"Anne we have something to tell you" Nikki sighed as she sat down next to her future mother-in-law on the sofa; Harry perched on the edge of the armchair and watching them both carefully.
"What is it?" Anne asked, concern etching her voice as she looked away from Donovan who she was holding, Gabriel in Nikki's arms. "Donovan isn't ill again is he?"
"No he's...he's deaf" Nikki told the older woman, her voice unwavering as Anne looked up at her in shock and glanced from her to Harry and then back again. "It was his illness, it made him deaf"
"Oh my.." Anne muttered and looked down at the baby in her arms who was looking up at her and chewing on his fist "I'm so sorry"
"There's nothing to be sorry about" Harry shook his head and reached over to squeezed his mother's arm gently "It's happened and that's it. We're just thankful that it wasn't anything worse"
"When did you find out?"
"Officially, this morning" Harry continued as Gabriel began to fuss in Nikki's arms. He motioned to his lover and she nodded, Harry standing up and accepting Gabriel from her before sitting down again with him in his arms. "We've known it could happen since he was in hospital" Harry shrugged as he tore his eyes away from his lover.
"What's going to happen?"
"Well we're going to learn sign language" Nikki told the older woman as she lounged on the sofa, absentmindedly picking at the arm of the sofa "But it'll be okay"
"But raising a disabled child will be..."
"My son is not disabled" Nikki interrupted angrily, hardly believing that Anne had said that "There's nothing wrong with him"
"He's deaf Nikki and..."
"I know my son is deaf but he's not disabled" Nikki shook her head
"Mum you can't say that about him" Harry told his mother, he too not believing what she had said. He saw how upset Nikki was and he wanted to comfort her. She never would have normally acted like that but he knew that she was under a lot of stress with everything that had been going on.
"I know I'm sorry" Anne sighed and looked down at the baby in her arms "It's just difficult to get a head around"
"We know" Nikki nodded and moved closer to Anne, resting her head on the older woman's shoulder and stroking Donovan's blonde hair gently.
"I'm sorry I said that"
"We know "Nikki repeated with a small sigh and looked up at Anne who was looking worriedly down at her grandson.
"What will his life be like?"
"We don't know for sure but we're going to raise him the same as we're raising Gabriel, he's not going to be treated any differently just because he can't hear"
"I admire you both" Anne told them, glancing from Nikki to Harry and then back again "Raising twins at your age as well a deaf one and also keeping up with your work"
"He..he can't hear us when..we tell him that we love..him" Nikki suddenly cried out quietly and shook her head "He doesn't..know"
"I'm sure he does" Harry told her from where he was sitting on the armchair with Gabriel "We told him enough before he lost his hearing and we'll be able to sign it to him once we know how"
Nikki drew in a shuddering breath and nodded, Anne nodding along with what Harry had said and pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"You'll all be fine Nikki, you're both brilliant"
"Do you still want to go out this afternoon?" Harry asked as he walked into the living room to see Nikki staring through the glass of the French doors at the cold garden outside.
"Yes" Nikki nodded as she turned to smile at her lover "We need to get out and I want to see everyone"
"Shall we tell them?"
"Yes" Nikki replied simply as Harry walked over to her wiped her cheek with his thumb, removing a tear she didn't know that had fallen "They'll understand, I know they will"
"Of course they will" Harry assured her and Nikki bit her lip "What else is wrong?"
"Ada" Nikki sighed and Harry shook his head "I feel horrible that I won't go with her but I can't see her do that, I know she wants it and that makes it even more difficult for me. I'm worried about her afterwards as well, what if she was like me and there's no-one there to help her back up again"
"You helped yourself as well Nikki" Harry told her and pressed a kiss to her forehead "She can't expect you to do something that you're against"
"She..she's changing Harry" Nikki whispered and Harry tightened his grip on her waist as she buried her face in his shirt "I can see it and I'm scared for her"
"Look who we have here" William grinned as Harry and Nikki walked over to the bench that was their meeting place in the park whenever they all went. Everyone was wrapped up against the cold and bitter air and everyone's cheeks were a rosy red colour, their breaths misting the air.
"Hello to you too" Harry laughed, knowing that William wasn't talking about himself and Nikki. As the twins' godfathers they doted on the little boys and loved them as much as they would if they were their own. Nikki was annoyed that when they were older they couldn't adopt a child if they were still together, they would have been brilliant dads.
"Not you, my nephews" William rolled his eyes and Nikki giggled loudly at the mock putout look on Harry's face. "How are you two, eh?" he cooed as he looked down at the babies in their buggy, moving the blankets away from them slightly as they looked up at their godfather and uncle. They were wrapped up snugly against the threatening snow and cold, warm hats and mittens on their hands and covered in blankets as well as the cover that came with the buggy. "Have you been good for mummy and daddy?"
"Don't get too close" Harry warned, getting his own back "You'll scare them"
Nikki giggled again and William mock glared at Harry who just looked innocently at them, Georg laughing as he walked around the other side of the buggy to see the twins.
