Title: Getting the girl

Hope you like this and I apologise for it's length; something completely different to what I normally write but I hope I've done their relationship justice. Enjoy and click the review button to let me no your views.

Chapter Seven

The next morning, Rachel awoke and saw Michael stirring; she smiled and ran her hand over his face as he snuggled close to her.

"You okay sweetie?"

"Hungry" he replied.

"Shall we go and make some pancakes?"

"With…chocolate chips?"

"Of course; come on, let's leave daddy to sleep and we'll wake him up in a bit"

Michael held his arms out for her as she stood up and pulled on her robe before lifting him onto her hip; they went down to the kitchen where she sat him on the counter so he could help with the pancake mixture. With Rachel making sure it was cooking nicely, she sent Michael upstairs and chuckled as she heard both Phil and Eddie groaned as the little boy jumped on them; she smiled as she heard Michael laughing as Eddie got him own back before carrying him down to the kitchen where he set him up to the table with some juice as he stood behind Rachel and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You didn't have to make breakfast?"

"I wanted to; you both need to eat something and I was thinking…how does a picnic in the park sound?"

"You don't have to; I'm sure you have better things to be doing today"

"You and that little boy, especially him, need the distraction and I wanna spend time with you…"

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure; we'll have this and I can pop to the store and get some things for the picnic…"

"Why don't I go and you get Michael ready? He might open up more to you than me about his mom"

"Get some crisps and chocolate and cake and stuff; proper party kind of picnic food"

"I will, might even let Michael have a can of Pepsi as a treat"

"He's gonna be okay, you know?"

"I know; he's just so young and he doesn't deserve to have to go through this pain"

"Neither do you; Alison was a big part in your life, you can't forget that"

"You're amazing, do you know that?"

"I know" she smirked as she plated up the pancakes.

After breakfast, Eddie got changed and headed to the shop with Phil whilst Rachel took Michael up to her bedroom and sat him on her bed as she grabbed his bag and pulled out the clothes.

"What do you wanna wear buddy?"

"That…and that…and that…and my trainers" he answered, pointing to his jeans, Bob the Builder t-shirt and a blue zip up jacket.

"Good choice; do you need any help getting changed?"

"Nope" he answered, confidently as he started to pull his pyjamas off.

Taking the opportunity while he was occupied, Rachel quickly got changed into her jeans, white t-shirt and pink zip up jacket and trainers, the outfit she had wore on her and Eddie's bowling night when they finally kissed; going back into her room, she noticed Michael was dressed but having trouble with the button on his jeans.

"Having trouble there honey?"

"Can't do it" he whimpered.

"That's okay" she soothed as she did it for him.

He surprised her by wrapping his arms around her neck and sobbing softly.

"It's okay, buttons are difficult and sometimes, I think even daddy needs help"

"Really?" he sniffled as he slowly looked up at her.

"Really" she confirmed.

"Will you tell daddy I cried?"

"It's okay; I'm not gonna tell him but its okay if you can't do something. You just have to keep trying until you can" she said softly as she wiped away his tears.

"You no mad?"

"No, I'm not mad or angry; you are a little boy who needs help sometimes, that's all. And it's okay to need help, I promise"

"We watch cartoons now?"

"Yeah, we can; come on"

She took his hand as she lead him down to the living room; although she didn't really watch that much TV due to the amount of work she always had, she had opted to get Sky fitted when Phil had moved in and now she was glad. They were sat watching Bob the Builder when Eddie and Phil returned; Michael looked up at Rachel, worryingly as his dad came into the room.

"Buddy, what's wrong? Did you not have fun with Rachel?" he asked, crouching down in front of him.

Michael looked at Rachel and buried his head in her side.

"Rache?" he asked, worried.

"He's fine Eddie; he had a bit of trouble earlier with his button, that's all"

"Why were you scared to tell me buddy? Did you think I would be angry?"

Michael nodded.

"It's okay; buttons can be very tricky when you're 4 but you don't need to be upset about it. That's what me and Rachel and Phil are here for: to help you"

"Pwomise daddy?"

"I promise"

"Pwomise Rachel?"

"I promise"

"Okay"

"You ready to go for a picnic in the park?" Eddie asked.

"We take football?"

"It's in the car with the Frisbee"

"Me ready daddy"

"Come on then"

Rachel smiled as they headed out; at the park twenty minutes later, they all sat on the blanket as Eddie started to unpack the carrier bags of treats he had brought. There was sandwiches, crisps, chocolates, cakes, cans of Pepsi and Apple Tango, for Rachel, and lollipops.

"Wow, that's a lot daddy" Michael said, looking at the food.

"Today's about having lots of fun, okay buddy"

"And not sad about mommy?"

"It's okay to be sad but we need to have fun too; we'll have fun and eat and then we'll go back to Rachel's and watch cartoons and read you a story before bed"

"Stay at Rachel's again?"

"Is that okay buddy?" Rachel asked.

"Sleep in your bed?"

"If you want to or…we can make up your own room"

"Me scared daddy" he whispered.

"How about we decide later, eh?"

Michael nodded and looked at Rachel, who smiled at him before watching as he and Eddie ran off to play football.

"You not gonna join in?" Rachel asked Phil.

"I thought I'd see how you were doing; this must be hard on you too?"

"He needs the support" she answered simply.

"But it's hard?"

"We've only been going out for two weeks and now…I'm like a mom to Michael; I'm just not sure I'm ready for that"

"Do you want to be a mom?"

"Maybe one day"

"Maybe you should talk to Eddie; don't force yourself to be okay with this if you're not"

"I'll be okay; he's grieving and needs the support"

"But that doesn't mean you have to pretend you're okay with this; Rache, you looked after me for the last few weeks because you didn't have a choice. Don't get Michael's hopes up; he really likes you and if you leave it and things go wrong with Eddie, he's gonna be the one that suffers the most"

"I know" she said, watching them. "I just…I've never thought of myself as maternal before you and Michael came along but now…I'm scared that I'll get it wrong…"

"You've been great with me and with Michael, it's still new; give it time and you'll be okay"

"I hope so because…I love them and I don't wanna lose Eddie because of it"

"You wont"

"Thanks Phil"

As Phil went over to play with Michael, Eddie went over and sat behind Rachel; his arms wrapped around her waist and kissed her hair.

"You're scared, aren't you?" he asked.

"Of what?"

"This. You want to be a mom but you don't wanna screw it up"

"How did you know?"

"Because you wouldn't be Rachel Mason if you weren't scared"

"I don't wanna let him down Eddie; he's just lost his mom"

"He adores you and I'm pretty fond of you too"

"But is it enough to get us through this?"

"I think so; let's just see how the weekend goes. He'll be back at school on Monday so I wanna make sure he's okay"

"You can take as long as you need off; I can manage without a deputy"

"I'll be there; here parents are dealing with the funeral arrangements and I could use the distraction"

"I love you Eddie"

"I love you too"

He kissed her as they watched Michael and Phil playing with the football; both secretly hoping that they would get through this as a family and come out of it stronger.