Nothing Lasts Forever

[Danni02]

Story Title: Nothing Lasts Forever

Type of story: Long Fic

Main Characters: Charlie, Ruby and Brax.

Others: Casey, Angelo, Nicole, Leah, Bianca and Heath.

BTTB rating: T

Genre: Drama & Romance.

Does story include spoilers: No

Any warnings: Violence/Death, Rape.

Summary: Charlie seeks comfort in Brax after Angelo leaves her, but things start to get complicated when Brax wants out of the gang and lives are put in danger. Can Ruby and Casey's relationship survive when they are caught up in the mess and is Charlie willing to risk her job for love? (sorry, rubbish summary I know, I'm never good with these)

In this fiction, Nicole kept her baby from the beginning and had been living with Charlie, Angelo and Ruby during most of her pregnancy.

Chapter 1

Charlie ran her hand over her stomach and exhaled lightly as she looked out across the beach and watched him with her. She knew she had to tell him she was pregnant with his child, but she was hurt and angry, and a part of her felt he didn’t deserve to know the truth. Sighing lightly she brought her hand up to her face and wiped away the lone tear that rolled down her cheek.

“Hey, you alright?” Ruby asked as she sat down next to her and threw her school bag down on the sand in front of them.

“Yeah” Charlie held the tears back as she turned to face her daughter. “I’m okay” Charlie looked passed Ruby and once again found a tear falling down her cheek as she watched Angelo scooping George up into his arms with Nicole standing close, smiling up at him.

“Yeah?” Ruby questioned “Then what’s this for, hmm?” Ruby said as she wiped away the tear that was rolling down her mother’s cheek. Before Charlie replied to her daughter, Ruby had turned her head around and saw what Charlie was watching. “I hate them” Ruby seethed.

“Ruby” Charlie said. “Don’t….”

“Well I do. She was my best friend and he was like a father to me. How could they do that to me? To you? To us? After we let her move in with us, after all the help and support you gave her when she found out she was having Penn’s child, and she goes and sleeps with your boyfriend. And then him, after all you have been through to get to where you are today. He pushed at you to get you to commit and then when you finally did he goes and has an affair”

“Rubes…”

“And she’s like what, 11 years younger than him? It’s gross” Ruby spat as she stared at Nicole and Angelo with a look of pure disgust on her face. “You know everyone’s on your side, Mum, so don’t….”

“I don’t care about that” Charlie said softly “I don’t want people feeling sorry for me. I just want…” Charlie paused as she bowed her head down and once again ran her hand over her stomach. “What am I supposed to do about the baby?” Charlie asked as she looked up at Ruby. Ruby looked at her mother and looked into her tear glazed eyes.

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked as she reached forward and once again wiped a tear that fell down her mother’s cheek. “You’ll have the baby and you’ll have me here to help. This kid will have the best big sister in the world, and the best Mum, we’ll be fine” Ruby smiled as she gently patted Charlie’s arm in comfort.

Charlie shook her head as she bit her lip. “I can’t. Not without Angelo. Ruby I love him so much, I just want to be with him” Charlie fell into Ruby’s arms as her tears became heavier.

“Charlie” Ruby said softly as she gently ran her hand though her mother’s hair. “You deserve so much better than him. Anyone who can do that to you, they’re not worth it”

“But I want to be with him” Charlie sniffed back even more tears as she sat back up and wiped her face.

“Why?” Ruby questioned “Mum, he cheated on you for months. Why would you want to be with someone who could do that to you?”

“I love him Ruby. I’ve never let myself….” Charlie trailed off as she looked up to find Angelo and Nicole walking towards them, Nicole pushing the pram, as George lay in Angelo’s arms.

“Hey, Rubes” Nicole smiled down at her friend “How did you’re exam go?”

“Just stay away from me” Ruby spat as she stood up from where she was sitting and picked up her school bag and flung it over her shoulder before she started to walk away.

“Charlie, can we talk?” Angelo asked as he looked down at Charlie. Charlie shook her head lightly as she stood to her feet. As much as she wanted to talk to Angelo, right now wasn’t the right time.

“I need to go with Ruby” Charlie said as she ran after her daughter. “Rubes” Charlie shouted as she caught up with her. “Sweetie you don’t have to stop being friends with Nicole just because of what happened with me and Angelo. She was…”

“She broke up my family Charlie” Ruby shouted as a tear rolled down her cheek. “She was my best friend. She knew how I felt about finally feeling like part of a family again after the truth came out and then she goes and ruins that’s for me. I hate her. I hate them both” Charlie pulled her daughter into a hug as her tears became heavier.

“I’m sorry Rubes” Charlie sniffed back a tear as she comforted her daughter.

“It’s not your fault” Ruby mumbled. “It was them, they…”

“No, I mean, I never even asked you how your exam went today”

“You’ve got more important things to worry about right now than my exams” Ruby said as she pulled back from the hug.

“Hey” Charlie shook her head as she wiped the tears from Ruby’s cheeks. “You are the most important thing in my life Rubes” Ruby smiled lightly before she once again caught sight of Angelo and Nicole walking their way once more.

“Are they never going to give up?” Ruby sighed as she gestured for Charlie to look in the direction of Nicole and Angelo. Charlie pursed her lips together as she thought about talking with Angelo, and wondered what it was he wanted to say to her, but right now, Ruby was upset, and she would come before Angelo.

“C’mon, let’s just go home” Charlie said as she linked her arm around her daughter and started to walk away.

Please let me know what you think and if it’s worth continuing.

[Danni02]

Wow, thank you all so much for the comments I hope you like this next part.

Chapter 2

Ruby opened the door to find Angelo standing at the other side. “What do you want?” Ruby spat. As she looked up at the man she once respected and looked up at as a father figure she felt nothing but hated and disgust, and on some level she also felt betrayed by him.

“Is Charlie in?” Angelo asked rather shyly, feeling uncomfortable by the vibes Ruby was giving off.

“What do you want her for?” Ruby spat as she shot Angelo a hateful look.

“Rubes, was that the door?” Charlie asked as she walked into the room. As she looked up and saw Angelo she felt a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. A feeling mixed with betrayal, hurt and anger, but she still felt the love that she had for him. “Angelo” Charlie spoke so quietly she was barely heard. She cleared her throat before walking closer to the door. “Come in”

“Seriously?” Ruby questioned as she gave her mother a confused look. “Why do you want to…”

“Rubes” Charlie interrupted “Go to your room please and let us talk”

Ruby sighed heavily as she shook her head at her mother. “I’m going to Casey’s” Ruby shook her head once more as she pushed passed Angelo and slammed the door shut behind her.

“What’s got her in that mood?” Angelo asked.

“Oh I don’t know Angelo” Charlie yelled as she raised her hands out to the side “How about the man who she looked up to and respected as a father figure just left her mother for her best friend” As Charlie spoke she felt herself welling up with tears. Angelo had only left her a week before hand and everything was still very raw for Charlie, and having just found out she was pregnant was making things even more difficult for her.

“Look, Charlie, I never meant to hurt to you or Rubes” Angelo shook his head lightly as he took a step closer to Charlie and went to put his hand on her arm in an act of comfort as he saw a lone tear rolling down her cheek.

“Don’t” Charlie put her hand out as she stepped back, not wanting Angelo to touch her. “What did you want to talk to me about?” Charlie asked as she wiped the tear from her cheek.

“Ehm, well I wanted to pick up the rest of my things” Angelo said as he looked around the room, noticing that anything he had left was actually nowhere to be seen.

“Ruby packed all your stuff up” Charlie said, now fighting back the wave of nausea that had suddenly hit her. “It’s in the garage” Charlie spoke quietly as she lightly placed her hand onto her chest. “Excuse me” Charlie spoke quickly as she ran out of the living room, and along the hall and into the bathroom where she threw up. A few minutes later she returned to the living room to find Angelo still standing there looking rather confused at Charlie’s quick exit from the room.

“You alright?” Angelo asked, sounding concerned for Charlie. “You sounded like you were being -”

“Don’t act like you care about me now” Charlie spat. “You clearly didn’t when -”

“Of course I care about you Charlie. I still love -”

“Don’t” Charlie yelled as she once again found herself welling up with tears. “Don’t you dare say you still love me”

“I do Charlie” Angelo said softly as he took a step closer to her. “But the love I have for Nicole, it’s so strong and I’ve never felt that before”

Upon hearing Angelo’s words, Charlie felt her heart shatter into a million tiny pieces. “So, you love her more than you’ve ever loved me?” Charlie asked tentatively, for she wasn’t sure she really wanted to know his answer. Angelo stood silently as he broke eye contact with Charlie. This was enough for Charlie to know his answer. She loved Angelo more than she’d ever loved another partner before, and finding out that he loved another woman more than he loved her really hurt. “I let myself fall for you. I told you about Grant and I gave you my trust, 100 per cent of my trust” As Charlie spoke she tried her best to keep her voice from breaking as she felt like she was about to burst into tears. “You’re the first person I ever let myself fall completely in love with because you made me believe that you loved me and that you’d never hurt me like Grant did. You broke down my wall and made me feel safe again, but then…..” Charlie trailed off as she broke down into tears. Although she had had a few cries since Angelo left, this was the first time she really let herself go. She was always trying to stay strong, especially in front of Ruby as this had affected her so much as well, and on some levels Charlie felt it was a worse betrayal for Ruby, because not only had her father figure hurt her, but also her best friend had too.

“Charlie” Angelo spoke softly as he stepped forward and pulled her into a comforting hug. Charlie struggled for a few seconds, but then fell into Angelo as the tears continued to stream down her face. Angelo gently ran his hand through her hair as she cried in his arms. Charlie held tightly onto Angelo’s t-shirt as she breathed in his smell as he held her in his arms. She loved his smell, and she felt safe when she was in his arms, but now she wouldn’t have that, no matter how much she wanted it, because Angelo’s heart was no longer in it.

“What did I do wrong?” Charlie voice was muffled as she still had her head pressed against Angelo’s chest.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Charlie” Angelo said “Me and Nicole….it sort of just happened. She moved in and we started spending a lot more time together and then one day I just started to look at her differently. She was no longer just Ruby’s friend. She was this beautiful young woman who I….”

“So it my fault” Charlie pulled back from Angelo and looked up to face him. “I made this happen”

“You didn’t do anything -”

“But if I didn’t let Nicole move in with us then maybe this wouldn’t have happened” Charlie wiped a tear away from her cheek as she spoke. She was desperate to know why and how this happened. Desperate to find a reason. Desperate to know if there was anything that she could do differently if it meant Angelo giving things with her another shot. Although she was deeply hurt by what Angelo did to her, she loved him so much and there was a big part of her who would give him forgiveness if he said he’d made a mistake and wanted to be with her. Especially now she was pregnant with his child, she felt they should be together even more.

