Several miles away from Eddie and the school, Rachel was oblivious to the fact her fate was being decided as she gave Melissa an exasperated look, the blonde holding up a tiny pink dress. "It's cute, Rach!" she insisted, and Rachel had to resist the urge to sigh.

"It is," she agreed. "But again I remind you that I might not be having a girl?"

Melissa sighed. "Good point." Reluctantly, she put it back. "You realise that as soon as you tell me the genders, I'm going shopping, right?"

"Weren't you the one who told me that it's much easier to just have newborns in baby grows?"

"But not as cute."

She rolled her eyes, not seeing the pleased grin Melissa had. Her one goal for the day had been to distract Rachel- she'd managed to avoid seeing that haunted look on her face all day, and she was counting it as a success. "So," she began, linking their arms. "How much do you have left to do?"

"A few bits. I have the basics," she mused, "but I don't have a lot of the little bits."

"Like dummies?" Melissa suggested, holding a packet up. Rachel chuckled.

"Exactly."

Melissa put them into the basket. "You need more vests too," she said absently. Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"How would you know?"

"Because you have less than I did with Phil, and trust me- a few explosions and milk spillages, and you suddenly have far less than you thought you did. And you're going to have two of them."

Rachel shrugged slightly- Melissa was the expert here. They veered off to another aisle, picking out a few packets. Melissa was set to walk away, when she noticed Rachel wasn't with her. Instead, she was frozen, holding a small babygrow in her hands. "Rach?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Melissa frowned slightly. "Of course."

"When you had Phillip… were you ever worried about…"

"I was worried about everything," she said gently, when it became clear Rachel wasn't going to finish her sentence.

"Really?"

"Was I going to be a good mum, what would his life be like? Would I be able to look after him, know what to do if something happened? All parents worry, Rach. Especially mothers."

Rachel swallowed thickly. "Mel, I'm not going to have a job anymore. Or even a career. And with my past…"

"Rachel, your past does not affect your ability to be a mother!" she exclaimed, grabbing her hand. "You are going to be wonderful. I already know it."

Rachel wrapped an arm around her without a word, resting her head on her shoulder. Melissa hugged her back for a moment, before tapping her. "Alright, enough soppy stuff. We still need to look at babygrows."

Rachel laughed with barely restrained tears. "Okay," she agreed, and they were off again. While her sister dithered over footless or all-in-one, Melissa slid her phone from her pocket, and felt her breath catch when she saw a message from Eddie.

It felt completely surreal for Eddie, who found himself walking out of the school and trying to catch his own breath. He didn't get far before the actions of the day took their toll on him, and he leant against the wall for support. It had been risky, and he now only realised just how risky it had been. He was definitely going to be killed by Rachel, so he put off going home for just a moment longer and slid down to the floor to gather his thoughts. He truly didn't anticipate just how hard he was going to have to fight to keep Rachel's job, but knew he would do it 10 times over if it meant making her happy. He was glad he'd done it himself and she hadn't needed to sit in that room and hear people she barely knew decide if she could keep her job.

"You did it mate." He was pulled from his own thoughts by Tom slapping a hand to his shoulder, causing Eddie to look up and find him smiling at him.

He was already feeling too wiped to react much, never mind pull himself up off the floor to engage in conversation. "Yeah but I almost didn't.

Tom seemed to realise Eddie wasn't moving anywhere, and slid down to join him to try and find out what was the matter. Rachel had her job, she could return when she wanted and would have full support, so why did Eddie look crushed? "That doesn't matter, she doesn't have to know." He guessed he was now faced with needing to go home and actually fill Rachel in. Tom knew more than anyone just how private Rachel was, and this was likely to go down like a led ballon. "She's still got her job and the support of the LEA if it's needed. She'll be thrilled."

"I can't believe it, I was so sure-"

"We all were." Tom interrupted, not wanting Eddie to dwell too much. "I was convinced they wouldn't budge, that it was pointless." He admitted, knowing Eddie was thinking of the worried glances they all shared before the LEA made their final decision. It was still very mixed, some definitely not happy with the situation they were presented with.

