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2019-08-14
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2019-09-02
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3/?
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Just The Two Of Us

Summary:

Basically my happy ending for Robron. If they were to have a spin-off, this would be it. I'm sick of Victoria, never liked Rebecca so this is my coping with them. Inspired by the fic 'We work it out together' by Daily Scenarios

This will have more chapters!!!

This is gonna be more of a slice of life so if you can think of any family situations that Aaron and Robert can get up to, comment!

Notes:

Will add notes in a few days since I'm on holiday at the moment.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

With Gordon's trial, there were more tears than shouting and pushing everyone away. It was more distractions rather than facing reality. Aaron had blamed Chas for it when he was younger, but obviously the longer the years passed by, his maturity had grown and learned that it wasn't her fault at all. It was his...that monsters fault.

At first, with Vic, he had tried, tried over and over again to get her to see that it was Lee poisoning her mind and Robert was angry. He tried to get her to see that it was Roberts coping mechanism, to push people away and do everything himself because he was always going to feel like that isolated teen that everyone hated. Granted, Roberts other coping mechanism also involved him and a bed, but he wouldn't tell her that obviously.

Vic was constantly walking around the village, her small bump always showing through her hoodie and Aaron had to roll his eyes everytime she mentioned the baby to Roberts face. She knew, she knew that Robert was still trying to get his head around it and she wasn't making it any better by trying to force him to come around to the idea quicker. She had done the same with Rebecca being pregnant and had constantly shoved it in his face that he was going to be a dad and he apparently needed to be there all the time.

So no offense to her, but she was walking into Roberts insults all the time. It was as if she was looking for an argument between them and used the baby to ignite it.

Lee did show up a few more times, demanding money or he would be a part of the baby's life and he stupidly did it when he saw Victoria come out of Aaron and Roberts home. Stupid, because there were cameras outside. So they went straight to the police who as usual, did nothing about it but give Lee a warning. After a couple more times of this happening, Robert had brought a solicitor to the house and asked them about restraining orders.

Unfortunately with his luck, Aaron and Vic were on their way back and had seen them and Vic exploded for...as per usual, no reason at all.

"Did you not hear what he said?! A restraining order Vic! You can get one and it'll all be over!"

"Over?! How is this gonna be over Robert?! I was raped! That's never going to go away! And Lee, he's always going to be in my life no matter what! I need you to support me, not get mixed up in schemes that you want!"

"Support you with what, giving up? I'm trying to help!"

"Well don't! I don't need your help! I need you to just accept that things are the way they are!"

Aaron just stood there with a hand against his head. You would think that after months of hearing the same argument, over and over again, he would be used to it and it would be white noise in the background but...it was draining, not to just him but Robert and Vic too. He supposed...a restraining order sounded good...

"I don't get it! You dont want Lee in your life but you don't want a restraining order?! Vic, he's not gonna stay away on his own! We have evidence, so just let us use it against him!"

"He will stay away! He's scum, so obviously he won't stick around to look after a baby he doesn't want!"

Robert scoffed at that and Aaron decided to step in. He had to admit, Robert plotting against Lee was out of order, but this actually sounded quite good. It sounded legal and proper and good.

"Vic, a restraining order actually sounds good. I know that when Gordon came back, all the time to tell me to stop 'lying' I wanted nothing but for him to stay away forever. If I could, I would've taken a restraining order out there and then"

She opened her mouth to say something when Robert beat her to it with a frown.

"Ok. Short answer, Vic, you want a restraining order or not?"

"No, but-!"

"Fine. Then get out"

Aaron turned to him shocked and Victoria looked absolutely appalled that she was told to get out, but Robert was already at the door and was holding it wide open for her with his other hand beckoning her to get out.

"Rob-!"

"I'm serious. Get out. I don't want you in my house if you're not gonna accept my help. Go find someone else to whine your problems about cause I'm done getting everything thrown back in my face!"

She said nothing after that except a childish 'fine' and stormed out. Robert slammed the door after her and looked at Aaron with one of those looks that screamed 'don't start...' and went upstairs. Aaron sighed and grabbed the two empty mugs of tea and coffee from the table and washed them. He would need to wait for him to calm down. Maybe he would regret saying that to his little sister.

Maybe not.

A couple of hours later had Robert come downstairs with messy hair and loose pyjamas. He saw Aaron's look and groaned before turning to the kettle.

"Don't..."

"I'm not saying anything. I actually thought she'd agree...seriously..."

"I know...but I'm sick of it Aaron. I'm sick of trying to help her only for her to turn around and pin all the blame on me when the slightest thing goes wrong. Wh-shes doing nothing and then complaining about nothing being done..."

Aaron sighed and watched his husband pour out the boiling water. He stirred in the milk and tossed the spoon into the basin without a care.

"She can move all she likes...take Diane, take everyone else all she wants..."

