A/N: Sorry this has taken so long. Work has been very busy, and that combined with moving house has left me no time to update at all. Not sure when there'll be another update after this one, I'll do my best to not leave it as long as last time though. Thanks for reading!
"I just got a phone call from Vera, Bea is on her way back to Wentworth now – only three days so not as bad as it could have been, have you given any more thought to her appeal Franky? What angle do you think you'll go with?" I ask, bringing two glasses of wine over to the sofa, where my wife is sitting, working on her laptop.
"That's good about Red, Allie will be happy. Ugh, as for the appeal? I'll admit, I'm struggling – I mean, there's no denying she's guilty of the two murders. However, given her first conviction was thrown out of court – the whole trying to kill her husband thing, I'm thinking we could approach this by making a timeline – if you like, of circumstances leading up to the Jacs Holt murder, I can get records from Vera, hopefully that will give me grounds to even try and get a retrial." Franky trails off.
"Whoa – wait Franky, a retrial? I thought we were just trying to get her a bit less time or the possibility of parole! You honestly think a judge will allow a retrial?" I look at her, shocked by this revelation.
"You said it yourself Gidge, if she had never gone into Wentworth, none of it would have ever happened – her daughter, the subsequent murders – none of it. The husband testified saying she wasn't guilty of his attempted murder – meaning she was innocent while being held on remand. Whatever happened to duty of care? Huh? How did all of it go so wrong, so fast for her?"
"I know baby, no one deserves that. Just remember though, we have friends who were guards when all this happened – make sure you don't bring them down while pursuing this." I hand her the glass of wine, which she gladly accepts.
"I know, it'll be fine. Shit, no it won't. fuck I'm such an idiot." I look at her, perplexed.
"What? Why?"
"Erica! She was Governor then, with what I have so far about failings to keep prisoners safe, injuries inflicted within the prison – god, not to mention the whole fuck up with Debbie – Gidge, this sort of thing could potentially put her behind bars, I-I don't know what to do." Her eyes are sparkling with tears at the uncertainty she now faces.
"Darling, I never even thought – how sure are you this would be blamed on Erica? Is that certain? Maybe you could speak with her, see if she has any records proving she went to the board with any concerns? She can't go to prison Franky." I say, unsure where to even begin trying to help.
"Right, well I'll need to speak with her anyway because she's going to be a witness if this goes to trial – Maura will kill me Gidge, like literally kill me – with the wedding and them trying for a baby – they're both going to absolutely hate me!"
"Okay, calm down – just breathe, at least right now you can control how you go about this, so – where do we start?" I ask, taking her hand in my own.
"Well I need to talk to Erica – let her know what's happening so she's prepared I guess, at least give her a heads up. Then talk to Red, inform her of the plan – see where that gets us."
"Okay, good – well why don't we invite Erica and Maura over for dinner and you can discuss everything then?"
"Yeah, okay – maybe we can use Olivia as a buffer?" Franky adds, slightly laughing.
"That could work babe, well as long as she isn't having a tantrum – in that case I don't think the night will go very well."
"True – well I don't know about you Gidge, but I'm exhausted, think I'm just going to head to bed – you joining me?" Franky asks, standing up and leaving most of the wine I gave her on the coffee table.
"I'm just going to finish off my glass and read a bit more of this journal – I'll be no more than half an hour." I say, as she leans down and kisses my forehead.
Before she can walk away, I stand and wrap my arms around her neck.
"I want a proper kiss Franky." I say, in what I realise quickly after was a rather whiny voice. She looks straight into my eyes as I look back at hers, then without warning lifts me off the carpet, I wrap my legs around her waist for balance.
"Franky!" I yelp out in surprise.
"You said you wanted a proper kiss." She responds, then crashes her lips to my own – completely full of need and desire. We moan into each other mouths, as tongues battle against one another's. We finally break apart, breathing heavily from the lack of oxygen, Franky still has me cradled around her body.
"I love you so, so much Gidge – you make me so happy – both you and Olivia do – I know the next little while might be hard and I'll probably be working a lot, possibly distracted. Just don't forget how much you mean to me." She brings our lips back together in a much less heated kiss this time, showing me that she means every word.
"I love you too – and yes this probably won't be easy, but we'll get through it like we do everything else – together." With one final kiss, she gently lowers me back to the carpet, says goodnight and heads off to our bedroom.
