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Character Profiles > Rebecca Napier Jane Hall

Rebecca Napier 2007-
Lived: Napier house, 22 Ramsay Street
Parents: Alan Napier
Siblings: Marcus
Children: Oliver and Declan
Family Tree: Napier
Occupation: Rebecchi Cammeniti Secretary

As one of the underprivileged Napier family, Rebecca saw her father, Alan, work tirelessly for the well-off Barnes family, owners of a string of hotels in Melbourne. But she started to rebel as a teenager and found herself pregnant, so was sent away and, upon her return, Clifford and Pamela Barnes, believing that they were unable to have children of their own, offered to adopt the baby. A naïve Rebecca believed that this was the best solution for everyone, as her child would have a far better life than she could provide for him, and she’d be able to continue working for the Barnes family and watch her baby grow up. But as time went on, Rebecca found it too painful to see little Oliver being raised by other people and she accepted money from Pamela and Clifford before disappearing, while they went on to have a child of their own, Sebastian, and slowly shut Oliver out of their lives.

Over two decades later, Rebecca had a second child, Declan, who was about to turn seventeen when Oliver suddenly got in touch. A dying Alan had revealed to Oliver that he was his grandfather, something which a DNA test confirmed and, having tracked down, and ruled out, Alan’s son, Marcus, he realised that Rebecca had to be his mother. A difficult woman to track down, Oliver eventually got Rebecca’s telephone number through a private detective and left a message for her. Later that day, they arranged a meeting at the local bar, Charlie’s, where Rebecca explained her reasons for giving Oliver away and told him that she had never stopped thinking about him. But just as Oliver thought that he was about to get to know his real mum, Rebecca explained that she was glad to have met him, but wanted no further contact. But, back at home, she started looking at a tin containing clippings about Oliver that she had kept over the years, and began to realise that she wasn't going to be able to simply ignore his existence. Rebecca and Oliver arranged another meeting where, although willing to continue seeing him, Rebecca made it clear that it couldn't be at the cost of her relationship with Declan. Though Oliver's girlfriend, Elle Robinson was appalled by the way this woman was setting down the ground rules, Oliver was willing to do whatever it took to have some kind of relationship with his mum. After chatting all evening, Oliver then made the mistake of asking about his father, and mentioning Declan's name, at which point Rebecca backed off completely and got up to leave. Oliver managed to convince her to meet him for lunch the next day but when she phoned and cancelled, Elle angrily went to Rebecca's home and confronted her. A furious Rebecca told her that Declan had been taken ill and she'd been forced to stay at home and look after him, and it seemed as though Elle's interference had done ireparable damage to Oliver's fragile relationship with his mother.

But, when Oliver was injured in a minibus crash when returning from his friend Frazer Yeats’ wedding, Rebecca went to Ramsay Street to visit. Whilst there, she was just starting to get along with Elle when she spotted a photo of her father, Paul Robinson, and fled the house. Later, Rebecca warned Oliver that perhaps he should end his relationship with Elle, before visiting Paul and breaking the news that she believed him to be Oliver’s real father. A horrified Elle refused to believe what was happening and insisted on arranging a DNA test, believing Rebecca to be a con artist. Rebecca agreed to go along with it and, while they all waited, grew close to Paul, reminding him of the weekend they’d spent together when he was an airline steward. She explained that she’d tried to get in touch when she found out she was pregnant, but spoke to his rude sister Julie, mistaking her for his wife, and gave up. Rebecca was then devastated when the results came back negative and lied to Oliver that, if Paul wasn’t his father, then she had no idea who it was. Oliver finally snapped and decided to cut contact with Rebecca, but Paul felt for her and met up with her, where she explained the truth – Oliver and Declan had the same father, Richard Aaronow, a violent man who had raped her, resulting in Declan’s conception, and who she had been trying to escape from ever since.

Things were more complicated for Rebecca at home, when she found out that Declan hadn’t been studying with friends or doing a paper round, but committing petty crimes to get the money to help with the bills. But she couldn’t stay angry with him for long and admitted that she felt ashamed that her son had gone to such lengths to help with the finances. Meanwhile, tired of all the lies, and after being convinced by Paul to give her a second chance, Oliver went to see Rebecca and broke the news to Declan that he was his brother. Declan struggled with this revelation and, again, mother and son were falling out, this time with Rebecca doing the apologising. An angry Declan wondered how he would ever be able to trust her again but later, as he started to burn all of his mother’s clippings about Oliver, he noticed that his new brother was the wealthy heir to a hotel empire, and saw that perhaps having a sibling could have its advantages. But Rebecca was forced to put her foot down when Oliver bought Declan a car for his 17th birthday, and she told her younger son that he would have to pay Oliver back every penny that he'd 'borrowed' from him. Despite all the difficulties, Rebecca was starting to feel that she had finally found somewhere that she and Declan could belong, as Paul threw them a barbecue to welcome them to Ramsay Street. And her love life seemed like it was looking up as she and Paul shared a kiss, but there was still the small matter of Elle to deal with.

