The coming Friday came around quickly and for the first time in the days since her attack Nikki was truly happy. They'd all gathered in the kitchen for breakfast where the twins had been well and truly spoilt with presents from not just Harry and Nikki but from everyone else as well, Nikki making sure that both twins thanked their friends in sign language for the toys and clothes they had received as well as cards. Leo had popped by as well before his morning lecture to give them both a present each and a card before having to rush off so he wouldn't be late. Despite being slightly upset that her little boys were now a year old Nikki couldn't help but feel proud of that fact as well when she saw them playing happily with some of their new toys while they were sitting in their highchairs waiting for the breakfast, the bigger toys would wait until later when they were in the living room.

"Well it was an eventful first year" Harry smiled at his lover who was leaning against the counter with a mug of coffee in her hands smiling at their children, she nodded at him and chuckled.

"Yes it was but I expect every year will be eventful" Nikki giggled, leaning up and pressing a kiss to his lips.

"So what are the plans today then?" Anthony asked as he fed Fergus at the kitchen table.

"Lecture at twelve today" Harry replied as he walked over to the table with two bowls of porridge and then sat down next to Gabriel, Nikki pushing away from the counter and walking over so she could feed Donovan at the same time. "And then one at four but between then nothing, we're not working at the lab today because we're spending as much time as we can with our birthday boys" he grinned at Gabriel as he said this and kissed her son on the forehead "Aren't we?"

"Thank you for everything" Nikki then nodded towards the presents on the floor next to the table where they were out of the way, spooning some porridge onto the baby spoon and then feeding it to Donovan who eagerly ate it.

"You've already thanked us enough" Abigail chuckled and Nikki shrugged

"Well, you know I just..we're thankful for them, so are the boys" she smiled at her son as he chewed on the mouthful of porridge, most of it around his mouth as he grinned at her and clapped his hands.

"When are we having the cake?" Jennifer then asked excitedly "You have made one right Nikki?"

"I've made one" Nikki giggled and glanced behind her to look at her friend who gave her a happy grin "And we'll have it after dinner"

"Where did you learn to make cake anyway?" Jennifer frowned as she wrapped her hands around her mug of coffee and leant forward on the table.

"Harry's mum" Nikki nodded towards Harry as she spoke "Well I had to cook before I met Harry because.." she frowned and fed Donovan another spoonful of porridge "Well I had to cook for myself but it was just dinners that I knew how to cook, I wanted to learn other things as well so Anne taught me"

"And trust me Nikki's cake is better than mum's" Harry butted in and Nikki giggled at him while their friends laughed "What?"

"Someone knows which side their bread is buttered" Emily smirked and the others nodded in agreement as Harry stuttered out a protest.

"No, I'm being honest" he sighed and Nikki giggled at him again as he pouted "Nikki's cooking is better than mum's"

"Thank you"

"Someone's looking to get some tonight" Anthony told them and Nikki's blood ran cold when she thought about it, the sound of Harry and their friends laughing making her shiver and not in a good way she was used to when it came to Harry. She couldn't bear to even think about exposing herself to Harry like that, not so soon after what had happened. She then wondered if he would notice if they did do anything, wondered if there was still any physical evidence on her body which could show what had happened to her.

"Nikki?"

"Hmm?" she asked when she heard Abigail's voice and turned slightly to look at her friend "Sorry I was thinking"

Abigail's eyes flicked to Harry who was too busy feeding Gabriel to see and then back to Nikki, looking towards her stomach and then back at her face with a questioning look in her eyes. Nikki just shrugged and shook her head, showing that it wasn't that she was thinking of, not in the way that they thought she was anyway.

"Oh Nikki did you hear? Bob Mumford has been kicked out"

"What?" Nikki asked Emily quickly as she turned away from Donovan, her heart pumping quickly in her chest when she heard the name and her friend nodded.

"Hmm, he's been so behind in his work and I heard from Bradley who was talking to one of Mumford's acquaintances in his year that he was only just scraping by in his tests"

"Who's Bob Mumford?" Anthony asked with a chuckle and Nikki swallowed heavily as she tried to process all of the information she had just been told, turning back to Donovan as her son let out a loud noise of impatience at being ignored by his mother. She tuned out what Emily was telling Anthony and continued to feed her son, smiling at him as he grinned back at her, his smile making her feel a lot better like it always did.

"He asked Nikki out for drinks didn't he Nikki?"

Emily's voice broke through Nikki's thoughts which were once again going to a dangerous place and she nodded once.

"Yes"

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Harry turn to look at her and she then gave him a loving smile.

"I never liked the look of him" Emily continued to inform everyone and Nikki looked over her shoulder at her friend again, not for the first time in the last few days wishing she had listened to Emily and ignored Mumford altogether. Once again it seemed her need for people to like her had let her down.

"Yes well he's gone now" Nikki told them quickly and Emily nodded "And that's it"

"I thought you got on well with him"

"Emily he's gone" Nikki snapped and missed the shocked look on her friend's face as she gave Donovan another spoon of porridge, instantly regretting her tone but not apologising. She felt so angry and weak again that it made her stomach churn. "And that's it, end of story"

There was an awkward silence which was broken only by Gabriel and Donovan, the former happily chatting away in baby speak and laughing happily and Donovan grinning and giggling at his mother which instantly cheered her up again.


