Hello,

Thank you for your fab reviews! (If you were angry at where I left the last chapter Gem, I dread to think what your response to this cliff-hanger will be...)

This chapter has definitely been a long time coming. When I first thought of the idea for this fic, I always knew that things were going to lead to this chapter. You'll know by now that I love some drama, well we definitely go to another level of drama in this one.

I would usually say enjoy, but I don't know if that's appropriate this time. I am intrigued to hear your thoughts on this one. (I won't be offended if you shout at me!)

Becca x

Swan Song

"Melissa?" Rachel did a double take.

Unfortunately, it was not a dream (or more appropriately, a nightmare.) There on her doorstep stood her sister, with a beach bag over one shoulder and a suitcase beside her. As Rachel came face to face with Melissa; the very woman who had carelessly dragged them all from sleep after disappearing for months, she cursed herself for feeling relieved. At least now, she knew that Melissa was safe.

She pulled her dressing gown around herself as tightly as her stomach would allow as the biting chill of the night hit her; it awakened her, had her looking back at her sister with her eyes wide open. When Melissa then gave an unfazed smile it jolted Rachel fully back to her senses. "Where the hell have you been?" she demanded.

"Rach! Would you help me in with my bags? I'm exhausted." Melissa dramatically huffed, rubbing an ache in her back that was not there. The irony of it all was not lost on Rachel as she stood there heavily pregnant and sleep deprived.

"I told you, you're not coming in." Eddie remained firmly planted in the doorway. "Do you know what time it is? How dare you turn up like this! You do remember the child that's sleeping upstairs?"

"My flights only just come in! Actually, the jet lag is really starting to catch up with me now so if you wouldn't mind boiling the kettle. I'm parched." Melissa spoke as if the two of them were inconveniencing her.

"You really are something else-" Eddie started through gritted teeth.

"Just let her in." Rachel sighed. When Eddie looked at her as though she had lost her mind, she reasoned, "She's not going to move otherwise and anyway, I think she's got some explaining to do."

With a smirk on her face, Melissa slipped past Eddie to settle herself on the couch in the living room. When Rachel followed her, she commented "Well, isn't this cosy."

"Take that look off your face, and get your feet off my coffee table." Rachel reprimanded as she sat down beside her sister. Eddie on the other hand, ensured there was a great proximity between them and stood in the far corner of the living room with his arms firmly crossed.

"Aren't you glad to see me? You rang me enough times." Melissa brashly commented.

"Oh, so you did get my calls and messages? But I suppose ignoring them added to the drama of your grand entrance? You never change, do you?" Rachel shook her head despairingly as Melissa's smug expression did not falter. "How could you leave your son for months without so much as a text? Do you even care about-"?

With an exaggerated yawn, Melissa cut Rachel off. "Don't you ever get sick of this whole self-righteous act Rach? It really is ironic after what you've done. You should count yourself lucky that I'm still speaking to you."

Eddie scoffed and could no longer hold back. "I can't listen to any more of this. Just get out." He demanded.

"No. I'm not finished with her yet." Rachel said. "She's still not told us where she's been."

"Spain. I have a friend who lives out there, she said I needed the break after all that I'd been through. Actually, I have some news." Melissa suddenly grinned; unbothered by the tension in the room. "The first night I was out there, I met someone and well these last few months have been a bit of a whirlwind and now..." She waved her left hand in front of Rachel; wiggling the diamond on her finger for maximum effect.

"You can't be serious? All this time Eddie and I have been trying to get Charlie settled and you've been off having some holiday romance?" Rachel asked, stunned.

"I thought you'd be happy for me! Nick is an incredible guy. He sold his business and moved to Spain a few years ago, you should see his villa! And now, he wants us to spend the rest of our lives together." Melissa informed.

Rachel remained aghast. "Have you taken leave of your senses?"

"I think you should be asking her new bloke that question." Eddie chipped in.

"Have you forgotten about your sons?" Rachel reminded.

"What do you take me for? That's why I'm here, well for Charlie, Philip has made it very clear that he doesn't want me in his life." Melissa rolled her eyes.

The mention of his son quickly grabbed Eddie's attention. "What do you mean?" he frowned.

