"My poor little boy" Nikki cooed to Gabriel as she lay on the bed the next morning with her baby on her chest, wiping his nose gently with a tissue as Harry walked in from the bathroom and smiled at them both.

"How is he?"

"Ill" Nikki sighed and kissed Gabriel's head gently before laying back down again, stroking the boy's back as he opened his eyes and whimpered quietly, getting some comfort from his mother's presence.

"I'll be getting his medicine today so he doesn't get worse" Harry told Nikki as he climbed into the bed and snuggled up to his lover and their son, Donovan still asleep in the nursery next door. "The virus just needs to get out of his system"

"I just want him better"

"I know, so do I"

Gabriel then started to whimper and then screwed up his face as he started to cry, Nikki instantly holding him a bit more securely and then sitting up, undoing her pyjama top and letting it fall open all the way as she held Gabriel to her to let him suckle, knowing that he had to get a lot of fluids in him. She was well aware of Harry watching her and turned to look down at him where he was laying on his side and smiling at her. She smiled back at him and then looked down at Gabriel, feeling him shaking in her arms despite being boiling to touch.

"He needs a nice cool bath" Nikki told her lover who made a noise of agreement as he reached up and felt Gabriel's warm skin. "That should make him feel slightly better. Hmm" she murmured to the baby who drank greedily from her in between whimpers and cries that were making his feed a lot longer than normal. "How's Donovan?"

"He's fine, no hint of any sort of illness" Harry informed Nikki, still gazing at her with a loving look on his face that made Nikki flush slightly. "What?"

"You're staring"

"Can I help it? My beautiful fiancé is feeding our child, you're beautiful" Harry murmured and Nikki gave him a coy smile, stroking Gabriel's back gently as her lover sat up and kissed her on the lips.

Harry then sat himself back against the pillows and the headboard and wrapped one arm around Nikki's shoulders, kissing her temple gently as he snuggled closer to her.

"I love you" he whispered and Nikki smiled, resting her head on his shoulder as they looked down at their child who was looking up at them, his whimpers having died down but still had tears on his cheeks.

"I love you" Nikki replied and looked at her lover, smiling and pecking him on the lips "You're such an amazing daddy"

"You think so?"

"I know so" Nikki smiled and nuzzled Harry's neck gently with her head, letting out a contented moan as she did so "Don't even doubt that. Ever"

"And you my darling are a brilliant mummy. Our boys are lucky to have you as their mummy"

Nikki just smiled and closed her eyes, content in the arms of her lover as she continued to feed their ill son.

"He's missing Gabriel" Nikki sighed to Harry as she stood in the doorway of the kitchen and living room watching Donovan play on the carpet, he didn't seem his normal happy self that he was when he was playing and he looked up every now and again as if looking for his brother. "It doesn't seem right Donny being on his own"

It had taken a lot for Nikki and Harry to leave Gabriel in the nursery on his own so he could sleep off the illness, especially when their son was screaming and crying and signing the word for 'play' to them. Nikki had almost broken and taken him downstairs but it was Harry reminding her that he would recover quicker if he had a lot of rest and she had agreed with him, sitting with Gabriel until he had cried himself into exhaustion, his crying and illness knocking him out for a good few hours.

"Come on my handsome little man" Nikki grinned as she walked over to Donovan who looked up at her and grinned, holding his hands up and signing 'mummy' to her which made Nikki's heart jump happily in her chest. She knelt down and picked him up, cradling him against her and kissing his cheek as he laughed and wrapped his arms around her neck, shaking the toy that he had in his hand and making it jangle in Nikki's ear. "Do you want mummy to read you a story? You can look at the pretty pictures"

She then kissed him on the cheek and carried him over to the armchair, sitting down and pulling across a child's story book, turning to smile at Harry as he came and stood in the doorway.

"Drink?"

"Strawberry tea please" Nikki replied and turned back to Donovan who was looking around again, a frown on his face that everyone always told them that the twins had got from Nikki. "Gabriel is ill" Nikki told her son when she had got his attention again, making sure he could see her lips even though he couldn't understand. She signed the word for 'ill' and then kissed Donovan's head gently, settling back into the armchair and hugging her son closer before opening the book and showing him the pictures.

