We do not own Eastenders, Ashes to Ashes, Waterloo Road, Doctors or Emmerdale
Chapter 28
Sean smirked. The Restaurant? Free food and maybe an opportunity to put his plan into action? Who was he to say no? He nodded at her mutely then smirked once more at JT before heading off. He looked at Stacey once as he left and shrugged at her.
"I didn't do anything," he told her as he wandered off.
JT gave Roxy a gentle push to go back inside and watched Sean walk away. He felt cold. He furrowed his brow as Stacey followed after her brother, looking back once at JT. He watched until they'd gone back into the Slater house and then went back into the pub.
JT put a hand on Roxy's shoulder.
"Are you all right?" he asked her, concerned etched on his features. He was glad to see Roxy finally take a stand against Sean, though. But he didn't think it mattered.
Roxy looked up at him and nodded slowly. "I'm fine, just angry," she said with a small sigh. She looked at him and studied his face. "You?" she asked as she slid her arms around his waist and hugged him.
JT sighed and nodded. "Angry, very angry. But he kept Rowan from…" he trailed off and shuddered. Sean could have let her fall. He had threatened as much, hadn't he? And JT hadn't left Roxy yet, nor did he plan to.
Roxy squeezed his middle tightly and pressed her lips to his chest.
"She's fine JT, she's fine" she murmured as she looked up at him, she went up on her tip toes and pressed her lips to his for a moment. Roxy ran a finger down his cheek.
"Come on," she said as she let go of him and took his hand. "I want to check that Amy's okay," she smiled at him as she led him back up the stairs.
JT followed Roxy up the stairs. "I think Peggy stayed with her," he told Roxy reassuringly and looked in the kitchen while Roxy went to the front room.
He smiled at Peggy sitting at the table with the little girl on her lap.
"Hey, Punkin," he said to Amy. "Scary man's all gone," he said to her softly and carefully took her from Peggy. "Thanks," he said to her and carried Amy down the hall to her mother.
"She's fine, looks like she's still a mite shook up, but she's okay," he said and handed the girl to her mother and then pulled them both close into a hug.
Roxy leaned into JT as she hugged Amy. This was what she wanted. Just the three of them. She dropped a kiss on Amy's forehead and smiled down at her.
"You okay sweetheart?" she asked tenderly and Amy nodded silently before burrowing in-between Roxy and JT to sit in the middle. Roxy picked her up and moved right up so her leg was pressed against JT's and sat Amy there instead. Roxy dropped her head to rest on JT's shoulder and began plaiting Amy's hair idly as she listened to JT's heartbeat thrum steadily, close to her ear.
JT held Roxy close, his gaze resting on her fingers as they deftly wove Amy's hair. He was not going to let Sean spoil this. He was not going to let Sean hurt his Kin, either.
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Stacey sighed as she followed her brother home.
"I didn't say you did anything, Sean, but you have to stop antagonizing everyone. Although, that was very nice of you, helping Rowan like that," she told him and gave him a brief hug. "I'm very proud of you."
Stacey pulled back from her brother and gazed at him.
"Sean, please, won't you stop all this. I think Roxy's made it clear she doesn't want you. It's getting out of hand," she implored him.
Sean frowned at Stacey.
"You just don't get it do you!" he snapped at her as he strode into the house and back upstairs.
"I get it fine, Sean. You're the one whose not…." She trailed off as she heard his door slam and looked at Ryan.
"This is pointless, let's just go home. I'm tired of trying," she told him.
"If that's what you want, Stace," he agreed.
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Alyssa started at suddenly finding her arms full of Rowan, but hugged her sister back regardless. She rubbed Rowan's back gently and then pulled away slightly to look at her tear-stained face.
"What's wrong, Ro?" she asked gently as she led Rowan into the back and sat her on the comfy sofa. She poured Rowan a glass of water and handed it over as she sat down, then stood and dug the 'Emergency Chocolate Biscuits' out of a drawer and brought them over too. She held out the packet to Rowan.
"What happened?" she asked again
Rowan shook her head at the biscuits; her stomach was in too much an uproar to eat just now.
"There was all this uproar at the pub. I guess Sean was trying to start trouble, I don't know. Gene got hold of him outside the pub. I don't know why, but Gene had been drinking and was half-drunk. Ray came over and tried to pull Gene away and Gene got free and knocked into me. I…I almost fell into the street, right in front of a car," she said and shuddered, her hands were still shaking and she grabbed hold of Alyssa's to stop them.
"Sean…he grabbed me and pulled me back. I didn't even see the car until after. It was so frightening," she finished and buried her face in Alyssa's shoulder again and then sat up and sniffed. She fished a tissue out of her bag and wiped at her face, glad she hadn't bothered with make up today.
Alyssa listened intently and held Rowan's hands in hers. She waited until she finished and wrapped her in her arms again. "It's okay, Ro, you're fine, you and the twins," she said soothingly. "It's okay, you're just in shock," she said and she pulled back from the hug again and picked up the glass.
"Here," she said.
Rowan tried to reach for the glass, but her hands were still shaking and she shook her head.
"I don't want to drop it," she said softly.
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Ray watched Rowan dash off and sighed. At least she would be okay if she was with Alyssa. He looked back at Gene and sighed.
"I take it you tried to talk to Alex then?" he said as he led Gene to the Quattro and took the keys from him. "You're not driving Guv, you're pissed," he said as he pushed Gene into the passenger seat then went and climbed in the driver's side.
"You need to sober up, where d'you want me to take you?" he asked as he started the Quattro.
Gene batted away Ray's attempts to hold onto him, but finally let himself be pushed into the Quattro.
"I want to go home," Gene told him. "But you saw to that, didn't you Ray. I told you before, that Debbie was trying it on with me. I never did anything with her and you had to go and shoot your big mouth off at Alex," he growled.
"What else was I s'posed to think, Guv!" Ray retorted. "I find you and Debbie all over each other and then I didn't tell Alex anything until she found out for herself!" he said as calmly as he could. "It's not my fault if you're having an affair with your secretary," he snapped.
"She was all over me, I wasn't all over her!" Gene protested. "How many times, I'm NOT having an affair!" he bellowed.
"I'm sorry about Rowan, though, I didn't know she was right there," he muttered, attempting another apology. "If you hadn't been all grabby…." He trailed off, realizing it might not be a good idea to try and put some of the blame on Ray.
Ray snorted. "That's right," he growled. "Blame me for that an all," he grumbled. "Because nothing that Gene Hunt does is his fault is it!" he snapped, his temper flaring. "You could've done her some serious harm, Gene! If Sean hadn't..." Ray trailed off and shook the thought from his head, he didn't want to think about it!
"Alex kicked me out. Take me to the B&B," he said gruffly and pulled the other bottle out of his coat pocket, opened it and took a long drink.
Ray nodded and pulled away from the curb. He stopped outside the B&B and grabbed the bottle from Gene. "You think that's going to help!" he scoffed as he got out of the car and dumped the bottle in the nearest bin. He marched into the B&B and looked at Denise.
"Oi!" Gene complained and lunged from the car to grab the bottle out of the bin. He took another long drink from the bottle while Ray was distracted and let it fall back into the bin.
"Bloody useless DI," he muttered and blinked at Denise.
"Gene Hunt needs a room, don't let him have any alcohol, you have any problems then call me," he said as he wrote down his number.
"So, about this room then," he grumbled as he turned his bleary gaze on Denise, who looked back at him blandly and then looked back out the door to watch Ray drive away. Denise held out a key and he grabbed it from her and staggered up the stairs. He blinked hard to focus on the room numbers, found his, managed to open the door and then passed out on the bed.
Denise followed him up quietly and when she saw he had flung himself across the bed and passed out, she quietly closed the door he'd left open and left.
Ray left Gene standing there as he marched out of the B&B and headed back to the square. Rowan had gone to see Alyssa. He had to make sure she was okay.
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Ray opened the door to the Salon cautiously, he had no desire to know what went on in these places, they unnerved him; girly places. He shuddered slightly and looked at the desk, no Alyssa. He could hear voices from the back room and took a deep breath. He sighed in relief as he saw Alyssa and Rowan and went and pulled Rowan up from the sofa and into his arms. He held her tight to his chest and buried his face in her hair.
Rowan turned slightly at the sound of footsteps and suddenly found herself in Ray's arms.
"Oh god, Rowan, I thought...that car..." he trailed off and pressed his lips to hers fiercely then pulled her back to his chest. "But you're okay! You're okay.." he said, his voice a hoarse whisper as he clung to her.
She kissed him back just as fervently and buried her face in his chest after. "I'm okay," she echoed, unwilling to remove her arms from around his waist. She stood, pressed as tightly to him as she could be for several minutes and then looked up at him.
