We do not own Eastenders, Ashes to Ashes, Waterloo Road, Doctors, Emmerdale or River City
Chapter 3
Alyssa sighed and smiled. "Yeah, that's why I don't want to tell him yet," she said wistfully. "It's not fair to get him all worked up so that he can't concentrate," and tapped her nails together. "But I'm getting so impatient."
"Oh, bless them," she sighed. "It's so sweet that Claire's got a crush on Syed!" she exclaimed with a small laugh.
Rowan shook her head. "I'm sure that it will be someone else next week. This time it's because Syed puts faces on her pancakes, next time," Rowan shrugged, "who knows? Have you talked to Jack more about it, or are you just letting him calm down on his own?" Rowan asked.
"Let me know who it ends up being," she smiled. "He puts faces on her pancakes? That's adorable and I'm just going to have to let Jack calm down on his own. I correct him every time he says something and fortunately most of the people he tells also have kids and have gone through the same thing. But he's only three; I really can't tell him much." Alyssa rested her hands quietly in her lap.
"He's the head, he has a deputy, surely if he wants to go off his head and go a little crazy, why not?" Rowan said. She grabbed Alyssa's hands to stop the clicking. "You don't, I will," she warned. She flopped back on the couch and looked over at the flowers which she had put in the middle of the kitchen table.
"Maybe Ray sending me those flowers will help Denis," she turned back to Alyssa and smiled.
Alyssa glanced over at the flowers and sighed. "He'll stop eventually, just make sure the door is locked next time Ro so he can't see anything happening again," she smiled and gently nudged Rowan with a small smirk.
"Yeah, well Ray forgot to lock the door," she grouched and watched as Alyssa pulled out her phone. "Now, please, call Jack.
Alyssa shot Rowan a look and then tapped in Jack's number.
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"Rimmer," Jack said sharply as he picked up his phone. Today was proving to be a bit of an annoying day. At least the meetings were done, that was the worst, in his opinion.
"Jack," Alyssa said, repressing her sigh at his tone, if Rowan was right and he would be happy then she was glad to make his day a little brighter. "Can you come home?" she asked. "I need to talk to you," she pleaded.
"Are you okay?" he asked quickly, his tone changing to one of worry. "I'll be right there," he said and quickly put down the phone and rushed from his office.
"I'll be out for the rest of the day," he told his secretary. "Family emergency," he added and bolted from the building. He quickly got into the car, tires squealing in his rush to get out of the parking lot and home.
Rowan clasped her hands in excitement and watched Alyssa call Jack. She gnawed at her bottom lip and her brow furrowed at the way she'd phrased it. That was the perfect way to make Jack panic. She heard the near hysteria in Jack's voice and then the sound of him hanging up.
"I think he's on his way," she observed.
Alyssa opened her mouth and then frowned with a sigh as he hung up. She looked back at Rowan before standing up and stretching.
"I'd best get home, he sounded like he was starting to panic," she sighed and leaned over to give Rowan a hug. "Thanks, Ro," she smiled.
"Anything, anytime," Rowan told her and hugged her back tightly. She put a hand on Alyssa's cheek. "And congratulations."
She followed Alyssa downstairs and hurried into the kitchen to get ready for lunch.
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Shaz stuck her tongue out at Chris. "We aren't that bad Christopher," she said to him as she grinned at him and turned back to Ginger with a grin.
"So you're choosing an evening of ogling Barrowman's arse instead of knocking back pints with my husband and his Neanderthal best friend?" she said approvingly. "Good choice," she smiled.
Chris made a noise and frowned at Shaz. "Don't let Ray hear you say that," he told her and went back to the file he was working on.
"I've got nothing against pints," Ginger told her. "But Barrowman's arse is the clincher there. No offense," he said as he glanced over at Chris.
Shaz smiled at Ginger and watched Chris walk away. She took her mug from him and sipped her drink. "So 7 at ours tonight then," she grinned at him as she made her way to her desk.
Chris got up a few minutes later to make himself a cup of tea. He stopped and peered in at Ray.
"Shaz says meeting at 7 at ours. I think she and Rowan have their own food planned, so we could just get food at the pub. Shaz has gone and got Ginger joining them," he chuckled.
Ray looked up at Chris and nodded. "All right, I'll pick you up when I drop Ro off at yours," he grinned. They hadn't been out to the pub for a while now, not on their own with Rowan and Shaz and the kids. He was looking forward to it
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Charlie looked down at Annie as they got off the train and then looked around.
"Are you sure this was a good idea?" he asked her. She smiled up at him, her brown eyes shining.
"Ach, it will be fine, Charlie. It's London, it's excitement," she told him and took his arm and led him down the street. "Keep an eye out for this pub, it's supposed to be near here somewhere," she admonished and Charlie nodded and straightened his tall frame to peer around. He caught sight of the Square and pointed.
"I think it might be over that way," he said and sighed.
"Aww, you aren't missing Shieldinch already?" she teased. He shrugged.
"A bit, I guess, our friends…."
"Well, you've still got me," she reminded him and he grinned down at her.
"That's true," he agreed and led her in the direction of the Square.
"And look," she said and pointed as they passed a sari shop. "There's a flat to let right there."
He glanced up and then around them again and finally caught sight of the pub, his height letting him see it over the crowd of people doing lunchtime errands.
"The pub is just over there," he told her and she craned to see. He hitched his bag up farther on his shoulder and hurried Annie towards it. They slipped inside and looked around the busy pub.
"We should have got here earlier," he hunched down and remarked. Annie nodded.
"Can't be helped now," she said brightly and headed towards the bar. She turned her sunny smile on Tracey.
"Help you?" Tracey asked.
"Yes, I'm Annie, and this is Charlie, we're here to see Peggy Mitchell," she told the woman. Tracey looked them both over and nodded before going to get Peggy, who was in the kitchen trying to help Peter with the food.
"Peggy, there's a Charlie and an Annie here to see you," Tracey told her and Peggy made a sound of relief.
"New bar staff, finally," Peggy explained and rushed out of the kitchen.
"Hello, I'm Peggy Mitchell, it's good to see you."
"We probably shouldn't have arrived at lunch," Charlie said in an abashed tone. Peggy shook her head.
"It's fine, means I can put you to work right away," she told him. "Here, you can put your bags behind the bar over here. You don't mind just jumping in?"
"Not at all," Annie replied. "I jump in all the time."
Charlie stowed their bags while Annie quickly scanned the set up behind the bar. "Okay," Annie said and nodded at Peggy. "I'm ready."
Peggy gave Annie a quick nod and smile and gestured at Max, who had just walked up to the bar. "Go to it," she said and turned around to head back to the kitchen.
"Hello, what can I get for you?" she asked Max.
Max eyed the pretty blonde woman and couldn't help but smile.
"Whiskey," he told her shortly and admired her as she turned to get it.
He thanked her as she put it down and handed her the money.
"So, who are you and where'd you spring from?" he asked her with a charming smile.
"Annie, just got here from Shieldinch…Glasgow," she replied, "me and my boyfriend," she added and grabbed Charlie's arm. Charlie gave Max a small smile and a nod and went to serve someone else.
"Ah," Max said with a nod and knocked back his drink. He put the glass back down, gave Annie a wink and left the pub. Annie looked at Tracey.
"Well, he's certainly a flirt," Annie commented and Tracey nodded.
"Max Branning, and he's only been back with his ex-wife a couple years," she told Annie and Annie chuckled.
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Bolton had a quick shower and dried himself off before getting changed back into his clothes. He grabbed up his phone and shoved it into the pocket of his jeans before heading out. Bolton made his way through the boxing club and out into the fresh air, he had to admit, the fresh air was a lot nicer than the smell of sweat and deodorant that was everywhere in the club.
Bolton reached Whitney's shop and tapped the glass on the door before taking a step inside.
"You ready?" he asked with a grin. "I want to see this place that you think is good to eat," he said.
Whitney glanced at Jodie who winked back at her when Bolton came in.
"I'm ready," she said and walked over to him, a slow smile lighting her face. She gave Jodie a quick wave and led Bolton out of the shop and to the restaurant.
"Actually," she told him as she led him inside and to a table, "today is pretty perfect to meet up. I have something of a proposition for you," she told him and smiled up at Nora who came over to take their order. She caught sight of Lauren sitting on the other side of the dining room and gave her a small wave. She knew her friend had a thing for James and ate here pretty much every day.