“Charlie this wasn’t your fault” Angelo shook his head lightly “It was me and Nicole. We are the ones who had the affair. It’s our fault….my fault for cheating on you. It was nothing you did. You are amazing. You are gorgeous, and funny and smart; you were a great girlfriend -”

“But if you think all that then wasn’t I enough? If you think all that of me then why did you cheat on me?”

“I just fell for her, Charlie. It doesn’t mean I changed what I thought about you, but Nicole, she’s great Charlie and I want to see where things go with us” Angelo spoke softly as he tried to let Charlie down gently. Even though he had left her, he did still love her and hated what he was doing to her. He could see how much Charlie didn’t want things to be over between the two of them, despite what he did to her.

“So that’s it” Charlie said “We are over and there’s nothing that I can do to make you change your mind?”

Angelo shook his head lightly as he looked down to the floor. “I’m sorry Charlie, but I want to be with Nicole” Charlie bit her lip to stop even more tears falling. Upon hearing Angelo’s words she felt like her heart was being ripped out. It hurt her so much to hear that the man she was so in love with wanted someone else.

“Sorry” Charlie said sounding surprised. “I thought that word would have surfaced before now”

“Charlie, I’m -”

“Yeah, you’re sorry” Charlie pursed her lips together as she lightly rubbed her stomach. “So did you only come around for the rest of your things?” Charlie asked. Part of her was hoping that Angelo wanted to talk to her about giving things another go, but given the conversation that they had just had, she now knew that wasn’t the case.

“Pretty much” Angelo nodded as he scratched the side of his head.

“What is it?” Charlie questioned. Angelo gave Charlie a questioning look. “C’mon, Angelo, I know you. There’s something else you want to tell me” Angelo took a step forward and took Charlie’s hand into his and led her to the couch, where they both sat down. He looked at Charlie’s tear stained face and exhaled lightly. He hated what he’d done to her and knowing how much Charlie was wanting to be with him despite the fact that he had cheated made him feel even worse.

“I wanted this to come from me” Angelo said “So, you are the first one to know. We both thought that you deserved to find out from me, and not Colleen, because you know what she’s like once she hears a bit of gossip” Angelo laughed lightly trying to lighten the mood in the room but Charlie just stared at him blankly, with so much hurt being shown in her usually sparkling blue eyes.

“Angelo, what is it?” Charlie asked.

“Nic and I think it would be best to get a clean break from here. You know, how we got together, me, Nic and Georgie going about here, acting like a family, we don’t want to throw that in your face, so we are moving away” Angelo said tentatively.

“Angelo, you don’t need to move away….you can’t move away” Charlie said immediately thinking of their unborn baby.

“Charlie, I think we have too” Angelo said “You clearly need -”

“Angelo I can accept that you don’t want to be with me” Charlie said, once again on the verge of tears and having to accept that Angelo didn’t want to be with her, no matter how much she wanted to be with him. “But you can’t move away from here. I need you to stay here because -”

“Charlie” Angelo interrupted as he once again took hold of her and rubbed it gently. “We are moving. We have an apartment already and I have venues to look at to open up a new restaurant, I’ve already sold my half of the restaurant to Brax, we have the flights booked….” Angelo trailed off as he saw Charlie pursing her lips together as a lone tear rolled down her cheek.

“Flights?” Charlie questioned “Angelo, where are you moving too?”

“Italy” Angelo said after a lengthy pause. “We both want to just get out there and see a different part of the world. We think it would be great for little Georgie to grow up in the sun by the ocean and -”

“Angelo, you live in Australia, there’s plenty sun and ocean here for George. You can’t move to Italy”

Angelo shook his head lightly as he stood up from the couch. “Charlie, Nic and I are going to be together and we are moving to Italy. There’s nothing you can do or say that’s going to make me change my mind” Angelo started to make his way to the front door. Charlie knew she had to tell him about the baby and she knew it had to be now. She took a deep breath before she stood up and turned to face Angelo, who had his hand on the door handle.

“Angelo, you can’t move to Italy, because I’m pregnant”

[Danni02]

Once again, thank you so much for the comments I'm not so sure about this chapter Hopefully it's okay.

Chapter 3

Ruby knocked hard on the door of the Braxton house, hoping that her boyfriend was in to give her some much needed comfort. Although Charlie and Ruby had had a small talk before Angelo had arrived at the house, Ruby still had a lot of steam she wanted to blow off, and felt it would be better if she didn’t talk to Charlie about it. She knew how much her mother was hurting and didn’t want to make things worse for her by making Charlie concentrate on Ruby’s feelings instead of her own. She breathed a sigh of relief when the door opened and she found Casey standing at the other side. She jumped up and threw her arms around him as she burst into tears. “Hey, Rubes” Casey said softly as he wrapped his arms around her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nic, Angelo, Charlie, the baby, everything’s a mess” Ruby cried into her boyfriend’s shoulder.

“Hey, c’mon” Casey placed a soft kiss on top of Ruby head “Let’s go in and talk about this, yeah?” Casey said as he pulled back from the hug and lightly rubbed Ruby’s arms. Ruby nodded in response to Casey before following him through the house and into his bedroom. They sat down on the bed, and Casey gently ran his hand through Ruby’s hair before he tucked it behind her ear, not saying anything, but just waiting for Ruby open up about what was bothering her.

“We were on the beach talking, me and Charlie” Ruby started as she sniffed back her tears. “They were there to acting like a happy little family, throwing it in our faces” Ruby spoke with anger in her tone as she looked up at her boyfriend. “I lost my best friend and my father figure, mum has lost the love of her life…..and Case she’s just found out she’s pregnant….everything is such as mess and I don’t know what I can do to help Mum”

“Rubes, all you have to do is be there for her and let her talk about how she feels and be that shoulder for her to cry on. You just being around her probably helps her so much” Casey said as he put his arm around Ruby and gently rubbed her arm. Ruby nodded lightly at Casey’s advice.

“Yeah I guess so” Ruby sighed lightly “She’s scared to have this baby alone. She hasn’t said that to me, but I know she is”

“Well has she not done it herself before?” Casey asked “I mean you never mention your dad and I’ve never seen him around, so I figured she’d always been on her own with you”

“Ehm…” Ruby paused not knowing what to say. She didn’t feel ready to tell Casey the truth about her parentage, but knew she would have to tell him something. “She wasn’t alone” Ruby shook her head “My grandparents helped Charlie a lot” Ruby hoped this would be enough to silence Casey.

“Why do you always call your mum Charlie?” Casey questioned “Is it some whole young parent doesn’t want to be called ‘mum’ cos it makes her sound older thing?” Casey laughed lightly at his comment.

“Case I didn’t come around here to talk about my parents” Ruby said louder than intended, a hint of annoyance in her tone.

“Okay, sorry” Casey raised his eyebrows. “Rubes, Charlie isn’t going to be on her own, as much of an idiot Angelo is for what he did to Charlie I don’t see him turning his back on his kid”

“If you ask me he doesn’t deserve to know” Ruby spat.

“Rubes” Casey said “I know he hurt your mum, and you, but he does deserve to know that he going to be dad and the baby deserves to have its father in it life”

“I never thought you’d say that” Ruby said, surprised with Casey’s comment.

“Why’s that?” Casey asked.

“Well after what your dad did to your mum, I didn’t think that you would think that way”

“Yeah, I hate my dad for what he did to my mum, but at the end of the day, he is still my father and I would have loved for him to have been a part of my life. I mean, don’t you wish on some levels that you knew your dad?”

“No” Ruby shook her as a look of disgust washed over her face. “I’m glad I didn’t have anything to do with him”

“Ruby what…” Casey stopped talking as he saw the look forming on Ruby’s face. Talking about her father was something she had never done, and that didn’t look like it was about to change. “So this thing with Nic” Casey said bring the subject back to what Ruby had originally wanted to talk about. “Do you think you will ever be friends with her again?”

“No way” Ruby answered “I can’t betray Charlie like that. Nic is responsible for the break-up of my Mum’s relationship and she broke up my family, Case I don’t want anything more to do with her”

“You know Rubes, your mum is pretty cool sometimes, I don’t think she’d grudge you being friends with Nicole again one day”

“That’s what she told me” Ruby said “But I don’t want anything more to do with Nicole. She ruined my family. Her and Angelo both made me feel like I have no-where to belong anymore” Ruby said sadly as she bowed her head down.

“Hey, Rubes” Casey said “You have your Mum. When you two do get along, you have something really special, you’ll always have her. And you have me. So, you belong here, with Charlie and me” Casey smiled as he put his hand under Ruby’s chin and gently pushed her head up so she was facing him again. “I love you Rubes” Casey said softly “And I’m not going anywhere”

Ruby smiled upon hearing Casey say those three little words for the first time. Ruby had said it on a number of occasions but Casey had never said it back. “I love you too” Ruby smiled before she leaned in and kissed Casey softly on the lips.

*****

Angelo walked in the house and ran straight up to the bedroom, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, his head spinning with the news Charlie had just told him. Nicole walked across the room, having just placed George down in the cot for his nap. “Hey” Nicole smiled as she gently turned Angelo’s head to face hers and placed a soft kiss on his lips. Angelo returned the kiss for a moment, before he pulled back and looked away from Nicole. “You okay?” Nicole questioned as she sat back in the bed and looked up at her boyfriend.

“Baby” Angelo said quietly “She’s having my baby”

“What?” Nicole said sounding shocked “Charlie’s pregnant?” Angelo nodded lightly unable to say anything back to Nicole. “How far is she? Have the doctors confirmed it yet?” Nicole questioned.

“I don’t know” Angelo shook his head lightly “She just said I couldn’t move to Italy because she was pregnant”

“So she told you this after you told her about our plans to move to Italy?” Nicole asked and Angelo nodded.

“Yeah. I told her our plans and that nothing she could do or say would stop me leaving and then she said she was pregnant”

“I don’t believe her” Nicole shook her head.

“What, you think she is lying?” Angelo asked as he rubbed his forehead.

“Well, yeah” Nicole said as she stood up from the bed. “Think about it Angelo. She clearly wants you back and then when you tell her you are leaving the country with me and nothing that she can say or do will stop that from happening she tells you she is pregnant” Nicole said as she walked across the room and leaned against the wall.

“Nic” Angelo shook his head as he stood up. “She wouldn’t lie about this”

“You don’t think?” Nicole asked “Angelo she was devastated when you left her for me. If she wants you back maybe she thinks this is a way of getting you. I just wouldn’t trust her until you go to a scan and see that baby for sure”

“Well, I suppose” Angelo scratched the back of his head as he walked over to Nicole. “I’ll go and talk to her again tomorrow and see if she can give me proof” Angelo said.

“I think that’s wise” Nicole smiled as she wrapped her arms around Angelo’s neck and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “You know what I love?” Nicole asked as she pulled back from the kiss and looked up into Angelo eyes.

