(This story takes place in chapter 15 as the conversation was mentioned back there. So this all happend before the events in chapter 16).

- Two nights earlier -:

''Alright. The kids are all watching a movie. Athena is watching them so we got about a hour and half to talk before the movie ends'' says Footrot as he walks into the dinning room. He grabbed a seat and sat down at the table were the other adults; Bandit, Chili, Calypso and Mabel were sitting at.
Bandit placed two big files with administration on the table and some other documents. Calypso grabbed a file with personal documents and some envelops. Chili was the minutes secretary of this meeting.

Bandit: ''Right, like you know, this are all the documents, files, bank statements, notary documents, personal registrations, etc and etc.. concerning the Collie family and now ofcourse all in the name of MacKenzie. That has been taken care of by me and Calypso. This is everything you already know about and what we have talked about three days ago over the telephone.

Calypso gave Mabel and Footrot each a envelop with copies of everything.

Bandit: ''As MacKenzie's official caretaker I have already arranged some important issues. I have, with your acknowledgement Mabel, opened up a new savings account at the bank under MacKenzie's name where his share of money out of the will in terms of financing will be transferred to. He won't be able to access it until he's eighteen years of age, so the money that is there can be used for his studies and maybe a small apartment. There are also the other materials like the house and all of it's furniture, personal items, etc. My brother Stripe has a side business of renting out storage units. He agreed to set two unites aside where we can save the furniture and other items like books, albums, etc. that MacKenzie wants to keep.
Stripe does this for free so the unites won't cost him anything. Now the house itself. The house.
MacKenzie can't live on his own and the house can't stand empty for years. That would attract squatters and the house would fall into disrepair. So I want, with your approval and ofcourse MacKenzie's approval, to rent out the house with me as acting landlord, because obviously MacKenzie can't manage that. When he is eighteen and a adult, he then has the option himself to further rent out the house or to move in himself. This way there will be a income for him over the next few years and he will still be keeping the house like stated in the will and can decide what to do with it when he is a adult. Right. Furthermore…

Footrot: ''yes..yes.. thank you Bandit. I understand all of it and you already explained this to me on the phone. It's a lot of work and a lot of administration and I really do appreciate that you, and you Calypso ofcourse not to forget, put your free time in to this. I think we can all agree that it is a formidable job you have done and I believe you have all but assured his future. And if MacKenzie is ok with it, I'm in favor of renting out the house.
And a million time thanks to Stripe for his storage units. But I think we have agreed on everything already and I think everything is secured. So... why this meeting?''

Bandit and Calypso looked at each other a bit confused.

Calypso: ''Well, we have to make sure that all details are in order. We rent out the house for MacKenzie and keep his items here in Australia while he will be living back in New-Zealand. And to keep his bank saving accounts open here, there is a lot of administration to go through to make sure that when he is a adult, he still would be able to access a Australian home and saving from over there. Or if he decides to come back we have to make sure that all documents are in order. So the question is will he become a full kiwi or are we going to work with two nationalities for him? It's important to establish that.

Now Mabel and Footrot looked at each other confused.

''Uh.. what do you mean with him going to New-Zealand exactly?'' Mabel asked a bit hesitant about the answer.

''Well.. what do you mean with that question? You are the first family member he is supposed to go to. Your sister has put you in her will to make sure he is going to live with you.'' Bandit said with raised eyebrows.

''But you are his caretakers right?'' Mabel said confused.

''As caretaker we can only do this kind of administrative work for arranging his finances and other stuff and of course sheltering him until he is with his family. It doesn't mean we adopted him….or did you thought that?'Çalypso said to Mabel.

''Uh..uh..well yes. To be honest'' Mabel said while awkwardly scratching the back of her head.

''What…no'' Bandit said in disbelief. ''This is a transfer of administration from us to you guys. After today we are no longer caretakers.''

''Well..about that..'' Mabel stuttered.

''You haven't told them, did ya?!'' Footrot said annoyed to his sister.