Lauren waved back and turned her attention back to the book she was reading. She had overheard James mention it the other day and hoped he would notice she was reading it and maybe say something.
Bolton took a seat and nodded briefly at Lauren as he grabbed at a menu. He glanced at Whitney
"What kind of proposition?" he asked curiously as he made his choice about food. He was very glad that she had agreed to come for lunch with him, even if it was only to talk to him about whatever proposition she had for him.
Whitney opened her mouth to answer his question, when Nora came over to take their order. She quickly said what she wanted and waited patiently for Nora to take Bolton's order and then walk away.
"Okay," she said, leaning over and keeping her voice low. "I have this sort of show coming up next weekend. It's a bunch of up and coming designers; I got the invite because I did so well at school. If I do well, it means I can start getting some serious business and the bank will grant me a small business loan so I can expand. Thing is, I don't have a lot of money and most of it's going to the clothes I'm making. So, I've gone to my friends for help. Molly and Lauren have agreed to be female models for me. I just need a male," she explained and looked at him, hoping what she wanted was self –evident.
"You want me to model your stuff?" Bolton asked, surprised but pleased. "Sure," he agreed with a smile.
His eyes suddenly narrowed as he realised the only things he'd ever seen of hers had been those shirts she used to sell on her stall. He had no idea what it was that she was creating now. "Hang on, these aren't some weird Lady Gaga type creations are they?" he asked skeptically.
"Great," Whitney said happily and then shook her head. "No, nothing like that at all."
She took her drink from Nora, took a sip of it and then looked back at Bolton. "There is one more tiny thing, though," she began. "You said you DJ, yeah? So could you sort of do a DJ thing for my part of the show? I was thinking I could have a club theme then. What do you think?" she asked her tone pleading as she widened her eyes a bit.
Bolton chuckled at her pleading look and nodded his head agreeably.
"Sure, I'll get some stuff together for you and then you tell me which songs you want and I'll do whatever you need," he said. "D'you want me to bring my decks?" he asked. He had had to put most of his DJ-ing stuff into storage but it was easy enough to move to wherever she needed it to be.
"No, no….there won't be room for all that. Just you know, say what you say but to introduce the clothes and then just start something playing. You can bring your own music, I'll trust you that far," she told him. "Hopefully, I'll get some trial contracts and if I do, I'm sure to get the loan," she told him excitedly.
"And I'll have done it through hard work and a little help from my friends," she said and put a hand over Bolton's. "Not from anybody buying it all for me," she added proudly, though sometimes, she had to admit; she often wished she's had Brett's backing. If Ryan hadn't already been sending her the occasional funds, she never would have made it through the first year, even with Lauren carrying half the living expenses.
"Anyway, the girls are coming over tomorrow and we'll be going through the clothes so I can make sure they fit right. Can you come around at say 10am?"
Bolton nodded. "I'll get started on getting together some music, then," he smiled.
Bolton's smile widened at hearing the pride in her voice from managing to do this all by herself. "Good for you, it's better to be able to stand on your own two feet than having to lean on someone for support all the time," he said to her, sneaking a look at her hand that covered his.
"Yeah, I should be able to," he smiled. "I'm not training until the afternoon tomorrow so I'll have to be done by 1," he said.
"Oh, that would be brilliant. Then we could rehearse a bit with the music tomorrow when the clothes are ready," Whitney said enthusiastically. She glanced up and thanked Nora as their food arrived and quickly took a bite of the Philly steak she had ordered, chewed and swallowed before continuing.
"I had this boyfriend at school, he had money and at first I didn't mind a bit of help, it was helping him for this project he was doing so it was a win-win, yeah. But then, he started always trying to take over and throw money at everything. He couldn't see I wanted, I needed to do it on my own. He just had this whole attitude that I couldn't do anything myself and I was an ungrateful cow for not accepting his help," she told him, her tone slightly annoyed. "So, I broke up with him."
She smiled with a shrug and took another bite of her sandwich.
Bolton thanked Nora as his food arrived and immediately grabbed up his knife and fork to tuck in. "Fine by me," he told her around his mouthful. "I'll throw some tunes together tonight and you can see if you like them tomorrow," he told her.
Bolton snorted through his nose as he ate. "Sounds like a dick, you're better off without him," he said with a small smile.
"Yep, no more…." she began and realized just before she said Brett's name that Brett had gone to the same school as Bolton. Best she say nothing. She took a drink of her soda as if that was the full sentence and ate quietly for a few minutes.
"So, how come you never got back in touch after the party?" she asked him curiously.
Bolton shrugged at her as he toyed with his food.
"I dunno really, I suppose I figured that once I'd gone away you'd forget about me, we only really spent that one night together," he mumbled.
"How could you think that?" Whitney wanted to know. "You never even replied to that message I sent you on Facebook," she said with a sigh. "I just figured you didn't like me," she said with a small wave of her hand. "You know, my friends were all up for a road trip to Manchester if we'd kept in touch," she told him.
She picked up her sandwich and took another bite as she waited for his answer.
Bolton shrugged at her as he twirled his fork. "I dunno Whit, I just didn't. I remember reading it and just couldn't figure out how to reply," he told her. "I'm sorry," he sighed.
"It would have been great if you'd come up to Manchester," he smiled.
Whitney nodded and dropped the subject. Clearly that long-ago kiss had been heat of the moment and hadn't meant much really. He knew a load of pretty girls, Whitney clearly didn't stand out. She shrugged to herself. Probably best they were just mates, anyway, she was in no hurry to bring in complications.
She finished her food and talked a bit more about what she was hoping to get from the show before lunch was over.
"Well, I have to get back now, busy, busy," she said and stood up.
"Thanks for doing this," she told him, "I really mean it. You're a real mate," she added and pulled the money for their food out and handed it to Nora. She grabbed at her bag and headed with him to the door. She leveled her finger at him once they got outside. "10am, don't be late," she instructed with a smile and quickly began watching for a break in traffic so she could cross the street and head back to the shop.
"I'll be there," he grinned back at her.
Bolton sighed as he watched her leave. Mate. She thought he was just a mate. He kicked at a stone in frustration, he didn't want to be just her mate. Bolton growled and grabbed out his phone to check the time, 20 minutes to get back. Bolton shoved his phone back into his pocket and jogged back to the club to get changed for his session.
Whitney sighed as she walked back to the shop. She had hoped Bolton fancied her, and shrugged before pushing away that line of thought. She wasn't going to worry about it. She had a lot of work to do. She nodded at Jodie, but ignored her friend's questioning expression and got to work sewing.
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Sammy clapped his hands as he jumped to his feet and looked at his Mum as she glared at Gene.
"Ha!" he said. "Daddy wins Mummy," he told her as he looked up at his Dad happily.
Alex looked down at Sam and then back up at Gene. "Let me go," she said to him as her eyes narrowed and she twisted her wrists and tried to squeeze her hands out.
Gene chuckled again.
"Now, now, ma'am," he warned, "Don't go resisting arrest."
He winked down at Sam and tickled Alex's ribs on the side Sammy couldn't see.
"Do you think we should call for back up?" he asked Sammy.
Alex wiggled. "Gene," she complained as she did her best to push him away while her hands were restricted.
Sammy watched his parents and smiled. "Back up," he agreed with a grin at his mother while her eyes widened at her reply and she then looked to Gene curiously.
"Back up?" she asked slowly.
"Right, Sammy-boy, you get on the radio," he instructed and then picked Alex up and slung her over his shoulder.
"Tell them we have a suspect possibly resisting arrest and we need back up immediately," he ordered and started to carry Alex across the park. He looked back and gestured his son to hurry and chuckled.
"Gene!" Alex protested as she thumped on his back with her cuffed hands and looked to see Sam.
"Sammy, get the book and the football," she told him as she wiggled in Gene's grasp.
"Gene, put me down!" she told him.
Sammy laughed and grabbed the things from the floor as he hurried after Alex and Gene. "Daddy," he said as he caught up. "I don't have a radio," he said.
Gene held Alex a little tighter as he fished into his pocket and handed Sammy his radio.
"Use mine," he told him and grinned. He took the book from Sammy and shoved it into the back of his trousers so the boy only had the ball and the radio to deal with.
Alex struggled against Gene as she watched Sam take the radio off Gene and press the button.
"Hellooooo," he sang into it.
Ray looked down at his radio as a familiar voice came out of it, he frowned "Sammy? What's up kid?" he asked.
"Daddy needs backup for Mummy," he said back and Ray bit back a chuckle.
