Three weeks later after all the exams were finished and Nikki and Ada were getting ready to leave for their holiday. Nikki, ignoring Ada's protesting, had booked a small cottage for them both in Seaton. She wanted to give Ada a good time away, even if it was just one day and one night.
"Now mummy will see you tomorrow" Nikki told Gabriel as she leant down into the sleeping baby's cot and moved some of his blonde hair away from his face. It was early on the Saturday morning and Ada was downstairs waiting for the taxi that would take them both to the station. "I love you very much" she continued and leant down to kiss her son on the head. She wanted to pick him and his brother up and cuddle him but she feared waking them, she knew that if she woke them she would never leave them, it was hard enough as it was. Nikki had always had concerns about leaving her two boys, even if she knew that Harry would take good care of them. She knew she had to leave her babies at some point but this was the longest she had been away from them since they had been born, and probably the longest she will be in a very long time. "You be very good for daddy" she murmured against his forehead, stroking Gabriel's cheek and then his hand gently as she did so. "I love you so much" she kissed Gabriel again before standing up and turning to Donovan, sighing when she saw that he was asleep as well. "Mummy loves you as well" she told her son even though he couldn't hear her, asleep or otherwise. "I will see you and your brother tomorrow. Be good for daddy" she kissed his forehead gently and stroked his cheek "Mummy will only be a phone call away, daddy has the number" she kissed him again before straightening up and holding back her tears.
"You'll have a brilliant time"
Nikki jumped slightly when she heard Harry's voice and turned to look at him. Her lover pushed away from the door frame and held his hand out to her; Nikki bit her lip and took one last look at their sons before walking over and taking it.
"Are you sure you'll be okay" Nikki murmured as she stepped into Harry's embrace and he wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head as he chuckled.
"I'll be perfectly fine" Harry chuckled against her head as he stroked her back.
"I'm only a phone call away if.."
"Ssh" Harry whispered and leant down and kissed her on the lips "You have a good time with Ada. You deserve some time away from our boys; you've worked so hard in the last months and we're all very proud of you, especially me"
"What if they need me?"
"I'm here for them remember" Harry laughed and Nikki giggled and tried to push her fear down. "You've given enough milk for the day and night so you don't have to worry about that and you'll be back before you know it and cuddling our boys again. You can phone whenever you want as well, just have a good time as well"
"But.."
"Nikki go and have a good time with Ada" Harry interrupted as he took her hand in his and leant down to kiss her again. He then led her out of the room but not before she looked back at their children and smiled slightly before closing the door slightly.
"I was hoping they'd wake up" Nikki confided in her lover as they walked down the stairs and Harry chuckled, nodding slightly as he did so.
"I know you were, I know you too well"
"I'll phone when we get there" Nikki assured Harry as they got to the bottom of the stairs, Ada waiting by the front door, she leant up and kissed him on the lips, lazily looping her arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back.
Neither of them saw the jealous look at Ada gave Harry.
"This just amazing" Ada gushed as she and Nikki looked around at the cottage that they were staying in. It was thatched with open rooms that led into each other, the living room was large and warm with an open fire and with a view over the bay and the sea. The kitchen was just as large and warm and Nikki had fallen in love with the view of the bay from those windows as well. There were two bedrooms on the upper floor along with on suite bathrooms and both rooms also had views of the sea and the beach that was just ten minutes away from them.
"Still moaning at me for booking it?" Nikki giggled as she followed Ada into the bedroom and sat herself down on the large bed in the middle of the room, laying down as Ada walked over to the window to look out. Nikki looked up at the beams on the ceiling and jumped as Ada bounded over to the bed and climbed on to kneel next to her best friend, both of them laughing loudly.
"It's brilliant, thank you" Ada beamed and shook her head "I'm still angry at you though"
"Consider it your birthday and Christmas presents for the next ten years" Nikki laughed happily; glad to see something in Ada's eyes that she hadn't seen in a while. Her friend giggled loudly before glancing out at the sea.
"Let's go to the beach"
"Hmm" Nikki murmured, not really wanting to move off the bed now that she was comfortable. She crawled up to the pillows and lay down again, letting out a contented sigh. She was missing her boys already but she was going to enjoy her time away, something that wouldn't happen again in a while.
"Nikki come on" Ada whined, tugging at Nikki's t-shirt as she moved up the bed and then glanced out of the window. "We only have today and a bit of tomorrow morning here"
"I'm coming" Nikki moaned, grinning as she sat up and propped herself up on her hands behind her, flicking her lose hair behind her as she glanced at the phone on the bed side table "I might ring Harry"
"You phoned him when we got here"
"Yes but.."
"Nikki do you honestly think Harry wants you to keep worrying?" Ada rolled her eyes and Nikki sighed and shook her head, looking back at her friend as she spoke.
"No"
"No, good. Now let's go for a walk"
"When was the last time you did this?" Ada asked Nikki as the two of them lay on the beach an hour later, it was pleasantly warm out and both were wearing shorts, sandals and strappy tops.