“What, besides me?” Angelo grinned as he began kissing Nicole’s neck softly.

“Mmm….yes, besides you” Nicole smiled as she pulled her head back so she was looking at Angelo again. “I love that we can do what we want whenever we want and we don’t have that fear of being caught”

“I love that too” Angelo grinned before he began kissing Nicole, the kiss becoming more and more passionate. The couple began pulling at eachother’s clothes as they made their way over to the bed.

*****

Leah found Charlie sitting on the couch, her knees up against her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around them. “Hey, the door was open, I hope you don’t mind me just walking in” Leah said softly as she sat down on the couch next to Charlie. As she looked at her friend she saw that her eyes were red and puffy, and it was clear that her friend had been crying. “Hey, Charlie” Leah said sympathetically.

“He left” Charlie said as she kept staring straight in front, not looking around at Leah. “He just left”

“I know” Leah said softly as she gently rubbed Charlie’s shoulder in comfort. “I know he left you, but Charlie -”

“No” Charlie shook her head “I told him and he just left” Charlie looked around at Leah as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“You told him what?” Leah asked feeling confused as to what Charlie was on about.

Charlie looked at Leah as she pursed her lips together. “I’m pregnant Leah” Charlie cried.

“Charlie” Leah said softly as she pulled Charlie into a hug.

“What am I supposed to do?” Charlie asked “I told him I was pregnant and he just left. What does that say about him wanting this baby?”

“I’m sure it was just a shock for Angelo” Leah said trying her best to keep her calm as if she was being honest, this news shocked her also. “Once it sinks in, he’ll come right back around and be ready to talk about what you are going to do”

“What am I going to do?” Charlie questioned “This is such a mess Leah. I love him so much and to have his baby when he is setting up happy families with Nicole and George…..he said they were moving to Italy….I can’t have his baby in Australia if he is in Italy. He won’t can….this baby needs a father, he needs….”

“Italy?” Leah said sounding shocked with Angelo and Nicole’s plans. “Charlie I am sure that now he knows you are having his baby he won’t move to Italy. Angelo will want to be part of his child’s life”

“I hope so” Charlie sniffed back more tears. “Leah, I’m so scared”

“Hey, Charlie, what are you scared for?” Leah asked.

“Because it’s a baby” Charlie answered “I’m not ready for this” Charlie shook her head as she looked down. “And I’m on my own now. It would be hard enough to do this even if I was still with Angelo, but now I’m on my own and if he does still move away with his new little family then -”

“Then you’ll have me and Miles, Morag, Ruby, Bianca….Charlie, you’re never going to be left on your own with this child” Leah rubbed Charlie’s back in comfort as she spoke to her friend. “So many people here in the Bay love you and will be here to help you. But Charlie, I don’t think this is something you have to worry about because I don’t see Angelo as the type of guy to turn his back on his own child”

“Thanks, Leah” Charlie smiled at her friends words. “You’ve really been great since….” Charlie trailed off unable to finish her sentence.

“Hey, it’s alright. That’s what friends are for” Leah smiled. “Now, have you had anything to eat today?” Charlie shook her head lightly in response. “Well that’s no good” Leah said as she stood up from the couch. “You have to eat; especially now you are eating for two. Let me cook something up for you” Leah said as she made her way to Charlie’s kitchen.

[Danni02]

Thank you all so much for the lovely comments I'm glad people are enjoying this, and your comments keep me wanting to write. Here is the next one, I hope you like it.

Chapter 4

Charlie walked back through to the kitchen and took a seat at the table. “You alright?” Ruby asked as she watched her mother taking a large drink of her water.

“Yeah, I’m fine” Charlie smiled at Ruby. “How are you doing?”

“Me?” Ruby questioned “I’m fine too”

“Rubes” Charlie said as she gave her daughter a look. “You’re not fine”

“Charlie, I -” Ruby went to speak but Charlie cut her off.

“Ruby I know this has been hard on you. You’ve lost your best mate and Angelo; I know you were starting to see him more and more like a father figure. I’m sorry I keep screwing that up for you. I know how much you want to feel like you are part of a proper family and I just don’t seem to be able to give that to you”

“Charlie” Ruby reached forward and took her mother’s hand in hers. “It’s alright. Talking to Case yesterday made me realise that I do have a family. I have you and I’ll have a little brother or sister, and I have Casey. You’re all I need” Charlie smiled lightly as she glazed over with tears.

“Gosh, you’d think I’d be all out of tears” Charlie said as she wiped her eyes. “It seems like it’s all I’ve done these last few days”

“Hey, it’s not like you haven’t had a reason not too” Ruby said as she gently squeezed Charlie’s hand.

“Yeah, well maybe we can just blame these tears on my changing hormones” Charlie said as she looked down to her stomach. Ruby could now see the look of fear in her mother’s eyes.

“Charlie” Ruby said softly “You know you can be pretty good at this whole mum thing. You’ll be great with this little one”

Charlie smiled back her daughter before she ran her hand over her stomach. “At least someone’s confident about my parenting skills” Charlie sighed lightly “Rubes, I don’t know if I am ready for this”

“Well maybe you and Angelo should have been more careful in that department” Ruby replied casually.

“Ruby” Charlie raised her voice.

“Well if you didn’t want a child right now then you should have been” Ruby retorted. “You’ve lectured me about always being safe with Case, so at least practise what you preach”

“Ruby, don’t talk to me like that” Charlie spoke loudly with authority in her voice. “But you’re right, sorry” Charlie sighed lightly as she pushed her bowl of pasta into the middle of the table.

“Eat” Ruby said as she pushed the bowl back in the direction of her mother.

“I don’t feel like eating. I feel so sick” Charlie said before she took another drink of her water.

“Well you need to eat something so try and find something that you’ll be okay with” Ruby said as she picked up her dirty dishes and walked over to the sink and placed them down.

“Yes Mum” Charlie laughed as she stood up and walked over to the bin and scraped her leftover pasta into it.

Ruby laughed lightly at her mother. “Eh Case, April and Dex are dragging me out to the cinema tonight, but if you want me to stay in with you then I can -”

“No, no” Charlie shook her head “You go out with your friends. It’ll do you good to go out and have some fun”

“You sure?” Ruby questioned as she walked closer to her mother.

“Yes” Charlie answered “Now go on, get out of here” Charlie smiled as she lightly hit Ruby’s arm.

“Ehm” Ruby looked up at Charlie with an angelic smile on her face.

“How much do you need?” Charlie sighed lightly as she walked across the room and reach for her purse.

“Just enough for a ticket and some snacks” Ruby answered.

“Doesn’t Casey offer to buy for you?” Charlie asked as she pulled a fifty dollar note out of her purse.

“He probably will” Ruby said as she took the note from Charlie’s hand. “And if he does I will have just scored fifty dollars” Ruby grinned before she tiptoed up and kissed Charlie’s forehead. “Bye” Ruby said before she picked up her bag and left the house.

*****

Angelo knocked tentatively on the door of the house he used to share with Charlie and Ruby. He was nervous for the conversation that he about to have with his ex. He already knew that Charlie wasn’t going to react well to his questions, but he felt they needed to be asked, for what Nicole had said to him did seem like something that people could say to keep someone that they loved, he just wasn’t sure Charlie would do that to him, but either way, he needed to talk to Charlie and work out what they would do if indeed she was pregnant. “Charlie” Angelo said as the door opened and Charlie stood staring at Angelo, not saying anything, but just showing that same look of hurt on her face that he’d seen whenever he’d seen her that past week. After a lengthy moment of silence, Angelo spoke again. “Look, I’m sorry about yesterday” Angelo said shyly. “I was shocked. I never expected you to tell me that”

“I never expected it either” Came Charlie’s response. She spoke quietly, not making eye contact with Angelo. After another brief period of awkward silence, Charlie spoke once again. “So ehm, did you only come here to say that or is there something you wanted to know. I have a -”

“Actually, yeah there is something” Angelo said “Can I come in?” Angelo asked as he pointed towards the couch. Charlie pursed her lips together as she nodded lightly, opening the door further to allow Angelo to enter the house. They walked over to the couch and took a seat. Angelo took a deep breath as he turned to face Charlie. “Charlie, you are really pregnant, aren’t you?” Angelo spoke tentatively as he awaited Charlie’s reaction.

“What?” Charlie questioned “Are you seriously asking me this?”

“I’m sorry, I just……Nicole said that it just seems strange that you tell me -”

“I don’t care what Nicole thinks” Charlie yelled as she stood up from the couch and walked across the room, away from Angelo. “Do you seriously think I would lie about this?”

“Like I said, Nicole -”

“I said I don’t care what Nicole thinks” Charlie yelled “Angelo, how could you think I would lie about this?”

“The timing of you telling me” Angelo sighed lightly as he rubbed his forehead. “You must see how it looks Charlie. I tell you there’s nothing you can say to make me change my mind and then you tell me you are pregnant” Charlie shook her head lightly. She couldn’t believe Angelo was saying this.

“So would you rather I didn’t tell you just because the timing wasn’t right for you? When would you want me to tell you, Angelo? When you were about to get on the plane? When you’d arrive in Italy? “When I went into labour? Wait till the kid could talk and have him tell you himself? Please tell me when would have been the right time for me to tell you this?” Charlie shouted.

“I don’t know” Angelo shook his head lightly as he looked down. “Do you have a scan or anything you could show me to prove it?”

“What?” Charlie said, shocked that Angelo still didn’t seem to believe her. “No, Angelo I don’t have a scan yet”

“What about the test you took?” Angelo asked “Did you keep that?”

“No, I threw that out after I peed on it” Charlie spat.

Angelo exhaled lightly as he nodded his head. “Right, so there’s nothing you can give me other than your word for it”

“Well I could tell you that I’ve been getting morning sickness and other symptoms of pregnancy but I guess you’ll just think I’m lying about that too. You know throw in a few symptoms and there you go, she must be telling the truth” Charlie retorted before she walked across the room and opened the front door. “I think you should just leave” Charlie said, her voice about to break with yet more tears that wanted to fall. She was really shocked and hurt that Angelo could even think for one second that she could make something like that up.

“Charlie” Angelo said as he stood up from the couch and made his way over to where she was standing.

“Just go” Charlie sighed “I don’t want to hear it” Angelo exhaled lightly before he respected Charlie’s wishes and left her house.

*****

“Hey” Bianca raised her voice as she knocked on Charlie’s front door, although it was open, she didn’t want to walk straight in.

“Bianca” Charlie smiled as she looked around to the door from the couch. “Come in”

Bianca walked into the house and took a seat next to Charlie. “You’re looking awfully dressed up” Charlie said “What’s on tonight?”

“We are going out” Bianca announced “Go on, go get ready”

“Bianca, I can’t -” Charlie shook her head as she went to tell Bianca but Bianca spoke over her.

