Chapter Five Hundred and Seventy Six

Joey woke up to breakfast in bed. It was a rare moment. She was Head Chef in the Buckton/Collins household. But here was Charlie, her robe barely pulled together and cleavage in her skimpy pyjamas alluringly hinting beneath, offering coffee, juice, a rose in a vase and two slices of toast, carefully cut into the shape of hearts.

"You're too cute," she said.

Charlie slipped into bed beside her.

"Today, you are to be spoilt," Charlie told her, stealing a kiss. "Happy anniversary."

"Two years," Joey said wistfully. "It feels longer."

Charlie furrowed her brow.

"In a good way!" Joey laughed, reassuring her. "We've just been through so much together."

Charlie nodded. She accepted the bite of toast that Joey offered.

"We have," she agreed. "And I wouldn't have wanted to go through any of it without you."

"Me neither," Joey said. "You are absolutely the best thing that has ever happened to me, Charlie Buckton."

Charlie grinned and kissed her.

"So, what are we doing today?" Joey asked eagerly.

"We are eating a very light breakfast and then we are getting ready to go out," Charlie told her.

"You're not telling me more than that?" Joey asked.

"You'll find out what we're doing when we're doing it," Charlie assured her.


After presents and a leisurely getting ready, Charlie drove Joey up to the lighthouse, one of the first places they had been on a date.

"What is this?" Joey asked curiously.

Charlie was relieved and pleased to see that her friends had done their job. Hung from the lighthouse, with special permission was a massive sign that read 'I love you, Joey'. It had cost a fortune to have designed. She had wanted to make it but it would have taken a lot of time that Charlie didn't have without raising a lot of suspicion. So she had paid to have it made and sent to Watson and Kerri's house and Watson, Leah, Claire and Ruby had been up and out early this morning to hang it up. They had also set up a lovely picnic for the happy couple to enjoy.

"What does it look like?" Charlie asked.

"It looks like you love me," Joey remarked.

Charlie could see her blushing. She put her arm around her.

"Too much?" she asked.

Joey shook her head, leaning against her.

"It's amazing," she said, kissing her softly. "How did you even do this though?"

She jogged up to the lighthouse, inspecting the sign. Charlie caught up with her, pleased that Joey seemed happy with it. She was also pleased that she seemed content that this was the only surprise of the day.

"Magic!"

Joey turned back to Charlie and kissed her.

"All I did was show up," she said worriedly.

Charlie kissed again, resting their foreheads together.

"That's because that's what I told you to do," she reminded her. "I wanted to organise today for you."

Joey hugged her and looked at the picnic blanket, laid out with delicious looking food.

"This is so lovely, Charlie," she said. "Really. Thank you."

"Shall we eat?" Charlie asked.

Joey nodded. Charlie took her hand and led to their feast.


After a picnic that was definitely one of the Diner's best, Joey had thanked Charlie in a way that could have got them both arrested for public indecency. But still, it was their anniversary and neither of them had seen a soul since they had been up here. It seemed like a day to throw caution to the wind!

"Well, I guess we'd better get going," Charlie said, once they had all their clothes back on.

"Oh," Joey said, disappointed. "How come?"

"Well, we don't want to be late," Charlie said.

"Late for what?"

"The next surprise," she said, obviously.

"I thought this was the surprise," Joey replied.

"One of them," Charlie said.

"Oh!" Joey said, a little startled. "But Charlie, you didn't have to do more than this. This is so amazing. I love this. You don't have to do any more."

"Well, it's already sorted so we shouldn't waste it," Charlie said, standing up.

She pulled Joey to her feet.

"Do we have time to take some selfies with my sign?" Joey asked hopefully.

Charlie laughed and nodded, leading the way over.

"Don't we have to clean all this stuff up?" Joey asked.


They had spent a considerable amount of time take pictures with Charlie's 'I love you' sign, which had turned out even nicer and more impressive than she had hoped. She had loved seeing just how thrilled Joey had been with it all.

"Well, obviously I have little helpers, Jo," Charlie grinned. "How do you think the sign and the food got up here in the first place?"

"Little fairies?" Joey suggested.

"I don't think Watson would appreciate being referred to as a fairy but you're welcome to take that up with her," Charlie smirked.

Joey laughed, pulling her girlfriend in for a kiss.

"So, if we're not clearing up, what are we doing?" she asked. "If I may make a suggestion, please let it be more of this?"

She pulled Charlie in for another, deeper kiss. Charlie closed her eyes, losing herself in the moment and wrapping her arms around Joey. She felt like she could stay here forever. Eventually, she came to her sense.

"Later," she said. "Right now, we have an elsewhere to be."

"An elsewhere?" Joey asked, confused. "Which elsewhere? Where elsewhere?"

