I'll Always Be Here

[Danni02]

Thank you so much Cally, Chester-Sam, freckleface, mellbell86, Barbara, Sarah, Laura158, charlie29, Jess and Sabrina for your lovely comments! They make me smile and I love reading what you thought about the chapter. Jess - I havent found it yet, but I am getting there slowly! I hope you all like this next part.

Chapter 32

Angelo ran along the corridor and up to Morag who was sitting out in the corridor with baby Callum on her lap. “Morag” Angelo shouted as he approached her “What’s happened? Is Charlie okay? And the baby?”

“They are fine” Morag smiled

“Why is she here? What happened?” Angelo asked

“She fainted” Morag said

“Is she in there?” Angelo asked as he pointed to the door opposite and Morag nodded her head as Angelo walked into the room.

“Angelo” Charlie said “What are you doing here?”

“Ruby called and told me you were here. I couldn’t not come. I had to see if you and the baby were okay”

“Well we are fine” Charlie said “So you can leave now”

“Charlie” Angelo sighed but Charlie looked round at Ruby as she shook her head.

“Why did you call him?” Charlie spat “I told you not too”

“I’m sorry, but he did have a right to know” Ruby said “What if something had happened?”

“Well it didn’t” Charlie sighed “I only fainted. I’m fine”

“Ahem” Rachel cleared her throat causing everyone to look up at her. She was about to talk but Angelo spoke over her.

“Why does she keep fainting?” Angelo asked “That’s twice now”

“It’s not uncommon for pregnant women to feel faint, Angelo” Rachel said

“But she is not just feeling faint is she? She is fainting” Angelo snapped and Rachel exhaled lightly.

“I haven’t been eating properly for a few days” Charlie confessed. “So that’s probably why this time”

“Why haven’t you been eating Charlie? It’s very important you eat well right now” Rachel said

“I know” Charlie said “But every time I eat, I’m sick and I just feel awful” Charlie said

“Charlie, I will go though some methods that might help ease your sickness, but not eating is not on” Rachel said sternly.

“I know” Charlie said “I won’t do it again”

Okay” Rachel nodded before she walked across to the door. “I’ll be back soon” Rachel said before she walked out of the room. Ruby looked at her mum and then up at Angelo and back to her mother again. She could feel the tension between them and she suddenly felt uncomfortable being in the room with them.

“I’m going to check on Callum” Ruby said before quickly disappearing out of the room leaving Charlie and Angelo in silence. Angelo looked down at Charlie as he walked closer to the bedside.

“Can you let the kids in, I want to see them” Charlie said

“They’re not here” Angelo said and Charlie pulled a face in confusion “I ran into Martha on the way here, she said she would watch them” Angelo said and Charlie nodded lightly. “So, I found a house today, put in an offer” Angelo said “It’s nice” Angelo smiled “It’s got big garden for the kids to run around in and it has a swimming pool too. There’s even enough room for Ruby and Callum to stay if she wanted”

“Why would she want to stay with you?” Charlie spat

“Well Charlie, I do think of her as my daughter you know. We’ve been married almost 10 years, I’ve been there for her....I’ve cared for her like she is my own”

“Until you wanted to chuck her and her newborn out our house you mean?” Charlie retorted “You weren’t there for her then, were you”

Angelo bowed his head and exhaled lightly. “That was...I was wrong there. I see that now”

“Angelo, I...” Charlie paused as the door opened and Rachel walked back into the room.

“Okay, so here is some information on....” Rachel paused as she saw the look on Angelo’s and Charlie’s face. “Sorry, I can come back if I’ve interrupted something” Rachel said as she took a few steps back out of the room.

“No, its fine” Charlie said “He was just leaving”

“Are you sure because I can check on another patient and come back” Rachel said

“No, I should really go get the kids from Martha’s anyways” Angelo sighed before walking out of the room.

Rachel looked down at Charlie and she smiled sympathetically as she saw a tear roll down Charlie’s cheek. “Charlie, are you okay?” Rachel asked

“It’s just these stupid hormones” Charlie said as she wiped the tear away.

“Charlie” Rachel said as she placed her hand on her friends shoulder lightly.

“I can’t do this” Charlie said as she looked up at her friend. “I don’t know how to forgive him” Rachel gave her another sympathetic smile before taking a seat on the chair next to Charlie’s bed. She took a deep breath before talking.

“When Tony slept with Bridget I didn’t ever think I could forgive him either. It was like he wasn’t the man I knew, the man I fell in love with. As much as I tried to forget about it the more I kept seeing them together” Rachel said

“I see it too” Charlie said “I don’t know who she is but I still see him with her. Every time I close my eyes, I see them...” Charlie trailed off “How did you get past it?” Charlie asked as she looked up at Rachel.

“I started to think about all the good things about Tony. He’s so kind and generous, so loving and thoughtful” Rachel smiled as she thought about her husband “And all that seemed to outweigh the one mistake he made. He didn’t mean to hurt me. I know it wasn’t intentional and that he would regret what he did but I know I would regret it more if I didn’t give him another chance. And look what we have now” Rachel said “We got married and we have two great kids and my life couldn’t be more perfect”

Charlie smiled as another tear rolled down her cheek. “He’s a great dad” Charlie smiled “He’s so kind and considerate, so caring” As Charlie spoke she played with the rings on her finger. “He took a bullet that was meant for me, he ran back into a burning building to save me. There was all that stuff with Grant and him going to jail. He’d do anything for me” Charlie stopped talking as her tears became heavier. “So that’s how I can’t make sense of how he could do this to me”

Rachel leaned forward and gently rubbed her friends back. “Charlie, I know how much you are hurting right now but I know Angelo loves you so much, anyone can see that. He will be deeply sorry for what he has done and he will regret that every day for the rest of his life. But you have been through so much together and that’s only made you stronger. What you and Angelo have is so special. Do you really want to let that go?" Rachel said and Charlie shook her head as more tears rolled down her cheek. “Because I think you would regret that. You can forgive this because I can see that you want too. Once you have worked through this, you are going to be even stronger” Rachel assured her “It’s just going to take time”

Charlie looked up at Rachel as she wiped the tears away from her face. “I really need to talk to him don’t I?”

“Yeah” Rachel nodded “I think you do” Rachel said just before her beeper went off. She looked down at it before switching it off. “I need to go” Rachel said as she stood up from the chair. “But if you ever need to talk about this again you know where to find me” Rachel said and Charlie nodded as a smile appeared on her face.

“Yeah, thanks Rachel” Charlie smiled as she watched her friend walk out of the room.

[Danni02]

Thank you all for your lovely comments. Hope you like this next one.

Chapter 33

“No, I don’t want to play mums and babies” Ava shouted as she threw the doll down on the bed.

“But me and Livi do and it’s our house” Sophie shouted

“But I’m the guest” Ava said as she stomped her feet on the floor.

“Well I’m oldest so it’s my choice” Olivia said

“No that’s not right” Ava said as she pushed Olivia to the ground. Olivia jumped up from the floor and ran out of the bedroom and down the hall into the kitchen.

“Mum, Ava pushed me down” Olivia shouted as she ran up to Martha who was busy making lunch for the girls.

Martha looked up at her daughter and exhaled lightly. “Livi, don’t tell tales” Martha said

“I’m not telling tales” Olivia said as she banged her foot on the ground. “She did, its true”

“Mummy, Ava is crying under the bed. She won’t come out” Sophie said as she ran into the kitchen.

“You two stay here” Martha said as she looked down at her daughters before she walked along the hall and into the girls’ bedroom. “Ava” Martha spoke softly as she knelt down next to the bed. Martha got no response from Ava but could hear the little girl crying. “Hey” Martha said as she lay down on the floor and looked under bed at Ava. “Room for one more under there?” Martha said and Ava nodded lightly as she shuffled herself further under the bed. Martha pushed herself under and gently rubbed Ava’s hand as she took it in hers. “What’s wrong?” Martha asked and Ava choked back some tears before turning her head to face her.

“I just didn’t want to play” Ava said and Martha smiled lightly as she looked at the girl.

“Mmm” Martha said “And is there something else that’s made you upset?” Ava nodded lightly as another tear rolled down her cheek.

“Mum is always sad” Ava said “I think dad made her sad and that’s why he doesn’t live with us any more”

“Have you told your mum you’re upset about this?”

Ava shook her head “I don’t want to make her more upset” Ava said “Maybe you could help. You are mum’s friend”

“Okay” Martha said “How about I speak to your mum?” Martha said and Ava nodded lightly.

“Yeah” Ava said “But don’t say I told you she was sad”

“I won’t” Martha said “And are you okay?”

“Well if you make mum happy again then I will be happy because mum’s not sad anymore” Ava said and Martha smiled lightly at the girl.

“Okay” Martha said “I will try to help your mum”

Thank you Martha” Ava smiled.

“That’s okay” Martha said “Now how about we go get some lunch?”

“Yeah” Ava said as Martha slid herself along the floor and out from under the bed. Ava followed her out and Martha took her hand lifted her off the ground.

“Martha, Where’s Ben?” Ava asked

“He’s away fishing with Jack and Matthew” Martha told her

“Oh” Ava said sadly as she looked down at the floor “I wanted a hug. Can you give me one instead?”

“Of course” Martha said as she pulled Ava closer to her and held her in a tight embrace.

“Thank you Martha” Ava smiled as he wrapped her arms around her.

***

Charlie opened the door to find Angelo with the kids. “Hey” Angelo smiled as he walked into the house. “I didn’t know if you’d be home yet or not”

“Yeah, I got home about an hour after you left” Charlie said and Angelo nodded lightly.

“Mummy, daddy took us to the shops and look what I got” Ben said excitedly as he pulled on Charlie’s hand.

“Ah wow a new train” Charlie said as she looked down at the toy her son had in his hand.

“It’s Thomas the tank engine” Ben beamed as he jumped up and down.

“Yeah, just what you need, another toy train” Charlie mumbled as she looked back up at Angelo and gave him a disapproving look. “And what did Ava get?” Charlie said as she looked down at her daughter.

“A Gabriella doll” Ava smiled as she showed the doll to Charlie. “I wanted Troy too but dad said I could get that one next time”

“Oh and mummy you know what” Ben said excitedly “Jack took me and Matthew fishing today”

“Bet that was fun” Charlie smiled at her son.

“Yeah” Ben said “We didn’t catch anything though” Ben pulled a sad face.

“Maybe next time” Charlie said

“Yeah next time” Ben laughed “Ava lets go show granny our new toys” Ben said as he pulled on his sister’s hand before both kids ran up the stairs to find Morag. Charlie looked up at Angelo and exhaled lightly before starting to speak but Angelo spoke over her.

“Oh and I got you this” Angelo said as he handed a bag to Charlie.

“Ginger tea?” Charlie questioned as she looked in the bag “Why?”

