Lauren's headache got worse as the afternoon progressed. The kids all arrived home at 5:30 and she sent James out to get a takeaway.

Hope came down a few minutes later expecting to see dinner almost ready.

'What's for dinner?' she asked her mother

'James has gone to get Chinese' she replied as she rubbed her head

'First no breakfast, then no dinner, throw in a little humiliation and that makes you a fucking shit mother with fucking shit mothering skills' she screamed at her 'When's daddy coming home?'

'Later' Lauren said quietly. Connor and Sophie looked at their mother and then at Hope.

Surprising all three of them, Lauren got up and she left the room, made her way up the stairs and she shut her bedroom door behind her.

'Good fucking riddance evil old bitch!' she heard Hope yell.

Lauren closed her eyes and pulled the duvet up over herself. She sometimes wondered what evil bad thing she had done in her life to have ended up with such a spiteful foul mouthed daughter like Hope. Of course Hope hadn't always been this way. She and Joey had gone out of their way to make sure that she didn't feel left out when the twins were born, she got extra treats and outings with just her and her mummy and daddy. Maybe that was it, maybe they had overcompensated and that was why their daughter was the way that she was. Either that or one night a long time ago she had been stolen away by evil goblins and they had left one of their own children in her place. Lauren smiled to herself, yeah that theory made a lot of sense. Her head pounded harder, she climbed out of bed took another two pills and then climbed back under the duvet.

Connor poked his head through the door 'Mum?' he asked quietly, Lauren peered out from under the duvet at him 'I was just checking to see if you were okay. We saved you some Chinese, it's in the fridge'

'Thank you but I'm jot that hungry' she told Connor

'Can I get you anything?'

'That's very sweet of you but no thank you darling. I just have a headache it'll go soon'

'Yeah it's called Hope' Connor said to her 'Sophie and James have gone they said they'll see you tomorrow night'

Lauren smiled and nodded 'You go and have fun with Ryan' she said softly 'Is Hope still here?'

'Yes she's waiting for dad to come home' he told her 'Hope you feel better soon mum' he said softly

'Thank you'

Connor closed the door and he left.

Lauren dozed, she woke up when she heard the front door close and suspected that Joey was home as she heard Hope turn on the waterworks. Half an hour later Joey came into the bedroom.

'Lauren?' he said softly. Lauren sighed and she rolled over in the bed and then sat up, she flicked on her bedside lamp. Joey sat down next to her on the bed. 'Are you okay? Hope said you had a headache?' he asked her 'that's what now three this week?' he said she he reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear. 'Maybe you should see a doctor?' he asked her as his fingers lingered on her face.

'And did Hope tell you why I have a headache?' she asked him ignoring his last question.

'She mentioned something about you horribly embarrassing her in school and grounding her for a month'

'Four'

'What?' Joey frowned

'She's grounded for four months not one'

'Four months?' Joey raised his eyebrows at her 'Wow she must have done something really bad to get the maximum sentence'

'She took my car knowing full way that I needed it today, I told her three days that she couldn't have it and she swiped them and drove it school' Lauren told him 'I had to cancel the meeting with the Dean and now I have to do that Monday as well as everything else that I needed to do. And your dry cleaning didn't get taken in today either.'

Joey sighed 'Forget about the dry cleaning, I'll take it tomorrow. They're still open Saturdays right?'

'Yes' she nodded 'They are but that's not the point Joey! I make breakfast every morning and not one of them gets up when I call them, except for Connor of course, and then they complain that everything's cold. And Hope… the way she speaks to me sometimes… I swear to god that she's not that same sweet little baby that we brought home from the hospital'

Joey sighed 'Okay, I'll talk to her' he said softly

'If by talking to her to you mean undermining my punishments and telling her to give me a day or two to calm down that I'd really rather you didn't Joey'

'I'll tell her she has no phone'

'I've already taken that away, she grounded for four months, no phone, no WIFI and no pocket money and you or I will take her to and from school every day whilst she is grounded. She's supposed to be in her room doing her homework'

'Okay' Joey nodded his head 'why don't I go downstairs and heat up that Chinese hey?' he asked her 'Bring it up here with a nice little bottle of wine and we can have a picnic right here in our room. Then we can have a nice bath together?'

Lauren nodded 'That sounds perfect…but Hope'

'Leave Hope to me' he told her softly and he pressed a kiss to her lips.

'Okay' she said with a sigh.

Joey went downstairs and Hope looked at him expectantly 'Your mother filled in the blanks for me Hope' Joey told her as he went into the kitchen and started to heat up their food. 'I agree with her punishment'

'But daddy that's not fair. It was supposed to be the day that I had the car!'