"You never mentioned this Bob Mumford person" Harry commented hours later as they made their way towards the medicine and pathology labs and lecture halls hand in hand. Nikki just shrugged and reached up to shift her scarf slightly, her eyes flicking towards the direction of the bike sheds where students were mingling with their bikes, chatting, taking their bikes or locking them safely away while they were in lectures.

"He wasn't really anything to talk about" she replied when she realised Harry might want more of an answer than her shrug "He was just someone I chatted to when I was waiting for Emmy, you know when I sometimes meet her from her lecture if I'm free. And yes he did ask me for a drink and yes he knew about you and the boys" she continued before he could say anything "No it didn't even occur to me that he might want more than whatever we had going on, he wasn't even a friend"

"I wasn't going to ask" Harry shook his head and smiled down at his fiancé, squeezing her hand gently in hers as she smiled slightly at him "Are you feeling better today? You've been off all week haven't you?"

Nikki was unaware that Harry had noticed how she had been feeling, she knew he was tuned into what she was feeling just like she was tuned into him but he hadn't said anything in the past days.

"Yeah I'm fine, I was just..you know worried about the boys' birthday" she lied and chuckled "It's stupid I know"

"It's not" Harry shook his head and nudged her side gently, making her grin sheepishly at him "But you're okay now?"

Nikki just nodded, not trusting herself to lie any other way.


"It's your children's birthday today isn't it?"

Nikki and Harry looked next to them and saw Jeremy who was one of the people in their main lecture perching himself on the seat next to the blonde.

"Yes it is" Nikki smiled proudly and nodded and Jeremy smiled.

"Well congratulations, tell them happy birthday from me?"

"We will Jeremy" Nikki replied and he's smile grew "Thank you"

"It's their first birthday isn't it?" he asked them both and the parents nodded.

"Yes, the year has gone really quickly" Harry chuckled as he leant forward to look past Nikki "It's pretty scary especially how much they've grown and learnt in the past twelve months, especially the signing part of it all"

"It must be annoying having to have lectures today when you could spend time together"

"Well it's only this two hour lecture and then another one later on" Harry shrugged "We'll be spending the rest of the day with them of course and we're taking them out tomorrow with my mum, she's coming from London for the day"

"Well have fun" Jeremy smiled as their lecturer walked into the hall "Try not to fall asleep during the next two hours" he joked in a low voice as he stood up and the young couple laughed "If you hear someone snoring it's just me, he's so boring"

"I know" Nikki chuckled, glancing over at the elderly lecturer as he sorted out his papers on the desk in front of him "At least the others aren't like that"

"Thank God Anderson isn't like it" Jeremy rolled his eyes, Professor Jamie Anderson was the teacher who took them for their anatomy lectures and also their practical lectures below in the pathology labs with bodies or body parts. He was professional but they could all have a laugh with the middle aged man who had a wicked sense of humour. Anderson was also a qualified pathologist and was willing to give advice and help to those thinking of studying pathology after the main three year course which Harry definitely was, Nikki was still unsure though. "See you later"

"Bye" Nikki smiled and Harry nodded as Jeremy turned and walked off back towards where his friends had sat themselves, the lecture hall they were in was one of the smallest in the medicine building so when everyone turned up for lectures, which was rare that everyone turned up at the same time, a lot of people got friends to take notes and alternated who turned up, there were very few seats left.

"Good afternoon" Professor Summers called out and Harry groaned quietly, Nikki forcing herself to stifle her giggle with her hand, the people sitting next to her and Harry on either side having to do the same at Harry's reaction.

"We're missing our children's' first birthday for this" Harry muttered to his lover who glanced at him before returning to absentmindedly doodle on the pad of paper on her lap.

"We're doing this for them as well as us"

"Guys"

Harry and Nikki discreetly looked to their left when they heard the whisper and they saw Andrew, one of the guys they were friends with in the class motioning to them as Professor Summers continued to talk in his monotonous voice.

"If you want to spend time with your twins we can always take notes for you for the lecture this afternoon" he told them in a loud whisper, taking a discreet look at the lecturer as he spoke, Amy, the woman sitting between him and Nikki nodding and smiling at them "Everyone does it, we'll take notes and then drop them off at your accommodation or something"

"Are you sure?" Nikki murmured back and the two older people nodded and smiled.

"Of course" Amy replied just as quietly "Not everyone is coming to the lecture anyway, just a few people who are taking notes, you've done it for us before. Spend the rest of the day with your children. Happy birthday to them by the way"

"Thank you" Nikki whispered and smiled, glancing at Harry who nodded.

"We'll drop the notes off this evening if that's okay, you're in block.."

"C" Nikki nodded "Thank you"

"You're welcome, we're taking notes for James and Adele as well" Amy chuckled under her breath as they all looked back at the lecturer, Nikki glancing behind them where the couple her and Harry's age normally sat.

"Where are they?"

"It's their one year anniversary"

"Ah" Nikki giggled quietly, knowing exactly what the couple were going to be spending the day doing. She then remembered the last time she had had that happen to her and she took a deep breath to stop the nausea in her stomach, sighing quietly and closing her eyes for a few seconds. She had kidded herself when she told herself that she was fine, she wasn't. Most of the time she could get on with everything without even remembering that night but then when she remembered she felt like she would break.