Thank you for the reviews.

Yes, we are at the end of another story. I hope that you have enjoyed the rollercoaster of this story.

Next story will be First Time to start off that timeline. At the moment, it is looking like early October for that but we will see how things go. Because anything can happen.

And yes, I have wanted to scream about something that happens in this chapter since I came up with the idea.

Chapter 20

4 years later

Rachel could really believe her luck as she sat back on the beach with her book. She had been trying to read the same page for the last 15 minutes but she kept getting distracted by the sight of the daily lesson of Eddie trying to teach Michael and Daryl how to play cricket with only three of them (because Michael had become obsessed with cricket since they played it at school).

There was a part of her that wondered whether if they did have a little one together, would it have added to the scene in front of her but she knew that if Kim and Dex could have joined them, then the scene would be exactly the same as the one in front of her, just with her having a companion as well.

She could help but smile as Michael gently threw the ball for Daryl to hit for the bat to collide with both the ball and Eddie's shins. She felt like their cricket lessons might be over for the day, so placed her book to one side before she grabbed the bottle of drink for Daryl and poured Eddie and Michael a glass of the big bottle of squash that they were sharing. Sure enough, Daryl came sprinting over to her, landing in her arms and causing her to fall backwards onto the sand.

"Did you miss me or something?" Rachel asked the five-year-old.

"Daddy isn't happy with me."

"So you are creeping around me." She said as she tickled his ribs.

Daryl let out a screech of laughter at her action and he started to try and fight her off for her to change from tickling him to placing kisses over his face.

"Rachel." Daryl squealed.

"Don't you like me kissing you?"

"I thought you were only allowed to kiss Daddy."

"I can kiss you as well. Just not in the same way that I kiss your daddy. Drink?"

Daryl sat next to her as she gave him the bottle that she had got out for him. It allowed her to watch Michael and Eddie come back to them, with the 11-year-old deep in conversation with his father. Rachel could only imagine Michael's anxieties over starting secondary school and she could only imagine that was what Alison had meant when she had said for Eddie to talk to Michael. It was obviously something that he felt like he didn't need her input with yet.

"Michael." Rachel said as she offered him the glass as they reached her.

"Thanks, Rach. Can we go and get ice cream?"

Daryl was definitely up for that idea and Rachel turned to Eddie, who gave them the okay and the money to get them, with the promise that they also got them a 99 cone as well. She offered Eddie the drink that she had poured for him as he sat down next to her.

"I would have thought that he would have wanted some time away from Daryl," Rachel commented.

"So would I. I wouldn't want to be an 11-year-old sharing a room with a five-year-old."

"But it is nice that they do get on."

"Just think, this time last year, we were sunning ourselves in Greece. This year we are in Cornwall because Melissa won't let us leave the country with Daryl."

"The weather could have been worse."

"I suppose. Or maybe I just don't want to think of the drive back tomorrow."

"We will have to split it again."

"And we need to make sure that Daryl goes to the loo before we leave."

"And you know that this time next month we will be sunning ourselves in Italy."

"Off on our holiday of a lifetime."

"It will certainly be that. Are your shins okay?" She said as she placed a hand on his leg.

"You saw that."

"I thought that this book would be better as everyone has recommended it but I am finding it hard to get into."

"It was why I thought that it was best we stopped. I am glad he didn't aim any higher."

"I can only imagine."

Rachel leant more onto Eddie as he placed a hand behind her to lean his weight back. He placed a kiss on her cheek before resting his cheek on the top of her head.

There was no other way to describe how Rachel was feeling other than she was content. She was with a man that she could say loved her and she had two boys that might not be her own, but she would be proud to call them her own.

Which is why she hoped that Eddie was ready for the next step like she was.

Eddie couldn't help but watch Rachel as she decided what she was going to do with her hair. It was still quite warm for a mid-August evening. He knew that she would end up putting it in a bun as it was how she'd had her hair most of the time during their fortnight away.

He knew that he was extremely lucky to be back with her and he reminded himself of that every time he woke up and fell asleep next to her. Even in his wildest dreams, he would never have imagined this in the seven months that they were apart. Now they had been back together for five years and every day was still a blessing.

It was why he hoped that she was ready for the next step like he was.

"Daddy?"

Eddie smiled down at Daryl before he picked him up and walked him into the living room.

"Yes mate."

"Mummy said that this is going to be the last time we are going to see each other."

Eddie rolled his eyes at Melissa's wording. "Me and Rachel are going travelling."

