By Megan Marie Irvin

5/27/98

"So, where do you want to have this wedding?" Rollie asked his fiancée,
Angela, who was cuddled next to him on the couch.

Five and a half months had passed since the accident that left Angie in a
coma and Rollie proposed to her. Rollie wouldn't let Angie do anything at
all for three weeks after she was released from the hospital, a week after
she woke from the coma. Then they had two action movies lined up for the
next four months. Now, in the middle of November, the two FX artists finally
had some time for themselves to plan and have the wedding.

"Australia." was Angie's simple reply.

"Australia? I thought we were planning to go there for our honeymoon, love?"
Rollie questioned.

"Yeah, we are. But why can't we have the wedding there too?" Angie asked in
a way that almost sounded like she was begging. "I mean it's so pretty in
Australia, and that's the only place where I can think of getting married."

"Okay. If you want to have the wedding in Australia, we'll have it in
Australia. Whatever makes you happy, love." Rollie replied, kissing the top
of Angie's head and smiling.

"Thank you. Okay, now we just have to decide where in Australia to have it."
Angie told the Aussie.

"Let me take care of that, 'kay?" Rollie asked, smiling. "It'll be a surprise."

"All right." Angie replied, moving to get up off the couch.

"Where are you going?" Rollie asked taking her hand so she couldn't leave.

"I need to feed Chiops." Angie answered, wriggling out of Rollie light hold
of her hand, and bent down to give him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be right
back."

Knowing they'd be quite busy for quite some time, Rollie and Angie moved
her, her cat, and all her stuff into the loft, four months ago, a week
before their first movie started filming.

Ever since the accident, Rollie wouldn't let Angie out of his sight, and if
possible, out of his reach.

You can be sure the couple had many a fight about that. Realizing whatever
she said or did Rollie would never stop this overprotective nest of his,
Angie finally decided to try and live with it. And after a while she got
used to it.

While Angie was up feeding the cat, Rollie started going through the places
that would right to have the wedding in Australia. They both had decided
they didn't want a big or too fancy a wedding. A small one, with just a few
close friends there to celebrate with them. The man quickly decided that a
wedding by the ocean would be just perfect for what he and Angie wanted.

"Okay. I'm back." Angie said, bringing the man out of his thoughts, sitting
down next to him, as she returned to the lounge.

"Good." Rollie replied, giving her a big smile, wrapping his arms around her
waist. "I missed you."

"Rollie! I was only up for five minutes!" Angie exclaimed, turning around so
she could look at the man face to face.

"I know, but I still missed you." Rollie replied, smiling.

Angie shook her head and lightly chuckled as she leaned her head against
Rollie's shoulder.

-----------------

A week later, Rollie and Angie, were on their way to beautiful Australia.

After talking things through, Rollie and Angie decided to have the wedding
at the end of the following week, in thirteen days. Angie thought Rollie was
crazy for leaving so soon, but he told her he wanted to take her somewhere
before the wedding.

Francis, his wife and girls, were coming out five days before the wedding.
Because she couldn't get off work sooner, Mira was coming the night before
the wedding. Lucinda couldn't come, even though she really wanted too,
because she was in the middle of shooting a film, and couldn't get off.

As for Dingo, Rollie wasn't sure where to find him or how to get in touch
with him. He had a talked to some of the people in New York Dingo knew and
mostly owed money to. They all said they hadn't heard from him awhile.

Angie still didn't know exactly where the wedding was going to be. Rollie
wasn't telling her anything. All he said was that it was a place where his
mum had taken him once.
Angie didn't even know where they'd be staying either. When she asked him if
he had made hotel reservations, Rollie said they weren't staying at the
hotel, but wouldn't say where they were going to stay.

The woman wasn't sure if she was enjoying all these secrets or not. With
Rollie she never knew what to expect. And Angie was starting to wonder if
she would like what he had planned or not.

-----------

They arrived in Sydney, Australia, Monday morning. Then they took a three
hour and twenty minute plane trip from Sydney to Alice Springs.

>From Alice Springs, Rollie arranged for them to take a mail plane to Docker
Springs.

When they finally did arrive in Docker River, Angie was a bit surprised when
Mangela was at the small air strip when they got off the mail plane. Rollie
didn't seem that shocked. Maybe he knew Mangela would be there to meet them.
Angie wasn't sure. Rollie sure hadn't said anything to her about it. Of
course with all the secrets and surprises Rollie was keeping from her lately
she wasn't all that surprised he hadn't told her.

"Angela, you look lovelier every time I see you." Mangela told Angie while
they got Rollie and Angie's luggage.

"Why, thank you, Mangela. I think that's got to be the nicest compliment I
got all day." Angie replied smiling, receiving a hurt look from Rollie.

"Hey!" Rollie exclaimed.

"Come on now, you two, if we're going to get there by dinner we better go
now."  Mangela told the two young FX artists.

Looking at his watch Rollie agreed. "Your right. We better get going. Come
on, Ange."

"Where are we going, Rollie?" Angie asked suspiciously, as Rollie started to
load Mangela's jeep with the luggage.

"It's a surprise." Rollie said turning his head to look at her with a huge
smile on his face.

"How did I know you were going to say that?" Angie muttered, shaking her
head as she
got into the back of the dust covered jeep, while Rollie got up front, and
Mangela got into the drivers side.

------------

Angie sat in the back of the jeep, that Mangela was driving, and Rollie was
sitting in the passenger seat up front, silent, as she listened to her
fiancé and his spiritual father catch up on the time they were apart.
Mangela talked of tribal troubles, while Rollie talked about the movies he
and Angie had done over the past few months. Along with some of the cases
they had helped the NYPD with.

