Thank you for the support.

On with this then. And where things just... there is no build up here. We are straight into the first bit of drama.

Chapter Two
Wednesday 2nd December

Rachel wished she could have had the appointment after school.

She was starting to wonder whether she was a workaholic as she couldn't sit still in the (admittingly, rather uncomfortable) chair, waiting for her name to be called.

With the appointment being at nine, Max had very happily told her that he could cover the whole morning if there were other things that they wanted to sort out regarding the baby. If he hadn't been so eager, Rachel probably wouldn't have worried so much but Max was practically beaming at the thought of him having a morning to himself, in charge of her school. So she might have said something about it which had led to Max to say something about her being hormonal. Which she, admittingly, was but that wasn't why she had said what she had done. It led to an argument breaking out between them that both Kim and Eddie intervened in.

She knew that there wasn't a lot that he could do in a morning but it still worried her. She could only imagine what she was going to arrive to. Maybe it would be something to do with Steph as he seemed to be really on her case. Although, with a strong enough friendship between Kim and Steph, Rachel hoped that Kim would stop Max from doing anything rash there. But she had gathered that Max was probably one of those people that acted first and then thought about it later. Like Eddie. But she never feared what Eddie was going to do. She feared anything that Max could do. Because she was still certain that he was trying to undermine her.

"Hey, it's okay," Eddie said as he took her hand into his.

"I know. I know." Rachel sighed. "And I know. I am just making it worse in my head."

"I don't think so when it comes to Max."

"Kim is going to get annoyed at some point. Being the middleman between me and Max."

"Well, hopefully, it isn't going to get to that stage. Two weeks. 14 days. We can wait that long and then we will prove that we don't need Max and his unhelpful input and you will have your school back. I know. It is going to be the hardest week of your life but we will get through it. We've got this far. We can make it all the way."

She silently agreed with him, reaching over to grab his hand. She felt like he was talking about more than just the school but she was willing to revisit that all another day. Maybe it would help for him to think that he was doing everything that he could to help her out when she needed it most.

"Are you sure you want to know?" She said, knowing that it was a question that they'd asked each other many times over the last couple of weeks. Rachel was indifferent about finding out the gender of their baby but Eddie had seemed hellbent on finding out.

"Rachel, we are teachers. We are going to have to try and find a name that hasn't been ruined for us."

She knew he was going to say that. Because that had been his reasoning since the beginning. Just every time he said it, she believed him a little less. There was obviously something about the gender that made Eddie want to know. And it hurt her to think that he might not want another boy. Not because he already had one. But because of the reason why he only had one.

"You act like I haven't got a book of names where I have put names that I love and hate in preparation for this moment." She said.

"Really?"

"Eddie, you know I've always wanted children and I realised that being a teacher would change my views on some names. I've always been prepared."

She knew that she would have to get said book out so that they could start getting some ideas together. To get to a couple of names that they both liked to narrow it down to one as close to the birth as possible (or afterwards. Rachel wasn't too fussed).

The call of her name gave them both something else to focus on and once they were settled, with their baby showing up on the screen as it had done many times before, Rachel could only smile. This was everything that she had ever wanted. Maybe it was later in life than she had expected but she was with a man who she knew adored her and she was carrying his child. It was, maybe, not a modern thing to think or want but Rachel was most content thinking that way.

"Everything looks good and baby is in the perfect position." The sonographer said. "Do you want to know?"

Rachel looked up at Eddie who nodded at her before she turned back to the sonographer. "Yes. Please. We would like to know."

"Congratulations. You are having a girl."

Rachel immediately turned to Eddie and was glad that she could watch his face light up at the news. It was obviously the news that he wanted and she couldn't really fault him for his way of thinking. Plus it was another little girl to add to the Lawson clan and another one for Eddie to adore.

Her hand cupped his cheek when he turned to her and she could feel his earlier sentiment being echoed. Everything would be okay. And they could get through this together.

"Brilliant! Another girl!" Alice said as her voice came out of Eddie's phone (which was on loudspeaker). "So who knows?"

"We've just called Mum and Zoe. After you, we are going to call Claire and Cathy and then… well that is pretty much everyone told." Eddie said.

"In terms that you will tell everyone in your household like Sue, Zoe and Claire will tell everyone in theirs," Rachel added. "And we promised we would call Cathy separately."

"I am so happy for you guys."

"Are you? Or that it is just another girl?" Eddie said.

"For you two. Oh, she is going to be adored."

"I am hoping she will be a mini-Mason."

Rachel scoffed. "When he says that, he doesn't mean a carbon copy of me."

"Why not?"

"Come on, imagine two people feeling sick with worry over little insignificant things. Our home would be full of so much anxiety that no matter how laid back you are, it wouldn't combat a thing."

"Okay then, I want to bring her up to be an independent woman who will only do amazing things and might decide to settle down at some point but with the right person."

Rachel was certain that she was showing Eddie all of the love that she had for him with that comment but she did also know that they were on the phone to the wrong person for anything sentimental like that.

