I'm not sure how long Natalie and I just stared at each other; it felt like hours, though I suspect it was barely a minute and somewhere in that minute, I had gotten to my feet without even realising it. The two of us continued to stare at each other, neither of us saying a word and I could feel Ruby watching us from the sidelines. I spared a glance to her and by her expression, she seemed to be weighing up whether she should say something or not.

Joey came in at that moment and immediately sized up the tension in the room and the identity of the newest arrival, and with a wry smile, she said in a half bemused voice, "Well, isn't this a bit awkward?"

Natalie jumped at her sudden appearance, which made Ruby chuckle and in the end, it broke the tension, even if it was just by a little.

Joey confidently strode over to Natalie, her hand out and a friendly smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Joey Collins."

"Nice to meet you Joey," Natalie said with a hint of gratitude at her interruption into the silent standoff. "I'm Natalie Davison."

I could see the look of confusion crossing over Natalie's face as she tried to figure out who Joey was and where she fit into all of this. I decided to solve her confusion and walked to Joey's side, putting my arm around her waist. "I'm Ruby's mum, Charlie," I said, even though I knew Natalie had already worked out who I was. "And this beautiful woman," I smiled at Joey, "Is my girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend?" Natalie finally stuttered out

I was now finding the situation rather amusing, especially the way Natalie's eyes were going back and forth from Joey to me as if she was watching a tennis ball being hit over the net.

"Yes and I'm very lucky to have her in my life."

"That's nice," murmured Natalie, still clearly frazzled from finding me in the house, not only alive and well, but with a girlfriend in tow.

"I think you two might need to talk," Joey said. "So why don't Ruby and I make a start on tea and give you two some privacy." She brushed her lips over mine before I could even say anything and then suddenly, I was all alone with a woman I didn't know, yet shared a common ground - Brax.

With Joey's departure, silence descended upon us again. It really was amazing how the power of speech could just abandon you at times, I thought as I tried to think of something to say.

"I honestly don't know what to say," Natalie said, eventually breaking the silent deadlock.

"It is a bit awkward, isn't it," I said.

"Yeah, you and your girlfriend aren't kidding there."

"Why don't we sit?" I said, waving my hand toward the couch.

Nodding, Natalie sat at one end, her hands nervously folded on her lap while I sat on the other end. "Ruby must be so happy to have you back."

"She is," I replied. "Once she got over the shock of me being alive, that is."

"Shock would be an understatement," I heard her mutter. "I take it then, that your death was faked by the police for some reason?"

"Yes," I said and gave a brief explanation of what I was allowed to tell her and where things now stood.

"Wow, that's quite a tale," she said when I'd finished speaking.

"I half wish it was just a tale, instead of reality."

"And now you're back here," she murmured. "Do you mind if I ask where you stand with Brax?" she asked me. "I mean, I know you have a girlfriend now, but what are your feelings in regards to Brax?"

"Brax and I are well and truly done and that would have been the case even if Joey wasn't in the picture now," I said. "It took a lot of soul searching on my part, but I was able to force myself to finally see Brax for the man he really is and I also realised that I didn't like the person I was when I was with him."

"I feel like I have made the same mistakes with him as you did."

"At least you weren't a cop meant to uphold the law and put men like him behind bars, instead of sleeping with him."

"No, I'm a counsellor and should have been able to read Brax a lot better than I did, but I honestly thought he was a good person." She shrugged, "Then again, I'd only really heard rumours about him and since he's never gone to jail, I let myself assume it was just his brothers who were the lawbreakers, while Brax tended to skirt the edges in his efforts to keep them safe."

"That sounds very familiar," I said with a wry smile for her. "I think we can both agree that Brax is very charming and puts on a good act."

Natalie nodded. "Hopefully now, with him finally getting his just desserts, others will now realise there was so much truth to the rumours."

"His brothers will stand by and believe in him, regardless of any crimes he's convicted of and from what Ruby has said about Casey, he's already going down a dangerous path."

"I've tried to be there for Casey, but he blames me for ending things with Brax, thereby hurting Brax and somehow pushing him toward doing something dumb."

"Brax was a drug dealing thug before either of us were ever in his life and part of the problem seems to be his inability to take responsibility for his own actions and making excuses for his behaviour, while dictating to others what they should be doing," I said. "I warned him over and over about the example he was setting for Casey, yet his actions continued to contradict his words and Casey followed right on after him." I shook my head, "I don't know how I ever let myself believe the shit Brax continually spouted, especially when the evidence of his actions was always there for me to see."

"We don't always see what we don't want to see," Natalie said and I could tell she was talking about herself as much as she was about me.

"Oh well, what's done is done and can't be changed, but I'm going to make the most of the new direction my life has taken because of the choices I made back then." I could hear Joey and Ruby talking in the kitchen and I smiled, "And it's a very good and happy direction that it's taken."

"I hope mine takes a good turn, though right now, I'd settle for a mildly happier turn."

"Take some positives out of this experience," I told her, "Because believe me, it can only make you stronger."

"Positives?"

"Like splitting from Brax before this all went down," I said, "Because could you imagine how different things could have been if you had still been with Brax when this all happened?"

"I have imagined that and it wasn't pretty." She looked at me, "Being with Brax would have been so much worse and while I still feel the eyes of everyone watching me when I'm out in public, they're not as intense as they would have been if I was still the cop killing drug dealer's girlfriend."

"Is that what they're calling him around here?"

"Among other things."

"Last time people saw me, I had quit my job as a cop and was about to run away with Brax, so I have a feeling I'm going to be the centre of attention for public viewing now."

"Why, because you have risen from the dead and have switched teams?" she said in a jesting manner.

