Eddie was just about to take Rachel inside and truly make sure all of her kinks were worked out when he heard the gate to the garden open and watched as Melissa walked through. His lips were still only millimetres away from hers, and he decided to quickly pull himself away in case Rachel had yet to inform her sister about the new developments in their relationship.

Melissa wasn't shocked to see Eddie there, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to at least have a bit of fun. She'd been warned by Rachel that she had to play nice, and she had promised. But a few jokes wouldn't go amiss at the very least. "Eddie, put this inside for me will you? It's really heavy." She didn't wait for him to answer, placing the large box in his arms before winking at her sister.

"Jesus, what's in this?" Eddie asked as he walked away, dutifully doing what was asked and placing it inside on a counter to deal with later. At least Melissa's first words to him hadn't been of disapproval. Not that he couldn't take it, but he knew Rachel didn't want to hear it. When he walked back outside he found Melissa had taken his seat, but didn't protest as he offered both women a drink. They accepted with a smile, and a kiss from Rachel, so he left the siblings to talk and figured he'd discover what was in the box later.

Rachel turned to Melissa as soon as Eddie had gone to fetch them some drinks, her eyes narrowed in both anger and amusement. "You said you'd play nice." She wouldn't admit to if asked, but it was nice to have her sister look out for her wellbeing for once having been the one to be strong for so many years. She took on the responsibility as she felt it was her duty as older sister, and having the roles reversed for a moment was nice.

"I am!" Melissa insisted, a slight smirk to her smile as she did so. She knew Rachel wouldn't let up though, so held her hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine. No more teasing." Just when her words had settled Rachel enough for her to relax once more, she added. "For now." And she delighted in having the upper hand and being able to move away when Rachel tried to swat at her arm.

"Now now children." Eddie chastised as he walked back out towards them and handed them their drinks. He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous to be back around Melissa, knowing she was less than thrilled that he was with Rachel once more. But if he knew Rachel, he knew how strong minded she was and had no doubt that she'd told her sister to mind her own business. He appreciated having someone else to look out for Rachel though, and wanted to thank Melissa when the dust settled for taking care of her when he couldn't. His comment earned him a roll of the eyes from both siblings, and he was hit with how similar they looked with that action. It was much easier to pick the differences between the two than the similarities, and Eddie was still learning so much about the both of them. "What did you bring over Mel?" Eddie hoped that it was something to do with the babies, wanting a mutual ground for them all to discuss to take away some of the awkwardness that he was feeling.

Melissa appreciated his subject change at least, even though it wasn't as subtle as he hoped it had been. She could discuss babies all day, and she was pretty sure Eddie knew they already. "It's a cabinet for Michael's room actually, Rach ordered one to be made into the shape of a dog."

"He does still like dogs, right?" Rachel asked nervously, asking Eddie for reassurance.

Only Eddie was stunned, rooted to the spot as he looked right at Rachel. "Michael's room? You still want us here?" He hadn't even thought it was still a possibility, had expected to carry on in his own place at least until Rachel was settled with the babies home.

Rachel felt her cheeks heat. "Well, I- I'm not saying tomorrow," she managed, to stammer out, but in truth she'd just assumed that they'd be continuing with the previous plan. Eddie was still staring at her, while Melissa was looking at them with an exasperated expression.

"Don't you two talk about anything?" She looked between them as Rachel shifted uncomfortably, and rolled her eyes. "I'll be inside."

They both waited until she was gone, Eddie claiming a seat opposite her. "Rach, I don't want you to push faster than you want to because you feel like you have to…"

"You think that's what's happening?"

"I don't know," he admitted.

Rachel sighed slightly. "In a different world, yes, we'd probably be taking things a lot slower. Or maybe in different circumstances we'd be moving a lot faster-,"

He scoffed jokingly. "Not likely. How much work was it to get you to this stage?"

She thwacked him lightly. "My point is, I'm not doing anything because I think I have to. I do want you here, Eddie. Sooner, rather than later."

