Disclaimer: I don't own Skins. Right now I'm not sure I'd even want to.

Author Note: I wrote most of this a while ago, completely forgot about it until I was walking past Mothercare and Dougal came to mind. Enjoy, it's almost certainly going to be a fluffy fic!

I am now back to being unemployed, so my new job is writing fanfiction. Hope you guys don't mind! :-P

Better Together: Until We Meet Again

'Nappies?' Gina asked, waiting whilst Naomi searched through the bag, resting it on the kitchen table in order to reach into the very bottom.

'Yeah.'

'Expressed milk?'

'These bottles full of yellow crap?' Naomi checked, her nose wrinkled up in repulsion. 'Yeah.'

Thinking about milk was fine, but knowing the bottles of it had actually come from her mother's body made her feel a little sick. More so at Christmas when she'd seen her mum breastfeeding and had learnt that, she too, had once fed in that way. It probably wouldn't have been as big of a deal, if she hadn't recently had sex with a girl who seemed obsessed with her breasts. Naomi remembered actually sympathising with her mother over her painful nipples, having felt the same way just days before.

'Dummies?'

'Three of them,' she scoffed. 'Why do you need three?'

'One for him to suck on, one for if he drops it on the floor and another one in case we lose the second.'

'Too much thinking mother,' Naomi muttered. 'Do you ever actually think of anything other than the baby anymore?'

Gina ignored her, continued down her list, listening to every moan, groan and comment that came out of Naomi's mouth. If she didn't love her so much, she probably would have been very happy to have her wait in the car like Kieran usually did.

Naomi raised an eyebrow, 'Is that everything?'

'Not quite. Your maternal side?' Gina asked with a cheeky grin.

Naomi rolled her eyes, didn't give her mother the satisfaction of a response. 'Baby?' she asked, slinging the bag over the pram handles.

'Check,' came Kieran's voice from the doorway.

'Why are we going to the park?' Naomi questioned, rearranging the bag straps until they were neatly in place. She might have complained, but really she was enjoying the company. It had been nice returning home, being fussed over by her hormonal mother and being forced to spend every waking hour with her, in the two days since she got back.

'Because we've barely seen you in ten months.'

'It's not my fault you didn't want to come visit,' Naomi informed her. 'I'm not the one on a permanent holiday.'

'I think you'll find it's called maternity leave and it ends next month when Dougal starts nursery.'

'How old is he now?' Naomi muttered, leaning down to tickle the little boy's tummy after Kieran placed him in the pram. He was tiny. Granted, not as tiny as he once was. But still very small. It amazed her how something so little could make as much noise, or as many smells as her little brother.

'Five months and six days,' Kieran recited, proudly.

'Seven days today Key,' Gina corrected with a smirk. He tried, which was something she loved about Kieran. He wasn't a natural parent yet somehow managed to handle it all well.

'How am I ever gonna keep up with the little bugger if he just keeps getting older?'

'Typical dad aren't you Kieran?' Naomi mocked.

'Don't you start, your mother's always on at me to 'be more involved'. I already clean up his shit and let him throw up on my clothes. How much more involved can I be?'

'Can we just go? I said I'd see Cook at three.'

'How is James?'

Naomi shrugged her shoulders. 'I don't know, I've not seen him for a few months. He's just been released though.' She realised she should have known, he was her only friend outside of uni and the one person she'd actually kept in contact with in the year since college ended. It was easier with him being in jail. He often wrote letters about his boredom, the A levels he'd been studying and the troubles he'd come across with his fellow prisoners. He actually sounded happier than she'd ever seen him.

'About time, I can't believe they gave him eighteen months.'

'It's his own fault,' Naomi sighed, remembering the day he told her he was going to take the wrap for Sophia. She'd stayed strong, told him she was thankful. But really she felt guilty, guilty that he was going to go down for something she had done. She was surprised he even wanted to stay friends when the first letter arrived. 'He'd have been released long before now if he didn't get involved in that riot.'

'Why don't you ask him to join us? He's more than welcome.'

'Yes, please do' Kieran mumbled. 'I've been surrounded by women for far too long.'

'Don't worry Kieran, when Dougal's older and I have my own place, you boys will outnumber mum.'

'Just so long as we don't end up with anymore,' Kieran raised an eyebrow. Naomi noticed the tone in his voice, the look on her mother's face as the two of them stared each other down.

'What's going on?'

'Nothing love,' Gina assured her, pushing her list into her bag and sliding her jacket around her shoulders.

Kieran let out a laugh. 'You lie woman. Naomi, your mother wants us to have another one. Tell her she's crazy.'

'What? Already? You are crazy.'

'I know how lonely you were growing up Naomi. I don't want Dougal to end up like that.'

'Learning from your mistakes? Thanks mum.'

'It's not like that,' Gina notified. 'I always wanted more children, just never found the right man. Now I have Kieran and Dougal, I feel like we're not yet complete.'

'She wants a girl.'

