Selling the Drama (32 page)

"Because I think this house is a highly
valuable piece of property and if I marry you I own it by default."
He grinned at her, giving her fingers a squeeze.

Charlotte pulled a face at him. "Who's
making jokes now?"

"Why do you think? Seriously, mother to my
four children, only woman I have ever loved and ever will." Tugging
on her hand, he pulled her back on top of him, cupping her face
once she was in place. "I love you. I want to finish this chapter.
Even if it is running back to front." Kissing her then, she melted
down into him, returning his longing with increasing ardour.

"Well," she began as they broke apart, "I
suppose you are having a vasectomy for me. It's a grand gesture.
Perhaps it's not too out of the way for me to make a grand gesture
as well."

Toby's eyes lit up with hope, a smile
dancing around his lips. Charlotte smiled back at him, resting her
forehead against his. "But it will be grand, make no mistake. I'm
probably going to go overboard. You may regret even bringing it
up."

"No, I will never regret that. Go your
hardest."

"You know I will," she teased.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

"This is a very big night for decisions,
isn't it? What else can we sort out?" Charlotte pretended to
consider, as Toby caught her earlobe between his teeth.

"You can sort out a new place for Danielle
to sleep," he growled into her ear.

Charlotte laughed, deep and throaty this
time as he dipped his hand underneath the waistband of her
shorts.

"I'll have to buy you a ring now."

"Like you haven't already got one,"
Charlotte scoffed at him.

Toby looked down at her with surprise. "I
actually don't."

"What?"

"I don't have a ring for you. Why would I
have a ring? You keep saying no; you've been saying no for
years."

"Why haven't you got one from the first time
you asked me? Are you telling me you've never been prepared for me
to say yes?" Charlotte narrowed her eyes, wriggling her body out
from under him.

"I took the original one back. You said no.
I didn't need it."

Charlotte sat then, sliding fully away from
him so she could stand up. Hands on her hips, she frowned. "That is
such a rip off! I can't believe you haven't got a ring!"

"You seem to care a lot about this for
someone who has said no for years."

"Well, this time I said yes!"

"Because you thought you were going to get a
ring?"

"Yes! A huge one! I have everything else."
She turned on her heel, heading to the bathroom. "You are
officially in the dog house," she called over her shoulder,
ignoring the sound of his laughter coming from behind her. She
turned the shower on and stripped the rest of her clothes off,
stepping in under the hot water gratefully. Pouring shampoo out
onto her hand, she lathered up her hair, closing her eyes as she
rinsed it off, the soap running down the length of her body. Her
eyes were still closed when she heard the shower door open, felt
the cool air wash over her before Toby stepped in and closed it
again.

"This is not the doghouse." She ran her hand
over her face to clear it of water. He lined his body up against
the back of hers, his hand coming around the front before her face,
a ring pinched between his thumb and forefinger.

"You are so easy to get. As if I don't have
a ring. A grossly expensive ring with a huge diamond on hand for
the one time you were bound to say yes." He pressed a kiss to the
side of her neck.

Charlotte looked at the ring. It did indeed
have a huge diamond, a very beautiful square cut one set in white
gold with smaller diamonds encrusted around the band. She smiled
softly as she plucked it out of his hand, slipping it straight onto
her ring finger. Pivoting within his embrace, she wrapped her arms
around him, her body sliding against his in all the right places.
"For this, you get an extra special treat."

"Yes, I do."

"Egotist."

"Realist." He pushed her firmly back against
the shower wall. "I am not stopping for anything or anyone. They
can all just get in line shrieking at the top of their lungs for
all I care."

Charlotte closed her eyes as his lips fell
against hers, totally on board with that plan.

Charlotte flipped through the magazine, a
frown creasing her forehead as she took a sip of tea from the mug
she had held up in her hand. "There's nothing here I like."

"What do you have in mind?" Iris sipped from
her own mug as she peered at the pages of Charlotte's magazine
upside down. "There are some stunning dresses in there."