"How is Donny now?" he asked, his accent still thick unlike Nikki's that had thinned out slightly, it was still obvious that she wasn't from England though. Georg saw the look that Harry and Nikki shared and frowned "What is it?"
"Where's Ada?" Nikki suddenly asked as she pulled her scarf a bit tighter around her neck, Harry making sure that their sons were covered up by the blankets in the buggy.
"She had to go out with Adrian" Georg replied and Nikki raised an eyebrow, wondering if Ada was telling Adrian about her being pregnant and what she was going to do. Then Nikki realised that that probably wasn't the case and they were probably having sex. She shook her head slightly and felt Harry squeeze her hand comfortingly "Something important she said"
Nikki sighed and nodded, grinning suddenly as she heard two shouts from behind her.
"Auntie Nikki"
She turned just as Angela wrapped her arms around her waist and snuggled up to her, Jurian doing the same but with her legs.
"Hello you two. How are you?" Nikki chuckled as she patted their heads and crouched down in front of them, receiving a hug from the two children as she hugged them back.
"Fine thank you, how are you and the babies?" Angela asked and looked up eagerly at the buggy, having to stand on her toes to look into it "Hello"
"They're fine" Harry told her and picked her up so the little girl could see in to look at her cousins as she liked to call them. "Are you having fun in the snow?" he asked as Nikki picked Jurian up and settled the little boy on her hips.
"Babies okay?" he asked Nikki and she nodded.
"The babies are fine" she replied and Jurian grinned.
"Come and play in the snow?" the little boy then asked and Nikki sighed loudly.
"If I must" she grinned and the two children nodded eagerly.
"You have to, you and Uncle Harry" Angela told the older couple with a pout on her face as Nikki shifted Jurian on her hip.
"Can you look after the boys?" Nikki asked William and Georg who nodded "Thank you"
She then put Jurian down on the ground and he ran off, laughing loudly as Harry chased after him through the deep snow that covered the grassy part of the park, the snow untouched since it was fresh the night before. Nikki giggled and ran after them, Angela chasing after the blonde woman laughing loudly.
"We should get the twins home" Harry told their friends an hour later "They can't get too cold"
"Of course" William nodded as they walked down the path, Nikki lagging behind holding Angela's and Jurian's hands as the three of them talked about Christmas and the snow. "Is there anything wrong? Nikki seems..." he trailed off and shook his head.
Harry sighed quietly as he smiled down at the sleeping babies in the pram he was pushing. He glanced behind him at his lover who had a grin on her face as Angela said something that they couldn't hear. Harry knew Nikki wouldn't mind him telling their friends about Donovan so he sighed and shook his head. He also knew that it was more than their son's deafness that was getting her down, Ada's situation kept playing on her mind.
"Donny is deaf"
"He's what?" William asked in shock, shaking his head as he let go of Georg's hand and ran it through his hair to get rid of the falling snow. "How.."
"The meningitis" Harry sighed and heard his friends do the same.
"Completely or.."
"Completely" Harry nodded, glancing at William and Georg who were looking grin "It's not that bad" he chuckled "We can cope with it. Nikki and I are glad it wasn't worse"
"That's true" Georg murmured "We're sorry"
"There's nothing to be sorry about" Harry replied and smiled at his friends "Really, we're fine"
"So are you learning sign language?" William asked and Harry nodded "Darren knows sign language"
"I never knew that" Georg frowned at his boyfriend who shrugged.
"It never came up"
"How much does he know?"
"A lot" William replied and glanced at Harry "But not fluent by any means so you'll have to get some more help as well"
"Could he teach us? Nikki and I. We're going to take classes at the hospital most Saturdays anyway"
"Of course he will" William smiled and nodded, patting Harry on the arm as they stopped at the edge of the park and waited for Nikki and the children "He'll be teaching us as well so we can talk to our nephew"
"Thank you" Harry sighed and accepted a hug from both young men as Nikki walked over. "I told them"
"Oh"
"We know you don't want us to be sorry so I won't tell you that we are" William smirked and Nikki giggled loudly, hugging her friend as he kissed her cheek "You'll both be fine with him and he'll be brilliant"
Nikki smiled and nodded into William's shoulder, glad that her two friends understood.
"What's wrong Auntie Nikki?" Angela then asked and Nikki drew away from her friend and crouched down in front of the two children.
"Well you know when Donovan was ill and he had to spend some time in hospital?"
"Uh hu" Angela nodded "He's not poorly is he?"
"No sweetheart but the illness that he had made him deaf"
"Deaf? So he can't hear?" Angela then asked, a frown on her face as she glanced over at the buggy and then back at Nikki who was nodding "Oh"
"He's fine other than that darling" Nikki assured the little girl as she saw her getting tearful "Just because he can't hear doesn't mean he's different, and we don't want you treating him differently from Gabriel okay? Promise me?"
"Promise Auntie Nikki" Angela nodded and Jurian did the same.
"Promise Auntie Nikki"
Nikki smiled at the both of them as they hugged her tightly.