Thanks for the reviews. Have faith in Charlie, I hope this chapter explains her thoughts. Please R&R.

Nighttime fell and under the starry sky, Charlie looked around her. Everything was perfect....

Shopping with Ruby had been great fun for the afternoon. Between catching up over a coffee, and shopping till they literally dropped,.

Charlie had organised a special night for Joey. she wanted to be able to discuss their future, and her own.

That morning she had reached a decision herself concerning work but she wanted to see how Joey felt about it.

One of her learning curves was to discuss her decisions no matter how hard they may be, and how much that decision affects the other person.

Ruby and Charlie had picked up Joey earlier that afternoon from Yabbie Creek.

Both girls were eager to find out how the meeting with Alf had gone but Joey told them she wasn't saying another word until dinner about it.

Charlie was worried, why was Joey not devulging any information. Did the meeting go that badly?

I'm going to head for a shower, maybe even a long soak in a nice bubble bath', Joey sighed as they arrived home.

"I'm heading back to Irenes Charlz, thanks for a great day!", Ruby exclaimed as she gave her Mother a big hug.

"Ok Rubz, text me when you get home, let me know you're ok", hugging her daughter back.

"Joey will be ok, I'm sure she'll have her own surprise in store for you, you'll see", Ruby giggled.

"Hey hey hey, cheeky!! I'll see you tomorrow?", Charlie laughed, realising her daughter was well and truly growing up.

"Yeah," Ruby replied, as she headed down the road to Irene's house.

Charlie slowly went inside. She was still a little confused about Joey's solemn attitude in the car. Joey was withdrawn and not her jovial self. Maybe dinner would fix that? Charlie thought to herself.

Taking a look around, the dinner setting was perfect. Dinner had been delivered and was ready to go so Charlie headed to the bathroom, hoping to give Joey a chance to talk if she needed to.

"Joey, can i come in?" Charlie asked, as she knocked on the door.

"Come in Babe"

As Charlie opened the door, she smiled as she saw Joey resting in the bath, surrounded by bubbles.

"Hi, i was wondering what was taking you so long."

'sorry Joey, Ruby left and I did a bit of a clean up. I wasn't sure if i should come in straight away, you were so quiet on the way home, I thought maybe you would want some space, time to yourself." Charlie replied with a questioning look.

"Charlie, i'm ok, just jump in with me please"

Charlie looked at her girlfriend, surrounded by bubbles and just couldn't resist it, squeeling with delight she jumped in.

"So come on, talk to me, what happened this afternoon?" Charlie asked gently, taking Joey's hands and wrapping them around her body. Joey nuzzled her nose against Charlie's neck, breathing in, she wanted to savour this moment, remembering Charlie's scent and the softness of her skin up against her own.

"I got the job, I start next week" sighed Joey.

Charlie turned around to face Joey, "oh my god, that's fantastic Jo, so why the long face, I thought you would be excited".

'I am happy Charlie, I'm happy I got the job, I just...." stammering over her thoughts, "everything is going to change, i mean, now we get up and go to bed whenever, we fill our days however we want, I'm scared this is all going to change. I've got back to find you in my arms again, I don't want to lose you when life gets too hectic."

Charlie pulled Joey in, giving her a hug and holding her close, looking deep into her eyes, "Joey, I want you to remember what I tell you right now ok, I love you, I want you in my life for the rest of our lives. I want you to believe me when I say my life without you would be nothing. It was nothing before you came back and it will be nothing to me if you leave and for the record, if you ever tell me you're leaving again, I will not give you up with out a fight."

Wiping away Joey's tears she continued, "Work will be something you and I can work though together. Are you working at Noahs or the Bait Shop?"

"i'll be running tours on the Blaxland and helping out at the Bait Shop" Joey sniffled.

"Why that's perfect, I can come out on the Blaxland with you and I can still visit you when you're at the Bait Shop. "

"You'll come out with me? What about when you start work?" Joey quizzed.

"Joey Collins... I love you, I will travel to the end of the earth to be with you. Not even work could stop me. I think we could continue this conversation over dinner though, this waters freezing."

"Ok" Joey sighed as she took Charlie's hand to lift her out of the bath, As she climbed out Charlie embraced her and planted a passionate kiss on her lips, whispering in her ears "Come on, lets have dinner".

Joey took an extra couple of minutes to get dressed, slipping on a negligee Charlie bought her, she headed to the kitchen. As she walked in, she was stunned by her surroundings. Charlie beckoned her to sit down, serving dinner that she had ordered, the candles were lit and rose petals gently placed over the entire table.

"Charlie, this is beautiful" she gasped.

"Joey I wanted to do something for you, for us, as my way of showing you how much I love you, how much I appreciate this second chance. I do need to talk to you about work though...." pausing Charlie searched Joey's eyes which returned love and devotion with a hint of curiosity. "I have put a lot of thought into returning to work, quitting the Force has entered my mind but I still love the work.'

" you quitting? Not on my watch Charlie Buckton. Have you any idea how much of a turn on that uniform is? Oh God you are so not quitting. I wont let you!!!" Joey cried out raising her voice.

Charlie reached for Joey's hand, holding it tight, "Honey the thought did cross my mind, but I'm not going to. I'm going to return to work, but I'm going to put in a request for day shifts only from now on and I'm going to do light duties in the beginning, and I want to put in a request to take on less work, maybe have someone step into my role until I get a bit more confident in my return. What do you think?"

Joey pondered Charlie's thoughts for a moment before replying, "Charlie, I think it's good, I mean if your request gets approved. I honestly think we can work through this together, if we're both on day shifts it will make it so much easier. We can spend the nights together at least."

"I'm not going back to work for a few weeks yet, so we can settle you in first, get into a routine. Although, I think I'll be buying takeaway most nights, knowing my disastrous cooking skills." Charlie laughed.

"Oh Hon, I'll cook for you and Ruby, and Leah with VJ. We'll work something out. I'll look after you, food and all." Joey replied, pulling Charlie in for a deep embrace."Thankyou for dinner. It was beautiful."

As Charlie descended to the bedroom, Joey put the last of the dishes away from the clean up. Her thoughts quietly mulling over what Charlie had said. She was confident everything would work out. Little did she know what was round the corner.

TBC