So, ah, two years, eh? Possibly. It's a long time. Anything could happen...
Rated: Fiction T - English - Angst/Romance - Chapters: 18 - Words: 34,646 - Reviews: 10 - Favs: 1 - Updated: Oct 21, 2001 - Published: Nov 26, 2000 - Status: Complete - id: 123411
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The Journey: Chapter FifteenSONG LYRIC CREDITS 15: Beautiful
Goodbye (Amanda Marshall), I Don't Wanna Lose You Now (Gloria Estefan),
Let It Rain (Amanda Marshall), Learning How To Fall (Bon Jovi),That's What
I Call Love (Crowded House), Nails In My Feet (Crowded House)
Chapter 15
Frank walked down the steps to Shelly Beach, looking for
a familiar face. He'd sailed in just over an hour ago, and caught a taxi
straight to Rachel's place. She wasn't home. Then he'd headed off to the
Water Police offices, only to be told most of the senior officers were
having a barbecue on the beach. He'd embarked on the third leg of his journey
seriously wondering whether he had enough cash on him to pay the taxi driver.
He spotted David first, building a sandcastle with the
help of a toddler who looked all of one year old.
"Hey, David," he greeted, striding up to them. His bag
was getting heavy, so he dropped it in the sand.
David looked up in surprise. "Frank! Mum said you weren't
gonna be back until next week," David said, frowning.
"I overestimated the trip a bit," Frank admitted. "You
ever heard of the roaring forties?"
"Yeah, we learnt about them at school. Gale-force winds
that blow from the west at about 40 degrees of latitude," he recited. "Did
you get to sail through them, Frank?"
"Yep. Took about a week off of my journey. It was a bit
rough going, but here I am," Frank finished. "Who's your little friend?"
"That's Ali," David answered.
The little girl looked up, hearing her name. Cute kid,
thought Frank.
"I go to high school now," David declared.
"Yeah? D'you like it?" Frank asked.
"It's okay. Hey, guess what?" David asked excitedly.
"What?" Frank asked.
"I'll be having my Bar Mitzvah soon! I've almost learnt
all the ritual prayers."
"Already? I must have been gone longer than I thought.
Hey," he began, leaning in and speaking more quietly, "Do you reckon your
mum will be happy to see me?"
David put his head on one side and seemed to think very
seriously about the question for a minute. "Yeah, I think she will."
Frank laughed, "You think she will?"
David stared solemnly back at him, not seeing the funny
side. "She's over there," he offered, pointing past Frank.
Frank turned, and saw her. She was standing a few feet
away from the rest of the group, watching him. He couldn't identify the
emotion on her face.
"I'll catch you later, then Squirt," he told David, and
headed for Rachel.
~~ * ~~
"Well, I don't know how far it's going to go, but it's
a start, I suppose," Helen finished.
"So when do we get to meet her?" Rachel asked cheekily.
"How about never? She'll run a mile if she sees you lot!"
"Oh, thanks a lot!" Rachel replied, laughing, then she
stopped. A figure approached them.
A rather familiar figure.
She watched as Frank knelt down to talk to David, heart
in mouth. She saw Ali's eyes fix on her father with cursory interest before
resuming shovelling sand into her little plastic bucket. She barely even
felt Helen's hand on her shoulder before the older woman quietly left her
alone.
Trouble was heading her way like a semi-trailer, and Rachel
was the kangaroo stunned by its headlights.
A few seconds later, she saw David pointing her way, and
Frank turned to her. His eyes met hers, and they were like floodlights;
so bright she felt naked under their gaze.
He said something else to David before standing up and
walking towards her.
Rachel tried to take deep breaths and calm herself down,
but she felt her heart thudding like a jackhammer in her chest, and her
hands wouldn't stop shaking. She put them in her pockets, afraid he'd notice.
When I see you now I wonder how I could've watched you walk away
Rachel tore her eyes away from his and looked past him
at her children. Her son saw her looking and gave her a thumbs up sign,
smiling.
That kid was too cluey for his own good sometimes.
She managed a welcoming smile for Frank, and when he put
his arms around her, she hugged him back eagerly.
Rachel took a step back and looked Frank in the eye. "Frank--"
Then she heard a familiar cry, and looked past Frank to
see Ali toddling towards her, crying. David followed, looking guilty.
Trouble hit.
Rachel saw Frank's mouth drop open as she stooped to pick
her daughter up. "What's the matter, darling?" she asked soothingly, looking
at David. She avoided looking in Frank's direction, too afraid of what
she would see.
"She was playing with a hermit crab," David told her,
"And it pinched her finger. I'm sorry, Mum, I didn't see--"
"Show me, baby," she told her daughter, ignoring David
for the moment. Ali held up her index finger, her face still screwed up
with misery. Rachel gently kissed it, "All better!" Then she turned back
to David. "Why weren't you watching her?" she asked, a little more harshly
than she'd meant to.
David flashed a look at Frank, who was still shocked speechless.
"Sorry, Mum," he mumbled.
"You okay now, darling?" Rachel asked. Ali nodded her
head solemnly. "Go and play with your brother, then," she suggested, putting
Ali back on the ground. David took her hand and they both headed back to
their sandcastle.
Finally, Rachel turned back to Frank, who had been silently
watching the whole exchange.
Sometimes it's hard to make things clear Or know when to face the truth And I know that the moment is here I'll open my heart and show you inside My love has no pride
Frank eventually found his voice, "She's yours, is she?"
he asked.
"No, Frank, she just likes to call me Mummy. It's my nickname."
He looked at her, his face carefully schooled to blankness.
