This is a bit of a filler chapter- theres lots going on :)
The atmosphere was tense to say the least; the house, silent for the first time in at least two weeks, neither Lauren nor Joey spoke, had he overstepped the line? Was it too much too quick?
In that moment Lauren seemed to have forgotten where she was, the rush of everything trailed through her body at alarming speed, her heart beating double time, she blinked slowly, half expecting it to all be gone when she opened them again. But it wasn't, she was slightly surprised that what she thought she had imagined was actually reality and was there right in front of her.
"Lo?" Joey tugged gently on her hand bringing her back to earth, still not speaking she edged closer to him. His breath tickling her neck as she dropped her head to his shoulder, needing to reassure her, this was real. Instantly his arms went around her waist pulling every inch of her as close as possible, the need to just hold her more heightened than ever. Lauren let out a breath, realising she was close to tears Joey cradled her head in his hand, his fingers running soothingly through her hair. Lauren stripped herself of her coat and kicked her shoes off; her body seemed to go through things like she was ticking off a mental list assuring her everything was ok. Joey sat on the bed watching as she tied her hair up and then came to rest on the bed next to him. She curled herself on the bed dropping her head into his lap; he could feel her body relax as soon as it hit the sheets.
"Take it that's a yes then?" he smiled as Lauren shuffled herself to a more comfortable position. Joey lay once again running his fingers through her hair lulling her into a sleep. "I love you Lo". He watched as this perfect girl, relaxed into him, her eyes watching the Moses basket before they finally closed. Joey placed a kiss to her cheek before pulling the blanket over them. Lauren groaned slightly at the disturbance, her eyes trailing down her own body before looking across to the draws by Joey's side.
"Can I have something to sleep in please?" her gaze met Joeys as he twisted pulling a shirt from the draw. She smirked seeing the item was what had been removed from her body in a heated rush the last time she was in the bed on Christmas morning. "Thank you" joey kissed her, watching intently as she removed each item of her clothing and finally draped the shirt over her underwear. She again settled under the blanket against Joey, if this is was life would be like from now on she would be pretty happy,
Slowly prising her eyes open Lauren looked around the room she had longed to be back in, gradually moving, she removed Joeys arm from her waist to attend to the soft cry from across the room. How long the three of them had been asleep she didn't know, but it was now light outside and there was a fair amount of noise coming from across the square.
"Someone's had a good sleep, come on then" Hope snuggled into Lauren as she took her down stairs to feed her. As much as it wasn't normal, it felt it to Lauren; this is where she felt she belonged. Sitting in the Kitchen she watched as Hope Guzzled the Bottle down, her deep brown eyes staring up at her, innocence and purity the only things to be seen. A small smile crept to Laurens face as she gurgled making a hiccupping sound.
"Morning" Joey sat opposite them at the kitchen table "How long you been up I didn't hear you?"
"Morning to you too, and about half hour, she was grizzling so I came down and fed her , she settled pretty quickly" Lauren lifted hope up cooing at her. "I was thinking, maybe we could go talk to my parents later?"
Joey winced slightly at the thought "I got a text of Al earlier said I needed to get some shopping, I was thinking I should really buy her some proper things now she's staying, and I was wanting you to come with me"
Lauren smiled brightly "I'd like that; we can do both take Hope shopping first and then see my mom and Dad?" Joey nodded "You don't have to worry babe, my mom knows everything- she was the one who kinda gave me the push to tell you what I really wanted, so she's pretty much sorted on that front".
"It's not your mom babe, your dads going to kill me… he won't like this…"
"Then he'll have to learn to wont he… I told you as far as I'm concerned Hope is our daughter, not just yours ok?"
"Have I told you how amazing you are Lauren Branning?" Lauren tilted her head back to kiss Joey who was now standing behind her.
"You may have mentioned it" Joey felt her smirk against his lips as he kissed her deeply, their attention only drawn apart as Hope started crying. "Oh someone doesn't like me stealing your attention" hope continued to stare at Lauren and Joey her cry a low murmur.
"Right, I'm going to change, can you sort her out, she'll need something warm on Joe it's pretty cold" Lauren handed Hope over in a casual movement.
"Yes boss… Lets see what we got for you then" at a leisurely speed Joey continued to follow Lauren up the stairs, both splitting their separate ways as they went to different rooms.
*J&L* *J&L* *J&L*
"People are going to see us Lo, they'll know she aint yours." Lauren took hold of his hand briefly before continuing to push the pram. Joey linked his arm through Laurens as they walked towards the tube station. Luckily it was deserted, the cold weather putting people off going out.
"For all they Know Joey, Hope is mine, if they ask that's what I'll tell them. "
"Babe, me and you weren't even together a year ago, it won't add up" Joey lifted the buggy up onto the tube, the two them taking seats.
"see that's where brainy Lauren comes in, we say we meet before you came here, she happened and that's when you moved here because I was having hope."
"And you really think that's going to work? People will just believe us?" Joey raised his eyebrows
"Trust me Joey, they won't ask questions, people round here trust what their told, something new will come along and then that's it no more said about it" Lauren smiled at him "We do need to tell the rest if the family the truth though, Jack and Carol ?"
