Hey hey! Mega apologies for the delay. I never meant to leave it that cliffhanger for so long. Life has erupted her; those of you reading my other fic Jamie will know that I've been accepted onto a PGCE course for September but I'm also moving house in a couple of weeks and have a lot going on at work so it's all go. I'm hoping that this chapter will more than make up for the long delay. Huge thanks to GenesGirl13 for betaing and for generally putting up with me!

Chapter 25

Previously…

Gene was cut off by the ringing of the telephone. He let out a frustrated sigh, that sounded more like a growl and stalked into the hall to answer it. Whichever bastard had chosen that moment to ring was going to be sorry. He picked up the receiver and barked into it,

"What?"

"Ge-Gene?" came a small voice that made his anger dissipate instantly.

"Molls?"

"Can you come an' get me?" she asked.

"What's wrong?" he questioned, immediately going into protective mode.

"I…I just want to come home," she sobbed.

"Yer still at the 'ouse?

"No. Phone box down the road."

"We'll be right there!" Gene assured her before hanging up. He turned round to find Alex stood in the doorway, worry etched on her face.

"She wants ter come 'ome." Gene explained.

"She okay?" Gene knew there was no point in lying to her, she'd find out soon enough,

"She's a bit upset, but I'm sure she's fine." As soon as he'd said the word upset Alex was pulling on her coat. They raced to the Quattro and Gene drove them to the same street where they'd dropped Molly off less than three hours earlier. They passed Katie's house and it was obvious that the party was still in full swing. Alex scanned the street frantically searching for her daughter. Panic was setting in; a young girl out on a dark street alone. Finally she spotted her. She was exactly where she'd said she'd be; leaning against the phone box.

"There she is!" cried Alex as Gene pulled to a screeching halt. Alex was out of the car and at her daughter's side in an instant, Gene following closely behind. He took one look at Molly and felt his blood beginning to boil. She was extremely upset; her eyes were puffy and the mascara she had carefully applied earlier in the evening had run down her cheeks, suggesting she'd been crying for a while. As Alex fussed over her heavy sobs began taking over the young girl's body. Gene wanted to find out who had caused her this amount of pain and rip them limb from limb. He thought back to Lucy's attack and panic set in. His eyes anxiously scanned her body, looking for any signs of a physical attack. Luckily there were no indications of injury and all her clothing appeared intact. Relief flooded Gene's body.

"You're freezing," he heard Alex say to her daughter, "come on. Let's get you home." She bundled Molly into the back of the Quattro and crawled in next to her. As he drove them home, Alex stroked her daughter's hair and face, whispering words of comfort to her; trying to find out what had happened. Her speech was broken by her sobs so it was difficult to understand her but Gene and Alex managed to make out some words and piece together what had happened. She'd gone upstairs to use the bathroom and when she came back down she couldn't find Adam. Eventually she'd found him in the kitchen. With Katie, the birthday girl. Kissing her. Molly collapsed into tears again as she retold the events of the evening. She got herself in such a state that by the time they arrived home that she had exhausted herself and had fallen asleep. Gene gathered her in his arms and carried her inside. He took her up to her room and laid her gently on the bed before leaving Alex to settle her.

He returned to the living room and poured himself a large measure of scotch. As he sat down on the sofa he felt the small ring box dig into his leg. He retrieved it from his pocket and slowly opened it. Staring at the contents, he let out a sigh; his mind beginning to wander. He'd been so close to asking her earlier when Molly had rang but now he'd lost his nerve again. He'd been so angry at the interruption; ready to scream at the person on the other end of the phone, snapping his greeting and then he'd heard Molly's cracked, sad voice and the guilt was overwhelming. The rational part of his brain told him that there was no way he could have known that it was Molly but that didn't stem his feelings. He was so engrossed in his thoughts; thinking about how to make it up to Molly that he didn't hear Alex coming down the stairs and stopping suddenly in the doorway.

Alex divested Molly of her boots and took her coat off to make her comfortable before pulling a blanket over her and making her way downstairs to join Gene. She'd heard him sigh as she was half way down the stairs so had purposefully quietened her approach; if he needed time with his thoughts then she didn't want to interrupt. As she approached the door, she saw him sat on the sofa, hunched over, elbows resting on his knees. A flash of headlights through the window reflected off the object Gene was holding and it caught Alex's eye. She stopped and stared at the object he was holding. Her stomach felt like it was full of butterflies and her heart was beating so loud in anticipation she was surprised Gene couldn't hear it. Was it really what she thought it was? It certainly looked liked it, and thinking back to his odd behaviour earlier it certainly made sense. He'd said he wanted to ask her something just before Molly had rang. She'd never thought that Gene would be the type to propose; his first marriage hadn't been great and she'd thought that he'd be apprehensive about going down that road again. But here he was, engagement ring in hand. She wondered for a fleeting moment if he was only asking because she was pregnant, but then she asked herself, did it really matter? She had no doubt in his love for her and knew that they were both in this relationship for the long haul so if it was the baby that had prompted his decision then was that really a bad thing? The sound of Gene's tumbler against the coffee table brought Alex back to reality and she knew that if she stayed stood in the doorway for much longer he was going to notice her, but if she walked away, who knew how long it would take him to pluck up the courage to ask again. Knowing her luck he'd stuff that ring in a drawer and it wouldn't see the light of day again for another few years. She had to do something about this. A small smile appeared on her face; yes, it was time to have a little bit of fun with Gene Hunt.

