Two months later in May and study leave had started once again. This meant that Ada, William and Georg spent much more time at Harry and Nikki's house while they were studying and the parents were able to see much more of the now six month old twins which was what they had most been looking forward to. The twins had reached many milestones in the past two months including starting to sit up properly, they began with sitting up with something behind them supporting their back but they soon began to do it without any support.

"Are you enjoying that?" Nikki asked Gabriel as she sat down next to him on the carpet, her son sitting up with one hand on the floor for support and the other hand holding a piece of cut up banana, the rest of the fruit mashed around his face as he attempted to feed himself. He turned to Nikki and grinned at her, giggling loudly as he put the fruit in his mouth, mashing most of it around his cheeks and making everyone else in the room chuckle. Henry then looked down at the bowl he had been getting the chopped up banana from and frowned when he saw that there was none left. "All gone?"

Gabriel looked at her and then clapped his hands, grinning at the bowl before picking it up and shaking it before trying to chew on it.

"I think we need to clean you up" Harry chuckled as he picked up some baby wipes from the table next to him and pulled one out, sitting himself on the floor next to his son and beginning to clean his hands and face, Gabriel giggling at the attention as Nikki smiled and turned back to her work that was spread out over the floor.

"Doesn't it worry you that they're growing up fast?" William asked Nikki from his position on the armchair, biology book on his lap and notes on the arm next to him. Nikki just sighed and nodded, glancing over at Donovan who was content to play with the colourful and soft baby book on the floor in front of him, her son unable to hear the small noises that the book made when certain areas were pressed or touched.

"Yes of course it does, but I try not to think about it too much. It just upsets me"

"There we are, all clean" Harry told Gabriel as he kissed his son on the cheek, the baby trying to grab the dirty baby wipe that his father had in his hand. "I don't think so" Harry shook his head and threw it in the bin that was next to the table, handing Gabriel one of his toys that got the baby's attention instantly, Gabriel putting it up to his mouth to chew on the wing of the colourful toy butterfly. "You can help daddy learn his biology"

Nikki giggled at her lover and Ada chuckled as she crouched down next to Nikki to ask her about a particular part of the biology that she didn't understand.

"I mean really, why do we even need this?" the young woman asked as Nikki looked through her own notes for the answers "Its rubbish"

"I know" Nikki sighed and nodded, handing Ada her notes and her friend quickly read through them "But we need it apparently"

"Well you do Dr Alexander" Ada chuckled without looking away from the paper in front of her and Nikki rolled her eyes, ignoring Harry when he said her name.

"I'm not a doctor yet"

"No but you will be"

"I hope so" Nikki nodded and turned to Harry when he said her name again "Yes?"

Harry nodded towards Donovan who was making small noises and Nikki glanced as well, letting out a small gasp as she saw her son looking at her and signing the word for 'mummy'. A lump formed in her throat and she pushed away her tears as Donovan laughed and continued to sign the word. She then grinned and crawled over to her son, scooping him into her arms and cuddling him close to her.

"There's my clever boy" she told him as he kissed him repeatedly, Donovan laughing and clapping in response. Nikki made her way back to her original position and Harry leant over to kiss Donovan as well, telling him what a clever boy he was as he signed to their son.

"Harry Donny's talking to us" Nikki murmured suddenly as the two of them ate their dinner that evening, their friends having gone home a few hours before for their own family time. "Our baby is..." she trailed off and swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as Harry smiled and entwined their hands on the table, stroking Nikki's gently with her thumb. "Most other babies don't start talking like that until they're a year old or older"

"Yes but we've always known that baby's start signing at around six months if they're taught from a young age"

"I know" Nikki sighed and poked at one of the pieces of carrot on her plate, nodding slightly "It's still shocking"

Harry nodded his agreement and leant over to kiss Nikki on the cheek gently, his lover turning her head and letting him kiss her on the lips, both of them smiling.

"We need to tell your mum" Nikki told Harry suddenly and he chuckled and nodded, turning back to his dinner as he did so. "I mean this is a big milestone and.."

"Nikki calm down and eat your dinner" Harry laughed and rolled his eyes, Nikki blushing but doing as she was told.

"Harry" Nikki called out from the living room as she sat on the bathroom floor with Gabriel after the twins' bath, Harry having taken Donovan into the nursery to put him in his cot.

"What is it?" Harry asked in concern as he walked back into the bathroom and looked at his lover and their son.

"Watch" Nikki told him, a grin on her face even though her eyes were slightly glassy. Harry did as Nikki told him to, looking at Henry who grinned and clapped his hands, already dressed in his night clothes and ready for bed. "Go on; show daddy how clever you are"

Gabriel looked towards his mother and giggled, making Nikki roll her eyes as she gathered the boy into her arms and stood up, shaking her head at Harry as she chuckled.

"What was it?" Harry asked as he kissed Gabriel's cheek gently, his son reaching out for him. He took the baby from Nikki and Henry snuggled up to his father as Harry kissed his head gently. Gabriel then looked at Nikki and laughed, before signing the word for 'eat'.

"See" Nikki grinned happily as Harry looked at their son in shock "You didn't want to be left out did you Gabriel?" she cooed to the baby as Harry began to grin "You're a clever boy aren't you"

Gabriel let out a loud laugh and then reached for Nikki, flexing his hands and mumbling something in baby speak.

"Make your mind up young man" Harry chuckled as he handed Gabriel back to Nikki who was still grinning. "Does that mean that their first words were 'mummy' and 'eat'?"

"I suppose their first signed words would be yes" Nikki nodded as they walked through to the nursery, Donovan still awake and clutching at a teddy that he had got when he had been born, Gabriel having an identical one in his cot. "Their spoken words will probably be different"

"What about Donovan?"

"What about him?" Nikki asked quickly as she kissed Gabriel and let Harry do the same before placing the baby in the cot to let him fall asleep by himself, the baby whimpering slightly at the loss of contact from his mother, his bottom lip trembling as he held his arms up for her. As much as it pained Nikki to do she knew she had to leave him to fall asleep on his own now that he was getting older and she couldn't rock him to sleep all the time however much she wanted to do it.

"Doesn't matter" Harry murmured in response to her question as he saw Nikki having trouble prying herself away from Henry. "Come on, let them sleep they'll be fine"

"But I hate leaving them like this"

"I know you do but they have to learn to go to sleep by themselves"

"They're only six months old, how are they meant to know that?" Nikki asked him quietly.

"Because they take after their mummy and are extremely intelligent" Harry told her and Nikki couldn't help but giggle quietly and nod.

"Nikki we've left them like this before and they've cried and then gone to sleep" Harry told her and Nikki sighed and nodded again. "Come on, say goodnight and then it's time for you to sleep as well"

"And you"

"Hmm"

A few minutes later when both parents had said goodnight to the still awake boys Nikki let Harry guide her from the room as he turned the main light off and turned the nightlight on, planes lighting up the wall and the ceiling as he did so.