“It helps relieve morning sickness” Angelo said “Or at least, it’s supposed too. That’s what I read”

“Oh” Charlie smiled lightly at Angelo’s gesture. “Thanks, I’ll give it a try”

“Good, I hope its helps” Angelo smiled “Did you talk to Rachel about more things?” Angelo asked

“I talked to Rachel” Charlie nodded. “But not about morning sickness”

“Oh right” Angelo said “What did....”

“She helped me through some stuff” Charlie said and Angelo nodded. “Angelo, we need to talk”

“Yeah, I know” Angelo said “I’ve been wanting to for weeks”

“Yeah” Charlie sighed “I just, I needed some time....”

“I know” Angelo said “So, will we” Angelo said as he pointed to the couch.

“I don’t think we should do it here. Incase the kids hear. Maybe we should go round to the van?” Charlie said and Angelo nodded lightly.

“Mum” Ava shouted as she ran down the stairs “Did dad tell you that he got the house?”

“What?” Charlie said, confused. “I thought you just put an offer in this afternoon?”

“Yeah but they wanted a quick sale. It was sitting empty, they’d already been living in their new place” Angelo said

“Oh okay” Charlie said

“Mum, you will have to come see it” Ava said “It’s big and nice and it has a swimming pool and the garden is huge” Ava said “It will be good when we all live there together”

“Ava, sweetie” Charlie said “Mum isn’t going to be living there right now” Charlie said as she bent down to her daughters level and took her hands into hers.

“I know” Ava said “But when you do. Dad said you will” Ava said and Charlie exhaled lightly as she shot Angelo a disapproving look before looking back down at her daughter.

“No sweetie” Charlie said “I’m still living here”

“But you will move in with dad one day, wont you?” Ava said

“I don’t yet, Ava. Remember I told you that” Charlie said

“But I want you too and now dad promised you would. He can’t take that back” Ava said as her eyes began to well up with tears.

“Ava, I am not going to promise you that that will happen” Charlie said and Ava took a few steps back and she pulled her hands free from Charlie’s and ran up the stairs in tears.

“Angelo” Charlie said angrily as she turned to face him “Why the hell did you tell her that?”

“I’m sorry. I know it was wrong to but she was upset and I didn’t know what else to say” Angelo said

“It was stupid Angelo. You shouldn’t have said that” Charlie said

“I know” Angelo sighed “But what are we supposed to say? She needs answers, Charlie”

“Not that” Charlie shouted “You can’t fill her with false hope”

“Well hopefully after this talk tonight we will be able to sit her down and tell her what’s going on”

“No” Charlie said “I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Not now”

“What? Why have you changed your mind?” Angelo asked

“Because I need to go talk to my daughter now and fix the mess you made with your stupid promise” Charlie spat

“Charlie, I think it’s important that we....”

“No Angelo” Charlie yelled. “What’s important right now is that I go and talk to my daughter”

“Okay” Angelo said “I’ll come up too. We can talk to her together” Angelo said and Charlie shook her head and she pushed Angelo back.

“No” Charlie said “You’ve caused enough mess. Just get out”

“Charlie” Angelo said

“Just leave Angelo” Charlie yelled and Angelo sighed heavily before opening the door and walking out of the house and headed back to the caravan park for what would be another lonely night.

[Danni02]

Thanks Jess, Sarah, charlie29 and Cally for your comments.

Chapter 34

Charlie woke to the sound of her mobile ringing. She looked round at the clock on the bedside table and let out a yawn as she read the time. 12.45am. She picked up the phone and sighed lightly as she saw Angelo’s name flashing across the screen. “Angelo” Charlie said as she answered.

“Hey Charlie, sorry to call this late, its Ava” Angelo said and Charlie sat up in the bed quickly as she listened to Angelo.

“What’s wrong?” Charlie said as panic set in.

“She’s asking for you. She said she doesn’t feel well” Angelo said

“Can’t you just sit with her until she falls asleep?” Charlie yawned

“I’ve tried” Angelo replied “I’ve held her and told her she will see you in the morning and that she should try to fall asleep but she’s got herself worked up into a right state” Angelo said

“Right” Charlie said as she got out of the bed “I’m on my way” Charlie put the phone back down on the bedside table and walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out some jeans and a top and got herself changed. She quietly walked out of the bedroom and along the hall before making her way down the stairs and out of the house and made the drive to Angelo’s new house. Once she got there she found Angelo standing waiting for her on the front porch. “Hey, where is she then?” Charlie said as she walked up the front door.

“She’s in her room” Angelo said as he followed Charlie into the house. He quickened his pace so he was in front of Charlie and she followed him up the stairs and along the hall into Ava’s bedroom.

“Hey, baby” Charlie said she walked along the room and sat on the bed next to Ava. She looked down at her daughters tear stained face and smiled lightly.

“Mum” Ava said as she sat up in the bed and wrapped her arms around her neck. Charlie embraced in a hug with her daughter as she watched Angelo walking across the room and take a seat on the edge of the bed.

“So what’s wrong sweetie” Charlie said as she pulled back from the hug and moved Ava’s hair from in front of her face.

“It hurts here” Ava said as she rubbed her forehead. “And here” Ava said as she rubbed her stomach. “I feel sick”

“Right” Charlie said as she gently placed her hand on Ava’s forehead to check for a temperature. “And have you been sick?” Charlie asked and Ava shook her head. “Hmm, well you don’t have a temperature” Charlie said

“Well maybe it’s just not that bad yet” Ava said “Can you stay with me tonight mum?” Ava asked and Charlie looked up at Angelo who nodded lightly at her. “And dad can stay too. All of us here together” Ava said

“Yeah” Charlie smiled down at her daughter “I’m just going to get you some water” Charlie said as she stood up from the bed and walked to the bedroom door before turning around. “And dad is going to help me” Charlie said as she looked up at Angelo. Angelo pulled a face at Charlie before he stood up and followed her down the hall and into the bathroom. “You know she is faking it” Charlie said

“What?” Angelo said “You don’t believe she is ill?”

“She’s not ill” Charlie said “She’s fine”

“How do you know that?” Angelo asked

“Call it mother’s intuition” Charlie said “That and the fact that she doesn’t have a temperature, she looks fine and she went on about us being there together with her. It’s pretty obvious what she is doing, Angelo”

“Well when you put it like that” Angelo said “So we should talk to her about it?”

“Well it’s late and she needs sleep or she will be in one hell of a mood tomorrow, so, if it’s okay with you, then I’ll stay here tonight and we will talk to her in the morning” Charlie said and Angelo nodded lightly.

“Yeah” Angelo smiled “Of course you can stay” Charlie picked up the glass off the shelf and filled it with water before walking back along the hall and into Ava’s bedroom. She walked over to the bed and put the glass down on the bedside table. She looked down at her daughter and smiled lightly as she was sound asleep. She gently lifted the covers up over her and placed a kiss on her forehead before walking back out of the room. She found Angelo standing waiting for her in the hall. “Already asleep?” Angelo said and Charlie nodded lightly. “Okay, so you can sleep in here” Angelo said as he opened his bedroom door. “I’ll just grab a pillow and head downstairs”

“Oh, you’re not sleeping on the couch are you?” Charlie asked

“Eh yeah” Angelo said

“No, you have your bed” Charlie said

“What? And let you sleep on the couch? I don’t think so” Angelo said “It’s fine honestly. I don’t mind” Angelo smiled “Have a good sleep” Angelo said before he walked out of the room and down the stairs.

***

Charlie closed the cupboard and moved on to the next one. “You alright?” Angelo asked as he walked into the kitchen screwing his eyes up as he walked into the light.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Charlie asked

“Its fine” Angelo said “Are you okay?”

“Yeah” Charlie said “I was looking for some.....” Charlie paused

“For some what?” Angelo asked

“Peanut butter” Charlie said and Angelo laughed slightly before walking to the cupboard it was in and handing the jar to her. Charlie smiled at him before looking down at the jar. “Oh its chunky stuff” Charlie said

“What does it have to be smooth?” Angelo asked and Charlie shook her head.

“No, its fine” Charlie smiled before looking at the row of drawers in the kitchen. Angelo walked over to them and handed Charlie a spoon. “Thanks” Charlie smiled as she tucked into the jar.

“So, what you just sit and eat jars of peanut butter at...” Angelo paused as he looked down at the digital clock on the cooker “3am?” Angelo said

“It’s what the baby wants” Charlie said before having another mouthful. She leaned herself against the worktop and looked up at Angelo. “And no it’s not normally at this time but I woke up and just could shake the craving” Charlie said and Angelo nodded before laughing lightly.

“Do you want me to go?” Angelo said as he pointed back in the direction of the living room.

“No” Charlie shook her head. “You can stay”

Angelo smiled as he walked closer to Charlie. “So, I know it’s pretty early still but I’ve been thinking about names for the baby” Angelo said

“Oh yeah?” Charlie said “What do you like?”

“Alexander, Joseph, Oliver, Max” Angelo smiled

“All boys’ names” Charlie said and Angelo nodded lightly.

“Yeah, I just have a feeling it’s a boy” Angelo said “What about you?” Angelo questioned. “Have you thought of a name?”

“Ben” Charlie said and Angelo pulled a confused expression on his face.

“Yeah, we already have a son called Ben” Angelo said and Charlie exhaled lightly and she pointed to the kitchen door. Angelo turned around to find his son standing there. Charlie put the jar of peanut butter and the spoon down on the worktop and walked over to the door.

“Hey Benny, what’s wrong?” Charlie said as bent down to her son’s level.

“I had a bad dream” Ben said “Why are you here mummy?”

“She came to help daddy” Angelo said and Ben nodded, accepting the explanation.

“C’mon mummy will take you back to bed” Charlie said as she lifted her son into her arms. “Ben, your wet” Charlie said and Ben hid his head against Charlie’s shoulder as a tear fell down his cheek.

“It was an accident” Ben said “I’m really sorry”

“Aww its okay Ben” Charlie said as she gently rubbed his back.

“I’ll go change the bed sheets” Angelo said as he walked out in front of Charlie and up the stairs. Charlie followed into Ben’s room and sat her son down on the floor before she opened a drawer to find some of Ben’s t-shirts in it. She sighed lightly before opening the next drawer to find some of his underwear in.

“Bottom drawer” Angelo said as he pulled the sheet off the bed.

“Thanks” Charlie smiled before she bent down and took another pair of pyjamas out of the drawer and then ushered her son out to the bathroom. She changed him into his clean pyjamas as she listened to what the dream was about and assured him everyone was okay before taking him back through to the bedroom to find Angelo struggling with putting the new sheet on the bed. She stood and watched him before laughing lightly.

“You know you could help?” Angelo said

“This is more amusing” Charlie said

“Ha, got it” Angelo said before throwing the pillows back on to the bed and lifting up the duvet. Ben ran into the bed and grabbed hold of his teddy before looking back up at Charlie.

“Can you sit till I sleep” Ben said and Charlie nodded before she sat down next to her son and gently rubbed his back to soothe him. Within minutes Ben had nodded off and Charlie and Angelo walked quietly out of the room.