"Robert come on...you're just upset. Both of you are..."

Robert only shook his head and walked back upstairs with his mug.

...........

Two weeks ended up going by of Robert and Victoria ignoring each other. Lee hadn't returned but Victoria never shut up about it whether it was during work or just random walking through the village. Even in the pub when Robert ate lunch or dinner with Aaron and Liv, she would constantly throw snide comments hoping for some sort of reaction and Aaron had had enough. He knew she was grieving over her ordeal, over her loss of self control, but...to constantly blame someone who loved her, over everything that went wrong in her life, well, that was a bit too far.

She wandered over towards Robert with a glass of lemonade in her hands, gave a sarcastic smile and sighed.

"Well this looks cosy"

Robert wiped his mouth with a napkin and nodded towards Aaron.

"Took me out for a meal didn't he? Currys really good..."

"I'm surprised you're not out there bashing Lee's head in. Since...well that's what you've been doing all this time"

Aaron rolled his eyes. Yet again, not one word had been said about Lee and yet she brought him up yet again and again.

"Vic..."

"We're celebrating. Me and Aaron...we wanna go ahead with the surrogacy actually"

She widened her eyes at that, her mouth opening and shutting like a fish.

"What? You're...you're going ahead with the surrogacy? After what happened to me?! You dont deserve a baby! You called mines a monster and they're not even born yet!"

Aaron stood up at that, his hands smacking the table on the way up. He pointed a finger at her and glared. Hard.

"Doesn't deserve a baby? Aren't you fucking aunt of the year?! Is it any wonder he's still not come around to the baby? You've been shoving it in his face any chance you get! We spend our surrogacy money on you, take you to a different country, and yet you're still going on about what a shit brother Roberts been?!"

Robert looked at Aaron and placed a hand on the side of his leg and squeezed.

"Aaron...come on..."

"No Rob! She's done nothing but be so fucking ungrateful! She's lucky she's even got family helping her! You know other people won't have family? But you know what? They get over it, even if they do end up pregnant. They don't use it as a sob story to get attention and sympathy from anyone you can grab your hands on! You know we can't get a kid as easy as you? We spent all our baby money on you, quite literally spent our future on you! Tell you what, when you're done acting so fucking naive, then you can come looking for sympathy. Until then, your getting none of it from me! I'm saving it for someone else who actually deserves it!"

With that said, he let out a shaky breath and stormed out. The whole pub was staring at him, but he didn't care. He needed to say it...

Robert looked at Victoria who stood there with a shocked look on her face. Her eyes were glossy and was clearly about to cry, but she held it in by biting her lip hard. After some thinking, he stood up and walked after Aaron, leaving Bob, Vanessa and Charity standing at the bar with wide eyes. She had already disowned him, maybe it was time he did the same....

............

Of course as soon as he stepped inside, Aaron turned around from standing at the kitchen sink to face him with teary eyes.

"I'm sorry! She...she doesn't need the stress...but I just couldn't handle watching her point the finger at you...not for everything. She's supposed to be happy for us...with the surrogacy and being an aunt...not saying that we don't deserve a kid..."

Robert only sighed and held out his arms.

"Come here you..."

Aaron nearly fell into them with a hard embrace. He sighed into the side of his husbands neck and glanced at a postcard that hung on the fridge.

"I wish we could just leave...you know? Like France..."

"You've always said that..."

"Can you imagine it though? Me and you...and Seb and the rest of our kids...all holed up in a house in France...they'd probably get sick of all the fancy cheese you buy..."

Robert chuckled, continued to hug Aaron with a slight sway to their standing.

"Yeah? What else?"

"Christmas would be havoc. The kids will be shouting at us because we won't let them open their presents until they've spoken to mum and Paddy on the phone first..."

He trailed off and hummed in thought before sighing.

"Liv would definitely be sending us postcards from travelling around the world as a famous artist"

Robert pulled back from the hug and cleared his throat, unsure if he really wanted to suggest this idea.

"So why don't we? Go? Get out of this village and move?"

With Aaron's expression, he thought he would shout at him and say no, tell him he was being ridiculous and never bring the idea up again.

"But...we can't...can we?"

"What's keeping us back here? Well...except your mum and Paddy?"

"I...it's..."

The word nothing echoed in his head, and he shook his head with a smile.

"Let's do it"

Robert nearly let out a gasp. He...he wasn't being seri-well he was being serious but he didn't expect...this! He grabbed the sides of his husbands face and pulled him close to leave a bruising kiss on his lips. He pulled away with a breathy laugh and pulled on Aaron's arm gently.

"We're really doing this then?"

Aaron nodded and gave him a big grin.

"Yeah. Yeah, we're doing this! We're getting out of this village and...we're starting our life, just us two....and our kids...in France"

Robert chuckled and pressed several kisses across Aaron's lips and his jaw until he pulled on his hand and started guiding them towards the stairs.

