Thank you for the reviews.

We are getting there slowly. With this chapter, it does mean that I only have two chapters left to write and then I will decide whether I just give it to you in one go or spread it out a little bit. I will admit that I am leaning on dumping it all at the moment... it is the middle of January and I am still writing this?!

Anyway, enjoy...

(And just a reminder that Alice is an accountant. And trust me, January is a busy time...)

Chapter Twenty One
Monday 21st December

Maybe the morning hadn't gone as smoothly as Rachel had hoped.

In Eddie's defence, she hadn't mentioned that Zoe, Alice and Cathy were going to come around to drag him out shopping when they had a check up at the hospital. It wasn't really something that Rachel wanted to do alone but it made sense to.

And maybe she was glad that Alice could be so forceful with Eddie, almost dragging him out of the house and pushing him into the car. When Eddie had said that Alice could hold herself against them, he meant it.

But maybe it was a little mean not to let him go to the appointment.

Maybe they should have bundled him into the car outside of the hospital instead. Although, maybe that would have looked more suspicious.

Philip had left with Ros not long before Rachel had to leave, with Rachel pushing some money into his hand when he mentioned that he was off to do the same as Eddie. If there was one thing for certain, Philip was not buying his own suit. Which she advised him to get in navy so he could use it in the future for other things. And she said it in front of Ros just so the point was pushed home.

And she could hear Philip trying to explain what was going on as they left the drive to walk down to the bus stop.

She probably could have given them a lift into town but Rachel knew that Philip liked doing things like that. Like he liked having a Saturday job because it was what everyone else did. It didn't matter that Melissa did send him some money every week as an allowance (which she had been sending to Rachel. To, pretty much, pay for looking after Philip. The problem was that Rachel was still angry with her at that point and had told her that she didn't need her money. Money was something that they rarely spoke about. Probably due to their childhood. And because they would just argue about it). But Rachel did feel it was right that Philip did have a normal upbringing. Maybe just to contrast to how his upbringing had been thus far.

And even though Rachel knew that everything would be fine and, as the midwife told her, everything was fine, it didn't stop her from being a bag of nerves before she went in and for most of the appointment. And as much as she wanted Eddie to be there, it was quite nice to have the time to talk to the midwife about any stupid things that came to mind. She had always been rather understanding and kind whenever Rachel felt like she did have something to say, and that appointment was no different.

She gave Eddie a quick call to tell him that everything was fine, which seemed to calm his nerves.

And then she knew what she had to do.

And her first stop was to speak to her soon-to-be mother-in-law.

Rachel would admit that the 'open door' policy with Eddie's family was still a little strange to her. Especially when she wasn't with Eddie. It had taken her months to get comfortable with the fact that she could walk into any of their houses and would be greeted warmly (yet again, just another massive contrast to how she did things with Melissa. Although, maybe this was something that would change with their changing relationship).

But for all the times that she had hesitated at the front door, Rachel just waltzed in that time, saying a quick hello to Rob in the living room before making her way to the kitchen to see Sue.

"I was hoping you were going to come round," Sue said after the hug and kiss on the cheek that Rachel had given her.

"So you know my overly ambitious plan."

"What has bought this all on?"

"I need to hold onto him, Sue. I need to hold onto all of you. But him especially. I've got… I need to work on myself. I need next year to not be as bad as this year. I can never say that the 14th December won't affect me in some way but I need to be better for Eddie. A wedding is a happy occasion. And they say that your own wedding day is one of that person's happiest days. You lot love Christmas. Maybe I want to love it as well."

"Hence the last minute Christmas Eve wedding."

"I am just glad that it can work. If not, it was going to happen next year."

"What can I do to help?"

"Plan is that we are going to get married at the town hall. We need somewhere to come back to afterwards. There is no way we are going to get something booked for Christmas Eve now. And as it is just going to be family…"

It took a moment for Sue to realise what Rachel was asking and maybe Rachel should have just asked her outright. There was no way that they could get anywhere else booked and she didn't really want to end up in some pub. She wanted to be surrounded by family in a relaxed location.

"You want to host the afterparty here?" Sue said, sounding very surprised.

"I think it is best here. Or at home. But when the plan is, already, for us to be here. It makes sense, doesn't it?"

"But you'll need a cake. At least a cake. I've already got so much to do Christmas Eve morning as it is."

"Melissa is arriving Wednesday night. She has assured me that she will do anything she can to help and she has some making up to do. She can start that by helping you out Christmas Eve morning. And if there is one person I know that will keep her in line."

"Oh, I can definitely do that."

"Although, I do really think she has changed. I don't think it is for show. Well, if it is, she is a very good actress."

"I believe you if you say that she has changed."

"I just don't think anyone else will." Rachel sighed. "I just want Christmas day to have as little conflict as possible."

"I do think you are worrying a little too much. It will be okay."

Rachel wanted to take what Sue had just said but she knew that she would still worry about it.

