Charlie couldn't help herself; after Aden had received a call and rushed out, she had taken Joyce's advice about getting acquainted with her office and was now sitting back in her chair with her feet on the desk and her hands behind her head, just taking in the moment. It just felt right, that things were finally going her way and she was finally where she belonged. While she had never once resented having to return to the Bay to look after Ruby, she had wondered at times where her career would be now if she'd stayed on the fast track. She had little doubt that she'd be further along but at what cost? She wouldn't have her friends, the new closeness she had found with her cousin and if she had stayed in the city, then she would have missed this chance with Joey. And while it may have taken a little longer, her career was still going forward and hopefully within a month or so, she'd be promoted to full Sergeant, so she really wouldn't change anything.

Her mind drifts toward Joey, her beautiful girlfriend, the woman she loved. She grins at the word, thinking love was the most marvellous word and one she had never truly appreciated until now. It was a word that was both scary and exciting. Scary as she had never thought it possible to feel this strongly about someone and she feared she wouldn't be able to cope if she ever lost Joey but it was also exciting, because her future now had so many possibilities she never saw herself having when it had just been random flings or relationships that she knew would go nowhere. There were kids to think about, where they would live, if they'd be buying or renting. She paused in her thoughts. "Shit, I'm a u-haul lesbian," she murmurs. There would come a time when she and Joey would be sharing a home sometime in the future, but she needed to slow down. Joey was just getting out of a marriage and the divorce could get messy if Angelo played difficult and kids were way off. She wasn't even sure if she wanted them herself and now that she thought about it, she remembered Joey saying something about Angelo wanting kids, but not her.

They planned to spend forever together, which meant she and Joey had plenty of time to talk about their future, so for the moment, she should just enjoy being with Joey and spending time making up for all those months apart. That really made her smile. In just one afternoon, she calculated they had only made up a small fraction of the months they were apart. She chuckled to herself. They'd wear themselves out if they did try to make up for all the lost time while living the present, but jesus, what a way to go.

He looks great, Joey thought as her father approached. He also didn't look very happy.

"Dad, this is a surprise," she says as brightly as she could.

"My daughter calls and says she's ending her marriage, I had to come to stop her from making an awful mistake."

"It's not a mistake."

"You two are made for each other."

"It was an arranged marriage dad, that hardly makes us made for each other and you and everyone else wanted this marriage more than I did. I did try to make it work for as long as I could, but I can't do it anymore."

"You didn't try hard enough," he interrupts harshly. "You love Angelo and if you had tried, your marriage wouldn't be in this mess."

"I only love him as a friend and that's not enough for me, that's why it didn't work."

"It's this other woman, isn't it?" Angelo had only been too willing to fill him in on this Charlie Buckton. He silently scoffs at her name; she had a man's name, a man's profession and he supposed, she thought she was man enough to keep a woman like his daughter satisfied. He never did understand this part of his daughter, the part that was attracted to women.

"His or mine," Joey fires back, "Because I'm not the only one who has found someone else."

"You surprise me Josephine, I never expected you to betray your vows," he says, ignoring what she had said.

"I never slept with Charlie while I was committed to my marriage, Angelo on the other hand, did break his vows. What does that say about him, dad, when he's the one who wanted this marriage more, that he loves me more, yet he's the one who's been sleeping with another woman during our marriage."

"So he made a mistake, he's only human."

"He's a man, you mean, therefore it's ok for him to stray, but not me."

"Don't be silly."

"That is what you meant, dad. If I hadn't found someone else but discovered my husband was cheating, you'd still tell me to stay with him, because he's allowed to have his little bit on the side. That's the way it goes, doesn't it?"

"If you're suggesting by your tone that I ever strayed from your mother, you couldn't be more wrong."

"I'm sorry dad, I know you were faithful to mum, but you still have this attitude and so do your buddies, including Angelo's father and I guess Angelo does as well." Her father couldn't argue with her on that. "I'm divorcing him dad, I've even got a lawyer already working on it."

"You can't get a divorce Josephine, not until you've been separated for a year."

"My lawyer is using the fact it was an arranged marriage to argue against the year and a day grounds for divorce, but even if she fails and I have to wait the year, my marriage is still over."

"If this other woman wasn't in the picture, you would have found a way to make this marriage work," he argues.

"I wasn't happy dad. This marriage was for the wrong reasons and even without Charlie, I don't know if I could have gone on for much longer."

"Angelo loves you and is a good man, despite his faults. Forget about this other woman, move back to the city with Angelo and give him another chance to make you happy."

"Her name is Charlie and I love her in a way I never thought was possible and there is no way I could ever forget her."

"Do this for me Josephine, I don't know how much time I have left."

"Please dad, don't do this."

"If you still want this woman after I'm gone, then you can leave Angelo and be with her."