“Charlie, I am not going to take no for an answer” Bianca said “C’mon, we both need a good night out Charlie. After everything that’s happened with us and our boyfriends lately, we need this. Let’s just go out and have a little bit of fun. Please” Bianca pouted. Charlie sighed lightly as she looked at her friend. Bianca had recently been through a break-up with Liam, who had then left town, hoping to find a record label who would sign him, and she was still trying to get over the break-up. “C’mon” Bianca spoke again. “Even just come out for a little bit, we don’t need to stay out long, just a few drinks” Bianca said, hoping that once Charlie got out and had a few drinks in her she would want to stay out longer and make a night of it.

“Bianca, I can’t -” Charlie paused mid-sentence. Maybe going out with Bianca would be a good thing. It could help her take her mind of everything going on with Angelo and let her have a good night out with her friend. All she would have to do would be to make sure that she was always the one going to the bar buying the drinks, and letting Bianca assume she was drinking alcohol. Although she knew it would be easier just to tell Bianca she was pregnant, right now after Angelo’s visit, and everything else that was going on with him, she just wanted to forget. “Okay, I’ll just go get ready” Charlie said as she jumped up from the couch and went into her bedroom to get changed for her night out.

*****

“Here, I got you a drink” Bianca said as she handed Charlie the glass of wine. Charlie had gone to the toilet as soon as they had arrived in the bar, and Bianca had said she was going to grab them some seats.

“Oh, thanks” Charlie smiled as she hesitantly took the glass from Bianca and placed it down on the table.

“So” Bianca said “How are you doing? Sorry I’ve not been there for you but between everything that went on with Liam, helping April prepare for her HSC, and then work, it’s been -”

“Its fine” Charlie smiled “But I did think we were coming out tonight to not think about our disastrous love lives”

“Hmm we were” Bianca said “I’ll drink to that” Bianca said as she lifted up her glass of wine, gesturing for Charlie to knock her glass against hers. Charlie picked up her glass and knocked it against Bianca’s, before hesitantly bringing it to her lips. One glass wouldn’t hurt, right? Charlie thought to herself as she took a drink.

[Danni02]

Thanks This next one is a little shorter than usual, but hopefully you guys still think it's okay. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 5

Before Charlie knew it that one drink had led to two, and then three. She knew was it was wrong to drink while she was pregnant, but, right now, after the week that she’d had, she just wanted to forget, she wanted an escaped, and even though she knew turning to alcohol wasn’t the answer and that it wouldn’t help her in anyway, she didn’t care right at that moment. She was having a good time with her friend and was able to forget, if only for a while. Bianca and Charlie were moving on to another pub when they bumped into Brax and Heath, who were also on a night out.

“Sargent Buckton, Bianca” Heath said “Lovely to see you ladies”

“Heath” Bianca said as she looked less than impressed to see him standing before them.

“Where’s that rock star boyfriend of yours?” Heath asked “Still off living in his own little dream world, thinking he’ll get a record deal?” Heath let out a small laugh as he spoke before he looked around at Charlie. “And Sarg, I saw Angelo this afternoon on the beach with Nicole and her kid. I can’t believe he left you for her. I mean she’s good looking and all that but she’s a teenager with a kid, and you, well” Heath said as he looked Charlie up and down “If you need someone to move on with, don’t hesitate to give me a call” Heath said as he winked at Charlie.

“Just get inside Heath” Brax said as he pushed Heath into the club, giving Charlie a smile as he waked passed her. Charlie smiled back at Brax before she and Bianca followed them into the club and headed to the bar. Charlie thought that 3 drinks was probably 3 to many, so she’d decided she wouldn’t drink anymore alcohol, instead deciding that she would order herself a soda water, which she would pass off as vodka and soda. Just as she was about to order a round of drinks for her and Bianca, she found Brax standing beside her, offering to buy them a round, in apology for his brother’s comments.

“Two white’s wines would be lovely, thanks” Bianca said as she answered Brax’s question.

“Eh no, not for me. I think I’ve had enough” Charlie said. “But thanks for the offer”

“Charlie” Bianca laughed lightly “You’ve only had 3 glasses”

“I know, but, I’m working early tomorrow so I don’t want to drink too much” Charlie said, making up an excuse as to why she didn’t want to drink any more.

“Have one more” Bianca said “Someone’s offering to buy you a drink; it would be rude to say no” Charlie sighed lightly as she brushed her hand over her stomach.

“Okay, one more” Charlie said as she looked at Brax and smiled at him. Brax ordered the ladies their drinks while he bought one for himself before he looked around the club, trying to find Heath, who had disappeared somewhere. He found him standing at the back of the club, talking with another man. He smiled lightly at himself before handing Charlie and Bianca their wines.

“Thanks” Charlie and Bianca spoke at the same time before they took a drink. “So” Charlie said as she looked around at Brax. “I hear you own all of Angelo’s now”

“Eh yeah” Brax nodded as he took a swig of his beer.

“So are you going change the name?” Bianca asked “Brax’s or Darryl’s?”

Brax laughed lightly as he shook his head “I don’t know. I’ll probably just keep it as Angelo’s for now” Brax said as he looked passed the ladies once more to find his brother and the other man parting ways. Heath held a thumb up to Brax and once again, Brax smiled to himself before he looked back at Charlie and Bianca as Heath made his way across to them.

*****

Although Charlie told herself she was only going to have one more drink, Heath kept buying the women shots, and she had begun to feel pretty drunk before deciding to call it a night and left the club, with Brax offering to accompany her home, while Heath and Bianca stayed back at the club. Charlie and Brax were now back in the bay, and were walking along the beach. “I’ve had such a lovely night” Charlie smiled as she ran slightly ahead of Brax before turning to face him and walked backwards as she looked at him. “You’re so pretty” Charlie giggled. Brax grinned as he looked at Charlie who was still walking backwards and was about to return the compliment when Charlie suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground.

“Careful” Brax laughed lightly as he bent down and took Charlie’s hands in his, offering to pull her up to her feet. Charlie and Brax stared at each other deeply for a moment, before Charlie pulled her hands away and patted on the sand next to where she was sitting, wanting Brax to sit down next to her.

“So…..why are we sitting here?” Brax asked as he looked around at Charlie.

Charlie shrugged her shoulders before she let out a little laugh. “Because, It’s…..it’s….it’s so pretty” Charlie said as she looked up at Brax. “Look at the full moon reflecting off the ocean…..listen to the sounds of the waves……shhhh” Charlie said as she put her index finger on Brax’s lips. Brax and Charlie sat in silence as they listened to the sound of the waves. He looked at Charlie and smiled lightly. “I’ve had such a lovely night” Charlie grinned.

“Yeah, you said, eh” Brax said, laughing lightly at Charlie repeating herself.

“Well I really have” Charlie said “Didn’t you?”

“I did” Brax smiled as Charlie shivered. “You cold?” Brax asked and Charlie nodded as she felt the cold night air.

“A little bit” Charlie answered. Brax smiled lightly at Charlie before he wrapped an arm around her and lightly rubbed her arm in an attempt to warm her up. Charlie rested her head against Brax’s chest.

“That better?” Brax asked.

“Mmm” Charlie said “You know, you’re really nice. I like you” Charlie said before she sat back up and turned to face Brax. “Angelo was always coming home from work complaining about you, but I think he was wrong, you’re a nice guy”

“Well thank you” Brax smiled as he listened to what Charlie was saying. Even though he knew she was drunk, and probably shouldn’t take what she said to seriously, part of him wanted to believe that this was sober Charlie’s true feelings. He’d thought Charlie was gorgeous and had always wanted to ask her out, but with her being his business partner’s girlfriend, he stayed clear, even though he really liked her and he felt a spark between them whenever they talked, but now Charlie and Angelo had broken up, he’d hoped something may eventually happen between the two of them.

“You know Angelo left me” Charlie said sadly as she bowed her head down. “He just left me. Just like that” Charlie flung her hands out to the side. “It’s all over”

“Yeah, I know” Brax said as he gently rubbed Charlie’s back in comfort.

“Do you think she’s pretty?” Charlie asked as she looked back up at Brax.

“Nicole?” Brax questioned “She’s a nice looking girl, yeah, but she’s nothing on you” Brax said as he smiled at Charlie.

“Really?” Charlie said and Brax nodded.

“You’re absolutely gorgeous Charlie” Charlie blushed lightly as she looked away from Brax. “And if you want my opinion, I think Angelo is an absolute idiot for walking out on you” Brax said as he put his hand on Charlie’s chin and gently lifted her head up to face him. Charlie smiled lightly at Brax, before he leaned in and kissed her softly. Charlie pulled back for a moment and looked deep into his eyes before she smiled lightly and leaned in to kiss him again.

[Danni02]

Thank you all so much for the lovely comments. I hope you like this next one.

Chapter 6

Charlie walked into house and closed the door quietly, hoping to sneak into her bedroom before being noticed by her daughter. Unfortunately this was not the case, as she turned around to make her way along the hall, she found Ruby standing before her. “Where the hell have you been?” Ruby yelled.

“Sorry” Charlie apologised to her daughter. “I went over to Bianca’s last night and I feel asleep”

“You feel asleep?” Ruby questioned “What kind of excuse is that? Couldn’t you have told me you’d gone out? I’ve been worried sick all night about you. I’ve hardly slept a wink” Ruby yelled.

“I’m sorry” Charlie said feeling like a young girl getting a row for being naughty. “You know you could have given me a call to see where I was”

“Oh yeah because I didn’t think to do that” Ruby spat sarcastically. Charlie exhaled lightly as she looked down to her bag and pulled out her mobile phone. She read the screen to find 16 missed calls, 5 text messages and 3 voicemails awaited her.

“Oh” Charlie said “Sorry, it must be on silent. I never heard it”

“Don’t ever do that to me again” Ruby yelled before a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Hey, Rubes” Charlie said softly as she stepped forward and pulled her daughter into a hug. “It’s okay. I’m alright”

“I know that now” Ruby mumbled “But I didn’t last night. I was so worried about you”

“Hey, Rubes, I’m a big girl, I can look after myself” Charlie said as she lightly ran her hand through her daughters hair. “There’s nothing to be worried about”

“But you’ve just been so sad these past few days and I don’t want you going out doing anything stupid, because you’re…I love you and you’re my only….I know I have Casey but your...your my…. ” Ruby spoke through her tears, unable to complete her sentences.

“Sweetheart” Charlie said as she pulled back from the hug and looked Ruby in the face. “I’m not going anywhere. I would never do anything like that. I couldn’t ever do that to you” Charlie gently wiped the tears from Ruby’s cheeks.

“You promise?” Ruby asked as she stiffed back more tears. Charlie nodded lightly before she pulled her daughter back into a hug.

“I promise” Charlie said as she placed a soft kiss onto Ruby’s forehead.

