Chapter 25 -

A week after Romeo and Indi had brought Bailey home, they were still very much struggling with getting their little boy into a routine. To make matters worse, in addition to their struggled attempts, the fact that they were beyond exhausted never helped and consequently the habit of Romeo and/or Indi succumbing to Bailey was being set.

However, in spite of their tiredness, getting Bailey to sleep wasn't the problem anymore. Over the last few days Romeo and Indi had discovered the secret formula of getting him asleep quicker; by feeding and rocking him at the same time, before holding him near their chest and rubbing his tummy until he fell asleep which generally worked on average within around 15 minutes. Instead, the difficulty that they were having with regards to enforcing a routine was that of keeping Bailey asleep.

The little boy was proving himself to be quite a cat-nap sort of sleeper, who would take lots of short sleeps, but would never sleep for very long at a time. However, despite being exhausted due to the frequent disruptions, night and day, the couple couldn't complain too much from the rude awakenings. Although he would give a few cries, loud enough to let his parents know that he was awake, he wasn't a baby to cry loudly unless completely necessary and when he was desperately wanting something. These awakening noises generally just meant a few grizzling cries before quietening and lying wide awake until he was tended to. Luckily, Bailey was naturally placid like that and after he made sure that it was known that he was awake, you wouldn't hear a peep out of him, although he would never simply fall back to sleep.

Since bringing Bailey home Romeo had left the house to head into the Bay every now and then for one reason or another but Indi and Bailey had proven to be homebodies and had stayed at home for the entire week, despite having a few visits from a few like Marilyn, Roo and Bianca.

However by now, Indi was beginning to go stir crazy from the familiar environment and lack of stimulation in her life. As a solution, Sid suggested that the family go out to breakfast in the Bay, which was expanded on by Romeo's suggestion to make the most of the trip into town and spend time down on the beach together and take Bailey there for the first time.

#

The morning of the planned breakfast outing, Indi stayed awake after Bailey's early morning wakeup at 5:30AM that normally would have given them both another chance to catch a few more hours of sleep. However, today the new mum was pacing back and forth around the house, trying to do a mental inventory of all her son's essential items, trying to narrow it down and work out what would be needed for the short trip into Summer Bay.

For Romeo, feeling an empty space next to him in their bed was an increasingly familiar sensation since Bailey had been brought home. However, sitting up and seeing his son fast asleep in his cot, Romeo got up and located Indi who was busily preparing the baby bag in the kitchen.

"What are you doing? Sleep while he's sleeping, Indi" Romeo stated, rubbing his evidently tired and sleep-deprived eyes as he leant against the door frame for the vertical support that was needed at this early hour.

"I'm getting everything ready for when we go into town. I don't want to forget anything..." she replied nervously. Indi's visible stress only shone through her look of sleep deprivation that was becoming increasingly usual for the young adult.

Romeo let out a sigh that was partnered as a two-for-one with a yawn, before walking over to his wife, taking her smaller hands in his as he took the bibs she was holding out of her hands, placing them on the table before gently and slowly tugging her in the direction of their room with a whisper. "Sleep. That's a command. What does he need? Food? That's covered. We can put the pram in the car before we go and use that as shade for him. He's got a thousand dummies and a million nappies around the place and in the baby bag. And if we've forgotten anything other than that, we can pick it up in town. Chill out and come back to bed."

Indi succumbed to Romeo's suggestion that was all too tempting given her average hours of sleep -that were currently in demerit- since the birth of their son and his impact on their warped sleeping pattern.

#

Several hours later, the tribe of Walker's made their way into Summer Bay for the group breakfast. Sasha had of course invited Casey and in order to use a table with sufficient seats, the seven of them – Romeo, Indi, Sid, Dex, Sasha, Casey and of course the youngest and newest addition to the family were sitting outside at one of the largest tables on the Pier that overlooked the calmer side of the Bay's water.

Romeo, who was the least exposed to the sun, was sitting under the shade and holding Bailey, patting a rhythm on his underside almost as an increasingly subconscious settling action for the baby. Next to him, Indi was eating her own breakfast, as quickly as she could and occasionally having to cut Romeo's food when he would struggle between the cutlery that he controlled with one hand while his other arm was occupied by his son. At the end of the table and on the other side of Romeo, Sid maintained a subtle but focused eye on his youngest daughter as she more or less inched onto her River Boy boyfriend's lap, whom Sid was still more than wary about. The dark-haired couple were sitting across the table from the blonde married couple and the younger two were providing the majority of the conversation, along with Dex.

Juggling their son and trying to work out a good system for their first public outing together as a recently expanded family, Romeo and Indi were about to swap seats to give Romeo a few minutes of easy eating time and Indi prepared herself to eat with difficulty as she took Bailey and moved to the shadier seat.

With the quiet commotion of the switching seats as they worked out how was the best way to handle eating breakfast, hold the baby and deal with keeping his sensitive skin away from the harsh sun, Romeo and Indi were beginning to dispute each other's actions and new movements argumentatively until Sid interrupted the pair, holding his arms out to Romeo, Sid, the proud new grandfather gestured to take Bailey as a solution to the sleep-deprived couple's arguments.