"Come on then. Make the most of the bedroom before we go eh?"

Aaron only laughed and ran up the stairs in response.

Chapter 2: An Unexpected Death

Summary:

Robert and Aaron plan more about France only to be interrupted by a police officer claiming that someone has passed away. Will this put a pause on their France plans?

Notes:

I should probably point out that if you are extremely sensitive, like, to anything, then please please don't bother reading this. Either grow up, or don't read fic. I'll add tags the more I go along.

But if you're seriously sensitive to people calling each other idiots or something, then you shouldn't read this fic. I'm just saying, because I'm tired replying to people who are crying because they're being triggered by someone swearing and they're having flashbacks of their parents divorcing or something. This is rated explicit, meaning preferably 18+ but I'm more along the lines of 16+ 15 at a push because I don't think I'll go along the 18 lines.

I've been having to reply to a lot of people whinging about how triggered they are over a couple swear words and I can't be bothered anymore, so don't read if you're TOO SENSITIVE!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

By the time Aaron had woken, he was slightly disappointed when he wasn't in his husbands arms, or at least against his skin right now. He saw Robert sitting at the bottom of the bed, a throw blanket over his lap. He was half dressed at least, if wearing nothing but black boxers counted. Dissappointment over.

He crawled from the top of the bed down towards Robert and made sure to keep the quilt around his front at least. He saw that Robert had his laptop balancing on his lap on top of the throw blanket and he was searching for something.

Aaron rested his chin on the blondes shoulders and peeked at what he was googling.

"What's this?"

"Plans. Work wise for France. I mean...you do the manual labour, but you can't exactly drag the whole portacabin with us can you. So...I mean unless you're up for the whole stay at home dad thing? Which I doubt tha-"

To his surprise, he felt Aaron nod against his shoulder and then hum in agreement.

"I wouldn't mind...Ellis can do it all here. He'd be paid more...and I'd be the one with the money anyways so I can transfer it to him. And Jimmy said he doesn't mind the manual part either remember"

Robert looked at him in amazement, his eyes twinkling in surprise and he pushed his forehead against Aaron's.

"Sounds like you've been thinking of this for ages..."

"Well...there's been a few fantasies..."

'Mmm yeah?"

Aaron laughed and leaned in to press his lips against Roberts, only barely managing to brush them gently before the door went frantically. They nearly jumped out of their skin and Robert huffed and shut his laptop over before tossing it on the middle of the bed. He grabbed his trousers, slipped them on as quickly as he could but the door just wouldn't shut up.

"Alright I'm coming! Where's my-?"

Aaron threw his shirt at him.

After a quick thanks and a rush downstairs, he heard the knocks on the doors get louder and quicker and he groaned and pulled it open.

"I said I was comi-! Oh...Vic..."

She crossed her arms and stormed in anyways without so much as a hello. She frowned and looked at her brother, sorry, her disowned brother now, and huffed.

"I went to Dads grave..."

"Right? I'm guessing you went there to tell him what a mess your brother was. Yeah?"

She sighed and looked around the kitchen randomly, avoiding any source of eye contact with him.

"No Robert, not everything is about you...I went and spoke to him about everything that happened. And about the baby...He'd want you to be there for me every step of the way you know..."

"Well...that's just it isn't it? Dad wouldn't even want me back in the village nevermind trying to help..."

"What are y-"

Aaron walked downstairs quickly at that point, face still flushed pink from his previous activity with his husband and he pulled down his jumper with a blush when he realised Victoria was there.

"Vic! Uhh...look, earlier...I shouldn't have said any of that...I was stressed and angry and...and I hate what he's made you like. What Lee's done...it's changed you..."

"No. No, you were right. I haven't once said thank you...especially about the surrogacy...I came here to apologise actually...and to tell you that we've moved the moving date to this Friday...I know you don't want me to go...but I think it'll be good for me...Diane said she's just gonna stay here...I wanna move on with my life...start a new chapter...just like you're doing with Aaron, with the surrogacy..."

Aaron glanced at Robert to look at his reaction, try and predict what he was going to say or do next. He wasn't sure if he was going to mention their plans...and he hoped he wouldn't...at least not for now. His fists were clenched earlier but now...they were loosening until they were finally unclenched and he stepped forwards to give his sister a hug. She hesitated for a moment before wrapping her arms around him and she buried her face into his chest with a few tears running down her face. Was this it then? The climax of their story?

Victoria pulled away from the hug slowly and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Aaron...I...I'm still really sorry if I was being...you know..."

"It's fine. I was just-"

"Yeah I know. I should probably go then. Maybe this'll be the best for everyone won't it? It'll bring a new face into the village anyways"

Robert smiled at that and watched her leave quietly. He turned around to look at his husband with a slight frown and wandered over to the kitchen.

