Chapter 46
Early the next Morning Joey and Lauren were packing their things up, well I say Joey and Lauren, it was nearly all Joey. Lauren sat down most of the time holding Amber in her arms, and giving her instructions. Joey didn't mind in the slightest though, the thought of Lauren doing even the slightest thing scared him a little.
They'd had a relatively calm first night home, Amber not testing them too much in the night. Lauren and Joey had taken it in turns to feed and change her when she needed, but their plan failed from the off, when one of them woke the other did too and that was how it continued throughout the night.
As he had promised, Uncle Jack had turned up to help, which was much appreciated, they had more things between them than they first thought, so the help was much appreciated. Joey carried the last box of Laurens to the car, shutting the boot behind him. "Do you know if my Dad's in Uncle Jack ? I need a few things from the house"
"Didn't your Mum tell you? He didn't go home last night and he's still not back"
"oh right well, will you tell Lauren I'll be about ten minutes ? she's upstairs, then we're all ready to go" Joey asked looking over to his house.
"of course"
*JL*JL*JL*
Using his key, Joey let himself into the house, already noticing his Dad's car wasn't there "Anyone home?"
Waiting a few seconds, there was no reply. Frowning in confusion, he made his way into the kitchen and found a letter and gift bag addressed to him on the table. Picking up the letter, he recognised the writing to be his Mum's. He opened it eagerly reading over the words?
"Joey, Alice and I have gone to your Grandma Ivy's. Stay safe and look after Lauren and Amber. I'll be in touch. Love, Mum"
He quickly folded the letter into the envelope and shoved it into his pocket. He took a glance into the gift bag and saw some hand knitted baby clothes and another envelope with the words "Baby fund" written on it. He smiled, cursing his Mum for giving him money when she knew he didn't needed it. He made his way out of the room and up the stairs, quickly packing everything he could into a bag. Glancing around the room one last time, he made his way downstairs and out of the house, not once looking back.
"You ready?" Joey questioned as he walked back across the Square to Lauren who was stood waiting for him by his car. He didn't miss the way she was holding their daughter…Lauren was very protective and he didn't blame her. He smiled down at Amber snuggled into her arms, hidden from prying eyes.
"We're ready" she informed him "everything okay at your Mum's?"
"All's fine" he replied but it wasn't enough to convince Lauren.
"What's wrong, Joey?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him
"Nothing, babe, I promise you" he assured her "Mum and Alice have gone away for a bit, that's all"
"Oh…" she replied watching as Joey opened the car door for her to put Amber in the car seat and then got into the driver's seat.
*JL*JL*JL*
There was an awkward silence as Joey and Lauren began their drive down to Brighton. Jack had set off a little before them, closely followed by Max, Tanya and Abi. Lauren wasn't entirely sure why her parents had felt the need to travel down with them. A quick doorstep goodbye would've sufficed for her, but obviously they had different ideas. Despite her best efforts in the last couple of days, Tanya wasn't forgiven. If it wasn't for the fact she was so scared she would have removed Tanya from her life altogether. Both remained in silence for the first hour of their journey, the only sound to be heard was Amber's soft breathing.
"I'm sorry" Lauren whispered, eventually breaking the silence, her eyes welling with tears.
"What for, babe?" Joey asked, glancing at her, seeing her fiddling with the hem of her top
"For dragging you away from your family, from your Mum and Alice" she replied a little absently
"Is this why you've been so quiet?" he questioned "you think I blame you?"
"I guess. I was the one who got pregnant. I should take the blame for my mistake" she admitted
"That sounds like your Dad talking" he informed her "you do believe me, don't you? I don't blame you for a thing. Lauren, tell me you believe me when I say that you and Amber, you're everything I want and more. I love you both more than anything"
Joey's words went ignored, Lauren choosing to watch as the cars as they flew by instead. She wanted to believe him, but so many times in the past she'd believed people and she'd been let down time after time after time. She couldn't let that happen again. She glanced into the back of the car, her mind changing instantly about believing Joey as soon as she set eyes on her Amber. Amber wouldn't be here if Lauren hadn't of believed him.
