It's almost a month for Josh's discharge papers to come through. During this time, he is allowed to stay in base housing while he looks for a new place.

The first week felt as if he was on holiday, sleeping in and doing whatever he fancied. He contacted Lucy and arranged to visit with his daughter. He told Lucy that he wanted weekly visits at the very least. She said she would think about it. He wasn't at all happy with that answer.

Josh found a small townhouse in the Edge Hill area just outside of Cairns proper. It was a perfect location being within walking distance of the Botanical Gardens and Stan Williams Park. Perfect for walks with Emma.

By the third week, he was moving in. He set up a nursery for Emma in the second bedroom, getting his sister Amanda to help him decorate. They chose a pastel peach for the walls with light grey accents—the cot and dresser in white with a light grey glider chair. The dresser doubled as a changing table. Amanda found a pretty peach, grey and white area carpet in soft plush. On one wall, she added a large tree decal with a climbing koala bear. Josh bought a giant plush koala as well.

Josh was settled into his townhouse just about a week when he called Lucy and asked her to come by to talk and so that she could see the townhouse and Emma's room.

Just before Emma was born, Lucy had moved in with her mum. Josh would go over there when he was on shore leave to visit with Emma. Now that he had his own place, he wanted time alone with her, without interference from Lucy's mum or Lucy.

Lucy arrived with her mother and Emma. Josh beamed when he saw his baby girl and took her from Lucy's mum straight away, holding her close while doing the baby bounce and kissing her plump cheeks.

"Lucy, Linda, please sit. Can I get you a drink? A brew or some tea?" hoping to lessen the tension in the room. They both declined.

"May I show you around? I have a nursery set up for Emma," Josh said, leading them down the short hallway to the nursery. Lucy and her mother shared a look.

"Josh," Lucy says, "It's very nice. You did this on your own?" as she admired the nursery.

"My sister Amanda helped."

"The room is lovely, Josh," Linda says. She looked around; the room had everything: a mobile over the cot, a tummy time mat, and a few toys and books.

Returning to the living room, Lucy and her mum took a seat on the couch, and Josh sat in the rocker with Emma.

"Josh, it's time for her bottle and to have her nappy changed," Lucy stood, reaching for the baby.

"Please, let me," he said.

"You should change her first in case she falls asleep," Linda chimed in.

"Alright." Taking Emma to her room, he placed her on her changing pad and took care of her nappy, all the while Linda was hovering. Returning to the living room, he took up her bottle and sat in the rocker that he had bought to do just this. Settling Emma comfortably in his arms and gently rocking while giving her her bottle.

"Don't forget to bring up air," Linda instructs.

Josh just gives her an exasperated look while raising an eyebrow, " I'm good, I've got this."

Emma finished her bottle, closed her beautiful blue eyes and fell asleep.

"So," he begins. "Now that I am out of the Navy and will have a reasonable schedule, I would like regular visits with Emma, here, including overnights."

"Do you think that's wise?" Linda asked.

Taking a deep breath and trying to remain calm, "What's that supposed to mean? I've been around babies. She's my daughter. Amanda, my sister, is nearby if there are any issues. Which there won't be. I'm her father, and I want time with her."

"You can come and visit with her once a week," Lucy says.

"Not acceptable. Lucy, I will not be a part-time father showing up for a few hours a week and on birthdays. I don't want to have to take this to court, but I will if I have to. I want my parental rights."

"Well, Josh, I think you should just go ahead and try. Good luck with that. We're done here," Lucy says as she reached for the sleeping Emma. Not wanting to argue over the baby, Josh stood and followed them to the door. "Nice place, Josh," Lucy says as she leaves.

Josh returned to the living room, pacing, mumbling and trying to calm himself. ( Well, that went about how I expected) he thought. Then he called his sister.

"Hey Josh, how did it go with Lucy?" Amanda asked.

"Well, about how I expected. I had Lucy and Cruella over, as you know. I wanted them to see the place was clean and decent and to see Emma's room. I told her that I wanted unsupervised visitation and overnights."

"And?"

"A flat, 'no'. She said I could have one day a week at their place. I said that that wasn't acceptable and that I would take it to the courts if I had to."

"Yeah, and?"

"They pretty much said 'good luck with that'."

"Alright then, that's just what we'll do. I'll speak with Jared when he gets home. Even if he can't take the case himself, I'm sure one of his partners will."