'I don't want a girl,' she snapped. 'I just think that Dougal would grow up better with a little brother or sister to fuss over.'

'Or hate,' Naomi added.

'No child of mine will hate their sibling.'

The idealistic view wasn't that unfamiliar to Naomi. She'd seen it time and again with anything her mum took up. When she tried her hand at martial arts, she wanted to be the best despite having terrible co-ordination. Before Kieran came into her life, she'd been dumped by three men who all said her expectations were a little bit too high. Gina was a dreamer and liked to believe the best in people unless proven wrong. It always gave Naomi hope even if it did infuriate her as well.

'No, but a child of Kieran's might, mum,' Naomi reminded her, unable to hold her realistic tongue.

'She's right, you know, I don't get along with either of my brothers.'

Gina rested a hand on her hip. 'I knew there was a reason why I liked you being at university, Naomi.'

'Because you're proud and happy with all that I've achieved?'

'No, because even though Kieran isn't your dad, he might as well be. The two of you, I swear you collude with each other on purpose.'

With one hand on the baby's pram and the other clutching her bag, Gina forced them to move, finally leaving the house and putting their days plan into action.

'Yeah right, mum,' Naomi moaned after her. 'As if Kieran could ever be bothered to do that.'

*

"Alright Naomikins, how's my pussy lover?" Cook grinned, wrapping an arm around Naomi's shoulder, nodding a greeting to Gina and Kieran. 'Alright?'

'You must be James?' Gina asked, holding out a hand.

'Err, yeah,' he replied, staring at her hand before taking it. 'You've gotta be Gina, I can see where Naomi gets her good looks from. You ever after a younger man, you just give us a call!'

'Excuse me Mr Cook,' Kieran cleared his throat. 'That's my soon to be wife you're talking to.'

'Kieran! How's it going mate?'

'Could be better, if young Lothario's aren't trying to chat up my woman.'

'Don't be such a cock, Cook. Can we please go find somewhere to sit? This place is already too busy,' Naomi complained, pushing the pram across the grass towards a picnic table.

'My anti-social daughter really hasn't learnt much from university, has she?'

Cook reached a hand around Gina's shoulder whilst they followed Naomi across the grass. 'Just you wait Gina love, she's been Cookie-less for a year now. Think she needs someone to bring her out of her shell a bit, know what I'm saying?'

'Yes, well, thank you James.'

'So what do we do?' Naomi sighed once everyone was sat around the table.

Gina tilted her head, resting a hand into the pram to settle Dougal, who fussed beside her. 'What do we do when?'

'Well, we're at the park. What do we do here?'

'I can think of a few things I'd like to do here,' Cook groaned, his head following a group of girls who walked past the table.

Twelve months in the slammer did nothing for his appetite. The rumours of men roughing him up for their sexual pleasure were unfounded and though he'd never wanted to shag a bloke, he was a little disappointed that there weren't more opportunities to make himself feel better.

'Put that away James,' Naomi mocked, pushing his mouth closed.

'What? Can't blame me, I ain't had a poke in ages. You wouldn't be up for a quickie, would you?'

Naomi rolled her eyes, remembered the last time something had nearly happened between them. Things were different now, she wasn't in love with someone anymore and actually found herself feeling relatively lonely.

'Hang around a little longer and we'll see,' she muttered, letting the same group of girls catch her attention as they settled down on the grass nearby.

'Please, not in front of the baby,' Gina requested, pulling him into her arms and rocking him gently.

'Sorry Gina, who's the little scrapper?'

'Dougal.'

*

'She said she wanted cotton napkins.'

'But the hotel don't have cotton napkins, so to buy some would cost more than her budget will allow.'

'I promised her cotton.'

'You can't promise the client things like that Katie, how many times do I have to say that before you'll listen?'

'I know mum, but this is Gina Campbell we're talking about. She's very weird and particular.'

'I can't keep doing your work Katie, I have my own client's wedding to plan. You're competent, now figure it out or get a new job.'

'Oh, thanks mum, yeah? Really nice of you to say that. I don't want another job. You're the boss, I was asking for your help. That's all.'

'Well,' Jenna began, before her eyes fell upon a red haired girl sat on the sofa, a pile of bags beside her. 'Emily?'

'Hey, I'm home.'

Breathing was her priority the second her mother's arms came around her body. She didn't expect it, wasn't sure she even wanted it. Yet there wasn't a lot she could do. Emily gave up, allowed Jenna to squeeze her as much as she liked, even settled her hand on her mum's back to steady herself. Then Katie appeared behind her, sandwiching her into a Fitch hug like she'd never seen before.

'Missed you,' Katie whispered into her ear, a small offering she took gratefully before ducking down and away from their prison.

'I'm warn out and hungry, what do we have in?'

'Forget about food Ems,' Katie demanded. 'How was the flight? How was Brazil? Why didn't you go to Mexico like you always wanted? What were the boys like? Come on, tell me everything.'

