Hey everyone,
Quick turn around this time, I should be able to get another chapter out before I leave on Tuesday. I may be able to post while I'm away but I'll probably come up with heaps more ideas and start 20 new fics and forget get writers block for this one! Lol
Please remember I don't claim to be an expert on Navy protocol or medical for that matter. Lol it's fiction right?
Disclaimer: I didn't create the characters of Sea Patrol nor do I claim town them, unfortunately.
From Chapter 4.
"Kate, if it's not one thing it's another. I'm beginning to wonder if this is what you really want, I know this is a lot all at once and you love your job but I think you need some time to think. I know I want you, I thought you wanted to be with me but maybe we want different things. "
He couldn't wait for her response, he was too scared of what it would be. He turned at left, he closed the door with a thud. She sat there and wondered if she had pushed too far, he had to understand she was just looking out for everyone involved. She got up and opened Charlie's door slightly and peered in, she was fast asleep. She walked over to the bed and got in, she held Charlie close as tears started to stream down her cheeks.
Charlotte
Chapter 5
The next morning Jim arrived to pick up Charlie, Kate opened the door and tried to talk to him. He ignored her and walked in and headed straight for Charlie's room. Charlie looked up from her colouring and screamed out his name.
"Uncle Jim!"
She ran over to him and leapt into his arms.
"Hey trouble, are you ready to go?"
He put her down and she ran out into the lounge room to grab her bag. Kate took the opportunity to attempt to start a conversation.
"Jim, I..."
He walked to the front door still ignoring her.
"Coming Charlie?"
She bounced to the door and waived to Kate.
"Bye Mummy..."
Kate stood there and waved back, she was deep in thought, all she could think about was Jim and whether it was really over.
Jim drove her to kindy and walked her in, one of the teachers approached him.
"Hi I'm Celeste Walters, you must be Charlie's Dad, Mike?"
He was thrown for a minute and hesitated, he quickly corrected her.
"Oh no sorry, I'm Jim umm an old friend of Kate's, Charlie's Mother."
Celeste's cheeks turned a tomato red.
"Oh I'm sorry! I'm new! That's awkward."
"It's ok, easy mistake! She's all Kate though!"
Celeste laughed nervously.
"Well can I expect you from now on?"
Jim hesitated, he didn't want to have to explain the whole story.
"Ahh, on and off..."
He knelt down to Charlie and gave her a hug.
"Have a good day, I'll pick you up later."
Charlie nodded and gave him a hi-five, she ran off to hang up her bag. Jim stood back up.
"Well good to meet you!"
"Oh before you go I'll just need to put you into the system. We take the names of approved people who can pick up the kids. Can I just sight your ID?"
"Yeah, no worries."
Jim took out his wallet and handed her his driver's licence, Celeste smiled and wrote down his details.
"No worries, well, see you round Jim."
Jim got in his car and drove to the hospital.
He knocked on Mike's door carrying a bag of food, Mike was surprised to see him.
"Hey, sorry to drop by but I thought you might want some real food!"
Jim placed the bag in front of Mike, he eagerly opened it and took a deep breath in through his nose.
"Oh steak egg and bacon sanga, just what the doctor ordered."
Jim was uneasy, he sat beside Mike's bed and looked at his arm.
"So how's the burns?"
Mike glanced at his left arm.
"Ah, yeah ok, they have to do this thing with the skin let's just say it's not good!"
Jim cringed at the thought, there was an awkward silence.
"So umm, I wanted to talk to you about something..."
Mike had a mouthful of sandwich, he swallowed and glanced at Jim.
"Oh, this was to butter me up huh?"
Jim winced slightly, he hoped he wasn't that transparent.
"Did it work?"
Mike glanced at him and wiped the sauce from his face.
"Yeah, go ahead..."
Jim's expression turned into one of distress.
"Well, apparently Maxine has warned Kate that starting something up with may cause some issues, the press are circling.."
Mike took another bite of the sandwich, he didn't think it'd be a topic of this nature. He continued to scoff down on the sandwich, he didn't really want to be a part of this conversation, he hoped that Jim would do most of the talking.
"Mike, I know we're okay now but trust me you're probably the last person I want to be discussing this with, no offence."
Mike sighed and put down the sandwich, he could tell he was genuinely concerned and it was obviously affecting their relationship if he was coming to him. Mike knew the truth wasn't going to be the option Jim wanted hear.
