A/N: The penultimate chapter!
Thank you so much for coming along on the ride... from the slightly mad plot bunny that refused to die, to 12 chapters and a whole fic later!
x
"I can't believe you talked me into this." Bernie muttered, frowning at her daughter as they walked along the road towards the restaurant where they were meeting Serena and Elinor.
They had decided that now everything was out in the open they needed to sit down and discuss what they were going to do, properly. The teenagers were not content with the idea of just going back to how things had been before, wanting to spend more time with each other and both of their mothers in the future. Serena and Bernie had agreed that they couldn't keep them apart any longer, neither sure how they had actually managed it up until that point.
Elinor and Charlotte had steamrollered them into agreeing to meet for dinner at a restaurant that Serena loved and so Bernie and Charlotte had booked into a hotel for the night. The blonde had been worrying that she had nothing to wear; until she pulled a red dress out of her case that she had not worn for years. Charlotte had merely shrugged innocently and said that Elinor had obviously thought she might need it, much to her mother's irritation.
"It's just dinner, Mama." The teenager rolled her eyes. "Don't be so melodramatic. It's not like we're asking you to get married or anything."
"Charlotte."
The fourteen-year-old merely smiled innocently and led the way through the tables towards where Serena and Elinor were waiting for them. Bernie's mouth went dry at the sight of her ex-wife. Serena was dressed in a black off-the-shoulder dress that stopped a little above her knees. It was clingy and hugged her figure in the best possible way. Similarly, Serena couldn't seem to force her brain to produce a coherent sentence as she gazed at Bernie. The red dress had a fitted bodice, but the skirt was made of a floaty material, which seemed to be giving the illusion of her legs going on for miles, although the stilettos she was wearing may have been helping with that, too.
"So… we'll catch you later, then." Charlotte was saying when both women managed to regain control of their senses. There was a smirk on her face and Bernie was in no doubt that she knew exactly where their attention had been.
"Later?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, Charley and I have other plans." Elinor told them with a shrug.
"Don't do anything we wouldn't do!"
Before their mothers could say anything, the teenagers had vanished through the tables. Serena shook her head, muttering under her breath, before turning back to Bernie with a slightly embarrassed smile on her face. She was relieved to see that the blonde looked just as shell-shocked as she did.
"Wow…"
"Did they just…?"
"I rather think they did." Bernie agreed. "They tricked us into a date."
Serena shook her head. "They're too clever for their own good."
Laughing softly, Bernie was forced to agree. Deciding to make the most of the situation, they opened their menus making small talk as they perused the lists of food and drink.
"You still drink Shiraz, right?" Bernie asked when the waiter appeared. Serena looked a little surprised, but nodded. "Great."
Asking for a bottle of the most expensive Shiraz on the list, the blonde rattled off the rest of her order, before glancing at Serena questioningly. The waiter nodded, making a note of their choices, before heading away towards the kitchens. Serena shook her head, remembering just how Bernie got when she was hungry. She should have guessed that Charlotte would have turned out the same way. It should have been a dead giveaway that the teenager seemed almost constantly hungry.
"Tell me about Ellie?" Bernie requested softly, drawing Serena from her thoughts. "What was she like as a child?"
"She's still a child, Bern."
"She's so grown up… They both are. I can't believe we've missed so much."
"I know." Serena agreed sadly.
"Charlotte has always wanted to work with animals." Bernie announced, deciding to lighten the conversation somewhat. "Zoo keeper, vet, pet shop owner, farmer… she doesn't care what she does as long as it involves animals in some way. I've lost track of the number of pets she's had over the years… I say had. Demanded is more accurate. We've got a dog, two cats, a rabbit, a guinea pig and five gerbils at the moment." The blonde laughed at the expression of disbelief on the other woman's face. "She had a pair of Chinchillas when she was ten… Anna and Elsa. Bloody things were a nightmare! They kept escaping and chewing things. When she was seven she asked for a Dumbo Rat… I wasn't keen at first, but Gru was pretty sweet really."
"You actually bought Charley a rat?"
"Yeah, well, I was on tour most of the time, remember." She joked. "Dad didn't mind, which was a bonus."
"How is your Dad?"
"He's well, thanks." Bernie smiled brightly. "Asked me to send you his love."
"Send mine back. I always liked your Dad." Serena smiled warmly at the memory of the older man. "When Elinor was seven, she decided that she wanted to be a hairdresser. She opened her own salon in our garden, invited all her friends around and charged them for various different things. I had to step in when she started trying to cut their hair."
