Two weeks later and everyone had moved to their respective universities but not after a lot of get togethers between all three families and tears about leaving and growing up too quickly, the latter coming from the parents and guardians rather than the teenagers. They had spent as much time as possible together in the last two weeks before they all left but knew they would all keep in touch via phone calls and letters whenever they could, of course they would all be returning during the breaks and odd long weekends when they could.
Nikki had found it more emotional than she thought leaving Anne and she sometimes felt immensely guilty for leaving the older woman on her own after so long of having them all together. Anne had instantly told Nikki off and told her not to think like that and that it wasn't the end of the world, they would still see each other regularly even if it wasn't as regularly as they were used to. Harry too had worried about leaving his mother but a stern talking to from Anne had made him feel a lot better about it all, there had still been a few tears from his mother though because her 'little boy' was all grown up.
"This is going to be our home for the rest of the year" Nikki told Gabriel as she carried him around the surprisingly spacious area of the family accommodation they were going to be living in for their first year at university "While mummy and daddy learn lots of things to become doctors"
Their accommodation had two bedrooms as they had requested, one for Harry and Nikki and one for the twins and an on suite bathroom that was big enough for the four of them. The main area that their rooms were on also had three other rooms which had been taken up by families at the university and they all shared a large kitchen which was definitely big enough for all of them. There was also a communal sitting area where they could relax and the children could play if they wanted to.
"Donovan is definitely enjoying it"
Nikki turned when she heard Harry's voice and chuckled when she saw their son asleep in his arms.
"He's definitely enthralled by it all" she agreed and her lover smiled, stealing a kiss from her as he walked through their bedroom and into the smaller one next to them which held their son's cots. "We'll sort their room out first, I want them to have it familiar for them as soon as possible"
Harry nodded as he walked out of the twin's room and left the door open so they could hear him cry, the baby monitors still packed.
"Aren't you going to sleep as well?" Nikki asked Gabriel who was facing away from her, his back against her chest where she had been showing him where they were living for the next year. "I didn't think so, you never sleep like your brother does. Too many noises I suppose" she kissed the top of his head and his soft blonde hair tickled her nose "So do you approve Gabriel?"
Gabriel let out a loud laugh and Nikki chuckled.
"I'll take that as a yes then"
"There we go" Harry smiled triumphantly as they finished making Gabriel and Donovan's room look more like a nursery than the light blue coloured room it had been before. Their nightlight was on the chest of drawers in the room and on the walls were the pictures of various cartoon animals that had been on the wall in their nursery back at their home, their cuddly toys were in their cot and also dotted around their room and some of the other toys they had brought with them were in a pile by the window.
"Feels like home already" Nikki commented happily, looking around the room with a smile on her face.
"Hi"
"Hello" Nikki smiled as she turned away from looking at the large kitchen and smiled at the woman who has just walked into the kitchen as well. She had long black hair that came down to the middle of her back, just a bit longer than Nikki's, light brown eyes and was just a bit taller than Nikki was.
"I'm Jennifer" she smiled politely at Nikki and held out her hand, Nikki smiling back and shaking it.
"Nikki, how long have you been moved in?"
"Only about an hour" Jennifer replied and Nikki knew automatically that this was someone she was going to get along with "We moved up from Bath"
"We come from London" Nikki told Jennifer and saw her frown slightly, the blonde still having a slight accent that people could tell wasn't from the UK. She had resigned herself to the fact that however long she was out of South Africa the accent was probably going to stay for another few years. "Well my boyfriend is, I moved over here from South Africa just before I turned fifteen" she giggled and Jennifer laughed and nodded "I consider myself English but the accent says otherwise. What are you studying?"
"Psychology and yourself?"
"Medicine, both me and Harry, my boyfriend" Nikki chuckled at the look on Jennifer's face.
"Rather you than me, I was never cut out for that sort of thing but I've always loved psychology. I wanted to go to university straight from school but family issues happened so I couldn't come"
"Do you want a drink while we talk?" Nikki asked and motioned to the kettle "There's tea and coffee and some herbal teas I think"
"I'll have coffee please" Jennifer smiled as she sat down at the table and Nikki nodded, walking over to the kettle to make their drinks "And of course then I got pregnant last year so I waited until this year to come here"
"How old is your baby?"
"He's four months" Jennifer grinned at the thought of her baby "His name's Adrian and before you ask I'm twenty two"
"I wasn't going to" Nikki shrugged, turning and leaning back on the counter while the kettle boiled "I know what it feels like when people judge you for your age, I'm only just eighteen"
"How old is your child?"
"Children, twin boys" Nikki smiled and Jennifer raised an eyebrow "Yeah I know, they're almost eleven months old, a year in five weeks"
"Wow" Jennifer nodded as Nikki turned to pour the water into the mugs behind her "How did you cope with two?"
