"What?" Charlie murmured. Her eyes were closed as she lay next to Joey the following morning, yet she knew she was being watched.
"Just thinking how beautiful you are in the morning light," replied Joey.
"Is this foreplay?"
"If you even have to ask, then I'm obviously not doing it right," Joey bemusedly said.
One blue eye opened. Her girlfriend was propped up on an elbow, gazing down at her with a smile on her face and a glint in her eye. Joey's hair was dishevelled and her nightgown hung low. She looked gorgeous. Charlie's eye shut. If she didn't look, she wouldn't be tempted. She knew her girlfriend was laughing at her reaction.
"Do you think Georgie and Martha did it last night?" asked Joey.
Charlie refused to take the bait.
"I think they would have had a repeat performance from the afternoon," Joey said conversationally. "Probably this morning as well."
"Good for them if they did," murmured Charlie.
"Must be nice to be able to do it whenever you feel like it," said Joey. "To not be restrained by performance anxiety just because someone else was in the next room."
Still Charlie didn't take the bait.
"Charlie, we share this house with Ruby every single night and you've never had any problem having sex, however loud we may get," Joey finally said.
"Georgie is not Ruby," Charlie muttered.
"That's obvious."
Charlie opened her eyes and rolled over to face Joey. "Georgie and my relationship has always been so up and down," she said. "And while we're in a good place now, there is still a history between us and."
"And that's a load of shit of an excuse," laughed Joey. "Simple fact is, that unlike Ruby who cringes at the mere thought or mention of your sex life, your cousin would take great delight in ribbing the shit out of you if we happened to make a little too much noise during our lovemaking." Joey grinned. "You said so yourself."
"I can't help it Joey," she muttered. "There's also Jay. He's a young boy and I don't want him sitting down at the brekkie table the next morning and asking me what that noise was he had heard last night."
"Any such question would be easy enough to answer."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah dummy," said Joey. "We'd just explain that the noise was just an expression of love between two people who love each other."
Charlie's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You've been talking to Martha about this, haven't you?"
"It may have come up in a casual conversation that didn't mention details or names."
"And that's what they've told Jay, is it?"
Joey nodded. "Martha and Georgie love each other and they can hardly put their sex life on hold just because they happen to have a young boy in the house."
"I guess I still need to get used to this," murmured Charlie. "And in all honesty, it's not just about Georgie ribbing the shit out of me or Jay asking awkward questions. For a long time, it has just been Ruby and me in this house, then you came along and while we both love having you here."
"You more than her, though," Joey cheekily added.
"I definitely love having you more," replied Charlie with a warm smile. "The point is though, that the last time that the house has been full like this, was when my parents were alive and I can assure you, that I wasn't having sex under this roof when they were here and now that the house is full again, it feels weird to be even thinking of sex, let alone contemplating having it."
"I get where you're coming from Charlie, I really do and I'm happy to wait for the times when the house is a little less empty," Joey said. "It's just been so much fun teasing you about it though."
"Why you," Charlie said warningly, moments before she pounced. Joey was howling with laughter as the tickle torture began in earnest.
"Someone is enjoying their morning," murmured Martha as she lay contented in her girlfriend's arms.
"By the sounds of it, not as much enjoyment as we just had."
"It has been rather enjoyable making up for lost time."
"More than enjoyable," said Watson. "Just wait till I get you home."
"Home, I love the sound of that."
"It's going to be nice to have you in our bed again."
"Do you mean to share or to have me again?" Martha asked with a smirk.
"Both," replied Watson. "Our home just hasn't been the same without you there and neither has our bed."
"Well I'm coming home baby and I have no intention of leaving you alone again," Martha assured her. "You and me, we're forever."
"In that case, marry me."
"Ok," Martha replied before her girlfriend's words had actually sunk in. The moment they did, she bolted up straight and stared at her girlfriend. "Did you seriously just ask me to marry you?"
"Yes."
"Seriously?"
