Billie's emotions were all over the place, and she supposed she could blame it on pregnancy hormones and the morning sickness that had finally decided to kick in two days after she'd told Jamie about the baby. But there had also been an unspeakable revelation that she'd refused to believe was true, because by pretending it wasn't happening, she could convince herself that she didn't need to acknowledge it.

Ted was going home, for good. Well, 'for good' sort of suggested that there was a reason beyond reuniting and reconnecting with his son, as though there might be some shiny pot of gold waiting for him at the other end of his British Airways flight.

Billie had never been very good at goodbyes, and the thought that within a week she'd be saying goodbye to a man who had taught her so much and given her a place she could call home...well she was trying really hard not to think about it.

She'd been lying in bed awake after rushing into Jamie's en suite and throwing up the contents of her stomach into the toilet as Jamie knelt beside her and held her hair back while running his hand back and forth over her back.

Jamie had been doing his very best at making sure that Billie had everything she needed, ordering any pregnancy books that he'd seen recommended, making Billie something light for breakfast every morning, because she needed to eat despite her frustrations about her unsettled stomach, leaving said breakfast in the fridge on the mornings he had to train with Roy, a note beside the bed telling her just that.

"Morning," Jamie smiled as he returned to his bedroom, carrying two glasses of his homemade fruit smoothie and a bottle of water on a wooden tray, "You sleep okay?"

"Yeah," Billie nodded as she lay in his bed, Nelson curled up beside her, "Got about seven hours."

"The book I read said that you should be getting like nine hours a night," Jamie told her as he placed the tray on the bed and sat beside her.

"Call it preparation for when the little bean's waking us up every three hours," Billie sighed with a smile as Jamie placed his hand on her stomach that looked just as it always had.

"Well, we're a team, so we'll do it all together, won't we?" Jamie assured her, resting his head on Billie's chest and gently kissing her stomach, "This is an area of natural outstanding beauty."

"Shut up," Billie laughed with a smile, reminded of how Jamie had repeated the phrase they'd heard David Attenborough use on one of his documentaries when Billie was struggling to fall asleep.

"You are an outstanding beauty," Jamie smirked up at her as he peppered kisses to her stomach.

"You know, this makes you a dilf now," Billie laughed as she ran her hand through Jamie's hair.

"Mmhmm," Jamie hummed against her stomach, "And you'll be the fittest milf I've ever seen."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Jamie nodded before handing her the breakfast smoothie and water bottle, "Now, get these down you, we've got to leave in half an hour."

"What did you tell Roy?" Billie asked, as they still hadn't told anyone else about the baby, and it had been Jamie who'd organised that morning's appointment and told Roy that he and Billie would be late to work.

"That you had an appointment and wanted me to take you," Jamie told her as he sipped his own smoothie, "You know what he's like about privacy and all that, he wouldn't want anyone else in his business, so he ain't gonna pry on anyone else's."

"Okay," Billie nodded, sipping on her smoothie, "We'll tell him soon."

"And then are you gonna talk about Ted going home?" Jamie asked, knowing full well that Billie had been avoiding the topic and Ted himself since the announcement had been made.

"Nope," Billie answered as she made her way out of Jamie's bedroom and into the en-suite, closing the door behind her.

Jamie glanced at Nelson who was staring at him with a tilted head and big puppy dog eyes, "Tell me about it, mate," Jamie sighed, flopping back onto the bed.

Billie and Jamie had both been born in NHS hospitals, being from working class families. But as far as Jamie was concerned he would spare no expense for the health and privacy of their little baby and the extraordinary woman who would be growing that little wonder for the next few months.

He had always considered pregnancy to be a marvel too great to comprehend, given that his mum was a young mother, he was about six when the rest of her friends began having babies. The idea that a human could grow another life astounded him, even at the age of twenty five he remained in awe of women for that very reason.

"This isn't like any waiting room I've been in before," Billie whispered to Jamie as they sat in the waiting room that felt more like a living room than a medical waiting area, with no one else but a couple sat opposite them and the receptionist at her desk in the room.

"Feels like we're going for a job interview or something," Jamie muttered, conscious that he wasn't dressed like the other future father in the room, who was wearing a suit and tie like those men who worked in finance in the city, while Jamie wore a green sweatshirt with a black body warmer and cargo trousers, a baseball cap hiding his distinctive walnut mist mop of hair.

"I'm not sure what job interviews you've been having, J," Billie smiled, "But this is even fancier than Rebecca's office."

"Jamie and Billie," A middle aged blonde woman appeared from one of the consultation rooms, a clipboard in her hand.

