Chapter 2.
"Tan..." Max called up the stairs and soon saw his wife walking down the stairs, concern etched on her face when she saw Joey crying in her husband's arms. "I need to go over to the house..." he said, "Can you look after Joey?" he asked her softly. Joey had other ideas however, yelping at the possible abandonment of Unca Maxy and his arms tightened around Max's neck. "It's okay, Joey... I'll stay here..." he said softly, feeling him relax again. He looked at Tanya and could see she was now aware that their nephew was covered in blood, "Phone Jack and get him to go over there..."
"I'll go..." she said.
"No, Tan... whatever has happened, I don't want you to see... not in your condition," he said softly, one of his hands settling on her ever-growing bump. Their first child was due mid-March and both of them were excited about starting a family together. She picked up the phone and made the call to her brother-in-law. The trio then went into the dining room and Max and Tanya sat down, Joey curled up on Max's lap, still crying although it had lessened in the last couple of minutes. Ten minutes later the front door opened and an ashen faced Jack appeared in the doorway, his eyes immediately drawn to the young boy his brother was holding.
"I've called the police..." he said softly.
Max frowned and glanced down at his nephew, Joey appeared to have cried himself to sleep in the last few minutes which Max was glad about, "What's happened?" he asked his brother quietly.
Jack glanced at his sister-in-law, "Sarah's dead..." he told them, hearing Tanya's gasp of shock as she took it in.
"The baby?" Tanya asked, her hand absently rubbing her own bump. Sarah and Tanya had found out they were pregnant within weeks of each other, Sarah slightly earlier than Tanya and she was due at the end of February. Jack shook his head and Tanya began to cry softly.
"There's blood all over the floor in the hallway and Sarah was lying at the bottom of the stairs."
"And Derek?" Max asked.
"No sign of him but I didn't go that far into the house..." Jack said. "I'll go back to the house and wait for the police. Do you want me to get some things for Joey?" he asked.
"We've got some things upstairs." Tanya said. It wasn't unusual for Joey to stay at their house every week or so and they kept some of his clothes at their house. Max and Tanya had also brought him a few toys which were stored in the bedroom he slept in when he was here as well.
"The police might want to send someone over here to check Joey." Max said, his hand rubbing his nephew's back softly. "He's covered in blood, which I'm hoping is Sarah's but just in case."
"I'll let them know." Jack said. He looked at Joey, seeing the blood all over him, "He came over here like that?"
"Yeah," Max sighed, "No shoes or coat... You saw the handprints on the door from where he was hitting it?" he asked. Jack nodded. Max held Joey a little tighter in his arms, as he tried to imagine just what the little boy had witnessed in the previous few hours.
"I'll be back in a while..." Jack said, as he looked out of the window and saw the flashing blue lights of the approaching police cars. Jack hugged Tanya softly, kissing the top of her head and then walked out of the room.
"Why don't you go and sort out some things for Joey to change into, babe." Max said.
"We should take him upstairs and give him a bath..." she said.
"We can't, babe. The police will need to see him," he said, "probably me too seeing as how I'm now covered as well. He threw himself at me as soon as I bent down to see him when I opened the door." Max brushed his hand gently over the back of Joey's head, for his own comfort as much as Joey's.
"God, Max... what do you think happened?" she whispered.
"I really don't know." He said and right now, he wasn't sure he was prepared to hear what had happened either.
*JL*JL*
Tanya busied herself with getting things for Joey sorted. She stripped the bed and put on the bedcovers they had brought especially for when he stayed at their house. They were Fireman Sam ones which was Joey's current fascination. He was obsessed with fire engines and the cartoon. Her and Max had brought him a large fire engine for Christmas and also a fire engine he could sit on and trundle along in. Both had been looking forward to seeing his face when he opened his presents but she wasn't sure that was going to happen now. She dug out some clean clothes for him as well and placed them on the bed. She looked around the room and made a list in her head of things they would need if Joey was going to stay with them, which she knew was what her and Max would want. She sat on the bed in his room and shed a few tears for her sister-in-law, wondering what awful things might have happened to the family in the previous 24 hours.
A/N: So poor little Joey is a bit upset and his mummy is dead... Just what has happened in that house? Don't forget to read and review... I want to know what you think. Today is the only day you're going to get two chapters… it'll be one a day from now on. Back tomorrow with the next chapter.