Thank you for the reviews.

And here is where I usually say that I am sad to be finishing a story but... honestly, I'm fucking relieved. I think we can all agree that this story has been very heavy and hasn't had the same light-hearted moments that my other fics have had to counter that all out. Like I do worry what sort of mindset I was in when I came up with the idea of this fic. I started writing this on 2nd February... I have literally spent nearly the whole year working on this.

Anyway... I'll be back sooner than I would like. We will see how the Christmas fic goes... I might have started it earlier this year but... I am so behind. I'm on chapter 9... Like I said, we will see how it goes.

See you on the first...

Chapter Thirty

It was their wedding.

They weren't going to be told what they wanted or where to have it or how many people they should invite.

Because it was their wedding.

And the reality was that no one really knew that it was happening. The only one who knew that wasn't part of the wedding party was Alison. So that Michael could be there for Eddie. And she couldn't get the time off work to join them. Truth be told, they didn't care if she was there or not. They just cared that Michael was there.

Because it was their wedding.

The cost was low. Eddie was in a new suit but it hadn't cost that much. Rachel had gone out and got a dress that she was comfortable in (which wasn't white. As she was sure that it had something to do with purity. And she felt like she was as far away from pure as possible no matter how Eddie tried to protest it).

Because it was their wedding.

They arrived together. They sat in the waiting room, smiling at each other, glad that they had the opportunity to do this. There wasn't a hint of the nerves that others spoke about when they got married. It was nice. Grounding.

Because it was their wedding.

And standing in front of the registrar didn't make it feel real. It felt like it was some dream. A dream that they were dreaming at the same time.

Because it was their wedding.

Everything that was happening shouldn't have been happening. If things went the way that they were, it should have been Eddie standing with Melissa as Rachel watched on.

But it wasn't.

It was their wedding.

And even when it was over and done with. Even with the certificate signed and the rings on their fingers. It didn't feel real.

But it was.

It was their wedding.

It was their wedding.

They were husband and wife.

And they both knew that they would be pinching themselves for a while over that fact.

"Are you sure you are okay with this?" Rachel asked as she finished organising her desk for the start of the new year.

"Yes, I'm fine with it. It would be a little hard to hide things if you changed to Lawson."

"Not for long. I just… people will judge us for it. Jumping into marriage while we were still… broken."

Eddie gave her a smile and she knew that he knew that they were still working on their 'broken' parts. It had been a lot. There was still so much more that Rachel knew that she had to go through. She still hadn't got to the deep reason why she thought that two of her family members would try and kill her. And with Melissa being sentenced with attempted grievous bodily harm along with bigamy and a number of other things, Rachel was sure that it was time that she ripped that bandage off.

"Although," She continued. "I have been thinking. Maybe we will see how things go. I might just… stay Mason professionally. I don't know. I've always found things change. Obviously, the LEA will know that we are married but. I don't know."

"I don't mind either way," Eddie said. "Whatever you feel comfortable with. But I do think that is a decision for after we leave here. I get what you mean though. Especially as we are in the top roles and would look to stay in those roles."

"You know… this is the first time that I am starting the academic year at Waterloo Road."

He chuckled. "Yeah, it is."

"It's going to be strange. I don't quite know what to say."

"Oh, I'm sure you will. You always find the words."

Rachel would admit that over the summer holidays, her thoughts had been as far away from the school as possible. From the wedding to the holiday (that probably could be called their honeymoon) to just generally basking in the fact that they were finally together, Rachel didn't want to think about anything else but Eddie and the way that he made her feel.

And like that last day of term, the last thing that Rachel had wanted to do that morning was get out of bed. They had spoiled themselves over the last six weeks with so many lazy mornings that Philip had commented that he didn't realise that Rachel could stay in bed past eight o'clock. So pulling themselves out of bed was the hardest thing they had to do. And Rachel found herself wondering how early they could drop into bed. That was going to be the second hardest part of the day, being around Eddie and having to resort back to their professional relationship. She wasn't sure that she could remember how they did act in their professional relationship.

Although, things did seem easier to play down when there was someone else in the room and Kim's arrival to her office seemed to arrive just before her thoughts started to get a little too wild.

As much as there probably shouldn't be, there was a calmness that seemed to cover the school. The events of the last academic year were far from being forgotten and Rachel wouldn't allow one of them to be forgotten. Maxine needed to be remembered by the school. Although she hadn't completely worked out how that was going to happen just yet but she was sure that she would have the support of the staff and student body once she had thought of something.

"A new school year," Kim said with a sigh.

"And as I just said to Eddie, the first one I am going to open at Waterloo Road. I almost feel nervous." Rachel said,

"Although, I wouldn't tell anyone that the great Rachel Mason admitted to getting nervous." Eddie quipped.

"Everyone gets nervous."

"Not if it feels right."

A subtle hint to their wedding and the fact that neither of them felt nervous for it. And Rachel couldn't stop herself from giving him a knowing smile. Just to let him know that she knew what he was on about.

"I think the plan of action for this morning will be to welcome the staff." Rachel said. "I want a quick word with Steph. I think the school should have some sort of memorial to Maxine and I wondered if she had any ideas."

"Have we retired her number? On the football team? That is usually what happens." Eddie said.

"I'll talk to Tom about that."

"I'll think about some ideas as well." Kim said. "But the number thing is a good idea. Or a good start."

"I'm sure if we put our heads together, we can come up with something." Eddie said.

Rachel nodded, glad that a plan was coming together. With that discussion over, they made their way out of Rachel's office, with her pausing for a moment to sort out Eddie's collar, which was something that she hadn't noticed earlier.

