10th May 2013.
Chapter 44.
Joey walked down to the kitchen, finding his mum there. She was making something for dinner. "Joey, I didn't realise you were home." She looked behind him, "Where's Lauren?"
"She's upstairs..." he said softly.
Lesley instantly knew there was something wrong with her son. She watched his face as he moved around the kitchen, "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked him softly. He stopped, his back to her and she saw him tense. He shook his head once and continued what he was doing before she spoke to him. He left the room less than a minute after she'd spoke and her heart sank. She heard him moving quickly up to their room and the door shut softly behind him.
*JL*JL*
Dinner was ready and Lesley and Alice sat at the table. Neither of them had seen either Lauren or Joey since Joey had disappeared back upstairs.
"I'm starving, mum." Alice said. "Can we not just start without them?"
"Alice, we sit down and have dinner as a family... They will be down soon."
"And dinner will be cold..."
Lesley looked at her daughter. She had a sneaking suspicion that Alice was right. Part of her doubted she would see her son or daughter-in-law again tonight and the reason behind it was nagging at the back of her mind. She stood up and got a plastic box out of the cupboard. She cut into the dish of lasagne and set aside some for Joey and Lauren. She then served up the remainder for herself and Alice. They ate in silence.
*JL*JL*
Lesley was sitting in the dark of the kitchen when she heard the slight creak of the stairs. The door opened and she saw her son walk in. He didn't turn the light on but walked to the fridge and opened the door. He took out the plastic dish from the top shelf and opened the lid.
"It's your favourite," Lesley said softly, seeing her son jump as she broke the silence. "I saved some for you and Lauren." She added.
"Jesus, mum... what are you trying to do, scare me to death?" he gasped.
"Sit down, Joe." Lesley said softly but she left no room for argument. He did as she asked but she noticed he wouldn't look at her. "Did Derek hurt Lauren?" Lesley whispered. Joey said nothing. "He did, didn't he? That's why you've been hiding upstairs all day..."
"He didn't hurt her, mum." Joey said softly.
"Then what's wrong because what I'm imagining is driving me insane."
"Nothing is wrong..." Joey whispered.
"Bullshit!"
The room fell silent, Joey frozen. He rarely heard his mum swear. He didn't want to lie to her. He wanted to tell her everything. He needed to talk to someone but he'd promised Lauren... "I promised I wouldn't tell..." he whispered.
"Joey, you're my son and Lauren is practically my daughter. I care about the both of you. Please talk to me...?"
Joey lifted his head and stared at her. She saw the strain on his face. Her heart clenched because she knew whatever it was, was really bad.
"You can tell her..." Lesley looked up and saw her daughter-in-law standing in the doorway. She looked pale and tired and her concern just grew. Joey turned and held his hand out towards his wife. She took the couple of steps to him and sat on his lap. Lesley pulled the plastic box off the table and stood, walking to the microwave to heat it up, not sure they'd eat it but needing to do something. She opened the cupboard near where she stood and reached into it for two plates. She opened a drawer to get some cutlery. "About a month ago, we found out I was pregnant..." Lesley froze as she heard Lauren speak. "I was only seven or eight weeks so we decided not to tell anyone, until I'd had the first scan." She stopped speaking and the room fell silent. Lesley couldn't move. A hundred different thoughts were running through her head. The silence was broken by the ping of the microwave but none of them moved to retrieve the food.
"Lauren began to have some cramps this morning and I took her to see her doctor." Joey continued.
Lesley spun round to look at them and moved to Lauren straightaway. "Are you okay, honey?" she asked her softly, lifting her chin to look at her.
"It's okay. There's no bleeding and the cramping has stopped for now. It scared us both a lot though." She whispered.
Lesley hugged them both tightly, kissing the tops of their heads, feeling relief at what she'd just been told. For a second there... "This is his fault, isn't it?" she asked softly. "What he did yesterday caused this, didn't it?"
"I don't know, mum." Joey said. "It probably didn't help..."
