Thank you for the reviews.
And I don't think it would be one of my stories unless I mentioned a certain name, would it?
Dad
"Morning," Eddie said as Rachel met him before they started going up the stairs to her office.
"Don't tell me you've forgotten." She said as she took in his appearance (his same old scruffy appearance).
"No. We're pitching Rochdale Business and Enterprise Centre, ROCBEC, to the DfEs. Which is why I'm out of my bed an hour earlier than normal."
"You could have put a tie on. Glad I picked up one of James' ties now."
"So that is why you were rummaging through my drawers this morning," James said from behind her.
"Also, this came yesterday." Rachel said as she held up the letter.
"That will be the reason why they are following us," Eddie said as he looked over his shoulder before they all entered the antechamber.
"I think they want to know as much as you do."
"So can we get on with it?" James said as they settled in her office.
Rachel shook her head as she dropped her bags and handed the letter over to Eddie. "Well, you do the honours." She said. "As I have already said, I know the result."
"You can't always be too sure of yourself, Fenshaw." He sighed. "Mason."
Rachel gave him a smile while she knew that James had rolled his eyes. She was glad that Amelia could give her a smile as she glanced over to her while Eddie opened the envelope.
"Okay so," Eddie said as he unfolded the letter. "By order of Edward John Lawson, we are requested to perform a paternity test. The following individuals were examined; Mr Edward John Lawson, Ms Rachel Mason, Mr James Issac Mason, Miss Amelia…"
Rachel found herself turning to Eddie as he trailed off. "What's the matter?"
"Miss Amelia Kiera Mason. Just… Kiera. I've always loved that name." He gave her a quick smile before he continued, shuffling around a couple of pages. "In all analysed PCR systems, Edward Lawson does show the genetic markers which have to be present for the biological father of the child, James Mason. Based on our analysis, it is practically proven that Mr Edward Lawson is the biological father of the child, James Mason." He moved the pages again. "Based on our analysis, it is practically proven that Mr Edward Lawson is the biological father of the child, Amelia Mason."
Rachel felt herself sigh as Eddie read the result, glad that she had been right for all those years. Although what she had said to Eddie was true, if he wasn't the twins' father, then she had no idea who was.
"What did I tell you lot?" She said.
"Still doesn't mean I am going to start calling you Dad," James said, with a lot less fight than Rachel expected from him.
"For the moment, that is perfectly alright," Eddie said as he stared at the letter still, probably the shock of it all hitting him again.
"Well, I am. If that's okay, Dad." Amelia said.
Rachel watched Eddie as he looked up at Amelia and a smile rose on his face. She knew that things would be okay between them in the end. This was just the start of things. And even though it was 17 years later, James and Amelia would have the chance to know their father and Rachel could finally get to know the man that gave her a normal night.
She knew that she had been so focused on the ROCBEC meeting that she had forgotten about what she had done a couple of weeks previously. Because there was someone else that she had decided that deserved to know their father as well but this wasn't quite how Rachel had meant it.
"Say hello to your dad," Alison said as she handed Michael straight over to Eddie after she stormed into the office.
There was no way that Eddie couldn't have taken the boy off Alison and Rachel found herself turning away from the scene slightly. All the good that the letter had done to start to build the relationship between them may have just been undone by this interruption.
"Rachel says you miss him." Alison continued.
She could imagine the look on Eddie's face when he turned to her. It was the first time that she actually regretted meddling in something that she had been told to stay out of. And she didn't think that now was the time to explain things.
"I thought I told you to leave this." Eddie almost shouted.
"Eddie please." Rachel said as she turned back to him slightly.
"Well, I've had enough. If you miss him that much, then he is your problem now." Alison said.
Eddie followed after Alison as she left and Rachel knew that the good feeling she had about the day was gone. Especially when he came back, with Michael still in his arms.
"I hope you are happy now." He said before he stormed off.
Rachel didn't try and shout after him, knowing that the best thing for her to do now was to give him a bit of time before the presentation to calm down and hopefully, he would listen to why she did it.
"What have you done?" Amelia asked.
At that moment, Rachel felt like it would have been better if the ground just opened up and swallowed her whole.
