The Plot Sickens

[bellastar]

ew.

[mel_kay39]

I'm sure Pete Hellier's wife doesn't feel the same way!

[bellastar]

[mel_kay39]

Why did she marry him if she didn't think he was much chop? lol Though I suppose my mother was deluded when she married my old man. That and she was up the duff.

[Magpie Girl]

lol, carlton team dead...... that's funny!!

[mel_kay39]

Yeah... it couldn't have happened to a nicer team!

Episode 134

It’s Alive! Alive!

Ben gazed at the woman who’d been the first to burst his cherry, adoringly. ‘So, like, are you guys witches or something?’ he asked.
Melissa grinned. ‘You could say that’.
‘Cause you’ve bewitched me’ he said, with a wink.
‘Oh, that’s so cheesy’ she replied. ‘Cute, but cheesy’.
‘I can’t help it. I can’t believe I was holding out for so long! I could have been having the time of my life, and instead, I’ve been crossing my legs like a good little Christian boy! Well, no more prayers at bed-time for me!’ Ben announced. ‘I’m officially on the prowl!’
Melissa laughed. ‘Just a minute here, you’ve got a job to do! Taylah and Sharon are waiting!’
Ben made a face. ‘Do I have to? I mean, Sharon’s all right but Taylah… I’d rather sleep with my old babysitter. And she was middle-aged with legs like Mrs Doubtfire’.
Melissa couldn’t help but laugh. ‘I know Taylah’s no prize, but the whole reason we gave you the powers of Eros the Greek God of Love was because we want to wipe out Christianity. We want to start a revolution! And if the only way to do that is to start from scratch and bring up a bunch of babies as Pagans, then, well… That’s what we’re gonna do’.
‘Hey’ Ben said. ‘If it means that I’ll be having a lot of sex, then I’m all for wiping out Christianity! Bring it on!’
Melissa kissed his shoulder. ‘I intend to’ she said. ‘Ready for Round Two?’

*****

Sharon, meanwhile, had snuck out to the hospital. She had to see Strauchanie. He was all she could think about. It was killing her to think about how he’d nearly died. She realised she still loved him, even though he was technically still a Carlton player. But now that Carlton was all but wiped out, she was sure he’d go back to being a Collingwood man. It was in his blood.
When she got there it was way past visiting hours, so she had to hide behind a trolley of cleaning products as a couple of nurses walked past and opened the doors to the ward. Sharon waited until they’d turned the corner on the other side of the glass doors, then slipped into Intensive Care and started looking for Strauchanie.
She found him lying motionless in a bed, hooked up to countless machines and with a bandage swathed around his forehead. ‘Oh no’ she said, sadly. She looked at the leg in traction and the bruises on his face. He was fast asleep, probably drugged up to the nines, but he was alive. That was the important thing. And Sharon told herself that no matter how hard it got, she was going to look after him.
Suddenly his eyes flickered open. ‘Shaz?’ he whispered.
Sharon bent over him, her long blonde hair tickling his cheek. ‘Yes? I’m here, honey’ she whispered back. ‘I’m so sorry about how I acted. Can you ever forgive me?’
‘What about that guy at your work?’ he asked. ‘The Italian Stallion? The one with tickets to the Grand Final last year? What about him?’
‘Don’t worry about him. He was a jerk. Thought he was God’s Gift to Women. I realised that you were the only one for me, Strauchnie. I want us to be together again’.
‘I’ll think about it’ said Strauchanie. ‘You hurt me a lot, you know’. He wasn’t about to just fall into her arms again. He had had it with being a puppet, allowing the women in his life to pull the strings. If he was going to be in a relationship again, Strauchanie had decided it was going to be on his terms! It was time he wore the pants in his relationships.
Sharon kissed the tip of his nose. ‘I’ll make it up to you’ she promised. ‘Just as soon as you’re well enough’. She slipped a hand under the sheets. Strauchanie groaned. ‘Oooh… All right. You win! Shit, I’d forgotten how that feels!’
‘I knew the celibacy thing wasn’t going to last’ Sharon said. ‘You’re too much of a red-blooded male, Strauchanie’.
‘Aah, Shaz’ Strauchanie sighed. ‘You know me too well’.