"Yeah."

"If you'd like to follow me," She smiled, leading them into the consultation room, walking hand in hand before they sat opposite her desk.

"I'm Dr Lindsey Reed, you can call me Lindsey, I'll be with you from now all the way through to your postpartum care, one of the great luxuries of private care," She told them both, "Can I ask what made you choose our clinic?"

"Erm, I'm a footballer," Jamie told her, "So this kind of made sense to keep 'em both as safe as possible, you know?"

"Absolutely," Lindsey smiled, "So, you've found out you're having a baby, do you know when your last period was?"

"We did a few more tests during the week, just to be sure," Billie explained to the doctor as they sat in the private consultation room of the Harley Street clinic where Jamie had booked their appointment (after some extensive late night research), "And my last period was about two months ago, which I kind of assumed was because of work stress and then I sort of forgot that I hadn't one in a while, and then this just sort of happened."

"Do you regularly have unprotected sex?" Lindsey asked, startling both Jamie and Billie.

"Erm, well, I was on the pill for a bit when we got together," Billie explained, as Lindsey typed some notes onto her computer, "And then that was messing me up a bit so we were using other, less reliable methods."

"I understand," Lindsey nodded with a knowing smile, promptly filling in the gaps based on what Billie had told her, "Have you had any sickness?"

"Yeah, it started a couple of days ago," Billie told her.

"So from what you've told me, I'd put you around the seven to eight weeks mark, which gives us a rough due date of December," Lindsey told them both, "We'll know more once we've done a scan, we can do an early one now, if you'd like."

"How much will that cost?" Billie asked, because she knew from when her sister was pregnant that free NHS scans were often only available from twelve weeks onwards.

"Well-"

"It don't matter how much it costs," Jamie insisted, taking Billie's hand in his, "We wanna make sure everything's okay in there, don't we?"

"Alright then," Billie sighed with a smile, "We'll do the scan."

"Perfect," Lindsey smiled, "I'll just pop next door and grab the ultrasound machine, if you want to just pop up onto the bed over there," She gestured to the other side of the room, "And Dad, you can take a seat next to her on the stool."

Once Lindsey had left the room Jamie turned to Billie with a smirk, "International break."

"Hmm?" Billie looked up at him.

"That's when we made the baby," Jamie told her with a proud smile, "I did the maths."

"You have such a way with words," Billie laughed as she rested her head on his shoulder, interlocking her hand with his.

"You love it," Jamie grinned, kissing the top of her head.

"Yeah, I do," Billie nodded, making her way over to the small medical bed and sitting on it as instructed by their doctor.

"It's crazy innit, that we're going to see our little baby on a screen, and then by like Christmas we're gonna have a tiny little human, made up of all the best bits of me and you," Jamie rambled as he sat on the stool beside Billie.

Billie smiled at him fondly, because she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to articulate how much it filled her heart to see Jamie's enthusiasm about the new baby that week. He'd already been looking at furniture for the baby's room online, talking about colour schemes (he suggested green because he'd read that it was meant to encourage harmony and diffuse anxiety), he'd also been saving baby clothes to his favourites across various online stores, and Billie was convinced that their unborn child would end up with a better wardrobe than the both of them.

"Right," Lindsey returned to the room, pushing along the ultrasound machine trolley, "Are we ready?"

"Yeah," Billie smiled as she laid back on the bed, Jamie taking her hand in his.

"Okay, so I'm just going to squeeze some of this gel onto your stomach, it might feel a little cold," Lindsey explained as she squeezed the clear gel onto Billie's stomach, "We're going to have a look at how baby's doing, see if we can hear a heartbeat, then I'll take some measurements which will give us a more accurate idea of how far along you are, does that sound okay?"

"Perfect," Billie nodded as Jamie squeezed her hand.

"So, we won't be able to see your baby straight away because of how small it'll be," Lindsey explained as she placed the scanner on Billie's stomach, moving it slowly until a small bean shaped blob appeared on the screen, the sound of its heartbeat filling the room.

"Oh my goodness," Billie whispered with a wide grin, "That's our little baby."

"It's fucking perfect," Jamie muttered with a proud smile, kissing Billie's knuckles, "Sorry, it's flippin' perfect."

"So, I'll just take some measurements and we'll be able to say for sure how far along you are," Lindsey explained, "Would you like a recording of the baby's heartbeat as well as your scan photos?"

"That'd be great, yeah, thanks," Jamie nodded with a smile.

"Okay, well, we'll get all that done now and then you get yourself all cleaned up."

