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This chapter prompted by guest- what if Kim never had an abortion after her one night stand with Joe and arrived in Hollyoaks with a child

Now because Kim actually had the baby this is set 9 months later, so Joe is currently with Mercedes

Chapter 37- after all this time:

Joe's life seemed to finally be settled. He had Mercedes and JJ, what more could a man want? Life was good for once, there wasn't any drama, no affairs and no lies; it was great. Mercedes and him were getting married and JJ was growing up to be on smart boy. Everything a man could want.

She paid the taxi driver money and then started to get out of the black cab. The driver met her at the boot and helped her with her bags and then with setting up the buggy. The then the placed the child in the buggy, making sure she was settled and then gathering her bags.

Kim was back in Hollyoaks.

She looked around as the taxi drove off, nothing had changed. The loft was still there, the hutch was still there, Simone's shop was still there and of course the emporium. She smiled as she walked in the direction of her final destination. Joe Roscoe.

"So Joe, what do you think?" Mercedes asked as she walked into the bedroom wearing her dress for her night out. "I think you look beautiful" Joe said as pulled his girlfriend in for a hug and a kiss.

"What time are you gonna get back?" Joe asked as the pair parted from t be hug. "Dunno, might be back late" Mercedes said with a smile. "Well don't get back too late, I need a cuddle buddy" Joe said causing Mercedes to throw a pillow at him.

As Kim walked, she thought about what she'd heard in the village. Someone had been gossiping very loudly, talking about a party that was taking place at the loft. She smiled when she heard this as she knew Joe was with Mercedes and she also knew that Mercedes would go.

She found a bench and sat down. Rummaging through one of the bags, looking for some food to feed Lindsey. Yes that's what she called her daughter, seeming as she wanted something to remember her sister by. Joe would love it too, she was sure of that.

"Right, call me if you want me to pick you up" Joe said as Mercedes made her way towards the door. "Yes Romeo, I'll be back later" Mercedes said as she kissed Joe on her lips before turning to JJ who was in his arms. "And I'll see you later little man" Mercedes cooed. She smiled before walking out the door as Joe and JJ waved her off.

Kim watched from a distance as Mercedes left the Roscoe house. She knew that the only had the next few hours before Mercedes got home, although she may have the next 24 hours depending on when Mercedes actually gets home.

She waited ten minutes just to make sure that Mercedes had definitely left and that Joe would be busy doing something else. She stood up, gathering their belongings before making her way towards the house.

"What should we do now eh?" Joe asked JJ, as he wondered around the room with his son. His gently tickled his stomach, causing a little giggle to emerge from his son, making his heart warm.

Before Joe had the chance to do anything else, the doorbell rang. "Who would that be?" Joe asked JJ, pulling a silly face again causing the young boy to laugh. He made his way towards the door and opened it.

"Kim!" Joe exclaimed. "Hi Joe" Kim replied. Joe looked down, she had a kid and lots of bags with her. "What the hell are you doing here?" Joe asked, as he gritted his teeth. "We've come back to say hello" Kim replied, smiling.

"We?" Joe questioned. "Yeah me and Lindsey" Kim said, looking down at the buggy. Joe choked on his words. Lindsey. Lindsey? "Who's Lindsey?" Joe asked, having a suspicious feeling he wouldn't like the answer.

"Your daughter" Kim replied, smiling down at Lindsey. Joe tried to think of something to say, but he couldn't. His daughter? When did this happen? "W-what do you mean my daughter?" Joe asked.

"Yeah your daughter; she looks a lot like you" Kim said as she cooed at Lindsey. Joe bounced JJ in his arms as he tried to think of a response. What was he supposed to say? 'Oh yeah, come in, it's fine'.

"Joe?" Kim questioned, snapping him out of his thoughts. "What do you want me to do?" Joe asked. He just wanted a nice night in with his son, instead look who he gets on his doorstep. "Well we need some money and somewhere to live."

"Somewhere to live!" Joe yelled but then quickly lowered his voice when he remembered JJ and Lindsey. "Yes Joe, after all this is your daughter" Kim said, gesturing down to Lindsey. Joe sighed. "You told me you got an abortion" Joe gritted out.

"I couldn't go through with it" Kim said. "Then why the hell didn't you tell me?" Joe asked, the stress of the night already too much for him to handle. "You told me you'd had abortion" Joe sighed.

Kim looked at her feet; that was something she didn't have a response to. She didn't think about the fact that hadn't told Joe and literally just turned up on his doorstep. "Well I didn't, because I couldn't go through with it" Kim said quietly.

"So why didn't you tell me" Joe asked as he resettled JJ on his hip. "I don't know" Kim whispered. "That's not good enough. If you'd told me I could have helped and we wouldn't be in this situation" Joe said, starting to lose his patience.

"Well why don't you let me and we can talk about it" Kim suggested. Joe sighed, Mercedes wouldn't be back for a while and he needed to sort this. "Alright then" Joe said as he moved from the door to allow Kim and Lindsey to enter.

Once they were settled in the living room, Joe decided to sort things out once and for all. "So what do you want Kim?" Joe asked. "What?" Kim questioned, looking confused. "I know that you've came here for something, you always do" Joe said.

Kim looked down at her shoes, before looking over to where Lindsey was sat playing with JJ. "What do you need Kim, is it money?" Joe asked, knowing exactly what kind of game Kim liked to play.

"I don't know Joe" Kim replied. Joe looked down at where the babies were playing he felt awful but, there was no way he could be a father to Lindsey. It reminded him too much of... well you know who.

"I can give you money if that's what you need" Joe said. Kim sighed and looked down at her feet. It became obvious that Joe didn't want anything to do with them. Should she just accept the money?

"I don't know, I don't think I take money from you" Kim replied. "Then what do you want? Because you're not coming to live here so it you don't want anything else, I think you should just go" Joe explained.

He looked at the clock and realised it was getting late. He wanted to get JJ sorted for bed so knew he had to wrap this conversation up soon. "I'll just take the money" Kim said, knowing that she could always come back and bribe Joe for more.

"Right, how much?" Joe asked. "How much are you offering?" Kim replied. "I was thinking £750, I mean you've obviously already got somewhere to live and that's as much as I can give" Joe explained. "Yeah, that'll be fine" Kim said.

"Good" Joe said as he began writing the cheque. He handed it to Kim. "Will you help sort her out?" Kim asked, directing to Lindsey. Joe nodded and picked the young child up, getting her settled in the buggy as Kim sorted out her bags.

He picked up JJ and followed Kim through to the door. "Look, I'm sorry it had to be like this" Joe said, feeling like he should be apologising. "Yeah, so am I" Kim replied as she walked out the door and down the drive, not looking back.

Joe sighed as he closed the door, going back through to the living room and sitting down with JJ. "What a night little man" Joe said to his son, who he could tell was tired. Five minutes later Joe had intended to get JJ ready for bed, however he and JJ fell asleep.

Joe should fell someone gently shaking his shoulder. He heard someone whispering his name over and over. He carefully opened his eyes and found himself looking at Mercedes. He felt something heavy on his chest and looked down to find his son.

"I'll take him, you get ready for bed" Mercedes said as she gently took JJ from Joe's lap and carried him upstairs. Joe stood up and stretched his cramped muscles. He followed his girlfriend and son up the stairs, telling himself to never speak of this night.

Not quite sure on this, so I hope it's okay :)

As usual thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and any prompts you have I would love to hear them :)

Next chapter prompted by guest- Rick survived being hit and wasn't killed by the gloved hand killer. How the family moved on.