Katie's enthusiasm made Emily realise exactly why she'd missed her back. Sure they could argue and fight like they hated each other. But deep down they got along, they cared about each other and it just wasn't the same spending six months without seeing her once. Katie forced her to sit down on the sofa, their mother leaving the room muttering something about tea and crumpets.

'Where's dad and James?'

Pressing her lips together silently seemed the only appropriate response. Katie tried her best to smile, to appear like everything was fine, despite knowing it wasn't.

'What's going on?' Emily asked, zeroing in on the pained expression and tension that had clouded her return from travelling.

'James is at Gordon's, he'll be back after dinner,' Katie finally replied, turning to Jenna as she carried in a tray housing their tea set.

'Herbal or normal?' Jenna asked, holding up a box of each.

'Mum, where's dad?' Emily asked, realising how hard it would be to get an answer from her sister.

'Oh,' Jenna gasped, staring down at the teapot in her hands. 'He, well, he's,'

'He's gone Emily,' Katie spoke up, hating how upset their mum seemed to get whenever the subject came up.

'Gone? Where?'

'After you left, mum kicked him out. He moved to Liverpool to stay with Uncle Kev.'

With her legs taking control, Emily stood up, glaring at her family with every inch of anger she could muster. 'You lied to me? After everything that happened last year, you lied to me too? How could you not tell me he wasn't here anymore? Why didn't he?'

'Emily, sit down.'

'No, I won't fucking sit down. Why do you keep doing this to me?' she gasped, the lack of sleep and latest bout of homesickness sending waves of tears from her eyes. She longed to be comforted by the one Fitch who wasn't there.

'We didn't want to ruin your plans Emily,' Katie informed her. 'You seemed so excited to go. We wanted you to be happy.'

'So you wait until I'm at my happiest to tell me? I was walking on air this morning, why did you have to do that?'

Picking up her smallest bag and jacket, Emily stole a couple of biscuits off the tray and headed for the door. Only stopping when Katie's tiny voiced asked where she was going.

'Out. Need some fucking air.'

No one argued when Emily closed the front door behind her. She walked down the street away from the house, wandered along the main road until she reached her old sanctuary. A path ran across the park beside the lake, trees all shades of green as the summer sun shone down upon them. She felt a sense of comfort, of ease settling her frustration. She was on the verge of collapsing with need for sleep, but had to keep going. The park was busier than she expected. Finding a quiet corner away from the children running around, she perched against a tree, pulled out a book she found in her bag and started to read.

'Emily Fucking Fitch!' a voice disrupted the train of story mid-sentence, causing Emily to look up with enthusiasm.

'Cook.'

'The one and only, if you don't include my dick of a dad.'

Jumping to her feet, Emily wrapped her arms around his shoulders, squeezing that little bit tighter until she felt the greeting had been suitable met. It had been over a year after all.

'How's it going my other favourite pussy lover?'

Emily tensed up at the mention of Naomi. She forged a smile onto her face, informed him of her return and started up a general conversation.

'What's taking you so long you cock?'

Naomi. Emily turned in time to spot the blonde rushing towards Cook with a baby bottle in her hand. She stopped abruptly after locking eyes with Emily. Cook stood between them, rolling his eyes at the now tense situation.

'Ah, I assume you two have met,' Cook joked. 'How about we start from the beginning? Ems, this is Naomikins, Naomikins, this is Ems. Let's play nice.'

'Haven't got time Cook, Dougal needs a bottle or we'll get kicked out for noise pollution.'

Cook nodded, turned away from Emily. 'The café says we can warm it up in there, should have taken it with me really.'

'That's why I came after you.'

The exchange of conversation was easy when it was just Cook, but under the watchful eye of Emily Fitch, Naomi felt uncomfortable. She handed Cook the bottle, watched him mutter a farewell to Emily as he walked away. She stayed where she was stood, training her eyes away from Emily, unsure what to do next. Walking away without saying something was an option, but even with their previous parting, it was a little rude. The decision was taken out of her hands.

'Who's Dougal?' Emily asked, her mind wandering in a direction she didn't think it would ever go. She doubted the possibility, but something made her wonder if Naomi had spent the majority of her year being pregnant. The worst thought was that Cook could be the father.

'Mum and Kieran had a baby,' Naomi muttered.

She was relieved. She had no right to have an opinion really, but Emily was glad. A year apart didn't stop her from considering Naomi her own, no matter how badly it had ended. 'Oh right.'

'I should go,' Naomi sighed, holding a hand up to Emily as goodbye.

As she walked away, Emily wondered what exactly had happened. It was a long time since they'd last said anything to one another and now they were exchanging pleasantries like nothing had ever happened? She didn't feel much like reading anymore. Throwing her book into her bag and putting it over her shoulder, Emily continued her walk around the park. When she was sure she was alone again, she perched on a bench, stared out across the lake and enjoyed the beautiful sun shining down on the day.

Chapter Two coming soon. Please review.