Lesley angrily walked away from them both and put the microwave back on for a minute, reheating the food again. She pulled out the container when it pinged again and split it across the two plates. She threw the now empty pot in the sink and yanked open the drawer to get them a knife and fork each. Joey's hand settled over hers and it made her stop. She turned into his arms and let him hug her tightly. "You should eat..." she murmured after a couple of minutes, feeling guilty that her son had just comforted her when it should be her doing that for them both.
"You made lasagne?" Lauren asked as Lesley put the plates down in front of them.
"I knew there was something wrong and I know you both like this so I made it for you."
"Thanks mum..." Lauren said softly, glancing at Lesley and measuring how she reacted to what she'd said. It was the first time she'd ever called her that.
Lesley smiled widely and stepped closer to Lauren. She pushed her hair back from her face and crouched beside her, "If you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here for you, Lauren. You're as good as my daughter. I care about you as if you were my own."
"I will..." Lauren said softly.
"Don't you have work in the morning, Joe?" Lesley said, looking at her son.
"I was going to skip and stay at home with Lauren."
"Go to work, Joey. I'll be fine." Lauren said before taking a bite of the lasagne.
"I can stay here and keep an eye on her," Lesley said. "I don't have work tomorrow. I was just going to go shopping. It's nothing that can't wait."
"That's really not necessary..." Lauren protested.
Joey looked at his wife, "Babe, the doctor said you should take it easy for a couple of days. I'd really rather you weren't here on your own. Let mum look after you... anyway she makes a wicked soup." He said with a small smile.
"Okay." Lauren relented.
"So when are you planning on telling everyone else?" Lesley asked softly.
"We've got another scan next week." Lauren said. "If everything's okay then we'll tell everyone at the weekend, I guess."
"I won't say anything until then." Lesley said. The couple continued to eat their food. "Now what are we going to do about Derek?" She asked. They both looked at her. "What? I'm fed up with him hurting my family. We need to stop him. I'm not having him do something even worse next time."
"There won't be a next time, mum..." Joey said firmly.
"And how exactly are you going to make sure of that?" Lesley asked him angrily. She sighed and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Anger wasn't going to help anyone. "Look, once Max and Tanya find out Lauren's pregnant, they're going to want to see her more frequently, which means she'll be in Walford more often. You can't always be there with her, Joe."
"Your mum's right, baby." Lauren said softly.
"Maybe we should speak to the police about it?" Lesley suggested.
"I doubt there is anything they can do." Joey said.
"It's worth a try." Lesley said adamantly.
*JL*JL*
Lesley called the police the next morning and an officer came round to speak to Lauren. She took a statement from her and said she would speak to the witnesses, Whitney, her dad, Joey and Jack, and she'd come back to her in a few days. She hoped they'd be able to put a restraining order in place.
Lauren spent a couple of days resting, being mollycoddled by Lesley as well as Joey. She was pretty sure she was going to go insane before the baby was born if they carried on this way but she didn't resent them for being that way. The last few days had been some of the scariest she'd ever experienced. It was nice to be looked after for a few days. Part of her really wanted to tell Alice as well, she felt bad that she was the only one in the house who didn't know but she knew her parents had to find out next. It would only be a few days more.
*JL*JL*
Joey and Lauren sat outside the doctor's office again. They had a busy day before them. First they had this appointment with another scan. Then this afternoon they were going to see Lauren's consultant. This would be her first check up since finding out she was pregnant and Joey knew Lauren was a little worried.
They walked into the doctor's office and took a seat before her. "How have you been feeling since last week, Lauren?" she asked.
"A lot better..." Lauren said. "I've been resting for days."
"And there's been no bleeding?"
"None at all."
"And the cramps?"
"They disappeared after resting for a day." Lauren confirmed.
"That all sounds very promising, Lauren. Now, I'd like to do some checks before we do the scan."
"What sort of checks?"
"I need the urine sample you were asked to bring with you and I'd like to check your weight and your blood pressure. There are a few other things I need to check to make sure everything is okay. It's nothing unusual, just routine things that we doctors like to look at during these check-ups."
