Chapter Twenty Six
It had been a stressful couple of weeks and things didn't look to be letting up any time soon. Ruby was apparently long gone with Geoff and nobody knew where she was. Geoff had made a couple of calls just to let Irene and Annie know that they were safe but Ruby had not made any contact with her stressed out mother.
"I don't want to go back to work tomorrow," Charlie admitted.
She had been on sick leave after the accident and Joey had been doing her best to look after her. But it hadn't been the easiest thing in the world, what with them both being well into their pregnancies now. Charlie was nineteen weeks and her stress levels were not helping the situation and at twenty seven weeks, Joey was entering her third trimester.
"Can you take any more time off?" Joey asked.
They were sat on the sofa together, having had a quiet morning in front of the television together. She rubbed her tummy, which was becoming increasingly itchy and uncomfortable.
"Are you still sore?" Charlie asked worriedly.
They'd checked with the book and at this stage, an itchy belly was normal, so long as it didn't spread to other parts of the body but that didn't make it any easier to deal with.
"Not sore exactly," Joey said. "I just… don't like it."
"Well, how about I go and get us some lunch from the Diner?" Charlie suggested.
"What about your hip?" Joey fretted.
"I need to get out," Charlie said. "And if I'm back at work then I need to get used to getting around and everything."
Joey still looked unsure.
"I'll get that chocolate orange cheesecake you love so much," Charlie tempted.
Joey grinned. Charlie leant over and kissed her.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," she promised.
"Be careful getting in and out of the car," Joey warned.
Charlie pouted and asked if that was going to be the goodbye every single time now.
"Yep," Joey replied.
An hour later, Joey was pleased to hear Charlie come home.
"Did they make the cheesecake from scratch or something?" she wondered.
Charlie apologised and presented her with a Panini and the dessert she always ordered when they went to the Diner for lunch. She'd also got her a takeaway chocolate milkshake. It wasn't like they had to minimise calories just now.
"I made a bit of a detour," Charlie admitted.
"What kind of detour?" Joey asked curiously.
Charlie produced a shopping bag and handed it over. Puzzled, Joey foraged inside and pulled out some cocoa butter, a cool mist spray and a couple of pairs of very comfortable looking tracksuit bottoms made from natural fibres.
"The book said that these are the things you need that will help with the itching," Charlie explained.
Joey couldn't help but smile. She pulled Charlie into a hug.
"I love you so much," she whispered.
"They're just a couple of bits," Charlie replied.
"I love that even though you're going through hell, you care that much for me that you'll do something like that," Joey told her.
"Well, I love you," Charlie said. "No matter what happens, I'm never going to lose sight of that."
They kissed tenderly before Charlie opened the cocoa butter and gently rubbed it onto Joey's tummy. She giggled as the baby began to respond and kick.
"I think she likes it!" Joey grinned.
"I think she does!" Charlie agreed.
She continued to rub, happy to relieve Joey's symptoms and also to engage with the baby.
"You know, we need to start thinking about names for this little one," she mused.
"We do," Joey said.
"Do you have any ideas?" Charlie asked.
"I was considering naming her after my mother somehow," Joey said.
"Sarah?" Charlie said, nodding thoughtfully.
"She was the only member of my family that I could stand," Joey explained. "The only one that I think knew I was gay, the only one that would ever have understood, would ever have accepted me and loved me anyway. She was stolen from me before I could really find out and I miss her so much."
Charlie nodded.
"I think that's a lovely name," she said. "Sarah Collins."
"I um… wanted to talk to you about that…" Joey ventured.
Charlie retracted her hand and snuggled up.
"About what?" she asked.
"What do you think of Sarah and I becoming Collins-Buckton… or some variation of that?" she asked.
Charlie smiled instantly.
"You'd like to do that?" she asked.
"If you didn't mind?"
"I'd love it," Charlie said. "On one condition."
"What's that?"
"We did it too," she said. "Me and my little one. And hopefully Ruby too."
She frowned, thinking wistfully of the daughter she might well had lost forever. Joey took hold of her hand.
"You'd like to do that?" she asked.
"Yes," Charlie said. "I'd like the five of us to be a proper family."
"So, I think Buckton-Collins works best," Joey said. "Shall we go for that?"
Charlie grinned.
"Perfect," she said.
They kissed.
Next time… Charlie misses Ruby and she and Joey prepare for their babies…