"When I was in Africa" Nikki replied as she shifted her sunglasses on her face properly "Before mum..died" she added and Ada turned her head to look at her friend, knowing what it was like to lose a parent. But at least she still had one decent parent left. "A few months before she told me that she was dying we went for a short holiday, I hadn't been to the beach for ages before that"
"I'm sorry"
"About what?"
"Your mum"
"It still hurts sometimes when I think about everything I've done and everything I want to do and I know that she won't see it, that she won't see her grandchildren. The wrong parent died"
"You don't mean that"
"Of course I do" Nikki scoffed and glanced at Ada who lifted her own sunglasses slightly "I sometimes wonder why mum was taken from me and dad wasn't, she didn't deserve to die"
Ada reached over and covered Nikki's hand with her own, propping herself up on her side and squeezing Nikki's hand gently as her friend smiled sadly at her.
"What would she have thought of you getting pregnant?"
"If everything had gone the same if she was alive then I think she would have been angry at first but come around to the idea, she would have loved to have babies in the family. She wanted more than just me but she couldn't conceive again after my birth. Mostly because dad was never around to help" she scoffed at the last part and Ada smiled slightly as she squeezed Nikki's hand again.
"So shall we go for a walk?" Ada then asked as she sat up and brushed herself free of sand, Nikki smiling and nodding as she did the same, thankful for the change of subject.
"I think I've brought half the sand back with me" Nikki laughed from her bathroom as she took her shoes off and sand fell out onto the tiled floor. She sighed and rolled her eyes, missing Ada's reply as she undid her shorts and pushed them down her legs, sand falling from her legs and shorts as well from where they had been laying on the beach just talking. She left them on the bathroom floor and wandered through into the bedroom, Ada laying on her friend's bed and staring up and the ceiling. "You better not be getting sand in my bed"
"Sorry" Ada chuckled, glancing up at Nikki and doing a double take when she saw her friend walking across to the bed wearing only a strappy top and a pair of knickers. Her throat went dry and she looked away from Nikki as her friend looked up at her, a small smile on her face.
"Did you have a nice time at the beach?"
"Hmm" Ada nodded, a smile gracing her face as she looked up at the ceiling again, Nikki sitting down on the bed and looking at her. "I can't remember the last time I went to the beach"
"We should bring Gabriel and Donny at some point" Nikki muttered as she lay down next to Ada, not knowing that her friend was having trouble not reaching out and touching her practically naked body.
Ada sighed and turned to look at Nikki, sitting up and propping herself back on her hands, smiling at Nikki even as she wished that the 'we' could have been those two and the twins. She knew deep down that the 'we' meant Nikki, Harry and the twins but she couldn't help but have a bit of hope.
"Ada?"
"Hmm?"
"You seemed very far away then" Nikki smiled slightly, reaching over and rubbing Ada's arm gently, seeing and feeling the shiver that went up Ada's spine when she did so.
"I was just..." Ada shook her head and smiled "Doesn't matter" she murmured as she leant down and pressed her lips to Nikki's, pushing her friend down onto the bed as Nikki surprisingly placed one hand on her shoulder and kissed her back. Nikki then seemed to realise what was happening and she pulled away, shaking her head and pushing Ada away from her as she moved away on the bed.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"I..Nikki I.."
"You said that this was over" Nikki told her friend, shaking her head and moving to sit on the edge of the bed "You said that you'd got over this Ada"
"I know, I thought I had as well" Ada nodded, her eyes glazing over as she did so "I'm sorry, it's not easy"
"You.." Nikki trailed off and shook her head, placing her head in her hands as Ana knelt behind her and tried to force away her tears. "This can't happen"
"I know"
"You said that before" Nikki snapped and stood up, shaking her head as Ada jumped and began to cry "Don't you dare start crying Ada" she told the other young woman even as she started to cry as well "How can..how can you still.."
"Because..you're beautiful and...I'm..in love..with you" Ada sobbed loudly, tears falling down their cheeks as Nikki let out a small moan and shook her head, turning away from Ada and looking out of the window.
"You can't" she cried and shook her head again "You can't..because I..can't love you..back as anything more..than a..friend"
"Please" Ada begged as she stood up and walked over to Nikki "Please Nikki..just..once please"
"You want me to.." Nikki turned to look at Ada, more tears falling down their cheeks "I'm not..betraying..Harry like that and I..can't believe you asked me"
"I..I want you Nikki" Ada whispered, tears sliding down her cheeks as Nikki began to cry again, taking a deep breath and turning away from her friend as she tried to stop herself from crying "I look..at you..with Gabriel..and Donovan and.." she took a breath and continued "I wish that..they were ours"
Nikki closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions as she wondered what she was going to do. She didn't want to lose Ada's relationship.
"Gabriel and Donovan are..are my children with Harry" Nikki told Ada slowly as she took control of her emotions again, ignoring the loud sob that tore from Ada's throat as the younger woman stood behind her "I am with Harry and we are getting married at some point. I am not attracted to you or any woman at all and I'm sorry"
Ada just swallowed heavily and nodded, turning and walking from the room.
Oh yes, I went there again ;)