Hi. This is my next fic after Maybe baby. Alex is now about five or six months pregnant, and things are going really well for her and Smithy. This fic is going to deal with a new member of Alexs' family, someone Gina had long forgotten.
"Come on girls, we're going to be late." Alex shouted up the stairs to thirteen year old Cara and five year old Molly.
She waddled through to the kitchen where Smithy sat eating his breakfast. Her stomach had increased in size considerably over the last couple of weeks. She was twenty two weeks pregnant, but she already felt the size of a house. She flopped down in to one of the chairs next to Smithy.
"You alright?" He asked through a mouth full of toast.
"Yeah I'm fine. Just really tired I guess. I feel so hot at the moment and I can't believe it's only April." Alex commented as she wafted her face with the paper.
Outside, the sun was shining into their back garden. The last few days had been really sunny and hot. Alex was finding it difficult, between being too hot one minute and then freezing cold the next. She was impressed at Smithy; he was being very supportive and understanding. Considering what he had to put up with, Alexs' mood swings, her over emotional outbursts and he had extra shifts to do at the station.
He stood up with his empty plate and walked over to the sink, dunking it in the lukewarm water. He then walked behind Alex and kissed the top of her head.
"Do you want me to stay?" He asked.
"No don't be daft, I'll be fine. I don't need a lot of fuss making over nothing. Go ahead to work and I'll see you there later. Oh and you haven't forgotten about the hospital later this afternoon, have you?" She replied.
"Course I haven't forgotten. I cleared it with Gina, but I will need to be back for four at the latest." Smithy said, looking disheartened.
He hated having to work the extra shifts; unfortunately he was the only sergeant who could do it. Nicky was on holiday; Alex couldn't do it, not in her condition; and of course June had retired. So that left only him.
"Anyway, I'd better be heading off. Tell you what, how about I take the girls to school?" He suggested as he pulled on his coat and dug out his car keys.
"That would be lovely, if you don't mind." She said as she stifled a yawn.
On hearing the front door close as Smithy and the girls left, Alex started to clear away the breakfast things. As she was doing so, Gina walked in through the back door.
"Good morning Mum, are you alright?" Alex asked.
"I'm fine thank you, how are you?" She replied.
"I'm good ta. Do you want a cup of tea?" Alex said as she walked over to the kettle.
"No thank you, I should be heading off soon. I'm here just to see Smithy actually. Is he around?" Gina asked as she peered round the corner.
"Sorry you just missed him. He's just taking the girls to school and then he's going straight to the station." Explained Alex. Gina looked disappointed.
"Never mind then, I'll catch him at the station." Gina replied. "I'll see you later on. Will you be ok in the front office today? I know how much you hate it but we are rather short staffed." Gina asked hopefully.
"Since you are my Mum and you've asked soooo nicely, then I guess that's ok." Alex laughed and looked at her mum.
Gina smiled and realized that she was running slightly late. "Oh, I'm sorry but I have to go. I would love to stand here talking to you, but I have a station to run and a committee meeting thing to go to." She said and rolled her eyes.
Alex smiled and kissed Gina goodbye. She then got on with her house work until it was time for her to go to work at 10.00.
As agreed Alex was in the front office. It was really quiet, but Alex wasn't complaining. She was glad of the excuse to rest.
Just before lunchtime, a tall gentleman walked into the front office. Although he was tall, he was also quite well built. His hair was mousy brown but he was going bald. Alex thought the guy was in his late fifties.
He looked at Alex and then looked away when he saw her. It appeared as if he had wanted to say something but then thought better of it.
"Can I help you at all Sir?" She asked. It wasn't the first time she had come across a witness to a crime, who was then reluctant to explain why he was there.
"I'm looking to speak to Esther or Gina Gold please. I was told that they both work here." He explained.
"You're looking for Esther Gold?" Alex said sounding surprised and confused.
That had been the name Gina had given Alex when she was born. Alex knew for a fact that Gina, her mother and herself, were the only people who knew this.
"Or her Mum Gina. Is that a problem?" He repeated.
"Erm… if you take a little seat in this room here…" Alex led the gentleman into the interview room in front of them. "… I'll just find one of them for you." Alex closed the door. She wasn't sure what was going on, but it gave her a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Alex walked as quickly as she could round to Ginas' office. Gina was sat doing her paper work. Alex was hoping she would know who the gentleman was.
"Mum, a gentleman has just walked into the front office asking to speak to you. The thing is he's also asking to speak to Esther Gold as well. A part from me and you and of course my mother, there isn't anyone else who knows that my name was Esther." Alex explained.
"As far as I'm aware we are the only people who know. Did he give you his name?" Gina asked with as much confusion.
"No, he just said he wanted to speak to one of us." Alex replied, shaking her head.
