"Nikki"
Nikki turned away quickly from the bed where she had her clothes for the day set out, she had just got out of the bath after a long soak and was dressed in just a towel, her hair damp from where she had washed it and her skin still wet from the bath water.
"Harry"
She turned away from him again guiltily and she then heard her lover sigh, still not looking at him as he walked through their bedroom and into their son's room, Donovan asleep in his arms. Nikki then went about drying herself, wanting to dress and escape from Harry's presence as soon as possible so she didn't have to see the look on his face when she looked at him properly.
Nikki was halfway through getting dressed when she heard the door to their son's room close and a few seconds later Harry walked back into their bedroom where she was standing in only her underwear. There was an awkward silence between the two as Harry leant on the wall and Nikki fiddled with the hem of her jumper.
"I'm sorry" Nikki whispered after a few more tense seconds "However angry and upset I was I should never have said that, you're not like him and I'm so sorry" her voice broke at the end but she refuse to cry in front of him.
"I think I deserved it"
"Don't be silly of course you didn't" Nikki told him quickly, still fiddling with the jumper as Harry pushed away from the wall and stepped closer to her.
"I shouldn't have told everyone about what it was like for you at school or with him"
"They were bound to find out more sooner or later, they're our friends and after that scene in the cafe I'd be surprised if they didn't pry some more" Nikki chuckled tearfully as she spoke and jumped slightly when she felt Harry's warm hands on her waist, she instantly felt safe and she leant back into his arms, her lover wrapping his arms around her stomach and pressing a kiss to her naked shoulder.
"I should have asked permission"
"Let's just stop with all the 'I should have'" Nikki told him sternly, throwing her jumper onto the bed as she felt Harry nod against her neck where he was slowly kissing her "I'm sorry for what I said"
"And I'm sorry for what I said"
Harry rested his chin on her shoulder and Nikki turned her head slightly to look down at him, a smile crossing her face when she saw him smiling up at her, his green eyes shining.
"You're not him"
"I know" Harry nodded and loosened his arms as she turned and looped her own around his neck, flicking her damp hair over her shoulder.
"I still hurt you though, tell me the truth"
"Yes it hurt" Harry admitted and Nikki was thankful for the truthfulness something which they both valued from each other a lot "But then I realised that I'm not like him at all and I got over it. I refused to let myself become like him so therefore I won't" he smiled as he spoke and Nikki frowned at him, working out what he had said before smiling as well and nodding.
"Good, and anyway if by some horrible disaster you do seem to be spiralling into him I'll just give you a kick up the backside to stop you"
Harry laughed loudly and Nikki giggled, leaning up and pressing her lips to his as he pulled her closer to him.
"Now I think I shall have to take full advantage of you right now Nikki" he murmured into her ear as he pushed her back onto the bed, Nikki giggling at him as she scooted up so she had her back against the headboard "God you're beautiful" he breathed as he saw her sitting in just her underwear, her damp hair falling over her shoulders and down her back "I love you so much"
"Well I think you need to show me just how much" Nikki smirked at him, parting her legs slightly and making him smirk right back at her.
"Minx"
Nikki giggled as he climbed onto the bed and quickly claimed her lips with his.
"So you and Harry made up we see"
Nikki grinned as she heard Jennifer's voice and nodded, the black haired woman turning to Abigail who was sitting next to her at the kitchen table doing work and then smirked at Emily who was opposite them with a mug of coffee on the table in front of her, Elsie in her arms.
"Of course she has, she's got that 'just had the best shag ever' look" Abigail smirked at Nikki who felt herself blush slightly but smirked back just the same.
"And what if I have, it was excellent"
"Damn you" Abigail sighed, tapping her pen against the textbook as Jennifer and Emily laughed at Nikki's response "How the hell do you get a sex life with twins? Anthony and I haven't done anything in months, since I was about six months pregnant. We've just been too tired"
"Well the boys are sleeping a lot more now so that means more time for sex" Nikki grinned at them all as she waited for the kettle to boil "Just to rub it in a little bit more for you all"
"You're so mean" Abigail pouted and Nikki giggled loudly, reaching up and tying her hair into a messy ponytail with the headband that had been around her wrist. "I bet it's always good" she then muttered to the textbook she was reading from and Nikki giggled again "You heard that?"
"We all heard that" Nikki nodded and shrugged "And yes it is always good, a lot more than good anyway. The things Harry can do with his tongue" she sighed and shook her head, laughing as her friends groaned and protested.
"Nikki"
"Yes?" she asked innocently, pouring the boiled water into her mug and then walking over to the table, sitting herself down next to Emily. "Oh I'm sorry that I'm just rubbing it in that I'm the only one here with a current sex life"
"Pure evil" Jennifer sighed dramatically and Emily grinned and nodded, Nikki chuckling at them all before leaning back in her chair and looking out of the window that was next to her. "Are we having a party for the twins' birthday?"