''I may have forget to mention it'' Mabel said soft while looking ashamed to the floor.

''What is going on? What is happening here?'' Chili said stern in the direction of the brother and sister.

Footrot sighted. ''Well.. obviously I am not taking MacKenzie to live with me. Before you judge, it's not that I don't want to. I think it would be great and he his more then welcome. But I live on a Greek Island, miles away from here. It's a environment he is not familiar with. He doesn't speak the language, doesn't know anybody and to be honest… me and Athena don't have the time to take care of him. The reason we don't have children ourselves is because we are way to busy with our hotel and restaurant.
Do you know how many time I put into running it and how much stress that gives? It's the start of the summer season now. I have closed my restaurant and hotel for just one week to be here. Not that I mind, but I'm losing a lot, and I really mean a lot, of money right now being closed and I have a hell of a lot more work to do when we get back to be ready for the start of the season. So, no. He won't be coming with me. That won't be good for him.''

He turned around to his sister. ''And now you!'' he said to her. Mabel sighed. ''I…i..i'm sorry but.. MacKenzie won't be living with me neither''.

''Why not?'' Calypso said surprised and a bit frustrated.

''It's just..'' tears were forming in the corner of her eyes. ''I'm in a difficult situation right now. I have a difficult divorce from my husband, who not only left me, but also took and sold our house. And I have already three kids to raise on my own as a single mother. My finances won't allow me to take care of a fourth. I can barely survive now''.

Mabel covered her eyes with her hands and began to cry. She was terribly ashamed to have to admit this. She continued:
''I now live in a small two bedroom apartment, social housing, in Auckland. My children have it rough. Their father leaving them for a other family, moving to a other town and going to a other school. It's difficult for him and I already feel like I am a terrible mother for not being able to provide enough for them. Footrot paid for our tickets and hotel to even come here.
I…i..feel like I'm a failure to my children… and my sister.'' She cried and sobbed hard.

Her brother put his arm around her shoulder and comforted her. He felt terrible for her.

''But I thought you said the divorce wasn't that bad in the car'' Chili said.

''Lies!'' Mabel yelled while slamming her fist on the table. ''I lied to Rupert to comfort him. But what he said was the truth! It takes so much to get his father to do anything for them.
That he showed up to take us to the airport was just in agreement with me so he won't have to see them with Christmas so he and his new bitch of a wife can go on a holiday somewhere else.'' Mabel was crying ugly and took a sip of water. ''He doesn't really want to see them in the weekends he has to take care of them either. When they are supposed to be with him, he just dumps them at his parents where they stay and he leaves.
They are wonderful grandparents by the way to the children and I can't complain about them at all. They even are ashamed of his behaviour''.

''Well. At least he thought of MacKenzie'' Bandit stumered over his words.

''NO! He did not. He is not going to call him. He doesn't give a ass about his children, let alone his nephew. The present that I brought with me, supposed to be from him, is something I bought, just to comfort MacKenzie and let him believe his ex-uncle would give a damn about him.''

The room felt into an awkward silence as only the soft sobs of Mabel continued.

After a while it was Mabel who broke the silence. ''Charlotte knew about everything. But I never had the courage to tell her that I wouldn't be able to take care of MacKenzie if something would ever happened.. but hey…I also thought nothing would ever happen to them and it wouldn't be necessary to ask her to remove me from the will.
I'm so..so ashamed. I know she is going to hate me for this…but…in my current circumstances I can't take MacKenzie with me to live in New-Zealand'' she said.

''Hey, Charlotte wouldn't be angry at you. No reason to feel ashamed! She would understand and you know it.'' Her brother said to her.

Another short silence felt in the room, only to be broken by Calypso.

''Well..maybe it's for the best. It would mean MacKenzie can stay here in Australia. It would save us and you from a lot of administration work and it would be good for him. You know, same friends, same city…''

''Yeah.. no. Not really'' Bandit interrupted. ''In three months he will go up north to Darwin, put in an orphanage and who knows where he ends then and with who. If he ends up with a family that is. Otherwise he will be kicked out and left for the streets as soon as he turns eighteen. So after losing his parents, we can tell him he won't be a part of the rest of his family anymore. Great. Well thanks for coming. Good night. '' Bandit said angry and bitter.
He stood up from his chair and walked away to the kitchen.

