It was a glorious sunny day. Anna was dressed for the occasion- matching her pink dress was her shoes and hairclips. Terri was rather summery herself- in a casual, nice blue blouse. As Anna got more excited by the minute, Terri found herself looking forward to it very much as well. It would be great to talk to Vincent and catch up on things, what was happening at All Saints. It would also be great just to chat more with Charlotte and share stories.
When they arrived at the picnicking area, Terri very soon spotted the others- Vincent was playing with the twins while Charlotte was unpacking. The twins certainly adored him. It looked like a very happy family. Anyone could mistake them for husband and wife- though Terri tactfully kept this remark to herself.
As they approached, Charlotte and Vincent waved while the children ran up. They were quite a lot bigger than little Anna- why Terri had only just become pregnant near when Charlotte gave birth! People often wondered why Terri had chosen to be a single mother and chosen that time, but it had seemed right. When Charlotte gave birth it had made Terri wonder- she, too, was getting older and had always dearly wanted children. She had plenty of support from friends and knew it would be what Mitch wanted, even if it wasn't the best of times.
The picnic spot was shady and cool- nearby was a gentle creek. Terri spread her picnic rug as Charlotte and Vincent welcomed her. "Terri! It's great you could come! Just next to this one will be fine. I suppose you haven't seen Vincent for a while?" Terri returned Vincent's warm smile. "So how are things in the emergency department? Frank still giving you grief?" Vincent laughed. "That's our Frank! So how are you going? Doing alright?" Terri opened her mouth to reply, but noticed Anna shyly standing behind her legs. "This is Anna, Vincent. Anna, this is Felicity and Patrick's Uncle Vincent." Anna slowly emerged. "Hello, Anna! Felicity's told me all about you!" Anna slowly wandered forward. "Uncle Vincent is so cool!" Patrick exclaimed. Felicity started too. "Yeah, look Anna! He spins us around!" Terri grinned as Vincent picked up Felicity and twirled her around, to her squeals of delight. "Come on, Anna! Have a go! It's really fun!" Anna stepped forward, as Vincent heaved her up. "Here we go..." he exclaimed. When she heard Anna laughing and enjoying herself, Terri wandered to the picnic rugs and sat next to Charlotte. The pair laughed together, sharing antics of their adorable children. After a while, Vincent came over. "Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm exhausted! Can we start eating?" The kids laughed, as well as Terri and Charlotte. "Alright, Vinnie," said Charlotte, reaching for the picnic basket. "You have a rest." They had a nice lunch and afterwards Vincent again played with the children as Charlotte and Terri talked. As the sun was setting and they were packing up the cars to go home, Terri asked if Vincent had anything to report about the staff at All Saints, Charlotte's face suddenly clouded over. "What's wrong?" asked Terri. She knew there was something Charlotte didn't want her to know. "What's wrong?" As they stood within the cover of the cars, as Vincent was putting the kids in, Charlotte whispered urgently. "You won't guess... Jack's back." "What?" "He's back alright. He's been around about a week. Vincent told me." "Why? What with Kayla... and New Zealand..." Charlotte sighed. "He said it was over with him and Kayla and left her in New Zealand. Apparently he came back for you." Terri couldn't speak. Charlotte continued. "He says the thing with Kayla was just a fling, just to pretend to himself that he loved her. He says he's never stopped loving you, and this time is going to get you. Everyone told him about Anna and how things have changed, but he said he is determined. He said he'll even take her as his own to get you back." Terri was shocked, but saw something else stirring in Charlotte. She wasn't telling her something else, but Terri could guess. "He doesn't want anything to do with the twins, does he?" Charlotte paused, then burst into tears. "He says he'll just pay the paternity payments, and that's all. He says he never wants to see them or me again. He doesn't want to hear about them, either. He doesn't want to know how Patrick can kick a footy and how Felicity can read Green Eggs and Ham..." As Terri hugged a teary Charlotte, Vincent came round the corner. "What's going on..." he started, but then his face cleared. "Oh, Charlotte! It's not the Jack thing again, is it? You told Terri..." Terri started, annoyed. "Well don't I deserve to know, Vincent?" "Yes, Terri. But me and Charlotte agreed... we didn't want that damn bastard to wreck our day." Terri realised that Vincent didn't just dislike Jack. He hated him, with anger. That must have been why Charlotte hadn't said it in front of him.
"He comes back from New Zealand, proudly saying how he's going to entice Terri to get with him. He says he wants his claim, and will father Terri's child. Yet he just leaves my poor Charlotte...prick..." Charlotte put a hand on Vincent's shoulder. He stopped. His voice was softer. "Sorry, Terri, Charlotte... I am really sorry I didn't tell you Terri. It's just I didn't want to wreck the day and Jack's already caused enough trouble for Charlotte..." Terri swallowed hard. "I am so sorry, Charlotte. I didn't realise he had such a negative attitude towards..." "Oh, it's fine, Terri. I'm fine." Charlotte sniffled. "I manage. And I've always got Vincent, after all..." As Vincent and Charlotte hugged, Terri felt sad. She wished she had someone like that... someone beside her...
After a while Terri noticed Anna peering around the corner. She hoped she hadn't heard anything. Terri smiled and beckoned to her, so Anna ran up, and took her hand. Terri took a deep breath. "You just came round the corner then, didn't you sweetie?" "Yes, Mummy," said Anna, as Terri let out a sigh of relief. "Before I was playing games with Felicity and Patrick in their car."
It was getting late. As she broke out of her hug with Vincent, Charlotte turned to Terri. "Look, I'm sorry to end this in such an unhappy way..." "Oh, no, thankyou for telling me the truth. And thanks for such a lovely day! Anna really enjoyed herself." They bid their goodbyes to one another, and Terri went to her car and drove home, very confused and unsure. Late at night, Terri was once again wide-awake. She kept thinking of Jack, and his offer... she almost wanted to accept it... But no! She couldn't! After what he did to Charlotte...
But she found herself stumbling through the dark, and reaching into the rubbish bin, and smoothing out the crumbles in the photo. She found herself longing to be in his arms once more... she wanted him...