"I went to the house first but it had a massive for-sale sign in front of it, thanks for consulting me on that. I'm here for my son. Charlie's going to be living with me and Nick in Spain." Melissa casually informed and relished in the fury that began to build on Eddie's face.

30th March 2012

"I can't believe I'm having to go to this. A mediation session? There's nothing to discuss. That woman is not taking my son. Have you heard anymore from your sister?" Eddie ranted on before realising that Rachel had not been listening to a word that he had said for the last ten minutes as she remained in bed with her hand clutched to her head. "Sorry, are you okay? You shouldn't be going into work, you should be resting, the baby's going to be here in three weeks."

"I'm fine. I'm just exhausted, no change there." she excused whilst hauling herself up and out of bed. "It's the last day before the Easter holidays and before my maternity leave. I think I can manage one more day."

"I just don't want you overdoing it. Especially as you're going to be on your own this morning. Are you sure you'll be alright taking Charlie into the crèche?"

"For the tenth time, yes. Now, stop fussing over me and focus on the mediation." she reminded. It was only now that she noticed that Eddie was oddly wearing a tie and tutted at his untidy attempt. "Come here," she began to fix it but then shook her head and pulled the tie from his shirt.

"I thought you'd approve; I was trying to make a good impression." Eddie explained.

"And you will do, by being yourself. Darling, you've never really been a tie sort of man, have you? See this as a controlled setting to get your side across. Melissa will soon give up when she realises that she has no argument." Rachel reassured as she adjusted his collar.

Although they had been living together for almost two months now, herself and Eddie would still take their own cars into work to avoid gossip from the students, with Eddie usually being the one to drop Charlie off at the crèche. This meant that when Charlie watched his Dad drive off without him that morning, Rachel was left to deal with a full-blown tantrum. It took every ounce of energy that she did not have to get him dressed and into the car; meaning that when they eventually arrived at the school, she was depleted.

"Need a hand?" Kim called out when she spotted a struggling Rachel in the carpark with one hand holding onto a wriggling toddler as she attempted to retrieve her paperwork from the boot with the other. "Why don't I drop Charlie off at the crèche? I'm heading there with Dexter anyway."

With a sigh of relief, Rachel happily handed over her lively nephew. "Thank you so much Kim. That would really help."

"No problem. I'll see you in the staffroom, yeah? Come on you two." Kim smiled and took both of the boys off to the crèche.

As Rachel practically pulled herself up the stairs, stopping for breath half-way, she reminded herself that it would only be a few weeks before her body was her own again. By the time she reached the staffroom she was catching her breath once more outside and wondering whether or not she should make some sort of speech seeing as it was her last day before maternity leave.

"Surprise!" Steph exclaimed and released a party popper at the very moment Rachel walked in. It took Rachel a minute to adjust to the shock of it and to realise that Steph (with help from Matt and Janeece) had decked out the staffroom. Baby pink banners had been pinned amongst notice boards along with matching balloons which were scattered around the room.

"What the-" Rachel uttered as she looked around the see the smiling faces of her staff (it did take an elbow from Steph to push a smile from Grantley) and noticed that the table was awash with pink macarons and cupcakes.

"I did tell her to not do the party popper, we don't want you going into labour just yet do we?" Matt commented as he gave Rachel a hug and a present.

"You really shouldn't have gone to so much trouble, but thank you." Rachel smiled. As much as she disliked the attention being on herself, she knew that they meant well. Plus, it was a welcome change to have a positive surprise for once.

"We couldn't let you go on maternity leave without having a proper send-off." Steph insisted as she came over and added to the pile of gifts which were building up next to Rachel. "There's a little something from Aunty Steph to the baby and there's a bottle of wine for you for when you can drink it!"

"I'll look forward to it." Rachel laughed. "Really Steph, thank you. No doubt this fuss was all your doing?"

"A certain Mr Lawson may have also had a hand in it. Where is Eddie?" Steph asked as she sat Rachel down with a tea and a cake.

"He's got some stuff on this morning, he should be back at lunchtime." Rachel explained before tactically changing the subject to Steph's new love interest.

