"Hell my darling, mummy's missed you so much" Nikki grinned as she hugged Gabriel to her, her son laughing and grabbing on to a piece of her hair as she kissed his cheek and hair. "Where's your brother?"
"He's asleep" Harry replied as he walked into the room and grinned at his lover who gave him a wide smile "Did you miss daddy as well?"
"Hmm, I'll have to think about that one" Nikki teased, Harry pouting as he walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning down to kiss her on the lips. "I missed you"
"I missed you too" Harry murmured before kissing her again "Did you have a nice time?"
"It was great" Nikki smiled and nodded, turning back to Gabriel who was tugging on her hair and attempting to put it in his mouth "Mummy was able to talk to Auntie Ada"
"Is she going to be okay?"
"I think so" Nikki sighed and pushed all thoughts of Ada out of her mind as she kissed her son again, pleased to have him in her arms and able to cuddle him again. "Please don't eat mummy's hair" she told the seven month old as she reached up and took her hair away from him. "How were they?"
"They were a little bit whiny when it came to bedtime" Harry told her and Nikki frowned.
"You said they were fine"
"Well they were fine, just a bit whiny" Harry chuckled and Nikki rolled her eyes, sitting down on the sofa and placing Henry on the floor in front of her. Harry sat down next to her as Nikki held Gabriel's small hands in hers and helped him to stand up, their son grinning and laughing as he began to bounce slightly on his feet.
"Why do they have to grow up so quickly?"
"Because they're your sons and they're intelligent" Harry replied and Nikki grinned at her lover before looking back down at their giggling son.
"They take after you" Nikki shook her head "They're cheeky"
"I am not cheeky" Harry pretended to be insulted but Nikki just laughed happily at him without looking away from Gabriel. "Mum's coming on Tuesday for your birthday"
"How's her house hunting going?"
"She called me yesterday to ask if she should bother buying a house with a farm attached" Harry scoffed and Nikki giggled "I said no"
"Well she could use the space for growing things"
"Nikki have you seen the farms in Austria?" Harry asked and Nikki shrugged "When they say farm they practically mean a whole mountain"
"I take it she's still thinking about moving there"
"Yes she is" Harry chuckled as he leant over and kissed Nikki, wrapping his arm around her as she smiled at him and then turned back to Gabriel who was still bouncing happily on his feet, his hands gripping Nikki's tightly. "I don't know why when she likes France"
"Well she sold the house over there, maybe she wants somewhere else" Nikki suggested, picking Henry up and placing him on her lap when he held his arms to her. "Now I think my handsome little man needs a nap" she cooed to her son as she stood up, turning to Harry and holding her hand out to him. "Come on you" she smirked at Harry as he too stood up and took her hand in his "You can come and help me undress"
Harry grinned happily at his lover as Nikki turned and led him out of the room.
"Gabriel sweetheart you have to sleep now" Nikki told her son as the seven month old refused to let her go.
"Here" Harry smiled slightly and reached over to take Gabriel from his lover. Gabriel however began to cry loudly and reached for Nikki who shook her head and took him back from Harry, cradling him to her and kissing the top of his head.
"Ssh" she soothed the baby, rubbing his back gently as she turned to glance at Donovan who was thankfully fast asleep, his tiny hand wrapped around the leg of the teddy in the corner of his cot. "See, Donny is being good and having a nap" Nikki told Gabriel who continued to cry and clutch at her.
"Do you think it was me leaving that made him like that?" Nikki asked Harry worriedly some time later as she watched her two sleeping boys from the doorway of the nursery, both her and Harry keeping their voices quiet to avoid waking Gabriel who had only just fallen asleep out of pure exhaustion from his crying.
"You know it's not" Harry assured his lover, wrapping his arms around her from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder "They did start to get a bit clingy beforehand, that's normal apparently"
"I don't think we'll be having too much time alone for a while" Nikki told Harry who just shrugged and smiled.
"It's okay, as long as you and our boys are happy"
"Are you happy?" Nikki whispered as she turned in his arms and looped her own around his neck, Harry resting one hand on her hip and the other on the small of her back.
"I am more happy than I have ever been" Harry told Nikki firmly and his lover smiled at him, leaning up to peck him on the lips. "I love you so much"
"I love you more"
"I don't think so" Harry chuckled and Nikki grinned against his lips, kissing him again before replying.
"I think so"
"Nope"
"Harry stop arguing with me" Nikki pouted and Harry just laughed and kissed her once again.
