Thank you for the reviews. (And Gem, you might want to check whether you are opted in for email alerts... I know weird system but that is how FF is doing it now...)

I did warn you that this was going to be a late one. And it is probably going to be this way each Tuesday... until I run out of chapters... That is something that I am trying to ignore at the moment and hope that it will just magically get better by itself... writing in my lunchtime might have to become a must...

Anyway, enjoy this rather chill chapter...

Chapter Six
Sunday 6th December

On the whole, Eddie wasn't really a betting man. He did prefer things when they were highly likely to work in his favour. The only time that didn't happen was when he was in a situation that required a quick decision. And then he had varying degrees of success.

He knew that he probably didn't give off that sort of vibe but he did like to think things through and make a decision based on what he knew.

And what he knew was that Rachel wouldn't like what he had planned but he felt like it was necessary to have the plan in place.

Rachel was stressed.

He wasn't really helping the situation.

So they could do with some time apart. It was the only problem with living and working together. They never really escaped each other.

And there were only a couple of people that he trusted that would really look after Rachel in the way that he was lacking at that moment.

Zoe had said that she would sort everything else out if he could sort out getting him and Philip out of the house. Philip was easy enough, with him saying that he would go round to Ros'. Which was fine with Eddie. As was Rachel when Philip mentioned that was what he was going to do with his Sunday morning.

Eddie, on the other hand, didn't really know what to do with himself until the afternoon before. And with the house looking so Christmassy, he knew that he really needed to start sorting out what he had got and what he still needed to get. And with his list ready, he knew that would be the best use of his time. Even if he hated shopping.

And he thought that he had been quite discreet about the fact that he was going out, he could feel like Rachel wanted to ask him something. And he just wished that she would just hurry up and ask him.

"Yes, Rachel, what can I do for you?" He asked, thinking that would solve the current problem.

"Are you going out?"

"For a couple of hours. I've got a couple of things that I need to get. Presents that I need to sort out. Without certain people being there."

He watched her face drop more and he really wished that he could take her with him. Even if they did need time apart, she was still his favourite person to be with. Although, it felt like it was brilliant timing when Zoe, Alice and Claire came through their front door. At least he didn't have to try and explain that she wouldn't be on her own.

"I thought you'd be gone, Ed," Alice said.

Eddie just shook his head before he walked over to Rachel and placed a kiss on her cheek. "I won't be long." He said to her before he greeted his sisters-in-law in the same way and ignored his sister just to make a point.

He was sure that he would get it in the neck once he got home but he did hope that Rachel saw it as the nice thing that he had intended.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I think congratulations are in order. Another Lawson girl." Alice said.

"Says the one that had three of the four boys." Zoe quipped back.

"Exactly. Good on Rachel to give us another little girl."

"You do know that gender is all about the man." Rachel said.

"Well, I am not going to say anything to Eddie after how he has just treated me," Alice said.

"I will admit… I was glad when she said it was a girl. With everything at the moment, I could do with not losing Eddie in that way. I could just imagine what Max would have to say about it."

"Why don't you just tell him to sling his hook?"

"I wish I could."

"Isn't that meeting soon?" Claire said.

"Not soon enough." Rachel paused for a moment. "I am sick of it. Of making decisions because I am worried about how Max will react. It's the only reason why I… sort of fell out with Eddie this week. He thought I should have spoken to him about the incident where Max tried to fire a member of staff and I only did once I knew all the facts."

"Eddie knows how you work, Rachel," Zoe said.

"I know. I know. But if it wasn't for Max, we wouldn't have even had that falling out. There would have never been any wrongful dismissal to correct. It's just like… we have worked together, through it all. And now, the time when it could almost be over… I feel like we are starting to fall apart because of the decisions I am making because I don't know how they will be twisted. That is the only reason why I am not leaning on him in the way that I would usually."

"Have you told him that?"

"I wouldn't know how to without him taking some offence to it. I already feel like I've asked him to take a backseat on things too many times. Confirmation that I am not leaning on him will just… we keep saying that we are a partnership, a team. It's just hard to be that."

"Surely Eddie would understand," Alice said.

"But he shouldn't have to."

Rachel definitely knew that she was talking to the right people when it came to concerns about Eddie. All three of them had known him longer than Rachel and with Zoe and Alice knowing him the longest and the best, she knew that they would be able to see it from both their points of view.

She knew that Eddie shouldn't have to deal with what she was putting him through. She knew that it wasn't how their relationship should be. It wasn't how she wanted their relationship to be. Eddie deserved a lot more respect than she was currently giving him and she didn't know how that would work at work. But she knew that she would have to change the way that she was treating him when they were at home. After all, he had arranged this get-together with her future sisters-in-law because he knew how she was feeling. And got himself and Philip out of the house so that she could speak as openly as she could.