Joey nodded agreeing it was the best solution, getting them on board with the story would make it more plausible. "What exactly are we going to need from this shopping trip? Because we literally have nothing" Joey watched as Laurens smile turned to a smirk "What? … You're up to something Branning"
"I wrote a list… this morning in the kitchen, I put down everything we're going to need and then stuff that's not essential but nice to have"
"Your Mom is full of ideas today aint she Hope?" Laurens eyes widened something that didn't go unnoticed by Joey. "Sorry…it just came out, I understand if it's too soon" Lauren silenced Joey with a kiss.
"I've told you Joey it's what I want… I am her Mom even if only by name."
"I think you'll always be more than her mom by name Lo"
"I can't believe how much, we actually brought. You sure she's going to need all this?" Joey indicated to the bags he was carrying.
"Yes Joey, You'll be surprised, she's a baby – babies have lots of stuff, just be thankful we didn't need to get a pushchair or car seat … come on next stop's ours… and we need to face the parents" Joey let out a groan as they descended through the tube station, appearing back to a much busier square.
*J&L* *J&L* *J&L*
After dropping the bags back at no.23 and a much needed pep talk they made their way over to No.5 baby in tow. Joey felt like they were walking to their deaths, well his death at least, no way did he ever see Max agreeing to this, Tanya and Abi would be the easier people to conquer, partly because Lauren had already told Tanya and secondly due to the fact Hope was their secret weapon. Her curtness and innocence could win anyone around eventually.
Lauren Cautiously opened the door encouraging Joey in with the pushchair; the loud slam of the door drew the attention to them.
"Lauren Darling is that you?" the call came from the lounge, obviously her mom was in.
"Ye, Joeys with me" she shouted back whilst removing hope from the pram. The movement caused her to cry slightly, alerting Tanya to her presence.
"Lauren, what was that?" she remained silent hoping to not be quizzed anymore; this was something they needed to do in their own time. "Lauren Marie Branning, You come here right now and Bring Joey and that baby with you" Joey turned towards Lauren; Tanya could be quite scary when she wanted to be. "Now Lauren"
"Yes alright mom" Tanya stood up as soon as they walked into the room, Lauren was holding Hope Joey with the baby bag across his shoulder. "Hi" she said acting seemingly normal.
"Is "hi" all you can say Lauren, Abi says you vanished in the middle of the night and then we can't get in contact with you…we were so worried."
"Sorry Tan that was kinda my fault…" Tanya stared at him for a second before sitting across the room in the armchair.
"So have you sorted things?" she already knew the answer, her daughter was sitting with a baby in her arms, looking on top of cloud nine.
"Ye, we're sorted aren't we?" Lauren met gaze with Joey
"Ye, we're sorted… You have do you want to hold your Granddaughter Tan?" Lauren beamed at what Joey had just said, this was him pretty much saying he was happy to let Lauren be Hopes Mom, then again, the conversation earlier on the Tube had pretty much confirmed it anyway.
"Mom?" Tanya shook her head as Lauren held Hope out towards her.
"Yes… I'd love to" Tanya took Hope and bounced her slightly "What's her name?"
"Hope, Lauren's idea actually… Thank you for letting her do this Tan, if it wasn't something she really wanted I'd never let her do it."
"Once Laurens got an idea Joey she won't stop until she get what she wants, and trust me son, she wants this."
Lauren tucked her feet under her body, most of her weight leaning into Joey, she watched her mother and now daughter interact, and that's one family member down the rest to go. A while later, and the threesome had managed to also get Abi on side and Jay, there was only one person left- Max. The front door shut and a silence dropped back over the living room.
"Tan, did Lauren turn up?"
"Let me do the talking alright?" Lauren and Joey nodded "Yes Max, she's here with Joey, she was with him last night."
"What's going on?" Max walked into the lounge to see them all sitting staring at him, his eyes glued to one thing. "For god's sake Lauren you promised me, you said you weren't pregnant"
"I wasn't … but she is my baby" Joeys hand reached for hers giving her some encouragement. "She's Joey's biological daughter, her waste of a mother left her on the door step in the freezing cold on Christmas night. Joey didn't know anything about her, but he knows she's his. Joey spoke to social services and had applied for full parenting responsibility so her biological mom can't have a say when decisions need to be made."
"wow… that's a lot to take in … Is she ok?"
"She's fine, Lauren made sure of that, I'm not quite sure how you're going to feel about this Uncle Max but…"
"You and Lauren are going to keep her and raise the baby as your own?" they both nodded "I know my daughter Joey, she may give the ice queen exterior most of the time but she's a very maternal girl underneath it". Max ran his hands over his head.
"I'm doing this no matter what you say dad, but I'd love your support, Mom and Abs agree its for the best, she already has a bond with me, she's like my own"
"I'm not 100% happy with it Lauren, but I can see we aint going to change your mind… You better appreciate what's she's doing Joey"
"She knows I do, I tell her all the time, she has been a mom to hope though right from the start, Hope actually cries for Lauren you know, won't settle until she's there, that's why I called Lo last night, but she was already on the doorstep."
"Looks like we have a new member of the family then, Congratulations Lauren you got a daughter"