When Rachel and Eddie arrived in her office, they both said "Hello" to Bridget. Rachel practically pushed Eddie into the room, shutting the door behind her. She was trying her hardest not to be angry with him, but it was proving to be difficult. She was disappointed in him. She had asked him to at least try with Kim and he hadn't even done that.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked

Eddie shoved his hands into his trouser pockets, something Rachel knew he did when he was nervous.

"Nothing... it's just... you didn't tell me that she came with a baby" he shrugged

"Why should I?" she challenged

"Well... don't you think the baby should be her priority right now, rather than working? How is she going to be able to fully commit to this job with a baby?"

Rachel scoffed.

"If you think that about another woman, you're going to have a shock when our little one is born!"

"Well, it'll be different. You'll be on maternity leave" he pointed out

"Yes, I will. But if you think I'm taking a year or two out of work, you don't know me very well! I'll be off for three or four months and then I'll be back in here doing my job with our baby in my arms or next to me in a portable crib!" she snapped

"Rach,"

Rachel put a hand up to silence him.

"Eddie, just because a woman has a baby doesn't mean she is incapable of doing her job! You're starting to sound a little sexist, something I really didn't have you down as"

"I'm not- I just... I want to make sure we're making the right choice. Our track record for pastoral care hasn't been great recently. Tom was good, but things were still missed" he explained

Rachel nodded quietly. The pastoral care at Waterloo Road hadn't been the best recently, she was well aware of that. But Kim needed to be given a chance.

"Look, Eddie, I trust Kim. I know you don't, but just trust me on this, ok? She knows what she's doing" she reasoned

"Alright" he nodded

Rachel smiled softly, pecking him on the lips as a silent gesture of appreciation.

Kim entered the office.

"Has Grace settled in ok?" Rachel asked, pulling away from Eddie

"Sort of" Kim nodded with a subtle sigh

Rachel smiled sympathetically. She could imagine it wouldn't be easy for Kim or Grace. Her baby hadn't even been born yet and she was already worrying about having to leave them for the first time in the future to go to work. It filled her heart with dread.

"So, how does it feel being back?" she asked, changing the subject

Kim smiled. Now she was here, it felt like she'd never been away. She'd forgotten how much she loved the place.

"I'm just ready to get stuck in to be honest"

"I am so glad to hear you say that" Rachel replied, smiling as she handed her a stack of papers

"Right, ok. What's all this, then?" Kim questioned, laughing nervously

"Well, I hope you weren't expecting to ease yourself in because I've got a careers event I need you to run this morning" Rachel explained

"I like the sound of that!" Kim replied enthusiastically

"As long as it doesn't interfere with exams" Eddie cut in

Rachel sighed heavily. When she had asked him to organise the careers event when she was in hospital in December, he'd had no issues with it. Now Kim was here and was running it, he suddenly did. His unnecessary dislike was tainting everything and she was sure it was going to drive her mad.

Thankfully, Kim seemed to be someone who could hold her own.

"You might have to talk me through how that might happen?" Kim challenged

"Exactly! We can't have them getting their knickers in a twist over revision timetables when they should be thinking about their futures, can we? Which is why I've asked to invite some former pupils back, to talk about their successes and that sort of thing" Rachel agreed, grabbing a file off Bridget's desk so she could show him

"Great. No shocks in store I hope?" Kim laughed, taking the file off Rachel and flipping through it

"No. A few a familiar faces... and one I think everyone will recognise" Rachel answered

"Right" Kim nodded, glancing at the list of names again

"The students will be waiting for you in the hall after registration" Rachel added

"Great" Kim smiled, grabbing her things

"Oh, and Steph is helping to organise the day, so I'll join you up front in case there's any hassles" Eddie cut in

"No, no, don't worry about it. I don't need a bouncer" Kim insisted

"Well, I'll pop my head round anyway, as it's your first day" he shrugged

Kim suppressed the urge to roll her eyes as she exited the office.

When she'd gone, Rachel shot him a glare, shaking her head in disbelief.

"What? I'm just trying to make sure she knows what she's doing!" Eddie argued

"Eddie, she's worked here longer than you and I combined! You undermining her won't help things!" Rachel huffed

He sighed. She wasn't wrong.

"Fine, I'm sorry"

"We need to prepare for the staff briefing. Apart from welcoming Kim back, there are no other announcements... so that just leaves... our news" she told him, changing the subject

"Rach, I told you, if you're not ready, we won't do it today" he reassured

"No, I want to" she insisted, grabbing his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze

"Alright, then. That's what we'll do" he nodded, placing a kiss in her hair

"Please try and be nice to Kim today. If not for her sake, then for my sanity?" she pleaded

"I'll do my best"

...

