Here we are! (finally) the end of part 5! I'm so thankful y'all have stuck around with this universe for so long and I'm so glad you've enjoyed it so much! This isn't the last of the universe (after all we've got to say hello to Baby Blake and plan a wedding) but this is all for now. Up next: part 2 of the flower shop au, a separate fun au that will be worked on next, and as always more updates to Infinitely Brave: The Epic Smolder Slow Burn AU. Much love - Dee
The nerve of that man!
Jean fumed as she drove home, 'How dare he!'
"I'm afraid I foresee a difficult future for you."
Who said that to an expectant mother, even if you didn't like the expectant father?
She was still fuming as she threw her hat on the sideboard; voices in the kitchen alerted her to the presence of Alice and Anna.
"Jean? Is that you?" Alice called out - her head poking around the corner and Jean smiled when she noticed a bit of flour on her cheek. "I thought you'd still be at Sacred Heart."
"I met Mr. Munro and got too peeved afterwards that I decided to come home rather than continue to fume throughout my visit to Christopher."
At that Alice gave her a crooked smile as Jean joined them in the kitchen, "He seems to have that effect on everyone lately. What happened?"
"I bumped into him and told him Lucien and I were expecting and he replied 'I should say congratulations, but I only see a difficult future for you'. The nerve of him! I was so angry I forgot to leave Christopher's flowers."
"Anna and I can always go back with you, we're just about done with some bread."
"No, no, it's alright, I'll go later on today maybe, or maybe tomorrow."
Her friend patted her hand as she cleaned off the flour on the counter - Miss Anna was already seated at the table and Jean wiped the girl's floury face with a wet flannel out of habit (smiling at the girl's giggles).
"Pay no heed to whatever Munro said, Jean, that's what I always did."
"He did like the biscuits, Auntie Jean! He took one yesterday."
"See? He's got some taste after all," Alice teased as she balanced her weight with one crutch while putting the risen dough in the oven as the phone rang.
"Dr. Blake's residence," Jean answered.
"Ah, darling," her husband sighed on the other end, "Is Alice with you?"
"Yes, she is, her and Anna were just giving us bread for a few days."
"How thoughtful of them, I'm sending Bill to pick her up, she's needed in the morgue."
"Another murder, Lucien?" Jean's eyebrows rose as Alice shifted closer to the phone.
"Yes, Jean, it's William Munro."
"Heavens," the eyebrows rose higher - Alice's to match hers as she overheard that last bit. "We'll await Sergeant Hobart then."
This was most certainly not how Alice had envisioned her day going.
Munro, the man who'd vexed her constantly during his short reign of the station, lay pale and still under the bright light of the morgue table; just the other day she'd seen him and spoken to him, and the way he'd acted around her daughter was soft in a way she'd not known him to be.
(She knew he'd had a family, but knowing that and seeing that side of him were two very different things)
She'd found the remnants of Anna's offered biscuit in his handkerchief as a nurse helped her ready the body for autopsy and Alice wasn't quite sure what to make of it all - wasn't quite sure what to feel; maybe doing the autopsy would help.
And even that was unexpected. With Lucien sacked, Matthew was there with her instead (Lucien lurking in the corner much like Munro had done during the Orton case) - hat and jacket discarded, sleeves rolled up to his elbows ("Like what you see, sweetheart?" He'd teased her softly as he'd rolled them up - Lucien thankfully out of earshot of them when she blushed and swatted at his elbow) as he took notes.
"Ready when you are, Dr. Harvey," he gave her a small smile - somehow knowing the nervous energy that had settled on top of her shoulders as it truly hit her that she was officiating and not Lucien. It was all on her; it wasn't the first time she'd done autopsies solo, but she'd grown comfortable in her partnership with Lucien that it felt like her very first job out of university all over again.
Alice drew back the sheet, "Single bullet wound to the chest - no exit wound."
As she leaned over to get the tweezers and dish, Matthew jotted down all she said; noting him standing there, Alice wondered how he'd cope with watching the autopsy of someone he knew, someone he'd worked with, and wanted to make sure he'd be alright with it all.
"There's no need to watch if you find this distressing, Chief Superintendent."
Matthew gave her a smile - slightly teasing, but his usual soft smile that he reserved for her or Anna.
"I'm not squeamish."
His eyes sparkled and Alice ducked her head to hide her rising grin; instantly her mind rocketed back to that first night they'd slept together in her former flat and Matthew's worry about her seeing his leg. He'd parroted her own words back at her and Alice knew everything would be alright.
With a nod, she leaned down and expertly pulled the bullet from the wound - hearing Lucien shift behind her (no doubt craning his neck to see what was going on, he couldn't stand not knowing and not being in the thick of it).