"It's just perfect, Bils," Jamie smiled at the black and white scan photo in his hands as they sat in his car in the training ground's car park, "Our very own little bean, and we'll be meeting 'em before the end of the year."

"Unless it gets too comfy in here," Billie grinned as she placed her hand on her stomach, "Could end up with a January baby."

"Well, I were almost two weeks late when I was born, babe," Jamie replied.

"Don't go giving the baby ideas," Billie sighed, "Oh, I got you a present."

"You got me a present?" Jamie raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Mmhmm," Billie nodded, opening the glovebox and pulling out a small paper bag, handing it to Jamie, "I had it delivered under a fake name."

"Interesting," Jamie smirked, opening the bag and pulling out a football shirt, or rather, a tiny Richmond shirt for a tiny human, their tiny human. He turned it around to look at the back of it, his eyes welling up as he pursed his lips with a smile, his number nine printed below the word 'DADDY' where his own shirt would have 'TARTT.'

"It's fucking perfect," Jamie grinned, pulling Billie closer and then kissing the side of her head, "I love you so flipping much."

"Your very own Jamie Tartt fan club just got itself another member," Billie smiled.

Jamie glanced between Billie's smile and her stomach, where their first child was growing, a tiny person that was half him and half her, no bigger than a raspberry (he'd googled how big the baby would be after Lindsey confirmed that Billie was seven weeks pregnant).

"Move in with me," Jamie said as he kept his eyes on Billie.

"Huh?" Billie replied, even though she'd heard him, she just wanted to hear him say it again.

"I want you to move in with me, I want my home to be your home, our home," Jamie told her, because it just made sense, and there was nothing he wanted more than to make his house their first family home before the baby arrived at the end of the year, "We basically live together anyway, and we can't spend forever between my house and your flat, we need a proper home."

"Are you asking me to move into your four bedroom footballer's bachelor pad, Jamie?" Billie grinned.

"Yeah, I am."

"And what do you suppose we do with all those bedrooms, hmm?" Billie hummed with a smile as she leaned forward to kiss him.

"Make more babies to use them as their bedrooms, obviously," Jamie smirked against her lips.

"Sounds perfect to me," Billie smiled as she pulled back, "So, when do you want me, roomie?"

"Well, you do have a lot of stuff, so it's gonna take a while, innit," Jamie grinned, "May as well start tonight."

"Sounds bloody perfect," Billie replied, "Now we should probably head inside before we get fined for being late to the fines reading."

Billie and Jamie made their way into the locker room where the entire team sat along each of the benches around the edge of the locker room, awaiting the beginning of the end of season fines reading.

"Billie, Jamie," Will approached the pair formally, shaking both of their hands, "You've arrived just in time, take a seat."

"He's born for this," Billie whispered as Will approached the centre of the room, placing a mallet on the arm of the large red velvet chair.

"Yeah?"

"He's a theatre kid at heart," Billie smiled, recalling Will's drunken ramblings about his A level drama performance pieces on the bus back from Manchester.

"Here ye, here ye, this locker room is now in session," Will addressed the room theatrically, "All rise for the Honourable Judge McAdoo."

The team stood in accordance with Will's instructions as Isaac entered the room, wearing a white judge's wig and black jacket that Will had sourced from his local charity shop as the team applauded in approval.

"Silence!" Isaac bellowed as he hit his hammer against the arm of his chair, while Will remained by his side, "Be seated."

The team sat down in silence, listening attentively.

"Court treasurer," Isaac turned to Sam who stood up with a scroll in his hands, "Are there any unresolved fines from this season?"

"There are, Your Honour," Sam nodded, "And please remember that all fines will go towards funding our end of season party this Sunday night at the restaurant."

"Very well, Bailiff," Isaac turned to Will as the team cheered, "Please bring forth the receptacle."

"Er, the assistant kitman has it," Will replied.

Nate appeared beside Will, a pink box made by him and his niece in his hands. Billie was still getting used to seeing him around the club, but on his first day back at Nelson Road he found Billie in her office and apologised for his behaviour last season, and she forgave him.

"Assistant to the kitman," Nate smiled, not wanting to overstep his role.

"Court treasurer, release the fines," Isaac instructed Sam.

Sam unravelled the scroll, clearing his throat, "Jan Maas, late for training, two hundred pounds."

"That's fair," Cockburn nodded.

"Dani Rojas, not texting happy birthday on a teammate's birthday, one hundred pounds," Sam continued.

"Objection, your honour!" Dani stood up dramatically, "I did put a tiny little heart on someone else's happy birthday message."

Isaac whacked his hammer against the arm of the chair, "Overruled!"