"It's okay Jim, I get it, this isn't easy for you either and I know you care for her else you wouldn't be here. Look, I don't think that this is going to blow over any time soon. A navy ship was sunk but all the tabloid crap in between won't hold up in the long run but it's Kate's job and reputation on the line. These stories will always be out there and you know how much Kate likes the rules."
Jim nodded and looked at his feet.
"Yeah I know, I said that I think she needed time to think, but I'm worried that she's going to think about it too much and she won't choose me."
Mike looked at Jim's depressed state.
"Jim, you may just have to wait, I don't think Kate would buy into all this, I think she's just thinking about Charlie..."
Jim sighed.
"I hope so..."
Jim got up to leave.
"Jim?"
He turned at the door, Mike gave him a slight smile.
"Just be patient, she'll come round."
Jim left, Mike sat there and continued to eat his sandwich, he laughed to himself between bites. Who would have thought that he'd be giving relationship advice to Jim about Kate.
Navcom.
Maxine knocked on Kate's door, she looked up from her computer.
"Maxine, what's happening?"
Maxine walked over to Kate's desk and sat next to her.
"So, I have good news and not so good news..."
Kate stopped typing on her computer and turned to face Maxine.
"The good news?"
"Well we can find anymore ties to this Harry guy, so hopefully he and his crew were a one off or copy cat..."
Kate sighed with relief, then remembered there was bad news.
"Okay, so the bad?"
Maxine flipped over her tablet and gave it to Kate, she looked at the screen and let out a frustrated groan.
It was a news page with a picture of Jim dropping off Charlie to kindy. The headline read – 'Love boat disaster'. The article went on to highlight that Jim was playing Dad to Charlie while Mike was in the hospital because of him. Maxine sighed.
"Kate, this is exactly what I was taking about..."
Kate's defences went up.
"Ma'am we're not even together! He was doing me a favour!"
Maxine's tone of voice matched Kate's.
"You need to look at it from every angle Kate, do you think people want to believe that or do they want to believe some love triangle drama?"
Kate flipped the cover over the tablet and chucked it on to the desk out of frustration, she leant back in her chair and started at Maxine.
"Ok Ma'am, what do you want me to do then?"
Kate raised an eyebrow, she wasn't meaning to sound so disrespectful but she felt cornered. Maxine wasn't impressed at the attitude she was receiving but she kept calm, she knew Kate was under a lot of stress, she wasn't normally so insolent. She knew that her next suggestion could push her over the edge.
"I think it's best that you don't have any contact with Captain Roth."
Kate's eyes widened, she couldn't believe what Maxine was suggesting. Maxine tried to diffuse Kate's reaction.
"Well at least until this whole thing is settled."
Kate got up and walked around her office, she thought about Jim's reaction from the previous night when she said that she didn't think that they should have a relationship at this point in time. She then imagined the conversation that would unfold if she said that they shouldn't have any contact, it scared her. She knew that she would lose him forever, she decided she had to defend herself, defend Jim. She spun back around to face Maxine. She took a deep breath in, she needed to be calm, be rational.
"Ma'am, this whole thing could take weeks, months to be out of the spotlight and then there could be an inquest..."
She was getting worked up, the thought of losing Jim really terrified her, she realised how much Jim meant to her, how much she actually wanted this to work. She let her emotions out, she didn't care anymore, she had done so much for the Navy and this is how they were repaying her.
"This is absolute bullshit, I can't put my life on hold because of some gossip...Ma'am"
Kate looked up at Maxine worried about what her reaction would be, she looked concerned. Kate realised she was attacking the wrong person, she let out a frustrated huff and sat back down.
"I'm sorry Ma'am, I realise you're just doing your job and..."
Maxine wasn't offended, she felt for Kate, she reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.
"I know Kate, look it's your life, it's just my professional advice!"
Maxine decided to leave it for now, she had enough on her mind, she left Kate's office. Kate picked up her phone and messaged Jim.
"Can you meet me at Navcom."
30 Minutes later Jim knocked on Kate's door.
"Kate?"
He walked into the office and sensed the tension.
"Are you done thinking?"
Kate didn't answer, she picked up the tablet and handed it to him. He grabbed it and read the article and frowned.
"Has Maxine seen this?"
Kate nodded.
"She was the one to show me..."
Jim sighed and closed the tablet, he sat down and handed it back to her.
"This isn't good is it?"
Kate shook her head.
"This is why I was hesitant Jim, it's got nothing to do with us, it's got everything to do with Charlie, it's probably best I pick up her tonight."
