Plain Sailing

[bradyell]

So you guys have inspired me so much i decided to put fingers to keyboard and write my very first fanfic Hope i've done everything right and hope you all enjoy!

Story Title: - Plain sailing

Type of story: Long Fic

Main Characters: Aden/Belle mainly plus their families

BTTB rating: T/A (just to be on the safe side)

Genre: General.

Does story include spoilers: No

Any warnings: nothing as of yet but will warn at start of chapter if i think it's needed!

Summary: 5 lines max - Life is looking good for Aden and Belle but will it continue to be plain sailing or will there be more drama ahead!

Chapter 1

Strolling along the beach Belle Taylor sighed with happiness. She couldn’t believe life could be this good! She’d just finished another day at her dream job, features writer for the coastal news. She lived in this great town where the sun shone most of the time. She had a great (if slightly unorthodox) family and looking up she spotted the main reason for the huge smile that seemed permanently attached to her face. Walking towards her with a smile on his face equally as wide as hers was Aden Jefferies, her boyfriend of over a year. Belle couldn’t get over the fact that after all this time just looking at him still gave her butterflies but they where nothing compared to what happened to her when he took her face in his hands and planted his lips on hers in a tender kiss.

“Hey gorgeous” he said as their lips parted and his hands slid down her arms and came to rest around her waist

“hey yourself” she replied leaning in for another kiss, arms wound around his neck. “I missed you this morning”

“yeah but you just looked so peaceful I didn’t wanna wake you, besides after last night I thought you could do with catching up on some sleep!” Aden’s eyes twinkled as he thought about the reasons why his girlfriend didn’t get as much sleep as usual the night before and he couldn’t keep the cheeky grin off his face.

“it was great having the place to ourselves - pity Roman was only away for one night eh?”

“Huge pity” she replied kissing him again but pulling away after a few seconds with a thoughtful look on her face “hey you never told me how you got rid of Nicole?”

“well I could tell you - but then I’d have to kill you!”

“Aden come on”

“Nope - a magician never reveals his tricks”

“Magician!! You got Nicole to spend a night away from home you’re hardly David Blaine sweetie! Unless you’ve got her hanging upside down in a block of ice somewhere”

“Now that’s an idea! Maybe next time Roman’s away…..!”

“funny”

“I try” he said. Chuckling to himself Aden took his hands from around belles waist and used one of them to extract hers from around his neck keeping hold of one of her hands he led her off on a slow stroll along the beach towards her house.

As they approached the beach house Aden realised he was running out of time to ask Belle the question that had been on the tip of his tongue all afternoon - in fact if he was honest with himself he’d been wanting to ask for weeks now but never quite found the right time. If they made it to the house he knew there’d be no way he’d ask the question that night - not if Irene, Geoff or Annie could interrupt at any moment. Now was the perfect opportunity and he took a deep breath before stopping walking and pulling Belle into his arms.

“Belle - I’ve been thinking”

“Wow really -are you o.k.?” she interrupted with a giggle

“Belle I’m being serious here” he said with a frown. “I’ve been thinking for a while now how great things are between us and how much I love you and last night, having the house to ourselves, that was really great too…”

“oh I’d say it was more than really great” said Belle with a look in her eyes that Aden found it impossible to resist and he couldn’t help but lean down to kiss her. The kiss started off slow and gentle but was soon building into something far more passionate. Aden had to muster all of his will power to stop the kiss knowing he needed to talk to Belle and hoping that her reaction to his question would mean that they would shortly continue where they’d left off.

“like I said, last night was really great and it made me realise how great it would be if it were just the two of us at home all the time.”

“I don’t think roman is gonna be willing to stay out every night babe.”

“Obviously!!” he said rolling his eyes “ But we’ve both been working for a while now - steady jobs, steady money coming in….. maybe we could you know look for a place?”

“you mean move in together?” belle asked biting her lip

“yep” Aden licked his lip and took Belle’s face in his hands “Belle Taylor will you be my roomie?”

He grinned as he asked but Belle could see the nervousness in his eyes. Being with Aden she understood what people meant when they said the eyes where the windows to the soul. She could practically read every thought he had by looking into his beautiful blue eyes.

Slowly she let a grin cross her face and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck “Aden Jefferies I’d love to be your roomie” and before Aden could respond with anything more than a smile Belle was kissing him and he was kissing her back and this time stopping the kiss was the very last thing on his mind.

Eventually and reluctantly Aden and Belle managed to stop the kisses and continue the walk to Belle’s house excited about spending the evening looking through the rental section of the paper. Belle was even talking about trying to pull some strings with the advertising people at the paper, hoping to get them to tell her about properties available in the area before they where printed.

Aden was the first to reach the house but the sight that greeted him instantly made him lose the smile that had been on his face all afternoon.

[bradyell]

Thanks so much, glad you all enjoyed it

So I'd already got this chapter written and thought i might as well put it up now It's just a short one though.

Chapter 2

Aden ran across the kitchen and into the lounge where Belle’s foster sister Annie was doubled over on the couch crying and clearly in pain.

“Annie what is it - are you hurt?” he asked crouching down in front of her, worry written all over his face.

Aden hadn’t always been high on Annie’s list of favourite people but over the past couple of months their relationship had grown much stronger and he looked upon her as a sort of younger sister.

“where’s Belle, I need Belle” the young girl replied through her tears.

“It’s o.k, She’s coming she’s just collecting the paper” He said in a soothing voice trying his hardest to keep his panic at bay.

Almost as soon as the words had left his mouth belle entered the house and noticing them immediately she came running over.

“Oh my god Annie what’s happened? What’s wrong?” stepping over Aden she sat on the couch and drew the young girl into her arms. Annie remained silent apart from the sobs that she was unable to stop escaping. Unlike Aden Belle was finding it difficult to keep her panic under wraps as it was obvious that there was something seriously wrong with Annie, Belle had never seen her in such a state, in fact she didn’t think she had ever seen anybody this upset. “Annie please, you’re scaring me, please tell me what’s wrong”

“I can’t, I can’t” She cried

Aden, still crouched down in front of the two girls was clenching and unclenching his fist anger now replacing worry on his face

“Annie” he asked “Has somebody hurt you - who’s done this to you Annie?”

“I can’t tell you - it’s wrong I can’t tell”

“Did Jai do this Annie? Has he done something to make you this upset? Has Jai hurt you Annie”

“No stop ! Please stop!”

“Aden leave it” said belle although she wanted answers and she had a feeling her thoughts on what was wrong with Annie where the same as her boyfriends.

“Belle we need to know - I swear I will kill whoever has put her in this state!”

“Aden!”

“Please just stop” cried Annie pulling away from Belle’s embrace and standing up. She was just about to step away from the couch when once again she doubled over with pain and clutched hold of her stomach.

Belle’s eye’s automatically followed Annie’s hands and her eyes widened with Shock.

Annie was wearing her school dress which usually hung loosely off her petite frame however her hands had pulled it tight across her stomach which Belle was now staring at

“Oh my god! Annie are you pregnant?”

[bradyell]

Here's the next chapter. Probaly very unrealistic in parts but very "soapie"

I should warn that the scene revolves around childbirth but nothing graphic!!!

Hope you all enjoy

Chapter 3

Annie looked up at Belle, pain written all over her young face.

Aden, still crouched on the floor, looked numb with shock.

Belle repeated her question, this time with a little more force “Annie are you pregnant?”

Annie nodded as another round of sobs shook her body.

“What! Shouted Aden struggling to his feet. How…..? Who….?

“Aden I think we all know how and who” said Belle “what we need to know is when. Annie, when did you and Jai…? But Belle couldn’t bring herself to finish that sentence. Annie was only 15 for gods sake. “When did this happen?”

“I’m sorry Belle, I’m so sorry, it only happened once.”

“That’s all it takes Annie” said Belle sadly. “When?”

“Halloween”

“Halloween, that was like……”

“nine months ago” replied Aden sarcastically. He was still stood in the same spot feeling shell shocked but the look of worry on Belle’s face and the pain and upset on Annie’s spurned him into action.

“O.K, lets just get you to hospital Annie, we can talk later.”

“No, No! I’m not going to hospital! Please! No! I can’t!”

Annie was hysterical but Aden was adamant

“Annie you are having a baby - now - you need to be in hospital”

Annie looked to Belle with eyes filled with terror. “Please Belle, please don’t make me go to hospital”

“Annie”

“No Belle, please!”

Realising that the state she had worked herself into was no good for Annie or the baby for that matter, Belle decided to forget about the hospital for the time being and concentrate her efforts on calming Annie down.

“O.K Annie O.K”

“Belle, she needs to go to hospital” Aden was beginning to give in to the panic that he had been holding at bay since he first saw Annie.

“Aden calm down, now is not the time to panic”

“Panic? Belle She’s 15 and having a baby - really soon by the looks of things- I’d say now is the perfect time to panic” He replied running his fingers through his hair.

“ARGH!!” Annie cried out as another contraction ripped through her.

Belle took a deep breath, realising that she needed to take control of the situation.

“O.K Annie, it’s gonna be O.K “ She soothed putting her arms around the young girl “lets go and get you laid down in my room. “Aden, give Rachel a call and ask her if she can come over.”

Realising that Belle was doing what she thought was best for Annie, Aden took his phone from his pocket and dialled Rachel’s number as he watched her lead Annie to her bedroom.

“Rachel, hi, It’s Aden.”

“Aden, hi. You’re gonna have to speak up, we’re in the car and bubba doesn’t think much of daddy’s driving”

In different circumstances Aden would have smiled at the obvious happiness in Rachel’s voice.

“Rachel can you come over to belle’s place? It’s Annie, she’s er…well she’s……she’s having a baby rach!”

“ What? Aden, say that again, it sounded like you said Annie’s having a baby?”

“That’s what I did say. Can you come over?”

“Wow, god, yeah! We’re on our way back from the city and I’ve got to get Emme home and fed but sure I’ll come over after dinner and have a talk with her.”