*****

Nick wasn’t at all happy with Danni’s decision to be a surrogate mother to Heath and Jen’s baby. He was worried about her health, first of all, and not just the physical part. He didn’t know if she had the fortitude to give up the child to its rightful parents. But he didn’t know how to broach the subject with her. What if the agony of losing her own baby was too much; and she refused to give this new baby up? Nick felt like Danni was setting herself up for more misery. He went with her for her insemination but kept his misgivings to himself. It might turn out all right. But he had his doubts.
A couple of weeks later, Danni felt queasy and couldn’t get up from the couch. ‘The room is spinning’ she complained. ‘Nick… I think I might be pregnant!’
He went to the chemist and got a home pregnancy test for her. Half hoping it was negative. But it was positive. She called Heath and Jen right away. ‘Guess what!’ she shrieked, joyously. ‘You guys are going to be parents!’
Jen shrieked on the other end of the line. ‘Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you’ she said, almost crying. She’d just been through a round of chemo and her hair was falling out in clumps. She needed a bit of good news. But Heath, like Nick, wasn’t as delirious about the whole situation as the girls were. They were still waiting for the results of Jen’s tests, to see whether the chemo was working. What if it wasn’t? What if it had spread? What if he was destined to be a single parent? He didn’t know if he could handle that at this stage of his life. And the idea of going through all of that without Jen by his side, well… he didn’t want to think about it.
He joined Jen at the doctors for her results. He couldn’t stop his legs from shaking madly. He felt like he was standing in the middle of the MCG on Anzac Day. Nervous to the point of wanting to throw up. But this time there was no excitement mixed up with the nerves. Just worry.
‘Well’ the doctor said as he walked into the room. ‘How have things been?’
Just get on with it, Heath wanted to say. Haven’t we been waiting long enough?
‘Good’ Jen lied. Heath looked at her. Why wouldn’t she tell him the truth? That she was nauseous all day and suffered from night sweats? That every joint in her body ached? That she had a dry mouth and absolutely no sex drive? The chemo wasn’t just killing the bad cells. It seemed to be killing her.
‘Well, I have some good news’ Doc said. ‘The chemo has destroyed the cancer cells in her cervix. She won’t need surgery’.
‘Really?’ Jen said, gasping. ‘So I’m cured?’
‘Not just yet’ the doctor warned. ‘You will still have to have a precautionary round of chemo just to make sure it doesn’t come back. But I’m stunned. I didn’t expect to be able to knock this on its head so quickly’.
Heath and Jen hugged each other, ecstatically. Jen started to cry. ‘They’re happy tears’ she assured him. ‘I thought I was a goner’.
‘Heath. Heath’.
He felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned. Blinked. It took a couple of seconds before he realised that he had been dreaming the entire thing. He was lying in bed beside Jen, who was sitting up in bed. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked, sleepily.
‘No’ she whispered. ‘I’m bleeding’.
‘What?’
‘My nose. It won’t stop’.
Heath got up and turned on the light. He swore when he saw how the front of her nightie and the edge of their doona was soaked in blood. ‘I’ll take you to the hospital’ he said.
Half an hour later they were in a bed in A&E. Jen’s nose wouldn’t stop. ‘What is happening?’ Heath asked the nurse as he held a towel to his wife’s face. ‘Why is she bleeding like this?’
‘We don’t know yet’ the nurse said, trying to keep the couple calm. ‘Her blood work isn’t back yet’
‘I’m amazed she’s got any left’ Heath muttered. Jen was looking very pale and could barely move. ‘We’re organising a transfusion for her’ the nurse told him. ‘Try to stay positive’.
‘She can talk’ Heath said, as the nurse left the cubicle. ‘How are you, babe?’
Jen could only make slight sighing noises. She lacked the energy to talk. She looked at Heath with love in her eyes. ‘Ll…’ she started to say.
‘Don’t talk’ he advised her.
She wrote the words “I love you” on the palm of his hand with the tip of her finger, then closed her eyes and leaned back into the pillows. She gave a shuddery breath; then her shoulders slumped. Heath looked at her in disbelief. ‘Jen?’ he said, shakily. ‘Jen, wake up’.
He couldn’t see her chest rise and fall. Her nose, ironically, had stopped bleeding. Heath leaned over his wife and listened for a heart beat. There was none.
‘F**k’ he said, and slammed a fist onto the big red button by the side of the bed. The cubicle became a flurry of activity. Doctors surrounded his wife, with the “Resuss Cart” and a defibrillator. Heath felt himself being pulled back by a nurse. ‘Stand back’ she advised. ‘We’ll do everything we can’.
Ten minutes later, and the doctors were still trying to revive Jen. Suddenly one of them put down the paddles and looked at it. ‘I’ll call it’ he told the others. ‘Time of death, 1.45 am’.
No, Heath thought. No, they can’t give up already! ‘No’ he said. ‘You have to keep trying!’
‘Mate’ one of the doctors said, ‘We’ve been trying for ten minutes now. Even if she did survive there would be irreparable brain damage’.
‘No’ Heath repeated, shrugging off the doctor’s arm and walking over to the bed. The medical staff around the bed moved out of the way for him. ‘Do you want a minute alone?’ One of the nurses asked him.
‘You have to keep going’ Heath urged her. ‘You have to save her’.
‘I’m sorry for your loss’ she started to say, but Heath wasn’t buying that. He put his hands on his wife’s chest and tried CPR himself, as if his love alone could save her. The doctor beside him took his arms. ‘Mr Shaw’ he said, ‘She’s gone, mate’.
Heath was inconsolable. Two nurses held him up and took him over to a chair. The rest of the night was a blur. He barely remembered being given a few minutes to say goodbye before they covered her face with the sheet and took her away.