Jim nodded, Mike had helped him understand but he was still afraid that he wasn't enough, that she would still side with her career. He tried to get through to her one more time.
"I understand Kate, look I don't want Charlie to have to go through this but at the same time we can't let them win, we deserve a life..."
Kate smiled and put a hand on Jim's cheek, she tried to be positive.
"Please Jim, I'm just asking that you wait a little longer..."
Jim nodded slightly, it wasn't exactly the answer he wanted but there was still hope.
"I've waited 5 years Kate..."
He picked up her hand and kissed it and stood up and left.
Kate sat at her desk a little confused. She looked at the tablet sitting on her desk, she reached over and reopened it. She tapped on the Google app started typing. She typed in 'Kate McGregor, Mike Flynn, HMAS Hammersley.' She winced and partially closed her eyes as she pushed search, results poured in. Some articles were old, featuring them both and their successful missions however the top results were from the recent attack. Some of them hailing Mike a hero for getting everyone off the boat safely and others about their relationship. She scrolled down the page, he eyes widened as they got worse, she clicked on one of the them. It described Kate being unfaithful to Mike, the hero, with Jim and now they were playing happy families as he was miserable in hospital. She clicked back and clicked on another on about Charlie, it contained a photo of Jim hugging her at kindy. The headline read "The Real Captain?"
Kate clenched her fists as she skimmed the article, she folded up her tablet and ran out of Navcom and went to the hospital.
Kate ran to Mike's room, she stopped at his door and approached the bed slowly.
"I have to show you something but I need you to keep in mind it's stupid internet chatter."
Mike looked up from his book puzzled.
"If it's stupid internet chatter why do I care?"
Kate sat down beside him, she handed him the tablet. She could see his eyes move over the screen. He finished it and folded the cover over the tablet, he looked at her with a frustrated look. Kate knew he wasn't happy.
"Mike, I'm sorry, I know it's getting worse! I've asked Jim to wait, but I don't want Charlie to hear any of this!"
Mike didn't really know what to say.
"Maybe we should keep her home for a while, till this blows over, I don't want her hearing stuff from parents, you know how impressionable she is..."
Mike nodded.
"Who's going to look after her?"
She paused, they had no one but Jim.
"I'm sorry about this! I'll figure something out!"
She got up to leave, Mike could tell that she was dealing with a lot, he tried to make her feel better.
"It'll be ok Kate..."
She turned and gave him a half hearted smile. Mike hated seeing her like this, she didn't deserve it. Part of him wanted to be mad at her, it would be easier but he knew this wasn't her fault.
"Kate, wait..."
She stopped at the door and turned, Mike gestured for her to sit back down, she hesitated.
"I don't care about all the gossip, I don't want anyone to get hurt including Jim, he cares about you a lot. You should know that he came to see me..."
Kate was intrigued, she re-entered the room and sat next to him.
"What for?"
"He wanted to talk about all this publicity/gossip stuff. He wants what's best for you but he's scared you'll choose the navy over him. He came to ask me how bad it was and what I think he should do..."
Kate held Mike's hand for a moment.
"What did you tell him?"
"Not much, I just said you were trying to protect Charlie..."
Kate felt terrible, she was just trying to protect Charlie and Mike to an extent but in doing so she forgot about protecting Jim. She knew was that she had to do something, something to prove to him that she wanted to be with him.
Kate left and headed back to Navcom. She knocked Maxine's door, she looked up from her paperwork. Kate slid into the chair in front of her desk, Maxine could tell Kate was disheartened.
"Everything ok?"
Kate took a moment trying to think of away to approach this.
"I don't know what to do..."
Maxine glanced at her over her computer, she didn't want to keep arguing with her.
"Kate, you didn't seem to like my advice before..."
Kate pulled her chair closer to the desk.
"I know, but can I talk to you as a friend right now and not my Boss?"
Maxine shut her laptop, she could tell Kate didn't want to fight either. She walked around her desk and sat next to her.
"Ok, boss hat off, friend hat on..."
Kate took a deep breath in.
"Mike and I are in a good place, we get along, we agree on most parenting things, he even likes Jim now..."
Kate glanced at Maxine with a guilty look on her face.
"I told you before we weren't together and it technically was true but we're wanting to be together...I mean, I was going to marry the man 5 years ago, it feels like we're still the same people, the feelings are still there and we have lost so much time already..."
Maxine completely understood but she didn't really know what she could do to help.
"So it's just all this tabloid rubbish that's stopping you?"
