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As soon as Michael saw Rachel again, it was like no time had passed between the two. Although it probably hadn't for Michael, as time was irrelevant when your days still consisted on regular naps and snacks. So they passed the afternoon after catching up with Alison with painting, making cakes and showing Michael his new room. He loved it, and delighted in having Rachel give him his bath whilst Eddie set up the finishing touches to the room.
Rachel had to hold back the tears as they both placed him in bed and sat either side on him whilst Eddie read a story. This was her future, reading bedtime stories to children with the man she loved. She caught Eddie's eye and he smiled, as if thinking the same thing as her whilst bending to kiss Michael goodnight. Rachel was doing so well at keeping it together, up until Michael reached out a tired arm and said goodnight to the babies too. Rachel practically had to flee the room with fear of dropping to the floor and sobbing with happiness. As Eddie followed her and pulled her against him, she pressed a kiss to his neck despite the tears that were flowing down her cheeks. "I love you." She whispered, as if admitting her darkest secret. She'd almost lost this, and couldn't be more thrilled to be back where she belonged; in his arms.
"I love you too." Eddie replied, a little choked up himself as he held the woman he loved and felt another small movement against his hand where it was resting against Rachel's bump. That was definitely the babies admitting they loved him too, and he wouldn't accept any arguments on that front.
After Rachel's legs started to hurt from their position, she accepted Eddie's help to get her up and took his hand, leading him to her bedroom and sitting down next to him on the edge of the bed. "There's something with haven't spoken about yet."
"Stuart?"
"How did you know?" She asked, shocked at just how much Eddie was on her wavelength and knew her train of thoughts. It was a conversation she'd been avoiding, but she knew she needed to share the burden and discuss their next steps. Anything that involved the school, and also Rachel's career, included Eddie too.
Eddie didn't really want to discuss this, as any conversation that involved Stuart Hordley just made Eddie want to punch him and threaten him until the last thing he wanted to do was come anywhere near Rachel again. "I know you Rach. I've been waiting for you to tell me. What's he done now?"
"He's not happy. He threatened to tell everyone, publicly. He wants me out, it's as simple as that."
"I won't let that happen."
"How can you stop him?"
"Do you remember what we discussed, about looking into the child labour laws?"
That had been weeks ago now, and she looked at him quizzically. "I assume nothing had come of it."
He shook his head. "He's breaking most of them."
"Really?"
He nodded, looking grim. "I've got copies in my desk at school. And covertly spoke to Bolton and Candeece. Bolton's been working illegal hours, doing tasks underage kids aren't allowed to and being paid below what he should. Although he did say he was getting a pay rise."
He looked puzzled at that, but Rachel straightened. "Because of the work experience scheme."
"Sorry?"
"They pay rise," she explained. "What he's intending to pay the kids will be in the paperwork, or at least brought up. If he was breaking that law, it would be noticed. But the hours… that he could get away with. What child is going to complain when they're being paid for it? And for most of the kids around here…"
"Any paycheck is a big deal." He caught onto her wavelength, and looked grim. She sighed, and flopped backwards onto the bed.
"I'm not sure how this all helps," she admitted. "If we told anyone, he'd just release the article. And it's not like we can use it to blackmail him back."
Eddie didn't reply. She raised her head, looked at him curiously and found him with the oddest expression on his face. For a moment, she was confused- when she realised what he was thinking, her eyes widened and she shot upright again. "You can't be serious!"
"He's doing it to you."
Her jaw dropped. "But… we can't!"
"Why not?"
She opened her mouth to argue, but slowly closed it again, thinking it over. Was there a reason they couldn't? All they wanted was his silence… even if it was distasteful, would it really be so bad? To protect them, the babies, the students. A thought occurred to her. "It won't work. If we told him, he'd clean up and within a month it would be merely our word against his."
Eddie sighed. That was a point. "Then let me talk to a mate of mine. He works on the council, I could tip him off about Hordley. He doesn't know we know, he couldn't trace it back to us."
"Do you really think that would work?"
He shrugged, looking apologetic. "I think we're rapidly running out of options. This would have the additional benefit of stopping his little work scheme."