Chili excused herself and followed Bandit who grabbed himself a beer from the fridge. He aggressively opened it and started to chunk it down.

''Bandit. Why did you say that?! They already have it heavy enough right now'' she said to him.

''Ah… fuck them.'' Bandit said frustrated while sipping his beer.

''BANDIT HEELER!'' Chili said shocked.

Bandit set away his beer. ''Chili, babe, I can't believe what I just heard. Oh I have a busy hotel so I don't want to take care of my nephew. And oh my life is a bit in shambles, I won't have him either'' he mimicked their voices while using his hand as their mouths.

''Bandit. What is wrong with you? How can you say that? They have perfectly good reasons.'' Chili said frustrated.

''Look. Me and Calypso have put a lot of work into this. To make sure they would get a easy transfer with everything. The only thing they needed to do was to bring him with them and gave him shelter. Is that too much to ask? Just ignoring the wish of their sister is what they do.''

Bandit sat down on a stool. Chili placed her hand on his shoulder. ''Is that what is really bothering you? That the amount of work you did was for nothing? You know that's not true and that they appreciate it. You secured MacKenzie's future. For whoever is going to take care of him. You know Charlotte would understand their reasons, so why can't you?''.

''I don't care about that…i…I care about WHO..who will be taking care for him now? I thought he would be save and happy with his family. But…but I don't know what is going to happen to him now and I don't know how to tell him that.'' Bandit was shaking from anger and sadness. ''I have seen him at his worst. I don't want him to go through that ever again. No child should ever go through that''.

Chili gave Bandit a hug. ''Honey, I really appreciate and love how much you care. You have taken the roll of caretaker very to your already big hearth. We will, and Calypso to of course, work something out. Don't need to worry. Everything will be alright. We think of something. Find him a good foster family.''.

Bandit hugged her back. ''Yeah, you're right. I..i have to apologize to Mabel and Footrot. That wasn't a very nice reaction from me. Poor Mabel… she looks like a nice person. She and especially her kids don't deserve to go through like something as nasty as that. It is indeed for the best that MacKenzie won't be living there.

Chili agreed. ''That poor family. Millions of cases like that unfortunately. Luckily not with us.'' She said as she gave her husband a small kiss.

''Never!'' said Bandit. He then looked down at the floor. ''Chill…if something ever happened to us…have we taken care of Bluey and Bingo's future enough?''.

Chili chuckled. ''Yes we…or must I say you, have. I don't think any family has so much agreements and instructions left in their will as you have''.

''Where do they end up if we were gone?'' Bandit asked.

''Well first of all we won't and if something happend, Stripe and Trixie. And if they can't for some reason then Frisky and Rad. And if they can't then Brandy.''

''Oh great.. Brandy as a option to take care of our kids. The mentally depressed sister.'' Bandit said with a worried voice.

''Hey! Don't say that. That was years ago. She has recovered greatly. Especially after giving birth to Stuart.'' Chili said in defence. ''You really should let the past go''. Chili said in a defensive tone.

''Well I can't. It's difficult to forget she didn't want to see or speak to you for four years because of her self-pity when Bingo was born. I saw how much you were hurt'' He looked down and then back to Chili. ''And there is another thing…Should we switch Stripe with Rad in our will?''

''Huh… why would you want to do that?'' Chili said confused.

''I don't know. I can't see him being forever with Trixie. Their constant bickering and fighting. That has to end up in a divorce soon I'm afraid. Probably not a nasty one as Mabel goes through, but still…''

Chili thought about that. Bandit was right. Their fights increased a lot over the years.

''We…we think about that. Now let's go back to the table so you can apologize to Mabel'' she said as she grabbed him by the arm, tossed away his beer and walked with him back to the dinning room.

