A/N: Welcome to chapter 3! I had so much fun writing this one and I hope you all like it.

She could feel Eddie stroking her hair as she watched Lucy, the sonographer, squeeze some ultrasound gel onto her stomach and she took a deep breath as she tried to relax a bit. All week long, she'd been excited about this appointment. It was the only thing she really talked about when she and Eddie were home and all she thought about during the day, but now the appointment was here she felt sick to her stomach with fear. She never thought about it before, but what if there was no heartbeat? What if there was something wrong with the baby? All night long, those worries had been racing around in her head.

It did occur to her that she was more than likely worrying about nothing and there was nothing wrong with their baby, but she couldn't help it. She and Eddie wanted this more than anything. For as long as she could remember, they had been talking about how incredible it would be to start a family and now they were well on their way to doing that. It would break her heart if anything came along to rob them of their happiness, as it would him, and even though she realised the chances of that happening were slim it was still a possibility. An incredibly real, incredibly worrying possibility she kept thinking about.

"Hey…" She was pulled from her thoughts by Eddie's voice and it was clear when she looked up at him that he could tell she'd been worrying. Why she thought she could try and hide that from him, she had no idea. He could read her like a book, he'd had that talent for as long as she'd known him, and it was one of the reasons she fell for him. She let out a trembling breath when he leaned down to kiss her on the forehead and when he pulled back, brushing his thumb against her hair, she gave him a tiny smile. "You have got nothing to worry about. In a couple minutes, our baby is going to be up on that screen."

"I know, but…"

"Nope, no buts. You keep telling yourself that."

"All right then, moment of truth," Lucy wheeled her chair closer to the bed and turned the screen a bit before bringing the doppler to her stomach and moving it around a little. It took a moment or so, but both the silence and the tension in the room was eventually broken by a rapid swooshing sound and she turned to Rachel again when she heard her sigh of relief. "Believe me, I know the feeling," She laughed. "I think I can safely say neither of you have anything to fret about here. Little one has a very healthy heart on them. Strongest one I've heard all day, if I'm being honest."

At her words, Rachel looked up at Eddie again and the look of relief on his face must have mirrored the one on hers. She reached out with a trembling hand and was glad when he took hold of it, allowing his thumb to trail back and forth across her knuckles as he continued stroking her hair with his free hand.

"Now, how about we take a quick look at baby and sort out some pictures?" Lucy switched on the little monitor next to the bed and, when the screen came on, she applied a little more pressure and moved the doppler around once again. It was hard to see much of anything in the beginning, but after a little more time a clearer image came up and she heard Rachel's breath hitch at seeing her baby. "And there it is. You can see here, it has its arm up next to its head. Must be a little camera shy. I'll see if I can get it to shift it out of the way in a minute and then we might be able to get a clearer picture for you both."

"Hang on a minute," Eddie frowned, noticing something else on the screen. "What, uh…what's that?"

Lucy turned back to the screen when he pointed at it and it was then that she saw what he was seeing, a knowing smile gracing her features. "That…" She moved the doppler away from the baby and zoned in slightly on the area Eddie was referring to, turning to him and Rachel again. "Would be another one."

"A…another one?" Rachel breathed, her eyes wide. "You're saying we're having twins?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying," Lucy assured her. "Fraternal twins too by the looks of things."

Rachel was silent for a second before she looked at her boyfriend again. "Eddie…"

He was wreathed in smiles as he looked at her, bringing a hand to her face and running the back of it down her soft cheek. "Well on our way to starting this little family of ours now, aren't we?" He laughed.

She beamed, relieved he was happy albeit as surprised as she was, before turning back to Lucy again. "Are both of them okay then? I know a multiples pregnancy can carry more risks than a single one, so."

"Both of them seem to be doing brilliantly at the minute," Lucy nodded, looking at the screen again to study the image. "Of course, there is the chance that one of them will do better than the other as you progress further into your pregnancy. Now we know there are two of them though, we'll be sure to get you in here more often so we can keep an eye on things and act accordingly if there are any changes. I have a feeling that saying this is going to make little difference, but I don't want you worrying about a thing. If you do have any worries though and need your mind putting at ease, you can always come in."

"Yeah, something tells me you'll be seeing a lot of this one." Eddie teased, gesturing to his girlfriend.

