Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter Twenty One

On Monday morning, Becky was extremely happy. She hadn't stopped grinning from the news of her baby's gender and had shared the news with Tom on saturday, when he came around for coffee, and with her godson when she had him over for sunday dinner the day after.

She walked into the school with her grin still in place as she headed for the staffroom, while Maxine had gone off with Janeece.

Maxine had been happy for her foster parents when they'd shared the news, although she'd admitted that she couldn't imagine having a baby boy around the house - actually having a little brother. Though Becky had known Maxine was really happy for them.

Becky walked into the staffroom and, as usual, sat down with her friends who were already there - which at that time was just Tom and Matt.

" How did it go? " Matt asked, as she settled into her seat, " the scan, I mean? "

Becky's huge smile was enough of an answer for anyone, and as she rested her hand on her bump protectively, she said, " It was great. I'm having a little boy! "

Matt grinned, " Becky, that's fantastic! "

She laughed, " I still can't believe I'm going to have a son. A son. It all sounds so ... grown up. "

" Becky, you are a grown up, and have been for some time actually, " her brother pointed out, to which she shrugged.

" Well I know, but this feels like the most grown up thing I've ever done," she admitted, her eyes shining as she spoke about her unborn child, " I just want to be the world's greatest mum. Oh Matt, d'you want to see the scan? "

" You've got it with you? " Tom asked, raising his eyebrows.

" Course I have," Becky said, rolling her eyes, " I keep it in my purse so I can look at it any time I want. " She pulled it out of her purse with a smile and leant over to pass it to Matt, " that's my little splodge. "

Matt and Tom exchanged a confused look, and Matt asked, " Um ... splodge? "

Becky shrugged, rubbing her bump a little, " Well, I think he looks more like a splodge than anything else. Jack says that's silly, but I told him he's not allowed to argue with a pregnant lady. "

" I ... erm suppose he looks like a splodge," Matt nodded, looking amused as he looked down at the scan.

Becky smiled a little, " I suppose it is silly, but we don't have a name yet. "

" Well, you could of course name him after your favourite brother," Tom suggested.

Becky smiled, and her smile suddenly became a mischevious smirk, " I don't know if Ian is such a popular name these days. "

" I meant Tom," he said, shaking his head.

She grinned as she looked at her beloved brother and thought of her baby boy on his way, " Well, I could name him Tom. I'll definitley keep it in mind. Jack and I haven't spoken about it yet to be honest. "

" But you must have something in mind? " Tom asked.

She shrugged, " I don't know. I quite like James. And Harry. And Dylan. There's too many names to choose from, and I don't know which one feels right. For all I know Jack could hate them all, and he'll have a list of names that I hate. And of course I've got to find one that goes with his surname. "

" So will it definitley be his surname? " Tom asked, pulling a face, " aren't we going to have a baby Clarkson? "

" We haven't spoken about that either - but it's going to be Clarkson-Rimmer at least, if not Rimmer," she shrugged.

There was a pause, before Matt cleared his throat, with a cheeky smile, " What if ... what if you call him Clarkson-Rimmer and get back together with Jack? "

Becky almost spat out the orange juice Tom had given her, " Get back together? I ... um ... "

Matt's smile gave away the fact that he'd actually been joking a bit, but Becky wasn't sure what she wanted. She knew she was in danger of falling straight back in love with Jack if she wasn't already, but she couldn't messing it up again when they had a baby.

She shook her head, " Jack and I aren't getting back together. " She put on a big smile, " anyway, I don't need Jack, I've got this litte guy. "

Matt and Tom smiled as she rubbed her bump affectionately.

Matt looked down at the scan, " Well," he said, " I think he's got your eyes. "

Becky laughed just as Jasmine walked into the staffroom. She looked worried and annoyed, and the first person she looked at was Becky.

" Becky, have you got a minute? " she asked.

Becky nodded, " Sure," she said, leaning forwards to take her scan back from Matt and carefully putting it inside her purse.

She started to stand up, but Jasmine shook her head and sat down, " It's not top secret," she said, " no need to get up. "

" So, what can I do for you? " Becky asked with a smile, sinking back into her seat.

Jasmine sighed, looking stressed and running her hand through her hair, " Well, I had a bit of a run in with Michaela White on the way in this morning. She and her little gang were giving Shane Warwick a hard time. "

Becky sighed, " That girl is nothing but trouble. And unfortunately, as pastoral care, I do seem to have a lot of run-ins with him. What was she doing? "

" It looked like bullying to me," Jasmine said, " she was really laying into him, and I tried to get to the bottom of it, but Shane just ... ran off. "

" Well, Shane Warwick's no altar boy," Tom pointed out.

