Sorry this chapter is a bit late – I seem to spend my life at the vet's at the moment. One of the guinea pigs has a bloody nose, thanks to one of the others deciding it looked edible! But I remain confident that at some point, I am going to have a day where there is no pet related problem! But anyway, on with the chapter… Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Twenty One
"Charlie, you're okay!" Joey assured her girlfriend quickly, as she began to fret in her hospital bed.
A ramble of panic came tumbling out of Charlie's mouth as she worried about Joey and the babies and wondered where she was and why she was in so much pain.
"The baby?" Charlie asked, beads of perspiration appearing on her brow.
She touched her tummy, her heart racing as she feared for her child's life.
"The baby's fine," Joey promised. "Judy's coming down to do a proper scan but they did one quickly while you were asleep and Ruby and I both heard the heartbeat and everything. Didn't we, Rubes?"
The teenager stepped up on Charlie's other side and backed Joey up.
"Excuse me?" Morag said. "What baby?"
Everyone turned to her and Morag, having temporarily forgotten that they were there. Charlie, Joey and Ruby exchanged awkward glances.
"I think you'd better sit down," Ruby finally said.
She moved to pull up two chairs so that her father and stepmother could join her and Joey around Charlie's bedside.
"Okay, um… well, the thing is, that I'm pregnant," Charlie told them.
"Well, we worked that bit out," Morag remarked.
Charlie wasn't sure how to take the comment until she spotted a wry grin on her stepmother's face. She managed a self-conscious laugh.
"I'm seventeen weeks gone," she said.
"It's that boy again, isn't it?" Ross snapped, making them all jump.
He leapt to his feet.
"I'll kill him! I'll kill him like I should have before!"
Charlie looked stricken.
"Dad!" she said quickly. "Dad! It's okay! Everything's fine! I'm happy about the baby!"
Panic surged within her and she gripped Joey's hand as the truth about Ruby's conception threatened to spill out. With everyone staring at him, Ross caught himself. He stopped pacing and whispered to himself exactly where and when he was. Taking several breaths, he let reason win out and sat back down.
"What was that about?" Ruby wanted to know.
"Nothing, love," Ross said, hoping she wouldn't press him. "I just got confused."
He looked apologetically at Charlie.
"So, you're pregnant?" he asked. "And you're happy?"
"Yes," Charlie said.
"Who's the father?" Morag wanted to know.
"Hugo Austin," Charlie explained.
"Martha's boyfriend?" Morag exclaimed.
Charlie winced and quietly explained that he hadn't been with Martha at the time. She was comforted when Joey squeezed her hand, reassuring her that it no longer mattered that she had been her girlfriend at the time.
"And you're raising the baby alone or with him or…?" Ross asked.
"Joey and I raising the baby together," Charlie revealed.
She looked lovingly at her girlfriend, who looked anxious. This wasn't exactly how she had hoped to meet Charlie's family. She hadn't really had the time to find a way to impress them and she was worried she wouldn't cut it.
"Well, babies actually," Charlie added. "Plural."
"Yes, I see you're…" Morag said, nodding to Joey's bump.
"I'm twenty five weeks," Joey said.
"Not Hugo's too?" Morag asked.
"No!" Joey said. "Definitely not."
"Then who…?"
"It doesn't matter," Charlie said quickly. "He'll never be in the baby's life."
"But…"
"It doesn't matter," Charlie snapped.
Morag looked offended.
"Charlie, it's okay," Joey said softly. "They're your family."
"Joey, you don't have to…"
Joey faced Ross and Morag both.
"I was raped a few months ago," she explained awkwardly. "And I got pregnant. I don't have any idea where I'd be without Charlie… or Ruby either, for that matter, but we're an odd but happy little family now."
She smiled and was relieved when Ross and Morag both smiled back at her.
"Thank you for your honesty, Joey," Morag said sincerely. "We appreciate it."
"But are you really together?" Ross asked, looking bewildered. "I didn't… I mean, Charlie, since when…?"
"It wasn't something either of us were looking for," Charlie explained. "I mean, Joey already identified as gay but it never occurred to me that I could be attracted to a woman. But we just… fell in love."
They smiled lovingly at each other. Even Ross and Morag could see it was real.
"Well then, we're happy for you," Ross said. "And we look forward to meeting our grandchildren."
Joey giggled and announced that the baby was giving some well-timed kicks if anyone wanted to feel. Everybody did.