"Oh, shut up." Rachel gave him a half-hearted slap on the arm which made Lucy smile. "I appreciate it."

Lucy nodded before reaching for the roll of blue paper, tearing some off and using it to carefully wipe the gel from Rachel's stomach. "I think we might be done here, so let me print out these pictures and then I can let you both go. I'll make sure a letter is sent out informing you of your next appointment. It should be at around twenty weeks and then we aim to have you in for a scan every four weeks until the babies are born. Gives us more of an idea how the two of them are getting on and what approaches, if any, we need to consider as we approach the due date. Does all of that sound okay for the two of you?"

"Sounds brilliant," Eddie nodded. "Rach?"

"Yeah, brilliant." She agreed as she pulled her top back down and sat up on the bed.

While Lucy set about printing out the pictures from the scan, Eddie ran a hand tenderly down Rachel's back and when she turned her head to look at him he failed to keep from smiling at her. "So…" He said in a quiet voice, touching his spare hand to her stomach. "I guess we're in for double trouble now, eh?"

"I actually have no idea what to say," She shook her head. "I can't believe it."

"You are happy though, yeah? I know it was unexpected, but that's not always a bad thing." He replied.

"Happy is an understatement," She reached up to rest a hand on the side of his neck, letting her thumb run over the stubble on his cheek as she looked into his eyes. "I love you so much, Eddie, I mean that."

"Well, that's a relief…" He smirked, leaning in to steal a kiss from her. "Because I love you too."

She was setting the last of the crayons down on the table near the window when she noticed the car on the drive and she smiled, making her way out of the living room and into the hall so she could go and open the door. She shared a smile with Alison when she got out of the car and watched as she went to open the door for Michael, a smile breaking out on her face when the five-year-old started running up to her the second he got out. "Rachel! Rachel, look!" He held up the tiny trophy in his hand, undeniably very proud of his little self, before near enough thrusting it in her face. "I got man of the match again!"

"Go you!" She gasped, holding up a hand and letting him give her a high-five.

"Can you and Daddy come and watch me next time?" He asked with hope in his eyes.

"Absolutely," She nodded. "About time we got to see you in action. You know what, I think your dad is in the kitchen making us all something to drink. Why not run and surprise him with that trophy, hmm?"

He nodded, beaming, and squeezed past her so he could run down the hall to his father in the kitchen.

"You should have heard him this morning," Alison groaned as she approached the house after locking the car. "Are we going to see Rachel today, Mummy? Are we going to see Rachel today, Mummy? That was all I got from him from the minute he woke up until he went to football practice. Even then, when he got given his trophy at the end of the match, all he cared about was getting here so he could show you. I swear, the only reason that boy actually comes here is to see you. Nothing to do with his daddy."

Rachel laughed at that, reaching out to give Alison a hug. "Oh, we love having him to stay."

"I can part with him for the entire half term if you like having him here that much," Alison teased, she and Rachel sharing a look as she made her way inside the house so she could shut the door. "I haven't said congratulations yet. I would have said it when you called earlier, but Michael was there and I know you and Eddie wanted to tell him when he got here, so…" She admitted quietly. "Well, congratulations."

"Thanks," Rachel smiled. "It was unexpected, but we're both over the moon about it."

"I bet," Alison nodded. "I hope you both know that boy is never going to sleep tonight once he knows."

Rachel snorted. "I'll get Eddie to do all the running up and down the stairs if needs be."

"Good on you," Alison smirked. "Play the pregnancy card for as long as you're able, that's what I say."

"Someone missing a footballer?" Both of them looked over their shoulders at the sound of Eddie's voice and watched him come walking into the hallway, carrying Michael upside down by one foot as the boy giggled and held his trophy tight in both hands. "Got man of the match again, he says. What a champ!"

Rachel smiled. "I said we'll have to go see him in action next time. What do you think?"

"I think that sounds like a fantastic idea!" He practically flipped the boy around, bringing him to sit on his hip before he slipped his little arms around his neck. "Who do you want there more? Me or Rachel?"

Michael gave him an impish little look before pointing at Rachel.

"Oh, charming! More than your own dad." He feigned hurt.

"You either got it or you don't," Rachel shrugged, giving her boyfriend a wink before smoothing a hand over Michael's hair when Eddie set him down again. "Michael, why don't you and your mum go through to the living room and your dad and I will bring our drinks through in a minute. She can see your cars."