“What did he dream about?” Angelo asked

“Monsters eating us” Charlie said

“Oh” Angelo said “Do you think that’s what made him wet the bed?”

“Possibly” Charlie said “He may have done that before hand though”

“So what else could have caused it?” Angelo said “It’s not like he has ever done that before”

“His first night in the new house, away from me, our situation” Charlie said “How was he when you sent him to bed?”

“He was fine. Well he was a bit upset you weren’t here to give him his goodnight kiss or hug, but he got over it pretty quickly” Angelo informed her.

“Right” Charlie nodded “well we’ll have to see if it’s a one off or if it’s going to happen more regularly before we can decide anything” Charlie said and Angelo nodded understandingly before they stopped walking and stood outside Angelo’s bedroom. “Well I’m going to try to get some sleep” Charlie said before opening the bedroom door.

“Yeah, me too” Angelo said “Goodnight”

“Night” Charlie said before she walked into the room and closed the door. Angelo exhaled lightly before walking back down the stairs and into the kitchen. He put Ben’s pyjama’s and the wet sheets into the washing machine before putting the lid on the jar of peanut butter and put it back in the cupboard and then put the spoon into the dishwasher. He laugh to himself at the thought of Charlie craving peanut butter before he walked out of the kitchen and back into the living room and lying down on the couch to sleep.

***

Ava was sitting on her bed clutching on to her new Gabriella doll as she looked up at her parents who were staring down at her. “Ava” Charlie said “You weren’t sick last night, were you?” Charlie said and Ava shook her head and she looked down to the floor.

“So why did you pretend sweetie?” Angelo said as he put his hand onto Ava’s knee.

“Well I thought if I was sick then you would have to talk to each other” Ava said and Charlie and Angelo gave each other a quick glance before looking back down at their daughter.

“Ava” Charlie said softly. “Remember what I told you the other night about me and your dad?”

Ava nodded as she looked up at her mother. “That you will sort this in your own time”

“Yeah and we will” Charlie said “Just let me and your dad work things out and then maybe one day....” Charlie paused as she looked up at Angelo.

“You will live here” Ava said “But I don’t want it to be a maybe”

“I know you don’t sweetie” Angelo said “But me and your mum need time to work things out, and while that might lead to your mum moving in here, we might be decide its best that we stay separated”

“So it might never happen?” Ava said and Angelo shook his head.

“But no matter what happens with me and your dad we both love you so much and its nothing you’ve done” Charlie said and Ava nodded before sighing lightly.

“I know, you’ve said that before” Ava said sadly. “Can I go play with Ben now?” Ava asked

“Sure” Charlie said and Ava smiled before jumping off the bed and running out of her bedroom and into her little brothers.

“Charlie don’t you think we need to finish talking with her?”

“This is a lot for her to take in and understand, Angelo. She’s had enough for now, we can talk more later”

“Okay. Sure” Angelo said

“You know she is a pretty smart kid. She did get us talking. Maybe not about what we need too, but still” Charlie said and Angelo nodded lightly. “So I was thinking if the offer for going away and talking is still on, then I will go with you” Charlie said and Angelo smiled as he nodded his head.

“Well it would be this weekend” Angelo said

“That’s fine” Charlie smiled before looking down at her watch. “Well I best get home. They are probably wondering where I am and I said I would babysit Callum today” Charlie said as she stood up from the bed.

“Right, well I will bring the kids in later” Angelo said

“Yeah, sure” Charlie smiled “Bye” Charlie said

“Yeah bye” Angelo said as he watched Charlie walking out of the room and a smile appeared on his face as he couldn’t help but feel hopeful for the future of his marriage.

[Danni02]

Charis, thanks so much for that comment. It was really great! Big thanks to everyone else also, you all say such nice things and it means a lot to me that you take time out to write something about the chapter. So here it is, finally! I hope you like this one.

Chapter 35

Charlie walked out of the Diner and made her way along the road. “Charlie, hey” Martha said as she walked up to her friend.

“Hey” Charlie replied as she watched Martha bend down in front of the buggy and pull at face at Callum.

“Hey Callum” Martha grinned as she gently rubbed his cheek. Callum let out a little babble of excitement as he waved his arms out. “Gosh he looks so much like Xavier” Martha said as she stood herself back up.

“I know, poor kid” Charlie said

“Charlie” Martha gasped before the pair let out a small laugh. “How is Ruby, anyways?” Martha asked

“She’s doing okay. I think it’s been hard for her having not found who ran him over, but she doesn’t really talk about it. I know Jack and Angelo are still trying for something, but it’s not really their case, I mean it’s up to the city police, but they seem to have given up” Charlie said.

“Would they really just drop a case like that?” Martha asked

“Well no more witnesses have come forward so without that they don’t really have anything to go on” Charlie said and Martha nodded understandingly.

“Right, I see” Martha said before biting her lip “Charlie is everything okay with you? Because you know you can always talk to me about anything” Martha said tentatively.

“Yeah, I’m fine” Charlie said, rather unconvincingly.

“Are you sure?” Martha questioned “Charlie, I don’t mean to pry, but, it’s just the other day when Ava was around she got a bit upset” Martha paused as she looked up at Charlie. “She mentioned you were always sad now and it’s obviously having an effect on her”

“I try to be strong in front of her” Charlie said quietly “But it’s hard” Charlie said as she could feel herself on the verge of tears. “I hate that I’m making her upset and I can’t seem to fix it. What kind of mother does that make me?” Charlie said

“Charlie, you are a great mother” Martha said as she stepped forward and placed her hand onto Charlie’s arm and rubbed it gently.

“No, right now I’m the bad guy” Charlie said “I hate that even though it was Angelo who betrayed me; to them I’m the bad one. I’m the one that threw dad out, I’m the one that won’t live with dad anymore, it’s my fault dad isn’t there to read them their bedtime story or to comfort them after a bad dream. It’s my fault they have to live in two different houses and share their time between their parents. To them it’s my fault” Charlie said as she finally let a tear escape her.

“Charlie this is not your fault” Martha said as she tried to reassure her.

“It must look like that to the kids” Charlie said “Angelo wants to make it work and I’ve done nothing but refuse to even listen to him and we can’t tell them what really happened, they’re just too young. Angelo gets sympathy because mum doesn’t want to be with him anymore but it should be me, for what he’s done” Charlie said as another tear rolled down her cheek.

Martha exhaled lightly and she tightened her grip on her friend. “You know what Ava said to me?” Martha said and Charlie shook her head lightly.

“What?” Charlie asked as she wiped the tear from her cheek.

“She said that she thought dad had made mum sad” Martha said softly “So I don’t think Ava blames you for this at all”

“She really said that?” Charlie asked

“She did” Martha nodded “I know it’s hard for you Charlie, and I know how much you just want to protect them from this, but blaming yourself isn’t going to help. What I do suggest is that you and Angelo talk. I know how much he hurt you but you need to do this, not only for the sake of your kids, but for your sake Charlie. You need to find peace with this and be able to move past this, and whether that includes a life with or without Angelo in it is for you to decide. But without talking to Angelo, I don’t think you will be able to reach that decision”

“I know” Charlie exhaled lightly “I need to talk to him. I’m going too. This weekend, we are going away to talk”

“Well that’s a start” Martha smiled. “And I think, it would be a good thing, after you and Angelo have spoken, to sit Ava down together and have a good chat with her”

“Yeah, that’s definitely needed” Charlie said “Thanks Martha. That’s....you’ve....”

“It’s okay. I know” Martha smiled as she once again gently rubbed Charlie’s arm. Charlie smiled at her friend before pulling her into a hug and the two women stood in silence in the embrace for a few minutes.

“Well, I better get home” Charlie said as she pulled back from the hug. “Angelo is bringing the kids in soon”

“Okay” Martha smiled “And if you ever need to chat again....”

“I know where you are” Charlie smiled before she placed her hands back onto the buggy and walked away.

****

“You’re not having a good time, are you?” Jay asked. Ruby looked up at him and exhaled lightly.

“No, I am” Ruby smiled “It’s been good” Ruby said as she kept her focus away from Jay and out to the ocean.

“You seem distracted” Jay said “If this isn’t a good time for you we can go out another time” Jay said and Ruby shook her head as she put the cup down on the blanket and looked round at Jay.

“Sorry, I was just thinking about my...”

“Your husband?” Jay interrupted and Ruby nodded as she looked away from Jay. She moved her hand up to her necklace and took it into her hand and started to play with the pendant, which Jay noticed looked a lot like a ring “Is that his wedding ring?” Jay asked as he pointed to the necklace and Ruby nodded lightly.

“I’ve worn it every day since he.....” Ruby trailed off as she felt her eyes welling up. She took a deep breath to try to stop herself from crying.

“You’re not ready for this are you?” Jay asked “You’re still thinking about him”

“I always think about him. Every day. Not a day has passed where I haven’t thought about him”

“Oh” Jay said feeling a little uneasy. “I can leave. We can stop this” Jay said and Ruby shook her head.

“No” Ruby said “Xav was my husband and I’m always going to love him, but I will move on, one day. I know he would want me to be happy” Jay smiled as he placed his hand on Ruby's shoulder and rubbed it gently. “So...where were we?” Ruby said as she wiped a lone tear from her cheek. “You were saying something about a surf shop?”

“Yeah” Jay said “I own one in Yabbie Creek. I also take surfing lessons. If you are interested maybe I could teach you”

“Xavier tried to teach me” Ruby said “I wasn’t so good”

“Oh” Jay laughed lightly “Well maybe if you wanted I could teach you?”

“Yeah maybe” Ruby said and Jay smiled.

“It’s nice talking to you without someone else around” Jay said “Normally you are always with your mum or your brother and sister. You seem really close with them”

“Yeah” Ruby said “I really am”

“I wish I was close to my family” Jay sighed “My parents live in Perth now. I don’t see them all that much. My brother lives in Brisbane, but we never really got on anyway. Not like you with your siblings”

“Yeah, well Ava and Ben are a lot younger than me” Ruby said

“Yeah, I notice there is a big gap” Jay said “Actually your parents look really young to have a child of your age”

“Eh yeah” Ruby said awkwardly. “My mum was young when I was born. Angelo’s not my dad. At least not my biological one. He’s been with my mum for 12 years though and they’ve been married 10, so, you know he has been like a dad to me”

“Oh right” Jay said “Do you have a relationship with your real dad?”

“No I don’t” Ruby said loudly. “He’s dead”

“Oh God, I’m sorry” Jay said

“Don’t be. He was....” Ruby stopped talking and looked away from Jay. “Sorry, can we talk about something else?” Ruby asked and Jay nodded although he was intrigued as to what Ruby was going to say.

“Sure” Jay said “What do you want to talk about?”

