Chapter Sixty-Two
Charlie was tired by the time she arrived home from work. It had been a long day and she was shaken up by the fact that Angelo knew about her baby. All her fears momentarily faded away from her when she spotted Joey singing to herself in the garden. Her partner was enjoying the sunshine and mowing the grass, singing loudly enough to be heard over the motor. Charlie stopped to watch her rocking away to Pink who was obviously blasting away in her earphones. Turning the lawnmower around, Joey stopped in surprise when she saw Charlie standing at the end of the path. She turned the machine and her iPod off.
"And just how long have you been standing there watching me?" she asked.
"You can't blame me for checking you out," Charlie said. "I'm only human after all."
Joey blushed. Even after their months together, she wasn't quite used to being paid daily compliments such as these. They still took her by surprise. Charlie stepped up to her and she was welcomed home with a hug.
"How was your day back on the force as a big, crime fighting hero?"
"I kicked the arse of many bulky files," Charlie confirmed.
Joey pretended to swoon, landing in her girlfriend's arms. Charlie giggled and kissed her.
"How was everything? Seriously?" Joey asked.
"Okay," Charlie replied, feeling more sober. "Will you be done soon?"
"Yeah, I just have a little more to go. You get changed and I'll be in."
Charlie nodded and kissed Joey's cheek before heading inside the house.
***
Morag was thoughtful. She kept turning over her new piece of information in her mind. How could Charlie be Ruby's mother? It didn't make any sense. There was hardly a big enough age gap between them for it to be true. Charlie would have had to have been barely a teenager herself to have given birth to the girl. Had she really started sexual activity that young? And how could she had have lived all these years passing her daughter off as her sister? How could she live with that? How could Ross and his wife have coped with raising their granddaughter as their own child? The thought made her sick. It was such a tangled web of lies. Charlie was hardly the first young girl to get herself into trouble. Why take such drastic, twisted action to hide a mistake?
***
Joey finished her gardening and headed into the bedroom.
"Well, I timed this absolutely perfectly," she smirked when she found Charlie in her underwear.
Charlie smiled and waved the tube of cream at her.
"Are you hurting?" Joey asked worriedly.
"A little," Charlie admitted. "It's been a long day of sitting."
"Well, you should lie down then," Joey decided, taking the tube.
Charlie obeyed and Joey gently massaged the cream into her hip. She secretly enjoyed the contact and the opportunity to take care of her. Charlie had always been the strong one in their relationship. She'd always been the one who'd been the care giver, the one who'd comforted her during nightmares, protected her, loved her and held her. It felt good to be able to give some of that back. When she'd finished, she put the lid back on and came to lie beside her, resting her hand on Charlie's tummy.
"So, tell me about your day," she said.
"Boring. Oh, except for the part where Angelo demanded I tell him all about the baby."
"What?" Joey almost yelled. "How does he even know?"
"He overheard Ruby talking to Xavier."
Charlie closed her eyes.
"I was pretty rude to him," she admitted. "I just felt so… I don't know. I don't want anyone to know about this. The more people that know, the more I have to deceive people. And I don't want to lie, Joey. But I can't tell the truth. Nobody can know about what happened to me and who my child is. And Ruby especially can't know. I can't do it to her. Or myself."
"It'll blow over," Joey said softly, hoping that she was telling the truth.
She kissed her gently. Charlie closed her eyes and gave everything to the kiss. All she wanted was to lose herself in Joey and forget about the world.
"Anyway," she said. "I just want to forget about that now."
"And what do you want to think about instead?" Joey asked, a smile teasing her lips.
"All about you," Charlie confirmed.
***
Angelo's shift finished but still he remained at work. He typed Charlie's name into the computer, determined to find anything he could. Feeling guilty for going behind her back, he just had to know what secrets his ex-girlfriend was hiding. Surely there must be something.
***
Charlie and Joey lay curled up in bed together, relaxed and happy. Despite all the pressure of everything around them, they felt closer than they had ever been. Cuddling Joey close, Charlie wondered how she would ever have coped if all this was happening and she wasn't with the woman she loved. What would have happened if things had turned out differently? Would she have even survived this far without her? What if she hadn't met her? What if she'd met her and lost her? How would she have dealt with things if she hadn't had Joey to turn to and confide in? Joey had taught her a lot about trust and opening up. She'd taught her a lot about letting go and not hating herself. It felt good to give into someone completely and not rely solely on herself. Life felt hard at the moment but she also felt strong and capable, like she could do anything so long as she had Joey by her side and in her arms. Nothing felt impossible right now, even if it felt difficult.
