Paige, Demi and Stacey had all been friends with Frankie for years. They"d even been with her on the night she"d first met Jed in the Berwick Manor.
What we gonna do? She"s due to have his baby soon," Stacey asked the other two.
Paige shrugged. None of them had seen much of Frankie since she"d moved in with Jed. I don"t think we should get involved. My dad used to work with gypsies and he reckons they shouldn"t be crossed," Demi said.
Sod that I don"t wanna get involved, then," Paige agreed.
Stacey was still in shock as she followed the other two girls into the club. She had known Frankie a lot longer than the others since infants" school. They had always been very close until recently and Stacey knew, as a good friend, it should be her duty to tell Frankie.
As she paid her entrance fee, Stacey shivered. She didn"t like the look of that Jed, there was something about him that gave her the creeps.
Back at the hospital, Frankie was in the final stages of her labour.
Push, just f.u.c.king push," Alice yelled.
Insisting that Alice move out of her way, the midwife spoke gently to Frankie. I can see the baby"s head. We need you to push again, Frankie. Take deep breaths, my love."
Frankie was petrified. Joey had pa.s.sed out ten minutes ago and had to be carried out of the room. I can"t push any more," she screamed tearfully.
Yes, you can. Come on, you can do it," the midwife urged her kindly.
For f.u.c.k"s sake, Frankie, push," Alice shouted.
The midwife turned to Alice. You are not helping me or Frankie by shouting and swearing. One more word and I shall have to ask you to leave the room."
Wishing more than anything in the world that her own mum or Jed was by her side, Frankie shut her eyes and pushed as hard as she could.
That"s it, Frankie, you"re doing great. Now take a deep breath and see if you can push one more time."
Frankie screamed blue murder as she strained and pushed with all her might.
As the midwife grabbed the baby and tapped it on the back, it immediately let out its first cry.
What s.e.x is it?" Alice asked, trying to get a closer look at the child.
The midwife ignored Alice and smiled at Frankie. You have a beautiful little girl, Frankie," she said.
Unable to control her emotions, Alice leaped up and down with excitement. Thank you, G.o.d. Thank you so much." Finally, after years of want and heartbreak, Alice had got her baby girl.
Over in Tilbury, Jed had just been given a blinding blow-job by the insatiable Dawn. He"d already s.h.a.gged her twice and she still couldn"t keep her hands off him. Taking a breather, he zipped up his jeans and walked over to Sammy.
Did ya s.h.a.g yours? That Dawn"s a right little goer," he whispered in his cousin"s ear.
Sammy nodded and laughed. Where"s ya phone, Jed? My battery"s dead and I"d better phone home, make some excuse."
Dawn and Lisa were both inside the dirty toilet, probably swapping stories.
Seeing them reappear, Sammy went outside to call his bird. Sorry I never rang you earlier, Kerry. Me and Jed only f.u.c.king broke down in that motor. We didn"t want the gavvers on our tail, so we did a runner from it and we"ve just found a B&B back in Norfolk," he lied.
As long as you"re OK, that"s all that matters. I"m cooking us a nice piece of roast beef for when you get home," Kerry replied.
Sammy smiled as he ended the phone call. He"d moved in a gorjer girl, just like Jed had. Travelling girls were too much grief, but choose a gorjer girl and you can get away with murder. Jed and he always stuck to the same stories, so unless they were caught red-handed, there was little chance of either of them getting rumbled.
When the phone started to ring, Sammy automatically answered it, thinking it was Kerry again. What"s up?" he asked, as he recognised Jimmy O"Hara"s voice.
As Jimmy waffled on, Sammy ran into the trailer and urged his cousin to come outside.
What?" Jed shouted, as Sammy handed him the phone.
Jed, I dunno where you are, but you"d better get your a.r.s.e up Oldchurch. Frankie"s had the chavvie. Your mother"s over the moon, son, you"ve got a baby girl."
Jimmy ended the call and laughed. He was a man of few words, but showed his emotions in other ways. The little girl that had just been born was an O"Hara and, with Eddie Mitch.e.l.l looking at a life sentence, Jimmy would be its only grandad.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
Jed drove like a lunatic as he made his way towards Oldchurch Hospital. Sammy was sitting beside him and they"d just dumped the two girls at an all-night cab office in Dagenham.
I"ll give you a call," Jed told Dawn, slinging a tenner at her for the fare. She"d already written her number down for him earlier.
Good luck. I hope your dad"s OK," Dawn shouted as Jed drove off.
Obviously, Jed had had to lie to her. He"d told her that his dad had been involved in a bad car accident. Telling her his fiancee had just given birth to their first child would have gone down like a sack of spuds.