As they were walking away, a smaller figure appeared from her hiding place in the corner of the room. Bandit and Chili had not seen that Bingo was there and had heard the whole conversation.

Bandit returned to the table. The atmosphere was somehow not bad at all. They were expecting anger or sadness. But that was not the case. Calypso had taken the opportunity to act like some sort of amateur psychiatrist and was having a session with Mabel. Mabel had finally someone she could talk to and share a troubles with. Calypso even gave her useful advice how to cope with the things in her life. Footrot was just playing online poker on his phone and wasn't bothered. He even said he understood Bandit's outburst and had expected it somehow.
The adults decided to finish the meeting with agreeing that Bandit and Calypso would stay on as the caretakers and would be involved with MacKenzie getting a adoption family in Brisbane. At least they would try. Bandit would stay in contact with Mabel who would regularly be updated and when a family would be found, would come over to meet them. She, and her brother, would stay in contact with MacKenzie and the Heelers.

They just finished in time when the movie was over. Calypso thanked the Heelers for the meal and left because she was tired. She forgot to say goodbye to the children. Mabel called her kids to come and together with Footrot and Athena they left to their hotel.

-Later that evening-

Bluey was sleeping in her bed when she was woken up by knocking sounds on her door.
She opened her eyes and grunted as she looked at the clock. Annoyed she gave who-ever was knocking and waking her up from her sleep permission to enter. The door opened and Bingo stood there with tears in her eyes.
''Bluey... can i come in? I want to talk about something''

When Bluey saw her younger sister, the annoyance disappeared and was replaced by worries.

''Bingo.. what is the matter?'' she asked.

Bingo walked towards her sister and sat down beside her on her bed.

''I have heard things i wasn't suppose to hear and now I can't sleep because I'm worried''.

Bluey hugged her sister to comfort her.

''I'm sorry Bingo. I didn't know you overheard me and MacKenzie saying that we didn't like that tv show you like to watch''.

Bingo frowned her eyebrows. ''What? What are you talking about? I did not hear that. I could not care about that''. She said a bit annoyed.

''oh..sorry. What was it then?'' Bluey asked quickly.

''Mum and dad…they were in the kitchen and were talking about a lot of things. It was about Mary and her parents. They apparently are divorced, like Judo's mum. And it not good as I heard. The dad is mean what i have heard and now i feel worried for Mary and her brothers. And then dad said that he believes that uncle Stripe and aunt Trixie will get divorced too!'' she told her sister while curling up her legs to her chest.

Bluey was shocked when she heard that.
''No.. you must have understood that wrong. Uncle Stripe and aunt Trixie wouldn't leave each other.'' She said.

''But dad said it! And the worst part is that if he and mum would die like MacKenzie's mum and dad, we will end up with either uncle Stripe or uncle Rad. He said that aunt Brandy was to deprived.. or something like that and that he did not trust her.''

''Mum and dad would never die! And why would he say that about aunt Brandy? I like her'' Bluey said.

''Me too, but apparently it's my fault somehow'' Bingo said with a sad voice.

''No Bingo. That can't be. You have done nothing wrong. Aunt Brandy likes us. You must have it wrong'' Bluey tried to comfort and convince her sister.

''But it had something to do with me that she and mum did not talk to each other for years! And then they were talking about MacKenzie..''.

Bluey's ears went on edge and moved back a bit. ''Go on…'' she said.

''His aunt and uncle don't want him so he stays here in Australia''.

''Hurray!'' Bluey said while throwing her arms in the air.

''Not hurray'' Bingo continued. ''They don't know who wants him now so he can end up about anywhere in the country!'' she said.

Bluey was shocked by hearing this. ''You mean he won't stay here with us and end up somewhere else?''
Bingo nodded yes.
Bluey and Bingo sat a while on the bed thinking about the new information.

''So..Uncle Stripe and aunt Trixie probably will divorce and there is still a change we never see MacKenzie again.'' Bluey concluded. Bingo nodded again. ''That..that is..i actually don't know what to say..'' Bluey said as she felt just as sad as Bingo now.

