Chapter 11
Three months later:
The room was silent; to say the news was unexpected was something of an understatement.
"Why?" Nick asked shocked.
"It's just something that I have to do." Catherine replied.
"Have to do?" Greg asked not believing his ears.
"No, something I want to do. Life is short; we know that better than anyone working here. I don't want to waste any more time, my family are too important." Catherine had thought long and hard about her decision, and knew that she was making the right one.
"But it seems really extreme." Nick exclaimed, and Catherine looked at Brass hoping that he'd understand.
"You know what's best for you and your family," Brass replied. "It's going to be a big loss to us but we know you're doing it for the right reasons."
"Thanks Jim." Catherine smiled glad to know that he was on her wavelength; it must have been a parent thing.
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Charlie was pacing the floor; Flynn was following her up and down the living room. Her other nephew Harry and niece Megan were sat watching her with smiles on their faces; it was funny in their eyes to see their favourite auntie so worked up.
"What if it goes wrong? What if I'm a rubbish wife? What if we have kids?" Charlie was talking to herself to the amusement of the kids and Michelle who was stood by the door watching.
"You know when Charles told me he wanted us to take you in I asked myself thousands of questions." Shell said coming into the room and sitting between her two youngest on the couch. "You were a teenage girl who had never known love or what it was like to be part of a family. I wondered if the two of us could cope with a teenager – we were both young. Then I wondered how you'd react to living with us." She smiled. "You were, you are one of the best things to happen to the pair of us, you made us a family and made me into the mother I am today. You have no need to ask yourself those questions because everything will be fine. Trust me." She stood up and went to give Charlie a hug.
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"Today is a special day … no, erm, today … I would like to … I've known." Charles was speaking to himself in the mirror trying to get his speech sorted, even though Charlie had her mother now there was only ever going to be one person to walk her down the aisle. He'd been her rock, her foundation, the person who had first showed her what it was like to love someone.
"Whatever you say will be fine." Charlie said to him and he turned around embarrassed at being caught.
"I just want to get it right; I've waited long enough to get rid of you." He joked.
"True. I just wanted to check that you haven't done the big brother thing and scared my future husband to death." She replied shoving her hands in her pockets.
"No that's Sara's job, we decided. And she's the scarier of the pair of us." He was right about that, the Sidle stare was enough to stop anyone in their tracks.
The pair sat in comfortable silence for a while until Charlie spoke.
"Fancy a walk?" She asked and Charles nodded.
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As usual they walked to the park where it all started and sat down on 'their' bench. A long time had passed since they'd met there that cold night; both had changed a lot since then. She was no longer a scared little girl, and he was no longer a cop in his first month on duty.
"I sometimes wonder if I'll be enough for him." Charlie said. "Every so often those feelings I had as a kid come back and I think that I'm not good enough. I thought those feelings would stop as I got older but they didn't." She sounded like a child as she said it and Charles wrapped an arm around her.
"You are good enough, and you're loved by many people who intend on always being there for you. I won't let you down." Charles promised pulling her close.
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Catherine, Lindsey and Sara were sat in the living room waiting for Charlie to get back. She and Charles spent more than an hour sat down at the park where their story had began, when they returned Charlie went straight upstairs rather than into the living room.
"Where is she?" Catherine asked looking forward to seeing her daughter.
"A few ghosts are haunting her again; she's exhausted and gone for a nap." Charles replied sitting down next to Sara. Straight away the group knew what he was referring too and Catherine decided to go and see her daughter.
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Charlie was actually asleep when Catherine entered the bedroom; she took a seat in the chair next to the bed and watched her eldest child. The room was Charlie's room filled with many things from her teenage years. Even though the Grant's had moved house as their family expanded, they always made sure Charlie knew she had a home to go to.
About an hour later Charlie stirred and noticed her mother sat there still.
"Hey." Charlie yawned with a small smile.
"Hear you've had a tough day, emotionally at least." Charlie nodded at that and Catherine reassured her that everything was going to be ok. She was going to get the big day she deserved. "And I know that San Francisco has a lot of nice memories for you, but now you've got a future full of nice memories to make. You've got a great future ahead of you, all I ever wanted was the best for you and you're going to get it."
"Thanks mum." Charlie smiled as Lindsey came bouncing in.
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"How come I'm not chief bridesmaid?" Lindsey asked jumping on the bed so she was next to her older sister.
"Because Sara is, she's been in my life the longest and she's my big sister. You know originally I wasn't going to have any bridesmaid's and I can still go back to that." Charlie replied and Lindsey decided not to moan about the dress for not being as short as she'd like it to be.
"Ok, when are you going to show us your dress?" Lindsey asked, only Sara and Shell had seen the dress so far, the two women had spent a weekend in New York and she'd seen the perfect dress in the first shop they went into.
"The day after tomorrow." Charlie replied, that would be her wedding day and she was looking forward to it.
"And can I come to the party tonight?" Lindsey asked hoping to be allowed out on the town for her sister's hen night.
"No." Charlie and Catherine replied at the exact same moment causing them both to start laughing.
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