"Thanks for the confidence mate." Eddie joked, scoffing and rolling his eyes. He could always rely on honesty from Tom, had been able to ever since he started.

Tom placed a gentler hand on Eddie's shoulder, more showing his solidarity than anything. "Hey, I'm here aren't I? We're all here. For Rachel, and for you too."

Eddie finally turned to him with a smile then, knowing that Tom was right. None of them needed to come, Tom could have been home and taking care of Davina when she needed him. But they'd shown up and argued Rachel's case, fought to keep her at the head of the school. "I know you are, it means a lot."

"What are you still doing here then?"

"I don't know, stalling probably."

"Won't she be happy?" Tom may have known Rachel longer, but not in the way Eddie did. He'd never seen Rachel so open and happy before, so carefree with her emotions or able to rely on someone else. She had been so closed before he arrived on the scene, and now she definitely knew to share the burden.

"After she's killed me for doing this all in the first place? Maybe."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to take your job when you're gone."

Eddie really let out a laugh at that, and it seemed to snap him out of his funk and he finally moved to stand up. "Well I can't let that happen now, can I?" He leant Tom a hand to pull him up and decided that enough was enough. "Thank you Tom, I mean it mate." He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Melissa, letting her know he'd be home soon so she could stop dragging Rachel round the shops. With a final goodbye to Tom and a promise to see Davina when she's feeling up to it, Eddie began the journey home, gearing himself up to be ready to face the music.

Melissa took full advantage of having her sister for the day, drawing out the shopping trip with a meal and a visits to more shops, enjoying the rarity of having Rachel's full attention for once. They giggled over clothes, bought more items for the babies and generally had fun. Until Rachel's back and feet were begging her to stop, and they finally called it a day, heading home with Melissa grabbing as many of the bags as she could to stop Rachel carrying them. The look she received told her she wasn't at all sneaky, but she just gave her an innocent smile. Rachel rolled her eyes at her, but wasn't ungrateful as she let them both into the house. "Hello love!"

Eddie appeared in the doorway, looking suitably impressed by the small array of bags. "Successful trip then?"

Rachel smiled, stretching up to brush a kiss against his mouth. "It was. Even if my bank balance might not agree."

"But on the plus side, you're basically done for the babies now," Melissa pointed out cheerfully. "At least until they outgrow everything and need new stuff."

Rachel looked at her dryly. "Thanks for that."

As she turned away, Melissa shot Eddie a pointedly questioning look, spreading her hands slightly. He gave her a thumbs up. She beamed, bouncing on her toes. "I should get going," she announced, "force Phil off that computer for the evening." She hugged Rachel, pressed a kiss to her cheek before gathering her bag. "Love you!"

"Love you too." She closed the door behind her, looked at Eddie. "So- are you going to tell me what's going on now?"

He froze. "What?"

"Don't play silly buggers." She crossed her arms. "I saw the look she gave you, and your little thumbs up. What have you done?"

Of course she had. Eddie knew he must look like a deer in the headlights, all wide eyes and faintly panicked expression. "Maybe we should sit down?" he suggested quickly, but she didn't move.

"Eddie."

This was going to go well. "Rach... you know I love you?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Yes?"

"And I only want you to be happy?"

"Yes...?"

He took a deep breath. "So... I may have gone to a meeting while you were out. One with the vast majority of the staff, and then the governors and representatives of the LEA. Basically centred around trying to secure your job. Please don't kill me."

Her jaw dropped. "I... what?"

He shuffled on the spot. "I'm sorry?"

"You... did what?" she repeated.

"I know you'd already decided to resign but I also know how much you love your job and the school and I couldn't see you let it go without a fight, so I sent out the messages and called them all in for a meeting, the staff first and then the others after. And they came, Rach, everyone who wasn't already away or laid up, in Davina's case. Are you angry with me?"

For a long few seconds, she simply stared at him. And then, without warning, she'd moved back across the hallway and her mouth was on his, using the material of his top to anchor him to her. Not the reaction he'd been expecting, but considering the other options, he'd take it.

