Wow, I can't believe this is the last chapter of this story... I hope you've all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it... Anyway here it is... the end of Sins of the Father... and The Life and Times of Bear and Missy... which makes me very sad... :-(

Chapter 33.

Late on the 23rd November Joey rushed Lauren to the hospital. He had been off shift this time so was there when the labour started. It had been a more complicated pregnancy than Ella Mae had been. LoLo had really struggled, with morning sickness (whatever that was – although Missy assured me it wasn't nice) and she'd fainted a couple of times too. This alarmed everyone and Joey had told me that the doctor was concerned about her blood pressure. Again, I didn't really understand what this meant but I guessed it was a bad thing. Anyways after that point everyone kept a close eye on her… which led to a pretty miserable LoLo, I can tell you. She'd had a bit of a meltdown when she was seven months pregnant and she and Joey had had a huge fight. Joey had stormed out of the house and he stayed with Uncle Grant that night (despite daddy always saying you should never go to sleep on an argument).

Lauren went over to the Vic the next day, one solitary sunflower in her hand and she apologised to Joey. They came back home and it was just as well mummy and daddy had taken Ella Mae out for the day because they spent the afternoon in their bedroom… making lots and lots of noise. They were both all smiles again that evening and peace was once again restored to the household.

*JL*JL*

Mummy and daddy looked after Ella as we all waited for news from the hospital. We had no idea about how long they were going to be and it was a really really long time before the telephone rang. It was two whole nights after they left the house in fact. It was mummy who answered the phone but she soon called for Ella to come through. She held the phone to Ella's ear.

"Hi dada…" she whispered, bouncing on her toes in excitement. She wasn't the only one. My little bear heart was racing. "Weally?" She gasped. I couldn't tell what that meant. Was it a boy or a girl? Mummy looked at her in concern when she saw tears on Ella's face.

"Sweetheart?" she said.

"I'm a big sista, Ganny…"

"You are?" She said, smiling at her.

"I's so happy, Ganny…" Ella Mae whispered.

"Is dada still on the phone?" Mummy asked. Ella Mae nodded. "You should talk to him then, darling."

"Hewwo dada…" she said softly. "Are you gonna come home now?" He said something at the other end and I saw Ella Mae frown, her bottom lip quivering slightly. "I's miss you's…"

"Darling, how about Granddad and I take you to see mummy and daddy?" Mummy said.

"Pease, Ganny…" she said. "Want mama and dada…"

Mummy took the phone away from Ella Mae and put it back to her ear, "Joey? Shall dad and I bring her down? I think she needs a hug from her mama and dada…" She smiled as Joey spoke to her, "Are you going to tell me then?" she asked. Another pause, "Do I have a grandson or a granddaughter?" She said and her smile grew, "Oh, darling, congratulations…" Ella tugged on her hand and mummy looked down at her, "I'd better go… we'll see you soon, sweetheart." The call ended not long after that and I still didn't know. Mummy lifted Ella into her arms and started to walk up the stairs, "Let's change you darling into a pretty dress, shall we?" Ella nodded. As she walked past she picked me up, "Bear, what are you doing out here… You are coming with us… Joey wants you to come with us to the hospital."

I was shocked. Joey wanted me there? My heart was beating even faster now. WILL SOMEONE TELL ME IF IT WAS A BOY OR A GIRL? PLEASE?

*JL*JL*

The answer to that was a resounding no and it wasn't until we got to the hospital and stood beside Lauren as she lay in the bed that I got any closer to finding out.

"Mama…" Ella said, a little bit too loudly.

"Baby girl, a little quieter honey, you'll wake your brother…" Lauren said.

IT WAS A BOY! They had one of each. I was so excited. I don't think I'd been as excited as this since Joey had been born and I was given to him.

"Down, Ganddad…" Ella said softly. Max lowered her onto the bed and she launched herself up towards LoLo only to be lifted off the bed again by Joey.

"Careful sweetheart," Joey whispered to her, "Do you want to meet your brother?" he asked her and she shook her head, surprising everyone.

"Want mama…" she breathed.

Joey frowned slightly but moved to the top of the bed and placed Ella Mae on LoLo's lap. Lauren hugged her tightly and Ella started to cry. "Baby girl, what's wrong?"

"Missed you, mama…" she sobbed.

"I missed you too, darling." Lauren said, kissing the top of her head. "Why don't you want to see your brother?"

"He might not like me…" she said.

Joey smiled, remembering a time when he'd said the very same thing. He knelt beside the bed so he was looking at his little girl, "How could he not like you, Ella Mae? You're his big sister… he is going to love you for the whole of his life." He told her gently.

"You fink so, dada?"

"I do, Ella… He will love you and you will love him…" Joey whispered.

"Where is he, dada?" she asked hesitantly.

"He's over here… do you want to see him now?" he asked.

"Pease…" she whispered.

Joey stood again and moved the crib on the other side of the bed a little closer so we could all see him. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet the latest addition – and probably last addition – to our family." He said, smiling at Lauren affectionately. "Please welcome Lucas Christopher Branning… born at 3.23am today, Sunday 25th November 2018."

We all stared at the small bump in the crib, a little boy who was sleeping peacefully. "He's beautiful, darlings," Mummy said as she moved closer to him.

"Do you have Bear?" Joey asked and I saw LoLo smile at him. Mummy pulled me out of her bag and passed me to him. Joey looked me in the eyes and I started to get a little worried. "I've got a big request, Bear."

"You do?" I whispered, feeling all kinds of scaredy now. I hadn't felt like this since the night when our real mummy died.

"I'm going to give you to Lucas, Bear." He said carefully and a huge lump formed in my throat. He was giving me away? Did he not want me anymore? "Well, maybe I should say that I'm loaning you to him. I'm a big boy now and I don't need you as much as I used to…" I frowned because I'm not so sure he's accurate with that. "And I need you to look after our little boy… just like you looked after me when I was his age. He's a special little boy… and he needs someone just like you, Bear to be there for him. I wouldn't trust any other bear with him."

I took a couple of deep breaths as I thought through what he'd said. This was a really big step for me. Did I want to be someone else's Bear? I kinda liked being Joey's… I blinked as I stared up at him and I could see him watching me carefully. I was torn… because it was a great privilege that he'd asked me to do this. I swallowed and licked my lips, taking one last deep breath. "I would be honoured to do that, JoJo…" I whispered.

Joey hugged me tightly, whispering in my ear as he did so, "I'll still come and speak to you every now and again, Bear… I just need you to look after my little boy for me…"

"I can do that, Joey. You know I'd do anything for you. You're my bestest friend…"

THE END.

A/N: So there you go and that really is the end this time. Thank you once again to Eastendersfan444 – this story wouldn't have been written without her… and probably would've been abandoned. Thank you to all of the guest reviews I've received… getting reviews makes me want to continue writing. Send me one last review – you know you want to. I'm working on my next story as I write this... it might be a week or two till it's ready. I had hoped to have it ready to start posting straight away... but I'm adding to it as I thought of something else... so you're going to have to wait a little while. Sorry!