Becky smiled a little and patted Tom's arm, since he was sat next to him, " I'm still pastoral care around here, for a couple more months. "

" Well, the poor boy looked terrified, " Jasmine said.

Becky nodded - she'd dealt with many bullying cases. " I'll sort it out Jasmine, don't worry about it. I'll talk to Shane. "

Jasmine nodded, " Thanks. You know, the sooner we won't have to teach cretins like her, the better. "

The other all mumbled their agreement, and Jasmine went off to make a drink, and just as she did so, Davina came in and took the seat Jasmine had just vacated. Davina seemed in a good mood and she smiled.

" So," she said, " I finished my application last night for the teaching. "

" Oh well done," Tom said instantly.

Becky nodded, " That's fantastic, you're going to be a great teacher. "

Matt nodded in agreement, " Yeah, good luck then. "

Davina looked so happy and she grinned at Tom, " D'you fancy going out to celebrate tonight? " she asked him, looking at him with some kind of hope in her eyes.

Tom looked a bit awkward as he said, " Well, I've promised all my girls dinner at that new pizza place in town tonight. "

" All your girls, eh? " Matt asked, shaking his head, with his usual cheeky grin.

Tom rolled his eyes, " Knock it off. I mean my step-daughters, my sister and my foster niece. "

Becky nodded, " And Tom's paying. "

Tom sighed as he looked at Davina, " I'd love for you to come, but ... well, it's awkward, isn't it? "

Davina sighed, now looking annoyed, " I'll wear a shirt buttoned right up to my neck, just for Mika. "

Becky wished Tom didn't worry about what everyone else thought so much, because he and Davina might actually be a good couple. Instead, she smiled at Davina, " Well, Maxine and I don't have any problems with you joining us. "

" Fine," Tom said, giving his sister a little look, sure she was trying to get them together, " about 7:30? I'll warn the girls," he added, standing up.

" Hang on," Becky said, standing up too, " I'm leaving too, I've got to go find Shane, haven't I? "

Tom leaned down and took her bags for her before she had a chance to argue with him, and she'd long since gotten used to him fussing over her, and decided it was quite sweet, and she was more than happy to have someone looking after her.

Tom walked to her office with her and planted her bags on her desk, before going off to his own classroom. Becky didn't have a form group of her own - which she supposed meant she'd be getting one next time around because she was one of the few teachers without a form - so used registration to go to Steph's form and ask for Shane Warwick.

She took Shane to her office, and once they got there, she gestured to the sofa.

She used the sofa to have informal chats with her pupils, and she sat down with him.

" Right Shane," she said softly, " I want to know what happened this morning. "

" This morning? " he asked, not meeting her eyes.

Becky told him what Jasmine said she'd seen that morning, and when she was through, Shane shook his head vigorously. " I'm not being bullied," he said.

" Shane, sweetie, I just want to help you," Becky told him, using the tone she always used when trying to get someone to open up to her, " so just talk me through what happened, because Miss Koreshi - "

Shane interrupted her, " Miss, Miss Koreshi doesn't know what she's talking about. Honest, she just went crazy and threw Michaela against a car. "

Becky was suprised that Jasmine would do something like that and she raised her eyebrows, " Really? " she asked, " and this ... this actually happened? "

" Yeah! " Shane insisted, " she never even asked what was going on, she just charged straight in. "

" Shane, this had better be the truth," she said seriously.

" Miss, I wouldn't lie to you," Shane said, " if I was being bullied I'd tell you. "

Becky knew she wasn't getting anything else out of him - he was very confident about what he was saying, and he seemed very sure about what had happened. There was nothing else she could do and she nodded.

" Fine," she said, " but I wannt you to come and find me if you've got anything else to say. "

Shane agreed, and when he'd left, Becky decided she next had to go to see Jasmine. Luckily Becky was free first thing, and although Jasmine wasn't, when Becky walked by her classroom and saw she had only a year seven class who didn't seem to be doing much, she thought Jasmine could be spared for a moment.

She asked for a word with Jasmine, and when they left the classroom and went into the corridor, Tom also happened to be walking past.

" Hey, don't you two have somewhere to be? " he asked with a smile.

" I was just about to tell Jasmine about my conversation with Shane," Becky told him, " shouldn't you be somewhere? "

He waved the books in his hands around a bit, " Just picking up a few extra copies of Much Ado About Nothing," he said, " so how did it go? "

Becky told Jasmine, while Tom listened, that Shane insisted nothing was going on, but that Jasmine had gone crazy. Jasmine shook her head, looking outraged.