Lauren reached into the bag and pulled out the sample she'd brought with her, passing it to the doctor. She took off her shoes and coat and moved towards the scales. The doctor got to her feet and took the measurement from the scales. She wrote it down in Lauren's records. "Is everything okay?" Lauren asked.
"Everything is perfect, Lauren. You've put on 10lbs since I last weighed you, so if you'd put on the half stone we discussed, you're right on schedule." Lauren stepped down from the scales and smiled at Joey. He grabbed her hand and kissed it tenderly. "If you could sit on the edge of the bed, Lauren?" Lauren did as she requested and the doctor took her hands in hers, turning them over and checking them.
"What are you looking for?" Lauren asked softly.
"I need to keep an eye on your hands and feet throughout the pregnancy. It's a simple check to make sure you have no clotting problems and also any issues with your blood pressure would be highlighted. With your heart condition this is especially important. There is nothing to worry about, I promise you, Lauren. I just need to monitor it so we catch these things as early as we can."
"Okay." Lauren said softly.
"Now, if you can lie down and pull up your top and I'll have a feel of your abdomen. Again, this is just standard, Lauren." Lauren did as she asked and Joey moved to her side, holding her hand in his. "Have you ever had any abdominal surgery, Lauren?"
"No... until last year I hadn't really had any health problems." Lauren told her.
The doctor poked and prodded her stomach and Lauren watched. "Everything seems fine, Lauren." Another smile from the doctor. "Now, after your problems last week, I'd like to do another internal examination but before I do that I'll do the scan so you can empty your bladder."
"That would be great... all that pressing on my stomach has made me kind of desperate."
"Right, well, I'll just check your urine sample." She walked out of the area and drew the curtain around the couple. "Have you experienced any morning sickness, Lauren?" She called through to her patient.
"None, thank god... I hate being sick. That was one of the things I hated about the drinking." Lauren giggled but coughed to cover it.
"Everything okay in there?" The doctor asked.
"Yes... fine." Lauren said. "I'm ready now..."
The doctor walked back over to the bed and found both Lauren and Joey looked pretty flushed in the face. "Well, your sample was also exactly as it should be, Lauren. Now, let's see if baby is ready for a quick check, shall we?" She pulled the ultrasound machine over and poured some gel on her slight bump again. "Now this time I need to make several measurements so I can get a proper size of the baby. It will enable me to do a proper ageing of your pregnancy. I'll also need to check your placenta and the amount of fluid you have. It may take a while, so don't worry when it takes longer than the scans I've done previously." She looked at them and they both nodded. "There is also an early test for Downs that can be done and I'd like to do it. I don't think you're at high risk for this but given the rest of the issues you may face, I'd like to check for it, to make sure it's not something we need to be prepared for." She saw Lauren tense and quickly tried to reassure her, "Relax, Lauren. It really is very low risk for someone your age." She ran the probe over her stomach again and looked at the images it showed. She made several notes while Lauren and Joey watched her. "Well, Lauren, I can tell you that I do believe you are twelve weeks pregnant. At this stage the baby is right on target for size and I can see no issues."
"And the Downs?" Joey asked softly.
"Extremely low risk." She confirmed. "Now would you like to see your baby again?" she asked.
"Please..." Lauren whispered. The doctor turned the screen to face them and pointed out the interesting bits of the clearer image they could see. "So when will it be born?" she asked.
She consulted a chart, "I'd estimate your due date is approximately the 24th February but that might change slightly with your next scan." She looked up at the couple, "Would you like a picture?"
"Oh, yes..." Lauren said softly. The doctor pressed a few buttons on the machine and a series of pictures were printed.
"Now, I'll let you go and relieve yourself, Lauren."
Lauren wiped her belly clean, rearranging her clothes and almost ran from the room.
"So everything is really okay?" Joey asked carefully.
"Absolutely, Joey. I see no problems at all." She could see the worry on his face, "Joey, can I speak truthfully to you?" He nodded, "I will never lie to you or Lauren about your pregnancy. It's not in my interest for you not to trust me. And there really is no point in my lying to you anyway because if there is ever anything wrong, the earlier you're aware of it, the better you can be prepared for whatever it is."