"Rach, what is the worst-case scenario when it comes to work?" Alice asked.

"The LEA believes… that I am no longer fit to run the school and they chose to replace me with Max. He would." She paused. "All our hard work. He would undo it all in a term. The school would be unrecognisable. But not in a good way. And I've seen the way that he is with some of the kids. Our kids, the Waterloo Road kids, they aren't going to stand a chance. And they would probably do what they've always done and rebel against it and his ideas… they might have worked in a private school but they are never going to work in an old-fashioned comprehensive. And that is what I will worry about. About the number of kids that will end up going under the radar because they will leave and get lost in the system and that is what I've worked my whole career to try and stop."

"I am sure Eddie would be gone as well if you were forced to leave," Zoe said.

"And that is the worst part. It wouldn't just be me who would lose my job. Eddie wouldn't want to stay and I don't think Max would let him. He would want a 'yes' man as deputy. Eddie isn't that and would never be to someone like Max." Rachel paused. "This is all happening at the wrong time of year. I'd be… better, stronger. If this was happening around Easter time or something like that."

"Are you still going down to London next weekend then?" Claire said.

Rachel nodded. "At the moment. Probably should be here, preparing for the meeting but… I already know that I won't be able to concentrate and Eddie knows that as well. And… I know it sounds weird, but I am sort of looking forward to seeing Melissa. It's been a while. And I think she is more genuine now. It is clear that we can only deal with each other in small chunks. And Philip has decided to come with us as well. I think it would be good for him to see that his mum is… getting on with her life."

"That must feel really strange to say," Alice said.

"Melissa is Melissa." Rachel sighed. "It is why I am grateful for you three and Eddie and Sue and everyone else. It's been what I've always wanted. In terms of family dynamics."

The conversation did tail off onto other topics and even if it wasn't how Rachel thought that she would be spending her Sunday morning, she knew that she had to vocalise her problems to someone.

And Eddie must have known that.

Her stupidly kind and caring fiancée had known exactly what she needed.

And she knew she had to do something to thank him.

Rachel wished that she was better at saying how she felt and how sweet she found Eddie's gesture. She could give long passionate speeches about the school and was sure that her speech to the LEA representative and the board of governors would ooze with her passion for the school. And, inside, she knew that the passion she had for the school was equal to the love that she had for Eddie.

But whenever she tried to vocalise those things, the words never came. She could only cringe at the words she had said before she asked Eddie to marry her. It wasn't full of affection as the words before asking someone to marry them should be. And she was sure that she didn't really ask the whole question. She had just said 'marry me' in a questioning tone.

So she didn't bother to try and find the words that she would never find.

Instead, she made sure that they had the ingredients in the fridge and cupboards to make his favourite meal.

When he came home, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, asking about how he got on with his shopping.

She cooked the meal and tried to keep the conversation on him as they sat down to eat it. Philip had already messaged her to tell her that he wouldn't be home for dinner and it did make her glad that one good thing had come out of the merger.

"Are you okay now?" Eddie said as they were coming to the end of eating.

"Yeah, I'm better. I am sorry, Eddie. I've not been… the best partner and boss and teammate. And that isn't fair on you when you are trying your hardest to be."

"It doesn't…"

"It does matter." She said, interrupting him. "I want you to be able to talk to me about your problems but I don't want to do the same back. That isn't fair on you."

"But we do also live in each other's pockets, don't we? We work together to come home and be together."

"But I should trust you."

"I did some thinking while I was out. And it isn't as simple as that, is it? It isn't about you not trusting me or anything like that. This is about what it has been about since September. It is all about Max. You are so worried about what he is going to say at that meeting. So much so that you don't think we can make any joint decisions."

"He is looking for… reasons for me not to hold the position that I do, Eddie."

"Hence why we should be working together more."

"I think I already know the answer but if things don't go our way, would you stay at Waterloo Road?"

"Is that if Max lets me stay?"

"Yeah."

He took a moment to think of it and Rachel was sure that he was just making sure that his heart and head aligned. She would prefer it if he would stay but she wouldn't force him to. Just because that was how her head and heart aligned. She would feel better about things if she knew that Eddie would be there to make sure that not too many changes happened unchallenged.

"I'm not sure I could." Eddie eventually said. "I know why you would ask that but I couldn't work underneath him. Not when I knew that he undermined you so much that you lost your job because of him. It wouldn't feel right."

"That's what I thought you would say." She said. "So I think we might need to prepare. I trust Tom to look out for the kids. I would love to say Kim as well but I am unsure. I don't quite understand the hold that Max has over her. I don't quite know whose side she would be on if she had to choose."

She could tell that Eddie wanted to argue that kind of talk, but she felt that even he could see it was necessary. They had a week to get things in order. For whatever result.