Alyssa stood up from the sofa and patted Rowan's shoulder gently as she heard the bell ring. She shut the door to the back room behind her and went to attend to her customers.
"Take me home, please, take me home," she pleaded and pulled him towards the door.
Ray nodded at her and wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her tightly to him as they walked. He nodded at Alyssa as they passed. "Cheers, Lyss, I'm taking her home," he told her and she nodded at them.
"See you soon," she smiled at them, her eyes full of concern for Rowan.
Ray walked Rowan to the Station and sat her in the car. He strapped her in then went around the other side and got behind the steering wheel. He drove them home and helped her out of the car. Ray led her upstairs, ignoring the looks from the staff in the Restaurant. He sat her down on his lap on the sofa and buried his face in her neck, breathing her in deeply
"I could've lost you, Ro," he whispered. "That moment, I was so scared," he said as he hugged her to him.
Rowan walked meekly with Ray, she just wished she could stop shaking.
She was overcome with relief when they were finally in the flat and he was holding her close.
"I was, too," she agreed softly. "But I'm okay, I'm okay," she repeated, her voice muffled by his shoulder. She felt her shaking finally start to subside as he held her and felt something else entirely replace it. She lifted her head and leaned back slightly to take his face in her hands and lift it. Her brown gaze met his blue for a few moments and then she fastened her lips to his. She got up from his lap, her lips not leaving his and her hands flew to the waist of her jeans and she unfastened them and shoved them down. She broke the kiss briefly and hurriedly yanked off her jacket and pulled her top off over her head.
She'd heard about this happening, after a scare like that. She was alive, she was okay and she desperately needed to feel it.
She quickly pressed her lips to his again and then broke off the kiss and looked into his eyes. "I need you, Ray," she breathed.
Ray watched her and groaned. He immediately followed her lead and shoved his trousers down, his top was wrenched off over his head and he seized her, pulling her against him and kissing her hard. His hands went round her back and unsnapped her bra clasp, then tore the offending garment from her. His hands went round her front and cupped her breasts and another ragged groan left him. He grabbed her hand as he broke the kiss and took her through to the bedroom, shedding his pants as he did so.
Ray lay her down on the bed and looked at her hungrily. He ran his hands over her and slid her knickers over her hips, then discarded them on the floor. He dropped a kiss on her lips, littered kisses over her belly, then kissed his way up her leg. He put his mouth to work between her legs, stroking her legs as he did so.
Rowan let out a ragged gasp and shoved her head back into the pillow and began to moan his name over and over. She felt her body begin to shake, not from fear this time, and her moans turned to a shriek as she came. She wasn't sure how she was going to go so long without after the birth.
She drew in harsh lungfuls of air and tried to recover.
"Oh, Ray," she panted. "You're amazing."
She shifted slightly, grabbed his hand and pulled, rolling onto her side with a giggle as she tried to put her weight behind it.
Ray smiled and pulled her gently so that she was sitting on top of him. He sat up and took her face in his hands. He kissed her slowly and gently to begin with, but deepened the kiss with a guttural groan, his hands burying themselves in her hair. He knew they wouldn't be able to do this after the birth, not for a while anyway. He only hoped that he would be too tired to even think about it.
Ray broke the kissed and pulled back to look at her. He could still remember her complaints about feeling fat and couldn't understand how she could even think that, she looked beautiful. He knew that he was biased, but he didn't care, she was the most beautiful woman in the world as far as he was concerned. How she could possibly believe otherwise was completely beyond him.
His hands caressed her as he looked at her and his mouth dropped to her shoulder and kissed her silky skin slowly, trailing his kisses up her neck as his hands journeyed over her body.
Rowan giggled as he pulled her onto his lap and she shifted and sat on his thighs, the closest she could get to him with her belly as big as it was.
She felt her world fall away as he kissed her deeply and felt his hands running over her flesh. He always managed to somehow do this to her.
She tilted her head as his mouth moved to her neck and she slowly trailed her fingers down his chest, then up, sliding her fingers through his chest hair. She danced her fingers over his shoulder and then down his sides before sliding one of her hands down onto his thigh. She could feel the hardness of him pressing against the underside of her belly and she gently took him in hand and began to caress him the way he liked.
She began to whisper to him as she planted occasional kisses on his shoulder. She loved that she could drive him to a frenzy with a few well-chosen words. She let go of him and pulled away, turning herself around and pressing her back to his chest. She carefully lowered herself onto him, letting out a small cry as she did so. She knew he preferred the other way so they could kiss, but her belly made it uncomfortable and awkward anymore. This way, she could have his hands on her. She slowly began to move and let her head fall back against his shoulder, turning her face to him and raising her arm to loop around his neck and pull him in for a kiss.
Ray rested his head in between her shoulder blades as his hips began to move of their own accord. He felt her arm pulling him for a kiss and obliged happily, pressing his lips to hers again fiercely. He let his hands move from her hips, up her body, skimming over her belly to cup her breasts and hold her firmly against his chest. He broke the kiss as another throaty groan was ripped from him and his lips pressed themselves to the smooth skin of her shoulder.
A hand left her breast to tangle in her hair and pull her head back to rest on his shoulder, so as to let his lips have access to her neck. He kissed up and down her neck, teasing her skin with his teeth, then soothing with his lips.
Rowan lost herself in the wonderful feeling of his hands on her. She couldn't get enough of him touching her. She couldn't hold him back, but the regret of that was swept away by the feel of his lips on her neck.
She cried out, unable to hold back. His hands were on her, his lips and he was inside her where he belonged. It felt so good!
Ray tensed and clutched her to him firmly as he felt himself go inside her and he buried his face in her hair, as his hands trailed back down her torso to hold onto her hips, keeping her in place on top of him. His forehead finally rested on her shoulder and he breathed out, his eyes closed.
She felt him let go inside her and screamed his name as it set her off.
"God, Rowan," he breathed as he finally caught his breath. "You're incredible," he finished as he pressed a final kiss to her shoulder and let go of her as he fell onto his back.
She felt her breath rasping in her lungs, breathing deep as she tried to recover. She felt his head on her shoulder and raised her arm to slide her fingers through his curls.
Rowan looked behind her as he fell back and eased herself off him. She crawled up next to him and laid down next to him. She put her head on his shoulder and began to toy with his chest hair as she looked up at him.
"You're pretty incredible yourself," she told him and smiled. "I have to vote we do that again," she murmured and let a wicked giggle escape her.
"So, how long do I get to lie here with you, acuisle?" she wanted to know. She had no idea what time it was and if she was honest, she didn't much care. She closed her eyes and sighed with contentment.
As harrowing as earlier had been, she felt much better now. But she didn't want it to end.
Ray closed his arms around her and glanced over the top of her head at the clock
"Not long enough," he sighed as he rested his head back on the pillows and just enjoyed the feel of her in his arms. He would have to get up soon and go back to work. Without Alex and Gene working he would have to be in charge. He wasn't looking forward to that, it meant he couldn't skive off and leave everyone else to work.
Ray looked down at the bed and grabbed at a handful of the covers then dragged them over him and Rowan as he cuddled her, his hand stroking up and down her back leisurely as he looked at her happily.
Rowan settled against Ray and let the feel of his hand stroking her back relax her.
"Please lock the flat behind you," she murmured, for some reason, that was important to her. She pressed a kiss to his chest and draped her arm across his waist and let his heartbeat lull her to sleep.
Ray hummed in his throat in reply. He had no intention of leaving her alone in here without at least the door locked. He'd tell Syed to keep an eye on her as well.
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Jack wandered around, watching the usual chaos that always seemed to accompany the first day of school. He wished he could text Alyssa, but every time he pulled out his phone, something seemed to demand his attention. He ambled down the hall and peered through the classroom doors, looking at the bent heads of students writing industriously away.
He pulled out his phone. It was quiet just now, he would text Alyssa and see how her day was.
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Molly didn't even bother raising her hand. She bolted from the classroom and dashed down the corridor, her hand plastered over her mouth, she skirted around her headmaster as she hurled herself into the girls' toilets. Molly bent over a toilet and closed her eyes as her breakfast came back up. She shuddered once she'd finished being sick and flushed the toilet. Molly stayed sitting on the floor and curled her hands over her stomach. So this was happening then. How could she have been so stupid!
Molly groaned as she felt her stomach churn again and bent her head over the toilet just in case.
Jack watched Molly go barreling past him and into the bathroom. He furrowed his brow. She hadn't looked so good. Gene and Alex wouldn't thank him for ignoring her and so he walked over to the door and knocked.
"Molly, you all right in there?" he called through the door. He opened the door a tiny crack. "Molly? Do you need help?"
