Thank you for the reviews.

So this is now a thing (and we will be taking a small break from the what-ifs). I said on Twitter that it was a nice little chapter to link things to what is happening in the world right now (set last Friday when the schools closed properly in the UK). Just something that I thought of on Monday while I was driving home from work (which I am not going to be doing again for a while) and I just felt like it might work.

Please keep safe guys and stay home if you don't have to go out. I know I will be.


Lockdown

Eddie knew why everything was happening. He could see why the government was doing what it was doing but it didn't help him and it left him in a sticky situation. He had watched a number of students and teachers work so hard for the GCSEs and A-Levels for them not to be able to take the exams. He knew that once they knew how they were meant to be grading the students, some would do better than if they took the exam but he knew a few students would have wanted the chance to prove what they had learnt.

He sighed as he threw his bag down by the door, knowing that he wouldn't be picking it up on Monday morning. He didn't really know what he was going to do. He was basically out of a job for the moment and it didn't sit right with him.

Plus there was the fact that he would be seeing a lot less of Sophie because of the quarantine. That could have been one way that he could have wasted some time. By homeschooling Sophie.

He pulled open the door to the fridge and grabbed a beer. It was needed after all the insaneness of the virus. It was only as he made his way into the living room that he realised that he wasn't on his own.

"Sophie. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm moving in."

"What?"

"Then you can homeschool me because I think Mum was planning on doing it and we both know she is a rubbish teacher. At least this way I can get better at maths."

Eddie just shook his head. "What has your mum said about this?"

"I don't know. She will be getting home about now to a note I left saying that I was going to stay at yours."

"Great." He said as he dropped on the sofa next to her. "That means I'll have her calling me up and saying that this was all my idea and fault."

"Well if she wasn't being so stubborn and not allowing you to come and live with us, then I wouldn't have done this. Just imagine if we go into lockdown and me and Mum have to be alone together, in that house. Dad, one of us will kill the other one and I think it would be me killing her."

"She isn't that bad."

"Says the man that can't live with her."

"True. But you do realise that Dad and Mr Lawson are two different people."

"Yeah, but I am sure Mr Lawson would always be better than Ms Ryan."

He couldn't stop himself from laughing as he remembered Melissa's first day at Waterloo Road. If he knew that Rachel and Melissa were sisters from the off, then he probably would have worked out how different they were from that introduction.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Don't call your Mum, Ms Ryan. Just something that she said on her first day."

"What?"

"Let's just say that it wasn't completely appropriate. I think Rachel hated that fact that she had said it."

"Maybe that is what else we can do. We can finally set you up online and we can try and find her."

"Sophie."

"Dad, she makes you happy."

"I know she does. But you know that there are quite a few reasons why it isn't as simple as just finding Rachel."

"I know. I just… I want to meet her Dad."

"I know. But I don't think it will be happening any time soon. Do you?"

"We are still allowed to go out."

"Sort of. But you can't go and meet with your friends."

"Don't you mean Mum's friends' children? They aren't really my friends. I am just nice to them because I know Mum would moan if I didn't."

"Have you not told her?"

"Dad, she doesn't listen to you. She isn't going to listen to me. Maybe we can get away from her."

Eddie knew that he couldn't allow Sophie to talk that way but he also knew that he would look like a hypocrite. He was only in London for Sophie but he couldn't live with Melissa. He should be grateful that his daughter wanted to be with him.

Before he could really say anything, his phone rang and he knew exactly who it was going to be. He sighed as he answered it.

"Melissa. Don't worry she is with me."


Rachel couldn't be more glad to be home. All day she had been worrying about how Tommy and Adam were getting on. She knew that she should really have to worry. Adam wouldn't do anything to hurt Tommy but she knew that he wasn't in the best of moods after the restaurant that he had been working out closed down due to the coronavirus. She already had to listen and nod along to his rant about how everything that was happening was going to kill the hospitality sector.

She wasn't particularly happy that her job had been cut short, her first longer placement for a while. But she knew all these measures were necessary. The government was doing it for a reason. She just didn't really want to hear Adam's rant for the third time that week.

This was a time where she felt like she had every reason to be worried about how this would all work out. Adam had been spending more time at home since they moved to Scotland but that time was usually just between him and her due to Tommy being at school. She now had an eight-year-old to keep occupied as well.

She knew it was good that she was a teacher because she knew that she could help out and have the patience to teach him. She didn't think that Adam would have the same patience.

"Mummy," Tommy said as he ran from the dining room.

He never failed to bring a smile to her face and she crouched down so that she could hug him. It was the only good thing that she could see coming out of the quarantine. She could spend more time with Tommy. He seemed to be growing up so fast and the weekends and school holidays didn't seem long enough to try and keep his youth going. Although she knew why he was maturing quicker than other boys his age.

"Have you been good for your dad?" She asked as they pulled apart.

"Yeah. We've got a surprise for you."

There was sigh of relief that escaped her lips. "Ooh, what is it?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, would it?"

"I suppose not."

"Is it true that I can't play with Sam and Dan and Ava?"

"Unfortunately it is, darling. But it is just until this nasty flu has stopped spreading the way that it is."

"And I don't have to go to school."

"No."

"But I like school."

"We can have school here. I am sure your teacher will send us over things that we can do while school isn't on."

"You'll be my teacher?"

"Don't worry." She said as she tickled his ribs. "I won't make you call me Mrs Fleet."

"It would be weird to call you that," Tommy said once he had got his laughter under control.

"I know darling and I know it is a strange time. We will just have to make do. But me, you and Dad are all going to be spending a lot more time together. Okay?"

She sighed as Tommy looked down at his feet before he looked back up at her.

"Okay."

"Come on, where is your dad?"

"Cooking dinner."

"So what's the surprise?"

"Mum, that is for later."

"Worth a shot though."

Tommy ran off back to whatever he was doing and Rachel bit her lip before she made her way into the kitchen. She didn't expect to see Adam so calm. She had expected to see him as agitated as he had been all week. But he just smiled at her before he walked over and gave her a kiss. She was definitely not expecting him to be affectionate.

"So you are going to homeschool him," Adam said.

"We have to keep his mind working. It'll be only for a couple of hours a day. I could take the traditional subjects and maybe… you could teach him a little Home Economics."

"I don't think they do that at primary level."

"Well we, somewhat, control the curriculum. I think we can add it to his education."

"Or we could leave him to be a kid."

"We will do that as well. But it isn't like we can take him out anywhere."

"I know it was a while ago but don't you remember being eight? Take off the teacher hat and put back on the wife/mother hat."

Rachel didn't really want to remember her childhood. She did remember being eight and it was one of the last times that she felt carefree before her mother told her those fateful words and caused her to become the worrier that she was.

"Yes. Sorry. Rachel is back. Mrs Fleet was left at the door."

"Good." He said before he gave her another kiss. "Dinner will be ten minutes."

"Good."

Rachel watched him for a moment before she went back to the door to collect up her bags to put away. Adam's behaviour confused her and she knew that it could either mean that he was making more of an effort because they were going to be stuck with each other for the foreseeable future or this was the calm before the storm. Rachel just hoped that she could weather the storm if it came and that it wouldn't be as bad as it was last time. She couldn't allow it to get to that stage again. For Tommy's sake.