Rachel agreed, seeing as she truly didn't know what other choice she had. If she wasn't pregnant, she'd be fighting Stuart tooth and nail to make sure she remained at the head of her school. But this year had shown her just how much she needed to put herself, and her family first. She couldn't be getting into screaming matches with Stuart Hordley, throwing around threats that she was in absolutely no position to follow through with. So feeling like it was her last option, she agreed to Eddie's plan and hoped that her life could return to some form of normal before her maternity leave started.
Luckily, it did. Rachel had no more visits from Stuart, which shocked her when Eddie's plan seemed to work. He had been spoken to about the child labour laws, which resulted in his workload being cut dramatically. He didn't communicate any of this with Rachel though, and stayed away from the school which both noted to be very suspicious. Unfortunately Bolton was one of those who had lost his job, but Eddie dealt with that fallout and managed to pacify Bolton and Candeece without needing to bother Rachel at all. Soon enough, it was the end of the school year and the last day Rachel had at work before she took time off to have her babies. Even though she never admitted to a roomful of students that she was pregnant, it was very obvious and no longer needed any confirmation. So she accepted the congratulations that were offered to her as she walked down the corridor and once again thanked her lucky stars that she's ended up in a place like Waterloo Road. It had its issues, but what place didn't? Each child was special in their own way and Rachel loved every single one that walked through the doors like they were her own. Although she was entirely grateful none were clever enough to twig on about Eddie being the father, because she wasn't ready for that revelation. She hoped by the time that piece of news emerged, she was tucked safely away and unable to hear any of the gossip. There were rumours, but there was also rumours about her and half the male staff seem; which her and Eddie found highly amusing, and she simply let it pass her by. So with only the spelling bee left to go, she walked the school corridors with a feeling of dread that she hadn't been able to shake since she woke that morning. Eddie had told her it was worry about leaving the school, a place she held so close to her heart and put so much work into. She knew he was right to an extent, she would struggle to not have as much involvement in the place but knew she'd made the right decision. She smiled to students from the other school as she took her place beside Eddie, throwing thumbs up to her students on the stage and wishing them luck with her wide smile.
He ducked his head down, lowering his lips closer to her ear. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Rachel…"
"I said I'm fine. Ouch!" Her exclamation was loud enough to attract the attention of a few people around them, her hand flying to her ribcage. She shot everyone an apologetic look, waiting until they'd settled back down before returning her attention to Eddie.
"What's wrong?"
"I think someone kicked a rib."
She settled closer to him, the crowd around them still a little unsettled as they waited for the bee to really get started. "By the way," she murmured, "I made a decision."
"Oh?"
"I'm going to come back after summer until October half-term."
He made a choking noise that went unnoticed thanks to a round of applause around them. "You can't be serious!" he hissed.
"I'm perfectly serious! I don't want to miss an entire school year."
He did some rapid maths, and blanched. "You'll be over thirty-six weeks pregnant!"
"That's perfectly normal. Some women work right up to forty."
"I bet they're not carrying twins!" His voice rose, and he was quickly shushed by several people around them as the kids on stage began to spell. He longed to drag her from the hall, but there was no way to do that without attracting attention. A lot of the staff still hadn't entirely warmed up to him after his and Rachel's falling out- he had no desire to see what would happen if the pair of them got into it again.
So instead, he settled for shooting her a glare, which went unseen as she concentrated on the stage, and seething in his seat, wondering if there was any possibility of talking the headstrong woman out of it. It meant he was paying little attention to who was winning or losing, until he was brought harshly back to reality by Rachel suddenly gripping his hand, nails digging in. It took him a moment to catch up.
When he did, he was more interested in continuing to watch her. She was so invested in the kids, in this school, he knew. And not because of how it reflected on her, but for them. Winning this would be the perfect end to their schooling for Mika and Brett, would give Karla a confidence boost, would bring the school's reputation up and give them at least some bragging rights. Show outsiders that they were more than just what their exam results showed.
He found himself silently cheering on the kids just as much as she was, and sharing in the elation when, against most of the odds, they won.
He continued to watch her, saw the way she smiled, completely relaxed and looking free for the first time in quite a while. Completely at ease with the gaze of a few hundred people on her, looking forward to summer and holidays and the two babies he suspected were wiggling away inside her, based on the way she pressed a hand to her side.
And then, in an instant, it all fell apart.