TITLE: ...And Baby Makes Three AUTHOR: Courtney SUMMARY: Angie and Oscar find themselves together on a sting, and find themselves in a similar situation to when they were on the SWARM operation. NOTE: Please remeber this is my first fic guys, (aahhh!!!) so yeah. WEDNESDAY LUNCHTIME Meeting Room of Crimplex, Church is sitting at the computer obviously playing a game, Mac comes out of her office. “Stone and Angie back with the lunches yet?” Church slams his hand down on the desk, annoyed at being interrupted, “One thousand points, a thousand lousy points and I would have beaten Stones highest score” Chruch glances up at the surveillance screens, and reaches for the door control to let them in “they’re just coming in now” Mac walks over and leans on Churches shoulders, and speaks into his ear “Bad Luck, better luck next time” and walks off with a smirk to help Angie with the lunches. Angie and Stone walk in laughing loudly, Angie unloads her armful of lunches in brown paper bags to Mac, who hands them to Church and Stone before sitting down to unwrap her sandwich, while this is going on, Oscar is reading out the mail. “OK mail has arrived, we have one letter for a Mr Peter J Church” Stone leans over to hand the envelope to Churches outstretched hand “We also have a letter for Ms Ellen E MacKenzie....and another letter for the ever popular Ellen MacKenzie” Mac gives Stone a sarcastic look and snatches her mail “A letter for me and....hang on a letter for Mr and Mrs V. Waddle?? Which tow of us is Mr and Mrs V Waddle?” Oscar places the letter beside him. Church and Mac glance at each other and Mac makes a beeline for the letter, while Church looks at Stone and says defensively; “Look mate, the names WadDELL, not Waddle” adding sarcastically in a real blokey voice “Its a lovely name and I would appreciate it if you did not refer to me and my wifes’” looking at Mac “name like that, thank you” Stone and Angie look at each other giggling, but puzzled at the same time, glancing at Mac quickly reading through the letter “We’re in Pete, we’re going in to bust these money hungry dirtbags” WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON Briefing Room, Mac speaking near whiteboard which is covered with photos and writing, headed with ‘The Stork’, while the rest of the team are sitting around on the table and chairs. “OK guys, we’ll get down to business. About a month and a half ago Pete and I sent a letter to ‘Bonny Babies Adoption Agency’ an illegal adoption ring, taking vulnerable pregnant young, good looking women, many from university and offering them big money to have their children adopted out to couple looking for good looking intelligent, attractive children, and are willing to pay big money for them. Church and I wrote a letter to these people requesting an interview, posing as a married couple unable to have children and today we received the letter requesting we go in for an interview, on Friday. But in order to get enough evidence on these people we have devised a plan to get in, on another angle, thats where you guys come in” Mac looks at Stone and Angie, who just happen to be sitting together, Angie taking a bite of Oscars chocolate bar. “You two are going to go undercover as Drew Maxwell and Karen Sinclaire, two uni students from the country, who have come to uni together and are engaged” Angie and Oscar look pleased with that arrangement, ever since the SWARM operation they had been waiting for another chance to go undercover togther. Mac pauses and looks at Angie before adding “and Karen is eight months pregnant” Angie gapes at Mac, which soon turns into a dirty look, Stone and Church are snickering in the background. “Angie, I’ve arranged pregnancy padding from the hospital for you to wear as well as maternity wear, and I even went to the trouble of bringing you these” Mac pull a series of ultrasound pictures out of her bag and hands them to Angie, Stone cant contain himself any longer and laughs loudly, Angie gives him a hard shove “Dont you laugh, this is your kid!” Angie looks at the pictures, trying to make them out, Mac coughs loudly, wanting to complete her briefing “OK, these are our two main players”, pointing to the two profiles on the white board “Meet Steve and Janelle Christey, the two faces of this little operation, but as yet we don’t have any info on any of their contacts who organise the birth certificates, as well as those who are behind it all. As far as we can tell Steve is the organises clients, while his wife Janelle looks after the infants ready to be adopted. We think that the Christeys get a cut of profits, while the rest of the money is sent interstate or even overseas. These are the two we’re after, Angie, Stone- I want the both of you to pay Mr Christey a visit first thing tomorrow morning, OK guys, lets get too it, Angie come with me.” THURSDAY MORNING Clothing room, Angie leaning on a chair while Mac is fastening the pregnancy padding, before handing Angie a maternity dress to slip over her head. “Here, whack this on” says Mac, hiding a giggle “Why can’t you do this Mac, I look as big as a house” Angie whines as she does up the dress “OK Mac, drill me.” “OK, whats your name, address and occupation?” Says Mac as she folds the remainder of the flowery looking maternity dresses into a suitcase. “My name is Karen Sinclaire, at the moment I’m living in a unit with my fiance Drew Maxwell, which is Unit 6, 142 Croydon Rd, Flemington. I’m a student at Bundoora RMIT to be a primary school teacher, and Drew is at Melbourne Uni studying Agricultural Science.” says Angie, taking a deep breath. “OK Ange, ready to face the guys” says Mac with a laugh, Angie just replies with a look, and walks out the door to a waiting Church and Stone. Scene goes to outside costume room, to garage area, Angie walks out of the door and we see her full profile, looking very pregnant. Stone and Church are in hysterics. Mac is behind Angie, laughing as well. Angie looks at Stone; “Get in the car, lets get this over and done with” Angie walks over to a waiting old model red laser, which matches her uni student profile. Angie squeezes herself into the passenger side, while Stone climbs into the drivers seat, still laughing. THURSDAY LATER IN THE MORNING Stone and Angie are in the car, driving through the busy streets of Melbourne, Stone takes another look at Angie and begins to laugh again, Angie speaks impatiently; “Look just shut up and keep your eyes on the road!” Stone obediently looks at the road in from of him, Angie goes on “So did you and Church set up our cover flat, so I have somewhere to rest my feet after this meeting, my back is killing me, this thing is heavy” Stone replies, with his eyes fixed on the road. “Aahhh, yep, normal drill listening devices in every room except the bathroom and bedroom, its a little small, but.....” Angie interrupts “Bedroom? As in singular?” she gives Stone a menacing look, he quickly defends himself “Well how many uni students do you know with a two bedroom flat in Flemington, with just one couple living with them hey, and its not like the first time we’ve gone undercover together, and I can take