"Billie Kent," Sam added, gathering the young woman's attention, "Airdropping One Direction memes to the entire team during a tactical training meeting, sixty pounds."

"You boys shouldn't have had your phones on in the first place," Billie smirked as Nate approached with the box, "Do you take contactless?"

"I don't think so," Nate whispered.

"Okay," Billie pulled her wallet out of her pocket, slipping three twenty pound notes into the box along with some loose change she'd been meaning to get rid of. 

"Jamie Tartt," Sam called out, "Falling asleep during team meditation training, two hundred pounds."

"Eh?" Jamie exclaimed.

"You fell asleep?" Cockburn asked.

"Bro, everyone was sleeping, man," Jamie quipped, "I was just the only one who was snoring," He smirked as he slipped the two hundred quid into the pink box, followed by an extra wad of cash for good measure.

"Is there anything else?" Isaac asked Sam.

"That is all I have, Your Honour," Sam confirmed.

"Very well, and finally, Nathan Shelley," Isaac announced, "For missing every training session, every match and every team dinner this season, I hereby fine you five thousand pounds!"

"Yeah, that's fair, I mean, I deserve it," Nate smiled, because really it was the team's own way of welcoming him back to the team.

"The party will now have an open bar and live band karaoke!" Sam exclaimed as the team cheered in delight, as Isaac, Sam and Will shook hands respectively.

After a well needed catch up with Will about some of the shoots she'd been offered, asking if he'd want to join her on any of them, Billie had made her way up to Rebecca's office, sipping on a raspberry and cranberry tea (Jamie had read somewhere that it was good for the baby) as she sat in the corner of Rebecca's plush L shaped sofa, Higgins at one end, Rebecca at the other while Keeley sat in the floor.

"The press are asking if you have any comments about Rupert's divorce," Keeley told Rebecca, referring to one of the week's biggest headlines. 

"Yes of course," Rebecca nodded, "But no, no comment."

"Smart," Keeley nodded.

"Classy," Higgins agreed.

"Sophisticated," Billie added.

"Moving on, Billie, Leslie and I are asking if you have any comments on Rupert's divorce," Keeley replied as the three of them turned to face Rebecca.

"Juicier the better," Higgins nodded, "Safe space."

"This room is like confessional, God the things these walls have heard," Billie smirked knowingly, "So spill."

"Also no comment," Rebecca sighed.

"Boo!"

"Look, I'm sorry, I just genuinely don't care anymore," Rebecca smiled proudly, "What's next?"

"We need to talk about who we're hiring to replace Ted, I've made a list of the usual suspects," Higgins told the group, handing a folder to Rebecca, "I also threw in a basketball coach from New Zealand just to spice it up a bit."

"Right, I can't think about that yet," Rebecca sighed, placing the folder on the table.

"I'm with the boss on this one," Billie added in agreement.

"Okay, after the season then," Higgins muttered, "Last thing from me, on a happier note, now that we have a guaranteed spot in the Champions League next season."

"Aaah!" All four friends squealed in excitement.

"We have had many requests to buy a piece of the club," Higgins explained, "Our value is at an all time high, so it's worth considering...you give up forty nine percent, retain full control and make a huge pile of cash, we can buy more players, renovate the stadium."

"Now that the West Ham castle is crumbling, it might be worth looking at buying some of their players, Liam Carter for example," Billie replied.

"I'll look into it."

"Ooh, maybe we can get some of those fancy seats, the ones with the heaters like they have at Tottenham," Keeley suggested.

"Oh, they're amazing...in February," Higgins remarked, "I accidentally turned mine on last summer and nearly melted my bottom crack together...think about it anyway, it's only forty nine percent."

"Leslie?" Rebecca replied, "How much would I get if I sold the entire club?"

"Rebecca," Keeley gasped as Billie almost choked on her fruit tea, "You can't sell the club."

"Why not?" Rebecca frowned, "I mean, I only got into this to ruin Rupert's life, and he seems to be doing a pretty good job of that himself."

"Maybe think about it first," Billie whispered.

"Come on, Leslie, how much?"

"I don't know, off the top of my head, I'd say two billion," Higgins replied as Rebecca spat out her tea in shock.

"Fuck me."

Billie was sitting next to Trent in front of the other fans in the stands as they watched training unfold, she'd given her camera to Will, still not quite ready to face a conversation with Ted following the news about his departure. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to him, it was that she didn't know what to say without explaining just how much he meant to her.

"Alright, Roy, I think that's enough for today, you can go ahead and call it," Ted told Roy as they watched the team run drills, while Roy stared back at him blankly, assuming that he'd want to do the honours on his last day, "Roy, please."

