DISCLAIMER: Seachange and all its characters are owned by Deb Cox and Andrew Knight. I am in no way planning on making any money from writing this, although if you're willing to give me a job on season 4 (hint hint) I will gratefully accept!!

I wrote this hoping to keep everyone entertained and wondering what would happen after the finale. It takes place after few days from where we were left, so just use your imagination. If anyone would like to write another 'episode' they're most welcome to, in fact I would encourage it!!

Episode 0401-Remember

By Casey

She couldn't remember ending up in bed last night. Laura gazed at the roof, trying to reminisce the events of the previous day. She was on the pier with Max, and she'd told him. Laura closed her eyes momentarily, remembering the mention of the name Rex if the baby were to be a boy. She had made it quite clear that no baby of hers would bestow such a name. Laura now realised that she must've fallen asleep in Max's loving arms. Smiling at that thought, Laura looked over to the other side of the bed. But Max was not there. Worry tinged her momentarily, and she began to climb out of the warm bed.

There was suddenly that feeling again. The feeling that occurred every morning just as she was getting out of bed. She hated knowing that she was going to vomit each morning. Dashing towards the bathroom, Laura wondered if it was ever going to stop. She made it just in time to empty the contents of last night's dinner into the toilet. A gentle hand softly rubbed her back, and she turned to look at Max, who was donning nothing but boxer shorts.

"We're going to have to do something about this" Max stated knowingly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heather Jelly awoke with an extremely sore neck, having spent the night in a plastic hospital chair. She looked to where her mother lay, still asleep. She also noticed that Bob still sat in the same chair as he was in the day before. Heather really didn't know what to do with him. It was true, she had never loved any man other than Bob, yet after what he'd done, all the stress he'd put her through, she wasn't ready to dive back into their old lifestyle. Besides, Meredith would need a lot with The Tropical Star and Harold was going to need great support for a quite some time.

"You're awake" came the voice from behind her. Heather turned to see Harold faintly smiling at her.

"I didn't dream it, did I? She did speak " Heather stammered, dreading that what she believed was in fact a falsity.

"She spoke, don't you worry" Harold's smile gained some confidence, and he stood from the chair by the window. "I know its going to be tough, but we'll make it" Harold stated, placing his hands on Heather's shoulders.

"We will. I know we will" Heather said, her voice a mere whisper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Come along, Kevin, you don't want to be late" Phrani Gupta was busily preparing Kev for his royal duties for the day.

"They're not expecting me till 10, there's no need to hurry" Kev mumbled, gathering a shirt from the wardrobe. He could see a question forming on Phrani's lips, and before allowing her to ask it, he answered with, "and yes, I checked the van last night, everything's in working order"

"I'm just making sure. It would be terrible if they missed their flight because your van broke down" Phrani observed while fixing Kev's tie.

"Trev?" Kev called. He waited a moment, before repeating the call. There was no answer. "Phrani, where's Trevor gone?" he asked.

"I believe he has gone to say goodbye to Rupert" Phrani replied, giving Kev the okay to leave.

"And where's young Rupert off to?" Kev asked, heading towards the fridge. He retrieved the orange juice and poured a glass for himself.

"Rupert is going to stay with his father for a few months" Phrani replied. Kev raised his eyebrows at that remark, surprised at this sudden departure.

"Well, that's three people we'll have to farewell"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Gibson household was filled with sombre air. Max, who had felt rather awkward in staying during such a moment, bid Rupert farewell with a firm handshake, before departing. Laura remembered his last words to her. 'You're going to have to tell him sometime soon'. But how? On top of her growing burden, her stress levels increased when Jack walked through the door.

"Good morning, Jack"

"Good morning, Laura"

An eerie silence held for only a second before Rupert came rushing out of his bedroom, loaded with suitcases and boxes.

"And how long are you planning on going for? Two years?" Laura mocked.

"Three months" Rupert replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

As the group exited the house, Laura felt the sense of finality in the moment. She probably wouldn't hear from Rupert for the entire time.

"Write me a letter" Trev said to Rupert.

"I'll do my best" Rupert replied with a grin. The two friends parted, and Rupert turned to his mother. "Say goodbye to Miranda for me" Rupert said, before embracing his Laura in a tight hug.

"Call me, please" Laura basically pleaded. Rupert nodded, before opening the car door. "Goodbye" forcing back the tears, Laura watched the car roll away.

"I'll see you later, Ms Gibson" Trev stated, before disappearing down the dirt track.