Watson smiled at Martha's disbelief. "Seriously," she said. "I know it wasn't exactly the most romantic proposal, but lying here, right at that moment, it just felt like the most natural thing in the world to ask you to be my wife."
Martha stared into her eyes. She really was serious. She found herself smiling giddily.
"Martha Holden, will you marry me?" Watson asked once more.
"Yes," she whispered. "Yes, I will marry you." She smothered her now-fiancé's face with kisses, before ending with a kiss that left them both a little breathless. "I love you so much," she said.
"I love you so much as well."
"Georgie, if we're getting married, then there is something I want you to do first," she said. "It's about Jay."
"Do you think Ruby believed us when we told her we were just laughing?" Charlie asked her girlfriend as they set the breakfast table.
"Does it really matter?"
"I guess not."
"Oh Charlie, don't ever change," chuckled Joey. She walked over to her girlfriend and put her arms around her waist. "It's actually kind of cute how prudish the Buckton women are."
"Georgie's a Buckton too, but going by the noises we heard when we walked past their room before, she's anything but prudish."
"I like how alike, yet different you are with your cousin," Joey told her.
"It certainly creates an interesting dynamic in our relationship," said Charlie.
"Yeah, stubbornness can do that."
"Funny how you latched on to that particular shared attribute," drawled Charlie.
Jay chose that moment to fly into the room. "Oof," Joey said in exaggeration as she caught the little boy in her arms. "You're going to knock me over one day."
"Sorry Aunty Jo Jo."
"It's ok, I'm happy to see you this morning as well." She kissed him on the forehead and set him down on his feet. "What would you like for brekkie?"
"Coco Pops."
"Coco Pops it is." Joey turned to her girlfriend. "Charlie, be a sweetie and get two bowls of Coco Pops for us."
"Suddenly I'm a kitchen slave," she muttered in reply.
Jay had finished his cereal and headed out into the backyard to play by the time his parents finally surfaced.
"Thought you were going to be late for work at this rate," Charlie told her cousin when she and Martha walked into the kitchen.
"We got distracted," replied Watson.
"A nice distraction, was it?" Joey couldn't resist asking.
"An incredibly nice distraction," beamed a radiant Martha. "Georgie asked me to marry her and I said yes."
"And I'm formally adopting Jay," beamed an equally radiant Watson.
"Oh my god, that is fantastic," squealed Charlie. Her hand flew over her mouth in horrified embarrassment at how high pitched that had come out.
"Congratulation guys," Joey said, giving both women warm hugs.
"Yes, congratulations," Charlie said, also giving them a hug each.
"Nice girlie squeal there," Watson teased her cousin as they hugged.
"It slipped out in my excitement."
"Bet you never thought this would be happening."
"Honestly, despite your devotion to Martha, I never really thought of you as the marrying kind," Charlie admitted.
"Yeah, I always thought the same," said Watson. She reached out and took her fiancé's hand. "Yet this morning when I asked Martha to marry me, it felt totally right and natural."
"I really am happy for you," said Charlie. "And Jay is going to be over the moon, especially with the adoption."
"Well, it was time," said Martha. "Georgie has always been Jay's other parent. She was at my side through the pregnancy and every part of his life since then. She's as much his mother as I am and after all that has happened recently, I realised that it was time for her to make it formal." She squeezed Watson's hand. "And if anything were to happen to me, I now know that Jay will be where he is meant to be. With his mama," she explained. "I don't want there to be any doubt in that."
"Nothing is going to happen to you," Watson told her. "But I'm honoured to be adopting Jay."
"And I'm honoured to be marrying you."
"And here they go again," joked Charlie when Martha and Watson kissed.
"You realise that this announcement calls for another celebration," said Joey.
"Can we hold off on any celebration till after I'm settled back home," requested Martha.
"Of course," replied Joey. "Besides, an engagement party is going to take time to organise anyway," she said. "In the meantime, we can at least have a toast to the happy couple this morning."
"Joey, after the party yesterday, there is no wine in the house," Charlie pointed out.
