Three Months Later:
Charlie pushes the last of the completed reports aside, a glance at her watch letting her know she still had a bit of time before Joey picked her up. As always, just the thought of her girlfriend was enough to bring a smile to her face. The past three months had been the happiest of Charlie's life as she had settled into family life with Joey and their girls. Joey had taken time out to deal with her hand and was making a wonderful housewife as Joey jokingly referred to herself, picking up the girls from school, doing the housework and all the cooking. She'd even bought one of those black and white housemaid uniforms, though that was strictly for the bedroom and Charlie somehow found herself wearing it more than Joey and usually not for very long. Feeling her face flushing at those particular memories, she shakes her head to dispel them, her thoughts turning to Joey's hand. While she had responded well to physio, there were still limitations to her movement; she couldn't make a fist, grip a pen or hold anything too heavy, but Joey had learned to adapt and Charlie had every confidence that when Joey returned to work next week, her hand wouldn't prevent her from doing her job to her usual ability.
It certainly hadn't kept her from returning to surfing the moment her cast had come off. At first, Charlie had been happy to sip her coffee and watch Joey from their back porch, until the crowd of admirers had started to turn up every morning to perv at her girlfriend in her boardies and bikini top. Since then, Charlie had her coffee right on the beach and made sure everyone knew she was Joey's girlfriend. Joey had found her jealousy quite amusing, even threatening to surf naked to bring a larger crowd. Charlie was still unsure who was to blame when Joey's threat had somehow ended up with them both skinny dipping as a dare. Charlie smiles as her mind drifts back to that night, the fear and exhilaration she had felt as they had returned to the stretch of beach they'd once made love on. They'd spent over an hour skinny dipping and making love both in the water and on the sand. So many of Charlie's barriers had been taken down by her relationship with Joey, but she was still thankful no one had seen them this time.
One thing Charlie hadn't been able to overcome, was her inability to surf. Joey had finally talked her into taking lessons, but to Charlie's disappointment and the amusement of the crowd of onlookers, she just couldn't get the hang of it and had decided to keep her dignity, or what was left of it and give up. Joey had been right about Harley, she looked like she had been born to surf and April was proving to be a natural as well, while Ruby unfortunately, took after her mother and spent more time off the board than on it. Ruby would never set the world on fire with her surfing but she had started to improve recently and Charlie was full of admiration for her daughter's determination.
Charlie smiles fondly as she thinks of her two girls. When the school holidays had ended, both girls had encountered some trouble at school because of them now living with two mums, but like her mother, Harley had a steely resolve and Ruby had taken her role as big sister very seriously and together, they'd dealt with the bullying. Joey had said she'd have been proud of the way her daughter had stood up to the much larger kids when she jumped into protect her little sister, as she had taken to calling Harley and Charlie was proud of her.
Both she and Ruby had come such a long way since Joey had come into their lives, she muses to herself. Even Grant had commented on it once he'd gotten over the shock of finding out that the mother of his child had fallen in love with a woman and he'd actually thanked Joey for being a positive influence on his daughter, who's own coming out had proven to be rather anti-climatic, with most having either guessed or at least suspected already. Ruby had groaned for a week about the lack of drama, until Harley had reminded her of the teasing they'd gotten just for having gay parents.
Charlie leans back in her chair, putting her feet up on the desk and her hands behind her head, her mind going back to one of the more memorable memories she had of the last three months, the day Georgie and Hugo had finally gotten married. As the maid-of-honour, Joey had been required to wear a dress and Gina had warned Charlie to enjoy it while it lasted as Joey in a dress and all glammed up was an extremely rare event and boy, had Charlie enjoyed it, so much so that she could barely remember anything else from that day except the sight of her girlfriend looking absolutely stunning. Getting her out of the dress later had been nearly as enjoyable. Unfortunately, with the maids uniform more for fun than anything, Joey had made it clear that the only way she'd see her all glammed up in a dress again, was for another wedding. Charlie sighs. She had been half hoping it would be for their wedding, especially after Joey had joked that maybe they should have had a double wedding. "Me and my big mouth," Charlie mutters to herself, wishing she hadn't replied that she'd only marry Joey if she got a proper proposal. Since then, Joey had been silent on the subject, despite all the hints Ruby and Harley had been dropping about their mums getting married.
Charlie never once doubted Joey's commitment to her or their family, especially when she'd been so supportive of Charlie's decision not to have another child, but Charlie couldn't deny that she was still hoping for a wedding. "Oh well, it took Georgie and Hugo a long time to get married, so there's still hope for us," she reassures herself. Another thing that Charlie had been hoping for, was to own their own home. The subject had come up the week before when the owner of the house they were renting had decided to sell. She and Joey had been offered the first option to buy and with the sale of her old house having made a tidy profit, Charlie had been excited by the prospect of buying it, but Joey had seemed reluctant and Charlie couldn't figure out why. She knew that Joey hadn't wanted to rush in and buy when they'd first talked about it, but they'd been together as a family for three months now and things were better than they'd ever been. With the deadline for their decision due in two days, Charlie was worried that if they didn't make an offer, they would miss out if the house went to auction.
Making a mental note to talk to Joey again about it, Charlie's eyes catch the photo she kept on her desk. Picking it up, she smiles at how happy everyone in the photo was. It was one of her and Ruby with the whole clan, minus Shandi who Charlie still hadn't met as she'd been unable to attend Georgie and Hugo's wedding. The family barbies had become a bi-weekly event and Charlie looked forward to them every time. It felt great to be a part of such a large family and to have a woman like Gina in her life. Charlie had never realised until recently, how much she had missed having an older woman to confide in and Gina had become such an amazing presence in her life and the caravan park had quickly become like a second home to Charlie. She was pleased that things were now starting to go well for Gina and John after they had put so much work into improving the caravan park, adding more vans and even a swimming pool. The added attraction of charter cruises at a discounted rate for those staying at the caravan park was proving successful and business was really starting to take off.