*****

Nobody could quite believe what had happened when they were told. It became Rhyces’ job to ring around and deliver the bad news to Jen’s friends at the Lexus Centre, because Heath was in no state to be calling anyone. Danni put a hand over her mouth and felt bile rise in her throat. ‘She’s never going to get to see their baby’ she told Nick. ‘I did this for nothing’.
‘Not for nothing’ he told her, rubbing her back as she cried. ‘You were a really good friend. Now Heath will have a part of Jen forever, thanks to you’.
‘But what if he doesn’t want it?’ Danni sobbed. ‘What if he can’t even bring himself to look at the baby? It might be too painful’.
‘You’re not thinking of keeping it yourself, are you?’ Nick asked her, suddenly.
She looked up at him. ‘Of course not! This baby is not mine. It’s Heath and Jen’s. It’s their DNA. Not ours. I don’t even feel a bond with it’.
‘Well, you are only six weeks pregnant’ Nick said. ‘Kind of hard to have a bond with something the size of a pea’.
‘I’m not keeping it’ Danni assured him. ‘I made the promise to Jen that I’d do everything to make sure this baby is healthy and that’s what I’m going to do. And when the time comes, I’ll give it up to it’s father. And we can get on with our lives, okay?’
Nick hugged her. ‘You have no idea how proud I am of you’ he told her. ‘Shit, I can’t imagine what Heath is going through right now’.
‘Neither can I’ Danni sniffed. ‘Poor guy’.
‘I know who can, though’ Nick said, letting go of her. ‘I’m going to call Dids. Maybe he can spend some time with Heath. Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid’.
‘Do you think he will?’ Danni asked, drying her eyes on her sleeve.
‘I don’t know’ Nick admitted. ‘But I know I’d be a mess if something happened to you, so it’s better if Heath has someone to look after him right now. Someone who has been through it themselves’.
‘True’ said Danni. ‘Good thinking’.
She watched as Nick got on the phone to Alan Didak. When he told Dids the news, Danni couldn’t help but start crying again. She put a hand on her belly. ‘Your Mum will be with you always’ she whispered. ‘Let’s make her proud’.

Stay tuned for the last episodes of The Plot Sickens, where there will be a wedding, a funeral, an engagement party, and a shock announcement…

[bellastar]

the last few... forever? (cue dramatic swell of the orchestra!)

[mel_kay39]

i don't know yet. I've got other stuff happening that I haven't been able to get stuck into because of this, so i'm taking a break for a while.

[mel_kay39]

Here's the last episode folks, enjoy cos I'm done. Stick a fork in me. It's been grand.

