Back with chapter three! Glad you guys liked chapter two! Remember to always read and review!

Chapter Three: An Important Piece of Paper

Claire and Kate left the office at 11:30 that day to drive to Jannie's house to pick her up for her surprise lunch.

"Think she'll go?" Kate asked as they parked in front of Jannie's house. Claire unbuckled her seat belt.

"It might take a little work, but I think she'll break down and come with us. At least I hope she does," Claire said. The two girls walked up to the door and Claire rang the door bell.

Jannie rushed to the door, her youngest son bawling in her arms. "Claire? What are you doing here?"

"Wanted to see if you'd like to come to lunch with me and my friend Kate," Claire explained pointing to Kate who waved.

"Oh, that's nice but I have to watch the boys," Jannie said.

"You can take them to the day care I take Aidan and the rest of the kids, Kate's kids go there too," Claire explained. "It's a fun safe place, the people who work there are great."

"I don't know, I really have to clean and then think about what I want for dinner," Jannie replied rattling off things.

"Jannie, this mess will still be here when you get back. Take it from a mom of two and a mom of three. It can wait a little," Kate replied.

"Please?" Claire asked. "We'll only be gone two hours tops."

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt," Jannie said. Claire smiled. Kate and her helped get David and his little brother, Peter ready and in the car. They took them to the daycare center and David immediately went to play with Aidan. Peter, who was only one, had a little trouble leaving his mother.

But Kate introduced Ryan to Peter and the two one-year-olds took an interest to each other.

"Where are we going for lunch?" Jannie asked. Claire looked over at Jannie, her face looked happier; she looked like she felt free. Claire smiled; this lunch was definitely going to change Jannie, for the good.

Meanwhile at Charlie's work…

Charlie was sitting back in his chair taking a break listening to music. The music critic business had been going very slowly over the past few weeks and there were rumors going around that the company Charlie worked for was going under. He refused to believe them.

"Slacking off?" Charlie looked up to see Liam standing there. "Tsk, tsk, what are we ever going to do with you?"

"I'm not slacking off, just taking a break. There's really nothing to do here anyway, I'd better be off at home watching the kids while Claire's at work," Charlie replied.

"Hold your tongue, we might eventually be doing that," Liam replied. "The rumors are still going strong."

"Since when do you believe rumors my dear brother?" Charlie asked. Liam shrugged.

"You never know, I'm just trying to keep myself from being fired," Liam explained sitting in the chair opposite Charlie.

There was a knock on Charlie's open door. Their manager Lisa was standing there. "Come on in," Charlie said.

"Guys, I've got some bad news," she said. Charlie noticed she was holding two envelopes.

"What is it?" Liam asked. Charlie moved his vision to her face.

"Well as you know the music business hasn't been doing so well here in Sydney and we've been thinking about closing down the company," Lisa explained.

"Well, we just heard that it was a rumor," Charlie replied. Reality then hit him. He looked up at Lisa. "You're here to fire us aren't you?"

"I'm sorry you guys, you've been laid off," she said. She handed Liam and Charlie their final paychecks and left.

"I can't believe this!" Liam exclaimed. Charlie's mind was racing. How were they going to get food for the kids? Afford diapers for Ben? How were they going to live? Charlie knew Claire's job was good, but he didn't know if it was good enough to support a family until Charlie could find a new job.

"What are we going to do?" Liam asked. Charlie looked at him.

"First thing is I have to tell Claire," Charlie said.

At lunch…

"What's it like to work?" Jannie asked twirling her pasta on her fork. She had become fascinated with Claire and Kate's lives.

"It's okay if you have a job you love, but sometimes it can get really demanding," Claire explained. "But I like it."

"I was in nursing school to become a nurse but then I got pregnant with David and it just ended there. Adam didn't want me working while I had kids," Jannie said. "Maybe when the kids are old enough to take care of themselves when they get home from school."

"Jannie, you can work now. If that's really what you want to do. Do things for yourself not just because your husband tells you to," Kate replied. "My husband fully trusts me in ever decision I make, he's a total sweetheart."

"Sawyer? Please," Claire joked. Kate shoved her a little.

"And what about Charlie?" Kate asked. "Sometimes he isn't sweet; he can be a total pest."

"Not true," Claire said smiling. "What about Adam? Can he be annoying?"

