Love Drunk 2.0: Chapter One

Remember when a certain little chef fell in love with a certain little rock star? Remember when they had a beautiful little girl? And how she was conceived in a broken down lift? How, after a very turbulent time, they went on to have another child, a boy, and then another? What happened to them? Well you're about to find out! Welcome to Love Drunk 2.0, the story picks up 14 years after the final chapter of Love Drunk. This is Keira's time and her story will be no less turbulent than her parents. This is the story of 20 year old Keira Maloney and her discovery of true love through obstacles that challenge everything she believes in! Hang on because it's going to be a bumpy ride...

"She's coming home!!!" Lainie Maloney giggled like a child as she got off the phone.

"When, when?" her husband demanded.

"Friday, when term finishes as usual!" she shrugged as Dexter frowned at her.

"She's not bringing home any boyfriends is she?" 

Lainie laughed and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

"No Dexy, she's not!"

Keira Roxanne Maloney arrived home at the mansion she and her family had shared with far too many people for far too many years. Her childhood consisted of touring the world with her father and his band, Sweet Cacophony. She had a happy upbringing, she couldn't deny that, despite her first year of life being the most turbulent of her parents' relationship. 

When she was born, her mother and father weren't together. In fact they'd never been a couple, they loved to tell everyone they met the story of Keira's conception. One drunken night in a broken down lift resulted in Lainie Robertson falling pregnant to Dexter Maloney. And although it took them four years to get together, they got there in the end. As Keira looked up at the top floor where her parents lived, she wondered if she would ever find love. Would she ever find the happiness her parents had?

Suddenly her father came racing out of the front door towards her like he did every summer. Hugging her so tightly that she couldn't breathe, she could have sworn he'd lost more weight since she last saw him. "KEE BEE!" he announced excitedly.

"Hey daddy!" Keira croaked under the pressure of his embrace. Dexter Maloney was supposed to be taking things easy, a couple of years before he had a heart attack that almost killed him. There was a history of heart problems in his family and when he took ill, his wife and children were terrified they would lose him. His father Jim died of a heart attack as did his grandfather William. But he was still here, and as adorably annoying as ever!

"Kee Bee I missed you so much!"

"Daddy, don't!" Keira tried not to cry at the sight of her father's teary eyes. "You had mum and Luke and Damey!"

"It's not the same!" he mumbled and took hold of her hands in his. "You're my little Kee Bee..." he leaned in and whispered "...you're my favourite!"

Keira's mother hadn't changed a bit since she left. Standing in the kitchen, doing what she did best, cooking up a masterpiece! Keira might have been a 20 year old woman now, but she still loved her mum's cooking. "Hey honey!" her mother beamed and gave her a less painful hug than her father.

"Kee Bee, wanna watch some DVDs with me later?" Dexter butted in as Lainie sighed in annoyance.

"Dexy, you've said hello now let me have a moment with our first born, hmm?" she scolded him as he ignored her.

"Whatever, she's daddy's girl, aren'tcha Kee Bee?" he grinned as Keira laughed. She just couldn't get mad at him, he was such a child! Sometimes she wondered what her mother ever saw in him besides good looks.

After spending a little time with her mum and dad, Keira settled into her room before she sought out her brothers. Luke was out somewhere, probably chasing Rosie Mitchell around now that she had also returned from university. Luke worked as a roadie for Sweet Cacophony, he had no desire to go to university like Keira, Rosie and Daisy. Keira felt less lonely when she was joined by the Mitchell twins this term, there was a year between them and they were always close. Luke and Rosie had been fond of each other since they were children, Keira only wished they would do something about it now they were technically adults!

Damon, Keira's youngest brother came breezing into her bedroom with a goofy grin on his face, he was only 14 and didn't quite understand the concept of knocking. "Keeeee!" he chuckled and punched her lightly on the arm.

"Hi Damey, miss me?"

"Nope!" he laughed even harder and ducked as if he expected his sister to hit him back. "Your room still smells of girl!" he stuck out his tongue in disgust.

"And you still smell of stinky Damey pants!" she retorted as he scowled at her.