''And there is something else'' Bingo said after a while.

''What is it?'' Bluey asked.

''I think I bullied someone by accident'' Bingo said with a sad voice.

Bluey was surprised by hearing this. ''What do you mean bullying by accident?''.

''Well…'' Bingo was starting to get nervous as she grabbed her arm with the other hand ''Me and Lila were waiting for dad to pick us up after school and so we waited at the playground. And there was this boy. He saw us and waved, so we waved back. And then he went playing in the sandbox. So we walked up to him and started talking to him. But… then he ignored us. He did not acknowledge our presence''.

''How rude!'' Bluey said.

''Well… that is what we also thought. I tried talking to him but he still wouldn't turn around so I got…a little, teeny bit mad''.

''That is understandable. So what did you do?'' Bluey said.

''I grabbed him by the shoulder and made him turn around and asked what his problem was.''

''Well… yes. That is a bit of an exaggerated reaction to being ignored'' Bluey said with a bit of disapproval in her voice.

''He got a bit scared of me and then he waved his arms around and started to make weird hand gestures, so I thought he was being rude to us. You know dad makes certain hand gestures in the car to other drivers that aren't nice as he explained. Well I thought he did that to me and Lila''.

''Understandable'' nodded Bluey.

''It were other hand gestures then Dad normally does and it were a lot. But..i thougt he was being rude to me. So I picked up some sand and…well I threw it as his chest and walked away.''.
Bluey was starring in front of her thinking about what she just heard. ''Oh… wow Bingo. I didn't think you would ever react like that to someone.''

''Oh… but it gets worse'' Bingo said

''How?'' Bluey wondered.

''A bit later his mum turned up. And guess what she did. She was doing hand gestures too at him and he did them to her as well. Then dad arrived and I pointed it out to him. He said that it was something called Auslan.''

''What is that'' asked Bluey.

''Well…''Bingo said uncomfortably. ''They talk with hand gestures. Every gesture means a word. And they do it because.. the boy is deaf and can't hear anything. So that is how he communicates and why he did not hear us.

''Ooohhh. So he was not ignoring you at all?'' Bluey. Bingo shook her head.

''No. and I reacted horribly to him. And I don't know why. I normally would ignore to and not react like that. Even Lila said she was surprised that I did that. Bluey, I'm ashamed of myself.''

''Don't be Bingo. It was a misunderstanding. You did not actually bullied him. Yes, it wasn't nice of you at all and..a bit mean and wrong. But you didn't know and you thought he was being mean to you and Lila. Just go to him tomorrow, explain it and apologize''.

''But I can't do that Auslan thing! He wouldn't understand. And if i would try i may end up being really rude or something.''

''Well…''Bleuy was thinking when a idea popped up In her head. ''Why don't you write a letter saying you're sorry and you didn't mean to and hand that over to him so he can read that and understand''.

Bingo thought about it. ''Yeah.. that is a good idea actually. Thank you Bluey!''.

''No problems. And about those other things. Let's try to pretend that we don't know about them and keep them to ourselves okay? We can't do anything about Mary's mean dad so don't talk with her about that. And we can ask Muffin if its true about Uncle Stripe and aunt Trixie. She must know if that true. Oh..and don't say anyting to MacKenzie. I don't think he will be happy knowing that. But maybe we have to go look for a solution. '' Bluey said.

''Yeah. I feel terrible for uncle Stripe and Aunt Trixie. I hope dad is wrong'' Bingo said.

The two sisters hugged and then wished each other a good night as Bingo went back to bed.
She passed by Mackenzie's bedroom and heard that he was still awake too. She wanted to ask him how he was doing but stopped when she heard him cursing. She heard a piece of paper being transformed into a wad and being thrown at the wall. He probably was still working on the speech he wanted to give at the funeral. So she decided to leave him alone for now, afraid of saying things to him she wasn't supposed to tell and making him angrier.