"Yeah, but not in the playful way I'm sure your husbands are, just with what he wants. Like what I make for dinner, he'll complain about that, or what I'm wearing in the day. Once he even told me I needed to lose fifteen pounds, I'm only 125," Jannie said.

"He actually told you that?" Kate asked. Claire and Kate looked at each other shocked. Jannie nodded.

"I don't know what else to do for him. There has been so many times I've thought about leaving him and going back to live with my mum in Canberra," Jannie said.

"No, you shouldn't leave him. You two just need a night to yourselves to re-heat the marriage. Charlie and I do that all the time after a fight, it's the best way to make up," Claire said. Kate scrunched her face up as if she just heard the grossest thing.

"Thanks for sharing Claire," Kate said. Claire giggled.

With Charlie…

"What am I going to do Sawyer?" Charlie asked. Sawyer had let Charlie into his office in the back.

"I don't know what to tell you. All I know is that Claire is going to be upset," Sawyer replied rubbing the back of his head.

"Like I don't know that," Charlie snapped.

"I was only trying to help," Sawyer said with a hint of joke in his voice. Charlie glared at him. "Look, go home, wait for Claire and tell her as soon as she gets in the door, because if you don't do it then, then you'll keep putting it off."

"Okay," Charlie said. "When did you get so smart?"

"Well, after our glorious time on that island and spending all my time with Freckles I've attain a wide view of knowledge, what the hell did you think I did? I learned common sense," Sawyer said. Charlie nodded.

"Okay, thanks Sawyer," Charlie said standing. Sawyer smiled.

"No problem VH1," Sawyer said. Charlie sighed and turned to leave.

At home later…

"Mummy! Aidan hit me!" Cammie yelled from the backseat. Claire looked at them in the mirror.

"Aidan, please don't touch your sister," Claire said. "How's Ben doing?"

"He's fine, he's sleeping," Aidan said checking on his brother. "Mummy can I carry Ben up to his crib?"

"No, I'll do it, but later you can help me change his clothes," Claire said.

"Okay," Aidan said. Claire pulled into the driveway and saw Charlie's car.

"Daddy's home!" Claire said. Aidan and Cammie yelled in excitement and as soon as Claire had parked the car they raced out of the car and up to the door. Claire reached in the back seat and got Ben out of the car.

She shut the door and walked up the open front door of her house. She swore her kids thought they lived in a barn. She shut the door and walked to the living room. Charlie was talking to Aidan and had Cammie on his lap, snuggled close and listened as he talked. Claire smiled and walked into the living room. She sat Ben's carrier on the table in front of them. Charlie smiled up at her and kissed Ben softly on the cheek.

"Hi love," Charlie said and he smiled at her. Claire smiled as Cammie and Aidan left them and ran down the hall. Claire sat next to Charlie and he pulled her into his arms. He kissed her softly.

"Did you have a good day?" Claire asked. Charlie just stared at her.

"Not really," Charlie said. "I, um…well Liam and I…we were laid off Claire." Claire looked at him.

"What? Why?" She asked sitting up.

"Remember how I told you that our company wasn't getting as much business as it use to?" Charlie asked. Claire nodded. "Well, it's shutting down and that's that."

"Well what are we going to do?" Claire asked. Charlie took her hand.

"I wish I knew, but our insurance is okay, your office handles that," Charlie said. "But I'm just worried we won't be able to live off just your salary."

Claire looked at him; his blue eyes were full of sorrow and worry. She felt tears rush to her own eyes and she fell against him crying.

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Okay, sorry to end it there but I had to. Now the big question is will Charlie be able to find a job? The answer is…I'm not telling. Well, not right now. But it will come soon. Here's the review responses.

REVIEW RESPONSES

Jou65:Thanks! And thanks for the review!

TotallyLost: Thanks, always fun to have a new reader and reviewer! Thanks for the review!

Tari5: I know exactly how these mom's are too. My mom is sort of like Claire and the other mom's are like Jannie, my brother plays football and lacrosse so my mom deals with them. I don't mind them; my mom has a little trouble though. Thanks for the review!

FluffLover: I'll have more stuff with Jannie in later chapters, right now we're going to focus on what just happened with Charlie. Thanks for the review!

Jesi0546: Sawyer will always call Kate 'Freckles', to me anyway! Thanks for the review!

CharlieandClaire: Glad you thought it was long enough! Thanks for the review!

Until next time,

Lost Hobbit :)