"What even is that?" he threw himself onto the bed and spread his arms out, letting out a huge sigh he wriggled all over Keira's duvet. "Now your bed smells of it, whatever it is!"

"Where's Luke?" Keira changed the subject as she looked her baby brother up and down with amusement, oh how she'd missed him.

"He's gone round to the Mitchell's to see if uncle Drew needs help with the horses or something!" Keira looked Damon in the eyes and he squirmed.

"So, basically he's just made a lame-o excuse to see Rosie?"

"Probably, he wants in her knickers!" Damon let out a low pitched laugh and squinted at her. "He's been waiting for her to get back for like...ever! I hear him mas..." Keira talked over him.

"Okay Damey that's...quite enough!"

"What?" he gave her a puzzled look, "All I said was he likes to fantasise about her while wan..."

"DAMEY!" Keira yelled as their mother appeared at the door.

"Dinner's ready!" she smiled, then looked from one child to the other, "Where's your brother?"

Luke Ashton Maloney stood in the Mitchell's kitchen waiting to get a glimpse of Rosie. Her father Drew knew exactly why he was there, and it had nothing to do with the horses. "The girls just got back for the summer an hour ago by the way, do you want to say hi or..." he smiled wryly as Luke blushed.

"Oh, really? Well yeah it would be rude not to say hello huh?" he laughed nervously as Drew winked and went to the bottom of the stairs.

"GIRLS??? Luke's here, wanna come say hi?" Luke heard the thump of feet running downstairs as Rosie suddenly appeared at the bottom fussing with her hair and her clothes. Breathlessly she replied,

"Thank you daddy!" and made eye contact with Luke, who was feeling as nervous as she looked. "Hey Lukey!" she smiled.

"Hey Rosie! You look great, that's a lovely top you're wearing!" he could hear Drew groaning behind them at his feeble attempt at flattering her.

"Oh Luke, your dad you ain't kid!" Drew shook his head and left them to it.

"So!" Luke finally spoke up.

"So!" Rosie answered back as they stood awkwardly, ten feet apart.

Daisy Mitchell spent most of her time daydreaming, about Asta, the family's elderly horse, she loved her with all of her heart. As she headed out to spend more time with her, she had no idea what her twin sister saw in Luke Maloney, who she expected at that moment was stammering away as Rosie grew more and more frustrated!

"I'm going to see Fallen Angels play tomorrow at the coffee house with Dex and Ash, to give the boys some moral support. Do you think the girls might want to go?" Drew asked his wife as she nodded and smiled.
"Yes Andrew, I think James, Damon and Rory need all the support they can get!"

Just then, Isaac came racing towards his mother and father.
"Can I come? Can I?" Charlotte ruffled his long black hair, scruffy like Drew, and smiled.
"Oh sweetheart, you're too young to be out so late. You need to stay home and take care of me, I can't be left all alone!"
"Yeah Isaac!" Drew piped up, "You need to be man of the house with me gone!" The nine year old smiled proudly and nodded.
"Okay, I guess all the Mitchell men can't be away at the same time!"

"Oh Andrew, you always know exactly what to say!" Charlotte gushed and hugged her husband.
"Yeah, it's my gift!" Drew laughed softly.

"I think Rosie will enjoy it very much, especially if young Luke is there!" Charlotte winked.
"I'm afraid that boy needs a boot up the backside Char! At this rate he and Rosie won't be getting married until they're our age!" Drew laughed again, but he seriously believed that Dex needed to have a word with his son and give him a nudge in the right direction.

Ashton Maloney and his wife Erin still lived at the mansion with their two sons, James and Liam. After years of trying for a baby and finally giving up, Erin miraculously fell pregnant with James. Two years later Liam came along and completed their family. Erin had been through a very traumatic birth and didn't want to go through it again. Ash understood, he would have loved to have a daughter, but he was content with his two boys.

As he and Dexter sat together, like they usually did after dinner, he could tell that his younger brother was happy now that Keira was home. There was always a special bond between the two of them, one that Ash envied, maybe it was a father/daughter thing. Ash loved his sons but he didn't have the connection Keira and Dex had. "You know what?" Ash nudged his brother.
"What?" Dex smiled curiously.

