The Surrogacy Story.....Continued
When Mike returned to Brookside he quizzed Katie about Jacqui’s pregnancy but she maintained that the baby was the result of a one night stand that Jacqui had with someone she met at a club.
One
afternoon while Katie was visiting Jacqui thought her labour
had started but soon after arriving at hospital she was told
it was a false alarm and was sent home again. A few days
later Jacqui really did go into labour, this time Susannah
was on hand to take her to hospital. On arrival at the
hospital Jacqui phoned Katie who had agreed to be her birth
partner. As Jacqui’s labour progressed , Susannah and Max
waited anxiously outside the delivery room until a few hours
later when Jacqui gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
The hospital already knew about the surrogacy arrangement so the new baby was immediately taken from Jacqui by a nurse and put in the special care nursery. Jacqui chatted to Katie while recovering from the birth in the ward, making plans for the future but Katie was disgusted when Max arrived and handed Jacqui an envelope containing the money for the baby.
As soon as Jacqui was discharged from hospital, she Katie and Rachel went off on holiday to enable her to recover from the last nine months. Meanwhile the Farnham's had been proudly showing baby Harry to their neighbours which was ok until Ron Dixon took an interest, although their fears proved unfounded when Ron seemed genuinely pleased for them ( not realising that baby Harry was in fact Jacqui’s baby ).
Ron seemed to have a way with baby’s, if Harry
was crying he stopped as soon as Ron picked him up which was
how he came to holding Harry when Jacqui arrived back from
holiday. Ron was looking after Harry outside the petrol
station while Susannah paid for her petrol, and was very
puzzled when Jacqui scurried off in tears when he tried to
show her the baby.
Susannah was finding it increasingly difficult coping with Harry as he seemed to be constantly crying, while Max was of very little help as he was spending more and more time at work.
Max seemed to realise that Susannah needed a break and
surprised her by agreeing to go for a night out at Bar
Brookie with Warren and Faye who are 
old family friends. They
all had an enjoyable evening, but as they were preparing to
leave Jacqui was horrified to see Max enjoying an intimate
moment with Faye while the others weren't looking. Jacqui
found it hard to believe that Max was having an affair so
the next day decided to follow Max to a restaurant, where he
met Faye for a meal. Now that her suspicions were confirmed
Jacqui later confronted Max in her office and told him that
he must confess his affair to Susannah, but while they were
arguing Susannah overheard so Max’s secret was out.
Max tried to convince Susannah that what happened with Faye was a mistake but Susannah didn't believe him so called on Faye to hear her side of the story. Faye thinking that Max had told her the truth not only admitted to the affair but informed Susannah the affair had been going on for 20 years.
On her return home Susannah
told Max she was going away for a few days to stay with her
sister and that he could look after Harry. However after
arriving at her sister’s place Susannah had second thoughts,
and returned home having decided that Max should be the one
to leave while she stayed with Harry. With nowhere to go Max
was in no position to refuse Ron Dixon when he offered to
let him stay at his flat.
While Max was out Ron decided to move his belonging’s and could’nt contain his curiosity when he came across some wedding photo’s, but was shocked to discover a photo of Max, Susannah and a heavily pregnant Jacqui.
Ron first questioned Katie, then Mike and finally Jacqui about the photo, and although Jacqui had no option but to confess that she had been pregnant, she denied that Max was the baby’s father. A short while later Max arrived at Bar Brookie in a drunken state, became involved in an argument with Ron and announced in front of a bar full of people that he had paid Jacqui a large sum of money to have his baby.
Ron outraged at this revelation suffered an angina attack and ended up in hospital, he found it hard to understand why Jacqui had sold her baby but accepted the situation after talking to Anthea. Ron was determined to gain custody of baby Harry but after seeking legal advice discovered this was unlightly to happen. Ron then decided to tell Susannah that he wanted to see Harry and was surprised when she was only to happy to oblige.
