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A Mother's Treasure Is Her Daughter

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Chapter 33

With Charlie keeping a hold of her arm, and using the other to cling onto the rail, Ruby practiced walking for what seemed like hours physically, but in reality, it had only been twenty minutes. The pressure it placed on Ruby's lower back and her legs was immense. She still couldn't fully comprehend how difficult this was going to be. It felt like she was a baby learning to walk for the first time and it was physically and emotionally drainig on her.

Charlie kept a firm grip of Ruby's arm and rested her other arm on Ruby's back, stroking it in a comforting manner as she pushed herself harder to take longer strides. The night of Charlie's birthday was a moment she would cherish forever, seeing her daughter walk to her. It was something she thought she would see her daughter do again. But she did, and she did it for her. Stroking Ruby's back she whispered words of encouragement as Ruby took another step. Feeling Ruby tremble and noticing how Ruby's weight was no dropping into Charlie's embrace. Grabbing a hold of her daughter, she eased her back into her chair.

"Hey, remember when I said don't push yourself too hard? I literally meant don't push yourself too hard. I don't want you do your injury more damage then good", Charlie said as she wiped the sweat of Ruby's brow with a towl. Picking up the bottle of water off the table, she gave it to her daughter and watched as she breathlessly took a few sips before handing it back.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just frustrating how slow all this is taking", Ruby said stroking her forehead. "I just really want to do this for you".

"Rubes, I love you for that I really do. But I want you to do this for yourself more than for me. The fact that I get to see you walk again is enough", Charlie said, and then she looked down with a feeling of guilt building up inside. "You know, when you were a baby, I missed your first steps. It happened while I was staying at Aunty Michelle's. It's been one of the biggest regrets of my life. But being here, seeing you take your first steps again, as weird as it may sound, it's almost like I've been given a second chance to witness it happen".

"Mum, don't dwell on the past. Okay, lets just move forward and forget about it", Ruby said cupping her mother's hands in her own.

Charlie smiled up at her and then jumped up from the chair she had been sitting on. Running into Ruby's room she picked up a small box with a bow on it and then bounded out of the room and down the hall. Entering into the living room she stopped in front of her daughter and sat in the chair directly in front of her.

"Um, Mum, what are doing?", she asked with a confused crease marked on her forehead.

"Here", Charlie said, handing Ruby the box and sitting back nervously waiting for her daughter to open it.

Ruby looked down at the gift in her hands and then back up at her mother who watched on from where she sat. Untying the bow, Ruby opened up the box and gasped at what she found. Within the box was a silver charm bracelet that already had many charms attached to it. Taking it out of the box, Ruby analysed every detail and then a smile crept across her face and her eyes lit up. Looking at her daughter's pleased grin Charlie smiled back.

"It's...it's beautiful", Ruby stated and then looked back up at her mother, "But how are they're so many charms already on it?".

"I bought the bracelet when I was staying at Aunty Michelle's. I was going to give it to you when you were older...but with everything that happened, I never got the chance. So I kept it in that box and everytime you did something to make me proud, things you showed an interest in or loved, or a milestone in your life, I'd add a charm to it".

Charlie fidgeted with the bracelet in Ruby's hand and pointed out some of the charms.

"This one marks your first day of school, this one I got when you turned sweet sixteen, and even one to symbolize your first love, as much as it pained me to see you showing an interest in boys", Charlie said with a sarcastic tone, remembering how horrified she was when Ruby started dating Xavier.

Unclipping the bracelet, she placed it around Ruby's dainty wrist and clasped in back together smiling at the fact she finally got to see her daughter wear it. And the fact that Ruby loved it so much, made it even more worthwhile.

********************************************************************************

Chapter 34

6 Weeks Later

The beach was a buzz with people from the community and surrounding areas as they chatted amongst friends and made some new ones. The sun shun brighter than any other day and the soothing sound of the ocean waves lapping against the beach amplified the serene setting that was Summer Bay. It was the day of the charity marathon for Diabetes Australia and runners were busy limbering up and hydrating themselves with water.

