I can't believe that we've come so far in is this story! Thank you all for your support. I hope you continue to enjoy this one. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Three Hundred
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Charlie asked worriedly when she and Joey dropped Ruby off back at their old house.
"I'll be fine," the teenager assured her. "Go and have a nice time with Dad and Morag."
"I wish you could come too," Charlie admitted.
Ruby shrugged and plastered a smile on her face.
"Alas, I have to go to boring, old school," she said.
Charlie hugged her.
"Keep in touch," she requested.
"Of course," Ruby said.
Letting go of Charlie, she hugged Joey just as tightly.
"I don't exactly know what's going on with Charlie right now but please look after her," she whispered.
"I promise," Joey replied.
Ross was thrilled when he saw Charlie and Joey pull into the drive outside the home he shared with Morag. Once upon a time, he knew he had hardly spent any real quality time with his daughter but he hoped it wasn't too late to start trying to make up for it.
"Hi, Dad," Charlie greeted happily, gathering her father into her arms.
When she stepped back, Joey stepped forward to hug Ross also.
"We're so glad you decided to come and see us," he said, leading the way into the house.
Morag met them in the lounge, happy to greet their spontaneous guests.
"So, what brings you over here?" Morag asked that evening as the foursome tucked into their dinner.
"We just wanted to see you," Charlie lied.
She saw the scepticism in her step-mother's eyes.
"Things are pretty heavy at work at the moment," she admitted. "It's affecting me emotionally with bad dreams and stuff so Joey thought it might help us to get away for a bit. And you know how much we like spending time with both of you."
She smiled. Ross beamed back at her, as did Morag. Silently, Joey was rather proud of how much her girlfriend had been willing to admit.
"What's been happening?" Ross wondered.
"Just... it's complicated," Charlie said awkwardly.
He nodded, more than aware of confidentiality issues.
"Is it easy to resolve, at least?" Morag asked.
"I don't know," Charlie admitted.
Between Justin and Aden being in trouble and the news that Hugo had never died, she felt very lost.
"I gather your friend is in trouble at the moment," Ross ventured, looking at Joey.
"Yeah," she said. "We're hoping it will all get fixed soon."
"Well, he has the best lawyer so fingers crossed," Charlie said, flashing a smile at Morag, who looked touched by the compliment.
The next day, Charlie felt more relaxed than she had in quite some time. Joey had gone for an early morning walk with Ross, leaving Charlie home alone with Morag.
"Morag, could I talk to you about something, please?" she asked a little shyly.
"Of course," the judge said, putting her magazine down. "What's on your mind?"
"I want to redo my will," Charlie explained.
"Your will?"
Charlie nodded.
"I've been wanting to do it since everything that happened with Hugo," she ventured. "I made a will out when I first joined the force but my life is really different now. I want to split everything between Joey and Ruby and make it official that I want Joey to look after Ruby if I happened to die before she was an adult. I just... I want to be clear about everything."
"That all sounds fine to me," Morag said.
"Leah said she could be a witness for me," Charlie said. "So... maybe next time you come to the Bay we could make an appointment to get it all done?"
"Absolutely. I imagine it won't be long if I'm going to have to represent Aden and Justin."
"Yeah," Charlie sighed, pulling an unhappy face. "That situation is so awful. I feel really torn."
"Is that why you needed to get away from the Bay?" Morag wondered. "Because of everything with the boys?"
"Partly," Charlie said.
She hesitated. Angelo had made her promise not to tell anyone about Hugo and she had already broken his confidence by telling Joey. But, looking at the woman who was so devoted to her husband, who had worked tirelessly to help Charlie and Joey escape a miscarriage of justice... she knew she could trust her with anything.
"It's Hugo Austin," she admitted.
"What about him?" Morag wondered.
"He's alive."
Joey and Ross were both in a good mood when they returned to the house.
"You two look like you've had a good morning," Charlie remarked.
Joey grinned, reaching out to kiss her.
"We had a great time," she said. "Didn't we?"
Ross beamed and nodded eagerly.
"I don't know how you could ever be sad around this girl," he said affectionately. "She never stops making me laugh!"
He chuckled and sat down next to his wife, kissing her cheek.
"What did you get up to?" Morag asked.
Ross smiled and opened his mouth to speak. Everyone waited but his face fell.
"I don't remember," he said quietly.
Charlie looked down, unable to cope with the confusion on her father's face. Every time she saw him, he seemed to have deteriorated a little bit more.
"We went for a walk in the park," Joey ventured, hoping Ross would be able to pick up the story.
He made eye contact with her, trying to recall what he had been doing for the past few hours.
"We made friends in a cafe!" he said suddenly.
Joey grinned and sat back, ready for Ross to tell them all about their outing.
"Two men," Ross said. "They liked fishing too so we talked lots about it."
He looked at Charlie and Morag.
"You would both have been really bored," he said. "But we had fun. Didn't we, Joey?"
"We had lots of fun," Joey confirmed.
It was the night before Charlie and Joey were due to returned to Summer Bay and both women were keen to stick around. Despite Ross's memory loss, the house was a happy place to be. Charlie felt less under pressure and far away from the dangers of Hugo and how easily he could hurt her and the people she loved.
"Are you sure about this?" Joey wondered.
Tucked up in bed together, the lamp was still on as they put the world to rights before sleep came.
"Are you not comfortable with it?" Charlie asked. "I mean, if you're not keen on having responsibility for Ruby..."
Charlie had tentatively explained her previous conversation with Morag.
"No, no," Joey said quickly. "I'm touched more than anything. But... I mean, you don't really need to leave me anything, Charlie. It should go to Rubes really."
"It should go to both of you," Charlie insisted, reaching for her girlfriend's hand. "You're my life partner and Ruby's my daughter. We're a family. That's the way it works."
Joey smiled, although the mere thought of Charlie needing a will freaked her out a little. Reading her thoughts, Charlie tenderly reached out to stroke her hair.
"Don't worry," she said. "I have no intention of leaving this world any time soon. Personally, I'm very much looking forward to living a long and happy life with the woman I love."
Joey grinned, leaning closer for a kiss. Resting their foreheads together, Charlie tenderly stroked Joey's face with her thumb.
"Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure this is all really true," she admitted.
Joey looked at her in wonder.
"Even with everything going on in our lives, I wouldn't change a thing," Charlie explained. "You make me so happy, Joey. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. And I truly am looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you. You mean everything to me."
Joey kissed her, gently at first and then with growing passion.
"I know it sounds really lame," she said. "But I feel the same. I love you with all my heart."
Next time… Charlie and Angelo argue about Hugo, Justin recovers his memory of the accident and Martha discovers that Hugo is still alive…
