CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE

Martha was lying in on her bed; her mother was lying down beside her with an arm resting around her waist. They weren't asleep though; they were just laying there staring at each other.

"It's alright if you want to close your eyes sweetheart," Roo said softly. "If you want to go to sleep; you can. You haven't slept a wink," she said.

Martha shook her head. She couldn't possibly go to sleep while her baby was missing. "I can't. I need to be awake in case somebody calls," she told her mother.

"I can wake you up as soon as somebody calls. You're exhausted Martha. You really need sleep," Roo tried to convince her daughter.

Martha shook her head again. "I'd prefer to stay awake. But thanks for worrying about me," she said.

Roo reached out and brushed Martha's hair away from her face. "It's my job to worry about you; you're my baby girl," she smiled softly at Martha.

"I'm glad that we found each other. I'm glad that we got another chance," Martha started. "When my mum, my other mum, died, I thought that was it. I'd lost my mother. But then I found you, and I got another chance. I'm just really happy that you wanted me in your life," she finished.

Roo nodded. "Giving you up when you were born was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. But I knew that you'd have a better life being raised by somebody else," she began. "And you did have a better life. The MacKenzie's done an amazing job raising you, and I'll never be able to thank them enough. I know that it's hard for you, having lost both of them. I'm sorry that you had to go through that pain. But I am also glad that you and I got another chance to know each other," Roo continued.

Martha felt a tear slide down her cheek. She raised a hand up to wipe it away, but her mother beat her to it. Roo brushed her thumb across Martha's cheek; wiping the tears away. "You just need to stay positive and you need to be strong. We will get Laila back," Roo reassured Martha.

They lay in silence for a few more minutes, but were startled when the loud ring of Jack's phone echoed throughout the silent house. Martha jumped up and ran out to the lounge room where all the others were sitting. She watched as Jack answered the phone.

"Pete," he said into the phone. A few seconds passed before Jack exclaimed out loud. "Are you serious?" he cried.

"What is it?" Martha demanded to know. She knew Jack was still in the middle of the call but she didn't care. She wanted to know what was going on right at that instant.

"We'll be there soon," Jack said down the phone and then quickly hung up.

"Jack," Martha said impatiently.

Jack grinned and moved towards her. He threw his arms around her and pulled her into an embrace. "They've found her. She's down at the station," he explained.

The whole room erupted into cries of happiness. They all started hugging each other and some even had tears appearing in there eyes.

Martha felt like a heavy weight had been lifted away. Her insides felt like they were all coming back to life again. She started to cry. She pulled away from Jack and he cupped her face. "Let's go get our baby," he smiled down at her.

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Jack and Martha stormed into the police station; Alf, Tony, Macca and Roo, hot on their tails. All the others had decided to stay back at the house.

Martha spotted Peter immediately. He was standing at the front counter rocking Liala in his arms. Peter looked up and smiled at them when he saw them enter. Martha started crying again as she took Laila from Peter and held her to her chest tightly.

She started pressing tiny kisses all over Laila's face. "It's alright baby, mummy's here now," she cried. Jack moved in closer to her and wrapped his arms around Martha and his daughter. The others stood back and watched the happy couple being reunited with their daughter.

Jack glanced over at Peter. "Thanks mate. You have no idea how much this means to us. We'll never forget it," he said.

"You shouldn't be thanking me," Peter exclaimed.

"How did you get her back? Where did you find her? Was it Megan?" Martha started firing off questions.

Peter nodded. "Yes, it was Megan. She's in with McGrath now; being interviewed. Somebody actually brought her and Liala in," he told them.

"Who?" Jack wanted to know.

"You're lucky that the hate he has for you has started to subside," Peter exclaimed.

Everybody was starting to look confused. They had no idea what Peter was talking about. "I don't understand," Jack said.

"Hello Jack," a deep voice from behind them caught their attention. They all spun around quickly and were surprised by who they saw. Martha gasped. "Oh my god," she stunned.

Roo and Macca had no idea who he was. But Alf and Tony both knew. They were both standing on the spot; their mouths agape. Jack was stunned, and he had yet to say anything.

"Harry," he finally managed to speak. "What? What the hell is going on?" he was confused and started shaking his head in disbelief. He never thought that he'd see this man again. Jack was so sure that that part of his life was over and that he'd never have to worry about it again. But now; Harry Chambers was standing right in front of him.

