Author's Note: I started this one a little while ago but decided to rewrite it and improve it. I have a decent amount of chapters written out already and I will be posting every Sunday! I'm so excited about this journey Reddie is going on. I wanted happier times for them following the events of series four, with no Melissa involved thank you very much, so I thought to do this. Hope you all enjoy!

Holding the stick in hand as she stared at the second faint line, Rachel tried and failed to keep from shaking. She still couldn't believe it. She could always take another test, she supposed, but she doubted there was much point given there were already six more lined up next to the sink. Those combined with her nausea, her mood swings, and the tenderness in her breasts were solid proof. She was pregnant. After more than a year of trying and hoping, it had finally happened.

She wanted to tell Eddie now. To share her excitement with him and see his reaction. He left for a meeting with the rest of the Maths department a while ago though, so she would have to wait until they got home from work that evening. She was glad of that, actually, because it meant that she had a little time to prepare. She wanted to make it special, not just blurt it out, so she would head into town during lunch or something and pick up some of the bits she would need. How she was going to keep her mouth shut about it all day, she had no idea, but she would make herself.

She decided to start getting dressed for work after standing there in the bathroom a few minutes longer, so she grabbed the pregnancy tests and put them in her monthlies drawer – somewhere she knew Eddie wouldn't go snooping – before switching the light off and leaving the room. Making her way down the hall to the bedroom, she entered and walked over to the wardrobe to find a shirt to wear before turning to the little chest of drawers and pulling out a pair of trousers. She smiled as she laid the clothes, along with some underwear, down on the bed. It would only be a few more months, she guessed, until she needed to go shopping for some maternity clothes. It felt surreal.

It took her minutes at the most to change out of her pyjamas and into her work clothes and just as she was fastening the top button of her shirt, her phone started ringing on the bedside table. She paused and headed over to it, smiling to herself at seeing it was her boyfriend calling. His meeting must have ended earlier than expected. "Hi." She said after answering, putting him on speaker.

"Hey, you," He replied. "Just thought I'd call; see how you're feeling after this morning."

"Better than I did when you left, luckily. Not sure what's going on with me at the minute."

"Rach, this has been going on for almost a week. I really think you should see someone about it."

"If I'm still like this by Friday, I will," She told him. "But right now, I need to get ready."

"Yeah, okay," He agreed. "I'll see you when you get in then. Love you."

"Love you too," She assured him before ending the call and tucking her phone into the pocket of her trousers, sighing under her breath as she fastened the top button of her shirt and pushed a hand through her hair. He was going to be a nightmare. He already worried more than was good for him, so she dreaded to think how much worse he would be when he found about the baby. Hopefully, her excitement and the love she had for him would be enough to help her deal with it.

Bringing a hand to her stomach when she felt it lurch slightly, she swallowed and took a second to will the nausea away before breathing a sigh of relief as she stroked her thumb lightly against her shirt. It made it easier for her to cope with now, knowing there was a little one responsible for her nausea and discomfort. "You're lucky your daddy and I have waited so long for this," She tutted despite being aware she couldn't be heard. "You have no idea how much we're going to love you."

She sat down on the edge of the bed to start pulling on her socks and felt the love she had for the little being inside her only deepen as she thought about how much she meant those words. She was going to love it so much, there wasn't a doubt in her mind about that.

More than she had ever loved anyone.

"You made it in at last then."

Looking up from her laptop after signing in to her school account, she watched Eddie through the hatch as he approached her office and chuckled when he walked in. "Yeah, I'm running a bit behind this morning. I think I'll be caught up by lunchtime though, I only have a few emails that need seeing to. I am expecting Steph at some point too, I remember her saying she wanted to speak to me about something. Has she mentioned anything about that? She didn't give me a time when we spoke, but then again she never does."

He laid a hand on the side of her neck when he reached her desk and bent down to kiss her, glad to see her smiling up at him when he pulled back. "She hasn't said anything to me, but her afternoon is free as far as I know. No doubt, it'll be sometime then. Do you need me here for it?"

She shook her head quietly in reply.

