28th April 2013. So it's Joey's birthday weekend and time for Lauren's surprise... I hope you like it.

Chapter 24.

It was finally the Friday before his birthday and Joey was on his way home from work. He didn't have to go back until Wednesday so he had several days off. He knew that Lauren was taking him away for the weekend and he wondered if they were going back to Brighton, like they had the year before. That weekend had been amazing and it was the first time Joey had allowed himself to think of a long-term future with Lauren. Even then though, he'd never imagined how much his life would change in twelve months. And it had most certainly changed. For the better as far as Joey was concerned.

He drove his recently purchased car back to the house and parked it on the driveway. His mum would be using it while they were away and he'd filled it up with petrol for her on his way home from work. He walked into the house and saw two small suitcases near the front door which made his heart lurch. Lauren walked down the stairs and he stared at her. "You're not leaving are you?" he asked softly. He was worried by the amount of luggage that was piled up and he knew both those bags were Lauren's.

"No, silly... we're going away, ain't we? I packed our stuff." She said.

"Any clues on where we're going yet?" he asked, relieved by her explanation. For a few seconds he'd been worried she was going back home.

"No... but your mum's taking us to the airport..."

"The airport?" he said.

"Uh huh..." she smiled at him, her face turning a lovely shade of pink. She kissed him softly before turning and walking into the lounge, "He's home, Lesley."

"Do we need to leave now?" Lesley asked.

"It might be best, in case there's traffic... if that's okay?" Lauren said, "I'd hate for you to have to spend hours driving." The three of them got in the car, Joey putting the cases in the boot. He couldn't believe she was taking him overseas somewhere. Somewhere being the operative word in that sentence. The not knowing could possibly drive him insane. Lauren reached across the back seat and took his hand in hers. "Excited?" she whispered.

"More so if I knew where we were going..." he said, smiling at her.

"Where would the fun be in that...?" She said. She giggled when she saw his bottom lip slip out in a pout and she leant over and kissed him. "You'll find out soon enough, baby." She said softly.

Lesley drove them to Gatwick airport and got out of the car with them when she pulled into the drop off point. As Joey was getting the cases out of the boot, she pulled Lauren to one side, "I don't want you to fight me on this, Lauren." She said as she pressed an envelope into her hands. Lauren frowned as she looked down at what she'd handed her. Lesley pulled her into a hug, "Have a wonderful holiday with my son, darling."

"Thanks Lesley..." she whispered as she pulled away from her. She realised the envelope contained some money for them. She quickly looked inside and her eyebrows lifted as she saw how much there was, "This is too much..." she protested.

Lesley put her finger on Lauren's mouth, "What did I say? Not a word of protest, Lauren. Let me spoil the pair of you. You both deserve it..." she said softly, with a smile.

"Thanks..." Lauren whispered, hugging her again tightly.

"Send me a text when you get to the hotel, so I know you got there okay." She said to Joey. Her hand reached up and she brushed the side of her son's face. "Have a fabulous holiday, Joe." She said, beginning to get emotional.

"Go home, mum..." Joey said, "Drive safely." He said. He opened the car door for her and helped her into the car. He shut the door and she lowered the window. He leant in the window and kissed his mum's cheek, "Love you, mum..." he said softly, before retreating back out and standing beside Lauren as she drove away, both of them waving her off.

"Come on then, baby..." Lauren said, taking Joey's hand in hers. "We've got a flight to catch."

"Still no clues?"

"Nope... but you'll find out very soon... don't worry so much."

*JL*JL*

Lauren led Joey to the check in desks and as they joined the queue he strained to try and see where they were going. His expression turned to one of shock as he looked at Lauren, "Venice?" he asked. She nodded, looking a mixture of excited and worried all at the same time. Joey hugged her tightly, pressing his mouth to the top of her head, "Thank you, baby girl." He whispered.

"You're welcome, Joe. It's not just me though," she admitted. "Your mum paid for a bit of it, so we've got a nicer hotel room than I'd originally planned." She looked down at her feet, biting her lip, "She gave me some money outside as well..." She glanced up at her boyfriend. "I tried to give it back but she insisted. She wants us to have a nice holiday." Another quick glance at him, "Is that okay?" she asked nervously.

"It's fine, baby. She wouldn't have given it to you if she couldn't afford it. Don't worry about it..." he kissed her forehead tenderly, then grabbed her hand, pushing the trolley with their cases forward as the queue inched closer to the front desk. "I can't believe you're taking me to Venice." He said with a smirk.

"I have many plans, Joe." She said softly, leaning against his body.

*JL*JL*

Twenty minutes later they had their boarding passes and had dropped off their cases. They'd even managed to get through all the security. They sat in the departure lounge, each holding a coffee in their hands. Joey had his arm around Lauren and her head was resting on his shoulder. It was about thirty minutes until their flight would start boarding.

"I can't believe you're taking me to Venice..." he said, not for the first time tonight.

"I wanted to take you somewhere nice for your birthday..." she told him softly.

"I would've happily gone back to Brighton. You didn't need to spend loads of money on me, baby."

"I wanted to." She admitted, tilting her head and kissing his neck. "I wanted it to be special..."

"Anytime I spend with you is special, baby girl." He breathed into her hair.

They finished their drinks and then wandered around the duty free part of the airport. Joey brought Lauren some perfume, despite her protests that she didn't really need it as he knew it was her favourite so he got it anyway. And he actually really liked it when she was wearing it too. After a few more minutes of meandering round the departure lounge their flight was assigned a boarding gate and they followed several other passengers to it.

