Hi everyone. I hope you enjoy the dinner party more than the characters do! Also, just as an aside, re: the vegan conversation, please remember that this is 2011. As a veggie, there are a LOT more options eleven years later! Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Five Hundred and Ninety
"How exactly did we end up being invited to this again?" Joey asked, as she and Charlie got ready for dinner that evening.
Claire and Ruby were in the lounge with money for a takeaway and instructions to behave themselves. Ruby was still grounded and they hadn't felt quite confident enough to leave her home alone for the night so had invited Claire round for the evening, hoping that Hannah didn't mind too much. Ruby had sulked a little that she was being babysat, although she was quite looking forward to spending the evening with her best friend. They hadn't exactly had the chance to hang out and spend real, quality time together for a while. She had been caught up with Casey and Claire had been caught up with Hannah. Ruby hoped that this might be the beginning of making sure they made more time for each other.
"Well, I saw Marilyn this morning and she was being all flappy…"
"Being all Marilyn?" Joey said with a cheeky grin.
Charlie turned from where she was doing her makeup in the mirror. She raised one, eyeshadowed eyebrow.
"She's got herself into such a state about Nicole and the baby," she said. "And she kept talking about Roo taking her place."
"With Nicole?" Joey said. "I mean, I guess they do hang out a lot."
Charlie nodded.
"It's hard for her," she said. "She's so desperate for this kid and I… I think it's going to go wrong."
Joey sat heavily on the bed.
"Me too," she admitted. "I think Nicole's going to change her mind."
"I just wish she'd realise it sooner rather than later," Charlie said. "It's going to be so awful for Marilyn to meet the baby and fall in love with him and then for Nicole to want him back."
Joey let out a slow breath. She stood up and wrapped her arms around Charlie's shoulders. She kissed her neck.
"This is all bringing back difficult memories for you," she stated gently.
Charlie nodded, kissing Joey's hand. She appreciated the way her partner always understood without her needing to explain.
"I don't want Marilyn to get hurt but I also don't want Nicole to make a huge mistake," she said. "If she wants this baby, she needs to hold onto him. She can't live her life longing to be the mother she could have been."
Joey nodded. She kissed the top of Charlie's head and then returned to the wardrobe, pondering over what jacket to wear.
"Wear the black one," Charlie said. "You look hot in it."
Joey grinned at her.
"So, who's coming tonight?" she asked, pulling the jacket on and giving Charlie a twirl.
"Well Marilyn and Sid, us, Nicole and Roo…" Charlie told her. "Oh and I think Liam and Bianca were coming as well."
"Oh, great!" Joey enthused. "We haven't seen them for ages."
"I know," Charlie said. "We really need to make a date with them. Life just seems to keep getting in the way, doesn't it? We all just seem to have so much stuff going on – Ruby, April, work, everything…"
Joey nodded. She accepted the lip gloss Charlie offered her and then the perfume.
"I think we're good to go," she said.
Charlie and Joey left the girls to their evening.
"So, how much do you get an hour for babysitting me?" Ruby asked.
"Hey!" Claire protested. "You know it's not like that. I want to be here."
Ruby smiled, promising she was just teasing.
"Hey, are you in the mood for pizza?"
"Do I want to order your boyfriend here on a scooter and hand over cash to a restaurant that's trying to do your parents out of business? Hmm… let me think…" Claire replied.
"Ugh, you're such a grown up!" Ruby complained.
"And that's why our relationship works so well," Claire replied. "Chinese? Thai?"
"Ooh, Thai! Definitely Thai!"
Charlie and Joey had booked a taxi to Sid and Marilyn's so that they had could have a guilt free drink with dinner. In the back of the cab, they held hands, wondering what the evening would bring.
"Oh, I went to see Romeo today," Joey told her fiancée.
"Really? After his awful behaviour with that girl yesterday? Ruby said she told her how nice you were to her," Charlie said. "She said she was, and I quote 'super lucky to have a Mum like Joey'."
She could see Joey looking shy in the evening light.
"Well, I didn't like to leave it on such bad terms with him," Joey explained. "I was just so horrified at the way he spoke to her. It was awful. He didn't look great today and I felt sorry for him. He was clearly feeling pretty ashamed of himself. I did suggest that he try and put his energy into something good after everything bad that's happened – essentially after everything he's done. But he wasn't interested. I thought that maybe while he's got time on his hands, he might volunteer at the shelter with Elijah but he was adamant that he was too busy trying to find work. He was sure he would get a job at the Surf Carnival but I don't know how that worked out. I didn't see him again."
"Well, hopefully if he gets some good luck, he'll stop being such an arsehole to everyone," Charlie suggested.
Joey chuckled.
"We can but hope!"
