Thank you so much to those who have already read and reviewed the first chapter of this so far. I really appreciate your kind words and taking the time to read and review. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Two
Fifteen Years Ago…
"Our first place together," Joey said proudly.
She and Charlie, with the help of Charlie's parents, were renting a small, two bedroom house together, right by the beach with their baby girl who they absolutely doted on. Joey was working hard on a fishing trawler every day, meaning early starts and coming home, straight into the shower before Charlie would go anywhere near her. Charlie was doing part time admin work at the police station, trying to absorb any police work she could before she would be eventually able to train. She didn't want to take on anything full time until it felt okay to leave Ruby for long periods and that time didn't feel like now.
At times, she felt frustrated. A couple of kids from school, Georgie Watson and Angelo Rosetta had gone off to police training immediately and she knew they would qualify long before she did. Being a police officer had been her dream since she was a child. But her life had changed one fateful night at a party when events had spiralled out of her control. And so her dreams had changed. She and Joey had bot adapted to circumstances and she would forever be grateful for the way Joey's love seemed so boundless. Their life was for their daughter. And of course, for each other. Joey and Ruby were Charlie's entire world and they always would be.
"Yep!" Charlie beamed, slipping her arm around Joey's waist.
Joey turned around in her arms and kissed her.
"I love you," she said.
They kissed again.
"I love you too," Charlie said. "And I am very much looking forward to having our own place…"
She grinned. Joey blushed.
"Well, your parents have been very hospitable since they let me move in but… yeah, our own place will have its benefits," she agreed.
They kissed again, laughing when Ross and Karen Buckton walked cheerfully through the door. Ruby was on Ross's hip. She clapped and lurched towards Joey who caught her just in time. Charlie watched them for a moment, knowing Joey was sincere in her gratitude. Joey's own family had not been as supportive of Joey in any way, throughout her life and even less so when she came out. Charlie's parents had taken her in as a member of their family, no questions asked.
"The movers are just pulling up," Karen said.
"Let's get cracking then, I guess!" Charlie said.
Present Day
Charlie hadn't slept. It wasn't quite how she'd imagined spending her birthday. The bed seemed suddenly so huge without Joey beside her. She realised that she had been right. She had become so used to having her beside her, always so supportive, so loving, so reliable. She had been her constant since they were teenagers, thrown together on a school project and been inseparable ever since. Well, until now. They had been through so much together but they had never been broken by anything before.
Across town, Joey had also not slept. Alex had very kindly picked her up that night and she had holed up in hers and her wife, Willow's spare room. She felt bad about it. They were only in the 'honeymoon' phase of their relationship really. They'd been together for three years but only married for six months. She and Charlie had been together for years but they hadn't made it up the aisle. When the law had changed, they hadn't wanted to rush, they said. Really, Joey had been longing for Charlie to ask her. She had been longing for a romantic proposal. But it had never come. And now, it looked like it was all over.
She rolled over, burying her face in her pillow. She couldn't even contemplate the day ahead. How could she even face a life without Charlie? How could she not be a full time parent to Ruby? Had she made a huge mistake by walking out last night? Was it too late to take everything back? Better yet, would Charlie have had time to think and come knocking on the door, promising everything would change so they could begin to rebuild their lives again?
Ruby was up and out early, eager to escape the confines of her house. Out in the fresh air, she headed down to the beach, wondering how late she should leave it before she called her mother. She was desperate to speak to her, to beg her to come home and for both her Mums to stop being stubborn and work things out. She wasn't stupid. She knew things hadn't been great between them for a while. Things had definitely changed over the past year or so. Their home wasn't the warm, happy place it had been for her entire life. There was a feeling of unease at home now, of discontentment. It wasn't fun. But ending their relationship wasn't the answer, Ruby was sure. They loved each other, didn't they? They had been together since they were barely older than Ruby was now. How could they just throw that away?
"Hey!"
Her former school friend, Ryder Jackson waved at her as he jogged out of the sea, clutching a surfboard. He was new to the sport but seemed to be learning quickly. She waved without enthusiasm, hoping that he would walk on by. She wasn't really in the mood to chat and Ryder talked a lot. He didn't walk by. He wasn't the type. He stopped and sat down beside her, looking far too cheerful for the mood she was in.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Not much," she lied.
"You look like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders," he remarked.
"Rough day," she said.
"It's only 9am!"
"My troubles know no limits," she replied.
"Well, I'm always here if you need to chat," he promised.
She thanked him. But there were only two people who could solve her particular issue right now – and their own.
Joey emerged downstairs, showered and dressed; her hair was still wet.
"Coffee's hot," Willow said, lifting the post.
Joey thanked her. Willow poured. Joey sank down at the table beside her.
"Alex is just at the Diner," Willow explained. "We thought some pastries might be the order of the day."
"You guys are the best," Joey said grateful.
On cue, Alex arrived back with breakfast and a big smile, wishing Joey good morning.
