Chapter Five Hundred and Ninety Six

Angelo was trying not to panic. He had called an ambulance but they were a good distance away and the baby was not waiting. At Nicole's request, he had called Marilyn; she hadn't wanted her to feel shut out this time, as she had with the Braxton Hicks contractions. He had also called Sid, who had stayed on the phone to guide him in case he needed to deliver the baby himself, a task he was not relishing. However, he was relieved that Nicole wasn't alone.


"I just feel bad for Ruby and Casey," Joey ventured. "They tried so hard and they're so desperate for our families to get along."

She and Charlie had gone for a drive after the picnic in order to clear their heads.

"I know," Charlie sighed. "And we did try. I just don't think we're ever going to get along with the Braxton family."

"We did try though, didn't we?" Joey checked. "It was Brax? Not us?"

"It was Brax," Charlie confirmed. "Even Casey looked annoyed with him. How do you feel about a walk?"

They had reached a quiet part of the beach they didn't often come to.

"Yeah," Joey said, stretching lazily.

She secretly wondered if they might find a secluded space to release the tension they were both feeling. Catching her expression, Charlie told her off for being so naughty. Joey was perfectly aware that she was thinking exactly the same thing. They quickly got out of the car.


Marilyn paced the lounge, fretting over what to do. Should she try and locate Nicole? What if she was too late and it was a wasted journey? The ambulance was already on its way. Should she just go to the hospital and meet them there? She was distraught at the thought of missing her son's birth.


"Everything's going to be okay," Angelo reassured Nicole, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

The phone was on loudspeaker, dropped onto the sand with Sid calling out calm instructions. His mind was reeling over how he was meant to deliver a baby out here on the beach without an ounce of experience. Nicole was crying out in pain, louder and louder with each contraction and he felt like she might break his hand.

"I miss the Braxton Hicks!" she tried to joke.

He let her continue to crush his fingers and looked into her eyes.

"You can do this," he said as certainly as he could. "You're the strongest person I know. Everything's going to be okay."

Without thinking he kissed her perspiring forehead. She managed a smile. Then cried out in even more pain, squeezing his hand so hard, he was sure he heard the bones crack.


Charlie and Joey stepped over the brow of the beach and were disappointed to find they were not alone. Then they heard the screaming.

"Is that…?" Joey asked.

They both broke into a run, pounding the sand beneath their feet as they charged towards Nicole and Angelo, plonked down in the middle of the beach.


Angelo looked up. He had never been so happy to see Charlie and Joey in all his life.

"She's in labour!" he said.

"We heard!" Joey said.

He looked confused.

"Never mind," Joey said dismissively.

She knelt down, taking Nicole's other hand, reassuring her that everything was going to be okay.

"I've got Sid on the phone," Angelo said, picking up the phone.

Charlie took it, informing the Doctor that she and Joey were there.

"Great," Sid said. "Have you every delivered a baby before?"

"Well, I've had one," Charlie said. "Does that help?"


Indi was sat at the Diner, across a table from Keiron and wondering how long she needed to wait before she could make a polite excuse to leave. It wasn't that he wasn't a nice guy or even that he was a bad date. He just wasn't a great date. He was too intense. He asked too many questions and demanded the answers. He stared at her too intently. It made her feel uncomfortable, like she was some kind of specimen under a microscope. But even, all that aside, if he had been charming and funny and wonderful, she knew, deep down that she wouldn't like him. She wouldn't like anyone who wasn't Romeo. And that made her utterly furious with herself.


"Okay, Nic, I can see the head, okay?" Charlie said, crouched at the business end of proceedings.

Angelo was still clutching Nicole's hand, despite the pain he was in and still holding the phone so that Charlie could also talk to Sid. Joey had run back to the car to get a blanket and was holding it ready for when the baby arrived.

"Okay, she needs to push but not too hard," Sid said down the phone. "Listen to your body, Nicole."

"Hear that?" Angelo said, brushing her soaked, blonde hair out of her face. "Listen to what your body's telling you."

"It's telling me I need to be in the hospital with lots of drugs!" Nicole managed.

She cried out loudly.

"You're nearly there, Nic," Charlie said, silently fretting about the sand and the baby.