Ruby looked back up at Jay and shrugged her shoulders lightly. “Ehm, you mentioned the first time we met that you had lived here for around 7 months. Where were you before that?” Ruby asked

“Well, Melbourne” Jay said. It’s where I was born and grew up. Then I decided I’d had enough of city life so I moved here and you?”

“Well I was born and grew up in Sydney then when I was 14 I came here with mum and Angelo when they got transferred”

“Then you moved away with Xav, right?” Jay asked

“Eh yeah. We went back to Sydney for uni” Ruby said “But then after he died, I couldn’t stay in our flat. I just had to get away from there. So I ended up back here”

“I can understand that” Jay said “Do you mind me asking what happened to him?” Jay asked

“Eh. He...” Ruby paused “It was a hit and run” Ruby said before she broke down into tears. “They’ve never found him. His killer” Ruby cried.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry” Jay said as he wrapped his arms around Ruby and she fell into him and embraced the hug. Jay tentatively placed a kiss on Ruby’s head and just sat there and held her as she cried.

[Danni02]

Thank you so much Jess, Cally, Sarah and Charis. Your comments make me smile loads. I hope you like this next one.

Chapter 36

“So, it’s been a few days since this date with Jay, are you still not going to tell me how it went?” Charlie asked as she zipped shut the bag and placed it down on the floor before taking a seat on the bed next to Ruby.

“I told you it went fine” Ruby answered rather unconvincingly.

“Rubes” Charlie said as she lightly placed her hand on her daughters arm.

“He asked about Xavier” Ruby said as she looked back up at Charlie. “I got upset and burst out crying. I don’t think I’m ready for this” Ruby said

“Well you gave it a shot” Charlie smiled “You know it’s not been that long Rubes, don’t try to rush this”

“I know, but I do like him” Ruby said “And I’d like to see him again”

“Okay, so you can always form a friendship first and when you are ready you can develop that into something more. If this guy really likes you then he will wait until you are ready” Charlie said and Ruby smiled as she nodded her head.

“Yeah, I hope so” Ruby said “So, anyways, are you ready to go away?”

“Yeah” Charlie sighed lightly as she looked down at her daughter. “I don’t know what I want to say yet, but I know we need to do this”

“Well, you’ve managed to get past something like this before” Ruby said

Charlie sat in silence for a moment trying to think what Ruby was referring too. “What you mean what happened with Martha?” Charlie said as she pulled a confused face.

“What happened with Martha?” Ruby questioned

“Oh nothing, it doesn’t matter” Charlie said quickly forgetting Ruby didn’t know about that “What were you talking about then?”

“But what happened with Martha?” Ruby said

“Nothing, forget I mentioned it” Charlie said “Now what were you on about?”

Ruby sighed lightly “I meant you’ve threw him out before and managed to work things out”

“That was completely different Rubes” Charlie said “Ava was missing, I’d just lost the baby, I wasn’t thinking straight. I just lashed out at him. Now he’s slept with someone else it’s a lot harder to work past”

“I know, but it’s you two” Ruby said “You guys have been through so much to get to where you are today and I can see how much you love each other. You are going to take him back aren’t you?”

“Honestly” Charlie sighed “I don’t know”

“Well you are going away with him, so I guess that’s a positive thing, right?” Ruby asked

Charlie sighed lightly as she looked up at her daughter. She was about to reply when Ben came running into the room and jumped up onto the bed next to Charlie. “Mummy, daddy is down the stairs for you” Ben said

“Okay” Charlie smiled lightly “Go tell him I will be down in 5 minutes” Charlie said as she ruffled her son’s hair. Ben then jumped down from the bed and ran out of the room. Charlie took a deep breath before she stood up from the bed and picked up her bag. “Well best go then” Charlie said

“Mum” Ruby said as she jumped up from the bed and ran across the room to where Charlie was standing. Charlie turned around and looked down at her daughter. “I hope everything goes okay for you and, you know....you get things sorted out” Ruby said before wrapping her arms around her. Charlie smiled at her daughter as she wrapped her arms around her and returned the hug.

“Thanks, Rubes” Charlie said as she placed a kiss on her daughters head.

Ruby smiled as she pulled back from the hug. “And what was this about Martha?”

“It was nothing honestly, forget I mentioned it” Charlie said before taking another deep breath and walking out of the room.

****

Charlie walked into the room and placed her bag down on the bed. “Oh it’s a double bed” Charlie said as she looked up at Angelo.

“Yeah” Angelo said as he screwed his face up “Is that a problem? If it is I can sleep on the floor or we can see if we can get a twin room” Angelo said and Charlie lightly shook her head.

“No its fine. Just stay on your side” Charlie said before she walked away from the bed and over to the balcony doors. She opened them before stepping out onto the balcony. Angelo followed her out and leaned on the railings next to her. He took a deep breath before he turned to face her.

“So, what happens now, I mean we came to talk so do we....”

“You really hurt me, Angelo” Charlie said as she looked up at him “I never ever thought you would do that to me”

“I know” Angelo said as he bowed his head “Charlie it was just a stupid mistake and you have no idea how bad I feel. I’m so so sorry”

“Yeah. You can keep saying that but it’s not going to change anything is it?” Charlie said as her tone became more angry. “I want to know how” Charlie said “I want to know how it happened”

“Charlie, do you really need to know?” Angelo asked. Charlie looked up at Angelo as she bit her lip.

“No I don’t want to know....but, I want to know more” Charlie said before walking back into the hotel room and taking a seat on the chair and was followed in by Angelo “Okay so that doesn’t really make sense, but Angelo I need...”

“Charlie” Angelo said as he took her hands into his but she pulled them away quickly and looked down to the floor. Angelo took a deep breath before talking “After I stormed out of the house, I went to the bar, to Noahs. I thought I’d just have a few drinks, calm down, come home and talk to you. I got a beer and sat down and she walked across and offered her company. I declined and moved away but she persisted and I was angry and I wanted to take my mind off everything so I let her join me” Angelo paused as he watched Charlie pursing her lips together as a tear rolled down her cheek. “We started talking then moved onto some clubs in the city” he continued to watch as the tear rolled down Charlie’s cheek “We kissed in the club” Angelo said as he bowed his head in shame “Then I ended up going back to her place and well, I think you know the rest” Angelo said.

Charlie took a deep breath before looking back up at Angelo. She wiped the tear from her eye as she lightly nodded her head. “I wish I didn’t know that, but I think I needed too to be able to move on. To be able to work through forgiving this”

“You will be able to wont you?” Angelo asked apprehensively. “You’ve forgiven me before” Angelo said “After what happened with Martha”

“That was completely different. A drunken pash under the mistletoe is a bit easier to forgive than sleeping someone else” Charlie yelled “Not to mention we are married now and have the kids”

“Right” Angelo bowed his head down and exhaled lightly. “I guess it is. But Charlie, please tell me I haven’t ruined this, please tell me you’ll forgive me” Angelo said as he choked back a tear.

“I want to forgive you Angelo, I want us to work past this” Charlie said and Angelo looked up at Charlie and smiled lightly. “You can have my forgiveness, but you’ve lost my trust. How am I supposed to trust you now, Angelo?”

“You can Charlie, I swear I will do whatever I can to prove that to you” Angelo cried

Charlie shook her head as a tear fell down her cheek “If you don’t have my trust can we really have a marriage?” Charlie questioned

“Yes” Angelo cried “Charlie I swear I will never do this to you again, look what it’s done to us already, why would I risk doing it all again? I will tell you my every move, I will let you know where I am and how long I am going to be, Charlie please” Angelo said “I’ll do anything you want, please just don’t throw away what we have because of something stupid that I did”

“No” Charlie said as she shook her head “Don’t put all the blame on yourself. Something had to be wrong at home for you to go out and do that....”

“No” Angelo interrupted as he placed his hand on Charlie’s shoulder. She flinched back slightly but then let him hold her. “This was nothing to do with you. It’s my fault”

“No don’t” Charlie said “You said yourself that all we did lately was argue and you were right. I mean this whole year has been bad Angelo. If we weren’t arguing about Ruby living with us, it was James being back, or it was about the baby and if not that it was just stupid little things. I think you doing what you did just proved that it’s not been right for a while Angelo. Apart from a handful of good times” Charlie said as she unintentionally ran her across her stomach “It’s been....”

“I know” Angelo said as he lightly nodded his head. “So what are we going to do?”

Charlie exhaled lightly as she bit her lip “We are going to work at this. We will make it work. Because it’s what we both want” Charlie said and a huge grin appeared on Angelo face. “But you have to understand you have lost my trust and it will take time for you to gain that back”

“I know” Angelo said “But I’m willing to work at it and I will get it back” Angelo said confidently.

“Yeah, well I hope you can” Charlie said

“So, what do we do with our living arrangements?” Angelo questioned.

“We still continue to live separately for now” Charlie said “But we will be working on our marriage and one day, me and the kids will move into your place” Charlie said and Angelo nodded as a smile appeared on his face.

“Sounds good to me” Angelo smiled as he leaned forward to hug Charlie but she sat further back in the chair and shook her head lightly.

“Sorry” Charlie said “Not yet”

Angelo nodded lightly and moved out of the away as he saw Charlie standing up from the seat. She looked down at her watch and let out a yawn as she stretched her arms out. “I’m tired so I’m going to go to bed” Charlie said

“Okay” Angelo smiled as he watched Charlie walked across the room and take her pyjamas out of her bag. “Charlie are we still staying here for the rest of the weekend? You know talk some more and just start to get things back on track” Angelo said and Charlie looked up at him and nodded lightly.

“Yeah, we’re still staying” Charlie said before picking up her pyjamas and walking off into the bathroom. A huge grin appeared on Angelo face as he stood in the middle of the room. He knew it would take a lot for him to win back her trust but right now he was just happy that she could forgive him and wanted to make their marriage work.

[Danni02]

Once again, thank you all so much for the lovely comments! I hope you like this next one.

Chapter 37

Angelo woke up and put the side light on, squinting his eyes as the light hit him. “Sorry did I wake you?” Charlie said as she walked across the room and sat back down on the bed.

“It’s alright” Angelo said as he sat up in the bed. “Are you okay? Are you being sick?”

“No, I just need to pee, a lot, and it’s too hot in here and I can’t sleep despite the fact I am feeling exhausted. Oh and I’m craving peanut butter”

“Charlie the air con is on full blast it’s like a fridge in here” Angelo said

“Well it doesn’t feel like that to me” Charlie said as she looked around at Angelo. “What are you doing?” Charlie asked as she noticed Angelo had got out of bed and was grabbing his shorts off the back of the chair.

“Going to get you some peanut butter” Angelo answered as he pulled his shorts on.