“you don’t understand” said Aden, his frustration growing, “She’s having a baby right now, she’s kept it secret, she’s like 9 months pregnant, she’s in labour right now and she’s refusing to go to hospital.”

“Aden are you telling me that Annie - Geoff’s little sister Annie - is pregnant? Has been keeping it secret and is now in labour?”

“Yeah”

“Oh my god!” Rachel was obviously as shocked as Belle and Aden had been and Aden could hear Tony exclaiming in the background. “O.K Aden look, We’re on our way, we’re about 30 minutes away.”

“O.K but hurry though yeah?”

“We will don’t worry. Right I need to know how far along Annie’s labour is. How long is there between her contractions?”

“I don’t know, not long”

“I need you to time how long there is between each contraction - can you do that Aden?”

Rachel could tell from his voice that Aden was starting to panic and was hoping that he would be able to remain calm.

“Yeah sure O.K” said Aden already walking towards the bedroom. As he got there it was clear that Annie was just coming to the end of another contraction and he looked down at his watch noting the position of the second hand.

“Aden, Let me talk to Annie” Rachel asked as Aden stood still the only movement coming from his lips as he silently counted the seconds.

He passed his phone to Belle who put it on to loudspeaker

“Annie sweetheart it’s Rachel - look I know this is really scary for you and I know how much pain you are in right now but I can’t do anything to help you right now honey. I really think you need to let Belle and Aden take you to the hospital. They’d be able to give you something to help with the pain.”

“I can’t Rachel, I’m scared! I want you to help me, you and Belle.”

“I know honey, I know and I’m on my way to help you but I wont be there for a while and I’d feel so much better if you where in hospital Annie - I could meet you there?”

“Rachel I can’t I just can’t! ARGH!” Annie was in so much pain and the gaps in between the contractions where getting much shorter - hardly giving her chance to get over one before another began.

“How long was that Aden?”

“Less than a minute” he replied taking the phone from Belle. He was trying to hold himself together and not panic but he was finding it more difficult with each passing minute and looking at Belle he couldn’t believe she was so calm, sat next to Annie on the bed rubbing her back and whispering soothing words in her ear. It was only when she looked up and stared at him that he could see the fear in her eyes and Aden’s heart broke a little - he hated to see anything other than joy and happiness in her eyes. It was all he needed to see to pull himself together and ask Rachel what he could do.

“you need to get some things together Aden. Towels, scissors but you’ll need to sterilise them first.”

“Scissors! Rach why will we need scissors?”

“To cut the cord”

“Oh my god!! You’ll be here by then though right” Aden was now running his hands through his hair almost constantly. “RIGHT?”

“I hope so Aden, we’re going as fast as we can, please try not to worry.”

“Yeah O.K lets give that a try”

Rachel couldn’t help but chuckle. She knew better than most what Aden had been through in the past and the battle he had had to become the man he was today. She trusted in him enough to know that even though he sounded panicked now he would be able to keep a clear head and help Annie as much as he could.

Aden ran into the bathroom and collected a hand full of towels and a pair of scissors from the cabinet.

“How do I sterilise the scissors?”

“Boil the kettle and pour the boiling water over them”

“Yeah! I knew that!”

Aden did as Rachel told him then returned to the bedroom. Annie was in the middle of another contraction and Belle was rubbing her back tears now running down her own face.

Aden strode over to the side of the bed. Placing the things he had collected on the side he told Rachel he’d be back with her in a second then leant down to stroke Belles hair out of her face and whisper in her ear “you doin O.K babe?” Belle nodded although her eyes told him a different story. “It’s gonna be alright I promise” he said placing a gentle kiss on the side of her head. She gave him a teary smile as he stood back up then returned her attention back to Annie.

“What now rach?” he asked returning his phone back to his ear

I could do with speaking to Belle if that’s O.K. I need someone to have a look to see if they can see the baby yet and I think that needs to be Belle”

“Er Yeah” said Aden the remaining colour draining from his face.

“She wants to speak to you Belle” he said handing her the phone Belle reached out to take it from him but Aden sensed her reluctance to move away from Annie who was by now in almost constant pain with hardly any time to gather herself between contractions.

“Hey it’s O.K I’ll sit with her” he said and as Belle stood up he took her place on the bed and Annie leaned back against him as he brushed her hair away from her face.

“Who would have thought me and you would end up in this situation eh Annie?” he said trying to find some light relief. Annie understandably was not in the mood for Aden’s jokes and just groaned, leaning her head back against his chest. Aden realised the amount of pain and fear Annie must be going through to let her guard down with him this much. “Hey O.K Annie O.K” he soothed “I promise It’s all going to be over soon sweetheart” he just hoped that “soon” wasn’t before Rachel arrived.

Belle came back into the room and handed Aden his phone

“Annie Rachel needs me to look and see if the baby is coming yet O.K?”

Annie could do nothing but nod as Belle began to pull up her school dress.

“Er, maybe I should leave” said Aden looking highly uncomfortable

“No way Aden I need you here! I need you to tell Rachel what I see.”

“God!! O.K”

“Just rub her back, it will help her with the pain.”

He began to rub Annie’s back between her shoulder blades

“Aden what are you doing? Belle snapped

“What, I’m rubbing her back like you asked”

“not there you idiot at the bottom!” If the situation they where in wasn’t so serious Belle would have laughed

“How was I to know it’s not like I’ve been in this situation before, well not since I …” Aden was cut off by Belle drawing in a deep breath

“Oh my god Aden I think I can see the head, tell Rachel I can see the head”

“It’s O.K Aden I heard” said Rachel “Ask Annie if she feels like she needs to push?”

“Erm Annie Do you need to push?

Annie nodded

“She’s nodding” Aden told Rachel.

“O.K guys it looks like I might not make it in time, are you going to be O.K with this?

“I guess we’ll have to be” said Aden gulping

O.K tell Annie to push each time she has a contraction. She needs to push as long and hard as she can O.K”

“Erm”

“Aden! O.K?”

“Yeah yeah O.K”

“Annie, sweetheart I know this is really hard” started Aden “but it’s not going to last much longer O.K? we just need you to work for a little longer, you need to push Annie O.K push as hard as you can and this will be over really soon.”

Annie nodded and started to push for all she was worth

“That’s it Annie, you’re doing great” coaxed Belle “come on keep going Annie keep pushing”

Aden put the phone down and took hold of Annie’s hand encouraging her quietly to keep pushing he used his other hand to keep the hair back from her face.

Ten minutes later Tony’s car screeched to a halt outside the beach house and Rachel jumped out and ran inside.

She made it through the kitchen before she was greeted by Aden walking from the bedroom with a huge grin on his face and a tiny bundle in his arms “it’s a girl Rach - A beautiful little girl”

[bradyell]

Glad you are all enjoying it so far

Don't know about you all but for me the idea of Aden with a baby just makes me melt so there's quite a bit of that in this chapter.

Chapter 4

Rachel walked over to Aden and peered at the bundle in his arms

“Is she O.K? I couldn’t hear anything, then the phone went dead, I was so worried!” she said, all the while looking over the baby cradled in Aden’s arms.

“She seems fine””

Rachel glanced up at Aden who was still grinning fit to burst and then back down to the baby. She was pleased to see that the baby appeared to be healthy.

“She looks good to me, I’ll check her over later but right now I think Annie needs me more - how is she?”

“I don’t know Rach, she wouldn’t even look at her” Aden replied gazing down at the baby

“O.K I’ll go in now. Will you two be O.K out here? Tony should be in any minute”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine wont we beautiful” he said using one hand to tuck the towel she was wrapped in under the babies chin and strolling towards the lounge.

Sitting down on the couch Aden gently manoeuvred the baby so she was laying in his lap with her head still cradled in his hands. He was finding it hard to comprehend what had happened in the past half hour or so but he had to admit to himself that even though it had been terrifying it had also been one of the most amazing experiences of his life! Seeing this brand new person coming into the world, hearing her first cry. Aden vowed to himself there and then that he would do everything within his power to keep the little girl safe - Nobody would hurt her whilst uncle Aden was around!

Lost in the blue eyes staring back at him Aden didn’t notice Tony enter the house and it was only when he spoke that Aden tore his eyes away and looked up.

“Wow mate! Big afternoon eh! Said Tony as he sat down next to Aden

“Yeah, just a bit!”

“I bumped into Ruby outside, she was looking for Annie. I told her there was some family stuff going on and asked her to watch Emme for us for a bit. She’s taken her home.”

“Cheers for getting rid of Ruby - that’s the last thing we needed”

“No worries. So? Pink or blue?” Tony asked looking down at the baby

Aden laughed at Tony’s way of asking if the baby was a boy or a girl.

“Pink”

“God I can’t believe that little Annie has a baby. How has Irene taken the news?”

“She doesn’t know yet! We haven’t really had chance to call her. Plus I don’t think it’s the kind of news she needs to hear on the phone.”

“I can’t imagine how she’s gonna feel about this I mean Annie’s only what? 16?”

“15”

“God! - Hey Belle” he said as he spotted her walking from the bedroom “how’s it going in there?”

“not great” noticing the look of panic that crossed Aden’s face at her words she quickly added “she’s O.K physically but it’s her state of mind Rachel’s worried about - she’s a mess.”

“Well that’s not hard to believe” said Tony “It’s hard enough getting your head around being a parent as an adult let alone as a teenager. And she’s been keeping this to herself for so long that’s a real burden, the poor kid!”

“I know” said Belle “I just can’t believe that none of us noticed!” She was finding it hard to keep hold of her emotions but was determined to remain strong, at least for the moment. She knew that later on, when she was alone with Aden it would all come flooding out. She picked up the phone from the table and sighed.

“I suppose I better call Irene and get her home”

She dialled the number for the diner and waited for an answer.

“Leah hi, is Irene there?”

“she is, just a tick.”

Belle heard Leah call Irene to the phone and she hoped that Irene didn’t rush to answer! She couldn’t think of a way to get Irene to come home without telling her what was wrong but without causing her to worry.

