Hey everyone, I'm back!
Now, I remember I said I'd try not to leave it three weeks until I posted again but I've really been struggling to find my mojo again, I'm hoping posting the chapter that I've had on my laptop for nearly two months will help motivate me again!
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Chapter Ten: Our Story
It did not surprise Rachel when Eddie burst into her office a few minutes after the lunch bell had sounded. What surprised her, however, was the thunderous look of annoyance etched into his features as he did so. Rachel almost didn't ask her next question, "nice morning?"
Eddie huffed out a breath, "if you call Steph wanting to know the ins and outs of your love-life a 'nice morning', then no."
In response, Rachel pulled a face, "oh no. Perhaps I can improve things?"
Eddie's expression changed in an instant as he closed the office door, then slid across the privacy before striding towards Rachel's desk. She spun around as he rounded the desk; before too long, her lips closed in upon his and instigated a kiss. A single nip to Eddie's bottom lip was it all took to up the ante as his lips parted against hers. For several moments, they lost themselves in an avalanche of feelings, shutting off the outside world. Rachel broke away, smiling as she rested her forehead against Eddie's, "better?" she muttered, fingers stroking over his jawline.
"Much," Eddie replied, "just being with you makes everything better."
Rachel's heart soared at his words, "I love you."
Eddie grinned, "I love you too," he responded before bringing her attention to the plastic bag in his hand, "now, I brought lunch… as you're eating for two."
Tears sprung to Rachel's eyes, pregnancy hormones already playing havoc with her emotions, "I really don't deserve you."
"Oh, you do, more than you realise."
Rachel grinned upon drawing back and together, they settled upon the sofa and ate. By the time they'd devoured their sandwiches, there wasn't long of the lunch hour left. Eddie cast a sideways glance at Rachel and smiled; even after tiptoeing around each other for months and six weeks of being together, he had to pinch himself sometimes to believe this was even happening. Eddie never imagined that she'd be interested in him in the same way he was in her; she was way out of his league, but still interested. This was his dream becoming a reality, him and Rachel together, expecting a baby. What could be more perfect? Rachel giggled, "Eddie, you must quit staring at some point," she paused, "are you OK?"
Eddie shook himself out of his trance before replying, "I'm fine," he insisted, "I'm just so happy. I can't believe this is happening; you, me and our little baby," he added, clutching at Rachel's hand and entwining their fingers.
"Well, believe it darling, I'm not going anywhere."
"Good, me neither," Eddie replied before leaning across to kiss her.
Rachel responded briefly before the bell rang to signal the start of afternoon lessons. She leant her forehead against his, "I'd better let you go."
Rising from the sofa, Eddie nodded, "have fun with your paperwork," he said, gesturing towards the scattered papers.
"I shall… not!"
Eddie laughed, then opened the office door, stealing one last glance at Rachel before heading off to his classroom and his Year 7 Maths lesson.
As the bell tolled to signal the school day's end, Eddie dismissed his form group and watched as they filed out into the corridor. Phillip joined the throng of students wandering the corridor but stopped outside Eddie's door. He waited until the last student left before approaching the desk, "can you pass on a message to Rachel for me?" the lad questioned.
"Course."
"Just let her know that I'm going to the bowling alley with Bolton and some others tonight so I'll be back later this evening."
"I'll pass that on, have a wonderful time mate."
"Thanks," Phillip said before turning on his heel and leaving the room.
Eddie watched the lad retreat before packing away his laptop and the student's exercise books for the day. After rising from his seat, Eddie walked the familiar path to Rachel's office. He pushed open the ante-chamber door, smiled at Joyce as he passed her desk before poking his head around Rachel's office door. She glanced up from her papers, "good afternoon?"
"Not bad, but I reckon it's about to improve," Eddie responded.
"Flatterer."
"Truth-teller."
"Have you seen Phillip?" Rachel asked, changing the subject.
Eddie nodded, "yeah, just now. He's heading to the bowling alley with Bolton and some other lads tonight. Said he'd be back later this evening."