Marilyn was fussing so much in the kitchen that she was starting to make Sid nervous. Typically, he wasn't an anxious person. He considered himself a laid back kind of bloke. However, Marilyn had been on edge all day. He couldn't work out why. It was just a dinner party. Granted, it had become a somewhat bigger dinner party than he had been expecting. This morning, just Nicole had been coming round to talk about the baby. Then she was bringing Roo, which he had to admit, if only to himself, wasn't disappointing. The next thing he knew, Marilyn had invited Charlie and Joey. Then suddenly, he, Roo and Nicole had been discussing the evening in front of Liam and he'd found himself inviting him and Bianca out of politeness. Then Nicole had asked if she could invite Angelo, to which Roo had agreed that perhaps it would be a bit rude if he was the only one of her housemates who wasn't welcome so Sid had agreed to that, although he wondered when Angelo and Nicole had become such good friends. She was half his ages for starters. Although he was aware that once upon a time, she and Liam had dated and there was the same age gap between them so perhaps it didn't matter to her. Perhaps he would find out more this evening. And perhaps he was a little more interested and less laid back than he thought.
"That should be our first guests," he said to Marilyn when he heard a knock at the door.
He caught side of his anxious girlfriend in the kitchen and tried to look reassuring. He opened the door to Roo, Liam, Angelo, Nicole and Bianca, who had evidently all travelled together.
"Welcome!" he said. "Come in!"
He stepped aside, inviting them into the house. They had barely arrived when Charlie and Joey also turned up.
"Is Indi here?" Nicole asked when everyone was beginning to settle.
"No, I kicked her and Dex out for the night," Sid said.
Nicole nodded. She felt like she was in an odd state of flux, not quite an adult but not quite a kid anymore either. She and Indi were best friends but she was suddenly spending so much time with her parents because of this baby growing inside her. She smiled gratefully at Angelo as he politely pulled out a chair for her. Charlie and Joey were helping Marilyn bring out the starters.
"Thank you girls," Marilyn said. "Honestly, Joey, you get away from your restaurant for one night…"
"I don't mind, Marilyn," Joey replied sweetly. "Always happy to help. This looks amazing."
"I hope you don't mind vegan…" Marilyn said doubtfully.
She was sure she caught a look from Roo, Angelo and Liam.
"Not at all," Joey said easily. "Charlie and I eat vegan food all the time."
"Lesbians," Bianca teased. "With all your new age ideas…"
Charlie mock glared at her.
"I'm working on developing the vegan and vegetarian menu at the restaurant, making it more of a feature. I was reading an article that within the next ten years, vegan food is going to take off like crazy. I might have to pick your brains about what I should include," Joey said, following her back into the kitchen.
Charlie watched them, smiling at the way her fiancée was always so capable of making someone feel at ease. Joey knew that Marilyn wasn't herself this evening; it was instinctive that she wanted to do everything she could to make it better. Charlie loved her for it.
"You are such a sap," Bianca whispered, stepping up beside her. "Oh, I am just so in love with my fiancée…. She is so dreamy!"
Charlie snorted and swatted her away.
"You are meant to be in love with your partner, you know!" she reminded her.
Bianca glanced across the room at Liam, who was drinking water and looking rather irritable. They had argued before they'd come out. She had asked him not to drink beer, his new beverage of choice these days. He'd lost his temper, insisting that alcohol was not an issue. She had begged him not to make it one. He had promised not to drink but made it clear that he wasn't happy about it. So now he wasn't even drinking any of the array of soft drinks on offer. To make a point, he was drinking tap water. Bianca suspected it was going to be a long evening.
"Well, maybe if I was dating Joey," she sighed.
Within a few minutes, Sid and Marilyn were sat at either end of the table; Marilyn nearest the kitchen. Roo sat beside Sid with Nicole next to her and Angelo next to her. There was a space between Angelo and Marilyn. On the other side of the table, next to Marilyn was Charlie, then Joey, then Bianca, then Liam.
"This is delicious, Marilyn," Roo said, tucking in.
"Oh, it's nothing, really," Marilyn said bashfully.
"Oh, come on, Marilyn, you've been working hard in that kitchen all day," Sid said. "Take the compliment."
Marilyn looked down at her food. She couldn't decide whether to feel proud or embarrassed so she settled on hungry.
"So, how's all the baby stuff going?" Liam asked, filling the aching silence that had formed.
Bianca kicked him. He yelped and rubbed his leg.
"It's all going fine, thank you, Liam," Nicole said politely.
She flashed him a grin that made him feel marginally better but he was feeling increasingly bitter towards his girlfriend. How dare she tell him what he could and couldn't say to Nicole? She had no idea of the depth of history between them and what they had been through together. If he wanted to ask after her child, then he could. He would.