"Where?"

"To quite a few places. We are starting in Italy and are going to make our way to Dubai and India and Thailand and Australia. We are going to see the world."

"Like the song."

"What song?"

"The song with the bears."

Eddie repeated his son's last line under his breath, wondering what he was on about.

"From Brother Bear, Dad," Michael said as he joined them. "You know, tell everybody I'm on my way. New friends and new places to see." He said, singing the last part.

"A bit like that. Maybe more like a whole new world." Eddie said. "If we are going to compare it to a Disney song."

Eddie put Daryl down as he started to wiggle in his grip and he watched him as he jumped on the sofa next to Michael.

The problem Eddie had was that he knew that he wouldn't have a relationship with either Michael or Daryl without Rachel and it confirmed his thought that he didn't know what he had done so right to have a woman like Rachel Mason in his life.

It was the thought that he was thinking about when Rachel joined them in the living room, with the local babysitter to look after Michael and Daryl, and why he was beaming a smile at her.

He just hoped that the night was going to end how he hoped.

Eddie was wondering the best time to do it. He had wondered whether he should do it now before their desert arrived or to do it after that or to try and persuade Rachel to take a walk down to the beach and do it there. He had some many options but it was probably that reason that he hadn't realised how nervous Rachel was as well.

"Okay, I need to say before I explode." Rachel said.

"Say what?"

"Eddie. When we broke up, it was the worst thing that I had ever done. And in true me fashion, I tried to act like it didn't happen so that it didn't hurt me. And I think it was the reason that it hurt me more. I prided myself on the fact that even though things were bad with Max, that they were never that bad that I thought I needed you back in my life. I should have called you the night it happened. I shouldn't have listened to myself.

"But then there are many things that I shouldn't have listened to myself for and they all end with pushing you away. Because I should never have pushed you away. I should have told you what was going on in my head. Because I am sure you would have waited if I told you I wasn't ready. But I am glad that we have this chance now."

"Woah, wait a second." He said, interrupting her.

"Why?"

"Are you proposing to me?"

He watched Rachel as she sighed and reached into her bag to get out a box, opening it and placing it in the middle of the table in front of him so he could see the ring. It was simple enough. A white gold band with a band of yellow gold in it.

He wondered whether Rachel thought that he was laughing at the idea of her proposing.

"What?" She said. "You have no idea how many different shops I went to, to get that. There aren't that many men's engagement rings about."

"I'm not laughing at that."

"What are you laughing at then?"

Eddie reached into his jacket and pulled out a similar-looking box. He felt like she had got the reason that he was laughing but he opened the box and placed it next to her's, facing towards her. He had admired the ruby and diamond ring that he had got for Rachel too many times since he had brought it. He just hadn't found the right opportunity to ask her.

She smiled up at him. "I think it shows that we are both ready for the next step in our relationship."

"So are we going to ask the question or am I to guess that it is a yes?"

"Of course it is a yes, Eddie. You?"

"Yes, of course, I will marry you."

It was her turn to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

"So what do we do now? Shall we just exchange rings?" She said.

"I think it would be a shame for them to go to waste."

"Did you tell Philip?"

"I asked him for permission to marry you."

Rachel buried her head in her hands for a moment before smiling back at him. "Now what he said made so much sense."

"What does?"

"I was adamant that I was going to propose to you. That you wouldn't take the next step because you were worried what I might think or do. Or that you were scared that I would reject you. Philip said something along the lines of having a little more faith in you."

"Come on Mason, give me your hand."

Eddie was sure that he had the same smile on his face that rose when he realised that she was proposing to him as he slipped her ring on her finger and then allowed her to do the same to him. He could tell that they were both in a state of shock that they had chosen the same night to do the same thing. But maybe it showed how in touch they were with each other.

"If we didn't have our trip of a lifetime, I would ask whether this is what we are going to do with our year out." She said.

"I don't think that you are all for the big white wedding."

"That is definitely not me."

"I've already done it."

"I literally have five people that I would want to invite."

"And I get that you aren't, but maybe we could be a bit spontaneous and get married aboard and when we pop back to see Philip, Michael, Daryl, Kim and Dex, we can be married."

Rachel laughed. "I don't know whether Philip would completely agree with that."

"Okay, maybe we will have to fly him out then."

"I don't care Lawson, just as long as I am with you."

Eddie felt his smile grow. "You know what Mason, I was thinking exactly the same thing."