"Thanks, Sis."

"No worries, little bro. I'll call you later. Oh, and Josh, best get on finding a job. The court will be more favourable if you are working."

"Yeah, I have something working. I'll let you know how it goes. Talk to ya soon."

After disconnecting from his sister, he went to the kitchen, grabbed a beer and went to sit on his balcony to think.

Amanda decided not to wait until her husband came home to talk to him; she called him at the office. He was more than happy to help, and he gave Josh a call.

" Hey, Josh, Jared. How're things, Mate? Amanda tells me you need some help with visitation or custody of Emma."

"Yeah, Lucy and her mum have got it in their heads that I can only see Emma at her house and on their schedule. It's like supervised visits with social services. I want time alone with my daughter."

"Understandable. Why not come for dinner and we'll talk about your case. And Josh, you do have one."

"That's great; when?"

"Does tonight work? I assume that you want to get right on this."

" I do. What time would you like me?"

"Come whenever. We usually eat around 6:00. We can talk over dinner."

"Super, I'll see you then."

That night Jared collected all of Josh's information. He suggested a paternity test to satisfy the court and confirm his parental rights.

"That's going to go over big," Josh says.

"I'll get a court order, let her know that we mean business, and she won't be able to put it off."

Two days after his dinner with Amanda and Jared and the opening of his custody suit, Josh received the call that he had been waiting for. Search, and Rescue Cairns called for an interview.

Josh got the job without any difficulty. His Navy background and his active duty assignments all had worked in his favour as he would require very little training and would be able to join a team right away. He was to report to the station the following Monday morning.

It's July, and three months after partitioning for shared custody of Emma, the case was finally resolved. Josh was granted shared custody, and Emma's last name was officially changed to Holiday. A court-appointed liaison helped with the development of the custody schedule. By the time the case was settled, Emma was six months old. Josh was to have her every other week and weekend, which worked perfectly with his work schedule of seven days on then seven days off with search and rescue.

As soon as Josh's petition for custody was settled, Amanda sprung into action. She wanted to give Josh a surprise party to celebrate gaining shared custody of Emma and to have a very late baby shower. She made a list of the things that he could use and gave their mum and sister Gail a call.

Diane was thrilled. "Amanda, what a fantastic idea! I can't wait to meet her! I'm sure Gail will be more than happy to come up too. When did you want to do this?"

"As soon as we can, Mum. You tell me when you can get here, and I will work with that. You can shop for the baby here, so you don't have to worry about bringing gifts."

"Perfect! This is exciting. Your brother doesn't know?"

"No, I want it to be a surprise. Josh has Emma every other week. So his next week with her will be the week after next, Sunday, 25 July, to the following Saturday."

"Let's plan for that then. I'll fly up on Saturday, 24th and we can go shopping. This is going to be so much fun!"

"Okay, Mum, just send me your plans when you have them."

"Will do. Can't wait to see you all."

"Me too. Bye, Mum."

Josh enjoyed his work with the search and rescue crew. He liked being outdoors and being active. He had missed the camaraderie that develops from working on a team.

Having just picked up Emma from Lucy's, he headed home. Pulling up to his place, he noticed Amanda's car was there.

"Hey Amanda," he called out as he walked into the house. I wasn't expecting you, but it's…"

As he walked into his living room, there was an enthusiastic "Surprise" shouted by his mother and sisters, Jared and his niece and nephew, Sophie and Daniel, as well as Gail's husband, Steve.

Momentarily speechless, Josh was stunned as he looked around his living room at his family. The enthusiastic shout startled Emma into a wail.

"Oh, my God! What's this? Mum? Gail? I didn't know you were coming up!" All the while bouncing and comforting Emma, who had quickly stopped crying.

His mother and sister Gail hugged him while his brother-in-law, Steve, shook his hand.

"Congratulations, Mate!" Steve said.

"Well, brother, don't just stand there, come sit!" Amanda said.

Sitting in his living room chair, he held Emma on his lap. Diane went over to him, " may I hold my granddaughter?"

Smiling, Josh passed Emma to her; then she sat in the rocker to get to know her.

Gail and Amanda had set out some light sandwiches, and there was cake. Then the gifts came out. Josh was overwhelmed and felt his eyes filling up.