"I believe you" she informed him "and I love you too"
"Good. I was beginning to think I'd have to drive all the way back to Walford" he admitted, Lauren chuckling in response "That's better. I've missed that smile"
*JL*JL*JL*
"How long left?" she questioned
"About half-an-hour" he informed her "you ok? Do we need to stop?" his voice a little concerned
"I'm fine, we don't need to stop, I just want to get there now" she admitted
"Not long now, babe, I promise" he assured her, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand as he lifted it from where it had been resting in between his on the gear-stick.
*JL*JL*JL
Due to good traffic, they'd got to Joey's flat a little quicker than the estimated half-an-hour. Joey pulled into the drive, glancing at Lauren who was fast asleep in the passenger seat. Smiling, he climbed out of the car and shut the door behind him, going round to Amber.
He lifted the car seat out of it's fixtures as Amber started to wriggle and wake up "Hi baby girl" he smiled as she blinked several times and found Joey. "Hi sleepy… Let's go see your new home"
Walking inside he was greeted by the rest of the Brannings, Abi immediately taking on her Auntie role as the others began to unload the cars. His flat was on the ground floor ;which they were extremely grateful for, and it was already furnished. All they needed to do was buy some baby things for Amber, something they intended to do that afternoon.
"Lauren, babe, we're in Brighton" Joey informed her as he woke her a little while later. She was vaguely aware of the hustle around her as she woke from her sleep. She cracked her eye open and saw Joey kneeling by the open passenger door "hey, sleeping Beauty "
"I was having a really nice sleep" she informed him, pouting
"Sorry, but your Mum and Dad are about to leave, Abi and Jack went about half hour ago. I thought you might want to say bye?" he inquired
"How long have I been asleep?" she questioned looking over at her Mum who was cooing over Amber by their car.
"3 hours" he informed her "everything's sorted. Amber's been fed and changed and everything's inside and in the right rooms. We've just gotta unpack"
She was about to reply when Tanya made her way over passing Amber to Joey… "We're going now, darling"
Lauren moved from the car surprised herself by hugging her Mum tightly. She could feel her emotions starting to get the better of her and she didn't entirely know whether it was her hormones or the fact she was genuinely upset about saying goodbye.
"I can't believe how grown up you've become in a matter of months" Tanya admitted "I'm really proud of you, darling"
"Thanks, Mum" she replied "I'm sorry for being a mess and a pain for everything I've done. At least you have Abi to work on now"
Tanya chuckled "it's me that's sorry Lauren... god baby I've been so awful to you. All you wanted to do was be with Joey and have your baby. And we stooped you didn't we ay?" she took a deep breath "Look after yourself, okay? And call me if you need anything"
Lauren watched as her Dad made his way over. She had no idea where she stood with him. He scratched the back of his head and stepped forward… "Bye, Lauren"
She winced as she heard the lack of emotion in his voice "Bye, Daddy…I love you " she whispered as he stared to walk away from her.
Max closed his eyes and moved towards her, wrapping her in his arms and pulling her into a hug "I love you too Lauren… always. We'll see you soon babe"
She smiled and nodded, Joey wrapping his arm around her waist as she took Amber from him. The three, newly-formed family watched as Lauren's parents made their way to their car, waving their goodbyes as Max started the engine and drove off…
"Come on, beautiful. Let's get inside, it's cold" Joey stated, pulling Lauren in front of him, leading her inside
*JL*JL*JL*
"It's much bigger than I thought it would be" Lauren admitted as she wandered around the flat, getting herself acquainted to her new surroundings. She wasn't expecting much from the flat but it was really impressive, it reminded her of Jack's flat only with another room.
"Do you approve then?" Joey asked, flopping down on the sofa, Lauren moving to sit next to him
"I do" she informed him "Amber does too I think. That cot's gone down a treat, she was out within seconds"
In the afternoon the three had been out to the nearest shopping centre to purchase everything they needed. Most of what they purchased was almost identical to what they'd chosen on their first baby shopping trip after Lauren had been discharged from hospital. All of that stuff though had to be cancelled when she'd decided to go ahead with the adoption.
"Are we going to need anything else for her tomorrow?" Joey asked
"Nope, we're all good" she replied "this all seems so surreal"
Joey looked down at her as she laid her head on his chest, her fingers that he so strangely loved, playing with the ties of his hoodie. He took her hand and laced it in his… "It's all real, Lauren"
so, how nice was Max in this chapter ? I think we'll see a different side to him from now on ... I could be persuaded to post again later xxx