"Whistle, whistle!" Roy called out to the team, "Come on, bring it in."

"Thank you, Roy," Ted smiled, "Coach and I didn't want to make a big deal about it being our last practice."

"Just a regular day," Beard added as Billie smiled to herself, knowing what was due to come next.

"Yeah, nothing special, right?"

"Yeah, sure," Roy nodded as he walked past them both, walking over to the stands, "Whatever you guys want."

"That was ominous," Ted remarked.

"What the fuck was that?" Beard asked as music began to play from the speaker system, which Billie had control of as she sat with her video camera, ready to record what was due to unfold, "What the fuck is that?" The two coaches turned to see the team, stood in formation, Isaac and Sam wearing proud smiles, "What the fuck is this?"

"There's a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall and the bells in the steeple, too and up in the nursery an absurd little bird is popping out to say 'cuckoo'" Sam sang with a proud smile as the rest of his and Isaac's teammates remained crouched behind them.

"Cuckoo, cuckoo," The rest of the team popped out from around Isaac and Sam.

"Regretfully they tell us but firmly they compel us to say goodbye to you," Isaac sung as he and Sam marched past the two coaches and the rest of the boys marched out into the formation that they had choreographed in Jamie's back garden with Billie and Will's leadership.

"So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehn, goodnight," The whole team sang as they performed the dance routine they'd been practising for three consecutive evenings.

"We hate to go and miss this pretty sight," Jamie and Colin sang together before leading their part of the team off of the training pitch.

"So long, farewell, Auf Wiederseh'n, adieu," The rest of the team sang as Billie rested her camera on its tripod, miming out the choreography she'd helped them learn, "Adieu, adieu to yieu and yieu and yieu."

Bumbercatch and Van Damme led their section past the two coaches as the rest of the team continued to sing.

"So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye," Jan and Richard's group sang, "We flit, we float, we fleetly flee, we fly," The boys made their way off the pitch, leaving Dani on his own.

"So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye," Dani sang proudly, "The sun has gone to bed and so must I, adios, adios," He sang before running past his coaches, "Adios."

"Goodbye," The team, the fans, Billie and Trent waved in unison as Beard dabbed at his under eyes.

"Thank you, fellas," Ted smiled, "That was perfect."

The place erupted as though Richmond had just won the Champions League, Billie and Trent jumped up and down in a hug, Isaac and Colin lifted each other off of the floor, Jamie climbed up into the stands using the railings rather than the stairs and gave Billie a kiss, wrapping both her and Trent in a hug. Just for a moment that joy outweighed the sadness that lingered in Billie's heart when she contemplated Ted's departure. 

"Bils! Bils!" Jamie hurried down the corridor after Billie as she made her way out of her office and towards the locker room.

"Is this going to be about how grapefruit is good for mine and the baby's potassium levels?" Billie raised her eyebrows in intrigue, not because she didn't like Jamie's regular recommendations from the books and websites he'd read, she actually found it incredibly wholesome.

"No, well, I mean, I did read that somewhere actually, but no that's not what this is about," Jamie told her, "I just got an email from Nike, they want to fly me to Brazil to shoot this advert thing, but I said I wouldn't do it unless me favourite photographer could do the photo bits."

"You're taking Will to Brazil?" Billie teased with a knowing smile.

"He's busy unfortunately," Jamie smirked, going along with Billie's joke, "Nah, I'm taking you, babe."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"This is bloody huge, J," Billie grinned, standing on her toes and wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he held onto her waist, "I'm so proud of you, superstar."

"Thank you, babe," Jamie whispered, kissing the side of her head, "Well, someone from Nike said they'd email you about it, something about portfolios."

"Look at us, eh?" Billie beamed, "Proper little double act, they'll have us doing couple shoots next."

"I fucking love the sound of that," Jamie smiled, kissing the top of her head as he led her into the locker room.

"Hey, Jamie," Roy approached the pair as they stood beside Jamie's locker, "Wanna grab a beer later?"

"I thought you said I couldn't have beer anymore," Jamie replied as Billie glanced between the two men, not sure what exactly had triggered her brother to organise a social outing with just her boyfriend.

"Well, you're with me, so you get a pass," Roy assured him.

"Just bring him back in one piece please," Billie added.

"Yeah, decent," Jamie nodded, "I'm in, yeah."

"Sweet," Roy replied, fist bumping Jamie before returning to his office.

"So are you and Roy friends now?" Nate asked Jamie as he approached him and Billie.

"Yeah, guess so," Jamie nodded.