These were far from ideal conditions.


Marilyn had opted to go to the hospital and wait for Nicole to arrive. She was devastated at missing the birth of her son but driving all the way out there only to miss her on the way to the hospital seemed riskier than just coming here and waiting.

"Charlie and Joey are there now," Sid told her, when she arrived in his office, where he was attempting to guide Charlie through the delivery.

"What? How? Why?"

"Chance," he said. "Luck."

She came to sit down beside him, forcing herself to stay quiet while she listened to the birth of her son.


"Here he is," Charlie said, letting out a heavy breath of relief.

Angelo and Joey both moved back as Charlie presented Nicole with her new born son. Charlie surprised herself with her own tears, as memories of being a frightened, overwhelmed teenager, being handed a tiny, helpless baby, flooded her mind. Joey knelt closer to her fiancée, knowing she was thinking of Ruby and all the years she had lost. She put her arm around her. They watched Nicole, clutching her crying child, tears in her eyes. Angelo watched them all, a lump in his throat, unsure of his place or his next move. His hand still hurt.

"What's happening?"

Marilyn's urgent, anxious voice interrupted the scene.

"A healthy, baby boy," Angelo said, deliberately not declaring any 'ownership'.

"Oh, Nicole!" Marilyn gushed. "Thank you! Thank you! I'm at the hospital. I'll meet you there. I can't wait to meet him!"

Charlie and Joey looked round at the sound of sirens, as an ambulance came skidding to a halt.


Indi jumped as her phone rang. She had never been so grateful for a phone call from her Dad before.

"Excuse me," she said, stepping away from the table and towards the Diner exit.

She answered her phone, glancing anxiously back at the table, where Keiron was watching her intently.

"Dad?" she said. "Is everything okay?"

"Indi," he said. "I was just calling to let you know that Nicole has had the baby. She's on her way to the hospital now, if you want to come and meet him?"

"Oh, wow! Yes. Yes, I'll come," she agreed immediately.

The situation was still strange to her. But she wanted her Dad and Marilyn to be happy. And she wanted Nicole to be happy too. Agreeing to call Dex on her way, she returned to the table and made her apologies to Keiron.

"What's happened?" he asked, frowning.

"There's been a family emergency," she said honestly, aware that it very much sounded like a pre-planned excuse.

It just wasn't something she felt she could reasonably explain to a stranger. Her best friend had just given birth to her little brother? Really?

"Oh, can I help?" he asked, standing up.

"No, really," she said. "I just need to get some things sorted out. But I'll call you. We can meet up again soon."

She left, cursing herself for trying to make things better. She did not want to see him again. Leaving the Diner, she bumped straight into Romeo.

"Sorry!" she apologised. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"It's fine," he said, asking if she was alright.

"Yeah, just hurrying," she said. "Nicole's given birth. I need to get to the hospital."

"Well, I've got Miles's car," Romeo offered. "He lent it to me so I could do some errands today to set up my business. If you like, I could give you a lift one way?"

His heart was pounding in his chest at just being near her. He thought he might have a heart attack when she smiled at him.

"Thank you," she said gratefully.

Behind them, Keiron watched Indi walk off with her ex-boyfriend and get into his car.


Charlie and Joey jumped into the car together; Angelo had gone in the ambulance with Nicole and the baby. Charlie was just about to strap herself in when she felt Joey touch her hand. They locked eyes.

"You were amazing," Joey said sincerely.

Charlie burst into tears.

Joey pulled her into a hug, holding her tight.

"I'm so proud of you," Joey said again and again, kissing her.

"In all my years on the beat, I've never had to deal with a birth," Charlie said. "I've always been scared of having to."

"And now you have," Joey said, drawing away a little. "And not even at work!"

"I know! We were just out looking for somewhere to have sex!" Charlie laughed.

Joey chuckled.

"We did get a little more than we bargained for!" she agreed.

"It just… especially in the situation Nicole's in, it affected me more than I expected it to," Charlie admitted.

"I understand," Joey said. "I mean, I can only imagine what you went through. I could never completely understand. But I can empathise."

"I know you can," Charlie said.

