Thanks for the reviews. Please R&R.

Joey was taking advantage of the time off that she had left with Charlie. In her thoughts, she realised once work begins for her and Charlie, life would trail a different path. Work always threw a spanner of chaos into their lives. Despite Charlie agreeing to Joey's request to take it easy in the first few months of returning to work, they both realised it would be better for Charlie to take on day shifts initially.

In reality, Charlie's return to work was a lot further away than Joey's so as they sat together each day having breakfast, they crammed in lots of things to do as it was only a matter of time before Alf rang and would say to start at the Bait Shop or Noahs.

Charlie's counselling sessions were proving successful as she made several important modifications in her life. The number one change was to allow Joey and Ruby into her life and be honest about how she was feeling.

For Joey, hearing the truth from Charlie was a welcome change as was no longer the withdrawn, cold cop. Charlie had become more outspoken about her emotions, her future and what she wanted from it and her outlook on life.

For Ruby, however, seeing the new Charlie was a lot more challenging. She had grown up for 16 years of her life, with a woman who kept her emotions private. A poker face as straight as can be. She was the tough one. Ruby honestly believed you couldn't break a woman like Charlie even if you tried.

Yet here in front of her stood a Mother she barely knew, making adjustments to her life that Ruby never imagined possible. Gone was the emotional wall and the straight poker face. In its place, an honest, talking, emotional Charlie.

Ruby had seen the progress Joey and Charlie had made, since Joey returned. There was more crying and apologies from Charlie than she had seen in her entire lifetime.

Ruby often questioned herself 'is it the counselling or Joey's return that triggered this change in Charlie. Has she grown up and taken charge of her life once and for all?'.

Shaking her head on her way to Leah's house to visit Charlie and Joey, she thought to herself 'it doesn't matter, Charlie's happier now than she has been in months. Joey is a Godsend. She has made all this possible.'

As she knocked on the door upon arriving at Leah's, a chorus of 'come in' greeted her.

As she opened the door, Charlie lept up and hugged her, "Rubz, hi, good to see you".

"Hi Charlie, Hi Joey" she waved to Joey as she returned Charlie's hug.

"Hi Rubz", Joey smiled as she watched Charlie and Ruby.

"' I thought I'd pop in and see you, i needed a break from the books, is that cool to hang out here?" Ruby asked Joey

"Of course Ruby, were not doing much has to see Alf this arvo but the morning is free, maybe when we drop Joey off we could go out to Yabbie creek, do some shopping?"

"oh yeah!!' Ruby replied with excitement.

A smile appeared on Charlies face, as she thought of her intended purchase that afternoon. Little did Ruby know of her Mothers plans. Joey to this point was quiet but seeing Ruby's face light up she said " I hope you two aren't going to be shopping til you drop, I have made dinner plans for this evening. Shopping will not be the highlight of your day after eat my exquisite meal."

"Sorry Joey,Annie and I are doing a study session together tonight, Leahs already promised dinner at the diner."

"Ok Babe, it's you and me alone then" Joey replied disapointed that she was unable to convince Ruby to stay.

"That's ok, I'm sure the two of us can have some fun alone", chuckled Charlie as she wrapped her arms around Joey, placing butterfly kisses on her neck.

"Come on Charlz, give it a rest, can't you wait til tonight when you have the whole house to yourself?' questioned Ruby as she covered her eyes.

"Sorry Rubz, didn't mean to make you uncomfortable", Joey claimed as she pulled out of Charlie's embrace, but not before she dove in for one last kiss.

The three girls spent the morning discussing home related things, and Joey's meeting with Alf. She was still nervous a litle, so they took a walk to calm her nerves. A long relaxing walk along the beach helped them to calm down a little, as each of them battled their own personal dilemas. Joey with her work and meeting with Alf, Ruby with the stress of her HSC exams, and Charlie battling it out with the impending thought of returning to work.

For a long time, the Police Force was Charlie's life. She wanted to succeed, and climb the ladder to the top. When Joey left, work was her solitude, a means to escape her personal problems. Now as she walked along the beach with Joey and Ruby by her side, she was no longer sure of her desire to return to policework.

For as long as she could remember being in the Police Force was all she wanted but now, with Joey's return, questions had risen in Charlie's mind if she could even return to work. She wanted her relationship with Joey to flourish, and work especially the varying shifts of day to night and back again would just put too much pressure on them. Even though it wasn't a direct reason for Joey leaving Summer Bay the first time, it did mess things up. Charlie realised now that the decision to go public with Joey the frst time was restrained by the pressures of work, not just family and friends perception of the relationship. She wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

As they walked down the beach, Charlie made a concious decision there and then, Joey was her life now. Protecting her from harm was the most important thing. Work no longer seemed so important. The career drive and motivation that had pushed Charlie for so long were now gone. In their place, Charlie could see a future with Joey with the white picket fence and their own house, and Joey being skipper of her own boat, setting sail with Charlie whenever they pleased. Suddenly, Charlie couln't wait for dinner tonight....

Her thoughts began to wonder..

TBC