Time: Present Day

Location: HereAfter

Carter watched as his young uncle Tony met his new wife, Michelle, Monique's twin sister at the airport. She had been staying with their older sister Margot in Paris. She was attending a Paris Fashion Show for her employer. Michelle was an accomplished fashion designer for her age, and had secured a plum position with Vogue magazine. It enabled her to be the family bridge between the twins and indeed between all the Paris based Chevals and the Sydney based Chevals. The family had been split since Monique's husband had been assigned to oversee the contract with Telecom Australia for his company, Sagem, and had been relocated with his family to Sydney. That was two years ago. They expected to be in Sydney for a further three years at least and more if the contract was renewed, unless of course Jean were to be promoted back to Head Office.

Tony brought Michelle up to speed on the drive to the police station.

Carter felt the emotions as the families were reunited at the police station. Michelle hugged her sister Monique, for a long moment, then went on to kiss and hug the children in turn. The tension when the Margates turned up was evident, but had been somewhat mitigated by Don's saving of Amelia's life. Monique explained what had happened to Amelia, and her part in it, to Michelle then, asked if she could talk to her sister alone for a few minutes. Tony ushered them into an empty interview room and then took the Margates down to visit their son in the lockup.

Michelle was shocked when Monique told her that Amelia was pregnant.

"Does she know yet?" asked Michelle.

"No you are the only one who knows, outside of us and some of the hospital staff and, of course, Don. I asked Don not to tell Jean and also to keep it from Vera and Peter, for the present, but he probably has told his wife."

You have to tell her, Amelia I mean. She has a right to know the truth. Why are you hesitating Monique?"

"I want to talk to Father Dan first, before I tell anyone, especially Jean, I've asked him to meet us here. I just said it was important so he doesn't know either, yet."

Michelle looked puzzled, "What the hell has Father Dan got to do with it?"

"I want to ask him that if Peter is charged with rape can we get an abortion for Amelia. I want to know where the Catholic Church stands on this, where we stand on this!"

"I can't believe you're even contemplating this especially without talking to Amelia first."

"Michelle, look, you know Jean isn't Catholic, you know, I know, what he will want to do about this. He will want it gone, over and done with, no further impact on the family. I know him, trust me. I just want the facts before I confront him on it. You know I feel the same as you do about abortion,at least I think I do, but now maybe I'm not so sure. Oh God! He's here now!"

Carter watched as Father Dan greeted them all rather expectantly.

"Will you come with me Michelle?" Monique pleaded.

"Of course I will that's why I've come back from Paris to support you. Margot would have come too but they are a bit strapped for cash at the moment and she is busy with the dress shop."

Michelle asked Tony for somewhere to meet with Father Dan.

"Jesus, what's he doing here?" asked Tony, "this is developing into a Cecil B De Mille production. I'll be running out of interview rooms soon. Oh alright, take room three down the hall that way."

Carter saw his young grandmother usher a confused looking Father Dan into room three.

"What's this all about my child?" asked Father Dan of Monique. Monique explained all that had happened so far. She then asked for a Church ruling if it was indeed rape.

Father Dan listened intently with the right number of gasps and tutt tutts at the appropriate moment. He tried not to be too judgmental when he finally said, "Amelia's certainly got herself in a pickle hasn't she?" he asked rhetorically. "She has definitely been medically confirmed as pregnant?" he asked. Monique nodded. "Then the Church's teaching is clear. If Amelia was raped and was not yet pregnant then she could be given medication to prevent any possibility of pregnancy, the morning after pill, I believe it's known as. But, she could not be given anything that had the express purpose of aborting a known foetus. That is if she is already pregnant, then she must remain so I'm afraid, regardless of whether she was raped by Peter or not, that is the Church's stance, and although, I sympathise with you and your family, it is therefore mine as well of course!"

Carter felt that Michelle was relieved in a way. Funnily enough so was Monique it seemed, relieved and panicked at the same time.

Carter realised that she was dreading facing her husband but was relieved that she didn't have to decide whether to charge Peter with rape, in order for Amelia to be able to have an abortion, with a clear conscience for all concerned.

They thanked Father Dan, and asked if he could provide his opinion and help break the news to Jean and perhaps, help mediate an outcome this morning. Father Dan agreed and they all joined the others in the conference room at 11 am as scheduled.

As it was his turf, Tony held sway and began with, "I'd like to welcome you all here but frankly I can't. I don't know what half of you are doing here. It must be a 'wog' thing. Anyway, the point is the case against young Peter here, is cut and dried, I'm afraid. He will certainly be convicted of drug trafficking, at the very least. As I see it, he is looking at 10 to 15 years in prison depending, on the judge. Maybe eight if he is very lucky and the judge totally rules out the rape.