Kate nodded.
"Mostly!"
"So what do you need me for?"
Kate glanced at Maxine then looked away, she knew this was a big ask.
"Do you think they would let me make a statement?"
Maxine titled her head.
"Do you really think that's a good idea?"
Kate didn't care if it was a 'good' idea, she was getting desperate, doing anything was better than doing nothing.
"I think either way I look guilty, if I can try and explain the situation maybe they won't make it so nasty..."
Maxine walked back around her desk and sat down, Kate could see she was considering it. Kate stood up.
"Please Maxine, don't make me beg."
Maxine didn't think it was the best idea but she had no other suggestions or answers.
"I can talk to Fleet Command, but I'm not promising anything..."
Kate's face lit up.
"Thanks Maxine, I'm going to pick up Charlie now but give me a call straight after you speak to Fleet Command."
"No worries..."
Charlie's Kindergarten.
Kate walked into pick up Charlie, she felt the other parents eyes on her. Celeste came out and greeted her.
"Ms McGregor, I was expecting your friend Jim..."
Kate looked around and saw the other parents whispering.
"Ah, no it's me today! Umm, I've got the rest of the week off, so I thought we'd spend some time together."
"Oh ok, but..."
Celeste looked at Kate's nervous expression, she looked around and noticed the other parent's dirty looks. She decided not to ask any other questions.
"No problem, well have a good week!"
Charlie ran up to Kate and hugged her.
"Mummy, where's Jim?"
Kate looked around.
"Don't you want me to pick you up?!"
She grabbed Charlie's hand and hurried out of the kindy. She got into the car and her phone rang, she fished it out of her bag.
"Kate McGregor... oh hi Max, how did you go? Oh good... yeah I'm happy to do that! I'll come back in."
Charlie crossed her arms.
"Do you have to go back to work?"
Kate didn't want a tantrum, she tried to think of something that would diffuse the situation.
"Yeah, but only for an hour I promise! Hey, what if we get Jim to make you chicken nuggets?
Charlie bounced up and down in her seat, Kate looked in her rear view mirror.
"I take that as a yes?"
Kate smiled and connected her phone to the car system and pressed on Jim's name.
"Katie?"
Charlie leant forward as far as her restrain would let her, she yelled from the backseat.
"No, it's Charlie!"
"Charlie?! How are you?"
"I'm good! Guess what?!"
"What?"
"Mum said that she's going to get you to make me chicken nuggets cos I have to go to work with her."
Jim laughed, Kate cleared her throat.
"Well apparently my cooking isn't a treat anymore!"
"Oh, I thought that you didn't..."
"Jim I'll explain everything tonight, please just don't give up on us..."
"Kate, I didn't think it was me that was having doubts."
Kate glanced back at Charlie, she didn't want her to hear the conversation that was unfolding.
"Jim, I'll text you when I'm leaving Navcom, just meet me at my house and I'll explain everything. I promise."
"Okay, I'll see you later."
Charlie called out from the back seat.
"Bye Uncle Jim!"
Navcom.
Charlie was watching videos on Kate's iPad. Maxine was sitting at Kate's desk.
"Okay, so they have cleared you making a statement but they want me to approve it. It needs to be to the point, they don't like this gossip anymore than you but they don't want it to be aggressive and make things worse."
"I'll try and do a quick draft now..."
45 minutes later Kate was standing in front of Maxine reading her statement.
Maxine sat at her desk nodding along.
"Well it gets the point across, I'm happy with that and it doesn't make anyone look bad. When do you want to do this?
"ASAP..."
"Ok I'll make some calls, now go home and see you tomorrow."
Kate pulled into her driveway, Jim pulled up behind her. She got out and smiled at him.
"That was fast!"
He was confused about her cheery disposition, they walked into her house, he put the groceries on the bench.
"So you wanna tell me what's going on?"
Kate turned Charlie.
"You wanna go watch some TV sweetie?"
Charlie nodded and ran to the lounge.
Kate started to unpack the groceries.
"Fleet Command are allowing me to make a statement."
Jim helped her unpack, he looked at her curiously.
"About what?"
She stopped and turned towards him.
"Well everything, I umm made the mistake of Googling us..."
Jim looked at her and rolled his eyes.
"Kate McGregor, you are the last person I'd expect to Google herself..."
Kate laughed and shook her head.
"It was ridiculous! The crap these people come up with! I don't even want to talk about it as it is so stupid, but anyway I am just going to tell the truth."
