One advantage of pregnancy was that no one could judge you for taking a day for yourself when you really needed it. Rachel knew that pregnancy came with a unique set of challenges- she just hadn't expected some of those to be crippling shooting pains up her legs and across her hips. So she was sat in her garden in the sun, pleased the weather was so uncharacteristically nice and on a Saturday too.

Movement from beside her had her looking up, and smiling when Eddie handed her a drink. "When did you get here?"

"A minute ago. I saw your car so figured you were out here when you didn't answer." He lowered himself onto the chair, studying her. "Are you okay?"

"In pain," she admitted, and regretted it slightly when he looked alarmed. "I'm fine," she added hastily. "I just… hurt. All over, apparently."

"Here, sit up."

She looked at him oddly, but did so, wincing at the movement and allowing him to guide her so she was sat facing away from him. And immediately sighed when she felt his hands move over her lower back, fingers soothing the tense muscles. "Feel free to do that for as long as you like," she murmured, and he chuckled.

"Until my hands cramp," he promised, and she huffed out a laugh, closing her eyes and allowing her head to fall forward. Two weeks ago, she'd been sure she would never have him touch her again, and now that he was, she never wanted him to stop.

She sat slowly sipping on her drink as he gradually moved to cover all of her back, leaning forward to press a kiss to the nape of her neck when he reached her shoulders. She smiled, leaning back slightly into his touch.

He was about halfway down again when she decided to ask something that had been playing on her mind. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Of course not."

She bit her lip. "I was just wondering… how did you and Alison decide on Michael and Stephen's names?"

She felt his movement falter for a split second, imagined Eddie was probably taking a deep breath at the sound of Stephen's name. "That was the easy part, actually," he said quietly, smoothly continuing his movement. "Michael was my father's name, Stephen was hers. We agreed even before she was pregnant… though we weren't expecting to use them both at the same time. Are you thinking of names?"

"Trying to," she murmured. "I don't think there's anyone I want to immortalise through a child though."

"You don't have to. Pick names you like."

"The problem is, I never realised how many names I associated with students," she joked weakly, trying to lighten the mood. It worked, and he chuckled.

"Are you going to pick before they're here?"

She chewed her lip. "No," she decided. "I want to meet them first, before I decide for definite. But I do want some possibilities." She paused, hesitating for a long moment. "Are there any you'd like?"

Eddie stilled. He'd been so scared of overstepping too far, of pushing too hard. "Rach…"

She shifted, looked over her shoulder at him. "They're your children too."

Eddie's heart stopped, as did his hands. He ignored Rachel's whine of protest as he sat back on his own chair and tried not to weep. His plan to leave a flower had obviously gone better than expected, as he'd been present for the scan and witness to another milestone as she grew two children. Their plans for drinks went just as well the next day, falling into old habits as they caught up on the previous weeks. Neither overstepped the mark though, both too scared to push too soon and lose all the good work they'd recently put in. Even though it was his weekend with Michael, Alison had asked to keep him until that evening so she could take him to a family party and he would never deny her that. So he found himself hoping Rachel wanted to spend more time with him, and was grateful she hadn't asked him to leave when he turned up unannounced. He'd expected to be sat down whilst they discussed what was happening between them, had expected boundaries and future plans and talks about where it went wrong. What he hadn't expected was her kind words and wanting opinion with something so huge as naming the babies. He had two options, to freak out and make Rachel question why she'd even considering allowing him back into her life. Or to pretend like she hadn't stunned him with her words and try to act as normal possible. Option two sounded like the one that would be working best for him, so he shook his head of his thoughts and picked up with moving his hands back over to the places he knew she was in pain. "The only other names for boys we liked were traditional ones, like William or Henry. We didn't discuss having more children but it would be hard to follow Michael and Stephen with McKenzie or a Spike." He delighted in hearing Rachel laugh, happy that he'd taken the option that rewarded him with such a sound.

"I like William." Rachel pondered, although she would agree with pretty much anything Eddie said at the minute if it kept his hands moving.