"Hey," He tucked her hair behind her ear, frowning. "You sure you're feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired. I might try and get an earlier night tonight or something, I don't know."

"I think you should. How does Chinese for dinner sound? Saves you having to cook."

"Mmm," She leaned back in her chair, taking his hand. "Reminding me again why I love you."

"So it's got nothing to do with my good looks and charm then?" He rolled his eyes.

"Oh no, never that," She teased, tilting her head back to meet him when he leaned down to steal one more kiss from her. Almost as soon as he pulled back, the bell rang and she was sure she heard him groan under his breath at the interruption. "Before you go, I was hoping you could cover for me at lunchtime. I need to nip into town and that's the only time I can get away. I won't be long."

He nodded. "Course I can. Anything I should be worried about?"

"No, I just forgot to pick something up when I went the other day." She shook her head.

He gave her a bit of a sceptical look, the same look he had been giving her quite a lot the past few days, but he didn't press the matter. "I'll make sure I'm up here for 12 then," He assured her, kissing her forehead and running a hand over her hair before moving away from her. "Love you."

"Love you," She echoed before watching him leave her office. Relaxing in her chair once she was alone, her hand fell to her stomach behind the desk. Only a couple more hours. She only had to keep her secret until they got home and then she could tell him. She would be able to see the look on his face when he opened the gift she was getting him and she would be able to celebrate with him. She wanted to keep it between them for the time being – just until she knew everything was going to be fine – and there was no doubt in her mind that he was going to be alright with that.

All he was going to care about was the fact they were having a baby.

Before the year was out, they were going to be a proper family.

And she was just as thrilled about that as she knew he was going to be.

Knowing she only had a little time to accomplish what she needed to before she had to get back to school and relieve Eddie, she made a beeline for the aisle she needed after entering the supermarket. She felt her heart race in her chest as she made her way there, the thought of giving Eddie the news later still there in the back of her mind, and when she got there she paused. All along the wall were numerous baby items – some tiny, some larger – and she knew she was going to have a time of it trying to work out which one to get. It had to be neutral given she hadn't a clue what they were having yet, so that narrowed things down. She just needed something simple.

She made her way slowly down the aisle, taking the time to touch the soft clothing and take in the little details on them, and it was a sleep suit near the end that caught her attention. It was simple, white with little cream polka dots, but it was beautiful. Deciding it was the one, she pulled it from the rack and put it in the basket over her arm before turning to the row of comfort blankets. She adored the little white rabbit one, so she chose it and put it in the basket before reaching for a pack of dummies. It wasn't much, she thought while she looked at the items, but it would do for now.

Once Eddie knew and she was further along, then they could start thinking seriously about both the wardrobe and the necessities the baby was going to need. She already knew she was going to have a hard time controlling herself when it came to getting things. No doubt, her boyfriend was going to have to supervise her to see to it she didn't go too overboard with it. Either that or it was actually going to end up being him who went overboard and made them run out of living space.

Especially if they ended up with a girl.

One thing she was sure about though was that their baby would never have to go without.

Running a hand through her hair, she made her way to the checkout and paid for her items before heading out into the carpark. She had the good sense to park near the entrance luckily, so it took her no time to get back in the car and put her seatbelt on. For a time then, she just sat there staring at the steering wheel. It was still hard for her to believe this was happening. She had wanted this foe so long, before she even moved to Waterloo Road and met Eddie. It had been a dream of hers since she was a child herself. She always vowed to herself that a child of hers would have a better upbringing than she ever had.

Her parents had put a roof over her head and made sure she had three meals a day, but that was as far as things went. The pair of them acted like she didn't exist half the time and as for them ever telling her they loved her, she couldn't remember a time. She supposed it had a lot to do with the state she was in back then, but neither of them acknowledged they were the reason behind it all. Her acting out, more often than not, was to get their attention. Negative attention, in her mind at the time, was better than none. Her reason for hanging out with older boys too – ones who took advantage of her at every opportunity, looking back on it now – laid with the pair of them as well.