"Bye, Trev" Laura said, even though the boy was long gone, and wandered down to the shore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time she'd reached Max's house, she was in tears. Max was sitting on the porch when Laura staggered up the stairs. Concern flooded over him, and he was up like a shot to help guide her to a seat. He hated seeing her upset or in pain. Max sat Laura beside him, and took her into his arms.

"Rupert will be back soon, don't worry about it" Max said in a soothing tone. But it suddenly struck him as to why Laura was so worked up. "You didn't tell him, did you?"

"No!" Laura said before bursting into tears again. Max drew in a deep breath. He knew that he'd left her in a difficult position, but Max just didn't want to be there when Jack arrived. It wasn't right.

"Listen, why don't we head back to your place, and get you cleaned up" Max suggested. He didn't want to admit it, but Laura had managed to destroy any form of makeup she was wearing, and the majority of it had ended up on his shirt. "We're going to have to be at the hospital in an hour" he added

"Okay" Laura choked out. Her sobs had receded, but the aftermath was evident.

Being ever so gentle, Max led Laura down the steps and back to her house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angus and Karen were saying goodbye to Meredith before disappearing for three weeks for their honeymoon.

"Goodbye, Meredith" Karen said softly. She knew that Meredith was still very ill, and didn't want to disturb her calm state. "Thanks for the cake, you did a wonderful job" she added.

"You're welcome, Karen" Meredith stated, her voice hoarse. "Enjoy yourselves" she said, looking to Angus who was beaming with delight.

"We will" the bride and groom chorused. With another quick goodbye, the blissful couple were out the door. Meredith smiled, delighted that they were so happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now you two stay out of trouble" Bob Jelly told the newlyweds with a stern look. He knew what happened on honeymoons.

"Don't worry Bob, we'll be back before you know it" Angus stated, extending his arm. The two men shook hands, and Angus heard a, 'good luck' from Bob. He could only grin at the statement.

"I expect to have you on the force for at least another year before making any additions to the family" Sargent Grey said to Karen with a witty smile.

"Angus and I haven't talked about that yet" she replied, and hugged him. But deep down, Karen knew that ultimately she would leave the law enforcement team of Pearl Bay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The group congregated outside the hospital long after Angus and Karen, escorted to the airport by Kev, had departed. Phrani approached Laura carefully, knowing that she'd be quite upset by her son's sudden departure.

"Laura, how are you?" Phrani asked. She observed Max with a keen eye. Something between them had changed, and Phrani was going to make it her mission to find out.

"Okay, I guess. If you mean Rupert leaving and Miranda soon to follow, just fine!" Laura struggled to keep her emotions over the subject under control.

"I'm sure that Rupert will return. He just wants to be with his father for a while" Phrani said in a soothing voice that she had mastered over the years. It was true, and she knew that the bond between father and son was always a strong one. Phrani had been around Kevin and Trevor long enough to be able to determine that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bob Jelly returned home after being in the hospital for over 48 hours. He read the brief note from Barry, 'grocery shopping', and noted the immaculate house. Bob also noted the silence. How he wished that Heather would return home. It was all true what he'd told her in the hospital. He was a changed man, and he did miss her. Bob missed her a lot. Craig was out, most likely with what's-her-face, Laura's daughter. Craig had mentioned her near 100 times a day and Bob still couldn't remember her name. Bob dragged himself into his bedroom, void of any clothes on the floor. He plopped onto the neatly made bed, and reached for the photo frame on the bedside table.

"Oh Heather, you don't understand how much I need you"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Miranda, we're just going for a walk along the beach, okay?" Laura told her daughter before Max dragged her out the door.

Miranda didn't want to say anything to them, but part of the reason she was leaving for university was because of their new relationship status. Although she knew that the passion between her mother and Max Connors wasn't going to fade, it did begin to sicken her at times. Miranda did love Max, and she knew that her mum deserved him, but sometimes she wished that things were as they had been. When it had been dad, mum, Miranda and Rupert. But she knew that those days were never going to return. All the good times that had been left behind had been forgotten.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Harold, I'm just going to make a phone call, okay?" Heather stood from the chair she'd been sitting in, and disappeared out the door. Harold sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair, watching Meredith's every move. She had fallen asleep not long after Angus and Karen had left, and it was now early in the evening.

"Harold, I need some water please" being jerked from his subconscious daze, Harold reached for the jug of water and poured a glass for Meredith, being very careful not to tilt it too quickly or slowly.

"Where's Heather?" Meredith asked, her voice slightly better.

"She's just gone to make a phone call" Harold replied, taking hold of Meredith's hand.

"When can I go home?" Meredith queried.

"When the doctors say so" Harold explained, dragging the chair closer to the bed and sitting down once again. "I don't want anything to happen to you, Meredith. So you'll do as the doctors tell you, okay?" Harold stated. He knew that it wouldn't be wise to mention anything about the campaign for mayor, but there was something else he felt he should mention.