"Morning," Joey said. "Thanks for picking me up. I kind of wasn't expecting to need my car last night."
"Well, I'm happy to take you home this morning if you want…?" Alex said hopefully.
"If you could drop me to my car, I'll book into a motel or something," Joey said. "I won't outstay my welcome here, I swear."
"That's not really what I mean, Jo," Alex said, as Willow shared the food around.
Joey sighed.
"Was this not just a silly fight?" Alex asked, getting right to the point.
"Well, that's up to Charlie, I guess," Joey said. "But… it didn't feel like it."
She sighed heavily and sipped her coffee. She glanced at her phone. No missed calls. She longed for Charlie to ring her, to at least want to sort things out.
"I'm sure when she's slept on it, she'll wake up and realise what she faces to lose," Willow said. "Even Charlie can't be that stubborn. You wait, she'll be round here with roses and grovelling apologies before we've even finished breakfast!"
Joey smiled weakly. She hoped her friends' optimism was well founded.
Deciding it was late enough to call, Ruby selected Joey's number in her phone and pressed 'call'. Joey answered straight away.
"Hello?"
"Mum-J?" Ruby asked.
"Hey, sweetheart," Joey said sadly. "How are you? Did you sleep okay?"
Alex and Willow concluded that she was not talking to Charlie.
"Not really," Ruby said. "Are you coming home?"
"I don't know," Joey admitted. "Have you spoken to your Mum?"
"No," Ruby said. "I slipped out to the beach early this morning."
Joey sighed.
"Be kind to her, Ruby," she begged. "Please?"
"How can I be?" Ruby asked.
"Because she's your Mum and she loves you."
"You're my Mum too."
"And I love you too," Joey agreed. "And if you love us both, please do what I'm asking. Your Mum needs you more than ever right now, okay?"
"Okay," Ruby said sullenly.
"I'll call you later, okay, sweetheart? I'm so sorry about all of this. I know it's sudden and I'm sorry I don't have a proper plan."
"I understand," Ruby said unhappily. "And for the record, it's not sudden."
The house had been uncomfortably empty when Charlie had ventured downstairs. Ruby had obviously got up and gone out early. She hadn't left a note. And Joey… was gone. Her absence was suffocating. She hadn't been in touch, although Charlie had checked her phone constantly all through the night and all morning. Charlie had no idea what she was supposed to do. Was she meant to be giving Joey space or was she meant to be hurrying after her? She and Joey had only ever been together. Her previous experience of relationships had been a boyfriend she'd had from the age of eleven to seventeen, who was now a seriously dodgy criminal that she had arrested on multiple occasions and spent his life in and out of jail. She had definitely dated up after him.
But having never broken up with anyone before (and wanted them back), she didn't know what her next move was supposed to be. Joey had stormed out. Was she meant to wait for her to come back? Or was she meant to go and find her?
Or was she supposed to go with the third option, which was brewing inside her – that she was feeling increasingly pissed off that Joey had chosen her birthday to end their seventeen year relationship? Could she not have forgiven her on her birthday of all days for one tiny mistake? She was in a high pressured job that sometimes did mean she had to stay past her hours and Joey should just understand that. Even if they'd had a civilised discussion about it today, could Joey not have controlled her anger enough to at least not have ruined Charlie's birthday? Surely that would have been fair? Maybe Joey wasn't the one who should have been upset after all.
She jumped when her daughter barged through the door. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, both of them sad.
"Hey," Ruby eventually said. "I spoke to Mum-J."
"You saw her?" Charlie asked.
"No. Just on the phone."
"What did she say?"
She was annoyed with herself for being so desperate.
"Not much," Ruby said. "Mostly just worried about you but that's Mum-J for you. She cares too much. Even when we don't appreciate it."
Charlie wasn't interested. She had spent the morning working herself up, deciding that her partner was the problem.
"So, it's all my fault, I guess," she accused.
"Well, if the cap fits," Ruby said, immediately feeling guilty for not being kind, as she had promised.
But she also felt that her mother needed to know she had behaved badly.
"Of course you'd side with her," Charlie said angrily. "It's always been you and Joey. She could go out and have an affair and it'd be my fault somehow. I've always been excluded from your little team! You'd have thought she carried you for nine months and she went through ten hours of labour when she was still a kid herself!"
"Right, we're going to argue about who's more of a Mum to me, are we?" Ruby challenged. "Because fine, you carried me, you gave birth to me and I know they were the worst circumstances in the world, ever - but Mum-J has been more of a parent over the last couple of years, let's face it."
"Thanks a lot, Ruby," Charlie said, her heart breaking.
"I'm just saying it like it is," Ruby told her. "We hardly ever see you and you know that's the truth. You love your job more than you love us. I know it. You know it. And I guess Mum-J just got sick of it. You couldn't expect her to put up with it forever, could you?"
She headed upstairs and into her room.
Next time… In the past, Ruby learns the truth and in the present, Charlie and Joey attempt to talk things through…