"Yes, we're very much nearing the big day, aren't we, Nicole?" Marilyn said excitedly. "I can hardly believe it."
"Me neither," Nicole said, more nervously than excitedly.
"Well, just make sure you don't watch any horror birth stories online," Roo said. "I totally freaked myself out when I was pregnant, watching a video of a birth and if I could have kept Martha in there forever, I think I would have! And that was before the Internet!"
"What do you mean, horror birth videos?" Nicole asked worriedly.
"Oh, don't scare the girl," Marilyn said hurriedly.
"No… no, do scare me," Nicole said urgently. "I mean, if there's something I need to know about…"
"Well, I mean, you know that the birth isn't going to be painless…" Sid said.
"Of course," Nicole said quickly. "I'm not stupid. But I'll get drugs, right?"
Liam focussed on his food. He had no idea why he was here, sitting round a dinner table, talking about labour pains and drugs. He really wanted a drink. Decisively, he reached forward and poured himself a glass of wine from the bottle on the table, ignoring the way that Bianca was looking at him.
"I thought we were going for a more natural birth?" Marilyn said anxiously.
"If it's painful, I really want drugs," Nicole said.
"I just thought…"
"Marilyn, no offence but Nicole's the one doing the pushing," Roo said. "I think she gets to say how it goes."
"Well, Roo, I do take offence in this particular situation," Marilyn shot back.
Charlie and Joey exchanged awkward glances, as did several others around the table.
"I'm sorry," Roo said. "I didn't mean to be rude. I just meant that if Nicole is worried and she wants pain management then it's not up to anyone – even you – to say she can't have that."
"And I agree," Sid put in. "It's going to be our baby but it's Nicole's body, Marilyn. If she wants pain relief, she gets it. If she wants a string quartet in the room, she gets it!"
He grinned. Nicole managed a nervous laugh and suggested that she might just take him up on that. Roo called him a charmer. Marilyn was not charmed.
"I do appreciate what you're saying," Marilyn said stiffly.
"Fantastic," Sid said brightly. "So, no horrific birth then! Man, I've seen some horrors."
"Oh, when I gave birth to Martha – that was definitely no picnic," Roo said.
Joey held Charlie's hand under the table. Birth stories were not her fiancée's favourite topic.
"Can we just stop talking about labour, please?" Nicole burst out.
"Seconded!" Liam said, pouring his third glass of wine in only a few minutes.
He seemed to be downing them like shots. Bianca was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
"Yes, please," Marilyn said. "Not everyone here enjoys chatting about birthing war stories over the dinner table. They're not all hilarious anecdotes."
She stood and began to clear everyone's plates. Dutifully, Charlie, Joey and Bianca also stood and helped.
In the kitchen, Charlie forced Marilyn to stop tidying and look at her. She had tears in her eyes.
"What's going on? I mean, apart from the obvious. You and I both have pain – different kinds of pain – but both gut wrenching pain on that particular subject," Charlie said. "And I had Joey holding my hand under the table but you had a partner who didn't seem to even notice. And I'm sorry that happened."
Marilyn fell into Charlie's arms and allowed herself to be held.
"I just… I wanted this baby to be a new start for me, for us and I just… I can feel everything slipping through my fingers."
"What do you mean, everything?" Charlie asked.
"Oh, you've seen them," Marilyn said. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed."
Charlie glanced back through the doorway. She could hear Sid chatting away, probably to Roo. She had noticed.
"Marilyn, if you're not completely sure about everything, you need to say," she said.
"I am sure," she said. "I want this baby so much, Charlie."
"But what about Sid?"
"I want Sid too. I just… I don't think he wants me."
Back at the dining table, things had spiralled. Liam had spilled his fourth glass of wine. Bianca had lost her temper, prompting Liam to storm out and Bianca to hurry off after him, worried about him going off to drink more. Charlie and Joey had made a mental note to check in with their friend later to make sure she was okay.
Nicole had fallen silent, struggling to enjoy herself after the lengthy and awkward discussion about the birth. Suddenly, it all seemed so very real that in the coming weeks, she was going to have to push this baby out of her body. She had been so focused on the turmoil of having to hand him over to Marilyn and Sid, something she still didn't know if she could do, that she had lost sight of the physical trauma of giving birth. Suddenly, it felt like she was being confronted with the facts of it all and it was utterly terrifying.
"I need to go home," she said suddenly, standing up, just as Charlie and Marilyn arrived with the last of the meals – minus Liam and Bianca's plates.
"What's going on?" Marilyn asked worried.
"Are you alright?" Roo asked, reaching for Nicole's hand.
"Yes, I just… I just have to go," Nicole said, feeling shaky. "There's just so much noise in my head about everything. The birth. And what I have to do. And I just… I need to leave now. I need to go home."
