Six weeks later
Still not having found a place they both liked and to save arguing over the colour of the bathroom or 'tacky' decorations as Alec called them, they had stayed in the blue chalet by the river and Rose was now six weeks pregnant, Alec still wondering how that Christmas morning he'd managed to actually get her pregnant.
There was still over a week to go before Alec's scheduled surgery, he'd been told if his symptoms got any worse, he was to call the hospital right away and get to the emergency department and they would do an assessment to see if it was urgent enough to bring it forward. He and Rose were just having breakfast one morning in February when Alec got a call.
Rose was listening to his side of the conversation.
"That was the chief, they got a date for the Joe Miller hearing."
"Wow, just like that?" Rose smiled at him.
"Yes, this coming Monday at ten. It will just be a formality, he will enter his plea then be held over for sentencing."
"Well you'd better hope Ellie going all Bruce Lee on him doesn't go against you?"
"The tape got accidentally erased," Alec smiled back at her, since she was still in her silky dressing gown and her breasts were spilling out over the top of her blue silky nightdress with the low-cut top.
"I'm surprised at you grumpy shorts, trying to keep your DS out of trouble?" Rose giggled.
"Yes and no, I should not have ever let her see him, let us hope that does not come up eh?"
"So, you want me to go to the court with you?" Rose asked him.
"Want to show off that you're pregnant?" he smiled, raising his eyebrows.
"We get seen all the time Alec."
"Only by the locals, maybe it's time everyone else knew eh?"
"You're such a show-off Alec Hardy, I remember your reaction when I told you about the test, I'm surprised you didn't take out an ad in the newspaper."
"I did, the editor never published it," he grinned, getting up then kissing her cheek.
"Get out of here, you'll keep the taxi driver waiting again. I bet he knows you're tryin' to get me back in bed again."
"He probably does. Doing anything special today love?" he asked.
"Nah, we'll go shopping when you get back, I might even let you drive."
"Well I will be doing all the driving as soon as I have had my surgery."
"They'll let you drive so soon?"
Alec put the breakfast plates in the sink and poured hot water and liquid in. He felt his mobile buzzing but didn't bring it out of his shirt pocket. He couldn't tell Rose that he'd been getting messages from Claire again, she would go crazy. They had talked about the suspect from Sandbrook's wife but she still didn't know he had her stashed away a few miles up the road.
"I'm going love, are you getting dressed or are you waiting until I come back eh?" he winked at her.
"You'd just love that. No, I'll get dressed, tidy up and maybe go for a walk. You'll have to tell the superintendent at the college about next week."
"I won't need much time off. When I get back, we need to discuss a few things."
"You mean Tony coming down?"
"No, about finding another place and soon. Are you putting it off?" he asked, fastening his tie.
"No, you keep pulling faces at the bathroom or the decorations grumpy. I liked that house on the way out of town, there's no reason why we can't get it decorated."
"Who is going to do that eh?" he asked, feeling his mobile vibrate again and hoping Rose wouldn't notice it as he put his jacket on.
"Not putting your mobile in your jacket pocket lover?" Rose smiled, getting up.
It had stopped so he got it out of his shirt pocket.
"Thank you for reminding me. So, ask about it again, if it is still for rent, ask your friends to come down, they can bring Tony with them."
"Really? Blimey, what's come over you?" Rose laughed.
"We have only a few more weeks, remember? It's that or a caravan and they don't open for another few weeks. Come here before I have to go."
As they kissed and cuddled for five minutes, Claire Ripley was about to try Alec's number again. He'd already been ignoring her and she didn't like it. She'd done as he asked and kept away from him, doing a little hairdressing for the locals who were housebound between the ghastly little place he'd put her in and Broadchurch but now, she was getting messages and missed calls from withheld numbers and she'd convinced herself it was Lee.
She'd seen Alec on TV during the investigation and in the local paper but nothing since the last time she'd called him but if Lee was back and trying to contact her, was he out for revenge or did he miss her as much as she missed him? Still, there was no harm in paying a visit to Broadchurch and trying to find Alec, if he was there?