Nicole, Annie, Romeo and Xavier were handing out watter bottles and runners numbers. Ruby had gladly volunteered to help Rachel and Dr. Madden educate the many kids who were there about diabetes and how people with the illness cope day to day. She even sat down with some of the kids and showed them how she checked her blood sugars and how she injected herself. When she was finished,she decided to fo help out her friends with some of their duties.

Standing up, she picked up her walking cane and made her over to the registration tent and smiled at Nicole and Annie who were sat behind the table helping runners fill in their forms.

"Hey, guys. Need any help?", Ruby asked them as she picked up a bottle of water.

"Actually we're just about finished, we've just got a couple more forms to get back before the marathon starts", Nicole said with a tone that would suggest that she couldn't wait to finish handing out forms in the scorching heat.

Ruby laughed at her but was stopped from replying when was nearly knocked over by a body crashing into her, but arms wrapped around her haulting her fall

"HEY, what the hell...." before Ruby could finish blasting the stranger for nearly leaving her flat out on her back she was taken in by the beautiful green eyes staring back at her as she lay in his arms. His spikey brown hair and sparkling smile making her melt.

"I am so sorry", he told her as he straightened her up and picked up her caine. "I was in a hurry, I wasn't minding where I was going".

"Oh, it's fine, I shouldn't be blocking the way", Ruby said with a goofy looking grin on her face that suggest she was already crushing on the young man in front of her. "I'm Ruby".

"Dylan", he replied holding out a hand for her to shake. Gripping her hand gently he smiled at her.

Ruby looked him up and down and noticed the sports gear he was wearing, as well as his fit physic. He was obviously the sporty type. He was tall, and although he was around Ruby's age, there was something more manly about him compared to other boys Ruby knew or had dated.

"Let me guess, runner?", Ruby said in a playful manner.

He laughed looking himself up and down realising how obvious it was. Then he looked at Ruby.

"Let me guess, diabetic?" he said as if he knew her.

Ruby looked at him confused as to how he would know that just by looking at her.

"How did you...", she trailed off as he began to laugh at her.

"Your diabetic ID bracelet kind of gave it away", he said pointing at her wrist.

Ruby looked down and let out a small laugh at her own stupidity and felt herself blush as he stood there smiling at her reaction. Just then they were interrupted by Charlie who jogged up to the tent they were standing at. Dressed in her usual running gear she smiled at her daughter as she greeted her.

"Rubes", she said as she stopped beside her. "How'd the demonstrations go?", she asked placing a hand on Ruby's back.

"Yeah good. Some of the kids were freaked out by the whole needles bit but they seemed okay after I showed them how they worked", Ruby said giving her mother a brief run through of how it went. "Oh, this is Dylan. He's one of the runners in the marathon", she said introducing her mother to the young man standing in front of them. "Dylan this is my mum", she said, waiting to see how he would react when he noticed how young Charlie looked.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you", he said putting out his hand for Charlie to shake.

Noticing Dylan's well mannered gesture, Charlie shook his hand and smiled at him.

"Yeah, you too" Charlie said, then she looked back at her daughter and noticed a glow about her she hadn't seen in a while.

"Well, I've got to go warm up before the race. It was really nice talking to you Ruby. Maybe we can meet up after the marathon and grab a juice or something?", he asked hopeful of a positive reply.

"Sure", Ruby said without hesitation and her smile got bigger when she noticed how happy he was with her answer.

With that she wished him luck and he jogged off in the direction of the starting positions. Charlie looked at her daughter and laughed a little at the obvious grin on Ruby's face. Clearly a crush was already in full bloom. As if sensing her mother's amusement at the recent interaction, Ruby snapped out of her trance like state and focused her attention on Charlie.

"So you all set for you run?", she asked her as they both began to slowly stroll towards the rest of the runners.

"As ready as I can be", Charlie said as she placed an arm around Ruby's shoulders.

"Hey, if you want to jump out at any stage I can fake a good hypo for you so you can bow out with a good reason", Ruby said with a cheeky sly grin on her face.

"I don't think that's necessary Rubes", Charlie replied with a laugh.