With Elle unaware of the truth about Richard, she decided to trace Oliver's father herself. After getting his name from Declan's birth certificate - as he applied for a job at Lassiter's to pay off his debt to Oliver - she traced him via the internet to a boys' grammar school, where he was principal. After lying that she was looking for a school for her younger brother, Elle realised that Richard was suspicious and fled, dropping her Lassiter's I.D. in the process. Back in Erinsborough, Elle finally learnt the truth about Richard from Oliver and, when he tracked her down at the hotel and saw her with Rebecca, then confronted her, Elle realised that she would have to come clean to her loved ones. She gathered Rebecca, Paul and Oliver together and explained what she'd done, and Rebecca immediately started talking about leaving the area, as Richard was too close. Paul convinced her and Declan to move in with him instead, but when she was busy packing, Rebecca was alarmed to receive a call from Richard and, knowing that the police could do nothing about an innocent phone call, she started to trash her house. She then phoned the police, claiming that Richard had done it, but Oliver walked in and caught her, leaving him suddenly doubting everything his mother had told him.

Though Rebecca insisted that she hadn't made anything up, Oliver decided that he wanted to meet Richard and get both sides of the story and she was further alarmed when Declan read Oliver's phone and got in touch with Richard too, meeting up with him and finally finding out what Rebecca had been hiding from his for all those years. Rebecca was relieved as Declan stood by her, but there was more bad news for her when the hospital got in touch, with the news that Alan's health had taken a turn for the worse. Though reluctant to visit, Rebecca came to realise that this might be her last chance to make her peace with her dad and he was happy to see her, apologising for making her give up her baby and also admitting that he'd secretly known all along what Richard had done to her that night, but had done nothing about it. Rebecca accepted her father's apologies, and later realised that she finally had someone to back up her story if she took legal action against Richard but upon her return to the hospital, she was horrified to find that her father had died. As Rebecca struggled to come to terms with losing both her father and the only person who could prove her rape claims, Declan finally snapped and, desperate to help, he went to meet Richard, pretending that his grandfather's death had made him have second thoughts about wanting to know his dad. But later, in a remote fishing spot, Declan's true intentions were revealed and he went to attack his father with a boat oar, only for Richard to fall in the water during the tussle. Back at home, Rebecca found a note from her youngest son, saying that he'd gone 'to get Richard' and she, Paul and Oliver raced off to find him before he did something he might regret.

At the river, they found Richard about to attack Declan, who had left his father to drown after he fell from the boat. The incident made Rebecca realise that she couldn't let Richard get away with his violent past and she went to the police station, where Richard was already busy pressing assault charges against Declan. Having given her own statement, Rebecca was pleased when Senior Constable Sophie Cooper warned Richard to think again before pressing charges, and also to keep away from the Napiers. But problems arose and Sophie broke the news to Rebecca that there wasn't enough evidence for her to press charges. Rebecca then decided that her only option was to start a civil case, which would be a long, drawn out affair, but would hopefully result in Richard facing up to what he'd done. When Paul took Rebecca and Declan away for a break in the country a few days later, Richard followed and found Rebecca alone, gathering wood. He warned her that she would never escape from him and, as she tried to push him away, he fell and hit his head. At the hospital, Rebecca, Oliver and Declan were stunned to learn that Richard was in end stage renal failure and, without a transplant, had only weeks to live. After learning that he was a match for his father, Declan decided to donate, having overheard Richard telling Rebecca that he would never give her the confession that she so desperately wanted. But Declan's plan to make sure his father lived long enough to face court failed when Rebecca refused to give her permission, so Oliver stepped in and donated a kidney. Following the operation, Richard's health took a turn for the worse, and Rebecca decided to postpone her case until he was well enough to face court.