She made her mind up to catch the bus and get off at the harbour and see if she got lucky so as Rose was sat on the doorstep with a drink, Claire was across the other side of the road waiting for any signs of Alec. She only had to wait an hour as he got out of the taxi and walked across the footbridge to a waiting Rose, who greeted him with a kiss as he went through the gate but Claire moved to get a better view.
"Hi grumpy, had a good morning?" Rose smiled as she put her arms around his slim waist as she'd been told not to stretch too much.
"I think they may be glad when I leave," Alec smiled back, resting his arms on her shoulders. "I can go fetch the groceries."
"Nah, I need to get out, I was going through your case files again."
"Leave them Rose, you should be resting."
"I was laid on the sofa. I called the agency, we can go look at that house again, it seems it's a bit too expensive to rent around here."
"Well you will have to pay towards it," he smiled, snuggling into her neck and kissing it. "Come inside, we are in full view of the harbour here."
"It never bothers you when we snog on the footbridge," Rose grinned, putting her hands up the back of his jacket and trying to pull his shirt out.
Claire was sat on the wall at the other side of the river and saw what Rose was trying to do. So that was why he'd not wanted her to contact him all this time? He was quite literally shacked up with a blonde who looked suspiciously like that rich bitch Rose Tyler to her. So that was his game? He goes on sick and takes up with the blonde who had more money than sense to make up his pay loss, a woman who had to be at least ten years younger than him.
She watched Rose keep one arm around Alec's waist and trying to get her hand down the back of his trousers and Alec had one arm around her shoulder, kissing her cheek and running his finger down the other one. They stopped in the doorway of the blue chalet and kissed again then she saw Alec pull the curtain across the door and a second later, the wooden blinds in what Claire thought must be the bedroom were pulled closed.
Claire got up as she saw a bus making its way to the shelter by the amusement arcade and decided to come back the next day a bit earlier and give the Vitex heiress a hard time by laying it on a bit thick that she'd been involved with Alec and had come to claim him back. As Claire boarded the bus back, Alec had laid Rose on their narrow bed where they both loved having sex above and under the covers and had parted her thin purple hooded jacket and pulled up her vest top and was kissing her tummy, talking to the growing baby inside her.
Rose was ruffling his hair with one hand and unzipping his trousers with the other, reaching to his shorts before trying to pull them down with his trousers. Alec looked up from what he was doing to help.
"You have no patience Rose Tyler," he grinned.
"Geez Alec, just get on with it. I don't know how much longer it'll be before I either go off sex or it gets physically impossible without having to invent a whole new way."
"I am confident if anyone can find a way sweetcheeks, it will be you."
"Yeah and don't you know it grumpy shorts? Well, what ya waiting for, get me out of these stretch trousers and my underwear or are ya gonna start without me?" she grinned as his shorts were around his ankles with his trousers and it was becoming obvious he might actually start without her.
Pulling her clothing down took far less time as he eased on one side then the other and pushed her onto her side, Rose wrapping her legs around him and already moaning softly as they touched. When they were both satisfied, Rose was still giggling to herself.
"Shush Rose, they will hear you across the harbour," Alec teased her, helping her pull her knickers up so she didn't have to strain.
Rose smacked his arm playfully as he went for her breasts to kiss them after pulling up her vest top.
"Hey, be careful, they're gettin' sore now," she warned him.
"Sorry love, I keep forgetting. Guess I have to take more care where I kiss you?"
"Yeah and stop nipping will ya? So, you wanna go look at that house again?"
"If you want and if it's not a holiday rental, maybe we could redecorate the bathroom?"
"I'll call them in the morning and we'll go look on Friday, since that's your day off?"
The next morning, Alec was in the bathroom when he felt faint but he didn't want to worry Rose. He took his pills and waited for it to pass then got his phone out to try and call the consultant. Since the bathroom was out of the way, he reckoned Rose wouldn't hear him as the consultant's secretary answered.
"I'm sorry Mr Hardy but Doctor Green is in consultation, can I get her to call you back?" she asked, having been told if he did ring, it would be fairly urgent since they'd tried for months to get him to agree to have the pacemaker fitted.
"Well I want to report a change in my symptoms, I keep getting dizzy more often," he told the woman, trying to fasten his tie while holding the phone under his chin.
"Sorry, can you speak up a bit?" he was asked.
"No, I don't want my girlfriend to find out, she gets worried about me and she's pregnant."