Just as they were getting close to the gathering crowds they were stopped by a voice from behind.

"Ruby Buckton?", the voice asked.

Turning around both Buckton women were shocked to find the widowed wife of Grant Bledcoe standing behind them. Charlie looked at the women, a conflicted feeling of sympathy and disgust washing over her. Ruby just stood there shocked. Stepping in front of Ruby and gripping her hand, Charlie took a firm stance and prepared for a stand off.

"What do you want?", Charlie said trying to keep her temper under control.

Tracy took a step back when she saw the defensive manner in which Charlie was taking in the current situation.

"Look, I'm not here to cause trouble. But I need to talk to you, Legally I have to", Tracy stated, trying to grab their attention.

When Charlie heard the word legally, it clicked that this was not about revenge for what happened with Grant and the murder. Looking back at Ruby, she saw the curiosity in her eyes and as much as she didn't want to, she alson found herself wondering what was going on. Turning her attention back to Tracy, she gave in and decided to allow her to talk.

"Okay, say what you have to say and be done with it", Charlie told her as she folded her arms across her chest.

Tracy nodded at Charlie and proceed to explain why she was in Summer Bay.

"A couple of months after...you know...our lawyer came to me for the reading of the will. Grant was a diabetic and he had a huge life assurance policy that his parents helped him set up when he was 21 that if anything happened his family or whatever, would be looked the payout had strings attached. Because diabetes is genetic, there was a big chance that if he had kids, that they could develope the condition. That's where you come in Ruby. The policy stated that if Grant died, the money would go to the child with the condition to finance their health care. That's why I'm here, to give you this", she finally finished.

Reaching into her bag, Tracy pulled out an envelope and handed it to Ruby. Taking the envelope from the older woman, Ruby opened it up and pulled the cheque out of it. When she read the figure in front of her, her jaw dropped to the floor.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars...are you serious?" Ruby asked with a very serious look on her face.

"It's the law, I don't have a say in it. Look, I'll be on the juice bar during the marathon if you want to talk more", Tracy said to both women with a sense of dread at the thought.

Both Buckton women watched her walk towards the surf club, still unable to talk after the shock they had just received and then Ruby broke the silence.

"I don't want his money! I don't want anything to do with him", Ruby stated shoving the cheque back in the envelope and beginning to make her way towards the surf club.

"What, Ruby where are you going?", Charlie asked as she grabbed a hold of her daughters arm to stop her from walking off.

"I'm going to talk to Tracy and give her back the cheque. I'll be waiting for you at the finish line", Ruby replied.

Before Charlie could answer and anouncement was sent through the speakers requesting all rnners to make their way to the starting line. Knowing that her daughter would go talk to Tracy regardless of Charlie's concerns, she simply let out a sigh of discontent.

"Rubes, be careful. I'll see you at the finish", she said planting a kiss on Ruby's forehead before running off.

Watching Charlie run towards the starting line, Ruby felt proud of her mother for taking part in such an event and it made her so happy to how she was supporting the cause. With one last glance she turned back around and made her way towards the surf club to talk to Tracy, or worse case scenario, cause a scene.

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Chapter 35

After struggling for the past hour to find the courage to walk into the surf club and speak to Tracy, Ruby finally shuffled into Noah's bar and peered through the crowds of people in the room supporting the marathon. Glimpsing through a small gap she saw Tracy sitting on the couch across the room. Brushing through the exiting men and women, Ruby raced up to her dead sperm doners widow as quickly as her still fiable legs would allow. When she was close enough, she flung the envelope down on the table in front of the startled woman.

"I don't want it", Ruby said giving Tracy a stern look.

Glancing up at the young woman standing in front of her, Tracy simply sighed.

"Look, I don't care what you do with the money. It's nothing to do with me, I just wanted rid of anything to do with this whole nightmare", she replied as if passing off the burden to somebody else.

"What and you think I do?", Ruby practically shouted at the woman. "He raped my mother, he almost ruined our lives!".

