I could feel Grace's eyes on me as we drove to the hospital to investigate the aftermath of a neighbourhood dispute that had gotten violent. I'd much rather be looking into who the mole was, but both Grace and I needed to keep up appearances and to do that, we had to keep up with our regular police work, which was why we were on our way to the hospital. It was nice though, to get away from the stuffy confines of the station for a while.
"You ok?" Grace asked. "It's just that you seem a bit distracted this morning."
"I got a legal letter from Brax demanding access to his son," I replied. "It arrived just as I was on my way out the door."
"Now I can understand why you were a little late to work."
"I expected him to do something, but still." I shrugged. "I guess I was hoping for a little longer before I had to deal with it."
"Well, he definitely didn't waste his time, that's for sure," Grace said
"He must have gotten onto his lawyer the moment Heath told him about Mathew."
"What are you going to do?"
"My plan was always to fight it," I replied. "But part of me is starting to think that maybe I should just get this over with. Morag can try to delay things, argue that Mathew is far too young to be exposed to a prison setting, but if this case goes before a sympathetic judge who is a stickler for a father's rights, then he or she will most likely grant Brax visitation rights."
"Brax is a cop killer and drug dealer," Grace said. "Not sure if many will be all that sympathetic to him."
"Except Brax hasn't been convicted of any crime yet," I pointed out. "So if the custody case were to go to court now, then he's just a father on remand awaiting trial. A trial that won't likely be starting for at least a year, maybe even more depending on all the potential delaying tactics employed by the lawyers and then it will take months to be concluded. Morag is a great lawyer and she's up for the fight, but not even using every trick in the book would delay things past the end of Brax's trial date. Besides, she's been warning us from the start, that no matter how long and hard we argue for, the chance is much higher that a judge will grant Brax access, because as much as I don't like it, he is the father and he does have rights. " I gazed out the window. "And so fighting is most likely a lost cause," I murmured so softly I doubted Grace could hear me.
"The trial may take some time to be over with, but there is no way Brax is getting out, Charlie," she said. "He will be found guilty."
"He is innocent until proven guilty though," I said. "I don't want to do this, but I'm going to have to face Brax one day in court, so maybe I should just get it over with now, before I'm ordered to."
"Charlie, you're a key witness in a major case and so there is no judge who would order you anywhere near Brax, if the prosecution objected to it."
"That wouldn't prevent a judge from still granting access to Brax and then appointing a court approved supervisor to take Mathew to him. Joey offered to take him if it came to that, but there is no way I want her anywhere near him. She has everything he's lost, so who knows what he'd say to her," I said. "I just don't want to risk her being upset by him in any way." I sighed heavily. "If anyone is going to take Mathew to Brax, it will be me."
"Whatever happens, I'm sure things will turn out for the best."
"I hope so," I murmured. Wanting to move the conversation away from me, I asked Grace if she'd seen Watson since she left work yesterday.
She shook her head. "I called around her place on the way to work, but she wouldn't even answer the door."
I really felt for Grace. This was cutting her up so much.
"I guess I don't blame her for not wanting to talk to me after what I did," she said in a tired voice.
"You did the right thing."
"Watson doesn't see it that way."
"Give her time."
"Honestly Charlie, with her trust issues, I don't think time is going to make all that much difference."
"You still did the right thing by going to Joyce," I told her.
"Yeah, I know I did, but it still doesn't stop me from feeling like shit."
"Well, whatever happens, I'm sure things will turn out for the best." I saw a smile tug at the corner of her mouth as I repeated her own words back to her.
"Joey, that place is perfect for you guys," Leah said to her friend.
"Yeah, I know," Joey murmured. She'd taken one look inside the house and had started imagining where everything would go, what furniture they would need, what it would be like to snuggle up in the lounge room without the chance of interruption. "I still feel weird about putting in an application without Charlie first seeing the place though. What if she doesn't like it?"
"She will love it as much as you do. Joey, Charlie was the one who told you to put in an application if you liked the place and so you did. And don't forget, it's only an application. You and Charlie still have to get approved by the real estate agency and if you do, then you can talk over the lease together before signing," Leah said.
"I guess I've just gotten used to making major decisions together and so it feels weird when I made this one all on my own."
