AN: Well I've struggled all day after last night's shock episode. I might not have been a huge fan of the second OG couple, but I love a happy ending and safe to say that was the opposite of one! I'm not sure how the other writers feel here, but I'm finding it hard to write Elvis in his cheeky glory right now. However, he's part of this story for me so I'll be carrying on as if THAT didn't happen! And since there were NO mentions of Molly in any of the 4 episodes, thank goodness we have this outlet for our MD+CJ worship!

Chapter 14

Jennifer James sat in her favourite armchair staring out of the conservatory window at the rain as it drizzled through the trees. She sipped her coffee and sighed. On the surface she was calm and relaxed, but inside she was fretting...and pondering...and generally driving herself mad worrying about things. She had done a lot of fretting and pondering in this chair over the years, not surprising with one son in the army and another who was what she had heard described as a "player". Her husband Clayton was more stoic about things, but she knew he had his own personal worries that he kept to himself.

She was concerned about Charles uprooting his whole life to move to a new city, even if it was to be there for Sam, she couldn't quite work out his motivation. Then there was his insistence on going back on tour, that bloody army, she'd almost lost him once and now he was off again next week. She shifted in her chair as the familiar panic sloshed in her stomach. It's not Afghan, she had to remind herself of that.

And then there was Jacob, what was he doing? And how long had he been doing it for? She was still in shock at what she'd seen, she hadn't even told Clayton. What would he say? Should she tell Charles? What would he do?

She drank more coffee, her third cup that morning which she was sure wasn't good for her, but since Charles had bought her that machine and introduced her to the Nespresso menu, she'd developed a bit of an addiction as Clayton called it.

She checked her watch, 10.30 a.m., she'd already been sitting there for an hour, but she couldn't quite bring herself to move. She heard the key in the front door and turned, puzzled. Clayton wasn't due back until 1.00 p.m. and she was pretty sure the rain didn't stop them meeting in the clubhouse even if they didn't venture onto the golf course.

"Clay?" She called, "is everything alright dear?"

There was no reply, but she could hear him shifting stuff in the hallway. With a sigh, she heaved herself out of the chair and made her way from the conservatory, through the kitchen and out of the door by the stairs. She started,

"Charles! Oh my goodness you frightened the life out of me. What are you doing here? Are you ok? Is it Sam?" Her mind whirred with possibilities.

"Hi Mum," Charles said with a small smile, "I'm ok, Sam's ok, I just thought I'd come down for a visit."

Jennifer eyed him suspiciously. He had dark circles under his eyes and a worry hung about him. Something wasn't right. She moved towards him, reaching up to envelope him in a hug. When she stood on tiptoes to reach him she always had to remind herself that this tall wall of muscle had once nestled happily in her womb for 9 months. It was almost unbelievable.

Holding him tightly now, she knew there was something wrong. He hugged her back and sighed,

"I don't know what I'm doing Mum." He sounded lost.

She drew back to look at him, stroking his face.

"Well you're home with your mum now, so we can sort it all out." She eyed his hold-all on the floor, "how long are you staying?"

He shrugged. She nodded and patted his chest,

"Right, come on, coffee and a seat in the conservatory and you can tell me all about it while your Father is out. No need to have him asking a million questions."

Charles smiled at his Mum's take charge, problem solving attitude, it had helped him out of quite a few sticky situations over the years.

"Coffee sounds great Mum."

—

Charles hadn't intended going to Bath. Molly had asked him what he had planned for the next few days and he'd been a bit vague in his reply. He'd mentioned a possible trip to B&Q, running, catching up with some guys from his new base, but really he knew he was going to sit in his flat and think about Molly and what the hell he was going to do about his predicament. After a sleepless night which saw him rise in time to see Molly's taxi collect her at 6am, he was already jumping out of his skin with frustration.

He called Elvis,

"Charlie, what's up?"

"Hi Elvis, just wondering what you're up to this week? I've got some time on my hands, thought I might take a London trip."

"Oh mate no can do, I'm on ops."

"Oh no problem, where?" Charles tried to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"Ah need to know basis mate, but safe to say it's a war zone."