"Well, this will have to do then," Joey said and poured four glasses of orange juice. All four women raised their glasses. "Congratulations once more, to the happy couple. May you have a long and happy life together."
"We most certainly will," Martha assertively said.
"To the future Mrs and Mrs Holden-Watson," Charlie said.
"To the future Mrs and Mrs Holden-Watson," the others joined in and clinked their glasses together.
"I hope I didn't scare you off by mentioning the l-word last night," Shannon murmured when her girlfriend came out of the bathroom, showered and dressed.
"Shannon, you hardly scared me off," smirked Graves. "Or have you forgotten how we spent most of the night making love."
"I guess I'm just a little nervous," she admitted. "I never expected to say it so quickly."
"It was certainly an unexpected announcement," said Graves. "But a very welcome one." She knelt on the edge of the bed. "I love you too, Shannon."
"Why did you have to go and say that now," she whined. "When you have to leave me all alone."
"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you." The last proclamation of love had come out muffled from behind Shannon's hand, which had flown up to cover her mouth.
"Oh god, I've created a monster," said Shannon.
"A monster who loves you." Before Shannon could complain any further, Graves' mouth was on hers. "I do love you Shannon," she murmured against her lips.
"I love you too Persephone."
"You're going to pay for that," she told her. "Later."
"Promises, promises," taunted Shannon, much to her girlfriend's amusement.
"I'll see you after work," she said. "Whenever that will be. Try not to get into too much trouble while I'm gone."
"I'll be a good girl, I promise."
"Promises, promises," mimicked Graves as she gave her one last kiss goodbye.
"Georgie, is Jay going to be taking your name as well?" Charlie asked as they drove to the Station.
"Yeah," she replied. "Martha suggested Jackson Holden-Palmer, but as much as the Watson name has held me back, it's a part of who I am and changing it now it's going to make any difference." She shrugged. "Maybe I might change my mind about it in the future, but blood or not, I still feel more of a Watson than a Palmer," she said. "Besides, maybe Jay can finally make the Watson name something to be proud of around here."
"You've done a pretty good job of turning it around yourself," said Charlie.
"With a lot of missteps along the way," replied Watson. "I've lived my life as a Watson and Jay loves me regardless. He doesn't hold it against me and unlike they have with me, people won't hold the name against him either, not when he has Stewart and Holden blood in his veins."
"You have Buckton and Palmer blood in yours," Charlie reminded her.
"People know that now, yet I still have doubts that it will really change their idea of who they think I am," she said. "Jay is different."
"Yeah, he comes from a loving home with two very loving parents."
"And he'll always be loved and feel safe if I have anything to do with it."
Charlie nodded. She could understand where her cousin was coming from and also her defiance in keeping her name. While Georgie had matured and grown so much as a person in the last few months, which really pleased Charlie, being a Watson was still a part of who she was. She'd been raised and defined by her name. That was hard to let go of. Perhaps when she'd truly accepted John as her father and set aside her past, Georgie would feel more comfortable about changing her name, but unless or until that happened, Charlie would support her decision.
"I really am happy for you, Georgie," said Charlie. "You have found a wonderful woman with Martha and a son that adores you."
"Thanks Charlie," she said. "I still can't quite believe I'm getting married though." She frowned. "Shit, I just realised I haven't even gotten her a ring."
"You can go shopping for one at lunch or after work."
"Yeah, I can do that," murmured Watson. "Then we have to start thinking about the wedding and the bridal/groom's parties. I definitely want Belle as my best woman, but I'd like you at my side as well."
"I'd be honoured to stand up with you," said Charlie. She was trying very hard not to smile at how excited and nervous her cousin was, or at how she was already beginning to obsess about the wedding when they hadn't even set the date yet. It was very un-Georgie like. Charlie had a feeling the next however long it was, was going to be quite amusing to those watching from the sidelines. Right then, she realised it was also proving to be a great distraction to the other dramas. Not once this morning, had anyone mentioned Gypsy Nash or the impending closure of the investigations.
Charlie sighed. Until now.