"Ask him if he needs a car," Ray said.
Sam nodded and looked back up at Gene. "Ray says do you need a car?" he asked with a smile at his mother's angry face.
"No, he doesn't," Alex growled back at her son. Sammy beamed at her before looking up at his father.
"Yes, DI Carling, I need at least one unit of uniform back up," he leaned over and said into the radio, ignoring Alex's howls.
"I'm at the park over near the flat. I found this woman assaulting a small child," he looked at Sammy. "How bad an offense would say tickling is, young man?" he asked him, his tone serious, but his eyes bright with amusement and a smile still tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Bad!" Sammy said back. "Please Ray!" he begged down the radio.
Alex snarled at Gene and thumped him on the back. "Put me down Gene Hunt or so help me..." she threatened darkly as she dared to kick him in the stomach. "Put. Me. Down!" she told him again as Sam cackled.
Ray smiled at the commotion on the other end of the radio. "I'll send one out, Guv," he smiled and then dialled up the Skip and ordered him to do as Gene had told him.
"There's a team on the way, Guv," he said down the radio. He grinned as he heard Sam's delighted laugh in response and Alex's screech of frustration.
"You better hurry, before I have to add assaulting a police offer to the list of charges," Gene bellowed and gave Alex a quick swat on the backside. He grinned down at Sammy.
"Right then, lady, back up will be here soon and we'll have you locked up nice and tight," he said to Alex and winked at Sam.
Alex snorted and kicked him again. "Let go of me, Gene!" she told him again as she wriggled on his shoulder trying to dislodge herself from his grasp.
Sammy laughed heartily as he went to talk into the radio again but Ray cut him off.
"I got it Sammy, don't worry."
Sammy chuckled and put the radio back into Gene's pocket carefully.
Sam suddenly stopped laughing and moved a little closer to Gene's leg and reached up to grab Alex's still-cuffed hand which was hanging down Gene's back. Alex frowned and nudged Gene gently. She squeezed Sam's hand.
"Gene," she said, her tone of voice gentler and concern lingered on her face. "Put me down and un-cuff me," she told him.
Gene noticed the change in Sam almost immediately and nearly dumped Alex unceremoniously to the ground to see what was the matter with his son. He blindly held the key out in Alex's direction, his attention focused on his son. Then, he noticed the boys in the park, not far away.
"You all right, Sammy?" he asked his son quietly, his eyes narrowed in concern.
Alex twisted her hands in the cuffs until she found a position where she could unlock herself easily. She sighed as she she slid her key into her pocket and clipped the handcuffs to one of the belt loops on her jeans as she looked at her son in concern. Alex moved over to kneel next to him and stroked his head.
"Sammy?" she asked gently as she caught his gaze and glanced over towards the little boys, she recognised them from the Nursery that Sam went to and frowned, it didn't take much to see that Sam didn't like these boys.
Sammy nodded mutely at Gene and slid his hand into his fathers, his gaze immediately turning away from the boys as they glanced in his direction. Alex was fuming, she wanted to hug Sammy within an inch of his life and then go and give those boys a good talking to, but as Sammy wouldn't tell her exactly what it was that happened at Nursery she was finding it difficult to help him.
"Do you want to go home Sammy?" she asked him and Sammy nodded silently again.
"Okay, then," she sighed and dropped a kiss on the top of his head, she placed a hand on Gene's back. "Gene, don't kick off," she said to him quietly so that Sammy couldn't hear.
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Chris walked past and heard the tail end of the conversation.
"What's up with the Guv?" he asked Ray curiously. "He's not really in trouble is he?"
Ray looked up at Chris. "I heard something about tickling, and I think he's on about locking up Alex, Sammy was laughing a lot," Ray shrugged.
"You're not really sending back up though, it's all part of the game, right?" Chris asked curiously. Alex would be furious if the Guv really locked her up.
Ray nodded. "I told the Skip what was going on, mainly so that Sammy would be convinced, he knows it's all a joke," he smiled at Chris.
"The Guv ain't half crazy," Chris muttered and headed back to his desk. He glanced at Ginger and Shaz who seemed convulsed with laughter over something they kept emailing back and forth and sat back down. He glanced at the empty container in the bin that had held his lunch and sighed. Sometimes one burger just wasn't enough, he felt.
He glanced up at the clock and leaned back to look past Ginger to Shaz.
"Almost kid time," he told her. "You going or am I?"
Ray shrugged and turned back to his computer as he played with his pen.
Shaz looked up at Chris as her laughter subsided and nodded at him. "I'll go," she smiled and turned back to Ginger.
"7 at ours tonight," she told him with a grin and then went over to kiss Chris before leaving.
Shaz popped her head around Ray's door and smiled at him. "I'm just going to get the kids, Ray," she told him with a smile, she got to leave work early and spend some time with her daughter. She wasn't complaining.
Ray looked up and nodded at her. "Sure, give my pair a hug from me," he smiled at her and Shaz nodded. "Sure, you're alright with walking home?" she asked him and he nodded.
Shaz twirled her keys around her finger as she practically skipped to her car and got into it. She grabbed up her phone and sent a text to Rowan.
"Do you want me to take the twins to mine, or drop them with you?"
Ginger watched Shaz leave and then glanced over at Chris.
"You're sure you don't mind if I go with them?"
Chris snorted. "Why should I? Not that you're not a mate an all, but there are times when you have more in common with them," he observed.
"Yeah, there are times," Ginger agreed and then turned his attention back to his computer.
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James smiled as he waited tables. The flowers had gone over well. He wondered what he should do next. He was glad he'd overheard her talking to someone once about her dislike of roses, he'd made very sure there were no roses in the bouquet. He pondered what to do next as he went about serving his lunch customers.
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The brakes squealed as Jack parked in front of the house. He fought with the seatbelt in his struggle to get out of the car and ran into the house.
"Lyss?" he called. "Alyssa?"
She wasn't here. He put his hands on his hips and frowned. Where in the world could she be?
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Alyssa left Rowan's and half-ran home. She sighed as she spotted Jack's car outside. He was already home, and probably going spare! She hurried to the front door and unlocked it quickly. Alyssa closed the door softly behind her.
"Jack?" she called out softly.
Jack had just finished looking through the empty spare rooms when he heard Alyssa's voice. He thundered downstairs and grabbed her into his arms.
"Are you okay? What's going on?" he asked her worriedly.
Alyssa started slightly as she found herself crushed against him. She rested her head on his chest and fixed her arms around him gently.
"I'm fine Jack, I just..." she trailed off and looked up at his face. "I went to the surgery this morning," she told him quietly as she pulled back from him slightly. "And I was sitting there, waiting for my turn, and the closer it got, the more I realised that I couldn't go through with it," she said to him.
"Jack, I'm not getting rid of this baby," she said as she looked up at his face, gauging his reaction.
Jack gaped down at her at her pronouncement. Keeping the baby? Was she serious?
"Are…are you sure?" he asked her cautiously, scarcely able to believe his ears. He searched her face and knew how much he hoped her answer was yes was written on his face.
He pulled her a bit closer and leaned down. "Cause you know I'll support you whatever you decide."
Alyssa looked up at his face and knew that Rowan was right: no matter what she said Jack would support her, but he wanted this baby. She pressed her face back into his chest and breathed him in deeply.
"I couldn't get rid of the baby, if I was sitting in the Surgery and couldn't even get into the Consultant Room then that means something doesn't it," she said into his shirt. Alyssa breathed him in again and looked up at his face once more. "So yes, I am sure," she smiled at him.
Jack whooped inadvertently and swung Alyssa around before pressing his lips to hers as he held her up off the floor.
"So," he said when he broke off the kiss. "We can celebrate?" he asked curiously. "And you should make an appointment for an exam. You want to make sure you're all nice and healthy. He put her back down gently and put a hand on her cheek.
"And I am going to beat Ray's score when we go to those classes," he said determinedly and grinned at her.
Alyssa nodded. "We can celebrate," she smiled at him as her arms stayed fastened securely around his neck and she laughed. "And I'll make another appointment with Simon at the Surgery soon just to check that I'm okay," she promised him.
"I'm glad," she smiled at him. His excitement was infectious. She grinned broadly up at him.
"So, is my theory that you don't want to go back to work now correct?" she asked him curiously.
"You are correct, ma'am," Jack said to her, trying to imitate JT's drawl. "I said I had a family emergency. So, what does my lady wife desire? Shall we go to that romantic little place over off the High Street?" he suggested and pulled her a bit closer.