Leah chuckled at her. "You two are as bad as an old married couple joined at the hip."
"Hey, there's a lot to be said about being joined at the hip," quipped Joey.
"Not so much when you have a baby in the house," she said knowingly. "Babies are wonderful little bundles of joy, but they're also wonderful mood killers."
"So we've discovered," Joey said with a wry smile. "On the other hand, when we do happen to get back in the mood, the sex is always so much better because of the times we have to make up for."
"I've almost forgotten what sex was like," muttered Leah.
"Leah, the right guy is just around the corner for you."
"Which corner?" she asked. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with my life as it is, but I do miss the intimacy of a relationship."
"You could always follow Natalie's example in going out and having some fun," suggested Joey.
"Can you see me going out and pulling guys for a night of passion?"
"You're a beautiful woman Leah."
"I'm also a single mother on the other side of thirty." She shrugged. "Anyway, one night stands aren't really my thing and at this stage of my life, I'm really after something more long term and stable."
"And what have you been doing to achieve that?"
"Not a lot," she admitted. "Look around you Joey, this is Summer Bay," she said. "There's not exactly a lot of choices out there at the moment."
"How do you know if you're not out there looking?"
"Sometimes, I just can't believe what sets some people off," Grace said as we left the hospital room. We'd taken statements from those involved and I could only nod in agreement. "It was a damn fence, easily repaired if they'd been able to talk to each other like civilised human beings, instead of leading with their fists." She shook her head. "It's not like the neighbour deliberately drove their car through the fence."
"I'm not too sure about that," I said. "It's not the first time we've been called out to either of those houses, because of one thing or another."
"You think it was deliberate then?" Grace said.
"It may very well have happened just as they said it did, but I think we should have someone check over the car and verify the faulty brakes, just to make sure it was an accident."
"I'll send Avery and Hogan around to impound the car and doorknock a few of the other neighbours in the area to see if anyone else saw or heard anything."
I spotted a familiar figure. "Grace, can you give me a minute."
She nodded and hung back. "I'll make a few calls," I heard her say as I headed over to him.
"Hey Sid," I said. He looked very uncomfortable to see me and I smiled reassuringly at him.
"I heard you were back," he said. "And I know I should have come by sooner to apologise to you and your family for what I put you through, but it never felt like the right time," he explained. "I've felt guilty about what I did ever since that cop came to me with that plan and there were so many times I wanted to tell Ruby the truth about you, especially when I saw how she was struggling with your supposed death."
His expression of remorse was enough for me to forgive him, not that I ever held him responsible. He had no idea that Mac's plan wasn't legitimate and that it was all a lie and so in Sid's mind, he honestly believed he was helping to save my life. And in a way, he had. Not just physically, but my absence had changed my life dramatically and for the better.
"I even felt bad for Brax, though now, I wish I hadn't wasted my time on him," he muttered.
"It's ok Sid," I told him. "You weren't given much of a choice and you honestly believed you were doing the right thing in protecting me and for that, I don't blame you."
He smiled appreciatively at my words. "Well, I'm glad you're back."
"Same here."
"I heard a little rumour that you didn't come back alone."
I grinned. "Nope, my family has grown."
"You look happy."
"Because I am. My life took a strange twist that day in the hospital, but my life is so much better now because of it."
"I'm relieved it all worked out, but personally, I hope I'm never put into a position like that again," he said. "If I want to play god, I'd rather keep it in the operating room."
"How about we just put this in the past," I said and held my hand out to him. He took it and we shook hands.
"It really is great to have you back Charlie."
"We should catch up sometime," I suggested. "I'd love you to meet the newest members of my family."
"I'd like that." He glanced over my shoulder. "I think your partner is getting restless."
I nodded to Grace and she came forward. "Ready to go?" I said.
"Yeah." She hesitated a moment though. "Dr Walker, has Snr Sgt Watson been by yet for a check up?"
"I can't really discuss my patients," he told her. "But I will say that I haven't seen her since she was treated for her gunshot wound."
"Damn that stubborn woman," muttered Grace.
"If you'll excuse me, I have a patient to see now." He nodded to us and walked away.
"Georgie will probably come by later," I said.