“Angelo it’s like....” Charlie paused as she looked round at the clock on the bedside table “its 4 am, don’t be silly, just go back to bed” Charlie said

“No, its fine, I’m going for you” Angelo said as he pulled a t-shirt on. “I’m sure there is a 24 hour supermarket just down the road” Angelo said. “I won’t be long” Angelo slipped on his flip flops as he picked up his wallet before leaving the room. Charlie smiled slightly as she watched him walking away. She lay down on the bed and placed her hand on her stomach and rubbed it gently. The smile on her face grew as she thought about her baby. She closed her eyes and started to think, for the first time since she found out she was pregnant, what her baby might look like, would it look like Ava or Ben, or Ruby did when they were born, would it be a boy or a girl, would it like sports like Ben or be a girly girl like Ava. She continued to think as the smile on her face grew larger.

Angelo walked out of the hotel and down the road and into the supermarket. He walked down the aisles until he found the peanut butter then found a set of baby spoons so she had something to eat it with. He walked up to the till to pay for the items, before walking back up to the hotel. “I didn’t know if you wanted the smooth or chunky stuff so I bought one of both” Angelo said as he walked back into the room. He looked down at the bed and found Charlie was fast asleep. He smiled lightly as he placed the jars down on the desk before he got onto the bed and gently moved Charlie’s hair from in front of her face. He placed a kiss on her forehead before lying down beside her and closing his eyes to sleep.

****

Ava ran across the room and opened the front door. She looked up at the man standing there and pulled a face. “Ruby, it’s some man” Ava said as she turned to face her sister who was walking towards the door.

“Jay, hey” Ruby said as she stopped walking and stood behind Ava, placing on hand on Ava’s shoulder.

“Who’s Jay?” Ava asked as she turned her head up to face Ruby. “Is he your boyfriend?”

Ruby looked up at Jay who was grinning at her and gave him a small smile before looking back down at Ava. “We are just friends” Ruby said

“Oh” Ava said before looking back at Jay. “What are you here for?”

“I was going to ask your sister if she wanted to hang out today” Jay said before looking up at Ruby.

“Well” Ava answered “Ruby was taking us to the beach but if you are Ruby’s friend then you can come”

“Oh right” Jay said “If it’s okay with Ruby then I’d love to come” Jay smiled

“Yeah” Ruby said “Come in just now, we’re not ready to go yet” Jay nodded before he walked into the house and noticed Ben was sitting sulking near the bottom of the stairs.

He walked over to him and knelt down to his level. “Hey, you must be Ben, I’m Jay, Ruby’s friend” Jay said but Ben sat there in silence, not even looking up at him.

“Oh you’re not allowed to talk to him right now” Ava said as she ran across to Jay. “He’s on the naughty step because he was still bad even after Ruby gave him his warnings. He has to stay there for 4 minutes because he is 4 years old”

“Oh right” Jay said as he stood up.

“I don’t like the naughty step, it’s boring” Ava said as she pulled a face.

“And when are you ever on the naughty step” Ruby said as she walked across to Ava and put her hands on her shoulders.

“I’ve been on before” Ava said

“Yeah right” Ruby said “You do everything mum tells you to”

“Well you’re supposed to listen to mum” Ava said as she looked up at Ruby and pulled a face. “Jay, how long would you be on the naughty step for?”

“Ava enough of the naughty step talk” Ruby said before she looked up at Jay who was desperately trying to stop himself from laughing. Ruby let out a small laugh and Jay was soon laughing as well.

“Jay do you want to sign my cast?” Ava asked

“Eh, okay. How did you do that?” Jay asked as he looked down briefly at Ava’s arm.

“Oh that Jam-“

“She fell down the stairs” Ruby interrupted. She didn’t know Jay that well and felt it wasn’t right to let him know the whole story on James. “Go find the marker so he can sign it then” Ruby said as she gently pushed Ava forward. “And when you are up the stairs check on Callum, but don’t wake him up” Ruby instructed and Ava nodded before she ran up the stairs.

“So has Ruby ever been put on the naughty step?” Jay joked as he gently hit her side.

Ruby laughed lightly as she shook her head and bent down to Ben’s level. “Right Ben” Ruby said and Ben looked up at her and pulled a sad face. “Do you know why you got put on here?”

“Yes” Ben whispered as he nodded his head “I didn’t listen to you when you told me to stop” Ben said before he wrapped his arms around Ruby’s neck. “I’m sorry Ruby” Ben said as he continued to hug her. Ruby wrapped her arms around her little brother and gently rubbed his back. Ben pulled away from Ruby and looked up at Jay.

“Do you like soccer?” Ben asked as he jumped up from the stairs and ran up to Jay.

“Yeah” Jay answered

“Can we play?” Ben said and Jay looked down at Ruby who nodded her head.

“Yeah sure” Jay said and Ben smiled as he took his hand into his and dragged him through the living room and out the front door into the garden. Ruby looked up the stairs as she heard her baby crying. She sighed lightly as she ran up the stairs and into the bedroom.

“Ava, I told you not to wake him” Ruby said as she walked into the room to find Ava standing over the cot with her hand on the baby’s head.

“I didn’t” Ava moaned as she looked up at Ruby “I just stroked his head” Ruby sighed once more before picking up her son and it wasn’t long before he stopped crying and was happily being held in his mother’s arms. “Right, well he is awake now so I guess we can go to the beach now” Ruby said and Ava cheered before she ran out of the room and down the stairs. Ruby got some stuff together before she too walked down the stairs and joined Jay, Ava and Ben in the garden. She placed her son into the buggy before locking the house door.

“Ruby” Ava shouted as she ran up to her. “Look, Jay signed my cast” Ava flung her arm out in front of Ruby’s face.

“That’s cool” Ruby said “Now c’mon let’s get to the beach” Ava and Ben ran off in front and Jay walked behind with Ruby, holding Ben’s soccer ball in his hand. “You don’t have to come with us” Ruby said as she turned to face Jay. “I know how annoying they can get” Ruby said as she pointed to her siblings who were running down the road in front of them.

“I want to come” Jay smiled “I mean, I get to spend the day with you don’t I?” Ruby blushed slightly as she smiled at Jay.

“Hurry Jay” Ben said as he ran back up the hill and pulled on his hand. “We are going to play soccer again”

“Eh, Ben” Ruby said “Jay might not want to play soccer”

“No, its fine, I do” Jay smiled at Ruby before running of onto the beach with Ben. Ruby watched as Ben ran around giggling as he played with Jay. She sat down on the sand next to Ava and placed Callum down on her knee. They sat in silence for about 5 minutes, before Ruby spoke.

“You okay, Ava?” Ruby asked “you’re awfully quiet”

“It just doesn’t make sense” Ava sighed lightly

“What doesn’t?” Ruby asked as she looked down at her little sister.

“Mummy” Ava said

“What about mum?” Ruby asked

“She said she didn’t want to be with daddy and doesn’t want to stay in his house but then she went away with him” Ava said “Why did she go if she doesn’t love him anymore?”

“She does love him Ava. Mum went away to try to fix things with dad” Ruby said

“Fix things?” Ava questioned “You mean so they can see if they will live together again?”

“Yeah” Ruby nodded “They need to talk and work out what’s going to happen between them”

“Oh” Ava smiled lightly “Well I wish she will say she is going to live with him again”

“Yeah, me too” Ruby said

“Ruby?” Ava said

“Yeah?” Ruby said as she put Ava’s hair behind her ear.

“Well if she doesn’t who will we live with?” Ava asked

“We will live with mum” Ruby said and Ava pulled a sad face.

“So dad has to live on his own?” Ava asked

“He won’t always be on his own” Ruby said “Sometimes you and Ben will stay over, like you do now”

“And the new baby?”

“Yeah, the baby too” Ruby said

“What about you and Callum?” Ava wondered

“Eh” Ruby paused “I don’t think so” Ruby answered and Ava pulled a sad face. “We’ll see” Ruby added. Ava nodded her head lightly before she leaned into Ruby and rested her head against her. Ruby put one arm around her sister and rubbed her arm as they sat in silence and looked out to the ocean.

***

Charlie woke to find Angelo was already up and out sitting on the balcony. She walked across the room and slid the door open to join him. “Morning” Angelo smiled as he looked up at Charlie. “Or actually should I say afternoon” Angelo laughed as he looked down at his watch and noticed the time.

“Afternoon?” Charlie said as she took a seat on one of the chairs. “What time is it?”

“12.10” Angelo said

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Charlie asked

“Because you looked like you need the sleep” Angelo said “And I’ve woken you before so know not to do that again, and your pregnant so will probably be doubly as cranky” Angelo said before he and Charlie both laughed lightly.

“Have you been awake long?” Charlie asked

“I got up around 8.30” Angelo said

“So what you’ve just sat out here all this time?”

“No. I went for a run, I bought the paper, I got you a magazine, I got a phone call from Ruby, and I...”

“What did Ruby want?” Charlie interrupted as her thoughts went to her children, worried something had happened.

“Ben wet the bed again last night” Angelo said “Although Ruby tried to assure him it was okay and he wasn’t to worry about it he was upset and wanted to talk to us”

“Oh right” Charlie said “I guess you managed to make him feel better?”

“Of course” Angelo smiled “So, has this been a regular thing since he did it at my place?” Angelo asked

“Eh no” Charlie said “He hadn’t done it again since. Guess we will just have to see what happens when we get home. Try and see what’s going on”

“Yeah” Angelo said “So do you want to go get something to eat? Then maybe we could go for a swim or a walk down the beachfront?”

“I didn’t bring a bikini” Charlie said

“Oh right, why not?” Angelo asked

“Well I didn’t really think swimming would be on the top of the list of things we needed to do” Charlie said and Angelo nodded lightly. “And also, I don’t want to be seen in a bikini anymore” Charlie said shyly.

“What, why not?” Angelo asked

“Because of the.....” Charlie stopped talking as she looked away from Angelo.

“Your burns?” Angelo asked tentatively as he took Charlie’s hand in his. Charlie nodded lightly as she looked back up at him.

“People will stare” Charlie said

Angelo exhaled lightly before giving Charlie a sympathetic smile “Charlie, the only thing they will stare at is your beautiful face, and wonder how I could get a girl as gorgeous as you” Angelo said

Charlie shook her head as she exhaled lightly “That’s not going to work Angelo” Charlie said

“What’s not?” Angelo asked, confused as to what Charlie was talking about.

“You’re saying that to try to get into my good books” Charlie said

“Charlie, I’m just saying what I think” Angelo said and Charlie sighed lightly.

“Sure, you are” Charlie rolled her eyes. “Anyways, we’re not swimming. I don’t ever want anyone to see them. I hate them”

“You let me see them” Angelo said

“That’s different. You’re you, you’re my...” Charlie trailed off as she looked away from Angelo. “Sorry, I fell asleep last night when you went out for me” Charlie looked back up at Angelo as she changed the subject.

“It’s okay” Angelo smiled “So how about we go for something to eat then?”

Charlie nodded her head as she stood up “I’ll go get dressed then” Charlie said before walking back into the room. Angelo watched as she walked away and Angelo smiled lightly to himself. This weekend was going better than he expect and couldn’t help hoping it wouldn’t be long before his family were back under the same roof.