The woman thought that was a miracle that he could get his girlfriend pregnant in his condition.
"I'll get her to call you back as soon as she's free. Do you want to come in for an examination?"
"No, I will wait and see what she says, I only have just over a week before my surgery."
He hung up and went to find Rose, who was making tea and toast, going up behind her and unfastening her dressing gown.
"Hey sexy, you took your time in the bathroom," Rose smiled as he fondled her breasts gently though the thin material.
"I was debating to have a shave or not," he admitted, hoping to get her to drop it. "You should have gone first."
"I'm not that bad yet, mum was terrible when she was having Tony. If we get to look at that house, I'll call Jake and see if he can help us move."
"It will be expensive love, we have to furnish it," Alec told her. "Sure you don't want a holiday let?"
"We must have seen all of them and they're more expensive than buying furniture," Rose smiled, trying to retrieve the toast. "Anyway, Pete will help with the cost. Get your breakfast and give me a proper snogging before you leave."
"For you," he told her carrying the plates to the table.
He put his jacket on then sat opposite his partner. If all went well, he was going to suggest a date for the wedding since they argued over that almost as much as bathrooms in the houses they'd seen. Rose though had other ideas.
"Alec, we should set a date, for the wedding."
"I thought we were waiting?" he asked, drinking his tea and wishing he had trimmed his beard now.
"My mum was going on about it again Alec. Where are we gonna have it anyway? Here or in London?"
He was about to answer when his phone rang, since he'd forgotten to put it on 'silent'. It was the hospital. He got up and went outside, Rose looking at him. He was just explaining to the consultant as Rose watched him from the kitchen window.
"I don't think it's anything to worry about Alec," the consultant was telling him. "Just go easy and have a rest, I see you soon anyway."
"I just thought you should know," Alec replied, not seeing he was being watched.
He went back inside, putting his phone away.
"Are you gettin' worse Alec?" Rose asked him.
"No love, no more than usual, it's fine. I was just asking my consultant something, she says it's normal. Right, I should be making my way to the taxi but I think I will make today my last day, I did warn the superintendent I would need some time off."
"Best news I've heard," Rose smiled, thinking back to when the Doctor had told her he was on his way up from the pit on that planet.
They kissed goodbye and Alec walked across the bridge, just as Claire was getting the bus to Broadchurch to pay a visit to Rose. She was staring out of the window, thinking what she could do to split them up, she was convinced the call she'd had earlier was from Lee and now, he'd actually sent her a text saying he was close to finding her.
She knew she should talk to Alec, maybe she should go after him rather than his girlfriend or was she his fiancée? She couldn't be sure but she thought something had sparkled in the afternoon sunshine when she'd seen the two of them making out on the decking. If they were engaged, all the more reason to break them up, he had split her and Lee up, getting her to turn on him.
After Alec left, Rose got dressed and was about to call the letting agency but decided to make another drink and sit outside and watch the birds on the river. She had just sat down when she heard the gate catch and put down the mug, thinking the postman was late but a woman with brown hair opened the gate, letting it close behind her.
"Can I help you?" Rose asked without getting up.
"I'm looking for Alec, he does live here?" Claire asked, trying to sound innocent.
"Who are you then?" Rose asked as the woman kept her distance.
"I'm Claire, has he told you about me?"
Rose had read the reports, how Alec had got the woman to testify against her husband but the reports had said she'd just disappeared. She'd not asked Alec if he knew where Claire had gone.
"Not really, why should he?" Rose asked, getting up.
She was just starting to show she was pregnant when she wasn't wearing baggy clothes and Claire noticed, also seeing the ring on Rose's finger.
"So, this is why he told me to stay away?" Claire sneered.
"Excuse me?" Rose asked, forgetting her mug of tea on the doorstep.
"Last time I called him, he told me only to call him if necessary, no wonder. How long have you been with him?"
"Long enough to get pregnant. What do you want Claire?" Rose asked her, trying to pick up the mug without bending.
"You kept him away from me, I know who you are."
Rose stood in the doorway. "Doesn't everyone? What do ya mean? He wasn't with anyone when we met."
"That's because he dumped me. I was pregnant, he made me get rid of it."
