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Guest Character Profiles > Thomas Murphy Charlie Lyon

As she attempted to snag the wealthy Paul Robinson for herself, Chelsea Murphy tried and failed to get pregnant, but was thrilled when he ended up proposing to her. Their engagement party, however, came to an abrupt halt when it was revealed that Chelsea had accidentally caused Krista Sinclair to miscarry her baby, and she'd been trying to cover up her actions for months. Chelsea then fled from Erinsborough but, later that year, on Christmas Day, her sister, Cara, was surprised to see her at the airport, heavily pregnant. Cara was due to fly to New York for a family holiday and had recently undergone a hysterectomy after an accident, ending her dreams of being a mother again. Seeing her pregnant sister proved to be very confronting for Cara and, when Chelsea asked if she could stay with her, she turned her down, telling her to contact their mum instead.

Cara then kept this from her wife, Remi, but, when they returned to Erinsborough, she started to feel guilty about rejecting her sister, worrying that she was now homeless and about to give birth. When neighbour Nicolette Stone overheard Cara on the phone to her mum, who hadn't heard anything from Chelsea, she became intrigued and, needing someone to confide in, Cara told Nic the whole story. Having been on her own when she gave birth to daughter Isla, Nic understood Cara's concern for her sister and offered to help her to track down Chelsea. With Remi also working through some family problems on her side, Cara decided not to tell her what was going on, and she and Nic went to visit Maddy, cousin to Chelsea and Cara, who was a midwife and who Chelsea had once been close to. Maddy claimed not to have heard from Chelsea, but after Nic then spent the night with her and found evidence to the contract in Maddy's bedroom, Maddy admitted that she'd helped Chelsea to give birth and that mother and baby were both fine, but had now moved on. When Chelsea then left a note and a bracelet in Cara's mail box, asking her not to try and contact her, Cara realised that maybe her sister just didn't want to be found.

After Remi finally found out what had been going on, she grew worried that Paul had a child that he knew nothing about, feeling that he deserved to know. Though Chelsea had admitted to Cara that she didn't know if Paul was the father, as she'd also been sleeping with IT technician Jeffrey Swan at the time, Cara eventually agreed with her wife and they made plans to tell Paul. However, Remi then decided to try one final thing, contacting health clinics in Cranbourne, where Maddy lived, and pretending to be Chelsea, asking to confirm the time of her next appointment. After finding out that she was booked into one of the clinics that day, Remi went there and found her with baby Thomas. After realising that Chelsea had been living in terrible conditions and desperately wanted to see her sister again, Remi took her back to Ramsay Street, arriving just in time for Paul to turn up. Paul had recently reunited with ex-wife Terese Willis and the pair were planning to move into his penthouse together, so the timing could not have been worse as he found out that he might have another son.

Inside the house, Chelsea explained that she had been deliberately trying to get pregnant when she was with him, but hadn't found out about the baby until she'd left Erinsborough. She insisted that she was sorry for everything she'd done in the past and was trying to be a better person, but aware that she wasn't the most trustworthy person, Paul insisted on a paternity test before they discussed matters any further. When the test came back, it showed that Paul was the dad and he immediately started discussing a shared custody agreement with Chelsea. Chelsea, meanwhile, was delighted with the turn of events, believing that her son was now financially secure for the rest of his life, though she insisted that she was no longer interested in Paul and would respect his relationship with Terese. As Chelsea tried to show that she'd changed, Paul quickly found himself bonding with his son, but Terese was still hesitant. As Paul's son, Leo, was arrested for the murder of Sebastian Metcalfe, Chelsea offered to help in any way she could, but once they were alone together, Terese turned on her, saying that she didn't think she'd changed from the person who plotted to get pregnant in order to get her hands on Paul's money.

With Chelsea then backing off, choosing to leave Thomas with Remi and Cara instead, Terese was forced to admit what she'd done to Paul. Paul told her that he understood why she was wary, admitting that he also had little time for Chelsea, but needed to keep her happy if he wanted to be a part of Thomas's life. As Terese then apologised to Chelsea and they all tried to find a way to move forward, it looked like there was another problem coming, as Remi and Chelsea noticed that Cara was being very overprotective towards her nephew. Though Chelsea wasn't too concerned, Remi began to worry that her wife had failed to process her recent hysterectomy and was becoming too attached to Thomas.