[Danni02]

Thank you so much, Jess, Cally, Sam, Sarah, Charis, charlie29, mellbell86, Sabrina, freckleface and Barbara, for your lovely comments. They make me smile loads and really keep me going. I’m not sure about this next one. Let me know what you think.....

Chapter 38

Charlie walked back to the table and took a long drink of her water. “Are you alright?” Angelo asked as he leaned forward and gently rubbed Charlie’s hand.

“Fine” Charlie spoke quietly before she sat down at the table. “It was just that smell, it made me…” Charlie paused as she looked down at the table. She pulled a face as she noticed Angelo’s plate had been taken away.

“I got the waiter to take it away” Angelo said as he noticed the quizzical look on Charlie’s face.

“You didn’t need to do that, Angelo” Charlie said “You could still have eaten your lunch”

“Charlie it made you sick, if it was still here when you got back you’d probably have to run off again and I’d rather you were sitting here with me than sitting in the bathroom throwing up” Angelo said and a slight smile appeared on Charlie’s face. “So that pasta better be nice as I’ve order that”

“Yeah” Charlie nodded her head “It’s really good”

Angelo smiled at Charlie “So how has your sickness been lately?” Angelo asked before talking a drink.

“Non existent till just now” Charlie said

“Wouldn’t have anything to do with that tea a certain someone bought you would it?” Angelo grinned

Charlie let out a small laugh “I guess it could have”

“Well I’m glad it seems to have eased off” Angelo smiled

“Yeah me too” Charlie said as Angelo’s meal came to the table. Angelo looked up at the waiter and thanked him.

Angelo looked back down at Charlie “You know I’ve been thinking, you said you wanted to go back to work, and well if you still do, you should...”

“Angelo, what would be the point” Charlie interrupted “I wouldn’t be back long before I would have to take maternity leave”

“I don’t mean now” Angelo said “I mean after the baby is born. You don’t have to stay at home with him Charlie,...”

“Then who is going to look after it?” Charlie interrupted once again “I don’t want a nanny raising my child, I’m not asking Morag to look after it, as much as she loves the kids, we can’t expect her to look after our newborn all the time and then Ruby has her own baby to look after”

“Okay, can I talk now?” Angelo said raising his voice slightly more than he intended to. “I will stay at home with the baby and you can go to work”

“You’d really do that for me?” Charlie asked

“Of course, Charlie” Angelo answered “I’d love to stay home with my baby all day”

Charlie smiled as she nodded her head lightly. “Well we’ll see, but yeah, that sounds good”

“Great” Angelo said “So, I’ve been thinking about some names. I really like Luca, what do you think?”

“Luca” Charlie said out loud as she screwed her face up. “Sorry” Charlie said “I don’t like it”

“It’s alright” Angelo sighed lightly “What do you like?” Angelo asked

“To be honest, I haven’t really been thinking about names” Charlie said “It’s taken me a while to come round to the idea having this baby and I’ve only just started to feel good about it over the last week at the most…” Charlie trailed off

“Maybe once we find out what it is it will help” Angelo said “You know so you can start thinking about your little son and what he’ll be like and…”

“You’re really desperate for a boy aren’t you?” Charlie said and Angelo nodded.

“Yeah, I just think it’ll be great to complete our family” Angelo said “You know 2 girls and 2 boys”

“Yeah. I guess it would be nice” Charlie smiled before taking a drink of her water. After sitting in silence for a few minutes Charlie spoke again. “Connor. I’ve always liked Connor” Charlie said

“I like it” Angelo smiled

“I also like Grace, Aimee and Isabella” Charlie said and Angelo smiled

“Pretty names” Angelo smiled “I like Leyla and Imogen. But not sure we’ll need them”

“Angelo” Charlie sighed “Don’t get your hopes up, there’s a chance it will be a girl”

“Yeah, I know. Just the same chance of it being a boy” Angelo grinned and Charlie lightly shook her head before taking a drink of her water.

“Are you finished?” Angelo asked and Charlie nodded. “Well you can go pay then” Angelo grinned. “It was nice of you to buy the lunch”

“Yeah right. This is your shout, this whole weekend is” Charlie said

“What so I have to pay for dinner as well?” Angelo joked and Charlie nodded. Angelo stood up from the table and walked over to the counter to pay before they left the restaurant and started to walk down the road. “Actually, I had something planned for dinner” Angelo said as he stopped walking and turned to face Charlie. “But given the circumstances, we can change the plans” Angelo said and Charlie pulled a confused look on her face.

“What do you mean? Why would we need to change it?”

“Well, it’s our wedding anniversary today, isn’t it?” Angelo said

“Yeah” Charlie answered slowly.

“Well I had something special sorted; you know when I booked it, before I...” Angelo trailed off

“Oh” Charlie said “No, we’ll still do that then”

“Are you sure?” Angelo asked “I don’t want you to...”

“I’m sure” Charlie smiled “I want to see what you had planned”

“Okay” Angelo smiled before they started to walk down the road again.

****

“Do you have a brother or sister, Jay?” Ava asked, before she took a drink of her strawberry milkshake. They had moved from the beach to the Diner to get something for their lunch.

“I’ve got a brother” Jay answered

“Oh, just the one?” Ava asked

“Yup” Jay nodded

“Is he older or younger?”

“Older” Jay said

“What’s his name?” Ava asked

“He’s called Samuel” Jay answered

“Does he stay here too?” Ben chipped in

“No, he lives in Brisbane with his wife and baby” Jay answered

“What’s their names?” Ava asked

“Jane and Zoe” Jay answered

“How old is the baby?”

“Eh” Jay paused “She’ll be almost one”

“My mum is having another baby” Ava smiled “I hope it’s a girl. And she’ll wear pretty dresses”

“Babies are stupid” Ben sulked as Ruby walked back across to the table with Callum in her arms, after having been away changing his nappy.

“What’s stupid?” Ruby asked as she took a seat, sitting Callum down on her knee.

“Babies are, apparently” Jay answered

“Oh right” Ruby said “Well we should probably get going”

They all left the diner and walked back up to the house. “Bye Jay” Ava and Ben shouted in unison as they ran into the house.

“Bye guys” Jay said before he looked round at Ruby. “So” Jay exhaled lightly.

“So” Ruby repeated as she looked away from Jay before looking back at him.

“I’ve had a good day” Jay smiled

“Eh yea, me too. Thanks for buying us lunch, you didn’t need to do that” Ruby smiled

“It was no bother” Jay said

“Sorry about them” Ruby said as she pointed into the house where she could hear her sibling’s shouting.

“Its fine” Jay laughed “They were entertaining. But maybe we could go out again just the two of us” Jay said apprehensively

“Ehm” Ruby paused. “Yeah, I’d like that”

Jay smiled “Maybe I could take you on that surfing lesson?”

“Yeah” Ruby smiled

“Okay, are you free tomorrow?” Jay asked

Ruby shook her head “I’ve got them all weekend. Mum and Angelo are away and Morag went to the city for...” Ruby paused “something. Gosh, I can’t remember what she said”

“Oh right” Jay said “Well I’m working Monday, Tuesday, but not on Wednesday, so we could go then?”

“Yeah, that’ll be fine” Ruby smiled

“Good, well how about I pick you up around 10?” Jay asked

“Yeah sure” Ruby smiled as Callum let out cries from the buggy. Ruby shook it gently as she looked down at her son then she heard Ben shouting out.

“Ava, that’s my toy train give me it” Ben squealed

“Sorry, I better get in there” Ruby said as she pointed into the house. “But, see you on Wednesday” Ruby smiled

“Yeah, Wednesday” Jay smiled as his mobile began to ring. He looked down at the screen and recognising the number, he cancelled the call. “So, I better go, bye” Jay said before he walked away.

[Danni02]

Thank you all so much for your awesome comments! They really keep me going and I really appreciate that you take time to write something. Cally your comment gave me the biggest cheeser! Made me laugh too, I hope your hands are okay! Really hope you all like this next one and that it doesnt disappoint.

Chapter 39

Charlie and Angelo walked into the dining room of the hotel and over to the waiter. “Mr Rosetta” the waiter smiled as he shook Angelo’s hand. “You’re table is right this way” Charlie and Angelo followed the waiter all the way through the restaurant and outside onto the terrace. Charlie let out a small gasp as she noticed the single table out on the terrace, the fairy lights lighting the area up, the rose petals scattered across the ground leading up to the table, the candles and the flowers sitting on the table and the bottle of champagne in the cooler. Angelo pulled out Charlie’s chair and let her take her seat before he took his seat. “So are you ready for me to bring your starter now?” The waiter asked and Charlie pulled her face in confusion. They hadn’t even ordered so how could he bring it to them. She looked up at Angelo and was about to talk but he spoke over her.

“Oh, I wanted to do something really special for our anniversary, so I’ve already ordered something. But if that’s a problem then you can pick something from the menu”

“No, its fine” Charlie said “Let’s just keep things how you planned it”

“That’ll be fine” Angelo said as he looked up at the waiter. The waiter gave a nod of his head before walking away.

“Angelo, this looks....its lovely” Charlie smiled. Angelo grinned back at her before picking up the champagne from the cooler.

“Champagne?” Angelo asked

“Well, no” Charlie said “I can’t drink”

“Its non alcoholic champagne. Or a sparkling celebration drink” Angelo said as he read the label on the bottle. “Apple flavour. But hey, looks like champagne” Angelo smiled before he popped open the bottle and poured Charlie a glass before pouring one for himself. “Gosh, can you believe it’s been 10 years already” Angelo asked

“No, it doesn’t feel it” Charlie replied “But maybe that’s because you spent the first 4 and half years of our marriage in prison” Charlie said quietly as she looked away from Angelo.

“Well it wasn’t the best way to start married life” Angelo sighed “But we’ve had it pretty good since then”

“Pretty good?” Charlie questioned

“Well it’s been great” Angelo smiled “All that James and Shelly drama aside” Charlie grimaced as she heard her name being mentioned “Sorry, I know we agreed not to mention her again” Angelo said

“Yeah, let’s keep it that way” Charlie said “But that’s so little bad compared to all the good stuff that’s happened”

“Yeah, especially the kids” Angelo smiled. “Charlie” Angelo paused “Promise me I am always going to be part of this baby’s life, regardless of how things turn out between us” Angelo said as he looked up at Charlie.

“Of course you will Angelo, what makes you say that?” Charlie questioned

“Because I couldn’t handle it if I didn’t see this baby grow up. I missed out on so much of Ava’s life and I couldn’t stand it if that happened again. I didn’t get to see her being born, I didn’t see her first smile, or hear her first word, see her take her first steps, take her to her first day at nursery or teach her how to swim, and our relationship has suffered because I wasn’t there and I don’t want that to happen again” Angelo said almost in tears.