"And that's why I am so damn proud of you," Joey said. "You were the single most perfect person to be there for Nicole today. You could put yourself in her

position. You were so kind and so supportive. You were wonderful."

Charlie thanked her, wiping her eyes.

"And I know you're going to be a continued support over the next days, weeks and months, whatever happens with her and Marilyn and the baby," Joey said. "Whatever happens, someone is going to get hurt. Maybe even everyone."

Charlie nodded. She let out a long breath.

"We'd better get to the hospital, I guess."

Joey hugged her one more time before they got their seatbelts on and headed off on their way.


Charlie and Joey arrived at the hospital only a couple of minutes after Nicole, Angelo and the baby. They managed to catch up with them in the hospital, just before they were greeted by Sid and Marilyn. Everything happened in one swift moment. One minute, Nicole, pale and exhausted, was holding the tiny baby and the next, Marilyn had approached and carefully requested to take the little boy from her arms and disappeared. Charlie, Joey and Angelo all stood back, watching sadly as Nicole watched her depart, looking like she was about to crumple. All three of them knew in that moment that Nicole wanted to keep her child. She looked utterly bereft without him.

"Nicole?" Sid said. "Shall we get you checked over?"

Nicole nodded mutely. Sid paused and touched Charlie's arm. Charlie turned her worried gaze from Nicole to the Doctor.

"I heard from the paramedics and actually, from what I heard on the phone myself, that you were absolutely brilliant, Charlie," he said. "Honestly, things might not have gone so well if it wasn't for you so thank you and well done."

Charlie smiled bashfully, insisting it was nothing. She watched a porter wheel Nicole away.

"Is Nicole here?" Dex asked, appearing from nowhere with Indi and Romeo and seeming out of breath. "And Marilyn and Dad and the baby?"

"Marilyn and the baby went that way," Joey said, pointing. "And your Dad and Nicole went that way."

She pointed in the other direction. Dex and Indi took different directions. Romeo hovered and then opted to leave them to it. He wasn't family anymore.

"Hey!" Joey called out.

He stopped.

"We're kind of surplus to requirements at the moments so we might go for a coffee in the canteen if you want to join?"

His eyes lit up gratefully. The four of them headed back out of the department together. Nobody wanted to go too far yet.


Once Nicole had been checked over and the baby had been settled, Marilyn popped her head round Nicole's door.

"Hi, Nicole," the older woman said sweetly. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Nicole lied.

She felt like her baby had been ripped from her womb.

"I just want to check on you," Marilyn said. "And I wanted to say thank you. Thank you so much for this amazing, wonderful, precious gift you've given me and our family. You'll never know the depth of what you've done for us."

Nicole held in her tears. Marilyn bustled off to be with her baby.


Romeo had left them to it. He didn't think Indi would especially want him hanging around the hospital. It wasn't like they were together anymore. He was just glad she had accepted the lift. It probably hadn't meant anything to her but it had meant the world to him.

"There's no way she wants to hand that baby over," Angelo said when he had left.

"I know," Charlie said, a lump aching in her throat.

She could barely swallow her coffee.

"What are we meant to do about it?" Angelo asked.

"There's nothing we can do," Joey said. "Except support Nicole with whatever decisions she makes."

"And be Marilyn's friend, no matter what," Charlie added.

Joey nodded.

"I just… I felt like she was having that baby wrenched out of her arms," Angelo said. "It made me want to punch the wall. And I know Marilyn's completely oblivious. And that makes me hurt too. There's no good answer to this."

"I know," Charlie said softly.

She couldn't stop thinking of the day Ruby had been born. Everything had been so confusing. And it had remained that way for such a long time. In some ways, it still was.


Dex, Indi, Sid and Marilyn all crowded in with the baby.

"Do we have a name yet?" Dex asked.

Sid was about to say no but Marilyn interrupted, announcing that his name was 'George'.

Dex smiled.

"George," he repeated. "I like it."

Sid smiled. He liked it too.

"Shall we take a family photo?" Marilyn suggested.


Angelo had decided to stay with Nicole for the rest of the evening; Charlie had agreed to take him to collect his car the following morning. Before she left, Charlie popped in to see Nicole, wanting to say goodbye.

