Hope watched as her parents came back from the hospital, she could already tell that Lauren was upset. Joey reached for hand but she shrugged him off and went up the stairs
'What happened?' Hope asked her father
'Not now Hope' he frowned and he put the car keys down and he looked towards the door that Lauren had fled through. 'Max and Tanya will be here in a few minutes, can you get everyone to pack a bag for a few days, you're all going to stay with Tanya for a few days. Your mother and I need to talk' he told her
'Okay' she nodded her head 'I'll tell everyone'
'Thanks' Joey said and he came up the stairs.
He found Lauren sitting on the bed and she looked up when he came in.
'Do you want to yell at me?' he asked her as he sat beside her 'Babe I wasn't saying that I didn't want to have another baby with you, that I don't want this baby' he told her softly 'you know that I do' he said 'but you also know if I have to choose between losing you and keeping the baby that I am going to choose you' he said 'I made that decision nearly eighteen years ago Lauren do you really think that I would change my mind now after 16 years of marriage?'
'No but'
'But what?' he asked her
'This could be my last chance to have another baby Joey' she told him
'That's rubbish and you know it' he frowned at her 'I told you that we can adopt'
'We don't need to adopt I'm pregnant now' she snapped at him 'In four months time….'
'In four months time you could be dead Lauren and then I won't have you or the baby' he snarled angrily at her
'That was the worst case scenario Joey' Lauren replied quietly 'It's all "if's and but's" you heard what the doctors said…'
'Yes I heard what the doctors said but did you? Were you actually listening because it doesn't sound to me as though you were' he frowned at her as he started to pace the floor
'Of course I was listening' she glared at him 'This is happening to me not you!'
Joey spun round to stare at her in disbelief 'This is happening to me?' he repeated 'Seriously?' he asked her 'You think that this isn't happening to me? I've just sat in a room in the hospital listening to some doctors tell me again that the woman I love may die and you have the audacity to tell me that this isn't happening to me?' Joey shook his head 'You're unbelievable Lauren' he said to her. He frowned and he walked towards the door.
'That's it Joey walk away' Lauren snapped at him angrily 'Are you going to run back to Hannah?'
Joey turned to look at her 'Are you going to throw that back in my face every time we argue?'
They heard a tentative tap on the door and Joey opened it and he saw Hope standing there
'What is it?' he asked her
'We're ready to go' Hope said 'Nana and gramps are here'
'All right we'll be down in a minute' Joey told her
'Is everything okay?' she asked looking at her mother. Lauren got up and she walked to the door
'We'll come down now' she told her
She heard Joey sigh angrily behind her and he followed them down the stairs.
They said goodbye to the kids, each of them giving their mother long hugs, as though they were never going to see her again.
'Hey come on buddy' she said to James 'Dad just need to talk and yell and stuff, we don't want you guys to hear that's all' she told him
'Are you and dad going to break up?' he asked her
'No of course we're not' Joey said quickly 'we have a lot to work out and we can't do it if we need to worry about you guys too' he told his son 'Mum and I are going to be fine'
The kids left and Joey shut the front door he sighed and he turned to lean up against it. He looked at Lauren and she licked her lips and she walked into the lounge to stand in front of the fire that was burning in the hearth. Joey sighed and he pushed away from the door and he walked through to stand in front of her.
'Joey I want this baby, please don't make me get rid of it' she told him
'I want the baby Lauren, I don't want to get to rid of it either, but we need to weigh up all the options and then make an informed decision' he told her
'In four months time I'll have had the baby and then I'll have the surgery' she told him 'Please Joey, it's just four months'
'It's not just four months Lauren' Joey growled in frustration 'It's four more months that you go without any treatment that the tumour grows bigger, you could go blind if it presses on your optic nerve, it could press on your arteries and cause you to have a stroke or a heart attack. Any of these could happen at any time in the next four months, I could lose you and the baby' he told her with a frown 'and the doctors don't even know if it's cancerous. They are just assuming that it isn't'
'Most cases it isn't' she tried to reason with him
'And what if you are not most cases Lauren hey? Have you thought about that? Have you actually thought about that?' he snapped at her 'Have you thought about what that would do to your parents. Too Abi and Oscar, to the kids, to me? Have you actually thought about that or are you too wrapped up in the idea of having another baby?' he asked her 'A baby that you might not actually get to see? That you might never see grow up, that you'll never take to school on her first day? That you might never see her get married have children of her own?'
'Don't' Lauren shook her head as tears stung the back of her eyes
'And what about the kids that you have now?' he asked her 'Hope's 18th birthday is 6 weeks away'
'I know when her birthday is' she snapped at him 'you are just seeing the worst possibilities here and that's not fair' she shook her head 'It's my body and you can't make me do anything that I don't want to do. I am keeping this baby Joey and there's nothing that you or anyone else can say to me that is going to make me change your mind' she snapped at him as hot angry tears rolled down her cheeks.
'So that's it? You are not even going to talk about it?' he shouted at her 'I always knew that you were selfish Lauren but never this selfish' he frowned and he grabbed his car keys and he opened the front door
'Where are you going?' Lauren asked him
'Out!' he snapped 'There's nothing to talk about here' he slammed the door behind him
'Joey!' Lauren yelled after him 'Joey!' she broke down in tears and sank down to the floor in front of the fire.
AN: So Joey and Lauren have got full facts at the hospital and Joey's reaction is of the worst case scenario because he almost lost Lauren in the past.
Lauren's is that she's going to be okay.
So what happens now?
They've had a row and Joey had walked out leaving a distraught Lauren in tears.
Is he going to Hannah?
Will this be the end of Joey and Lauren if he does?
Read on to find out
Thanks for all your reviews I enjoy reading them
R&R as always