Chapter 5 - Need you now

Laurens POV

I suddenly woke to the twins kicking away in my stomach "Morning babies" I giggled as they kicked about; I let my hands soothe their visible movements beneath my skin. I could make out a foot every now and then when one of them kicked really hard. Today it seemed like out little girl was the mischievous one as the bigger kicks were coming from the right hand side more, she was usually quiet, I guess they were taking it in turns. Rolling over I came face to face with my other little girl. She's been staying in mine and Joe's bed whilst he was away, half for her comfort, but I think more for mine. I hated sleeping in an empty bed. As much as Joey would tell you I got too frustrated with him in the bed, I hated being in this huge bed alone, it felt so empty and lonely. I looked at the clock on the wall opposite, it was only half 5- the twins really wanted an early start.

I closed my eyes trying to fall asleep for a little longer, but I couldn't, instead I found myself watching the minuets tick by, counting down one less until Joey was back. By half 7 the sun was starting to pour through the window and Zoe was stirring. I smiled watching her wake, she slept like me but woke in the exact same way Joey did. Her small hands wiped at her eyes, her face scrunching at the contact. She cracked her eyes open and swatted her hair from her eyes.

"Morning beautiful" smiled facing her. We both slept on our side and we'd wake the same way. Zoe moaned slightly opening and closing her eyes a few times adjusting to the light.

"I got to get up Mummy?" she questioned frowning beginning to snuggle deeper into the duvet with Fuzz. I shook my head; I didn't want to get up either.

"I think we can have a duvet day what do you say?" she nodded and shuffled closer "Ok we'll I'll go and feed Bella and get us some breakfast…are we staying In Mummy and Daddy's room or going down stairs?"

She didn't reply, just pulled the duvet up so only her head could be seen and smiled cheekily. She was so cute- too cute sometimes. I rolled my eyes "Ok we'll stay in here then, go to the toilet first and get your DVD"

As promised me and Zo spent nearly the whole day in bed, we'd ordered takeaway pizza and I have to say it must have been exactly what the twins wanted, as soon as I'd eaten it they settled down and I felt extremely satisfied, well as satisfied as I could get without Joe being here. Thing about these darn hormones was, not only did they change my mood like it was operated by a flick switch, but I was wanting sex pretty much all the time, it was a very, very annoying itch that only a certain part of Joey would be able to scratch.

The night drew in and I'd bathed Zoe and she was back in her own bed tonight. I showered and changed and went downstairs, waiting for joey to come home, I was counting down the seconds, I was that desperate for him to be back. I found myself clock watching again, the strange thing was though, Joey still wasn't home, probably stuck in traffic. I checked my phone no texts, no calls- that was odd.

7pm No Joey

8pm No Joey- Mobile phone switched off

9pm still No Joey. I'd left several messages and not one was answered. I was freaking out. He was meant to be home 3 hours ago. I'd checked the traffic and his route was clear, I called Sharon to see if she'd heard anything from him and I received the disappointing answer that she hadn't. Something didn't feel right. My stomach was churning and I felt sick, but a horrible worried sickness that was telling me something wasn't right. At first I thought I was just being paranoid but as I watched the hours- yes hours tick by I knew this wasn't just paranoia, this was pure fear.

I was now in full panic mode and had no idea what to do. I couldn't call the police, he hadn't been missing 24 hours and technically, technically he wasn't even missing. They'd probably say he'd done a runner, I've seen it done. But this wasn't like Joe at all. I could feel the tears burning in my eyes as I fiddled with my phone. I paced the living room looking through the window every so often. My body froze and there was a slight glimmer of hope every time a car drove by only to be left bitterly disappointed when it drove past. "Oh come on Joe I need you now…I need you home"

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest I needed to calm down, I took a couple of deep breathes before calling the one person I knew would help. "Uncle Jack I need you to help me…"

I literally burst into tears as the words left my mouth "shhh, calm down Lauren…what's happened" I could hear him shouting something to Sharon in the back ground about him coming over. "Lauren...Lauren listen to me, calm down and tell me what's going on"

"Jo…Joey's missing, something's happened Uncle Jack, I know it has" I sobbed hearing his engine start up.

"Hey…Hey calm down alright, just breathe I'll be with you in a few minutes"

As promised Uncle Jack was with me in a snap he was at my door in precisely 4minuets and 36 seconds. My feet gave way under me as he stepped in. I clung to him so tightly but no matter how hard I tried to imagine it he couldn't represent the comfort and safety I got from Joey. "Come on sweetheart …come on" I was still clinging to him and could feel him guide me to the living room. "I'm going to make you a drink and you can tell me everything alright?"

I nodded and my phone buzzed. Joey. I closed my eyes sighing a small amount of relief washed through me "Uncle Jack…he's text" He came back through and handed me a glass of water. The glass slid from my grip and dropped to the floor with an ear breaking crack, shattering into a thousand pieces across the wooden floor.

"Lauren?" I couldn't move I was completely frozen. My heart felt like it wasn't beating, I was completely numb. I wanted to feel something -anything. it's better to feel pain than the nothingness I was feeling right now. Uncle Jack slid the phone from my hand and read the message that had sent me into this painful, spiralling reality.

Message from Joey: Not nice having someone you love stolen from you is it? Looks like it's a game of hide and seek… times ticking Lauren.

Don't hate me please ... I'm back tomorrow if I still have any readers left xxx