18th May 2013. So Lauren and Joey have non-pregnancy issues to deal with... those being of her insecurities and lack of trust... so the next few chapters will be dealing with these. Of course they have been exacerbated by the hormonal changes hurtling through Lauren's body. I wonder what will happen...

Chapter 53.

Joey was sitting at the club forty minutes later. There was a glass of whisky in front of him and he was staring at it. He was very tempted to down it. Alcohol was something he'd avoided since his stroke but today it was tempting to take one sip. Except he knew it wouldn't be just one sip. Not today. His heart was broken at what had happened today. Never had he thought Lauren would accuse him of cheating on her. It was just about the last thing he would do to them both, just too painful to consider but getting his wife to accept that was apparently beyond him. So currently he had a Lauren-shaped hole in his heart that he hadn't yet worked out how to fill. And it hurt... more than anything they'd previously gone through.

The phone on his desk rang and he answered it, "Joey Branning..."

"Your mum asked me to call you."

"Uncle Max." He said softly. He shoved the glass away from him with a sigh. He wasn't going to make that mistake again.

"She said Lauren was upset when you left the house."

"She wasn't the only one." He replied.

"So I gathered. You want to talk about it?"

"Not really." He admitted.

He heard his uncle sigh. "Joey, you need to talk to someone about this. You don't want to lose Lauren, right?"

His uncle wanted him to talk but Joey wasn't so sure Max would like the conversation Joey needed to have. He took a deep breath and then prepared himself. "It's your fault..." he whispered, having had the realisation in the last hour.

"Pardon me?"

"She thinks I'm going to be just like you. That I'm going to cheat on her like you cheated on her mum. She doesn't trust me."

"I'll be there in about twenty minutes, Joey." Max said softly.

*JL*JL*

Max climbed out of his car and walked into the back entrance of the club. He walked into Joey's office and found him sitting at his desk, looking out of the window. He could see how miserable he was from the way he was sitting, without him having to say a word. And Max felt guilty. Joey had been right, this was his fault. Max had managed to screw up many times throughout Lauren's childhood and it seemed it was now coming back to bite him on the ass. "Joey?" Joey turned his head and looked at his uncle. "I spoke to your mum again. She's managed to convince Lauren to get some rest."

"Good..." he whispered.

"Tell me what you meant earlier..."

"I thought I made it pretty clear."

"Why doesn't she trust you?"

"I've no idea. I've never done anything to make her doubt me."

"So what's going on...?"

"I guess it's been building for a while. Ever since bump began to show she's had this complex that I'm going to fall out of love with her and leave her for someone else when she gets bigger. Then today we had our appointments and it got worse."

"Why?"

"Her heart function has decreased."

Max paused. He hadn't been expecting that. "How bad?" he asked softly.

"Not that much but it's a decrease."

Max could tell his son was upset about this as well as the row he'd had with his wife. "Son, what made it worse?"

"The consultant told us we couldn't have sex... Lauren didn't take it well. She thinks I'm going to turn elsewhere because I can't get it at home. I've never done anything to make her think I'd do that. I love her too much to think of doing that but I can't get her to understand how every time I see her, I love her more than I did the time before. She's my everything, Uncle Max. Without her in my life, my life isn't worth living."

"So what happens now?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure how I fix this. How do I make her trust me?"

"I'm not sure, Joe."

"I've tried to show her. I'd spend all my time with her if I could. I love her so much. I would never cheat on her. It's not the person I am."

"You're a better man than I am, son." And never had a truer word been spoken.

"How did you convince Auntie Tanya that she could trust you?"

"I'm not sure I have..." he admitted. Joey stared at him and his heart fell. There really was no hope.

*JL*JL*

The four Branning's drove to Walford in silence. There was a tense atmosphere in the car that only built higher as they got closer to their destination.

Joey pulled the car up outside his in-laws house. Lesley and Alice got out of the back of the car, leaving just Joey and Lauren in the front. They both stayed silent, seeing the others walk into the house. Max paused slightly as he saw them sitting in the car.

"I'm sorry, Joe." Lauren whispered. "I should've trusted you."

"Why didn't you?"

"I find it difficult to trust people... especially men."

"I'm your husband, Lauren. I've never done anything to make you think I would cheat, have I?" She shook her head. "You and bump are the only things I want in my life. I don't need anyone else and more importantly, I don't want anyone else."

"I don't understand..." she whispered.

"What?"

"I don't understand why you would want me? I'm nothing special... I'm Lauren Branning, former wildchild with alcoholic tendencies... Who would want something like that?"

"Shouldn't you have asked all these questions a long time ago? Like... I don't know... before we got married... or maybe before you asked me to marry you... or maybe before I fell in love with you. You're my oxygen, baby girl. You think you're nothing special but you're so wrong. You are special. Together we're special... and the three of us will be even stronger."

She looked at his face and could see the truth of his words in his eyes. "I'm sorry..." she murmured, leaning forward and kissing his lips.

He leant his forehead against hers, "I need you to tell me you trust me. I need to know this isn't going to come back in a few weeks time... and ruin us again. I want my wife to believe me. I don't want her to doubt me. I need her to know I would never do anything to hurt her the way her father has hurt her mum over the years."

"I do trust you, Joey." She told him. "I'm sorry I doubted you. I don't even know why I did. I love you and I know you love me. You prove it over and over again. I know I want you so badly at the moment. I think my hormones are all whacky again because I'm getting emotional about everything at the drop of a hat. As soon as you left today, I knew I'd made a mistake and I thought I'd ruined everything. I don't think you'll ever know how sorry I am. Can you forgive me?" Her last sentence was whispered and as he looked at her he could see the tears in her eyes.