"Got you," she smiled triumphantly - catching Matthew's own proud one as she put it in the waiting dish.
"Could that have come from a service revolver?" Her soulmate asked, interrupting Lucien's attempted affirmation with a hard look in his direction and a pointed, "Doctor Harvey?"
"It's consistent with a thirty-two calibre handgun, yes."
Matthew jotted it down with a nod and squeezed her hand as he handed over the paperwork. "I'll leave you two to it, Lucien isn't allowed to do any of the paperwork."
"I understand," she squeezed back as Lucien shifted behind her once again. "Thank you, Matthew."
"I'll be just outside if you need any help."
His steps limped out of the morgue as Alice gazed down at Munro's body; Lucien rounded the table and she smiled at him.
"I'm afraid I never cared for him very much."
"No," her friend smiled back, "but he saved my life… shall we get to it, Dr. Harvey?"
"Certainly, Dr. Blake."
She'd only been gone for a minute - one of the nurses had called her upstairs for a consultation - but apparently a minute was all the intruder needed. The morgue was oddly quiet as she came back down to assist Charlie in finding Munro's notebook, and she called out his name as she pushed the door open.
"Charlie!" Alice winced as she practically fell to the floor to see to the young sergeant currently unconscious on the floor. Patting his cheeks gently, Alice looked over the nasty wound on his forehead - still bleeding sluggishly.
"Come on, Charlie, wake up. Come on," patting his cheek once more, she smiled slightly as he groaned and his eyes fluttered open. "There we are, take it easy, you've been hit over the head."
"What happened?"
"I don't know, I was gone for only a minute and came back to you passed out on the floor."
Charlie groaned again as he sat up - his hand immediately going to his head, wincing as it came away red with blood.
"Easy there, Sergeant. Let me get the first aid kit."
"How about I help you up off the floor first, Doc, and then you get the kit?"
Looking at the way both of them were sprawled on the floor and her crutches thrown to the side, Alice felt her cheeks grow hot, but she nodded. Firmly ensconced in her usual wheeling stool, and Charlie patiently sitting in the other, Alice looked at the wound on his head.
"This will hurt for awhile," she told him as she cleaned it - trying to be gentle as he winced again. "I'll give you some painkillers once I'm done."
The phone rang just as she was pulling out the bandages and she wheeled over to answer it. "Ballarat County Morgue, Dr. Harvey speaking."
"Ah, Dr. Harvey, is Sergeant Davis there?" Matthew's voice rang down the line.
"Yes, I was just seeing to his head wound-"
"Head wound! What head wound?"
Alice bit back a sigh at Matthew's interruption, "Someone hit him over the head while in the morgue searching through Munro's clothes."
"Christ… is he alright? Are you alright? You weren't hurt were you?"
"He's a little dazed, but I'm patching him up now. I'm alright, dear, I was upstairs while it happened."
"What the devil is going on in Ballarat lately?"
"I'm afraid I can't answer that… shall I send Charlie back to the station once he's patched up?"
"Did he find the notebook?"
Alice repeated the question to the waiting sergeant and relayed the answer back, "He says it's not here."
Matthew sighed heavily over the phone, "Yeah, send him back to the station if he's fit enough to drive, if not I'll dispatch Hobart for him."
"We'll be over shortly."
She applied the butterfly stitches to Charlie's wound (he'd refused to have actual stitches, Alice had frowned a bit at that, but complied with his wishes) and the sergeant gingerly drove them both to the station.
Matthew eyed the wound carefully, but let his second in command stay at work; Alice was most surprised when he made a beeline for her and pulled her into his embrace in the full view of the station.
"I'm alright, Matthew," she whispered to him.
"You almost weren't… what if it had been you instead of Charlie?"
"It wasn't me, though," she nevertheless sighed as he held her close. "I'm going to stay here, make sure nothing's wrong with Charlie if that's alright with you."
"It is, and Anna's here also, Jean dropped her off."
Alice drew back from his embrace, "What's been going on? You seemed frazzled on the phone earlier."
"We've got Gregan, but he wasn't the one who killed Ned… Ned's girlfriend, Amy, set herself up as a trap to bait Gregan in."
"Christ," Alice swore and kissed his cheek. "Is she alright?"
"She is, she was stupid, but she's alright."
"She did it for love, dearest," Alice kissed his cheek again. "Love tends to make you stupid."
"I'll keep that in mind," Matthew kissed her forehead as the phone rang behind him.
"Boss? It's Lucien, he says it's urgent."
Alice watched her fiance take the receiver from Hobart and soon the station was a flurry of activity; Hobart and Matthew - both still armed from the Gregan trap - hurried out the door, leaving Charlie in command as he was still dazed from his attack in the morgue.