In actual fact, it was only an hour later when Eddie stormed into Rachel's office. She had been tying up some loose ends before her maternity leave but swiftly wrapped up her call when Eddie arrived with a face like thunder. "What's happened?"

"I walked out." he huffed in frustration.

"Why?"

"Your sister. She's delusional! She said that I kicked her out of the house and stopped her from seeing Charlie. Apparently, she had no choice but to leave the country. I couldn't just sit there whilst she spouted a pack of lies!" He exclaimed as he dropped to the sofa. "Can you believe that she's threatening to take me to court? I just don't get it, why would she want custody? It makes no sense."

Whilst moving to join him, Rachel shifted his hands into hers as she sat down. "There's no way that she has any intention of taking him with her. If I know anything about my sister, it's that she doesn't do responsibility. She's scheming something."

"How can she do this to him? We've finally got Charlie settled and now she's going to confuse him again. She had that mediator woman convinced, what happens if she does take it further? I can't lose my son Rachel."

"Oh Eddie, that's not going to happen. You're an incredible father, anyone can see that. I don't know what Melissa's intentions are, but she definitely won't want a child to look after. Let's just be patient, yeah?" she reasoned.

"I'll do my best." He squeezed her hand; grateful to have her support. In fact, he did not know how we would have coped without her during the last two weeks. "How was your send-off in the staffroom?"

"It was definitely a surprise, but it was really thoughtful of them, and I heard that it wasn't all Steph's doing." she raised her brow.

"To be fair, it was her idea. My input was cash and strongly advising against some of her original ideas. I just wanted you to have a nice last day with everything that's going on. You deserve it." he fondly affirmed as he massaged the usual ache in her lower back.

"I can always rely on you." She didn't know whether it was her hormones or the memories attached to her office that had her feeling sentimental all of a sudden. "I'm going to miss this. Not just the school, us working together. I know that this year has been utter chaos, but I have loved being back here with you."

He smiled back at his partner and knew that all the turmoil was worth it to be back here with her. They were a team; personally, and professionally, and although he would be returning home to her each night, he knew that the hours in his work day would pass a lot more slowly without her. "This office definitely isn't going to be the same without you."

"Speaking of this office, I want everything kept in order. I've asked Kim to make sure you don't disrupt my filing system."

"You're already checking up on me?" he laughed.

"You bet I am." She smiled; cherishing how light the moment felt despite the cloud that Melissa had cast over them for the last two weeks.

Naturally, their moment of contentment had to be cut-short by the beeping of Rachel's mobile. Before she had even picked it up, a feeling of dread weighed upon her; it was instinctive by this point to await the next tribulation.

"I'm outside the school."

But she had not expected that. Two weeks had passed since she spoke with Adam, and although she had promised Eddie that she would not speak with him in person, she had planned to ask Adam if they could have their conversation over the phone instead. What she hadn't anticipated however, was that he would turn up at the school without warning.

Even if she hadn't have just cursed under her breath, Eddie would have known that trouble was on the way by her expression. "What's wrong? Who is it?"

Rachel looked up from her phone to respond, however their attention immediately diverted to the door which now crashed open. But it was not Adam who now stood in her office.

"I want to see Charlie." Melissa demanded.

Eddie shot up from the sofa. "Get out. You can't just turn up here!"

Melissa glared back at him; her stare matching the coldness of his, before fixing her attention upon Rachel. It was then that the strangest thing happened. Instantly, the tension in her brow eased and her expression softened as she took a seat next to her sister. "I'm so sorry Rach."

This certainly caught Rachel off-guard, but before she could begin to muster up a response, Melissa continued. "I shouldn't have turned up like that at the house. The way I've treated you- well, it's unacceptable. But I'm going to change; starting from today. I want to be a better sister, a better mother. Please, just say you'll support me. I need you on my side."

Giving her sister a speculative look, Rachel shook her head in disbelief. "What's all of this really about?"

"I get it, you don't trust me. I know I can be a nightmare and I've not been the greatest mother but I want to change that. All I'm asking is that you give me one last chance. I want to start a new life with my son, please don't let Eddie keep Charlie from me."

"You're deranged!" Eddie exclaimed.

