It's always been you

Chapter 48 - William Oliver Joseph Blake

LUCY POV

William Oliver Joseph Blake. My son. Ollie's son. He was the spitting image of his father. The blonde hair, the blue eyes, those Blake features that I knew would make him a heartbreaker one day. Oliver had chosen the name before he died. If it was a boy he wanted him named after our dads. The baby would obviously have Richards last name so Ollie requested that we name the baby William if it was a boy.

So I did.

The middle names were self explanatory. I wanted him to have that little bit of his father. And in the past 6 months Joe had been my lifeline. Without him I would have fallen to pieces and fallen deeper into that depression pit I was slowly digging my way out of.

An hour after he was born and I was in recovery, Joseph was holding him as he stood next to my bedside. "Have you chosen a name yet Luce?" I smiled tiredly at him. "William. William Oliver Joseph Blake." Joseph looked up in shock. "What?" "Ollie picked the name before....that night." "But....Joseph?" "Joe if I didn't have you I probably wouldn't be here to give birth. You kept me going. And I never would have gotten through that labour with out you at my side." Joes eyes filled with tears and a couple ran down his face, dropping on to the baby's blanket.

"Joe don't drown my son." Joe chuckled, a wet and soggy chuckle. He perched on the edge of the bed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders before dropping a kiss on to my head. "I'm so proud of you Luce. You have no idea how proud I am. And I'm so touched and so honoured." We both looked down at Williams little face as he slept snuggled in to his Uncle Joes arms. "He's so perfect Luce. I've never seen a baby this beautiful before."

We'd taken to calling the baby Billy. The day I was discharged from the hospital with the baby, Joe met me at the service entrance to the hospital to avoid the media out the front. They'd got wind that I'd been admitted in to the labour and delivery ward and show up in droves.

We quickly got Billy into his car seat and drove away without getting caught thankfully. We drove out of the city to head to Sarah and Richards. I was sitting in the back of the car with the baby whilst Joe drove. David had already taken Freddie to his parents house for us.

As Joe drove I rested my head against my head rest and watched my son as he slept. He really was the image of his father. I saw Ollie every time I looked at him. I felt like I needed to talk to Joe properly and I couldn't do that from the back seat. "Joe can you pull over?" "What's wrong are you ok? Is Billy ok?"

He pulled on to the side of the road and I climbed out taking a few deep breaths of fresh air before climbing into the front passenger seat. "Luce you ok?" "Yeah I just want to talk to you properly. Keep going." Joe looked over his shoulder before pulling back in to the traffic trying to escape the city.

"Whatcha wanna talk about Luce?" I hesitated. Not knowing how to put in to words what I needed to say. "Joe I think you need to go back to the city." "Have you changed your mind about staying with Sarah and Richard?" "No. I think YOU should go back to the city." "What why? Have I upset you?" "No! No absolutely not! I just-....I feel like you've completely put your life and your career on hold for me." "Luce I-..." "you'd moved in with Camille just before...everything happened. And you've barely left my side ever since. You deserve to be happy and live a life together. Not looking after a widow with a baby." "Lucy don't you ever say that about yourself! You are so much more to me than that! Lucy you're my best friend! And your husband was my other best friend! I'm not leaving you! I promised I wouldn't! I promised you wouldn't be alone!"

He had tears in his eyes now which he swiped at quickly. "Joe I'll never be alone. You're right. I'll have Billy. And I'll have Sarah and Richard if I need anything." "You want me to go? You don't want me around anymore?" "No Joe that's not it at all. Look just think about it. You should be out auditioning and landing awesome roles. Les Mis was a hit and it's only going to open doors for you. Get out there and find your next big project." "Luce I don't care about that shit anymore." "Yes you do. You know you do. Just promise me you'll think about it. I think I'm going to be ok. Getting out of the city will be good for me I think." "I'm not leaving you and Billy until I KNOW you're going to be ok." "Joe I can't be responsible for you putting your life on hold." "You're not. I am. End of discussion Luce."