Country Retreat - 66. Family Arrives

We decided that it would be safer if we travelled by road and we are already on our way. We left Canberra early this morning, and we stopped for some breakfast, before we cross over the border, southwest of our start location,” Jarrad said to us. “Are you there Giles? Take the longer route and stop over at my property on the coast, I will book you in under my name for a few days, so you can all have a rest on the way,” I said over the phone.

“Got that boss, I was thinking of the same thing, that is why I was directing Jarrad in that direction, we will be in the place of a bank for lunch and the coastal city for dinner and our first overnight stop,” Giles replied, “Ok, let me do the accommodation bookings and pay cash for everything else. Take care and see you in a few days,” I replied.

After making a few phone calls, I arranged motel accommodation for Giles, Jarrad, Julia and the boys, in the coastal city of Warrnambool, booking in Rebecca’s name and I paid for it, and I contacted my caretakers at Allendale East to make sure that the cottage was available and ready for their arrival, and with a single seat sofabed and a double sofabed, in the lounge room of the cottage, there would be enough beds for all of them, before texting the details to Giles and Jarrad.

I kept myself busy for the rest of the day, working with Marcus out on the farm for most of the day, as I tried not to worry about the pending arrival of Julia and our sons, who have been assigned one of the family pods for them to live in. The following morning under Rebecca’s insistence, we headed down to Perth to do some shopping, for Julia and the boys, which included a list of items that Rebecca had gained from an evening call to Giles, to get clothes and shoe sizes for Julia and the boys, as well as some likes and dislikes for the boys in the way of toys.

When we stopped for a break from shopping mid-morning, I jumped a little when my mobile rang, and seeing that the call was Giles, I moved closer to Rebecca so she could listen in on the call. “Hey Giles, Rebecca is with me, as we are shopping, and it is exhausting work,” I said after answering the call, and an unexpected woman’s voice laughed, “Hello Oscar, how are you/” Julia said to me. “Hi Julia, I am well thankyou, how about you and … our boys?” I asked and I heard Julia give a short laugh.

“I guess you are still getting used to that bit of news?” Julia responded, “Yeah, I actually fainted when I was told, but no injuries thankfully. So is that the reason why you dashed off to Europe because you were pregnant?” I asked, “No, I did have a great aunt who was ill and died a few weeks after I arrived, but it was during my time there that I learnt that I was pregnant with the twins and after my great aunt died, I went to the UK to live with relatives for the remainder of my pregnancy, and for the boys first two years.

I had only just been back in Australia for three months when I met Oliver, and I had no idea what he was up to with his clients, all I knew was that he was an accountant with two staff members in a small office suite in the city. I am so thankful that Jarrad was put in charge of my case when I came to the Feds for help, and I was shocked when I found out that he was a close friend of yours,” Julia said.

“Do the boys know about me? What are their names?” I asked, “Yes, they do now, but I kept who you are a secret from Oliver, instead, I told him that the boy's father was the result of a short relationship in the UK and not in the picture. Since we have been in protective custody, I have told the boys about you, and Giles and Jarrad have shown us photos of you. Their names are Jasper Henry and Lawson Henry Webb, and you are not listed as their father on their birth certificates, as I had no idea if I would ever see you again, although I had tried searching for you since arriving back in Australia a few times, without much luck,” Julia replied.

“Henry after my Grandfather?” I asked Julia, “Yes, after your Gramps, as you had always said that you were especially close to your grandparents on your Dad’s side of the family,” Julia responded, “Yes I am, they have helped me a great deal in my late teens and early adulthood,” I replied. “Hey buddy, Giles here, we mainly called to let you know that we have arrived safely at your cottage on the coast, and we look forward to spending a few days rest here before continuing on our journey,” Giles said to me.

“Ok, mate, enjoy your stay there and take good care of my family and we will see you all here soon,” I answered, before ending the call. A few moments later I received a text message “Your family” with an attachment, which was a picture of Julia, Jasper and Lawson, standing together near the coast smiling happily, as I stared at the photo for a long time, before sending a text of thanks in return. After two nights at the cottage at Racecourse Bay, they were on their way again, leaving before sunrise, and heading north towards their next destination of Gawler, where I was notified of their location and that they had stopped for an early lunch, with the overnight stop planned for Ceduna.

