Episode 5118

Episode Title: Out for Christmas
Episode Number: 5118
Australian air date: Wednesday 13th December 2006
UK air date:
Writer: Jeff Truman
Director: Tony Osicka
Quotes: None.
Guests: Sen. Sgt. Allan Steiger (Joe Clements), Christine Rodd (Trudy Hellier).
Music: None.

With the spirit of Christmas in the air and a bout of recent good fortune the Timmins children spend the day together as they find themselves alone in number 26. A degree of tension remains between Stingray and Dylan after the Kerry paternity problems and Bree finds herself caught between them as Stingray asks her to come to a special AA meeting of his moments after she had agreed to help Dylan create a unique and memorable present for Kerry. Stingray seems to come off worse from this exchange as he finds himself alone at his meeting and is forced to stand up without a family member to talk about. In a panic he begins to make excuses not to participate and is about to leave when Janae, Dylan and Bree enter the room. Their appearance rekindles his spirit and he begins to talk about the difficulties he has had to overcome to overcome his addiction and how he is thankful for his loving family. The event unites the Timmins again and they begin to interact without the burden of recent prejudices. Their happiness is threatened as they return home to find a letter from Kim Timmins. They are hesitant to leave it for Janelle to read but are also wary of hiding it from Janelle after the problems such actions have raised in the past. In the end Bree seizes the letter and opens it despite protests from the other three. Reading aloud she lets the others know the content of the letter. The initial words contain the usual romantic apology used by Kim in the past as he has attempted to work his way back into their family. The next bits stun those gathered as Bree informs them that Kim is letting Janelle and the children go as he feels he only brings problems for them when he is around. As the news sets in they agree to reseal the letter and let Janelle read the news for herself to get the closure she needs.

Amidst the holiday cheer Harold encourages Sky to patch things up with Dylan as he feels that Kerry’s parents should be together. Sky is adamant that there isn’t scope for anything to happen between them but this changes as she finds herself alone with him as Harold and Lou head off to church. Dylan shows Sky his present for Kerry, a hand made mobile with items dangling from it that represent Kerry’s friends and family (such as a spanner for Janae and a art palette for Sky). As Dylan shows Sky it they find themselves kissing each other as the joy of the situation overtakes them. They quickly retreat after the event and Dylan finds himself telling Stingray that he felt nothing during their embrace. Sky admits as similar thing to Harold and Lou when they return from their service.

Pepper grows excited as the special Christmas dinner she has planned for her parents draws near. Chris gets a warning from Janae about Allan attending the dinner though there is little that can be done about the situation at such a late stage. Allan announces to Pepper that he is going to ask Chris to marry him and produces an engagement ring which he will use for his proposal. Pepper is a little wary at the speed things are progressing and suggests that Allan wait until she signals to him that the time for his announcement is right. The signal of two sneezes is raised by accident as Pepper sneezes as some of the food they are eating aggravates her. The sneezes see Allan leap out of his chair and drop to one knee as he produces the engagement ring and tells Chris that he loves her. A shocked Chris retreats to the bathroom of number 30 whilst Allan and Pepper fret in the hallway of the house. When Chris returns she tells Allan that she can’t marry him as she has been seeing someone else for the past year. Both Pepper and Steiger stand speechless as Chris points out that her partner is a woman.