Rose was beginning to get worried, why would the suspect's wife come to pay Alec a visit if some of it wasn't true?
"If he did, why is he having this baby with me?" Rose asked.
"You're Rose Tyler, he wouldn't dare tell you to have an abortion. I was only three weeks, he told me to get rid of it or he'd find Lee and tell him I cheated on him. Lee was already mad I turned on him in court. Alec came round to see me, the night Lee was arrested, he told me he'd protect me if I said I wasn't home that night, like I'd already told the police."
"Why would he do that?" Rose asked.
"He told me if I slept with him, he'd stop Lee coming after me if he got out and I believed him. I told him three weeks later I was pregnant and he hit me. He hurt me, physically, told me he'd take me by force if I didn't have sex with him that night."
Rose thought back to the first night he'd stayed with her but he must have been completely different when he'd been well. Now, his surgery was due soon, would he go back to how Claire had just said he'd been like? Why was she even thinking this? A man couldn't change so dramatically because of an illness, could he?
"I think you'd better leave Claire, he won't be back for a while but maybe you knew that?"
"How would I? He's not been taking my calls. Oh, he didn't want you know about me, did he?" Claire laughed, seeing it was working.
"Like I said, I think you'd better leave," Rose repeated.
Claire tried to look serious. "Just one more thing, Rose, he won't change because you're pregnant. He's supposed to have something wrong with him, how did he even get you pregnant?"
"Well he did."
With that, Rose went inside and left Claire on the decking. She felt sick and locking the door, went to the bathroom and leaned over the sink. She washed her face and looked in the mirror, hardly believing Claire had called after her as she'd closed the door that she bet Alec was screwing around now Rose was pregnant. She'd already told him she may go off sex, if he got well, he may not be all that happy about it and go seek other female company, even though they were engaged. That was if Claire was to be believed.
Rose tried to calm down, Claire had gone thankfully but she couldn't shake off the accusations and insinuations that Alec had hid the fact from her he'd done those things. Had it just been his way of getting Claire to turn on her husband or was he really like that in the past? She knew he had a break around this time at the college so she sent him a message to call her when he could.
Over at the college, Alec had broken the news it was to be his last day, which hadn't gone down as bad as he'd expected so when he got Rose's message, he sat in the empty lecture hall and called her back.
"What's wrong Rose?" he asked when he'd got a word in when Rose had said she hoped he was on his own. "Yes, I am on my own, why?"
"Why didn't you tell me about Claire?" Rose asked, trying to hold back the tears.
"Hang on, you mean Claire Ripley? I've not heard from her for a long time Rose, why?"
"She just paid me a visit, looking for you."
"How did she find out where I lived? Rose, whatever she told you, she's a compulsive liar, I told you she kept changing her story about that night."
"What about the night you arrested her husband?"
"What? I locked him up and went home as far as I can remember, it was some time ago love," he answered, wondering where all this was coming from all of a sudden.
"She said you went to see her afterwards, she said you made her change her story, under threat."
"What? Rose, we will talk about this when I get home. Have you called the letting agency? If not, when you do, if you want that house, we will go for it, get your friends to come down and we'll even let Tony help during the holidays."
"It's not about the house Alec. It's about you and Claire."
"There is nor ever was any me and Claire, what's brought this on?"
"Does screwing her ring any bells?" Rose asked him angrily, surprised he was stalling.
"I never touched her, what's she been telling you?" he asked, somewhat puzzled Rose was asking him such things.
Maybe he shouldn't have ignored Claire's missed calls and texts, if Rose saw his phone, she'd have reason to think it was true.
"Plenty, how you made her get rid of the baby when she told you she was pregnant, after you forced her to have sex with you."
"Oh, so that's what she told you eh? I should have known she would bring that into it," he replied, not thinking how it sounded to his fiancée.
"So, you don't deny it then? Are you gonna make me get rid of mine?" Rose asked, now sobbing.
"Rose, calm down love, it's not how it sounds. I finish in an hour or so and we'll talk about it, calmly," he promised.
"How can I be calm? I'm not getting rid of this baby Alec," Rose sobbed.
"I never meant for you to but Claire has just been trying to get her revenge, because I was ignoring her calls," he tried to explain.
"So, she's been in contact with you? Have you been seeing her?" Rose had to ask.