the couch...” Angie interrupts once again. “But that might look funny....... you know if we happen to get a visitor during the night or something, and its not like the first time we’ve had to share a bed or anything, we survived at your parents place alright” After the last comment the two sit in silence, remembering past undercover experiences together, in particular when Angie had to pose as Stones girlfriend Michelle on one of his trips home to the country. Stone looks at her and says like the perfect country gentleman he is, “You sure, you know I can take the couch or the floor” This statement is just left hanging, as they continue to drive. THURSDAY LATE MORNING Outside of a nice looking home, in the inner city, Stone rings the doorbell, and footsteps are heard coming down the hall. Angie slips her hand into his, the door opens and the are quickly ushered inside, and taken to what looks like a lounge room, the man who answered the door, the man from the pictures shows them to a couch, Angie sits down awkwardly and Stone places his hand on her knee. A shy looking woman, also shown in Mac’s brief walks into the room and takes a seat next to her husband. After an awkward silence, the man begins to speak; “Well my name in Steve Christey, and this is my wife Jannelle, and we totally understand the situation you are both in, and we want to reassure you both that your making the right decision, regarding both your future and the childs....” A crying baby is heard from one of the back rooms, and Jannelle promptly get up and leaves the room, Steve begins to speak once again; “Sorry, we have a very happy couple coming tomorrow to pick up their new child, where was I... oh yes, you have made the right decision, and by the looks of both of you, good looking and healthy, we should be able to pay you, aaahh compensate you well, very well” Angie looks at Stone, urging him to speak; Aaahhhh... are you sure the child will be going to a good home, with good parents, who will be able to provide the child with love and care?” Stone looks across at the man sitting on the couch, who in turn gives him a big, but false smile. “Of course, of course, why tomorrow we have a couple coming from up near Swan Hill, well off and from a nice home with a daughter, but are unable to have anymore children, and thats where we come in, we can complete their family, with a child of intelligent parantage.” Angie looks reassured, then leans forward to ask, “So when will receive the money? We have gone into debt with all the doctors visits and everything, and need the money soon.” Steve looked behind him as Jannelle walked back into the room, then turned back and replied “We are willing to pay for any doctors bill from here on, but we will not actually pay you until the child is born. So when was your due date??” Stone and Angie both go to reply, but Angie gets in first “Two weeks to go” She moves her hand to rest on Stones, Jannelle smiles warmly at her, and for the first time during the meeting asks, “So have you had an ultrasound, we like to see the pictures and that the baby is healthy before we commit to anything.” Angie reaches for her purse, grateful for the pictures Mac had thought to give her “Here they are, you can keep them if you like, I have no use for them, aahhh do we have to sign anything, because we really have to get going, and we would really like to have some idea of the money we will, well be paid. Scene flashes to van outside, where Mac and Church are listening, waiting for Stone and Angie to get a figure, and a statement that would stand up in court, Mac mumbles to herself “Come on guys, we need something that wont be laughed out of the courtroom” Scene goes back to Oscar and Angie, who are now holding a clipboard with a piece of paper on it, reading through it, Stone looks up and takes a pen from Steve, but before signing confirms whats written for the benefit of Mac and Church, waiting outside in the van “OK, so you guys will pay for the rest of Karen’s doctor visits, and we will receive $10 000 after the baby is born” Steve smiles, but only nods and grunts in response. Oscar looks at Angie, and they both sign the piece of paper and hand it back to Steve, who quickly looks it over, and escorts then to the front door, before giving them a final warning, “We’ve actually been under scrutiny from the cops, so I would advise you to keep this on the quiet, and don’t be alarmed if either one of us, or one of our guys pays you a visit, its for your protection as well as ours, if we’re sprung we’re all in the slammer” then all of a sudden his mood brightened again “OK, we’ll get in contact, take care Karen, plenty of rest remember!” Steve continued as Oscar and got into their car, waving as they drive off. As Angie got into the car, she mumbled into her wire “Sorry guys that was the best we could do, but we’ve got a copy of this contract, meet us at our cover flat in a few hours, we can’t risk going back to the factory” THURSDAY AFTERNOON Stone and Angie are in the cover flat watching television, when Stone throws a peanut at Angie, who retaliates laughing, they continue to throw and laugh until she moves off the couch she is sitting on, and goes to sit on top of Stone. “See I can still beat you and I’m eight and a half months pregnant!! After a moment wrestling, they look into one anothers eyes and Stone puts his arms around Angies waist and they lean forward for a kiss, when the doorbell rings and they can hear Church and Mac outside the door, arguing about Churches driving skills. Angie jumps,and tries to get up but falls onto the floor, Stone quickly gets up and answers the door. He returns quickly with Mac and Church behind him. “Aren’t interrupting anything are we??” Mac gives Angie and inquisitive look, as she pulls Angie up off of the floor, Angie finds her balance, not quite used to the extra weight. “Ahh no Mac, we were just..... I was just, just resting my back. This thing is very heavy” Stone looks at the floor and goes slightly red, while Ange takes a seat next to Mac on the couch, Church is in the chair and Stone is left standing in front of the TV, he is the first one to speak, “I think you guys should book into a motel tomorrow, and make sure your profiles will stand up, cos it looks like this organisation is bigger than we thought, and at the moment are very jumpy about new comers, including us” Church leaned forward and takes a pen off the table and writes on a scrap of paper a phone number. “From now on I think we should go undercover, and communicate through this mobile number, we cant risk being connected in anyway, that will immediately blow our cover. I’ll have to arrange for another team to organise backup and do surveillance, we’re gonna get these guys!” The team nod their heads in agreement, then Mac turns to Stone and adds; “I’ve organised for you to go to Melbourne Uni and join the Agricultural lectures” Stone makes a face, and Church begins to snigger “and Ange you wont need to go to Uni, but I’ve arranged for your name to be on the roll, just in case they decide to do a bit of background work on you, well Pete we better go, leave this