Peter said nothing. He held his head in his hands and took a few deep breaths.

Don then said, "Amelia said she planned it, the sex I mean, so no way is Peter guilty of rape."

Monique said, "Look there is something I want to say but not in front of Peter, or you Tony, for that matter, can you leave us to talk amongst ourselves for a bit - please."

"Shit, why not be my guest. It's only my station for Christ's sake."

When Tony had taken Peter outside Michelle said, "I apologise for my husband, Father Dan, he isn't often around priests."

Everyone turned to Monique. She began, "I'm not sure who already knows, but Amelia is pregnant, and obviously Peter is the father."

"Oh Jesus!" exclaimed Jean. "Fuck me, how long have you known? Sorry Father, but God what are we supposed to do now?"

Monique took command now, "I've spoken to Father Dan already and there's not a lot we can do, but I'll tell you what needs to happen. We need to support our daughter to help her through this."

Jean chirped in, "She needs an abortion as soon as possible, doesn't she Don?"

Don looked back to Monique and remained silent. "There's to be no abortion, that's out of the question. I'll have no further talk of it Jean, I mean it!" Jean knew, that tone of voice from his wife meant the argument was over, his part in it anyway.

"Who the hell knows then? Does Amelia know? And Peter does he know?" asked Jean.

Monique considered her answer, "We haven't told Amelia, and I don't think she suspects, not in talking to her. She's got a lot to try and assimilate already and she is trying to remember exactly what happened but she is adamant that Peter didn't rape her." Turning to Don she continued, "I don't know if Peter knows or not."

Don replied, "I told Vera but we agreed not to tell Peter, not yet anyway, we may never tell him depending on what you and Jean decide to do about it. Also, I'd like to know what your intentions are regarding this absurd rape allegation. Monique, you know Peter better than most, you must know he would never do such a thing! What they both did was silly and reckless but not criminal really. Can't we come up with some other punishment other than sending an innocent kid, our kid, to jail. It would ruin his Iife and his mother's as well!"

Monique replied with, "Well if it were up to me, I would wait until Amelia's memory returns to the point where she can remember everything that went on that day. Once we know the truth, we can decide what needs to be done. So let's get Tony and Peter back in and try to resolve this, once and for all. Remember, don't let them know about the pregnancy. Don and I have discussed this over and over. We know that Peter will want to marry Amelia if he finds out, and we both agree that both of them are far too young, and immature to be married. So, it's our little secret, for the time being, isn't it Don and Vera?" They both nodded reluctantly.

Monique went out and called for Tony and Peter to join the group.

"About time!" Tony said as he took his seat at the head of the table, "I was beginning to think you'd all left or gone to sleep. Well, are we all agreed that Peter should plead guilty and go for a minimum sentence plea bargain. I reckon we could convince the judge to give him four years, with a minimum parole period of two years. With time served by then he could be out in 18 months."

Peter broke his silence, "I' won't admit to doing something I didn't do! I told you before, ask Amelia, she'll tell you what happened."

"And I've told you she doesn't remember a thing!" yelled Tony.

Monique interjected, "I've spoken to a lawyer and these are the facts. According to Don the toxicology reports on both Amelia and Peter showed no signs of either of them having been on any drugs except a very small amount of alcohol. The lawyer believes there is very little chance of Peter being convicted of rape especially since neither my daughter nor us, as parents, are laying charges. That leaves the drug charges to face. The lawyer further suggests that Peter's version of events is more likely to be believed given the lack of material witnesses with a contrary view. So he believes that Peter should get off with a light sentence perhaps a year at the most if not a suspended sentence but there are no guarantees. He did warn though that he may strike a hard arsed judge then anything could happen."

Tony intervened, "Look, Peter is not getting away with this, not if I have anything to do with it."

Father Dan said, "Tony, what exactly is it you want to happen?"

"I want Peter to pay and I want him out of our lives forever," replied Tony.

"As far as I can gather you are the only one that wants Peter to go to jail for this. What if Peter were to go away but not to jail. Don once talked to me about getting Peter into the priesthood. I could arrange for Peter to be admitted into a seminary in say, Melbourne. He could go there instead of prison if the charges were dropped," suggested Father Dan.

Peter piped in, "No. I don't want to be a priest anymore. I want to be a doctor like Dad, and marry Amelia!"

"That's not going to happen!" shouted Tony.

"Calm down Tony, if anyone should be upset it should be us, not you; and Don and Vera, they must be terribly upset by your attitude," said Monique.

"It's not just me Monique, it's the law!"

"Well the law sucks if it sends a boy like Peter into a jail with hardened criminals. I won't have it. I won't hear of it from you, do you understand Tony?" We will all fight you on this!"