The memories of the entire drama came rushing back and Ruby felt herself getting nauseous. The whole ordeal made her feel dirty and disgusted. Biologically, Grant was her father. But as far as she was concerned that was more than she could bear. Being related to him in any way made her feel sick. It was a subject Ruby was never comfortable discussing, but a sad reality she couldn't escape. No matter how hard she tried to run away from it.

"Your lives. I lost a husband. My kids lost their father. We were living a happy life. Then you showed up and turned everything upside down", Tracy shouted back, feeling herself getting angry.

Trying to surpress the nauseating feeling in the pit of her stomach. Although she knew that Tracys life had been damaged by what happened, she couldn't help how angry she felt. Not at her, but at the circumstances.

"I found out that I was the product of rape. A rape your husband committed. I found out that for sixteen years, my whole life had been a lie. I wanted answers. I wanted justice for my mother and I'm sorry for what that's done to your family. But I'm not sorry Grant's dead!", Ruby yelled back, the sickening feeling intensifying.

Placing a hand on her stomach and closed her eyes, trying to block out the bright lights in the bar. Opening them she saw Tracy standing there ranting away but she couldn't make out what she was saying. All the voices in the room began to merge together until it Ruby couldn't make out a single recogniseable voice in the room. She looked back up at Tracy, feeling lost and confused. Looking around the room, she noticed that people had been standing there watching them arguing.

Ruby could feel herself getting flush. Gripping her cane she turned and made a hasty exit out of the bar towards the surd club exit. Tracy stood there for a second and watched Ruby exit the club. Feeling angry and unsatisfied she picked up the envelope and her handbag and bolted out of the bar after the girl, wanting to settle things once and for all so that she could finally move on with her life.

Outside the marathon runners were beginning to make their way across the finish line. Charlie crossed the line the fastest of all the lady runners and fifth overall. Proud of her achievement. She laughed when she saw Tony practically carrying Miles over the finish line. After finally catching her breath, she made her way over to where Annie and Romeo were standing handing out water bottles. Annie smiled when she saw Charlie coming towards them.

"Hey Charlie, fifth place, that's awesome. Ruby will be so proud", Annie said handing her a bottle of cold water and giving her a congratulatory hug.

"Aw thanks. Speaking of my daughter, have you seen her? She was meant to meet me at the finish line", she said, sounding disappointed that Ruby wasn't the first to congratulatory hug.

"I think she's in the surf club. I saw her go in about fifteen minutes ago", Romeo said as he tried his best to hand water bottles to the hundreds of runners who were beginning to bombard them.

"Right, thanks", she said waving goodbye to the two youngsters and walking over to Leah, Rachel and Nicole who were standing beside the wooden beach rail.

Each of them took turns congratulating her on her race placing and filled her on how poor old Miles was doing. Scanning the crowd, Charlie tried to spot her daughter but found it difficult. It wouldn't be hard to miss her considering Ruby was quite petite. She felt herself beginning to worry as she wondered if her conversation with Tracy had gone bad. Charlie began to twist the water bottle in her hands in an anxious manner. Just then her train of thought was broken by Nicole who place her hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"Hey look, there's Ruby", she said pointing towards the surf club.

Ruby stumbled along as she walked from the surf club along the worn down path towards the crowds of people outside. The sickening feeling in her stomach getting worse. She could feel herself getting dizzy as vision became blurred, her eyes lids getting heavier. She tried desperatly to get to the crowd as quickly as he could but she couldn't find the energy in her body to do it. Her breathing bcame rapid and knees became weak. Leaning against her cane for dear life

Charlie smiled when she looked up and finally saw her daughter. Watching her walk along, she excused herself from the group and she began to make her way towards Ruby. Just then she noticed Ruby stumble and rubbing her eyes as if trying to clear her vision.

"Ruby", she said loud enough for her to hear.

But she didn't react. Charlie quickened her pace as she walked along the same worn down pathway Ruby was on. Looking at her daughter she saw her place a hand to her head. Dropping her cane, Ruby fell to the ground in a motionless heap.

"RUBY", Charlie shouted as she ran as as fast as she could to her daughter's side, dropping to her knees and scooping her up into her arms. Shaking her to try and wake her up.