Charles smiled to himself, he and Elvis had got pretty good at deciphering each other's need to know shorthand over the years. He was fairly sure Elvis was in Syria, but he didn't question it further.

"Sounds right up your street Captain Harte. Give me a ring when you're back, but I'm going to Kenya next Wednesday."

"Roger that Charlie, catch up soon. I wanna hear if you've made any progress with that neighbour of yours."

"Yeah...um, about that."

There was a crackling on the line,

"Sorry Charlie gotta go, speak soon." Then the line went dead.

Charles sighed and looked at the clock. After a moment's hesitation he looked up flights from Edinburgh to Bristol. Before he knew it, he was parking up in the long stay car park and checking in for a flight. It occurred to him on the airport bus service from Bristol to Bath that he should have called his parents, but they would have just asked questions. He was going to speak to his Mum before his internal monologue threatened to send him into a padded cell, but he really didn't want to do it over the phone so he sat back and tried to relax as much as he could when he was about to give voice to the thoughts running through his head. The thoughts that signalled he may have to seriously rethink where he was going in life.

—

Jennifer and Charles had been sitting in silence for 11 minutes. Jennifer had been counting on her watch. She knew her son better than he knew himself at times and it was best to let him start talking when he wanted. She'd made a few comments about the weather, the garden, neighbours etc., but she waited, outwardly patient. Inside she was jiggling nervously. She'd seen Charles like this once before, when he came to tell her Rebecca was pregnant. Something must have happened in Edinburgh, she knew he should never have moved like he did. She shook her head,

"What?" Charles voice startled her.

"Nothing darling, just thinking."

"About me?"

"Yes darling, about you, I'm worried about you."

Charles leaned back against the sofa cushions, lacing his hands behind his head, he closed his eyes,

"I met someone Mum."

Ok, this was not what Jennifer was expecting.

"Oh yes?" She tried to keep her tone even.

Charles opened his eyes and nodded,

"Yes and I don't really know what's going on."

"Is this someone a girl?"

Charles rolled his eyes, "Yes mum, I've told you, if I was gay, I would tell you."

"I'm just making sure you know it's totally fine if you are!"

"So you've said a few times," he laughed, "just because I'm still single doesn't mean I'm gay."

"Well then, you better start from the beginning. Who is this someone and how have they got you in such a tizz?"

—

"So she left this morning for Ibiza and here I am."

Jennifer sat in silence, desperately trying to process everything Charles had just told her.

"Mum?"

"Sorry darling, that is a lot of information. In fact I don't think you told me that much about Rebecca in all the time you were together."

"Mm what does that tell you?" Charles said wistfully.

Jennifer's jangling nerves had ratcheted up with each part of Charles' story. She relished the opportunity to sit and talk so openly with her son when he often kept all his thoughts and emotions tightly packed away. It was a wonderfully warm connection she was experiencing with him and she was worried it would stop all too soon.

At the same time, she was trying to figure out where he was going with all this information. So far he'd given her a complete run down of how he met this girl, when he'd seen her, where they'd been, what they'd talked about and of course the fact that she seemed unable to enter into a military partner situation, but Charles still hadn't told his Mum what this all meant for him. She didn't dare to hope that it meant he was thinking of not going to Kenya, she'd suffered that disappointment acutely after his injury when she thought she finally had him home safe and sound.

"So my darling, I think it's safe to say this Molly has made quite an impression on you."

"Yes, she has." Charles looked down at his knees, fiddling with a thread on his jeans.

"So what are you not saying?"

He remained silent. How was it that his Mum always knew? He couldn't see that Rebecca had any of that mother's intuition and yet Jennifer could sense things without a word.

He was terrified to say what he needed to. Saying it made it real, shaking the foundations of his plans, his life, his belief in the army and his place in it. He also didn't want to build up his Mum's hopes when he knew all she wanted was him safe. However, this was why he'd jumped on a plane with no planning and come here to see her. It was now or never.

Jennifer waited patiently.

Charles took a deep breath and blew it out slowly.

"I don't want to go on tour Mum. In fact I'm not sure I want to stay in."