Born in the Snow- A Reddie Short Story

Chapter One

It was a Friday morning in December at Waterloo Road. A light blanket of snow covered the whole of Rochdale, a rare sight. The most action Rochdale ever saw in winter was torrential rain and freezing gales of wind.

Rachel watched from her office window as millions of small snowflakes floated down gracefully from the sky. She was having a small break from the mountain of paperwork on her desk, just a few minutes to herself. Her hand was resting on her stomach, feeling the kicks from the little baby that was growing inside her. She smiled; she'd never get tired of those little kicks, the way they erupted at hers or her Father's touch or voice. It was such a magical feeling.

She knew it wouldn't last much longer; her baby was due in the next two weeks. Even though she was uncomfortable, she intended to soak up every last minute of her pregnancy.

She had stood up to take a break from sitting at her desk, after feeling a small, mildly painful twinge in her stomach. It had gone almost instantly, but she'd taken notice of it. She hadn't felt anything like that in her pregnancy so far. It had scared her initially. But it hadn't happened again in the last 15 minutes, so she had relaxed and not read too much into it. It was probably the baby telling her to take a break from her work.

The bell rang out for break. Rachel watched quietly as she saw the students running outside into the snow, bundled up in coats, hats and scarves. Shrieks of laughter filtered through the open window as they threw the powdery snow at each other. She smiled.

"Hey"

She turned away from the window, her face lighting up when she saw Eddie stood in the doorway. Eddie Lawson, her soul mate, the Father of her baby. She loved him so much.

They'd only been apart for two hours so far today, but she already missed him and was relieved to see him.

He joined her by the window, laughing as he watched the kids on the playground below, heavily engrossed in their snowball fight. Carefully, he wrapped his arms around Rachel's waist, his hands resting on her stomach. The baby kicked in response to his touch, making both Rachel and Eddie smile. Rachel melted into him, sighing contentedly. This was perfect.

"That'll be us one day, Rach. Teaching our little one how to build a snowman, make snow angels and have a snowball fight" he said, looking out the window

Rachel smiled at that. She often imagined their future with their baby. The first Christmas, their first birthday, taking them to the park and pushing them on the swings, their first day of nursery. They had so much to look forward to. So many memories to make. She hadn't thought about their little one's first time in the snow. Probably because snow was such a rarity in Rochdale.

"We might have to take them somewhere with snow for that, Eddie!" she pointed out, laughing

"You're right. This is a once in a blue moon thing for Rochdale" he chuckled, kissing her cheek gently

"Did you come up here for a specific reason?" She asked, turning to face him

"Can a man not come and see his fiancé and his baby girl on his break?" He smiled, placing a kiss on her stomach

"You don't know it's going to be a girl! It could be a boy!" She giggled

"That might be true. But I think it's a girl, and until proven otherwise, she's my little princess" he shrugged

Rachel tutted, unable to prevent the smile from spreading across her face.

Eddie had been adamant their baby was going to be a girl from the start. Rachel didn't mind if the baby was a boy or a girl, and neither did Eddie, even though he had a strong feeling it was a girl. What mattered to them was that the little one was healthy.

"I did actually come up for a reason, Rach"

She looked at him expectantly

"A few of the staff are going out for a drink after school. We've been invited. Obviously I know you can't drink, but I hear the orange juice they sell is nice" he explained

"That actually sounds good" she nodded

"Yeah? I thought I'd asked first in case you'd be too tired"

"Well it'll be my last one for a while, won't it? I think we should make the most of it just being the two of us together" she shrugged

"And anyway, I've been craving orange juice" she added with a little giggle

"Well it's settled then, that's our evening planned" Eddie laughed

Rachel hummed contentedly

"And, I'll be drinking orange juice too" he whispered

Rachel was about to laugh, when a sharp twinge of pain ripped through her stomach, similar to the one she'd had earlier, but more intense. She gripped Eddie's arm tightly, resting her head on his shoulder. Eddie panicked.

"Rach, are you ok?" He asked

The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. She exhaled, leaning her back against the windowsill.

"Rach, talk to me, what's wrong?" Eddie questioned, rubbing his hands up and down her arms

"It's nothing, I'm fine" she reassured, placing a hand on the side of her stomach

"Are you sure?" He checked

"Yes. It's just Braxton Hicks Eddie, I'm ok" she insisted

The bell rang out for the end of break. Eddie sighed. He had to go to his next lesson, but he didn't want to leave Rachel if she was in pain.

"I'll be fine, go to class" she reassured, sensing his concern

Eddie gave in, kissing her on the lips before kissing her stomach gently. He helped her over to her desk, sitting her down in the chair.

"Just take it easy, ok?" He instructed

Rachel nodded

"I'll see you at lunch" he added, heading to his classroom