Steph made her way into the staff room at exactly 8:15AM. She was greeted with the sight of her colleagues stood and sat around the room, chatting away to one another and sharing what they'd got up to over the Christmas break. If she was honest, she wanted to cover her ears. It was physically painful for Steph to listen to.

Her Christmas had been spent with Matt and a huge, gaping hole in her heart where Maxine had once been. It was the first time in a few years that she had truly felt lonely. She needed to change the subject. Thankfully, she had seen something on her way into school that was the perfect thing to use.

She headed over to Tom, Matt, Grantly and Jasmine.

"Hey, guess what?"

"What?" Tom responded, stirring his coffee

"Kim's back! With..."

She paused for dramatic effect.

"A baby!!"

"What baby?" Tom frowned

"Well, hers!" Steph squealed

"Thought she was too much of a feminist to get herself pregnant" Grantly grumbled

Steph continued, despite the fact that none of her colleagues seemed interested. This was the most animated Tom, Matt, Jasmine and Grantly had seen her in a while. They liked it but hated it at the same time.

"It's a little girl, I'd say about one, one and a bit? So I'm thinking that means Kim must have been pregnant when she left here... bet that was a shock for Andrew!"

"Why? I'm sure Andrew knows where baby's come from!" Tom joked

Matt laughed.

Steph rolled her eyes.

"No! He'd be shocked because it isn't his!"

"How can you be so sure?" Jasmine questioned

"Well... if you had a black coffee, and I added milk... what would... what would happen?" Steph asked tentatively

"Well, I'd have to make myself another coffee. I like mine black!" Tom teased, causing the others to laugh

"That's not what I mean, Tom!" Steph huffed dramatically

"She means that the baby isn't mixed race. You're allowed to say it, Steph" Jasmine added

"Well, you never know these days, do you?" Steph shrugged innocently

The staffroom door opened, revealing the woman who was at the forefront of Steph's gossip.

Tom was the first to greet her with a hug, followed by Jasmine and Matt introducing themselves. They hadn't initially believed Steph when she had said Kim was back. Tom had recommended her to Rachel on the last day of term, but, as far as he was aware, nothing had come of it.

But Steph had been right. Kim was back. Whether she had a child or not, was another matter. An irrelevant one too.

Tom had thought the staff would have been informed of Kim's return. But then again, everything had probably been put into place over the Christmas holiday. Rachel probably hadn't had chance to send an email round. It didn't matter really. He was glad there was someone in pastoral care that could do the job properly, better than he could.

"What a surprise! Look who's here everybody! Kim!" Steph announced dramatically, giving her a hug

"Well, as you can see, Miss Campbell, we've installed a flat screen TV, a spa and a bar since you've been away" Grantly droned sarcastically

"Grantly... I am amazed!" Kim exclaimed

Grantly shot her a questioning look.

"Well, you're not dead!" she continued

Everyone laughed.

"I should be... working in this place" Grantly grumbled quietly

Kim's entrance was followed by Rachel and Eddie.

"Morning everyone... uhm... welcome back! I hope you all had a nice, relaxing break" Rachel announced, wringing her hands together nervously

"Clearly not as nice as yours!" Tom answered with a smile

Rachel's skin had a soft but subtle glow to it. All the staff had noticed it when she'd walked in. Eddie had noticed it over the last couple of weeks, along with Rachel herself. She wasn't sure if it was the pregnancy or the fact that she currently felt on top of the world. Maybe a mixture of both.

She didn't really mind Tom pointing it out. It gave her the opportunity to announce hers and Eddie's news.

"Well, actually, Eddie and I have a couple of... personal announcements to make"

All eyes turned to the couple, making Rachel feel incredibly nervous. Eddie subtly grabbed her hand, letting her know he was there. It gave her a small boost of confidence.

"Eddie and I are engaged" she blurted

There was silence for a moment, before the staff cheered and applauded, all except for Steph of course.

"And I'm pregnant. So, after July, Eddie will be the Head Teacher until I return in January next year" she added once the cheering had settled down

The second announcement caused Rachel to be inundated with hugs and "congratulations!". Kim, Jasmine and Davina all swarmed around her to admire her engagement ring. Eddie had his hand shaken over and over again. Even Grantly had congratulated them, before telling Eddie to "Run while he still had the chance".

