Chapter 11

Julia's car pulled up outside Audrey's block of flats. Julia and Gloria walked up 3 flights of stairs until they were at Audrey's door. Julia gave 2 hard knocks to the door as they waited for a reply. It took a few minutes before the door finally opened. Audrey took one look at them and got ready to slam the door in their face, until Gloria put her foot in the way, stopping her.

"You don't wanna do that love. I've just climbed 3 flights of stairs and I'm bloody knackered. The least you can do is invire us in for a sit down."

Audrey saw the determination in Gloria's face and stepped aside. As big a pain in the arse as Gloria was, Julia had to admire her for getting what she wanted. They walked through to the livingroom and took a seat on the sofa and Audrey stood infront of them smoking a cigarette.

"What the hell do you want." Audrey asked, angrily.

"You know why we're here. Dolly, Mike. Your Grandchild."

"I already told that bitch and Mike, I want nothing to do with any of it."

"You know luv, you really need to watch your mouth." Gloria ranted.

"Gloria..."

"No Doc, who the hell does she think she is. You listen to me luv. That bitch as you call her is carrying your Son's baby. You think it's been easy for her. Going through all this shit at her age. It hasn't."

"What Gloria is trying to say is that what Dolly needs is the support of her family."

"I'm not her bloody family."

"You are Audrey. Whether you like it or not, you are. Mike and Dolly are together and there's nothing you can do to change that. He won't leave her, not even for you. He regrets ever blaming her for Shirley's death, for trying to get her put back inside. He believed your every word. Luckily he saw sense. He realised she was nothing like the woman you described. He fell in love with her and now she's pregnant."

"Her choice. She could have gotten rid of it."

"You really are unbelieveable, aren't you. All her life she craved for a child. Ultimately that's why she killed her Husband, because he ran off with a younger model and had a secret child with her. I'm the first to admit that when Dolly and Mike got together I wasn't happy. He was a bloody cop. I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him but then Dolly found out she was pregnant and I've never seen any man in my entire life handle things with such ease as he did. He was over the moon when she told him and he hasn't let her down yet. He's been there by her side through it all. The morning sickness, the scans, the worrying that the baby would be alright. Mike worrying constantly about Dolly's own health because of her age. That man has shown remarkable strenth. I find it so hard to believe he learned any of those manners from you."

"You can't expect me to just forgive and forget everything."

"You lost your Daughter. I understand that and I know nothing can ever bring her back but you still have Mike and if you carry on with your hatred for Dolly then you are going to end up loosing him aswell. Don't spend the rest of your life with anger and resentment towards Dolly because it won't change anything. In another few months Dolly will give birth to your Granchild. Don't miss out on that. This is your chance to make a change. To make amends."

Gloria sat listening to Julia and was amazed at how good she was a dealing with stuff like this. Audrey sat silently. Not one word spilling from her lips.

"Come on Gloria. It's time we were leaving."

"Huh. Oh yeah right."

"Please have a think about what I've said Audrey. Let's go Gloria."

Gloria and Julia got up and walked out the front door, leaving Audrey with plenty to think about.

"Hey, you're not half bad at the advice Doc."

"No need to sound so bloody surprised Gloria."

To Be Continued…