CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

A FEW DAYS LATER

Martha was sitting on the couch eating a bowl of ice cream while watching a game of footy. She was soon interrupted by a knock at the door. She sat up quickly and walked to the door. She was quite shocked when she opened the door and found Megan standing there with a stupid smile on her face.

"What do you want?" Martha asked her.

"I was just passing by and thought that I might pop in and say hi," Megan pushed past Martha and walked into the apartment. "Okay, so that's a lie," she then laughed.

"What do you want?" Martha asked again; starting to get impatient.

"I know that you convinced Jack to get that stupid paternity test done. And I just wanted to let you know that it was all for nothing," Megan started. "Jack is Grace's father; so I'm not worried. When that test comes back, it's going to state that Jack is her father. And you're just going to have to deal with it," she smirked.

Martha rolled her eyes. "Is that all? Because if you're done; then you can go," she pointed to the door.

"No, that's not all," Megan laughed. "You need to know that I'm not going to give up on Jack. I'm going to make sure that the two of you never get back together. Jack belongs with me, and one day he is going to realise that. He's going to realise that you're not so great after all, and I'm going to be waiting with open arms," she continued.

"You are seriously deluded," Martha glared at her. "You come into my home and start ranting about crap. Because that's just what it is; it's crap. You'd have to be nuts if you think that Jack will be with you one day. He never will," she exclaimed.

"I'll make your life hell. I'm going to be there everyday ruining every happy moment that you and Jack have together, and every happy moment you have with your child. And I will keep going until I have what I want; and don't worry that day will come," Megan told Martha.

"Get out," Martha demanded. She wanted Megan out of her face right now. The girl was making her sick to the stomach.

"What's going on here?" a voice asked form the door. Martha looked up and saw Macca standing in the doorway.

"Bug, is everything okay?" he asked as he walked towards Martha.

"Yeah, Megan and I were just talking," Martha told him.

"Right," Macca said, and quickly averted his gaze to Megan. "I think you should go now," he ordered. He didn't like that girl one bit. She was bad news.

"Don't worry, I was just leaving," Megan put on a sickly sweet smile. "Remember what I just said Martha," she added as she walked out.

Once she was gone Macca turned his attention make onto Martha. "What was that about? Are you okay?" he wanted to know.

Martha sighed. "Yes Macca, I'm fine. She was just being her usual self," she replied. She then walked back over to the couch and continued eating her ice cream.

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Jack made his way up the steps to Martha's apartment. When he got to the top, he noticed that the door was open. When he reached it he was horrified to see Martha standing up on a kitchen chair; wiping the top shelf of the kitchen cupboard.

"Hey," she said when she saw him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jack yelled at her. "Get down right now," he demanded as he strode over to her. He reached a hand up and grabbed onto hers; helping her back down onto the floor.

"What's wrong?" she snapped at him.

"Are you stupid?" he snapped back at her. "What if you had fallen off? You could have hurt the baby, or yourself," Jack continued.

"I wasn't going to fall. I was fine," Martha told him.

"Don't ever do it again," Jack ordered. "Geez Martha, you need to think before you go and do something like that. You need to think about the baby's safety," he said seriously.

"Stop yelling at me," Martha glared at him.

Jack sighed. "I'm just telling you to use a little common sense," he said.

"If you're here to yell and ridicule me, then you can take a hike," Martha snapped. "Besides, it's my friggin baby; so I'll do what I want," she continued.

"It's my baby too," Jack pointed out. "Now I'm here to talk about Megan," he told Martha.

"Yippee, my favorite subject," Martha said sarcastically.

"I just saw Macca downstairs, and he told me that Megan was here earlier, and that the two of you were fighting. What was going on?" Jack asked.

"It was just Megan being her typical self, that's it. It was nothing important," Martha answered as she sat down at the dining table.

Jack sat down opposite her. "If she said anything to upset you; I want to know," he said.

"I can handle it Jack, so stop worrying about it," Martha insisted.

"Fine," Jack was defeated. She wasn't going to tell him. "Actually, there is something else," he added.

"What is it?" Martha asked.

"I got a call from the hospital. The test results will be in tomorrow. I'm going in mid morning to get them," Jack replied.

"Okay," Martha said softly. She then jumped up quickly. "Are you hungry? Coz I'm starving. Do you want something?" she asked him; attempting to change the subject. She didn't want to talk about paternity tests.