"What do you want Monique . . . me to drop the charges?" Tony asked incredulously.

"Yes, Tony, if Peter goes to Melbourne and agrees not to try to contact Amelia again."

Peter let out a groan, "No! I love Amelia, I want Amelia, I want to see her now!"

"You want me to withdraw the charges, turn a blind eye to all this, say I made a mistake, ruin my career, for what, a snivelling little Itai bastard like this! You've got to be out of your mind."

Michelle finally broke her silence, "Honey, listen to Monique, I went with her to see the lawyer. He also said that there could be a case for wrongful arrest, against you and the department, that if it could be proved that the arresting officer had prejudice against the accused, was racially biassed against the accused, and had failed to read him his rights - all of which he believes to be true, and provable in court. So be careful Tony, this could certainly backfire and ruin your career, and our future together as well."

Carter observed that for the first time, Tony seemed to be on the back foot, his career obviously meant a lot to him and any threat to that he would take seriously

"What you're saying is that Peter would move to Melbourne permanently and join the priesthood if I agree to drop the charges?"

"I believe that can be arranged," said Father Dan, "If it's okay with Vera and Don." They nodded a little reluctantly. Peter interjected, "But it's not alright with me."

Tony replied, "It's not up to you. You better thank your lucky stars I like your parents and your Dad was able to save Amelia. Otherwise you'd be in prison already."

"Tony, please be reasonable." Monique and Michelle chimed in, in unison. It often happened like that with the twins, saying exactly the same thing at the same time. It was a twin thing they'd say. It seemed to break the tension when everyone laughed, even Tony's stern face cracked into a half smile.

"Alright, alright, but how are you going to stop him from contacting Amelia?" Tony half capitulated.

Monique replied "Well you wouldn't be able to stop him even if he was in prison, would you Tony ? So that's not the point but Michelle and I have a plan. We think it may be an opportune time for Amelia to take up her offer to attend the Paris Music Academy. She can stay with Margot during the school breaks. That takes her out of reach so to speak for three years or so, enough distraction and time to forget about Peter and any thought of an early marriage."

Michelle turned to Monique and whispered, "Amelia can come back to Paris with me, she can have the baby there and in the mean time Margot and I can find out if she really wants to keep the baby or it can be adopted out in Paris before she comes back so no-one needs to know outside the family what has happened. Margot thinks Amelia is more likely to take advice on this from us than from her parents, or the church for that matter."

"What are you two whispering about? What's the big secret?"

"Errr . . . Well, Tony, what do you say? Will you withdraw your complaint against Peter?"

"Only if he goes to Melbourne and becomes a priest and stays away from this family." Tony replied.

Father Dan stepped in "Now Tony, we can't force Peter to become a priest. He must want to, but if he can agree to go to the seminary in Melbourne for three years after which he can decide if he wants to confirm his vows and become a priest or not. In this way he can atone for his sins and still have the option to choose how he wants to live the rest of his life. I think that's the fairest outcome for all concerned, don't you Don?"

Don replied, "Peter, your mother and I have talked this over. I have made some enquiries and I can secure a relief position as a surgeon in Melbourne. In fact they were happy to hear about my work and are interested in me promoting and disseminating information about Reyes Syndrome in the hospital system in Melbourne.

So your mother and I will come to Melbourne to be with you for the three years. We can rent the house during that time and then we can either all come back or continue to live in Melbourne depending on your decision on the priesthood and whatever happens in the meantime. How does that sound? Peter? Peter do you understand you don't really have a choice? So let's make the best of it for the sake of the family. You understand that if you go to prison it will kill your mother, don't you? I don't think I would handle losing another son either."

Carter could feel the anguish Peter was being put through. He felt sorry for the boy, his father? He was always touched by mistreatment of the underdog. It was why he had loved his job so much. Why he had chosen the profession in the first place but he hadn't realised it at the time.

Peter took a deep breath and said, "Alright I'll go but not before I see Amelia and tell her how I feel."

"No you won't be getting out of here unless it's on a plane to Melbourne. I won't withdraw the charges until you are safely put away in Melbourne." Tony insisted.

Don stepped in with, "Okay we agree, Peter, you can write to Amelia and tell her what happened, but not until you're in Melbourne. She is still in an induced coma and quite fragile and needs to rest to fully recover. You can send your letters to Monique and she'll be the judge of when Amelia is well enough to read them. In the mean time you'll go with Tony and wait here until Father Dan arranges things in Melbourne. That's final Peter, no arguments. You've done enough damage to our friendship with the Chevals. It stops here."

Carter turned towards his mother Amelia to find her crying. "I had no idea." she whimpered. He took her hand in his as they watched his life unfold.

Chapter 19 - Get Out Of Gaol Free.

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