Chapter Sixty-One

On Sunday morning, Charlie woke up early and got ready for her first shift back at work. She was excited to be getting back to normal but nervous. The pain in her hip was much less, although she still had twinges now and again. Saturday had been peaceful enough, once Ruby's questions had ceased. Charlie had enjoyed snuggling up with Joey, relaxing with her, holding her and having an early night. It had been good to reclaim her sexual identity after all the old issues had been brought up. She felt safe with Joey and in all her life she had never felt so loved. Charlie was absolutely certain that she had met the love of her life and it was a relief to know that no matter what happened, not even her biggest secret and shame could drive her away. By the time she'd got out of the shower, she found Joey gone. Pulling on her uniform, she headed into the kitchen, finding her partner making her breakfast. She smiled and hugged her.

"It's the only way to start the day or so the health adverts keep saying," Joey told her cheerfully.

She guided Charlie into a chair and set her food down in front of her, complete with both a coffee and a glass of orange juice.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" Charlie wondered aloud.

"You never did anything that bad but I'm grateful you put up with me anyway," Joey remarked.

She moved to start doing the dishes but Charlie caught her, holding her in place. Joey bent to kiss her lips.

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me," Charlie said sincerely.

"And you're the best thing that's ever happened to me," Joey replied.

***

Once Charlie had left for work, Joey busied herself with housework until her phone rang. She smiled when she saw Aden's name on the screen of her mobile.

"Hey, stranger," she greeted.

He and Belle had been on their honeymoon for a few weeks. She'd missed her friend.

"Hey," he replied.

She frowned. He didn't sound good.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Belle has even less time than we thought," he told her, his voice breaking. "Can I see you?"

"Of course."

***

Charlie was desk bound for at least the first week. She supposed she didn't really mind. At least she was back doing a job she loved. And Watson had been incredibly sweet, plying her with coffees. She'd even bought her in a muffin to welcome her back. It was ever so kind of her. She looked up when Angelo knocked on her door.

"Hi," she greeted.

"Hey, how's your first day back going?" he asked.

"Yeah, pretty good," she told him. "Just catching up with everything I missed. How are you?"

"Fine," he said, nodding and taking a seat across the desk from her.

"How's May?"

"Yeah, she's good. I'm actually thinking of asking her to move in with me."

"Wow! That's pretty quick!"

He hoped he detected some kind of jealousy in her words and waited for more but there was none.

"Maybe you, Joey, May and I should go on a double date sometime," he suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," Charlie said, flipping through a file. "I'll ask Joey."

"I uh..."

Angelo shifted. Charlie looked at him curiously.

"I heard about your baby."

Charlie blanched.

"What?"

"That you um... had a child."

"Where did you hear that?" Charlie asked sharply.

"From Ruby."

"She spoke to you?"

"Not exactly."

"Well, what exactly?"

"I heard her talking to Xavier," Angelo admitted.

"You eavesdropped on my sister's conversation about my past?" Charlie accused.

"I didn't mean to."

"And you're bringing it up with me because...?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to talk about it."

"Why would I want to talk about it, Angelo?" Charlie snapped.

"I thought you might need support, that's all."

"I have all the support I need, thank you."

Charlie looked back down at her paperwork.

"Charlie, I thought we were friends."

"We are but I don't want to talk about that kind of thing with you. And I'd appreciate it if you kept your mouth shut about my personal life."

"I will! I wouldn't dream about mentioning it to anyone. I just wanted to be there for you, Charlie," Angelo said.

Charlie put her pen down.

"Angelo, I appreciate your support and your friendship but my past isn't up for discussion. I don't want to talk about it with you and I'm horrified that you even know about it," Charlie said, hoping she didn't sound too harsh.

He looked down, cursing himself for mishandling the whole thing.

"I just thought you and I were close enough to trust each other with that kind of thing," he said. "We're more than friends, Charlie. We always will be."

"We're just friends," Charlie corrected him.

"You'll always mean more to me than that."