Shrugging, she closed the magazine and
pushed it towards her mother. "I don't know. There's heaps of time
anyway. No rush." Turning in her seat, she glanced at Toby who had
just walked into the kitchen, keys jangling from his hand. "Hey.
What do you think I should wear for our wedding?"

"Charlotte!" Iris interrupted. "You can't
ask him! He's not supposed to be involved with choosing your
dress!"

Charlotte rolled her eyes at her mother
before returning her gaze back to Toby. "Well, any ideas?"

He smirked at her. "I'm not fussy. Lots of
cleavage and a big split up the side?"

Charlotte snickered but Iris was having none
of it from the pair of them. "That's exactly why you don't get a
say." She pointed at Toby, but despite her tone, she was smiling.
"Where are you headed off to?" Iris nodded at the keys in his
hand.

"Bunnings."

Charlotte turned to face him again. "What
are you going there for? You hate Bunnings."

Toby shook his head at her. "I don't hate
Bunnings. I just hate going there and not being able to find what I
want in less than two hours. Ash!" He leaned his head towards the
kitchen doorway. Ashley appeared within seconds, all dressed for
going to the shops; he even had his hair combed. "Tell Mummy and
Granny why we're going to Bunnings, mate."

Ashley grinned, his excitement evident.
"We're getting stuff to build a proper cubby!"

Charlotte burst out laughing, making no
effort to hide her mirth. "You're building a cubby? That the
children will be expected to use? Thank goodness those things don't
need to be inspected for safety."

Toby smirked, flipping her his middle finger
over the top of Ashley's head. "Yeah, you'll see. Won't she, Ash?
We are all over this. Don't you worry."

Charlotte continued to laugh. "I'm not
worried. I think it's hilarious. So, do you even know what you're
buying?"

"Yes! I've checked out the shed and there
are heaps of tools left over from your dad in there, so I just need
the building materials. And some nails. For some reason," he shot a
look over at Iris then, "the nails are all mixed up with the screws
and I'm not sitting there picking them out as I go."

Iris looked away, suppressing a smile behind
her mug.

"I'll ask again," Charlotte interjected, "do
you even know what you're buying? Building materials is a pretty
broad category."

"There's a kit, Mummy. A sheet that tells
you everything to buy and what to do to make it. Like a puzzle."
Ashley took a hold of his father's hand, male solidarity in
action.

Charlotte smothered her laughter this time,
trying hard to be respectful for Ashley. "Well, then that makes me
feel better, because your daddy has not had a lot of practice
building things and I would hate to think he might get the wrong
stuff. He doesn't have Uncle Chad up here right now to show him
what to do."

Toby shook his head at her. "Your
consideration of me never ends," he noted sarcastically.

"So, you'll be gone for ages then?" she
asked, flippant.

Toby rolled his eyes at her.

"He might be gone for the entire weekend,"
Iris put in, her own laughter matching Charlotte's renewed
giggles.

"Can you take Bree?" Charlotte asked.

"No." Toby's reply was swift and
definite.

Ashley looked up at his father for a few
moments before resettling his gaze back onto his mother. "We could
take her," he offered.

Toby glanced down at Ashley with surprise.
"You don't mind if Bree comes?"

Ashley shrugged, looking back up at Toby.
"She can push the trolley and if she gets annoying we can stick her
in the craft club section."

Toby raised his eyebrows at Charlotte as he
ruffled Ashley's hair. Charlotte met his gaze with a knowing look
and a smile. "Good idea, matey. Alright," he leaned towards the
door again, hollering out, "Bree!"

She appeared through the other doorway,
coming in from the hall dressed in a long blue Cinderella costume
dress, with ugg boots on her feet and a beanie sitting atop her
head. "Yes, Daddy?" She smiled at him, all sweet as can be, which
was usually an indication she had just been in the middle of
getting into mischief.

"Get dressed. Want to come to Bunnings?"

Bree smoothed her hands down the front of
her gown. "Are you blind? I am dressed! I hate Bunnings!"

Iris stifled a laugh.

Toby looked at Bree carefully before
answering her. "My mistake. You are indeed dressed, it was your
slippers that threw me."

