One thing Rachel wasn't prepared for, she soon figured out, was soft play on a busy Saturday morning. It was Eddie's weekend with Michael so no matter what was happening in their professional lives, all thoughts of Stuart and academies were out the window as they both held onto the little boy's hand to stop him bolting across the car park in his rush to enter the play area. Eddie paid as quick as possible before releasing Michael as soon as they'd found a table to rest their things on, watching as the boy turned around to see if he was being followed.

"Rachy come?" He asked, his bottom lip sticking out as he fluttered his lashes, already knowing the strings to pull in order to get his way. It was definitely going to cause both adults some trouble in later years.

Rachel laughed softly before lowering herself down to Michael's level slowly, placing a hand on his cheek and kissing the other one. "I can't my love, I'm going to stay here and watch you and daddy though, okay?" She tried to pacify him, not wanting to ruin his day that he'd been so excited for up until that moment.

"Cus babies?" Michael pointed at her stomach, and Rachel noted it was the first real time he had acknowledged her stomach or the babies, in her presence at least.

She nodded softly, smiling at him with hopes that it would make him feel slightly better about her not being able to chase him around, as much as she wanted to. "Yeah buddy, because the babies are growing and you're too fast for me."

Michael simply shrugged, turning instead to his father and demanding his attention as a consolation prize. Eddie agreed immediately, taking his hand as they planned their route around the play area. "You'll be okay?" He turned back to check on Rachel, noticing her watch them in amusement and with a hint of excitement in her eyes.

"I'll be fine." She promised, imagining just how much better the picture was going to be with two added children into the mix.

Eddie pressed a kiss to her cheek and turned to leave, but was stopped with a tug on his hand from Michael. He let his son go and watched in amazement as the little boy turned back to Rachel and kissed her stomach almost shyly. "Bye Rachy. See you soon babies." And with that, he was off, running towards the first slide and climbing through the rope that lead him there, leaving two very bewildered and emotional adults behind.

"He's.. something else." Eddie watched him go, noting the tears that were shining in Rachel's eyes and moving to stop them before they fell.

Rachel swatted his hand away and practically pushed him towards the soft play. "Shoo, I'm fine. Leave me and my emotions be." She laughed, sending him on his way as she took her place to watch them play. She had her phone ready to take photos whenever the boys stood up and waved to her through the clear walls of the area, grateful she was able to witness special moments like this.

"I'm sorry, are you here with Eddie Lawson?"

Rachel was pulled from her thoughts by another female voice, and turned to see another woman who looked even more pregnant than she was. "I am, yes.." She replied curiously, looking around quickly with hopes that Eddie may be making his way back over to her.

The woman caught the scared look cross her features and hoped the smile she gave was warm. "We went to Uni together! I teach Science at his old school." She replied happily, and it settled Rachel's nerves immediately as she invited the woman to take a seat. "Or I did, before maternity leave. I'm Francine." They shook hands and began to chat all things pregnancy. Rachel found it a comfort to discuss her symptoms that Eddie just didn't seem to understand, no matter how many apps he downloaded or books he read. She didn't know nearly enough pregnant women, so delighted in being able to share some of the more gory side effects that people tend to leave out when discussing having children. Francine was shocked to discover that Eddie was about to become a dad again, to twins no doubt. She'd considered them friends when they worked together, as he helped her get out of an awful relationship before she met her current husband all those years ago. They had a son who was the same age as Michael, so she was a shoulder to cry on when Eddie lost Steven and had to cope with the breakdown of his marriage. Francine helped as best she could whilst taking care of her own family, so felt she at least would have been told that he'd met someone and they were starting a family together.

Both women looked in the direction of Eddie as he approached, and he looked shocked to say the least to see Rachel chatting with an ex-colleague of his. He pressed a kiss to Rachel's head as he sat down, lacing their fingers together as he greeted Francine.

"Oh Eddie! I've just been chatting to Rachel here. Twins? I can't believe you didn't say anything, I saw you not long ago. Congratulations."

Eddie knew there was no way to claw this back, completely stuck and backed into a corner. He looked to Rachel, only to realise she wasn't going to be much help in a situation that he genuinely didn't know how to get out of. "Oh they're not mine. I mean.." Immediately, he felt Rachel stiffen beside him at the slip of his tongue and he knew he'd made a wrong move. He hadn't even meant to say that, was only looking to offer a simple explanation for why it wasn't mentioned before to his friend. They'd caught up over coffee not longer after Eddie started at Waterloo Road, but he hadn't known the situation properly himself to be discussing it over a latte in a packed Starbucks. "No, I didn't.. I only mean. They are mine. I just meant.."

"I think we all know what you meant Eddie." At that, Rachel quickly gathered her phone up from the table and started to pack her bag. All voices around her were white noise as the tears blurred her vision, but she focused on the task in hand. She was aware of Eddie reaching for her and pulled away before he got the chance to touch her, running so fast from the table that her chair fell to the floor behind her and pulled the attention of many different families. Only she couldn't find it in herself to stop and apologise, needing to make as quick of an exit as possible before Eddie got the chance to catch her up.

Luckily for Rachel, Eddie had no chance of that; seeing as Michael was adamant that his time wasn't up in the ball pit. The 3 year old didn't seem to care about the urgency in his dad's voice, and instead chose to throw the balls at his face whenever Eddie suggested they needed to get up and leave.