Fifteen minutes later, after staying on a pretty non bumpy road, they turned
off onto a road that was full of holes and dirt hills.

Not hearing any complaining or anything out of Angie, Rollie turned around
in his seat, to find Angie sound asleep in the back of the dusty jeep.

"Well, she's out like a light." Rollie joked, to Mangela, smiling, as he as
turned back around in the seat. Rollie couldn't blame her really. It was a
long and trying flight from New York to Australia. And he felt like he could
use a long nap too.

"Well, you might as well try and get some sleep too, my boy. We still have
about forty-five minutes left." Mangela suggested. As they went over another
hole in the very bumpy road, Mangela saw the unconvinced look Rollie gave
him. "If Angela can fall asleep and stay sleeping through all these bumps
and holes in the road, you can too."

Rollie just turned his head. He wasn't all that confident as the older man
was towards him being able to fall asleep with all the bumps. He had enough
trouble sleeping where there were no holes or bumps.

Pushing the idea of sleep out of his mind, Rollie looked out the side
window, at the beautiful Australian outback. This was where he grew up.

As time passed by he started to recognize some of the scenery. The red
parched landscape. Not many trees.

Soon Rollie found himself drifting off to sleep. It felt like he had only
been asleep for a matter of seconds, when the jeep came to a stop, and
Mangela was waking him.

"We're home, Rollie, my boy." Mangela, told the younger man, as he shook
Rollie's shoulder.

"Huh? What?" Rollie muttered groggily. Looking around through half opened
eyes, Rollie saw they were parked in front of a one-story house. The house
he grew up in.

-----

After Rollie's mum died and he and Dingo had left Australia, Rollie thought
their house had been sold or something. He didn't know till a short time ago
that the house he grew up in was still owned by Dingo and sitting empty in
the middle of the outback, when Mangela had told him on one of his surprise
visits.

When he had talked to Mangela earlier that week, when Rollie and Angie were
making plans to leave for, Mangela had mentioned that the house was still
furnished. So the younger Aussie decided he and his fiancée might as well
stay at the house. Of course he hadn't told Angie this, and just left it for
a surprise.

Stepping out of the jeep, Rollie stretched sleepily. Looking in the back of
the jeep, he found Angie still sleeping soundly. Deciding not to wake the
sleeping woman, Rollie bent down, and gently gathered the small woman into
his arms. With the sleeping woman snuggled closely to him, in his arms,
Rollie followed Mangela, who was carrying all the luggage, to the house.

As he started to walk into the house, the bundle in his arms moved and he
heard a mumbled, "I thought the way it goes is you carry me over the
threshold after we get married not before."

Rollie looked down, finding Angie awake and smiling up at him. He returned
the smile and put her down gently.

"Where are we?" Angie asked as she turned to look out at the dry Australian
outback.

"Home." Rollie replied, smiling mischievously, coming up behind her, and
sliding his arms around her waist.

"What do you mean 'home'?" Angie asked confused, turning her head to look at
the man.

"I should be going now. I'll come by tomorrow." Mangela told the two others,
stepping next to them, starting down the porch steps. "The luggage are all
inside. And there's plenty of food in the fridge."

"You sure you can't stay, Mangela?" Rollie asked, reluctantly letting go of
his fiancée, and followed the older man down the steps.

"No, I have to get back to the tribe. And I'm sure you and Angie want to get
settled in. And you're both probably still tired from the plane trip."
Mangela replied.

"Yeah, okay. Thanks for picking us up at the airport and driving us." Rollie
thanked the older man.

"Don't mention it. It was just good seeing you and Angela again. I'll stop
by tomorrow. Bye Rollie. Bye Angela." Mangela called out, as he got into the
jeep.

"Bye Mangela." Rollie and Angie said in unison, as they watched him pull away.

"So, you never answered my question, Rollie." Angie said, as Rollie came
back up to the covered wraparound porch.

"And what was that?" Rollie asked, smiling, as he stood in front of Angie
and slid his arms around her slim waist.

"What did you mean when you said we're 'home'?" Angie asked again, hoping
he'd give her a answer this time.

"I meant, this is my old home. The house I grew up in." Rollie replied,
receiving a surprised look from his fiancée.

"Really?"

"Yep." Rollie told her, leaning down he gave her a quick kiss on the lips.
"Come on, I'm starving. Mangela said there was food in the fridge."

---------------

For the rest of the week Rollie, showed Angie around Docker Springs. He took
her to all the spots he went to as a boy. And all his favorite hiding and
thinking spots.

Angie nearly had a heart attack, on Wednesday, when she opened one of the
kitchen cupboard doors, and found a snake slithering around inside. And
Rollie nearly had a heart attack when he heard her screaming from where he
was sleeping in the living room couch.

After that the young terrified woman made Rollie check every possible hiding
place for a  snake. Even after Rollie assured her it was nonpoisonous.

After that accident, Rollie kept taunting Angie with snake impersonations.
Once, Angie threatened to give the ring back and call the wedding off if he
didn't stop it, Rollie shut up and stopped taunting her.

On Sunday afternoon, Rollie announced to an non expecting Angela, that they
were leaving for Melbourne on Monday morning.

"So, we're not having the wedding here?" Angie asked, after Rollie told her
they were leaving the next day.

"Nope." Was all the tall Aussie said, then went back to sipping his beer.