"Better?" He said.

"You know what I would prefer." Rachel said.

"Yeah, well, you're the smart one."

"Just as long as you remember that."

It did take Eddie a moment to realise what he had said but Rachel was already on the move from the moment she saw a flicker of realisation. He did shout something after her but she was going to take very little notice of that. She wasn't the one that made the mistake.

"Do I take this that you are together?" Kim whispered.

Rachel nodded. "Yes, we are. I hope that isn't a problem."

"I think it might have been had I not known how you two work. I think it will be fine. I mean, I can see what everyone else was saying. It does sort of make sense. Even with everything that has happened."

"That is what we have spent the last six weeks working out. We're not going to tell people but… we aren't going to hide it, if you get what I mean."

Kim looked over her shoulder at Eddie before turning back. "Well, if Steph questions me, I've only seen what she has seen."

Rachel smiled at her and part of her was glad that Kim took it so well. That was the only person that Rachel was worried about. Because she couldn't have her senior management team falling apart again. If she could help it, it wouldn't fall apart again. Compromises would have to be made. Mainly because Rachel hoped that the current senior management team was the strongest that Waterloo Road had in a while. And together, they could only do good things.

"I will think about it, Dad," Philip said as his dad pulled up outside of Rachel's house.

"It doesn't matter, mate. It's just a suggestion."

"But it would be nice to spend some more time with you."

Philip knew that things had completely changed for him. And as much as he hated how it all happened, it had all worked out for the best. The stability. The real relationships and connections that he had now. It had all felt like it was something that wouldn't happen to him. That he would drift through life, not understanding how life should be.

Rachel had been such a strength and so understanding about everything. She didn't blame him one bit over everything that had happened, even though he was sure that she should have been angry about how he had kept the whole situation from her. He should have told her years ago about his mother's behaviour. It would have stopped a number of men getting hurt and Eddie.

And things with Eddie had improved. Philip didn't quite think things could have got any worse but it was very clear that Eddie was serious about Rachel in a way that he felt was very different to how he was with his mum. And it was nice to see someone make his auntie as happy as Eddie made her. Any grievances could be put to one side for that. Maybe one day he would understand it all.

As for his dad, it was nice to have that connection. He didn't really remember his dad and his mum had poisoned any memories he'd had. It did take a little while for them to both warm up to each other but Philip was grateful that Rachel did push the idea. Because it was nice to know one of his parents was a good person.

This was the type of stability that he had craved for.

And he knew that he was going to have to think about his dad's offer of staying the weekend. It probably was, also, part of the stability that he should have had but he was still unsure. Spending the day with his dad was one thing. That offer seemed like a completely different thing and Philip didn't want to mess it up. He knew that wasn't helpful thinking (something that he had been told a number of times when he had put himself down) but it was how he felt. Hence why he knew that he had to think about it before he even mentioned it to Rachel.

From the moment that the front door closed, Philip knew exactly what he was going to get. The flurry of questions from Rachel used to annoy him. It took him a while to work out why. And it had less to do with Rachel asking him questions and more about the fact that his mum had never asked him them before. And there were times when he would act rather bored of Rachel's questions. Just because he felt like that was the way that he was meant to act, giving short answers. And then there were times when he was just as excited to answer the questions as Rachel was to ask them.

He knew that he didn't really know what home was.

It had always felt like a foreign concept to him.

Now, it didn't.

Because he was home.

And he was glad that he could understand what that was like.

Rachel knew that she had regretted bringing up the conversation of children when she did. The internal telling off that she gave herself went on for days as she told herself off for being so stupid. Something that she was, then, told wasn't healthy and something that she should probably get herself out of. 'Be kinder to yourself' was what she had been told by the therapist that had sat in front of her and Rachel wondered whether he knew how hard it was to shut off years of damaging internal monologues. It was, after all, how she attempted to stop herself from getting into trouble with her father.

It had been a good few months since that conversation and their subsequent secret wedding.

The school now knew that they were together.

Both teachers and students.

As much as they were still cautious about revealing their marital status, things seemed to be processing naturally.

And Rachel spent a week reassuring herself.

It could be something that Eddie wanted.

It wasn't like he had completely dismissed the idea of them having a baby together.

She knew that the reason he wasn't excited the last time was because of the way that Melissa went about it.

And if he didn't want one, then she was sure that they would have had more protective sex. As they were both quite on it when it came to that.

So she knew that she couldn't keep it to herself any longer.

She just had to bite the bullet and tell him.

And that was what she did that evening, just as they stood in their ensuite as they got themselves ready for bed.

Well, she didn't really tell him.

She just pushed the test that she had done earlier into his line of sight.

He looked between it and her a couple of times before he spoke, having to lean forward to spit out the toothpaste before he did so.

"That isn't what I think it is, is it?" He said.

"I'm not going to lie, Eddie, I've known for a week. I've just been so worried about what your reaction might be that I've had to rationalise it into thinking that it was an option for us. Is it?"

There was a moment when Eddie just stared at the test laid before him. Then he picked it up and looked at the result, with her sure that he could already guess it. Another moment passed before he gave himself a small nod. She knew that he needed the time and she would give him all the time in the world if he needed it.

"It is. An option." He let out a short laugh. "Well, I suppose it is more than an option now."

"Eddie, just say if you don't think you could cope with it."

He shook his head. "No, no, no. I think I can do it. We are going to do it."

The smile broke out on her face without her consent but Eddie easily matched it and this was the bit of good news that they both needed.

Things were certainly on the up.

And Rachel couldn't wait to see how this next chapter would work out.