"Thank you so much for everything," Nicole said, as soon as Charlie walked in. "I would never have got through that without you."

"I'm sure you would have managed with Angelo," Charlie reminded.

"I adore Angelo but he was mostly holding my hand and telling me everything was going to be okay," Nicole said with a half laugh. "I'm not sure how great his midwife skills were going to be. Yours were amazing. You were so calm."

"I didn't feel calm!" Charlie admitted. "I burst into tears as soon as he was born!"

"Well, he is beautiful!" Nicole said.

She looked immediately sad. Charlie moved to stand beside her, holding her hand.

"Nic, if anyone gets it, it's me," she said seriously. "And I am not about to tell you what to do or try and tell you how to feel. But I recognised the look on your face today so very deeply. Please don't turn into me."

"Hey, you're a pretty cool person to turn into, Charlie!" Nicole tried to joke.

"You know what I'm talking about," Charlie said.

She was not joking.

"I know," Nicole said more solemnly.

"Don't let Marilyn get attached to him if you're going to take him back and don't give him to her if you need to be his mother," Charlie advised. "There is nothing more painful than watching somebody else raise the child that you love with every single fibre of your being. It's absolutely excruciating."

Nicole gripped her hand.

"How did you do it?"

"I had my choice taken away from me," Charlie said. "Well, I took it away from myself. I was so frightened, I ran away and when I came back, I wasn't wanted anymore. My parents had stepped in as Ruby's parents and I was completely shut out of the situation. I was on the outside looking in and that's how they wanted it to continue. It broke my heart every single day. Honestly, it still does. Every day, I grieve for everything I missed, everything Ruby and I could have had. I know this is a different situation but you need to think about it. You need to decide for you if you can keep that little boy at a distance forever."

She reached out and wiped the tears from Nicole's eyes.

"I'm here whenever you need to talk," she said. "And Angelo's going to stick around for the rest of the evening. You know how much he cares. And I get the feeling it's reciprocated."

She offered a knowing smile that even in the circumstances, made Nicole blush. Kissing the top of her friend's head, she left her to it, meeting Joey and stopping only to wish Marilyn and the family well and see the baby one more time.

"Sid said that you delivered him, Charlie," Marilyn said, pulling her into a hug.

"Right place, right time," Charlie said, feeling shy.

"She was amazing," Joey said proudly.

"Well, thank you," Marilyn said. "Would you like to see him? We've named him George."

Charlie and Joey exchanged happy glances. They couldn't resist seeing the little one, all tucked up in his cot.


That evening, Indi and Dex returned home together, having been dropped off by Sid, who then returned to the hospital to be with Marilyn and the baby. George needed to stay overnight for observation just in case, due to his surprise birth. Both Indi and Dex were unaware that Keiron was sat outside their house, watching them.


At home, Charlie hugged Ruby tightly.

"What's… going on?" Ruby asked.

"It's been a day," Joey said.

Charlie reluctantly let her daughter go.

"I heard Nicole had her baby," Ruby said, sitting down with her parents. "Or Marilyn's baby? I don't know how to phrase it. The baby?"

"She did. And Charlie delivered him," Joey said.

"Serious?" Ruby exclaimed.

Charlie nodded.

"She was amazing," Joey said. "You would have been so proud of her."

"I am!" Ruby said. "Wow! Have you even done that before?"

"No," Charlie said. "My first. I mean, Sid was on the phone. I didn't just make it up."

"You were amazing," Joey said. "Don't sell yourself short."

Charlie leant over and kissed her cheek.


At the hospital, Angelo had remained with Nicole, who was still feeling fragile. She knew she had decisions to make and she knew she had run out of time. But she was scared. She was scared of hurting Marilyn. She was scared of failing her son, regardless of the choice she opted for.

"Can I get you anything?" Angelo asked quietly.

She shook her head.

"I just really appreciate you being here," she replied.


That night, Charlie held onto Joey tightly. Neither of them spoke. Joey stroked Charlie's hair. She felt her tears on her shoulder and wished she could take away the pain of the past eighteen years.


Next time… Keiron remains persistent, Romeo takes Charlie and Joey out on his first charter but his second one doesn't go quite as well…