"Erin is still young enough to get pregnant again. I always wanted a daughter, and I don't mind the practice!" Ash winked as
Dexter looked at his brother with mock disapproval, 
"You're a dirty old man, you do know that right?" he laughed softly and shook his head. Ash shrugged with a nonplussed expression and replied,
"Yeah I know, but I can't help it if my wife's still extremely hot!"

"You married a girl fifteen years younger than you, of course she's still hot!" Just as the words escaped Dexter's lips, Lainie entered the room carrying their drinks and looking a little hurt.

"Oh and I'm not?" she tried to sound as if it didn't bother her, but Ash knew it had really hurt her feelings, even though Dex didn't mean it like that.

"Freckles, don't listen in to a guy conversation okay? That's where misunderstandings start and..." Ash elbowed him to shut up, hard!
"Well I know I'm not as young and attractive as Erica but..." she stopped talking, put the drinks down and left them to it, as Dex felt a rage rise up inside of him. Ash spotted his brother's red face and shot up towards the drawer.

"Here, take one of your pills, just in case!" As he handed them to Dex he snatched them out of his hand and threw them across the room.
"I don't need them!" he growled and balled his fists angrily, "Nothing ever happened with Erica! Why does she always bring it up???" Ash sat back down beside him and sighed sympathetically.

"Because you have a reputation and she was feeling extremely unloved at the time, you have to admit, Erica did flirt with you A LOT!" 

Dexter pressed a hand to his chest and winced as Ash went over to retrieve his pills.  

Shoving the bottle in his face he muttered "Now take them, before I beat you within an inch of your life!" Dexter let out an amused snort.
"Man, the way you think you're still tough big brother makes me laugh!"
"Why's that?" Ash raised an unamused eyebrow at him.
"Because we're in our fifties now! You still reckon we can take each other?" Ash looked insulted by that and pouted.
"Sure, you're still a weedy wimp and I still have muscle!" he puffed out his chest as Dexter laughed.
"That my friend is FAT! Not muscle!"

Dexter headed up for bed a few hours later, only to discover that Lainie was already there. "Baby, we seriously need to talk!" he took hold of her hands as she let him, reluctantly.
"What about Dexy? I'm tired!" she sighed impatiently.
"You haven't mentioned Erica Daniels in over a year! Why bring her up now?"

"I don't know, I think..." she trailed off and buried her head in his chest. "...oh Dexy I love you so much! I'm sorry I...it's my fault! Your heart...I broke it!"
"Shhh, freckles there is only you in that heart and you did not break it! Yes I was hurt that you didn't trust me, yes I was hurt that you thought so little of me." he rested his forehead on hers and rubbed noses with her playfully. 

"Baby I don't blame you! But please believe me when I tell you that since the French girl 19 years ago there has been no one else in my life! You're all I need! You're all I WANT!" Lainie pulled away from him and lay down on the bed. Dexter followed and cuddled up beside her.

"Please don't leave me?" she whimpered, her nose all bunged up from crying so much.
"Never!" Dexter stroked her hair and kissed her neck softly.
"Take things easier, there are two ways you could leave me you know! One is through adultery and the other is making me a widow!" Dexter laughed despite the sombre conversation, sometimes his wife was such a hoot!
"My dear, sweet, adorable freckles! Never Never!" As they lay there in silence, Lainie suddenly said,
"It's great having Keira back again isn't it?"
"Yeah freckles, my baby girl can't keep away!"

"I hope Josh is okay out in Cambodia! Volunteering at his age, if I was Roxy I wouldn't have a minute's peace!" Dexter laughed again, she was such a worry wart!
"And that's why Luke is workin' for me and the band instead of goin' with his best buddy out to Cambodia!"
"Don't you dare blame me Dexy! He had the choice, he chose to stay at home with his family!" Lainie jumped up off of the bed and stormed out of the room.

"What is wrong with her these days???" he muttered in frustration, as Lainie left him alone and extremely angry.