"We should tell her...before she goes at least..."

"What, about France?"

"Yeah. She deserves to know...at least before she leaves..."

"Yeah, but at least tell her it's a secret for the now, yeah? Can you imagine mum's reaction when I tell her I'm away to France forever? She'll throw a fit!"

"She'll keep it a secret. Don't worry...now, shut up...and tell me more about your France fantasy. Hmm?"

They managed to steal a quick kiss, managed to get a couple of minutes worth of complete snogging and then quickly grabbing a shirt off of Aaron, when the door went yet again. Robert groaned loudly and waited a couple of seconds for his husband to be a little bit decent. What if Vic had something else to say? It would be quite innappropiate to do this in front of a half naked and hard brother in law...

He opened the door with his mouth open because he was ready to scream at someone when he was...it wasn't Vic, but instead a...

"Officer? Umm...come in?"

The policewoman sighed sadly and picked her hat off of her head.

"Robert Sugden Dingle?"

"Yeah...is there a problem?"

"We tried to come here earlier, but nobody was in unfortunately"

Robert frowned and Aaron looked between them worriedly. This wasn't still about the posters was it? Robert got off with a warning for that...and had got twice as lucky with another warning when Lee got him on camera trying to assault the rapist. Surely the police wouldn't...No, they wouldn't arrest him. Not now...Robert was way too much of a slippery frog when it came to that. Aaron had to voice his question.

"Excuse me but...what's this about? Is it about Lee?"

The lady looked confused for a second, shook her head slowly and Robert scoffed. Yet again, more police in the village and none to tell them the good news...

"Its regarding Rebecca White? I believe she's the mother of Sebastian White?"

Robert tensed at that.

"Bex? Wh-what's happened?"

"She was found dead by her fiance, Ross Barton. He was on a weekend business trip with his work and returned home to find that Rebecca...had passed away. I'm very sorry"

Robert immediately went white as a sheet. Dead? She couldn't be...no...not Seb too...Seb now officially without a mother...

Aaron pressed his hands into Roberts and squeezed before guiding him to the couch. He sat his husband down and the Police officer walked in and shut the door. He saw that Robert was definitely in no state to ask the brutal question so...it was up to him...

"Umm...how did she die?"

"There was a bleed in the brain, doctors confirmed it was because of the previous car accident she was in to cause her memory loss. They always said it would be risky and she couldn't stress herself out...they think she stopped taking her medication..."

Robert turned to Aaron with wide eyes.

"Where was the nanny? She said she hired one to help around...and yet it was Ross that found her? After his weekend trip? Wh-was she dead the entire weekend?"

Aaron wasn't really sure why Robert was asking him. If he had the answers, he'd tell Robert them in a heartbeat. But...He didn't...

"Where's Seb now?"

"He's at the station right now if you want to come collect him..."

Robert stood up too fast which made Aaron jump and he started searching the livingroom frantically for his phone. Ross. He had to call Ross. Ask him why he decided to go on the stupid trip. Ask him why the stupid nanny wasn't there in the first place! The officer looked like she was going to say something but suddenly decided against it. Aaron sighed and quietly thanked the officer for coming by and guided her back outside. He shut the door and looked at Robert and sighed.

"Rob..."

"She said she was going to hire help! Obviously she didn't if the...how long was Seb there alone?! Starving no doubt! I need to go-"

"Woah! Woah...no. You're not going anywhere...not in that state. Come on, we'll go to the police station, get Seb together and work it out from there..."

Aaron took the keys from the hook and nodded his head towards the door.

"Come on"

Robert ended up becoming the annoying passenger driver, constantly telling Aaron to hurry up and to cut in front of cars and rush because he was apparently taking forever. Aaron pointed at the lake with a roll of his eyes.

"Sure! Why don't I take that shortcut over there! Drown, see if that'll get us there faster!"

Robert shut up after that. Just...he couldn't imagine Seb being alone while she...God, this was only Tuesday...

"Rob, he'll be fine...he's too young to know any different ok? Just be glad he is..."

"Be glad Rebecca's dead?! She's his mum Aaron!"

"No, I didn't mean that! I just mean...Sebs too young to understand death. He won't go through the heartbreak of losing one when he's older..."

Robert huffed and rested his elbow on the window, head in his hand. He blinked back tears and sniffed.

"I knew this would happen...Seb losing a parent at one point...have you ever seen anyone in the village with a stable mum and dad? Rebecca's dead and...there's me and you planning to move abroad"

Aaron sighed and focused on the road ahead. As selfish as he thought he was being at the moment, he didn't want this to ruin any plans for France...he needed to leave that village and start anew...now they would have to stay back and organise a funeral for Rebecca...console everyone around them and before they knew it, they'd be walking Seb to and from school with another kid on the way. The only problem? They were still in the village...