Rachel remained utterly perplexed by Melissa. For a long time, she had held out hope that her sister would change. Perhaps it was the nature of her work, or her own life experiences that had formed her belief that no matter a person's past, there is always opportunity for change. This mindset had helped her to reform many a troubled student, but sadly never her sister. When it came to Melissa, Rachel's efforts were always in vain.

Side-tracked by her sister, Rachel had almost forgotten about the other problem waiting for her outside. That was until her mobile began to ring. "You'll forgive me if I'm struggling to believe your sudden change of heart," she finally responded to Melissa whilst silencing Adam's call.

But this did not deter Melissa. If anything, witnessing her sister's inner turmoil only spurred her on. "Please don't give up on me. You're going to be a mother soon; you must understand where I'm coming from. Surely, you'd fight for your child?"

"You're right. I would." Rachel confirmed, and without warning moved to grab her coat and handbag.

"Where are you going?" Eddie questioned when Rachel then suddenly shot off. "Rachel?" he called after her as he followed her out of the office and through the corridor. "Please tell me you didn't fall for that act?"

With her breaths quickly growing heavy, she paused at the stairs. "I can't deal with Melissa right now. Adam's outside."

Eddie did a double-take but realised that he hadn't misheard that last part when Rachel began to head down the stairs. "What are you talking about? Why would he- I thought we talked about this!"

"I didn't invite him here. Look, the bell's going to go soon and I really can't risk him causing a scene in public. I need to go."

"Just wait a minute." He rushed after her; planting himself in front of her to stop her from marching on. "I'll go and speak to him, get him to clear off."

"No, you need to get back in there and sort things out with Melissa. I'm sorry but I can't be in the middle of you and Melissa when it comes to Charlie, you need to deal with that and I need to-"

"What is this? I deal with my child and you deal with yours? I thought- we agreed that we were going to tackle these things together, as a family." He frowned as a realisation hit him. "This is how it's going to be isn't it? If he's the father, we're always going to have this- this divide between us."

"Eddie you're being ridiculous. You need to accept that some things, I need to do on my own. I don't need you to fight my battles for me. I need to have this conversation with Adam, for my child-"

Eddie scoffed. "This isn't about the baby. This is about you, always going charging into situations regardless of the consequences."

"Who is it that you have the problem with Eddie, is it with Adam or with me?" she asked but then stopped him. "I've not got time for this."

Storming off down the stairs and out towards the car park proved to be very difficult whilst heavily pregnant and meant that Rachel was practically gasping for breath when she approached Adam's car.

"Finally! You're the one that wanted this conversation, you could at least have the decency to turn up on time." Adam remarked as she slumped heavily into the passenger seat.

If it was not for her aching muscles and shortness of breath, she would have swiftly left the car at his first snide comment, however she instead took a composing breath before turning to face him. She noticed now that he could not look at her and was staring straight ahead with his hands clenched firmly around the steering wheel.

"I wasn't expecting you to turn up like this- that doesn't matter now, what matters is where we go from here. That's the reason I wanted to speak with you. I know you don't like me very much, and I get that but if this child is yours then we need to find some way of working together."

He shook his head insistently. "No. You don't get to do this. You don't get to lie and cheat and then call the shots."

"That's not what I'm trying to do. All I am suggesting is that we put our differences aside and be civil, for the sake of the baby. Because she's what really matters, isn't she? I've made mistakes, but I don't think it's fair that she should have to pay for them."

She had always found Adam to be unpredictable. Even in their happier moments, she struggled to read him; never knowing when his mood would abruptly change. It would only take one bad choice of word from her or a slight inconvenience and that was it. They could be in the most beautiful city, sun burning on their backs as they walked down winding cobblestone streets and it would take him a mere instance to sap the joy from the air.

Thankfully, in this moment he stayed relatively composed as he asked, "How is the baby?" The tension remained in his upper frame and his eyes were still stubbornly fixed on the car park in front of them, but at least this was them talking.

"I had a check-up earlier in the week and everything was as it should be. My blood pressure has been a bit high but-"

"I asked about the child, not you." He cut into her.

Rachel winced. She had expected this to be a difficult conversation to navigate, but was now questioning whether reasoning with Adam was an impossible task. Still, she had to try. "It's a very real possibility that we could spend the next eighteen years raising a child together. If that is the case, then we need to find a way to do that. I don't want her growing up between all this tension."