Lainie entered the kitchen to find her daughter sitting on a stool, looking sad. "Hello honey!" she smiled, "Can't sleep either?"
"Nope!" Lainie could tell something was bothering her, so she was going to find out exactly what.
"Mind if I join you?"
"Not at all, mum?"
"Yes honey?"

"Is daddy okay?" Lainie frowned in confusion as she made herself a cup of hot chocolate.
"What do you mean?"
"His heart..."

"Oh you know your dad honey, he's a law unto himself!" Remembering the night it happened, never far away from her thoughts, Lainie watched the cup fill up as that night became real once again...

Two years earlier...

"You know what? You're paranoid!"
"Oh please, I saw her touch your leg!!!"
"Jesus freckles can you hear yourself???"

"A leopard never changes his spots Dexy!"
"Oh my God I cannot believe you would say that to me after 17 years of marriage! Three kids...everything! Freckles what the hell???"
"I want you to fire her Dexy..."

"WHAT???"
"FIRE HER OR WE ARE OVER!!!"
"MUM! DAD!"

"Kee honey go to your room we're talking!"
"No you are not, you're shouting and you're upsetting Luke and Damey!"

"Kee Bee, it's fine it's really..."
"Daddy?"

"Dexy???"

"DADDY!!!"

"Mum?" Keira shook Lainie by the arm.
"Hmm?"
"You were miles away!" Lainie shook her head clear as the cup overflowed and the contents were running all over the counter.
"I was just...Kee I don't know what to do!" she cried.
"What? What is it? Mum?"
"Your father, I...I'm angry all the time and I don't know why! I want to forget but...Erica!" Keira sighed as she sat her mother down.

"Mum, Erica Daniels was a stupid little bi...he didn't do anything wrong! She was the one who flirted with him, she was the one who tried it on and he went mental mum, totally mental! Uncle Ash told me! He warned her not to go near him again, that he was married and very happy. He warned her he would fire her if she did anything like that again! And when she did, he was true to his word." 

"The only reason he argued with you that night was because he's stubborn and he didn't want you to think he did everything you told him! But he did fire her mum, way before you told him to!" Lainie began to weep, feeling stupid, feeling utterly guilty for driving her husband to a heart attack over her jealousy. 

"Mum, don't cry, daddy loves you so much! When I was little he used to tell me stories about you, and how you'd stolen his heart! He told me about the time when you spilled coffee on one of his paintings and you were too scared to tell him. He told me about the portrait he did of you, the one you sat for. He said he thought you were the most beautiful girl that had ever sat for him, how he wanted to tell you how beautiful you were but he was scared because you were seeing someone else at the time, and it broke his heart!"
"I know!" Lainie sniffed and wiped her face roughly.
"He loves you! He always has and he always will!"
"I know!" Lainie repeated, but her heart was heavy...why she did not know!

The next morning, James Maloney was getting ready to practice with his band, Fallen Angels, while his younger brother Liam stood behind him and whined. "Can I be in the band after my birthday? I'll be 13!"
"No!" James snapped as Liam's face fell.
"You just want me to be an outcast don't you?"
"Liam you're far too young to be in our band, and far too young to be so smart and worldly wise!" James smiled sympathetically, "Enjoy being a kid, it's over before you know it!"

"Eh, you're 14? You're technically still a kid, there's only a year and a bit between us, not even two!" Liam pouted, "Will Cormy be there?" he added sheepishly. James raised his eyes to the ceiling and sighed impatiently.
"No Liam, Cormac will NOT be there. Rory banned him for saying Damon sang like Justin Bieber on helium!" Liam laughed out loud and nodded his head.
"But he does!" James gave him a disapproving look.

"DO NOT compare our cousin to Justin Bieber, like ever! His voice just needs to break is all. I'm just lucky mine did before we started the band. Mandy Mitchell says I'm hot now!" he puffed out his chest, just like his father, and grinned.
"Mandy Mitchell is a crazy loco chica!" Liam guffawed, "And she's way too smart to date you!"

