Rachel knew the journey to the restaurant would take less than 30 minutes but thought her husband and girls were being suspiciously quiet. As they pulled up to the restaurant Rachel felt a surge of excitement a night out with her husband and their children was the perfect way to celebrate. As she got lost in her thoughts she heard a car door open and realised everyone else was standing waiting for her. "you ready sweetheart" he asked helping her exit. "Of course" she replied. Upon entering the restaurant Eddie steered her to a large room and let go of her hands. "After you Mrs Lawson" he smiled, her earlier feelings of suspicious returned as she grasped the door handle entirely unsure what was waiting for her. She took a breath and pulled the door open to be hit with the loud sound of her family friends and colleagues shouting surprise. Her lips immediately curled into a smile as her cheeks flushed red, she could hardly believe all these people were here to celebrate her. She turned to face her family, "I can't believe you all managed to keep this a secret" she gasped, "your all so wonderful and I love you so much" she whispered, tears of pure joy filling her eyes. "We love you too" Eddie responded before kissing her then taking her hands and leading his family to the table. Once they had all settled Eddie stood to speak.

"Hello everyone, thank you for joining us tonight to celebrate my brilliant wife". He turned to her and beamed before facing a room full of their most treasured family and friends. "Where do I start. When it comes to my beautiful wife there are so many things I could say but to avoid sleeping on the couch tonight, I'll say this, she is simply the most amazing person I've ever met, the first time I clapped eyes on her I knew she was the woman I would spend the rest of my life with, We may not have seen eye to eye at the start and as she keeps reminding me that was my fault but if there's one thing I've learnt these past few years it's that nobody does better for the kids in Waterloo road than Rachel. She is an incredible headteacher and as proud as I am to be her husband I'm just as proud to be her deputy. She never ceases to amaze me with her kindness and patience even when I'm being a grumpy old git, which as you know is most of the time. Her gentle nature is matched by her striking beauty and her sparkling wit and she makes me so proud every single day. I've never know anyone more determined and inspirational and why she chose to spend her life with me I'll never know but I'll always be grateful. If I thought I couldn't love her any more than I did in the early days of our relationship I was happily proven wrong, the moments she brought our 3 wonderful children into the world were the proudest of my life, parallel only to the moment she became my wife. She's a brilliant mother and our girls are so lucky to have her. Here's to the woman I fall in love with a little more every day, to the woman that constantly takes care of us all, to the woman with a heart of gold that takes my breath away, and to the woman I couldn't live without. Here's to Rachel and here's to the next 50 years. I can't wait to spend them by your side". As a chorus of to Rachel rang out he bent down to kiss her. "I love you" he whispered. "I love you more" she answered.