Thank you for the reviews.

So the first half of this is set in April... the second half is set four months later in August.

Also, this is the penultimate chapter...

Chapter 19

Eight months later

Eddie couldn't help but smile as he heard the screech from Daryl and then looked up to see that Rachel was chasing him around the garden. Things weren't completely how he expected them to be with Daryl but most of the time that was because of Melissa and what she thought was best. If anything, Eddie would have thought that what was best for Daryl was a clear routine of the days that he had with him and Rachel. It just made the time that they did have with Daryl even more precious.

He felt like the best time to come out with the drinks was when Rachel had Daryl in her arms and her telling the toddler that she thought that it was best that they calmed down. The heat probably wasn't helping as it was a warm Saturday afternoon for early April but Eddie was grateful to have his son for the week as Melissa needed to sort a few things out (and seemed extremely happy to find out that she had timed it all with the Easter holidays).

He grabbed Daryl's beaker and filled it up with water, assuming that he would want a drink as much as Rachel would. With the handle of the beaker in his mouth, he picked up the drinks for him and Rachel and made his way out into the garden. Rachel had Daryl curled up against her chest and she gave him a smile as he handed her the drink.

"Hey mate, are you going to sit up so you can have a drink as well?" Eddie said, handing him the beaker.

He could tell that Daryl may be ready for his afternoon nap as he slowly sat up to take the beaker off him. Eddie looked at Rachel, thinking that she was thinking the same thing and that they would probably try and settle him soon.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you yesterday in all the panic of Daryl, I have done it. I have handed in my notice to the LEA and the governors." She said.

"Right?" Eddie said as he took the chair next to her.

"Yeah, I spoke with Matthew and he said that he would tell the other governors over the Easter break. I am to tell Chris and Susan when we start next term and then everything will just be preparing for my departure and the next head to come in."

"And the LEA? Have they got anything lined up for you?"

"They have."

"Great."

"There is a small problem."

"What is that?"

Eddie could tell that she was hesitant and he wondered where the hell she was being sent off to now. He was fully prepared for her to say that she was leaving for London or Glasgow or somewhere far away when she finally spoke.

"They are looking for a deputy head as well."

"Really?"

"Eddie, you know we work well together but you have only been in your current post at Wardle Academy for two terms. I can't expect you to leave when you have only been there a year."

"You can if it is the right school for us."

"It is. We could make a real difference there. But then that comes to the other little thing."

"Which is?"

"The school is in York." She sighed. "It is an hour and a quarter away from Michael and Daryl."

"Have you said yes to it?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because it was something for us to discuss. I want you with me, Eddie, but I do understand that you do have more than just me to think about. Which is why if you aren't okay with it, then we won't go. Another head teaching role will come up and hopefully, it is close and I will take that."

"Will it though?"

"Yes. Eddie, it doesn't matter. I want to be with you and the boys."

Eddie did understand Rachel's concerns and he knew that he needed to think about it properly rather than just going with what he thought was right. Because the right thing to do would be to accept the job offer and follow Rachel. But it would have been his third job in three years and that didn't completely sit right with him.

"I'll sort out Daryl. You think about it." Rachel said as she stood up.

Eddie nodded at her, knowing that he had to think about it more with his head than with his heart.

Rachel hadn't re-mentioned the job offer in York. She'd had all of the previous day to think about it and research the school. Eddie hadn't and, as she told him, he had more to think about than her. She did but didn't have anything tying her to the area. Eddie definitely did.

Which was why he had to be the one to bring it up again. Because she had done her thinking over it and she wasn't going to go unless Eddie was going with her but she knew that she couldn't take Eddie away from the boys. Especially Daryl when it was so hit and miss when they actually had him (which Rachel felt like they should do something about).

"What's the school called?" He said as he joined her on the sofa

"Huntington."

"Okay."

"The usual non-selective mixed secondary school with a sixth form."

"Usual? There must be something unusual about it for the LEA to send you there."

"Okay, there is."

"Is it another Waterloo Road?"

"Pretty much."

"We will just have to sweeten the deal with Melissa by saying that we will pick up Daryl and drop him back when she allows us to have him and either I'll have to leave school early on the Fridays when we have Michael for the weekend or I'll have a word with Alison and I'll meet her halfway or something like that."

"Are you sure?"

"I think that we are both ready for the new challenge."

"But only if you are sure."

"Yes Rachel, I am sure."

She smiled at him before she moved her position to be lying against him, draping one of his arms over her shoulder and holding onto his hand.

"I think that we might need to draw something more permanent up with Melissa." She said.

"Rachel, I am not taking her back to court after what happened last time."

"I'm not saying that we have to go through the family courts. I'm just saying that when we are in York, we can't be used as babysitters, can we? We will need to know when we are having Daryl so that we can organise things so we can pick him up. Like making sure you have every last period free on a Friday so that you can get the boys. We can't just be having a phone call the day before or on the day that we are going to have him. It works at the moment because we are close and we roll our eyes and say that it is just Melissa being Melissa."

"Are you going to slap her again then?"

"I thought she might bring that up at the time."

"I am glad she didn't. It was bad enough she brought up Elsie."

"I wish I never told her about Elsie."

