Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter Twenty Nine
2 days later, Becky stood with her hands on her hips in the hospital car park. She and baby James had been discharged from the hospital, and she was now taking her son home with her for the first time.
Over the past 2 days she'd become extremely comfortable with the idea of being a mother, and she already knew that she loved her son more than she could describe, and more than she ever thought it was possible to love.
Both she and Jack were extremely happy and loved the idea of being parents, and loved James beyond measure.
They'd had several visitors over the past few days - Tom had barely left, and Becky could already picture him as the perfect uncle, always doting on his nephew, and always being there for him.
Tom had brought Maxine to the hospital a few hours after James had been born, and she'd been wary of the baby at first and unsure of how on earth to act.
Yet when she saw him, and saw how happy her foster parents were, she knew that this was her brother, and the first time she held him in her arms, she knew she loved him just as much as she would have loved any brother or sister by blood, or would have loved the baby she herself had miscarried two years ago. She knew she would always protect this brother, and she would always love him.
The next day, Tom had brought Mika, Chlo and Donte with him. Becky's two almost-nieces cooed over James, though they had a hard time getting to hold him with Tom wanting to constantly hold him. Even Donte, who didn't think he'd ever met a baby (well, he had admitted, not since he was one himself) had had to admit his godmother's son was amazing.
Tom had also told Becky that Davina had been let out of the hospital after been treated after the fire, and he and Davina were very much together now.
Becky watched Jack putting James into his carseat, in the back of Becky's beloved car.
" I still don't understand why we can't go out some place," Becky frowned.
She just knew that Jack was rolling his eyes, even though she couldn't see him, as she stood behind him, trusting him to put the baby in the carseat by himself.
" Because we're taking James home," Jack said patiently.
Becky narrowed her eyes at his back, " I've been in hospital for the past few days, after hours and hours of pushing your child into the world, and you want to argue with me? "
Jack turned around to face her and raised his eyebrows, " Are you going to use this whole childbirth thing in every discussion we ever have? "
Becky's lips twitched in amusement and she shrugged, " Maybe. I haven't quite decided yet. " She rested her hand on his arm and gently moved his out of the way so she could see James, and she smiled in satisfaction when she saw James strapped in safely.
She closed the car door and then looked back at Jack, " I was only asking that we go out for lunch or something, I just want to go somewhere, or do something. "
Jack smiled, " We are going somewhere," he said, " we're taking our son to his home. "
Becky nodded, and although she wanted to go somewhere, she gave in. She smiled slightly, and Jack smiled too. He briefly planted a kiss on her forehead as he passed her to go round to the driver's side of the car.
As they drove home, Becky spent far more time turning around to look at her sleeping son than she did paying attention to the driver of the car, and by the time they pulled up outside the house, and Becky turned to look at Jack, Jack was already looking at her in amusement.
" Remembered I'm here, have you? " he asked, his voice full of teasing.
Becky grinned, " I'm sorry honey, but you can't compete with James. "
Jack pretended to pout and Becky giggled and reached out to rest her hand on his cheek. She leaned in a pressed her lips to his and Jack returned the soft kiss - Becky could feel his smile against her lips, and when they broke apart, he had a biggest smile on his face.
Becky looked up at the house, and she grinned too, getting out of the car.
She briefly considered taking the baby out of the car seat, but thought better of it, and felt thankful that Tom had bought her the very best car-seat he could find, and she could easily take it from the car.
She unfastened the car seat and was suprised that James was still sleeping soundly.
Once she had the car-seat in her arms, holding it tightly and very closely to her in a protective manner, Jack was at her side.
" You look so natural," he said.
Becky scoffed, " I porbably looked exhausted and terrified. "
" Yeah, but you look bloody brilliant too," Jack said, opening the boot and starting to get out all the things they'd brought back from the hospital.
" Language," Becky said mildly, starting down the garden path. Jack followed her down the path, and when they got to the house, he balanced everything in one arm as he unlocked the front door.
They went into the house, and Becky shouted to the hosue in general, " Maxy! We're home! " She then looked down at the baby in the carseat she was carrying, " Well James," she said with a grin, " this is your home. "
She put the carseat down and as she started to take her coat off, her son's eyes opened and he looked up at her with big blue eyes. Becky grinned as she threw her coat over the bannister, and she knelt down to look at her baby.
" Hey, you're awake," she said, " so, this is home. It's alright, isn't it? "
The baby blinked and gurgled, and Becky took this as a good sign. She nodded approvingly, " I thought you'd think so, sweetie. "
Jack chuckled, " You'll soon learn kiddo, that agreeing with your mother is the best thing to do in all situations. "
Becky raised her eyebrows, " Is it? " she asked Jack, standing up, " then why don't you do it more often? "
Jack shrugged, " It would make life incredibly boring, love. "
Becky couldn't resist a smile and she knew she'd never been as happy as she had in the last few days, even if she was tired all the time and thought she'd never get the hang of motherhood.