"Why are you so desperate for this marriage to continue?"

"Because of a business deal," Aden says from behind her. His friends had come through and he'd rushed to find Joey as soon as he was off the phone. He hadn't expected to find her father here, though he supposed it wasn't all that surprising, considering what he'd already done. "It's a deal with Angelo's mother, signed on the day of your wedding. Of course, there was another part to the deal." Joey's father glares at Aden. "Though that part was just as much to please her son, while also being beneficial to both families."

"What's the other part?" Joey asks.

"Angelo wants kids and on the production of an heir to both the Collins/Rosetta fortunes, Mrs Rosetta's company would merge with your father's, with the hope that Angelo would quit the police and be groomed to take over."

"What!" Joey stares at her father. "You know I don't want another baby."

"You were only young the first time Joey, you're older now, more able to cope."

"I'm not a fucking broodmare," she angrily interrupts. "How could you do this?"

"I'm dying Josephine and seeing my little girl married and knowing she was going to be taken care of, was a weight off my shoulders and it's made my final days bearable. That's why I did this Josephine, for your future and the future of our family and is it really so bad being with Angelo, to be loved by a man who adores you, who would give you anything."

"He can't give me what Charlie can." She shakes her head sadly. "I know you love me dad, but I was never able to replace Brett, not like Angelo can. It's all about the family name and you need a son or grandson to carry on the family legacy, which makes me just a means to get you what you want."

"That's the way it has always been within the Collins family, even your mother understood her role."

"And she did it well, giving you a son first up, but I'm not her. I can't do this dad, I can't give you the grandchild you want and I can't continue on with this sham of a marriage."

"I'm," he clutches his chest, struggling for breath. "Oh god."

"Dad!" Joey rushes forward to help him as he starts to fall to the ground.

Having been walking nearby, Rachel rushes over to help. "What happened?" she asks.

"We were just talking and my father started to have trouble breathing and he was clutching his chest."

"I'm fine now," Mr Collins assures them, while standing up much straighter.

"Let's get you to the hospital, have you checked out," Rachel says. "Just to be safe."

"I don't need the hospital."

"Dad, don't be silly, you're sick and you need to be checked out."

"Just help me over to the car and I'll be fine."

"Why don't you want to go to the hospital?" asks Joey, confused by the way he was acting.

"Because it's unnecessary."

"A man with a disease that is killing him collapses and you're saying it's unnecessary to go to the hospital?"

"What could they do for me?"

"I really think you should go to the hospital," Rachel reiterates.

"I just need to rest and I can do that at the hotel room."

"Hotel? You're staying here?" Joey asks.

"At the Sands."

"Why don't you just quit lying," Aden interrupts. "And just tell her the truth."

"Aden, stay out of this." He had always had a grudging respect for Aden, especially his friendship with his daughter, but he was not family and he didn't appreciate his interference.

"No. We both love Joey, but only one of us here is thinking of what is best for her. Tell her the truth, or I will."

"What's he talking about dad?"

Aden waits for her father to answer, yet he stayed silent. "The deal with the Rosetta's wasn't the only thing my friends found out." Aden pauses, giving her father one more chance to speak up. He sighs when he doesn't. "Joey, your father isn't dying, he's not even sick, he never has been."

Joey stares at her father while Rachel looks at him with disgust. "Is that true dad?"

"Of course not!"

"Then go to the hospital with Rachel and let her check you over." Joey moves away from him when he wouldn't meet her eyes. "I can't believe you would do something like this," she says in a visibly shaken voice. "How could you put me through this again after we watched while mum slowly faded away from us?" She puts her hand up to stop his reply. "Don't even bother answering that, nothing you can say could ever possibly justify what you have done."

"I'm sorry Joey," Aden says. "This wasn't the way I wanted to tell you."

"I just," she shakes her head and looks away from her father. "I don't even want to look at you right now." She sways slightly, suddenly feeling ill.

"Joey!" Aden catches her before she hits the ground.

"What happened?" Joey asks when she wakes up a short time later and realises she was in the back of an ambulance.

"You fainted," Rachel tells her. "Have you been feeling ill lately?"

Joey nods. "I've felt nauseous at times over the last couple of days, just like you said I might."

"Ok, it could be a result of your head injury, so I'd like to run some tests when we get to the hospital." She hesitates. After hearing about the breakup of Joey's marriage and the little scene with her father, Rachel was a little hesitant about bringing this up, but she didn't have a choice. "Joey, there could be another cause for your nausea," she hesitates again, before ploughing on. "And that is pregnancy."

Joey stares at her in horror. "No way! I can't be pregnant, I've been so careful, I just can't be," she says, in full denial mode.

"Joey, no contraceptive is 100% reliable, so I'd like to arrange a pregnancy test along with the other tests."

"Oh god," Joey covers her face. "I don't want to be pregnant."