With the 90-minute time difference to South Australia, it was only 9.30 am in WA, and after the call from Jarrad, I contacted the motel in Ceduna to make the accommodation arrangements for them there as well as in Norseman in WA, before sending a text back to him with all the details. The trip from Ceduna to Norseman was going to be a very long day for them, as they would be travelling for over 1,200 kilometres, including crossing the Nullabor Plain, and from there it would be a 780-kilometre journey to Breton Bay.

Over the next few days, we received updates from Giles and Jarrad on how their journey was going, and on the day that we expected them to arrive, I was restless as heck the whole day, with Jarrad sending a text when they stopped at Merredin for lunch, and where they had just over 300 kilometres to go to arrive here at the property via Toodyay and Granville, with the estimated time of arrive to be at about 5 pm.

Marcus was out doing farm work in the afternoon, and I was not aware that he was going to be waiting at the gate to let them onto the property until we received a call from Marcus just before 5 pm. “Marcus to base, they are here, I just let them through the gate, over,” Marcus said over the UHF radio. “Copy that Marcus,” Rebecca answered, as she was the closest to one of the four radio bases that we had around the complex, and on hearing this, I walked through the tunnel to the garage & garden area of the complex to await their arrival.

The farm vehicle entered first, followed by a black vehicle with dark-tinted windows following close behind, I waited for the doors to open and for me to get my first real look at my sons. Julia exited from the back seats first, and seeing me she smiled, before turning and helping the boys out of the car, then squatting down to speak to them. When they both looked in my direction, I smiled. Both boys looked at their mother who nodded before the boys raced towards me, as I squatted down to meet them and they slammed into me, making me fall onto my back and I wrapped my arms around them and I laughed and we hugged what felt like a long time before the boys rolled off me to allow me to sit up, and they sat on my lap.

“Hello Papa, we are sorry for making you fall over,” the boys said in unison as I glanced up at Julia who stood close by now. “That is ok boys, I was half expecting it anyway… Hello Julia, you are looking well,” I said in response firstly to the boys followed by to Julia. “Hello Oscar, it is great to see you again, you too are looking well,” Julia said in reply, as she motioned for the boys to get up off me, which they did and I stood up again, with the boys grasping my hands moments later.

“I just got a text message from Gran and Gramps, they will be here shortly,” Marcus informed me. “That is nice timing, do they know about our newest arrivals?” I asked, “Only that our newest arrivals are from the eastern states and that Giles and Jarrad personally escorted them here,” Marcus replied, as everyone else was helping to unload all the luggage in the back of the vehicle and carry it through to the main complex. “Have the guys told you what to expect here?” I asked Julia, “Only that it is semi-underground and totally self-sufficient in the way of power and water and that you grow a lot of your own food as well,” Julia replied.

“Yes that is right, we are located on a farm very close to the coast, and we have a mixture of natural bush and cleared pasture land, which helps to keep us well hidden from the road and the beach, we also have several recreational facilities here to keep us all active. We have accommodation for all of our staff as well as for guests who require protection for whatever the case may be, and for now, you will be staying in one of the family pods,” I said to Julia.

“This is what we call the community plaza, and in front of us is the main dining hall, where we all dine. To the right of the hall is the education centre, in the middle is the medical clinic, and here on the right is the community activity centre, for when people feel creative. Beyond those buildings is the Administration centre and senior staff accommodation, of which we have only three senior staff in residence full time. Myself, Giles, Hugh in New Zealand and Koen in Canada are the other senior staff,” Jarrad said to Julia.

“Apart from us, we also have three general staff, Hunter who Oscar recruited after they became friends over in Mount Gambier, SA, who is partially deaf, so just make sure you are facing him when you speak, also we have Lincoln and Jamison, who are brothers, with Lincoln being my offsider on the farm along with Hunter, while Jamison is our main chef that keeps us all well fed,” Marcus said continuing the introductions.

“There are a total of four family pods, each one has a main lounge area and four bedrooms, each with its separate bathrooms, we have put you in the family pod closest to the dining hall, where you will usually find at least one staff member in there or the kitchen most of the day. If there isn’t anyone there, in the kitchen you will find a UHF radio, just call on that to get in touch with one of us,” I said to Julia, who nodded in understanding.