"And maybe we can work up an appetite before we go," he said in a flirty tone before brushing another kiss across her lips.
Alyssa smiled, her grip on him tightening as he pulled her closer.
"What is it with you and being romantic recently?" she asked him. "Not that I'm complaining, but there was that candlelit dinner you made for me earlier on in the week, and now this idea of going to a romantic restaurant," she smiled at him.
"Mind you, it isn't even lunchtime yet..." she trailed off and looked at him suggestively.
"Can't a man spoil his wife?" he asked her and grinned. He pulled her up into his arms and walked over to the stairs and set her on the bottom step.
"It's early as all that? Then I suggest we do go and work up an appetite, we've plenty of time," he said and then turned her around and gave her a swat on the backside to get her going upstairs.
Alyssa smiled at him. "I suppose he can sometimes...but more than once a week and it starts getting suspicious," she told him as she felt her feet planted back on the floor and looked down at him from her new position on the stairs. She smirked and ran her fingers through his hair before giving him a pat on the head. "Hey there, Shorty," she chuckled.
Alyssa smiled at him and started to climb the stairs quickly, kicking her shoes off as she got to the landing. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure that Jack was still with her and led him to the bedroom, turning and pressing her lips to his as her foot kicked the door shut.
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Rowan sighed with relief when lunch rush was finally over. Another couple of hours and the kids would be home and then she could go and hang out with Shaz. She hoped Alyssa would want to go out and celebrate the baby, but tonight it would be just her and Jack. Rowan smiled to herself and wished she could tell. But she would wait. It was Alyssa's news to announce. She quickly set about doing her part of the kitchen clean up, more than ready for the end of the day.
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"Well, that was an experience," Annie remarked when the people had finally drifted out of the pub and back to work. Charlie nodded.
"Not bad for a first day," Peggy said to them and Annie beamed.
"Since we passed the test, do you think it'd be all right if we want to find someplace to stay?" Annie asked. "We came straight here."
"Of course, of course, I could use you tonight if you've a mind," Peggy said. Annie looked at Charlie and they both nodded.
"Shouldn't be a problem," Charlie told her.
"Are you hungry at all?" Peggy wanted to know. "Peter's a half-decent cook and we've got a lot of lasagne."
"Maybe when we get back. I'm too worked up to eat right now, but thanks," Annie replied.
"I might get some chips to take away, though," Charlie mused. "I'm a bit hungry."
Annie snorted. ""You get your chips and I'll get the bags," she told him and laughed.
Charlie went into the kitchen.
"Um, Peggy said I could get something to eat. I'm Charlie, by the way, just started working here," he held out his hand and Peter shook it.
"Peter," Peter introduced himself. "What did you want?"
"I'll just have some chips to take with me. Do you know who I would talk to about that flat over the sari shop?"
Peter nodded as he put some chips in paper for Charlie. "Ask in the sari shop, I think it's a relative or something that owns the building."
"Right, thanks," Charlie said and took the chips.
"No problem," Peter said and waved him off. Charlie met up with Annie and got the door for her before taking his bag and shouldering it.
"Peter in the kitchen said we can talk to the lady in the sari shop about the flat," he told her. Annie smiled. "Perfect," she said and stole a chip.
Charlie used his height and held the chips away. "Thought you said you couldn't eat?"
"One chip," she snorted.
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
"Mum!"
Alex's head whipped around and she beamed. "Molls," she smiled as Molly came and hugged her. "Hows everything?" she asked.
Molly nodded as she let go. "Fine, fine, the appointment was fine before you ask and we've been taking it easy," she said and then grabbed Sam up and spun him around in a circle. "And how's my favourite little brother?" she asked as she settled him back on the floor and grinned at him. Sam just looked at her silently.
Alex sighed and Molly frowned, Alex placed a hand on Molly's arm and led her away a little from Sam. "He's still being bullied, I think it's to do with those three boys over there, he was fine until he spotted them," she sighed and Molly scowled.
"Right," she said as she turned on her heel and glared in the direction of the 5-year olds. Alex caught her arm before she could stalk towards them.
"How exactly is that going to help matters, Molly!" she said sharply and Molly glanced back at the little gang before back at her brother who was hugging his football. She fell to her knees next to her brother and tapped his nose. "So, how about you come back to mine and I beat you on that racing game of Peter's that you like?" she asked him. Sammy offered her a small smile and nodded his head. Molly nodded and glanced up at Alex's forlorn face and Gene's murderous expression.
"Go and tell Mummy and Daddy, then," she told him. Molly pulled out her phone as she stayed kneeling on the grass watching her family and read Peter's text briefly before pocketing her phone without replying, she had more important things to worry about for now.
Sam nodded and pushed the football at her before going and embracing his mother's leg briefly before edging towards Gene, he tugged on Gene's trouser leg to get his attention.
Gene glanced down as he felt Sammy's hand slide into his and he used his free hand to reach into his coat pocket and pull out his smokes. Gene didn't even listen to Alex, just stood and stared at the boys, who were staring at them.
He barely noticed when Molly came up and Sammy's hand disappeared from his as he pulled out his lighter and lit his cigarette one-handed. He noticed the boys had come a bit closer and he puffed out a cloud of smoke before taking the cigarette from his mouth and tilted his head slightly to study the boys.
"Problem?" he asked them in a near growl. "I suggest you get over it before I come to your house and break all your toys," he added and stuck the smoke back into the corner of his mouth. He folded his arms and glared at the boys, ignoring the conversation going on behind him until he felt a tug at his trouser leg.
He looked down at Sammy.
"Huh?" he grunted.
Sammy glanced over at the other boys a little anxiously before looking back up at his Dad.
"I'm going to play on Peter's games with Molly," he told him as Molly wandered over and kissed Gene's cheek, she placed a hand on Sammy's head as she looked at Gene. "I'll see you later, Gene," she said to him as she reached for Sam's hand and lead him away.
Alex watched them go and moved over to Gene after shooting the group of boys a sour look, she rubbed his arm gently. "You need to calm down, Gene," she told him.
Gene nodded at Sammy and then at Molly and watched them walk away for a moment before turning his glare on the boys again. He shrugged off Alex's hand and looked at her.
"I'd like to give all of them... " he began and then trailed off. He made a sound low in his throat and then whirled around and began to stride away out of the park and towards home.
He would have a chat with the nursery himself. Find out why the problem wasn't getting sorted...when Alex was busy, of course.
Alex sighed heavily, she shouldn't be surprised that Gene was taking this badly: she knew she was after all, but she had handled bullying with Molly before. This was Gene's first experience. She watched him stalk off in the direction of home and stayed where she was, her gaze drifting to the boys that were still in the park. She glared at all of them but did no more than that. At least Sammy was with Molly. She knew he liked playing with Peter's video games. He'd be fine for now.
She began to walk after Gene: she needed to get him to calm down.
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
Peter followed Charlie to the kitchen door and watched him and a blonde girl leave. He pulled his phone out and sent off a quick text to Molly.
"New bar staff," he sent her and went back to sort the kitchen out now that lunch was over.
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
Rowan went back upstairs to the flat and smiled at the flowers as she passed them. She couldn't wait to thank Ray properly for them; he so rarely bought her flowers. She went to the end of the hall and stopped outside the door of her and Ray's bedroom and reached up to pull down the stairs to the attic. In the faint light from downstairs she could just make out the string for the bulb and quickly yanked it to turn on the light. She would have to make sure to put in a proper light fixture. She glanced at the wall. Should be fairly easy to wire a switch plate. She looked around and nodded.
The man she'd bought the place from had obviously used the attic as a room; the floor was a nice wood, if a bit dusty. Only the bed that had been JT's was up here, and a few boxes with some of Rowan's maternity clothes and some things the twins had outgrown. She'd have to take the baby clothes down; Alyssa would find them useful she was sure. The room covered the same area as the flat. They could easily partition off two bedrooms and have a bit of space for storage and leave the rest open for the twins to use as a play area. She smiled to herself and went over to look out the tiny window at one end. She eyed the ceiling, it wasn't too high, but Ray would be able to easily stand upright in here and not worry about bumping his head. She quickly pulled out her measuring tape and measured the space and with a mental note to come back up and scrub the floor, headed back down into the flat.
She checked the time and realized the kids would be home any minute. She quickly ran a brush through her hair, put her notes on the attic on the computer desk, she'd finish plotting out the rooms later, and headed downstairs to watch for Shaz.