Harry moved towards them. "Just so you know; I had absolutely nothing to do with the kidnapping of your child," he pointed out.

"What are you doing here then?" Tony spat out. "You better not be here to cause more trouble for this family. We've already been through enough," he was starting to get angry.

"Dad, calm down," Jack told Tony. He then looked over at Harry. "Please continue," he said.

"The girl just turned up on my door step this morning; she had the baby with her. I'd never seen her before in my life. Then she started ranting and raving about you and your girlfriend and how she wanted revenge and that she blamed the two of you for her daughter being taken away from her," Harry started to explain. "I was about to tell her to get lost, but then she blurts out that the baby she was holding was yours and that she had taken it. I couldn't let her steal an innocent child, so I pretended to go along with her plan. I convinced her to come back to Summer Bay, and then I brought her straight here, he finished.

"Thank you, so much," Martha cried. "You have no idea how grateful we are," she said as she hugged Laila tighter.

"Yeah, thank you," Jack nodded at him. "It means a lot to me," he added.

"I didn't do it for you," Harry exclaimed. "I did it for the baby and its mother," he said as he looked over at Martha. "I know how it feels to lose a child and I saw the pain my wife went through. I could only imagine that your girlfriend was going through the same pain. I knew that the best thing to do was bring the child to safety," he continued.

"Thank you for bringing her back," Jack nodded.

"Yeah, well I couldn't leave her with that Megan. The girl is clearly nuts. Some of the stuff she was saying sounded as though it was coming from a delusional mind," Harry told them.

"Don't we know it," Jack muttered.

Peter moved forward and started to speak. "Sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Chambers, I need to ask you some questions, so could you please step into my office?" he asked.

Harry nodded and started to push his way through the group. Martha stopped him as he walked passed her. She laid a hand on his arm. "Thank you," she said once again.

"No problem," he smiled lightly down at her. He went to move away but then stopped. He looked down at Martha again. "I'm surprised you know," he said to her.

"What do you mean?" Martha asked him.

"I remember you," he answered. "You were at that bar the day I was there talking about Jack. I remember you, because you were one of the first people to get stuck into him. If I recall, what you said was pretty cruel. But now look where you are; you're marrying the guy and you've got a child with him," he laughed a little.

"Well, I guess I just opened my eyes a bit more and saw the things in him that you couldn't see," Martha exclaimed.

"You have to say that because he's the father of your child," Harry pointed out.

Martha shook her head. "No, I say it because it's the truth," she said.

Harry shrugged. "If you say so," he muttered before walking off and closing the door.

Martha turned back to Jack. "What did he say to you?" he wanted to know.

"Nothing important," Martha smiled up at Jack.

They then looked down at Laila. She was watching them with her beady little eyes. "I've never been so relieved in my whole life," Martha said.

"Me neither," Jack exclaimed as he leant down and kissed Laila's cheek.

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They decided to hang around at the police station for a bit longer. They wanted the chance to see Megan.

After about half and hour, Megan finally emerged from the interview room in hand cuffs; being led out by McGrath and Lara.

"Jack," Megan cried when she spotted them. "Please don't let them do this to me. You know I'm not a bad person. I know there's a part of you that cares about me. So please, help me," she begged.

Jack, who was holding Laila, passed her over to Tony. Jack and Martha then moved closer to Megan. "You've got to be seriously deluded if you actually think that I would help you. You kidnapped my daughter," Jack snarled at her. "I'm not going to let you get away with that. You deserve to go to jail Megan. You done the wrong thing," he exclaimed.

"Is that you speaking or Martha?" Megan scoffed.

"You bitch," Martha lunged at Megan, but Jack managed to pull her back. "You stole our baby. You're insane," Martha screamed at her.

Jack looked over at Lara and nodded. "Get her out of my sight. She makes me sick," he told Lara. He then looked down at Martha. "Come on. Come away from her," he said.

"Jack," Megan yelled as Lara started to lead her away. "Jack, please. Do the right thing," she begged again.

Jack just ignored her and walked with Martha to the other side of the room. Megan's screams could still be heard from down in the lock up cells. But after a while they subsided. She was gone from their lives; and for good this time.

Jack smiled. "You ready to go home?" he asked Martha.

Martha nodded. "Let's take our baby home," she sighed happily.

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