Chapter 36

Lauren woke up a few hours later to the sound of her phone ringing on the bedside table. Sitting up, she smiled at her caller ID, seeing it was Joey... "Hey, you"

"Hello, gorgeous. Have you just woke up?" he questioned, chuckling softly

"Technically no. I was awoken by our child at 7:45am this morning. Honestly, Joe, I don't think I've ever been so sick in my life. It was like never ending. I even woke poor Alice up" she sighed

"Sorry, babe, I wish I was there" he admitted

"No, I want you to have fun, before all the long, sleepless nights of crying and nappy changing start" she replied a small sound of laughter behind her words. She was still quite in a dream about being pregnant.

"How you feeling now anyway? Better?" he inquired

"Much thanks. I had a sleep and now I'm starving" she informed him "I think I'm gonna go and raid the fridge"

"Alright then, babe" he replied "I'll see you Sunday, yeah?"

"See you Sunday. Have fun. Love you" she stated

"Love you too" he mirrored "oh, and babe, don't eat anymore toothpaste"

"I'll try" she chuckled "but I can't make any promises. The baby likes it"

"Okay" he laughed "see you babe, love you"

*JL*JL*

"Lauren?" Mandy questioned through the door

"Come in, hi" she informed her as she popped her head around the door

"Well you're looking better. You've got colour in your cheeks now" she admitted as Lauren snuggled back under the covers "I've made some soup, it's chicken, shall I bring you some up?"

Lauren's mouth began to water "That sounds good, thanks, and it's okay, I'll get up"

"No, you stay there! Joey would have a fit if he knew you weren't well and I let you out of bed" she replied "is there anything else you want? A banana? A yoghurt, maybe?"

"A yoghurt please… just a plain one" she replied

Mandy returned a few minutes later with two bowls of soup and a yoghurt for Lauren "Would you mind if I joined you? Everyone else is out"

"Of course not" Lauren informed her, itching across the bed so Mandy could sit down

Mandy watched Lauren intently, grimacing as she tipped the yoghurt into the bowl of soup and began to eat "Interesting choice"

"Sorry" Lauren mumbled, mouth full of soup

"It's fine, it's just something I've never seen you do before" she admitted

Lauren smiled at her and continued to eat her soup, finishing it off a couple of minutes later "That was delicious"

"Glad you enjoyed it" she replied "oh, I meant to ask you, you don't have any nail polish remover, do you? I put this on and don't really like it"

Lauren nodded and pointed to the bottom drawer of the dressing table in the corner… "Help yourself. Actually, I think there's some over there"

Before she knew it though, it was too late, Mandy was already holding several items in her hands, looking at them in shock. Baby grows! "Lauren, are you pregnant?"

"I might be, just a little bit" she replied, smiling lopsidedly. Looking at the neutral baby clothes.

"How much is a little bit?" Mandy questioned, raising an eyebrow at her niece

"As in two positive pregnancy tests, a trip to the doctors and a 7 week scan picture little bit" she informed her. Lauren watched as Mandy examined the tiny items of clothing in her hand and sat on the edge of the bed in a daze.

"Wow, you're really pregnant" she whispered, shocked

Lauren nodded, seeing the smile start to break out on Mandy's face "We're 10 weeks along now. Doctor says baby is fine and growing well. I'm surprised you haven't noticed sooner. Joey hasn't exactly been discrete about it. He keeps touching my stomach all the time and he's been reading baby books as well. Baby hasn't exactly been behaving well either, it likes to make me sick"

"Morning sickness" Mandy proclaimed, finally clicking as to why Lauren was sick earlier in the morning "and the soup with yoghurt. Now you say it, I can see it, well the signs, your still as thin as ever"

"Really?" Lauren asked, lifting up joeys top she was wearing, seeing a small round bump "baby's starting to look visible"

"Oh, Lauren" she sighed, placing her hand over her heart "I'm so excited. I'm going to be a Nana, Derek's going to be Grandad and Alice is going to be an Auntie… it's so exciting Congratulations"

Lauren smiled at her Auntie… "Do you mind if we keep it quiet a little longer though? We have another scan in two weeks when we'll be at the 12 week mark. We want to tell people then"

"Of course" Mandy assured her, pulling her into a hug and kissing her forehead "you need anything, you just ask, alright?"

"Thank you, Joey will be relieved to know you know, he hates hiding things from you"

"oh ye because this is the first thing you pair have hidden from me isn't it?" Lauren looked guiltily at her auntie "well I'm relieved to know I'm not the last to know this time"

"nope you're the first" Lauren grinned, knowing it would make Mandy feel better.

"good. I'll let you get some more rest" she kissed Lauren gently on her forehead and left the room.

Lauren smiled placing her hands on her stomach "just us again baby"