"Well, the girlfriend part might not be as big a surprise as the rising from the dead part," I said, "Especially since Joey and I had previously dated a few years back."

"You're kidding me!"

"Nope." I smiled wryly, "I've had a lot of time to wonder how differently my life might have been if I'd grown a backbone back then and committed to Joey, but as my girlfriend has so often reminded me, it's all in the past now and the best thing is to not dwell on it, but to learn by it."

"Sounds like good advice." Natalie sighed and it was obvious how the recent dramas were taking their toll on her.

"You're not alone in this Natalie. Leah is a good friend to have at a time like this," I said to her. "And this town does pull together in times of need." I only wish I could see that happening with me and that this would be one of those times where the people moved on quickly from things like this, as was sometimes the tendency.

"Actually, other than the stares, most people have been pretty good and Gina has been more than supportive at work, as has Bianca." At the mention of my friend's name, she looked my way again. "Bianca spoke often of you," she told me. "Said you were a good friend to her, but you two never had a chance to mend your friendship, which is something she regrets."

"I hope we can find some way to get our friendship back on track now that I'm here."

"After her own experience with Heath, I think she more than understands the allure of the Braxtons now and you both would probably benefit from talking things through," she said. "The people close to her have been supportive of her, but she's having a hard time dealing with her own guilt at the way things went with her life and she's been devastated by Heath's betrayal."

"Maybe the three of us could form our own little group," I said. "Exes Fucked Over By The Braxtons."

Natalie chuckled at that. "Might not be a bad idea."

Mathew chose that moment to start crying and I leapt to my feet. "I should check on Mathew."

"Who is Mathew?" Natalie asked and I had a brief thought to lie, as Ruby suggested, but found I couldn't.

"Mathew is my son." I don't think I've ever seen someone's eyes pop out so much or brows rise so high as Natalie's just did. "And Brax's," I added in barely a whisper.

"He has no idea, does he?"

I shook my head. "And I'm in no rush to tell him."

"And here I thought I had a complicated relationship with him," she muttered and something in her voice registered with me.

"You're still in love with him, aren't you?"

She nodded and there were tears in her eyes. "The day before he killed that cop, I had been working up the courage to go to him and see if we could work things out and I honestly believe we would have ended up getting back together, which just makes this so much harder."

"I'm sorry things didn't work out for you."

"That's just it, I'm not sorry and I'm glad I'm able to see the real Brax now, I just wish I could get rid of these fucking feelings I have for him, because at the same time, I'm still terrified that if he walked through that door, I'd take him back just like that."

I knew that feeling all too well when it came to my relationship with Brax. "Natalie, he's not coming back."

"I know, but I'm just so confused right now."

"It's only been a couple of days, so give yourself some time to deal with this."

"Are you sure you're not the counsellor?"

I grinned. "Like I said, I've had a lot of time to do some soul searching."

"Time," she murmured. "I really hope it does heal old wounds." She shook herself from her thoughts. "I guess I should go and pack."

"What on earth for?"

"I assumed you were moving back in and you'd want your old room back?" she said. "It was your room before it was mine," she said and then looked away. "I seemed to have replaced you in more ways than one." And a poor replacement at that, she thought disconsolately. Brax had told her that Charlie had been the love of his life and while she knew he cared for her, she also knew Charlie still owned a large part of his heart.

I winced at the bitterness in her voice and knelt in front of her. "Natalie, this is your home now and I have no intention of forcing you out of it," I assured her. "Besides, Joey and I are only guests in your house while we look for a bigger place for our family, so please, don't feel like you don't belong here, because you do."

"Thank you Charlie."

Mathew's cries were getting a little louder. "I'd better go and see what the little man wants."

Joey was sitting up against the pillows when I came back from the bathroom. I climbed under the covers and snuggled up to her.

"What a long and eventful day," Joey said and I nodded in agreement. Natalie had joined us for tea and while there was still some discomfort between us, VJ's enthusiastic chatter had made the meal a more light-hearted affair. VJ had been overjoyed not only at my return, but with the return of his card playing buddy, Joey, who I suspect VJ was more excited to see, not that I minded in the least; I was just happy to be home and sharing a meal with the people who meant the most to me.

"And a very tiring day," I murmured with a yawn.

"Things went pretty good though, especially between you and Ruby."

"Yeah, they did. I know there's still a ways to go, but it feels good to have gotten over the first hurdle and that Ruby seems to have accepted you and Mathew into our lives."

"Who wouldn't be able to accept that little bundle of joy?"

"You're a pretty good bundle of joy as well," I quipped. "And you've made this day so much easier."

"Charlie, I know you're worried about tomorrow, but we'll take each day as they come and every day, I'm going to be right here, by your side." She kissed the top of my head. "You know, it's not too late to start telling everyone else that Mathew is mine, if you think that will make it a little easier on you."

"And expect Leah, VJ and Ruby to lie for us?" I said and shook my head. "It's bad enough we can't be totally honest with them and I really don't want to put them in that position, where they have to worry that one misspoken word and it's all out. Besides, Natalie knows now and even an idiot like Heath would probably be able to put Mathew's age and my leaving together and start wondering about the truth and that's just going to add even more complications to the mix, so in this instance, the easiest thing is to just be honest about who Mathew is."

"We'll do this however you want," she told me. "I love you Charlie."

"I love you too."

"It's going to be another big day tomorrow, so we should both get some sleep." Joey scooted down to lay next to me and held her arms open for me. I rested my head on her shoulder and immediately felt the comfort of her embrace; I don't think I ever feel as safe as I do as when I am in Joey's arms and it didn't take me long to fall into a deep sleep.