"How could I, I've been with you all the time or at the college."
"Have you been at the college? She said she's been getting ignored, that's why she came and how did she know where you lived, unless you told her?" Rose asked.
"Rose, anyone could have seen us outside, she could have asked around."
"Yeah and someone just told her?"
"She could have told them anything Rose, calm down love, it's doing you no good," he told her, rubbing his beard and seeing a few students coming back in. "I have to go, we will discuss this and call the agency."
"Why, what's the point?" Rose asked.
"There is every point Rose. Just don't throw all my things into the river before I get back?" he smiled to himself as students took their seats.
Rose would have laughed if she'd not been so upset and angry with him. He'd sounded reasonably calm over it, maybe Claire was playing games with her but it had hurt, thinking that was what he might turn out to be again once he was well.
Alec's mind wasn't on his lectures, he could see the students yawning so he called time early and told them to study instead. Then he went to the superintendent's office.
"So, why are you quitting so soon Alec?" she asked him, though she should have been thankful he was since she'd stopped in the doorway of the lecture hall earlier.
"I am having my surgery soon plus my girlfriend needs looking after, she's pregnant."
"Well congratulations, that must have been quite an achievement, with you having a heart problem," she smiled.
Alec didn't think luck had anything to do with it, it was a miracle and had doubted Rose was telling the truth, since she'd not shown him the test result but why would she lie about it and pretend she was? She had nothing to gain, they were engaged and he loved her like he'd not even loved Tess back in the day.
The things they'd done in bed had been experimental for both of them, he could have sworn Rose had an over-active imagination to come up with the ways they had sex before she got pregnant and as for that night, or was it the early hours of Christmas morning, he'd had a feeling he'd hit the jackpot. He was still gob-smacked when she'd told him three and a half weeks later when they'd been out one night and she'd refused a drink, saying she was driving.
They could have taken a cab that night but she'd insisted on driving and he'd not questioned it. So he got his things from the locker and went outside to wait for his cab, there was no point in calling the cab company to get the driver to arrive ten minutes early, he had plenty to think about now, such as how he was going to calm Rose down.
As he sat in the back of the taxi, all he could think about was getting her into bed, Rose reaching through the gap in his shorts as he pulled down her underwear, making her squeal with delight and him laughing as he dived down to kiss. Rose would be ruffling his hair until they could wait no longer, Rose still moaning softly for him.
He shook his head as the taxi pulled in front of the pub and he paid the fare, looking around to see if Claire had dared to stay nearby. Claire had seen him get out of the taxi and throwing the polystyrene cup into the bin, crossed over the road and shouted his name.
"Alec," Claire called as he headed for the gap in the low wall to cross the river.
Alec knew that Welsh voice anywhere and stopped.
"What are you still doing here Claire?" he asked, going through the gap onto the narrow footbridge.
"I thought that was obvious Alec," Claire laughed, trying to keep up with him.
He stopped in the middle of the bridge and turned, slowly since he'd felt dizzy earlier.
"You've done enough damage Claire so don't play games with me. You upset my girlfriend with your lies."
"Who's to say that wasn't your baby that I got rid of Alec?" Claire asked, trying to look serious.
"Because we never slept together Claire, it won't work."
"I told you it was Lee's, how I'd gone home that night to tell him but I could have lied to you, after you forced me to have sex with you," Claire continued, hoping Rose was outside and she could hear the conversation.
Alec tried to calm himself down, the last thing he wanted was to get dizzy and fall into the river that was slightly swollen, he'd had enough of raging rivers before.
"How many more times Claire? I took you to that clinic because I felt sorry for you, if Lee was found guilty. Now I have to go explain to my fiancée that you are a liar."
"Am I lying Alec? She didn't seem to think so, Miss Rose Tyler. I know who she is, her stepfather could ruin any chances you have of going back to work if he finds out."
"Stop it Claire, it won't work, Rose won't believe you."
He turned to walk off but Claire grabbed his arm.
"You left me all alone Alec, dumped me in that awful cottage while you were screwing Rose Tyler, you told me to stay away and all because you were getting inside her knickers every chance you got. I should have known I wasn't the only one, now she knows she's not the only one you screwed."