Jim stopped unpacking the groceries and walked over to her and stood close.
"And what's the truth?"
Kate smiled and took his hand in hers.
"Well first of all that none of this gossip is true, you, Mike and I are all friends. That you and I were together before and then I was with Mike but that ended way before you came back and..."
Jim raised an eyebrow.
"And?"
Kate wrapped her arms around him.
"And now we're back together!"
She stood on her tippy toes and kissed him.
"I'm sorry about before Jim, you know I was just trying to protect everyone, it's not that I don't..."
Jim smiled and kissed her.
"It's ok, you don't need to explain..."
He kissed her again, he looked out the corner of his eye and he noticed Charlie staring at them, he pulled away.
"Uncle Jim, why are you kissing Mummy?"
Jim knelt down next to her.
"Well I really like Kate, ah Mummy, we actually used to be boyfriend and girlfriend."
She looked at him inquisitively.
"Before you had to go away?
Jim nodded.
"Geez, you remember everything don't you?"
She smiled and nodded.
"So, if it's ok with you I'd like to be her boyfriend again..."
A smiled appeared on her face, she jumped on to his knee.
"Does that mean I get chicken nuggets every night?!"
They laughed.
The next morning Kate stood in front of the media outside Navcom. She stepped up to the podium and cleared her throat.
"Thank you all for coming today. I called this press meeting to clarify some things. My name is Kate McGregor, I am press liaison for Navcom in Cairns. I used to be the Executive Officer on HMAS Hammersley. Due to recent events there have been questions around my personal life and some articles written that are completely untrue. I do not normally invite this attention to my personal life however I have asked permission from the RAN to make this statement as some of these allegations imply that crew members, including myself have broken some rules. To answer some previous questions, I did have a relationship with Commander Flynn, we did not break any rules. We were together while he was posted on shore and I was on Hammersley, we also share a daughter. I did not cheat on him with Captain Roth. I will make this very clear, I do not appreciate stories being written about my child. She is 4, she does not deserve this. If things continue to be written that are false I will take legal action. I will answer questions within reason."
A reporter called out.
"Ms McGregor, are you dating Captain Roth?"
She nodded slightly.
"As of yesterday, yes."
"Did you previously have a relationship with him?"
Kate's heart was racing, she tried to stayed calm.
"Nearly 5 years ago now..."
"So are you denying you broke the non fraternization rule?"
Maxine looked a bit uneasy, she stepped forward.
"I think Ms McGregor made things very clear and she has been more than accommodating, thank you that will be all..."
Kate and Maxine walked back to Navcom. Kate exhaled and flopped on to her chair, Maxine pat her on the shoulder.
"Let's hope that calms everything down!"
Kate crossed her arms over her chest.
"Yeah, it's not as fun if someone has set it straight!"
Back at Kate's house.
Jim was on his phone while Charlie was having a nap. A message flashed on his screen.
"It's done, it'll be up on the Navy news site soon if you want to watch!"
Jim smiled and replied.
"Hope it went ok!"
Jim opened the internet and went to the RAN news site, he kept refreshing the page, nothing. He opened another window and slowly typed in, James Roth, Kate McGregor, Mike Flynn. He closed his eyes and pressed search, he scanned through the articles, they were mostly about their relationships. He spotted one with Charlie's name, he frowned but click on it. He read it and sat there for a moment, it was questioning the paternity of Charlie. He was trying to do the maths in his head, he shook his head at the ridiculous thought, he went back to the RAN page and watched Kate's statement. He smiled as she announced to the world that they were an item. He shut the laptop and went to check on Charlie, he slowly opened the door and peered his head in. She was playing with her toys on the floor, he smiled and shut the door. He sat back in the couch and imagined his kids with Kate, he was startled as his phone beeped again.
"Did you see it?"
He smiled as he replied.
"Yes, no taking it back now! You've told the whole world!"
Later that afternoon Kate came bursting through the door with bottles of champagne. Jim and Charlie were cuddled on the couch watching TV.
"Mummy's home!"
Charlie jumped up and hugged her.
"Did you miss me?"
Charlie nodded and put on a sad face.
"But it's ok cos Jim kept me company!"
"Go wash up and you can help with dinner then!"
Charlie ran off, Kate sat on the couch. Jim stared and smiled at her.
"What?"
He stared into her eyes, Kate felt a little uncomfortable, she looked at him out the corner of her eye. He moved closer and took her hand in his.
"Let's have a baby?!"