"Well, we'd better find out who he is then hadn't we?" Gina walked towards the door to her office.
Walking into the interview room, Gina wasn't sure who or what to expect. She felt nervous but wasn't sure why.
"Hello, I'm Inspector Gold…" Gina started to say but stopped when she realized who it was she was looking at. "Davey? What are you doing here?" She couldn't hide the shock and surprise in her voice.
"Hello Gina, you haven't changed a bit." Davey said.
Alex didn't have a clue what was going on. She looked from one person to the next.
"Mum…" Alex started to ask.
"Alex this is Davey Phillips, an old friend of mine. Davey this is my daughter Alex." Gina introduced.
"Nice to meet you." Alex said. She still felt confused.
"What are you doing here?" Asked Gina.
"I work in Canley, not too far from here actually. That isn't the reason I'm here though. Is there somewhere more private we can go to talk?" Davey asked.
"Yes of course. If you follow us this way…" Gina led them into the soft interview room. "Ok Davey, what do you want to talk to us about?" She asked as they sat down.
"I want to know about Esther, Gina. I found out recently that you have a daughter, she could be the right age to be…" Davey started to explain but was cut of by Gina.
"Stop there Davey. I know where you are going with this and you're wrong." Gina said.
Alex was feeling frustrated. She didn't have a clue what was going on, but obviously Gina knew something that she wasn't telling her.
"Mum, what's going on?" She said.
"I would really like to see and speak to Esther if it is possible?" Davey said. He clearly had something important he needed to discuss.
Alex wasn't sure what to do. She looked at her Mum for guidance. Gina slightly nodded her head. Alex took a deep breath.
"My first name was Esther." Alex said bluntly.
"I thought your name was Alex." Davey looked from Alex to Gina.
Gina looked at Alex. She knew Alex needed to know the full story.
"Alex… Davey and I were together during the seventies, around the time that you were born." Gina explained.
"I came today to find out if you were my daughter. So…?" Davey said, looking at Gina.
"I'm sorry Davey, but you're not her father." Gina said sorrowfully.
"Well if I'm not Gina then who is?" He demanded.
"I don't want to discuss this any further Davey, and that's that." Gina sounded upset.
"No, that isn't that. I want to know the truth." He replied.
"So, what would you suggest then?" Alex asked calmly. She could see Gina was getting understandably upset. The subject of Alex and her parentage was a sore topic of discussion for both Gina and Alex.
"I want a paternity test." He said, still looking at Gina.
"Right, well I want to discuss this further with my mum. Since it would be me doing the test as well, I get the last say. We'll let you know in due course as to what my answer is." With that Alex walked out of the room, leaving no doubt in Daveys' mind who was calling the shots.
She left Gina and Davey to it. Why hadn't Gina told her about her relationship with Davey before? Alex decided to go for refs and calm down. As she headed down to the canteen, she bumped into Smithy.
"Hey, are you going for refs?" He asked as he followed her into the canteen.
"Yeah, I'm starving so I thought I'd get a quick snack. What about you, do you have time for a quick coffee?" Alex asked.
"I have time to do anything for my wife." He smiled at her.
"Suck up." Was the reply.
In the canteen, Alex couldn't stop thinking about Davey. At first she had no intention of going ahead with the paternity test. She believed her Mum when she said that Jack Marshall is her father; but there was something niggling in the back of her mind… what if…?
"Have you heard any of that Alex? Is everything alright, you're not your usual chirpy self." Smithy felt concerned for his wife.
"I'm alright. Sorry, I've just got something on my mind and I don't know what to do about it." She replied sounding sad.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked.
"This guy, Davey Phillips, walked into the front office this morning and told me and Mum that he thought he might be my biological Dad. He has demanded a paternity test to prove it. Mum has always said that Jack Marshall is my father, and she's 100 per cent certain of it." Alex explained.
"What makes him think he's your Dad?"
"He and Mum were together around the time she fell pregnant. Thing is, she's never mentioned him. I didn't even know she was with anyone at the time."
"So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know." She said simply.
At that moment Gina walked into the canteen. She saw Alex and Smithy and walked over to their table. Smithy got up to leave.
"I'll leave you to it." He said and kissed Alex.
Gina sat down opposite Alex. Neither said a word for a couple of seconds. Alex wasn't sure what to say.
"Have you thought about it?" Gina asked finally.
"I don't know what to do. What do you think?" Alex said.
"I think you should do what you feel is best." She replied.
"What was the deal with you two any way?" Alex asked in whispers. She didn't want anyone else hearing her business.
