…2012
After they'd arranged for Aden to take care of Ruby for the night, they had set off within an hour of Charlie returning home. The trip had been mostly silent as Joey struggled to come to terms with her brother's actions. For so long, he'd been her rock and now she was faced with him spending god knew how many years in jail.
"We're here," Charlie said softly as she pulled the car into her father's driveway. She reached over and grabbed Joey's hand. "I wish I could tell you that everything was going to be fine."
"I wish that too but I'm going to have to accept that my brother was up to no good and now he has to pay for it." Joey sighed heavily. "It's Casey I really feel for. He idolises Brax and now he's going to be forced to see his hero as the bad guy."
"Finding out your dad isn't perfect is a hard lesson for any kid to learn," Charlie said. "But for all his faults, Brax loves his son dearly and Casey needs to hold onto that."
Joey nodded. "Speaking of dads, Ross is waiting for us," she said, watching her father-in-law on the porch with some amusement; he seemed torn between giving them some privacy and rushing down to greet them.
"I'm sure dad won't mind waiting a little longer," Charlie said, leaning over and pressing her lips to Joey's. "I love you and I am here for you through all of this."
"I know and I love you for it."
Charlie kissed her again.
"Do you plan on giving him the full show?" Joey murmured and kissed Charlie back.
"You know I can't resist you so don't temp me."
"Except when it comes to having sex with me under your father's roof," Joey teasingly reminded her. "We've never managed to have sex here because you've always been too worried he might hear us going at it."
"That's because my wife happens to be rather loud."
"Me!" Joey said with mock affront. "Said the woman who out yells the fireworks every New Year's Eve."
Charlie chuckled.
"I love the way you take my mind off things," noted Joey, serious again. "Even for just a moment." She kissed her wife, long and slowly.
Ross' lips twitched when his daughter and daughter-in-law finally made their way up the footpath.
"Hey dad," Charlie greeted her father with a hug.
"It's good to see you Charlie, I only wish you were here under better circumstances."
"So do I."
He smiled when Joey stepped forward and hugged him. "Hi dad."
Joey had said it as a joke one day yet it had stuck and he didn't mind in the least. This young woman had made his daughter happier than she'd ever been and had made Charlie realise that there was more to life than work and so he'd be forever grateful for Joey and Ruby landing in his daughter's life.
"Ruby sends her love," Joey told him. "I only wish we could have brought her with us but with everything going on, we thought it best to leave her with Aden."
"I can understand that," Ross said. "I found a lawyer for Brax and she's a damn good one."
"When can we meet her?" asked Joey.
"She'll meet us at the station tomorrow morning at 10."
"I was hoping to see Brax today."
Ross shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, only his lawyer is allowed to see him at the moment, but I've pulled in a few favours so that you can see him when he's brought to the station for his interview tomorrow."
"Thanks dad. I hate the thought of seeing him like that but he's my brother and I need to see him."
Charlie put her arm around Joey's waist, giving her a gentle squeeze. "Has he said anything to the lawyer?"
"Brax is remaining stubbornly silent, though that may change when he's forced to spend the night in jail."
"If he cooperates with the police, that might get him a reduced sentence, right?" Joey asked.
"Up until now, your brother has a clean sheet, other than some minor trouble he got into as a teen, so the DPP is willing to offer a lesser sentence, provided Brax cooperates and helps to put the men he works for behind bars." He wasn't sure of the likelihood of that though, especially seeing as how these men thought nothing of having a cop beaten up as a warning and Brax would know the same or worse, could easily happen to him if he talked.
"Have you been able to find out who these other men are?" Charlie asked.
"Most of the investigation is being kept under wraps, including who is involved." Though he had a suspicion it was one of the three organisations causing quite a bit of trouble lately. "But we should be able to learn more about what is going on tomorrow when we go to the station." He bent and picked up their bags. "Let's get you settled inside."
Joey sniffed when they walked into the house. "Is that food?"
"Don't get your hopes up that I finally learnt to cook," Ross said. "I ordered Chinese."
"You need to eat healthier instead of having takeout all the time," Joey gently scolded him.
"I am eating healthier," he replied. "These days I order smaller servings to what I used to."
Joey rolled her eyes. She loved her father-in-law but his eating habits left a lot to be desired.
"Face it Joey, you can't teach an old dog new tricks," Charlie said in a knowing tone.
"Hey, enough of the old dog," Ross said. "I can learn just fine."
"Then the next time I'm here, I'm bringing you a cookbook for beginners," Joey declared.
"Good, I need another paper weight for my desk," Ross replied.
They'd all made a conscious effort to avoid talking about the reason they came to be staying with Ross, instead, they chose to spend tea catching up on other things, then after an early nightcap, Joey and Charlie had a quick shower before climbing into bed, where Joey was now snuggling her wife under the covers, her lips nuzzling Charlie's neck while her hand teased across her belly under her nightie, slowly inching higher.
"Joey," Charlie warned, her breath starting to come faster as her desire started to rise with every touch of her wife's lips and hand. "Dad is still up."
"I know," Joey said, biting playfully on her earlobe and eliciting a loud moan from Charlie. "We can be quiet."
"No we can't," Charlie gasped out as a warm hand cupped her breast and tweaked her nipple.
"Sure we can," her wife stated, crushing her mouth against Charlie's and cutting off any more objections.
"Fuck," Charlie murmured when strong fingers slid through the wetness already between her legs. At least with Joey's mouth over hers, her cries and moans of pleasure were dulled to what she hoped was an acceptable level, she thought, but when those fingers slipped inside her, suddenly she didn't care how much noise she made. Her hips rose and fell to meet every thrust from Joey, oblivious to the creaking of the springs the bed made with every movement, needing only to feel those fingers deep inside her.
"Oh god," she cried out as her climax hit her.
When she settled back down, she glared at Joey, who was grinning innocently at her. "You just had to take your mouth away at the last moment, didn't you?"
"I needed to come up for air," Joey explained.
"Why, you," Charlie said, pouncing on her and making her shriek with laughter as she tickled her relentlessly.
A minute later, Charlie was propped up on her elbow as she gazed down at her wife while Joey smiled back up at her. "If dad heard any of that, it was the TV on too loud."
"If that's how you want to play it, then fine," Joey said. "But I'm pretty sure he knows we're adults and that we have sex."
"Of course he knows that, but I don't think any parent wants to hear proof of it, just like no kid wants to hear their parents getting it on."
"It's a good thing Ruby sleeps like the dead or we could have some explaining to do," joked Joey.
Charlie blushed. "Oh god, that is not a subject I want to discuss with our daughter."
"Except we are going to have to have the Talk with her one day."
"I'm pretty sure I'm going to be busy whenever that day comes along, so feel free to have that talk without me."
Joey chuckled. Charlie said pretty much the same thing every time they spoke of Ruby growing up and learning about the birds and the bees, but she knew that despite Charlie's protests, she'd be by her side when the time was right to give Ruby the Talk. "God I love you and the way you make me feel," she said, growing serious again. It had been nice to forget about everything for a time, but now reality was hitting back.
"I'm always going to try my best to make you feel better, whatever is happening."
"I know." She held her arms open and Charlie settled into them, her head on Joey's shoulder. Joey kissed the top of her head. "Just holding you like this makes me feel better."
"Makes me feel pretty good too," Charlie murmured, relaxing completely into her wife's arms.
"My Charlie security blanket," Joey said softly.
"Always."
She wasn't sure she'd sleep, but Joey closed her eyes anyway and just let herself feel the love radiating from her wife. In no time, the warmth and security she felt from Charlie allowed her to drift into asleep.
