here's a special bond between Miles and Ollie. Even though they weren't blood related, Miles took both Kirsty and Ollie under his wings, cared and looked after them, welcomed them into his home twice and along the way, he fell in love with Ollie's mum Kirsty and also with Ollie. He was a father figure to him, a carer and was there for him when Kirsty was busy with her own life. They had a bond which was special, they enjoyed their time together and it made Miles feel both young and alive again.
Miles first met Ollie when he came to Irene's place to return a bag from Kirsty that she left behind after her and Kane rented a caravan to be closer to Ollie whilst he was in Hospital receiving treatment for his bone infection. He was invited to stay for dinner by Kirsty to which Ollie cheekily declined Miles's invitation but he stayed anyway. Afterwards whilst Ollie was getting a glass of water, he absconded from Irene and ran straight towards Miles, who caught him and said that he wouldn't be able to sleep with a coin stuck in his ear and he entertained Ollie with one of his magic coin tricks before he was ushered back to bed.
Miles came alive again and continued to experiment with his magic tricks, this time in the Pier Diner with Ollie and VJ he conjured up more tricks with his magic coin. Miles enjoyed spending quality time entertaining the two boys and the game continues until Leah took VJ away and shortly afterwards Kirsty had to go to the beach with Ollie in tow.
Miles gave Kirsty and Ollie an offer too good to refuse and after leaving Irene's, they moved into the main house at the Caravan Park after Ric and Mattie left the Bay. Miles took on the role of helping out Kirsty by looking after Ollie with the help of Jai and if necessary, Alf, that's when he wasn't in child care, at Colleen's place or at Stella's place.
The big day came for a caseworker to visit the place to see how Kirsty and Ollie were going. Whist preparing for a visit from Community Services, Kirsty and Miles went out for a walk to calm the nerves before the appointment and left Jai and Annie in charge. Unbeknownst to Ollie, he managed to upset Jai when he called him "Jai Jai" a name that his brother used to call him and they left him alone staring at the freshly made muffins set up on the kitchen bench for the visit. Upon their return, Kirsty found the caseworker holding onto Ollie who was clutching his arm in pain as he tried to climb up a stool to reach those delicious muffins without supervision. Once medically attended to at the hospital, Miles brought Ollie home and his arm was wrapped in a sling.
With Ollie's passion for drawing, Miles discovered that he liked to draw on anything that was paper orientated so he drew over someone's account from the Caravan Park. Instead of getting angry with Ollie, he patiently laid down the law with him in his own Miles kind of way, being firm but with a gentle approach so that Ollie knew that he did something wrong - it was a lovely scene to watch. They had a good understanding of each other after that.
From time to time, Miles went to the Diner with Ollie to pick up an order for dinner or a cup of coffee to go. On one occasion, Irene was working and Ollie was spoilt by her when she brought out a jar with large confectionery snakes. Miles affectionately called Ollie "grumble guts" which coincided with his mood that time.
Miles and Ollie had a good rapport together, when Ollie saw Miles he usually ran towards him and Miles would lift him up and give him a whirl or if Ollie was so happy to see Miles then he would jump on him if he sat on a sofa. If Ollie was lucky then he'd get the occasional piggyback or got hoisted on Miles's shoulders before being set back down again to ground level. Miles spent quality time with both Ollie and VJ on many occasions. They built a Billy Cart and used the wheels to the wheelie bin from the Caravan Park. They had to make alternate "wheel" arrangements once Alf found out that they were missing and Miles suggested taking the wheels off Alf's lawnmower as he hardly used it.
They made quite a happy family unit when together and Miles adored Ollie as well as Kirsty. When Miles was around Ollie, he would feel young again and the boy within him would resurface. One day while at the Surf Club, a child was playing with Ollie and wanted to know who Miles was and Ollie said that he was his Dad. Once Kirsty found out, she was livid as Kane was Ollie's Dad, not Miles and she thought that Ollie knew that too. Needless to say that Ollie must have been missing his Dad terribly and was so comfortable with Miles that he probably wished that Miles was his Dad at that particular time - even though he wasn't.
The first real on-screen interaction as a believable "family" was when they were playing soccer in the Caravan Park - just the three of them before Kane turned up after being released from gaol. They looked so cosy together whilst having a friendly game of soccer. Miles and Ollie were also playing pirates aboard "HMAS Ollie" in the lounge room. It was a marvellous scene to watch and it truly brought the pirate out of Miles and Ollie's face lit up with enjoyment as they acted out pirate scenes and sayings.
When Miles brought Ollie to the hospital to visit his Dad after the car crash at the school formal, you could clearly see Miles felt really uncomfortable with the "family scene". For a while, Kane wasn't on the scene and he took care of Ollie and Kirsty. Now that Kane was back in their lives, it made things more difficult for Miles to deal with this ready made family. Try as she may, Kirsty did her best to accommodate both Kane and Miles into her life but in the end, Miles came second best on this occasion.