"Stay here, sweetheart, we'll be careful," Matthew had kissed her before he left, and as Anna came up to hold onto her good leg, Alice hoped that Charlie would be the last to be hurt today.
"Let's go sit down, love," she leaned down to kiss the top of Anna's head. "Daddy won't mind us using his desk for a bit."
"Okay, Mumma."
Pulling her daughter up onto her lap, Alice rested her cheek on top of Anna's head - soothed by the familiarity of it all.
"Are you okay, Mumma?"
"I am now, my dear girl," she kissed the top of Anna's head and settled in for another agonizing wait for Matthew and the others to come back safely.
She could hardly believe it was finally all over; they'd found Ned's killer (a victim of a murder of convenience - wrong time, wrong place) and as Matthew recounted the confrontation in the graveyard between Norman Baker and Lucien with Jean caught up in the middle, Alice paled at the thought of either Blakes ending up hurt. She saw them down the hall, huddled near a quiet corner - Jean's face buried in the crook of Lucien's neck as he stared off into the distance with his hand protectively over Jean's on her very obviously pregnant belly; Alice imagined they were taking solace in each other and the movements of Baby Blake.
"It's over over, then?" She asked Matthew as they watched the Blakes.
"Yeah," he kissed the side of her head, "yeah, it is… all that's left is telling Ned's mum what happened."
"Poor woman… her son died by happenstance… I don't know what would be worse, knowing someone had murdered my child purposefully or that they'd died as an accident."
"Either way would be worse, but she does have his girlfriend to look after for now… there's got to be some good in that."
"I suppose. When can we go home?"
"After we tell Mrs. Simmons, sweetheart."
"Good," she leaned up and kissed him. "We've got presents to wrap for tomorrow."
"Does that mean I can sneak a peek at mine?" Matthew grinned as she swatted at his chest and snuck one last kiss in before Lucien and Jean joined them - shaken, but relieved it was all over.
As she and Jean readied some tea for all, Alice sighed in relief; this nightmare was over, and Christmas lunch was tomorrow - ready to be shared with friends and family alike.
Matthew smiled as Alice unwrapped his small gift to her; the pretty pink blush on her cheeks that rose at the sight of the simple, yet elegant pearl bracelet he'd gotten for her matched the pretty pink plaid dress she wore for Christmas lunch.
"Merry Christmas, sweetheart," he kissed her cheek as she pulled the bracelet out for all to see.
"It's lovely, Matthew, thank you."
"I know you're not one for a lot of jewelry, but I figured you deserved some to wear on special occasions."
Alice blushed further as he kissed her softly; she put the bracelet on (with some help from him on the clasp) and admired it in the bright light of the parlor.
"Mumma, can I open one of mine next?" Anna asked.
"Certainly, my girl."
As their daughter pulled over a big box (from her Auntie and Uncle Rogers), Alice pulled an ivory envelope from the pile of gifts next to her (a new stethoscope from Lucien, sewing notions from Jean, a few new novels from Rose and Charlie) and handed it over to Matthew while everyone else was distracted.
"What's this?" He asked her quietly.
"Your Christmas present… from me."
Matthew smiled and shook it just to see her shake her head fondly, "Well, definitely not biscuits, or a watch."
"Matthew."
"Could be tickets like Lucien's gift to me, or… a saucy I.O.U.?"
Alice swatted at his shoulder when he waggled his eyebrows at her, "Just open it and find out, you silly man, and before people catch on."
Kissing her cheek, Matthew did as she bade, his brow furrowing when he saw pale blue card stock inside the envelope; pulling it out, it took him a second to realize just what the gilded elegant type read.
You Are Cordially Invited
To the Wedding
Of
Alice Eleanor Harvey
and
Matthew Henry Lawson
8 July 1961
Time and Place To Be Determined
"I didn't know what to put for the last bit, since we haven't actually decided on a place to have it, but… I thought it time we pick a date," Alice told him quietly.
Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes and he simply turned to kiss her; Alice let out a note of surprise, but melted into his kiss - not caring if the others stared or not.
"We'll finally have our wedding," he smiled against her lips. "I can't wait."
"Me either, Merry Christmas, my dear Matthew."
"Merry Christmas, sweetheart."
A bright squeal from their daughter interrupted any further kissing as she bounded over to them and launched herself into their laps.
"Mumma! Daddy! Look what I got! My own microscope!"
"Ah, you can help your mum out in the morgue, sweetheart," Matthew grinned as Alice blushed bright red - both of them knowing that Anna had already been "helping" her mum in the morgue with simple tests (not for cases, just their own experiments); as their daughter continued to gush over her new own personal microscope - Alice talking her through how to use it - while Jean put the finishing touches on their lunch, Matthew couldn't remember a brighter Christmas.
(He also couldn't wait for brighter ones to come)
FIN