When Gino Esposito then spotted Cara and Remi out with baby Thomas and assumed he was their child, Cara didn't correct him, leaving Remi shocked. She decided to confront her wife about her growing attachment to her nephew and, although Cara initially pushed back, she later admitted that Remi was right and that she was still struggling to deal with the fact that she'd never be a mother again. Chelsea, meanwhile, continued to be a thorn in Terese's side - after Chelsea casually mentioned that her car was going to fail its next service, Paul offered to buy her a new one. As Paul and the extended Varga-Murphy family then gathered the next day for Thomas's naming day, Terese arrived late and was upset to witness how close Paul and Chelsea appeared to be as they made a toast to their son.

When Terese later admitted to Paul that she'd walked out of the naming day, he apologised and suggested that maybe spending more time with Thomas would be a good idea. Terese agreed, but told him that it was difficult to relax around Thomas when Chelsea was always near by, so Paul then came up with the idea of them babysitting overnight at the penthouse. Chelsea reluctantly agreed to this, but things got off to a difficult start when Terese was unable to stop Thomas from crying and she and Paul soon realised that was running a high temperature. They called on Chelsea, who gave him some medicine and took him home, saying that they could try another sleepover when he was feeling better.

Things then grew more complicated when Chelsea started spending a lot of time with Dr Darcy Tyler, who had lived in Erinsborough two decades earlier and had recently returned and moved into 22 Ramsay Street. With Darcy, like Chelsea, trying to make up for his chequered past, he managed to persuade Terese to give him a job at retirement complex Eirini Rising, telling her that he could offer her intel on Chelsea and her intentions in return. With Chelsea seemingly enjoying the fact that Paul hated Darcy, hoping that he might even be jealous, she continued to spend time with him and surprised Darcy when she told Paul and Terese that they were now a couple. Paul was immediately upset, whilst Darcy asked outright if she only wanted to be with him to make Paul jealous. Chelsea insisted that this wasn't her intention and that she genuinely liked Darcy, but had been reluctant to be with anyone due to her complicated situation.

The relationship between Chelsea and Darcy wasn't to last long, however, as he started to become very clingy, talking about a long-term future with Chelsea and Thomas. Realising that they needed to have a serious conversation, Chelsea went to see him at work, only to overhear him and Terese talking about the deal they'd done. Finding a convenient way out of a relationship she was already regretting, Chelsea ended things with Darcy and returned her focus to Paul. With the revelations about Terese and Darcy's deal causing trouble for Paul and Terese, accompanied by the fact that Chelsea had just dropped the bombshell that Terese's stepdaughter Nell Rebecchi had been responsible for the death of Seb Metcalfe, a crime that Paul's son, Leo, had been charged with, Chelsea saw a way back in with her ex.

When Thomas was rushed to hospital with a high temperature a few days later, he was diagnosed with listeriosis and put on antibiotics. Paul and Chelsea were informed that the following 24 hours would be critical and would indicate whether there would be any long-term problems for Thomas. Fortunately, his health soon started to improve, but the incident left Chelsea and Paul closer than they had been before, leaving her hopeful that he might actually choose her over Terese. With everything improving, Chelsea was in for a huge shock when Jeffrey turned up and told her that he'd hacked into the testing centre's systems and had changed the DNA test results, meaning that he, not Paul, was actually Thomas's biological father. He explained that he'd had no interest in being a dad, and that he knew that Chelsea had dreamed of having a child with Paul. He then told her that, with no work and debts piling up, he wanted money to keep quiet about what he knew. Chelsea initially decided that she needed to be honest, but after Paul continued to be kind to her, she realised that she didn't want to lose him from her life and agreed to find a way to pay Jeffrey for his silence.

Having thought things through, Chelsea came up with a plan and suggested to Paul that, rather than buy her a car as he'd previously offered, he could use the money to set up a trust fund for Thomas. Paul was happy with the idea, setting up the trust fund and giving Chelsea access to it, giving her a way to pay off Jeffrey. Having solved that problem, Chelsea was then accompanied by Paul as they attended a check-up for Thomas at the hospital. He was immediately taken away for some tests and, as they anxiously waited, Paul started to tell Chelsea that he could see how much she'd changed from the woman he'd known the year before. Chelsea then acted on impulse and kissed him, with Paul briefly reciprocating before pulling away and telling her that they'd made a mistake. As Paul then tried to cover his guilt, treating Terese to dinner and expensive jewellery, Chelsea told Cara about what had happened, more convinced than ever that Paul did really want to be with her.