Jacqui was quite happy at first to leave Harry's upbringing to Susannah, but it was not long before she suspected that Emma was Susannah's favourite, while Harry seemed to have more than his fair share of bumps and bruises.
Max returned to the close hoping that Susannah would forgive him and that they could get back together. For a while it looked as if he would succeed and he even moved back in to No 7, but when he discovered that Susannah didn't really trust him and that she was also having an affair with Mick Johnson, Max decided to move out. On the night he was due to leave Jacqui offered to baby-sit while Susannah was out.
When
Harry developed a high temperature and became very ill Max and Jacqui
rushed him to hospital where he was diagnosed as having a severe ear infection.
Susannah eventually arrived and was very distraught until she realised
it was Harry who was ill , not Emma. It then became obvious to
both Jacqui and Max that Susannah cared more for Emma than Harry.
Later Max returned to the close seeking access to his children, but Susannah was determined to make this as difficult as possible. Eventually Jacqui persuaded Max to talk to Susannah and try to convince her it was in the children's best interest if they could reach an amicable agreement about his access rights. Both Jacqui and Max were relieved when Susannah agreed to allow him regular contact with the children.
Meanwhile Jacqui had become romantically involved with a local solicitor, Nathan Cuddington who had taken over from Elanor Kitson. Nathan came from a very wealthy family, but despite their different backgrounds they soon fell in love and Jacqui agreed to marry him. As the wedding day approached Jacqui began to have doubts, as marrying Nathan would mean moving to London and leaving all her friends, family and baby Harry behind. Nathan realised that Jacqui was unhappy and called the wedding off, and moved to London on his own, while Jacqui moved in with Darren and Victoria.
By
this time Susannah had agreed to marry Mick, but Jacqui discovered that
while Mick was very happy to settle down with Susannah, she was having
an affair with someone else. Jacqui was very concerned about the effect
Susannah's promiscuous behaviour was having on Harry and set out to discover
the identity of Susannah's lover. It was not long before rumours of the
affair reached Mick, but when he confronted Susannah she convinced him
Jacqui had started the rumour because she wouldn't allow her access to
Harry.
Jacqui became so worried about Harry that on the eve of Susannah's wedding she offered to buy Harry back for £30,000. Susannah refused and an argument followed which was interrupted by Darren. It was at this point that Jacqui realised that Darren was the mystery lover, incensed by her deceit Jacqui attacked Susannah and had to be pulled off by Darren.
Jacqui
left the house but later in desperation tried to abduct Harry from the
Murray's who were looking after him. Diane managed to convince her this
was not a good idea, so Jacqui left disappointed deciding to visit Ron
and Mike instead. While at the Dixon's Mick called round to cancel the
wedding video so Jacqui took the opportunity to tell him about Susannah's
affair with Darren. Although it seemed that Susannah had convinced Mick
this was just another malicious lie, the next day Jacqui discovered the
wedding had been cancelled.
Susannah had apparently gone away using the honeymoon tickets, leaving Max to look after Harry and Emma, but a few days later Susannah was discovered dead in her kitchen. The police were called and after an investigation it was decided she had died as a result of falling down the stairs.
Ron advised Jacqui to take advantage of the situation, to gain access to Harry but when she offered to look after Harry, Max became very hostile. Later though Max found Jacqui was a very good friend as she helped him through the ordeal of Susannah's funeral. At one point Max wanted to leave Brookside Close and Make a fresh start, but Jacqui persuaded him to stay and take up a job offer at The Shelf.
A few weeks after Susannah's funeral Max asked Jacqui round to No 9 to discuss Susannah's will. Jacqui was surprised to discover that Susannah had stipulated in her will that she was to handle the financial affairs of both Harry and Emma. Jacqui realised that the will had been made while she and Susannah had still been good friends, and so decided to transfer responsibility to Lisa.
Before
Jacqui could do this there was more friction between Max and Lisa over
the inscription on Susannah's headstone. As a result of Lisa's hostility,
Jacqui decided not to transfer the responsibility to her after all.
To Be Continued.........