"Ready to go, Ruby Lou?" Rachel wanted to know, as she twisted the last curl into place, securing it with a bobby pin.

"I think so, Mum". Ruby nodded, throwing her arms around her mother the way she had done when she was a little girl. "I love you".

"I love you more", Rachel said immediately.

"I know it wasn't easy when I was little and everything, and my sperm donor was messed up… but you did a good job, Ma".

Rachel didn't know whether to laugh or cry, as she hugged her tight. "Thanks, Rubes. You turned out okay".

Ruby giggled, and Rachel squeezed her a little tighter. "Now go and get dressed, tonight is your night! Don't stand around with your soppy old mum!"

"You're thirty two".

"Don't say it like that".

"Sorry".

Giggling, Ruby padded off towards her bedroom to get changed out of her ratty tights and singlet into her formal dress.

They weren't quite sure when Ruby Louise had grown up- somewhere in between Jake checking under her bed for monsters and Rachel plaiting her hair for school every morning. Because they had blinked, and suddenly the little baby they knew was eighteen and ready to step into the next stage of her life.

Ruby Barton's ultimate goal was to study a Bachelor of Education, Primary, at the Australian Catholic University, and despite the fact that she hadn't got her HSC marks or ATAR back, Jake and Rachel knew she could get there. Within four years, she would be standing in front of a class of children, they were sure of it, just by the sheer determination the young woman had.

"Hey Mum?" Ruby said brightly, as she carried her heels out of her bedroom, her dress covering her ankles.

Rachel was awestruck, as she took in the radiating beauty that was her daughter. Never in a million years would she have imagined the pigtailed, overalled rugrat sitting on the cricket field and the girl standing in front of her to be the same person. Her daughter had truly grown up, and Rachel didn't know how to feel about that.

"Yeah?" she said finally.

"Try not to cry today". Her eyes sparkled with laughter and Jake snickered.

"I'll try to make sure she doesn't", he promised her.

"I know she will", Ruby shrugged. "I'm just hoping she doesn't".

"They're here!" Taylah squealed excitedly from the front window.

"Uncle George and Uncle Camel and Aunty Libby?" Ruby called, as she dabbed lip gloss on her lips.

"No, Dale and everyone else!" Taylah giggled. "Come on Patrick!"

(Ruby and Dale had dated for five months, but had decided they were better off as friends. But when he had approached Ruby with a plastic rose, she had beamed at him and accepted his formal invitation.)

"Make sure you check before you open the door!" Rachel warned, and Ruby picked up her clutch.

"We'll meet you there, alright babe?"

"I can't believe Grandma and Grandpa and everyone aren't coming!" Ruby laughed. "I mean, this is the first family occasion they've missed since you got your braces off, Mum".

Rachel laughed, hugging her tight. "Have a great night, if I forget to tell you when we get there".

"I will, Mum".

"You look gorgeous, Rubes". Jake grinned at her. "Have an amazing night, alright?"

"Hey Rubes!" Annelise called. "Let's go!

"Look at you; don't you look grown up, missy?" Rachel laughed, and Annelise's cheeks flushed pink.

"Thank you! Ruby, I love your dress!"

"You look so so so pretty, Annelise", Taylah said with a grin. "So does Ruby. You both do!"

"Aw, thanks baby!" Annelise wrapped Taylah in a hug, tapping Patrick on the nose. "Come on, Rubes".

"Bye!" Patrick hugged his sister, grinning shyly at her friend. "Let's go".

Both girls waved excitedly, as they disappeared out the front door to the limo.

Once they all arrived at the hall, Ruby and all her friends posed for photos (Libby going absolutely insane with her camera and Annelise and Ruby posing with the same cheesiness they had twelve years ago), as their parents stood back proudly.

"Come on, we need a photo with Tay and Pat!" Libby called, motioning to the two small children to join their big sister. Ruby hoisted Patrick onto her hip, wrapping her other arm around Taylah.

"She looks gorgeous", Jake said to Rachel, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing the top of her head.

"Of course she's gorgeous, she's our kid", Rachel almost scoffed, grinning at him. "We did a pretty good job, didn't we?"

"We did an awesome job. Rubes turned out alright".

"We turned out pretty okay, too". She leaned into him, and he pressed another kiss to the top of her head.

Eighteen years ago when they first met, Rachel was broken and shying away from the slightest touch, trying to hold herself together for her and her infant daughter. When they first met, Jake was trying to patch apart his broken family, from where his father had up and left them when he was five. Together, they had brought out the best in each other, as they pieced together their lives, changing each other for the better. Together, they had faced the best and the worst of times, Ruby Louise by their side, the little girl acting as the glue to hold them together.

And eighteen years later, their girl was all grown up and looking more like her mother than ever.

"She looks just like you, Rach", Libby commented, reaching out to squeeze her best friend's hand. "God, has it really been that long since we left school?"

"I'm choosing not to answer that", Rachel nodded.

"Good God, it's like watching our formal all over again", Camel chuckled. "She's stunning".

"She really is", George agreed.

Rachel would never have wished what she had had to go through on her worst enemy- but it had turned out for the better. Being a mother was the hardest job in the world, but she knew, looking at her eighteen year old daughter in front of her, that she had done a pretty good job.

And as her classmates began to move towards the hall, Ruby held up a finger to her friends.

"Just wait a sec, I have to do something", she said to Dale, waving at Annelise to continue on. As fast as she could in her heels, she moved back towards her parents, kissing her mother's cheek and hugging her quickly.

"Love you Mum".

"Love you too, Rubes". Rachel grinned at her, the little girl who hadn't turned around to wave on her first day of preschool. "So, so much".

"Love you, Jake". She squeezed him tight, smiling up at the only father she had ever known.

"Love you more, Ruby". Jake grinned at her,