Molly flushed the toilet for a second time and looked up as she heard Jack's voice. She wiped her mouth on some toilet roll and flushed that away too. She stood up shakily and unlocked the cubicle, she went to the nearest sink and filled her hands with water. Molly rinsed her mouth, trying to rid her mouth of the taste of her stomach acid.
She looked up at Jack and shook her head. "I don't think so," she whispered as she sank back onto the floor and drew her knees to her chest.
Jack heard Molly speak and pushed the door open farther and stuck his head in. He saw her seated on the floor and went inside and knelt down next to her. She didn't look well and he quickly put a hand to her forehead.
"What's the matter?" he asked her softly, aware that the look on her face meant there was something very wrong. "Do you want to talk about it?"
He put a gentle hand on her shoulder and put a finger under her chin to make her look up at him. "I promise I'll keep it just between us if you want."
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Molly looked at him, biting her lip anxiously. Her gaze dropped to the floor and she pulled her knees closer to her chest.
"Mum and Gene are going to kill me," she whispered. She felt her eyes start to well up and brushed at the tears before they could fall. She wasn't going to cry. She rested her forehead on her knees and took a deep breath before raising her head again to look at her headmaster.
"I..." she started, then stopped and shook her head. She needed to tell someone. She hadn't even told Whitney yet, let alone Peter, and Mr Rimmer had just promised not to tell anyone else. "I think that I might..." she tried again then felt her nails digging into her arms. She quickly relaxed her hands before she drew blood and looked away from Jack to stare at the floor, her chin on her knees.
"I think I might be pregnant," she whispered.
Jack's eyes widened. He never thought he'd hear those words from Molly. Well, not never, just not now. She was the last person he would expect to hear them from.
"I assume no one else knows?" he half-asked, half-stated. "Have you taken a test yet?"
Molly shook her head. "No one else knows," she murmured. "Mum and Gene are going to kill me," she said again.
Molly rested her head on his shoulder and nodded mutely at his words. She had had a suspicion for a while now that she was pregnant, but had resolutely not discussed it with anyone. She felt that if she didn't think about it then it would happen. If she didn't acknowledge it then it wasn't real. But she had told Mr Rimmer now...
Molly gulped and looked up at Jack, he was one of Gene's best friends, and Alyssa was friends with her Mum.
"You won't tell Gene, will you," she asked. "Or Mum," she added, the panic clear in her eyes. "Please don't tell them," she whispered.
He kept his tone low and soothing. Molly was clearly upset and he didn't want to frighten her. If he was honest, he felt very odd discussing this with her. But she clearly needed help and she was clearly willing to talk. He slowly reached out and gathered the girl into his arms and patted her back.
"I won't say anything. But you need to see a doctor. I'll excuse you from school so you can go now and see Dr. Bond, okay?" he said to her quietly. "I'll even drive you there."
Jack gripped her shoulders.
"Molly, I've already told you that I wouldn't," he said to her firmly. He stood up and helped her stand. "Come to my office now. We'll get you excused for today and I'll take you to Dr. Bond. I won't be able to stay with you, I have to come back here."
He put an arm around her shoulders and led her from the bathroom.
"We'll get you taken care of, okay?"
Molly nodded again and brushed at her eyes once more. She let Jack lead her to his office. She felt a little more at ease now that Jack had promised that he wouldn't tell her parents. She wasn't ready for Alex or Gene to know yet. She wasn't ready for Peter to know yet. She didn't know what she was going to do about the baby and didn't want him getting worked up and excited about being a father only to have her crush him and get rid of it. Or the other way around: she didn't want to get attached and have Peter demand that she have an abortion.
Jack made sure to put it in the system that Molly was going home sick and then led her out to his car and drove her to the surgery. He parked the car and looked over at Molly.
"Okay, here you go. Now you can talk to Dr. Bond, you know, he won't tell anyone," he reminded her. He patted her hand and nodded.
"Go on," he encouraged and watched her to make sure she went inside, then drove back to the school.
He would keep his promise...but it wasn't going to be easy.
Molly thanked Jack and went into the Surgery. She watched Doctor Bond for a moment and nodded mutely when he spotted her.
Simon looked up as Molly walked in. He put the magazines he was tidying back down and looked at her.
"I think you better come through," he said quickly and ushered her back to his room. He put a gentle hand on her back to push her towards the chair and then went and sat behind his desk. He clasped his hands and leaned forward.
"Now, why don't you tell me what's wrong?"
Molly took her seat in his consultant room and clasped her hands together. She distracted her attention by looking at all of the posters around her; a height/weight scale chart; a poster of a human skeleton that labelled bones and muscle groups; several anti-smoking posters; a contraception/birth control poster that made her breath catch. They had used contraception!
Molly tore her gaze away from the walls and moved her attention to Doctor Bond. She swallowed anxiously and nodded slowly, she had told her Headmaster, surely telling her Doctor couldn't be that difficult.
"I'm pregnant" she said as loud as she dared then looked at him as she wrapped her arms around her middle
"Right, I see," Simon said calmly. "Have you taken a test yet?" he asked and got into his bottom desk drawer and pulled out a box which he placed on the desk. He had an idea she probably hadn't.
Molly looked at the box and shook her head. "No," she admitted quietly as she looked at the box. She didn't need to take a test, she already knew that she was pregnant. She could just tell.
Molly reached for the box on the table. "I suppose you want me to do a test?" she asked as she picked the box up.
"Yes, we do have to have a positive test to put in your records," he replied kindly. "You can go just across the hall. If it turns out to be positive, then we can talk about where you want to do from there."
Molly nodded at him as she took the test and left the room
She came back in a few moments later and placed the positive test back on Doctor Bond's desk, she took up her seat and fought the urge to draw her knees to her chest.
"I don't know what to do," she whispered.
Simon sighed. "Well, there are several options, I'm sure you know," he began.
"You can have a termination, have the baby and give it up or have the baby and keep it," he said. "So, why don't we just go one by one and talk them through and then you can take a few days to decide?" he suggested.
He leaned forward and clasped his hands on his desk. This was going to be a rough day.
Molly nodded at him and listened intently as Doctor Bond went through everything with her.
Debbie went back to the station to collect her things after she got the call from Adam that Mr. Hunt wanted her gone. She meekly collected the box he thrust at her and thanked him softly.
"I'm sorry," she barely whispered and left the station. She'd have to find somewhere else and hope today's events wouldn't be used against her.
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Rowan woke early; feeling unsettled and listened to what she thought was the sound of rain. She grimaced. She didn't like rain. She sighed and slipped from the bed and went to the front room and looked out. It was definitely raining...a lot. She stuck her tongue out at the weather and went into the kitchen.
Over the past week and a half, she'd felt edgy. Ever since she'd almost fallen in front of a car. Yes, Sean had saved her and yes, she was grateful. But it didn't stop her being nervous when he had stopped in several days ago for his promised free meal. She'd been glad that although the restaurant hadn't been very busy, there had been people around. She felt decidedly scared around him, and couldn't figure out why. Surely, he didn't mean her any harm.
Rowan got herself a glass of water and padded back to the bedroom, rubbing her back. She let out a small groan of discomfort and sat down on the bed. She chastised herself for clearly sleeping oddly and gazed at Ray as he slept. Her lips curved into a smile and she leaned over and kissed his forehead softly. She made a face as she felt the usual uncomfortable pressure and got up and hurried to the bathroom.
She washed her hands and splashed her face and drew in a sharp breath at the pressure. She leaned heavily on the bathroom counter and put a hand to her belly and felt the sudden ripple of muscle under her hand and made a small noise of discomfort. She drew in a deep breath and raised her head as she realized she needed the toilet again. She stumbled to it and sat down and pressed both hands to her belly as she felt it ripple again.
She stared at the wall. This couldn't be happening! Not now! She still had at least a month to go! No, it must be a false alarm; she told herself and quickly climbed into the shower before she even realized what she was doing. She washed quickly and wound her hair in a towel and this time, when the contraction hit, she cried out. She quickly clamped her lips shut and then began to breathe.
She put her hand on the bathroom wall and leaned over, breathing, her other hand on her belly. Shit...this was happening. She quickly began to towel herself dry and felt another contraction.
"Oh," she grunted and closed her eyes. "Ray!" she called out. "Raymond Carling, get your backside in here, now...ahhh!"
Ray woke drowsily as he heard a series of small cries from the bathroom. He rolled over, and pulled the covers around him. He was used to Rowan making these small noises of discomfort every now and again, when they first started he had panicked, but she had assured him that it was normal and told him not to worry. So now he didn't worry, he let her get on with it.
Ray sat up as she bellowed his name, his full name. She never used his full name! Ray scrambled out of the bed and took one look at Rowan in the bathroom, then went and got her a loose nightdress and pair of knickers; he helped her put them on then looked at her desperately
"Tell me what to do, Rowan," he pleaded. "Please tell me what to do! Is it happening? Is it now?" he asked as he searched her face frantically as he tried not to panic, but the pain that was written on her face made it impossible.