"Just because her dad is kinda weird, and I know there was this whole dating Auntie Lainie thing years ago, it doesn't mean Mandy is..." Liam cut in with a giggle.
"She's totally nutsoid man! Like her dad and Charlotte! Remember when mum threw a party for you and Charlotte brought egg and peanut butter sandwiches?"
"She was pregnant with Isaac???" James gave him a dirty look, "And you only know that because Cormac told you! You were only 2 at the time!" 

"Stop making fun of Mandy's family okay? I'm gunna be late!" he huffed and left Liam alone in his room, but not before calling back to him "Don't touch anything or I'll break your arm!".

"You're not dad and I'm not Uncle Dex! You can't threaten me, mum will cut off your balls!" Liam called back, then ran to his own room before James could come back and hit him.

Keira had enjoyed spending the summer with her family like she always did. The weeks had flown by until there were only two left to enjoy with everyone. Although Keira loved doing her Fine Arts degree, she loathed leaving her parents and siblings behind. Her Aunt Erin appeared as Keira was soaking up some sun by the pool. "Hey cutie!" she called to her niece.

"Hi Auntie Erin!" As she stood above her, Keira could tell that she'd been sent as a messenger. Sometimes her mother found it difficult to communicate with her, she was so like her father and since Lainie fought like cat and dog with Dex, she always tried to avoid that with her daughter.

"So, any hot guys on the scene?"
"What is it now Auntie E?" Keira sighed.
"Well, your mum kinda promised your Aunt Roxy that..." she fidgeted in Keira's sunlight, being messenger didn't always sit well with Erin, "...when was the last time you saw Joshua?" 

Keira mumbled warily, "Um, last...summer, why?"
"Well, he's coming back tomorrow from Cambodia and...he...did you know he's starting university?"
"Yes? Auntie Erin what is this all about?" Erin looked over at the house and groaned as Lainie appeared.

"Have you told her?" she looked from Erin to her daughter and back again.
"No Lain, I was just about to..."
"Mum what's going on?" Keira stood up to face her mother as she smiled nervously and cleared her throat.

"How would you like to...show Josh around campus and just, well, look out for him? Hmm?"
"Babysit chubby chops???" Keira laughed, "No way, nope! I got lucky not having to mollycoddle Luke now he's decided against uni but this...no way mum no effing way!" 

As Keira stormed off towards the house her mother called to her, "Roxy's my best friend Kee, please do this...for me?" Keira turned around and placed her hands on her hips, squinting at the sun she huffed,
"Fine! Show him around, settle him in, that's it! I'm not having that blubber boy following me around campus like a fat lap dog! Got it?" Lainie smiled and nodded,
"Sure thing sweetheart!" 

Keira went back inside and stomped past her dad. "Hey Kee Bee, what's up?"
"Ask mum!" she muttered, "She's got me a babysitting job!"
"Ohhhh!" her father nodded and grinned, "Josh! He's a nice kid Kee Bee, you used to love him. Remember how you chased him around the garden because he was easy to catch, all that baby fat and..."

"Daddy stop! Ugh, I'm going for a shower I'm...sticky!" Her father called back to her,
"Good, put some decent clothes on will you? You're showing way too much flesh!"
"It's a bikini daddy, that's the whole point!"

As she headed upstairs, she thought back to times when Joshua was a chubby child, he was squishy and cuddly and Keira adored him. But when she left for university, he became annoying, following her like a lost puppy during summer. 

If she was honest, she was relieved he'd been away this time, gave her room to breathe. She was dreading this, dragging that fat lump all over campus, what a bummer!

As Roxy Hayes sat nervously looking at the clock and her husband paced the floor, her three youngest children behaved normally. "Cormy you're such a wimp!" Evie cried in between fits of laughter.

"I'm just goin' easy on ya, since you're a girl!" Cormac laughed while playfully hitting his eight year old sister.

"Kids your brother is due home any minute, please will you sit and calm down???" Roxy called to them shrilly.
"Okay kiddo that's enough, let's go wait for Josh with mum and dad eh?"
"Okay!" Evie replied sadly.

As the family awaited Joshua's return, little did they know that he would return a very different young man...

To Be Continued...

Well I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the next generation! Did you miss the old characters? Do you like the new ones? I sure do, but then again, I'm biased lol! Until next time...