"And you'll never mean more to me than that."

Angelo stood and left the room. Charlie sighed and got on with her work.

***

Joey and Aden sat on the beach together. Belle had wanted to tell Irene, Geoff and Annie her news by herself. Respecting her wishes, Aden had ventured out with Joey, needing some time with to talk about the honeymoon – both the good and bad aspects of it - with his best friend. So much had happened in his absence. He could hardly believe that Roman had been arrested and Nicole was living with Miles. Guilt plagued him that he hadn't been around and he wondered why nobody had contacted him. Joey had insisted that nobody had wanted to bother him while he was celebrating his marriage to Belle but he still felt bad about it. Roman had left him the house but Morag and Ross were temporarily staying with him for as long as they were in the Bay. He assumed that they'd stuck around because of Charlie's accident and Joey had chosen not to correct him. While she knew it rarely took long for word to get around about these types of things but she wasn't about to speed up the process. Besides, right now she needed to just sit and listen to her friend talk. He'd been there for her at the worst time of her life and it was her turn to return the favour to him.

***

Ruby was in the Diner with Xavier when Geoff and Annie entered. She waved cheerfully. They approached but didn't smile.

"What's up, guys?" she asked worriedly.

Sitting heavily in their chairs, Geoff was the first one to speak.

"It's Belle," he said. "She's um... she told us today that um..."

"She's dying," Annie said quietly.

***

Angelo was in a bad mood. He was angry with Charlie for shooting him down when he'd only wanted to be her friend. It was like she'd completely forgotten about their history, like he meant nothing to her now that she had Joey. He wondered yet again if, had she not been with Joey, they could have been together now that he was back in town. Would she have ever been able to love him again or perhaps for the first time? Would he have been the one who could have supported her through this revelation? Could he ever have been 'the one'? Finishing his shift, he headed over to see May, deciding once and for all to move their relationship on. He was going to ask her to move in with him.

***

When Charlie arrived home, she found Ruby staring blankly at the television.

"Hey," she said softly. "Are you okay?"

"No. Did you hear about Belle?"

Charlie sighed and sat down beside her.

"I um... I knew a few weeks ago," she admitted. "At the wedding."

"What?" Ruby squeaked, turning the television off.

"Aden told Joey and I," Charlie explained.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ruby frowned, folding her arms.

"I'm sorry," Charlie apologised. "It wasn't my place to say."

"I guess you're pretty good at not telling me stuff," Ruby snapped.

She instantly regretted it, especially when she saw the wounded look on Charlie's face. She watched her older sister look down before pushing herself up out of her chair and begin to move towards her bedroom, presumably to get changed out of her uniform.

"Sorry," Ruby called after her. "That was mean of me. I shouldn't have said that."

"Ruby, I did what I had to do," Charlie said, not turning back to face her but pausing in the doorway.

"I know. Or at least, I think I know."

"It was a painful, complicated situation," Charlie told her. "I was in no fit state to raise a child even if I wanted to. I just couldn't."

"Do you regret giving him up?"

"Sometimes."

"Would you ever want to try and find him? Find out what you've missed out on?"

"No," Charlie sighed.

She wanted the conversation to end here.

"I don't understand how you can just forget about him," Ruby said.

"I forget because I have to, Ruby," Charlie said.

She walked to her bedroom and closed the door.

***

Over dinner, Morag and Ross wondered if they ought to head back to the city. Charlie was back on her feet, if a little stressed out and they worried that they were crowding Aden and Belle during a time when the couple needed to be alone together.

"And I feel badly about putting my foot in it about Charlie and her little boy," Morag added.

"Little boy?" Ross asked, utterly confused.

"Yes."

"Charlie didn't have a little boy. She had a little girl," he said, as if she were daft.

"But she said..."

"Morag, why are you being so silly? She had a little girl. You know her! Charlie's little girl is Ruby!"

Ross shook his head and chuckled before continuing on with his meal, oblivious to the way his wife stared at him.