Rachel was trying not to bite at her fingernails or at the skin around them as Bridget walked towards her. She already knew what the other woman was going to say and she didn't want to hear it. Mainly because she hadn't found Eddie yet.
"Rachel, your guests are here."
She knew that a strange noise came out of her mouth as she wiped her hands down her face. This isn't how she thought the day was going to go. And she only had herself to blame for it.
"Do you want me to continue looking for Eddie?" Bridget asked.
"No. I don't think he will want to do it even if we did find him. They always said that this would come back and bite me one day. It just had to be today."
"I'm sure that he will see it for what it is."
"Maybe after a long time." Rachel huffed. "And I don't even know his presentation. I bet he doesn't have anything physically down on paper for me to take over his section as well."
"What are you going to do then?"
Rachel bit her lip for a moment. "Talk to Matt. He is doing the final rehearsals. Tell him that we might have to do a matinee performance. I'll have to talk to him more when I finish this meeting. Because I think I need something big to happen now before I lose it all."
"I'm sure you won't."
Rachel didn't quite have the same level of confidence.
Amelia knew that it was a risk going to try and find her dad but she knew that she had to go and do some damage control, even if her mum hadn't asked her to do so. Although she knew that she didn't have to wait for her mum to ask her. Because this is something that she wanted to do for her dad.
She wasn't surprised to find him in his classroom with Michael and she already knew what he was going to say when he looked up at her.
"Your mum asked you to butter me up." He said.
"No. She never asks me to do that sort of thing. James is her go-to there. Mainly because he will actually get the information that she wants from the students. She stopped asking me ages ago."
"So why are you here?"
She smiled as she sat on the desk near to where they were.
"Because me and mum have a different connection to what she does with James and I can see why she did what she did. You unknowingly spent 17 years away from two children that were yours. You didn't see us grow up and do our first this, that and the other. You have missed out on our childhood because of the pure fact that you didn't know about us until five weeks ago and you only had confirmation this morning that we are yours."
"So?"
"You've missed out on us, but you don't have to miss out on Michael. You can still see his childhood. Unless a parent is a real danger to their child, Mum will help them to be the parent that they are meant to be and I don't know whether that stems from you missing out on us or because she gives everyone a million chances, but she believes in giving everyone a chance and she is trying to give you a chance with Michael."
"All because I missed out on you?"
"Look, Eddie, Dad, whatever you want to be called, we are only just getting to know you. Why shouldn't Michael be a part of that as well? And to let you in on a secret, me and James have always wanted a younger sibling."
"I got that when Rachel said that you two took her losing the baby as badly as she did."
"For me, it was so I wasn't the youngest. And James will be happy that the boys finally outweigh the girls. You just watch, he will probably warm quicker to Michael than he will to you."
"It's all just too sudden."
"And I get that and I get that you are angry at Mum for going behind your back, but please see it for what it is. This is the start of everything for all four of us. Five if you include Mum as well."
Amelia watched her dad as he looked down at Michael as he did some drawing. It was clear that she had already warmed to him and therefore, her dad was going to warm to her quicker. And that was how she wanted it. She wanted to know the man that her mum seemed to have fallen in love with because he was a gentleman. She wanted a father figure. She... she wanted what Robert had been once upon a time. And maybe, she wanted someone that might see when she was falling. Maybe she wanted someone that might catch her.
"I thought you said that you could draw better than you could write." Her dad said as he turned back to her.
"Maybe I have enlightened moments."
They smiled at each other as James joined them, with Amelia wondering what he had to say.
"You have freaked Mum out," James said.
"How?" Her dad said.
"There is now a matinee performance of the school play. I was grabbed by Wilding to go through Mika's lines with her. And apparently Mum has disappeared as well."
"What?" Amelia said.
"No one has any idea where she has gone. Koreshi is entertaining the guests. She is going to learn one of these days. Auntie Melissa tells her not to meddle." James said.
"You know this is her thing."
James shook his head at her before he dropped into the chair in front of Michael.
"So Michael, mate, what do you like doing? Shall we lose your old man and get a ball out of the PE cupboard and go and play?"
"See what I mean," Amelia said with a shake of her head.