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
"Bring them home, have a few things to take care of," Rowan sent back and went back to finishing the order she was cooking. She put the order on the passbar and then grabbed up the day's paperwork and took it upstairs to work on later before going back down to wait for the twins.
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
Molly held Sam's hand as she walked him over to her place, she fished in her pocket as she went and fired off a text to Peter.
"They nice? Have Sammy, going to ours x"
Sam let go of her hand as she neared her home and ran to the door excitedly, Molly smiled as she reached into her pocket for her keys and went to open the door. Sam made a noise of protest and Molly stopped to look at him, he held out his hand for the keys.
"Can I do it?" he asked her and Molly handed him the key and watched curiously as he stretched and tried each key on the keyring until he found the one that fitted the lock. She felt her smile bloom wider at the look of triumph on his face as he twisted the key and pushed the door open. Molly took the key out and shut the door behind them as she watched him race inside and fall to his knees next to the TV. She chuckled and set up the game for him before handing him one of the controllers as she kept the other.
"I'm gonna win," he announced and she snorted. "I think not Samuel," she said to him as she fixed her gaze on the TV screen.
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
Charlie watched as Annie quickly negotiated the flat for them. As a writer and doing the radio show he'd had back in Shieldinch, Charlie knew he had a way with words. But Annie had this way of talking people around to her way of thinking. Though, he had to smugly admit, he had managed to talk her around and into becoming his girlfriend.
Annie finally handed some money over and grinned at Charlie as she showed him the keys. He reached over and shook the woman's hand and then followed Annie out of the shop and up to the flat. It would do, he decided as he looked the place over...well...apart from that wallpaper needing repair. He and Annie glanced at each other over what was painted there and then she leaned against him.
"At least there's a bit of furniture, we won't have to do much," she observed.
"That's good because I'm not sure how much savings we have left," he remarked. Annie nudged him.
"We have enough. But there's a bed and a couch and that table and chairs, so just linens and probably dishes are in order."
Charlie let go of her and wandered around the flat again.
"Yeah, I think you're right. I'm going to make use of this couch and sit down before we have to work at the pub again later, I'm tired," he told her. Annie watched him drop his tall frame onto the couch and then went over and curled up with him.
"What a brilliant idea," she said and closed her eyes as he wound an arm around her shoulders.
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
Lucy sighed as she finally finished for the day. She had managed to get her training officer changed to Blake, or actually, had convinced Blake to request the change. This way she could avoid the Square while she was working and of course, Sergeant Blake was a lot more interesting to work with.
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
Shaz held Olivia in her arms and the twins things in her free hand as she managed to lock the car and heard them towards the Restaurant. She pushed the door for them and leant against it to hold it open for them to go inside. She looked at Olivia and sighed.
"This would be easier if you'd walk," she told her daughter and Olivia only tightened her grip around Shaz' neck and made a distressed wailing noise. Shaz rolled her eyes and followed the twins inside, she smiled at Rowan as she spotted her and made her way over.
"Hey," she smiled as she placed the twin's stuff on the table and tried to put Olivia down, she sighed in annoyance again as Olivia wailed harder and clung tighter. Shaz relented and let her stay in her arms; anything to avoid a tantrum in public.
She looked back at Rowan. "Ginger's joining us tonight by the way, he didn't want to hang out with Ray and Chris and Simon isn't around tonight," she smiled.
"Hi," Rowan greeted and gave her children swift hugs and gestured them to sit down.
She chuckled at Shaz' comment. "I can't imagine he would want to. I'm sure all they do is complain about you and I anyway," she told Shaz.
Shaz smiled back and nodded in agreement. "Exactly," she smiled. "Watching Torchwood and Doctor is much better than listening to Chris and Ray moan about that sort of stuff," she said.
"I'll see you 7 and I'll come bearing tacos," Rowan said and winked.
"I'll see you later," Shaz smiled as she waved at the twins and smiled as she left.
Shaz settled Olivia back in her car seat and then climbed into the front and drove home.
"Olivia, you have to be good tonight, no playing up while Rowan, Denis,Claire and Ginger are here tonight, okay," she said and Olivia nodded solemnly. "Kay," she promised as Shaz pulled up outside their home and got her and her things out of the car. She set Olivia on the floor and led her into the flat. Seeing as Rowan was bringing tacos all she had to worry about was getting Olivia something to eat.
Once Shaz was gone and the twins were settled, Rowan went to work getting the tacos made. She waved off offers of help from James and kept an eye on the twins as she cooked.
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
Gene strode home, slammed into the flat and got himself a beer from the fridge before dropping onto the couch.
He glared at the TV as he drained half the can and sighed. He was going to have to figure out how to sort this. He fully intended to talk to the school first thing Monday morning.
Alex sighed as she looked at Gene on the sofa and went to sit next to him.
"Any preference on what to have for dinner?" she asked. "Sammy's having pizza with Molls and Peter," she added. She hated when he got in a mood like this, she had trouble breaking him out of it. She had learnt that it was usually best to let him stew for a bit and then sort himself out in his own time but she hated doing that too. She felt helpless when he was like this.
"Gene," she said a little louder to try to get his attention.
Gene huffed out a breath and looked at Alex.
"Whatever you want," he replied tonelessly and turned back to the television as he took another drink of beer.
Alex sighed heavily and patted his arm lightly as she stood back up. She just couldn't get through to him when he was like this, she supposed it was best to leave him be, but she hated seeing him so upset.
She wandered through to the kitchen and grabbed some pasta from the cupboard and set it cooking before leaning on the counter and turning to watch Gene's back. She hated this!
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
Peter glanced at his phone and quickly read Molly's text.
"They seem so," he sent back. "Scottish. Tell Sammy he'll never beat my high score."
He chuckled to himself and finished cleaning up the kitchen. He pulled out his phone as he left the pub and sent off another text to Molly.
"Pizza?"
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
Charlie opened his eyes and yawned, blinking at his unfamiliar surroundings and then glanced down at Annie curled in his arms. He nudged her.
"Wake up, I think it's time to go to work," he mumbled as Annie opened her eyes. She groaned and sat up and then stood and stretched.
"Oh, all right," she sighed and then went to quickly splash some cold water on her face before they left.
They both waved at Peggy and Pat as they arrived back at the pub and went behind the bar to get busy.
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
Ray finally shut off his computer and packed up his folders into a drawer. He had to walk home thanks to his lift to work from Shaz this morning, not that he minded, home wasn't too far away. He poked his head into the other office and smiled at Chris.
"I'm off mate, I'll see you later," he said with a grin as he set off with a nod to Adam as he passed him.
Ray made his way to the Restaurant swiftly and spotted his kids sitting at one of the tables. He waved at Rowan through the hatch and sat himself down with them.
"So, how are my little troublemakers this afternoon?" he asked them as he ruffled Denis' hair affectionately and grinned at Claire across the table.
"Not trubmaker," Denis argued and Claire nodded in agreement.
Ray snorted. "I beg to differ," he told them both with a grin. "You two are very mischievous," he added with a knowing look.
Rowan waved back and finished plating up dinner for Ray and the twins. She carried the plates out and set them down, sliding an arm around Ray's neck and giving him a quick kiss.
"I checked out the attic earlier. It's got a very nice floor up there. It's not going to take much effort to portion it off up there. It covers the full area of the flat, so there's plenty of space for two bedrooms and then the rest can be left open as a play or lounge area," she smiled and then put her lips to his ear.
"I got your surprise, thank you. I'll have to show you my gratitude later," she promised and lifted his face to kiss him more thoroughly. A throat clearing behind her made her straighten up and she quickly turned.
Ray looked up at her puzzled and slightly taken aback by her kiss. He wasn't aware that he'd done anything. He opened his mouth to talk when James interrupted and Ray frowned. The guy always seemed to be hovering around. He knew he worked here but it annoyed Ray somewhat.
"The walk-in is all organized," James said and grinned. "Sorry to interrupt."
Rowan blushed and gave him a small smile. "Thank you, James. We'll see you Sunday," she said.
"See you then," James agreed and nodded at Rowan. He paused and then turned and left. He'd have an easier time talking to her without that great oaf around.
Rowan went back into the kitchen and finished packing up the tacos and then came back out and sat down with her family.
"So, how was work?" she asked as she stole a chip from Ray's plate. He watched Rowan come back and nodded at her.