"Do you realise that Charlotte cut Ellie's hair so that they'd look the same?" Bernie asked, trying not to laugh. "Apparently she pierced her ears and nose, too. I hope Ellie's up to date with her tetanus vaccinations."
"Oh good lord…" Serena hid her face with one hand. "They did all that just so that they could switch places?"
Bernie fiddled with her knife, dropping her gaze so that she couldn't meet Serena's eyes. "Maybe we should talk about what happened between us. It all feels a bit hazy to me now… It ended so fast."
"Maybe another time, Bernie." Serena sighed. "Right now we need to decide what to do about the girls. We can't go on like this."
"I know… maybe Charley could come to you first and third weekends and Ellie could come to me second and fourth? Or the other way round, if that works better for you."
"Alternate holidays?"
Bernie nodded. Then she glanced up at the brunette under her fringe. "It's not great, is it?"
"That's why we came up with this solution." Serena reminded her tiredly.
"I thought it was because we decided never to see each other again."
"I don't remember." The reply was clipped and blunt.
Bernie snorted with disbelief. "You don't remember packing your bags and walking out?"
Serena winced. "No, I remember that. Did I hurt you when I threw that book?"
"Medical textbooks aren't exactly light, Rena." She replied flippantly. "So… Edward? Any other ex-husbands lurking in the shadows?"
"No." The brunette shook her head vehemently. "You?"
"Marcus… that marriage lasted about as long as it took for me to get to Afghanistan and realise that Charley didn't need a father-figure after all." Bernie said shaking her head. "I panicked about leaving her when I found out about my first deployment with the RAMC. He proposed and I said yes. It was never right and it would never have worked out. Dad was all she needed while I was gone. Charley told me as much before, during and after I married him."
"How many tours did you do?"
"Five." Bernie told her with a sigh. "Leaving Charley was always hard, but the last few tours felt like absolute torture, so that was that. She asked and I left."
"When…?"
"I officially became a civilian last November."
"Congratulations." Serena said, raising her glass in the blonde's direction.
"Thank you." Bernie chuckled, clinking her own glass against it. "So… Edward?" When Serena huffed, she smiled. "The girls told me you're thinking about getting back together with him."
"Well… not really, I…" Serena shrugged, taking a gulp of her wine and suddenly feeling rather uncomfortable.
"Why did you leave?" Bernie asked suddenly. "The day you packed your things and went… why?"
"I… we were always rowing, Bernie. Everything turned into an argument."
"We were both career-driven." She reminded her. "It was tough."
"You didn't come after me." The brunette told her in a small voice.
"I didn't know I was supposed to."
They looked at each other for a moment, before Serena pulled herself together and topped up her glass of wine. "Well, it really doesn't matter now. Let's put on a good face for the kids and get this all sorted out."
"OK." Bernie nodded sadly, turning her attention to her dinner, just as Serena was. "Yeah, you're right."
Bernie shook Hanssen's hand, a smile on her face that didn't quite meet her eyes. He told her that, should she change her mind and decide to accept the job after all, he would be grateful if she would let him know as soon as she decided. Bernie thanked him, before walking towards the entrance of the hospital where Serena and their daughters were waiting for her.
It was pouring with rain, big, angry droplets bouncing off the tarmac with force. Bernie couldn't help feeling that the weather perfectly reflected the mood of the little huddle that she was heading for. The blonde herself felt as though she had her own, personal storm cloud hovering just above her head.
"So, I'll bring Charley over to yours on Friday." She said quietly as she joined them, resting her hands lightly on the girl in question's shoulders.
Serena nodded. "I'll drop her back on Sunday night and then drop Ellie off next Friday?"
"Perfect."
"Do we really have to do this?" Charlotte asked miserably, looking between them. "If you just take the job here–"
"Enough." Bernie muttered in her ear.
"But why not?" Elinor asked, looking at her dejectedly. "If you moved to Holby we could see each other all the time."
"We'll see each other loads, sweetheart." The blonde assured her, holding out her arms to the teenager.
Serena hugged Charlotte, kissing her forehead before the four of them returned to looking at each other once more. With a deep sigh Charlotte waved at her sister before hurriedly following Bernie down the ramp and towards their car, heads bowed against the torrential rain. She looked over her shoulder through the back windshield, watching the two figures still standing beside the door as they headed back to Cheltenham.