*****

Angelo sat down next to Nicole on the couch after putting George down for his nap. He took a deep breath, feeling apprehensive about the conversation that he was about to have with Nicole “I think we will need to start thinking about finding our own place here now that we can’t go to Italy”

“What?” Nicole said looking confused “Why can’t we go to Italy?”

“Aw Nic c’mon you can’t be serious?” Angelo said. “We can’t move there now Charlie is pregnant”

“But we have a place there already and you have those restaurant sites to look at. I was so looking forward to going and the fashion there, Angelo it would be amazing to study fashion in Italy”

“I know” Angelo said “But babe, I can’t move now. I’m going to be a Dad; I need to stay here for my baby”

“If you are actually going to be Dad” Nicole mumbled “We still don’t know if she is telling the truth”

“Nic” Angelo sighed “Charlie wouldn’t lie about something like that”

“You thought she might be the other day. What’s changed?” Nicole questioned.

“I just…..” Angelo paused as he lightly rubbed his forehead. “Going round there last night and talking to her….I believe she is telling the truth, Nic”

“What so you believe your ex over me?” Nicole questioned.

“Honestly, in this case yes” Angelo answered tentatively as he wasn’t sure of Nicole’s reaction.

“You still love her don’t you? You still want to be with her. That’s why you don’t want to move to Italy. It’s got nothing to do with this supposed baby” Nicole yelled as she jumped up from the couch in anger and began pacing the room.

“Nic” Angelo said as he too jumped up and walked over to Nicole and took hold of her arm, causing her to stand still in front of him. “I left her for you didn’t I? We had these plans to make a life together and -”

“Yeah these plans which you are now wanting to bail out on” Nic shouted as she pulled her arm away from Angelo’s grasp. “I thought you wanted to get away from here”

“I did Nic, but if she is having my baby then I want to stay here. If she is pregnant then I want to be in this baby’s life. I want to be a Dad”

“What about Georgie? Angelo you are going to be his Dad, and then when he’s older we can have a child of our own. We can be a great family”

“I know that Nic, but if she is pregnant then this will be my child too and I can’t turn my back on it” Angelo said.

“You know what I keep hearing?” Nicole questioned “If, if, if” Nicole shouted “Doesn’t seem to me like you are that sure she is telling the truth”

“Nicole” Angelo sighed.

“Well it doesn’t” Nicole argued.

“Nic” Angelo sighed “I know that Charlie having my baby is going to make things more complicated” Angelo said, choosing to ignore Nicole’s comment about whether he believed Charlie or not. “But, it doesn’t have to change anything between us we -”

“Except it does change our plans to move to Italy” Nicole said sadly.

“Okay, so we can’t move to Italy, but Nic, it shouldn’t matter where we live. As long as we are together, that should be all that matters, no?”

“I don’t know. I had my heart set on moving to Italy” Nicole said.

“Well what do we do then?” Angelo asked.

“I don’t know” Nicole shook her lightly as the sounds of George crying came from the baby monitor.

“Nic” Angelo said as she began to make her way across the room, and left to go up the stairs to see to her son. Angelo exhaled lightly as he sat back down on the couch. He rubbed his brow lightly before resting his head in his hands. He was worried that Nicole was now expecting him to choose a life in Italy with her, or a life in the bay with his child, but without Nicole.

*****

“So, Charlie, you and Brax eh?” Bianca raised her eye brows as she spoke. She and Charlie had met in the Diner to have some lunch, and the first thing Bianca wanted to know was if anything had happened between Charlie and Brax after they’d left the club together.

“What about me and Brax?” Charlie asked as she shook the sugar packet lightly before tearing it open and pouring it into her coffee. Bianca titled her head sideways as she exhaled lightly.

“Well what happened with you two last night?” Bianca asked.

“What happened with you and Heath?” Charlie asked, avoiding Bianca’s questions.

“Don’t change the subject Buckton” Bianca said “We were talking about you and Brax. So, c’mon what happened?”

“Why are you so sure that something did?” Charlie asked trying her best not to show in anyway in that she and Brax had spent the night together. She felt like she’d made a huge mistake in sleeping with Brax. Apart from him being Angelo's business partner, and the small talks that they had when she was in the resturant, she hardly knew the guy, and it had been only just over a week since Angelo had ended their relationship.

“Well let’s see” Bianca said “You were flirting like crazy at the club and then he offers to take you home and now you are avoiding my question…..something happened, I know it” Charlie exhaled lightly as she brought her coffee cup up to her mouth before taking a drink. “Leah” Bianca said as Leah brought their lunch over to the table. “Charlie left the club last night with Darryl Braxton and she’s not going to tell me what happened” Bianca moaned.

“You went out to a club last night?” Leah asked as she looked at Charlie unimpressed to here she’d gone out, probably drinking.

“Oh, I’m sorry” Bianca said as she looked at Leah “It was kind of a last minute thing or we would have asked you along too”

“Oh, no I don’t mind about that” Leah shook her head “Did you drink?” Charlie pursed her lips together, as she felt for the second time that day, like a small child about to get a lecture for doing something she shouldn’t have been. “Charlie” Leah sighed as the look on her friends face was enough of an answer for her. “You know you shouldn’t be….”

“Oh Leah” Bianca said “What’s the harm in her going out for a few drinks? She was laughing and having a good time last night. It was just what she needed after what’s happened. We both needed it”

“Bianca, how could you let her drink?” Leah asked.

“She’s an adult” Bianca argued “If she wants to drink, I’m not going to stop her”

“She shouldn’t be drinking right now” Leah said.

“Why not? She’s….” Bianca started to talk, but was cut off by Charlie.

“Will you two stop talking about me like I am not even here?” Charlie shouted as she stood up from the seat. “Bianca, I slept with Brax last night, okay. There you go, that’s what happened. And Leah, yes, I drank. I drank a lot and right now, I don’t care that I was drinking when I shouldn’t have been” Charlie turned and ran from the Diner, leaving Bianca and Leah looking shocked at Charlie’s outburst.

[Danni02]

Thank you so much RR1, Cally, Barbara, Sabrina, Carina, Pembie, Zetti and soph1303 for the comments. I hope that you like this next one. I'm not so sure about it.

Chapter 7

Bianca found Charlie sitting on the beach, staring out in front to the ocean. “Hey, Charlie” Bianca said softly as she sat down next to her friend. “Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?” Charlie kept staring straight in front of her as she lightly shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know” Charlie shook her head lightly before looking around at Bianca. “I guess because maybe I don’t want to be pregnant” Charlie said hesitantly as a lone tear rolled down her cheek.

“Charlie, what do you mean you don’t want to be pregnant?” Bianca asked.

“Exactly what I say” Charlie answered as she looked down to the ground. “I don’t…..kid’s…..I…... everything is just such a mess” Charlie looked around to Bianca as she tried desperately to hold in her tears. “Angelo and I aren’t even together anymore. This baby is never going to have a proper…..” Charlie stopped talking as a tear rolled down her cheek. “Angelo is trying to set up a new family with Nicole and George…..I just think it would be a whole lot easier if I wasn’t pregnant… Angelo can go to Italy with Nicole and George and have the life they wanted together”

“Yeah, and what about you Charlie?” Bianca asked.

“I could move on easier. Having his child when he no longer wants to be with me….I can’t….” Charlie shook her head as she stopped talking. She took a deep breath as the tears continued to roll down her cheek. “I love him so much, Bianca. I just wish that we were still together and then this baby….the baby would have a proper family, but now…..it’ll be born to parents who are already separated. It’s never going to know….I just want my baby to be loved and have a proper family” Charlie cried.

“Charlie, this baby is still going to have two parents in its life who love it unconditionally. And that’s the most important thing for the child” Bianca said softly and she rubbed Charlie’s back in comfort. “And he is going to be spoiled rotten by his big sister, and his Aunty Bianca and Aunty Leah and Uncle Miles, his Granny Morag…..Charlie, this baby is going to be born to so many people who will love it. It’s going to be one lucky baby” Charlie smiled lightly as she listened to what Bianca was saying. Maybe her friend was right, and as long as her child had both her and Angelo in its life, it didn’t matter whether they were together or not. She gently ran her hand over her stomach as she looked down.

“You know, when I told Angelo about the baby, he didn’t believe me” Charlie said sadly.

“He what?” Bianca said sounding surprised.

“He thought I made it up to get him back” Charlie said and Bianca gasped in disbelief that Angelo could think Charlie would make something like that up. “I know” Charlie said to Bianca’s reaction. “I think it was Nicole who put the idea into his head. I can’t believe that he thought I would lie about being pregnant. I thought I knew him….I thought he knew me….but maybe I just didn’t know him at all. I would never have imagined that he would leave me for my daughter’s best friend, but you know the funny thing is if he came around tonight and said he’d made a mistake and he wanted to be with me and our baby, I would take him back”

“You really think you could forgive him for what he did?” Bianca asked.

Charlie nodded lightly “I love him”

“Love is one thing Charlie, but being strong enough to forgive an affair it’s a whole other”

“Yeah, I guess your right” Charlie sighed lightly “Still doesn’t stop me wanting to be with Angelo though. Although you wouldn’t think I did the way I went on last night” Charlie bowed her head down, embarrassed by her behaviour the previous night.

“I think that was kinda my fault. I did push you into going out and drinking even more when you said you wanted to stop -”

“No, Bianca, I’m not talking about the drinking, although I know I really did a stupid thing there” Charlie said as she shook her head at herself at her stupidity of drinking so much when she was pregnant. “I meant sleeping with Brax” Charlie said as once again a tear rolled down her cheek. “I’m so stupid, I love Angelo so much and want nothing more than to be with him and I go out and sleep with a guy I hardly know” Charlie once again shook her head “It’s what I always do” Charlie cried “I sleep with a guy before I really get to know him” Charlie wiped the tears from her cheeks as Bianca wrapped an arm around her and brought her into a comforting hug.

“Charlie, do you think maybe you do this because of what happed with Grant?” Bianca spoke tentatively as she brought up this subject. It was something Charlie barely spoke about, and she wasn’t sure if she should be bringing it up at all.

Charlie nodded lightly as she pursed her lips together. “I think….sometimes I feel scared that if I don’t give them it straight away then they’ll get forceful” Charlie trailed off as she sat back up, looking back out to the ocean as she began to talk again. “I just feel if I do it right away then I won’t get hurt again but last night, I wish I didn’t….it’s too soon after Angelo”

“Charlie, you’re bound to feel a little scared about it, but remember not all men are scum like Grant and -”

“I know” Charlie interrupted “I thought I’d found the perfect guy” Charlie exhaled lightly “I thought he was the one” Charlie said “Me and Angelo, together forever” Charlie shook her head lightly “I remember my Mum used to say nothing lasts forever and I didn’t believe her, I always thought that I’d find something or someone and prove that something’s did last forever but I guess she was right” Charlie smiled lightly as she looked towards the sky as she thought about her mother for a moment. “Anyways” Charlie sighed “We’ve talked about me enough. It’s time we talked about you and Heath Braxton” Charlie said as she looked back at Bianca.