Episode 135

Knocked Up

‘I can’t believe this’, Em said, staring around the huge hallowed halls of the church her mother had been married in two years ago. ‘I’m having a major case of deja ‘vu’.
Melissa was sitting on one side of her, and Nathan on the other. Nathan turned to her. ‘Why?’
‘Well, because this is where my Mum got married, I got with Dale for the first time – sorry honey, not that you’d want to know the details of that – and this is where we said goodbye to Jen! I can’t believe Scott and Yasmine would choose the same exact church to say their vows. It’s just… wrong, somehow’.
‘I know’ Nathan said, putting an arm around her. ‘But this is a happy occasion, for once! At least we don’t have to go to all the funerals for the Carlton Football team’.
‘Strauchanie is’ Em said. ‘Poor guy’.
‘Yeah, well, they were his team mates’ Brownie said. ‘Apparently the memorial’s going to be televised’.
‘I wonder what the league is going to do now that there are only fifteen teams’ Em thought aloud. ‘They’d have to introduce another, or merge a couple’.
‘I don’t know’ Nathan admitted. ‘They’ll have to introduce a bye in the meantime’.
‘Ssh you guys’ Melissa hissed. ‘It’s starting’.
The first strains of the Wedding March began as Yasmine was led up the aisle by her father, followed by her bridesmaids, whom Leelee remembered from the time she’d crashed Yasmine’s wedding to Ryan. They were wearing even sluttier outfits than the first time around, if that was possible. ‘She’s almost wearing that dress’ Leelee heard Em whisper to Nathan with a giggle. The last bridesmaid was wearing a slinky silver slip of a thing which dove down to her butt cleavage at the back and barely covered her assets at the front. Yasmine was wearing a short wedding dress to show off her killer legs in six inch high heels. It was like watching a Penthouse Pet get married. The young priest didn’t know where to look!
Evidently, Scott and Yasmine had gone for the short, short version because there were no flowery poems, no psalms, no muss no fuss. Em was surprised they’d gotten married in the church in the first place. Apparently Scott’s folks were Catholic. The happy couple had wanted to fly to Las Vegas, but his mother had threatened to disown him if he did!
Before long, the newly married Scott and Yamine Pendlebury were walking back down the aisle, hand in hand, hugging relatives and friends. Em followed the crowd out to the front steps of the church. ‘There they go’ she said, wistfully. ‘I kind of wish I’d had a big wedding. Dale and I just got a celebrant, said I do, I do, and that was that’.
Suddenly Em felt a band of steel tighten around her stomach. ‘Ouch’ she said, clutching her bump. ‘This can’t be happening’ she winced. ‘I’m only six months pregnant!’


*****

Strauchanie attended the memorial for his Carlton team mates, Sharon by his side. She squeezed his hand, glad she hadn’t gotten involved with Melissa’s plan to repopulate the world with mini-pagans. She’d have a go at that in her own time. With the man of her dreams! She smiled at him. ‘I know this is meant to be a sad occasion’ she whispered, ‘But I’m so glad to be with you again’.
‘I know’ said Strauchnie. ‘I am too’. He looked back up at the front of the room. Richard Pratt was talking to Demetriou and a couple of others including the funeral director. Music started to pour from the speakers. Strauchanie recognised the tune from his youth as a choir member at school. It was “You’ll Never Walk Alone” but he couldn’t remember who sung it. Something about pacemakers.
After the song, when the room was loud with sobbing and sniffles from all the football widows and fanatical supporters, Andrew Demetriou stepped up to the microphone.
‘The Carlton Football Club is very grateful for the wonderful turn-out today, on this very sad day’ the AFL’s CEO said. ‘But as much as we are here to mourn the passing of some… ahem… great players of our game, we are here to celebrate their lives, and the lives of those who have been lucky enough to survive this terrible tragedy. I assure ou that I will do everything in my power to make sure that the careers of those players who can still play, can go on if they want to. They may have to wait until the end of the season now, but next year will be the dawn of a new era. The AFL is proud to announce that we are in the process of building two teams to join the league. One from Tasmania, and the other based in the Northern Territory’.
‘This is hardly appropriate’ someone said from the front of the room. ‘Our boys haven’t been dead for a fortnight! How can you be talking about replacing them already?’
‘Yeah’ shouted Marc Murphy, one of the players injured in the crash. ‘Vultures, the lot of you’.
‘But we’ll talk about that later’ Demetriou said, quickly, sensing his idea wasn’t all that well received. ‘For now, we’ll hear from Richard Pratt, former president of the Carlton Football Club’.
Strauchanie felt a lump rise in his throat. As Pratt talked, pictures of his former team mates came up on screen behind him, some team photos, others pictured doing what they did best. There was a picture of Fev throwing a tanty; of Jarrod Waite scratching his arse, waiting for the ball to come down to the forward line; of Bryce Gibbs and that unforgettable stuff-up in the goal-square. One of the players’ mothers started howling loudly. She was lead from the room by her husband and surviving son. Strauchanie didn’t know if he could take any more of this. He picked up his crutches. ‘Where are you going?’ Sharon whispered.
‘I’m too upset. I’m not crying in public’ Strauchanie said. ‘Let’s go home’.
Sharon smiled. ‘Does that mean what I think it means?’
‘Well yeah… If you’ll have me’ Strauchanie said. ‘When can I move in?’

