A/N this chapter was written before Rachel gave birth in the show!
Chapter Three:
Rachel scooped up her three-year-old son James Jack Holden and held his wriggling form as he giggled away. Named after her hero and mentor from Medical school Dr James Bradshaw and the brother he would never have the chance to know except through stories told to him from his dad, he was commonly known as JJ.
They had moved out of the old house just a couple of months ago, Tony had felt that the memories of both Beth and Jack were not something he should drag into his and Rachel's lives although she more than anyone had understood what he had been going through. The property they called home now was three-storey beach house. An office occupied part of the top floor where they could both work when necessary and not only that but it was also a place for Lucas to do his writing when he joined them. The other part of the space was being slowly turned into a guest suite when they had both the time and the money.
The second floor composed of the nursery for the new arrivals. JJ now had his own room and connecting them was a small room they had made into a playroom for JJ. Allowing him his own special space to allay any fears at his new bedroom and also make him feel special in his own right so that there would be no sibling rivalry when her attention would be focused on the twins.
The office was for her research projects so that she could continue with her medical career whilst staying at home caring for her family. Although she still did some hours at the hospital she was now firmly head of emergency medical services, lessening her time spent in the hospital on duty but providing her with the satisfaction of a career and the role that she deserved. The research side had proved a bonus when she had been offered it whilst on maternity leave the first time. It allowed her to expand her professional capability whilst proving useful in filling in the odd hours she had free when caring for her son. She had of course, worked up until the very last minute maximising her maternity leave so she could spend as long as possible enjoying her son. They relied on Colleen and Leah for childcare when she was at work. Both women becoming surrogate Auntie's. The situation though was due to change and she would employ a full time Nanny when she was due to return to work after the twins. Although, she thought happily that would not be for many months.
She looked around the downstairs of her home, noting the informal open plan design. It had already been childproofed because of JJ but she still looked for overhanging wires and sharp corners without even noticing.
She felt the now familiar ache in the small of her back and smiled at her first born. It wouldn't be long before his siblings joined him if the timing of her contractions were anything to go by. She kissed the head of the small boy, a spitting image of her husband Tony and handed him to his Aunt Leah. Her bag was waiting by the door and all she needed now was her husband. He had been paged and phoned and eventually she had made her brother, Brad, go and look for him.
Brad was visiting from Tasmania. Their half sister was looking at universities to attend after finally taking her HSC and catching up on her studies and it seemed long enough not to have the memories of the past cluttering up the visit. He did confess in a quiet moment that he still expected Sally to be around the next corner, with a strange look on his face.
Rachel took another deep breath and released it slowly as another contraction came. Leah reached out and took hold of Rachel's' hand.
The door burst open and both Brad and Tony erupted into the room. The look on Tony's face was pure panic. No one would realise that this was the forth time he had gone through this. The last time he had sworn just a month ago but had seen the look on Rachel's face and knew that this might not be the end of his torture. Not that it wasn't wonderful and everything it was just so hard watching the woman he adored and loved go through this.
Brad and Leah waved them off as they went to the hospital.
"Well trust my sister not to do anything by halves!" Brad exclaimed laughing.
"You got that right. Perhaps you should go the hospital yourself, Tony has forgotten to pick up Rachel's bag to take with them!" Leah laughed.
According to Rachel the birth had been easy, but judging from Tony's face it was like he had just been through something horrific. He had phoned Lucas first then Leah and to save on phone calls he had then told Colleen. Mother and Daughters doing well, Dad still in shock came the report around the Bay.
He was still in the hospital waiting to go into the room where Rachel was. She was asleep at the moment and he couldn't really blame her. He could do with a nap himself and he hadn't really done anything, he once again looked through the glass window at the nursery as the pink bundles. Luckily they looked like Rachel.
Martha waddled down the corridor, herself very pregnant, with his Grandchild. His face glowed with the pride he'd felt at her decision. Many nights they had sat and discussed it, ending up talking into the early hours. The ins and outs of bringing a child into the world that would never know his father. They hadn't even known if the pregnancy would take and then it was discussed what would happen if Martha's cancer came back. Eventually it became simple, Martha loved Jack and she wanted to have his child, although the possibility remained that she could still have a child with a different father, should she meet someone new, due to the frozen eggs.
He stood and held out his arms to her and they embraced.
"Daughters can you believe it?" he asked his voice still shaking. After three sons he was shocked with the arrival of girls. Somehow he suspected that he would still be in a state of shock until they got married. That was if he ever let them date.
