Here is an extra update for you. Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Twenty Five

Joey wandered into the kitchen the following morning, leaving Charlie still sleeping in the lounge. Nate wolf whistled the moment he spotted her from where he was nursing a coffee at the table. Joshua was happily making a mess of his own breakfast, like he did every morning.

"Question," he said curiously. "Why did you shag her in the lounge instead of your bed?"

"I didn't do anything!" Joey hissed. "And sshh! Don't speak like that in front of him."

"Like he's going to know what it means."

"Whether he knows or not, you know that he's at the repeating stage."

"Hot cop!" Joshua said mildly.

"See?" Joey squeaked.

She came to sit between her boys, ruffling Joshua's blonde hair and kissing him good morning.

"So... explain," Nate nudged.

"We had some wine so she stayed the night," Joey told him.

"And you ended up on the sofa bed too because..."

"I wanted a cuddle," Joey mumbled.

"Oh, is that what they're calling it now?" Nate teased.

Joey kicked him under the table. He yelped in pain.

"Ow!" he complained. "What was that for?"

"For being a smart arse," Joey snapped.

"I'm your husband," Nate said. "I'm meant to tease you about your girlfriends..."

They looked at each other.

"Okay, that's a weird sentence," Nate conceded. "But you know what I mean."

Joey sighed heavily, chewing her lip.

"If it helps, I'm happy for you," Nate told her. "Does this mean you're getting back together?"

"I don't know," Joey admitted. "I mean, I..."

"Love her," Nate interjected.

"Yes," Joey said, giving in far more easily than either of them expected. "And she's so good with Josh. It was a great day yesterday. I felt like we were... a family."

"You're not going to fire me as the little monster's Dad, are you?"

"It's not possible," Joey assured her. "You're his Dad and you always will be. No matter who I end up with and who you end up with."

Nate smiled.

"I guess this isn't really something I've encountered before," he said. "I've known you for two years now and you've never gone near anybody."

Joey opened her mouth to object.

"I'm not criticising," Nate said quickly. "I'm just pointing out that regardless of how things ended up last time, Charlie must be pretty special for you to even consider letting her in."

"It's almost like I don't have a choice," Joey replied. "I just... love her. I always have and I think I always will. But... but how can I take that risk again? She already broke my heart once and I don't think I'd recover if it happened again."

"Yes, you will," Nate assured her.

"After everything that happened a couple of years ago, I nearly threw myself off a bridge," Joey pointed out anxiously.

"Things are different now," Nate said. "You're a stronger person. You've already been to hell and you're not going back there. Plus, you have him and you have me. You'd never abandon him, would you?"

"Not for anything," Joey agreed.

"So maybe it's time to take a risk," Nate suggested. "You might even end up happy."

Joey laughed softly.

"We tried to... you know," she admitted.

Nate's eyes widened.

"Seriously?" he asked.

"Yep," she replied. "The idea was that we'd have a one night thing, try and get each other out of our systems but it didn't work."

"So, did you or didn't you...?" Nate asked. "And please remember that a gay man has no interest in intimate details of the ladies."

Joey snorted with laughter. Joshua laughed too, although he had no concept of what they were discussing.

"We kissed a bit," Joey revealed. "But nothing more. We knew it could never be a fling between us. It either has to be real or nothing at all."

"And what do you want it to be?"

"Real," Joey confessed.

In the living room, Charlie lay on the sofa bed, warm under the blankets. She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop on what Joey and Nate believed to be a private conversation. But she couldn't help it. Hearing that Joey still loved her, even after everything they had been through together, was the best thing she could ever have heard.

Next time… the group discuss justice while Charlie and Joey try to figure out what they mean to each other…