"You were angry. We all say things we don't mean or want to say when we are angry."

"She is still the last person that I wanted to know about Elsie."

"We can't turn back the clock Rachel. If we could, I don't think we would have him upstairs."

"We might have done in another way."

"I still don't like the idea of you suffering for me."

"Well we don't have that problem, do we, Lawson? Because someone decided that he didn't want any more children."

"Three is enough for me."

"And I am perfectly fine playing the step-mum role to both Michael and Daryl."

She could only smile as Eddie held her a little tighter to him and placed a kiss in her hair.

"I'll draft a letter to give to Lukas after Easter." He said.

"And I'll tell Richard at the LEA in York that I will take the position that he is offering and I will have a deputy as well."

"Should I expect a call from Richard then?"

"Probably not if I give you the same glowing reference that I gave Lukas."

"Well, I do think that Lukas will give me a good reference as well."

"He'd better."

"Did we just assume that this wasn't going to work with Melissa and Daryl in the picture?"

"I assumed that it wasn't going to work." Rachel said as she held onto his hand a little tighter. "Maybe I just didn't realise how much I needed you."

"Never again."

She knew that a year ago, she would have told him that he couldn't say something like that because he couldn't trust that he meant it or that there wouldn't be a reason why they would split up again. But now she could. She could believe him when he said 'never again'. Because she believed it too.

"Never again." She repeated as she turned to look up at him and placed a kiss on his jaw.

"So how are we going to entertain the 18-month-old for the week?"

Rachel laughed as they started to come up with ideas that meant that they could wear the toddler out while not wearing themselves out too much.

"Eddie, they don't go in that box."

He turned to Rachel after he reclosed up the box. "Why?"

"Because that box is the box for Michael's room. They is going to go into Daryl's room. Which is the box in the other corner."

"I can't keep up with what box is for what." He said as he made his way to the other box to put the books in.

"I guess that is why the frying pan was in the bathroom box."

"Probably."

He turned to Rachel to see the smile on her face. He knew that he wasn't doing great at the whole packing thing. He was happy enough just to throw as much of their stuff into the boxes that they had and get it into the car and work everything out once they got to York. Rachel wasn't like that, methodically packing their belongings over the last week until they reached the last couple of things.

"What's so funny Mason?"

"Maybe I just have realised how much I have moved about that I forget that this is stressful for some people."

"I'm not stressed."

"But do you actually get stressed about anything?"

"Of course I do."

"Well, your next job is to dismantle our bed."

"Wait, what time are the removal people coming in the morning?"

"Eight. Which means that the last thing you are going to want me to do is to wake you up at six so that you can do it then."

"What? Are we sleeping on the mattress on the floor tonight then?"

"It is only going to be one night. It will definitely be one of the first things you do when we arrive."

"Why just me?"

"Because you are the man."

"It is because it is a bugger to put together, isn't it?"

"Maybe."

"The things I do for you, Mason." He said as he walked over to her before placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Last night in Rochdale. I was thinking of an Indian from that place we really like."

"That sounds perfect."

"As pretty much everything, bar the kettle, has been packed in the kitchen."

"Talking about the kettle."

Rachel playfully hit his arm before she placed a kiss on his lips. "I'll make you a coffee if you make a start on the bed."

"Yes, Miss."

Eddie knew that Rachel had shaken her head at him as he left the room. Because he had been ridiculous and that was usually her reaction to him being ridiculous.

"Do you know what will be nice?" Rachel said as they settled on the sofa for their last night in Rochdale.

"No, what?"

"That no one will know everything we have been through to get to this point. That we can walk into Huntington School as Rachel Mason and Eddie Lawson and no one will know any different. We can tell them that we are together but they won't know any of the ups and downs that we have had. More importantly, they will know Daryl as just your son and they won't know that he is, technically, my nephew."

"Until Melissa turns up."

"She isn't going to do that. You heard her. And she is more likely to call Daryl your son than have any association to me."

"Which still bothers you slightly."

"It only bothers me because of how many times I chose her. Like when I thought that she was a better ally than you. I've been there for her so many times and I should have realised before that she had never been there for me."

"But I suppose you are right," Eddie said. "We can be us without our history."

"And we will be it from day one. I love you Eddie and I want everyone to know that we are together. At Waterloo Road, I was worried about what they were all going to say because of Melissa and everything like that. I'm not going to say that things would have been completely different if that didn't happen but we are comfortably together now. Aren't we?"

Eddie pulled her forward and kissed her, giving her his answer without having to say anything. She knew that he was going to though, but that didn't stop her arms from coming around his neck.

"Of course we are Rach." He said as they parted. "You know that I will always want to shout that we are together from the rooftops."

"I just thought I would say where I was with it all."

"Which is more than perfect with me."

"Good."

"You know what, I think we should go for an early night."

"Because we need to be up early in the morning?" Rachel offered him.

"Yeah. That."

Rachel knocked her nose against his as she giggled before kissing him again. She still had no idea how she had managed to luck out with Eddie but she had done. Things were going to be different for them but there was one thing that she wasn't worried about. And that was how her and Eddie were going to deal with any problems thrown their way. Because they were to deal with them together, as they always should have done.