"What happened to taking it slow?"

"If we hadn't, you'd have moved in last week," she pointed out, and he chuckled.

"True."

He couldn't have stopped himself from leaning in to kiss her if he'd tried. Her hand slid through his hair, holding him close as heat built between them. It had been far too long since they'd been together, and apparently Rachel had missed him as much as he had her. He ended up tugging her to her feet towards him, and she broke the kiss, looking confused as he pulled her to sit sideways across his lap. She frowned, aware she had the additional weight of two babies inside her. "Eddie!"

"Shush." He knew exactly what her problem was, and silenced her protests by capturing her lips again. She wasn't about to complain.

From the kitchen window, Melissa glanced up and spotted the pair, rolling her eyes. "Oh, for God's sake…" She ignored them for a while, cleaning up the kitchen for Rachel but when she caught sight of Eddie's hands beginning to roam, decided to remind them she was here.

A loud noise brought Rachel back to reality and she pulled away, breathless and pleased to see Eddie looked in as much of a state as she felt. "Melissa…"

He nodded. "Right."

The blonde was suspiciously blank faced when they went to find her. "Eddie, Rach has a nasty habit of trying to lift things she probably shouldn't," she ignored the immediate protest of 'I do not!', "so you may want to get that cabinet in place sooner rather than later."

"I wouldn't lift it," Rachel grumbled.

Melissa quirked an eyebrow. "No, but you'd try to move it around the room. Need I remind you of a certain dresser fiasco in the nursery?"

Rachel decided to take the mature route, and poked her tongue out at her.

Eddie felt honoured that he was able to witness that jokes between the two again, grateful that he was back around the woman he loved and her sister. Melissa hadn't killed him yet, which was always a positive. He caught sight of the time however, and realised that he would have to cut his time short. "Alison's dropping Michael off soon, so I'll have to go and meet him when I've taken this upstairs." He didn't want to leave her, but it was still his weekend to have Michael and had been looking forward to spending time with his son. Time with Michael was the only thing that had been keeping him going to past weeks, channeling all of his efforts into spending time with him and making sure he didn't know just how much his dad was suffering.

"She can drop him here if it's easier?" Rachel asked, before freezing. She had no idea what Eddie had said, no clue what conversations he'd had with Alison in the recent weeks. What if she didn't want Michael around her anymore? What if she hated her and made things even more difficult for the couple.

Eddie caught Rachel's look of fear and took off back towards her, pulling her against him and pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. He didn't really want to have such a conversation in front of Melissa, but needs must. "I'll call her and get her to bring him over." He squashed all of her worries with his response, showing that she had no need to stress. "Michael hasn't a clue what day of the week it is, for all he knows he only saw you a few days ago. And Alison has spent the past weeks telling me I'm an idiot, so she'll be thrilled."

The last thing Rachel wanted was to come between Eddie and his son, or cause any issues with his ex-wife. So she was grateful to know she hadn't caused too much upset. "You're not an idiot." She added as Eddie went to make the call, turning back to Melissa who was looking slightly sheepish after watching the exchange. "It's done now Mel, no use going over it again." She truly wasn't ready for another round with her sister, wanting it all put in the past so she could truly focus on the future. "Want to help me do some final touches while Eddie waits for Michael? He hasn't seen the nursery yet." Eddie has helped with the painting and assembling of some furniture before their final argument, but had yet to see the finishing touches Rachel had made when she'd decided on the theme. Both women raced upstairs whilst Eddie took his phone call, avoiding the temptation to listen in whilst he spoke to Alison.

If they had listened in, they'd have practically heard Alison's shout of joy at Eddie asking her to bring Michael over to Rachel's. "So you're back together?" She asked, already in the car and trying not to wake Michael as he napped away his excitement from the party. She only hoped his sugar rush would have run off when she passed him over to his dad, seeing as her own brother had plied him with more cake than necessary for a little boy.