Half an hour later, everyone seemed to have a clearer picture of what had happened. Charlie barely remembered the accident at all but she gathered she'd been run over by Brett when she'd been helping Joey out of the car. She remained tight lipped over what she had been bringing Joey to the house for in the first place, as did Ruby.
"What's happened to Brett?" she wanted to know.
"I couldn't care less," Joey said bitterly.
"Who did you say Brett was?" Ross asked.
He knew he'd been told but today had filled his head with far too much new information and everything was terribly confusing. He felt like he was starting to get lost and he was trying hard to hold onto everything he knew.
"Brett is my brother," Joey explained patiently.
"But you couldn't care less as to what happens to him?" Ross asked.
"We don't get along," Joey explained. "He doesn't accept me or my relationship with Charlie."
Ross nodded thoughtfully. The knowledge that his daughter was in a lesbian relationship was still a shock. But he liked Joey. She was kind and funny and seemed ever so sweet natured. And he had certainly never seen Charlie as happy as she seemed right now, which was remarkable considering she was in a hospital bed.
They were interrupted by the arrival of a Doctor.
"Ah, I see you have your family here," the young man said brightly. "Charlotte Buckton, is it?"
Charlie nodded from where she was propped up in her bed.
"Charlie," she added.
"Pleased to meet you, Charlie," he said. "I'm Doctor McQueen and I've come down from maternity."
"Where's Judy?" Joey wondered.
"She's off delivering a baby in emergency circumstances," Doctor McQueen explained. "She sends her apologies but you're stuck with me. Now, I gather you were hit by a car this afternoon."
"I gather that too," Charlie replied. "I don't really remember that much of it."
"It sounds horrible!" he said. "Has another Doctor been in to deal with your injuries?"
"Yes," Charlie said. "Doctor Walker has been in. I had to have surgery on my hip. It was fractured."
Doctor McQueen nodded thoughtfully and consulted his notes.
"Now, I'm going to give you an ultrasound to make sure that everything is alright with Baby Buckton, although I gather they did a preliminary one before I got here," he said.
"That's right," Joey said, aware that Charlie hadn't been conscious at the time.
Doctor McQueen busied himself with setting up the machine.
"So, who's everyone here?" he enquired.
"This is my partner, Joey," Charlie introduced. "My sister, my Dad and my step-mum."
"Pleasure to meet you all," the Doctor said. "No Dad?"
"Did anyone call him?" Charlie asked.
"Sorry," Joey apologised. "I didn't actually think of it."
"I can ring him," Ruby offered, standing up.
Charlie touched her hand and told her to wait until the scan was done. She didn't want her to miss out on an extra chance to see the baby.
"Now, have you discussed birthing options with Judy?" Doctor McQueen asked, setting the machine up and approaching the bed.
"Um, well, we're just coming to the hospital," Charlie said, looking confusedly at Joey.
"I mean, have you discussed a caesarean?" the Doctor replied bluntly.
"No," Charlie said anxiously. "I wasn't planning on having one."
The Doctor stopped abruptly.
"Charlie, excuse me for saying but I think it's going to be necessary," he said.
"Because of her hip?" Ruby asked.
"Well, yes, now especially," he agreed. "The car did a lot of damage but your pelvis is abnormally small, which is why you needed one with your first baby. With you having her so young, your body didn't have time to develop properly so the chances of you safely delivering a child now the natural way are pretty minimal."
Charlie's heart sank into her bowel, as did Joey's and Ross's. Morag and Ruby just stared at him.
"I've never had a child," Charlie managed.
She felt like her world was imploding in slow but damaging motion.
"Of course you have," Doctor McQueen said, oblivious to the destruction he was causing.
"No, I haven't," Charlie replied through gritted teeth.
"I take pride in thoroughly examining the notes of all my patients and I know full well that you gave birth to a daughter sixteen years ago," he said. "I even know her name was Ruby."
"Would you shut your fucking mouth?" Ross exploded, leaping to his feet.
"Dad!" Charlie cried, when it looked like her father was going to punch him.
The Doctor leapt back, looking shocked. Having heard the commotion, Sid burst into the room.
"What on earth is going on here?" he demanded.
"This idiot has no concept of patient confidentiality," Joey informed him.
"I think you should leave," Ross warned Doctor McQueen.
He nodded and allowed Sid to bustle him out of the room.
"I'm really sorry," Sid said.
He left with the other Doctor, leaving the family alone together.
"Does someone want to tell me what the hell actually just happened?" Ruby said.
Next time… Charlie and her family try to process what has happened and Joey learns why they were at the house at the time of the accident…