'Witness' - The White Bridge Crime Series 3 - LGBT, manXman

26

Rachel --->

Rachel settled back on the sofa with a sigh.

"You need anything?" Tom asked, peering in from the kitchen.

"No, thanks." She smiled broadly at him. "Thank you for letting me stay, Tom."

"No problem. I need the company."

"I didn't want to move out, but dad was getting unbearable."

"There are worse things than parents who constantly cook for their children."

"Not dad Adrian," Rachel sighed. "Dad Dom. He thinks I'm not ready for a baby, but secretly I know he's really excited. He's gone completely overboard planning a nursery."

"Dom's doing interior design?" Tom asked, frowning. "Jeez, he must be eager."

"Well, with Dylan working away from home for so long, I think he thinks he has to look out for me. I'm not due for another three months though. I'm fine."

Tom smirked.

"So, do you know what it is? Boy or girl?"

"Dylan knows. He found out ages ago. I don't want to know." Rachel sighed. "He's been coming up with loads of names. Boys and girls, so that he doesn't give away the gender. But he really likes the name Lily, for a girl."

"And you don't?"

"No... It's what he tried to call me."

Tom nodded understandingly.

"Just tell him you hate it."

"I have. He asked me why, and won't accept 'I just do'."

"You've not told him about... King?" Tom asked.

"No," Rachel said. "I don't want to... I hate thinking about him."

Tears came to her eyes and she brushed them away.

"I still think about him, sometimes, though." She whispered. "And dream about him..."

"I think that's normal," Tom said gently.

"I know... I just wish he would go away. I don't want him to be in my head anymore."

"Have you talked to your dad?" Tom asked. "He has to live with King inside his head too."

"He doesn't like talking about it," Rachel murmured. "I know I was kidnapped by him, but dad was too. And dad... King made him... It was worse for dad."

"I don't think he'd agree," Tom said kindly. "He talked to Fred and me a lot, after it happened. His relationship with Dom was still new, and he wasn't sure if Dom wanted to hear all the details. Dom deals with men like King every day at work, and Adrian knew he didn't want to come home to King as well. Everything that happened while King had your dad, everything he did, you dad said he could live with, as long as you were safe."

"What?"

"If King was with your dad, he wasn't hurting you. That's all Adrian cared about."

Rachel stared at him for a moment, before sighing heavily.

"Why didn't he ever tell me this?"

"I think, until now, you wouldn't have been able to appreciate his point."

"What do you mean?"

"When you hold your baby, you'll understand," Tom said. "I don't have kids, so I can't fully explain it, but... When you love someone as much as your dad loves you, you'll do anything for them. Even if it means getting hurt yourself."

"Did you feel that way about Freddie?" Rachel asked.

"Yes. I still do."

Rachel reached out and squeezed Tom's hand.

"If it's a boy, would you mind if we called him Freddie?"

Tom stared at her.

"I... I don't know," he said, shrugging.

"I understand," Rachel said quickly. "I know it could be weird for you."

"No, it's just... Fred and I always talked about the name James." Tom lied carefully. "We... Well, we never had any definite plans for starting adoption, but we did talk about it happening one day. We liked James."

"James is nice." Rachel agreed. "I like that."

"You can have James," Tom said. "If it's a boy, and if Dylan agrees."

"Thank you." Rachel leant across and hugged Tom. "So, do you have any house rules?"

"Not really," Tom said. "Why, do you need them?"

"No. I'm a good house guest." Rachel smiled charmingly at him. "I can still do stuff, if you want. Cooking, washing up."

"As long as you don't over exert yourself," Tom said firmly.

"I'm not due for another three months," Rachel argued. "I'm not an invalid."

"I know," Tom said, holding his hands up in a 'calm down' motion. "I just don't want anything to happen to you; your dads would kill me."

Rachel rolled her eyes and got to her feet.

"I fancy a Chinese for dinner. Is that okay?"

"Sure. I've got some menu's in a drawer in the kitchen; the one next to the fridge."

She fetched the menu and they perused it for a moment, before Tom picked up the phone and put in their order.

Tom answered the door when the bell rang, while Rachel fetched plates and cutlery. They divided the meal between them, and settled down on the sofa to watch TV while they ate.

"I love prawn crackers." Rachel crunched one happily.

"Actually, you hate them," Tom said. "It's just your pregnancy."

"I have been eating lots of prawns." Rachel took another cracker.

"Well, I like prawns too, so you can buy as many as you like while you're here."

"I think I'm going to like living here," Rachel grinned at him. "Are you alright with Dylan coming to stay sometimes?"

"Sure. He's cute." Tom smirked wickedly at her.

She rolled her eyes.

"It'll only be every three weekends, or something," Rachel said. "When he finishes basic training, he'll hopefully be transferred to a base nearer to home."

"Stay as long as you like," Tom said unconcernedly. "You're not intruding on anything."