad, and said they'd throw themselves overboard if I didn't turn the boat around and cancel the whole thing. Kit said she'd give them a hand, grabbed Tilly and dragged her over to the side of the boat and pretended she was going to push her off, and Robbie was quick to do the same with Henry. That shut them up, anyway, and they spent the rest of the trip sulking."
"So that's why Kit and Robbie look so pleased with themselves," grinned Dani, imagining the look of horror on Matilda's face when her sister almost made her go through with her melodramatic threat. "What about Max? He can't be upset about it."
"When the twins realised that there was nothing they could do to stop the wedding, they started on Max. You know what those three are like – it all ended up as a big fight, and poor Max was up against two of them because Kirsty was crying down below, and Jade was busy comforting her."
"Oh dear," sighed Dani, surveying her large family. Kit and Robbie were attempting to cheer Kirsty up by re-enacting the whole drama, complete with over the top mimicking of their younger sister's voice, the twins themselves had wandered off down the beach a little so that they could give vent to their feelings away from their sister's scorn, while Beth and Rhys had been reunited near herself and Scott. Things were definitely not easy at the moment, but if her father and Beth were going to be as happy as they seemed, then she was glad that the rest of the Hunter family had come to Summer Bay. One thing was for sure; life would certainly never be boring.
THE END.
I can continue this if anyone wants me to. I've had a couple of ideas for at least another two chapters, probably more. Let me know what you think of this chapter, and if you think I could continue :)