"Did they finish the tunnel?" Meredith asked, as though she were reading his mind.

"Well…" Harold began, a grin spreading across his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kevin arrived back at the caravan park not long after 5pm. He parked the van in its usual spot, and dragged himself into the caravan, obviously fatigued.

"You look exhausted, Kevin" Phrani stated. His tie was crumpled and he had undone the top shirt button.

"The traffic was shocking. All the way to the airport was bad enough, but once you enter that airport, well its another thing" Kev stated, dropping onto the couch.

"Dinner will be ready in about 10 minutes" Phrani announced, and Kev smiled wearily. He hoped it wasn't any of that spicy stuff they'd eaten last week. He'd been lucky to eat half of it, minus the peppers and curry sauce.

"G'day Trev, where'd you end up today?" Kevin asked his son, who came tearing in the door.

"Rupert's gone to stay with his dad for a while" Trev explained, taking a seat next to his dad. Trev was so glad that he didn't live with his mother. He felt so sorry for Rupert in quite a lot of ways.

"Really?" Kev was quite surprised, and looked to Phrani for confirmation. She nodded, and a look of deep thought crossed Kev's mind. "Laura wouldn't be too impressed by that" he stated.

"I think its best for all of them at the moment" Phrani stated. She knew there was something going on, and it was going to bother her until she knew.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sitting side by side on the sand dunes, Laura and Max were in a heated discussion.

"We're going to have to tell them all eventually," Max was saying, persistence in his voice.

"Not yet. I'm not ready to announce something like this to them so soon after Warwick" Laura said. The clashes that the couple had were often lengthy and heated. The two were very adamant people who always wanted to do things their way.

"So when will you tell them? When someone as slow as Bucket has clued onto the fact that you're pregnant?" Max asked, his voice tinged with anger and impatience. He saw the horrified look on Laura's face, and tried a new approach. "Pearl Bay is a very small town, Laura. News travels like wildfire here"

"I know, I know. But how are you meant to bring something like this into a conversation?" Laura asked. "And please don't say it, I know you want to" Laura beat him to the joke, knowing he'd mention something about the Oyster and its front page for the next edition.

"Tell one person and they'll all know by lunchtime tomorrow. I promise" Max said. He stood, and Laura followed. The pair began the walk back to the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Creeping into the house quietly, Heather noticed the lights were all off. She knew it was late, but normally he would be up well after midnight, reading over documents or writing. Heather walked down the passage, and almost laughed at the immaculate state of the house. Barry really had done wonders for the well keeping of the house in her absence. Heather reached the top of the stairs, and walked towards the end door. She hadn't been in the house for over a month, and nothing had really changed. Opening the door silently, she kicked off her shoes and moved towards the bed.

Heather really did wonder why she'd been so severe with Bob, for her passion for him had only increased over the past few days. Bob's speech had won the town over, and his compassion towards the illness of her mother had been impeccable. But she reminded herself of the constant demands he'd expected her to meet, which were often impossible for even the most flawless of people. 'This is just to tease him' Heather reminded herself. She knew she was being very evil, but couldn't help herself when it came to driving Bob Jelly wild. It was something she hadn't done for such a long time. Pulling back the sheets of the bed, Heather snuggled into the warm figure beside her.

"I've missed you" she murmured.

"Ari?" Came the voice. Heather knew that wasn't Bob.

"Aaahhhh!!!!" she screamed. The lights came flicking on, and the bedroom door flew open.

"Heather?"

"Bob?"

"Would someone please tell me what's going on!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun was setting over Pearl Bay, and Kevin, Trevor and Phrani were having their daily ritualistic gathering to talk.

"Dad, I'm so glad that I live with you and not mum" Trev stated. It was the truth, and he wouldn't prefer life any other way.

"I'm pleased to hear you say that, Trev" Kev replied, perplexed by the declaration he had just heard. "Just why do you say that?" he queried, no longer able to tolerate not understanding.

"Well, Rupert hasn't seen his dad for ages, and living with your mum can't be that great" Trev explained.

"I can see your point" Phrani stated sceptically. Although she would never understand the father/son bond, she did believe that a mother/son bond was able to be very strong also.

"It’s a man thing, Phrani. Don't question it" Kev said, leaving Phrani rather taken aback. But she knew never to complain to Kev, as he knew what he was talking about a great deal more than she did when it came to parenting.

"I see" Phrani nodded, breaking out into a smile. She stood in silence, and departed for the caravan park. She figured that the 'men' would like some time alone.