“Hi darl, everything o.k?”

“Hi Irene, look do you think you could come home? I need to talk to you about something.”

“not really Belle, we’re run off our feet here”

“It’s really important Irene, please”

“O.K what’s wrong missy?”

“Nothing”

“Belle”

“Irene please just trust me and come home as soon as you can”

“oh god Belle is someone hurt or sick or……..”

“Irene we are all fine we just need you at home O.K”

“O.K, O.K I’m on my way darl.”

“See you soon”

Belle hung up the phone and walked over to sit on the arm of the couch. She put her arm around Aden’s shoulders and rested her head against his. She used her other hand to bring the babies arm out of her blanket and placed her little finger into the babies grasp. She smiled as she felt the baby grip onto her finger.

“I reckon she’s gonna need feeding soon. Tony, Rachel said you’ve got some bottles and formula in Emmes bag that we can use.

“Yeah sure - I’ll go mix up a feed for her if you like”

“Thanks mate” said Aden as Tony stood up and headed into the kitchen.

“So ” said Belle to Aden “how smitten are you with this little miss?”

Before Aden could answer however they where interrupted by the sight of Geoff strolling into the kitchen.

“Oh hi Tony, Didn’t expect to see you here” said Geoff slinging his bag onto the counter before making his way into the living room where he spotted Aden and Belle with the baby.

“you two getting some practice in with Emme” laughed Geoff

“She looks so tiny” he continued “last time I saw her I thought she had grown but I guess they look different when they are all wrapped up.”

As serious as the situation was, the bad boy in Aden knew that Geoff’s reaction to the news that the baby was actually his niece and not Tony and Rachel’s baby as he’d assumed was going to be priceless. He was secretly glad he was here to witness it first hand and was trying his best not to laugh.

“Geoff this isn’t Emme” said Belle “I think you need to sit down”

“Why, Belle? Oh! She’s not yours is she”

“Get real Geoff” snorted Aden “Does she look like she’s just had a baby”

“Aden!” Said Belle “No Geoff she’s not mine but I think you really need to sit down.

“It’s Irene isn’t it! Irene’s had a baby! I thought she looked a bit off lately! Why didn’t she tell us! Is it even safe for her to have a baby at her age? Who’s the……”

“Geoff, Geoff shut up a minute” shouted Belle she knew she had to cut Geoff off before he got even more carried away.

“The baby isn’t Irene’s Geoff, She’s Annie’s!”

“What? Annie’s? Annie’s not pregnant Belle!”

“Not any more she’s not mate” said Aden with a grin

“Aden you are not helping” said Belle “look Geoff I know this is a shock to you - believe me I know - but this is Annie’s baby”

“It can’t be! Annie’s only 15 Belle to have a baby you have to……… Annie’s never…….. No - you’re wrong Belle, it’s not Annie’s baby. Maybe it’s Ruby, Yeah I reckon that’s what it is. This is Ruby’s baby and Annie is just covering up for her!”

“Geoff - me and Aden delivered the baby - she is most definitely Annie’s.”

“well where is Annie now?” asked Geoff looking sick

“she’s in my room with Rachel”

Geoff turned round as if heading to Belles room

“You can’t go in there Geoff, Annie’s really not up for seeing people”

“I’m not people Belle, I’m her brother!”

“I know that but lets just wait until Rachel has finished with her O.K”

Geoff just stood there and nodded. Tony walked up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder. “This is a big shock for everyone mate, why don’t we just sit down for a bit yeah” and he gently guided Geoff into a chair. Once Geoff was sitting down Tony handed Aden the bottle he had made.

“Er Tony mate, I have no idea what to do with this” said Aden looking from the bottle to the baby and back again.

“Here let me do it” said Belle taking the baby from Aden’s arms and settling herself onto the couch. Aden lent over and gave Belle a gentle kiss on the lips and then placed one to the top of the babies head before standing up and walking over to the table where Geoff was sitting with his head in his hands.

“Alright Geoff?”

“I can’t…. Ican’t believe it” said Geoff in a croaky voice “Annie’s had a baby!”

“Annie’s had a what?” came a cry from the kitchen!

[bradyell]

thank you all so much for the comments, it's really nice to know you are all enjoying it, makes me detemined to continue

Found this next chapter difficult to write for some reason, not too sure about it so looking forward to hearing what you all think.

Chapter 5

“Irene!”

Belle jumped up from the couch removing the bottle from the babies mouth causing her to instantly cry.

“What in the blue blazes is going on?” asked Irene marching through the kitchen.

Belle handed the baby to Aden and walked towards Irene

“I think you should sit down”

Her words however fell on deaf ears as Irene stood staring at the baby Aden held in his arms.

It was clear to all of them, from the look of horror on her face, that Irene had realised that what she had overheard from Geoff was not her hearing playing tricks on her, and that the baby in Aden’s arms belonged to Annie.

“Oh my god!”

“Irene” said Tony “Come and sit down. Rachel’s in with Annie, she’s O.K” he re-assured “She’ll be out soon and then you can go and have a talk with her.”

“You’re telling me” began Irene, her voice strangled “you’re telling me that Annie has had a baby, that this” she looked over at Aden “is Annie’s baby?”

Belle nodded

“God save us! Did you know about this?”

“No” said Belle “of course not, I’d have told you Irene you know that!”

“Geoff?”

“Me? No……I…….I…….No, no!

“Did anybody know?”

Belle shook her head “I think she kept it to herself”

“What about Jai - he must know surely.”

“I don’t think so Irene, she was so scared, IS so scared!”

“Why, why wouldn’t she tell us?” Irene sank down onto a chair and buried her head in her hands.

Belle was finding it hard to read Irene’s emotions. The look on her face had gone from anger to confusion to shock to hurt. Belle knew how she was feeling as she had felt all those things too but for Irene, who looked upon Annie as a daughter it must have been far worse.

By now Aden had sat down and was continuing to feed the baby who was oblivious to the drama her entrance into the world had caused.

The room went silent as they all contemplated the events of the afternoon.

The silence was interrupted a few minutes later when Rachel left Belle’s room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Irene, Geoff and Belle all jumped up and rushed towards her.

“Is she O.K?”

“Can we see her?”

“Has she said anything?”

All 3 of them started firing questions at Rachel

“Guys, calm down” said Rachel “look, She’s doing O.K all things considered. Physically she’s fine, She seems to have had a straight forward birth and I can’t see any problems there. It’s her state of mind I’m concerned with now. I’ve had a bit of a chat with her but honestly now is not the right time to try and get her to open up. I think we need to get her cleaned up and try and get her to get some rest. Geoff I know this is really hard for you but she only wants to see Irene at the moment.”

Geoff nodded but couldn’t hide the hurt showing on his face.

“Come on Geoff” said Belle “why don’t you go and introduce yourself to your niece? Irene, shall I call Miles, get him and Jai over here?”

“yeah, you’d better had” said Irene with a sigh. She then took a deep breath and slowly opened the door and entered Belle’s room. The others caught a glimpse of Annie, lying on Belle’s bed looking completely drained, before Irene closed the door firmly behind her.

Rachel put a hand on Geoff’s shoulder and gently encouraged him back into the lounge. He glanced over towards the baby but walked straight past where Aden was sitting and walked up the stairs headed to his room.

“Geoff” called Belle but Geoff didn’t even turn towards her

“Just leave him for a bit love” said Tony “He’s got a lot to get his head round”

“haven’t we all?” said Belle emotion evident in her voice.

Aden glanced up at her and saw that she was struggling to hold herself together

“Rachel, can you take over here?” he asked gesturing down to the baby

“Sure”

Aden gently gave the baby over to Rachel and then went straight over to Belle. Taking her hand he silently led her into the kitchen. When they stopped Aden dropped her hand but instantly put his strong arms around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest.

It was all Belle needed to let go of some of the emotion she had bottled up inside of her. Tears began to flow down her face and onto Aden’s shirt

“Sshh baby it’s o.k” Aden soothed

“It’s not Aden, it’s not O.K” she whispered burying her face in his neck

“I know it’s not great right now but it will be. You just need to be strong and be there for Annie if she needs you” he pulled away from her slightly and used a hand under her chin to gently tilt her head so he could look into her eyes “and I’m gonna be here for you O.K. Always.”

“thank you” she said. Taking a deep breath she pulled herself out of his embrace “I need to call Miles”

“Do you want me to do it?

“Nah I’ve got it!” She said giving him a small smile.

As she walked over to the phone Belle was thinking to herself once again how lucky she was to have Aden as her boyfriend, he had been so great that afternoon, she knew she wouldn’t have been able to get through it without him.

Irene walked out of the bedroom as Belle was hanging up the phone.

“Well, how is she?”

“She’s in a right old state the poor love - understandably! I’m going to run her a bath, get her cleaned up. Was that Miles?”

“Yeah - I told him that there was a problem with Annie and we needed him and Jai to come over. He was pretty worried but there was nothing else I could say without telling him the truth and I didn’t want to tell him over the phone. He’s gonna track Jai down then come over.”

“thanks darl, it’s not going to be easy explaining this to him”

“I’ll be here with you Irene” said Belle putting her hand on Irene’s arm

“you know luvvie, I think it will be better if there isn’t an audience, why don’t you go over to Aden’s for the night.”

“No way Irene, I’m not leaving you here on your own to deal with this.”

“Belle, I’ll be fine, please let me do this my way”

“but Irene…..”

“no buts Belle. Jai is going to get the shock of his life and I don’t want him to feel crowded.”

“what about the baby?”

“The baby will be fine, love. I’ve looked after plenty of babies. Rachel,” she said looking over to her friend who was busy winding the baby, “have you got a few bits and bobs we can use till we can get out to the shops tomorrow, bottles, nappies, clothes?”

“Of course Irene”

“I’ll nip home now and sort you out some things” said Tony

“Thanks darl” Tony said a quick goodbye and left as Belle continued to stare at Irene.