"Okay, Ray, the first thing I need you to do is calm down," she said, trying to keep her own tone calm. "I need to get properly dressed," she told him. "Because you have to take me to the hospital," she broke off to breathe through another contraction.
Ray searched in his head for an answer, but he had missed quite a few classes now and they hadn't reached that point yet! Ray did the calculations and frowned, it couldn't be now. "Ro, you've still got a month to go," he told in as he tried to figure out what was wrong with her, she couldn't be having the child now!
She nodded slowly. "I know, but I'm not going to argue. It's happening now and I don't have a choice."
She moved awkwardly into the bedroom and hurriedly pulled off the nightdress.
"Get a shower, Ray, hurry. I'll get dressed and brush my hair. Then we'll go," she glanced over at him. "Please, Ray, don't stand there looking at me, I'm fine, hurry up."
She waited until he had done as she said and then pulled a dress out of the wardrobe and pulled it on. She thought about leggings, but realized her water would no doubt break soon and decided against them. The dress came to her knees anyway, it would be fine. She moved over to the dresser and brushed her damp hair out and then quickly braided it. She caught up the small bag she had packed and went into the front room to wait.
Ray took some deep breaths and jumped into the shower. He washed himself as quickly as he could then dried himself swiftly with a towel, he ran to the bedroom and hurriedly put on a pair of jeans and a top, then grabbed up his wallet, phone and car keys. He looked at Rowan as he came out of the bedroom and saw her waiting for him.
He nodded at her. "Come on, then, hospital right?" he asked as he opened the door to the flat and helped her downstairs.
"Yes, Ray, hospital," she replied.
He went out of the back door of the Restaurant and helped Rowan into the car.
Rowan stopped before getting into the car and groaned as she felt a rush of wetness that had nothing to do with the rain. She closed her eyes and looked at Ray hovering over her with an umbrella.
"My water broke," she told him simply and winced as she got in the car.
He made sure she was safe inside and bit his lips as he climbed in the other side. It was so tempting to speed, to get her to the hospital quickly, but he didn't trust himself to speed and keep his attention on the road. He'd have to go as quickly as he dared.
"Ready?" he asked as he started up the car and pulled away from the curb.
She fished her phone out of her bag to call and let the hospital know she was on her way.
"Ray, the babies are coming whether I'm ready or not," she said through clenched teeth. She looked at her watch. "Let's go," she said and waved at him as she got on her phone.
"Yes, hello, this is Rowan Tremaine, I'm in labor and I'm on my way in," she said abruptly when she heard the voice on the other side answer. She glanced at Ray and began to puff through another contraction. They were strong! She wanted to cry out, but Ray seemed on edge as it was.
Ray's knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel. He tried not to listen to Rowan on the phone, and tried to block out the sounds she was making, but it was so hard! He gripped the steering wheel tighter and tried to concentrate on getting her to the hospital as quickly as he could.
"Red light, Ray!" she yelled at him and gave him a look as he barely stopped in time. She put a hand on his arm.
He stopped the car at the red Light, willing it to change, amber meant go. He stared so hard that his vision blurred and all he could see was a hazy red ball of light above him.
"Calm, Ray, please," she begged between puffs of air and hurriedly turned her attention back to the phone. "Get me there in one piece, okay?"
"Yes, sorry, my waters broke just a few minutes ago and the contractions are fast," she replied. "I'm trying not to push!" she shrieked into the phone and began to puff again. "I'm sorry, but..." she broke off and began to breathe again, "this is not easy."
Rowan glanced at Ray, hoping he wasn't listening to close and realizing how close she was to delivering. She turned her head to look out at the pouring rain and barely managed to shriek Ray's name as a car next to them lost control and slid into them.
Rowan's hand shot out and grabbed Ray's arm as she felt the car slide sideways and off the road.
Ray looked up as Rowan shrieked his name and cried out as he saw what she had seen. He felt the car smash into them and kept his hold on the steering wheel, slamming his foot down on the brakes, trying to control where the car went, trying not to crash into anyone else!
He couldn't get control of the car, the ground was too wet, too slippery. The car had no grip as it slid off the road, completely out of control.
Ray gave up trying to control the car and resigned himself to the fact that they would stop when they crashed into something else. He reached over and grabbed Rowan, pulling her towards him and covered her with as much of his body as he could to protect her from the impact.
Ray felt the car turn a few times as he clutched Rowan to him and felt his body jerk as they hit something else.
Rowan squeezed her eyes shut in sheer terror as Ray grabbed hold of her. She tried to ignore the awkwardness of her position and that the seat belt was digging into her. She nearly cried out with relief when the car finally stopped.
Ray groaned, he ached. He moved gingerly and realised that he was on top of Rowan, he got off her as quickly as he could and groaned in pain again. He looked up, the windscreen had smashed, and the car seemed completely trashed. He placed his hand on the door and pushed. Nothing, with a growl he tried again to open the car so that he could get Rowan out. He kicked at the door with all his might, but it held fast.
Ray's eyes widened in panic and he looked back down at Rowan
"Rowan," he said desperately. "Can you hear me, Ro?" he asked as he tried to get her to look at him. He felt his eyes begin to well up and he rubbed at them to banish the tears before they fell.
"Please don't be dead Ro, please, please, please," he begged as he grabbed her hand and squeezed it as he raised it to his lips.
Rowan opened one eye and looked at Ray.
"Are we okay?" she asked him shakily. She grabbed hold of him to try and sit up and cried out as another contraction hit her. She looked past Ray and saw his side of the car was against a wall. They wouldn't get out that way.
"I'll try my door," she gasped and eased herself up so she could grab the handle. She fought with the door for several minutes, finally cursing a blue streak at it before looking at Ray.
"It's stuck, that car must have jammed it."
Rowan unfastened her seat belt and realized she'd dropped her phone. She gritted her teeth and then breathed through another contraction and realized she couldn't fight it anymore.
Ray breathed out a relieved sigh as Rowan started to talk. He watched her mutely, not telling her that he had already figured out that they were trapped in here for the time being.
"Ray, we have a problem, we can't get out of the car and I need to push, I can't stop anymore, Ray, you have to help me," she said, nearly in tears. She reached down and jerked the lever to put the seat back and pushed on it until it slammed against the back seat. She shifted until she could reach her bag and unzipped it, pulling out the blankets she'd put on top.
"Ray, please, I don't have much time," she shrieked at him.
She caught sight of her phone, she had no idea how she'd got it into the back seat and picked it up. "Hello? are you still there?" she asked quickly. "Hello?"
She cried out and tried to breathe with the contraction and was finally rewarded with a response.
"Yes, look, we've been in an accident. We're trapped in the car," she panted. She started to describe where they were to the woman on the other end of the phone and noticed Ray was still rooted to the spot. She looked at him.
"Ray, are you hurt?" she asked in a panic and looked him over. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt. "Because if you're not then get over here and fucking help me!" she cried and fell back on the seat again.
Ray's eyes widened in panic as she grabbed at his shirt. "But...but...I..." he stammered. He stopped trying to speak at the look on her face and clambered into the back. The baby couldn't come out yet, they weren't in a hospital yet! Surely it knew that they had to be in a hospital before it could come out!
"Ro...I..." he tried again, but once more words failed him.
"It can't come out now!" he told her. "It can't, it can't, it can't," he said, shaking his head. "We're not in a hospital," he told her.
"Ray, we don't have much choice," she panted. "Get…arrrgghhh…." She shifted around, using the back of the front seat where it rested behind her to prop herself up. At least it was wall behind Ray she thought with relief as she bent her knees.
At the look on her face he shut his mouth again and took her hand. "What do you want me to do Rowan?" he asked her. What was he supposed to do? She was having a baby in his car alone with just him and he was petrified.
"You have to….get….them off," she tried again and grabbed the waist of her knickers. "Just tear them off, I don't have time," she begged, she could feel that she was out of time.
Ray gaped at her, but did as she said, tearing her knickers in an attempt to get them off her. He flung them aside and his eyes widened at what he saw. Ray gulped and his eyes darted to Rowan's face.
She reached down into the bag and tossed one of the blankets at him after he'd finally done as she'd asked. She was breathing heavily and she snapped her fingers to get Ray to look at her. "
"I'm going to push, Ray, you have to catch," she pointed at the first aid kit on the floor under the driver's seat. "There's a pair of scissors in there, you'll have to cut the cord," she gasped out. She fought the urge to push as she tried to talk to Ray, thanking all her stars that Gem was the one most everyone went to when they were ready to deliver. Rowan at least had some idea what was going on.