"Are you...I mean what were we planning to do with Seb anyways?"

"I was gonna ask her, see if she could let us have Seb for a month and just do it monthly. She could come visit whenever obviously and...well it doesn't matter now does it?"

Aaron sighed and said nothing, just reached over to lightly pat his husbands leg gently, reassuring him silently that everything would be ok.

They reached the police station after the rest of the silent car journey ended and made their way inside the building. The police officer from earlier was coincidentally in the room and gave them a small smile and walked over to them.

"Sebastian is through this way if you want to come with me"

They followed her through and as soon as they had entered the room, Seb, who was fine playing with a bunch of foam cubes, spotted them right away and brightened up. He raised his hands as if asking to be picked up and Robert did so right away.

"Hey cheeky...we've missed you haven't we?"

He giggled into Roberts ticklish kisses across his cheek and was immediately reaching out for Aaron right away.

"Bah!"

Aaron chuckled and hugged him close.

"Yeah, me and your baba are gonna take you home..."

Robert turned to face the police officer. He had to know more. More about Rebecca and what had happened. Obviously he knew about the death, but what about events surrounding it? Like hiring a nanny? Where the hell was Ross? Where was he right now?!

"How long was Seb there for? When she..."

"A day. He's been fed and changed and even checked over and he's perfectly healthy"

"And...Ross? Her partner? Where's he right now?"

"Last we heard, he went back to the village to get his brother. Pete Barton I believe? I think he's needing some closure..."

Aaron continued to make Seb smile by tickling underneath his chin and Seb pulled his beard in response. Apparently beards were super fun to play with if you were a baby. In Roberts case, it was fun when he thought Aaron was asleep.

"What about the nanny? She said she was gonna hire help...wh-she just so happened to not turn up on the day she's dead?"

"We've asked Ross Barton about it but he claims she never actually hired one? She looked after Sebastian solely on her own with his support. Were you aware of different circumstances?"

"Yeah! Yeah I was! My son-! Forget it...he's definitely ok?"

The officer nodded and Aaron placed a hand on his husbands shoulder. There was no need to get angry, not as if it was suitable to disrespect the dead after all. What was he gonna do? Go to Rebecca's dead body and give her a lecture about lying to him?

"Rob...we should meet up with Ross...see what we can do for her..."

"Organise her funeral right now? Wha-oh my god, Sebs gonna be at his own mothers funeral..."

Before Robert would start to get into one of his states, Aaron thanked the officer once more and managed to somehow get Robert out of there without him lashing out at anyone in his view. Aaron strapped Seb into the carseat and told Robert at least four times to put on his own seatbelt before finally driving back to the village.

Ross looked the exact same, somehow taller and more mature. He was still wearing his work clothes such as a pair of ruined white overalls and a pair of steel toe capped boots along with a hi-vis jacket.

"Aaron...Robert...I tried to call-"

Robert nodded.

"I know. We were at the police station...picking up this little man...Ross what the hell happened? Why'd you not take Seb?!"

"Nonono I did! There's clearly been a lot of miscommunication! I got back...and there she was...and the police turned up and took him before I could do anything! I had to tell Pete...I...I don't know what to do..."

"We're gonna need to organise a funeral..."

"No need. I've already called Annette"

Robert frowned. Annette? Was he missing something here? Was she supposed to be the funeral director or something?

"Uhh...? Who?"

"Annette. Bexs friend from Ibiza...they were like sisters...I'm flying over there tomorrow"

Aaron shut his eyes in slight frustration. He just knew Robert would already begin to feel angry. He knew Robert would probably feel like he's being pushed away, yet again from anything that Rebecca was a part of. Surprisingly, Robert only nodded.

"Ok...I didn't want Seb to be at the funeral...I mean obviously to see her, but at the same time, he doesn't deserve to say goodbye when he's just a baby...we'll visit the grave if we ever get the chance..."

"And we'll let him say goodbye to her face...we can set up like a little memorial for her, pick out the best picture, light a couple candles...that way he'll always remember who she was and won't forget"

Robert turned to him, Seb singing away happily with his made up gagaga song. He seriously wondered how he was lucky enough to have someone so...so thoughtful, even after everything he had put him through, the days, months, years...

"I really do love you...you know that right?"

"Good thing I love you too then isn't it? Otherwise you'll have just embarassed yourself"

Notes:

For the sake of this story, Graham never took over Roberts business. Robert still owns his business. I can't be bothered with Rebecca. People tend to forget she literally raped Robert because he was not in his right mind when he was drinking. Just saying, but if it was the other way round, people would be calling Robert a rapist.

And for the sake of this story, Robert and Aaron may be REALLY out of character purely because...plot. That's why ^.^

Anyways, any family situation you wanna see them do in the future, comment and I'll most definitely add it in!

