As she opens her eyes and looks around she realises where she is. In his room, on his bed, with his lingering scent comforting her. She stretches her body before moving slowly off the bed, while still getting fully awake. She leaves the room in search of him and notices the house is very quiet, wondering if he is actually home. She looks at her watch and notices that they will need to leave soon or they will be late to the pub.
As she passes his office she hears music playing quietly, slowly opening the door to find him working at his desk. The door creaks as it opens, alerting him to her presence. Seeing Kate standing half asleep in the doorway, he opens his arms. She wanders over and sits down on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck while his encircle her waist, she rests her head on his shoulder.
"How's my sleeping beauty doing?" he says gently as he places a kiss on her head.
"Um, about before."
"Honey, in your own time. Don't feel pressured to explain what you said. Just remember I'm here when you're ready."
"Thanks," she replies while snuggling in closer. He glances at the clock on his desk and notices the time
"Sorry to do this honey, but if we don't get a hurry along we'll be late and we still have not had dinner."
"Mm, this is comfortable. I don't want to move."
"Well we can curl up later together in bed, but we must get a move on now. Otherwise the crew are going to be too drunk by the time we get there."
"Yeah, drunk from celebrating," she says while getting up off his lap. She grabs hold of his hand and leads him to the bathroom to shower and get ready to head to the pub.
As they approach the pub they are greeted by Steve, who has decided to come along as well. They walk inside to find most of the crew gathered in their normal spot, laughing and then cheering once they see their boss, and X. Mike tenses a little at the sight of them all and Kate feels this through the grip he has on her hand. She gives him a gentle squeeze to let him know she is here. Steve offers to get them a drink and heads to the bar as they make their way to the rest of the group.
The crew are pleased to see them and quickly include them in the conversation. Dutchy seems to be the only one to notice how close the two of them are sitting, as well as recognising the presence of the male from a few weeks ago. He knows from what Charge has told him that it is Captain Steve Marshall, who used to run Navcom in Cairns before Knocker. He watches as the man passes drinks to Mike and Kate and then whispers something to them and Mike nods his head in agreement to whatever this guy has said to them. What surprises Dutchy the most is when Kate places a hand on Mike's leg, and then Mike's hand goes to hers before he stands and proceeds to get the crew's attention, which took a couple of goes thanks to 2Dads. A quick word from Kate and the mention of a toothbrush had 2Dads shutting up and listening to what was going on. Mike takes a quick look at Kate, who smiles at him, then turns his attention back to his crew, who to him are family.
"Right, what I'm about to say is not easy." Kate stands up and moves beside him, putting her arm around him. He looks down as he places his arm around her and she sees that his eyes are glassy. The crew watch, a look of shock and surprise on their faces at the boss and X. "You have all been like one huge family to me and that is why this is harder to say than I originally thought it would be. The patrol we have just finished was my last." A few gasps are heard but the majority of the crew are speechless. "The next time Hammersley sails it will be with a new CO. You all have been an excellent crew, and I couldn't have wished for better sailors to have the honor of serving with. Your support, ideas, and your own personalities have made it a pleasure to be on Hammersley as CO. I do hope that you give the new CO the same respect and gratitude as you have done with me." The crew are unsure what to say, there is a minute or so of silence before Steve stands up beside the two and proposes a toast to Mike.
The alcohol and conversations begin to flow after the toasts and about an hour later Steve heads off home. Mike watched him leave and notices Ryan enter the pub. Whispering to Kate that he is going to go speak to him, he heads over to the bar.
"Ryan, do you have a minute? I want to talk to you in private."
"Why?"
"There are a couple of things I want to tell you."
"I suppose so," he replies, not too enthusiastic about it. They head to a quieter corner of the pub.
"So, what is it you want to speak to me about?"
"Well, I am no longer on Hammersley as CO. On Monday I fly to Sydney for 10 weeks to fill in for a course before returning back here."
"Well what's that got to do with me?"
"I spoke to Captain Steve Marshall, who is a friend of mine. I told him about what happened in regards to you finding out I'm your father then having to post off. I asked him if you wanted to come back, would they let you because of the circumstances, and would they put you back on Hammersley?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"I felt bad that you had no choice in the matter. Well to be honest, we both had no choice in the matter." There is silence for a minute while Mike's words sink in to Ryan.
"You're not doing this just because you're my father?"
"No Ryan, I'm not. For the last 18 years you've been my godson., Stuart has been your father not me, and as far as I am concerned I am to you whatever you want me to be."
"So, if I want to rejoin I could?" he asks, hope sounding in his voice.
"Yes."
"But what about Bird?" This comment makes Mike smile, he looks towards the group, and catches Kate's gaze.
"Don't make the same mistake I did, Ryan. Don't choose the job over the woman you love; you might not get a second chance at it." They are silent again, Mike's words sitting there in the air for a few minutes before he speaks up again.
"Ryan, on another matter, your mother."
"What about her?"
"Well I'm not proud to have done this, but due to some things she has done I had to lodge a formal complaint about her to the Brass yesterday."
"What? Why? What's she ever done to you to deserve that?" he asks angrily.
"She gave out private information to other officers that she had no right to do. She is also trying to jeopardise a personal relationship I am in."
"Why are you telling me this then?"
"Because I want you to know that I also told her not to use you as a pawn to get her way. I don't want you getting put in the middle of what is happening between her and me. It's not fair on you to have to choose between the two of us. You're an adult now and can do as you please, and no matter what your mother says I will always be here for you, whenever you need to talk to me about anything."
"Thank you, Mike, for coming to me and telling me yourself about what you've done. It means a lot to me that you are being up front."
"No problem, Ryan. Anyway shall we go join the rest of them?"
Ryan agrees and they both head over to the rest of the crew. Bird makes room for Ryan to sit down beside her and Mike takes up his seat beside Kate. Not long after, they all decide to go to one of the local clubs to do some dancing, or partying as 2Dads puts it. Mike also suggests that maybe the next round of drinks that is purchased is non alcoholic. Some of them laugh, but some of the older ones think this might be wise if they want to last the night.
It took about 20 minutes for the group to make their way to the local club, deciding the walk would do them a world of good in helping them sober up. On the way to the club Mike and Kate were towards the back of the group, they walked side by side with their hands interlinked. Dutchy and Charge were at the back of the group and they both noticed how close their former boss and the X were with each other. They look at each other and smile, both fully understanding why the boss was leaving.
Once inside the club a round of drinks were brought and the crew settled into the atmosphere. Before too long a number of them were up on the dance floor, including Mike and Kate who were dancing together. By the end of the night the crew all knew that Mike and Kate were together, which in turn caused another round of celebrations to kick off. At around 1am they decide to head home, leaving the rest of the crew to carry on without them.