Although she could not fully see his expression, it was clear that for the first time in their conversation, Adam was considering what she had said. He made a slight head movement (she could have interpreted this as a nod but wasn't feeling that optimistic) before finally turning to face her. His eyes shot to her stomach; probably noting how much she had grown since they had last seen one another.

"We need to have this conversation properly," he proposed. "We'll go to the house." He swiftly turned to pull his seat belt across himself.

As he started the engine, Rachel interjected. "Adam, I'm at work."

"It's lunchtime. I'm sure your precious school can manage without you for half an hour." He rolled his eyes. He did not give Rachel the opportunity to oppose this as he then started to reverse the car; meaning that she had to quickly put her seat belt on.

A long list of concerns started to flood into the forefront of her mind as Adam drove out of the school gates. She had some degree of control over the situation before, however she now struggled to see how the outcome of this wasn't going to be disastrous. She was not only leaving the school when she had an endless list of tasks to complete, she also had the problem of Melissa and knew that this was going to lead to another argument with Eddie later on; in which she would probably have to tell him that he was right.

But it wasn't just that. Her main concern right now was Adam driving in the direction of her house. After rushing to get a defiant toddler dressed and out the house, she had left the place in a state. She thought of Charlie's highchair in the kitchen with his half-eaten porridge waiting to be tidied away, the toys that he had scattered around the living room just before they had left and Eddie's shoes which sat on the shoe rack in the hallway. There was no way that Adam would not realise that Eddie and Charlie were now living with her, and she couldn't imagine that he would receive this well.

"Are you listening to me?" Adam interrupted her stream of worries. "I was asking when you're going on maternity leave. I knew you'd still be working. God knows what distress you're causing that child."

"Today's my last day, and I've already told you, the baby is fine." she reminded. "Adam, before we get to the house... I just want to let you know that- Eddie, he lives with me now, along with Charlie."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Rachel saw something snap within him. She watched as his knuckles turned white and as his jaw began to twitch and knew that she had said precisely the wrong thing. "Well hasn't this worked out well for you? What was this little chat actually about Rachel? Are you making sure that I don't inconvenience your new life?" he accused.

"Adam, that's not what this is."

"Yes, it is!" He shouted. "This is about you wanting to control everything!"

As his fist punched the steering wheel, Rachel inhaled sharply and became aware of her pounding heart. She knew that Eddie was right; reasoning with Adam was never going to work. All she could do now was try to diffuse the situation. "Pull over!" she demanded as his driving became erratic and she realised that he was no longer heading in the direction of her house.

"You wanted a conversation. So, let me tell you how this is going to go. The moment you have the child, I want a paternity test done; get it fast-tracked. If she's mine then I hope you've got a good lawyer. When I'm finished you won't have anything left, not the house and definitely not my child." he threatened.

Adrenaline was rushing through her now and in the heat of the moment, she could no longer bite her tongue. "God, I hope she isn't yours. All you've ever done is try to change me, criticise everything I do, sulk when things don't go your way, and you wonder why I turned to Eddie? He's everything that you're not, and so I pray that he's her father."

"Don't you ever compare me to him!" he exploded. "How dare you criticise me after what you've done, and it wasn't just me that you lied to, was it? What about your sister?"

"Eddie wasn't in a relationship with Melissa. He lived with her for the sake of his son-" she stopped, focusing on the cars speedometer as it continued to increase. "For God's sake, slow down!" But his mind was somewhere else entirely and when he sped through a red light, she knew that he was beyond the point of reason. "Adam!" she screamed at him.

"Before we came back to Rochdale, you never spoke about your sister. It was always a touchy subject. I thought she must have done something horrendous for you to cut the ties, but it was him, wasn't it? Everything, it's all been about him!"

It was only as they reached a junction that Adam finally slammed down on the breaks. Rachel clutched at her stomach as she violently exhaled the breath that she had been holding. She turned to him, ready to scream at him for being so reckless. That was until she saw the car that was hurtling towards them. Her mouth gasped open; ready to warn him, but by then it was too late.