young happy couple to it.” Mac and Pete get up to leave, “You stay there Ange, you have to rest remember” said Church as Stone walked them both out. The door is closed and there is the closing of car doors from outside, Stone walks back into the lounge room and takes a seat opposite Ange, there is an awkward silence before they both start to laugh. Outside Mac and Church are driving out of the driveway, as Church reverses out of the driveway Mac asks him; “Do you reckon there anything going on... like between Ange and Stone, they’re acting like, well like we used to when, well when we were together, do you remember?” Church puts the car into first gear and simply replies; “Yeah, I remember” With a strange tone to his voice. LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON Mac and Church are at the warehouse, doing paperwork, when Macs mobile rings. Pete looks inquisitively at her as she answers the phone, “Hello, Andrea Waddell speaking,........yes....yep...ok, ok....... now?...right now!?....ahhh yeah, we’re just in the motel at the moment so we can be there in around half an hour, how does that sound? Good, ok then, bye” Mac presses the button on her phone to hang up, and looks across at Pete “Lets go, we’re on.” Pete immediately gets up, ready as ever for some action, and excuse to put off paper work. Scene goes to the Christeys home, in the same lounge room as Ange and Stone were in before, Mac and Church are sitting together on the couch, Steve is across from them on a their and Jannelle brings them some coffee, Mac takes her cup and says “Thank you very much, just what I needed after the long trip. So why was it that you needed us so suddenly, we weren’t supposed to come until tomorrow?” Mac takes a sip of her coffee, then places it on the coffee table, Steve and Jannelle look at each other with mysterious smiles spreading across their faces, Jannelle then left for the back room, “OK” Steve looks at Mac and Chruch arm in arm “cheque books out, meet your new daughter” Jannelle enters the room with a small bundle in a pink blanket. Mac and Church are momentarily frozen on the couch, Pete who takes it all in quicker than Mac, gets up to look at the child but Jannelle takes the baby to the couch to show the child its new mother, and places the baby in Mac’s arms. Mac laughs nervously, and awkwardly takes the baby, holding the her awkwardly in her arms, “Well I’m speechless, she is absolutely beautiful, my God, Vaughn, come and take a look at our baby girl” Church looks at Mac, the bay now sleeping comfortably in her arms. Despite past experiences he knew Mac had to have a maternal side somewhere, though until now it had remained dormant. He looked up at Steve, “Wow, this is really unexpected mate, thank you, but we don’t have the cash on us, we’ll have to go to the bank, but we’ll be back, I can’t wait to take her home and show her to our other daughter Piper, she’ll love her, she wanted a sister, wont she Andrea” Chruch looked at Mac, but Mac was to busy talking baby talk to the baby, finally looks up, “Vaughn, how about I stay here and you go and get the money, and while your there buy a new capsule and other baby stuff” Church picks up the keys, and Steve speaks to him “When we get the money you will get the birth certificate ready to fill in with your details as well as the childs” Church nodded and left, as Mac looked up at the couple, “Sorry we’re not organised, we didn’t expect to go home with a baby so soon. Would I be able to have a look at the birth certificate, I have chosen a name” But Steve shook his head, “Sorry Andrea not until I have the money in my hand” LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON Mac and Church have left the home and are now driving back to the motel, with the baby sleeping in a capsule in the backseat, Church is driving and Mac, now over her little maternal episode and back into work mode is examining the false birth certificate, Church looks at Mac and then the baby as they are stopped at traffic lights, “All we need now is one of those ‘Baby on Board’ stickers and we’d be the perfect parents, and anyway how come I got no say in what we named her” He turns to Mac as her starts to drive off. “What don’t you like the name I choose, I think Hannah is a pretty name, Hannah Elizabeth, anyway you got to choose the name of our first daughter..” Mac smiles to herself, ever since she was a girl that was what she was going to name her daughter, but her mind soon goes back to business “They’ve done a good job of these certificates, no one would ever know, they must have someone working for them in the hospital, and all thats needed is for the real parents is to say that they can’t decide on a name, then the certificate with the real parents name would be destroyed and this one sent away with the baby. All we need do is send it to the Department of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Too easy” A whimper is heard from the back seat, Mac looks across at Church, “Hey, did you get the nappies and formula, cos we’re gonna need them, I can’t see what else we can do. We’ll have to keep her until the case is over” She looks across at Church, who just smiles in reply. He knows very well there were a number of different places they could place the baby, and that they’re part in the case was as good as over, but he liked the idea of spending a couple of days with just him and Mac. And the baby. The baby was bringing out a side of Mac he had never seen, and he could feel himself falling for her all over again. THURSDAY NIGHT Angie and Stone are getting ready for bed. Angie comes out of the bedroom, wearing a maternity nightie, complaining again, “I wish I could take this thing off, even if it was just when I was asleep” Oscar gave her a sympathetic look, “You know you can’t, we’ve had two visits so far, and who’s to say there wont be more, last time they even rang the door bell. We can’t risk...” As Oscar was finishing his sentence the phone rang, and he went to get it while Ange climbed into the big double bed. His voice could be heard from the bedroom, “yep, alright..... yeah..... oh my God, your kidding, oh wow, ok, ok, I’ll tell Ange, yeah sometime tomorrow, ok then good luck, bye” Oscar walks back into the room, with a wide grin across his face, as he climbs into the bed, “Ya never gonna guess what happened to Mac and Church today, they got a baby, Oscar burst into laughter, with Ange. “Your kidding, you remember Mac’s previous experiences with kids and little babies, she’s gonna go crazy” Stone nods in agreement, but adds “Maybe it will bring out some hidden maternal side no ones ever seen, you never know” they both looks at each other and begin to laugh again, and together say “Narr!!” They continue laughing to themselves, both moving down onto their separate pillows, giggling to themselves, at last Angie turns to Oscar, “Night,” Oscar turns to look at her and simply replies, “Goodnight Ange” He reaches for the light, and they both turn over to go to sleep. VERY EARLY FRIDAY MORNING Church and Macs hotel room, the alarm clock show 2:43pm, the baby begins to cry, and Churches voice is