Sammy turned down the volume on the radio. Now the girls were out of the way, they could talk properly. Congratulations, Jeddy boy. I bet you"re excited, ain"t ya? What did you say you were gonna call her?"
Jed smiled. He couldn"t wait to meet his daughter. Georgie. Me mum chose it. You remember her sister, don"t ya, the one that died of cancer? Her name was Georgina. Frankie didn"t like it at first, so we made a deal. We put Georgina on the birth certificate for me mum"s sake, then we shorten it to Georgie."
Remembering Jed"s choice of name if the baby had been born a boy, Sammy laughed. Bet you"re hoping for a mush next time, ain"t ya?"
Jed grinned. Yeah, I"ll have to knock Frankie up again. Little Harry boy"ll be running about before you know it."
With the effects of the ecstasy tablets still firmly in their system, both Jed and Sammy burst out laughing.
Even though it was now the early hours of the morning, Frankie was still wide awake. She"d just been moved into a little room and Jed"s family had been told by the midwife to let her and the baby get some rest. They still hadn"t gone home Frankie could hear Alice"s voice in the corridor. Jed"s mother had driven Frankie bonkers; she hadn"t left the baby alone. All Frankie had wanted was some time on her own with Joey and Dom, but Alice refused to budge.
We"ll come back tomorrow, sis," Joey promised as he and Dominic had left.
Frankie felt sorry for her brother. The O"Haras were a loud, overpowering family and Joey had obviously felt like a fish out of water among them.
Staring at her beautiful daughter lying in the cot next to her, Frankie took in her features. She had a mop of dark hair, a cute b.u.t.ton nose and long eyelashes like Jed"s.
Frankie thought of her own family and the odd tear ran down her cheek. Her mum would have been ecstatic and so proud. Little Georgie was exceptionally beautiful and Frankie was sure that her dad would have accepted her in time, even though he hated Jed. Frankie thought of her nan and grandad. Her nan, especially, used to drive her mad at times, but Frankie wished she could be here now.
As baby Georgie began to cry, so did Frankie. Her whole family had been ripped to shreds and the thought of bringing her baby up with Alice and Jimmy O"Hara"s parental guidance filled Frankie with dread.
Jed spotted his family immediately as he ran towards the maternity ward. His mum, dad, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins they were all there.
Alice grabbed her son in a bear hug. Chucked us out, the old rabbit"s crotch of a nurse did. Oh, Jed, go and see Georgie girl. She"s the most beautiful little chavvie I"ve ever seen in my life. Looks just like you, she does. Thank you boy, you"ve made me the happiest mother alive."
Filled with emotion, Jed went off in search of Frankie.
They"re both asleep," the nurse on duty told him bluntly. She"d had enough of this particular family earlier and felt incredibly sorry for Frankie, whom she liked immensely.
Jed had never taken no for an answer in his life and he wasn"t about to start now. I"m the child"s father. I have every right to see my woman and my daughter and if you try to stop me, I promise you"ll regret it."
Desperate to avoid a scene, the nurse led him to Frankie"s room. It had been her idea to put Frankie in a side room, as she didn"t want the O"Haras upsetting all the other families on the maternity ward. Wait here," she ordered, as she opened the door.
Frankie had her eyes shut, but was still awake. Her body felt battered and bruised, but the nurses had told her she"d had a relatively easy labour compared to most first-time mothers.
Your boyfriend"s here, Frankie. Are you awake?" the nurse asked.
Frankie opened her eyes and smiled. She wished Jed had been there for the birth, but she wasn"t particularly angry with him. He"d only been out working, and Georgie was so gorgeous that any earlier annoyance had now evaporated.
As Jed strolled into the room, he felt his chest swell with pride. Tears filled his eyes as he stared at his perfect daughter. Can I hold her?" he whispered.
Frankie nodded. I"m your dad, Georgie girl," Jed said, as he tenderly lifted his daughter out of her cot and planted a kiss on her forehead.
The scene was an emotional one. Jed kissed Frankie, handed her the baby and sat on the edge of the bed. I"m really sorry you had to go through it on your own, babe. I"ll never forgive meself for not being here with ya. I"ll make it up to ya though, I promise."
As baby Georgie gurgled, Frankie handed her back to Jed. Why wasn"t your phone on? You promised me that it would be."
Sammy and I had murders, Frankie. The chordy motor broke down and we had to do a runner and leave it in the middle of the road. I had so many phone calls to make to sort stuff, then the battery went dead on me. I"ll tell you what I"ll do, I"ll buy another phone. If I"ve got two, you"ll always be able to get me on one of the numbers. You and little Georgie girl are my life, Frankie, and I promise I will never let either of you down ever again."