His little face lit up. "Yeah, Mummy! Come see the cool cars Rachel got me!"

Rachel and Eddie watched as Michael practically dragged his mum into the living room before making their way down the hall to the kitchen, Rachel sighing under her breath as she went over to her bag on the kitchen table. Opening it up, she reached into the inside pocket and took out the pictures from the scan. She gave herself a moment to look at her babies and smiled to herself, already completely in love with them both and curious as to who both of them were going to turn out to be. "Are you sure this is the right time, Eddie?" She eventually asked as she glanced over at him. "You don't feel we're rushing?"

"No," He shook his head while putting the three mugs of coffee and cup of squash for Michael down on the tray on the counter. "Rach, he is going to be so excited. He's going to love the idea of being a big brother. He probably won't shut up talking about it for the next seven months and you, me and Alison will be ready to tape his mouth shut by the time the babies are born, but that's not really a bad thing."

"Him talking about the babies non-stop, no. You taping his mouth shut, yes." She mumbled.

He rolled his eyes in a good-natured fashion as he walked around the kitchen table to her, moving to stand behind her so he could wrap his arms around her waist and rest his chin on her shoulder. "Look at them pair," He lowered his voice slightly as he brought her back against him. "We made them, Rach."

"Yeah, we did," She hummed. "I hope at least one of them has that dopey smile of yours."

"Oh, you like my dopey smile, do you?" He turned his head to kiss her on the neck, chuckling gently.

"I guess you could say I have a fondness for it." She admitted.

"I hope for their sakes they both have their mother's brains because they're done for with mine."

"Yes, we all hope for that, my love."

He scoffed. "Excuse me?"

"You said it, not me, so…" She turned her head to stamp a kiss onto his lips, only falling more in love with him when she pulled back to see the dopey smile she was talking about moments ago on his face. "Come on. Honestly, I'm so excited to see his face when we show him these. It's going to be a picture."

He gave her another kiss before taking his arms from around her and returning to the counter to grab the tray, the two of them sharing a look before she left the kitchen and he followed her back down the hall to the living room. "Michael? Uh, there was something your dad and I wanted to talk to you about before your mum goes home," She said when they entered the room together to see him sitting on the rug with Alison while they played with his cars. Wandering over to the settee, she gave the space next to her a light pat before he got to his feet and made his way over so that he could sit down at her side.

Eddie came to sit with them after handing Alison her drink and put an arm around her, giving her a bit of moral support which she thanked him for with a smile when she glanced his way for a moment. She took a breath then and turned her attention back to Michael, holding the scan pictures in her lap. "You remember the last time you came? I was feeling ill and we had to stay in instead of going to the park?"

"Yeah, Daddy and I looked after you." He reminded her.

"You did," She nodded, smiling as she reached up to stroke his cheek gently with the back of her hand. "I said I didn't know why I was feeling so poorly when you asked, but the truth is I did know. I couldn't tell you then though because it would have spoilt the surprise and your dad and I wanted to wait a bit."

He looked at her with a confused look on his face. "A surprise? My surprise?"

"Mhm," She had to force herself not to get emotional so she could speak. "Want to know what it is?"

"Yeah!"

"You're going to be a big brother."

He thought about her words for a minute before it hit him and his eyes widened with pure happiness. "I'm going to be a big brother!" He squealed, getting up from the settee and running over to his mum before all but throwing himself into her lap. "Mummy, Mummy, Mummy, I'm going to be a big brother!"

"I know! You are going to be the best big brother in the whole world." Alison gave him a squeeze.

"Come here a minute, mate, Rachel and I still have something we need to tell you," Eddie said, Michael getting up from his mum's lap and making his way back over to them before Eddie brought him to sit on his knee. He held his hand out for the scan pictures and when Rachel gave them to him he showed them to Michael, careful not to let him get his prints on them. "How many babies do you see on there?"

Michael looked at the pictures for a second. "Uh…two!"

"So, what do you think that means?" Rachel asked, moving a little closer to him and his dad.

"Two babies?" He gasped.

"Yep. I'm having two babies." Rachel laughed, adoring the fact he was even more excited than before.