"Same old, same old," he told her with a grin. "Guv was off today so that leaves me with answering all his calls, I still think he needs to get a new secretary but he refuses after what happened last time," he shrugged. "But I can see his point," he sighed.
"Surely there's a decent officer there who would be willing to work for Gene," Rowan said. "They can't all be like Debbie."
"It's up to Gene though, if he wants help he'll get himself help. But anyway, my day isn't nearly as interesting as what you lot got up to," he said and turned his gaze to the twins. "What amazing creations did we come up with today?" he asked them curiously.
"We singded again," Claire told him and Denis nodded.
"We did dancing too and went to the park," he added.
Ray chuckled. "You see, so much more interesting than my day," he grinned at the twins.
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
Rowan quickly gathered the dishes and stuck them in the kitchen sink and then herded the twins upstairs. She sent them to their room to change into their pyjamas and get ready to go to Shaz'.
"Okay, so come on up and look this attic over with me for a minute," she said to Ray and pulled down the stairs and climbed up.
Ray held his foot on the bottom step and watched her climb into the attic before following her up. He stood up carefully and smiled when he realised he could go to his full height without hitting his head.
"So, what exactly were you thinking of doing?"
Rowan walked over towards the small window. "Well, there's the one window, so I thought the layout could be a bit like this," she gestured at where she had moved the few boxes to, using them to mark the basic boundaries of where she'd planned. "There would be one room here and one room there, and then," she waved her arms, "this would be the open space, sort of a play area now and then a lounge sort of area later, and this area would have the window," she explained. "Won't take but a bit of cleaning. I can give away all the baby stuff in those boxes and that bed," she pointed, "can go back downstairs. We can use that corner there for a bit of storage space if we need it," she finished and walked over to him and slipped her arms around his waist and looked up at him.
"I think it will work just fine. Now," she said and moved her arms from his waist to his neck so she could pull him down. "I want to thank you for the flowers. They were lovely. Signing them 'Secret Admirer' was cute, I have to admit," she said and kissed him thoroughly.
Ray nodded amiably while she spoke, he was willing to go along with pretty much anything if she had the layout all sorted. He wrapped his arms around her and smiled down at her.
"You're sure that's how you want it," he teased her with a grin.
His eyebrows shot up at her but he kissed her back regardless. "Ro..." he began as she pulled away and sighed as she climbed back down before he could talk.
She sighed as she broke off the kiss. "Now, time for us to go," she said and slipped regretfully from his arm and climbed back down to gather the twins.
Ray grumbled to himself as he clambered down the steps and folded them away. He caught up with her before she reached the twins and pulled on her arm to make her stop.
"I didn't send you any flowers today," he told her gently. "But...if that's all I have to do to get you to kiss me like that then maybe I will in the future," he grinned down at her.
Rowan looked up at him and frowned. She pulled him into the kitchen and pointed at the flowers.
"Well, if you didn't send them, then who did? No one else knows I don't like roses," she told him. Now she felt slightly uneasy.
Ray reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder comfortingly. He smiled at her as he turned her towards her and pulled her closer, he pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"Hey, aren't women supposed to be happy when they find out they have an admirer?" he asked her gently. "It's probably nothing to worry about," he said reassuringly as he kissed her forehead again. "Though if it happens again I may just get jealous," he smiled at her as he let her go.
Rowan smiled indulgently at Ray, but felt the uneasiness still gnawing at her. Who would send her flowers?
She sighed and picked up the container of tacos.
"We better go," she said and went into the front room. "Claire, Denis, c'mon, time to go," she told them and made sure they had their things before herding the giggling pair to the door and down the stairs.
Ray looked after his family as they wandered off and smiled softly before following them out and shutting the door firmly behind him.
Ray watched them all pile into the car and clambered into the front seat.
"Right," he said as he drummed his fingers on the wheel. "Lets be off then," he grinned.
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
Molly glanced down as her phone went off and she smiled at Peter's text. She made a sound of irritation as Sammy beat her and folded her arms defiantly.
"It's Peter's fault, he texted me and distracted me," she said and Sammy perform a perfect copy of his father's pout.
"You shouldn't have read the text then," he told her with a cheeky grin and Molly nudged him gently.
"Peter says there's no way you'll beat his high score," she challenged him and Sammy grabbed up the controller again eagerly. Molly leant back against the sofa and picked up her phone.
"Awesome, can't wait to see them :) Sammy accepted the challenge :P x"
Molly stood up and left Sam to it as she wandered into her room to grab up her stuff and brought her work back to the front room and settled on the floor next to her brother to work through it as he played the game.
She glanced down at Peter's text and smiled. "I think so :) x" she said and looked at Sammy.
"Peter's bringing home pizza," she told him. "How about I text Mum and tell her that you're staying for tea and we take you home afterward?" she asked and he nodded while his gaze was fixed on the TV screen. Molly sighed. "Sammy, do you want to talk about what's happening at Nursery?" she asked and Sammy resolutely shook his head.
"You sure?" she pressed and he nodded firmly once more and Molly sighed. "Okay," she said as she sent a text to Alex saying Sam was staying for pizza.
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
Peter chuckled at Molly's reply.
"Thought he might, so thought I'd order his favorite pizza," he sent back and went into the pizza place to pick up his order before heading back to the flat.
"I'm back," he called out as he opened the door of the flat and smiled at Molly and Sammy.
"Got your favorite pizza here," he said to Sammy and carried it into the kitchen to get some plates. "Bet you didn't beat my high score yet," he taunted as he went.
Sammy looked up at the sound of Peter coming in and he thrust the remote at Molly as he ran over and climbed up to sit at the table. "Thanks, Peter," he grinned happily. He frowned and nodded. "Did!" he said defiantly.
"Didn't!" Molly called out, the laugh evident in her voice.
Molly smiled as she turned off the TV and moved over to the table with a smile at Peter. "So, about these new Scottish people?" she asked curiously as she gave him a hug. "What are they like and why are they in Walford?" she asked.
She reached over and put a slice of pizza on Sammy's plate before grabbing one herself and sitting down next to her brother.
"Well," Peter began as he put the plates down and opened the box of pizza, "their names are Charlie and Annie and they seem really nice. Didn't get to talk to Charlie for more than a few minutes really," he told her.
His brow furrowed. "Was that your phone?"
"Ummmm," Molly mumbled as she grabbed her phone from her pocket and looked at the text.
"Whit wants to go to the pub," she smiled. "So we can drop Sammy home once we've finished eating and then head down there?" she suggested.
Peter looked at her and shrugged as he tried to chew his mouthful of pizza.
"Sounds like a plan," he finally managed and nodded. He took a quick drink to clear his mouth and looked at her. "Unless it's just you girls, then maybe I'll just stay here with Sammy."
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
Lauren finished up at the office and hurried home.
"How's it going?" she asked Whitney, who was busily sewing.
Whitney looked up. "Fine, so far. I spoke to Bolton at lunch and he's agreed to be the male model, and because he's also working as a DJ, he's going to do DJ style music for us for the show. So, we'll have like a club theme."
"That'll be brilliant," Lauren enthused. "You'll be sure to be a hit at the show then."
"That's what I'm hoping. We're all meeting up here tomorrow morning at 10 so I can fit the clothes and everything."
"Sounds good to me. Why don't we go to the pub and celebrate? I'll give Lucy a call and Molly, see if they can join us," Lauren suggested.
"Okay, but only one or two drinks. I'm only barely breaking even this month and I've had to turn down two orders in order to get things ready for that show."
Lauren nodded. "Sure, no problem. Well, come on then, let's go."
Whitney finished up the seam she was working on and stood up and nodded. She pulled out her phone. "Heading for pub, fancy a drink?"
Lauren grabbed her phone from her pocket and quickly texted Lucy.
Lucy slouched on the couch flipping through channels and glanced over at her phone when it started to beep. She picked it up and her mood perked up a bit as she read Lauren's text.
"On my way," she sent and quickly grabbed her shoes and pulled them on before nearly running out of the flat.
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
"So, you go see Dr. Bond tomorrow and then he gets you set up with a midwife or whatever," Jack said as he traced a finger down Alyssa's arm. "Is that the general plan?"
Alyssa nodded gently. "That's the general idea, yeah," she smiled at him as she slung an arm over his chest and cuddled closer to him.
"I'm going to have to make an appointment though, it's not like I can just walk into the surgery, and as tomorrow is a Saturday it's highly likely that his appointments will all be full," she sighed and shrugged. "But it's not like I'm ill," she added lightly as she lifted her head from his chest and looked at his face.