Quite soon the couple were sitting on the plane and Joey sat with his arm around Lauren's shoulders, leaning his head against hers as they both looked out of the window. It was getting dark outside now as the evening was drawing in. Joey noticed Lauren was gripping his hand tightly as the engines fired up and the plane began to taxi. "You okay, babe?" he asked her softly. She nodded her head but he doubted the truth behind it. "You sure... you're holding my hand pretty tightly."

"Don't like the taking off and landing parts..." she murmured, trying not to look at him as she felt her embarrassment rise.

"Wait a minute, you're taking me on a holiday overseas despite the fact you really don't like flying."

"The flying is okay, it's the start and end of it I don't like."

"Oh baby girl..." he whispered, kissing her tenderly, managing to distract her through the whole take off.

Eventually she pulled away from him, her face reddening at the public display they'd just made which was something they didn't usually do. "Well, that wasn't too bad..." she admitted, smiling at him tenderly.

"Not too bad?" he questioned, looking slightly offended until he saw the smirk on her face.

"I kind of liked it really." She said, "Much better than previous flights I've been on." She yawned.

Joey pushed up the arm between them and then pulled her against his chest, his hand brushing through her hair, lulling her to sleep. He watched her as she slept, which sounded creepy even in his head but he couldn't help it. He was so totally in love with this girl. She continually surprised him. This weekend was a typical example of that. He knew their relationship would never get boring and for that he was glad. He liked how Lauren challenged him at every opportunity. She was so much more than any other girl he'd dated and he was going to make sure she always knew that.

The plane touched down on time and Joey gently shook her awake. "We're here, baby." He whispered to her, feeling her stir on his chest.

"I missed the landing as well?" she murmured as she saw the other passengers standing in the aisle.

"Sure did... slept right through. Come on, we need to leave so we can get to our hotel and you can go back to sleep." He told her gently.

*JL*JL*

They were soon walking off the plane and then collected their cases and left the airport. They got a water taxi from the airport and Lauren managed to surprise Joey again by talking in Italian to the taxi driver with ease. She smiled at Joey brightly as they sat in the boat and it sped away towards the hotel.

By the time Joey and Lauren were shown to their room, Joey was stunned by his girlfriend and the room was the icing on the cake. It was more than he'd been expecting and he knew he had his mum to thank as well but it was mainly down to Lauren. They were finally alone and he swept her into his arms and kissed her passionately. "You do know you're pretty amazing, baby girl." He told her, staring into her eyes.

"I try..." she said with a slight smile as she shrugged. "Do you want to look around the room?" she asked him softly.

"There's only one part of the room I want to look at..." he whispered, lifting her off her feet and carrying her over to the huge bed.

"You'd better text your mum..." Lauren reminded him. He pulled away from her slightly and she laughed as she saw the look on his face.

"Well, that was a passion killer..." he said, sitting up and pulling his mobile from his jacket. He sent off the text and then flopped down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Lauren snuggled against his body. "Is there any way I could get you back in the mood?" she whispered.

"Possibly... as long as you promise not to mention my mum again..." he said and she giggled.

"Sorry..." She kissed his cheek and sat up. "I'm just going to go and freshen up in the bathroom," she told him softly. "I'll be back in a moment." She pulled her case with her into the bathroom and shut the door.

Joey heard it lock which surprised him. He'd been intending to follow her in but knew that was now impossible. While she was gone he took off his coat and shoes and removed some of the clothing he was wearing. He moved to the windows and shut the curtains after looking at the view. It was breathtaking and he was looking forward to the next few days, wandering the sights with the girl he loved. He moved back to the bed and lay down, closing his eyes as the day began to catch up with him. The door to the bathroom opened and he turned his head to look at her, his eyebrows rising as he saw what she was wearing... or maybe what she wasn't wearing would be more appropriate. "Wow..." he breathed, his voice barely audible as he stared at her.

She walked over to the bed, her hips swaying as she moved. She climbed on the bed, moving up so she straddled him. "I take it you like...?" she asked softly. He could only nod in response. "You should see what I've got for tomorrow..." She said, smiling as his eyes drifted down her body. "And the day after... and the day after that too." She whispered.

"Happy birthday to me..." he murmured, his hand lifting off the bed to brush beneath the baby doll she was wearing and caress her skin.

"Glad you like it, Joe." She said. "Do you want to unwrap your first present?" she added. Again he could only nod, his hands moved to where the front was fastened and carefully undid it. Then he cupped her breasts and inhaled sharply as she pressed her body into his hands. They were so perfect and filled his hands completely. He could see the necklace and charms he'd brought her for her birthday hanging round her neck, resting just above her chest and he thought she looked stunning.

"White suits you, babe." She looked away from him as he spoke, her cheeks flushing, "Red too... come to mention it." He whispered, his hand raising and stroking the side of her face. It wasn't the first time he'd said that to her.

"Joe..." she moaned.

His hand pushed her hair behind her ear and her eyes flickered to his. He sat up, his thumb stroking the curve of her jaw and his mouth met hers in a deep kiss. "I love you, Lauren Branning."

"I love you too, babe." She breathed against his lips. "Undress me." She whispered, her eyes meeting his, an intensity within them he'd never seen before. "And then make love to me, Joe."

And he proceeded to do just as she'd asked.

TBC

A/N: I think it's safe to say Joey is going to enjoy his birthday... So was the destination a surprise? Any ideas what Lauren has planned? Back later with day two of their holiday...