"Ro.." he said then had another look. His heart was hammering against his chest at such a rate he thought that it was going to burst right through.
"Rowan, it's...there's..." he stammered. He was well out of his depth; surely she wasn't expecting him to do this!
"Just get the baby and put it here," she told him and patted her swollen belly, then get the scissors, okay?"
"Now!" she bellowed and let her body do what it wanted to do.
"Catch..." he repeated weakly, "Ro, I think we should wait for the doctor," he told her. He did as she said anyway and got the blanket ready; she wanted him to catch a baby? He gulped.
Rowan pushed and let out a grunt of relief.
Ray's eyes widened as he held the tiny thing in the blanket. He remembered what Rowan had said and laid the baby on her tummy. He looked at her and got the scissors. He was really doing it. He was delivering his own baby. He felt happy and worried all at once, what if he did something wrong? What if he didn't? What if everything was fine and he was just overreacting?
She kept her eyes fixed on Ray and put her hand on the baby's back as Ray got the first aid kit. She carefully talked him through how to cut the cord and pushed herself up a bit so she could wrap the blanket around the baby a bit better.
Ray positioned the scissors and cut the cord then looked at his son.
"Look, Rowan," he said in awe of the tiny boy. "He's..." he trailed off, unable to find the words. He leant over and kissed her lips. "We've got a boy, Rowan," he laughed happily. He was glad that was over with. Now they just had to wait for the ambulance and whoever else to get them out of this. He felt he would be able to cope now that Rowan had actually had the baby. He settled down with a sigh and wiped at his brow.
"Glad that's over."
Rowan touched his face as he kissed her and then looked at him in disbelief at his comment. She groaned as another contraction wracked her body and reached down to grab the other blanket and threw it at Ray.
"Ray, how many times do I have to tell you, I'm having twins!" she shrieked at him and let out another groan.
"She's coming, Ray," Rowan told him and pushed again.
Ray's mouth fell open. So it was true! He pulled the blanket off his face and put it down ready.
"I thought you were joking!" he spluttered. "You mean we're actually having twins..." he trailed off as he saw the other baby starting to crown and gulped. "Thought you were all messing with me," he muttered as he concentrated on what he was doing.
Ray stopped talking and kept his attention on his unborn child, ready to catch her.
Rowan let out a cry of relief as her daughter was finally born and watched Ray cut the cord properly on his own this time. She felt her eyes fill with tears and looked at Ray as she listened to the sirens drawing closer. She wasn't sure Ray could handle the rest.
"Help me sit up," she said to him. She didn't want to be sprawled across the back seat, even if she did have a good excuse. She glanced out the car window and was glad to see at least the rain had stopped. She shifted and leaned against Ray and watched as the emergency workers came over and started working on getting the car door open.
She glanced up at Ray with a sigh. "Next time we get a four door," she muttered.
Ray sighed in relief as he helped Rowan sit up and wrapped his arms around her; he took one of the babies from her and held it carefully as he dropped a kiss on the top of her head.
"So, Claire and Dennis Carling," he laughed happily, giving Rowan a small squeeze. "Can't believe that just happened," he muttered as he rested his cheek on the top of Rowans head. "Rowan, you just had our kids in the back seat of our car," he chuckled.
"I know what I just did, I'm not very happy about it, but you did a good job," she told him.
Not very happy?" he said incredulously. "Rowan, you just gave birth!" he told her as he squeezed her gently and kissed the top of her head. "I love you!" he beamed and kissed the top of her head again.
"Yeah, well, back seat of car due to car accident was not my first choice," she retorted. "I love you, too, acuisle," she said. He was like a kid himself!
He looked down at the two blanket-wrapped babies and sighed. "Twins," he grumbled. "You could've told me, Ro," he muttered. "Why did you let me go around thinking you were only having the one?" he demanded to know. "You've let me believe that we were only having the one for..." he trailed off while he counted, "at least 8 months!" he spluttered.
Her mouth gaped open and she looked at him, shock etched all over her features. "Ray, I told you countless times. Why do you think I bought so much stuff? There's two car seats in the trunk, you know," she told him. "I told everyone, I even showed you the scan as I recall. I said you could name the boy and I would name the girl, I did everything I could short of well….I guess delivering your twins has made you realize I wasn't joking."
She huddled closer to Ray as the door was wrenched open finally and the front seat moved. Rowan quickly turned and handed the other baby to Ray.
Ray held out the baby in his arms. "Rowan, with the evidence in front of me how can I doubt it! Besides, you could have asked for two pictures," he said with a shrug as he looked from one child to the other. "Mind you, I'm not complaining, not yet anyway, we'll see how I feel in a few days when I'm exhausted, Gene barely coped with one! How am I supposed to cope with two?" he said worriedly.
She raised her eyebrows. "How soon we forget, there were two pictures," she replied with a sigh. Rowan held back her laughter; she didn't want to embarrass him. She was sure she had now lost any chance at adult conversation.
"Here, they need to help me, stay here," she insisted and let the man help her from the car. She waved the man from the ambulance over and told him what she needed and he nodded and helped her into the ambulance.
Ray balanced the two babies in his arms and looked from one little face to the next. "So yeah," he said to them. "Hi, I'm your Dad," he grinned at them as he looked up and watched the paramedics deal with Rowan. He was kind of glad that the babies were out of her, she would be easier to hug now, if they ever go a moment to themselves. He sighed and looked at the twins. "You two better not go causing me and your Mam any issues," he warned them. "Or I'll set your Grandma on you," he threatened.
When she'd finished, she asked the man to go and help Ray with the babies. She wanted them in the ambulance with her.
The man nodded and went over to the car.
"She wants you and the babies with her," the man said to Ray and held out his hands to help carry one of the newborns.
Ray looked up at the man as he interrupted his chat with his kids and nodded. He handed over one of the twins and manoeuvred his way out of the wrecked car carefully.
Rowan got up from the cot in the ambulance and stuck her head out the door. "Don't forget the bags, Ray," she called over and then sat back down.
He looked round as Rowan called out to him and nodded at her. He grabbed up all their stuff, shoving more of their things from the car into the bag, which was made rather awkward with a baby in one arm. He slung the bag over his shoulder and walked leisurely to the ambulance.
He looked at Rowan with a serious expression. "I already told them that if they cause any problems they're going straight to Grandma Carling," he said to her and gave another warning glance to the twins.
Rowan looked at Ray as she took the baby from the paramedic and shook her head. "Yes, because they're going to understand that right now," she said with a chuckle. She leaned back with a sigh and watched Ray settle himself as the ambulance doors were shut.
Ray frowned at her. "They have ears, they can hear," he retorted. "Besides, they need to learn sometime, why not start straight from the off?" he shrugged as he looked down at the child in his arms. "Which one is this? They both look the same," he said with a sigh.
"The car seats are in the car!" she gasped and then groaned. She was glad for the blanket around her. She was starting to shiver and she was sure that she would no doubt have nightmares about that accident for days. But for now, she had her family. She looked down at the baby in her arms and stroked its cheek with her finger. She wasn't even sure which one she had.
Ray chuckled at her. "Ro, don't worry about the stuff, by now it will have got through to the station that we've been in a crash and someone will make sure all of our stuff is got out of the car," he assured her. "Don't panic," he said. "I don't even know why you put them in the car in the first place," he grumbled.
"Why would the car seats not be in the car?" she snorted. "I was being prepared."
She looked over at Ray and smiled. "I'm proud of you, you know," she told him. "I wasn't in the best frame of mind, and you were panicking, but you still pulled through," she explained. "What a story we'll have to tell," she added with a chuckle. She sighed with relief as they pulled up at the hospital and eagerly let the man help her out of the ambulance so she could go inside. She was glad again for the blanket around her. She was going to have to throw this dress away, she wasn't sure she could get the stains out.
Ray snorted. "I was entitled to panic! You were going into labour, in my car!" he told her "I wasn't exactly going to be as cool as a cucumber was I? And you were relying on me to get this pair out of you safely," he said. "Talk about pressure."
"And I'm saying that I'm proud of you, Ray, not many men would have been able to manage that," she told him and smiled.
Ray snorted at her and then beamed, he shrugged bashfully. "It was either sit there and let you yell at me or try to help," he said. "I'd rather you didn't yell at me," he added.
She smiled gratefully as she sat down in the wheelchair and took the other baby from Ray so he could carry the bags.
After a lengthy explanation of who she was, Rowan was finally taken to maternity so the babies could be checked over. She sat on the bed and watched as they were washed and weighed and all their statistics were taken. She thanked the nurse for the clean blankets the woman wrapped the babies in, but chose to keep the others. She submitted to an exam herself and smiled with relief when the midwife said she was okay and they let her use the bathroom to clean up.
She quickly did so and changed her clothes and sat back down.