“Angelo” Charlie said as she leaned forward and took his hand into hers. “You and Ava have a great relationship. She loves you so much and thinks the world of you”

“Not like she has with you” Angelo said “She doesn’t go to me for comfort when she’s upset or when she’s ill, she always wants you. You have a special bond with her Charlie and I’ll never get that, no matter how much I try she will never see me like she does you and I couldn’t handle that again”

“Angelo, you are not going to miss out on this baby growing up” Charlie assured him “No matter what happens between us you are always going to be part of this baby’s life, do you really think I would stop you from seeing your child because things didn’t work out between us?”

“No” Angelo said quietly as he shook his head

“And about Ava” Charlie said “Sometimes kids form special bonds with one of their parents more than the other but it doesn’t mean she loves you any less. When I was young I was closer to my mum, and Ruby, she was so close with dad. And look at Ben” Charlie said “You guys have that special bond”

“Yeah, I guess your right” Angelo smiled

“You don’t have to worry about anything, and anyways, we are going to sort this out Angelo. I want to be with you, I lo...” Charlie paused “I love you more than you hurt me and I’m not giving up on us”

“I love you too” Angelo said as his eyes welled up with tears. Charlie smiled as a lone tear rolled down her cheek.

****

“Gosh, I don’t think I could eat another bite” Charlie said as she placed her knife and fork down on her plate.

“Me neither” Angelo said as he sat back in the seat and patted his stomach. “Gosh, you sure I’m not carrying this baby?” Angelo laughed as he once again patted his stomach.

“Yeah right” Charlie laughed “You couldn’t handle it”

“I bet” Angelo said “So do you want to go for a walk? You know, walk this meal off?” Angelo suggested and Charlie nodded lightly before they stood up from the table and walked through the hotel grounds and eventually found themselves on the beach.

“Angelo” Charlie said as she turned her head to face him “That meal, the soup then the salmon and everything that came with it, it was, was that....” Charlie stopped talking as she saw Angelo nodding.

“It was our wedding meal” Angelo said

“Gosh, I can’t believe you remembered that” Charlie said and Angelo looked slightly saddened that Charlie didn’t think he would have remembered.

“Of course I can, Charlie” Angelo said “I can remember everything about that day. Well except what we had for dessert”

“We had...” Charlie paused “Okay, so I can’t remember either. Maybe it wasn’t that good” Charlie laughed.

“I guess not” Angelo replied “But, I do have something for dessert for you, but that’s for later in the bedroom” Angelo said

“Angelo” Charlie said alarmed as she stepped back “I don’t think that we....”

“Oh no sorry” Angelo interrupted as he realised how what he said must have sounded. “I didn’t mean that, I meant, well I know that you’re into eating peanut butter right now, and there’s a couple of jars back in the room so I.....” Angelo stopped talking as he listened to Charlie’s laughter. He loved her laugh. “But if you want we can go back to the restaurant and you can get something from the menu”

“No” Charlie said as she stopped laughing. “Peanut butter sounds good” Angelo smiled before they started to walk further along the beach. Charlie looked up at Angelo quizzically as she saw blankets and cushions in the sand, and candles for light. They sat down on the blanket and Angelo opened another bottle of the non alcoholic champagne. “Angelo, you know you could have drank alcohol tonight” Charlie said as she took the glass from him.

“Its fine” Angelo smiled “I quite like this stuff anyways” Angelo laughed before he picked up a box from behind one of the cushions, and taking a deep breath. “I didn’t know whether to still give you this or not, but, here you go” Angelo said as he apprehensively handed Charlie the box. Charlie took the box from him and held it in her hands and was silent for a moment before she opened it.

“Angelo” Charlie said as she looked down at the necklace sitting in the box. It was white gold with a love heart pendant and had a diamond in the top right hand side. “It’s lovely, I love it” Charlie said as she looked up at him.

“Good, I’m glad you do” Angelo smiled

“I’m really sorry but I didn’t get you anything” Charlie said as she looked down. “It’s just that after everything that happened, I didn’t really....”

“Its okay” Angelo said as he put his hand on Charlie’s chin and gently brought her head up so she was looking at him again. “Charlie you being here with me this weekend is enough, and knowing that I have your forgiveness and that you want to take me back is better than anything money can buy” Angelo said as he kept his hand on Charlie’s chin. Charlie smiled as she felt tears forming in her eyes. Angelo smiled back at her and the pair sat there in silence staring into each other’s eyes. Angelo slowly moved forward to kiss her but Charlie was quick to pull back.

“Sorry” Charlie said “I just, I don’t think....”

“No, I should be sorry” Angelo interrupted “I ruined a perfect night by trying to kiss you. Everything was going so well” Angelo said

“It still is, Angelo. Tonight is perfect. I just don’t want to rush this” Charlie said and Angelo nodded lightly.

“Sure. Take as long as you need” Angelo smiled before Charlie shivered lightly. “Are you cold?” Angelo asked

“A little bit” Charlie said and Angelo stood up and held his hand out and helped Charlie up. “We’ll go back to the room now then” He said before picking up the bottle of champagne. They walked back into the room and Charlie placed the necklace box down on the desk and picked up the jar of peanut butter and a spoon and jumped up on the bed and got herself comfy before taking the lid off the jar and digging in.

“What are you doing?” Angelo asked

“Eating dessert” Charlie answered and Angelo laughed lightly.

“The peanut having a craving is he?” Angelo asked

“The peanut?” Charlie questioned

“Yeah, the peanut” Angelo grinned as he pointed to Charlie’s stomach “I think that’s an appropriate nickname” Angelo said and Charlie laughed. Angelo grabbed another spoon from the desk and took a seat on the bed next to her. “Well let’s see what all this fuss is about” Angelo said as he took a big helping of the peanut butter onto his spoon.

[Danni02]

Thank you so much, everyone, for your amazing comments. I really hope you like this one.

Chapter 40

Angelo put the bags into the boot of his car before pushing it shut. He turned to face Charlie who was standing behind him, admiring the view for one last time. “So, you ready to get going?” Angelo asked

“Ehm I guess” Charlie said

“You guess?” Angelo questioned

“It’s just….” Charlie paused as she walked to the front of the car and rested herself against the bonnet. “I’ve enjoyed this weekend being….” Charlie paused once again, biting her lip as she looked up at Angelo, who had also leaned himself against the car bonnet.

“Charlie, what is it?” Angelo asked as he tentatively placed his hand on Charlie’s arm.

Charlie exhaled lightly. “I’ve liked spending time with you….just you” Charlie said. “We hardly ever spend time with just the two of us now. It’s always us and the kids, I mean don’t get me wrong, I love that, but I think it’s important that we still spend some time together as a couple. This last year especially we’ve not done that and look what’s happened to us” Angelo nodded his head lightly as he listened to what Charlie was saying. She was right, they had been becoming more and more distant with each other lately and he knew they needed to work hard if they wanted to fix their marriage. “I guess it’s just something we lost along the way” Charlie continued “Maybe that’s why we went so wrong, why you subconsciously went elsewhere to get some attention, because you weren’t getting any from me at home”

“I think your right” Angelo spoke almost in a whisper as he looked up at Charlie. “It felt nice to talk to someone without it turning into an argument. She paid attention to me and it felt nice, she wanted to be there with me and it felt good knowing that. I mean lately with you, it was like you didn’t even want to be in the same room as me, we just drifted apart so much, especially after we found out about the baby. How could I not see that you weren’t excited, that this wasn’t what you wanted? I should have been able to work it out, but because I was feeling so sorry for myself that you didn’t want my baby, I missed all that. I really pushed you into having this baby Charlie and I’m really sorry” Angelo paused as he bowed his head down. Charlie went to reply but Angelo spoke over her. “No please, let me finish” Angelo said as he placed his hand on her arm again. “Going back even further, when Ruby and Callum first moved in with us, instead of seeing that you were struggling with our two, with Callum and trying to help Ruby work through her issues, I just added to your problems. I should have helped and made things easier for you, which in turn could have given us more alone time together and maybe we wouldn’t be here today, maybe things would still have been perfect for us but instead I go and make things worse for you. I was just so worried about James being out there and worried for Ruby’s safety when she was out there alone and drunk that I screwed up. I handled everything so badly and look what’s happened since then” As Angelo spoke Charlie could feel the guilt in his tone.

“You know you could have talked to me about James sooner” Charlie said “Maybe then I would have understood what you were doing better”

“That would have just been something else to add to your worries” Angelo said

“Yeah maybe, but then I would have known why my husband was acting like such an ass” Charlie said as she wrapped her arms around Angelo’s arm.

“Fair point” Angelo laughed lightly.

“And about this baby, I want it, Angelo. I am happy. I’m not where you are, but I am happy” Charlie said and Angelo looked down at Charlie and a huge smile appeared on his face. “I just hope that we can get back to what we had before all this.....mess happened” Charlie said as she felt herself welling up.

“We’ll get there Charlie, we will. I love you so much. You are the most important person in my life. You gave me the most incredible gift of three amazing children and now we have another one on the way, and we have our little grandson. I’m not giving up on that for anything. We can do this, because it’s what we both want” Angelo said before looking down at Charlie and wiping the tears from her face. “We’ll find time Charlie, amongst work, and the school run, and soccer club, and swimming club, and the 4 am feeds, we’ll find time” Angelo said and Charlie smiled as another tear rolled down her cheek. “Even if we only manage to get out for an hour a week, we’ll always find time, because you’re right, it is important that amongst all our family stuff, we have our time too” Angelo wiped the tears from Charlie face again and smiled lovingly at her.

“I love you too. I don’t ever want to lose you” Charlie said “And I want that, all of it. I want our life back”

“Me too” Angelo said “And we will. We’ll get there”

“I know” Charlie smiled before Angelo placed his arm around her gently rubbed her back. They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Angelo looked down at his watch and sighed.

“Well, we better get home to these kids” Angelo said Charlie nodded as she stood up and wiped one final tear from her eye.

***

“It’s them, it’s them” Ben said excitedly as he was looking out of the window. “Their home” Ben squealed before he ran across to the door and jumped up and down as it opened. “Daddy” Ben grinned as he ran into Angelo and wrapped his arms around him. Ava ran up to Charlie and gave her a hug.

“Hey mate” Angelo said as he lifted his son into his arms. “Have you been a good boy for Ruby?” Angelo asked and Ben nodded his head.

“Yeah, I was really good” Ben answered

“No, no he wasn’t” Ava said as she pulled back from the hug with Charlie and looked up at Angelo.

“Dad, Ben was on the naughty step, twice” Ava said as she held 2 fingers up.

“No, don’t tell” Ben shouted as he flung his hand out in an attempted to hit Ava but she stepped back avoiding being hit.

“Oh Ben, that’s not good is it?” Charlie said and Ben shook his head and pulled a sad face.

“Sorry mummy” Ben sulked.

“I hope they weren’t too much trouble for you Rubes” Angelo said as he looked up at Ruby.

“Eh no, they were fine” Ruby said “But let’s not leave me alone with them all weekend again for a little while” Ruby laughed.

