A/N: Here's another chapter, I hope you like it.

I waved bye to Maddy and headed into CID, Gene and I were leaving for Manchester that night to spend some time at his mum's. I was nervous about meeting her, but he assured me she'd love me. I hoped so. I swung by the ladies, only to see Alex splashing water on her face, although this didn't disguise the obvious mascara trails.

"Alex? What's wrong?" I asked, and she turned in surprise.

"Oh, Louise! Nothing, nothing at all!" she said with a fake smile, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Load of shit. What's wrong."

"I'm pregnant," she confessed, and I looked her dead in the eye, feeling a little surprised.

"Gene's?"

"Yes," she replied, and I wrapped my arms around her.

"He'll be a great dad, and you know it," I told her, but she shook her head.

"I'm not upset about Gene being the father, even though he's my boss. I'm just worried that... even though I'm happy... if there's something tying me here, to this world, I'll never be able to see Molly again. I gave her a small smile.

"If your daughter cares about you, and if she loves you even a tenth of the amount you love her, then she'll be glad, glad that you've found love and that you're having a child. You've got to stop fighting, because you're going to hurt so many people here if you lose your life. Not just your unborn child; also me, Shaz, Ray, Chris and Gene," I told her. She shook her head.

"I've got to fight to get home. But you are right; Gene will be a great father, even if I have to leave. I'll be here long enough to have the baby. But I can't guarantee any longer," she said.

"Fine," I replied, a little disgruntled, but not bothering to argue. I gave a small smile.

"Good luck telling Gene," I said, before departing.


I walked in after I deemed it safe, only to see that Gene was staring, slack mouthed, at Alex.

"How long's he been like this?" I asked, in a whisper.

"About five minutes," she replied, equally concerned.

"Oi! Gene! Wakey wakey!" I said, and he blinked a few times.

"I... knocked up... my DI?" he said, phrasing it like a question. I rolled my eyes.

"Bravo, you heard right," I said.

He put his head on the table, seemingly unsure of what to do.

"Well, Bolls, let's make an honest wimmin of yeh. Marry me?" he asked. I almost pitied the poor guy.

"What? Gene, I can't! It's nineteen eighty two, not nineteen fifty two!" she exclaimed. Gene looked almost rejected, upset.

"Sod it then. At least move in wi' me, I've got another couple o' spare bedrooms, yeh can stay in there. I wanna keep an eye on yeh and the... baby," he mumbled. She looked at him before giving a slow nod.

"Okay. I'll move out at the end of next week. That okay?" she asked. He agreed.

"We'd better start gettin' up to Manchester, Louise," he said, and I nodded and grabbed my bag.


The drive up was long and slightly awkward, and after checking in and dropping off our bags at the hotel, we drove to Gene's mother's house. The street was fairly quiet, nothing unusual about it, and no one would believe that Gene Hunt, the man who could make grown men quiver in their shoes, grew up here. I climbed out of the Quattro and stood behind Gene, wondering what his mum would be like. An older lady answered the door, she looked small and elderly, but she had an aura of strength and independence.

"Gene!" she said, putting her arms around him, and he awkwardly returned her hug and kissed her on the cheek.

"Let me see yeh. Ah, yeh daft boy! Yeh've driven up 'ere righ' after work! Yeh should've waited 'til the mornin'!" she said, assessing her son.

"Ma-am..." he moaned, sounding every bit like a little boy and perhaps even blushing a little.

"An' you must be Louise. 'E tells me nothin' else. Louise this, Louise that," she said, coming and giving me a hug. I hugged back.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs Hunt," I smiled.

"Ah, nice manners yeh've got there. And please, it's Gina," she smiled.

"Thank you..." it was my turn to blush.

"Well, I'm glad yeh're here. It almost feels like 'avin' a Granddaughter, y'know. 'As Gene asked yeh yet?" she asked, leading us into the sitting room.

"Asked me what?" I asked, not certain what she was talking about.

"Eh, you'd know what it was if 'e'd asked," she smiled.

Gene was shuffling his feet, and I wondered what it was he was asking. I gave him a look that clearly said 'you will be explaining later', before turning back to his mum.

"Wha' is it Genie? Spit it out," she said. I knew what he was wanting to tell her.

"My DI's pregnant wi' my baby. Yer gonna be a grandma," he said nervously. Gina's face lit up.

"Thank god, after all this time. I was thinkin' after the mis-"

"Mam! I don' wanna talk 'bout that," Gene said, looking sadly at the floor.

"Aye, okay Gene. I take it yeh did the righ' thing an' I'll be expectin' a weddin' invite soon?"

"I proposed, but she turned me down. She will be livin' wi' us though."

"Okay. I'll go stick the kettle on," his mum said quietly.

"What is it, Gene?" I asked once she was out the room. For once, he was silent.