AUTHOR'S NOTE : My sincerest apologies for the delay. Hope you enjoy it! :)

Chapter Seven

"Everyone, our plan for Operation Pink Spider is as follows ..." I began, feeling the eyes of all the men upon me, waiting with baited breath. I should also mention at this point that we are still waiting on Harry emerging from his bath. "We spike Charlie's tea tonight with the alcoholic cocktail that Herb is going to mix up for us later. I have bravely volunteered to strip him down and get him into the corset. We'll throw his coat on and button it right up, and put on his shoes as well. That way we can make it appear as though he's actually dressed. So, who wants to carry him to the staircase?"

I wasn't surprised when not one of them raised a hand, lazy gits. In the end however, after I threw them a couple of stares and raised my eyebrow at them, James slowly put his hand up. I watched as he nudged Reggie in the ribs so that he would volunteer too. He did, and remarked, "At least I don't have to dress him!"

"Exactly," I pointed out with a slight smirk. Well, to be honest Charlie is a very handsome man, and he looks to be in shape ... I had better stop these thoughts actually. Mentally shaking it off, I continued, "And I need men for the heavy lifting. I can't do it all by myself, so I need all of you to pitch in and lend a hand."

"We will," Herb assured me with a mischievious grin on his face. He turned to Freddie before looking back to me and saying, "Fred and I will climb up the ladders and tie him up at the dome. Good luck getting him up those ladders though!"

"Can't we fashion a rope and pulley system? Or have several of us on the ladder and we can pass Lights up?" Robbie suggested as he looked around, gauging a reaction.

"Mister Andrews won't take too kindly to us 'modifying' the ship in any way. He's still furious with the Master-At-Arms for breaking those deckchairs on the boat deck yesterday," James chuckled heartily, catching my eye and causing me to laugh with him.

I had to ask, of course, "How did that happen?!"

"He was attending to a matter up there. A dispute between two gentlemen, apparently. He was running and tripped, falling into a few of the deckchairs. They all broke upon impact, not like little pieces, but enough that passengers would experience discomfort if they sat on them."

"On the great, unsinkable Titanic, a fat Scotsman manages to turn deckchairs into what could only be used as kindling ... Heather, keep your father away from the engines! The ship doesn't seem to fare well with fat Scots!" Freddie joked, causing a great deal of sniggering amongst the men.

"My dad isn't fat!" I chortled in his defense, not that they took much notice. It's true, he has a slightly stocky build, compared to all the other men who have slender build. Or beanpole, in some cases. Before I realised I was saying it aloud instead of in my thoughts, I blurted out, "If anyone's fat, it's me!"

"Pfft! Don't talk shite Heather," Robbie assured me, as all the men nodded in agreement.

God, I wish I didn't say that out loud. Now I have to listen to them tell me that I'm not fat because they have to say it. It's a general rule, the same way my father has his rules about how I'm always beautiful. There was no denying that I was gaining weight, and I'll be honest, it is starting to get to me a little. After last night ... I try to be all bubbly and not let something like that get to me, but to faint publicly like that, amongst the high society, utterly humiliating. It was something I was keen to point out to the men too, "But it's true! I wouldn't have fainted last night if I just could have accepted that I had put on weight and got a bigger corset!"

Reggie winced at the thought, "We heard about that. You're alright now though, aren't you?"

"I'm mortified, and my ribs still ache a little. Apart from that, I'm fine," I answered quietly, as James walked over to me and kneeled in front of me where I was sitting on the bed.

He took a deep breath before his gentle brown eyes met mine, and he said, "Heather, I speak for everyone when I say that you are beautiful. Weight and looks don't make a person beautiful, it's who they are on the inside. Their spirit and personality make them who they are, not their looks. Although, you are lucky enough to have beauty on the outside too."

"James, I -"

A polite knock at the door interrupted me before I could say anything else. Either Harry's just barged his way into my stateroom to make his long overdue appearance, or we actually have woken Lily up. My thoughts were answered as the door slowly opened a few inches, and Lily poked her weary head through the door. I told the men that I'd be back as I left to join her in the sitting room. I immediately apologised, "Lily, I am so sorry! I warned them to be quiet before they came in! I guess this means that they'll be ransacking my things now too ..."

To my surprise, she broke into a wide smile, "Heather, it's okay. I woke up early myself anyway. I could hear voices coming from your room, and I just wanted to make sure no-one had broken in."

"You don't mind that a few of the lads are over before seven in the morning?"

She shook her head and flashed me a warm smile, "Not at all. I was too hard on you yesterday. Besides, I'm sure you have learned your lesson?"

"Even better - we're getting revenge on Charlie," I informed her delightedly, unable to stop the smirk that was spreading across my face. "He does deserve it you know."

"Oh, I totally agree! Can I help?"

To say I was taken aback by Lily's offer was an understatement. Especially after yesterday, I could have never imagined her offering to help. But here she was, at ... ten minutes to seven in the morning, eager and - Why the hell is Harry fifty minutes late?! Never mind ... He can get the job of carrying Charlie's legs then, save the lads from dragging him across the floor ... Okay, focus, I told myself, turning back to Lily and urging, "Well, get dressed and come join the meeting!"

"Definitely!" She chirped before running back into her room to pull on a dress and fix her appearnance.

After all that, Harry turned up at five minutes past seven to a huge sarcastic cheer from all of us, including Lily. James had been kind enough to tell her about his colleague's poor timekeeping. Apparently my father had beaten him to the bath, so rather than come down for the meeting and then go back up for a bath, whatever compulsion he has told him to bathe first. After the heckling and taunting died down, we worked out the timings and finer details for the plan. By the way, Lily refused to take part in removing Charlie's clothes, although she did offer to help me lace up the corset.