" It's all lies! " she insisted, before taking a breath, " I had to drag her off him because she was beating him up. " She let out a frustrated groan, " she's lucky I didn't slap her one. Everyone knows she's evil "

" True," Tom mumbled.

Becky shook her head in pity at the young woman, " From your point of view, it was definitley bullying? "

" She was beating him around the head and forcing his arm through a car window! " Jasmine insisted.

" Ok," Becky said calmly, " Jasmine, Shane won't tell me anything. He says there was no bullying. "

" But there was! "

" Fine," nodded Becky, " of course I had to tell you first, but I'm going to see Michaela next. Don't worry about it Jas, I'll get to the bottom of it. "

She went straight from there to pull Michaela out of her geography lesson for a word. She took Michaela to her office and sat down with her. She started by telling Michaela what Jasmine said she'd seen this morning, just wanting to hear a view from everyone and get everyone's word on it.

Michaela had the attitude on straight away.

" That's crap," she said, " you can just ask Sasha and Anna. "

Becky held up her hand, " Less of the attitude, please. They'll probably tell me whatever you tell them to say, so how would I know they're telling me the truth? "

" Then ask Shane," Michaela insisted, " he'll tell you what happened. "

Becky sighed heavily, frowning. She'd asked everyone involved and the kids were firmly on the same side - unfortunately the opposite side to poor Jasmine. Becky tried to figure out how she could get to the bottom of it when everyone seemed so unready to budge, and decided the best way forward was to ring up Rachel and let her know what was going on.

She felt sure that Jasmine wouldn't lie about anything but with both of the kids sticking to their stories, it was going to be hard to get anywhere.

At break time, Becky was stood in the kitchen area, when Jasmine came over to her.

" I've just been called to Rachel's office," she said, " and Rachel gave me a huge vote of confidence by telling me I was probably wrong with the whole Michaela thing. "

" Jasmine, no-one's saying you did anything wrong," Becky said, turning to face her and trying to put her at ease, " I'm not saying you did anything wrong. I'm just thinking, Michaela's clever and se knows we've got no proof. "

" Oh," Jasmine said, instantly looking suprised, " so ... you do believe me? "

Becky saw the vulnerability in Jasmine and smiled a little, " I do, but we just can't prove anything, so in this case, if no-one budges, we're going to have to let it go. "

Jasmine sighed, " i just saw the spiteful cow in the corridor now, and she was trying to wind me up. "

" Don't let it get to you," Becky told her, " how about I make you a cuppa while we're here? Hey, you haven't seen my little scan photo, have you? "

After break Becky had her year 12 class for a double lesson, and she was also happy to teach them because they were well behaved and actually quite a laugh. She could talk to her class - including Maxine, Chlo and Donte - while they worked and she quite enjoyed it.

Half an hour before lunch was about to start, Eddie came into the classroom and asked her if she could come to the office. He'd brought a supply teacher with him to cover her lesson until lunch.

She and Eddie went to the office, and when they got there, Rachel got out of her desk chair to allow Becky to take a seat. Becky smiled gratefully as she sat down, and when she sat there, Rachel sat on the edge of the desk and Eddie stood up with his arms folded.

Becky briefly thought of all the times she'd sat behind the desk when the office belonged to Jack. She couldn't stop the tingle that shot up her spine, when she remembered that she'd actually been sat on Jack's knee most of the time.

Turning her mind to the matter at hand, she listened when Rachel announced, " Michaela is accusing Jasmine of abuse. "

" What? " Becky asked, shaking her head, " no! I don't believe it. "

Rachel sighed, " Well, she's just been to see me, and she's got a big bruise under her eye, so someone's hit her. And Shane did say Michaela threw her against a car. "

" No way though," Eddie said, " Jasmine just hasn't got it in her. "

Becky was glad Eddie was at least on their side, and she thought back to Jasmine's comment that she felt like she could hit Michaela. She knew Jasmine hadn't meant it, and she decided to keep quiet about it, because she knew there was no way that Jasmine would ever act on it.

This was clearly some kind of set up by Michaela and her friends.

Rachel sighed, " Well, we've got to invstigate. I saw for myself how angry Jasmine was. We need written statements from Michaela and her friends. "

" Get them to tell the truth more like," Eddie said, shaking his head.