"They're more than friends," Billie smiled, "They're basically brothers now."

"That's wonderful," Nate sighed with a smile as he pushed the laundry trolley out of the locker room.

"Flipping mint, yeah."

"You think he knows about the baby?" Billie whispered as she looked up at Jamie.

"Who...Nate?" Jamie frowned.

"My brother," Billie muttered.

"Oh," Jamie replied, "I mean, maybe."

"I mean, no offence, but it'd be a bit weird if he just invited you for a casual drink," Billie replied.

"Maybe it is just casual, babe," Jamie suggested, "Like maybe we're mates now."

"Yeah, maybe," Billie sighed.

Billie had spent most of her evening in her bedroom beginning the process of packing her stuff into the same cardboard boxes she'd used when she, Alfie and Madison had moved into the flat almost three years earlier. As the evening drew in she became peckish and of course headed down to her favourite chip shop, her 'it's what the baby wants' ace tucked up her sleeve if Jamie were to come back and ask why she hadn't eaten the bolognaise he'd made before going out to the bar with Roy.

She'd spent the best part of thirty minutes sitting on one of the many benches that overlooked Richmond Green, eating her curry sauce covered chips as she watched the world go by. It was one of her favourite places in London, it was her very own personal time capsule, she remembered how Jamie had walked her home after the gala, how she and the boys had laid on the grass the day after the Everton win, how she and Jamie had gone on picnic dates during the summer, it was the centrepoint of her life in Richmond.

"Is this seat taken?"

Billie looked up to see Ted stood beside her, a nervous smile on his face as he glanced between the young woman and the bench. She knew she couldn't avoid him forever, and she knew deep down that she'd regret it if she didn't tell him how she felt about him leaving.

"It is now," Billie smiled tentatively, tapping the seat and gesturing for him to sit beside her, "Chip? They've got curry sauce on them, which Jamie says is a crime, but I promise you, they're mint."

"Don't mind if I do," Ted replied, sitting beside her and taking a chip covered in a generous layer of curry sauce, "I can't believe I've been here three years and never had these, they sure are good."

"Yeah," Billie nodded, keeping her eyes on the green, "It's kind of weird isn't it? The things that make a place home."

"Hmm?"

"I mean South London, that was never really my home, it's just a place where I grew up," Billie sighed, "This is my home, my friends, my family, everything I love is here, that's what makes it home, and I know that it's also possible for more than one place to be home."

"Yeah?"

"No matter where you end up, you'll always have a home here," Billie muttered, turning to face him with glossy eyes, "I know Kansas is home for you, but you know there'll always be a piece of Richmond left just for you."

"You're a smart lady, Sporty Spice," Ted smiled.

"Learnt from the best, didn't I?" Billie replied.

"Roy?" Ted answered, earning the slightest of laughs from Billie.

"You've kind of been like the father I always wanted as a kid, and I know you've got to go back home to your family, but please don't be a stranger," Billie whispered as she kept her eyes on Ted.

"FaceTime is a beautiful thing," Ted reminded her.

"So are planes," Billie quipped as her eyes welled up, "I'm not sure what the next generation of Tartts will do without seeing their super cool American grandad at least twice a year."

"Hypothetical future generation?" Ted raised his eyebrows.

"Very much real," Billie whispered, wiping her eyes as she pulled a copy of the scan from her pocket and handed it to him, because it didn't matter that she and Jamie hadn't told anyone else, Ted was someone she considered family, and she wanted him to know, "It's a little blob right now, but one day it'll have legs, arms and Jamie Tartt's gorgeous smile."

"This little fella or little lady is sure as heck lucky to have you two for parents, you know that?" Ted smiled, staring down at the photo in his hands.

"And we've been so lucky to have you, even if it was just for three years...your impact on this team will live on forever," Billie told him with a fond grin, "Guess where Jamie and Roy are right now."

As the bartender placed the bottle on the bar in front of Jamie he wasted no time picking it up and glugging down every last drop of the sweet nectar that Billie rarely enjoyed the taste of, even though he felt bad for drinking it because she couldn't, "Worth the wait," He sighed.

"Whatever happens on Sunday, I want you to know that I'm proud of you," Roy told him, "All the work you put in this year, and I'm not just saying that 'cause I'm your coach, or just because you're my sister's boyfriend."

"Yeah, thanks, and thank you for your help too, you know," Jamie replied, "For motivating me, encouraging me...I haven't really had that from older men in me life...real talk, man, thank you."

The pair clinked their bottles together in a cheers.