*****

‘Um, Dad’ said Ally, fearfully.
Her father stopped chopping a salami in his restaurant. He glared up at them. ‘You do realise my business is going down the drain’ he told her. ‘It’s all your fault! Why didn’t you just marry Cousin Trevor like I wanted you to? Now he won’t invest in the restaurant and I’m this close to bankruptcy’.
‘It’s not my fault, Dad’ Ally said. ‘You can’t force me to marry someone I don’t love! I love Sean! And by the way, we’ve got a little surprise for you’.
‘What?’ her father scoffed. ‘You’re pregnant?’
‘No’ Ally said, quickly. ‘Sean’s got some savings he wants to invest in your restaurant. He wants to go into business with you, Dad’.
Ally’s dad looked at his new son-in-law. ‘How much are we talking about here?’
‘A hundred thousand’ Sean said.
Ally’s father’s mouth dropped open. ‘Where did you get money like that?’
‘I’m not going to invest it all’ Sean said, ‘But a few thousand should do, right?’
Mr Molloy shrugged. ‘I’ve been wanting to do a re-fit for a while. We need a whole new image around here. 20 grand should do. Are you sure about this?’
‘Of course’ said Sean. ‘I want to be part of your family, Mr Molloy. I love your daughter’ he smiled down at Ally, who had her arms wrapped around his waist. ‘I want to be able to support her when my footy career is over’.
‘It’s a deal then’ said Mr Molloy, shaking Sean’s hand. ‘I never thought I’d say this, Rusling, but…. Welcome to the family’.