heard coming from the couch “Your turn, sweetheart” Mac rolls over in the bed and turns on the light, wearing a pair of tracky pants and a singlet top. She goes over to the capsule sitting on the floor, and picks up the crying infant, “ssshhhhh come on, you can’t be hungry and your nice and dry” the baby continues to scream, Church puts his head under his pillow, Mac continues to comfort the baby, “Come on Hannah, sshhhhhhh” The baby continues to wail, Mac cradling the baby climbs back into bed, and begins humming to her, “Hush little bay dont say a word, Mamma’s gonna buy you a mocking bird and if......” Churches voice cuts through Macs out of key singing “No wonder the kids’ squawking, I would be to if you sung to me!” Mac looks insulted, and the baby goes on crying as Mac gently rocks her, “Come on Pete, I’d like to see you try” All of a sudden the blankets are thrown off the couch and Pete goes over to the bed, looks at Mac and the baby for a second, then climbs in beside Mac and takes the baby, and holds her close to his chest. Mac looks on, staring at the sweet looking baby, sleeping on Petes chest, and goes to say something, but Pete raises his fingers to his lips. They both sit there in silence looking at one another. EARLY FRIDAY MORNING Stone and Angies apartment, early in the morning. Stone is awake, looking at Angie while she sleeps, she has moved across to his side of the bed during the night. She breaths deeply, just as the doorbell rings, she startles and wakes up and looks at Stone who quickly gets out of bed, and leaves the room A strange man is at the door, he hands Stone a note and quickly goes away without saying a word, Stone goes back into the bedroom, opens the note and reads it aloud to Ange; “Drew and Karen, we are sorry about the interruptions but they are necessary. We have had a change of address, please do not try and contact us we will contact you. Signed: Steve Christey. Must have got spooked do ya reckon, well, this case might just drag on do ya reckon. It was meant to be open and shut.” Stone looks at Angie laying up in the bed “I don’t mind though” Stone is standing at the end of the bed in a pair of boxers, shivering, Angie looks at his scrawny legs and laughs, Stone runs and jumps under the covers, he looks at Ange and makes small talk, “Sooo.. did ya have a good sleep?” Angie smirks “Between this thing” she points to her stomach “and your non stop snoring, no I didn’t” Stone just responded with a laugh, and added mischievously, “Ya know, we don’t really have to get up for another couple of hours, we could... I dunno, just lay here spouse” Angie moves over and lays her head on Stones chest, and he wrapped his arm around her, placing her hand awkwardly on the pregnancy padding, she looked up at his face, “Yeah, we could.... if ya really want to, we could do something else” Stone looks at Ange very interested “if, if I wasn’t as big as a house” Stone laughed, he was just content to have Angie in his arms. EARLY FRIDAY MORNING Mac and Church motel room, Church is asleep on the double bed, with the baby lying on his chest fast asleep. Mac is at a lap top computer working, she turns to look at Church and smiles, just as his eyes open she quickly turns around pretending to be wrapped in her work. Church smiles and gently places the baby on the bed, putting some blankets over her and goes over to see what Mac is doing, placing his head on her shoulder to look at the computer screen he asks; “Found anything?” Mac continues to scroll down the page before answering “No, not really, nothing on the internet advertising the agency, and there both got squeaky clean records, but I did manage to find the meaning of Hannah, its Hebrew for gracious and merciful.” She turned to looked at the baby sleeping soundly on the bed, and for a moment leant her head against Petes, when the phone rang, and she jumped up and got it, while pointing to the table where Petes cold breakfast was waiting for him, it was Ange on the phone; “Hey Ange, yeah we did....... its not funny, you should see her...... about two hours sleep I reckon...., yeah, she’s sleeping now, yeah ok” Macs voice became all serious “moved? where? when?.......... ok Ange, I’ll get some of the guys on to it... yeah tell me when they make contact again, ok.....so what time did Stone leave?..... yeah sure, I see no harm in that, just keep the padding on, just in case someone tails you or something ok see you, take care, bye.... hang on, Ange, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. OK, you to, bye.” Mac hung up the phone, and turned to Pete and said in a low voice so not to wake Hannah, “The Christey’s have moved, but they haven’t shut up shop, so we can still get them. I don’t know what spooked them, maybe the local coppers were hanging around, I’ll get onto headquarters and warn them to stay away” Church shoves his plate of food away, “This is bloody cold!” Mac laughed “I didn’t want to wake you, sorry. Anyway what are we going to do today, we can’t do anything more on this case, but we can’t go home.” Pete looked up at her and smiled, “Lets show this kid the sights of Melbourne, and get me some food!” Mac looked back at him and smiled in agreement, “I’ll get all her stuff, you get dressed” FRIDAY MORNING Angie, dressed in a pair of maternity overall, with a bag over her arm is leaving the flat, but notices at note on the back of the front door, reading: Ange, I have a craving for one of your roast lambs, with mint sauce. Please. Love Oscar. Ange read the note over and smiled to herself, as she put the note on the table and left. Scene moves to a busy suburban mall, where Angie is having a cup of tea at a cafe, with groceries beside her. As Angie is sitting by herself at the cafe, a couple of older women walk past her smiling at her large stomach, Angie smiles back, then hears a familiar voice calling out for a Michelle, Ange turns around only to see Stones mother coming toward her, but Mrs Pierce stops dead in her tracks when she see’s Angies stomach. Angie smiles at her and waves for her to come over, with a glistening engagement ring on her finger. Angie remembers the ring, but it is to late, Mrs Pierce has seen it too, and came rushing over. Angie takes a sip of her tea looking worried as Mrs Pierce takes a seat opposite her, and takes her hand with the engagement band, nearly in tears of happiness for what she see’s; “Oh Michelle, I’m so happy for you and my Cam, I can’t believe he’s actually engaged and about to become a father, why didn’t he tell us! But that doesn’t surprise me, Cam is such....” Then Mrs Pierce stops, and starts to go red and embarrassed “This is Cam’s isn’t it, its the two of you who are engaged, you guys didn’t break it off did you?” Mrs Pierce looks straight at Ange, Ange, stammering at first starts to speak “No, no Mrs Pierce Cam and I are, are engaged” Ange didn’t have the heart to tell Shirley that they weren’t engaged, not after the weekend she had spent at his house. And her and Oscar were really good friends, and enjoyed flirting with each other, and maybe.... but Shirley immediately makes assumptions looking down at Angie’s