"I'm glad we're good and all that," Jamie continued, tapping his fingertips against the bar, "'Cause me and Bils are in a proper good place, and I wouldn't want it to be weird with me and you, especially 'cause you're gonna be the uncle of our baby and-"

"Baby?" Roy furrowed his eyebrows.

Jamie glanced between his beer bottle and Roy, had one bottle of beer really made him that loose lipped?

"I don't think I were meant to tell you that," Jamie muttered as Roy clenched his fists on the countertop, "Yeah, I definitely wasn't meant to tell you that, not yet..."

After almost an hour sitting on the bench with Ted, laughing over bittersweet memories of his time at the club before workshopping potential baby names, Billie made her way back to the flat, feeling somewhat lighter as she made her way up the stairs, startled as she was met with Alfie, Colin and Madison all stood in a row, arms folded as they leant against the kitchen island.

"What's going on?" Billie frowned as she glanced between the three of them.

"Why are you packing up all your stuff?" Alfie asked, "Half your stuff's missing from the cupboards and there's cardboard boxes all over your bed."

"I was going to talk to you about this," Billie sighed, "We were going to talk to you."

"About what?" Madison asked.

"I'm moving in with Jamie," Billie told the three of them.

"You already live with Jamie," Colin added, and he had a point, the pair did basically live together, just between two homes, and that worked when there was no one else to consider but themselves.

"I mean like properly," Billie explained, "Jamie's house is going to become mine and Jamie's home."

Billie knew that she and Jamie had agreed not to tell anyone else about the baby just yet, but as she stood opposite her three friends it became clear that now was a better time than any. She could trust all three of them to keep it to themselves, and in many ways they were family, they were the friends that the baby would grow up to consider uncles and aunties.

"It's going to end up a bit of a squeeze for the three of us and Nelson to live with both of you," Billie told them, watching the cogs turn in each of their heads as Colin counted on his fingers, and Alfie shared a look of confusion with Madison.

"I'm lost, mate," Alfie sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"We're having a baby," Billie told them, watching as their faces turned from confusion to shock to delight.

"A baby?" Madison whispered.

"An actual tiny human?" Colin gasped in delight.

"Our best friend's having a baby!" Alfie exclaimed as he wrapped her in a hug, gesturing for Madison and Colin to join them.

"When are you due?" Madison asked.

"December," Billie smiled, "And as you can probably imagine, Jamie is incredibly excited."

"Mate, so are we," Alfie assured her before nudging Colin, "Does this mean we're going to be guncles?"

"If that's what you want," Billie laughed with a smile as the doorbell rang.  

"God, this is just perfect," Alfie grinned, delighted by the idea of his best friend becoming a mother.

"I'll be back in a minute," Billie smiled, making her way down to the front door, assuming that the would be a delivery driver with another one of those pregnancy books that Jamie had been reading every night before bed.

"Fucking hell," Billie muttered as she laid eyes on her brother's torn shirt and Jamie's bleeding nose.

"He's fine," Roy insisted.

"Come in, quickly," Billie ushered the two men inside the house, fearing that someone with a camera might have caught a photo of them.

"Bils, me face is fucking throbbing," Jamie huffed as she led them both up the stairs.

"I'll sort you out in a minute, J," Billie replied as they reached the top of the stairs, Colin, Alfie and Madison staring back at them in disbelief.

"The fuck happened to you two?"

"Would you guys mind giving us a minute?" Billie asked her friends as her brother helped himself to a bag of frozen peas from her freezer, pressing them against the top of his head.

"Yeah, of course," Madison nodded, glancing between Colin and Alfie, "Pub?"

"Yeah," They both nodded before making their way down the stairs and out the flat.

Billie wordlessly rummaged in her bag, retrieving a tampon that she wouldn't need for a good while, removing it from its packaging and approaching Jamie. She gently pushed it up his nose, hoping it would help soak up the blood, before patting him on the shoulder with a smile, "It's heavy flow, you'll be fine."

"Cheers, babe," Jamie smiled as he sat down at the table, Billie and Roy doing the same. 

"You gonna tell me what happened?" Billie asked as she glanced between the pair, "Did you stop a mugging? Rescue some puppies from a burning building?"

Jamie, adjusted the tampon that Billie had helped him stick up his nose to soak up the bleeding, "Well-"

"He got you fucking pregnant."

"Surprise!" Billie exclaimed, her voice slowly trailing off, "Sorry, not the right time."

"So, he got you fucking pregnant," Roy repeated himself, not entirely convinced he could fathom the idea of the woman he still considered his baby sister having a baby.

"That's generally what happens when you don't use contraception, Roy," Billie sighed.