The two of us finally went to enjoy breakfast that morning after the men left at nearly eight o'clock, some of them with shifts starting shortly. I blushed as I could feel the eyes of the passengers on me as we walked as briskly as we could towards the cafe. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait long as our breakfast was served to us promptly, which was just as well because we were both absolutely starving!

"I hate to ask this, but what would your father say if he caught you?" Lily asked thoughtfully after taking a sip of her tea. "Would he be mad you were at it again, or would he find it funny?"

I chuckled and told her, "Knowing dad, and the fact that we're aiming to get Charlie, he would heartily endorse this plan. But I can't tell him, because then he'd try and take over. I swear, he and Charlie are really bad for trying to out-prank it's other!"

"That does sound like them!"

"It really is," I nodded hurriedly, devouring the last of my breakfast as quickly as I could. Well, I was starving after all, I never did eat much of dinner last night. "But I shall be the one to rule them all!"

"Lights is on to us," James warned as Lily and I arrived at the bridge with Matthew in tow in search of my father. Well, to see him and check on the preparations for Operation Pink Spider. Somehow I doubt they are going smoothly, especially when James added, "He's seen a few of the lads conspiring."

"Can't you just lie or something?" Lily suggested, which truthfully wasn't a bad idea in itself. "Could we not tell him that we are planning something for his birthday?"

"His birthday was a few weeks ago," I pointed out to a disappointed groan from her. "And I'm guessing it has already been celebrated the only way Charlie knows how."

James winced and nodded at us, "It's not a memory I'm keen to hold on to ..."

I could imagine his pain all too well. Why, two years ago Charlie and my father got ridiculously drunk, resulting in them waking up the next morning in some barn several miles away. What really struck me was how my mother and Sylvia didn't seem to be phased when their husbands didn't appear until the next evening. Or indeed, when they were told of all the details that the two men could remember from that night. But why Charlie had a hoof print on his back, I'll never know ...

Lily chuckled at James' statement, "That bad, eh?"

He nodded hurriedly in reply to her, "A lot of nude streaking, and a poker game which quickly transformed into a farce."

"Who was doing the streaking?" I asked out of morbid curiosity.

"Lights, because your father dared him to do it. I won't reveal the forfeit if he didn't do it, needless to say it was bad enough for him to actually run around completely naked."

Both Lily and I giggled as we saw the man himself appear from inside the Officer's Quarters. He gave us all an inqusitive look before opening his arms for a hug. As I walked into them he asked, "What are you up to Heather?"

"Looking for dad," I replied honestly and swiftly. "James said he was resting though, so ..."

"I just passed by him on the way to the Mess Hall," Charlie informed me before whispering into my ear, not before giving James a suspicious glance first. "What are you really up to?"

"Nothing," I whispered back in protest. I wasn't about to get caught out now.

"Ah," Charlie said, giving me a wink for some reason. "Gotcha."

Gotcha? Got what exactly? I decided I would be better off not asking, instead I smiled sweetly at him and asked, "Do you think he has time to take us on a tour of the ship?"

"I would think so, why don't the three of you come with me?" He asked, waving Lily and Matthew over to us. "If not, I'm free just now to take you."

"Thanks Mister!" Matthew chirped, jumping at his feet excitedly. Boy, that child can move fast! "Can I bring Pierre please?"

Charles raised an eyebrow at Lily and myself, "Pierre?"

I leaned in and whispered, "His imaginary friend."

"Oh ... Of course you can. I always have to bring my son's imaginary friends onboard too."

"Yay!" Matthew cheered before informing Charlie, "You have to speak up. An elephant ripped off one of his ears so he's half-deaf. But don't ask him about it, he doesn't like that."

"Okay I won't," Charlie smiled before shooting me a bewildered look. "We'll start off in the Mess Hall first!"

The three of us - and Pierre - followed him down to the hall, where my father was arm wrestling with Rowe. Yeah, he's a fine example to us all, could not be more proud, and about ten other sarcastic thoughts leapt to the tip of my tongue. Thankfully, I kept them inside. We just waited patiently as Rowe blatantly cheated his way to victory, despite protests from Charlie.

"Let him cheat, he only did that because he knows that there would be no other way to defeat me," Father said confidently, getting up to give me a hug. "How are you feeling today darling?"

"My ribs are still a bit sore," I answered quietly, feeling a delicate blush creep across my cheeks. "Um, we were actually wondering if you could give us a tour of the ship?"

"I'd love to," He smiled, recieving a cuddle from Matthew who ran for his legs and wrapped his arms around tightly. "It's nice to see that you're so enthusiastic Matthew!"

"Thank you Mister Murdoch! The other Mister is coming too!"

"The other Mister ... Oh, you mean Li - Err, Mister Lightoller! Well, this should be fun!" Father said, rubbing his hands together in excitment. "I guess we'll start here then?"

"That was the plan," Charlie smirked, helping himself to a couple of biscuits. He didn't even think to offer us one! Well, any apprehension I had about tonight is long gone. I certainly won't feel bad about it.

"I can see this turning into an argument of some sort," Lily whispered into my ear.

Sadly, she was correct. The two of them quarrelled over trivial details over where steel for certain fixtures came from, and who was the best chef. All we wanted was a tour. In fact, I was sure I saw Matthew 'cover' Pierre's one good imaginary ear with his hand. In any case, it made plans for tonight all that more exciting. We were going to get Charlie, and we were going to get him good.