*****

Dean and Bella’s engagement was in full swing. Well, as swinging as it could get with half the guests in mourning over Jen’s recent passing. Her funeral had been huge, but strange. Heath was absent. No one could find him. In the end, Dids and Rhyce went to search for him and found him in the carpark at the Lexus Centre, just staring at the ground. ‘This is where we met, you know’ he told them. ‘Her car’s battery was dead so I gave her a jump. I fancied her even though I was still technically with Olivia’.
‘You have to come to her funeral, bro’ Rhyce said. ‘You need to say goodbye’.
‘I already did. At the hospital. I don’t want to see her in a coffin. It’s not the way I want to remember her’ Heath said. ‘Can’t you guys understand that?’
‘I can’ Dids said. ‘More than you know’.
‘Just come back to the funeral. You don’t have to look in the coffin’ Rhyce urged. ‘You’re one of the pall-bearers, remember?’
In the end, Heath had gone back, and led the procession down the steps of the church, carrying the love of his life on his left shoulder.
The wake was just as hard. People swanned around, talking about Jen like they were all her best friends. Even though Heath knew for a fact that some of them had made fun of her and Lisa when they first arrived at the Lexus Centre as adoring fans of the Collingwood Football Club. Lisa had flown down for the funeral of course, and was devastated. She hugged Heath, and told him that she had a dream that Jen was watching over all of them. The rest of the day was a blur to Heath. He wound up with a whole table full of food he knew he’d never get around to eating. He just didn’t feel like it.
At the engagement party, Danni felt ready to talk to Heath. He seemed a bit better, sitting in the corner, chatting to Alan Didak and Leon Davis. He actually smiled at a joke Leon told. She thought he could handle possibly talking about his baby. She put a hand on her stomach. ‘Want to meet your Daddy?’ she asked her bump. Nick took her arm. ‘Do you think that’s a good idea?’ he asked. ‘He might not want the reminder right now’.
‘It might have the reverse effect’ Danni said. ‘What if he wants to be reminded of her?’
Nick shrugged. ‘It’s just that he’s been doing really well’ he told her. ‘I don’t want him falling in a heap again. He’s putting his all into his footy at the moment, too. He’s really angry. Totally belts the ball when he gets onto it’.
‘I don’t blame him’ Danni said. ‘I felt like that when my baby died. If you could have given me a ball at the time I would have kicked over three grain silos’.
As it turned out, Danni didn’t have to approach Heath. He approached her. ‘So… How’s the pregnancy going?’ he asked, with a funny voice. He sounded like he had a giant lump in his throat.
‘Good’ she said. ‘Great, actually’
‘That’s great’. Heath almost smiled. ‘I’m glad for you’.
‘Heath, this is your baby’ Danni reminded him. ‘Yours and Jen’s’.
His face contorted painfully at the sound of his wife’s name. ‘She wanted that baby so much’ he said. ‘She was so excited’.
‘Aren’t you?’ Danni asked. ‘I mean, despite everything?’
‘Not really’ Heath admitted. ‘Scared, more than anything. What if I’m a shit father?’
‘You? Are you kidding? You’re going to be great’ Danni said, patting him on the shoulder. ‘And you’ll have Nick and I to help whenever you need us. Right, Nick?’
‘Absolutely’ Nick agreed. ‘Any time, day or night’.
Heath looked down at Danni’s belly. She was just starting to show. ‘Can I?’ he asked, putting a hand out.
She laughed. ‘Well, I don’t know that you’ll feel much. It’s not kicking yet. That won’t happen for a couple of months. But go ahead’.
Danni watched Heath feel her belly. She never got used to strangers touching her the first time she was pregnant, but this felt right. She just wished he could have gone through all of this with his own wife, not someone else’s girlfriend.
‘Thanks Dan’ Heath said. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. ‘You’re an angel’.
‘Don’t I know it’ Danni joked. ‘I’ll look after your little tyke for you. Can’t wait to see who’s in here’.
There was a hint of static from the microphone at the front of the room. ‘Guys…’ Bella said, tapping the microphone. ‘We have an announcement to make’
‘What, you’re getting married?’ Ben Johnson joked. Everyone groaned. ‘We know that already’.
‘Uh, no’ Bella grinned. ‘Actually, you’re not going to believe this, but…. Dean and I are having a baby’.
‘Another one?’ Em said, rubbing her own seven month pregnant belly. ‘Jesus H.Christ! Everyone’s knocked up!’ She looked down at her bump. ‘And you’re going to stay right there for another two months, you hear? You almost gave your mother a heart attack with that false labour!’
Nathan laughed. ‘How many is it now? You, Bella, Danni, Melissa…’
‘Melissa’s pregnant?’ Em gasped.
‘She was throwing up yesterday morning when I got to the shop, so unless she’s contracted food poisoning or something, I’d say she was up the duff’ Brownie replied.
‘Wow. The Lexus Centre is going to have to open its own crèche, at this rate’ Em joked.
Taylah walked over to the happy couple (Dean and Bella, not Em and Nathan) and thrust a parcel wrapped in a blanket at them. ‘Say hello to your son, Dean’ she said. ‘I had him a couple of nights ago. Thirty hours of labour he put me through! I’ve named him Noah. Figured you’d like that since you’re into the Bible, and all’.
Dean looked at the baby. Then he looked at Taylah. ‘He doesn’t look anything like me’ he said. ‘In fact… He looks kind of Asian’.
‘What?’ Taylah shrieked. ‘He is yours, god damn it! Look at him!’
‘I did. And he doesn’t look like me at all’ Dean said.
Bella took a look at the baby and gasped in horror. He was the absolute spitting image of her daughter, Mia!
‘You slut’ she said to Taylah. ‘You slept with Chris, didn’t you?!’