"Yes, we are. You can join in the Eddie is an idiot club when you get here, Melissa is still here." He offered good-naturedly, grateful that Melissa hadn't made his life too difficult so far. He knew she wasn't entirely happy, but was glad that she was putting Rachel's happiness before her own opinions. Alison agreed, taking a detour to Rachel's on her drive as she looked forward to catching up with the woman and all things baby.

Eddie finally picked up the large box that Melissa had first brought round, carrying it up to Michael's room and swiftly walking past the closed door that Rachel and Melissa was conspiring behind. He heard them laughing and decided to leave them be, setting the box in Michael's room and looking at the changes that had been made. The bed had been set up, which is definitely not something he'd done himself before he left. It made him wonder how much Rachel truly believed they were over before they'd even had their conversation in her office.

"I knew we weren't really done." As if reading his mind and answering his unanswered questions, he turned to find Rachel stood in the doorway. "It was an argument, a huge one. But I didn't want to lose you forever." This was one of the conversations he knew they needed to have, and he could tell by Rachel's face this was something she'd been wanting to say for a while.

"You had that much faith in us?"

She walked into the room, arms wrapped around herself. "I meant what I said when I said it," she admitted. "We were over. And then once I'd calmed down, I was convinced it would blow over, that you'd do something ridiculous to apologise and we'd slot back into place. It was only when I began to think that you…" she trailed off, hand coming up to play with her necklace.

"You thought I didn't care," he finished. She nodded.

"That was when I thought… well, I'd already done this much by that point."

He pulled her into an embrace, hugging her tightly. "I'm an idiot."

"No arguments here."

He snorted in laughter, pressing his lips to her hair and sending up a silent thanks that they still had this. Just as he did, he felt a nudge against his stomach, and looked down. "Do you mind? We're in the middle of something here."

Rachel laughed. "And there's a preview to the rest of our life." She rested her hand on her stomach, over where someone's foot had just poked. "Don't kick your father, loves. He's older, he can't take it."

The jibe sailed by him as he fell silent. For all their conversations over the past few days, it still awed him that those two little humans inside her were going to be his as well. Rachel saw the look on his face, was concerned for a moment before she recognised it. Without a word, she cupped his cheek in her hand, smiling softly.

"You two better not be snogging again!" Melissa's shout from the other room broke the moment. Rachel rolled her eyes.

"No, we weren't," she sighed, moving to join her. Eddie trailed after her, stopping in the doorway with wide eyes. Melissa was facing him, so noticed, and grinned.

"Like it?"

He did. It was bright and colourful without being too much, decorated tastefully and perfectly suited to Rachel. "It's amazing."

She blushed. "It's not entirely finished," she mused, looking around. "But all the major furniture is in now-,"

"And perfectly placed," Melissa interjected cheekily, referencing an evening a few days before the last scan where she and Phillip had moved everything around until Rachel was happy. Eddie chuckled, wrapped his arms around Rachel from behind.

"We have more than enough time for the rest of it."

He was right, Rachel knew. The whole idea of starting this early was so they could spread it over a few months, rather than cramming it all in at the end. Still, the perfectionist in her demanded everything be finished and perfect.

Melissa was babbling on about something, Rachel mostly ignoring her until she overheard the words 'baby shower'. Her head shot up. "Mel, I am not having a baby shower."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want one!"

The blonde pouted. "Rach, you have to!"

"I don't like being the centre of attention, I don't like parties and I don't like answering questions about my personal life. A shower involves all three of those," she pointed out resolutely. "Besides, who on earth would I invite?"

Eddie had to resist the urge to laugh at the angry flush in her cheeks. "You could invite people from school?" he suggested, and gulped when she turned to pin him with a glare.

"Because that isn't sad at all," she said sarcastically. "It's not happening, not under any circumstances. I can't think of anything worse."

Melissa held her hands up. "Okay," she agreed, and was glad when her sister didn't hear her muttered 'spoilsport'.