Disclaimer: I don't own them. . . If I did, I'd pay someone to write this for me rather than take time out of my procrastination to do it.
A/N: I've had so much trouble writing Jodi. I'm thinking of killing her off in any other MD fic I do so that I don't have to. Somehow, I don't think that'll go down well with you people.
CSIcrazy: Yay! You still love me! You've got this one before Christmas. I doubt you'll have two when you get back
LieutenantigMegAustin: Nah, I don't think that you guys are going to get Peter or Becky's letter... maybe if I end up getting the S2 & S3 DVDs before I post Bom's letter, but you probably won't. I hadn't intende to actually write them but that might be a good challange for me.
genevra: More is up! I'm sorry about your friend still.
Jodi entered the quiet upstairs room. She sat in the chair opposite the door and turned on the bedside lamp. She quietly opened the envelope that had her name on it, careful not to rip the envelope.
Dear Jodi,
I suppose that in the past I might have been a bit harsh on you. I must apologise greatly for the fiasco in the lead up to your eighteenth birthday bash. It was interesting that you thought we'd really forget your birthday and that we'd be so unkind about celebrating it. I still feel slightly guilty for the pain and anxiety we caused you.
I always envied you when we were younger. You had a mum, and I didn't. Sure, you didn't have a dad, but then you had never had one and really didn't know the difference. My mum died, and I didn't have one for a few years. Then along came Ruth and Tess, and then my mum was gone again, when the two of them left. And I was so bitter at them for so many years, because I was too young to understand why they left.
However, these days I can sympathise with you. I wish that you will, one-day have all the questions about your dad answered. I know you were always Jack's little princess, but it's not quite the same is it? I know I've always wanted to know all about my mum, and now I suppose I might.
I'm glad that you ended up knowing about Terry. It was hard to keep it from you for all the years they were together without you knowing. I'm glad that you two have gotten along a lot more recently, we were all worried when you first found out because not only of the fuss you made, but because Meg would have given him up for you.
That might surprise you, and it surprised me at the time, but since Charlotte was born, I have begun to understand. There is almost nothing I wouldn't do to keep her happy. I guess what they say about a mother's love being unconditional is true, but only up to a point. Don't try to find that limit, it'll only end up hurting you both. Just believe that its there and try not to cross it, because once its crossed, I assure you, there is no going back.
Stay young, cheerful and romantic- it's a great way to go through life, seeing the good in each situation and person.
Claire
Jodi folded the letter once more and placed it back in the envelope in which it had come. She glanced across the room to the area outside the circle of light to where a small girl lay sleeping in her cot. She smiled as memories from that room came filtering through her mind.
FLASHBACK
She was five, Claire and Alex were fourteen. Claire had promised that they would play in the store room, and go through the boxes to see what they could find. Then Alex turned up and she watched as Claire brushed her off, wanting only to show Alex the new horse that Jack had bought. She followed them for a bit, whining about how Claire had promised to play with her.
She was seven; Claire and Alex were sixteen. She had walked up the hall to hear strange noises coming from the storeroom. She opened the door to find a topless Alex (who was home from boarding school for the holidays) and a shirtless, bra-clad Claire kissing. She hadn't known promptly slammed the door and run downstairs to find her mum.
She was ten and home for the holidays. She asked Jack why the store room had flowery wallpaper. She watched as his face clouded with emotion and he walked away from her without answering. She saw Claire anger and storm out and her mum told her that it was one of the things that they didn't talk about, like the limp that Nick had, and the fact that he had spent many weeks in hospital, and the fact that Alex had to attend boarding school.
She was nearly eighteen, and home for a period before starting TAFE. Tess had arrived and she was showing the older woman around again. Tess had walked around in awe, her face a huge smile, remembering the small things that she thought she had remembered. She had seen the door and almost ran towards it, talking about how it was her room and the decorations on the walls. Jodi watched as her face fell, and talked about how it had been the storeroom for her entire life.
She remembered the days when they had cleaned out the room for yet another McLeod's Daughter. The room that had always been filled with boxes was emptied, and many things were discovered in the various boxes that had inhabited there, forgotten and displaced from when Tess and Ruth had left.
She remembered the day not so long ago that Tess had stumbled back, carrying a crying Bom in her arms, and the confusion where she was left with Charlotte as they rushed off to the ill-fated Ute, at the bottom of a cliff, that held the beloved mother, sister, friend and lover.
She and Bom had retreated up here. Jodi hadn't known what else to do, so she took the small child and climbed the stairs, finally sitting herself in the room that held so many memories from her own childhood. She had held the small child, and rocked her as tears had poured down her own cheeks, wetting the hair on the small head until the two of them had fallen asleep together.
END FLASHBACK
The room had seen a lot. It had held a baby girl, who lived in it until she was five. It had become the store room as the grief of a father had lost her couldn't bear him to view the room that had held the bright and cheery girl. It had been a hiding place for another small girl when she needed to be alone. It had been the secret meeting place of two friends who became more than friends. Now the room housed a baby girl yet again, one who was loved by those who surrounded her - the spirit of her mother and the physical presence of her Aunt, the man who would have been her step-father and the surrogate family that inhabited the place of her heritage.
Heaven help anyone who tried to hurt the little girl's well being.
Jodi remained in Charlotte's room for a while longer, wanting not to leave the room that held memories, both good and bad, of the woman who had been pulled from life too soon.
She quietly closed the door and walked down to the kitchen, knowing that Claire's death would be forever implanted in the room of memories. Her room of memories.
A/N: Well, Microsoft Word informs me that I've now got over 10000 words! YAY! GO ME!!! Hmmm, thats including the next chapters and my own notes... not as good as I thought. Hmph.
On another note, the next chapter will be Nick's letter. Then after that there's Terry's and the big finale- Bom's letter. So there's four chapters left to go... (Bom's is going to be in two parts because it's so large.) So if you've stuck with me this far, you're the end is in sight!