"You're still a kid," Roy huffed.

"I'm literally going to be twenty five in two months," Billie reminded him.

"You're still my kid sister," Roy huffed.

"We said we weren't telling anyone," Billie whispered to Jamie, which was arguably hypocritical given that she'd already told Ted, Colin, Alfie and Madison.

"It just kind of came out." Jamie replied.

"That's what he said." Billie smirked.

"Not now, babe," Jamie sighed.

"Look, you're still fucking young and shit, are you sure you're both ready for this?" Roy asked, not because he was trying to cause the pair issues, but because he was genuinely concerned for his sister and her future.

"I don't think anyone's ever really ready for it," Billie replied honestly, there had just been something unspoken between her and Jamie from the day they found out, that it was what they wanted, "But there's no one else I'd rather do all of this with."

"Well then," Roy stood up, and Billie feared she was about to be witness to round two of whatever had unfolded between him and Jamie, but as he approached her, his arms outstretched, it became clear that was not the case, "Congrats, kiddo."

"Thank you, Royo," Billie whispered as she stood up to hug her brother, "Or, Uncle Royo."

"Don't push it," Roy replied as he held onto his sister, before turning to Jamie, holding his hand out for Jamie to shake, as some sort of masculine sign of approval, "You better take fucking good care of both of them, alright?"

"Of course, mate," Jamie nodded, shaking Roy's hand, as though there was some unspoken bond that tied them now, they were family in more ways than one, through Billie, Richmond and now the baby.

"I've been thinking," Billie sighed with a smile as she lay beside Jamie in her room, surrounded by cardboard boxes full of her belongings.

"Sounds dangerous," Jamie teased her the same way his mum always did when he was younger.

"Very funny," Billie nudged him with a grin, "I've been thinking that we should spend Christmas with both of our families this year."

"Yeah?" Jamie beamed, a big family Christmas was all he'd ever wanted as a child, to be in a big house full of good happy noise, music and laughter, surrounded by the people he loved.

"Well, we're either going to have a little baby in our arms or I'm going to be waddling around like a hippo," Billie hummed, "And if it is our baby's first Christmas, I want us to start a tradition for the little one of a big family Christmas."

"I flippin' love the sound of that, babe," Jamie smiled, delighted that Billie's dreams aligned with his own.

"I think we should tell your mum...about the baby," Billie replied, "I mean, I may have already told Ted, Colin, Alfie and Madds, but they're basically family anyway."

"This is gonna make her year, you know that?" Jamie smiled, wrapping his arm around Billie, pulling his phone from his pocket.

"I kind of guessed so," Billie hummed, as if Georgie hadn't been the second person she thought of after Jamie when she first saw the positive pregnancy test.

"You know what you're gonna say?" Jamie asked as the FaceTime call began to ring.

"Mmhmm," Billie nodded.

"Hello, you lovely pair," Georgie smiled as she answered the call, "How are youse two?"

"Good," Jamie nodded, deciding to let Billie take the lead.

"You ready for your last match of the season?" Georgie asked.

"Yeah, but I'm also looking forward to a bit of rest with this one," Jamie replied, kissing the top of Billie's head.

"Sounds lovely," Georgie smiled, "You got much work lined up, Billie?"

"We've actually been working on a project together," Billie told her, and Jamie promptly realised what she was doing.

"That sounds exciting."

"Yeah, it'll be here in December," Billie replied as Jamie held her tighter.

"You're not doing one of them cheesy pinup Christmas calendars, are you, Jamie?" Georgie asked, her obliviousness to the situation reminded Billie of Jamie's when she tried to tell him.

"Can I tell her?" Jamie turned to Billie.

"Yeah, of course you can," Billie smiled fondly.

"We ain't doing a calendar," Jamie grinned, unable to contain his excitement, "You're gonna be a Grandmummy."

"Shut up," Georgie covered her mouth in delighted shock, "You're having a baby?"

"Yeah," The pair smiled as Jamie retrieved the baby scan from his bedside table, holding them up for Georgie to see, "And it's due in December."

"That's just bloody perfect," Georgie grinned as tears pooled in her eyes, "I'm so happy for you both, you'll be the perfect little family."

It was all that Jamie or Billie had ever wanted, a little family to call their own. Of course Jamie had his mum and Simon and Billie had Roy, Hannah and Phoebe, but now they would also be their own little family unit. They'd go on family holidays, attend school nativity plays, and look forward to celebrating the birthday of the tiny life they'd created each year.

Their home would always be full of love and laughter, it was almost an unspoken expectation. It was all that either of them had ever wanted, and they finally had it.