Angelo stood up, offering to drive her back. He had driven them all there in the first place. Nicole managed a murmured 'thank you' and headed for the door. Angelo followed her, offering his apologies to Marilyn as they left. Charlie and Joey couldn't help but notice the devotion with which he had left with her, no questions asked. He had given her his undivided attention all night. His feelings for Roo seemed to be long over.
"What did you say to her?" Marilyn demanded, sitting down and looking accusingly at Sid and Roo.
"Nothing!" Sid protested. "She's obviously just feeling very overwhelmed at the moment. We just need to give her some time and space."
"Well, maybe you two shouldn't have gone on about horrific births!" Marilyn snapped.
"And maybe you shouldn't have insisted that she go through labour without any kind of support!" Roo retorted.
"Okay, I don't think this conversation is getting you anywhere," Charlie stepped in.
"What has this got to do with you?" Sid snapped.
"Well, I'm sitting at the table and I can see my friend getting increasingly upset," Charlie said. "So, accuse me of interfering all you like but yeah, you probably all freaked Nicole out. Tensions are high. You're all upsetting each other here. Sid, Marilyn – right now, you're meant to be coming together as a family. You're meant to be preparing to bring a baby into your family, becoming parents. Together. You need to be working together. You're meant to be focussing on that. Don't get distracted."
She cast a glance at Roo, who shifted a little uncomfortably, telling Charlie that she was fully aware of the truth of the situation, just like everyone else was.
"So," Charlie said brightly. "Shall we eat? This looks absolutely amazing, Marilyn. You've outdone yourself."
Angelo walked Nicole to her door. She invited him inside, feeling bad that his evening had been cut short just so that he could drive her home.
"Please don't apologise," he said, following her into the house. "It wasn't the most thrilling evening I've ever had in my life!"
She laughed and agreed.
"Even if I wasn't pregnant and terrified, I don't think giving birth is the number one topic for the dinner table," she said. "It drove Liam to drink. And um, speaking of that – does he do that a lot? Because he's meant to be sober."
She poured them a glass of iced tea each and they retired to the sofa. Nobody else seemed to be around.
"Yeah, we have tried to talk to him. Bianca's talked to him. But he just says that it's drugs he has the issue with, not booze."
"Bullshit," Nicole said, shaking her head.
She made a mental note to talk to her ex in the morning. He had worked so hard to get to where he was. She couldn't bear it if he lost it all for a few beers. There had to be a reason why he was drinking and it had to be resolved sooner rather than later.
"I don't know what to do with him," Angelo shrugged. "But anyway, I'm more concerned with you."
"I'm okay," Nicole lied. "I just… suddenly everything feels very real and very overwhelming."
"Giving birth?" Angelo asked.
Nicole sighed heavily.
"Giving birth," she said. "Everything that happens afterwards."
"You mean the adoption?" he said.
Nicole nodded.
"Are you not sure?" he asked.
Tears crept into the corners of her eyes. She wiped them quickly away.
"I just don't want to let anyone down. I'm so scared of making the wrong choices."
Charlie, Joey and Roo had got a cab back together. Checking on Ruby and Claire, who were asleep in Ruby's room – Claire on an airbed on the floor, they headed into their own room.
"Well, that was an interesting evening," Charlie said.
"I am very proud of you," Joey said, pulling Charlie into her embrace.
She kissed her. Charlie frowned and admitted that she didn't think she had handled it all that well. Joey shook her head adamantly.
"You did," she said. "You stuck up for Marilyn and you shone a light on the issues that nobody is willing to talk about. There are four people involved here – when quite frankly, there should only be three – and they shouldn't even be thinking of bringing a baby into the situation until they know who wants what and who wants who. It's insane."
"I just think they're all so confused," Charlie sighed.
They sat down on the bed together, arms around each other.
"Marilyn can feel Sid pulling away from her, wanting to be with Roo and Roo clearly likes Sid," Charlie said. "Are they having an affair? Are they trying to do the honourable thing? If so, they're kind of making it worse because they're being so bloody obvious about their feelings. And Marilyn doesn't want to let Sid go because she doesn't want to lose the baby."
"And she might well lose the baby anyway because Nicole might not want to give it up," Joey sighed.
"Hey, she and Angelo might wander off into the sunset and be a happy, little family!" Charlie tried to joke.
She and Joey looked at each other, trying to picture Nicole and Angelo as an actual couple with a child. Joey shook her head, deciding it was too weird.
"I think we need to go to bed," she decided.
"Well, I never need asking twice!" Charlie replied with a smirk.
Next Time… Marilyn and Angelo are both left feeling insecure, Nicole gives Liam a talking to and Romeo misses out on an opportunity…