"Eddie, you've never been the right person."

Rachel did only listen in as the siblings started to bicker, with it helping to keep the smile on her face. In reality, she might have actually wanted to bash their heads together and tell them how stupid they were being. But this was the relationship that Eddie had with his siblings that Rachel would never have with her sister. They were in a better place than they were a year ago but there were just certain things that just wouldn't change. Like there was definitely only a set amount of time that can handle each other.

"Hey, you okay?"

She turned to Eddie, unsure about how long she had been in her own little bubble for. She hadn't meant to zone out in the way that she did.

"Yeah. Sorry. Umm… can you remind me to text Melissa later?" She said.

"Yeah, sure."

"Just I know what she will be like if I don't tell her and then she finds out that we knew when we go to London."

"I'll remind you."

She smiled at him before she shook her head, trying to get herself out of any thoughts that she was having.

"Let's get this over and done with. I'm itching to get to work. If we time it with break, then we can tell Philip before he goes into class."

She felt like the chuckle that came from Eddie was because he wasn't expecting that answer from her. And maybe nor was she. But she did want to tell Philip as soon as she could. Mainly because he just deserved to know.

"Right, let's get Claire and Cathy out of the way and then we can get to work. I mean, I don't think these calls should take too long."

Rachel found herself knowing that Eddie had severely underestimated how much time they would be speaking to Cathy for. Because if there was one thing for sure, Eddie was missing his eldest niece and Cathy was missing her favourite uncle more than either of them would ever let on.

Things were a complete and utter mess when they got back to the school.

Kim was waiting for them in the foyer, quickly catching them up on the morning's events.

It started off pretty normal until Max pulled Kim in to talk about the uniform and how even the John Foster students had gone from looking extremely smart to the lax look of the Waterloo Road students. Kim had tried to argue that it didn't particularly matter how they were dressed but that they were dressed in clean enough clothes and at the school, learning. Max had then gone from class to class, smartening everyone up, even telling some of the teachers that they needed to smarten up their clothes.

Which was taken the wrong way or said in the wrong way to certain members of staff. Grantly, for once, wasn't grumbling about it but Steph was. However, Steph was clearly just going to have her moan about it and move on. However, when Bolton was pulled up by Max for something that he hadn't done, Steph had stepped in, meaning that she found herself in Max's firing line. And he actually fired her.

That was enough for Rachel to ask whether Steph was still in the building before going as fast as she could to Steph's classroom, where Max was overseeing her packing up her desk.

"Steph, unpack." Rachel said as soon as she entered the room. "You aren't fired and even if you was, you would be working your notice."

"The decision has already been made," Max said.

"By you? Maybe. By me? Never."

"Never? That's a bit strong. For some mediocre French teacher."

Rachel turned to Steph before turning back to Max, knowing that she might end up regretting defending Steph as strongly as she was going to.

"Mediocre? She spent hours on the phone to Monsieur Legard to try and secure the school some funding. And I know that it was hours because I saw her phone bills as she was putting them in as expenses. And even if Monsieur Legard's English was very good, as I understand it, Steph spent all those hours talking to him in French. Tom told me that he was there for one conversation and she was talking in French. So… maybe her teaching might not be up to your standard as well as her abilities in the classroom but that has nothing to do with her French.

"And as for her feelings about students." Rachel sighed. "If she came to me and told me she was worried about a student, I would instantly investigate it. Yes, I took her out of her role as Head of Pastoral care and put Tom in her place but that was due more to the demands of the role rather than her intuition. Her intuition is exactly what I want from a teacher in a school like this. She has been right time and again and I need that here."

Rachel almost felt breathless when she had finished. She was sure that she had taken the proper pauses when she had been speaking but it was a clear indication that she had spoken from a place of passion rather than saying empty words that Max would easily see through.

"So not because of Maxine Barlow," Max said. "And because you are responsible for her death."

Even if that was the reason why Steph would always have a job at Waterloo Road while Rachel was there, she wasn't going to admit that. She wasn't going to admit that their personal relationship was still rebuilding. That she did let Steph get away with cheeky comments because she did still feel a lot of guilt regarding Maxine. And Rachel felt like there was still a level of mistrust that Steph had for her.

"I didn't see Rachel hand Earl the gun," Steph said in an act of defence that Rachel hadn't expected.

"No. But how many times did you tell her that he was bad news and she instantly investigated it?" Max said.

And there it was. Her own wording had been used against her as Max had done many times before. She could feel herself deflate. Because it was true. Earl was the one that she wanted to change. He was her challenge as Bolton had been her challenge the year before. She just didn't expect the wildly different outcomes.

"She isn't leaving." Rachel said. "I don't care what the reason is for why you did fire her but I am reinstating her." She turned to Steph. "We'll talk about this in the morning. And I'll get your classes back."

Rachel turned from the room, the situation lowering her mood to the point where even her daughter's movements wouldn't bring a smile to her face. And Rachel instantly knew that the coming days weren't going to be what they should be.