“I really don’t think I should leave you Irene”

“Listen Belle, it’s what I think is best and besides you two have had one heck of an afternoon too eh?”

“Well yeah but…”

“No buts! Aden come on, take her back to your place. I’ll see you both in the morning O.K now skidadle before Miles and Jai get here.”

Aden wasn’t entirely sure that it was the best thing to do but knew that once Irene had made her mind up there was no changing it.

“O.K Irene, come on babe, lets go”

Reluctantly Belle took his hand and let him lead her out of the house.

[bradyell]

Thanks once again for the lovely comments.

I was a bit unsure about Irene's reaction but it seems you all think it was in character so that makes me feel better

Made a start on this chapter last night then got off work early today so thought i might as well finish it off.

Next week i'm on a late shift so not sure how much i'll be able to update, but i'm sure there will be another chapter or 2 over the weekend to keep you going

Chapter 6

Tony and Rachel had just left Irene’s place when Miles and jai arrived accompanied by kirsty. Tony had brought over a bag of things for the baby including a carry cot that Emme wouldn’t be needing overnight. After checking the baby over Rachel had washed and dressed her then settled her down to sleep whilst Irene had helped Annie get cleaned up and settled in her own room. Before leaving Rachel had made Irene promise to call her if there where any problems with Annie or the baby.

Miles entered the house just behind Jai. He was dreading what he was about to hear knowing that it must be something serious for Belle to have called and she had sounded so emotional. Now, seeing Irene staring into the carry cot, tears on her cheeks Miles was pretty sure he knew what the “problem” was.

“Irene, please tell me this is not about what I think it’s about” asked miles barely over the threshold of the lounge.

“what” said Jai

“I’m sorry Miles” she replied “Jai love come and sit down”

Comprehension dawned on kirsty’s face as she sat down slowly on a chair.

“what’s going on?” Jai looked confused and seemed not to have noticed the carry cot on the couch next to Irene much less have drawn a conclusion as to what or who was inside.

“I can’t believe this Jai, did you know this was going to happen? ” said Miles “when did it happen Irene?”

“a couple of hours ago”

“What? What’s going on? What are you talking about?”

“You don’t know?” Said Miles

“Jai, has Annie been acting differently lately?” Irene was somehow remaining calm but she could see that Miles was struggling to contain his shock so she decided it was best for her to take control of the conversation.

“I don’t know, I suppose she’s been a bit quiet. Why? What’s this about? Is she O.K?”

“Has she told you why she was being quiet darl?”

“No, I just thought she was in a mood for some reason - I thought she’d snap out of it. Seriously is she O.K?”

“Not really luvvie, do you remember Halloween?”

At this the baby, as if knowing she was about to become the focus of the conversation, began to stir and let out a small cry. Jai’s eyes left Irene’s face and travelled to the source of the noise and then back again. It took him a few seconds to compute what Irene had just asked him and then his eyes widened as he looked back towards the carry cot.

Complete and utter terror filled his face and he slowly started to back away towards the kitchen.

“No.! No way!”

“Jai, come and sit down” said miles.

“No, this is not happening” Jai continued backing away, when he reached the kitchen he turned around and started towards the door.

“Jai come and sit down now!” Miles walked towards jai but before he could get close the young boy ran out of the door

“Come back jai” he shouted but it was no use as by the time he reached the door Jai had already disappeared around the corner.

Meanwhile..

Aden had driven him and Belle back to his place in complete silence, the events of the afternoon catching up with both of them.

They walked into the house to find Roman and Nicole at the kitchen table eating dinner.

“Hey guys what’s up?” Nicole asked

“Are you two O.K? you look kinda beat mate.” this was directed towards Aden. Nothing much concerning his “surrogate son” got past Roman, he could read Aden almost as well as Belle could.

“You would not believe has happened this afternoon.” answered Aden

“Try me”

“Oooo! This sounds like gossip” said Nicole tucking her chair closer to the table.

“Nic!”

“Sorry, but nothing good ever happens around here, I have to take every opportunity for excitement I can get”

Belle rolled her eyes. Nicole was such a drama queen! She was going to eat this up but people where going to find out sooner or later and Belle would much rather they heard it from her rather than second hand.

She sat down on the chair that Aden had pulled out for her and looked over at him “so are you gonna tell them or shall I?”

“O.K” said Aden “So…. Belle and I delivered a baby this afternoon”

“what?!”

“Oh my god this IS good! Who’s baby?”

“Annie’s” said Belle

Roman had just taken a sip of water as Belle spoke and was now choking on it. Nicole, for once, seemed to be lost for words.

“Pretty major huh” said Aden

“I’ll say” said Roman “wow so what happened?”

They spent the next half an hour filling Nicole and Roman in on the events of the afternoon. Nicole surprised Belle with her maturity when she showed concern for Geoff and how he was dealing with the news.

An hour later Belle was curled up on Aden’s bed, she’d had a shower and was wearing one of Aden’s T-shirts as a nightdress. He walked into the bedroom drying his hair on a towel and locked the door. He was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and Belle smiled at him

“you know you really shouldn’t walk round the house like that - what if Nicole saw you”

“she’s downstairs, besides it’s nothing she hasn’t seen before”

Belle raised an eyebrow and he flashed her a cheeky grin before leaning over and kissing her. “anyways” he said standing up and hanging his towel on a chair before coming back to sit on the bed “that’s not gonna be a problem much longer?”

Belle looked at him confused

“Remember our conversation earlier….us moving in together? Ring any bells?”

“Oh god babe, I forgot about that! I’m so sorry!”

She looked genuinely upset

Aden lay down on his back and she lifted up her head so he could place an arm around her shoulders.

“not a problem. I’ll forgive you seeing as how you had good reason to forget!” he turned onto his side to face her and ran his fingers through her hair “how you feeling about all that?”

“I don’t know” this time she didn’t even try to stop the tears. Aden moved his hand to her cheek to wipe them away and when they continued to fall he placed gentle kisses under her eyes. They remained like this, not talking for a few minutes until Belle was able to gather herself together.

She moved his hand from her face and held it in her own in the small gap between their bodies.

”I just can’t believe this had happened Aden”

“Yeah I know, you read about this sort of thing all the time….”

“You know what I think every time I read something like that?” Belle interrupted “How stupid were the family for not noticing! God, how can I have not noticed?!”

“Belle, you can’t blame yourself for this. There are plenty of other people who should or could have noticed, including me. Annie just did a real good job of keeping it hidden.”

“I know, I know I just feel so……” Belle sighed a deep sigh and closed her eyes

“What? Babe look at me, talk to me. So what?

She opened her eyes and looked directly into his and he noted the emotion that was still evident in them

“It’s really selfish but I feel hurt that she didn’t trust me enough to tell me.”

“hey, that’s not selfish” he said giving her a quick, gentle kiss on the lips. “it’s understandable that you’d feel like that. You and Annie are really close and you’d expect her to talk to you but I don’t think this is about her not trusting you babe. I just think she was that scared she didn’t know what to do or who to turn to. All we can do now is let Annie know that we are here for her if she needs us. She’s got some big decisions to make and it’s gonna be tough for a while.”

“When did you get so smart” Belle asked moving even closer to him

“Oh, about 5 seconds before I kissed you for the first time”

She smiled at his answer then moved her head forward until her lips where on his allowing herself to get lost in his kisses, relishing the chance to think of nothing but him and how amazing it felt to be this close to him.

It didn’t take long for their kisses to become deeper and more passionate. Aden’s hand let go of hers and travelled down to her thigh where he let it rest for a while before moving slowly up and under her t-shirt.

Before his hand had made it as far as he would have liked he felt Belle push gently against his chest, enough of a signal for him to know she wanted to stop.

He leaned away slightly and looked into her eyes

“You O.K?

“Yeah I just can’t, not tonight”

“that’s fine” he said moving his hand up to her face and brushing her hair aside “you’ve got a lot on your mind”

“It’s just I had a flash of what happened this afternoon and…..”

“kind of a passion killer huh” he said with a little laugh

“Yeah” she grinned back “But it was pretty amazing don’t you think?”

“It was yeah. I sort of assumed that someday, hopefully, I’d get to witness that… not Annie obviously” he added quickly “but a baby being born you know, but you just imagine that it’d be your baby do you know what I mean?”

“you mean my baby?”

“What?” Aden was looking flustered

“you said ‘your baby’, did you mean my baby?” Belle knew what he had meant but couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease him

“Erm well, yeah I guess”

Belle’s eyes widened with shock, she wasn’t expecting that as his answer

“Obviously I’m talking way into the future, but yeah I kinda hope that one day you’ll be the one having my babies. Does that freak you out? You looked freaked out!”

“No, no I’m not it’s just that I was teasing you and I never expected that to be your answer. Wow! So you’ve thought about that sort of thing?”

“haven‘t you?”

“I guess I have yeah” she said with a smile.

“and?”

“and I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“and babies?”

“yeah I suppose I do want kids one day and if I can’t image life without you then I guess that means they’d be your babies BUT not for a good while yet”

“ O.K” said Aden smiling “good to know we’re on the same page. Wow can you imagine how cute our kids would be? I mean with genes like ours…”

Belle slapped his arm playfully laughing at him. The laugh turned into a yawn which Aden spotted.

“Ready for sleep?”

Belle nodded and turned over in his arms making sure she stayed as close to Aden as was possible as he wrapped his arm tighter around her and planted a kiss on the back of her head.

“I love you babe” he said

“love you too”

[bradyell]

This chapter's a bit longer than the others but i couldn't end it without putting in the final scene - you'll all realise why when you get to it

Chapter 7

Early the next morning Aden was awake before his alarm and tried to slide out of bed without waking his sleeping girlfriend. She had tossed and turned all night but now she was sleeping peacefully he hoped she would continue to do so for another hour or so at least. His hopes were dashed when she turned to face him.

“hey baby” she said groggily glancing at the clock “you’re up early”

“I didn’t want the alarm to wake you so when I woke I thought I might as well get up.”

“you really are the perfect boyfriend you know that?”