stomach looks down at her stomach, Mrs Pierce asks, “So the baby is his to!! My Cam is full of surprises, but why didn’t he ring us, or tell us when we talked on the phone. He talked plenty about you though...” Angie interrupts “Does he really?” Mrs Pierce smiles back at Angie “Of course my dear, he talks of nothing else, but to hide the fact you were pregnant, he knows how much I want a grandchild, I don’t care that your not married, maybe thats why Cam didn’t tell me, silly boy he is.... by the looks of you your ready to drop, I have to knit you some a baby things, isn’t that what Grandma’s do. But I don’t think I want to be called Grandma, maybe Nan....” Angie interrupts again, before Mrs Pierce got her hopes to high “Shirley, the baby isn’t Cam’s ” Shirley looks at Angie, shocked, but Ange goes on, “Aaahhh I mean ours, it isn’t ours, its, its, its my sisters’, she can’t have children, its her egg, and her husbands sperm, I’m just carrying the baby” Ange looks across at Mrs Pierce to see if she believes the story, Mrs Pierce looks disappointed, but replies “So some day, I'll will be a Gran..... a Nan, but just not yet, hopefully soon though" Shriley smiles at Angie, and winks an eye before adding "and Michelle, call me Mum now. We’re gonna be family” Mrs Pierce looked at the ring on Anges finger, and was happy again. Her mother’s intuition told her that Cameron had found his perfect match, and she would soon be a grandmother. FRIDAY LATE MORNING Outside Stone and Angie’s apartment, Angie is on the phone to Stone. “Yes your mother.... of course she knew me, she now thinks we’re engaged..... of course she noticed the padding, shes not blind..... I just told her that I was carrying my sisters child, and she believed me...... yeah, hang on Oscar, someone’s been in here...” Angie pushed the front door open, where the lock had been broken. Everything in side had been put on the floor. Angie immediately looked toward the bench where she had left the note. It was gone. Angie lifted the phone to her ear, “Stone they have the note, They have your note, come home now” FRIDAY LUNCH TIME Mac and Church are sitting on a park bench in the city, Mac is bottle feeding the baby, while Church looks at photo of the three of them, taken in one of those little booths, him and Mac cheek to cheek, looking happier than they have ever been before, Church holding Hannah. An old lady walks by and comments to Mac and Church; “Oh, what a beautiful baby, you three make the perfect family” Mac and Church look at each other, and thank the lady, for a moment there is silence between the two before Mac looks down at the baby, then to Church “Pete, we could just get in that car and keep going you know. Take Hannah-Bananna with us, we could make a go of it, couldn’t we?” Mac rests her head on Petes shoulder and he moves his head to smell her hair, like her used to, and the three look like a picture perfect family’ The scene is broken by Macs phone, she hands the baby over to Church to burp, while she answered the phone. “Ange, hi..... no....yeah...ok, right now... ok, Ange? Ange? Angie?!” Mac turns to Church, looking worried “Ange and Stones security has been compromised, and her phone just suddenly cut out lets go” FRIDAY LUNCH TIME Stone arrives to the flat, and walks in the door, seeing the place totally trashed, he looks around the room for Ange. The blinds have been pulled closed, but he could see Angie sitting on a chair in the corner. Bound and gagged. He rushed forward, just as Steve Christey and the thug who had delivered the note came forward, both with guns. Stone was taken back for a moment, but then his professional side came through “Karen, Karen, why are they here, are you all right?” Stone decided his best option was to play dumb, but Steve Christey was smart; “Karen is it now, not Angie. And who are you? Drew or was it Oscar?? Hey, I had a feelin’ about you’s two the moment you walked in, something just wasn’t quite right” Stone looked at Ange, and tried to talk to Steve again; “Look mate, I don’t know why your here, ok, would someone please explain?” Stone looked again into Angies terrified eyes. Oscar added “Please mate, would ya just let her go. Take me, please, I’m begging you” Steve looked across at Stone, then back at Angie, and replied “Don’t worry mate I will take you, just as soon as I take your partner. Cos thats what you are isn’t it. Cops, dirty rotten, stinkin’ bloody coppers” Steve held the gun up against Angies head, pulling her head back by her ponytail, Angie shuts her eyes, Stone tries again, “Look, you’ve got it wrong. My name is Drew Maxwell and I study Agricultural Science at Melbourne Uni, I just got home, please you have to believe us, I’m telling you the truth” Oscar looks at Angie as she opens her eyes, tears are now falling down her bruised face, Steve looks up at Stone, “What about the note then, to Angie from Oscar, hey whats that about, huh?” Oscar immediately answered the question “Its, its what we call each other, I’m Oscar as in... Oscar the Grouch and, and Angela is Karen’s middle name, so thats what I call her, please I’m telling the truth, let her go. If you kill her you wont have our baby, now will you, please, let us go, or just let her go. I love her” Stone looked down at Angie, for he had spoken the truth, he finally had the guts to tell how he really felt, how he had felt for the past year, just when they were about to be shot. FRIDAY LUNCH TIME Mac and Church are driving through the city, with Hannah in the capsule in the back seat. Church is driving while Mac is trying to tune into the surveillance system in the house, Stones voice is heard through a series of scratches on the small machine; “Look Steve, let Karen go and I’ll give you what ever you want” Mac looked across at Church who put his foot to the accelerator, Mac stayed to call for back up, “.... we need backup urgently at Unit 6, 142 Croydon Rd, Flemington. silent approach, I repeat silent approach” Mac placed the receiver back onto the radio, just as Church pulled into a car space opposite Stone and Angies unit. Mac went to jump out of the car, but Church held her back, “You can’t go in alone, and we can’t leave Hannah in here by herself. At any rate we can’t go in, it’ll blow our cover, and you never know Stone could still talk his way out of it” Mac reluctantly agreed and closed the door again. She went to the radio and tuned it in properly, the conversation inside the flat could be heard clearly now, it appeared that Oscar had managed to talk them around, and the two men were preparing to leave the flat, Steve Christey was talking to Stone, “OK, ok I believe you, you know too much boring crap about farms and artificial insemination programs to be a copper, lucky. You know you’ve signed a contract for the kid, for $10 000 dollars, and you can’t back out, cos next time I’ll finish the job on your pretty little fiance, got it” Stone nodded his head, and the two men went out through the front door. FRIDAY AFTERNOON Mac and Church were waiting in the car, listening to all of this, relieved Oscar had been able to talk his way out of the situation as well as get