She leaned down to pick up the car seat and then frowned as she looked up the staircase, " Where's Maxine? "
" Maybe she's in here," Jack said casually, moving towards the living room door.
Becky accepted this rather easily, and followed Jack into the living room. As soon as she'd walked through the door, there was a colossal roar of "suprise" and "congratulations" and Becky gasped as she saw her living room full of people.
There was a large blue banner over the fireplace that read "It's a boy" and there were big blue balloons around the room. She saw a pile of presents sitting on the sofa, and around the room were Tom, Maxine, Chlo, Donte, Mika, Brett, Davina, Matt and Jasmine.
Becky grinned and turned around to look at Jack, " Did you know about this? " she asked.
Jack shrugged, " I might have done," he replied, although his grin gave him away. She smiled at how impossibly cute he was and knew that he had to have known about it - they wouldn't have all come around without checking that Jack thought Becky would be up for it.
" Oh, this is why you didn't want to go anywhere! " she said, " Oh, honey. "
" Never mind him," Tom said loudly, " we came to see James, not to see you two being all cute and in love. "
" Came to see James? " echoed Donte, shaking his head, " you've barely left him since he was born. "
Tom shrugged, " Yeah well, he's my nephew, isn't he? "
" Oh guys," Becky said as she looked around at everyone, " thanks for all this. I didn't expect to see any of you here! "
" Well, we had to come and see the baby," Matt said with a grin.
" We came bearing gifts," added Jasmine.
" Then you're always welcome," Becky grinned, as Jack rested a hand on her back. He gently nudged her forwards, " Go on love, sit down, you should be resting. "
" I'm fine," she said, although she crossed the room and sat down in the armchair, putting the car seat down on the floor beside her. Jack greeted everyone in the room while Becky settled into the chair, and once everyone had greeted the couple, everyone sat down and relaxed.
" So," Becky said, as she very carefully lifted her baby out of the carseat and cradled him to her chest, " everybody, this is James Thomas Rimmer, our lovely little boy. "
" That's a lovely name," Davina said.
Matt nodded and jerked his thumb towards Tom, " Don't suppose this one here was an inspiration? "
" He might have been," nodded Becky, smiling proudly at the baby, " does anybody want to hold him? "
Tom opened his mouth, and Becky added, " Not you. No-one else will get a look in if you get hold of him. " She glanced around the room - Maxine had spent plenty of time holding her brother, and Donte had made it clear that he was more than scared of holding the baby, while her nieces were also eager to hold the baby.
" Matt," Jack said, " why don't you take him? "
" Me? " Matt asked, " why me? "
" Why not? " Jack returned.
Becky nodded, and Matt moved to come and sit next to her. He tried to position his arms, and a very cautious Becky passed him over, keeping a close eye on them.
" I think we ought to be thanking you actually, Matt, " Jack said, " after all, you were with Becky when the fire broke out. "
" Yeah, but I didn't do anything," Matt insisted, not looking up from the baby in his arms.
" You did enough," Jack said, " Becky tells me that you were there with her, and you kept her calm, and helped her not to panic, and made sure she was ok. That's certainly something to me. "
" Absolutely," Becky nodded, " thank you, Matt. "
Matt blushed a little and shook his head, " Don't get all soppy on me. Look, there's your present - the one in the red bag - open that, why don't you? "
Jack crossed the room and came to sit on the arm of the armchair, while Becky curled up in the chair, and together they started opening their presents.
They'd already been given several things before James' birth. Tom had bought the car seat and the crib. Becky remembered the moment when Tom had told her their parents would have been so happy about having, and told her he'd heard that grandparents usually bought the baby something big, so he felt he ought to do it in their stead.
Jack's parents had bought a lovely big pram for their grandchild, and Rachel had presented Becky with a moses basket filled with goodies from all her collegues at the school.
Becky and Jack opened their presents to find baby monitors from Jasmine, lots of clothes from Davina and more clothes from Matt - Becky was sure these would come in handy.
Her friends stayed for hours, during which time they cooed over the baby and all took turns to cuddle with him.
The teenagers had gotten bored after a while, and Chlo, Maxine, Mika, Donte and Brett had all gone to the chippy a few streets away. It seemed that Chlo and Donte, and Mika and Brett were happily back together.
When the time came for everyone to leave, James was soundly sleeping in his Moses Basket, which Jack had lined with the bedding and set up while Becky was at the hospital. Becky had to hand it to Rachel - the Moses basket was brilliant.
Becky thanked everyone for coming around, but once they'd all left, she was tired and quite pleased that she had some time to herself.