As she continued to do her best to alienate Terese and make Paul jealous by claiming to be going out on a date, Chelsea was again confronted by Jeffrey, demanding his money. She explained that she didn't have it yet, as the trust fund was taking time to set up, but she met with him again the next day and handed over her life savings, hoping that it would keep him quiet for a while. Jeffrey reminded her of everything that was at stake and, as he was leaving, he was spotted by Paul. Having already heard that Chelsea had been seen arguing with a bald man the previous evening, Paul demanded to know what was going on, insisting that he didn't want Thomas to be around a man like Jeffrey. Unable to keep up the pretence any longer, Chelsea then blurted out the truth, telling Paul that he wasn't Thomas's biological father.

After finally being honest with Paul about everything, Chelsea started to think about leaving town. As she struggled to tell Cara what was going on, Chelsea was surprised when Paul then came to her and said that he wanted to keep things as they were. Unable to face losing another son from his life, he said that he would carry on being a father to Thomas and that he would deal with Jeffrey, but also told Chelsea that she had to stop flirting with him and trying to get him alone. A couple of days later, he confirmed to her that he'd spoken to Jeffrey and they wouldn't be hearing from him again. Though surprised at how well things had worked out for her, Chelsea was still uncomfortable with seeing Paul, Terese and Thomas as a family unit, and couldn't resist slipping back into old habits, plotting to make sure she was around all night when they were babysitting, claiming that she couldn't express any milk so would need to be around for his night feed. After finding bottles of milk in the fridge at no. 30 the next morning, Terese realised that they'd been conned and when Chelsea then tried to arrange a baby sensory class with Paul and Thomas, on a day that she knew Terese would be unavailable, Terese finally snapped. She warned Chelsea to back off, telling her that she would never come between her and Paul and her little games had to stop. However, all of the petty arguments suddenly came to a halt when Terese received a letter from Jeffrey, telling her that he, and not Paul, was Thomas's father.

As Paul acted like he was hearing this information for the first time, he told Terese that he was going to speak to Chelsea and get to the truth. Not wanting Chelsea to con Paul yet again, Terese insisted on going with him and, at the Varga-Murphy house, with Remi and Cara looking on, they demanded to know what was going on. After taking a few moments to think, she told everyone that she'd only known for a couple of weeks but confirmed that Jeffrey was telling the truth, and had been blackmailing her. Paul was relieved as she didn't mention that he'd known the truth, and she was then forced to face the anger of Terese, Cara and Remi, as well as Krista, who angrily told her how much it had taken for her to forgive her for everything that had happened the previous year. After Krista furiously told Chelsea that she was toxic and that Thomas didn't deserve her as a mother, she watched as Paul then visited her to thank her for keeping quiet. She admitted that she couldn't bring herself to destroy what he had with Terese, then watched as Paul struggled to say goodbye to baby Thomas. Having witnessed this, and with Krista's words still in her head, Chelsea went to the penthouse and left her son, along with a note for Paul, before leaving Erinsborough.

It wasn't long before Cara insisted on taking Thomas back to the Varga-Murphy house, and was even talking about possibly adopting him, when, after only a couple of days, Chelsea returned. She told Paul, Cara and Remi how she'd been unable to live without her baby, but that she also needed to find a home of her own and stand on her own two feet, so that she could learn to be a better mum. Whilst Cara was furious with her sister's behaviour, she was still very upset as Chelsea decided to accept an offer from Paul of a hotel room. This decision also proved damaging to Paul and Terese's relationship, as Terese was angry as Paul struggled to break his ties with the baby he'd believed to be his son. As Chelsea then moved into a hotel room, Terese told Paul that she was moving back to her house on Ramsay Street.

Tenure
9208-

Trivia Notes
• Thomas Matthew Murphy was named after Chelsea and Cara's grandfathers

Biography by Steve

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