H2O- Just Add Water Going Off Script

TIME TRAVEL!

Time to go to the adults perspective. This'll be set the night the girls run away and the days following. :( poor mummies and daddies. Above is Cleo's hair.

Terry sat panting on the grass. He had tried to run after his daughter. And he had almost caught her; she was close enough that he had seen the car she had climbed into. And the names she had shouted.

What were Cleo and Emma doing out this late? And driving a car? As far as Terry knew, none of the girls even had their learners permits.

He quickly ran back to the trailer, and grabbed the phone. He dialed Emma's house first.

The phone was picked up on the fifth ring. Terry heard shouting in the backround. 

"What do you mean the car's gone?!"

"Who is this?" The woman, Mrs. Gilbert, said hurridly.

"This is Rikki's dad, Terry." He told her everything that had happened.

There was a brief silence on the line. "Ever since they disappeared, they've been different! Emma would never have stolen a car before! And right before you called Cleo's dad had called saying Cleo was missing!"

"I think it's time to call the police." Terry said grimly. "This is serious."

"I'll get right on it. Come over please, I'll invite Don too." She hung up.

Terry hopped on his bike, and sped towards the Gilbert's house. To be honest, he only had a rough location to go on, but the flashing police cars narrowed it down quickly. He left the motorcycle on the lawn and raced through the front door, not even bothering to knock.

Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert were on the couch, police sitting across from them. One of the two cops got up and went to shake Terry's hand.

"You must be Rikki's father." he said, his face sympathetic. "I'm Officer Gordon, and my partner is Officer Chase. We'll be in charge of the investigation as to the girls whereabouts."

"Can you tell us when and where you last saw Rikki?"

Terry recounted his story. But he also added in some things he had noticed in the week Rikki had been home. How she was emotional, and throwing up everywhere. The dark bags under her eyes like she could never get enough sleep, and the bloated midsection. Not to mention the odd cravings.

Officer Gordon paused. "Sir, have you considered the possibility that Rikki might be...."

"Might be what?" Terry snapped.

"Pregnant." The officer hurried along. "All the things you describe lead to that.  The hormones, morning sickness, and cravings."

By then Don had arrived with a crying Kim in tow.

"What did he say?" 

Terry responded through white lips, "They think Rikki might have been pregnant."

The Gilbert's and Sertori's looked shocked.

Officer Chase rubbed his temples. "Everyone please take a seat." The three parties did. "That's just a theory. We don't know where your daughters have gone. We will look into the matter further. Mr. Gilbert, if we could have your car registration and license plate number, we'll get a search for it. In the meantime, everyone go home and get rest. We'll update you in the morning."

With that, the police bid them good night and left. 

The parents turned to face each other in total silence.

Finally Don said gruffly, "There's nothing else we can do. Hopefully the police will have something in the morning."

He took a red-eyed Kim and went home.

Terry left next, still in shock. Rikki, pregnant? That shouldn't even be a possibility. There was no way his sixteen year old daughter could be having a baby. 

He numbly picked up his bike, and started the ignition. He felt so helpless, going back to the trailer while his Rikki could be in danger. Rikki and her baby. 

Between Rikki running away, and the possibility that he might have a little grandchild, Terry didn't sleep a wink that night.

The next morning they found the Gilbert's car parked in front of the docks. By then, the news of the girls had spread all over town, effectively keeping the families shut indoors. None of them thought they could keep it together if they saw one more pitying look.

Soon after, Mr. Sertori's boat was discovered missing, along with his keys.

The officers from the night before assured them that the boat couldn't have gone far. The tides and winds were wrong, and wouldn't carry the boat far. And the engine was low on fuel when it set off, according to Don.

"Using those factors, the girls could have gone maybe fifty miles at most. So you guys need to check everything in a fifty mile radius. They shouldn't be hard to spot." Don advised the police. He was throwing himself into the investigation. 

The police had been through the girls rooms and found nothing. They had been cleaned. Any clues as to where they went had vanished. They did notice that Cleo had taken all the money she had had with her, as did Emma. 

Well, not everything had disappeared. On Emma's bed they found a journal, left right in the center like it wanted to be found.

The police wanted to take it into custody, but the Gilbert's refused to hand it over until they read it.

So they sat down in a circle in Emma's room, and opened the journal. And there on the very first page, they saw that familiar handwriting.

Mum, Dad, Elliot,

I wish I could tell you that I'm alright, and that everything will turn out okay, but there's no guarantee that that will happen. I know how much this must hurt you, to not know what's going on with me, but this is the way it has to be. Just know that I love you, and that I'll try to live a good life. And maybe we'll meet again someday. I love you.

                                                                                                 Emma

There were tear marks on the paper, not from the Gilbert's, but from Emma. Mrs. Gilbert added to them by sobbing, with a near hysterical Elliot in her arms.

Following that discovery, the station went through their trash, and found multiple positive pregnancy tests in Rikki's, confirming that she was pregnant.

Terry broke down crying when he heard this, though no one could tell whether they were happy or sad tears. Maybe a mix of both.