"I'll call and book an appointment, Jack," she promised him.
"Now about this romantic dinner..." she smiled. "Do we have to? Because I'm all for cracking open your stash and staying in bed for the rest of the day," she grinned at him. "And if you want romance, we can always get out the candles and keep the lights off," she added with a small chuckle.
"I am all for breaking into the stash," Jack said and grinned. "I quite like the outfit you have on," he teased and kissed her shoulder before climbing out of bed. "I shall go and fetch my lady some food post haste," he said in a humorous tone and pulled on his dressing gown.
Alyssa chuckled quietly and looked down at herself. "Well, bedsheets are what everyone is wearing nowadays," she teased back as she watched him leave.
Alyssa lay back amongst the pillows comfortably and rested her hand on her stomach. Jack seemed so excited. Now that they had actually made a decision and were actually doing this she was beginning to feel a little excited too. A small laugh escaped her as she reached for her phone on her bedside table and scrolled to the number for the Surgery, she clicked dial and pressed it to her ear.
"Hello, Walford Surgery."
"Hi, I'd like to make an appointment with Doctor Bond, please."
"Hang on."
Alyssa waited patiently and listened to the rustling on the other end of her phone and snuggled down as she did so. She dragged the sheets over her and started slightly as the voice started again on the other end of the phone.
"We've got a free spot on Monday morning, 10:30,"
Alyssa sighed, she knew the chances of a Saturday slot were slim but she would take whatever she could get. "I'll take it," she said.
"Can I take your name please?"
"Alyssa Rimmer."
"Thank you, Mrs Rimmer, we'll see you Monday."
"Thanks."
Alyssa put her phone back on the bedside table and relaxed completely into her bed as she waited for Jack. She sighed impatiently and reached over his side of the bed to his drawer and opened it to grab out a packet of crisps.
/\\/\/\/\/\\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Jack went to the kitchen and assembled up a tray of sandwich toppings and bread and carefully carried it and a bottle of wine and two glasses upstairs.
He put the tray on the bed and grinned at her.
"Your dinner is served, my lady," he announced and opened the wine. He poured them each a glass and then sat down on the bed and held up his glass.
"To my wonderful wife, who will be the best mum in the world," he said and lifted his glass to her before taking a drink.
Alyssa smiled at him as he came back in and took her glass from the tray and sipped it a little, blushing at his words as she shuffled closer to him and moulded herself to his side.
"Thank you," she told him as she took another small sip of wine.
Alyssa looked at the glass in her hand with a frown and reached over to put it down on the tray again.
"I shouldn't be drinking," she told him with a small smile.
"You're not supposed to drink if you're pregnant are you?" she asked him with a sigh as she picked up the crisp packet again and started munching. "I'm pretty sure you shouldn't, I know Alex, Rowan and Shaz didn't," she sighed.
"You're not drinking a lot," Jack corrected her. "Just this little bit. So, I'm sure there's nothing wrong with that."
He laid out slices of bread on the tray and began to make her a sandwich. "You definitely shouldn't do it on an empty stomach, though," he said and handed her the sandwich before making one for himself.
Alyssa smiled at him as she took the sandwich from him and took the top slice of bread off and put some crisps inside before putting the top slice back on top again. She took a large bite and smiled at him.
"I made the appointment," she told him. "The only space is Monday at 10:30," she added with a shrug. "So I took that one," she smiled.
Alyssa gave him a sidelong look. "I'm pretty sure that's around break-time at the school right? So if you want to come along you can," she said to him as she reached for the wine glass again and shuffled up the bed to grab the TV remote from his bedside table. She passed it to him with a grin as she slid back under the covers and pulled the sheet up around her chest.
"I'd love to go, if you're sure you don't mind," he said and smiled. He shifted the tray so they didn't get crumbs all over the bedclothes and nodded his thanks as he took the remote. He quickly flipped through until he found a show they both liked and settled back with his arm around her to watch.
"Of course not," she smiled at him as she settled against him.
"Besides, if you're planning on beating Ray then you're going to have to go to almost every appointment," she grinned up at him.
"I can manage that. He missed her scan after all. So it shouldn't be that difficult," Jack noted smugly and reached over to grab some crisps from the bag.
/\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/
Whitney and Lauren walked into the pub arm and arm, giggling over nothing. They approached the bar and Lauren went strangely silent. Whitney looked at her and then looked at what Lauren was looking at: a tall, somewhat lanky, dark haired man Whitney had never seen before who was standing there smiling at them.
"What can I get you?" he asked and Whitney's eyebrows went up before glancing at Lauren again. Scottish, too, she observed.
"Two white wines," Whitney ordered and nudged Lauren.
"Stop staring," she hissed as the man turned to get their wine. Lauren looked at Whitney.
"He's cute," she breathed back and looked over at him again.
"So, I've not seen you in here before," Lauren called over to him. He shook his head at her as he brought the drinks over.
"No, I'm Charlie, just started today," he told her and took the money Whitney handed to him.
"Nice to meet you, Charlie. I'm Lauren and this is Whitney," Lauren introduced. Charlie nodded to both of them and handed Whitney her change.
"Nice to meet you," he said back and went to serve the next person.
Whitney snorted a small chuckle as she and Lauren headed for a table and waited for Lucy.
"James being replaced in your affections already?" Whitney asked her as she took a sip of her wine.
"No, not replaced. You can fancy more than one bloke you know, Whit," Lauren corrected her.
"If you say so," Whitney shrugged and took another drink of her wine.
/\\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\/\
Molly frowned slightly "I hadn't thought of that" she said as she sent off a text to Whitney.
"Just girls? Peter wants to know :)"
Sammy watched Molly and Peter curiously before absorbing himself in his slice of pizza, eating it up greedily before looking pleadingly at Molly. Molly grinned at him and got him another slice.
/\\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\/\
Whitney grabbed up her phone and read Molly's text.
"Should it just be us girls tonight?" she asked. Lauren and Lucy shrugged.
"Why?" Lauren wanted to know.
"I guess Peter won't come if it's just girls," Whitney replied.
"You should say no. I mean, if Bolton does show up, he's not going to want to sit by himself with a table of just girls is he?"
Whitney looked at Lauren and burst out laughing. "I bet he would," she shot back and Lauren giggled.
"You're probably right."
"I'm hoping Bolton might stop in but otherwise seems just girls," she sent back.
/\\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\/\
Chris pressed a quick kiss to Shaz' lips and kissed the top of Olivia's head.
"So, see you later," he said to her. "Don't go too overboard," he teased and gave her a wink. He opened the door and blurted out a laugh at the sight of Ginger standing there ready to knock.
"Go on in, mate," he said and stepped aside so Ginger could go in.
"Shaz, Ginger's here," he called over his shoulder and headed out.
Ginger made sure the door was shut and held up a bag.
"I brought cans," he sing-songed.
Olivia looked up at Ginger briefly from her position on Shaz' lap then made a disgruntled noise when Shaz dumped her onto the sofa cushions next to her instead before standing.
"Nice one!" she smiled "I've got cans too, and bottles" she laughed as she took them from him and put them in the fridge to keep them cool.
"I've also got out my entire Science Fiction collection" she said as she pointed to the range of DVD's on the floor near the TV with a chuckle
"Entire collection," Ginger echoed. "I thought there was just mention of John Barrowman," he added as he looked over the DVDs.
"Did you see the episodes of 'Desperate Housewives' he was in?" Ginger asked and put a hand to his forehead and sighed as if swooning. "You should see them."
She shook her head at him, eyes wide "No, I never got into anything like that!" she half-squealed "I am going to have to check that out!" she said excitedly and Olivia looked up with a smile.
"I'll loan you my box set," he offered. "It's worth watching."
Shaz beamed at him. "Brilliant," she smiled at him and clapped her hands.
"We won't be watching all of the sci fi, but I can guarantee we will be watching Torchwood, and maybe some Doctor Who.." she said as she looked over her collection.
"Extermate!" she cried out "Sink men!"
Shaz turned around and smiled at Olivia before turning back to Ginger. "She calls Daleks Sink Men because we were watching Doctor Who this one time while Chris was trying to unblock the sink with a plunger, and obviously, Daleks..." she trailed off with a shrug and imitated them.
Ginger couldn't help but chuckle at what Shaz said. "That seems a reasonable assumption to me," he said and opened a beer. He glanced up at the clock.
"Rowan should be here soon, I hope. I'm hungry," he half-whined.