"Have you spoken to her consultant?" Joey asked.
"Yes. He mentioned to me about the tests Lauren had in June and from what I've seen on the scan there has been no damage to the baby. Everything is going very smoothly." The door opened and Lauren walked back in, looking much more relaxed than she had done before. "Right, just a few more tests, Lauren." She said softly.
"I thought you just wanted to do the internal examination?" Lauren asked.
"I do. I'd also like to examine your breasts." Lauren's face flushed slightly. "And I'd like to take some blood from you so I can run some tests."
"I really don't like needles."
"Well, maybe Joey can wait out here for a few minutes while I do the first two tests and then he can come back in and hold your hand and distract you while I take the blood." Lauren nodded. Joey kissed her softly as she walked past him. "Why don't we start with your breasts, Lauren?" she said quietly. Lauren removed her top and bra and let the doctor press against them.
"Ow..." she whispered.
"Are they more sore or tender than usual?"
"Not particularly."
"You can put your top back on now, Lauren." Lauren glanced at her, "Everything is fine. Remove your other clothes and lie down on the bed and I'll just check everything over." As usual Lauren tensed as soon as the doctor tried to examine her. "Lauren, relax..." Lauren tried, she really did but she couldn't. The doctor poked her head back around the curtain, "Joey, I think your wife would like you to hold her hand, if you'd be okay with that." She asked.
"I won't mind at all." Joey said, standing up and stepping behind the curtain.
As with the previous time she'd examined her, once Joey was by her side, Lauren relaxed and the doctor was able to examine her. The doctor pressed softly on her abdomen as she felt inside her. "I'd like to take some swabs, Lauren." She told her. Lauren frowned but nodded. Lauren winced as the doctor did what she had to do and Joey kissed her temple gently. "Right, all done." She said, pulling off the gloves. "I just need to take some blood from you now, Lauren." She moved back out into the main office and Joey helped Lauren sit up. The doctor reappeared and started the process. Lauren leant her head against Joey's shoulder and buried her face into his neck as the doctor inserted the needle into her arm. She filled several vials with blood, labelling each one so they could be sent away for testing. "We're done." She said. "I'll let you get dressed, Lauren." Lauren and Joey walked back out into the office a couple of minutes later, "Right, well I'd like to see you again in three weeks, Lauren. It's slightly more frequently than a normal pregnancy but your consultant mentioned that you're classed as a high-risk pregnancy."
"He did..." Lauren said.
"Well there appears to be no problems that I foresee at the moment but I'd like to keep a regular eye on you. So is the 9th September okay with you both?" They both nodded. "Well, I look forward to seeing you then. In the meantime, take care of yourself and if you have any concerns, please contact me." She looked at her file, "Oh, don't forget these..." she said, passing them the pictures of the scans.
*JL*JL*
They walked out of the clinic hand in hand. "You okay?" Joey asked.
"Yes, I really am, Joe. I feel a bit like I've been poked and prodded from every angle but I'm glad everything is okay."
Joey glanced at his watch, "Right well we have a little time before we need to see your consultant, so how about popping into Maggie's for lunch?"
"That would be really nice." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, "It's been a while since we've been there. I've missed her food."
"Come on then." He said. They got a bus to the cafe and had a lovely lunch. Soon they were making their way back to the clinic to pick up their car so they could go to the hospital to see Lauren's consultant.
*JL*JL*
"Well, Lauren, it seems that pregnancy agrees with you because your heart condition is still stable. There has been no deterioration since the last tests."
"Really, that's great." Lauren said.
"I'd like to see you again in six weeks time. My p.a. will send you details of the appointments as usual."
"Thanks doctor." Lauren said and Joey shook his hand before they left the hospital again.
TBC
A/N: So that's relief, right? Everything is okay with the baby. I love the scene with Lesley at the beginning of the chapter... still reminds me of a mama bear with her cubs. Do I need to point out that I haven't become a qualified doctor in the last few weeks and while I've done some research, I can't promise that everything I've said is completely accurate. It just works for the story, so go with it, yeah? Back tomorrow...