"Do you think he'll be okay growing up?" Nikki asked Harry later on as Donovan lay asleep on his play mat, neither of his parents wanting to move him in case he woke up.

"Of course he will" Harry replied, turning to press a kiss to Nikki's head from where they were sitting curled up on the sofa, text books on their laps as they revised for their next exam. "Why wouldn't he be?"

"He's going to have to go to a special school" Nikki whispered, suddenly tearful "I don't want him to think that he's different because he's deaf. We're going to have to split the twins up and you know how they are when they're split up" she murmured and Harry sighed, putting the large book on his lap aside and wrapping both of his arms around his lover, Nikki snuggling as close as she could to him, seeking his comfort.

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it my love" he murmured as he kissed her forehead gently "Maybe we don't have to split them up; we haven't really looked into it yet have we?"

"What about babysitting when we're at university?"

"The universities we've applied for have child care, they all do"

"Yes but do they know how to cope with a deaf child?" Nikki asked, almost hysterically now and Harry tutted.

"Of course they do, they're trained aren't they?"

"Yes but do they have proper experience and..."

Harry cut Nikki off with a kiss and she couldn't help but melt into him as she looped her arms around his neck and allowed her lover to deepen the kiss, both of them moaning quietly.

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it. How many times do I have to tell you" Harry told her sternly as he broke away and rested his forehead on hers "Okay"

"Okay"

"Don't get upset about it Nikki" Harry shook his head and gave her a small smile which was returned to him "Please"

"Okay, I promise" Nikki nodded and Harry made a noise of agreement before he kissed her again.

"Good. You know I hate it when you're upset"

Harry frowned as he sat in his father's study that afternoon. It was a room that no-one ever ventured in much, no-one wanting to disturb anything or clean anything up more than what was necessary. After his father's death Harry had locked himself in the room and refused to come out for an entire day, he had spent the time just sitting in his father's chair staring around the room and praying that his father would come back to him. When he realised that it wasn't going to happen he had begun to tidy up, shouting at his mother when she attempted to throw things away and she had left him to it, not entering the room again for many years. It was Harry that had dutifully cleaned it once a month but he had neglected it for the past few months since the twins had arrived and a layer of dust covered everything apart from where Harry had run his fingers through the dust on the desk and the chair he was sitting on which had been covered by a blanket. No-one else had been in the room for over a year and Nikki had stayed out out of respect for both Harry and his father, even though it was her house as well.

A knock on the door brought Harry out of his musings and he called out for Nikki to come in, smiling at her slightly and holding out his hand to her as she poked her head around the door.

"You don't have to knock" he told her quietly as she walked into the room and closed the door carefully and quietly behind her.

"Of course I do" Nikki smiled, looking around the room as she walked over to Harry, knowing of his monthly cleaning. "Why haven't you cleaned in a while?"

"Been busy with the twins" Harry shrugged as Nikki took his outstretched hand, giggling loudly when her lover pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Are they both asleep?"

"Hmm" Nikki nodded as she snuggled closer to her fiancé and then looked around the room "Why have you stopped cleaning it? It's not just the twins"

"I don't know" Harry sighed and leant his head on the back of the chair, stroking Nikki's side absentmindedly as he spoke. "You know he would have loved being a grandfather, he'd have spoilt the boys rotten"

Nikki noted the obvious change of subject but let it drop, smiling at her lover and nodding.

"He would have loved you as well" Harry continued, telling Nikki something that he had already told her lots of times but still made her happy anyway. "You and dad would have had brilliant conversations about books, he loved his books"

"You've told me" Nikki murmured when she saw the tears in Harry's eyes.

"I miss him so much" Harry choked out, closing his eyes and turning his head away from Nikki so she couldn't see him cry. Nikki however just tutted and placed her hand on Harry's cheek, turning his face back to her and seeing and feeling his tears.

"Come here" she whispered and moved so Harry could bury his head in her shoulder. Nikki wrapped her arms around him and ran one hand through his hair, letting him sob into her as he clung to her like a child. "It's okay my love" she murmured, kissing his head gently as she stroked his arm with her other hand.

Tears started to fall down Nikki's cheeks as well as Harry broke down, her normally strong fiancé sobbing like a child in her arms. She buried her face in his hair and continued to run her hand through it as she cried as well.