Chapter number 5. In-laws from heaven

Staford opened the back door with one hand as he struggled to hold the washing basket in the other before making his way inside and placing the basket full of clean clothes in the laundry before making his way into the kitchen where he noticed the answering machine light was flashing. Pressing the play button he listened to the message, "Yeah hi Stafy baby it's me, look I'm sorry I'm late but I ran into an old friend in the park and lost track of time so, I'll just go get a bottle of wine and be over there soon ok, bye, love you".

He sighed in relief as he hit the delete button and returned to the dinning room where he sat back down at the table, at least she was alright.

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Noah fell back into the couch in Dani's lounge room, it was good to be back in civilization, and to be clean, while he was trapped in the bush he'd started to forget how good it felt, but then again, he'd forgotten what most things felt like, even feeling anything.

Being out there was like this endless nightmare where you started to wonder if there was any point in living or hurting, and so things shut off, and life was just life, nothing special, noting exciting it was just a blur that he learned to live with every day.

He reached out and grabbed the newspaper that sat on the coffee table, reading the date that was printed across the top; Monday 15th of June 2005. It was then that he realized that what had seemed like over a year, hadn't even been a year, yet when he processed in his mind everything Dani had told him about life since he was gone, it seemed like the world had just moved on without the blink of an eye. When he came out of the bush he knew that things would be different, at the same time he had imagined things still being the same. He'd imagined returning to the palace with Dani, Scott and Hayley, being back with the people he loved and continuing married life with his wife as it had been before.

But now that he thought about it, now that he knew clearly that things had changed, he also knew that after everything that had happened, it was right that he wasn't living the life he had been before the shooting. He'd changed, he'd changed as a person, and he didn't know if he could go back, if he did people probably wouldn't be the same around him, not after they realized the old Noah was gone. At the same time he knew that the people he loved had probably changed too, not just their circumstances, but them within themselves.

His marriage would never be the same, for all he knew Hayley could of moved on, just like he would of wanted her to if he was really dead, he always wanted her to be happy, whether it was with him or someone else.

Sighing he placed the news paper down on the table before reaching for the TV remove and turning on the TV.

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"Hey, Staf" Dani called out as she opened the door of Staford's house and came in with her bag under one arm and a bottle of wine in the other.

"Hey come in, I was wondering when you were going to come" he answered happily poking his head around the corner and walking towards her, taking the bottle of wine from her and giving her a kiss that made Dani just wish that she'd stayed home with Noah, not that she let Staford know this, otherwise she probably wouldn't be still engaged to him at this present second, if he knew the way she really felt then some how she knew she would never be welcome here, which as much as she hated to say, she wouldn't be able to live with. Even though she didn't actually love Staford, she knew she couldn't leave him, she'd lose him for good, which was something she didn't want, he was the best friend she had, and he was good for her.

And then there were his parents who she loved, they were the best in-laws she could of ever hoped for, she'd hate for them to not be a part of her life, she needed them, they were like the parents she'd been dreaming for ever since her mum died and her dad got sent to jail earlier that year. She hated remembering that night, her dad had gotten so aggressive with everyone including her mum, he'd hit her a few times, but she kept saying that he'd never really mean to hurt her.

Dani had tried to get her to move out and come stay with her, Staford had even tried too, but by the time she had almost seen sense it was too late. One night after Dani had finished talking to her crying mum on the phone he'd attacked her again, this time killing her.

As far as she was concerned, Rhys wasn't her father anymore, she'd told him what she thought of him, and that was how it had been left. If she ever saw him again she didn't know what she'd do, she just hoped that she'd never live know the answer to that.

Taking her hand Staford lead her through to the dinning room where his parents already were.

"Hello, hello, hello, if it isn't the girl of the hour" Staford's dad Ray greeted her as she came in and sat down.

"Hey" she smiled.

"Lovely to see you again Danielle" Staford's mother Grace smiled sweetly, she was always well mannered and never had anything bad to say about anyone, well not that she had heard anyway, but nether-the-less Dani really like her.

"You too Grace".

"So" Staford started, "shall we eat?"

"Certainly" Ray answered, "I'll give you a hand with the food" he added before following Staford into the Kitchen. "In case I haven't said it enough already" Ray started when they were behind the bench of the kitchen and out of hearing distance of the girls, "you did well with that one son". He said, referring to Dani.

"Yeah I did" Staford smiled looking through the entrance of the dining room to where Dani was sitting talking to his mother.

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Author note: Sorry that it wasn't that long but I'll try and write more next time, thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate it.

As usual I won't continue until I've got at least two or more reviews.