Joey turned up at his grandparents" house at nine o"clock the following morning. He was on his way to the hospital with Dominic, but had decided to deliver the news of Frankie"s baby in person. It had been too late to ring them last night, so Joey decided to pop in while he waited for Mothercare to open.
h.e.l.lo boys, what a lovely surprise," Joyce exclaimed, as she opened the front door.
Ushering them into the living room, she went off to the pigeon shed to locate her husband. Ordering Stanley to get his a.r.s.e indoors and make polite conversation, Joycie made a brew.
How"s the driving lessons going, Dominic?" she shouted from the kitchen.
Not great, Mrs Smith. I ran over a cat last week. I think the instructor is losing patience with me," Dom replied honestly.
Joey laughed. Dominic had promised to buy a nice sports car when he finally pa.s.sed. Trouble was, he was no Stirling Moss, and had already failed five tests. His inability to pa.s.s had since become a standing joke between the pair of them.
h.e.l.lo, nice weather, isn"t it?" Stanley said politely, as he plonked himself in the armchair.
Joyce scowled at her husband as she brought the tea tray in. You"ve got pigeon s.h.i.t all over them trousers, Stanley. Go and change "em," she shouted.
Joey grabbed Stanley"s arm. Stay there, Grandad. Dom and I can"t stay long. We"ve got a cab waiting outside. I only popped in because I really need to tell you both something."
What"s up?" Joyce asked.
Frankie had a little girl early hours of this morning. Beautiful she is. Six pound, seven ounces and she"s called her Georgie."
Joyce pursed her lips. Frankie made her choice, Joey. Everything that"s happened is partly her fault and I"ll never forgive her for ruining her own mother"s funeral. We want nothing more to do with her, do we, Stanley?"
Stanley nodded automatically. There was no point in him saying anything, n.o.body ever listened to him.
Desperate to bridge the gap between his grandparents and sister, Joey tried a different tactic. Look, Nan, I was up that hospital last night and I met Jed"s family properly for the first time. Jed weren"t even there, no one could get hold of him. His mum is awful, really common, and if we don"t do something, I"m worried what will happen to Frankie and the kid."
Joyce wasn"t in the mood for sob stories. Silly little cow made her own bed, let her bleedin" well lie in it," she said coldly.
Joey stood up and urged Dom to do the same. His nan was so obstinate at times, there was no reasoning with her.
Stanley said goodbye to the lads and was relieved when they left. Ever since he"d found out Joey and Dominic were lovers, he was at a loss knowing what to say to them.
Joycie hugged both Joey and Dom. As they got into the cab, she waved and slammed the front door.
Aware that Joyce was crying, Stanley ran into the hallway. What"s the matter?" he asked.
Frankie, the baby, everything, Stanley. If our Jess was here, she would know how to handle all this. If only she could give us a sign or something."
Stanley took his wife into his arms. Life"s a funny old game, but one thing you can guarantee is I"ll always be here for you, darling."
Frankie wasn"t having a very good morning. She felt sore, tired and had had more visitors than a female knocking shop in a men"s prison.
As Jed showed out yet another eight people she"d never met before or ever wanted to see again, Frankie started to cry.
What"s up?" Jed asked, rushing over to her bed.
I"m tired, Jed. I don"t want no more visitors," she sobbed.
Jed held Frankie in his arms. Leave us alone for five minutes, Mum," he ordered.
Alice had sat in the room all morning. She was besotted with her granddaughter and it was unbearable to be parted from her for even five minutes.
Why don"t me and your dad sit outside and look after Georgie girl, while you and Frankie have some time to yourselves?" Alice offered.
No, leave her here," Frankie said abruptly.
Gesticulating for his mum to leave them alone, Jed waited for the door to shut before he spoke. Are you OK, babe? Let me know what"s wrong and I"ll sort it."
Frankie clung to him. All these people coming in and out. I feel like s.h.i.t and I hate it, Jed. Your mum won"t leave me or the baby alone. I know everybody has brought nice presents for us and I do appreciate it, but I need to get some sleep and rest now. Please tell them all to go home, Jed, please."
Jed sighed. No one means to be a nuisance, babe. Travelling families are like this and you"re part of one now. Everyone gathers when a baby is born, it"s the way we"re brought up."
But I ain"t got no family of me own here," Frankie sobbed.
Seeing how distressed she was, Jed knew he had no choice other than to go and speak to his family. Listen, I"ll go and get rid of everyone. I might even pop home and have a shower meself. I"ll take some of these presents home, shall I? And I"ll come back later when you"ve had some sleep."
Frankie nodded. Come back on your own though, Jed. I want to spend some time with just you and Georgie."