“What about me and Heath?” Bianca teased.

“Well I spilled the beans on what happened with me and Brax last night, its time you did the same” Charlie said.

“There’s not much to tell in all honestly” Bianca said “We had a few more drinks and then he walked me home. He really was the perfect gentleman”

“Heath, the perfect gentleman?” Charlie questioned.

“Yeah surprised me too” Bianca said and the two ladies laughed. “Now how about we go back up to the Diner and have this lunch?”

“Yeah, sounds good” Charlie smiled. The two ladies rose to their feet and Bianca linked her arm around Charlie’s before giving her other hand a comforting squeeze as they made their way back to the Diner.

*****

Angelo walked back into the house after being out. He put the bag down on the table as Nicole walked into the room, stopping as she saw Angelo. “I didn’t know where you’d gone” Nicole said “When I came back down from seeing to Georgie you weren’t here”

“Yeah” Angelo cleared his throat. “I needed to think about things and just cool off after our argument so I went for a walk and got some food in” Angelo said as he looked down to the bag on the table. Nicole nodded as she saw the bag. “So the little guy alright?” Angelo asked.

“Yeah” Nicole nodded “Just being a Mr Cranky Pants”

“Same as usual then” Angelo laughed lightly and Nicole joined in briefly.

“Eh yeah” Nicole said “Angelo, what are we going to do?” Nicole questioned.

Angelo exhaled lightly as he shrugged his shoulders. “You could maybe stop acting so childish for a start” Angelo said tentatively.

“What?” Nicole questioned “I wasn’t being childish”

“Nic, c’mon you were -”

“No” Nicole said “Angelo, I….I was…I’m jealous” Nicole said before bowing her head now.

“Jealous?” Angelo questioned “Babe, what have you got to be jealous about?” Angelo walked across the room and gently put his hand onto Nicole's chin before pushing her head up to face him.

“I…” Nicole paused as she pursed her lips together. “She’s giving you a baby. I wanted to be the one….you want to be a dad and I wanted to be the mother of your children”

“Nic” Angelo said softly “You can still give me that. We can have children of our own one day”

“But it won’t be the same now you have a child with someone else. You’re first child, they’re…”

“Nic” Angelo interrupted “You know I could say the same about you. You have a child with someone else”

“But he’s dead and I wasn’t in love with Penn like you were with Charlie. You guys…..Angelo I’m scared that she’s going to have this baby and then you’ll realise that you want to be with her and your baby and then me and Georgie…..you’ll leave us and…” Nicole started to stutter as she became teary eyed.

“Babe that’s not going to happen” Angelo shook his head lightly. “I love you and Georgie so much, we’re a family and of course I’m going to want to be in this baby’s life and be the best father I can to it, but you and George will be just as much my family” Nicole smiled lightly at Angelo words. “I’ve been in that little guys life since he was born Nic, I love him and I think of him as my own son. Nothing’s going to change that no matter what”

“Yeah?” Nicole questioned and Angelo nodded.

“Yeah” Angelo said “But you do understand that Italy….it’s just not an option for us anymore”

Nicole nodded lightly as disappointment washed over her face. “Yeah” Nicole said sadly. “But can we at least think about moving out of the bay? Maybe the city or something? We’d still move away and get that clean break we wanted but we’d still be close enough for you to see your child”

Angelo exhaled lightly as he thought about Nicole’s proposal. He did want to move away from the bay, and the only thing that would keep him there would be his child. He no longer had a business and Nicole didn’t have any reason to stick around in the bay either. “I guess that could be an option, but we’d really need to talk more about that” Angelo said and Nicole smiled lightly before she wrapped her arms around Angelo, giving him a hug.

“Thank you” Nicole said as Angelo wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug. Angelo smiled lightly as he placed a soft kiss on Nicole’s head.

[Danni02]

Thank you all so much for the lovely comments! They really keep me going. I hope you like this next one.

Chapter 8

Charlie sat in the hospital waiting for Sid to call her in for her appointment. As she waited she thought about her talk with Bianca, and any doubts that she had about having the baby had left her. She felt more positive about having a baby when she was single, and she knew that once Angelo had the proof that he wanted to show she was indeed pregnant, that he would be a great father and always be there for his baby. As she sat waiting, she ran her hand gently across her stomach and a smile came to her for the first time since she found out she was pregnant. Thoughts of the previous night went running through her head and she shook her head at herself, once again feeling ashamed at herself for drinking as much and for what happened with Brax. “Charlie” Sid said as he appeared before her. “I’m ready for you now if you’d like to come through” Charlie smiled lightly at Sid before she stood up and followed him along the corridor and into the room. “So how are you?” Sid asked as Charlie lay down on the bed.

“I’m okay” Charlie smiled lightly “I’ve had a little bit of sickness but nothing that bad yet”

“Well it’ll still be early days” Sid smiled “Was it bad when you were pregnant with Ruby?” Sid asked as he prepared to give Charlie her ultrasound.

Charlie shook her head lightly “No, I hardly had any”

“Well let’s hope you’re as lucky time” Sid said and Charlie nodded lightly in agreement. “Now, let’s see if we can see this baby” Sid smiled before he looked at the screen. “Okay, so I would say that you were 5 weeks and that would be your baby” Sid said as he pointed to the screen. Charlie smiled lightly before a lone tear rolled down her cheek. Sid smiled mistaking her tear for that of happiness.

“Sid, I drank” Charlie cried “I drank a lot last night and I’m not proud of what I did and I wish I could go back and change things but I can’t and I know….” Charlie trailed of as she looked away from Sid before taking a deep breath, preparing herself for the question that she was about to ask “I’ve not harmed the baby in anyway have I?” Charlie asked as she looked back at Sid with a worried expression upon her face.

“Well” Sid said hesitantly “I’m not going to lie to you Charlie. There is a possibility that you could have, but right now I won’t be able to tell you anything. We will just have to wait and see how the foetus develops and if there has been any complications due to the fact you’ve drank” Charlie bit her lip as she listened to Sid. “But Charlie, I ask you now to not drink another drop of alcohol during the remainder of your pregnancy”

“I won’t” Charlie said as the guilt of how much alcohol she had already consumed ate away at her. The voice at the back of her head telling her that something was going to go wrong with her baby as a result of her stupidity. “I just needed an escape after everything that’s happened lately”

“That’s all very well but going out drinking while you are pregnant is never okay no matter under what circumstance” Sid spoke sternly towards Charlie who nodded understandingly. “Now I will get you a copy of that scan printed off” Sid said as he hit some buttons on the machine.

“Would it be possible to get two?” Charlie questioned “Just, I think Angelo would like to have one” Charlie said as she thought about the proof that he had demanded when Charlie told him that she was pregnant with his child. Sid nodded before he printed Charlie off a second copy of the scan for her to give to Angelo.

“Okay, so I will put you in for another appointment for when you are 12 weeks” Sid said as he watched Charlie sit back up and stand up from the bed.

“Sure” Charlie answered as she put the scans into her bag.

“And congratulations” Sid said and Charlie smiled lightly before she left the room.

*****

April handed Ruby the glass of juice before she took a seat opposite her at the table. They were studying together for their last HSC trail exam, although Ruby was finding it hard to concentrate as her thoughts kept going onto her mother and their current situation. “Ahh I hate maths so much” Ruby threw her pen down in frustration as she was struggling with the past paper questions that she was looking at. “I just can’t do it” Ruby sounded annoyed as she spoke.

“Why don’t we take a break” April suggested as she looked up at her friend “You’re never going to take anything in when you are in that mood” Ruby exhaled lightly before she took of a drink of her juice.

“Sure” Ruby said as she sat back in the chair in and ran her hands though her hair “I just can’t wait for these to be over”

“Me either” April agreed “But then come the end of the year we will have the actual exams to do”

“I’m not even thinking about them right now” Ruby sighed “I can hardly concentrate on these as is it”

April gave Ruby a sympathetic smile knowing full well what she was talking about. “You know if you ever wanted to talk about anything, you could” Ruby gave April a thankful smile before she began to talk.

“Mum’s just….she’s just so hurt and it make it worse that they are living here in such a small town where we are going to bump into them all the time. I know they won’t be doing it on purpose but it’s like they are throwing their happiness in Mum’s face. And now she’s found out she’s pregnant it’s just making everything harder for her”

“Charlie’s pregnant?” April said sounding shocked and Ruby nodded.

“Yeah, just complicates things so much more, doesn’t it” Ruby said and April nodded. “I just want her to be able to come to terms with what’s happened and then me, her and the baby can be a little family. But she loves him so much and wants him in her life. I don’t know what I can say to help her and make her realise that she’s better off without someone like him. You know, Nic and Angelo deserve each other after what they’ve done”

“You know” April said hesitantly “I don’t think it was Angelo's or Nicole’s intentions to hurt Charlie”

“What?” Ruby questioned.

“Well from someone who's sort of just been in that situation. I just….I don’t think they intended on hurting Charlie. When Dex and I got together the last thing we wanted to do was to hurt Xavier but we just liked each other so much that -”

“What so you are saying that what they did was okay because they really liked each other?” Ruby questioned.

“No, Ruby, I -”

“I can’t believe you are sticking up from them in this” Ruby shouted as she stood up from the table began to pick up her belongings and put them into her bag.

“Rubes, I -”

“Just leave it, April” Ruby shouted before she stormed out of the house slamming the door on her way out. April sighed lightly deciding not to go after her friend. Ruby needed to cool down before April went to talk to her, she knew she just wouldn’t listen to her right now. She sighed lightly once more before picking up her pen and getting back to studying for her HSC.

*****

Charlie was walking along the beach when she saw him coming out of the water with his surf board under his arm. “Hey, Charlie” Brax smiled as he put his board down in the sand “Got quite a surprise this morning when I woke up to find you gone”

“Yeah sorry” Charlie said “I didn’t want to wake you”

Brax laughed lightly as he shook his head. “Yeah, see I thought you were being rude” Brax said and Charlie stood there unable to give him a response. “Well maybe you could make it up to me by joining me for dinner tonight?”

“I eh….sorry, I can’t” Charlie said quietly.

“No? Shame eh, would have been nice to go out with you again” Brax said as he looked Charlie up and down. Charlie gave Brax an awkward smile.

“Well sorry” Charlie said “But I….I can’t” Charlie said.

“Yeah you said” Brax said sounding disappointed. “Maybe some other time?”

“Eh yeah maybe” Charlie said hesitantly and Brax smiled. “Sorry, I’ve got somewhere I need to be” Charlie said before she walked away quickly from Brax and headed in the direction of Summer Bay House. She took a deep breath before she knocked on the door to find Nicole standing at the other side as it opened. As the two women stood face to face unresolved tension and awkwardness was very much present between them.