"I can't tell you how special this all is. Thank you, Amanda. Mum, Gail, it's so great to see you."

"Well, it's about time that we got to meet this little one," Diane said as she cuddled Emma. "She's even more beautiful than her pictures!"

They visited and chatted, catching up on each other's lives. After a short discussion, they decided that Gail and Steve would stay with Amanda, and Diane would stay at Josh's.

"Josh, you and Amanda did a wonderful job on Emma's room. It's lovely." Diane complemented.

"Really, Josh, it's beautiful," Gail added.

"Thanks. It's Amanda's colour sense. "

"You're a wonderful father, Josh. I'm proud of you. I'm sure that your father would be too," Diane said sadly.

Over the week, Josh let his mum do as much as she wanted for Emma, and she was eating it up.

The week passed quickly, and before he knew it, he was saying goodbye to his mum and sister.

Thursday 6 August, and it was Josh's week to have Emma. Coming in from a walk in the gardens, Josh's phone rang. Checking his caller Id, he saw that the call was from Swain. They had been good friends, best friends really, on Hammersley and kept in touch after Josh left the Navy. Josh would also occasionally join his old crewmates at the pub when they came in from patrol. Sometimes he caught a glimpse of Nikki, reminding him how much he still missed her.

" Hey, Mate!" Swain greeted him. "We got in yesterday. How's it going?"

"Swaino!" Josh said, putting his phone on speaker so he could take care of Emma.

"Is your custody hearing over? How did you do?"

"Couldn't have gone better. We have shared custody with me having Emma every other week, Sunday to Saturday. Lucy wasn't happy about it, but she's adjusting. "

"Do you have her this week?"

"I do, just came in from walking in the gardens."

" Sally would love to see you and Emma. How about over dinner we catch up? Are you free tonight?"

"Yeah."

"What do you say, Harry's Pub down on the waterfront at 6:00?"

"Yeah, I know the place. Sounds good. I'll see you then."

"Come on, Emma, Luv, time for a nap. We're going on a date later." He brought her into her room, changed her nappy and cuddled while singing to her. When she was just about asleep, he kissed her head and laid her in her cot, covering her with a light blanket. Then he turned on her mobile and left her room.

Grabbing a beer, his book, and the baby monitor, he retreated to the balcony to relax and read. Maybe even get in a nap himself.

Josh had gathered everything that he would need for their night out and packed the nappy bag. Then he dressed Emma in a little sundress that Amanda had gotten for her and added a floral clip in her mop of curly blond hair.

He arrived at Harry's a little after 6:00, daddy bag in tow and spotted the Blakes at an outside table with their two children Chloe, five and Oliver, three. Swain stood to greet him.

"Josh, Mate! It's been too long! You know Sally…"

"Of course, nice to see you."

"You too. So this is the beautiful Emma," she said as she reached for her.

Josh released Emma from his arm, handing her over to Sally and then set her carry seat in the highchair that the waiter had brought over.

"Can I get you something to drink, Sir?" he asked.

"Please, a coke would be great," as he took a seat.

"My gosh, how big she's gotten since that last time we saw her."

"Yeah, I guess it's been a couple of months."

"She looks like her daddy with those wonderful blue eyes and blond curls. How old is she now?" Sally asks.

" Seven months."

"Is she crawling yet?" Sally asked.

"She just started, getting faster every day!"

They had ordered their meals, and fifteen minutes later, they were delivered to their table.

"Sally, I can sit her in her seat so you can eat."

"No worries, I'm used to this," as she expertly balanced Emma on her lap and ate.

Swain was smiling at his wife, "she'll be in baby withdrawal now,' chuckling.

" How's Hammersley? I miss the crew."

Not all he misses, Swain thinks. "Well, we all miss you too. You were fun to have around. The new "ET", we call him 'Sparky', well, let's just say he's not you. He comes by his name naturally, if you get my drift. He's kind of a dud too."

Looking down at the table, Josh asked shyly, " how's Nikki? Is she seeing anyone?"

"Nikki's okay, keeping her head down and concentrating on the work. I think she may be looking to take over as XO after Kate gets promoted. Not seeing anyone, as far as I know, she rarely leaves the ship. I don't know why she even bothers to keep an apartment."

Josh was feeling the pang of her loss and decided to tuck it away.

Swain asked how the custody hearing went, and they talked about that for a bit.