Sorry for the beginning notes being harsh, I'm just tired of repeating myself when it's seriously not necessary...

Chapter 3: 3

Notes:

I am actually so proud of this chapter for reasons I cant explain! I just loved writing this and I cant wait to write more of this universe! Liv and Robert's relationship is one of my favourites because...end notes...

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Aaron was surprised when he woke to an empty bed. He was expecting Robert to get a long lie in since he was exhausted and already looking like he was on the brink of death. He wanted him to recover, prevent himself from having another seizure.

A selfish part of him also wanted Robert to focus on the France plans but that seemed to be chucked out the window right now.

Peeling the covers off of him, he stepped out of bed and slid on a pair of shorts and opened the curtains. He looked outside and wondered if Robert would be out in the front garden but instead, he saw Liv and Doug talking in the driveway. They were probably talking more about their weird plant...stuff...

He heard something crash and then a loud swear and Seb crying. Of course...he'd already be up with him...

When he walked downstairs, he already saw the mess all over the room, Sebs clothes everywhere and assorted stuffed bears and toys...

"What's happened here then?"

Robert groaned when he leaned over to pick up the frying pan that he dropped and Seb continued to wail until Aaron picked him up and calmed him down right away.

"Stress, remember? He picks it up easily...has he had brekkie yet?"

"Yes Aaron, I'm not gonna let my own son starve am I?!"

One look from Aaron made him take back his words instantly.

"Sorry. Yes, he's been fed..."

"Have you?"

A beat. Then two.

"Robert...for-right I'll go get dressed and we'll head to the cafe, ok? Ask Brenda if she's able to mash some banana for this cheeky one"

He blew a raspberry onto Sebs cheek, making the baby laugh and squirm to get away from the tickly sensation as much as possible. Robert gave a small smile at the sight and then stood up to take Seb back into his arms leaving Aaron to head back upstairs for a quick change.

............

Aaron had only fed Seb two spoonfuls of his mashed avocado (in the end they couldn't find a banana) when Robert had sipped his well needed coffee with a sigh.

"You know I reckon Liv would be a good farmer, since she loves gardening an all that"

"Yeah, that's true...no, don't spit it out Se-there you go. Well, Doug and her get along really well, it was only a matter of time before she became as crazy as him about plants"

"We should get her to grow potatoes, save us from buying them everyday"

Aaron swallowed. He knew it, with Rebecca's unfortunate news, Robert wouldn't want to move to France. This was it wasn't it? Their future would continue, they would be a proper little family with either a son or daughter, or both and of course little Seb...

Yet again...

The only problem was that they were still in the village.

And it wasn't as if he hated it, he just didn't like the contents within and especially whatever the future would hold. Everyone knew each others business and they couldn't even take Seb out without someone from the village offering to babysit or coming over to chat. Don't even get him started on date nights. If they wanted to go somewhere, it required money and the car and half an hour of the pair arguing where to go before they just sacked the night off.

"Aaron? Oi, you there?"

"Hmm?"

"Later, we could do your idea you had last night? About Rebecca..."

Aaron nodded. Of course. The picture idea...

"Yeah that's fine. Should we head up to hers later then? She must have some sort of memory box or something..."

...............

"This one?"

Robert shook his head. No, he didn't think a selfie of her pouting would be suitable enough for their own memorial picture. Aaron put it back in the box and went through the pile he had on his knees. They brought a large box down with them after realising it was a memory box and went through the pictures. There were a load of Chrissie and Lawrence and very very few of Lachlan. He assumed Rebecca must've thrown them out after her ordeal...

Aaron showed Robert another picture. Rebecca had a big smile on her face, red glittery cowboy hat on and bright red lipstick.

"She looks like shes having tons of fun here..."

Robert cringed when he realised what that picture reminded him of and he shook his head with a slight red tinge on his cheeks.

"Maybe not...that was Chrissies hen do, we uhh..."

"Oh. This was the time you had both of them then?"

"Yeah. I ended it that night with her though...let's just keep looking"

Aaron nodded and put it away. He always seemed to forget about Robert's cheating past, forgot what a bad person he used to be. Robert, who ruthlessly hurt people without a care in the world, sleeping with as many girls as possible just so he could prove some point to his dead father...the Robert he saw was different from everyone elses eyes. Robert had changed and he had changed for the better, maybe not completely, but he was...well, it was hard to describe.

Suppose that's what love did to you after all.

"What about this one?"

Robert looked at the picture Aaron held out and picked it off him. He held it up and smiled slightly. It was a close up of Rebecca smiling, a big toothy smile, with an oversized sun hat on and her hair blowing in the wind. She looked like she was at a beach judging from the sand and water in the background.

Plus this picture didn't have any bad memories.

"This is perfect..."

"Its a nice one for Seb to remember her by..."

