Sorry about the lack of update yesterday. I was busy travelling back home and now I have a friend staying until Friday. I hope to update every day still but please forgive me if I don't manage it. However, on Friday when I post the final chapter of Third Time's a Charm, I will also post the first chapter of 'The One' so you will have a double helping of story. Enjoy! Love, IJKS xxx

***

Chapter Eighty-Four

Joey headed out early for a run, leaving Charlie to have a lie in. Things had been so difficult lately and Charlie could feel her energy ebbing away each moment. She groaned when she heard a knock on the door. With VJ and Leah out for the day, she knew it was up to her to open up so she hauled herself out of bed in her pyjamas.

"Morag!" she said in surprise when she saw her step mother on her doorstep. "Come in."

They went to the lounge together.

"Where's Joey?" Morag asked casually.

"She's gone for a run," Charlie told her. "What's wrong?"

Morag was quite obviously tense and had something specific on her mind.

"Did you hear what happened yesterday?"

Charlie shook her head and immediately began to worry.

"Ross broke up an altercation between Ruby and Xavier – unnecessarily, by the way – Xavier wasn't doing anything wrong. But he broke it up and accidentally hit Ruby in the face."

"What?" Charlie explained. "Is she okay? Is Dad okay?"

"Everyone's fine but your Dad went very quiet and took himself to bed. He's barely spoken since. I sent him fishing with Alf to try and cheer him a little but Charlie... I'm starting to get very worried about him," Morag admitted. "I think... I think being here is too stressful. I think it's making things worse. I'm starting to wonder if we're not able to look after him properly."

"What are you thinking?" Charlie asked, fearing she already knew the answer.

"I think we might need to start looking into full time care."

They both looked up when Joey trotted into the house.

"Sorry," she said, immediately sensing the mood.

"It's fine," Morag said. "You're family. You probably need to hear this too."

Joey felt flattered but anxious. Still sweating a little, she came to perch on the edge of couch by Charlie, who immediately put an arm around her.

"Morag thinks Dad might need to go into full time care," Charlie said, before explaining why.

***

Nicole knocked on Aden's door feeling cheerful. Aden opened up. He didn't look quite so chipper but seemed to be in a better mood than usual.

"Morning," she said brightly.

She wandered into the house and dropped onto the sofa.

"Come in!" Aden said sarcastically.

"Dad sent me a letter today," Nicole told him. "I'm your new landlady."

She looked proud. He looked horrified.

"What?" he said, sitting beside her.

"He's paid off the mortgage and put the house in my name. You're officially my tenant."

"Great!" he said sourly, leaning back on the couch.

"Hey, I didn't think you'd be that annoyed," she said, a little deflated. "I'm not exactly going to turf you out or anything, am I?"

"Aren't you?"

"No! I'm not even moving in. I'm staying with Miles, Kirsty, Ollie and Jai. At least until I finish school anyway."

***

Alf and Ross sat on the wharf together, fishing rods in their hands. Ross sighed and gazed out at the water.

"I think I'm going to put myself into full time care," he blurted out.

Alf looked at him, surprised and kind.

"Really?" he said.

"I actually got violent yesterday," Ross said. "I hit my daughter... my granddaughter. And I just... my memory is deteriorating every single day. I can't... I can't do this anymore. I'm becoming a risk to myself and my family and it's not fair. Charlie and Ruby... they've got enough going on without my problems adding to it."

Alf nodded.

"Have you talked to Morag about it?" he asked.

"Not yet," Ross admitted.

He didn't have the first idea how to handle his wife.

***

Ruby wandered along the beach by herself feeling like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. She was sporting a bruise from the incident yesterday, her relationship with Charlie, her best friend, was awkward and her relationship with Xavier was in tatters. She had neither the inclination or energy to fix anything. It all felt too hard for her to bear. And now that she had her father's surname in her mind, she didn't know what to do about it. Geoff's warnings rang through her brain but she had a deep desire to know where she had come from. She wasn't sure what would win out.

***

"I'll bring it up with him this afternoon," Morag decided, still feeling rather nervous.

She was glad that both Charlie and Joey had been calm and receptive to her thoughts and fears. It felt good to be able to unburden herself.

"What will you do?" Joey asked. "I mean, if he agrees to go into care. Will you stay here or...?"

"I'll find a place to rent near the home," Morag said. "I couldn't bear not to be near him."

Charlie nodded.

"We can... well, we can come and visit a lot and everything," she said. "We can all keep in touch and everything."

There was a knock on the door. Ross's voice rang out through the house.

"Hi, Dad," Charlie greeted warmly.

He came and kissed Morag's cheek.

"I'm glad you're all in one place," he said brightly. "I mean, I know Ruby isn't here but I think we'll need to tread particularly carefully with her. But I've reached a decision and I need you all to support me on it."

All three looked at him expectantly.

"I'm putting myself into full time care," he told them. "I'm becoming a danger to myself and other people and I don't want that responsibility. I want to go into the care home where they can take care of me and keep us all safe."

All three women stared at each other and him.

"If you think it's for the best..." Morag ventured, glad that she wasn't the one who had to bring it up.

"I do," he said. "And I want to go today."

"Today?" Charlie exclaimed. "Why so quickly?"

"Because the sooner I go, the better off everyone is."

Silence fell between everyone. Ross held his wife's hand.

"Well, I suppose we'd better start packing and saying our goodbyes," Morag said.

"We?" he said in surprise.

"You don't seriously think I'm letting you do this alone, do you?" she asked.

***

It was five o'clock, half an hour before Charlie and Joey were due to head back to the theatre for their final performance. This time, Leah, Martha and Rachel had booked tickets to see the show, wanting to be supportive of their friends, especially when they were going through so much. But before the stars of the stage could get to where they needed to be, they had to go and say goodbye to Ross and Morag. Standing in the Surf Club where the departing couple had stopped to say goodbye to their friends, Ross turned to his daughter. She hugged him tightly with tears in her eyes.

"Stay safe," she said gently. "Joey and I will come up at the weekend and see you, see how you've settled in, okay?"

He nodded and kissed her cheek. Charlie moved on to say goodbye to Morag and Ross turned his attention to Joey.

"Look after my girl, won't you?" he asked.

"I promise," Joey replied.

The four of them looked up as Ruby raced into the room a little breathless.

"I just got your message," she said.

She launched herself into Ross's arms.

"I love you, Dad," she said.

He looked surprised.

"You called me Dad," he said.

Ruby glanced at Charlie who was listening intently with fear in her eyes.

"Regardless of biology, you will always be my father," Ruby promised.

He smiled, relief flooding him.

"I love you," he told her.

He looked between Charlie and Ruby.

"You've got to take care of each other," he said. "You have to fix this, okay?"

He smiled at Joey.

"All three of my girls."

She blushed and clutched Charlie's hand. Charlie offered him a grateful smile, touched at just how willing her Dad was to let her girlfriend into their lives. It meant the world to her. The threesome followed Ross and Morag to the car and watched them leave, sighing sadly when they were out of sight.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Ruby asked Charlie.

"I'm sure he will," she said.

She turned to her.

"What about us?" she asked.

"We'll get there," Ruby promised.