“Oh, dad” Ava said as she held onto his arm “Ruby took us to the beach with her friend Jay. He’s nice. He played soccer with Ben. He’s better than you” Ava giggled cheekily.

“No, daddy is the bestest Ava” Ben said and Angelo smiled lightly at his son.

“No he’s not cos he made mum sad” Ava said

“Hey, Ava” Charlie said as she ran her hand through her daughters hair. “That’s not true”

“But it is” Ava yelled “You don’t have to pretend. That’s why he doesn’t live with us now. I know”

Charlie and Angelo exchanged a quick glance with each other before Charlie looked back down at her daughter. “Okay, well we have to talk to you about that” Charlie said and Ava pulled a face.

“About what’s going to happen now with where we all live because that’s what you were away talking about wasn’t it?” Ava asked and Charlie pulled a face in confusion before looking up at Ruby.

“Sorry” Ruby said “She was confused. I was trying to explain to her”

“Its fine” Charlie smiled “How about we go sit down on the couch and we’ll talk about this”

“Okay” Ava smiled before she ran across the room and took a seat on the couch. Angelo put Ben down he also ran across the room but waited at the edge of the couch instead of sitting down. Charlie and Angelo looked at each other once more before walking across and sitting next to their daughter. Ben jumped up onto the couch and sat on Charlie’s knee. Charlie wrapped her arms around her son and hugged him gently.

“I’ll go check on Callum” Ruby said before she disappeared out of the room and up the stairs, leaving Charlie and Angelo to explain things to the kids first.

“So what did you decide, mum” Ava asked as she looked up at Charlie. Charlie looked down at her daughter and looked into her big blue eyes. She moved her hair behind her ear as she smiled down at her.

“Your dad and I decided that we love each other very, very much and we are going to stay married” Charlie said and a huge smile appeared on Ava face.

“But what about living together? Are we all going to the new house?” Ava asked

“No, sweetie. Not right now” Angelo answered and Ava pulled a face in confusion.

“But, why?” Ava asked

“Sweetie, one day, we will all live in the new house together, but right now your dad and I still have some stuff we need to work out, so we will be living apart just now” Charlie said as she ran her hand through her daughters hair.

“Okay” Ava smiled “But you promise that we will all be together in the new house soon”

“Yeah” Charlie nodded “I promise”

“You understand mate?” Angelo asked as he gently hit Ben on the arm to get his attention.

“Ehm” Ben said “Can I go play with my Thomas train set?” Ben asked

“Sure” Angelo said and Ben jumped down from Charlie’s knee and ran across the room.

“He’s okay” Ava said as she looked up at Charlie. “Can I go play now too?”

“Of course” Charlie said and Ava smiled before she ran across the room and sat down next to Ben.

Angelo looked at Charlie and smiled but it quickly fell when he noticed a tear falling down her cheek. “Hey, Charlie what’s wrong?” Angelo asked as he gently rubbed her arm.

“It’s nothing” Charlie said as she wiped the tear away. “I’m just happy” Charlie said

“Are you sure?” Angelo asked tentatively

“Yeah” Charlie smiled as she watched her children play. “We’re sorting this out, the kids are happy, it’s just, it’s good”

“Yeah it is” Angelo smiled as he gently squeezed Charlie’s shoulder.

“If you wanted to take the kids out for a few hours, take them out for dinner or something you could” Charlie said

“Yeah, that would be nice” Angelo smiled as he stood up from the couch and started to make his way to the door. “You don’t want to join us?”

“Eh, no you just take them out. I want to talk to Ruby” Charlie said as she looked up in the direction of the stairs.

“Sure you do” Angelo smiled before he called the kids over. Ava and Ben jumped up from where they were playing and over to the door.

“Just don’t be too late, they’re back at school tomorrow” Charlie said and Angelo nodded before he left the house with the kids. Charlie walked over the window and watched her husband as he walked down the road with Ben’s little hand in his and Ava skipping happily a few steps in front of him. A smiled appeared on her face as she thought about living with Angelo again, and knew it would happen a lot sooner than she had first expected.

[Danni02]

Thank you all so much for your comments. I love reading them. Not sure about this one. Hope its okay.

Chapter 41

Charlie ran up the stairs and into the bedroom to find Ruby was changing Callum. “Hey, so what’s this about Jay?” Charlie asked as he gently hit Ruby’s side.

“He came round yesterday wanting to hang out and he tagged along to the beach with us” Ruby said and Charlie nodded lightly.

“And....” Charlie said

“And we had fun, it was good. I like him. He’s a friend” Ruby said with emphasis on the word friend.

“Mmm hmm” Charlie said “So, are we going to be seeing Jay again?”

“I’m seeing him on Wednesday” Ruby said “Well if it’s okay for you to watch Callum” Ruby said as she looked up at her mother.

“Yeah, sure it is” Charlie smiled “You like staying with Charlie, don’t you?” Charlie spoke in a baby tone as she picked her grandson up. Callum let out little babbles as he waved his hands around excitedly.

“Don’t you mean granny?” Ruby teased as they walked across the room and sat down at the edge of the bed.

“No that makes me sound old” Charlie moaned and Ruby laughed

“So how did the weekend away go?” Ruby asked

“It was.....it was great. Once we got that talk out of the way, it was comfortable, it was nice” Charlie smiled “He was so sweet and it was lovely”

“So I guess this means you are staying together?” Ruby asked

“Yeah” Charlie smiled “We’re working at it”

“Right” Ruby nodded

“You don’t sound pleased about that Rubes?” Charlie questioned “I thought you wanted us to work things out”

“I did” Ruby said “But he hurt you and I don’t want that to happen again, so just be careful. Don’t let him get your forgiveness to easily; he should have to work hard for it after what he did. This is great for the kids but just make sure it’s what you really want”

“Rubes, this isn’t just about what he did” Charlie said “Things weren’t that great before that either and then when they did start to improve, I got pregnant and it just knocked us right back again”

“That still doesn’t excuse what he did” Ruby said “I’m sorry but it’s still going to take me longer before I can trust him again and be happy for you”

“Right” Charlie sighed lightly.

“I mean I am pleased that you guys are sorting things out but just...I don’t want to see you hurting like that again, so just be....” Ruby paused

“I know” Charlie spoke over Ruby “And it will take him a long time to regain my trust but I want to give him the chance too, I want to make this work”

“Okay” Ruby smiled as she gently squeezed Charlie’s shoulder. “Well I’m going round to see Nic for a while. C’mon lets go see Aunty Nicole” Ruby said as she stood up from the bed and took her son into her arms.

“Rubes?” Charlie said as she looked up to the door where Ruby had stopped.

“Yeah?” Ruby asked

“Where’s Morag?” Charlie asked

“I don’t know. She said she was going to the city, I can’t remember what for” Ruby answered

“And she was there all weekend?” Charlie questioned

“Yeah” Ruby nodded “Why?”

“I just wondered. This is the second weekend in the last few months she’s been there. I don’t know why she would be going to the city” Charlie said

“Yeah I don’t know” Ruby said “I’m sure it’s nothing, don’t look so worried”

“Yeah, I’m sure your right” Charlie forced a smile. “Have a good time at Nicole’s”

“Yeah, I shouldn’t be too long” Ruby said before she disappeared out of the room.

****

Charlie unpacked her bag before walking down the stairs and into the kitchen and went to make herself some dinner. She sighed lightly as the door bell rang before walking across to the door to answer it. Opening the door she looked up at the woman standing there. “Can I help you?” Charlie asked, as she looked at the woman she had never seen before standing before her.

“I’m looking for Angelo Rosetta” The woman said “I was told he lives here”

“Eh no, not anymore he doesn’t” Charlie said

“Did she chuck him out, that wife of his?” The woman laughed. “Well hey, I’ll always be more than happy to keep him company”

“I’m his wife” Charlie spat

“Oh. I’m Shelly” Shelly smirked “Your husband’s little friend”

“What the hell do you want him for?” Charlie asked raising her voice.

“I really need to speak to him about that. So if you don’t mind, I’ll come in and wait for him to return” Shelly said as she walked into the house and across the living room.

“I told you he doesn’t live here” Charlie said. “Get out of here now” Charlie walked forward and grabbed onto Shelly’s arm and pulled her forward.

“Get off me” Shelly shouted “Or I’ll report you for assault. Just like I should have done with that daughter of yours” Charlie exhaled lightly as she let go of Shelly. “Now there’s no need to be like that” Shelly laughed smugly. “I’ll just wait for Angelo to return and give him my news” Shelly said as she took a seat on the couch.

“He doesn’t live here” Charlie said “Am I not saying it right? He doesn’t live here. Can you get out now?”

“Feisty” Shelly laughed “I’m sure we can find something to talk about while we wait. I guess Angelo is a subject we have in common”

Charlie exhaled as she took a seat on the chair. She looked down at her watch before looking back up at Shelly. “What do you want?” Charlie asked

“Angelo” Shelly answered “I want him”

“Yeah, we’ll he is my husband” Charlie said “He’s not available”

Shelly laughed “Didn’t stop him before love. And anyways, you said you chucked him out so you know you can’t have it both ways”

“Yeah, well we are working on things” Charlie said

“Oh really” Shelly smirked “So you can take him back knowing he has been with someone else. That he’s been intimate with someone. That he’s enjoyed the company of another woman, that he’s...”

“Stop it” Charlie shouted

“Yeah, just what I thought because it’ll always be there. Whenever you close your eyes I bet you see it. I bet you see us together” Shelly smirked “You do don’t you. I can tell by your face” Shelly laughed. “You’re never going to be able to trust him again. Every woman he talks to you will be questioning who she is, if he’s five minutes late you’ll be questioning what he is doing. You’ll never fully be able to trust to him again” Shelly looked at Charlie and seemed to be getting some satisfaction at what she was doing. Charlie desperately tried to hold back the tears that wanted to fall. She was trying to stay strong and show that Shelly wasn’t getting to her but deep down she knew that Shelly was talking some truth. She did see it and she was finding it really hard to even begin to think about how she was going to be able to trust Angelo again. She exhaled lightly before she bit her lip.

“What do you want? Can’t you just get out” Charlie said just as the door opened and the kids ran into the house followed by Angelo.

“Well well well Angelo, long time no see. How you doing?” Shelly grinned as she stood up and walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. Angelo quickly pushed her away and walked across the room away from her.

“Mummy who is that?” Ben asked as he ran up to her.

“Can you two go up the stairs and get ready for bed” Charlie said, ignoring her son’s question.

“But mum who is it?” Ava asked

“Go on kids. Up the stairs, listen to your mum” Angelo said and Ava and Ben ran out of the room and disappeared up the stairs.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Angelo spat

“I could ask you the same question” Shelly said “She told me you don’t live here”

“I don’t. I was just dropping the kids off. Now what do you want?” Angelo asked.

“Well, Angelo” Shelly smirked “I’m pregnant”