“Yep” he said with a grin before kissing her.

“I might as well get up too seeing as I’m awake. I need to call work and tell them I wont be in the office today, I want to spend the day at home. Hopefully Annie will be up for talking today.”

“O.K babe, you want me to take the day off and come with you?” Aden wasn’t sure how he’d manage to get the day off with such short notice but he’d do it if Belle needed him too.

“thanks but you need to go to work. Plus Annie might not be as keen to open up if you’re there”

“Yeah that’s true but you’ll call me if you need me wont you?”

“of course” She said walking out of the door towards the bathroom flashing a smile at him over her shoulder.

Half an hour later they were both ready. As he was still early for work Aden drove Belle home. He was hoping to see the baby before he went to work, not that he’d have admitted that to anyone - after all it didn’t quite fit with his bad boy image!

Belle opened the door quietly worrying that the others might be asleep but it soon became apparent that she needn’t have worried.

Irene was pacing the floor, the baby crying in her arms.

“Oh Irene!” exclaimed Belle walking through the kitchen “has she been like this for long?”

“No darl, not long, think it’s just a bit of wind”

Now she was up close Belle could see how terrible Irene looked, as though she hadn’t slept a wink, which, all things considered was probably true.

Aden was standing behind Belle “Irene, do you want me to take her”

“you?”

“yeah me” he said with a grin “pass her over”

“well I can’t say no can I?” Irene held out the still crying baby and Aden took her and placed her against his chest, her head up near his shoulder, using his hand to gently support her head and neck “Hey missy, what’s all this fuss about” he whispered to her “Come on, uncle Aden’s here now sshhh” within seconds the crying had stopped. He looked up grinning to find Belle and Irene staring at him open mouthed

“guess I’ve got the magic touch”

Belle’s heart began to beat a little faster and the butterflies where back in her stomach. He looked so cute standing there with the baby and so proud of himself for being the one to stop her crying. She took a deep breath to pull herself together

“Irene sit down let me get you a coffee”

“Thanks but no thanks Belle, I’ve been drinking the flamin stuff all night” Irene sat down on the couch and leaned her head back closing her eyes for a second.

“Have you been to bed?”

“Nah, it’s been a heck of a night darl!”

“What happened?

“Where do I start!” said Irene with a sigh. “Jai did a runner!”

“Oh my god, did he come back?”

“ Nope, Miles went out to look for him he‘s been gone all night, Kirsty left at midnight in case he turned up at home. They’re out of their minds with worry.”

“I’m not surprised. He‘s probably just hiding out somewhere trying to get his head around this”

“I hope so luvvie”

“And Annie?” Belle asked

“well…..”

“Sorry to interrupt guys but I really need to get to work and as much as I’d love to I don’t think I can take this little one with me.”

“Sorry Aden, here put her down in here” said Irene pulling the blankets back in the carry cot that was next to her.

Aden gave the little girl a kiss on the top of her head and lay her down as gently as he could “I’ll see you later gorgeous girl” he said as he pulled the blanket over her tucking it under her chin.

“looks like somebody is quite the smitten kitten” said Irene who couldn’t help but smile and when she saw the cheesy grin on Belles face her smile turned into a chuckle “don’t you two go gettin any funny ideas, I’ve had enough drama to last a life time already”

“don’t worry Irene, that’s a long way off yet” said Aden “right, I better get a move on, see you later Irene. Babe, call me if you need me O.K

“O.K”

He leant down and gave her a kiss and whispered in her ear “love you”

“right back at ya” she said snatching another quick kiss before he stood up and left.

“So how’s Annie” Belle asked Irene

“better than I expected actually”

Flashback

It was 4 am and Irene was still up. The baby was screaming in the lounge and she was in the kitchen mixing up a feed.

She hadn’t heard a peep from Geoff all night even though he must have heard all the comings and goings, not to mention the racket the latest addition to the household was making! She wasn’t surprised that he was keeping himself to himself - it was his way and she wasn’t going to be angry with him for that.

She had heard Annie shift around a bit but had decided to leave her be, if she needed her she knew where she was.

She finished mixing the formula and placed the bottle into a jug of water to cool down and carried the jug into the lounge along with another, much needed, mug of coffee.

She got the fright of her life when she saw Annie standing on the stairs.

“God love, you scared me half to death!”

“Sorry Irene, Is she O.K?” Annie’s voice was barely a whisper

“What? Oh the bub? Yeah she’s fine luv, just hungry. I’m a bit out of practice and not quick enough with the milk!”

“Oh”

“Why don’t you come down here and sit with us for a bit eh?”

She sat down on the couch putting the jug and her coffee onto the table in front of her and picked up the baby settling her into the crook of her arm.

“I’m not sure Irene” Annie was clearly petrified but Irene had decided to try and get things as close to normal as possible, as soon as possible, and the best way she could see to do that was getting Annie used to the fact that like it or not she now had a baby and she had decisions to make about her future.

“come on, she wont bite”

Annie slowly walked down the remaining few stairs and sat down on a chair. She couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from her daughter who was still making her presence known.

Irene lent forward and picked up the bottle, testing it on her arm before starting to feed the baby who silenced instantly and began to feed.

“What have I done Irene” said Annie quietly

“Oh luvvie” Irene didn’t know what to do, Annie obviously needed comforting but the baby needed feeding too! At that moment Geoff appeared. Irene assumed he had heard Annie coming down the stairs. He looked back and forth between Annie and Irene clearly not knowing what to do with himself either. Irene decided to make the decision for him. She stood up and told walked towards him with the baby in her arms

“Irene, what the…” he said as she stood directly in front of him holding the baby, along with her bottle, out to him

“You take over here whilst I see to your sister”

“Irene I can’t…I’ve never..!”

“look just sit down” Geoff did as he was told, too shocked to do otherwise. As soon as he was sitting Irene placed the baby in his arms and put the bottle into her mouth “here, just hold this…… that’s it you’ve got it” Geoff looked as uncomfortable as Irene had ever seen him but she figured that needs must. She walked over to the chair where Annie was sitting, tears now streaming freely down her face.

“Come on darl, sshhh” she said putting her arms around her shoulders

“I’m so sorry Irene”

“I know you are luvvie, I know”

Annie took a deep breath, she knew she had to talk to Irene and Geoff about what had happened.

“I never meant for this to happen. Jai and I only……it only happened once. I knew it was wrong and that’s why we never did it again. And then I realised that I hadn’t had a……”She looked up at Geoff and Irene realised even now, after all that had happened, she was still embarrassed to mention her period in front of him.

“Go on darl I know what you mean”

She took another deep breath and continued “at first I just thought it was because I was stressed about what had happened between me and Jai, because I was, I was so stressed because I knew it was a sin and it shouldn’t have happened.

I kept trying to tell myself that the more I stressed about it the less likely it was to happen so I tried to forget, I pushed it to the back of my mind, what had happened and what I was waiting for. Then Belle got attacked and there was the crash at the prom and Mel went missing. I just thought well with all that stress it’s bound to not come so I just kept pushing it back and back. Then things started to change, you know with my body and I knew Irene, I just couldn’t pretend anymore”

“Why on earth didn’t you tell me girlie? Or Belle or Geoff? Someone!!”

“I wanted to I really did. So many times I thought today I’ll tell somebody but I couldn’t do it. I knew you’d all be so disappointed in me”

“Annie”

“No Irene, let me finish. Please. So I kept thinking today’s the day, today’s the day and I kept on and on thinking it but never doing it. I was so scared that somebody would find out, would notice you know? And part of me wanted somebody to notice to force me to tell”

“Oh Annie I’m so so sorry”

Annie seemed not to have heard, determined to get everything off her chest

“Ruby and Jai kept asking me to go to the beach with them and stuff but I had to make up excuses all the time why I couldn’t go. They both just thought I was in a mood and kept asking what was wrong but I just lied to them and made stuff up like I had a headache or me and Geoff had had a fight. It went on and on but time seemed to go so fast. Then yesterday I was in English and I got this pain and I knew what it was so I told Ruby I felt sick and I guess I didn’t look too good cause she believed me and I came home and I was here for hours on my own and it hurt so much and I was so scared then Belle and Aden came and well….”

She looked over at the baby and then up at Geoff who was trying hard to hold back his own tears. “Annie you could have told me, yes I’d have been upset but I would have helped you. You shouldn’t have had to cope with that alone”

“I’m sorry Geoff”

“Darl would you stop apologising” said Irene “we know how sorry you are but what’s done is done. Nothing is gonna change that. You need to have a good long think now about what you want to do. But you’ve got to talk to me Annie, don’t keep things held back we need you to be honest because this is about as serious as it gets. We’re talking about that little girls future. Right now I want you to get yourself off back to bed because you’re going to need all your strength later to talk to Jai. The two of you have got some big decisions to make O.K.

“you’ll be there when I talk to him wont you Irene?”

“Course I will, and I’ll be there for you whatever you decide to do, now come on, back to bed. You too Geoff.”

Irene stood up and picked the now sleeping baby up from Geoff and placed her back into the cot.

Annie walked over and looked down at the little girl and used a finger to rub her cheek “goodnight” she whispered and slowly made her way upstairs.

Geoff turned to Irene but before he could speak Irene ordered him back to bed before sitting down on the couch herself, leaning her head back and sighing a huge sigh!

End flashback

It was approaching lunchtime. Irene had filled Belle in on the events of the night before and then Belle had insisted she go and lie down for a few hours. Annie and Geoff had both remained in their rooms. Belle hadn’t heard either one of them stir and she assumed they where both still sleeping, exhausted from the events of the previous 24 hours.

Miles had called to say that Jai had returned home and that he would bring him over later that afternoon.

Belle had spent the rest of the morning taking care of the baby and pottering around the house.

When her phone rang she was not at all surprised to see Aden’s name on her caller I.D

“Hi hun” she said as she answered

“Hey beautiful, how’s it going?”

“Quiet, everyone’s asleep! Annie really opened up to Irene and Geoff last night which is great. I think they are all just exhausted.”