"Ok...I'll clean up this mess and you head upstairs and get one of the frames, yeah?"

Aaron returned with a simple oak frame that had a silver vine decorating the edges. The picture slid in perfectly after folding the bottom and the stand was pushed out so they could stand it up on top of the fireplace.

..............

Robert knew Aaron was bummed about the France plans. After all, they had literally only agreed to make what was possibly the biggest decision of their lives and within the blink of an eye, they were scarpered.

He knew it was unfair to ask him to have them on hold, with it not exactly being the right time to put it on hold, but this was what he was talking about. The village was cursed. Everyone either died, had affairs, got pregnant with someone else's baby or suddenly comes out of the closet. It was all of that every single year, repeating itself like a mantra and in a constant spin.

He looked at the houses on his laptop yet again, the cute little country houses that he just adored. One even had a water mill!

He had also seen a modern looking apartment with an amazing view and the windows were those that touched the floor and ceiling. It looked so modern and amazing, but he knew that he and Aaron wanted the country vibe instead.

"Hes finally down..."

Robert didn't have time to shut the laptop over, so Aaron saw it right away as soon as he stood behind him and crooked an eyebrow.

"I thought you wanted to push things back..."

"Yeah...but it's not fair on you and me...we just planned this. Theres no way we can stay here any longer..."

"Rob...you don't have to say this just to make me happy. I admit, yeah, pushing back plans kinda sucks, but if itll give you time to...to grieve and come to an understanding with Rebecca's death, then..."

Robert looked at Aaron's hands first before grabbing them and he squeezed. He leaned forward until his head rested on the bottom of Aaron's stomach and he sighed.

"No...I can't stay here any longer...we cant...look what its doing to us...I promised us both that when we got married that I would spend the rest of my life making you happy...whatever it took"

Aaron grinned.

"Are you sure? Or is this another back and forwards thing, one day its yes, the next no..."

"Nonono...its a definite yes...you can even tell Liv if you want, get her opinion on all of this, see what she wants to do..."

Liv...overall she was a really supportive sister when it came to things, but what if she didn't want him to go? What if she wanted to stay and keep them with her?

"Wh-how am I supposed to start off? With me saying 'hey liv guess what? Pack your bags, we're going to france!' She'll love that won't she?"

"Ask her what shes planning to do in the future and work it out from there"

"I'm not asking her what she wants to do in the future...that's your job..."

He muttered away to himself when he walked away and Robert grinned.

"Use the future opening! It'll work!"

"I can see a divorce in the future if you don't shut up!"

...........

Liv was in the back gardening. She had a huge brown sack to the left and a large and small shovel in her hands. She dropped the large one and kneeled down to start digging.

"Hey...have you been gardening this entire time?"

"No! I went to Gabbys earlier when yous went to Rebecca's..."

"Ok...um...can we talk? It's kind of important..."

She looked at him weirdly before dropping her shovel and walked over to the garden table and chairs they had purchased a while ago. She took off her gardening gloves and dropped them on the table with a raised eyebrow. Clearly she wanted to go back to gardening right away.

"Well?"

"Umm...have you thought about the future? What you wanna do an all that?"

Dammit Robert...

"Kind of...I mean I've already applied for Art school next year...theres an amazing one in Leeds and it's just so perfect...but otherwise, no not really. Art schools been on my mind for a while and now I'm finally going to do it...well, if I get in..."

"You will...I've seen your art pieces...I mean I don't understand them, but I've never been able to understand art..."

She laughed and slid her gloves back on.

"Is that all?"

"Um...no. I asked because I was wondering...well, me and Robert's thinking of moving..."

"Is there even another house around here? Vics not even selling hers anymore..."

Aaron bit his lip. Could he tell her? He knew how hard it was for Liv to settle in somewhere, no thanks to Sandra who was constantly moving her around the second she couldn't afford rent. Finally Liv had somewhere to belong...and he was ripping this away from her...if she allowed him to. However, there was no time like the present...

"No. We're thinking of moving abroad...get a fresh start. In France..."

"Oh..."

"Yeah. Obviously the offer for you to come is there...but look, theres absolutely no pressure on you to say yes or no. You can stay if you want, Chas and Paddy'll keep an eye on you obviously. If not, then we can sort something out for you in France, get you to college or find something else..."

She snorted and shook her head.

"I didn't even pass French Aaron!"

"So? You think Robert's good with his foreign tongue?"

Well, that was a lie since he was fluent in Spanish...and studied a lot of Japanese...

Liv gave him a disgusted look and frowned.

"Ew...I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that..."

Aaron blushed and rolled his eyes at his sister's insinuations.

"Liv listen...just think about it ok? You'll always be my little sister no matter what and even if you do decide to stay, I'll always be in contact..."

"Ok...I'll think about it..."