*****

Demetriou faced the press. ‘I’ve called you all here to herald the new era of the AFL’ he began. ‘Two new teams will be formed, not that anyone can replace the Carlton Football Team…’(there were several snorts of derision at this) ‘…but me and my esteemed colleagues on the AFL board have decided that it’s time to introduce a Tasmanian team, and also a team from the Northern Territory – the first national fully indigenous Australian Rules club’.
There was a buzz of excitement in the media. This was news! Christi Malthouse thrust her microphone at Demetriou. ‘How is this going to help reconciliation?’ she asked. ‘Isn’t it like a form of racism? Instead of integrating players from the Northern Territory into other teams in the AFL, you’re talking about segregating them’.
‘That’s what I said’ lied Demetriou. He didn’t want to tell the press the real reason he’d agreed to this deal. The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs had cornered him and said that now the Rudd Government had said sorry, they were being buried in a mound of compo claims that could cost the taxpayers billions of dollars. ‘This might just take their mind of things for a while’, the minister said. ‘If they have their own team, they have someone to barrack for. Their kids will have something to strive for, instead of winding up uneducated glue-sniffing criminals’.
‘That’s the most racist thing I ever heard’ Demetriou said, but the Minister didn’t care.
‘I’m just trying to make sure that this government doesn’t regret saying sorry’ he said. ‘You meet your part of the deal and there will be more money in the kitty to develop grass roots football. Not to mention a generous pay rise for you-know-who’.
‘Who?’ Demetriou asked.
‘You, you idiot! Think about it’.
Demetriou had thought about it. And in the end, he supposed it might not be a bad idea. There weren’t anywhere near as many people up the top end as there were elsewhere in Australia, but if Tasmania could field a team, and get enough supporters along to games by Hawthorn, then why couldn’t Darwin?
‘Okay he said. ‘You’re on’.

Back at the engagement party, there was yet another surprise. Shane Wakelin tapped the microphone. ‘I just thought while everyone else was making their announcements’, he said, ‘I’d get my two cents in. This is my last year. After the finals, which I hope we’re a part of, I’m hanging up my boots’.
Mark Holden joined him at the microphone. No one had any idea who had invited him. Dean shrugged at Bella. ‘Maybe he read the memo I sent to Dicko?’ he whispered.
‘And I’d just like to announce the release of my new solo album…’ Holden began, but was booed off the stage.
Karaoke began after the speeches. Of course all the Idol finalists Dean had invited were kicking everyone else’s arses. Brodie Holland got up and tried to serenade Serita with a Michael Buble song but forgot the words due to being horribly smashed (even though the words were right in front of him on the TV screen). Then Ben McKenzie got up on stage. ‘Okay, this is for all you girls out there’ he said, and started to sing “Hero” by Enrique Inglasius.
Suddenly all the women in the room were rushing to the front of the stage and swooning. Someone’s wife threw their bra onto the stage. It was pandemonium. Nathan Brown and Dale Thomas looked at each other.
‘Spell’ they said, in unison, and laughed.
Meanwhile, an extremely inebriated Ben Johnson was looking for the toilets in the hallway. He glanced up at the sign on the door, squinted, thought it looked like the Mens’; and went in.
Courtnie screamed. She was straddling Ben Reid in one of the shower cubicles, and threw her hands over her chest. ‘Get out of here!’ she shrieked.
‘Well excuuuuuse me’ said Johnno. ‘Get a room, you two!’


The End.

[bellastar]

that's how you end it? bella ends up with another baby associated with dumbshit!????

[Miss_Lisey_Molloy]

Aww Sean Rusling! I LOVE YOU!

Wow, it's about time I met somebody rich


Great job, Mel.. You have done really well!

Love always, Alyssa xoxo

[Magpie Girl]

Haha. sprung again.... but this time it's for the last time....

Well done Mel, thanks!

[mel_kay39]

[bellastar]

ah, oops...yeah, i skimmed through, sorry! it was late at night, so i just saved it for later cos i had uni the next day!

sorry! very happy with the outcome then! although i wish brendon had come back for one last hurrah...

[mel_kay39]

Oh well... maybe he was busy with the band... LOL.