Christey to say aloud explicit details of his operation. The two laid low in their seats as Christey and his thug drove off, Stones voice could be heard over the radio, talking to himself; “Thank God, I’m a country boy” Mac and Church looked at each other and just smiled, grateful for the fact he was to. Mac turned around in the seat to check Hannah, sitting up in her capsule gurgling away, oblivious to what just took place. Mac took her out of the capsule, and looked around he street before she and Church went into Stone and Angies cover flat. FRIDAY AFTERNOON Mac and Church walk through the door, and into the lounge room, where Oscar had finished untying Angie and they were on the couch, Stone was gently looking at Angies bruised face. Angie was being brave and not crying, hardly even wincing when Stone brushed his hand across her cut eye. Then she heard Macs voice “Are you guys alright?” Angie turned around to see Mac and Church, Angie got up to go to Mac, Mac gave Hannah quickly to Church, and hugged the now sobbing Angie, as only a best friend can do. Mac leads Angie into the bedroom, while Church went to the fridge, pulled out two stubbies and the three of them, including Hannah sat on the couch and just sat there. FRIDAY AFTERNOON The whole team is gathered in the lounge room of the cover flat. Mac and Ange are on the couch, while the guys are in the armchairs. Mac is giving Hannah her bottle, just like an expert, but talks to Stone and Ange in a disciplinary tone; “I don’t need to tell you how stupid that note was, now do I? It could have blown our cover or worse, you know that don’t you? OK, I’m not gonna say anymore, just that you’re both very lucky that your heads weren’t blown off.” Stone and Angie looked at Mac, but it was hard to take her that seriously when she was cradling a baby, but answered; “Yes Mac” together like school children. Mac went on “I think now we have enough evidence to bust these guys, if we knew where they were, but I’m sorry we’re just gonna have to wait for them to come to us, is that alright with you guys?” Ange and Mac nodded They all relaxed for a second, and Mac had Hannah on her shoulder rubbing her back, Church looked at his watch; “I think its time we went, just in case Christey decides to call again, and I think its time Han went to bed, shes had a big day” Church and Mac got up, Mac still holding the baby while Pete took Hannahs baby bag. Stone and Ange walked them to the door. As Church and Mac left, Pete put his arms around Macs waist, making silly noises at the baby as they walked toward the car.. Angie and Stone were left alone together again, Stone drew Angie in close to him, and said “Mac and Pete will make great parents one day, don’t you think??” Angie nodded in agreement, Stone continued “Ange, how about we order pizza, and eat it in bed and watch some TV?” Angie smile at the idea, “mmmmm sounds great, as long as the pizza has olives on it” Stone makes a face, but reluctantly says; “OK, I suppose so” Angie laughs then adds “Stone?” Angie puts her head back on Stones shoulder “Yeah Ange” “I love you too” Stone just smiles, and kisses her forehead. FRIDAY EVENING Mac and Church are driving through the city at night, eating McDonalds, discussing what is the best plan to wrap up the operation, while the baby is sleeping in the back seat. Church takes a bite of his Big Mac, so Mac continues, “We have to get them out of there, if I know Christey he is not going to let his suspicions rest, I can’t believe they were careless enough to leave a note with their identities on it” Mac shook her head and took a bite of her burger, Church looked across while they waited at an intersection, “Wonder what it said?” Pete said, “What what said?” Mac says with her mouth full, “The note.” Pete looked across and smiled, they both looked at each other, with knowing looks, trying to guess Oscars note. FRIDAY NIGHT Angie and Stone are sitting up in the double bed, with a two litre bottle of coke between them and a half eaten pizza. Angie is holding frozen peas to her forehead. Stone looked at Ange, when he suddenly remembered about his mother being in town. “Did I hear you right, when you said something about my mother?” Angie looked across at Stone and laughed, “Aahh yeah” Stone took another piece of pizza, and after a second of chewing added “And she thinks we’re engaged?” Oscar put his piece of pizza down and had a swig of coke. “Yeah, well what could I say? I didn’t have the heart to tell her we broke up and I’m engaged to someone else it would make me look shallow and cheap. at least she doesn’t think the baby is yours, I got us out of that one” Anges reached for the coke to have a drink and continued “Its not that bad is it, its not as if we don’t like each other, or argue at all, or anything like that. It could have been worse now couldn’t it, you could have been engaged to Mac, or even worse, Danni” Oscar nearly chokes on his pizza “Yeah, but Mum and Dad didn’t think I was going out with them. Mum has been telling me for months now I should snap you up and propose. She even offered to choose the engagement ring and throw a big party. She loves you Ange, the whole family does.” Ange snuggled down on to Oscars shoulder, adjusting the packet of peas on her forehead, and the padding. “You know Oscar, we don’t have to tell her that we’re not engaged you know, we could I dunno.... leave things the way they are, maybe all of this happening is a sign” Oscar looked down at Ange “More like a kick up the arse” Ange laughed only Oscar could say something like that at a moment like this, just one of the many little quirks she loves him for FRIDAY NIGHT Mac and Church are at the door to there motel room, there was a note on the front of them as they walked through the door. Pete bent down to grab the note, while Mac placed the sleeping Hannah in her capsule on the table, and came back to read the note with Church Andrea and Vaughn, meet us on the corner of Elizabeth and Burke St, at 11 o’clock to finalise our transactions and meet one of our supervisors. Steve Christey. Mac looked confused, and turned to Pete saying in a whisper, so not to wake Hannah “How do they know we’re still in town? They must have had someone on our tail” Pete wasn’t worried about how the Christey’s knew where they were, he was worried they knew who they were “They know its us Mac, they know we’re the moles. Think about it. Why else would they like to contact us. But why in such a public place? Thats what I don’t get, they have to have a plan of some sort” Mac went over to the table “I’m taking Hannah over to Stone and Angie’s, we can’t let her stay here, they might come after us. You stay here just in case” Church nodded, and went to look out of the window “Hey Mac, watch out for the burnt orange VT, I reckon thats them” Mac went over to the window, seeing the car “I’ll go out the side door, and I’ll catch a cab, they wont even notice” FRIDAY NIGHT Angie comes back into her and Stones room, from taking out the pizza box and empty drink. Oscar is on his mobile to his mother, “Sorry Mum, yeah..... I know,,,, It sorta happened all of a sudden... yeah she