Becky agreed - both she and Eddie firmly believed that Jasmine was innocent - but Rachel sighed, seeming to struggle over it. Rachel shook her head, " We will play it by the book," she corrected. "

Becky thought about the fact that if Jack was here, and he was dealing with this, the one thing he wouldn't have done was play it by the book, if it meant getting the results. She'd always thought his maverick attitude could be a bit reckless, but he always did it with the right intentions and got the right results.

When they both knew Jasmine was innocent, it would be much easier than having to go through all of this.

" Rachel, they're setting her up," Becky said, " anyone can see that. Just because Jasmine was angry doesn't mean she'd actually hit the girl. Michaela's playing on this because she knows it's her word against Jasmine's. "

" We have to be seen to do things properly to have the best chance of helping Jasmine," Rachel said firmly, " Becky, will you try and get something else out of Shane? And Eddie, I want written statements from Michaela and her friends. I'll phone her parents, get them in for a word. "

Becky's conversation with Shane still resulted in him insisting there was no bullying going on, and by the time she went to lunch, she was completely fed up.

She ran her hand through her hair as she sat down in an empty seat, surrounded by Grantly, Tom, Jasmine and Davina.

Jasmine's situation was the topic of conversation, and Grantly shook his head, " Don't worry," he told the young english teacher, " even with the establishment against us all, it's relatively hard to get a teacher the sack. "

Jasmine sounded scared, " But Rachel said if they can prove it, she's going to sack me! "

" It won't come to that," Becky insisted.

" Definitley won't," Tom agreed.

Jasmine sniffed, " She won't have a choice. I wouldn't send my kids to a school where the teachers hit the pupils. "

" Wouldn't you? " Grantly asked quickly, " why do you think we're in the state we're in? There's not enough hitting around these days. "

The others all exchanged looks and shook their heads, and Davina was the one to take it up. " That attitude from her union rep isn't going to help, is it? "

Becky agreed, " Grantly," she said, " whatever your opinions on hitting, could we all at least pretend to be upstanding members of the community who are against violence when we have to go see Rachel about all of this? "

Grantly grunted and nodded.

" Becky, you're definitley on my side, aren't you? As head of pastoral care, having you on side is going to be a huge bonus, surely? " Jasmine asked, extremely worried.

" Absolutely," she said, " it's just with Shane sticking to his story ... "

" And you did say you'd like to hit her," Tom added.

" Wouldn't we all," Grantly mumbled.

" Exactly," Becky said firmly, " which is why I didn't see fit to mention that little comment to Rachel - we all know you didn't mean it, and it would just cause more trouble. We're going to fix this. "

Straight after lunch, they went to see Rachel, who'd been meeting with Michaela's father over lunch time. In the office, were Rachel, Eddie, Becky, Grantly and Jasmine.

Rachle handed the statements of Michaela, Sasha and Anna to Becky, who glanced over them all - all of them agreed with each other, and all of them condemned Jasmine.

Becky frowned when she was finished with them and handed them to Grantly, who looked over them with Jasmine.

Grantly shook his head, " Naturally we deny all the ridiculous allegations thrown at Miss Koreshi. "

Rachel frowned, " They've all said exactly the same thing though. "

" "Exactly" is the right word," Grantly agreed, shaking his head, as he looked at all three, reading bits out from them " "she threw" T-H-R-O-U-G-H ... "she threw" ... "she threw" God help us, they've even spelt all the same words wrong. "She battered me" "battered Michaela" "battered Michaela". "

" Well, there aren't too many ways to describe what happened," Rachel said.

" Nothing happened! " Jasmine argued.

" They all chose battered," Grantly said, as Becky thought about the fact that it was becoming more and more likely that they were conspiring against Jasmine, " why? "

" They all collaberated," Becky said, determined to get Jasmine heard fairly, " They must have. "

Eddie nodded, " It's like a game to them. I certainly wouldn't put it past them. "

Rachel sighed heavily, " So you all think it's a lie? "

" Yes," everyone said at once.

" We have to do things properly," Rachel tried to reason, " we've got the words of three pupils, and I think they wrote them together, but to the outside world ... " there was a long pause, before Rachel looked final, as if she'd made her decision. " Jasmine, I'm suspending you with immediate effect. "

Becky groaned, feeling sorry for Jasmine, " Rachel," she said, " isn't there any other way? This is Jasmine's career! She's young, dedicated, full of potential. We can't let Michaela White try and ruin it for her. "

Rachel shook her head without replying but the look on Eddie and Grantly's faces was enough to show that they both agreed with her.

Rachel handed some papers over to Jasmine, " The terms are all explained in there. You are to leave immediately and not return until I instruct you to do so. I'm sorry Jasmine, this is the last thing I wanted to have to do. "

" Then don't," Grantly said quickly as Jasmine shook her head, unable to believe any of it.