"As I said before, we were together during the seventies. There was a large group of us who lived on the same street. Davey lived a few doors down from us. We knew each other since we were little and then when I was about sixteen we started seeing each other. Just before I became pregnant with you, Davey asked me to marry him. We'd been together for about two and a half years by this stage, but he took me by surprise. I wasn't ready for commitment, so…"
"So you turned him down." Alex finished.
Gina nodded her head. "He left for a couple of months, went up north somewhere. I thought we were over for good, but he came back. While he was gone I realized I loved him. Neither of us wanted to end it permanently so we got back together. Shortly after that I had the whole incident with Jack Marshall and then of course I found out I was pregnant." Gina explained.
"Did you ever tell Davey?" Alex asked.
"No I didn't. When I found out I was expecting you, I automatically assumed that Marshall was your father." Gina rested her chin in her hands.
"So, it's possible then that Davey could be my Dad." Alex was shocked.
"I guess it could be. When I found out I was pregnant I couldn't tell him. I didn't think it was fair to expect him to bring up someone else's child and then I would have had to tell him the truth about what happened. I want you to do what you feel is best for you." Gina said. Her voice quivered slightly as tears choked her.
"I don't know what to do. I don't want you to feel hurt or think I don't believe you, if I go ahead with a paternity test." Alex said.
"I wouldn't think that and I would understand if you wanted to find out."
"At least if I go through with it, it would shut him up. What did he say to you after I left?"
"Not a lot really. We just briefly chatted about you and why I didn't tell him. Anyway, don't worry too much about it. Whatever decision you make I will support." Gina said as she squeezed Alexs' hand.
"Thanks Mum. I'd better be heading off to the hospital. We should be back soon." Alex said as she and Gina walked out of the canteen together.
"I'll see you later. Make sure you bring me back a lovely picture to look at." Gina replied.
"We will." Alex said.
In the hospital Smithy and Alex sat in the corridor waiting to be called in. Finally the doctor came and took them through to do the ultrasound scan.
The doctor ran the tracer over Alexs' stomach. The couple looked at each other and held their breath with anticipation. After a couple of minutes, they heard the fast rhythmic thudding of their babys' heart beat.
"There you are Mr and Mrs Smith; that is your babys' very strong heart beat." The doctor said and pointed at the screen.
Smithy was still amazed at what he saw. Even though he had seen it a couple of weeks ago, he was surprised at how much it had grown. He couldn't get his head round the fact that the grey blob on the screen was a baby, his baby, his and Alexs' baby.
The doctors' brow creased suddenly and he frowned at the screen.
"Is everything alright doctor?" Alex panicked.
"I've just detected something else on the screen. It's nothing to worry about, but if you could bear with me for a couple of moments…" The doctor replied, focusing hard on the screen in front of him.
He dragged the tracer round to the other side of Alexs' stomach and then smiled.
"I thought so." He said, smiling broadly. "Can you see that shape there?" He asked.
Alex looked and nodded. Smithy was struggling to see at first, but then he saw a small grey blob almost in the corner of the screen.
"That is your babys' twin." The doctor said finally.
"Our babys' what?" Alex was shocked.
"Twins, are you sure?" Smithy sounded as equally shocked and surprised as Alex was.
"Yes Mr Smith, I am absolutely sure. Can you see it flicking its arms?" He said as he pointed at the screen again.
True enough the baby was flailing its tiny arms and legs. Alex and Smithy looked and smiled at each other.
"Why didn't we see the other baby in the previous scan?" Alex asked.
"The second baby is quite a bit smaller than its sibling. The baby appears healthy enough but we will need to keep an eye on them both. It's possible that we may need to perform a small procedure if we think the baby isn't growing as it should. It's nothing to worry about, but sometimes with twins one baby gets more nutrients than the other; therefore one grows more than the other." The doctor explained.
"But a part from that they're both fine?" Alex asked. She was always terrified of something being wrong.
"Yes Mrs Smith everything looks fine."
Alex breathed a sigh of relief. Smithy was speechless.
After they finished at the hospital, they headed back to the station. Alex held the scan in her hand all of the way there. She couldn't believe that she was having twins, but she couldn't be happier. Smithy held her hand and squeezed it tightly.
"What do you think Gina will say?" He asked.
"I think she will be chuffed to pieces. She was really excited about getting one new Grandchild, but I think she will be bold over by two new Grandchildren. What do you think your Mum will say?" Alex said.
"I have no idea. She'll probably be the same as Gina." Smithy replied as he pulled their car into the car park at the back of the station.
"Well, back to earth for a while now. I wish you didn't have to work late tonight." Alex said as she cupped his cheek in her hand and kissed him.
He kissed her back with as much passion. He moved his hand over her stomach and they smiled at each other.
"Yeah me too. But never mind, I've only got a couple more to do and then you've got me home for two weeks." He replied as he kissed her again.