“They’e bound to be, especially Annie. Listen, the boat didn’t go out today so I’m done at work, shall I come over?”

“Well I am kinda bored on my own so yes please” she said with a smile. “you’ll just have to make yourself scarce if Annie does want to talk.”

“No problem. Hey, how are you bored anyway, aren’t you watching the baby?”

“Yeah but she’s sleeping too”

Aden laughed. “I’ll be there soon, just want to pick up a few things first O.K?”

“O.K see you soon, bye.”

Over an hour later Belle was just about to call Aden to see where he was when he walked through the door carrying a number of shopping bags. She was holding the baby who had woken up just after Aden’s call. He was smiling so much that Belle knew he was excited about something and she had a pretty good idea that that something was contained in the bags he had just put down on the counter. “You look like the cat that got the cream, what are you up to? She asked

Aden chuckled. “Well” he said before giving her a quick kiss “I thought this little lady could do with a few things so I nipped into Yabbie creek.” At that he lifted the baby out of Belles arms. She couldn’t hold back her smile when he lifted her up to his face and rubbed his nose against hers before giving her a kiss on the cheek then lowering her down and settling her against his chest as he had earlier.

“you know it’s a good job you two are so adorable together otherwise I might get jealous here, I think you might have found a new favourite girl!”

“Never babe, you’ll always be my number one ” he said leaning over to give her a kiss but this little one is definitely in the running for second place.”

“Nicole will not be happy! Especially when she finds out you’ve bought her gifts”

Aden laughed

“What’s in the bags anyway? Can I look?”

“sure” She walked over to the counter and looked into each bag. Her smile got wider and wider and if it was possible she thought at that moment she fell a little bit more in love with Aden. He had brought essentials like nappies, bottles, formula, muslins and sleep suits but there where also a number of gorgeous pink outfits and teddy bears in there too.

“I couldn’t resist the pink stuff” he said with a grin

“you are amazing you know that?”

“So you keep telling me”

Just as he leant forward to kiss her again the baby stirred and began to whimper

“I don’t think I’m the only one who’s jealous” laughed Belle

[bradyell]

Again thanks for the lovely comments

Aden is just too cute eh? Can't help but write him cute stuff - it's soooo easy to imagine

Enjoy this next chapter

Chapter 8

Aden, Belle and Irene where sitting around the table. The baby had been fed and was sleeping soundly in her cot which Belle had put in her room. Leaving the door open so that they would hear her if she cried.

Annie was lying down on the couch and Geoff had been convinced to go and see Nicole for a few hours.

They where all waiting for Jai and Miles to arrive.

Belle had finally managed to get Annie to open up a little to her and was happy that she had gotten the chance to let Annie know that she would be there for her whatever she decided to do.

Irene was looking through the things that Aden had bought on his shopping trip.

“Thanks so much for these Aden, it’s real good of you darl”

“No problem” He said with a shy smile “glad to help.”

“Didn’t I tell you he was perfect Irene” said Belle with a giggle

Aden shrugged his shoulders in a ‘what can I do gesture’ that Belle was all too familiar with.

“Hello” Miles had just walked into the kitchen followed by a very reluctant Jai Who, Aden thought, looked as though he was walking the green mile rather than into the house of his girlfriend.

Annie jumped up off the sofa then just stood still, as if rooted to the spot, staring at Jai.

“come on in and sit down” encouraged Irene “anybody want a cuppa?”

“I’ll get them Irene” said Belle

She stood up and walked to the kitchen followed by Aden as Miles, Jai and Irene all went and sat down in the lounge, Irene gently nudging Annie to sit back down on the couch.

“I’ll go and sit in your room babe, give you guys all chance to talk.” Aden was making good on his earlier promise to make himself scarce.

“Thank you” Belle said giving him a smile as he walked away from her and into her room.

“So who’s for a drink” she shouted through to the others.

“Coffee please Belle” said Miles

“Me too” Agreed Irene

The two teenagers both remained silent. Belle noticed that they where both sitting in the exact same positions, hunched over, elbows on knees, staring at the floor.

five minutes later Belle had made the drinks and carried them into the living room. She sat herself down next to Annie and placed a comforting hand on her back.

“So” said Miles “I’m not really sure where to start”

“I know love” said Irene “it’s been a bit of a shock to us all”

“you can say that again”

“Annie, Jai, Do either of you want to talk? Have you thought about what you want to do?” asked Belle

Neither of them took Belle up on her offer, both remaining as still as if they had been frozen.

“look whether you like it or not” she said firmly “you have a child together, you can stay silent for as long as you like but that is not going to change anything. The sooner you start talking to us the sooner we can begin to sort things out.”

“Belle’s right” continued Miles. There are options, we need to discuss what is going to be best for all of you in the long run and that includes the baby.”

“I don’t want to give her away” whispered Annie.

It was so quiet that Belle was the only one who heard her.

“It’s O.K Annie” she said rubbing her back

“What was that darl?”

“I don’t want to give her away” Annie repeated this time slightly louder. “I don’t want her to be adopted. I want her to stay here”

Belle was really proud of Annie at that moment. The topic of adoption had not been mentioned by anyone since the baby had arrived. Belle had been dreading it coming up, knowing that she would not be able to keep her opinion on the matter to herself. Her opinion was that she was wholeheartedly against the idea. Having been adopted herself she knew what a terrible effect it could have on a child.

“how do you feel about that Irene?” asked Miles

“Well, I can’t say I’d planned on having another little one around the place but if that is what Annie wants then I’m gonna support her. Jai, luvvie come on, how do you feel?”

“I don’t know” he shrugged “I’m too young to have a baby”

“Well you’ve got one” Belle snapped

“That’s right” said Irene “Look Jai, I understand that this is a huge shock for you to deal with, Annie at least knew this was going to happen so has already been able to think about what she wants to do. Nobody here is asking you to take on the baby full time all by yourself. We just want to know whether you want to be involved in making decisions about the baby. ”

“Irene’s right” said Miles when Jai didn’t respond “how do you feel about the baby staying here?”

Jai just shrugged his shoulders.

“O.K” Miles took matters into his own hands. “Irene, as long as you are sure that you don’t mind the baby staying here then Jai here will be fine with that. Kirsty and I will help out as much as we can but I think for now we should just let things settle down for a few weeks before we make any more formal arrangements.”

“That sounds like a good idea love”

“Can we go now?” Jai was already standing up and walking towards the kitchen

“Jai I think we should stay a bit longer”

“That’s alright Mile’s, let the poor love go home. He’s had a lot to take in and I’m sure he just needs a bit of time to himself.”

“thank you Irene” said Miles surprising her by leaning down to give her a hug. “you know where we are if you need anything”

“I do darl, thanks for coming over” Irene got up and walked miles to the door whilst Belle put her arms around Annie and gave her a hug.

“I’m really proud of you Annie”

“Really?” Annie sounded as if she hardly dared believe what Belle was saying

“Really, I think you’ve made the right decision about not having the baby adopted”

Irene, noticing the two girls chatting, decided not to interrupt and remained in the kitchen.

“I thought about it but them I remembered you talking about how you felt about being adopted, and how your adoptive family weren’t very nice to you. I think the baby will be better here with Irene and you and Geoff.”

“And you Annie. The worst thing about being adopted was not knowing who my real mother was and even though she might not be the best mother in the world I am so glad to have found Amanda. It might take a while Annie but I know you are going to love your baby and trust me she will be glad that you are her mother.”

“Thank you Belle”

“You’re welcome sweetie” she said hugging her tighter. “Why don’t I get Aden to bring the baby out here?”

“I don’t know”

“You don’t have to hold her or anything, there’s no pressure, I just think you need to get used to having her around.”

Annie took a deep breath

“O.K”

Belle left Annie and went to her bedroom slowly peeping her head around the door.

Her heart melted at the sight before her. The baby was still asleep, but instead of being in her cot as Belle had left her she was now lying on Aden’s chest and he too was fast asleep propped up on pillows, one hand gently placed on the babies back.

Belle quietly tiptoed into her room and over to her desk where she had left her camera. She couldn’t resist snapping a few pictures of her boyfriend looking so cute with the baby who looked utterly content lying there and , Belle thought with a smile, who could blame her!

She put her camera down and walked over to the bed. She placed one hand on the babies back next to Aden’s and ran the fingers of her other one through Aden’s hair

“Hey sleepy” she said as he opened his eyes

“Hi” he said trying to stifle a yawn “Miles and Jai still here?”

“No, they’ve left, I’ll fill you in later on what happened”

“O.K”

“Right now this little girl” she said looking down at the baby “needs introducing properly to her mummy”

“Wow! Is Annie ready for that”

“I think so, I mean I don’t know if she’s up for cuddles and stuff but she’s ready to say hi which is a start.”

Belle lifted the baby from him and cradled her in her arms

“She’s so cute”

“almost as cute as auntie Belle” he said sitting up and kissing belle‘s cheek.

“Come on honey, let’s go find mummy before mr smooth here gets carried away”

“Ha ha”

She carried the baby into the lounge, Aden following behind and sat down on the couch next to Annie. Annie looked at the baby and smiled.

“baby, this is your mummy”

Irene stood watching from the kitchen and Aden had taken a seat at the table, not wanting Annie to feel crowded.

Annie hesitantly lifted up her hand and took hold of the babies, smiling when she felt the small fingers close around hers. “Hi baby” she whispered

“you know” said Belle “We can’t keep calling her baby, she’s going to need a name.”

“I suppose so” said Annie

“any ideas?” asked Belle

“I like Meg. I used to have a doll named Meg”

“Meg is pretty, lets have a look” Belle looked down at the baby “Hi Meg” she said “Yeah I think it suits her what do you two think” she asked turning to Irene and Aden.

“I think it’s great” said Aden

Irene walked over and planted a kiss on the top of Belles head and then Annie’s “I think it’s perfect” she said wiping a tear from her cheek.

[bradyell]

Love reading your lovely comments guys thank you so much

enjoy!