" I didn't even do it," Jasmine said, looking close to tears, " how ... how can you punish me? "

" No-one in this room thinks you're guilty," Becky said quickly.

Eddie nodded, " Absolutely. We're going to have to investigate and we will get to the bottom of it. "

As Rachel apologised again, Jasmine had had enough and left the room quickly. Eddie sighed and followed and Becky felt very sorry for Jasmine - Jasmine was young with a whole career ahead of her and she didn't deserve this.

" Rebecca, it's procedure," Rachel said, knowing the younger woman was unhappy with it all.

" It's a joke, is what it is," Becky said firmly, to which Grantly nodded.

Rachel didn't reply straight away, and Becky shook her head, trying to think about it. It all seemed so unfair, and she couldn't stop herself from snapping, " Jack wouldn't have stood for it, you know. Jack would have made sure we got the right result and he'd have done whatever it took. "

Grantly watched in suprise, although he agreed. He'd always had a fair amount of respect for Jack Rimmer, which coming from Grantly was a huge thing.

Rachel knew Becky was passionate about what she believed in and let it slide as she said, " We've got to - "

Becky interrupted, so wound up, " This is Jasmine's career. There must be a way around it. "

" We can't do anything else," Rachel said cooly.

Becky shook her head, " This is rubbish. It makes her look guilty you know, making her leave the school all of a sudden. "

Grantly mumbled some kind of agreement.

" What exactly am I supposed to do, Rebecca? " Rachel asked, frowning, unsure what the other woman wanted her to do about it.

Becky sighed, running her hand through her hair as she tried to think about it, and suddenly all of her feelings were spilling into words before she knew what she was really saying.

" I don't know," she said, " but Jack would have found a way out. When Lewis Seddon tried to sexually abuse me a while back, and accused me of trying it on with him and the governors didn't expell him, Jack didn't play it by the book. But he got the right result. "

" Well, Jack Rimmer is no longer headmaster of this school," Rachel said firmly.

" More's the pity," Grantly mumbled.

Becky sighed and left the room.

By the end of the day, she was completely fed up, and she met Tom and the three teenage girls near the main entrance of the school. Tom immediately took her bag of marking from her and she smiled gratefully.

" You ok? " he asked, " the whole Jasmine thing must be stressful. "

Becky nodded, " Yeah but ... well, we'll get to the bottom of it. "

Tom nodded too, and then looked at his step daughters, " Listen you lot, about the pizza tonight - "

Mika shook her head, " Oh I totally forgot about it. Brett's coming around tonight. "

" Brett? " Becky repeated, exchanging a confused look with her brother.

" Don't go reading anything into it," Mika said with a coy smile.

" I forgot too," Maxine confessed, " Janeece wants me to go round to hers Becky, so can I? Her mum'll give me a lift home later on. "

Becky smiled, " Course you can. You walking to Janeece's, or do you need a lift? "

" I'm ok," Maxine said.

Beky hugged her foster daughter, who then left, and when she'd gone - as had Mika - Tom, Becky and Chlo walked out of the school and slowly started across the car park.

" Tom, what you were going to say," Chlo started, " did it have anything to do with Davina joining us? "

" She kind of pushed me into it," Tom nodded as they stopped halfway across the car park.

Chlo frowned, " So, you don't want her to? " Chlo sighed, " Tom, stop worrying about what me and Mika think. You deserve to be happy. So maybe I'll drop out of the pizza too - you two should spend some time together. "

Becky laughed, squeezing Chlo's arm, " I'm glad to see you're in on my match-making. "

Chlo smiled mischeviously as she told her almost-aunt, " I've got all sorts of ideas for match making, believe me. "

Tom shook his head, " We're not going anywhere. Chlo, you should get to know her. "

Becky sighed as she looked at Tom, " Tom, I already know Davina pretty well, so is it alright if I drop out of this? "

Tom rolled his eyes and Becky put on her best pout, " Tommy, I'm no fun any more anyway - you don't want me there. I'm tired all the time, and my feet are swollen to hell. "

Chlo pulled a face at the thought of it and Becky nudged her, " I saw that. You're going to have it all to come one day. "

Tom cleared his throat and looked at his younger sister sternly.

Becky quickly added, " But, erm, a very long time in the future, I might add, young lady. "

Tom nodded in satisfaction and then sighed, " Fine you've officially got the night off, and you can go to bed early like some boring old woman. "

She laughed and pushed herself up on her toes to kiss his cheek, " See you tomorrow, Tommy. "