Meanwhile, desperate to find a job with better hours than the shift work she'd been doing, Rebecca accepted an offer from Paul to work at Lassiter's, but was determined to work her way up, starting off as a waitress. However, she was terrible at the job and, when she popped into the offices of law firm Rebecchi Cammeniti to discuss her case, she ended up answering the phone and taking appointments for the new company, impressing partner Toadie Rebecchi and barrister Diana Murray who subsequently agreed to employ her on a trial basis. Having sorted out her work life, Rebecca was in for a shock when a distracted Paul opened up to her and admitted that he'd been having flashbacks and suspected that he'd murdered someone. Unable to comprehend what she was being told, but unwilling to find herself trapped with another violent man, Rebecca packed her and Declan's things and moved to Lassiter's. Over the days that followed, she struggled to deal with events, and considered returning to Paul, but couldn't quite bring herself to do it. Dealing with this, as well as the stress of her father's funeral led her to make a serious mistake at work - sending a file to lawyer Tim Collins that showed that Oliver had been trying to sell off his shares in Lassiter's hotel, while his adoptive brother Sebastian was contesting it. Rebecca promptly resigned from her job but also came to realise that she loved Paul and could accept that he'd moved on from his past, so she found him at Charlie's bar and the couple were reunited.

When Paul, desperate for forgiveness, got in touch with Gus' sister, Laura and helped her get a room at Lassiter's Hotel, wrongly believing that Laura's boyfriend Nick Thompson was abusing her. Upon hearing this, Rebecca wanted to help, understanding what Laura was going through, but was sent away. Declan, meanwhile, was busy making trouble, after being caught by the police during an illegal drag race. Rebecca was horrified by what her son had been doing, and even more angry that Oliver had allowed him to keep the sports car he'd bought him for his birthday. When the car was involved in a hit-and-run accident a few days later, Declan was prime suspect for running down Bridget Parker from number 26, so he ran away. Whilst Declan was missing, another neighbour, Susan Kinski confessed to the crime, having blacked out at the wheel, and Rebecca desperately tried to contact Declan with the news. When he couldn't be contacted, and didn't come home, Rebecca grew worried, then a call came in, telling Oliver that they had Declan and wanted money for his safe return. Rebecca refused to get the police involved, but Paul quickly figured out that Nick and Laura were behind the kidnap, and the money was their way of making Paul pay for what he did to Gus. Desperate to get her son back, Rebecca went with Oliver to the drop-off point with the ransom money, hoping that the police wouldn't have to be involved. But first Paul caught them leaving the house, then Senior Constable Cooper was on the street, picking up colleague Adam Rhodes when the pair got suspicious and decided to follow. At the coastal car park where the drop off was due to happen, the police waited to pounce, while Rebecca became concerned that Gus and Laura weren't going to show up. When Gus did arrive with a hooded figure, claiming it was Declan, Rebecca quickly realised that it wasn't - it was Laura - and her son was missing in the bush. After hours of searching, and after the police had given up for the night, Rebecca finally found her son, exhausted and slumped by the side of some old railtracks.

Back at home, Rebecca tried to be understanding as Declan struggled to open up about what had happened to him, barely talking as the pair visited a psychiatrist. When he returned to school and immediately got into a fight, Rebecca admitted to teacher Susan that she was worried about the change in Declan recently. He, meanwhile, was worried that he was turning out like his dad and couldn't bear to disappoint his mum any further, so he ran away. Declan's taxi driver, fortunately, turned out to be neighbour Frazer Yeats, who alerted Oliver as he dropped Declan at the train station. Oliver, Rebecca and Paul raced to the station but were just in time to see the train to Sydney leaving, only to spot Declan still sitting on the platform. Rebecca convinced him to return home, and later decided to show him that his life hadn't been that terrible, and his future didn't need to be either, by taking him back to the house they shared when he was young. After looking around and sharing some memories, Declan agreed to make a fresh start, and Rebecca asked Paul if his offer for them to move in was still open. A few weeks later, Rebecca's place as a member of the Ramsay Street community was cemented when Harold Bishop asked her to take over from him, and switch on the street's Christmas lights. A huge fan of the festive season, Rebecca happily accepted the offer and made a speech to her gathered friends and neighbours, thanking them all for making her and Declan feel so welcome.

Trivia Notes
• When Paul Robinson and Rebecca had their one night stand in 1981, she lied that she was 19 and from a rich family to make her life seem more interesting
• Rebecca tried to contact Paul after they first slept together. She called the Robinson house and spoke to his sister Julie. Julie gave her a ‘frosty’ reception and Rebecca assumed it was Paul's wife
• Rebecca is a big Tom Cruise fan