Bree rolled her eyes at him and crossed her
arms. "Daddy, as if I would wear these outside! They would get
dirty! I will put proper shoes on if I go out! But I'm not, because
Bunnings is dumb!"

"It's Saturday, Bree," Ashley said to his
sister. "They have sausages on Saturday."

"I love Bunnings!" Bree clapped her hands
and took off with a squeal, turning to race back in the direction
she had come from. She clattered back up the hall minutes later,
having swapped the ugg boots for rubber rain ones.

"Ready!"

"Well, that's much better now," replied
Toby. "Let's go."

Ashley stopped by the table to give
Charlotte a hug. "Bye, Mummy. I promise to make sure he reads the
sheet." He squeezed his arms around her neck, planting a solid kiss
onto her cheek, his tone and expression so very serious.

Charlotte squeezed him back, leaning closer
to his ear. "Don't let him forget Bree this time."

Ashley giggled then. "That was funny."

"Not for the staff at Kmart," Charlotte
replied, without humour.

Multi-tasking with the kids around had never
been one of Toby's strong points. But, you live and learn. Even it
was very slowly at times.

What could have been disastrous was saved by
Jake, who was able to build like a champion. After navigating
Bunnings for an hour and a half, losing Bree twice, and then
realising half way home he had forgotten to buy nails, Toby was
about ready to throw the whole project in. But Ashley was so
enthusiastic, there was no way Toby would even consider backing
out. While trying not to swear and show too much frustration as
wood refused to line up and the saw seemed far too blunt to cut
straight, Ashley innocently wondered if Uncle Jake had had as much
trouble as they seemed to be having when he built his dog
kennel.

Ten minutes later, Jake had arrived and was
laughing his guts out at Toby's efforts. "That's not even the type
of saw you use!" He shook his head and reached down to swing Ashley
up onto his shoulders. "Come on pal, let's go back to the Ute and
get out the real tools."

The cubby was finished by three o'clock.

Both Bree and Courtney participated in
gymnastics. Courtney only did the toddler tumble class, but Bree
was showing an aptitude for the sport that rivalled Charlotte at
the same age.

"She's like you. Perfect balance. Look at
those flips!" Iris was a proud spectator at each of Bree's
sessions.

Charlotte beamed at her daughter with pride.
"She's naturally flexible so she doesn't have to work as hard at
it."

Charlotte had been training the older
gymnasts on and off to fit around her pregnancies for the last few
years and they had been increasingly imploring her to return of
late. She was the only one with any skill and training at
acrobatics, and that was where their interest lay, much as hers had
at the same age. There was no real reason for her not to come back;
Iris liked to come down to the gym as well so she would always be
on hand to watch Danielle and Courtney while Charlotte instructed
her classes. She enjoyed training the girls; it was the only form
of work she did anymore. The early morning shift at the radio
station had been ideal when it was just Ashley, but once Bree had
come along, Charlotte had no way of managing the four o'clock
starts. She gave up trying and stayed at home; there was always
enough going on there to keep her busy. When Bree turned two, she
enrolled her into the toddler tumble class and was welcomed on
board as an instructor before the end of Bree's first class.

While watching Bree and taking note of her
posture as she entered into a double flip, quite an advanced move
for a girl her age, Annabel, the current manager, came to stand
beside Charlotte, a grim expression on her face.

"Charlotte, can I talk to you in the
office?"

Charlotte paused, a ripple of unease moving
through her. Normally she would just jump to the conclusion that
Bree had done something she should not have, yet the gym was the
only place she remained perfectly behaved no matter how long they
stayed there. "What's wrong?"

Annabel beckoned for Charlotte to follow
her. Once they were behind closed doors, Annabel slumped down at
the desk, a weariness about her that Charlotte had never seen
before.

"I'm leaving town. My husband has got a job
over in Perth. Dad is selling the gym because he doesn't want to
bother with it since I won't be here to run it. He wants me to
close it down so he can just sell the building to anyone who wants
it."

"When do you move?"

"Three weeks. We just found out; it's a
short notice transfer."