She'd believed them when they told her they loved her,

Or, at least, she managed to make excuses and lie to herself enough until she believed them.

She craved love back then; she craved the attention, so she looked for it in the worst of places.

She never forgave her parents for kicking her out when she turned eighteen, saying they couldn't cope anymore and she could be someone else's problem. It took her a long time to forgive Melissa too, though she only hated her at the time because she had the life she wanted. She got all the love and all the attention because she was the 'golden girl' and could do no wrong as far as they were concerned. Little did they know she had snuck out many times to see the boy down the road. She knew because she'd covered for her every time, letting her climb in through her bedroom window.

Her childhood memories were so damaging.

She supposed, though, they would be the thing that helped her be the best mother she could be to her own child. She was going to mess up at times, no doubt, but her child was never going to have to know what it felt like to be unloved by its parents. She would make sure – and she didn't even have to wonder if Eddie would do the same – she gave it the attention it was worthy of even when she was at her busiest. She chose this – she wanted this – and so she was going to make it work.

One thing that helped was knowing she would have Eddie there.

He knew what he was doing and she knew he was going to support her.

Yet again, they were going to make a brilliant team.

An absolutely brilliant one.

It was a hand running down her back that pulled her from her light sleep and she sighed, opening her eyes and tilting her head back to look up at her boyfriend. "I am the worst company right now," Her voice was rough with sleep as she palmed her hair from her face, snuggling further into him beneath the blanket on the sofa and smiling when he kissed her forehead. "I blame you."

"Naturally," He shrugged. "We should go up. You had a rough week. The sleep'll do you good."

His mention of that reminded her of the gift she had tucked away in the cupboard and she was suddenly awake, sitting up and pulling back the blanket. "You just reminded me. I have something I need to give you," She got up from the sofa and walked over to the cupboard, opening the door and taking out the box before making her way back to him and sitting down again. She placed the box in his lap and pulled the blanket back over herself, letting him put his arm back around her while she settled. "I have been waiting since this morning to do this, I'm not kidding."

"I don't get it," He admitted. "We aren't celebrating."

"I am. It's two years since I thrashed you at bowling." She laughed.

"Your foot was over the line; we've been through this."

"It was on the line."

He rolled his eyes, chuckling. "Rach, there can't be an anniversary for everything, you know."

"I think it was pretty memorable. For more reasons than one," She said. "Just open it."

"Alright." He conceded.

She held her breath while watching him lift the lid of the box with his one spare hand, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip when he looked inside. His breath hitched and she felt him tense slightly, prompting her to look at him and see the tears in his eyes. It was obvious he had already worked out what she was trying to tell him without any hints from her. "Rach, are you being serious?" He asked when he looked her way at last, his hand shaking against her arm as he pulled her closer. "I thought you were tracking it. You said the chances of it happening were slim."

"I guess I got it wrong," She shrugged, reaching into the box and taking out the positive test she had laid over the sleep suit. "If you need more convincing, there are six more of them upstairs."

He laughed at that. "You're telling me you took seven of these?"

"I had to be sure before I said anything," She whispered, her voice trembling with emotion. "You want this as much as I do and I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I told you we were pregnant and it turned out to be a false positive. Honestly, I've had a feeling for weeks now. I missed my last period, but I've always been a bit irregular, so I didn't think too much into it. It was when I kept needing the loo and I started having a hard time staying awake that I started questioning it though because that's unusual for me. When I started throwing up, that more or less confirmed it, but I wanted to have proof before I told you. I just went slightly overboard."

Burying his lips in her hair, he let out a trembling breath before pulling back a little once again. "Rach…" He took the test from her, his hand still shaking. "We're actually having a baby."

"Yeah…" She nodded, bringing a hand to his cheek and running her thumb over his skin while he pressed three soft kisses to her lips. "So, does this mean I'm forgiven for the bowling thing?"

"I forgive you," He mumbled, kissing her again. "Honestly, right now, I forgive you everything."

Author's Note: Thank you so much for taking the time to read this chapter. I would appreciate it so much if you would leave a review to let me know what you thought. See you all soon!