dele stands outside of eric's house before taking a deep breath and knocking on his door. a few moments later eric opens the door and just looks at dele standing there.

'why are you here?' he says crossing his arms.

'look, i came to apologise.' says dele sighing which takes eric by surprise.

'i'm listening.'

'it's zara that knocked some sense into me, she was pissed at me for being pissed at you. she knows how much you mean to me, she hated seeing us being at each other's neck. as we're both idiots who could wait months before one of us would apologise, so here i am. i'm sorry for the way i've been with you, you were only trying to think about what's best for me and i was just being a dick.'

'it also made me realise that asking zara to marry me would be the dumbest thing i've ever done, even more dumb than when my sextape got leaked. so once again, i am sorry for being a prick and i want to thank you for looking out for me and saving my relationship.' says dele with a small smile.

eric just looks at him, eyebrow raised before grabbing hold of him and bringing him into a hug which takes dele by surprise.

'we're not best friends dele, we're brothers.'

• •

'so when are you both going to japan?' says kate as they sit in her kitchen.

'our flight is four days after the nations league final so there's no rush of having to come back before pre season starts and all that. he even called up the school so i didn't have to worry about taking any time off or anything.'

'are you excited?'

'yes i am! but i'm also very nervous.'

'nervous? how come?'

'well this is my first proper holiday with dele. we've been on a few nights away, even a weekend away to spain but nothing this big. i'm probably overreacting as usual but yeah i'm just nervous.' says zara with a shrug before they are interrupted by the baby monitor.

'sorry about that, vivienne can be quite the cryer when she wants to.' says kate before leaving the room and heading upstairs.

she comes back down a few moments later with a calmer vivienne in her arms.

'would you like to hold her?' she asks zara.

'um sure.' she says with a small smile.

'i'm going to pass you to aunty zara now viv.'

zara carefully holds vivienne in her arms as she calms down. she smiles down at the baby as she grabs hold of her finger with her hand.

'you're a natural zara.' says kate with a smile.

'hello you, aren't you a happy baby?'

'you're going to be a great mum.'

'not yet, i don't think i'm ready at all yet.'

'i'll tell you what zara, i wasn't ready to have kids with harry. i wanted to wait after we got married. when i fell pregnant with ivy, first of all i was pissed off at harry but i was also scared because i wasn't ready. in some ways, it's better when you're not ready because you both go on that learning process together.'

'but that's just my personal experience, you and dele are slightly younger and bother different.' says kate.'

'i mean, i have had a few pregnancy scares but nothing's been serious so far so i don't know how i would react if i was actually pregnant to be honest. i know dele wants kids but i don't think he would be quite ready, he still acts like a child himself. but also it's too early in the relationship, i mean i'm still having doubts.'

'doubts? about what?'

'about whether dele really is the one.'

• •

zara has just arrived at dele's, she stayed so long at kate's, even he got home before her.

'hey baby, did you have a good day?' asks dele, turning the tv off and turning around to look at her.

'yeah it was alright, i guess.' she says with a shrug as she takes off her shoes.

'i took your advice and went over to eric's to apologise.'

'what happened?' she asks, barely listening to what he's saying.

'well i apologised, i didn't drag on i just did it short and simple. we spoke for a while and he quickly forgave me then we spent the rest of the day in the gym hanging out. so we're on good terms again.' says dele grinning like a child.

'that's good to hear dele.' she says making dele's grin disappear.

'you okay babe?'

'yes i'm fine dele.' she spits suddenly taking him by surprise but she just takes a deep breath before looking at him for the first time since she's been back.

'i'm sorry, i didn't mean that, i've just got a massive headache and don't feel super good. i might just go to bed.'

'tell me what you need, i'll look after you and make sure you've got everything you need.'

'not to be rude but i just need you to back off for a bit dele, that's all.' she says looking at him before turning around and heading upstairs, leaving him there confused and slightly upset.