"Well I have Harry, he's brilliant and we've had some good friends to help but we've always like to be independent with them. We created them so we looked after them" she shrugged, walking over to the table and placing the mugs down before taking the chair opposite Jennifer "We wanted to take responsibility for them and not just dump them on other people all the time"
"And you managed to get through school while pregnant and with young children and get into Oxford" the older woman gave Nikki a praising look which made the younger blonde blush "Congratulations to you, it's hard enough with one baby and I'm not even at school"
"Thank you, it was difficult but we knew what we wanted so we set out to get it. We knew what it would be like when we started trying for a baby anyway"
"You tried?"
"Hmm" Nikki nodded "As weird as that sounds for people our age but we know we're going to stay together and we wanted to start a family as soon as possible. We knew that if we waited until after uni it would be years before we did"
"Well good on you, I love people who can just defy what society thinks we should be like"
"Good, you will love me and Harry then"
Both women giggled loudly before Jennifer continued to speak.
"It must have been difficult for you as a teenager being pregnant and having the children. I mean with people outside judging you"
"It was difficult at the beginning because the looks I got from a lot of people made me feel like I'd done something wrong, I could tell they all thought the pregnancy was a mistake or something but then I began to tell myself that it was mine and Harry's decision to have the babies and I was damned if I was going to let people who haven't a clue what's going on to influence my thinking"
"You are fast becoming my best friend" Jennifer laughed and Nikki giggled, absentmindedly stirring her coffee as she did so.
"And what about you? Your partner?" Nikki shrugged and Jennifer shook her head.
"Just me and Adrian, he stuck around for the pregnancy but then realised it was just too much hard work and left us" Jennifer shrugged "I couldn't care less, I have my baby and he's the best thing that's ever happened to me. He's my top priority, getting a good degree and a job so I can give him the best life I can give him"
"That's mine and Harry's thinking as well"
"Do you want to meet Adrian? My mother has him at the moment while I looked around"
"Go on then" Nikki grinned and nodded, both of them standing up and picking up their mugs before walking from the kitchen "It's been a while since I've seen a young baby"
"I hope you know that in the absence of my mum you will probably have to give me tips" Jennifer told Nikki as they walked down the spacious corridor that was decorated a light blue colour and made to be child friendly with colourful pictures in frames on the wall and windows so there was lots of light, the younger woman giggling and nodding.
"I'll be happy to help"
"You life saver. Who helped you move in?"
"Just me and Harry" Nikki replied, sipping her coffee as they walked "His mum offered to help but we knew it would be too crowded with five of us and she respected that"
"It's just his mum..."
"Yes" Nikki nodded, smiling slightly at the older woman as she did so "His dad died, my mum is dead and my dad might as well be for all the use he is"
"Oh I'm sorry I shouldn't have pried, I rarely think before I speak it's normally my downfall" Jennifer looked embarrassed but Nikki just shook her head and smiled back at her new friend.
"Don't worry about it, it was bound to come up eventually"
"Good, I'd hate to lose the first friend I've made here because of the lack of filter between my brain and my mouth"
"Really, don't worry" Nikki giggled loudly "The filter malfunctions on all of us sometimes"
Jennifer chuckled and stopped as she reached room number three and opened the door.
"We're number four" Nikki pointed down the hallway to where the door to her and Harry's room was before following Jennifer into her own rooms which were identical to Harry and Nikki's in the layout.
"Good so if we ever want a wild party with lots of alcohol I know where I can come?"
"Of course" Nikki giggled and Jennifer grinner "Every night"
"Ah there you are Jenny..oh, hello"
"Hi" Nikki smiled politely at the woman who had walked through from the bedroom, she was the spitting image of Jennifer apart from her eyes were light blue instead of Jennifer's brown. Jennifer put her mug down on the table near the door and Nikki did the same. "I'm Nikki, I'm in room number four down the hallway"
"Nice to meet you, I'm Amanda" the older woman smiled kindly at Nikki before turning to Jennifer "I changed his nappy so he should be ready for a nap soon"
"Okay, thank you" Jennifer nodded and gently took her baby from her mother's arms.
"And what are you studying?" Amanda asked Nikki as the blonde smiled down at the baby.
"Medicine, both me and my fiancé are"
"You didn't mention he was your fiancé" Jennifer mock gasped and Nikki rolled her eyes "For how long"
"Since the Christmas before we found out I was pregnant" Nikki replied before Amanda tutted loudly at her daughter.
"You shouldn't be so nosey"
"It's fine" Nikki laughed "Really"
"So medicine, that's a difficult degree"
"I suppose it will be but we're prepared for all the hard work, especially with two children"
"Two?"
"Twin boys, they're almost one"
"And how old are you and your boyfriend?"
