Emmerdale's Gemma Oaten talks to Soaplife about the Christmas joy that fills Rachel's world when she's allowed to hold son Archie for the first time... Nothing about having baby Archie has been easy for Rachel... She never meant to get pregnant, the baby was born prematurely and his dad's married to someone else. But all that is forgotten when she finally has little Archie in her arms. "It's been such an emotional journey," says Gemma. And it's a journey that’s not going to get easier any time soon. Baby Archie is very premature... How worried is Rachel? "She's petrified. All she's bothered about is getting him through this. Jai keeps turning up at the hospital, which is very dangerous ground because Sam's around a lot, plus all of Rachel's family." On Christmas Day, Rachel's told she can hold Archie for the first time... "She can't believe it! Jai's with her and it's very emotional. But it also kicks off some fears. She's scared about how she'll be as a mum. She's in a turmoil – she loves this baby more than life itself and desperately wants him to survive. But he's had such a bad start she's scared she won't be able to give him what he needs and look after him properly." And then Archie develops an infection! "Rachel's petrified. Things don't run smoothly and problems occur over the weeks to follow. She thinks, 'Is this my punishment for sleeping with a married man?'" She's got Sam to turn to, though... "Rachel's relying so much on Sam, who's just been amazing. Everyone thinks Sam's just a daft bloke, but some of the things he says to Rachel are so sensible and calming. When everything else is chaos, he's the only person who helps her keep her cool." And Jai is jealous of Sam's closeness with his baby, isn't he? "Jai goes for Sam in a big way because he can't stand the fact that he can't be a dad to his son and yet he sees Sam helping Rachel with Archie... This sends Jai completely over the edge. Jai's starting to fall apart and he's in danger of losing absolutely everything." We want to know if Sam and Rachel are going to end up together... "As they start looking after the baby together, Rachel does start falling for him. They both feel something happening, but they're both scared..." And what about the name of Archie's dad? Is that about to come out? "I've got a feeling it will happen soon. I've not seen it written in black and white, but you know when you get that sense of everything unravelling..."