"Have you tried feeding them yet?"
Rowan shook her head. "Things were a bit….hectic," she replied. The midwife picked up Claire and handed her to Rowan, who opened her top and tried to nurse the baby. She smiled as the baby latched on and stroked the girl's downy head as she looked over at Ray.
Ray took the seat near Rowan's bed and dumped the bags on the floor. His stomach grumbled and he frowned, in all that hast he hadn't had time to eat anything. He rubbed it idly as he watched Rowan feed the baby. His frown deepened
"Can't you just bottle it?" he asked her. "I've seen adverts for baby milk stuff," he added as he watched the baby feed. He wasn't going to be able to touch her like that for ages. He wasn't sure how he was going to cope. Ray frowned at himself, he was jealous of his own kid! It had only been born for less than a few hours, and he was jealous because they were going to be able to have contact with Rowan that he was going to be denied. He shifted in the chair grumpily.
Rowan caught the expression on Ray's face as she fed the baby and couldn't hold back her laughter.
"You know, they do have a purpose," she told him and gestured at her breasts. "They're not just there for your personal amusement," she remarked.
Ray raised his eyebrows. "They are there for my personal amusement," he told her. "Otherwise I wouldn't get so much enjoyment out of them," he said flippantly.
"There's nothing saying you can't enjoy them, but this is their actual purpose," she said.
Ray looked at the baby jealously once more before pushing the emotion away. He didn't want to be envying his own children, though; they best appreciate what they had got and what he was going to be denied.
She looked up as a nurse came in with paperwork for them to fill out. She looked over at it and looked over at Ray.
"Birth certificates," she told him and took the pen the nurse handed her and filled in her name and the names of the babies. She waved Ray over as she signed the bottom of the papers.
"Fill in your name and our address, acuisle, that way we've both filled them out," she smiled at him.
He took the certificates from her and his eyebrows flew up. "That's your full name?" he asked. "Blimey, Ro, what a mouthful," he grinned at her. He'd never thought to ask her about her middle names; mainly because he didn't have one so didn't bother asking other peoples. And he'd never thought about it.
"Yes, that is my full name. Yeah, try growing up with it. My parents couldn't agree on which family names to use. So they gave my sister and me the names they had chosen and gave us family names in the middle."
Ray listened to her and nodded. "Fair enough, it's such a long name though," he said. Ray held up the certificate and pointed to where she had written her name, then to his. "Look at that! 4 words, 2 words," he said with a small grumble and then put the certificate down again. "Your name makes mine look small," he complained.
"Your name is the only small thing about you, acuisle," she purred.
"Rowena Aisling Constance," he said, trying the words out. He frowned and sighed "That's not fair; your initials don't spell anything interesting! RACT, I can't do anything with that," he grumbled as he started filling in the forms. He wrote down the address of the flat and then his name on Claire's certificate and then copied everything onto Denis,' too.
She laughed at his comment. "You really are too much," she snorted. "You don't have to do anything with my name."
Ray looked up at her again. "That's the reason for middle names, for other people to mess about with them, yours doesn't spell anything," he grumbled.
"Well, if someone ever invents a time machine, you can go back and explain it to my parents, okay?" she teased and then giggled mischievously.
/\\\\/\\/\\\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\/\/\\/\\/\\/\
Gene woke up to the sound of rain and looked sourly at the bland wall of his room at the B&B. Alex still wasn't talking to him. He'd tried more times than he could count to apologize, but she seemed to be having none of it.
He was at the point now where he welcomed all the meetings he had to attend. It helped avoid her. She and Ray could be in charge and he could have his meetings and then go and deal with his problem in the manner to which he'd become accustomed...in the pub.
He grumpily hauled himself from the bed and took a quick shower before heading to the station. He would see how quickly he could get away today. It was Ray's day off, which meant his outer office would be empty. Good. No Ray and everyone else would be in their usual place down the hall so he would have some peace and quiet.
/\\\/\/\/\\/\/\/\\/\\\/\/\\\\/\/\/\\\/\
Peter sipped his tea and sent off a text to Molly.
"Breakfast at cafe?"
He wondered if she would say yes. She seemed to have been avoiding him over the past several days. He knew her mother and Mr. Hunt were fighting, he assumed that was it. But he missed her.
He put the phone down and looked at the wall as he listened to Fatboy thundering around upstairs.
The beeping of Molly's phone woke her and she read the text from Peter. She sighed as she put her phone down and turned it off. She knew that she was avoiding him but she couldn't help it, she wasn't ready to tell him yet, not even Whitney knew. Molly sighed, she was glad it was a weekend. She didn't have to get up. Molly sighed and turned her phone back on. She scrolled down to Whitney's number and fired off a text.
"Can you come round mine today? Please xx"
She needed her best friend. She couldn't tell her Mum, not while she was busy fighting with Gene. Alex had enough to worry about without the added worry of her being pregnant. Molly would tell her once she and Gene had calmed down. She hoped it would be soon, she knew the both of them could hold a grudge and argue for England but this wasn't good. She needed them to make up. It wasn't good for Sam either, he kept crying for his Dad and Alex kept telling him no.
Whitney rolled over and edged herself from Brett's arms and looked at her phone. She was off at the pub today, she realized and texted Molly back.
"Sure, couple of hours?"
She put her phone down and then ducked under the covers and set about waking Brett up.
Molly sighed, she would have preferred Whitney here sooner than that. But she could wait, she needed to get up anyway. Molly picked Sam up and put him on the floor
"I'm gonna get ready then we're going to have breakfast," she told him monotonically as she led him to the front room and set him down in his play pen. Molly looked at him for a second, then sighed and went to hop in the shower. She'd have to distract herself until Whitney got here.
Molly sat Sam at the breakfast table and handed him a bowl of mushy Weetabix while she got out the CocoPops. She ate unenthusiastically as she watched her brother plaster his face in Weetabix.
Whitney climbed out of bed and into Brett's shower when they'd finished. She quickly showered and dressed and folded her arms as she looked at Brett.
"C'mon, lazy, drop me at Molly's instead of home though, yeah."
Brett sighed and nodded. He grabbed a shirt and a pair of jeans and threw them on. He had intended for Whitney to stay and spend the day with him today, but apparently that wasn't going to happen. Molly wanted her instead.
He led her out to his car and ushered her inside. He drove her to Molly's house and pulled her into a kiss. "Lemme know when you're done here and if you wanna come back and spend the night at mine tonight," he smiled at her.
Molly looked up as she heard a car outside and dashed to the window, she sighed happily as she recognised Brett's car and ran to the front door to open it for Whitney, Molly stood in the doorway and watched them in the car as she waited.
Whitney smiled at Brett and kissed him.
"I will, see you later, Tiger," she teased and jumped out of the car and ran over to Molly.
She caught her friend in a hug. "So, is it time for ice cream or is it something worse?" she wanted to know.
Molly waved briefly at Brett as he drove off again and then shut the door behind Whitney.
She glanced over at Sam, he was occupying himself with his toys. She took a deep breath and nodded to herself then looked at Whitney.
"Will you please tell me that everything's going to be okay?" she asked as she sat down on the sofa and pulled her knees to her chest. "Because I need someone to tell me that," she added as she looked at Whitney.
Whitney widened her eyes at the tone of Molly's voice.
"Molls, what's happened?" Whitney asked her, unable to keep the worry from her voice.
Molly sniffed and looked at Whitney. "I'm pregnant, Whit," she whispered. "I'm pregnant!" she said louder and punched at a pillow, she was sick of feeling sorry for herself! She was angry at herself for not taking precautions, she should have taken the morning after pill as soon as they realised that the condom had split! But she hadn't, she'd convinced herself that it would be fine. She'd convinced Peter that it would be fine! Then she'd forgotten about it, until she'd started throwing up and realised what it could mean: she had watched Alex go through pregnancy and knew well enough what morning sickness looked like.
"I don't know what to do Whit! I don't know what I'm supposed to do!" she wailed as she pulled the pillow towards and screamed into it for a moment before bursting into tears.
Molly wrapped her arms around Whitney and shook her head.
"Only Mr Rimmer, Doctor Bond and now you" she mumbled "Can't tell Mum while she's fighting with Gene, they've got enough to sort out without worrying about me too" she said.
Whitney stroked Molly's hair and sighed.
"I have no idea what to tell you, Molly," Whitney admitted. "No one knows and you're pretty early, you could have a termination if you're that scared," she suggested.
"But, Peter does want to marry you so I don't think he'd mind at all if you were pregnant."