“Charlie, I….” Nicole began to speak, but Charlie cut her off.

“Is Angelo in?” Charlie asked.

“Eh yeah” Nicole said “Come in” Nicole gestured for Charlie to come into the house. Charlie exhaled lightly as she walked passed Nicole and into the house to find Angelo sitting on the couch with baby George in his arms, giving him a bottle. As Charlie watched this scene she felt like she was being punched in the stomach. Here Angelo was holding his lovers baby in his arms, looking down at him with such love in his eyes, when he was questioning the existence of his own child.

“You, eh, asked for proof” Charlie said as she fished into her bag to pick out Angelo copy of the scan. “Here it is” Charlie said as she banged the scan picture down on the table. “I’m five weeks” Charlie informed Angelo. “Next scan is in 7 weeks time if you’re interested in being there with me” As Charlie spoke Angelo stood up from the couch and walked over to the table and looked down at scan picture.

“Eh yeah” Angelo nodded “I’d love to be there”

“Right well I guess I will see you around” Charlie said before she turned and walked out of the door quickly just as the tears she didn’t want Angelo and Nicole to see fell down her cheek. She wiped them away as she walked away from the house.

“Charlie” Nicole shouted as she chased after her. Charlie sighed lightly as she kept on walking. She didn’t really want to talk to Nicole. “Charlie please” Nicole said as she caught up with her. She reached her arm out and took hold of Charlie’s arm stopping her from walking. Charlie looked down at Nicole as the tears continued to roll down her cheeks. Can we talk, please?” Charlie exhaled lightly as she bit her lip. She nodded as yet another tear fell from her eye.

[Danni02]

Thank you all so much for the comments! And I am sooo sorry about the wait for this update. Hopefully it will be worth the wait.

Chapter 9

Nicole and Charlie had walked all the way through the caravan park in silence before they ended up sitting down on a bench that was close to the beach. Charlie was looking out straight ahead to the ocean and Nicole was sitting sideways looking at Charlie, but still not being able to find the words that she wanted to say to her. She took a deep breath as she played with her ring in her hand. “Are you going to talk or not because I have better things to do than to sit here in this awkward silence with you” Charlie said as she looked down at Nicole.

“I….ehm….” Nicole took another deep breath. “I’m sorry for what I did to you” Nicole said as she looked up at Charlie. As Charlie saw the genuine look in Nicole’s eyes she knew that Nicole was at least being honest and she could see she actually did feel bad about what she’d done. “You didn’t deserve this, Charlie, but Angelo and I, we -”

“I’d rather not know” Charlie said quietly as she shook her head “Knowing that you two got together in my house…probably in my bed” Charlie paused for a moment as she pushed back the tears that wanted to fall “It’s enough. I don’t want to know any details of it. I’m hurting enough with the little I already do know”

“Right” Nicole nodded understandingly. “Well for what it’s worth I really am sorry. You were so good to me when I found out I was pregnant and when you let me move in with you…..you helped me with Georgie when he was first born….” Nicole trailed off as she looked away from Charlie. “You’re the reason that I still have Georgie, and I am always going to be so thankful for that. The way you made me see that I could love him no matter what his father had done -”

“And this is the payback I get for being nice and inviting you into my home” Charlie said coldly “You take away my boyfriend and ruin my family to make one of your own”

“I’m sorry” Nicole said once more “I didn’t move in to your home intending on taking Angelo from you. It just happened between us, Charlie, and you know it takes two to have an affair; Angelo is just as much to blame for this as me, if not more. He’s the one who had a girlfriend and -”

“And you’re the one who went after someone with a girlfriend” Charlie spat “Nicole you can try and justify what you’ve done, but if you are talking to me here today to get my forgiveness, then I am sorry but you are never going to get that. My baby now has to grow up with parents who aren’t together because of you. We’ll get along, Nicole, but only because we have to for the sake of the babies. It won’t be fair on my child or George having to grow up with their parents not getting along. So for their sake, we can be civil with each other, but Nic, I’m afraid that’s the best that you’ll ever get”

“And what about Angelo?” Nicole questioned “You seem to be directing all your angry and all the blame on me”

“Oh believe me Nic, I am angry at Angelo too” Charlie explained “But you’re the other woman so you have to expect this kind of reaction at everything coming out”

Nicole sighed lightly before she nodded her head, accepting Charlie’s reasoning. “You know Charlie, you’re not the only one who’s lost something here. I’ve lost my best friend just because I fell for someone. It’s not my fault that he happened to be the father figure in her life. Ruby hates me now and I -”

“Well can you blame her?” Charlie asked “You knew how she felt about us being a family and you sleep with who she was starting to see more and more as her father. Her best friend and her father betrayed her. I don’t blame her for being mad with you Nicole”

“I really miss her” Nicole said “We used to have so much fun but now she won’t even talk to me”

“Can you really blame her?” Charlie asked and Nicole shook her head as a wave of disappointment fell over her face.

“No, I guess not” Nicole said sadly “But could you maybe talk to her for me?”

“And say what?” Charlie questioned “I demand that you be friends again with the tramp who ruined our family? Nicole if Ruby doesn’t want to talk to you anymore then I’m not going to make her”

“Right” Nicole nodded understandingly before silence once again hit the pair. “Well thanks for deciding to be civil with me, I guess” Nicole said before she stood up from the beach. “I better get back home to Georgie” Nicole walked away leaving Charlie sitting on the bench. Charlie sighed lightly as she ran her hands through her hair.

“Everything alright there?” Charlie turned her head as she heard the voice coming from behind her.

“Great” Charlie replied as he sat down on the bench next to her.

“Hmm” Brax said “Looked like it could have been a bit awkward eh, you and your ex’s mistress”

Charlie shook her head lightly as she looked up at Brax “What do you want, Brax?”

“Just being friendly” Brax smiled “And wondered if you been to the place you said you needed be yet?”

“Eh yeah I have, but I still can’t do dinner tonight if that’s what you are going to ask” Charlie said.

“Oh” Brax said “How about a coffee right now then?” Brax asked “Surely you can give me 10 minutes of you time for that”

“Why do you want to have a coffee with me?” Charlie questioned as she tucked her hair behind her ear as it blew in front of her face in the gently wind.

“Isn’t that obvious?” Brax laughed

Charlie gave Brax a nervous smile before she bit her lip. “I’m sorry but I…” Charlie trailed off as she shook her head.

“Okay. No worries” Brax interrupted as he stood up from the bench. “You’re not interested” As Brax walked away from Charlie a wave of disappointed washed over him. He really liked her and was really happy that they’d spent the night before together, and thought that there was a chance of a relationship with Charlie, but after the way she’d been with him all that day, he realised that for Charlie this was probably just a one-time thing, trying to get some comfort following the break-up of her relationship with Angelo. Charlie sighed lightly as she watched Brax walking away from her. She placed her hand gently onto her stomach and rubbed it gently. Although she really did like Brax, she felt it was way too soon to be thinking about dating someone else after Angelo, and the fact she was pregnant was making her even more hesitant to think about entering a new relationship. She sighed once more as she stood up from the bench and began the walk back to her house.

*****

Angelo knocked on the door of the house that he used to call home with apprehension as he still felt incredibly guilty every time he saw or spoke to Charlie. “Angelo” Charlie said as she opened the door to him. “What can I do for you?”

“Eh, I came to return this to you” Angelo said as he held out the scan picture. “I thought that you’d like to be the one to keep it”

“Oh no” Charlie shook her head “That was your copy. You demanded proof so I got that for you”

“Oh” Angelo smiled lightly before he looked down at the scan. “Look, I’m sorry for not believing you Charlie. I should have known that you wouldn’t have been lying about this. It was just -”

“It doesn’t matter” Charlie said as she shook her head. “I’m over it” Charlie spoke coldly as she looked at her ex. If she was being honest she was still angry that Angelo would think she could make something like that up but what was important now was that they put everything that had happened in the past and made sure that they could still have a relationship as friends for the sake of their child.

“Well thanks” Angelo smiled “And ehm…can you show me the baby because…I don’t…well I don’t see it” Angelo said as he once again looked at the scan feeling confused. Charlie took a few steps forward and took the scan picture from Angelo as she looked down at it.

“You see that there” Charlie said as she pointed to an area of the scan. Angelo nodded lightly. “Well that’s our baby”

“That’s it?” Angelo questioned as he looked up at Charlie and Charlie nodded. “That’s not what I thought I’d see” Angelo exhaled before laughing lightly at himself.

“Well I am only 5 weeks, Angelo, so bear in mind that the baby is probably only the size of a grain of rice right now”

“Really?” Angelo asked as he gave Charlie a questioning look.

“Yea” Charlie nodded as she gave the scan back to Angelo. He smiled lightly as he placed it back into his pocket before looking back to Charlie. The two of them stood in silence, just staring at each other. “So I just put the kettle on before you knocked, so ehm if you want a coffee…” Charlie trailed off as she looked towards the kitchen.

“Ehm….yeah” Angelo scratched the side of his head “A coffee would be nice, thanks” Charlie smiled lightly before she walked over to the kitchen with Angelo following. “So, eh Nicole said that you two sorted things out” Angelo took a seat at the kitchen table as he watched Charlie making the coffees.

“I wouldn’t say that exactly” Charlie mumbled “But yeah we spoke and I’m not….well I’ll be civil” Charlie said as she poured the milk into the mug and gave it a little stir before walking over to Angelo and handing him his coffee.

“Thanks” Angelo said as she sat down next to him “And thanks for agreeing to be civil with Nicole. She really appreciates -”

“I don’t really care” Charlie said “What’s important to me is our child and I don’t want it growing up with a Mum and Dad who can’t get on. Or having it’s Mother and I guess possible Step-Mother at each other’s throats all the time. So I’m not doing this for Nicole or even you, Angelo. It’s just for the baby’s sake and so I can make peace with this situation and move on and get my life back on track” Angelo nodded lightly as he listened to Charlie’s explanation.

“Well still thanks all the same” Angelo said “It still makes things easier on us”

Charlie smiled awkwardly “Anyways, I guess now you will be looking into buying your restaurant back?” Charlie questioned.

“No” Angelo shook his head “There’s not much point of me having a restaurant here if I am not going to be living here is there?”

“What?” Charlie questioned “You’re still moving to Italy? Angelo your baby is going to be here, you can’t -”

“I’m not going to Italy anymore” Angelo said as he shook his head. “But Nic and I still want a fresh start so we are looking into moving to the city” Angelo said tentatively.

“The city?” Charlie questioned “Angelo that’s still a few hours away. How can you want to be so far away from your child?”

“It’s what Nic -”

“Oh it’s what Nicole wants” Charlie spat “God she must have you wrapped around her little finger”

“Charlie, it’s not like that” Angelo shook his head as he tried to explain but Charlie spoke over him once more.