The next morning, I phone Maura to invite her and Erica to dinner, they happen to be free tonight so we agree on the time of 7pm, hoping Olivia will be settled by then. Franky and I have work, she is going to have a talk with Bea, to inform her of the developments and the next steps we can take.
"Oh hi Boomer, how are you this morning?" I smile as I walk into the Livingroom and see Boomer feeding Olivia – who's just woken up.
"Moring Bridget, I'm good thanks – how are you?" she asks in return.
"I'm fine, just wish I didn't need to go to work so I could spend the day with my favourite little girl." I walk over and stroke Olivia's cheek as I say this, she's looking back at me with wide eyes, which seem to get more and more like Franky's every day.
"She misses you and Franky when you're at work – it's funny, she'll look around the room as if she's trying to see where you are – I just need to tell her that she's stuck with me!" Boomer passes Olivia over so I can have a quick cuddle while we wait for Franky to finish getting ready. A few minutes later, two arms wrap around me from behind, holding both myself and Olivia.
"Good morning." Franky says, placing a kiss on the side of my head, Olivia notices her right away and flails her arms while making grunting noises, a clear signal she wants to be held by my wife.
"I think your daughter wants snuggles with her mummy before work." I say, turning and passing Olivia to her.
"Well hello little girl." Franky says, placing kisses all over Olivia's face and head, as she squeals in delight. I walk to the kitchen to make coffee, letting them have a little alone time together.
"You didn't need to make that Boomer; I was just coming to do it – but thanks." I say, noticing the two travel mugs had already been filled for Franky and I.
"Thought I'd give you both a little extra time with Olivia – Franky seems like she needs it this morning." I forget sometimes that Boomer and my wife lived with one another in such close quarters for so long, she picks up on her emotions just like I do.
"Hmm, yes – just a tough case coming up, I think her hardest yet. She'll be fine though."
"I know, she has you and Olivia to get her through anything." I smile at Boomer's words.
"She has you too, I know she's so glad you're back being a part of her life – and Olivia and I are grateful to have you here too."
"Thanks Bridget, that really means a lot to me."
"Gidge, we need to leave or I'll be late for my meeting!" Franky calls from the Livingroom.
"Okay babe, just coming,"
"Oh, Boomer, we have friends coming over for dinner tonight, would you be able to stay a little later and get Olivia ready for bed? We normally like to do that as you know – but this dinner is important and Franky will need to relax – a screaming baby getting bathed won't be ideal."
"No problem at all, I can stay until about 9pm if that would be okay?"
"Perfect, you might not need to stay that late though, just until she's settled but thank you." I say, picking up the travel mugs and heading to my wife, Boomer close behind to take Olivia from Franky's reluctant arms. We say our goodbyes, giving Olivia a few kisses before heading out the door.
Work was very slow, I just had a few routine sessions scheduled, and thankfully nothing else came up – Franky was more or less the same, her meeting with Bea was this afternoon, but she hasn't spoken much about it yet – so I'm unsure how it went.
"What will I make for dinner then Gidge? Pasta dish or something like that? Will probably be the quickest option." My wife's words take me out of my daydream, and I realise I've just been staring at the fridge for the last five minutes.
"Hmm, yeah sounds good." I reply, half-heartedly.
"Baby? What's wrong?" Franky asks, walking so she's in front of me, placing her hands on my hips to stop me turning away.
"I – well I'm just thinking, what if this re-trial you're aiming for leaves us with no friends because they all hate us?" I blurt out, I've been trying to keep strong and be supportive of Franky but I'm still scared it will all go wrong and the worst case scenario – Franky inadvertently sends the people we care about to prison.
"That won't happen." Franky says, very matter of fact as she pulls me into her arms.
"How do you know? Anything is possible – we can't possibly predict the outcome." I say, face pressed to Franky's neck. She pulls back from the tight embrace and takes my face in her hands while looking me directly in the eye.
"Well, I know Gidge because there isn't going to be a re-trial, possibly an appeal on length of sentence – that's all. Turns out, Allie is in for ten years, so Red wants to be with her, also she says that for the most part the Screws have been good to her – especially Will – and she doesn't want to ruin anymore lives, that's it, so no more worrying okay? I don't even need Erica or Vera or anyone else now – the appeal for a reduction in sentence will just be Red, a judge, and myself behind closed doors."