/\\\\/\\/\\\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\/\/\\/\\/\\/\
Alex climbed out of bed. Molly was looking after Sam today because Alex was at work. She padded through to Sam's bedroom and pulled him out of bed. She washed and dressed him then set him on the floor as she went back into her room to get dressed. Sam made a disgruntled noise and Alex went and sat him on the bed. She sighed as she watched Sam's face droop when he realised that Gene wasn't there. She knew that Sam was missing his Dad but Alex knew the amount of drinking that Gene had been doing lately and she wasn't leaving her son with Gene while there was a chance of him getting pissed out of his head. He was coming to work every morning with a hangover and she had given up trying to talk to him, they couldn't seem to have a civilized conversation.
She could admit that she missed him though, she missed watching him cuddle with Sam on the sofa, and she missed how he teased Molly, and she missed his arms being wrapped around her and waking up with him next to her every morning. She sighed as she pulled her shoes on and pulled Sam off the bed and into her arms. She dropped a kiss on his forehead and knocked on Molly's door, she went inside and saw Molly tucked up in bed, holding her phone.
"Molls," she said softly as she sat on the bed and let Sam go. "I'm going to work, keep an eye on him won't you? He still needs breakfast," she said and leaned over to kiss Molly's forehead. "Bye sweetheart," she smiled.
"Bye, Sammy, be good for your sister," she smiled as she kissed his forehead then stood and waved to them and left her room and the flat.
Molly looked down at Sam and smiled halfheartedly at him. "What am I going to do Sammy?" she sighed as she pulled her baby brother to her for a hug and felt the tears well up again. She hoped Whitney wasn't working today.
Molly groaned. "Whit, I don't even know if I want this kid!" she said. "I mean, it's going to screw up my education, my life is going to change completely, Peter's going to have to be tied to me forever because of it, It's going to cost so much money..." she trailed off. "But I don't know how I feel about getting rid of it!" she said. "I don't know!"
"Well, you can't be more than two months, you have to do something now," Whitney told her. "I won't judge you, Molly, I'm your best friend and I promise. Although, it doesn't have to be the end of the world. You can still go to school while you're pregnant, and you know Jack will probably make sure to sort things out for you to get your tests and everything. But it's your choice. I won't say anything to anyone, if you decide to terminate."
She squeezed Molly again. She had no idea what she would do if she was in Molly's shoes. But she would be there for Molly as best she could.
"I need more time than that!" she said desperately. "How they can expect people to make decision like that in such a small space of time is ridiculous," she said and then looked up at Whitney.
"I really need Mum to know, but how am I supposed to tell her when she's still fighting with Gene?" she sighed hopelessly "He's going to kill Peter when he finds out as well" she muttered.
Whitney looked at Molly.
"Okay, then, let's go talk to your mother," Whitney said and got decisively to her feet. "Mr. Hunt probably isn't even there yet, so she'll be on her own."
She grabbed Molly's hand and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, splash your face and let's go, now."
She half-dragged Molly to the kitchen to make her splash her face and handed her a towel.
Molly did as she was told, she washed her face and stared at herself in the mirror. She still looked like crap. She grabbed up Sam into her arms and ran with Whitney out of the flat, slamming the door behind her.
It didn't take long to get to the station. Molly gulped, both the Quattro and her mum's car were outside. "I can't Whitney, Gene's there! I can't go in there while he and Mum are there!" she hissed as she eyed the bright red car warily.
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Alex got to work and climbed out of the car anxiously. She was beginning to hate work, because Gene was there! She didn't like that he was making her feel like this, she'd always loved her job and now her stupid, lying, cheating husband was making her resent it.
Alex passed Adam and looked at him expectantly. Adam shook his head. "He's not in yet, ma'am," he told her and Alex smiled and thanked him. They'd come to an arrangement where Adam let her know whether or Gene was there, it meant she could prepare herself for his presence when she walked into the office. Alex sighed as she sat down, no Ray today either. That meant that Gene would have to talk to her at some point to give her instructions. That she wasn't looking forward to.
Jack wondered at the tangle of traffic delaying his arrival at school and then saw the cause. An accident. He gasped as he realized he knew that car! He looked over at the ambulance and saw Ray climbing into it. He craned his neck to see better. He was sure he could see blood on the ground by the car. He quickly turned off onto another street and parked. He got out of the car and pulled his phone from his pocket to call Alyssa.
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JT flipped his phone shut in annoyance. He'd taken to calling Rowan every morning, ostensibly to see how things were at the restaurant, but mostly to make sure Sean hadn't attacked her. Her phone was going straight to voicemail. Ray's too. He growled and stalked out of the flat.
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Janine watched Sean moving around the Square, hate dancing in her eyes. How dare he treat her that way! She watched him wander off and then slipped out of her flat; she suddenly had an urge to go for a walk.
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Rhys stood and waited for the PC to hurry up with his little talk. Ever since Ray had started going around with some of the PCs, the Guv had thought it was a good idea. Rhys leaned against the building and frowned. He didn't want to be here. He glanced up and noticed Sean walking over in the distance, there was part of his problem right there.
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Bradley led Ffion across the Square and into the Minute Mart. He started chatting with Patrick about an item on special and never noticed Ffion disappear from the shop.
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Alyssa looked up from her coffee and smiled as she saw Jack's name flashing on her phone. She put it to her ear.
"Hello, my Darling Husband, what do you want?" she smiled as she sat back, she was glad today was a slow day in the Salon, it meant she could talk to him for longer.
"I've just been stuck in traffic on the way to school, there was an accident," Jack told her. "It was Ray and Rowan's car, Lyss! I saw Ray getting in the back of an ambulance. I didn't get a good look at him, but it looked like there was blood on the ground by the car and it looks like they had to pry the passenger side door open."
"Oh my God!" Alyssa said "Jack! What Rowan was with him? What if they're hurt, the babies!" she gulped. "I'm going to call Ray, or Rowan, either one of them," she said. "I'll find out what's happened and then text you," she said. "Love you," she added before ending the call.
She hurriedly dialled Ray's number.
Ray looked down at his phone and sighed. He glanced up at Rowan. "Guess who?" he chuckled as he answered the call.
"Hey, Lyss."
"Ray! Jack said he saw you getting into an ambulance! What happened? Are you okay? Does Rowan know?" she asked.
"Seriously, Alyssa, what is it with you and the whole quickfire question round thing?" he grinned down the phone.
"Don't tease me Ray! I'm seriously worried over here!" she snapped back.
"We're fine, all four of us," he smiled over at Rowan.
"Four..." Alyssa breathed. "OH MY GOD!" she squealed and Ray moved the phone away from his ear.
"Ouch," he muttered to himself and looked over at Rowan as he held the phone at arm's length, hearing Alyssa's squeals still coming through the earpiece.
"She can't half squeak," he grumbled as he put the phone back to his ear.
"Lyss, shut up, you're breaking my ears."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Put Rowan on!" she demanded as she stopped herself bouncing up and down in her seat.
Ray looked over at Rowan. "Your sister wants a word," he told her as he moved over to her, sat on the bed and handed her the phone. He was relieved that he could stop talking to Alyssa, the woman had half-deafened him.
Rowan looked up and her eyebrows went up as she listened to Ray talking to Alyssa.
She couldn't hold back a chuckle as she could hear Alyssa squealing on the other end of the phone.
Rowan took the phone from him.
"Hiya, Lyss, we're fine. You will never guess what Ray did," she said excitedly. "There we were, trapped in the car and Ray delivered the babies, can you even believe it!"
Alyssa gasped in surprise. "You're winding me up," she said in disbelief.
"That's incredible Ro! Wait, you had your babies in a car?" she said with a wince. "Ouch, what about pain medication and drugs and all that," she asked. "You must have been in agony!"
"Oh, Alyssa, it wasn't that bad actually. It's different for everyone and it was over so fast, I didn't really have a chance to think about it. I was too busy trying to keep Ray from panicking so he could help me have them. I couldn't wait for the ambulance. There was just no way it would happen. The babies come when they come."
"I don't think they're going to keep me here, so you should come by the flat. I'll let you know for sure."
"You're okay though?" Alyssa asked, just in case.
Rowan glanced over at Ray where he was looking at Denis.
"We've named them Denis and Claire," Rowan told her. "And Ray is in a real mood," she added.
"He's been making fun of my full given name and he's upset that I'm breast feeding, apparently they're his private property," she giggled and glanced over to make sure Ray wasn't listening.
Alyssa let out a soft laugh and smiled broadly. "Oh dear, and he's got to suffer months and months of breast feeding," she chuckled.
"Yes, we're fine," Rowan assured her and chuckled at Alyssa's comment. "He's not going to like that," she agreed and giggled again.
"Look, I better go, there's an officer here to talk to us about the accident. I'll talk to you later, sis."
"Bye, Ro, text me to come round whenever," she said and shut off the call.
"Byeee."
Alyssa laughed once more then hurriedly dialled Jack's number.