When he'd had the chance to calm down a little, Michael looked at her again with a small frown on his face. "Rachel, am I getting a baby brother and a baby sister? Or…or will I have two brothers or sisters?"

"Your dad and I don't know what the babies are yet, darling, but the next time we go to the hospital to see them the doctor will be able to tell us," She explained. "One thing we do know is that they're going to be born in early July and that means they'll be here in time for the summer holidays. You won't have to go to school for six whole weeks, so – if your mum says it's okay – you can come over and see them when you like. Your dad and I might even let you hold them if you promise to be careful. Sound good?"

Michael nodded. "Can we come and see the babies, Mummy?"

"Course we can," Alison told him. "Need to get to know their big brother, don't they?"

"Yeah," He said proudly before moving out of his dad's lap and into Rachel's. "Thank you, Rachel."

"What for?"

"For the bestest surprise in the world."

He could have sworn it only took him about half an hour to get the dinner dishes done, but by the time he walked back into the living room both Rachel and Michael were sound asleep on the settee. He left them cuddled up together watching Peter Pan – his latest obsession and a favourite of hers from when she and Melissa were tiny – and it was still on, playing on a low volume in the background. Part of him wondered if either of them succeeded in getting more than ten minutes into the film before admitting defeat and falling asleep. He doubted it though, actually, given they looked so exhausted when he left.

Walking over to them, trying to be as quiet as humanly possible, he took the remote from where it laid on her stomach through the blanket and paused the film before setting it down on the table and raking a hand through his hair. It was time for all three of them to head to bed, he thought. An early-ish night would do Rachel some good and they were planning to take him out to the animal farm after breakfast if he was a good boy, so a night of actual sleep for once seemed like a good idea all round. He reached for the blanket and pulled it after standing there for a bit, picking Michael up and shushing him gently.

He succeeded in keeping him asleep, but he had no such luck when it came to Rachel and he honestly expected that. She was the lightest sleeper known to man at the moment and the slightest thing woke her. He watched her stir, brushing her hair from her face as she shifted in place, and when she opened her eyes and looked up at him he gestured to Michael. "Going to take little man up," He told her. "You go and take your meds and get yourself up to bed. I'll make sure he's settled and then I'll be in, yeah?"

"Yeah," She replied sleepily, pushing the blankets away from her and getting to her feet before turning the TV off with the remote. She turned to him then and laid a hand on his chest, placing a clumsy kiss on his cheek before stepping around him and making her way out of the living room. It took her about a minute to go into the kitchen and take the anti-sickness medication the doctor prescribed, washing it down with a glass of water before leaving the room and heading upstairs. She went into the bathroom and gave her teeth a quick brush before padding down the landing to her bedroom and walking inside.

Luckily, she and Michael decided to get changed before settling down on the settee to watch their film and so she had no need to worry about that. She simply made her way over to the bed and climbed in, yawning as she laid down and got comfortable beneath the quilt. Slumber returned for her quickly and she was very nearly asleep when the bedroom door creaked gently open, signalling the presence of her boyfriend. She listened to the sound of him making his way across the room, feeling the mattress dip under her when he climbed on, and she couldn't help but smile when he left a warm kiss on her cheek.

"Love you, Rach." She heard him whisper in her ear.

"Love you too." She replied, unsure if he could even make sense of her half-asleep mumbling.

She had a feeling, listening to him move about their bedroom as he got himself ready for bed, that she was going to be asleep before he actually came to bed. Most nights, she would try and force herself – despite his complaints – to stay awake until he got into bed with her, but tonight she was too tired to even attempt it. With her appointment that morning and a terrible day – down to behaviour more than anything – followed by a full evening with Michael, she was well and truly burned out and ready to rest.

Eddie would be pleased with her for once, she chuckled to herself.

No, despite her exhaustion she was incredibly happy with the way things were headed.

She had an incredible boyfriend, a wonderful little boy whom she already considered a sort of stepson, two beautiful babies on the way and a life that – despite its troubles – she was deeply grateful for.

Her life, for the moment, was perfect and she wouldn't change anything about it.

Not a single thing.

A/N: Thank you so much for taking the time to read this chapter. I love how it turned out and I cannot wait to develop Rachel's pregnancy with the twins further in the upcoming chapters. I would love for you to let me know what you thought of this one with a review if you have the time. Thank you for the continued support and I will see you all soon.