is great... yeah her and her sister are really close.... yeah its amazing what they can do these days. OK Mum, tomorrow night yeah ok, it might change though, yep, you too bye” Stone opens the covers to let Angie back in “Mum sends her love, I said we will have tea with her tomorrow night, thats alright isn’t it?” Ange, still getting herself comfy answered “Yeah sure, thats fine, you tired?” She leant up against Stone “No, you?” “Narr, not really” “Is your face still sore?” Stone leant down, so his face was close with Ange’s “No” she smiled, Oscar leans forward “So I can do this” Oscar leans forward, kissing her gently, as there lips part, Angie looks into his eyes “Mmm I’m feeling fine” she said as she leans in to kiss him again. Oscar brushes her hair off Angies forehead, and moves his hand down to put around his waist, getting the pregnancy padding instead, they both start to laugh when the doorbell rings. They both come to attention, knowing only a few people know they’re there, Mac and Church and the Christeys’ Stone quickly gets up to, signalling for Angie to wait there, while he got the door. After a couple of seconds her walks back in, holding Hannah, all wrapped up in a pink blanket, giving a disappointed look to Angie, who was feeling the same way. FRIDAY NIGHT Mac comes back into the motel room, Pete is till by the window, watching the people in the commodore. Mac is out of breath from running up the stairs, she goes overto Pete “Any news?” She peaks through the blinds “Nope, but I have a feeling our friends are going to be watching us all night. They didn’t notice you go though. Hows Ange?” Mac goes over to the kitchen, flicking on the switch for the kettle “Yeah alright. Want a coffee, its gonna be a long night” Pete nods his head and Mac continues as she makes the coffees. “I didn’t see Ange. Stone said she was alright, but was in bed, I didn’t stay long, just in case” Mac finishes making the coffees’ and sits at the small table with Pete, both feel as though something is missing, surprisingly Mac is the first to admit it. “I miss her” Mac looks down at her watch “its time for her bottle, I might give Stone and Angie a ring on the mobile” Pete smiles, he misses Hannah as well. Mac puts the phone to her ear “Hi Ange, how are you?..... And Hannah, shes alright? OK..... don’t forget to burp her.... yeah I know, its just that, I dunno....... ok, I know... Hey Ange, this case should be finished by tomorrow night....... yeah we’ll go in for the sting tomorrow, 11 o’clock on the corner of Elizabeth and Burke streets.......... thats what we thought, yeah ok......... take care of her........ hey and Ange, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do..... ok Ange, bye.” Mac hung up the phone and looks at the anxious Pete “Don’t worry, they’ve fed and changed her and she is now fast asleep. Why are we worrying like this. You’d think she’s, you’d think she’s ours, wouldn’t you?” Pete agreed “Yeah, she is beautiful, just like you” Mac felt the red spreading across her face, but remarked to Church “Yeah, but she has your devious attitude” SATURDAY MORNING Stone and Angie are eating breakfast at the table, in their pj’s Stone is bottle feeding Hannah, while Ange is eating toast. “Hey Ange?” Stone looks up form feeding Hannah “Yeah” “You were serious last night weren’t you, because if you weren’t you know you don’t have to go through with anything you don’t want to. But I really want to, that if if you do...” Oscar stopped talking, knowing he was just digging himself deeper and deeper. Ange began to speak “I know it was kind of sudden, but I don’t have any reservations, like I did when Rob proposed. I know I love you, and we don’t have to get married straight away, and if you wouldn’t mind I’d like to keep it from Mac and Church, not for long, just for now, what do you think?” Stone smiled, he wasn’t sure if Ange had been serious the night before, but now he knew she was. “I think I can handle that, but you know my mother has most probably told the whole town by now don’t you?” Ange laughed, then looked at Stone burping Hannah “You’re pretty good at this, your gonna make a great Dad one day” Stone smiled at Ange “We’re gonna make great parents” SATURDAY MORNING Mac and Church are in at the corner of Elizabeth and Burke street, waiting for the Christeys, all rugged up in coats, shivering in the steady drizzle. Mac is wearing a suit with a short skirt, while Church is in a suit. Mac confirms the situation with Church while they are waiting “OK, once we’re they and we get the information we want I’ll get on my mobile and call in the back-up” Church nodded as a taxi pulls into the taxi zone beside them, and Steve Christey is sitting in the back, gesturing for them to get in the taxi. Mac and Church get in the back seat of the taxi with Steve, and the taxi driver takes off. The white van can be seen through the back window following them. Pete sitting in the middle turns to Steve “Where are we going mate, we were due to leave for home today?” Mac turned toward Steve, also wanting to know the answer “My boss flew in this morning, and he wants to meet some of our clients, and we thought while you were still in Melbourne it may as well be you.We also were wondering if you would be interested in another child, sometime? By the way, where’s little Hannah?” Mac and Church looked doubtfully, wondering if they had just walked in to some kind of trap, but were willing to keep going if it meant even the slightest chance of cracking this operation. Mac answered his question “Oh she’s just at my sisters” SATURDAY MORNING Stone and Angie are tuning in a radio to Mac and Churches operation. They are both still in their pajama’s and Ange is holding a sleeping Hannah. “Your going to spoil her, holding while she sleeps, you know that don’t you” Ange just replied with a smirk, and looked down at Hannah. Oscar kept trying to tune in the radio unit “I told you Oscar, we’re too far away” But just as Angie spoke, Steve Christeys voice could be heard over the radio. “Ready, we’re here” SATURDAY MORNING Mac and Church are getting out of a taxi parked in from of a hotel, Steve Christey follows them out. They all walk into the foyer of the hotel, before going into the elevator. Inside the elevator, Church tries to get any extra information “So who are we gonna see, Steve, because we’ve got to go home soon?” Steve hit the floor button and answered “Just one of my bosses, he’s interested in whats happening with the business, nothing for you to worry about” The door os the elevator open and the three of them get out and walk across the hall into one of the rooms, where a lady of a round sixty years old is waiting for them, “Well I’m glad you could come, sorry for any inconvenience, please, sit down” Church and Mac took a seat on the sofa, while Christey sat on a chair. The woman began to speak, “So are you happy with your new daughter?” The woman went on, not waiting for an answer “see thats the thing about Bonny Babies, you are assured that the parentage of your child comes from intelligent good looking people, rather than just any low life, with normal adoption, and