Thank you Hannah, Lucy and Faye for the reviews. They mean a lot :)
I have had the past couple of chapters in my head for a few weeks now so managed an extra update this weekend.
Eddie was standing manning the barbecue with Rachel's arms wrapped around his waist.
"Make sure they are cooked in the middle" Rachel instructed. "I don't want anyone getting food poisoning"
"Thank you Nigella" Eddie quipped .
"Mum, Evie is vegan" Katie called out as she and Evie came cycling into the back garden.
"That's OK , I can eat salad"
Rachel let go off Eddie
"Hi Evie, Katie, there are bean burgers in the freezer for Hannah, go and have a look and see if they are suitable for vegans, there is enough for Evie and Hannah"
"Thanks Mrs Lawson" Evie said as she followed Katie into the house.
Rachel sat at the table next to Danielle and Philip, and poured a glass of wine.
Half an hour later Rachel was feeling good, she and Eddie were sitting on a wiker garden 2 seater chair with Danielle and Philp on the other. Eddie handed Phil another beer, and Rachel poured her 2nd glass of wine. He had cooked the burgers and wrapped them in tinfoil ready to be heated up, Rachel had the vegan burgers in the oven cooking in the house.
"Do you want one Danielle?" she asked
"No Thanks, its soft drinks for me" she said smiling as a hand rested on her stomach
"We have been wanting to tell you for a while now, but we didn't want to jink it" Philip said beaming. Danielle had been pregnant a few times before, but had always miscarried during the first trimester.
"Oh, that's wonderful news" Rachel said getting up to give them both a hug.
"What's wonderful news?" Katie asked as she walked in with Evie and Zara behind her.
"Danielle and Philip are having a baby" Rachel said smiling.
"Wow congratulations" they all shouted.
A while later the doorbell rang, Rachel got up to answer the door with Eddie behind her to find their friend with her husband and 4 kids. Hamish, Hannah and Olivia faces were abashed with embarrassment. Rachel decided to ignore it in hope they would soon get over it, she smiled brightly at them.
"Hi Rachel" Chloe called out, she had brought with her some lol dolls to play with.
"Hi sweetie, I got Eddie to put the trampoline up last night if you want to play"
The girls face lit up, her trampoline had got damaged in the wind in the spring, and she hadn't got a new one yet.
"Thank you Rachel" she called running through the house into the kitchen and out the back door where she was followed by everyone else.
"Do you three have something you want to say to Rachel and Eddie" Richard said
"We are sorry Miss Mason" Hannah mumbled quietly
"OK, lets sit down for a minute, all of you" she singled over to all the kids. "So, what happened today, happened at School was at School, and now we are home. When we are home we are just Mum and Dad or Rachel and Eddie" Rachel looked at each of the kids hoping they understood.
"So please no more Miss Mason or Mr Lawson, OK?"
"OK" the kids smiled
"Right so off you go and have fun, dinner will be ready in half an hour" The kids didn't need to be told twice, Michael and Hamish went into the living room to play X box and the 4 younger teenage girls ran off upstairs to the attic. Hannah sat at the table next to her Mum and Rachel whilst Eddie manned the barbecue and Richard played with Chloe.
"Rachel, why do you go by Miss Mason at school and not Mrs Lawson"
"When we first moved here it was just before we got married, and I thought it would be easier at work if the kids didn't know we were married. We managed to keep it quiet for a few years but its easier to keep our names separate"
"Why don't you go up with the girls" Sue said to her daughter.
"OK, ill be down in half an hour"
Hannah went upstairs to the room the girls were in
"What are you doing?" she asked as they had cardboard out making signs
"We are going to the climate strike next Friday, do you want to come?"
"What and bunk off school? I don't think so not after today" Hannah said
"So the planet means less to you than getting into trouble" Evie said
"Not quiet, but I have just started Nat 5's and I want to be an environmental toxicologist so I can't miss school. I can do more for the environment by going to school than I can by skiving off to go on a strike"
"The planet can't wait for you to finish uni, we need to act now" Evie said, Katie and Olivia agreed.
"I'm going downstairs" Zara said leaving the room to go down to the garden. She made her way to the table next to her parents, Phil, Danielle, Sue and Richard.
"Are you OK Zara?" Rachel asked
"Fine, Evie is just annoying me"
"She is a guest, you need to be polite
"She is such a pain in the arse" Zara said
"Zara!" Rachel scolded
"But she is, she was lecturing everybody in the dinner hall yesterday at breakfast club who was eating bacon or sausage and now she is getting everybody to strike from school next week"
"She is obviously passionate about what she believes, but I don't want you or Katie going off to any climate strikes"
"I just hope she isn't Mika Granger 2.0" Eddie said causing Rachel and Danielle to laugh.
"Who is Mika Granger?"
"She was a student at Waterloo Road, she became involved with Enviromental activists and ended up climbing a tree and wouldn't come down when they were going to chop it down, your mum almost expelled her"
"Really?"
"Well yes, but she also knocked a teacher off a ladder, Mr Clarkson could have been hurt"
"Your old school sounds like it was full of drama" Sue said
"Oh it was" Eddie said, Rachel took a gulp of wine and agreed
"And today reminded me of what it was like" Rachel said as the rest of the kids made their way around the table. Eddie got their food and started to serve it.
"What was the worst thing that happened at your old school?" Zara asked
"Earl Kelly" Rachel, Eddie, Philip and Danielle said at one.
"Who was he?" Katie asked
"He was a very troubled boy, who shot and killed his ex girlfriend" Rachel responded
"He was a psychopath" Danielle added "Phil did he not steal your trainers that Eddie bought you"
"He did, but rather he did that than shoot me"
"Did you get into trouble at school?" Zara asked Danielle
"Ill let your Dad answer that" she responded as she looked to Eddie
"Yes, you were a handful alright, I seem to remember something about detergent in cakes"
"At least I didn't put laxative in the brownies" she said looking at her husband
"Hay, I was going through an akward time, and Rachel helped me make them"
"What, why would you do that?" Katie asked
"I wanted to get back at some people, it was awful half the school ended up sick"
"Sounds like it was chaos" Hanna responded
"It was, but we had some good times too didn't we" Rachel said.
"Did we, I don't remember that many, after you guys left it went downhill though, Mr Tyler was awful and then Miss Fisher split the boys and girls up I heard"
"Mum, Dad, I have decided that I want to be vegan" Katie said out of the blue,
"We will discuss it later Katie"
"You can't stop me"
"Katie, I haven't said no, but we need to talk about it, OK"
"Fine and can I go to the climate strike on Friday"
"No, I don't want you going all the way to Edinburgh without an adult"
"But Evie is going?"
"Katie, we said no, If Evie's parents allow her to go that's fine, but you are not going" Eddie said
Katie had decided that she wouldn't let her parents stop her from doing what she knew as right.
After Dinner, Rachel lit the cake and brought it out, she kissed him gently on the cheek after he blew out his candles "I'll give you a birthday treat in our room tonight after everyone has gone" she whispered quietly enough that only he could hear.
Reviews are welcome