Martha looked through the window at them too, listening to Tony as he described the trip to the hospital, with Brad following behind with the bag he'd forgotten. She sank slowly to a chair.
"And how is Rachel?"
Tony laughed.
"She's doing better than me!" he confessed.
Martha laughed, and the sound warming his heart. She had become more his daughter than his Daughter-in-law.
"Have you given any more thought to your birth partner?" Tony asked softly.
"Granddad would probably have a heart attack if I even ask him." she had wanted to ask Roman at one stage but knew that would be unfair on him. She still had feelings for Roman but they were nothing compared to the love she had for Jack.
"I don't know who I'd like there yet Tony but don't worry I won't put you through it!"
Tony laughed again.
"I didn't realise I looked that bad!" he murmured.
Brad laughed with them for a moment before he felt his mobile vibrate in his pocket, after forgetting to turn it off.
"Excuse me" he said to Martha and Tony and walking to the exit, he took the call.
"Hey you!" he said into the phone.
"Hey yourself!" Sally said, all the way from Tasmania, "How are you?" she said.
"Well I'm now the proud uncle of two nieces!" he told her. "I'll send some pics as soon as I can. How's Cassie?" he asked.
"She's better. They want to keep her in hospital a bit longer but it turned out just to be a bad case of flu in the end." Sally filled him in on Cassie's condition. "I hate not being there with you to surprise them all."
"I'm not sure they could take the shock!" he joked, "I've kept you a very big secret as promised but I keep getting lectures from Rachel about moving on with my life and dating. I can't wait to tell her my wife might not approve."
Sally laughed.
"I'm still not used to being called your wife." She said. "But I guess I can put up with it!"
Brad laughed. He thought back to the email he had received from Sally when she had been in Indonesia on her travels. She told him all about Cassie and her baby and going to Phuket in honour of Miles. He replied with news of what he was doing and trivia about Tamsin and Rachel. He added as an afterthought about how he missed her.
The email that came back surprised him with its honesty. He never expected that she would say the biggest regret in her life was that she hadn't married him that day. But because she hadn't really said goodbye to Flynn, something she'd needed to do before she could move on and now she'd missed her chance and knew it. She'd added a postscript saying ' so much for timing'.
He laughed out loud when he read the email. He'd been having an on-slash-off relationship with a fellow teacher when he worked and now he knew why he couldn't seem to commit to her. He'd split with her before he received Sally's second email as though he was expecting it.
He'd replied back that it was a funny thing about timing and chances and you never knew what was round the corner. When he didn't hear anything from her he'd called himself a fool and tried to forget again, until getting a knock at the door.
"Hey!" she'd said standing at his door "Did he still give people second chances because she'd like one?"
He'd swept her up in his arms and swung her around on his doorstep much to the amusement of Cassie and Pippa, waiting nearby. They'd married a week later and when he'd been asked by Rachel to visit, whilst Tamsin was looking at universities, they'd decided to come and surprise everyone. Only Cassie had caught a chill and got taken into hospital for monitoring because of her condition.
Sally filled him in on what Pippa had been up to and he told her about the birth and everyone, saying that unfortunately her 'Mr. Stewart' was away at the moment so he hadn't had a chance to speak to him. The call ended with them saying mutual 'I love yous' and Brad walked back inside the hospital and into Rachel's room.
"What's got you all goofy looking?" Tony asked. He was sitting in a chair by Rachel's bed.
"Yeah!" Rachel piped in. "You look like the cat who got the cream!"
He just looked at them and said nothing then remembered that the chain he was keeping his wedding ring on was outside his shirt. He hastily tried to put it away but it caught Rachel's eager gaze.
"Ah! Is that Emily's ring?" She asked. "Is that why you aren't dating?"
He smiled.
"No actually it's mine." He confessed unable to keep it secret any longer.
"What?" Tony said at the same time as Rachel. "You're married?"
"Yes I am."
"Well don't keep us in suspense!" Rachel said sitting forward in the bed in her eagerness to discover the story.
He flipped open his phone and showed them the wallpaper on it. It was a picture of him and Sal on their wedding day, taken by Cassie and sent through to him.
"SALLY?" Rachel exclaimed. "What-where-when-how?"
Brad laughed and said that he would tell them all about it if they promised to tell no one as Sally wanted to come back to the Summer Bay and surprise everyone with the news!