"Claire, go home, I never screwed you and you know it. If I see you again, I will call Tess and get her to reopen the Sandbrook case, Rose and I have found out plenty in the last few months and things are not adding up."
Claire looked at him and let go of his arm.
"Now who's lying Alec? Tess won't do you any favours, not when she was screwing that other DS behind your back," Claire laughed.
"Won't she? What did you do to Pippa? Did she see through your little game of grooming her and Lisa for Lee and threatened to tell her father?" Alec asked her, seeing the look on her face.
Claire was about to strike his cheek with the back of her hand but he grabbed her arm.
"I told you Alec, I had nothing to do with what happened to Pippa that night. Call Tess then, I'll tell her she wasn't the only one screwing around," Claire threatened.
"Like she'd believe that?" Alec sneered, knowing anyone could see them at this point, including Rose if she opened the gate since he was due back.
Rose was sat on the spare bed, her clothes all over it and the only thing stopping her from packing was the fact her cases were on top of the old wardrobe where Alec had put them. She had debated whether to call her mother but Jackie would have demanded Pete brought her down to slap Alec into the middle of next year but she didn't want him to end up in hospital when his surgery was so close.
Alec had walked off, leaving Claire standing in the middle of the footbridge after giving her a final warning.
"Stay away Claire or I will find out where Lee is and tell him where you are living," he told her angrily, just wanting to see Rose and everything would be okay.
"You don't even know where he is," Claire shouted after him.
"Don't I?" he shouted behind him.
Claire stood for a moment, wondering if all the private and 'unknown' numbers were actually from Lee? Could she chance Alec was telling the truth and would tell her husband where she was hiding?
Rose heard a noise at the door, forgetting she'd left the key in when she'd walked away from Claire, wishing now she'd walked off before what she'd been told about Alec.
"Rose, let me in," Alec shouted, tapping on the glass door and trying to peer through the gap in the curtains.
He saw movement as Rose came out of what passed as the spare bedroom, Rose trying to dry her tears as she unlocked the door but left Alec to turn the handle. Rose went to sit on the sofa and Alec locked the door behind him.
"Rose, what's been going on?" he asked, going to sit next to her.
"Why don't you ask Claire? Why didn't you tell me she was in the area?" Rose asked tearfully as she shrugged his arm away.
"Rose, whatever she told you, I never slept with her. I went to the clinic with her, yes, when she was too afraid to tell her husband she was pregnant. I swear that was it Rose, there was never any Claire and me. I love you Rose, like I have never loved anyone in my life, you made me think there was nothing wrong with me, you made me come to my senses and realise I did not have to be alone and with you, I can beat this heart problem once and for all but I can't do it without you."
"She was so convincing Alec," Rose finally gave in and let him put his arm around her.
He kissed her forehead and looked at her. She was beautiful, smart and made him feel he was the luckiest man alive to have met her and Claire Ripley was not going to spoil that.
"I know love, let's just forget it eh? Let me show you how much I love you."
"I got ready to leave Alec," Rose confessed.
"I can't blame you for that love, want me to help you put everything back in the wardrobe?" he asked, trying to get a kiss out of her.
Rose nodded and leaned back against the cushion.
"I'm sorry but she made me so angry with you Alec," she told him as she helped him off with his jacket.
"I know love and I was doing some thinking on the way back, well between thinking of you naked under me once I get well again and you won't have to remind me not to attempt to stay on top. I think I should hand all those case files back to Tess and tell her I think Claire was involved that night."
"No, we'll do it together after your surgery Alec, you owe me that now," Rose replied, going for his zipper.
Alec smiled. "Ah, so you have forgiven me have you?"
"What do you think sexy?" she asked, having pulled the zip down and feeling through the gap.
"I am sorry she felt she had to call and see you, she must have been watching me coming home then decided to try her luck. Why did you believe her?"
"I don't know, I think my hormones are all messed up, I felt sick earlier."
"Well, you will have a lot more of that to come love, a lot more and I will be here every step of the way. I will stay off work as long as you want after my surgery."
"Nah, you'd go crazy rubbing my back and my feet when I get bigger."
"Never, Rose Tyler. Now, how about setting a date, before your mother comes down here and tells me not to wait until I'm either dying or you are about to have our baby?"
The End!