It was a relief for Rachel that it was now out in the open. A weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

A silent groan escaped her lips when Steph approached them.

"Well, congratulations!" she exclaimed, a little too enthusiastically

"Thank you, Steph" Rachel responded, smiling politely

"I've got to say, I never saw him as the 'settling down' type" Steph smirked, nodding to Eddie

"Anyone can settle down if they're with the right person, Steph" Eddie shot back

Steph offered her best fake smile.

"Well, let's hope Rachel is the right person for you, eh? Time will tell"

As she walked away, Rachel shot a worried glance at Eddie. The fact that he seemed calm had a calming effect on her too. A reaction from Steph was better than no reaction at all. That's what she would keep telling herself anyway.

Once everyone had settled down again, Rachel's attention turned to Kim.

"And we've got a familiar face back amongst our staff" she announced, nodding to Kim

"Kim will be taking over as Head of Pastoral Care from today onwards" she added

Everyone cheered again.

"Alright, that's all the announcements for today. Remember this morning is the careers event for Year 12 and Year 13. Have a good day!"

Rachel and Eddie left.

Steph sighed as Matt was practically ready to jump out of his seat as he looked at her.

"What?" she snapped impatiently

"I told you, didn't I?" he grinned

"Told me what?" she frowned

"That Eddie would be proposing to Rachel!"

Steph rolled her eyes.

"Please, I still don't think they'll last"

"Why not? They seem quite happy to me" Kim cut in

"They just won't" Steph shrugged

Kim gave her a look, urging her to continue. Normally, she wouldn't encourage Steph to gossip, but there was something about Eddie that she didn't like and she wanted to know if it was just her or if all the staff had noticed it.

"Rachel is hard work. She's demanding and career driven. She'll ditch him and leave and everyone else will have to pick up the pieces, like before"

"Before?" Kim questioned

Steph sighed, suppressing the tears that were threatening to fill her eyes.

"Maxine... she... she... died"

"Steph," Matt warned, knowing she was about to paint Rachel in a bad light

Kim sighed. She had heard about Maxine's death. It was an awful tragedy and her heart went out to Steph. But she didn't quite understand how Rachel fitted into the equation. Luckily, it seemed Steph was more than happy to fill her in.

"Earl Kelly was violent and beyond help. He should have been expelled immediately. But Rachel refused, and because of that, Earl killed Maxine"

"That isn't true, and you know it" Matt replied sternly

Steph rolled her eyes. Matt's opinion didn't matter. In her view, Maxine's death would always be Rachel's fault.

"To be honest, I thought it would be the other way around. Eddie seems a bit..." Kim started

"Eddie's great" Jasmine interrupted

"I was going to say arrogant and condescending" Kim finished

"You're not wrong there" Grantly mumbled as he looked at his newspaper

"Eddie is great. He's just..." Jasmine began

"Blinded by love?" Steph cut in

"I was going to say passionate and dedicated" Jasmine huffed

"And biased" Steph added

Matt scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, come on! We all know that if he wasn't so infatuated with Rachel, he'd have gone against her and Earl Kelly would have been out on his ear in the first ten minutes!" Steph argued

"That's like saying I let Earl's behaviour slip through the net because I'm in love with Davina" Tom pointed out

"Well..." Steph mumbled

"Yes, exactly, Steph. If you want to blame someone for Maxine's death, blame me!" he snarled

Kim was shocked at how quickly the conversation had escalated. Clearly a lot had happened since she'd left. There was a lot of unresolved tension in the staffroom that she needed to understand and get to the bottom of.

She had only been trying to find out more about Eddie Lawson. She just wanted to know if he was a bit stand-offish in general, or if he just didn't like her very much. She had a feeling it was the second one. Not that she was surprised.

Kim knew she had quite a controversial personality. She was headstrong, opinionated and passionate. She wasn't a pushover. In this job, you couldn't be. Some liked her fiery nature and others (the majority of them being men) didn't. She had a feeling Eddie was going to be a challenge. A clash of personality's maybe?

She would have compared it to her initial working relationship with Andrew Treneman, but it had been the other way around, with her being sceptical and stand-offish with him. She knew she didn't have to prove herself to Eddie Lawson, but she was going to anyway.

"What makes you say that anyway, about Eddie?" Tom asked her

"Nothing, it's just... I think we got off on the wrong foot, that's all" she answered

"In his bad books already, Kim?" Grantly mumbled

"I clearly haven't been there as long as you have, Grantly!" Kim quipped

Everyone laughed as the bell rang out for registration.