'It's your mother's car Hope not yours. And yes we both agreed that you could use it when your mother didn't need it. She needed it today and you decided to steal it and drive it to school where it was going to sit in the car park all day, don't you think that's a little bit selfish Hope?'

'I didn't steal it' Hope blinked at him

'Taking without asking after specifically being told that you couldn't use it is the definition of stealing' Joey told her 'I will take you to school on Monday and pick you up'

'That bitch has brainwashed you' Hope snapped

'I beg your pardon?' Joey stopped what he was doing and he looked at his daughter 'What did you just call your mother?'

'Well she has! She's so unfair all the time. You're never here daddy! You don't see what she's like. She's mean and spiteful and she favours the others over me'

'I'm not listening to this anymore Hope' Joey told her firmly 'Your mother told you to go to your room and do your homework, so I suggest that you do what you've been asked to'

Hope glared at him and she turned and went up the stairs. She banged on her parent's bedroom door as she walked passed it 'I hate you!' she called through at Lauren.

'Yeah well the feeling is mutual!' Lauren replied under her breath, she heard Hope's door slam again and she sighed.

Joey came back into the room twenty minutes later with their food, the smell made Lauren's mouth water. Joey toed off his shoes and he locked their bedroom door, something that learnt to do when a couple of 3 year olds and a four year old had interrupted them early one morning when Joey and Lauren were having "grown up" time as Joey explained to them, but now locking the door was a more out of habit. Lauren was certain that none of her children would just burst into their bedroom first without knocking if they knew that both Lauren and Joey were in the room. Hope had made that mistake when she had come home from school one day when she was 14, and Joey and Lauren had snuck out of work for the day for a long pleasurable afternoon in bed. The poor child had been mortified not to mention traumatised to see her father's head buried between her mother's thighs. Later she had told Lauren that she was repulsed and disgusted and that she knew exactly what it was that she had witnessed her parents doing and she thought that it was disgusting that at their age they would even consider doing something like that. Lauren smiled as she remembered.

Joey crossed the room and she slipped back the duvet cover and Joey carefully got into the bed, he held the tray in the air while Lauren repositioned the duvet.

'Hope is in her room, hopefully doing her homework and I have told her that under no uncertain terms that they punishments you have given her are fair and will stand' he said to her

'Thank you' Lauren smiled

'Look, How about I take the week off next week? Jamie is always telling me that I never let him have any responsibility so I say he gets it all' Joey said to her 'I can help out here, take some of the pressure off of you'

'Really?' Lauren asked him with a smile 'You'd do that?'

'Yep' he nodded 'I would. I am, I'll call Jamie tomorrow and tell him that he's in charge' Joey told her 'Now eat your food before it gets cold' he said, he poured her a glass of wine and handed it to her

'Mmm thank you' she smiled and she took a long drink and closed her eyes and sighed happily 'Perfect'

After they had eaten, Joey picked up the tray and he put it on his bedside table. He got up and he went into the bathroom and he started the bath running, putting in Lauren's favourite jasmine and rose bath oil. Lauren had got out of bed and she rubbed her forehead

'Do you still have a headache babe?' he asked her softly as he came back into the room

'Mmm not so bad now, I think the food and the wine and the TLC from my very handsome husband is making it better' she said as his hands moved around her waist and she ran her hands up his chest and looped her arms around his neck

Joey smiled at her 'Good and the TLC isn't over yet' he told her softly 'I am running you a nice relaxing bath as promised' he said

'That sounds great' Lauren said with a smile 'and then what will you do?' she lowered her voice to a whisper as Joey lips moved towards hers

'I'll massage your neck and shoulders' he told her and he brushed his lips lightly against hers

'Wow, that would be amazing' she replied 'You have magic hands' she smiled 'and what else?' she asked him

Joey smiled at her 'well then I thought maybe you and I would have a little naked grown up time' he raised his eyebrows at her

'The perfect end to a horrendous day' Lauren whispered as she drew Joey into a kiss, they both moaned as the kiss deepened, and then suddenly Joey was pulling away from her,

'The bath' he said in explanation. He took Lauren's hand and he led her into the bathroom. He turned off the taps and checked the temperature and smiled. Lauren stripped off her clothes while Joey admired her body. 'God you still look at sexy as you did when we were younger' he told her 'No one would know that you had five children' he held her hand as she got into the bath. He stripped off his clothes and she shifted forward so that he could get in behind her. Lauren leant back against him and he wrapped his arms around her 'Have I told you lately how much I fancy you Mrs Branning?'