“Well what is it, Angelo?” Charlie questioned “I don’t see you as the type of guy who would want to move hours away from his child. She must be the one who came up with this plan”

“Charlie I want to move too. I have nothing left here”

“What about your child” Charlie yelled.

“I will always want to be in this baby’s life and I still can be. I’ll only be moving a few hours away, Charlie. I’m going to be the best Dad that this kid can have”

“You say that now” Charlie shook her head lightly “But you’ll be in the city and you’ll have work and Nicole and George….when will you find time?”

“I’ll make time, Charlie” Angelo said “I promise you that. I’m going to be there for my baby no matter what”

“Okay” Charlie smiled in slight disbelief. “We’ll ehm like I said I have another scan in 7 weeks time, so you’ll be there, right?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it for anything” Angelo smiled as the door opened and a teary eyed Ruby walked into the house.

“What’s he doing here?” Ruby asked as she coldly looked at Angelo.

“He was just here to talk about the baby” Charlie said.

“Oh” Ruby said as she gave Angelo a look of disgust.

“I’m, ehm, going to go” Angelo said “But ehm thanks for the coffee and we can talk again soon about the baby” Angelo said.

“Yeah” Charlie nodded lightly as she followed Angelo to the door, and closed it behind him, before turning back around to look at her daughter. “Rubes, you okay?” Charlie questioned and Ruby shook head lightly before falling into her mother’s arms. “Hey, sweetie” Charlie said softly as she gave her daughter a hug. “Let’s go over to the couch and sit down and have a talk, yeah?” Charlie questioned and Ruby nodded her head lightly before they made their way over to the couch.

[Danni02]

Thank you all so much for the comments Again, I am so sorry about the length of time it's taken me to update this, hopefully I will get them to you quicker from now on! Anyways, I hope you like this one.

Chapter 10

Charlie and Ruby took a seat on the couch, Charlie wrapping her arm around her upset daughter, and Ruby resting her head against her mother’s shoulder. Charlie placed a soft kiss on top of Ruby’s head as she ran her hand through Ruby’s hair. “What’s wrong Rubes?” Charlie asked softly.

“Everything” Ruby mumbled. . “Just everything” Ruby said “April….she stuck up for Nicole and Angelo. I feel like I’m losing all my friends over this. Loosing Nic was bad enough but now April…”

“Rubes” Charlie said as she interrupted her daughter. “You shouldn’t be getting caught up in all of this. I -”

“I want to help you” Ruby spoke over Charlie “I was asking April for advice and she pretty much said that you can’t help who you fall in love in and that it wasn’t their fault that they hurt you”

“Rubes” Charlie said softly “I’m sure April was just trying to let you see things from their point of view”

“I don’t want to see if from their point of view” Ruby raised her voice as she spoke. “Charlie how can you sit there and be so calm about this whole thing?”

“Because we have to move on, Rubes” Charlie said “We need to accept that our family has changed. From now on it’s me and you”

“But it’s not just going to be me and you though is it” Ruby questioned “You’re having his child. They are always going to have to be in our lives now because of that” Ruby said as she pointed to Charlie’s stomach. Charlie pursed her lips together before exhaling lightly.

“Rubes, do you have a problem with me being pregnant?” Charlie asked tentatively.

“Yes…..no…..maybe” Ruby said as she looked away from her mother. “It’s not so much the baby” Ruby said “It’s just Nic and Angelo. They hurt us so much and I don’t want them in our lives anymore”

“I know” Charlie said “Rubes, I know it would be easier if I wasn’t pregnant and Angelo and Nicole were able to move to Italy like they’d planned and….”

“Italy?” Ruby questioned “They were moving to Italy?”

Charlie nodded lightly as she bit her lip. “Yeah, but then I told him I was pregnant so they’re not going anymore”

“Why can’t they?” Ruby questioned “Me and you will be fine raising this baby. Angelo doesn’t…”

“Rubes” Charlie shook her head lightly “C’mon you know that no matter Angelo did, he deserves to be a part of his child’s life and this baby deserves to have its father” Ruby nodded lightly as she listened to what Charlie was saying.

“I guess” Ruby sighed “But how can you be so forgiving of what they did? I still hate them but you, you seem -”

“Rubes” Charlie shook her head lightly “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive them for what’s happened but there’s no point in dwelling on it. I need to move of for my own sake as well as this baby” Charlie said as she lightly patted her stomach. “Yeah I wish things were different and Angelo and I were still together and we could raise this baby as a family but it’s not going to happen no matter how much I want that. He’s with Nicole now and, sweetie, we just need to accept that and get on with our lives” Charlie said as she lightly rubbed her daughters arm in comfort. “You know, they’re not worth this”

Ruby nodded lightly as she gave Charlie a weak smile. “Yeah, they’re not worth getting this upset over. It’s their loss”

“Exactly” Charlie said as she pulled her daughter into a hug and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head.

*****

Nicole and Angelo were sitting at the table, looking through the options of available places to rent in the city. “What about this one?” Angelo questioned “2 bedroomed, third floor apartment, 10 minute walk to the city centre, has a decent sized living room and -”

“No lifts in the building” Nicole said sharply cutting Angelo off.

“And that’s a problem?” Angelo asked.

“Well if I am on my own with Georgie in his pram and some shopping bags how am I going to get everything up the stairs easily? Nicole spat “Not to mention Charlie’s baby will be staying sometimes so that’s another thing right there”

“Right” Angelo sighed “We’ll rule that one out too” Angelo said as he placed the print off onto the pile of many other places that Nicole had ruled out of living in. “Okay, so this next one, a semi-detached house in the suburbs of Burnwood Heights. It has -”

“Burnwood Heights?” Nicole questioned “What you mean that place with no shops, restaurants or anything bar houses? I’m not living there” Nicole said.

Angelo sighed, beginning to feel frustrated at Nicole, for she was shooting down every available place. “Okay, this one in Croydon Park looks great. It has a big garden for Georgie” Angelo said trying to get Nicole to be the slightest bit interested in one of the properties. “4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, with one of them being en-suite, a large -”

“Price tag” Nicole interrupted as she looked down to the sheet of paper. “Angelo we can’t afford that”

“Yes we can” Angelo said “Nic I’ve only printed off the ones in our price range” Angelo said and Nicole gave him a questioning look, not believing they could afford this place. “Okay, so with this one things would be a little tight for a while, but Nic, it’s a lovely house”

“It’s nothing on the place we had in Italy” Nicole mumbled.

“Nic, will you stop” Angelo raised his voice “We can’t go to Italy anymore”

“Why not?” Nicole questioned.

“Nic, you know why” Angelo said “Charlie is having my baby and I want to be in its life”

“But you were so excited about moving to Italy before you knew about the baby”

“Yeah, exactly, before I knew about the baby I would have loved to have gone but Nic, I’m going to be a father and I want to be here for my baby”

“But what about all the money we spent on our flights and visa’s and the deposit for the apartment and -”

“We got some of the flight money back” Angelo said “Nic, we’ve talked about this, and I thought you understood that Italy was no longer an option for us”

“I did, but, Angelo I really want to move to Italy” Nicole said “Can’t you see this from my point of view for once?”

“Your point of view?” Angelo questioned “And what’s that? One where you are acting like an immature teenager?”

“I am a teenager” Nicole yelled.

“Yeah, I know, you’ve made that pretty clear to me with the way you are handling this” Angelo yelled before he stood up from the table and stormed out of the house slamming the door behind him.

*****

Charlie answered the door to find Casey standing at the other side “Casey hey, come in, Ruby’s just in her room” Charlie smiled as Casey entered the house.

“What so you’re actually going to let me go into her bedroom?” Casey laughed.

“No, but if you wait right there I will go get her for you” Charlie replied.

“Actually, Miss Buckton, I wondered if I could talk to you for a bit?” Casey questioned. Charlie gave Casey a questioning look before she nodded lightly. They walked over to the couch and took a seat, and Casey took a deep breath before he started to talk.

“I’m worried about Ruby” Casey said “I think you’re whole break up with Angelo has really seemed to affect her badly”

“Yeah, I know” Charlie said “It has, but, we’ve had a good talk today so hopefully she’ll start to be herself again”

“I hope so too” Casey said “She’s been so distant and quiet lately. Apart from the other day when she came around for a little talk, but then she only talked about certain things, like when her father comes up in discussion, she always changes the subject and refuses to talk about it”

“Well her father wasn’t very….” Charlie trailed off, not wanting to talk about Ruby’s parentage to a 17-year-old. “I think, part of the reason that Ruby has taken this break up so hard is because Angelo was the one boyfriend who I’ve had who she has started to see as a father figure. They became pretty close and I just think she is so hurt that some who she trusted and accepted as a part of her family could do that to her”

“Right” Casey nodded “But you’re the one who he has really hurt and I just don’t understand why Ruby so upset”

“Okay, so what if you’re Mum had a boyfriend who left her for someone else who you also knew, so like your brothers mate or ex-girlfriend, for example, wouldn’t you feel hurt and upset?”

“Well, Yeah I guess I would” Casey replied “But it would be my Mum who was most upset, but Ruby, sometimes it’s like she was the one who’s boyfriend has cheated on her. Which I haven’t and I wouldn’t ever” Casey said feeling the need to justify his comment.

“I don’t think you would, Casey” Charlie said “I can see you clearly care very much about Ruby”

“I do, Miss Buckton” Casey said “That’s why I just want to help her and make her feel good again”

“Well, look, the holidays are coming up soon, so why don’t you do something nice with Rubes” Charlie suggested “Maybe take her out for the day or do something that would be special to the both of you”

“I’d love to do something special for her. She deserves that” Casey said “But I don’t have any money to make that possible”

“You know you don’t need a lot of money to do something nice. It’s the thought that counts” Charlie said as she reached forward for her purse that was sitting on the coffee table. “But, having said that, Rubes could do with some cheering up, so, here take this” Charlie said as she handed Casey $200.

“Wow” Casey said “Are you sure, that’s an awful lot” Casey’s eyes widened as he looked down at the money that was now in his hands.

“Like you said, Rubes deserves something special” Charlie smiled.

“Well thank you so much Miss Buckton” Casey smiled as he stood up from the couch. “I’ll go talk to Ruby now” Casey took a few steps away from the couch before Charlie stood up and stopped him.

“I’ll just go get her for you” Charlie said and Casey laughed lightly. Charlie didn’t mind Casey coming around to the house, but she wasn’t so keen on the idea of the two of them being in Ruby’s bedroom.

“Thanks” Casey said “And thanks again for this, Miss Buckton” Casey put the money in his wallet as he spoke.

“You’re welcome” Charlie smiled “Oh, and call me Charlie” Charlie said before she disappeared down the hall to fetch Ruby from her bedroom.