Eddie hummed, grateful that she seemed to be relaxing which was a sure sign that the pain was subsiding. "You're right though. You don't realise how many names you don't want to use because of the kids at school."

"You mean, you don't fancy a baby Bolton?" Rachel looked back at him to gauge his reaction, and his wide-eyed expression did not disappoint.

Eddie rolled his eyes, feeling Rachel relax and removing his hands as she turned back to face him. "Bolton Mason doesn't have the right ring to it I'm afraid love." He commented with a quick kiss to her lips, taking the opportunity to do so now she was looking at him.

"About that..."

"Rach, we don't have to. Not now." He interrupted, afraid to approach any topic that may cause upset or an argument that he knew neither of them had the strength for.

Rachel pressed a finger to his mouth, stopping him from continuing as she narrowed her eyes at him. Only he knew she wasn't serious, as she was still sporting a smile. "Just listen for once. There's not much we can do to begin with, it'll be just my name on the birth certificates and it'll look odd if they don't have my surname." Eddie nodded his agreement but didn't interrupt, hanging onto each word she spoke like she was hanging the stars out in front of him. "But, when you legally adopt them and become their father on paper, I want them to have your last name." She admitted, hoping this wasn't going into the territory that they'd both been avoiding. She'd been accused of giving mixed signals in the past, and that was the last thing she wanted now. She figured the more open and honest she was, the less likely it was that anything could go wrong again.

If Eddie was taken back, he didn't show it. Not on the outside anyway. His heart was racing at a hundred miles a minute, but his exterior showed him to be cool, calm and collected. He leant forward and touched his nose to hers, his lips almost touching hers as he spoke. "Only if when that time comes, we all have the same last name."

"Was that a proposal?"

"Not yet."

"Good, because it needs work." She kissed him then, laughter dancing in her eyes as she struggled to contain just how happy she was in that moment. "What about Ella, for a girl?" Rachel changed the subject quickly, she'd said what she wanted to and gotten the best reply possibly by doing so. They didn't need to dwell on it much longer, not when she was feeling so happy to be sat with him and feeling so incredibly normal discussing names.

Eddie cocked an eyebrow at her. "Cinder-ella, dressed in yell-a, went upstairs to kiss her fella," he half-sang, and was rewarded by her hand slapping into his arm.

"Eddie!"

"Sorry," he grinned. "But you know what kids are like. Between that at the umbrella song, you're dooming the poor girl."

She sighed. "Point taken." And wondered what it said about them that they knew so much about which names children were likely to be teased over.

"Do you want traditional or non-traditional names?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "Nothing too out there, but every popular name is… well, popular. I like…"

She trailed off, biting her lip.

"What?"

She shrugged. "It's cheesy."

"Who cares?" he snorted. "Some parents shouldn't be allowed to name their children. How many times have we seen it? It can't be that bad."

He had a point. "If we have a girl, I like Joy as a middle name," she said quietly. A funny, warm feeling settled in his stomach.

"That's perfect." He meant it. "Not as a first name?"

She frowned. "You don't think it's too old fashioned?"

"Again I say- who cares?"

"She will. As soon as she starts school," Rachel said dryly. He grinned at her.

"What about Lawrence?" he suggested, and she wrinkled her nose.

"Lawrence Lawson? Eddie, that's just cruel."

"Timothy?"

She stared at him. "No."

"Romulus and Remus? That's cute."

"Now I know you're teasing me."

"Jenny and Penny?"

"I am not rhyming our children's names."

"Joan and John?"

"Have you hit your head?"

"Augustus?" he grinned at her. "Jacobus? Eurydice? Amenadiel? Eustace? Oh, Eustace and Eunice!"

Just as he'd hoped, she was laughing at him. "Definitely not!"

"Bet you don't think of any students with them though." He looked smug and delighted and she thought she might just burst.

"For very good reason," she pointed out in amusement, leaning forward to kiss him. And then, just because she could, she did it again, and again.