"Here, pass him here. I'll take him inside, out of the sun, and let you two eat without interruptions."

Romeo eagerly passed the baby over to his father-in-law, and after greeting the young infant with a kiss on his little head, before rocking him within his arms, Sid took him inside to the interior of the Pier Diner as a favour for the young parents who could do without interruptions for eating their meals.

"So how's it going with the little guy at home now?" Casey asked in-between his last conversation with Sasha that had just ended, to the couple sitting across from him, who were eating quickly while they had the small window of opportunity to do so uninterrupted.

"Exhausting" was Romeo's quick response; the first word that came to his head. "He's a good kid, but he just wakes up all the time!" Indi on the other hand felt too tired to string a sentence together.

The Braxton chuckled under his own breath. "Exhausting? Sounds like his aunty..."

It didn't take Sasha long to elbow her boyfriend sharply in his side, turning his laughing into a cry of pain. "MAN SASH! I was just kidding!"

"Didn't you hear Romeo say that Bailey's good too? That must be the likeness that you're referring about to me" Sasha said, replying smugly, with no hint of an apology. "He must take after you a lot too anyway... He doesn't listen and he's loud, just like you."

Casey looked amused, but startled as both he and Sasha's voices were on the increase in volume. "Um, excuse me Sash, but how would he take after me?! I'm not related to Romeo or Indi."

"I think that you're just corrupting my nephew with your bad habits. Next thing we know, he'll be so focused on hating Kyle too that he won't listen to what anyone else has to say, like you!"

"I'm not focused on Kyle! And I listen!" Casey protested in defence of himself. Standing up for himself was an action that he had gained a lot of practice with – especially around his girlfriend.

"Ha ha, totally. What was I talking about before this then?" Sasha quizzed as a test for her boyfriend – the current subject of her disliking.

"Uh. You were going through your homework. That's right, you have a lot to do for a Bio test, but your Geography teacher's given you barely anything!" Casey smiled, increasing in confidence at his answers to the test that he had not realized his girlfriend was going to spring on him. Due to his own excitement and pride, Casey hand hovered in the air, waiting for a high-five from Sasha, which he never received as she crossed her arms in front of her body tightly.

"It was Maths that I have a lot to do for the test! And my Bio teacher's the one that hasn't given me much… See you weren't listening!"

Casey scoffed, oblivious to the fact that both he and Sasha's voices were growing louder and louder as the argument escalated, not just providing Romeo, Indi and Dex entertainment from the couple's typically petty argument. Instead, their audience had slowly grown; catching occupants of another table's interest after every retaliation back to each other and now the majority sitting out on the Diner's outdoor decking were listening in.

"Come on Sash… I was close enough!"

"Casey! You're so obsessed with him that if he wasn't your brother, I would suggest that you're in love with the guy!"

A few sniggers from nearby tables were heard by the duo after Sasha's latest response marked the first time that the couple were alerted to the amount of people that they had obliviously been keeping entertained. Sasha, never one to shy away from a crowd, used it to her advantage and made one final stab at claiming the title of winning the argument before walking off.

"Bye Case. Go home to your brother who you're so clearly engrossed in. I'm going to spend my time with the boy I really love."

With a final curtsey to her small audience, Sasha didn't look back to see Casey's annoyance before walking inside to look for her father and more importantly, her nephew, who had left in the same direction just minutes before she had.

Wiping his mouth with a serviette, Romeo gritted his teeth as he looked up to Casey who was sitting across from him. "Ouch mate. How's your ego now?"

"What ego?"

Romeo smiled before Dex interrupted. "Come on man, you should no better than to fight with my sister… AROUND OTHER PEOPLE OF ALL THINGS!"

"Yeah, I know. Hey, I might head off. When she's calmed down a bit, can you get her to give me a call? After she's calmed down to ear bleeding stage, preferably."

"Alright…" Romeo laughed under his breath, knowing all too well how drastic his sister-in-law's moods could get. "Bye Case."

The Braxton waved with a casually brief flick of a hand, evidently not fussed over the tedious fight he and his girlfriend had been involved in earlier, before Casey walked away.

#

Later that day, after Dex and Sid had relocated to the hospital for work, Romeo and Indi left to take Bailey for a walk near the beach with Sasha who had tagged along for two reasons. Firstly, her attachment to the baby was about as strong as a magnetic force pulling them together or as if they were glued to each other and secondly, she wanted a lift home with her sister's family instead of having to catch the bus back to the farm.

Despite Sasha's nagging to hold Bailey, the youngest Smith was contently being pampered in the pram that his father was pushing along the grass on the top of the level mound that overlooked the beach with both parents taking turns every few minutes to ensure the sun wasn't in his eyes, the wind wasn't getting too cold for him or his sensitive newborn skin wasn't exposed to too much of the harsh sunlight.

"You know if aunty Sash was holding him, you wouldn't have to worry about him getting too cold…" Sasha not so subtly suggested for the umpteenth time since the walk had began, after Indi had told Romeo to stop to allow her to check Bailey's blankets again.