Shaz shrugged. "She's got to get the twins sorted," she sighed. "And they can be a bit of a handful, not to mention Ray," she chuckled as she nudged him. "Stop pouting and crack open a can," she said to him.
Ginger shoved out his lip in an excessive pout and then chuckled before taking a drink of his beer.
Shaz looked up as she heard an engine outside on the drive and grinned at Ginger as she placed a hand on his shoulder to help ease herself off the sofa.
"I think our dinner just arrived," she grinned at him as she moved to the door and opened it to let everyone inside.
Ginger mock-glared at her as she used his shoulder to push herself up and nudged her in the behind with his foot as she went to the door.
Ray looked at Shaz expectantly as she stood outside and she shook her head. Rowan waved at Shaz and turned to help the twins out of the car.
"Chris already left, Ray," she told him. Ray nodded and climbed out the car anyway, he pressed the keys into Rowan's hand and kissed her cheek. He looked into the back and pressed the buttons to release the twins from their car seats.
"Right, I'm off to the pub to see Chris, you two be good for your Mam and Shaz," he told them. "And play nice with Olivia," he added before kissing them both affectionately on their foreheads and ambling off down the road.
Shaz smiled at Rowan as she headed out and took the keys from her to lock the car once the twins had got out. She watched everyone go into her home and shut the door behind them.
Olivia stood up on the sofa as soon as she saw Claire and Denis and giggled in delight. Shaz sighed as she placed Rowan's keys on the side and stood with her hands on her hips.
Olivia stared at her mother for a moment before sitting back down, mumbling to herself.
Rowan glanced over at Shaz, her mouth twitching with amusement and nudged the twins out of her way before fending off Ginger who had hurried over and was reaching greedily for the container with the tacos.
"Will you stop!" she growled and he widened his eyes and tried to look pathetic.
"That doesn't work when the twins do it and they're cuter than you are," she told him, her tone full of indifference and Ginger let his shoulders drop as he sighed. She glanced over and then caught Shaz' eye and nodded towards the couch where Denis was politely helping Olivia down so they could go play. Claire watched her brother lead Olivia away and then walked over to her mother.
"Can I has a taco?" she asked.
"No, you had your dinner," Rowan told her. "But if you behave you can have a snack later."
Claire looked at her a moment and then finally nodded. "I go then," she told her and then put her hands on her hips and waited.
Rowan stopped unpacking the lettuce and cheese and tomatoes to put on the tacos and looked down at her daughter. "What?"
"I say I go," Claire huffed.
"Well, then go," Rowan said to her. Claire narrowed her eyes and Rowan thinned her lips.
"Have fun," she finally said and Claire nodded and flounced away. Rowan closed her eyes and sighed then turned to Ginger and glared at him as he snorted with laughter.
"Just shut up or you don't get any tacos," she threatened. Ginger widened his eyes and quickly rolled his lips under his teeth to show his willingness to shut up.
Rowan looked at Shaz. "He had to be invited here why?"
/\\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\/\
Chris walked up to the pub the same time as Lucy and politely held the door open for her.
"After you, PC Beale," he said and grinned.
"Thank you, DS Skelton," she said and went inside. She spotted Lauren and Whitney right away and went to sit down.
"So, what's up?" Lucy wanted to know.
"Not much, Lauren's busy ogling the new bloke behind the bar," Whitney quipped and Lauren blushed and frowned. Lucy glanced over.
"Not bad," she commented. "Anything on this weekend? I've actually got the weekend off if you can believe it," Lucy remarked.
"Molly, Lauren and Bolton are helping me get ready for a show Saturday morning, but other than that, I don't know. You want the party info, you have to talk to Fatboy," Whitney told her. "He always knows where they are."
"Bolton , interesting name."
"Remember that guy I was with at that party…the one with Molly?"
Lucy gazed at the ceiling for a bit and then nodded. "Oh, yeah, have you two been a couple all this time?"
"No," Whitney snorted. "I only ran into him again the other day. Seems he's living here and working at that boxing club Phil Mitchell started."
Lucy nodded and then grinned and wriggled her eyebrows. "So, you meeting him here tonight?"
Whitney shrugged. "I didn't invite him or anything. But if he shows up and wants to hang out, well, I won't mind," she said and sighed. "I just, I don't think he likes me, you know, that way. I got the impression when I met up with him at lunch to talk over doing this show for me that he wants us to just be mates," she explained and took a sip of her wine. "But that's okay. I'm sure I could do without boyfriend complications at the minute."
Lauren snorted. "You fancy him and you know it."
Whitney made a face. "Well, it don't matter, cause he doesn't fancy me."
Lauren and Lucy shared a look but remained silent.
/\\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\/\
Molly showed Peter the text then took her phone back and fired another one off.
Peter read the text and rolled his eyes. "I'll stay here. Why don't you text your mum and Sam can stay in the spare room," he said. "If he wants to stay that is."
"Did you invite Bolton?" she sent.
/\\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\/\
"No, but it's a pub he might show up," Whitney sent back.
/\\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\/\
Molly smiled and nodded then looked at Sammy, she opened her mouth but he piped up before she could talk.
"Please!" Sammy said and she smiled at Peter.
"Sure, you be good for Peter though while I'm out," she told him and he nodded and mumbled something as he took a huge bite of pizza. Molly looked at him questioningly.
"What?"
Sammy looked up at her and smiled conspiratorially."Beat his high score," he said and grinned at them.
Molly smiled and finished up her pizza then kissed Sam's head and leaned over to kiss Peter
"See you boys later," she grinned as she grabbed up her bag and headed out.
"Yeah, we'll see about that," Peter remarked and mussed Sammy's hair.
He grinned up at Molly and kissed her back.
"Later. Don't forget to let your mum know he's staying," Peter called after her.
Sammy did a perfect imitation of his father's scowl as he reached up a hand and flatted his hair back down
Molly grinned at Sam and nodded at Peter. "I will," she smiled as she pulled out her phone and fired off the text to Alex.
/\\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\/\
Alex placed the tray of food on Gene's lap as she sat down next to him. She had no intention of dragging him out of his mood to coax him to the dinner table so had decided to let him sit where he was on the sofa. She took a seat across the room and pulled out her phone. She sighed and sent back an "ok" to Molly.
"Sam is staying with Molls and Peter tonight," she informed him as she started to eat glumly.
/\\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\/\
"I'm going for a round, you want anything?" Lucy offered.
"Nope, still good," Whitney said.
Lauren looked at hers. "Yeah, go on then."
Lucy nodded and went to the bar.
"What can I get you?" Annie asked her.
"Two white wines, please," she said and put her money on the bar.
"So, how do you like the job so far?" Chris asked her. He shouldn't have left so early; he was getting bored waiting for Ray. But Ray was usually the early one. Lucy looked at Chris in surprise.
"I like it, yeah, thanks. I've got Sergeant Blake now as my mentor," she told him.
Chris nodded. "I've heard he's good."
"He's a bit sharp, not sure he entirely approves of women officers, but I'm learning a lot more," she told him. He gazed at her steadily for a moment and she chuckled.
"And yes, his beat is a lot more exciting. I've had a domestic and two robberies and a mugging so far. I actually caught the mugger," she added proudly.
"Nice one," Chris congratulated and Lucy beamed. He watched Annie put the glasses of wine down and then waved his hand as Annie went to pick up Lucy's money.
"I'll get that," he offered. "Bet no one's bought you a proper welcome drink."
"Well, no not really, thanks," she said and put her money back in her pocket. Chris shrugged and gave her a lopsided grin. Lucy took the drinks back to the table.
"He's certainly nice," she remarked.
"Who?" Lauren wanted to know.
"That DS Skelton. He's probably been one of the nicest people to me since I started."
"Too many people remembering the old Lucy?" Whitney asked curiously. Lucy considered for a moment and then nodded.
"That's entirely possible," she finally admitted. "Now, is this Bolton going to show up, do you reckon?" she asked, eager to change the subject.
/\\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\/\
"So, you're with the police then?" Annie asked Chris curiously.
Chris nodded. "DS Chris Skelton," he introduced himself and Annie gave his hand a quick shake. "I'm Annie and that's Charlie, my boyfriend," she told him.
"You're new here," he stated.
"Well spotted," she teased and Chris chuckled.
"Well, I am a detective," he told her.
"Did you want another pint?" she asked.
"I'll wait till my mate gets here," he said with a small shake of his head. She nodded and went to take care of someone else.