"Really? You're sure – so our friends won't hate us in the near future then?" Franky just chuckles as she brings our lips together.
"No babe, don't worry okay – so let's just have a nice dinner with Maura and Erica and forget about this. You think they've set a date yet?"
"That makes me so relieved! Ooh maybe, they said just very small though so who knows with them."
"Hmm, yeah they say that – but you know what they're like! They'd invite everyone they know if they could."
"They would yes – but that would be very expensive – and if they plan on having a baby, well I think we know first-hand how expensive they are!" I say as we finally break apart.
"Expensive – yes, but worth every penny? A million times yes." Franky says in reply with a smile, then I notice her face turn more serious.
"What you thinking?" I ask as she starts to busy herself chopping some vegetables.
"Just that I wish I'd met you ten years earlier, before prison and all that shit – you know, under normal circumstances – don't you – I mean sometimes wish that?"
"Well, I'm a great believer that everything happens for a reason, who knows if we would have even been the same people without those ten years' worth of experiences." I say, also busy now taking things out of the fridge to prepare dinner.
"I want another one." Franky says so quickly I almost miss it, I drop the jar I just picked out of the fridge and it smashes onto the floor, small shards hitting my legs as it breaks into thousands of tiny pieces.
"Shit! Ouch!" I say, looking down to see some glass now embedded in my shin.
"Gidge, baby – are you okay? Stay still so you don't stand on anymore, two seconds." Franky stops what she's doing and rushes to me, immediately noticing some blood. She scoops me up off the floor since I'm barefoot and carries me to the sofa, before running to get the first aid kit to clean me up.
"I'll need to get the glass out; this will probably sting babe." She says, tending to each cut carefully. My head is spinning, all I keep replaying in my head are Franky's words 'I want another one' – I mean, we haven't talked about the possibility, I took that as a given we were content with Olivia – but now?
"Gidge you good? That's me done, looked worse than it was." I just stare at my wife as she speaks, unsure what to say.
"Another one?" Is the first thing to leave my mouth before I can think any further.
"Huh?" Franky narrows her eyes, trying to understand.
"You said, and I quote, 'I want another one' Franky, what did you mean?" My voice is small as I look at her.
"Umm – oh. Right well I was just thinking it might be kinda nice, a little brother or sister for Olivia, but that's just my thought, I mean it's unlikely it would happen – I know, but still doesn't stop me imagining having another. What do you think?" my eyes fill with tears at the idea of another little baby in our family – how could I possibly say no?
"Yes! I mean, I'd thought about it but dismissed it because I didn't think you'd want to try again – I'm older this time Franky, the chances are small."
"Well – you see that's the other thing…I was kinda hoping that this time around, I could try? Seeing you last time, everything you went through – well apart from the sickness – was so amazing, I really want to try – I know the odds aren't in our favour but I want this for us."
"Are you serious? Oh my God, yes Franky! Of course, that would be amazing baby." I pull her to me and kiss her, when we break apart, slightly breathless – she stares at me as though she's wanting to say more.
"What babe?" I say, lightly touching her cheek.
"Well I was hoping; we could try with one of your eggs? I just really want a little Gidget – it would be perfect." I'm speechless, I really can't believe any of this conversation.
"Seriously? You want to carry my biological child?"
"Yes, you carried Olivia from my egg, so it only seems right, plus anything from you will be absolutely beautiful.
"Oh Franky, so are we actually going to do this? Maybe we should think though – I mean how many tries? We can't do procedure after procedure – we were so lucky with Olivia."
"I know, well how about we make an appointment with Dr Cooper and see what she says? We don't have anything to lose by asking questions." I just smile at how my wife is always so level-headed.
"Good idea – I just hope everything will be okay and we can at least try – I mean, if it did work, Olivia would probably be two, or at least nearing that age, so it would be a nice gap I think." Franky kisses me again.
"Is it bad I really want another girl? I mean, I would be delighted with a boy – but a girl that looked just like you – Gidge, I would be so, so happy if that were to happen."
"Well let's not get ahead of ourselves – at this point I don't really care what we get, so long as the baby is healthy – that's all that matters."