Chapter 9

2 weeks later and the residents of the beach house where settling down into a routine revolving around the latest addition to their family.

Annie was slowly but surely getting used to the idea of being a parent. She was now taking an active role in looking after her daughter although she knew that she wouldn’t be able to do it without the unwavering support of Irene.

Jai had been over to visit a few times but he was still having problems dealing with the idea of parenthood and each time he had been to visit he had pointedly refused to look at Meg.

The other residents of summer bay had all been shocked to hear about the arrival of their latest resident, not least Colleen who had been caught gossiping about it by Irene who soon put her in her place. But they too where slowly becoming used to the idea and had all been great in offering support to Annie.

Aden groaned as he slightly opened one eye to squint at the clock on Belle’s nightstand and saw that it was 2.00am. He had to be up for work in 4 hours. He rolled over and was just starting to wonder why his girlfriends arms weren’t wrapped around him as usual when she walked into the room carrying a crying Meg - the reason Aden was now awake!

“What’s going on?” he asked sleepily.

“She’s been like this for ages” said Belle “none of us can settle her”

“has she been fed?”

“No, we didn’t think of that” she replied sarcastically “Of course she’s been fed! And burped and changed and rocked and walked around the room a million times!”

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Because you’ve got work tomorrow and besides what more could you have done super nanny?!”

Aden laughed knowing that Belle was only snapping at him like this because she was tiered and stressed out.

“Here, pass her over”

“No - you go back to sleep. I just came in here for my top” she said picking up a sweater off the back of a chair

“Belle, let me help, pass her over” Aden had sat himself up against the headboard and was now holding out his arms for the baby.

“O.K if you insist” she said placing Meg in his arms

“Right then young lady” he said, making himself more comfortable “what’s this all about huh?” the crying lowered to a whimper “There that’s it, that’s a bit better but it’s still not great is it missy? Come on uncle Aden has to get up for work soon, come on good girl” he used the back of his index finger to gently stroke her cheek as he spoke to her and Belle was amazed when, by the time he had finished talking the crying had completely stopped.

“How do you do that?” she said

“like I’ve said before - magic touch!” Aden looked up and could see that Belle wasn’t entirely impressed with his answer

Before he could respond to her look Irene and Annie came to the door “Why isn’t she crying anymore” asked Annie in a whisper

“Super manny” said Belle

“Well darl, whatever you did , well done! Said Irene.

“He didn’t do anything” said Belle slightly frustrated

“He stopped her wailing and that’s the main thing” said Irene

“Is she asleep?” asked Annie?

Aden looked down at the baby nestled against his chest “yeah, you want me to go and put her in her crib, save disturbing her?”

“Yes please” Annie whispered

Aden got up slowly off the bed and followed Annie out of the room followed by Irene.

When he returned Belle was in bed with her back to the door, covers pulled tight over her shoulder.

He slid in behind her wrapped his arm around her waist and began kissing the back of her neck. He was surprised when Belle didn’t respond. He leaned over her to look at her and was even more surprised to see a stony look on her face

“Hey, what’s up” he whispered into her ear

Belle didn’t respond

“Belle, what’s wrong”

“nothing” she mumbled pushing his hand away from where it was resting on her hip

“well you’re clearly lying Belle, what’s going on?”

She rolled over and looked at him, the stony look still firmly in place. “I was trying my best with Meg and then you come along and take her off me and like that” she clicked her fingers “she’s all cooing and happy and you look the hero and I’m just the stupid one who can’t even get a baby to sleep.”

“are you serious?”

“yes I’m serious, I was trying really hard with her Aden but she wouldn’t stop crying! She obviously doesn’t like me”

Aden nearly grinned at Belle’s words but forced himself not to sensing that Belle wouldn’t react well if he did.

“Babe, she doesn’t not like you she can just sense when people are stressed around her and that makes her stressed too.”

“I’m not stressed by her, I love her”

“I know that, but you were stressed at the situation, you wanted her to go to sleep and she wouldn’t so you where getting more and more tense and she picked up on that. The same with Irene and Annie. I’d just woken up so I was pretty chilled and that’s probably why she fell asleep on me. If I’d have been out there with you all I reckon it would have been a different story.”

“You think?”

“Yes I think! I mean come on, how could she not love you?”

“I don’t know….”

“Belle, you are great with her and she will adore you just as soon as she knows how to I promise!”

“O.K” she sighed

“Good, now come here so we can go to sleep” he said pulling her close to him.

The next day, after finishing work, Belle made her way to the diner where she was meeting Aden. They had put off telling anyone about their decision to move in together until all of the drama with Annie and the baby had died down, but had decided that morning that now was as good a time as any to tell Irene and Roman.

When she arrived she found Irene, Annie and Kirsty sat around a table together, Meg asleep in the pushchair that Miles had bought for her next to them.

“Hey guys what’s up? She said pulling up a chair and joining them.

“Kirsty was just suggesting that Annie and Meg go over to their place for a little while this evening” explained Irene. “Her and miles reckon that Jai might feel a bit better about seeing little Meg if he’s on his own turf so to speak”

“Yeah, that makes sense” said Belle “Does Jai know about it?

“I mentioned it to him” answered Kirsty “and he didn’t say no so maybe he’s coming round a bit”

“I sure hope so darl” said Irene “He’s missin out on so much already. The sooner he gets his backside into gear the better.”

“I think he will Irene but it’s going to take time. Don’t forget Annie had time to get used to the idea, this is all still really new to Jai”

“Kirsty I know that, I just don’t want him to regret missin out on the first months of his daughters life that’s all.”

“what’s all?” Nicole and Geoff had just arrived at the diner and Nicole, as nosey as ever, was keen to find out what she had missed.

“It’s none of your business Nicole” said Belle

“O.K , O.K I’m just trying to show an interest in my boyfriends family”

“Yeah right!” scoffed Belle

“So how’s my favourite niece?” asked Nicole looking down at Meg

“She’s not your niece Nicole” said Belle

“What, it’s O.K for Aden to be uncle Aden but I can’t be auntie Nicole?”

“It’s completely different Nicole, firstly Aden and I are in a solid, stable relationship, unlike you and Geoff who break up every 5 minutes. Secondly Aden spends a lot of time at our house helping to look after Meg and thirdly he was there when she was born.”

“Whatever” sulked Nicole

“Come on Nicole lets go get a drink” coaxed Geoff and the two of them walked over to the counter to order drinks from Roman.

“We better get going Annie” said kirsty

“Are you sure you’re O.K with this love?” asked Irene

“Yeah We’ll be fine wont me Meg” answered Annie standing up and manoeuvring the pushchair around the table “See you later”

“Yeah bye love”

“Bye Belle”

“Bye”

Belle was flicking through a magazine when Aden arrived, slightly bored now that Irene had got back to work and not wishing to join Nicole and Geoff. As much as she loved Geoff her tolerance of Nicole was very short and she’d already reached her limit that day.

Aden sneaked up behind her and placed his hand over her eyes “Guess who?”

“Please be brad pitt!”

“Even Better” he said with a chuckle as he removed his hands from her face and sat down opposite her.

“Better than Brad? You think?”

“You know babe!”

“I do” she said with a smile leaning over to kiss him hello.

“So are you sure you wanna do this?” he asked

“Do what?, tell Irene and Roman?”

“Yeah, well the whole moving in thing. I mean a lot has changed since I asked you. Are you sure you don’t want to stay at home a bit longer.”

“ We talked about this this morning. Yes a lot has changed but that just means Irene could probably do without me under her feet all the time, and you for that matter. We’ll still be around to help out.”

“as long as you’re sure”

“I’m one hundred percent sure”

“Good. In that case….”

He leaned back on his chair and looked behind him towards the counter

“Roman have you and Irene got a minute”

“Sure mate, just give us a tic”

“cool”

“What’s all this about?” asked Nicole from a nearby table

“Again none of your business” said Belle, not even bothering to turn to look at the girl.

“See you and Nicole are getting along as always” Aden teased

“She just gets on my nerves, she’s so nosey and spoilt and…”

“Let me guess, Nicole?” said roman sitting down

“Sorry Roman, I know she’s your daughter but…..”

“I understand Belle” he said with a chuckle.

“So what’s all this about?” asked Irene as she sat down

“We’ve got some news” said Belle “we decided before Meg arrived but thought we’d best wait a bit, you know, there was so much going on…”

“Spit it out girly”

“We’ve decided to move in together, get our own place” finished Aden

“surprise surprise” laughed Irene

Roman was grinning too “I don’t know Irene” he said “I mean this is a bit of a shock, they‘ve only been together over a year, can’t keep their hands or eyes off each other, practically live in each others pockets...”

“so you guys don’t mind” said Aden a huge smile splitting his face

“Nah mate, I’m really happy for you both” said Roman

“Here, here” agreed Irene “You two deserve all the happiness you can get I’m really pleased for you”

Belle was smiling too and leaned over to hug Irene “thank you” she said “are you sure you don’t mind? What with the baby and all?”

“Belle love, you’ve got to get on with your own life, we’ll miss you but we’ll manage without you.”

“Thank you - again!” Belle said with a grin

“We better get back to work” said Roman

As soon as Irene and Roman moved away from the table their seats where filled by Nicole and Geoff

“Wow!! You guys are moving in together, this is so exciting” squealed Nicole

“You where listening into our conversation?”

“Well yeah but……”

“Nic, will you ever learn?” said Aden

“It’s O.K babe” said Belle “Nicole is lucky I’m in a good mood”

[bradyell]

Here ya go guys

Chapter 10

Aden was sitting at a table in the diner staring at the newspaper laid out before him. He looked frustrated as he let out a sigh

“No luck mate?” asked roman as he walked over to the table placing a cup of coffee down in front of Aden

“Nothing! We’ve been looking for a place for a month now” he said the frustration clear in his voice. “There’re loads of places in Yabbie creek but Belle’s got her heart set on staying in the bay.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“I just wanna be with her Roman! I’d live anywhere but I can understand why she wants to be close by what with Meg and all.”