Kate laughed hysterically she looked back at Jim, he wasn't laughing. She stopped immediately.
"Oh, you're serious?"
Jim looked hurt.
"Why not?"
Kate looked at him sympathetically and rubbed his arm.
"Sorry Jim, just wasn't expecting it that's all..."
A large goofy grin came across his face.
"I know we'd be doing things out of order but I mean how cute would 2 if them be and I always thought that a smaller age gap was better!"
Kate kissed him, she loved that he thought about those kinds of things.
"We've only been official for 24 hours."
"Yes Kate, but if this mess hadn't happened..."
She ran her hand over his cheek.
"Jim, I know, you just surprised me that's all!"
Charlie came running back into the room.
"Are you having another baby mummy?"
Jim looked at Kate and laughed.
"She doesn't miss anything does she?"
Kate shook her head.
"Welcome to my world!"
She looked at Charlie.
"Not right now darling..."
She looked at Jim and smiled.
"But maybe one day..."
Charlie jumped on to the couch.
"Soon?"
Kate cleared her throat wanting to change the subject.
"Ah, what are we having for dinner Jim?"
Jim laughed at Kate's attempt to dodge Charlie's question.
"C'mon Charlie, let's see what we can make!"
Jim picked her up and walked into the kitchen, Kate lay back on the couch and smiled to herself thinking about having another baby.
They were sitting at the table having dinner.
"So Charlie, what do you want for your birthday?"
Charlie put down her fork.
"Anything Moana!"
They all laughed. Jim looked at Kate.
"Should have guessed huh?"
He turned to Charlie.
"So you'll be umm 17 right?"
Charlie giggled.
"No 5 silly! But I was born early! Mummy said I couldn't wait to meet her!"
Jim looked at Kate, she nodded.
"Yeah, 2 months, she gave us a bit of a scare actually!"
Kate hopped up from the table.
"Oh I forgot, look what I found today?!"
Kate grabbed her hand bag and took out a bear wearing a Navy uniform, Charlie squealed.
"Now Hammy has a friend!"
Kate pointed to the name patch.
"Look, she's even got your name!"
She hugged it and ran over to Jim.
"Look, she's named after me!"
Jim smiled, he read the patch 'C.J McGregor'.
"You better go introduce them!"
Charlie ran off to her room, Jim laughed.
"She's the cutest! So what's the J stand for?
Kate took a sip of her bubbly.
"Oh umm Jane, after Mike's mum, I figured he gave me the surname so there should be a bit of his family in there too..."
Charlie came running back in with both of the bears and jumped on Jim's lap.
"They're BFF now!"
Kate smiled at the interaction between Jim and Charlie.
"Oh speaking of BFF, Mike gets out of the hospital tomorrow, can you give me a hand with her?"
"Of course...hey why don't I offer for him to come and stay with me? You've got your hands full and I don't know if he'll be able to look after Charlie by himself yet and that way he can still spend time with her."
Kate laughed out loud at the idea, Jim playfully hit her on the leg.
"Hey, what's with laughing at all my ideas today?!"
She smiled and looked at him doubtfully.
"You're serious? Won't that be awkward? "
Jim shook his head and shrugged.
"Only if we make it awkward?"
Kate got up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Ok well you can ask him, if I do he will think I've gone mad!"
The next morning Jim and Mike walked into Jim's house, Mike looked around stunned.
"Geez mate, I thought you weren't working at the moment?"
Jim laughed and looked around.
"Yeah well, I believe the defence force is claiming it as 'services rendered'."
Mike kept looking around gobsmacked.
"Right, well remind me that if I ever need to be blown up again to do it with the SAS."
Jim put Mike's bags in his spare room. They stood in the lounge silent, Jim broke the silence and laughed nervously.
"Now I told Kate this wouldn't be awkward, we can't prove her right! We know how much she likes to be right!"
They both laughed. Kate and Charlie walked in the front door.
"Hello?"
Jim called out.
"We're in the lounge."
Charlie came running in.
"Daddy!"
Mike leant down to hug her, Kate walked up behind her.
"Gentle sweetie, remember Daddy has a sore arm!"
Charlie nodded.
"Mummy says you're staying with Uncle Jim!"
Mike ruffled her hair.
"Yeah that's right, I need a bit of help cos of my arm so Uncle Jim is going to help me!"
Charlie tugged on his hand.
"I can help too!"
Kate watched the 3 people she loved most in the world interact. Maybe this was going to work after all?
End of Chapter 5.
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