"Harry I don't want to go back to school" Nikki shook her head as she refused to get out of bed to get ready for the new school term. "I'm not leaving our boys"

"Nikki I don't want to leave them either" Harry sighed as he sat down next to her curled up body and reached over to stroke her arm "But if we want to give them a brilliant life then we have to"

"I've never left them for this long before"

"I know, but it's only for four hours a day" Harry reminded her "It's not like we have to be out of the house at the crack of dawn anymore either is it? Our earliest lesson starts at eleven"

"What if they need us?"

"Mum is here"

"You know they don't always settle for anyone apart from us" Nikki murmured and Harry could hear her getting tearful. He knew it would be a struggle to get Nikki to school but also knew that he had to do it if they were both going to be accepted into Oxford like they had put down for before Christmas. Their applications already sent off for various universities. "What if they think that we're abandoning them?"

Harry sighed quietly so Nikki couldn't hear him and continued to stroke her arm. He too didn't want to leave Donovan and Gabriel but he knew they had to, for one; they had a meeting with their form tutor that morning. He heard Nikki stifle a sob and saw her reach up to wipe her face free from some fallen tears.

"Four hours Nikki, that's all. Maybe four and a half in the snow. It'll go very quickly I promise"

"What if they need feeding?"

"You've made sure there's enough milk for the time we're away"

"What if there isn't?"

"Nikki come on" Harry sighed, pulling the duvet away from his lover and shaking his head "It has to happen at some point and you might as well get used to it now"

"Fine" Nikki snapped suddenly and sat up, crawling across to the opposite side of the bed to Harry and climbing off, wiping her face free from tears that were rapidly falling "I'm going to see our sons to tell them that we're not abandoning them"

Harry sighed loudly as she walked from the room and ran one hand through his hair, shaking his head as he stood up to follow his upset lover.

"They normally have a feed at about half past eight and then again at about eleven o'clock" Nikki was telling Anne as Harry hovered in the background waiting to leave the house, both of them wrapped up in warm clothing. Nikki was doing everything in her power to avoid leaving at all and talking to Anne for a bit longer was one of those things. "The milk is in the.."

"Nikki" Harry interrupted as he walked over and smiled at her, kissing her on the cheek as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Mum knows this"

Anne just shook her head at Harry and placed one hand on Nikki's arm.

"I know how hard it is to be leaving them for the first time"

Nikki nodded and bit back her tears as she did so.

"They'll be fine with me, you won't be long"

"Okay" Nikki took a deep breath and forced a smile on her face "I'll just go and check on them again" she murmured before walking out of the room and quickly running upstairs. She made her way into the nursery and a grin formed on her face at the mere sight of her sleeping children. "Hello" she murmured, leaning over into Gabriel's cot and gently kissing his forehead, part of her praying that both would wake up so she could spend some more time with them comforting them both. The oldest twin didn't however and his grip tightened on the soft blue blanket with cartoon elephants and giraffes along the seams. Nikki then reached over and picked up the blue mitten that had fallen off his hand and carefully pulled it on again, pressing another kiss to his forehead. "Mummy loves you very much and daddy and I will be home very soon from school. We have to go and learn lots of things so we can give you and Donny a very good life" she smiled and then straightened up, turning and leaning over Donovan's cot, kissing him on the forehead just as she had done with his older brother. "Mummy loves you very much as well" Nikki nodded and Donovan stirred slightly in his sleep, whimpering and then settling down again "Mummy and daddy will be home soon I promise"

"Nikki"

She stood up and turned slightly to see her lover standing in the doorway of the nursery. She turned away from him and shook her head, gripping the edge of Donovan's cot tightly as she forced away her tears.

"Come on darling"

"No"

Harry didn't say anything and Nikki heard him walk over and then heard the cot behind her creak slightly as Harry leant over it. She glanced behind her and a small smile flicked across her face as she saw Harry kissing Gabriel's head gently, telling him how much he loved him before straightening up again.

"I'm not the only one checking them again"

"You're not the only one worried about leaving them" Harry told her, pressing a kiss to her forehead before leaning over and kissing Donovan on the head as well "Daddy loves you as well" he murmured, stroking the baby's head gently so the little one knew that he was there.

"I don't want to go" Nikki whispered, Harry standing up and wrapping his arms around her, nuzzling her warm skin gently before kissing her cheek.

"I know, but we must"

A few minutes passed and they just stared down at their babies, Harry rubbing Nikki's back as they stood there.

"Will Donovan..will he have the same opportunities as Gabriel?"

"I don't know, maybe" Harry replied "I'm sorry I don't know"

"'t's okay" Nikki whispered and leant up to press a soft kiss to his jaw "Come on" she sighed.

"Nikki, Harry nice to see you back" Mrs McKenzie smiled at them as they walked into her office. "How are you?"

"We're fine" Harry replied for both of them as Nikki sat down, already missing her babies a lot. She fiddled with the edge of her jacket and reached over to take Harry's hand in hers again.