Chuckling, Charlie pulled out her phone and called Watson to let her know they had finished, warned her, Joey suspected not for the first time, to be careful with the sign, and then led Joey to the car.

"So, about this elsewhere?" Joey pestered.

"Well, first we're going home," Charlie said.

"Oh," Joey said, a little disappointed.

"To pack a bag," Charlie said.

"Oh!" Joey perked up.

"And we're heading into the city for your next surprise!"

"Just how many surprises are there, Charlie Buckton?" Joey wondered.

"A few," Charlie said, determined to keep the day a closely guarded secret.


"Charlie, this is too much!" Joey said, spinning in a slow, awed circle in the middle of the luxury hotel room her girlfriend had booked for the night.

Charlie stood back, smiling at how happy she was.

"You're pleased?" she checked.

She had spent a lot of money on the room, which had a hot tub in the bathroom and balcony off the lounge area. She hoped in the morning, they would be able to enjoy their first breakfast as an engaged couple out there in the morning sun.

"I love it," Joey said, drawing her closer. "But you have spent so much money. Charlie, I would have been happy with a takeaway and movie!"

Charlie kissed her.

"I just wanted things to be special," she said.

Joey nudged her onto the king size bed, straddling her.

"I can think of some ways to make it special," she murmured against her lips.


Several hours later, the girls were in somewhat of a hurry to get dressed for the next part of their day. Charlie refused to tell Joey where they were going, wanting to keep the entire day as a surprise. She didn't have long to wait though, as within five minutes of walking, they found themselves outside the theatre, showing a new production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, one of Joey's favourite shows. They had watched the DVD many, many times.

"Charlie, how did you even get tickets for this?" Joey shrieked. "I thought they were all sold out?"

"I got them ages ago," Charlie said.

Holding hands, they walked in, checking in their tickets at the door.


The first half of the show was amazing. Charlie had spent most of it watching Joey who was elated at every scene and every song. People began to stand when the curtain went down, ready to get snacks and use the toilet. Suddenly, the curtain went back up again. Everyone paused or sat back down again, surprised that the show wasn't on a break after all. Charlie's heart pounded in her chest as the actor playing Felicia caught everyone's attention.

"Apologies, everyone. We will be going to a break but we have a special, little thing to do first, if you don't mind. Now, there are two very special people in this audience tonight and I would like them to come up on stage!"

Joey was startled as a very camp usher approached them and led her and Charlie up onto the stage.

"The stage is yours, darling," the actor said.

Charlie was beyond nervous. She was shaking, terrified that the words weren't going to come out. She was starting to think that a public proposal was actually a terrible idea.

"Um… Joey, I wanted to tell you how much I love you," she said, taking her hand with her free hand.

Her other hand was holding the microphone she had been given.

"You are the best thing that's ever happened to me and I am grateful every day that you came into my life. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So…"

She nervously got down on one knee. She heard the audience coo.

"Joey Collins," she managed, pulling the ring box from her pocket. "Will you marry me?"

Joey put her hands up to her face, which was wet with tears. Everyone, including the cast waited with baited breath. For Charlie, it felt like hours.

"Of course I will!" Joey said.

Everyone cheered and clapped. People started taking photos. Lots of people had already been filming them. Charlie stood up and slipped the ring onto Joey's finger. The actor took the microphone. They kissed. The audience cheered more.

"The ring was my Mum's," Charlie whispered. "Dad gave it to me before he died; he wanted us to get married."

Joey clung to Charlie.

"I can't believe you did this."

"Are you mad?" Charlie grinned.

"A little!" Joey laughed. "But I love you for it. You're amazing."

They kissed again and thanked the cast, who offered to take selfies with them. Charlie and Joey both felt like they were on cloud nine.


The next morning, as Charlie had imagined, the couple enjoyed their first breakfast as an engaged couple out on the balcony, overlooking the beautiful gardens below. They had had the most amazing night, finishing the show and then spending a lot of time talking to half the audience who had all wanted to congratulate them on their way out.

Back at the hotel, they had phoned their loved ones and told them their news, even though they had already known what was coming. They had then enjoyed champagne in the hotel tub and not gone to sleep until the early hours. It had been the best day of both their lives and in the past couple of years, they had chalked up quite a few. That felt like a good thing to be able to say considering all the difficulties they had both had to deal with in their lives.

"So… engaged… Wow," Joey mused, sipping her morning coffee.

Charlie nodded.

"Yeah, wow," she agreed. "I hope you haven't changed your mind!"

"Absolutely not!" Joey assured her.

She reached for her hand across the table.

"I can't wait to marry you," she said sincerely. "I am beyond excited. And I am so touched that your Dad gave you his blessing like that – encouragement, even."

"Me too," Charlie said. "I'm so looking forward to our future."


Next time… Charlie and Joey's friends celebrate their news, Bianca puts her relationship at risk, Roo and Angelo get a new housemate…