"You can have a cuddle when we get home Sash" Romeo responded before Indi had the chance to reply to her sister first, which undoubtedly would have led to a yell from her frustration at Sasha, partnered with her tiredness. Indi especially had not been coping well with the broken sleep, early mornings and general sleep deprivation, nowhere near as well as her husband had, considering the surfer was fairly used to waking up with the sun.

"But I need a man in my life!" Sasha dramatically cried, amusing her brother-in-law who was enjoying her tangent far more than her sister was. "First Casey, now Bailey? I'm destined for a man-less life of solitude."

Laughing moderately, Romeo pointed up ahead to Alf who was carrying something out of the Surf Club. "Looks like your prayers have been answered Sash. Sasha Bezmel, meet Alf Stewart. He's single."

"Mr STEWARTTTT!" Sasha yelped as she galloped ahead in Alf's direction, arms opened out wide with the universal sign for a hug.

"Strewth! Keep her on a leash, would you?!" Alf grumpily crowed, lecturing the couple that were trailing behind the older man and teenager.

Romeo was unable to hide his smirk, waving a hand in Alf's direction to acknowledge his request, while even Indi couldn't keep her cross mood at her sister's latest daring move. "Sorry Alf…"

Sasha sulked, walking back over to the blonde couple as Alf walked off in the other direction as he muttered something to himself.

"Even he doesn't want me… I'm going to die alone... Alone, hating Casey Braxton, did you know that?"

"You hate Casey? I don't know if I caught that part the first fifty times you told us today."

Sasha rolled her eyes at her older sister before continuing on her hate-Casey tangent. "Seriously though, this has made me realize how much I hate the guy. He's awful! I mean all of my little pet peeves with him… He never manages to get all the sand out of his hair, he can't eat and have a conversation at the same time, it's either talking with a mouthful or no talking at all and well, he's a Braxton. He's a pig! The whole-lotta them are!" Sasha lent down to the pram that was a difficult task considering it was still moving along the grass and poked her head into Bailey's pram. "Seriously Bay, don't get involved with Braxton's, 'kay? Mind you… Heath's taken, we all know that Brax should be taken, Casey is unmentionable right now and Kyle doesn't really seem like your type, Bailes. Oh! Unless Darcy becomes a little cougar...then you might have to watch out…"

Romeo and Indi were sharing humoured looks with each other as they struggled not to lose it laughing at the indignantly serious teenager.

"Sounds like the chances-are that Bailey won't have a problem, Sash…" Indi smirked as Sasha moved away from the pram and resumed walking along with the adults.

"Good. Seriously, I don't know why or what I was thinking getting involved with Casey. Must have been young and stupid. At least I've learnt my lesson now…"

#

Later that day, the trio had returned home and after getting her promised cuddle with Bailey before the baby was put down for an undoubtedly short sleep, Sasha went outside to do her homework while Indi made a start on cooking dinner for the family and Romeo made some online payments. Dex and Sid were set to return home at any tick of the clock.

"Babe, can you go outside and ask Sash how well she wants her meat cooked. She's fussy" Indi asked from where she was attentively watching the browning steaks in the frying pan.

Wordlessly, Romeo complied and as he walked outside, he had mistaken Sasha's quietness for thinking that she had been getting on with her homework, being equally as surprised that he hadn't heard the rumble of the black car arriving as he was by seeing the intimate sight of Casey and Sasha sitting outside happily kissing in a cuddled embrace.

If the creak of the noisy door hadn't stopped the couple kissing then Romeo doubted that a typical half-cough of interruption would either. Instead of asking the question that his wife had asked him to, Romeo walked straight back inside with an entertained smile as he walked over to Indi in the kitchen. "I don't think Sash cares how here meat is cooked right now…"

"Casey's here, isn't he?" Indi guessed straight off and unbeknownst to her, correctly.

Romeo nodded. "Yeah. They're all over each other" he replied as Indi let out a single, uncontrollable laugh.

"Oh goodness. It's like if they don't annoy each other enough, then they're just dynamite and blow up in each other's faces, but when they annoy each other too much, that's when the fireworks come!"

"Remind you of anyone?" Romeo smirked as he leant against the bench nearest to Indi, where he received a brief kiss before she continued paying attention to the food she was cooking. "No. Not at all."

Guys! I'm alive and this story hasn't been abandoned... That's if anyone's still reading it/cares about it... I hope so, but after the hiatus that I've had I'm seriously doubting it. Sorry about that by the way :( Just been very, very busy! I've had the majority of this chapter written forever, but watching Romeo's final scenes this week and realizing how much I'm going to miss my favourite character and couple has given me the push that I needed to finish it and get back onto FanFiction! What did you think about Romeo's departure anyway? I'm just very annoyed that he never told Indi – they would have shouldered it together and in that instance, I think him dying would have been better than him leaving. It's brought so much acting-goodness out of Luke, Samara and Robert though! But, I tell you, if Indi and Chris get together, heads will roll...

Next Chapter (the one all of those Casey/Indi friendship fans are waiting for!):

# Exhaustion leads to Indi having a public meltdown, before Casey comes to her aid.

# Indi doubts her skills after the difficulty she had looking after Bailey alone.