"And the babies?"

"Two boys" Harry grinned proudly and squeezed Nikki's hand gently as a smile crossed her face as she thought of their children.

"Congratulations, what are their names?" Mrs McKenzie smiled as she pulled a folder towards them that contained the work that they had missed and she knew they wanted.

"Gabriel Harrison and Donovan Edward" Nikki smiled; she loved talking about her sons and would take every opportunity to do so. "They're eight, almost nine weeks old now"

"It doesn't seem possible" their teacher chuckled and shook her head "The last time I saw you you were pregnant"

"It's gone really quickly" Nikki shook her head, smiling as she did so and glancing at her lover who nodded along with her "I don't want it to; I want them to stay my babies forever"

Harry chuckled and kissed her on the cheek, stroking her back gently as he did so and squeezing her hand gently.

"But they're both healthy?" Mrs McKenzie asked and Nikki sighed, shaking her head slightly as Harry nodded.

"Donovan is deaf" Nikki told the teacher who looked up in shock and glanced at Harry and then to Nikki again "A side effect of contracting meningitis when he was three weeks old"

"Oh I'm sorry"

"Don't be" Harry shook his head "We're coping well and it could have been a lot worse. We're learning sign language as much as possible for when he's older as well. It's pretty easy to forget that he can't hear us at the moment"

"And..Gabriel?"

"He's fine, he's got Harry's lungs" Nikki giggled and Harry pouted at her, pressing a kiss to her forehead as their teacher smiled at them.

"Good" Mrs McKenzie then nodded and glanced down at the folder that her arm was leaning on "Now this is the work that you missed in the weeks that you were off" she told them "If you need any help or you physically can't do it then go and see your teachers and explain. I'm sure they'll all understand"

"No we'll try and do it" Nikki shook her head "We need it and want to do it"

"Don't tire or stress yourself out" Mrs McKenzie warned them "It's hard work having one child, led alone two and I'm sure this work will come up later in the year when revision starts in class"

"True" Harry replied and Nikki nodded "We'll try and do it though"

"Many of the teachers have children and know what it's like so don't worry if you can't do it. Your children and your health is a lot more important at the moment"

Harry and Nikki felt like they spent the rest of the day at school answering questions about them and the twins to other students who congratulated them, most however still held their previous prejudices and he had heard a few muttered comments under people's breaths but had ignored them, Nikki seeming to not have not heard them so he didn't want to draw attention to them and upset her. Some Harry heard even muttered amongst themselves as to why they were happy about having the babies when it had ruined their lives.

"Hi Harry"

"Oh god" Harry murmured as they heard Penny's voice from behind him as they sat in the science block foyer that lunch time. "What do you want?" he asked as he turned slightly on his chair to look at the bane of their lives.

"I heard you were back and wanted to see if it was true" Penny smiled and Harry shot his friends a look that clearly said 'help me', happy when Nikki walked around the corner after visiting the toilets.

"Hello Penny" she smirked as she walked over to them, Harry quickly wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him. She leant down to press a kiss to the top of his head and then to his lips which he eagerly accepted before she pulled away.

"Nikki"

"Right now you've seen Harry you can go" Ada told Penny pointedly, nodding towards the door "Bye"

Nikki sniggered to herself as William and Georg laughed outright, Harry stifling his laughter by biting his lip slightly and tightening his grip on her waist.

"I heard that you have two boys" Penny then told Harry and the friends exchanged looks, wondering if the other young woman was on something that made her oblivious. "Congratulations"

"Thank you, Nikki and I are very happy" Harry told her, tightening his grip on Nikki and stroking her hip slightly. Nikki smiled down at him and nodded, running one hand through his hair.

"Do you have a picture?"

"Yes but you're not seeing it" Harry smirked and Penny's face fell "Are you finished because I'm trying to look through some of the work I missed while I was being a dad"

Nikki chuckled at Penny who glared at the blonde woman, smirking slightly as she turned and walked away.

"You know you should find someone who would be a better mother to your children"

Nikki tensed slightly and felt Harry tighten his grip on her waist as Penny walked from the science block.

"Nikki ignore her" William told Nikki instantly as she turned to look down at Harry, her eyes smarting slightly.

"Yeah she doesn't know anything apart from how to open her legs on command" Ada agreed with the red head and Nikki giggled tearfully and wiped her eyes.

Harry stood up and wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her forehead as she saw Nikki trying to force down her distress at what she had just heard.

"I don't want anyone else and you are a brilliant mother to our sons" Harry whispered and Nikki nodded, her lover leaning down to kiss her gently before sitting down on his chair and pulling his fiancé onto his lap.

"God knows what she's going to be like if she finds out about Donny" Nikki murmured and Harry tutted loudly and kissed her cheek before going back to his work.

"Just ignore her, everyone else does" Georg told Nikki who smiled and nodded gratefully, trying to tell herself that things that other people said would never hurt her. Especially when it came to her being a mother.