Joey and Lauren walked down the stairs hand in hand and then paused before they went into the room.
'Okay?' he asked softly, Lauren nodded and they walked through the door and into the kitchen. Max had seated the kids at the table and Lucy looked up.
'Do you want us to stay?' Max asked them
Lauren and Joey looked at each other and Joey shook his head 'No, but thank you' Joey told him
'All right we'll wait outside then' he said, Lauren watched them go as they filed out of the front door, giving a small smile when Max turned and winked at her.
Lauren looked at her children's faces and she saw the concern and fear on three faces, she couldn't bring herself to look at Hope's face to see what was on her face.
'What's going on?' James asked
'Are you and mum getting divorced?' Connor asked Joey
'No' Joey shook his head 'We're not' he licked his lips and he took a deep breath 'Look, we have something that we need to tell you all' he told them all 'our parent's already know, you all know that your mum hasn't been feeling well lately, well she went to the doctors today, well we realise that you are probably going to be highly embarrassed about this, but we are having another baby' he told them all.
'What!' Hope frowned 'Is that all? You've dragged us all here and got us all worried because you're having another baby? At your age too, that's disgusting' she snapped at them and she got up
'SIT. DOWN!' Joey snapped at her 'Don't you dare talk to your mother or me like that young lady!' he said angrily, Hope blinked at Joey's anger and she sat down, her cheeks flushing.
Lauren looked down and she felt her eyes fill with tears 'I'm sorry Joey' she said quietly and she raced out of the back door of the house into the garden.
Joey watched her go, concern evident in his eyes, he licked his lips and he turned back to look at his children 'Your mother is 5 months pregnant, she is classed as a high risk pregnancy because of her previous miscarriages, and because of Patrick's heart condition' he continued. 'She had to go to the hospital, to have some tests, and they discovered the she has a brain tumour' he told them
Sophie burst into tears and Connor and James both went pale, Joey looked at Hope and saw that she had her hand clasped over her mouth and her eyes were shimmering with tears.
'How….how bad is it?' Sophie stammered
'They think that the tumour is benign..'
'What does that mean?' Connor asked with a shaky voice
'It mean non-cancerous' Joey explained to him
'Why do just think?' James questioned
'Because of where the tumour is' Joey said 'It's in the pituitary gland in the brain, most of these tumours are benign, the gland controls hormones, and when it has a tumour it can affect people in different ways. In your mums case she had symptoms of the menopause, when in fact she is pregnant'
'Mum didn't know she's pregnant?' Sophie asked him
'No, she's had no symptoms of pregnancy. No morning sickness, no cravings, nothing' Joey shook his head
'Is she going to be okay?' she asked
'She's going to be just fine' Joey nodded and he forced himself to smile. 'We don't want you guys to worry about anything okay. I am going be here to look after her and you guys need to help out around the house. Mum told me that you've redone the chore chart so thank you for doing that. The next four months, mum is going to need to have a lot of rest and have as little stress and worry as possible' he looked pointedly at Hope. He licked his lips. 'So does anyone have any questions?'
'Is the baby a boy or a girl?' James asked
'A girl' Joey smiled proudly
'A little sister?' Sophie asked wiping her eyes.
'Yep' Joey nodded.
'Are you moving back in dad?' Connor asked him
'Yes' Lauren replied as she came back into the room. 'I need my family around me' she said 'I'm going to need a lot of support and hugs' she told them all as she walked over to Joey 'And TLC'
Joey put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head, the kids all got up and crowded around her,
'How do you feel mum?' Sophie asked her
'Tired, emotional, shocked' she replied
'Can I do anything?' she asked her
'I could use a hug' Lauren said. Sophie grinned at her and hugged her tightly, James and Connor came forward and joined in the hug, hugging Joey too. 'Okay now I need air!' Lauren said with a small giggle, they all let her go and she blew out a breath. Hope still sat in her place at the table in the kitchen.
Joey looked at her 'Hope?' he said she looked up at him
'What?' she asked him with a shrug
'Haven't you got anything to say?' he asked her
Hope looked at Lauren and then at Joey and then back at Lauren.
'Why don't we go see what the oldies are doing' James said to his siblings. They left, leaving the three of them together.
'I'll leave you two alone to talk' Joey said 'I'll be outside' he looked at Lauren and he stroked her cheek softly 'Hope. I'm warning you!' he told her firmly. She swallowed and nodded.
Lauren walked towards Hope and Hope stood up. 'Are you really going to be okay?' she asked Lauren, Lauren licked her lips, taking a deep breath and she shrugged.
'We don't know Hope. I hope so' she said softly deciding to be honest with her eldest daughter. 'I'm sorry about what I said to you. When I get angry, really angry, my brain doesn't engage with my mouth'
'So that's where I get it from?' Hope asked her
'Yeah afraid so' Lauren nodded 'Look when I had the accident, they asked Joey to make a decision of which one of us that he wanted them to try to save. At first he told them that he couldn't choose, that it was an impossible decision' Lauren told her 'Then when he had time to think about it'
'He chose you'
'He did, but not because he didn't want you, because we didn't want you, we did. We do' Lauren said 'You have no idea how hard we tried to conceive you…'Lauren laughed shaking her head 'I nearly died Hope, the doctors said that it was a miracle that I was still alive, that was down to you, you being inside me, you pressed against the bleeding and you kept me alive. Joey was asked to choose again and he chose me, because he had lived without me before and he didn't want to do it again. He didn't want to live without me. He was heartbroken that he had to choose, guilty that he had to choose. But he had never had you so he figured that he wouldn't miss what he never had….I'm not explaining this very well…does any of that make sense?'
Hope nodded and she sniffed 'Yes' she said softly 'it does' she said and she looked at Lauren 'I'm sorry too, I have been such a cow to you'
'Yeah you have' Lauren nodded 'But I didn't stop loving you, or wanting you and I never once wished that I lost you…. Never….' Lauren said as her eyes filled with tears 'I love you so much Hope….'
'I love you too mummy' Hope said and she grabbed Lauren and hugged her tightly. The two sobbed in each other's arms. 'Was dad telling the truth? Are you going to be okay?' she asked her
'Of course I am' Lauren said 'We Branning women are made of strong stuff'
'Good' she said with a sniff. 'Can I come home?'
'Yes of course you can honey' Lauren said 'I need you here most of all' she pulled Hope to look at her. 'This will always be your home okay?' Hope nodded 'Why don't you go and tell everyone that they come back in now?' she asked her
Hope nodded 'Okay' she said and she hugged Lauren again and then went to the door and opened it.
'You can come back in now' she told them
Joey made a beeline for Lauren 'Everything okay?' he asked her as he walked her into the living room
'Yes. Hope's coming home too' she told him
'I'll take Hope and we'll go and pick up our bags. Will you be okay for half an hour?'
'Yes' she nodded 'I'll be fine with a house full of people'
'We'll go now then' Joey told her and he gave her a quick kiss. 'I'll see you soon babe'
Lauren watched Joey speak to Hope and the two of them glanced at her with a smile and walked out of the house.
AN: Joey told the kids.
Lauren and Hope made up and Lauren promised to tell Hope the truth about her condition after Hope promised that she would keep it secret from her brothers and sister.
Thanks for all your reviews
As always please R&R