"You think?" Grace replied sceptically. "I just tried calling both her mobile and landline again while you were talking to the doc and nothing. She wouldn't answer." She shook her head. "That damn woman is too pigheaded for her own good. She doesn't even seem to care that she's not well."
"Grace, if you're that worried about her, perhaps we should drive by her place before we head back to the station and if necessary, drag her kicking and screaming to the hospital."
"She'd probably shoot us if we tried to do that," she mumbled.
"Then it's a good thing her gun is locked in the safe at the station," I said in a lame attempt to try to lighten the mood.
"Look, I'm probably just over reacting."
"What is your gut saying?"
"That it's so unlike her to not answer her phone," she said. "Charlie, a cop, whether on duty or off, always answers the phone."
She was right. It was drilled into us that we must always answer the phone, because it could be an urgent call and over time, it becomes somewhat instinctive to do so. And now, I was as worried as Grace.
"A baby should be with his parents," the man said.
Joey didn't recognise him and her eyes narrowed in anger. She'd dealt with opinionated windbags before, but when it involved her son, it made her blood boil even more. She spared a glance at her friend. Leah was busy dealing with another customer, so she'd have to deal with this one on her own. It was a good thing she felt up to it.
"Mathew is with his parents."
"I know who you are and you aren't his mother," he sneeringly said. "That boy should have his father in his life."
"You mean the cop killer in jail?" Joey replied with a sweet smile.
"Well, um."
"Do you honestly think that a man who lived a life of crime, who dealt drugs and deliberately hurt people, a man who led his brothers down the same path and who then killed a police officer, is better suited to being a parent to Mathew than I am?" she asked him. "Now, I may not have a penis or strut around town baring my chest, but I have honesty, integrity and I know right from wrong, unlike his jailbird father." Joey could see they'd drawn an audience by now and that didn't stop her. "But hey, if having a penis is all that is needed to make a great parent, then I suppose I could always get one of those strap-ons."
He blushed at her last comment, but ploughed on. "You're right, that scumbag in jail doesn't deserve to be a father, but there are plenty of men out there who can do the job."
"Charlie doesn't want any other man, she wants me."
"That boy needs a man in his life," he said between clenched teeth.
"Are you also saying then, that single mothers aren't up to the task of raising their own children alone?" A new voice joined in the conversation. Joey hadn't met this woman before, but she knew who she was. Charlie's friend, Bianca. "Because I'm a single mother now and I damn well am not going to hook up with some guy, just because outdated and narrow minded bigots like you think we should."
"Babies need strong role models."
"Since neither of our children have fathers who even remotely fit that bill, they'll just have to settle for having strong mothers and other family and friends to guide them," Bianca said. "Or are you going to follow up your bullshit by saying that women are weak?"
All eyes were on him now.
"I think we'd all like to hear what you have to say to that," Leah said in challenge. "Or you could just get the hell out of my diner."
"This place is a den of immorality," he said as he made a quick exit.
"What a dick," Leah said. "I'll make sure he's not made welcome again."
"Who is he?" asked Joey.
"Peter something. He's been staying at the caravan park for the past fortnight," Leah said. "Hopefully not for much longer though."
"That's the first person who has actually said anything nasty to me since I came back," Joey said. "Honestly, I was expecting much more of a negative reaction than that when we came home."
"That still doesn't mean you have to put up with it," Bianca said. "Even from just one guy."
"Oh, I know and they can waste their breath all they like, because I'm not going to let it bother me," Joey said. "But if they want to bring my son into it, then I'm going to let them have it, because I'm Mathew's other mother and nothing anyone can say will change that."
Bianca smiled. "I like your attitude."
"It's kind of a newish thing," Joey admitted.
"Bianca," Leah said. "I don't think you know Joey."
"No, we haven't officially met yet."
"Joey is Charlie's partner."
"So I heard."
"Would you like to join Leah and I for lunch?" asked Joey. She had heard quite a bit about Bianca from Charlie and she was curious to see where Bianca stood now in regards to her friendship with Charlie.
"Perhaps another time," Bianca replied. "I only came in here to pick up some food before I meet up with my sister."
"Well, it was nice meeting you," Joey said.
"Same."
