Chapter 52
Joey took Laurens hand into his squeezing it tight, he could see the colour gradually drain from her face, she looked like she was going to pass out. Joey glanced at his uncle, he still looked the same, he vaguely remembered meeting him when he 3 or 4 and even then it was the briefest of visits. Max was watching Lauren intently but he didn't look entirely surprised. Joey turned back around and saw Lauren looking ready to lose her balance, her hands gripping his t-shirt . "Baby? Are you ok?"
Her hands moved to grip his arm as she shook her head "I feel funny" She mumbled, her eyes closing briefly as she felt a rush of heat go through her body.
"Bring her inside…" Joey nodded at Max who was staring at Lauren a look of wonder in his eyes.
*JL*JL*JL*
They stepped inside the villa, Lauren leaning heavily into Joey's side. Max lead them through a hallway and into a large open plan kitchen. "Sit down…" he said softly nodding to a large table and chairs in the middle of the room. Joey eased Lauren into one of the chairs telling her firmly to 'sit' when she tried to protest. "Here, drink this…" Max passed a glass of water to her and then sat down too.
Joey was crouched by Laurens chair, tucking her hair behind her ear as she sipped on the water. It was a silent ten minutes before she had some colour in her cheeks again "Feeling better?" Joey asked getting a small nod in response.
"It's probably the heat" Max said causing the two of them too look up at him. "If you're not used to it, it can affect you pretty bad." He said softly, his eyes still taking in Lauren.
"it's not that…" Lauren said almost to herself. Joey's tucked her hair behind her ear again as he took a seat by her, Lauren smiling as she knew what it meant.
Max looked at them strangely until Joey answered "Laurens 4 months pregnant. She has dizzy spells, don't you babe?"
Lauren sipped the water again and took a breath before turning to Max "I'm really sorry to have just turned up like this… I didn't know what else to do." She wiped at her eyes as the tears began to fall. "It's just, I've wanted to find my dad for years but Mum never really gave me any information and she wasn't particularly keen on me finding you. She was scared of losing my stepfather I think. But this last year, things have happened that have made me realise how much I actually missed having a Father."
Max smiled at her softly, he hadn't any idea about Lauren but now she was here, he didn't have the heart to tell her no. "Hey, don't get upset…"
"I'm sorry…" she sniffed wiping her eyes on her arm. "I'm getting Married and I'm having a baby and I wanted my dad to know…" she took a breath and glanced briefly at Joey who nodded with encouragement. "I met Joey nearly two years ago and I met his family…I met his uncle and his Aunt and his Father… Your brother"
Max's eyes widened as his looked at Joey "Your Derek's boy? He asked and Joey nodded "I thought you looked familiar, you've definitely got the Branning looks." He shook his head with a slight smile "So that makes you two cousins?"
Joey nodded "We were already engaged before we found that part out, it was too late to go back, I love your daughter very much." He admitted sincerely "Cousin is just a label, it doesn't mean anything to us"
"That's a good attitude to have, life's too short" Max nodded. He ran his hands over his face and then looked at Lauren again, he could see she was scared. "You said I met your mum 24 years ago ?" she nodded "So that makes you what, 23?"
"Yes, my birthday was in March." Lauren confirmed.
Max remained silent for a while, both Joey and Lauren were getting ready to leave when he spoke up. "Your Mum…I remember her, she's Tanya Cross isn't she?"
"Tanya Jessop now but Yes she is. How did you ?" Lauren stuttered.
"You look just like she did when I met her. Your Mum and I met a couple of times in a bar. One night, one thing led to another and well yes…I guess that's when you were conceived" he smiled. "I left shortly after that, came back here to France and never heard anything from your mum again. If I knew about you Lauren then I would like to think I would have been part of your life"
"You still can be…I mean if you want. I don't want money from you or anything" she said quickly "I'd just like to get to know you…"
"I can see that… how did you even find out I was your Dad ?" he asked.
"I told my mum I wanted to find you and she basically told me she didn't know who you were, so Joe and I went to my Nans and she gave me Mum's old diary, there was a piece of paper that had a number on it and the words Laurens Dad on it. I tired the number but it was disconnected so I did a lot of digging and some investigation by Joey we managed to trace the number to its previous owner… which was you." She told him.
"One of uncle Jack's friends from the police told us who you were but you were still using your Mum's last name so Lauren didn't quite click. I realised then that there was a possibility that we were related somehow. I remember Dad saying you had a different last name so we went to speak to him to make sure. Dad confirmed my suspicions and we found out you were his brother, he didn't have any contact details for you but Auntie Carol did, so she gave us the address and well, here we are. It's been a bit of a bumpy path… Laurens emotions have been all over the place and then she found out she was pregnant" Joey said softly.
"Baby not planned then?" Max asked
"Joey and I getting together in the first place wasn't planned" she Laughed slightly "But no the baby wasn't planned, it came as a bit of a surprise. I was already 4 months pregnant when we found out" her hand subconsciously skimmed over her stomach. "Things just seem to happen for us without warning…"
Max nodded his head "I guess that's life for you, Where are you staying?" he asked "I'd really like get to know you more whilst you're here, both of you that is…"
Joey was about to respond when the brunette from earlier appeared through the patio doors.
"What's going on Max is everything alright?" Laurens eyes were instantly on the girl who was staring at her and Joey. She took Joey's hand tightly, maybe this was his wife ?
Oh no is Max married ? Does he have other children? At least things seemed to have gone relatively well so far, Max seems like he wants to get to know Lauren , right? Back tomorrow xxx