"Heeeey!" she said excitedly. "Guess who is now the proud new uncle to a little niece and nephew?" she asked with another delighted laugh.
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Roxy sighed as she dropped Amy off at Nursery. She had told Sean countless times yet he still refused to leave Walford. She'd made her decision! She wanted him to leave her alone, he was still stalking her. She knew he was, she'd caught him on countless occasions and he had spouted the same bullshit. She was sick of it now, she was staying with JT and that was that.
There he was again. He even had the nerve to wink at her before sidling away. She took a deep breath to calm herself and stalked after him. She was going to sort this once and for all.
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Sean smirked to himself as he walked. Roxy had tried to convince him that she wanted JT, sure. He wasn't buying it. He knew that she wanted him. She still wore her wedding ring, that was proof enough. He didn't care that she was sleeping with someone else. No, he did care, but he could deal with it. For now.
Sean made his way to the Allotments. His new spot had become the bench just outside Charlie's Shed, it was quiet and gave him a chance to think. It was also quiet and a little away from the Square so he didn't have to worry about anyone demanding his attention, or and distractions from his thoughts.
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Chris came running into the office and looked at Shaz and Alex.
"I've just been down the hall, getting some paperwork sorted and I heard on the radio, Ray's been in a car accident. He and Rowan have been taken to the hospital," he blurted in a rush.
Shaz looked up in shock. "Are they okay?" she said.
Alex looked up. "Rowan, too?" she said anxiously. "But she's pregnant! The babies," she gasped. She went to stand up but Shaz beat her to it.
"I'm going down the hospital to check they're both okay," she announced and looked at Chris. "What's happening about their car?" she wanted to know.
"I'll find out," Chris told her and walked down the hall with her.
Alex sighed. If Shaz was going then she would have to stay here. She looked over at Gene's office. He'd come back from that meeting and breezed past her like she didn't exist. She stood, someone was going to have to tell him and if Shaz was going down the hospital, and Chris was going to be sorting out the car accident stuff then it would have to be her.
She took a deep breath and made her way confidently through to his office. His attitude and everything that he had done was not going to interfere with her job. She knocked on his door once before going in anyway.
"Ray's been in a car crash, he and Rowan are in hospital" she told him, her tone waspish.
Gene looked up as Alex came in and snapped at him.
"Is anyone hurt?" he asked, putting aside his anger at Alex and focusing on the well-being of his officer.
Alex rolled her eyes impatiently. "How am I supposed to know Gene? I've only been told that they're in hospital," she snapped at him.
"I'm just being concerned for one of my officers, you brought the news in here, so I can only guess that maybe you know what's going on," he snapped back. Why did she have to be like this?
"Why don't you grow up and try to be professional."
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"Adam, anything about Ray's car?" he asked.
"Looks like it's still at the scene, they're interviewing witnesses. Someone's going to have to interview them," Adam replied.
Chris pulled out his phone and called Shaz since she was already out the door.
"Shaz, Adam says someone needs to interview them," he told her. "I'll go to the scene of the accident and send one of the PCs over," he told her when she answered.
He patted the counter and headed out.
He got to the scene of the accident and looked at the car and let out a low whistle. He noted the blood in the back seat and called one of the officers over.
"What's with the blood?" he asked.
"Oh, seems DI Carling delivered the twins there in the car. They were on the way to the hospital when they got hit," the PC said. "We found car seats in the boot, you think they might need them?"
"If the babies are born then yeah," Chris replied. "Look, I'll finish up here, someone needs to meet up with Shaz at the hospital and interview Ray and Rowan. Take these to the hospital with you."
The PC took the car seats and put them in his vehicle and then drove to the hospital.
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Sean frowned. He was being watched. He could feel someone's eyes on him and he didn't like it. Not one bit. He stood up from his bench and looked around, searching for any sign of another person. He grunted when he found no one. He sat back down and stared around him. He was being paranoid. No one was watching him.
Sean looked up at the sky as the rain finally stopped and the Sun peeped out from behind the stormy clouds. He smiled as the rays hit him and he leaned back, enjoying the heat that the sun brought with it. He ran more ideas for winning back Roxy through his head, discarding the ones that he knew wouldn't work, toying with ideas that would, improving them, making them better and more likely to work. He opened his eyes again. He was definitely being watched. He scanned the allotments and frowned.
Sean stood up again and moved forward, into the clearing. He walking in a slow circle, scanning his surroundings once more. He couldn't see anyone but he knew that that didn't mean that there wasn't anyone there.
"Stop hiding like a coward and come and face me," he taunted.
Sean waited. Silence. He growled and turned around. Then he heard it.
Rustling. The sound of leaves being moved.
Sean smirked. He turned quickly and saw a figure rushing towards him, arms stretched high, a long object brandished above their head.
Before Sean could say or do anything, the object came down and smacked into his skull. He fell, unconscious before he hit the floor. The figure ran, dropping the heavy spade, it landed next to Sean, the blood that covered the sharp edge of the spade matching that which was slowly oozing from his head.
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Shaz snapped her phone shut. That was fine. She could do an interview. She pulled up outside the hospital and went to the front desk
"Hiya," she smiled as she flashed her badge. "I need to see Ray Carling and Rowan Tremaine, they were in a car crash," she explained. The nurse on the front desk scrolled through her files and nodded at Shaz.
"You'll find them in the maternity ward," she said and pointed the way. Shaz nodded and hurried down the corridor. Maternity? Of course, the car crash, the babies! She gulped, she hoped everything was okay!
Shaz went into the maternity ward and gave Rowan's name to one of the nurses. She went to the room where she had been directed and looked in the window, half afraid of what she would see. Shaz sighed in relief. Nothing looked to be the matter.
She knocked on the door then went in, a smile on her face. She noted Rowan on the phone and waved, then turned her attention to Ray
"Chris is on the scene with your car, sorting everything out. What happened Ray?" she asked
Ray stretched and looked up at Shaz. "Is this my interview," he asked her with a raised eyebrow. She smiled. "Not formally, this is me asking as a friend, not a police officer," she smiled.
Ray nodded. "Okay then, Ro went into labour this morning, so I was driving her to the hospital, this idiot ploughed straight into us. Rowan ended up giving birth in the car, paramedics came. Here we are," he said with a shrug.
Shaz merely gaped at him. "She had them in the car?" she asked and he nodded. "Yup. Screaming at me and everything, think she almost broke my ear drum, though, if it wasn't Rowan then it was definitely Alyssa," he grumbled. Shaz frowned. "Lyss was in the car, too?" she asked.
Ray looked up, confused for a moment then shook his head. "No, Alyssa's on the phone. And for some reason she felt the need to deafen me by squealing down the phone, straight into my ear drum," he grumbled.
Rowan flipped the phone shut and smiled at Shaz. She pulled her top partly closed as the baby finished and stood up and carried her over and laid her down.
"That's Claire," Rowan said and then picked up the boy. "And this is Denis," she introduced. She noticed the PC hovering at the door and her smile widened. "The car seats!" she exclaimed and gestured the PC in and pointed at where he could put them.
She sat down with Denis and smiled as he quickly latched on. She glanced out the corner of her eye and picked up a blanket to drape over her shoulder. She often forgot nursing made some people uncomfortable and she also was sure that Ray wouldn't like some other man staring at her.
Ray watched Rowan drape the towel over herself with a small amount of satisfaction, he raised his eyebrows at the Police Officer and then turned his attention back to Shaz.
"You taking a formal statement?" he asked and she sighed. "I'll have to at some point," she said.
Ray nodded. "Got a tape recorder?" he asked and she nodded. "I come prepared, Ray," she smiled as she took the other seat and set it up.
Ray answered all Shaz' questions and described the accident as well as he could remember it.
He looked at Shaz once she'd turned off the tape recorder. "So, did you catch that idiot that smashed us off the road?" he asked and she shrugged. "You'll have to asked Chris that Ray, I haven't been to the scene or anything, I came straight here to make sure you two were okay," she smiled and looked over her shoulder at Rowan. "But now there's four of you," she smiled as she stood up and wandered over to the cot where Claire lay.
She looked up at Rowan. "May I?" she asked.
Ray frowned. "Isn't Alex working today?" he asked and Shaz nodded. "Yeah, why?" she asked as she cooed down at Claire.
"So, you're here and Chris is out in London somewhere," he clarified and she nodded.
Ray sighed heavily. "Shaz, what did we all agree last week?" he asked and she frowned at him, confused. "Regarding Alex, Gene and the office."
Shaz' face brightened as she caught on. "We agreed not to leave them alone togeth...er," she said as she realised that they had done just that.
"Why did we agree that Shaz?" he said, the heavy sigh evident in his voice.
"The arguments," she said.
Ray nodded. "Chris is gonna have a right one on his hands when he gets back there," he grunted.