"Mum" Jennifer hissed and shook her head in apology at Nikki who smiled back, knowing that the question from Amanda wasn't meant to offend, she knew the difference now between an offensive question and a curious one.
"We're both eighteen"
"You must have worked incredibly hard to get here"
"Or they are just naturally intelligent" Jennifer interrupted, rolling her eyes again as she sat down on a chair.
"We did work hard yes" Nikki replied to the older woman "We want to give our boys the best life we can and we want to show those people who thought we couldn't do it that we can"
"Good for you" Amanda smiled and patted Nikki on the arm "Now are we going to meet these men in your life?"
"Mum really you are nosey"
"Jennifer you are a mum" Amanda chuckled at her daughter "Would you pass up the opportunity to show Adrian off?"
"No"
"Well then"
"I'll just go and get them" Nikki stifled her giggle at the two of the women before she turned and walked from the room, quickly making her way down the corridor and then opening the door to her and Harry's rooms with the key "It's me"
"I thought you'd got lost"
"No I met the person staying in number three" Nikki motioned out of the door that she was holding open, chucking as Gabriel quickly crawled over to her. She leant down and scooped him into her arms "I don't think so young man" she told him, blowing a raspberry on his stomach as she held him up and making him laugh loudly. "Her name's Jennifer and she has a four month old little boy, her mum's helping her move in and they want to meet us all. They're both really nice"
"Mummy's using that friendly personality of hers to make friends already" Harry signed and spoke to Donovan as be picked the baby up from the floor and kissed him on the cheek "Shall we go and meet some new friends then?"
Nikki chuckled at her partner and stepped out of the room slightly, holding the door open with her foot before Harry followed her out with Donovan and locked the door behind them. They then made their way down the corridor towards Jennifer's room and Nikki poked her head around the still open door.
"Come in" Jennifer nodded her in with her head and Nikki smiled, pushing the door open and walking in "Oh aren't they gorgeous" the raven haired woman gushed as she saw Gabriel and Donovan.
"Thank you" Nikki smiled, kissing Gabriel on the cheek as he eyed the two new women warily "You can talk" she motioned to Adrian who was asleep in Jennifer's arms "You have a gorgeous one there as well"
"Thank you" Jennifer smiled proudly at her son and they then both looked at Harry who was talking to Amanda "Mum you're not harassing him are you?"
"No" Amanda replied incredulously "I was just introducing myself to Harry here and asking about these gorgeous little ones" she smiled at Donovan and Gabriel and their parents smiled proudly "So what are their names?"
"This one is Donovan" Harry shifted the youngest on his hip slightly as he spoke and got his attention with a wave of his hand in front of the baby's face "He's the youngest and the other one is Gabriel"
Gabriel meanwhile was looking around the room in interest but looking warily at the two new adults who he had never seen before.
"This is Jennifer" Nikki told her son, motioning to the older woman "And that's her mummy Amanda" she turned so her almost eleven month old could see Amanda as well "I think you're going to be seeing a lot of Jennifer and her son Adrian"
Gabriel however wasn't at all interested in meeting the new people and fidgeted in Nikki's arms, his mother rolling her eyes and then placing him on his feet on the floor, Gabriel instantly clutching at her trouser leg to keep himself steady. The blonde child then looked up at Nikki and grinned happily, the adults in the room laughing at him.
"They're gorgeous" Jennifer giggled and then motioned to Adrian "Would you like to hold him?"
"Please" Nikki nodded eagerly, it had been a long time since she had held a baby this young. Jennifer stood up and walked over to her new friend, placing Adrian in her arms and then smiling at Nikki who cradled him gently. "Hello you, you're very handsome aren't you?" she spoke to the sleeping baby who had a splattering of light brown hair on his head, obviously from his father. She looked up at Harry who turned so Donovan could see the baby, he then signed the word for baby the best he could with his son in his arms and Donovan repeated it and then pointed to Adrian.
"Clever boy" Harry praised and kissed Donovan on the cheek, the little boy grinning and kissing Harry back.
"Is he..deaf?" Amanda asked hesitantly and both Harry and Nikki nodded.
"Yes, he had meningitis when he was a month old" Harry explained, catching Donovan's attention with a tap on his small hand and then kissing him on the cheek again "But it could have been a whole lot worse"
"I'm sorry"
"It's okay" Nikki shrugged as she looked up from Adrian "It was a big shock at first but as Harry said it could have been a lot worse than it is, we coped and he's perfectly fine"
"And my respect for you has just gone through the roof" Jennifer commented and Nikki grinned happily.
"Thank you"
Their accommodation is probably nothing like what it would be in real life but this is fanfiction so I can have it however I want it, within reason of course, but I want it this certain way so there can be bonding and strong friendships made :)
xxx