'Not since this morning' she smiled as she felt his lips nuzzling her neck.

'Not since this morning? Wow I'm slipping' Joey teased her 'I fancy you like crazy' he told her 'My heart still skips a beat when I see you, you still take my breath away' he said 'And these…' his hands moved to cup her breasts 'I still can't get enough of these, they are as firm and as pert as they were when you were 20 years old' he told her and then he smiled 'Jamie had a crush on you, you know' he told her

'He does?' Lauren turned her head to look at Joey

'Okay you could try not to sound and look so excited by that little fact' Joey scolded her 'He's only 23 you'd terrify the poor boy' Joey told her and he kissed her.

'I'm not interested in trading you in for a younger model yet' Lauren teased him 'You still have a few more miles on the clock yet and I haven't seen any grey hair so…'

'So the first grey hair I get you're dumping me?' Joey asked her

'Yep' Lauren nodded

'Well then it's a good job that I keep pulling them out before you can see them then isn't it hey?' he said

'Ah! You're keeping me here under false pretences' she said accusingly

Joey chuckled softly 'I am a bad man' he said 'If you like I can set you up on a date with Jamie' he told her

'Don't you dare!' Lauren squealed and she slapped him lightly on the thigh. Joey laughed loudly

'Do that again. It kind of turned me on!' they both laughed and then Lauren kissed him, sliding her tongue between his lips.

After the bath, Joey wrapped a towel around his waist and then wrapped another towel around Lauren, he picked her up and carried her into the bedroom and he sat her down on the end of the bed and he moved behind her, he legs either side of hers, he started to massaged her neck and shoulders and she gave a low satisfied moan 'Mmm Joey that's so good' she told him

'Yeah? You're really tense babe' he told her

'More' she said when he stopped, he smiled and started to knead her tightened muscles again. She closed her eyes and let her head fall forward as Joey loosened all the little knots that he found. When he stopped again she didn't complain.

'You better not be going to sleep on me!' he warned her

'I am sleepy now' she admitted to him

'Is that so, well in that case I'd better make sure you stay awake hey?' he said and he moved off the bed and he stood in front of her and took her hands and pulled her to her feet. He undid her towel and let it drop to the floor, she smiled at him and she turned around and she crawled onto the bed, wiggling her bottom at him with a giggle before she turned over to lie on her back, Joey smiled and he followed her path and he looked down at her 'You are too sexy for your own good' he said to her softly as he bent down to kiss her.

She moaned loudly as he pushed his length inside her, Joey groaned when he was fully seated inside her 'God you are still so fucking tight Lauren!' he murmured against her neck, 'You feel so good babe' he told her and he started to kiss and suck her neck as he started to move. He kept his thrusts deliberately slow, building them both up slowly, making them both wait. He moved his head to flick his tongue over her nipple and she moaned softly.

'Joey!' she arched off the bed slightly, Joey rolled both of them and then sat up with Lauren, taking her nipple into his mouth, one hand cradled her back as she arched luxuriously against him, the other teased her breast as she lowered and raised herself onto his length slowly.

Lauren could feel her orgasm slowly building and she smiled and increased her pace a little, Joey's hands moved to her hips to slow her down, he moved forward and he kissed her, plunging his tongue into her mouth, their tongues duelled, mimicking the actions of their lower bodies, Lauren broke the kiss to breath and she tipped her head back as she felt the pleasure building. Joey looked at her, feeling himself close to coming.

'Oh…..oh…..Joey!' she exclaimed breathlessly 'Baby….Joey! Shit! Joey!' she looked at him again and kissed him, he rolled her onto her back and he shifted to look at her

'You ready for the big finish babe?' he asked grinned at her

'Always' she giggled softly and then squealed as he increased his rhythm.

Hope was passing by her parent's room on the way back from the kitchen when she heard low moans and groans coming from their room. She rolled her eyes, she was certain that no other kids at her school had parents who had sex as much as hers did. Their moans and groans got louder and Hope covered her ears and ran into her room.

'OH GOD JOEY!' she cried out loudly she rippled around him 'JOEY!'

'FUCK LAUREN!' Joey groaned as Lauren came hard around him, Joey followed.

'Okay give me twenty minutes and we can do that again' he told her breathlessly

'Twenty minutes? I remember when it used to be five' Lauren teased him, Joey went quiet and Lauren turned her head to look at him, 'Babe?'

'I'm up for the challenge if you are?' Joey said with a grin and he reached for her again.

AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Thank you for your reviews.

As always R&R