“I know it’s frustrating mate but something will come along eventually, I’m sure. Plus it’s not like you’re not seeing Belle in the mean time, I can’t remember the last time you spent the night at home!”

“Yeah sorry!” said Aden grinning

“You don’t need to apologise to me mate, I just hope Irene doesn’t mind having you there all the time?”

“Are you kidding? She loves me! I’m the official ‘stop Meg crying when no-one else can guy’!” Aden said with a laugh

“I did hear something about that but I wasn’t sure if I believed it or not”

“Believed what?” said Belle who had just arrived “Hi babe” she said giving Aden a kiss before sitting down.

“Aden was just telling me about his child minding skills but I’m not sure how much I believe him” said Roman grinning at Aden to let him know he was only teasing.

“Well you’ll be able to see proof in a second” said Belle. “Nicole and Geoff are on their way in with Meg and I could hear her crying from here.”

Sure enough at that moment Geoff and Nicole entered the diner, Geoff pushing a screaming Meg in her pushchair.

“Aden can you sort her out PLEASE!” said Nicole she has not shut up the whole way here.”

“This I have got to see” said Roman

Aden stood up and looked into the pushchair. “Well for a start you’ve got her arms all tucked into the blanket and she doesn’t like that do you honey?”

He pulled the blankets off her and lifted her out of the pushchair “Come here princess.”

“I thought I was your princess” sulked Nicole

“No you’re A princess, she’s MY princess there’s a difference Nic”

Roman and Belle where both laughing at the exchange.

“She’s still crying though” whispered Roman

“Just you wait and see” smiled Belle.

Aden held Meg against his chest and began talking to her in a soothing voice

“It’s O.K baby girl, has mean Nicole been upsetting you huh? I’m here now, it’s O.K”

As usual within seconds of Aden picking her up Meg had stopped crying and was now looking content snuggled against Aden’s chest and as usual the sight filled Belle’s stomach with butterflies.

She grinned over at Roman who in turn was grinning at Aden

“Wow, Mate, I’m impressed” he said “Now get Nic to stop moaning that quick and I’ll be REALLY impressed” Roman laughed.

“Hey!” said Nicole

“right I better get back to work” said Roman still laughing, “can I get you guys anything?”

“Coffee please” said Belle

“milkshake” Said Nicole and Geoff at the same time

“Coffee and two shakes coming up” said Roman walking towards the kitchen.

“So who wants this little one?” Asked Aden gesturing down to Meg

“Here, I’ll take her” said Geoff. Over the past month he had become used to the idea of being an uncle and was now comfortable with Meg, helping out with looking after her.

“So what are you two up to this afternoon?” asked Nicole.

“Flat hunting” said Belle, “We’re gonna go to the rental place to see if anything new has come up”

“What since you called them yesterday?” asked Geoff

“You never know” Aden said although he secretly agreed with Geoff. “What about you three what are your plans?” Geoff and Nicole had promised Annie they would have Meg for the afternoon so that she could catch up on some sleep.

“We’re gonna take Meg to yabbie creek” said Nicole

“Isn’t she a little young for shopping?” Aden asked with a raised eyebrow

“Nicole thought we could look into getting her ears pierced” said Geoff “I think she’s too….”

Geoff stopped talking when he noticed Nicole shooting daggers at him

“You’re joking right?” said Belle

“It was supposed to be a surprise” said Nicole glaring at Geoff

“Nicole I swear” said Belle “if that baby comes back with any holes in her that aren’t meant to be there you will be glad you got your own ears pierced because the cops will have to use your earrings to ID your body”

“Come on Belle” said Nicole “it will be so cute, Aden what do you think?”

Aden who was silently staring at Nicole didn’t answer her

“Aden?” Nicole repeated

He stood up and walked around the table towards Geoff, silently took Meg from him and walked back to his seat cradling her in his arms

“What are you doing?” said Geoff

“I’m taking Meg with me” said Aden “You guys can go to Yabbie creek and do what the hell you like but you are not taking her with you.”

“You aren’t her father Aden” said Nicole “Annie is her mother and she trusts Geoff and I to look after her.”

“Yes Nicole I do realise I’m not her father but…”

“What’s going on?” Roman had returned with the drinks and sensed the atmosphere around the table

“Nicole was just informing us of her plans to mutilate Annie’s baby this afternoon” said Belle

“What?”

“I just wanted to get her ears pierced” said Nicole “it’s not that huge a deal”

“Nic” said Roman “She’s 6 weeks old!”

“Do they even let babies have their ears pierced that young?” asked Geoff

“Probably not” said Roman

“It doesn’t matter whether they will or wont” said Aden “because she’s not going with you”

“Yes she is” said Nicole “Annie asked us to look after her today not you”

“But you clearly can’t be trusted. If….” said Belle

“Look Belle” Geoff interrupted “I probably wouldn’t have let her do it anyway”

“Probably?” Aden was still not amused

“O.K definitely! I definitely wouldn’t have let her do it! She’ll be fine with us honestly. You two have plans for this afternoon. We’ll just hang around here, maybe go for a walk along the beach - I promise we wont go anywhere near an ear piercing place!”

“I don’t know” said Belle

“how about if I keep an eye on them all” said Roman

“Aden?” said Belle

“I suppose” he said reluctantly looking down at Meg “but if anything happens to her…”

“What could happen to her here?” said Nicole rolling her eyes.

“She’ll be fine” promised Geoff

“O.K” agreed Aden he stood up and gave Meg a kiss before laying her in her pushchair “bye baby girl” he said “keep the covers from over her arms, she hates that” he said looking to Geoff

“sure thing mate” Geoff answered

“Come on then babe” he said to Belle “let’s go”

20 minutes later the couple where standing outside the window of the rental company looking at the cards in the window

“There’s nothing” said Belle frustrated “It’s not like we are asking for much”

“Why don’t we go inside and see if anything new has come in” said Aden although he didn’t hold out much hope.

“No harm in trying I suppose” said Belle

“That’s the spirit babe” he said with a smile before kissing her. “come on”

They walked into the building together and straight up to the agent that they had been dealing with for the past month. Belle felt like the woman was one of her friends at the moment she spoke to her that often!

“Hi Belle, Aden. I was just thinking about you guys. Something’s just come in that I think will be perfect for you.”

“Really?” Said Belle hardly daring to believe her

“What’s the catch?” said Aden not wanting to get his hopes up

“No catch!” said the agent. “ apartment, two bedrooms, 5 minute walk from beach, close to local amenities” she read from the paper in front of her.

“I mean I haven’t seen it myself, I have just got of the phone to the guy who’s place it is. He’s going overseas but wants to rent instead of sell, bit of income to fund his travels you know?”

“can we go and see it now?” Belle was beginning to get excited

“I can’t see why not, I’ll give the guy a call, tell him to expect you”

“Wow this is awesome, thanks so much” said Aden as the agent handed him a piece of paper with the address on.

The room they Belle and Aden were standing in was large and bright having large windows filling most of the front wall. One side of the room was taken up with a kitchen area with a breakfast bar separating it from the living area. There was a door leading off to the opposite side that led to a small hallway containing the doors to the two bedrooms and the bathroom, the front door led straight off the living area opposite the windows.

“It’s perfect, It’s so perfect”

“Babe are you squealing?” laughed Aden

“I can’t help it” said Belle “It’s just so perfect”

“Yeah you said that” he said putting his arms around her waist “but you’re right it is perfect” he bent his head down and kissed her gently and she reciprocated with just as much tenderness.

“This is our home” she whispered barely moving her lips away from his.

“I hope so baby” he replied kissing her again.

“Ahem” they were interrupted by the owner of the flat who had given them a few minutes to themselves. “so what do you think? Interested?”

“definitely interested” said Aden

“When can we move in?” Asked Belle.

“Wow!” Said the owner “you guys are keen”

“Well we’ve been looking for like a month” explained Belle “ and this is the first place that has been perfect for us, we just don’t want to miss out”

“I’m actually leaving next week - it’s a sort of last minute decision - so providing that everything works out with the rental company, references and security bonds and stuff I can’t see why you can’t move in then”

“Oh my god” squealed Belle

“Mate, that is great” said Aden shaking the guys hand “really really great”

He was happier than he thought it was possible to be and looking into Belle’s eyes he knew she felt the same.

“I can’t believe we have our own place” said Belle looking over at Aden.

They where pulling into the car park at the diner after having been to the rental office to make an official offer to rent the apartment. The agent already had the paperwork ready for them to fill in and they had arranged a bank transfer for the deposit. The agent told them that as long as their references (Irene and roman) checked out they could move in the following week.

“I know babe” he replied “no going back now” he said as he turned off the engine and leant over to kiss her “come on, let’s go break the good news”

They got out of the car and walked into the diner hand in hand

As soon as they reached the door however it became apparent that something was wrong and they wouldn’t be sharing their good news yet.

Annie came running up to them, tears streaming down her face “have you seen Meg?, please tell me you’ve got Meg?”

“No Annie, why would we have her, she was with Geoff and Nic!” Belle replied looking over Annie’s shoulder to see Nicole sat at a table looking almost as distressed as Annie. Irene and kirsty where also sat at the table and both wore worried expressions

“Annie, what’s going on?” said Aden placing a hand on Annie’s shoulder.

Just after you guys left Jai came in and asked if he could take Meg for a walk on the beach, just for 5 minutes , he’s been so much better with her recently you know, showing a bit more interest. Anyway Geoff thought it would be O.K so he let him take her. After about half an hour he still wasn’t back so Geoff went out to look for them and he found her pushchair on the beach but it was empty! He looked around but couldn’t see them anywhere so he came back here and called Miles and Kirsty but he they hadn’t seen him and now they’ve been gone for nearly two hours and everyone is out looking but they can’t find them anywhere!”

Annie hardly took a breath as she filled them in on what had happened.

Belle reached out to hug Annie and the girl collapsed into her arms “where’s my baby Belle? Where has he taken my baby?”