Jack stood up quickly and walked towards her. He grabbed her hand. "Hey, it's okay to be worried about what the results tell us. I am," he said truthfully. "I just want it to be you, me and our baby. I don't want anybody else in our life," he told her.

Martha snatched her hand away. "I'm not worried. And stop talking as though we're together; because we're not," she snapped.

Jack groaned. And so the wall returns, he thought to himself.

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Martha was at Noah's working a night shift. It was the first night shift that she had done since she returned to work a few days ago. And Alf had only agreed to it because Macca was also working the night shift. Tasha and Robbie had even come in for a few drinks.

"How far exactly are you into the pregnancy?" Robbie asked as Martha poured him another beer.

"Twenty-three weeks. Which is five months and three weeks," Martha replied.

"Wow, it's going so fast," Robbie exclaimed.

"The quicker this kid comes out the better," Martha laughed. "Sleeping with this stomach is really starting to get uncomfortable. I either have to sleep on my back, or on my side. And not to mention the fact that my bed is horrible. I really should look into getting something more comfortable," she told them.

"Well, I remember that you always used to say how comfortable Jack's bed was. So maybe you should just go and sleep in his bed," Tasha teased.

"Ha ha, very funny," Martha said sarcastically.

"Okay, I don't need to hear about my sisters sleeping arrangements. Especially when it involves a guy," Macca whined. "That's my queue to go and clean some tables," he laughed as he walked off. Tasha and Robbie laughed at him as he walked off shaking his head.

Martha was just about to wipe down the counter when a woman approached the bar. "Can I just get a glass of white wine please?" the women asked nicely.

As Martha poured the drink, she looked at the women intently. Martha swore that she had seen her somewhere before. She seemed very familiar. And then suddenly it clicked.

"You're Megan's mum, aren't you?" Martha asked.

The women looked at her and smiled. "Yes, I'm Leanne. I'm sorry, but I don't think we've met before," she said to Martha.

Martha shook her head. "No, we haven't met. I saw you on the beach a couple months back when Megan and Grace first arrived," she told Leanne.

"You know, now that you mention it, I do recall seeing a girl who looked like you talking to Megan on the beach one day. What is your name?" Leanne then asked.

Martha laughed. "Oh, sorry, I'm Martha. I'm sure that Megan has mentioned me a few times," she said.

Leanne shook her head. "No, I don't think Megan has ever mentioned a Martha to me before," she insisted.

Martha was surprised. Surely Megan would have told her own Mother about her.

"That's weird," Martha said. "I thought for sure that she would have mentioned me".

"Why do you say that?" Leanne was confused.

Martha smiled lightly. She didn't want to go bagging out Megan to her mother. "It's just Megan and I don't get on very well. But I'm guessing that it's because of Jack," Martha told her.

"Jack Holden? How do you know Jack?" Leanne asked.

Martha laughed. Was this woman serious? How could she be that much in the dark? "Well as you can see I'm pregnant. And Jack is the father," she said.

Leanne couldn't help but look horrified. "Are you Jack's girlfriend?" she asked.

"Um, not at the moment. We were together when Megan first arrived, but we aren't at the moment. But we're thinking about getting back together soon," Martha explained.

"And you're having a baby?" Leanne gasped.

"Yeah, that's what I just said," Martha exclaimed. Okay, this was weird, she thought. She looked at Robbie and Tasha and she knew that they were thinking the same.

Leanne suddenly shot up from her seat really quick. "I'm sorry, but I have to go," she blurted out. And before Martha could stop her; she was gone.

"That was weird," Martha, Robbie and Tasha all said at the same time.

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Leanne ran from the bar, and out into the cool night air. She was in shock. Why didn't Megan tell her that Jack was having a baby with another woman?

Leanne pulled her mobile phone from her bag, and quickly dialed the number that she never thought she'd ring. She had to do this. It had to end.

"Hello," and angry voice answered the other end.

"Bryan, it's Leanne," she said.

"Where the hell are you? And where is Megan?" he demanded.

"We are in a little town called Summer Bay. It a few hours drive from the city," Leanne started. "Be here in the morning. When you arrive, call me and we will meet up somewhere," she told him.

"Why are you doing this now? Why are you turning against your own daughter?" Bryan asked her.

"Because a new piece of information has come up, and all this needs to come to an end before somebody's life is ruined," Leanne sighed. She then hung up the phone and raced off towards her car.

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