Charlie wasn't the only one who was grateful for Gina's presence. Things hadn't improved between Graves and her parents, in fact, they'd gotten worse. They'd cut Graves off financially and had threatened to cut her out of the will if she continued to be a cop. Charlie had been shocked when she'd heard Graves yell into the phone at her parents to go and fuck themselves, not that she had blamed her. With Gina and her husband for support, she'd quickly gotten back to her old self. And if her parents had been expecting her to accede to their demands, they'd sadly underestimated their daughter and her marriage, which had only gotten stronger and having invested wisely over the past couple of years, she and Dex had been able to pay a substantial deposit on their very first home.
Ah Dex, Charlie thinks of the young man affectionately. Like Joey, she'd developed a soft spot for him and was one of his more vocal supporters when the parents had called for his sacking when they had discovered that the teacher who had become a hit with the students, had an alter ego called Sheila. Eventually, the majority of the parents had backed down, though there were still a few who weren't very happy about him being at the school, but as Gina had pointed out to them, they were free to take their kids elsewhere and few parents ever argued with Gina, who was still working as a relief teacher at the school.
Charlie picks up a dart from the little dartboard Joey had given her to relieve her stress at work. It was one of those little magnetic ones and Joey had attached Angelo's mug shot to it. Tossing the dart, she hits him between the eyes. "You got what you deserved you bastard," she tosses another dart, this one hitting his eye. Sitting in court, listening to Angelo plead his innocence had sickened Charlie and the testimony of the victims had almost been impossible to hear but she had forced herself to see it through to the end, just to make sure Angelo didn't get away with it and he hadn't. He'd been found guilty of every charge except the murder of O'Malley and had been incarcerated with other sex offenders. He hadn't even made it through the first night without ending up in the prison hospital after being gang raped in the showers, though he denied any such thing had happened, claiming no dick had ever been inside him. Last she'd heard, Angelo had been made a bitch to the top dog, as Joey had put it, in return for protection from retaliation for being an ex-cop, though it didn't save him from being loaned out to other inmates when his 'owner' needed some more smokes. As abhorrent as she found rape, Charlie felt no sympathy for the degradation that he was going through, something which he could stop if only he admitted to the prison staff what was being done to him, yet he still refused to admit it. Since that report, Charlie had chosen not to receive any more updates.
Angelo wasn't the only one to face court. Not wanting to prolong the trauma of the victims any longer than necessary, all the trials had begun as soon as the evidence was gathered and investigated. Many of those arrested in the sting had taken deals and turned on each other. Those who took a chance and went to trial, regretted it with each guilty verdict handed out. Interpol had had some success in shutting the organisation down overseas, with some girls taken from Australia, since returned to their families and whatever life they could make for themselves. The trials had all been concluded and the investigation officially closed, much to the relief of all those involved.
The one surprising thing to come out of all of this, was Morag, who after being cleared of any involvement, had returned to the law, only this time, she was a staunch advocate for the rights of victims. As Shandi had mentioned in one of her calls to Joey, she was still a cold-hearted bitch but at least her intentions were in the right place and her opposing council tended to be more accepting of settling out of court than facing off against her in court. Of her father, Charlie had no idea what had happened to him after Morag had dragged him through the divorce courts and she wasn't all that interested in finding out.
"Sergeant?" Hogan's voice breaks through her thoughts.
"Mmmm?"
"Joey's waiting for you outside."
Looking at her watch, Charlie curses when she realises her trip down memory lane had distracted her from the time. Grabbing her things, she yells out a goodbye to the other officers as she rushes from the station. She smiles when she sees Joey lying on the hood of her car. "Why do I think you're up to something?"
"Probably because I am." Sliding off the car, Joey takes her time in greeting Charlie.
"Wow, I should be late more often," Charlie murmurs against her lips. Keeping her arms around her lover, Charlie leans back a little, "Now, what are you up to?"
Joey grins, holding up a blindfold. "That's a surprise."
Before Charlie could say anything, Joey was tying the blindfold around her eyes. "Can't I change out of my uniform first?"
"That's all taken care of, now duck your head," Joey says as she helps her into the car.
Despite her attempts to find out more, Charlie was left feeling frustrated when Joey refused to reveal anything. When the car finally comes to a stop and Joey opens the door for her, Charlie immediately recognises where they are just by the sound and smell. "Are we going to the yacht?"
"Not the yacht."
"Then John's boat?"
"Yes."
Charlie frowns, wondering why Joey needed the bigger boat. "So what's the surprise then?"
"Don't be so impatient Charlie."
With Joey's help, she manages to make it onto the boat and below deck without stumbling. Joey gives her a brief hug and brushes her lips over hers. "You can take the blindfold off now," Joey says, turning and closing the door behind her.
Seeing the basket of soap and shampoo and fresh towels on the bed, Charlie shrugs, stripping out of her uniform and jumping into the shower.
Turning the water off sometime later, Charlie's surprised to find a trail of rose petals on the floor, leading away from the shower. Smiling at how quiet Joey must have been, she follows the trail all the way back to the bed, which was now strewn with rose petals and a beautiful evening gown that has her gasping. Touching the material, she loves the soft feel. "Joey my love, you are definitely full of surprises." After drying her hair, she puts the dress on, marvelling at how well it fit to her body. "Of course she'd get the measurements right," she murmurs to herself, running her hands down the material as she looks in the mirror, every one of her curves accentuated by the dress. "She knows my body almost as well as I do." Staring at her image, her heart starts to race as she realises her dream was about to come true; tonight, her lover was going to propose to her.
Is Charlie making the right assumption or does Joey have something else planned?