"Yeah, I'm sorry," she said, "It wasn't that funny." Touching
his arm tentatively, she asked him, "Will you come for a walk with me?"
"Yeah, I reckon we need to catch up on a few things,"
he finally answered.
Rachel tried to stay calm, though her heart was thudding
so loudly in her chest she was sure Frank could hear it. How on earth was
she going to tell him? At least it couldn't possibly be any worse than
the conclusions he'd probably already jumped to.
I have been a witness to a perfect crime I wipe the grin off of my face to hide the blame It isn't worth the tears you'll cry to have a perfect
alibi Now I'm beaten at the hands of my own game
She looked over Frank's shoulder to where Jack was standing.
He'd been watching the whole insane situation from his spot by the barbecue.
In fact, Rachel reflected, he'd been a spectator almost since it had started.
She caught his eye, silently asking him to watch the baby.
'Good luck,' he mouthed.
Reassured, she returned her attention to Frank, who was
frowning. He turned and looked behind him, and then back at her.
"So, you and Jack got it together, did you?" Frank asked,
trying not to sound jealous.
She shook her head as they started to walk. "No, we didn't.
He's been a good friend, though," she told him quietly.
He didn't answer, waiting for her to talk.
They walked in silence for several minutes, Frank afraid
to ask all the questions in his head; Rachel playing through in her head
all the different ways of explaining the huge mess she found herself in.
When they'd gotten a respectable distance from the rest of the party, Rachel
stopped walking, and pulled Frank down to a sitting position next to her.
She took a deep breath and let it out again, staring at the ground. Frank
watched her, patiently waiting for the explanation. All sorts of wild theories
were spinning around in his head. If not Jack, then who?
"Urrrrrgggggh!!" Rachel growled, frustrated with her inability
to find the right words. She looked up, staring him in the eye, and finally
blurted, "She's yours, Frank."
I was standing in the light There were faces all around I put my gloves up for the fight One sucker punch and I was down
"What?" Frank managed to stammer. Surely he had heard
her wrong?
"She's yours," Rachel repeated. Finally saying it lifted
a burden she'd been carrying for too long.
Frank stared at his former partner in shock. Whatever
he'd been expecting, it certainly wasn't this.
You take away my air You make my lungs collapse
"How...?" he asked. Stringing words together was difficult.
"From the night before you left," she told him, looking
down at the ground again.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"When was I supposed to do that?" Her eyes were accusing,
and she spoke more sharply than she'd meant to, "You never stayed in one
place for long enough!"
He frowned. "You couldn't tell me on the phone?"
"What, two weeks ago?" she asked, angrily.
"Well, why not?" he shot back.
"Because it was too bloody late by then, Frank! I wanted
to tell you in person. You said you wouldn't be back until next week. It
wasn't supposed to happen like this!"
"What, it's my fault for coming back early, is it?" he
shot back, raising his voice indignantly.
"Don't be stupid, Frank!"
"Just forget it, Rachel. I reckon I've heard enough,"
he told her, scrambling to his feet and stalking off.
Rachel got to her feet and took a few steps after him.
"Frank!" she called, but he didn't look back, instead walking faster away
from her. Rachel sank back down to the sand, sobbing for a minute, before
taking a few deep breaths and heading back to the barbecue. Jack saw her
return and made a beeline for her.
"Jack, don't," she told him firmly, seeing the sympathetic
look in his eye.
He nodded, and squeezed her arm, just to let her know
he was there when she needed him.
~~ * ~~
"Hey, Frank!" Helen called.
Frank turned towards the voice. He'd intended to just
get his bag and go, but Helen had taken hold of his arm, and was none too
gently steering him back to the barbecue. He couldn't get out of it now--he
had to socialise.
Helen and Frank arrived at the barbecue, where Gavin and
another bloke he didn't recognise were turning over the sausages.
"Frank!" greeted Gavin, beaming, "Long time no see!"
Frank managed to find a smile, "Yeah, mate."
The smile faded from his face as he saw Rachel reappear
from the direction of the beach. She had such a blank look on her face
that he knew she was miserable. He pushed away a wave of guilt as he saw
Jack approach her and lay a hand on her arm. He wanted to knock the man's
block off.
He found he couldn't look towards them, so he turned back
to Gavin. "How've you been?" he asked.
Frank felt a tugging on the leg of his jeans and looked
down. A pair of inquisitive blue eyes stared back up at him, and the little
girl put her hands in the air, reaching up towards him. "Up," she demanded.
Frank stared at her, uncomprehending.
"She wants you to pick her up, Frank," Helen told him
quietly.
Frank looked at her, his neutral expression covering thoughts
travelling at a hundred kilometres an hour. His gaze then moved to the
sympathetic expressions of Gavin, Tayler, and several people he didn't
even recognise.
They *all* knew.
He felt the tug on his leg again, and stared down, not
seeing. He looked over to where Rachel was, and saw she, too, was watching
him. The look in her eyes was pleading, but the anger rose in him, and
he stalked away, bag in hand, towards the beach.
Rachel's eyes never left him, but he didn't look back.
I woke up the house, stumbled in sideways The lights went on and everybody screamed surprise The savage review, it left me gasping But it warms my heart to see that you can do it
too
Ali's tears of confusion recalled Rachel's attention to
her daughter. Frank's sudden angry movement had frightened her, and though
Helen had picked her up and was cooing to her, she wanted her mother.
Handing the weeping toddler over, Helen put her arms around
them both. "He'll be back, Rachel," she assured her friend, quietly. "I
think he needs some time to take it all in."
Rachel smiled slightly through her own tears, and turned
her attention to the baby. "It's okay, darling," she whispered. "Daddy's
gone for a little walk, that's all."
~~ * ~~