"I already have..." he said softly, his hand lifting and caressing her cheek.

*JL*JL*

Joey and Lauren walked up the stairs to the house, hand in hand. Just before they walked into the house he pulled her closer and placed his lips on hers. He deepened the kiss the instant their mouths met. His hand that wasn't holding hers swept down her back and pulled her up against his body. She moaned into his mouth and he smiled. "We should go inside..." he whispered against her mouth.

"I told you we shouldn't start something we can't finish." She moaned.

"We'll finish later, baby girl. I promise." He said softly, kissing her forehead. "Now let's go and see your family."

"Your family too, baby," She said with a smile but nodded and they walked into the house. Finally united together after several hours of being in limbo.

*JL*JL*

Lauren was sitting in the Vic with her friends. Joey was at the bar getting another round of drinks for them all. She looked at him and saw him chatting to Uncle Jack, laughing at something he'd said.

"You've got it so bad, baby girl." Fats teased her.

"Fats, you can't call me that now..." she said softly.

"Why not? I've always called you that."

"Here you go, baby girl." Joey said as he put a drink in front of her. He gave everyone else their drinks and sat next to his wife.

"That's why." Lauren said with a smile, leaning against Joey.

"You two are so cute together," Lucy said, smiling at them both.

"We try..." Joey said, putting his arm around his wife as he drank his pint. It was the first beer he'd had in several months but tonight was a night for celebration. He'd won his wife back and later on, he was going to show her how grateful he was. Their friends chatted around them about the happenings in the square. Joey focused on Lauren, only partially listening to what they were saying. He felt her tense slightly in his arms. "Baby girl?" he asked her tentatively. She turned her face towards him and he was scared by what he saw. Her eyes were wide and filled with tears. "Talk to me, baby. What's wrong?" The table had fallen silent when they heard the urgency in his voice. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly, her mouth opening and shutting as she struggled to find whatever words she wanted to say. "Is there something wrong?" he asked her. He was staring at her face and then he felt it. She'd moved his hand to rest on bump and he felt the slight shift beneath where his hand lay. "Is that...?" She nodded, tears falling down her face. He leant forward and kissed her passionately. His hand stroked bump gently and he felt a shift beneath again. He dragged his mouth away from hers, "That is amazing... intense but amazing."

"You should feel it from my side..." she chuckled.

"What's going on you two?" Poppy asked.

"Joe just got to feel bump move for the first time..." Lauren whispered, staring at her husband.

"Really?" Whitney asked excitedly.

Lauren nodded, wiping the tears from her face as she glanced at her friends. "I've felt flutters for a couple of weeks but this was most definitely a firm kick... or two." She shifted in her seat, "Right on my bladder as it happens... so if you'll excuse me." Joey got up from his seat and helped her slowly to her feet. She squeezed his hand and stood on her tiptoes so she could kiss his again. "Back in a minute." She told him.

*JL*JL*

Tanya saw her daughter walking towards the toilets and after a few seconds she followed her. Lauren was just coming out of the cubicle as she walked in. "This is going to get old pretty quickly, mum." She said. "It's like every thirty minutes before I have to make a dash to the ladies... or as much of a dash as I can make in my current condition. I think by the end of this I might as well just camp out at the toilet because by the time I get back to my seat I'd just need to leave to go back for the next trip."

Tanya smiled. "Everything okay?" she asked. "You and Joey seemed to be having a bit of a moment a few minutes ago..."

"Bump moved and Joey felt it. It was the first time."

"I remember the first time you moved and your dad felt it. I think it was the first time I saw him cry." She said with a smile.

"The look on Joey's face... oh god, mum. I love him so much and I nearly ruined it today." Her previously happy face turned to one of sorrow and Tanya stepped closer.

"Sweetheart?"

"How do you trust him?"

"What?"

"How do you trust dad?"

"Has Joey cheated on you?"

"No... but I accused him of it." Lauren looked down at the floor. "Can we talk, mum? I mean really talk?"

"Of course we can, darling." She wiped away her daughter's tears. "Would you like to go back to the house?"

"Please..."

"You go and tell Joey and I'll tell your dad, okay?" Lauren nodded and the pair walked back into the pub.

Lauren walked over to the table and sat next to Joey. "Baby, I'm going to head back to the house. Mum and I are going to have a talk. I need to speak to her about stuff."

"Are you okay?" he asked her in concern.

"I'm fine, baby. I just need to ask her about some things." She leant forward and kissed him, "Everything is good, baby, honestly. It's about what happened earlier." He tensed slightly. "I think I need to ask her about the things with her and dad." She leant against him, lowering her voice. "I need to understand how she could forgive him for what he did."

"You believe me though, right?" he asked warily.

"I do. I know that isn't you... it's just I don't think I'll ever get my head around it and be able to trust you... sorry that's not what I mean. I do trust you. I mean, my natural instinct will always be like it was today until I can understand it all. Does that make sense?"

"I think so. Shall I see you back at the house later... or will you come back here?"

"I'll see you at the house, I think. I'm pretty tired anyway. I might just get some rest once I'm finished talking to mum."

"Take care, baby girl." He whispered. She got to her feet and began to move away but his hand pulled her back. He leant forward again and kissed bump gently. "Look after mummy, bump." He glanced up at his wife, "Call me if you need me, baby."

"I will." She said, smiling at him. She walked over to where her mum stood and they walked out of the pub together.

TBC

A/N: It's time for Lauren to deal with some of the issues from her childhood. And to do that she needs her mum. I will post the next chapter later this evening...