Dinner had been finished for a while, and the kids were getting restless.

" I should be getting little Miss Em home. It was so good to see you guys."

"We need to stay in touch better," Sally said.

"We do. Goodnight," he walked to his car, carrying Emma in her seat.

Sally took Chris's arm while grabbing onto Chloe's hand, and Chris took Oliver's.

"He's a wonderful father," Sally remarked. " I just never would have thought. I was surprised that he even went for custody. I figured he'd want to keep his freedom if you know what I mean."

"I'm not surprised. Josh's one of the most compassionate and selfless people I've ever worked with. After he found out about the baby, we talked a lot. He just kept saying how he was going to try and do it right. He was crushed when Nikki left him. It's a shame that Nikki wouldn't give him a chance. They're made for each other, and I know they're both still hurting."

It was just after 8:00 when Josh headed home with Emma, just as Nikki arrived at Paradise Lost, the crew's favourite after cruise pub. She was meeting Kate and Bomber for drinks and dinner. Rebecca, 'Bomber', Brown took over for Chefo when he transferred off Hammersley. The three women became fast friends.

Rebecca and Kate were sitting at the bar waiting for an empty table when Kate spotted Nikki and waved her over. The friends all hugged, grabbed their drinks, and headed over to an open table.

During dinner, Rebecca asks about Josh. "Have you heard from Josh?"

"No… we broke up, Bomber. ( I broke up, she thinks). That's what breaking up is."

"It's not like a real break up. It can't be. You two, it's written in the stars or something."

Kate has been quietly eating her dinner and staying out of this conversation.

"Bomber, leave it," Nikki says.

"Well, how long has it been?" Bomber asks, not about to let up.

Nikki, looking sad, "almost six months."

"Are you seeing anyone else or even been on a date?"

"Ahh, no, not seeing anyone. I did go on a couple of dates, but it just didn't feel right."

"Well," Bomber continues, "that should tell you something. You just don't want to admit that you still have feelings for Josh, and I would guess strong feelings."

Sighing, "change of subject please, Bomber."

Kate sat and listened to the conversation. Being Hammersley's XO, she was supposed to report any shipboard relationships. Nikki was her best friend and cabin mate. She knew about her and Josh, and she also knew that they never brought it onto the ship, so she looked the other way. (How could I not when I am secretly seeing Mike) Then with the break-up, problem solved.

Sitting unnoticed at a table in a dark corner of the pub was a middle-aged man with longish dark hair, beard, and heavy black plastic-framed glasses. He was dressed all in black and watched the three women intensely while sipping his beer and muttering to himself.

It was near 10 pm when their dinner party broke up."

"Do either of you need a ride?" Nikki asks.

"No, we're sharing a taxi," Kate answers.

"Nikki, do you want me to walk you to your car?" Bomber asked her.

Laughing, "Then who will walk you back? I'll be fine. See ya in a couple of days."

"Right you are."

"Night, Kate!" Nikki calls out as she walks away and towards her car.

"Night, Nik."

Sitting in his car in a dark area of the car park, the man from the pub was watching Nikki's car. When he saw the three women getting ready to leave, he had made sure to leave the pub just ahead of them. Then watching from his car as they exited the pub.

"There!" he says out loud and watches them say their goodnights and as Nikki headed for her car. He got out of his car, creeping and staying in the shadows; he approached the back of her car. As she went to unlock the door, he slinked out from behind the car, grabbed her and stuck a gun in her side.

"Hello, Lieutenant... Nice to see you again as he slapped a rag over her mouth and nose. Just as Nikki was rendered unconscious, she recognised his voice...Campbell Fulton.

Dragging her to his car, he laid her down in the back seat and secured her hands and feet then placed a piece of tape over her mouth. He unhurriedly drove out of the car park and towards the municipal marina.

Campbell Fulton had been festering like an infected boil. Nikki and Josh's statements following the "bird boat" incident and his behaviour while with the crew of Hammersley causedFulton to be fired from the Marine Protection Agency. Subsequently, he was charged with sexual assault because of his attack on Nikki. The accusation of attempted murder didn't stick due to a lack of evidence. The boat colliding with the rock was considered accidental. Even with the fight, the falling of the steel drum was seen to be caused by the collision, and therefore also accidental. Fulton was released on bail until his court date. He wanted revenge, and he finally had everything in place to get it.