"Aren't you going to let Teddy go?" Harry asked Donovan as he carried his son downstairs after the baby's nap, Gabriel was still fast asleep. Donovan watched Harry's lips closely before Harry signed what he had just said, his son giggling and shaking his teddy when he recognised the word Harry sighed. "Here we go, look who it is"
Harry turned so Donovan could see Nikki and the little boy beamed happily, dropping Teddy as he signed 'mummy' and held his arms out. He then realised that he wasn't holding his toy anymore and looked at his hands, his bottom lip trembling as his green eyes filled with tears, a small sob escaping his mouth.
"Ssh" Nikki soothed as she quickly bent and picked up the toy, handing it to Donovan before taking him from Harry and cuddling him close, her son prevented from crying as she kissed him. Donovan giggled tearfully and waved Teddy around as Nikki signed to him how much she had missed him and how she loved him. "Mummy has missed you very much my handsome boy" she told him, sitting down on the sofa and placing Donovan on her lap facing her, taking his hands in hers and pressing a kiss to his forehead "Did you have fun with Daddy and Gabriel?"
Donovan clapped his hands again and gurgled happily, smiling at his mother as she grinned down at him and kissed him again, she then picked him up from her lap and moved herself to the floor, placing Donovan in front of her and then rolled one of the colourful toy balls they had towards him, the little boy staring at it before grinning and picking it up. He then held it up towards Nikki before putting it in his mouth and chewing on it as Harry walked over and sat down on the floor next to his lover, wrapping one arm over her shoulder and pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"Can mummy have the ball?" Nikki asked Donovan as she signed as well and the seven month old took the soft ball from his mouth and handed it to his mother "Thank you" she then sighed and looked at Harry who was smiling proudly at their little boy "Do you think that it's our fault, the meningitis?"
"No" Harry replied incredulously "Of course not, what makes you say that?"
"I don't know" Nikki shook her head, rolling the ball back towards Donovan who picked it up again and then turned to look at Artemis as the cat wandered over. She purred and nuzzled Donovan, the little boy giggling and patting the cat on the head before she ran off towards the armchair and jumped up on it. "I just still wonder if it's something we did"
"Don't be silly, it's nothing like that and you know it" Harry told her sternly, placing one hand on her cheek and turning her head to look at him "It's just something that happens, it's rare but it does"
"Why us though? Why our baby? Why just Donny?" Nikki asked tearfully and turned her head away from Harry as he shook his head.
"I don't know, but he's fine isn't he? He's still with us and it could have been a lot worse"
"I know" Nikki nodded, smiling back at Harry as she wiped her eyes free from tears "Others aren't so lucky. I just worry about him when he's older, as much as we know he's really no different from Gabriel we know that others won't see it that way"
"He'll be fine, he has us and he has a family. He has all the help and support he needs here"
Nikki smiled at her partner and nodded, leaning over to kiss him on the lips before they turned back to their little boy and continued to play with him.
"Darling are you alright?" Harry asked later that evening when the twins had been bathed and put to bed, both of them whinging and not wanting Nikki to leave them both. It had taken a while to get them both to bed, Nikki having to stay in the room until they had both fallen asleep and both parents wondered how long it would last.
"Yeah I'm fine" Nikki murmured as she looked away from her book and dog-eared the page, throwing it on the coffee table next to the sofa she was sitting on and running one hand through her lose hair.
"No you're not" Harry sighed, sitting himself down next to his lover and wrapping one arm around her shoulders, Nikki leaning into him and resting her head on his chest. "What is it?"
Nikki thought about telling him about her and Ada but couldn't bring herself to do it. She knew that it would just make things awkward between Harry and Ada, if not obvious it would still be there.
"I'm worried about results" she murmured. It was the truth as well so she didn't feel as guilty. "What if we have to go to different unis and.."
"Ssh" Harry soothed her, stroking her hair and leaning down to kiss her to cut her off "Don't think about that and.."
"How can I not?" Nikki asked almost hysterically as she moved away from her fiancé and shook her head "Results are in three weeks and if we don't get in together then what's going to happen to our boys?"
"Nikki.."
"Don't 'Nikki' me in that tone of voice" she snapped, her eyes filling with tears as she spoke "I don't want to think about it but we have to"
"We will think about it after results if it happens" Harry told her forcibly and Nikki took a deep breath and nodded, her lover reaching over and placing one hand on her cheek, stroking it with his thumb as Nikki leant into his touch.
"I need a bath" Nikki then stated and Harry smiled "Join me?"
"That's the best offer I've had in a few hours" Harry smirked and Nikki giggled loudly, standing up and practically dragging Harry out of the living room.