With all his heart, he persuaded Kirsty and Ollie to leave with Kane even though she loved Miles but his head wished that she would have stayed. At least they gave it a go for a little while before Kirsty arrived back in Summer Bay to the surprise of Miles. Ollie landed back on his doorstep with Kane in tow, after Kane took a swing at Miles for allegedly trying to break up his family.
It took a while for things to get back on track once Kane went off the scene, Miles turned out to be Kirsty's number one choice when it came to the romance department and a father figure for Ollie. Although they had their fair share of disagreement over the tutoring of Trey Palmer and other issues, Ollie was Miles's top priority when it came to being looked after and cared for.
When Miles went away with Hugo and Alf to go shark hunting, Kirsty and Ollie bid them farewell along with Xavier at the wharf. Before they went, Ollie made sure that Miles was well equipped for the trip with a very well planned list. Miles was proud of Ollie for having a well prepared checklist that he could work off before leaving.
When Kirsty got accepted and started to attend Uni, their hectic schedules meant that Miles was doing the majority of the caring of Ollie. When Kirsty put Uni before family, Miles had had enough and reminded Kirsty that he wasn't just some glorified babysitter and made her feel guilty when he said, "When was the last time you put Ollie to bed?"
There came a time when Kirsty found out that she was pregnant with Miles's child and when she was nearing twelve weeks, she was indecisive about telling Ollie until Miles pointed out that it was better that she told Ollie first before Colleen found out. At Irene's place, Kirsty had a little talk to Ollie saying that she had some happy news to tell him. Miles stood in the wings with Irene as Kirsty told Ollie her good news and then came in right on cue and joined them, just like a happy family photo.
Ollie, Miles and Alf went fishing together and Ollie had many questions for Miles like he wondered if they would still go fishing once the baby was born, to which Miles told him that he hoped that Ollie would teach his little brother or sister how to fish when they were older. He was instilling a tradition that he wanted to pass down through the generations and Ollie liked that idea.
After Kirsty's miscarriage, it was up to Miles to keep the family together and stay strong especially for Ollie's sake even though deep down he was grieving himself. Ollie could sense that Miles was sad because of his Mum's loss of the baby and it was a comfort to Miles when Ollie mentioned it. After Colleen suggested that what Kirsty needed was her Mum, Miles contacted Shelley and she came to the Bay. When Ollie met Shelley, he was very shy especially since she was a new person that he'd encountered and Ollie clung to Miles, like a koala to a tree. The icebreaker came when Grandma gave him a gift and Kirsty suggested a walk - just the three of them so that Grandma could get to know her grandson, leaving Miles in the cold once more. Shelley made an apt comment that night to Kirsty that she liked Miles and that it was obvious that Ollie thought the world of Miles, even she could see that Miles was a good influence on Ollie even she had only just met him.
It was the night of "the Last Supper", where they all sat down as a family one last time: Alf, Nicole, Romeo, Miles, Kirsty and Ollie. After dinner had ended Miles watched on as Kirsty cleaned up Ollie, who she affectionately called "grot features", and smiled. He liked seeing things starting to return to some sort of normal and Kirsty making more of an effort by making dinner, cleaning up and interacting with her son made Miles smile, albeit sadly.
Before the P&C meeting, Kirsty had a heart to heart chat with Miles before Ollie interrupted. Miles hoisted him up whilst called him "little buddy", he asked him if he brushed his teeth as he wanted to see them sparkling clean when he got home from the P&C meeting and told Ollie that he loved him before kissing him on the side of his head.
That was the last time that Miles, known as the gentle giant in Ollie's eyes, who cared for and treated Ollie just like he was his own son saw him ever again as he left with his Mum and Grandma in the middle of the night, with only a note on Miles's pillow and the fond memories of his time spent with Ollie left in his heart and mind.
The following are a few comments from members about Ollie and Miles's time together on-screen:
| Miles was an excellent father figure to Ollie, spending time with him and loving him like he was his own was enough. (rockstarrr08) |
| Ollie and Miles never gelled in the way Kane/Ollie did. It was obvious it was acting whereas the scenes with Kane (and can I mention someone else? With Irene) were much more natural. (I love music) |
| Yes, I think he did although we were limited in what we saw. I don't think we saw Miles as a disciplinarian or fulfilling that end of a fatherhood role. He was more like a child-minder and cool uncle to him. (Mistified) |
| I didn't really like Miles being a father figure for Ollie but he was a good one. (dncllpyk) |
| I really enjoyed how Miles and Alf were seen as Role Models for Ollie when Kane wasn't there. I felt like Miles did fulfil his role as a male role model in Ollie's life, just in a different way from Kane. (suzannelgnz) |
| Miles was wonderful with him, but, he never really got the chance to fulfil the role he had, as much as being a father-figure might've gone anyway... (JackWilkins) |
| I think Miles did a great job and they seemed to have a nice bond. Like the others said, I think Miles knew he wasn't his father and tried to take on a different role with him. (Lise) |
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