Kim sighed as she collapsed into her office chair. She had been planning on going home, but Grace was fast asleep in the crèche, so she figured she could have thirty minutes to finish off some work that she needed to do.

As she waited for her computer to switch on, her mind started to reflect on the events of the day. Michaela's actions had got her thinking about her situation with David Medar. What she had said to Michaela was playing on a loop in her mind.

"Bullies and chancers, you're just cowards"

She had told Michaela that she wouldn't stand for that behaviour. Why was she applying that to the school but not her personal life?

David Medar was just that, a bully and a chancer, preying on her weakness. Grace. Tolerating behaviour like that made her a hypocrite. She was telling the kids one thing, but doing another by letting David win. It wasn't going to happen.

So, when he walked into her office five minutes later, she was prepared.

"I've waited long enough" he growled

Kim stood up from her chair calmly, glaring at him.

"You think you can just come here and make whatever demands you like?"

"The money, hand it over" he demanded

Kim stood up taller, her gaze never leaving his.

"No. No, you're not getting a single penny out of me. Grace is MY child, and I'm not paying anybody for the privilege of that"

David scoffed.

"I believe you don't quite understand the situation,"

"No, I do, I do. I understand it perfectly, and I'm not being held ransom by you or by anyone" she shot back

"You'd rather have the truth come out?" he challenged

Kim shrugged. She'd rather it didn't of course, but she also knew that he wouldn't dare tell anyone. Besides, she could deny it. It was his word against hers.

"She's not even worth a thousand pounds to you" he spat, looking her up and down in disgust

"No, no... She is worth A LOT more than that to me. And do you know what? She is better off with me than she is with ANY of you!"

"Better off? And what do you think your respectable teacher friends would think if they found out the truth?" he sneered

"Well, they'd think that I was doing the right thing for Grace" she replied, a little more hesitantly than she had intended

David snorted.

"If I start this now, it's never going to stop, is it?"

She grabbed her bag, turning to walk out of the classroom. David lunged for her, grabbing her by the arm. She winced as his fingernails dug into her skin. There was fury flickering in his cold, black eyes, but she wasn't scared of him anymore.

"Don't test me!" he snarled

She glared at him defiantly, pulling her arm from his grip. Without a second glance, she ran for it, making her way up to the crèche. She had done the right thing, she knew that. If she had to pay the consequences by having the truth come out, that was fine. It would blow over. All she had to do now was pay Steph back next week. She could go and do it now, but she knew it would look suspicious if she said she didn't need it anymore or gave it back to her early. She would keep Steph under the illusion that she needed the money to keep herself and Grace afloat until pay day. It was easier to lie than to tell Steph she was being blackmailed... and why.

When she stepped into the crèche, Grace was wide awake. She waved at Kim with a toothless smile, bouncing up and down on her little legs. Kim smiled, her troubles disappearing as she lifted the little girl into her arms.

...

Rachel and Eddie were relieved when they finally arrived at home. The car journey had been quiet and intense. It probably wouldn't have been the case if they hadn't found Philip on the playground and dragged him along with them. His attitude was, quite frankly, embarrassing. Rachel had worked with teenagers for years now, a lot of them with behavioural problems. But Philip's behaviour and attitude was on a whole different level, mostly because it was out of character for him to be acting this way. Eddie had quite literally had to drag him over to the car and had forced him into the back seat! The whole ride home, he had scowled, shooting Rachel a rather unsettling glare when she'd turned to look at him. They could have just let him walk home, yes, but they both knew that because he knew he was in trouble, he'd stay away for as long as possible. They needed to talk to him and Rachel wanted to get it out of the way before she and Eddie headed to the hospital for the scan. As his Auntie and Head Teacher, she wasn't going to stand for his attitude and appalling behaviour. So they had done what they both felt was necessary by getting him into the car.

She had thought about telling Philip about Adam's visit and that he had seen Melissa. She wasn't exactly sure it would help matters though, so she decided to leave it out for now. They already had more than enough to talk about.

The three of them headed into the hallway, taking off their shoes and removing coats and bags in a deafening silence.

"Not so fast, Philip" Rachel called as he started to make his way up the stairs

He turned on the step, rolling his eyes.

"Can I at least go and get changed before you lecture me?" he grumbled

"No, you can't. Go into the living room, please" she requested firmly

Philip huffed, stomping back down the stairs. Rachel followed him calmly, sitting down on the sofa opposite him. She had agreed with Eddie that she would talk to Philip on her own first. Eddie didn't seem to be Philip's favourite person in the world right now after today, and she didn't want him to make the situation worse.

"Right, I'll get straight to the point. What happened today?"

"You are the Head Teacher, you should know" he shot back

"Philip," she scolded, shooting him a stern glare

Philip sighed.

"Karla was doing a drawing of me. She didn't have my permission and I didn't like it. I had a right to tell her to stop!"

"Yes, you did. But you did not have a right to call her a 'freak', take the drawing off her, screw it up and throw it at her! That is NOT acceptable behaviour, Philip!"

"She had it coming! Someone was going to do it sooner or later!" he argued

"And you had to be the person to do it, did you?" she challenged

He shrugged, causing Rachel to sigh.

"Philip, this behaviour... it's not acceptable and you know that I will not tolerate it! I know you're going through a difficult time, but going off the rails like this is not going to help! You are making it worse for yourself. I might be your Aunt and legal guardian, but I'm also your Head Teacher. If your behaviour gets to such a point where I have to expel you, I won't hesitate on doing so. Do you understand?"

Philip rolled his eyes.

"Do you understand?" she repeated firmly

"Yes! Can I go now?" he snapped

Rachel sighed, running a hand through her hair. She knew she wasn't going to get through to him when he was in this mood. If she was honest, she wasn't sure she would ever be able to get through to him now.

"Fine. What do you want for dinner? Eddie and I will be going to the supermarket after going to the hospital"

"I don't want anything" he grumbled

"Philip, stop it! What do you want?" she shot back impatiently

"I've just told you, nothing!!" he huffed

"Ok, I'll pick for you, then" she decided

"Whatever. You'll be too distracted by that stupid baby of yours to even remember what I wanted if I told you anyway!" he snapped, storming out

Rachel sighed heavily, putting her head in her hands. She hated Melissa for putting her in this situation. She was angry at herself for feeling so out of her depth. She wanted to help Philip, but she didn't know how.

"Everything ok?" Eddie asked, poking his head round the living room door

"Nowhere near" she mumbled

She walked over to him, burying her face in his chest. She smiled softly as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

"It'll be ok, Rach" he reassured

"I don't know what to do for the best anymore, Eddie. I feel like I can't be his Auntie, legal guardian and his Head Teacher all in one go. Do we send him back to Forest Mount? I know it's only a few days before his GCSE mock exams start, but maybe he'd be better off there? He probably gets teased at Waterloo Road because his Aunt is the Head Teacher and he lives with us. Maybe we should have left him at Forest Mount rather than moving him to Waterloo Road" she rambled

"I think whatever we do, it won't help much, Rach. We just have to keep going and showing him we're not going anywhere, no matter what he does"

"That's getting harder and harder to do" she admitted

"I know, but we're in this together, aren't we? We'll sort it" he promised

She nodded.

"Have you drunk enough water for the scan?" he asked

"No" she replied

"Come on, let's go and do that, otherwise we won't be able to see our little one" he decided, dragging her through the hallway and into the kitchen