He let her kiss him, moving his mouth against hers with the same passion she gave him. He had no idea if she was angry or too emotional to think of words, but he was willing to take it either way. He finally pulled away when their kiss began to taste salty, and he looked at her in confusion to see tears trailing down her cheeks. He would have worried, but her blinding smile caught his attention away from her tears. "You're not mad?" He asked carefully, worried that the wrong wording could make her realise what had really happened and switch her emotions. Her hormones were a dangerous mix at the moment and he was usually on the receiving end of her anger before she quickly apologised and blamed the twins.

Rachel looked at him with wonder, quickly wiping away her tears before pressing her forehead against his and stealing another kiss, this one much softer than the last. "Of course not you silly man. You really love me that much?" She couldn't quite believe what she was being told, was the last thing she expected when she returned home. It was a lot to process, and she wasn't even sure she really knew what was happening for herself just yet.

Eddie wondered how she could even ask such a question, but knew it happened often that she would doubt his feelings. She'd been shy of love her entire life, had never known what it's like to have someone truly care for her in the case of no matter what. "God, Rach. Of course I do. I want you to be happy." He commented truthfully, taking her head between his hands and drawing a thumb across her lip as she rewarded him with a smile.

"You make me happy."

"That's good, but I know your job does too." Eddie replied, knowing that they simply couldn't live on love alone. Rachel would be happy for a while, simply staying at home with the babies and waiting for Eddie to come back from work. But her heart was always in a school, would always long to be caring for hundreds of children and ensuring they stay on the path of good.

"So what happened?"

Soon Eddie was filling Rachel in, telling her a very quick overview of what had happened. He left out how hard he'd needed to fight, left out some of the stronger opposition he'd faced in favour of mainly telling her the good news. "They support you, even if it gets out. They're writing a statement saying you're not going anywhere.. in case they need it." He added quickly, knowing it may not even be a possibility. It was the fire that had taken centre stage in the news, along with the death of Stuart. It seems the kids hadn't filled in their parents on the events that transpired before the fire started, or if they had, they simply didn't care. Eddie didn't have much faith in some of the parents at Waterloo Road, but he knew that not many could argue with how much Rachel cared for the students. Each and every one had witnessed first hand in some form that Rachel was always willing to go that extra mile, and it seemed that had definitely worked in her favour in this instance.

"So I can go back?" Rachel asked, her voice laced with excitement as she practically bounced on her feet.

Eddie simply nodded, delighting in her happiness and the sheer fact that he wasn't in trouble. "You can go back after summer if you want to, and it'll still be your job when your maternity leave ends. I'll just be keeping your seat warm."

"And the staff came?"

"So many people wanted to support you. Hell, Steph, Tom and Jasmine gave some points that I hadn't even thought of."

Rachel broke off into her own thoughts at that, overcome with emotion and gratitude for people she didn't even know liked her. She'd had her run in with most of them, Steph more than others. Yet they'd still come to her defense, still wanted her standing at the head of the school. "I can't believe it."

"I can, you're amazing Rachel. Everyone knows it, except you."

"It's all going to be okay?"

"I promised you, didn't I?"

Her gaze softened, fingertips trailing over his jaw. "Yes, you did." They both had silly smiles in their faces, until Rachel let out a joyful laugh and wound her arms around his neck. "Eddie, you're extraordinary."

"I didn't do much."

She hugged him tighter. "Yes, you did." She kissed him again, but this time it was deeper, slower and he found himself pulling her even closer, inwardly amused at the way her small bump prevented him from pressing against her properly.

When they finally broke apart, breathless and still grinning, Eddie found himself twining a lock of her hair around his fingers. "We should celebrate," he suggested absently.

"That sounds good."

He didn't see the look on her face. "How about I take you out to dinner?"

"Less good."

He looked surprised, meeting her gaze. "You don't want to go out?"

She shook her head, captured his lips again for a sweet kiss. "Nope."

He was confused, until she kissed him again and simultaneously wrapped her hand in his shirt, tugging him towards the stairs. And then realisation hit. "Oh..." He grinned, and willingly followed where she was leading.