" Well," Jack said once she'd shut the front door, " house to ourselves. "
" Not quite ourselves," Becky said, " we've got a little baby these day. "
Jack grinned, " Come on," he said, taking hold of her hand and leading her towards the living room. He sat down in the armchair, and Becky slowly knelt on the floor to look at James.
She peered into the Moses basket and saw that he was sleeping. He looked like a little doll, and she couldn't resist leaning over and stroking his tiny cheek with her fingertips, pausing to think about how beautiful he was.
Satisfied that he was comfortable and safe, she releaxed and drew herself up to standing position. She smiled as she looked at the banner and balloons, and then looked at Jack.
Without any words, she moved over to him, and slowly settled herself into his lap. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, shifting so they were both comfortable.
" I love you," he said simply.
She smiled, leaning back against him and resting her head against his shoulder. " Love you too. "
" Got something for you, actually," Jack grinned. She felt him moving a little beneath her, and then she sat up a little to see him holding out something, " I think you can have this back now, don't you? "
Becky grinned, " I should hope so," she said as she saw exactly what he was holding.
When Jack had presented her with the engagement ring on the day of James' birth and confessed his love, her fingers had been too big for her to wear it, and she'd entrusted it back into Jack's care.
Jack looked pointedly down at her hand and she obliged, holding the left out and spreading her fingers out. He took hold of her hand and slowly slid the ring on, before pulling her into short but sweet kiss.
" So, I was thinking about the wedding earlier actually," Becky said.
Jack raised his eyebrows, " Oh yeah? "
Originally, she and Jack had gotten egaged at Christmas and planned a wedding for the following Christmas. It was now the 2nd week in June, and Becky didn't plan on waiting as long this time.
" I thought ... unless you want to wait ... I want to get married sooner rather than later," she confessed, looking into his eyes to see the same joy she felt reflected back at her.
" How soon? " Jack asked eagerly.
Becky giggled at his reaction, and she shrugged, " Well, I was thinking summer. You know, in quite a few weeks, because I think the little one's going to keep us busy for quite a while. But I thought before the end of August? "
Jack nodded, " I want to be married to you - I want whatever you want, love. But, are you sure? I mean, before when we planned the whole big wedding, and you were going to have a big christmas fairytale thing ... "
" I don't need that," Becky replied, " I just need you. I want to be your wife - I want the marriage, not the wedding. I thought maybe we could just go to the registry office, keep it small. Family. "
" You want to get married in the summer? " he asked, reaching out to cup her cheek with one hand.
" Well, at least before I go back to the school before the end of maternity leave - which will be the end of October, or perhaps the beginning of November. I just want to be Mrs Rimmer, and I want everyone to know me as Mrs Rimmer from the off," she said, closing her eyes at the feeling of his thumb brushing lightly against her cheek.
" If that's what you want, then that's what you'll get," Jack said, " as long as you're sure. "
" More than sure," Becky breathed, feeling the warmth radiating off him as he seemed to be leaning closer. Her eyes still closed, she could feel him leaning in, and she grinned when his lips met hers.
They were mid-kiss when they heard the sound of crying.
Becky groaned as they broke apart, and Jack sighed, " And so it begins. "
" Oh honey, we've got years of this to come," Becky said, getting off his lap. She leaned down and her voice took on a high childish quality as she started talking to her baby. She lifted him up and started trying to figure out what was wrong.
Ten minutes later, a frantic Becky had finally managed to make him stop crying, when the front door closed loudly and he started again. She groaned loudly and glared at Jack,
" This is all your fault, you know. "
" Why is it my fault? " he asked, shaking his head as he watched Becky bouncing him up and down and mumble to him.
" Well I've got to blame someone," Becky reasoned.
Maxine came into the living room and leaned against the doorway.
" Looks like you two didn't know what you were letting yourselves in for," she said, " I get the feeling you'll be dealing with a lot of this. "
Becky looked at Jack and narrowed her eyes, taking a break from pleading with James to stop crying for her, " And you were already planning the next baby. "
Jack shrugged, " I love you? " he offered.
Becky rolled her eyes, but she knew that from now on, she and Jack were going to be solid, and nothing would seperate them.
Author's Note: That's the end of this story, I'll be getting up a story about series 4 next.
When reading my Rebecca Clarkson stories, I realised that Becky and Jack were both friends with Kim and Andrew yet when Kim and Andrew left for Rwanda, they never heard from them again. So I think I'll have them getting in touch somehow in the next story, because Becky became close to them both, and after the death's of Izzie and Lorna, she'd have wanted to cling on to her friends, so it seems odd that she never kept in touch with Kim and Andrew.
Anyway, from what I can remember, plot lines for the next story are - Jack and Becky working together at WR both as history teachers, a wedding for Becky and Jack, and them bringing up a baby, Maxine's relationship with Earl and her death, Kim's return and the baby she brings with her, Chloe's pregnancy and Andrew's return.
Let me know if there's anything you really want to see in the next story.
