They both heard the cars arrive at the front of the house and they exchanged glances.

'I guess this is it hey?' Joey asked her, she nodded and she looked around the room, she hadn't made the bed this morning. She rushed over and pulled the duvet straight and then the pillows. 'Relax' he told her softly 'I am sure no one is going to be concerned about the state of out bedroom'

'I don't want anyone to think that I'm a slob' she told him

'As if anyone is going to think that' he rolled his eyes

They heard the sound of people coming up the stairs and Joey opened the bedroom door, one by one their parents appeared in the doorway.

'How are the kids?' Lauren asked them

'Worried' Tanya said 'Surprised to see me and Max waiting for them' she told them 'We tried to keep things light but I think they know that something is going on' she said

Lauren nodded 'We don't know what to tell them. I couldn't remember what the options were' she looked at her mother

Sarah frowned 'I need a little back story here' she said and she looked at Lauren 'Has this got something to do with you not being well?'

'Yeah it is' Lauren nodded 'Lucy made me go to the doctors and they sent me to the hospital and it turns out that it wasn't the menopause like I thought it was'

'I told Joey you were too young' Sarah said and she looked at Joey and saw his red rimmed eyes 'So is it bad news? Should I be sitting?' she looked at Tanya and Max. Joey linked his fingers through Lauren's.

'It's not entirely bad news' Joey said and he looked at Lauren 'Right?'

'No' she shook her head glancing up at him and she swallowed. 'The doctors ran some tests and they told me that I 'm pregnant' she told them, she saw Sarah and Max's gaze drop to her stomach 'Five months apparently and I didn't have a clue' she told them and she licked her lips 'It's a girl' She saw Max's eyes light up at the prospect of another grand-daughter, much like Joey's had. 'The rest of it I didn't really hear, so mum?' she looked at her mother, Lauren and Joey sat down on the bed and she looked down at Joey's hand on her lap.

'Lauren hasn't been feeling well for a while, she thought she was going through the menopause, she had a lot of the symptoms, but the doctors took blood and urine samples and discovered that she had a higher than normal hormone level' Tanya said 'Higher than normal during pregnancy' she licked her lips and she paused 'The doctors suspect that Lauren has a tumour on her pituitary gland, they also suspect that it's benign'

'A brain tumour?' Sarah said 'Oh my god Lauren honey' she said clasping her hand over her mouth her eyes filled with tears as did Max's. He moved to sit beside Lauren and he put his arm around her and he kissed her head, she leant against his shoulder as her own eyes filled with tears again.

'They would usual run a CT scan and a MRI to see how big the tumour is, but with Lauren being pregnant they can't risk the baby. The next step would be surgery to remove the tumour and maybe part of the pituitary gland, but again, they can't do the surgery because of the risk to the baby, and after surgery Lauren would then have to go through 5 radiotherapy sessions a week for 6 weeks, which again they can't do because she is pregnant. There are other drugs that they can give Lauren to hopefully try to shrink the tumour but they don't come without risks to the baby'

'What are the risks?' Max asked her

'There's a risk of the baby being still born, miscarriage and birth defects' Tanya said, Joey closed his eyes as he heard and he squeezed Lauren's hand tightly 'so the doctors think that the best option is to monitor Lauren's hormone levels, and treat the imbalances with other medications until the baby is born and then Lauren can have the CT and MRI to see how big the tumour is and what their next steps will be'

'So the tumour will keep growing?' Max asked her

'Yes' Tanya said 'the doctors don't know how fast or slow it's growing or how big or small that it is' Tanya said. 'Lauren also has the risk that she won't be able to carry this baby to term, that her hormones will make her body believe that it's time to go into labour, she could go into labour tomorrow or in a month, two months, or she could carry to term, or her body won't bring on labour, in which case Lauren will have to be induced or have an emergency c-section' she said 'And she could end up having a c-section as early as 7 months' Tanya said and she took a breath 'There are also a few other things that may happen, depending on the growth rate of the tumour, Lauren could develop more symptoms, she could have trouble with her vision if the tumour presses on her optic nerve, it could also press against the carotid arteries which means that Lauren could have a stroke, or it could press on other parts of her brain which could affect other functions, these are obviously worse case scenarios' Tanya said to them all. She looked at Joey and saw that he had paled considerably. 'Lauren has another hospital appointment in two days and then she will need to have weekly doctor's appointments to check her hormone levels.'

'So we do nothing?' Max asked her 'We just wait and hope for the best?' he frowned

'Lauren could have a termination, which is possible at 20 weeks, it's the latest that you can have a termination, it's what the doctors want to talk about at the hospital, then Lauren could have surgery'

'Ultimately it's Lauren and Joey's decision to make' Tanya said 'All we can do is offer advice and support'

'Of course' Sarah said looking at Joey and Lauren who were both openly crying again.

'And we need to know what we are going to tell those children down stairs' Max said 'Lauren what do you want to tell them?' Max asked her

'We don't want to scare them' Joey said 'They don't need to know half the stuff that we just heard' he said 'We tell them that Lauren's pregnant, that she's a high risk pregnancy and therefore needs to have weekly visits to the doctor' he looked at Lauren and she raised her eyes to his and nodded.

'What about the tumour?' Sarah asked

'We play it down' Lauren told them 'Don't tell them how serious it is'

'I agree' Joey said 'I'm going to hand over the running of the clubs to Jamie and be at home with Lauren, I've spoken to Lucy about overseeing the gallery and the graphic design, all we need is Lauren's agreement' he glanced at her briefly 'I'll be here 24/7.

'We can help out too' Max said 'How about we take the kids at weekends?' he looked at Sarah and Tanya

'Yes we can do that' Sarah nodded, Tanya nodded too in agreement.

'So it's agreed then?' Max asked 'Are you up to telling the kids Joey?'

'Yes' Joey nodded although he was already dreading it.

'Okay well, we will give you two a couple of minutes' Tanya told them both

Lauren stood up 'Thanks mum' she said and she hugged her tightly.

'You're welcome she whispered softly. Sarah hugged Lauren next and then Max, Joey didn't miss out of the hugs either. Max held onto him a little bit longer, whispering in his ear.

'You need me call okay son?' he asked him

Joey nodded 'Thanks dad' he replied.

Their parents went downstairs and Lauren and Joey looked at each other.

'Are you sure that you are okay with telling the kids?' she asked him

'Of course' he nodded 'I can do it' he told her and he cupped her face in his hands 'Are you ready baby?' she took a deep breath, closing her eyes and then she let it out slowly and took a deep breath

'Yes' she said 'Are you?'

'Yes' he lied.

AN: So Joey is going to tell the kids, and play things down. How will they react?

Read on to find out

Thanks for all your reviews R&R as always.