She turned around to call Rachel, but her doctor friend was already running up to where she was, joined by Dr. Madden. Giving Ruby the once over they consulted with each other as Charlie rocked her back and forth in her arms.

"She's had a hypo", Dr. Madden said. "We need to get her home and get blood sugars under control.

Charlie nodded at what the doctors had said and watched as two medics came and lifted Ruby onto a stretcher and carrying her to the ambulance and placing her in the van. Charlie climbed into the Ambulance, followed by Dr. Madden, while Rachel and Leah followed suit in Leah's car. Watching from a distance, Tracy stood in the shadow of the surf club and watched the ambulance drive off, feeling sorry for the young who just moments ago she wanted to tear into.

Back at Charlie's house, the medics carted Ruby into her bedroom on the trolley and stood back to allow Dr. Madden and Rachel stabilize her blood sugar levels. Charlie remained outside in the living room with Leah, giving them the space they needed to do what was necessary. She paced the floor up and down, up and down. Breathing in deep breathsto calm herself. Ruby had already had a hypo before, but this was the first time Charlie had witnessed one and it scared the life out of her.

She was suddenly stopped in her movement by the appearance of the medics wheelng out the empty trolley to the ambulance and directly behind them was Rachel and Dr. Madden, who placed her medical bag on the table and repacked it properly.

"Is Rubes alright?", Charlie asked them.

"She's fine. We've stabilized her levels, and we've given her a shot", Dr. Madden informed her. "It was a pretty full on hypo so it could be a couple of hours before she wakes up".

"Uhh, thank you so much", Charlie said breathing a sigh of relief.

"Why don't we leave you to relax. We can celebrate tomorrow with breaky in the diner. My shout", Leah said as she stood up.

Nodding at the women, she thanked them for their help and walked them to the door, waving them off as Leah pulled out of the drive way. Closing the door she made her down the hallway and into Ruby's room. Walking over to the bedside, she sat down ans stroked her daughters hair. She leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead and then pulled the bed cover up over Ruby's shoulders. Charlie stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door over slightly so she could hear if Ruby needed her.

Later that night, Ruby began to stir in bed. Flickering her eyes open, she squinted at the light coming through the gap in the door from the hallway. Sitting up slightly she rubbed her eyes and peered around the room, her gaze falling upon big ballons with 'Get Well Soon' printed across them.

"Mum", she called out, wanting comfort from Charlie.

Within seconds of the words coming out of her mouth, Charlie appeared at the door, a smile on her face, happy to see her daughter awake.

"Hey, I'm here", she said walking over to the bed and sitting down beside Ruby,

"Mum, I'm sorry I wasn't at the finish line. I wa...."m Charlie placed a finger to Ruby's lips to stop her and then began to speak herself.

"Rubes, it doesn't matter. I'm just glad your feeling better. We can talk about everything tomorrow", Charlie said knowing exactly why Ruby was on edge.

Ruby nodded and then looked down. Disappointed she wasn't there to cheer her mother on,

"So where did you finish", she asked.

"Fifth", Charlie answered, tucking a strand of Ruby's hair behind her ear.

"Mum, that's amazing. I'm so happy for you", Ruby said giving her a hug.

Finally Charlie had gotten the hug she had been waiting for since she crossed the finish line. They released each other from the embrace and glancing at the ballons again, Ruby turned back to her mother.

"Who are the ballons form?", she asked.

"A pretty good looking young man by the name of Dylan", Charlie said jokingly. "He heard what happened and he called by earlier to see if you were okay. Nicole gave him the address",

Seeing Ruby smile at the news, Charlie decided to make her feel a whole lot better.

"Then he asked my permission to take you out on a date when your better", Charlie finished.

"Really?", Ruby squealed.

"Yeah. As a matter of fact, he's joining us for breakfast at the diner tomorrow", she informed her.

Ruby let out another squeal and then pulled her mother into a big hug. She was finally going to get the chance to talk properly with a boy she could only descibe as the Prince Charming of the real world.

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