Okay, so I had a little hissy fit about the Charlie and Angelo drivel so I decided to set up a petition to 'Save Our Charlie' and in order to let as many people know about it as possible, here is a link (just take out the spaces) and an extra chapter! Please sign up! petitions. tgiweb. org/ SaveOurCharlie? signedpetition = 1361996147

Chapter Twenty Five

One year later...

Ruby was twelve years old and very determined to become a woman as quickly as possible. She devoted far more time to clothes, hair and make up than either Charlie or Joey were comfortable with and she spent every spare second she could with her friends, namely Xavier Austin who she'd had a crush on since the moment she had first laid eyes on him at school. She was eager to get her period and appeared to want to grow up too quickly. But at the heart of it, Ruby respected and adored her parents. She had so far avoided keeping secrets or developing an attitude. She was honest and open with them and still rambled on at a mile a minute until she was breathless.

"Mum?" she ventured over dinner one evening. "My Joey?"

Both her parents offered her their full attention. Ruby took a deep breath but couldn't keep the smile from her face. They'd known from the moment she walked through the door that she had something on her mind.

"Xavier asked me out on a date!" Ruby announced proudly.

Charlie looked stricken and exchanged a worried glance with Joey. Ruby looked between them.

"Why aren't you happy? I've wanted to date Xave for a year! Be happy! Please?"

"We are happy for you, Rubes," Joey said.

She looked at Charlie.

"Aren't we?"

"Uh... yeah," Charlie said.

Ruby put her fork down and studied her mother, trying to puzzle her out.

"What's wrong?"

Charlie smiled and touched her daughter's hand.

"You know what Mums are like," she said. "They always struggle when their baby girl starts growing up."

Ruby smiled back proudly.

"Just because I'm growing up doesn't mean I'm going to love you any less," she said. "I love you and My Joey with all my heart. And I really like Xavier but I love you two more. I love you two more than anyone in the whole world."

Charlie and Joey were both touched.

"And we feel the same about you," Charlie said.

Friday rolled around and Charlie was more nervous about the date than Ruby was. Their little girl had hurried home from school and enlisted her parents help in getting glammed up. Charlie had agreed to the date on the condition that she and Joey drove the pair of them to the cinema and home again. Xavier had asked Ruby to go for dinner and see a film together. At every turn, Charlie was tempted to stop the whole thing. She didn't want her little girl to grow up.

That evening, having taken Ruby to her date, Charlie was pacing the living room.

"Charlie, you're going to wear a hole in the carpet," Joey said, a little exasperated. "And we want our deposit back."

Charlie managed to laugh. Joey pulled her down onto the sofa and put her arms around her.

"She's going to be fine," she said. "We know that Xavier is a nice boy. And it's promising that he's taken this long to ask Ruby out. She'll be okay."

Sighing heavily, Charlie closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"You must think I'm really dumb," she said.

Joey moved closer and put her arm around her.

"Charlie, of all people, I think I know what you're afraid of," she said gently.

Charlie nodded and held her hand.

"And I'm scared too," Joey admitted. "I was only a year old than Ruby when..."

She trailed off and chewed her lip.

"And you were only two years older but..."

Joey moved to kneel on the floor in front of her partner, still holding her hands and gazing into her eyes.

"We can't protect Ruby from the world," she said. "We can't wrap her in cotton wool and let no harm come to her. I know we both want to but she has to experience life for herself. What we can do is equip her with everything she needs. We've done 'the talk' with her. We've warned her about getting into dangerous situations. We can be the best parents we can be and let's face it, we have the best daughter anyone could have. Ruby respects and trusts us, she talks to us, she's always honest about what's going on. She had no qualms about us driving them to their date and collecting them again. She's going to be okay."

Charlie nodded, trying to let go of her fears. She smiled when Joey reached out to stroke her face. Inching closer, Joey wrapped her arms around Charlie's waist, gently brushing her lips against hers. Charlie smiled into their kiss, feeling calmer and comforted.

"She'll call if she needs anything, won't she?" Charlie checked.

"She absolutely will," Joey assured her.

They kissed again.

"Now," Joey said with a cheeky smile. "We have forty five minutes until we have to pick them up so... why don't we take advantage of having the place to ourselves?"

Charlie grinned as Joey's lips approached again. She hugged her, trailing her kisses down her neck and onto her shoulder, pulling her back onto the sofa.

Ruby and Xavier walked out of the cinema together, holding hands. When they saw Ruby's parents' car approach, they broke apart, feeling shy. The date had been lovely. And Ruby was relieved that Xavier hadn't done anything more than hold her hand. She wasn't ready for anything more grown up yet. Plus, she got the feeling that her parents would have a fit if her lips went anywhere near his just yet. Smiling at each other, Ruby and Xavier climbed into the back of the car.

"How was the movie?" Joey asked from the passenger seat.

"Oh, it was awesome," Ruby said enthusiastically. "We had a really nice time. Didn't we?"

Xavier nodded his confirmation. He felt like he was already falling in love. Joey reached over to squeeze Charlie's hand as she turned the car around in order to drop Xavier back and then take Ruby home. Their daughter looked unscathed and happy and that was good enough for both of them.