Rachel locked her car and walked into the police station. She was on time for once. In fact, she was early! A very rare occurrence for Rachel Bailey. She spotted Janet's Volkswagen in the car park and she knew that no one else would be in the office yet apart from Janet and Gill, giving her enough time to tell Gill about the baby. She may as well tell her about the wedding too. She needed to tell Janet as well, after all, she'd already decided that Janet was going to be her maid of honour. She was going to ring her last night but guessed that Janet had gone straight to bed when she got home, she'd had quite a lot of wine, even by Rachel's standards, and she wasn't the type to stay up late when she knew that she had work in the morning. As she walked, Rachel had a slight spring in her step and everyone that she passed could tell that she was happier than usual and were shocked that she was early. Even Richard, the constable on the front desk, was surprised to see her, raising his eyebrows as he looked at his watch.
"Morning Rachel," he called after her.
"Mornin' Rich!" she replied. She never called him Rich. She almost never acknowledged his greeting like that, he was lucky if he got a nod or a slight smile as she rushed into the station, trying to get to her desk before Godzilla noticed that she wasn't there. God, Rachel Bailey is beautiful.
"Sherlock!" Gill called from her office, not even a minute after Rachel had walked in. She instantly knew that Gill was addressing her, not anyone else, and she looked in the direction of the SIO's office. Gill was sitting at her desk, a long, thin finger, painted deep cherry on the nails, beckoned Rachel into the office. Rachel groaned as she got out of her chair and made her way to the office. She was never called into there for anything good.
"Is there a reason why you have decided to grace us with your presence early this morning?" Gill asked more than a little sarcastically.
"Umm, well, there is actually."
Oh God, Sherlock sounds serious.
"Shut the door and sit down, then."
As Rachel turned to shut the door, she gave a slight smile. It was nice that Gill cared so much. She turned back to sit down and as she sat, she subconsciously held her abdomen. It was then that Gill saw it. Wow, she was not expecting that!
"Congratulations," she said before Rachel had a chance to speak.
"What? How did you..?" asked the bewildered young detective.
"I overheard you telling Janet in the ladies loo that you think you might be pregnant and you're wearing a big fuck off diamond ring, Rachel!"
"Oh. Yeah." She'd forgotten about that.
"Why don't you get back to work before these lot think that there's something wrong?" Gill suggested, nodding towards the rest of her work force, who were just arriving.
"Right. Thanks Boss," Rachel said with a smile as she got up to leave.
Gill closed the door behind Rachel and leaned against it. "Smarmy bastard," she remarked to herself. She meant Nick, not Rachel. The truth was that Gill didn't want her best detective to marry that toffee-nosed barrister Nick Savage. Huh! About as savage as a wet sponge! She chuckled to herself. She'd met him once, at last year's Christmas party. He was even more stuck up than she imagined. And as for raising a baby, he'd be like someone who didn't know their arse from their bloody elbow! If Rachel loved him, she was more of a mitmop than Gill had thought. Ha! She could talk, what about all those years with Dave? Nick actually reminded Gill of her ex-husband. Mr 'High and Mighty', swanning around like he owned the place. She hoped to God that Nick was nothing like Dave once you got to know him.
Rachel sat down at her desk and pretended to be working on some interview prep until Gill had stopped watching her and went back to work.
"Hey Jan," Rachel whispered to her best friend, who was submersed in her work, as usual.
"Hmm…" Janet replied, only half-heartedly, not taking her eyes off her computer screen.
"No, Jan. Look!" Rachel sounded like an impatient child, but she didn't care. She held up her hand so that Janet could see the ring.
There was a sharp intake of breath from Janet. "Hey everyone, Sherlock's engaged!" Janet called across the office.
"And she's pregnant, too!" Gill added, hearing Janet's announcement and coming out of her office.
The air was full of joy and everyone congratulated Rachel. Everyone was smiling. Everyone except Kevin, who had a face like thunder.