"Right. Chips for tea tonight? Use up the rest of the burgers in the freezer?"

She nodded and Aaron took her silence as his cue to leave. He walked back upstairs and through the back door where he saw Robert still at the table, still on his laptop.

"How'd she take it?"

"Ok? I think? I'm not sure. She's...shes still a bit unsure about her future-dont give me that look Rob...shut up...but she says she definitely wants to go to Art school in Leeds"

Robert smiled.

"Shes still wanting to do that? That's one of the places we looked at when trying to find a college course for her..."

"Yeah. Shes really excited...I...I don't think she'll come...just give her time, right?"

"Exactly. Just give her time. That's all"

......

Dinner was pretty much awkward and silent except for Sebs happy babbling away whenever Aaron gave him a chip. He loved to suck all of the potato out from inside it. Liv played around with her food, half a burger eaten and the chips suffered constant poking from the fork. Robert had already told her off twice and after the third, she dropped her fork and gave them her usual 'liv scowl'

"It doesn't taste right..."

Aaron frowned.

"It tastes perfectly fine. Robert's the one that cooked it"

"Well mine doesn't taste right..."

She pushed her plate in front of her and spun on her heel to head upstairs. Robert stole a chip from her plate and shrugged his shoulders.

"Perfectly fine"

"Hang on and I'll go talk to her. I'm not getting another one of her usual pointless strops again"

As soon as he stood up, Robert grabbed a hold of Aaron's arm, refusing to let him go upstairs. Aaron was hot headed all the time, so letting him talk to another hot headed girl only caused chaos in the household and he wasn't exactly in the mood for Seb crying right now.

"Just let her stew...think things over..."

Aaron sat down and frowned.

"Fine"

..................

They settled down Seb for the night, the bouncing bubbly baby tired from his full stomach. He loved the chips, so mashed potato went straight inside their baby book. He started nodding off on the floor when he was playing with his foam blocks and after Robert snapped a picture, he changed the boy into his pyjamas and put him straight to bed.

They watched a movie and while the main character was declaring their love for the dying love interest, Liv tip toed down the stairs and plonked herself down on the armchair, legs lazily swung over the arm.

Robert chuckled at her bedhead.

"Take it you took a nap then?"

"At least i don't drool in my sleep"

"Right...so are you ready to talk?"

She nodded and Aarom reached over to grab the remote and pause the film. They were dozing off anyways so the film would most likely get put on the pile of 'half finished but too tired to finish and we didn't like it anyways'

"Remember when I said that mum used to always move me around? We never stayed in one place for long...and it pretty much sucked because the only friends I could make were the neighbours, hence why Ryan was dragged into the mix. Schools didn't matter to me cause I was new so I got away with everything...and they threatened to suspend me or expell me, but we moved anyways so who cared right?"

She cleared her throat and Aaron mumbled an apology to her.

"Then we moved here and I didn't think much of it because...well, we were just gonna move yet again anyways, at least that's what I thought. I thought she was gonna come back and tell me to pack my bags every day....then she moved to Ireland and I was so happy. And I know I was a pain at the beginning, I'm surprised none of yous strangled me"

Robert laughed.

"Believe me, I was close..."

"But...I love living here...this is the only place I can call home. I know everyone and I get to know the new people that come in and out. I've actually made proper friends and I actually finished school thanks to Einstein over here with exams that I managed to pass. I love being here in Ememrdale...its full of firsts and I want to keep making firsts here...I don't wanna make it my last...so..."

She struggled to say the rest without her eyes tearing up, so Robert and Aaron exchanged a look and a small sad smile before crouching down in front of her. They gave her a hug and Robert ignored the fact that he now had Sebs tears and dried snot on one shoulder and Livs tears and dried snot on the other.

"We know. You know we'll keep in contact all the time don't you? Whether it's your weird facetime or Skype or..."

"Yeah. Yeah I know..."

Aaron smiled.

"Good. You know study sessions are always open with him and anytime you need to talk about anything..."

"I know"

She huffed and rubbed her eyes with her fists before letting out a breathy laugh.

"Right pair of sops yous are...who says I'll miss you anyways? Its Seb I'll miss the most..."

They all smiled and knew the seriousness of the conversation had gone. This was it. It was officially decided and Liv had given them the boost they needed. France was on and they would leave Liv behind to focus on her life in Emmerdale.

It wasn't until Robert had put the bookmark in between the pages of his favourite Stephen King novel that Aaron leaned over and kissed his husbands cheek.

"What was that for?"

"For being the father figure Liv needs in her life..."

And those words made Robert's heart flutter all night.

Notes:

I don't know about you, but I've always viewed Liv and Roberts relationship as father daughter and I don't know why. I just think it suits them more and like, they even look like each other with the blonde hair and give each other snappy remarks.

But hey. Thoughts?

Notes:

Thoughts?