"Happily Ever After" 
by Imogen Freeman (imfree_80@yahoo.com)

Setting- some time in the future, at a place similar
to Sydney's Balmoral Beach (basically, a beach with a
huge, long footpath and grass close by) 
Disclaimer-do I need to bother? Like I own Stingers...

on with the story.....

She pounded the pavement furiously. 'Why do I have
so many problems?' she thought to herself. Her life
was a joke. True, her work was going well, but what
about friends, family? Those were the things she
craved.
She looked around as she jogged. Sunday was the day
of the family. Happy families surrounded her wherever
she looked. One family in particular caught her
attention. She looked at them again, in disbelief. The
mother was sleeping on a picnic blanket, with a
sleeping baby on her chest. Next to her a young girl
played with a Barbie.
As she approached the family, she slowed to a
walking pace as she stopped beside the young girl.
"Hi, what's your name?" she asked quietly.
"Mummy and daddy say I can't talk to strangers,"
the girl whispered back.
"It's ok, I'm not a stranger. I think I know your
mum. What's her name?"
Just as the girl was about to reply, her mother
stirred into life. "Leah, who are you talking to?"
As she opened her eyes she cast them from her daughter
to the mysterious jogger.
"Danni?" she asked.
"Are you still going by the name of Mac?"
As she sat up, clutching her baby, Danni moved over
to hug her long-lost friend, "Oh Mac, it's so good to
see you again!"
"Yeah.....did my daughter introduce herself? She's
a bit of a talker."
Danni smiled.
"This is Leah, she's four, and this is my 3-week
old baby, Harry."
"Oh, Mac, he's gorgeous," Danni replied, accepting
the baby Mac was passing her. "I can't believe it! By
the looks of that ring, you're a married mother of
two!"
"Yeah," Mac replied, looking down at her wedding
ring, "You're almost right." Mac continued as Danni
gave her a puzzled look, "I have three children. Leah
has a twin brother, Jake. He's gone with my husband to
get fish and chips."
As Danni passed the now crying baby back to his
mother, she began firing questions at Mac.
"So, what happened to you? I followed your career
for a while, promotion after promotion, then you kind
of just disappeared."
"Well," Mac took a deep breath before attempting a
long explanation to her friend, "After I left the unit
I went to a desk job, had a few promotions, got
married, got pregnant and then I left."
"Have you had much contact with the rest of the old
team?"
"Not since Angie's funeral," Mac replied sadly.
"That was a few months before my wedding. I would have
invited you, except I knew that having my old job, I
would have trouble finding you."
"What about Pete?" Danni asked. "You guys were best
friends, weren't you? Is he still with Collette?"
Mac smiled at the memories flooding back into her
head, "Yeah, Pete and I were close. As far as I know,
he's no longer with Collette." Changing the subject
Mac continued, "How's Oscar doing? he hasn't been the
same since Ang died, has he?"
"The last I heard aboout Oscar was that he moved
back to his parents farm a year ago. He left the unit,
you knew that didn't you?"
Mac nodded, focussing her attention to a loud young
boy running across the grass screaming, "Mummmmyyyyy!"
Mac smiled and opened her free arm to catch the boy.
"Who's that?" he asked, looking from Mac to Danni.
"This is an old friend of mummy's," she replied.
"Jake, this is Danni; Danni, this is my other son
Jake." 
"Where's daddy, Jake?" Leah asked. "I want him to
play Barbies with me."
"He's only walking. I ran all the way," Jake beamed
proudly. 
"Danni, I can't wait for you to meet my husband."
"I know. I can't wait to meet him either. What's he
like?"
"Well," Mac started, "He's a great father to these
three......" Mac continued raving about her husband,
grinning from ear to ear. Danni assumed that it was
purely happiness on Mac's part, but little did she
know Mac's husband was walking up to them behind
Danni.
Danni jumped a mile when a male voice behind her
asked, "Danni?"
She turned around and gasped in surprise at who she
saw. "Pete! Oh my god! It's so good to see you!" she
exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him.
"What are you doing here?" he asked her.
"Oh, I've just been hearing how fantastic Mac's
husband is. Come and sit down, you can hear too-take
notes even!" Danni replied, just like the old Danni.
Pete ignored Danni's remark, instead turning to
pick up his baby son. "Is Harry still grumpy?" he
asked his wife.
"Not as much," she replied.
"Hey!" Danni said, thinking out loud. "Mac, you
might be the perfect person to help me solve my
problems."
"Do you want to take a walk?" Mac asked.
As Danni nodded, Mac turned to Pete, "Will you be
allright with these three?"
"Yes," Pete replied, so the two women walked off
together.
Five minutes had passed, and not a single word had
been spoken.
"So......" Mac said, attempting to break the
silence. 
"Mac, can I ask you something personal?" Danni
asked awkwardly.
"Sure, if it will help."
"How long were you and Pete together for?"
"Well," Mac began, "before you joined the unit our
boss found out that we had been dating. He told us to
end it. So I did. Our 'break' only lasted a few
months. Seeing each other every day, denying our
feelings, it was almost impossible. We were back on,
we just kept it quiet."
"Even when you were his boss?"
"Ah, that was difficult. We had to be so careful
that none of you guys found out. I also sent him into
cases that involved flirting with other women so
nobody was suspicious."
"So did you break up before he met Collette?"
"Not exactly," Mac replied slowly. "Pete and I both
agreed for him to pretend that he was dating Collette
because we thought Angie was suspicious." Mac and
Danni smiled at the memory of their friend and
colleauge.
"So when you left the unit you kept dating until
you got married?"
"Yeah. Danni, what's happening with you?" Mac
asked, concerned.
"It's my ex, Luke."
"The guy you dated at the academy?"
"Yeah, he's just been transferred into my
undercover unit and I don't know what to do. It's
exactly like you said, denying your feelings....."
"Now I see what you mean. I'm the perfect person to
advise you," Mac commented. "Don't give him any
special treatment and keep it quiet. It worked for
Pete and me."
"Thanks Mac. Hey, I never asked you, what did you
do with yourself between the twins and the baby?"
"I went to night school and graduated as a trauma
counsellor."
"We've been looking for one recently, with your
police background you'd be a shoe-in. Are you
interested?"
"Sure! I mean, I'd have to talk to my husband," Mac
smiled, "and wait until Harry was a little older...."
"Well, give me a call." With this, Danni gave Mac
her number as she glanced at her watch. "Shit! I'm
meeting Luke in half an hour for coffee. I'd better
go." She stood up regretfully. "It was so great to see
you again, Mac."
"I'll give you a call about the job. Let me know
how things turn out with Luke."
They embraced as they said their goodbyes.
"Say goodbye to Pete and the kids fro me, and we'll
have to do this again sometime."
"Sure. Bye, Danni."
She waved and continued the run she had started
many hours earlier as Mac turned around and walked
back to her family.