Because there was no way she could relax until everything had happened.

And she hoped that it would go well.

Nothing made sense to Eddie.

For some reason, he knew something felt wrong from the moment he woke up. There was just something different with both Rachel and Philip. And everything made less sense when he was dragged out of the house and pushed into a car by his sister.

He was meant to be with Rachel. Going to an appointment at the hospital. For one last check up before Christmas and the new year. Because they wanted to make sure everything was okay because it was a geriatric pregnancy.

Instead, he was with his sister, sister-in-law/best friend and niece.

Shopping.

For suits.

And he wasn't buying Alice's excuse for it.

They were no way suit shopping just so she didn't have to, at the last minute, help him out with what he was going to wear on New Year's. Mainly because he wasn't so worried about what he was going to wear this New Year's as he could actually ask for Rachel's opinion. Because he wasn't trying to impress her this year (not that he would admit that he was trying to impress her last year).

But it did seem all rather over the top.

Very over the top, in his opinion.

The only thing was that there was no real way for him to change where he was. Zoe had driven and he had, realistically, only just remembered to pick up his wallet as he was dragged out. Unless he caught the bus, there was no way that he was getting home and even with the phone call from Rachel, he wanted to be with her. Just to have a proper chat with her to make sure that everything was okay with her and their daughter.

"Shouldn't you be at work?" Eddie said, directing the question at Alice, hoping for some explanation.

"Eddie, you know that I always book the week before Christmas off work. Because January is a busy time for me and I like to spend time with the kids before work makes me want to pull my hair out." Alice said.

"Not exactly the same… but yeah, the same reason," Zoe said. "Especially to have time with Cathy."

"Just because you get the time off free," Alice said.

Eddie grumbled under his breath. He did gather that Alice was teasing him slightly. They knew, especially more so now as he was in one of the top senior positions, that he didn't really get the school holidays off. There was a lot of work to do between the terms. The only holidays that he really had any time to relax were the summer holidays. Because they were six weeks long.

He stepped into the changing rooms when he realised that he wasn't getting out of this and tried on the suits that Zoe and Cathy had picked out while he had spent a good deal of time trying to argue with Alice.

Now he was starting to believe that he just lived around stubborn women.

Not that he would have classed Zoe and Alice as being stubborn before.

It seemed like they were going for it all as they had included a white shirt into the mix as well. He huffed, knowing that he had a couple of white shirts that he could wear but started to undress to get into the first suit that was there after getting into the white shirt. He very rarely tucked his shirt in but he knew that it was a must with a suit. He was just glad that they hadn't given him a tie to wear as well. That would be where he would draw the line.

And, actually, Rachel had confessed that he did look better without a tie after the first time she had forced him to wear one. He definitely felt more comfortable without one. For some reason, he felt like the ties were strangling him at times.

He stepped out wearing a light grey suit that he didn't think suited him at all but he allowed the girls to be the judge of that, with them all seeming to agree with him and sending him back to get into the next suit.

The darker grey suit seemed to get a better reaction before he stepped out in the navy suit. Which seemed to be a hit with everyone.

That, however, didn't mean that he was finished.

That just seemed to be a stepping stone.

A starting point.

Then came out all of the checked suits.

Waistcoats.

The whole works.

Eddie thought that they were just wasting time for some reason. Like Rachel had something she needed to do at home without him there and had sought help from some of his favourite people and Alice. Not that she had to go to these lengths. Because if she needed him out of the house, he would have left and tried to fill the time himself. This was certainly not his idea of a fun day out.

So he was more than happy when it all seemed to wrap up.

The problem then came when he wasn't allowed to leave the shop without it.

"I don't need one," Eddie said.

"Well, maybe your new year resolution should be to make an effort more," Alice said.

"Who told you that I don't make an effort? I don't believe for one second that Rachel said that I don't make an effort. I do."

"Okay. Okay." Zoe said, interrupting them. "Maybe Alice didn't say that in the right way. But you remember how things were after Michael and Stephen. Maybe you and Rachel need a good one last date night before you lose yourself to the restless nights. Go out somewhere dead posh and just have a really great time together. All dressed up. Because you can."

He thought about Zoe's suggestion and knew that it probably wasn't either of their cup of tea. As much as Rachel did like to go out to dinner, she always felt a little self-conscious when they were out. But maybe that had something to do with the places they went out to dinner. And because they were quite likely to bump into a pupil.

"Are you sure it looks okay?" He asked after sighing in defeat.

"Yes, it does. I trust you don't need the white shirt." Zoe said.

He shook his head. "No, I've got one of them."

Eddie tried to ignore the price as it flashed up and when he punched his pin into the card machine.

He didn't know whether he was going to go with the idea that Zoe had but he thought that there was no harm in keeping it in his back pocket. For when they might want or need it. Because he was sure that it would require a little planning.

Although, he still couldn't work out for the life of him why he needed it now. He just hoped that everything would make some sense soon.