Chapter Nine

Ten Weeks Ago...

Charlie moved to sit on the large, comfortable sofa in order to wait for her new family to arrive. She wondered what they were like and if she would get on with them. She wasn't sure which one of the people in the photos would be her wife or "husband" and who she had swapped with, although she did have a few assumptions.

She was a little nervous about the wild woman who was about to go and live with her boyfriend and mother her daughter. And what kind of person lived in a house like this, in a relationship like the one described in the manual? She thought Joey must either be very weak or very controlling.

A meow interrupted her thoughts. Charlie leant forward to see two cats sitting by her feet. One was fluffy and white with a black stripe across his ear and a black tail. He was double the size of the small, sleek, cat seated beside him. She was entirely black except for a small tuft of white fur on her chest.

"Hello," she said to them with a smile. "And who might you be?"

The black cat inched forward and sniffed at her shoes. She rubbed against her legs and purred. Charlie stroked her and continued chatting away while the white cat, obviously a little more nervous, inches forward and nuzzled her hand.


Mel had made herself a stiff glass of wine while she waited for her 'husband' and 'child' to arrive back home. She stood up and downed her glass when she heard a key in the lock and a few second later, a handsome man and a beautiful teenage girl, along with a second camera crew, arrived in the room.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully, extending her hand. "I'm Mel."

Angelo shook her hand and kissed her cheek, politely introducing himself.

"And this is Ruby," he said.

The girl stepped forward and also kissed Mel's cheek and shook her hand.

"Very pleased to meet you," Mel said.


Joey took a deep breath and headed into the house, ready to meet her new wife for the next fortnight. She'd pictured everything under the sun but nothing could prepare her for what she saw. On her sofa, cuddling her two cats, was the most beautiful woman Joey had ever seen. Her eyes widened in surprised delight as she forced herself to put one foot in front of the other and engage her mouth to form words.

The woman smiled when she saw Joey and Sam enter the room. The cats jumped off her lap and hurried to their owner, fussing around her legs as she leant over to shake hands with the newcomer who had stood to meet her new family.

"Hi," Joey said, trying to remain calm. "I'm Joey."

Charlie couldn't stop smiling at her. She'd barely noticed the woman standing behind her. Joey was immediately captivating. She didn't think she'd ever seen someone look so stunning in real life before. She was perfect.

"I'm Charlie," she managed.

They shook hands. Sam cleared her throat and Joey snapped to attention, making introductions. Charlie shook Sam's hand and forced herself to focus and pay attention instead of getting lost in Joey's eyes.

"I see you've met the cats," Joey said, taking a seat.

Charlie retuned to the sofa. The white cat hopped back onto her lap while the black one followed Joey and sat at her feet. Sam sat down alone.

"I'm surprised," Joey said. "They're not normally so good with strangers."

"They've been really sweet," Charlie said, stroking the cat's ears. "What are their names?"

"Well, the one you have is called Indigo – Indie for short. And this little girl is Ruby."

"Ruby?" Charlie exclaimed with delight.

Joey nodded.

"My daughter's called Ruby," Charlie explained.

Joey grinned.

"Well now you have another Ruby for the next couple of weeks!" she said.

Charlie nodded and continued to stroke Indie as he purred loudly and settled down on her lap.

"How old is your daughter?" Sam asked, wanting to be part of the conversation.

"She's sixteen," Charlie said.

Both women looked surprised.

"I had her when I was very young," Charlie explained a little awkwardly.

"Cool," Joey said, not wanting her to feel unsure. "So, where are you from? What do you do?"


"So, you and your wife are both cops?" Mel asked.

"Girlfriend," Angelo corrected.

"Sorry, girlfriend," Mel said. "You're both cops."

He nodded enthusiastically.

"Charlie's a Senior Constable and I'm a Constable," he explained. "We met through work. What does your husband do?"

Mel chuckled.

"My girlfriend runs a tour guide boat," she said.

She had never been terribly interested in Joey's work. She hadn't even been on the boat or gone for the tour, which she supposed she should have. Joey was always interested in her work and even did her books for her. But then she supposed she and Joey were different kinds of people.

"Oh!" Angelo said, unable to hide his surprise. "You're gay?"

He forced himself not to say 'but you're so pretty' and clamped his mouth shut. Ruby looked on with amusement, trying to ignore the cameras.

"Bisexual," Mel clarified. "My girlfriend's gay though."

Angelo pulled a face although he hid it well. He and Charlie had argued the point so many times. He didn't believe it was possible to be bisexual. He thought people 'like that' were just greedy and at the end of the day, they always came down on one side or the other. Knowing this, Ruby tried not to laugh.

"Mum's bisexual too," she said.

Angelo glared at her.

"Oh, really?" Mel said with interest. "I was worried we'd get paired with some homophobes or something. That's what they usually do, isn't it?"


"Do you mind being married to a woman for a fortnight?" Sam asked.

Joey had left the room in order to cook dinner for the three of them. It was her usual task and Charlie had fought the urge to offer to help.

"No," Charlie said. "I'm bi anyway so it doesn't faze me at all. Although, I'm not sure what Angelo will make of Mel!"

She looked into the kitchen where Joey was cooking and singing to herself.

"Does she need help?" Charlie asked Sam.

"She's not that bad a singer!" Sam laughed.

"Oh, I meant with the food," Charlie said, embarrassed.

Sam grinned at her.

"I know," she said. "I'm just teasing. But no, she does all the cooking so you don't need to help her."

"What do I do with myself now then? If I'm being Mel?"

Sam handed her the television remote.

"You relax and have fun," she said.


Next time... Mel and Charlie get to know their new families better...