Authors note: Thanks for the reviews. Sorry it's taken slightly longer than usual to update butI haven't been feeling too good lately. I can now tell you there's 21 chapters in all. Will hopefully update again soon. Please read and review.
Chapter 14
"Neil. Neil!" Andrea says trying to wake a sleeping Neil. "Neil!" She says now crying, trying to shake him awake.
"Wwwhat?" Neil says, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Opening his eyes he sees it's still dark, the light that is hurting his eyes comes from the small lamp on the bedside table. Andrea is leaning over him, face pained with a black eye and recent tear tracks down her face.
"Hey." Neil says pulling himself up into a sitting position. "What is it?" He asks concernedly.
Andrea just shakes her head, tears freely running again and buries herself in Neil's embrace.
"Can't you sleep?" Neil whispers against her hair.
"Bad dream." She whispers back, voice slightly muffled by his chest.
Neil moves back to lie down, Andrea going with him. Her head on his chest.
"Try and get some sleep, hmm." He says gently stroking her hair.
Andrea just nods against his chest, willing sleep to come but this time a less pained sleep.
Neil wakes up again at seven, carefully untangling himself from Andrea; he makes his way to Annabelle's cot, taking her off to be fed, whilst leaving Andrea to get some sleep.
Andrea wakes up alone and for a moment panics but the panic soon fades away as she hears Neil talking to Bella. Getting out of bed she makes her way into the living room.
"Hey." Neil says on seeing her. "I was letting you sleep."
Andrea manages a weak smile before falling onto the sofa.
"I've got to go off to work in a minute, I won't be long, just got make sure Phil's in control of everything."
"You left Phil in charge?" Andrea turns to ask him.
"Yeah."
"Phil? Phil Hunter?" Andrea says rolling her eyes. "In that case you'd better go.
"What's wrong with Phil?" Neil asks,
"What can I say?"
Neil arrives back at Sunhill and promptly makes his way to CID. He plans on leaving Phil in charge again for the day so he can get back to Andrea, who still seems shaken up from yesterday's events.
Making his way into CID he spots Phil, sat at a desk, feet up, shouting an order across the room at someone before continuing to chat on his mobile.
Seeing Neil approach, he quickly hangs up with a muttered. "Look, I've gotta go. Boss is back."
"Phil, a word. My office." Neil says continuing to his office.
Phil gets up, removing his feet from the desk and follows Neil.
"Guv." Phil says entering the office.
"So how's it been going?" Neil asks.
"Yeah fine, Guv. Everything's fine. We've had some more info on that robbery but it's been pretty quiet really, nothing much happening."
"So you'd be alright in charge for another day?" Neil asks while sifting through some papers on his desk.
"Err, yeah Guv. Everything alright?" Phil questions, it's not like Neil to suddenly disappear off from work.
"Yeah, just a small problem, just need to be somewhere else." Neil replies.
"Phillipa is it?" Phil asks.
Neil sighs, knowing Phil he won't let it rest till he knows what's going on, and despite Phil's reputation for being the stations gossip, he did manage to keep quiet about Neil's affair with Andrea, when he found out about that.
"I've been seeing Andrea again." Neil states simply.
"Oh." Phil says.
"She's had a baby." Neil says, as Phil face indicates he knows where this is going. "My baby."
"So you been visiting her. Does Phillipa know?" Phil says getting interested.
"Phillipa knew before me. Andrea wrote to me and Phillipa read the letters and kept them back."
"You're joking, so you've only just found out."
"No, it's been a few months. Yesterday was about something else. I got a phone call saying Andrea was mugged so I've been looking after her and Annabelle. The baby."
"Crikey. She okay."
"Andrea. Yeh, just a bit shaken up."
Phil nods. "So you and her getting back together?"
"I don't know. I'd like us to but Andrea … well she wants to take things slowly."
"She still living in the area?"
"No a while away. You'll this quiet though Phil? It's not going to go down too well if it comes out I've got a daughter with the undercover journalist that worked here."
"Is she still in to all that?"
Neil shakes his head. "No she's got a small office job. I don't know how things are going to work out though. If we do get back together then I'll probably have to think about transferring. But then there's Jake." He says, thoughtfully.
"The divorce through yet?"
"No, soon."
"And Jake will Phillipa let you see him."
"I don't know." Neil sighs, "I've applied for access but Phillipa just wants to be difficult."
Phil nods; he himself has had his share of problems with seeing his own daughter.
"So you'll be alright for the day?" Neil checks.
"Yeah no probs Guv. You be back in tomorrow?"
"Yep, right I'd better get off."
Andrea's back on the sofa when Neil arrives back at hers, watching Annabelle with her toys.
"Hi, how you feeling?"
"Kay." She says giving an unconvincing weak smile. "Phil alright?"
"Yeh. I told him about us."
"Us?" Andrea repeats.
"Yeh, us and Annabelle." Neil says slightly annoyed. "Here, I got you something." Neil hands her a carrier bag.
Andrea takes the bag and pulls out a small box containing a mobile phone. She looks at Neil.
"I thought you'd need a new one as your old one got taken, it's unlikely you'd get it back."
"Thanks. You shouldn't have though, I'll pay you back."
"I give up with you Andrea. I bought it for you; I don't want to be paid back."
Andrea gets up off the sofa, to make an escape from the direction the conversation may be heading. "Do you want a cup of tea?"
Neil just sighs. He's tired from being up in the middle of the night comforting Andrea and could do with out her abrupt changes of mood. "Yes, do you want me to get it?"
"No it's alright."
Andrea makes the tea, hands Neil his and sits back on the sofa next to him. Her attention fixed on Annabelle. After a while she turns to look at Neil.
"Look, I'm sorry Neil. I'm just tired and after yesterday and everything, well it's just … well look anyway thank you for being there yesterday, I really appreciate it you know."
Neil just nods, tea still in one hand. "I've been thinking." He says.
"Oh yeah?" Andrea says looking slightly worried.
"I want us to move in together."