"Oh yes I was going to talk about that" Nikki nodded, looking back at her friends, two of whom continued with their work as they spoke "I thought it would just be us, a cake, a small party that sort of thing. Harry's mum is coming up on the Saturday, the day after so we'll probably go out somewhere for the entire day"
"So we don't get to meet his mum?" Emily asked in disappointment and Nikki scoffed and shook her head.
"No"
"You met my mum Nikki, she can't be any more embarrassing than her" Jennifer commented as she wrote notes on the pad in front of her.
"It's not that, it's just I don't want her being corrupted by you lot" Nikki told them seriously and then grinned when Abigail gave her a mock offended look "Joking, but really she can be a bit..much to people who don't know her that well, we won't be out for the entire day. She has to travel of course and that's tiring enough as it is"
"Are you buying a cake or making one?"
"Making one" Nikki replied and her three friends grinned, she had only cooked a cake once and that had been for Harry's nineteenth birthday two days beforehand "Hey it's for my boys"
"They can't really eat that much of it though" Jennifer told her with a smile "So we get to eat lots of it, we love your cake. We brought the twins presents"
"You did what?" Nikki asked them quickly, looking from one to the other as they nodded "Really you didn't.."
"Of course we did" Emily interrupted, removing the bottle from Elsie's mouth and placing it on the table before moving her daughter to her shoulder to burp her "It's their birthday, their first"
"Don't remind me" Nikki sighed, shaking her head and stirring her coffee unnecessarily "It's gone so quickly, I never thought it would"
"Thank you for looking after Elsie this morning by the way" Emily then told Nikki and the blonde shrugged, nodding towards their other two friends.
"I didn't do much, it was those two who did most of the work. I was too busy arguing with Harry, I take it they've told you"
"Hmm" Emily nodded smiling at her daughter as she moved her away from her shoulder and wiped her mouth with the bib around her neck "Do you feel better after that sweetheart?"
"What do you want my darling?" Nikki signed as she looked down next to the sofa where she was curled up reading one of her textbooks in time for her and Harry's lecture tomorrow and saw Donovan standing next to her supported by his hands on the sofa. He grinned at her and then held his arms up, stumbling slightly as he let go of his support but miraculously staying on his feet.
"How can you ever resist those looks?" Jennifer cooed as Nikki placed the book on the sofa next to her and pulled Donovan onto her lap, chuckling as she did so.
"With a lot of difficulty" she replied, kissing Donovan on the cheek as she placed him on her lap and picked up her textbook again "You be good" she signed and spoke to him but Donovan just reached forward and placed his hands on the book, Nikki shaking her head and moving it again so she could read it "Mummy has to learn some things darling"
A noise of impatience made her look away from her book again and she giggled when she saw Gabriel standing in the same place his younger brother had been in, smiling at her and then holding his arms up as well.
"You as well?" Nikki asked him with a laugh and put the book back down on the sofa again, shifting Donovan so he was leaning against the back of her sofa where she was laying on it and then pulling Gabriel onto her lap as well, kissing him gently and ruffling his hair as he grinned and kissed her sloppily on the cheek. "Now are you two going to let mummy do some reading?" she signed and spoke before picking up her book again.
"Something tells me you're not going to get much done" Anthony laughed from where he was sitting at the table with his own work and Nikki chuckled, nodding in agreement as she attempted to read the textbook again but was blocked by Gabriel turning on her lap and smiling at her before laughing and saying something in 'baby speak', Donovan too standing up between Nikki and the back of the sofa and kissing her on the lips. Nikki couldn't be angry at them as she gathered her children into her arms and pulled them closer to her, the almost year old twins snuggling closer to her as she kissed them both on the head.
"Just you wait until Fergus is their age, you're getting no work done at all" Nikki assured the older man as Harry walked into the room with his own work in his hands, grinning proudly at his lover when he saw her and their boys. "Your sons are preventing me from working" she told him as he sat down at the table and began to start the work that Nikki had already completed.
"What work?"
"Just reading up on a few new things for the next few lectures" Nikki shrugged "Nothing important though which is good isn't it you two?" she asked her sons with a grin and Gabriel stood up on her lap, kissing her on the lips and grinning toothily at her "How when are you going to start saying 'mummy'?" she then grinned at Gabriel, moving him so he was sitting on her lap facing her, her little boy giggling and squirming as she tickled him slightly "Yes?" she giggled, continuing to tickle him "When are you going to say mummy?"
Gabriel however just continued to laugh loudly and squirm on her lap, Harry smiling lovingly at his family from across the room before turning back to the work that he really needed to get on with.