you've not told me why
'Charlie!' she squeals, throwing herself on him, wrapping her arms around his neck. 'It's so great to see you again'
'Jude' he responds, an amused smile gracing his face. She hasn't changed a bit; she still possesses that child-like excitement he always loved about her. As she released him he felt Megan stumble over his toes. He scooped her up into his arms and tickled her for a moment, before turning back to Jude, who's trying to placate the two smaller children of the four who'd got out of the car with her. 'Megan, meet Jude' he says to his small granddaughter, who's currently looking curiously at the five unfamiliar people stood on his doorstep.
Jude turns back to face Charlie at the mention of her name (she'd been trying to split up a long overdue fight between Alice and Tom) and her face instantly brightens up when she spots the three year old staring at her inquisitively, she always did like little children. 'Hello Megan' she says as Megan seemingly surveys her, head cocked sideways. After a moment of hesitation, the child stretches her arms out in Jude's direction and Jude takes the girl from Charlie, balancing her on her hip, beginning to rock her about. Poppy and Emma, who up until now had been lurking a little behind their mother, come forward to coo over the young child. Even Alice and Tom stop their quarrel for a moment to admire Megan.
'She's beautiful, Charlie' Jude tells him 'but why are you looking after her? I'm guessing she's not yours' she asks, wondering if he's just looking after her for the day or this is a permanent measure and Megan currently resides with him in the house.
'No, she isn't mine' he chuckles 'she's Louis' with some girl he met in the hospital who turned out not be mother material' he notices her inquisitive look and realises she wants to find out if Megan lives with him or not. 'Yes, Jude' he laughs because he knows exactly what she's going to ask before she even utters a word 'she lives with me and will be doing so for the foreseeable future. Now, come on in, we can't just stand on the doorstep all day, as lovely as it is I was planning on allowing you to come inside'
She laughs appreciatively and puts Megan down, who seems reluctant to be released from Jude's arms. She sends the children off to get their bags and Emma takes Megan's hand, allowing her to run with them. 'So, what are their names?' Charlie asks Jude while they watch the children retrieve the cases from the car boot.
'The tall one with dark brown hair who looks the spitting image of Matt is Poppy; the boy is Thomas; the smallest girl who everyone says looks like me is Alice and Emma is the one holding hands with Megan.' Jude tells him and he can detect a proud edge to her voice. He can tell she loves her children just from listening to her talk about them.
'Why are you back, Jude?' he asks, voicing the question that's been haunting his mind ever since she rang him about a week ago and asked if she and her children could possible lodge with him for a while, just until they found somewhere in Holby to live. Suddenly he watches as her bright exterior crumbles and he realises he's put his foot in it. He gently places his arm around her shoulder and pulls her into him, rubbing his hand against her back in an attempt to comfort her. She isn't crying but she's shaking a little and the smile has been wiped straight from her face and a distressed look has replaced it.
'I'm sorry, Charlie' she says to him 'one day I'll tell you' she pulls out of the hug and looks him in the eyes. 'I'm just not ready yet' she tells him 'it's still too fresh.' He respects this and makes a mental note not to ask her again until he feels she's more settled.
'Hey, when you've put your bags in your rooms how do you fancy going to the pub?' he asks.
'What?' she asks, a little confused at this sudden proposition.
'Well, the current members of the ED tend to enjoy going for a post-work drink together and I daresay they'll make us all very welcome.' He says, giving her an encouraging smile.
She tips her head to the side and returns the smile 'sure, that sounds good' she answers. 'So, anyone I know still here? Or am I so old that I won't recognise any of the current crowd?'
notes: well done gemma, you guessed correctly (everything you guessed was absolutely right!) and thank you gillian kearney fan and terri ann for reviewing- i really do appreciate it. most of the current characters will begin to feature in the next chapter. i am aware that length of these chapters is obscenely short but i just don't feel like making them very long for some reason.