"Least we know where he is," Rachel commented before casting her eyes down towards her desktop.
"I'll help tidy up," Eddie said as he strode towards the desk. Rachel smiled and didn't stop him as he gathered up the various bits of paper strewn across the desk.
"Thank you so much,"
Eddie pressed a soft kiss to Rachel's cheek before responding, "it's a pleasure. Plus, it gives me a chance to show off my good deputy credentials."
"You always were a good deputy; I remember how highly Ria Cheetham spoke of you before I even arrived here."
At the mention of Ria, Eddie's thoughts hurtled back to over those last eighteen months as he wondered what might have happened if they'd gotten together sooner. "Remember what I said yesterday?"
"Which bit?" Rachel questioned as her gaze met his.
"Me telling you when I realised I was in love with you," Eddie replied, Rachel nodded but didn't interrupt, allowing him to carry on. "Do you think things might've been different had I told you how I felt sooner?"
To Rachel, the question seemed impossible to answer. She likened it to the one she posed to Eddie only a few days ago about her pregnancy and whether it was too soon. "Eddie, there's no point dwelling upon it, we could play the 'What If?' game all day long and get nowhere. Everything that's happened… it's all part of our story, something to tell the kids when they ask."
Only one word of Rachel's speech registered with Eddie, which he then voiced back to her, "kids?"
Rachel smiled, hoping he'd pick up on that, "maybe I'd like more after this one," she mused out loud, "but we'll see how one goes first."
Eddie nodded in agreement, "speaking of that one child, we'd best be getting off… your appointment."
Rachel nodded as, with Eddie's help, she gathered up her bags and followed him out of the office.
"This is all starting to feel real now," she admitted as she settled in the driver's seat, clutching the various pamphlets she'd had handed on to her.
"In a good way or…" Eddie trailed off, leaving his statement open so Rachel could jump in.
She nodded, "course but… I've never really had anything to do with babies, Phillip was older when I re-connected with Melissa, what if I'm not cut out for motherhood?"
Eddie reached for her hand, clutching it in a gesture of support, "it's natural to think like that," he assured her. "Alison was bricking it at the thought of having twins. I promise Rach, I won't let you fail."
His words did their job, "thank you," she responded.
"My pleasure," he paused, "now where? Back to ours?"
A contented sigh left Rachel's lips at those words, it seemed so right to hear him say that, "ours?"
"Well, that's what it is now," Eddie said, "Steph mentioned something about drinks at the pub, fancy it?"
Rachel shook her head as she stroked a thumb across the back of Eddie's hand, "I just fancy a quiet night in," she admitted. "Plus, if we go and I don't drink, the staff will ask questions and I reckon we've disclosed enough to them today, don't you?"
"A quiet night in sounds perfect," Eddie replied as he leant over to press a kiss to Rachel's forehead. "As for the staff finding out, when do you suggest we tell them? You can't hide it forever, sweetheart."
Rachel smiled at Eddie's affectionate term of endearment, "what?" he queried.
"No-one's ever called me their sweetheart before."
"So, I'm the first?"
"Yes, and I'd be perfectly happy for you to be the only one."
Eddie smiled at Rachel's last words as he thought about how to proceed. Part of him wanted to follow with something equally sentimental, however, the other wanted to know when she wanted to disclose their other secret. "So, when do you suggest we tell the staff?" Eddie asked again.
"Ideally, I want to wait until I'm past the danger period, but if anyone asks outright before then, I won't lie. I'll have my first scan in the summer holidays, so if we can hold off until the start of next term…"
"I can deal with that, as much as I want to shout it from the rooftops, I'll leave that decision up to you."
Rachel smiled at him before pressing a soft kiss to his lips, she didn't linger long before pulling away, "let's get back to ours, we've got an empty house, remember?"
Eddie grinned as first he then Rachel fastened their seatbelts before she started the engine and drove out of the car-park.
Their future looked bright, but for how long would it remain so?
Keep the reviews coming, I love reading them so much and I'll try and do better with my updates!
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