Episode 6617

Extended Summary

Brody consoles a grumpy Justin, he’s sure that Justin and Phoebe will sort out the proposal-gone-wrong. At Salt, Kat and Phoebe discuss the proposal and potential break up. Phoebe thinks of her parents’ disastrous marriage, but Kat reminds her Justin makes her happy. Phoebe tells Brody she isn’t anti-marriage, but Justin had previously agreed with her – marriage was a long way away. Brody thinks they know a lot about each other, they’ve already been through a lot, that counts for something. Phoebe’s angry because she wants their relationship to work, and this has put a spanner in the works. Nothing has felt that right before. Brody – exactly. Phoebe seeks out Justin and asks if it still needs to be everything or nothing at all? Justin wants the world to know that Phoebe is it for him, forever, he’s never felt this way about anybody. Phoebe ends up relenting, if Justin’s that much of a fool, she can’t think of a reason to say no. It’s a yes, Phoebe and Justin are engaged!

VJ tries to assure first Alf and then Irene that he has everything with Luc under control, but he’s obviously under a lot of pressure and not coping at all. Later, unable to calm a crying Luc, VJ loses it, yelling at her to ‘shut up’ as he shakes her cot. Shocked at his own actions, VJ escapes the room and is spaced out in the living room when Leah arrives home, Luc still crying in the nursery. She throws questions at VJ but he doesn’t answer, leaving Leah to rush to the baby. She cradles Luc, settling her down quickly, but Leah is obviously finding this all a strain too. VJ tells Leah he tried everything, but he couldn’t go back into Luc’s room, he was scared of losing his temper again. Leah tries telling him it’s normal to feel frustrated. VJ doesn’t think he can look after Luc, it’s too hard. Leah counsels – a lot of parents feel like this. She’s proud of him. VJ doesn’t feel like he is getting through to his mother. He’s not coping, at all. Meanwhile Leah seems to be in denial about how much they’re both struggling. Irene drops the Diner accounts over and notes VJ looks miserable. VJ admits he lost his temper and shook Luc’s cot, scaring himself. A worried Irene comforts him, they’ll make sure it never happens again. Leah drops by the Diner, a bit down. Irene worries that Luc is home with VJ alone and breaks the news about VJ shaking Luc’s cot. An under-pressure Leah thanks Irene, she’ll take it from here. Irene offers to take Luc to relieve the pressure on the Pattersons. Leah thinks she means for the night but Irene offers to take Luc permanently. How will Leah react?

Olivia and Hunter have been house hunting and Irene bemoans her soon-to-be-empty nest, she’ll miss Olivia. Olivia and Hunter realise they will need to make sacrifices to afford their rental house – no new clothes or concert tickets. Alf wonders if they’ve thought this through, but Olivia is confident – after paying the rent they’ll have $100 a week left, that’s heaps! Although Alf reckons food and utilities might eat that $100 up pretty quickly, Olivia and Hunter are confident they can sort it out. They continue to impatiently wait for one of the rentals they’ve applied for to get in touch with them. Later, Olivia and Hunter can’t understand why they’ve been turned down for the four properties they’ve applied for. Olivia and Hunter bemoan their fortunes to Kat, who hasn’t had any trouble. She’s had two offers but is holding out for a water view. Kat carefully points out she is older, has had a steady job for ages, a good rental history and references. Hunter wonders how they will get a start without anyone giving them a go? Kat advises they need to look good on paper first, and with Hunter’s criminal record it’s going to be difficult from the get-go. She wishes them luck. Alf reckons it’s the wake-up call the youngsters needed, but later in bed in Hunter’s van, they’re still they will be successful in their house hunt.