the fact that you get the birth certificate on your own name is just a bonus, so are these the reasons you both choose to go with Bonny Babies?” This time the woman expected an answer, Mac got up “Excuse me, but could I please use your bathroom?” The woman looked at Mac and smiled, “Yes, of course dear, its just through there” The lady pointed down a small hallway, and Mac left the room, leaving Church with the others. Mac soon returned and the meeting went on, when there was a loud bang at the door, as it was kicked in, and six uniformed police in vests stormed in “Freeze, you are all under arrest” The police officer searched all four of them, before handcuffing them and taking them out of the room. Once they were outside, Mac and Church were taken out of handcuffs, and Mac went over to Pete, “Come on, lets go see Stone and Ange, tell them its over” Church agreed and climbed into the car SATURDAY LUNCH TIME Ange and Stone are in the apartment, Ange is still holding the sleeping Hannah, when there is a knock at the door. Ange and Stone look at one another, the loud knock had woken Hannah and she was now crying, as Stone quickly went to hid the radio, and ran back to answer the door. Ange stayed in the lounge trying to comfort Hannah went Janelle Christey walked in. Immediately Ange his Hannah’s face as Jannelle explained what was happening, “OK Karen, its time to have your baby” Stone and Ange looked at each other in alarm, Stone looked at Jannelle, “But shes not due for another week.” Jannelle laughed “I know that, we have a doctor who is willing to induce labour, if we go there right now, so leave the baby with Drew and come with me Karen” Ange looked terrified, “Can’t Drew come with me? He can drop his niece of at his..... Mum to look after” Jannelle Christey gave in “OK, he can meet us there, here’s the address” She handed a piece of paper to Stone, he looked like he was about to object, but Jannelle got in before him “We have our guy waiting in the car, he will come in and take her by force if needed, so Karen come with me now” Ange had no choice but to give Hannah to Stone, and collect a bag and leave, as she went out the door, she gave Stone a hug, and kissed him for real. After Ange left, Stone put the still crying Hannah over his shoulder and picked up the phone to ring Mac, but before he had finished dialling the number, Mac and Church walked through the still open door. Stone saw them and immediately gave the baby to Mac and picked up the car keys “They’ve got Ange, they’re gonna find out shes not pregnant any minute, we’ve got to go now” Mac immediately went to the phone to call for back up, with the address on Oscars piece of paper, while Oscar and Church went out the door, to go and get Ange. SATURDAY LUNCH TIME Ange had arrived at a small doctors surgery, and was being taken in by Jannelle. Ange had no idea what to expect, and hated not being able to control the situation, her only hope being that Stone had been able to arrange back up in time, but she wasn’t sure if he would have been able to, with all their resources at Mac and Churches sting, and he had to look after Hannah. Ange was now in the waiting room, with Jannelle. Ange looked around the room, it was a normal doctors surgery, apart from the fact no one else was in the waiting room. A door leading off the room was opened and a male doctor came out “OK Karen, I’m ready for you now” Ange got up and took a deep breath before following the doctor into the small room. Once they were in the room, He told Ange to get up onto the table, and took his stethoscope and placed it on her bulging stomach, and waited to hear a heartbeat. After a second he went back to his desk and took the small ultrasound picture, that Jannelle must have given to him. He came back over and put his hands on to Angies stomach and looked up with a puzzled look on his face, just as Church came through the door, with his gun. The doctor looked shocked as he was handcuffed. Oscar came in through a back door and took Angie into his arms again, both of them looking relieved. SATURDAY EVENING Back at the crimplex, all four operatives were gathered with their newest member, bay Hannah wrapped up in a blanket in Macs arms. Stone looked down at his watch, and turned to Ange “We better go if we want to......” He paused, realising Mac and Church knew nothing about the relationship “if we want to, to clean out the cover flat before tomorrow” Ange looked down at her watch “Yeah, I nearly forgot, lets go” Ange got up to say goodbye to Hannah, giving her a kiss, then said to Mac “Would I be able to use the pregnancy padding, because the landlord is going to be there” “Yeah sure Ange, its just in the storeroom” Ange and Stone said they’re goodbyes and left for the storeroom, Church cracked open another can and looked at Mac “How long do you reckon the two of them will last?” Mac laughed “The question is how long do you reckon they will try to hide it from us” Both of them laughed, then Mac said “Social services aren’t coming for Hannah until tomorrow, would you like to come out to tea with the both of us for a last time” Church smiled, “Yeah sure, but I’m driving” SATURDAY EVENING Ange and Stone are in the store room, Ange takes out the pregnancy padding from behind a locker, Stone makes a face and walks over to Ange, pinning her against the locker, kissing her passionately, Ange broke away and said “Come on, we have to go, meet your mother in the city” Stone reluctantly broke away, to let Ange put on the pregnancy padding. SATURDAY NIGHT Mac and Church are sitting in a restaurant, eating their meal, Hannah is beside Macs chair in her capsule sleeping, Church raises his wine glass “Here’s to Hannah, and her future” Mac raised her glass, and began to cry “I don’t want to give her back Pete, I want her to be mine” Pete reached across the table to hold Macs hand, “I know, I know you do..” Mac picked up her serviette and dabbed her eyes “But you don’t understand Pete, I never was the motherly type, you know that, this is the first time I have ever felt attached to a baby, and now I have to give her back” Pete looked across at her tear stained face “You know she’s going to go to a couple who will love her, who can’t have children, and give her the attention that you and I can’t, but someday you’ll will be able to have a child of your own, and you will be able to give it the attention it deserves, it just wont work at this time in your life” Mac looked up at Church and replied “Thanks Pete, that means a lot to me” SATURDAY NIGHT Ange and Stone arrive back at Angies apartment, and go into the lounge room, Ange goes to the fridge and gets a glass of water “Your Mum seemed a bit disappointed with the suggestion of a long engagement didn’t she?” Stone laughed “Yeah, but I’m sure she will get over it” He laughed as Ange joined him on the couch, Ange looked down at the pregnancy padding “I can’t wait to get this thing off” Oscar smiled mischievously “I can always help with that” Ange laughed and kissed him lightly on the lips before getting up and taking his hand, pulling him off the couch and leading him to the bedroom. THE END!!