Next week, Roo (Georgie Parker) will be in the spotlight as Tane (Ethan Browne) devises a drastic plan to assist newborn Maia.
Tane got devoted to the three-month-old, whom he later called Maia, after discovering her on the beach a few weeks prior, and he wouldn’t leave her side while she was being treated at Northern Districts Hospital. Tane had intended to apply to become an emergency foster carer because there weren’t many in the area.
But Tane’s plan was derailed when social worker Harper (Jessica Redmayne) made it clear that Tane would require permanent residency in Australia.
Tane is eligible to apply for permanent residency, but the process would take at least three months to complete.
Tane swiftly put an end to Felicity’s (Jacqui Purvis) suggestion that her estranged wife step up in the interim and apply to be a foster carer, possibly understanding that Flick was doing it for the wrong reasons and hoped it would somehow bring them back together.
When journalist Peter Rolfe (Roman Delo) from Coastal News showed around, things got even more complex. He authored a harsh essay raising serious concerns about Tane’s motivations and denouncing Senior Constable Rose (Kirsty Marillier) for her handling of the case after deceiving nurse Dana (Ally Harris) into disclosing information about Tane and Maia.
Tane wasn’t too happy when Peter stormed into the ward later, seeking to (belatedly) hear Tane’s side of the story, after finding himself featured on the paper’s main page.
After the argument, Rose gave Peter an AVO prohibiting him from entering the hospital. However, when Peter confronted her supervisor about Tane’s admission, the serjeant saw he had a point.
Rose was compelled to ask Tane to leave or face receiving his own AVO when Sarge later obtained an order restricting who could be around Maia to just hospital and social services professionals.
The following week, Tane is concerned that Maia won’t be able to support herself, but Mali (Kyle Shilling) reassures him that Roo has been spending time with her while he’s been away (yeah, we’re also perplexed by this since Sarge’s directive that only social workers and hospitals were permitted).
When Alf (Ray Meagher) phones Rose to arrange a meeting, he expresses his concern that Roo is exhausting herself from spending so much time at the hospital and asks if there is anything Rose can do to get Tane’s visits back.
Rose says that she cannot control it because Tane’s fate was set in stone the moment he touched Peter, regardless of whether he was baited or not. It wouldn’t be a problem if Tane hadn’t lost his composure.
Roo asks Tane whether he has thought about moving here permanently during their conversation. He describes the drawn-out waiting period and the subsequent wait for his approval to become a foster care provider.
Though Roo is certain that someone qualified must live nearby, Tane’s abrupt suggestion that she submit her application throws her off.
Later, when Roo tells Alf that she’s thinking about it, he cautions her against getting into it hastily.
Harper, who is excited that Roo is thinking about becoming a foster care provider, gives Roo guidance. She gives Roo some food for thought when she reminds her that many foster parents find it difficult to relinquish the children when the time comes.
Roo is already experiencing horrible memories from the entire ordeal, especially after Tane berated Maia’s birth mother for forsaking her kid.
When Roo (then portrayed by Justine Clarke) gave birth to her own daughter Martha in 1988 at the age of sixteen, she put her up for adoption. After a turbulent pregnancy and Brett’s abduction of Martha after her birth, Roo and Brett decided that neither of them could give their child a stable upbringing. Martha was the product of Roo’s brief relationship with wealthy student Brett Macklin (Gerry Sont) while attending a city boarding school.
After her adoptive parents passed away, Roo met again off-screen with Martha (Jodi Gordon), who later moved to Summer Bay to live with Alf in 2005.
Just a few months before Roo returned from a twenty-year hiatus, Martha fled the bay in 2010 and fled from the police with her boyfriend, Hugo Austin.
In the present, Roo confides in Alf deeply, questioning whether she could care for Maia without falling in love.
Alf acknowledges that Roo wants to act morally towards Maia, but he makes it clear that Roo is also thinking about his own little daughter.
Roo does more research and starts to question whether she should take care of herself after reading through a number of comments on the popular website “Yeddit.”
Following a stressful wait, Roo approaches Tane and informs him that she has arrived. She will apply to take care of Maia in an emergency foster care situation, so Tane needs to get started on his paperwork now. Maia will eventually require a permanent home.
Will their scheme succeed or fail?
In another part of Summer Bay, John (Shane Withington), who has surreptitiously enrolled in a celebrant course to obtain the necessary credentials to marry them himself, and Leah (Ada Nicodemou) and Justin’s (James Stewart) wedding preparations are well on.
Leah is fine with a straightforward ceremony at Salt, but Justin is hoping for something a little more elaborate—this is Justin’s first, and probably last, wedding. Leah may be getting married four times.
John is horrified to hear from Irene (Lynne McGranger) that Leah and Justin are getting married in a matter of weeks after he returns from his course in the city. It implies that John needs to move quickly to complete his course, and in order to do so, he must record a dummy ceremony.
When John asks Irene whether she would like to participate, she says no emphatically, and Eden (Stephanie Panozzo) similarly declines the offer after seeing his amiable neighbours at No. 55.
Leah and Justin decide to ask the person who officiated Tori’s (Penny McNamee) and Christian’s (Ditch Davey) wedding when they are discussing the celebrant. But Irene interrupts just as Justin is about to text his sister to get the contact information—have they talked to John at all?
Irene has no choice but to reveal the truth to the startled couple, telling them that John has been pursuing his certification. Though they aren’t overly like of the notion, they can’t bring themselves to tell John how they really feel when they see him later in the café because he is so eager about the possibility of being their celebrant.
Leah turns to face Irene for assistance, but as John begins to go over the vows, it becomes evident that turning him down won’t be easy.
As Justin and Leah argue over who should tell John that they don’t want him to officiate their wedding, John enters the diner and says he’s been busy enlisting Xander (Luke Van Os) and Dana (Ally Harris) for his pretend nuptials.
As John watches their agonised looks, Justin nudges Leah, but she snaps.
Xander friend-zoned Dana a few weeks ago when she asked him out on a date, so it’s an especially awkward gathering in the Pier apartment. However, when they record the ceremony, it appears that there might still be sparks between the two.
John is eager to inform Justin and Leah how his mission went as he makes his way back downstairs and finds them waiting.
But is JP going to land a massive bump on his way back to Earth?