"Well she's out for the count," she announced as she waltzed into the room. She headed straight for the drinks cabinet and poured herself a tonic water, careful not to even glance at Gene as she did so. Gene jumped at the sound of her voice and snapped the box shut, hastily stuffing it back into his pocket. Alex pretended to be oblivious and busied herself until she was sure that the ring was out of sight. "I'd forgotten how exhausting having your heart broken could be," she commented as she sat down and snuggled up next to him on the sofa. She must have put on a very convincing act because Gene seemed very relaxed; he had no clue he'd been seen.

"That long since it 'appened ter yer, Bolls?"

"Yeh I guess it is. Once Molls was born I never really had much time for men, let alone getting attached enough to them for them to break my heart."

"Hmm. Well if I get me 'ands on the little scrote who's done it ter Molls, I'll kill 'im!" gruffed Gene. "No one 'urts my girls an' gets away wi' it!"

"I'm sure Molly will appreciate your concern!" Alex remarked, rolling her eyes at him. "But putting that aside for one minute, Molly will be feeling humiliated and betrayed and she'll be looking to you for reassurance that not all men are complete bastards."

"Me?" spluttered Gene.

"Well you are the dominant male figure in her life. Her Father bailed on her before she could even walk, her Godfather's a liar and the boy she likes has just done the dirty on her with her so-called best friend. Add to that what happened to Lucy and the fact that the other men in her life consist of Ray and Chris and the rest of CID and well, she's not exactly overwhelmed with fantastic male role models is she? I don't want her to grow up with trust or commitment issues because the men in her life have been useless tossers!"

"An yer think I'm a good role model fer 'er?" Gene asked, not quite believing it himself. Convinced that she'd lulled him into a false enough sense of security for her plan to work she replied,

"Of course. Underneath that macho act you put on you're a decent man Gene Hunt. You're generous, kind, funny, have a strong sense of justice, but above all, you're a good, old fashioned traditionalist."

"Traditionalist?" Gene scoffed, "'Ardly! I'm divorced an' shacked up in sin wi' me girlfriend, who's also divorced, wi' a kid on the way. Not exactly the Walton's are we Bolls?"

"Is that why you were going to propose? To make an honest women out of me before the baby comes?"

"What? No. Bin thinkin' about it fer ages. Were just waitin' fer the right t…" Gene trailed off as he realised what Alex had said. "Err…I mean…" Defeated, Gene let out a sigh, "'Ow long 'ave yer known?"

"Since I came down just now and saw you staring at the ring. So…"

"So?" Alex rolled her eyes at him. God, he could be dense sometimes!

"So are you actually going to ask me? Or have you changed your mind." While she was talking Gene moved in front of her and got down on one knee. He slowly opened the box and Alex gasped at the ring contained within it. It was even more beautiful close up.

"Bolls…Alex…will yer marry me? Not just because o' the baby, but because I love yer and I want ter spend the rest o' me life wi' yer. Bloody 'ell, listen ter me, I'm startin' ter sound like that poof Tyler. An' yer not sayin' anythin'," he observed. "Come on Bolls, put me out o' me misery." The truth was Alex couldn't say anything; she was completely overtaken by the feelings that his proposal had elicited in her. Damn pregnancy hormones; her emotions were all over the place. Gene was getting nervous now, taking her silence as a bad thing, and began babbling. "If its Molls yer worried about then don't be. She's fine wi' it." This shocked Alex out of her silence,

"You spoke to her?" Gene blushed and looked down at the floor, embarrassed.

"Yeh. Woulda asked yer Dad, but 'e…we'll 'e ain't around an' I figured it was goin' ter affect Molls. So it were only fair ter talk ter 'er about it. She took some convincin' though. She were scared I were just doin' it cos o' the baby."

"But she's okay with it now?"

"Aye. All sorted. But yer've still not actually given me an answer yet Bolls…if yer not sure then it's okay. We can-" He was cut off by Alex' lips capturing his in a gentle but searing kiss that she hoped could communicate what she couldn't vocalise.

"That a yeh, then?" he asked as they pulled away.

"Yes. I'll marry you," she told him; flashing him a 100 watt smile. The corners of Gene's lips curved upwards into a matching grin, before he stretched up to kiss her again.