After Vanessa brings her son, Johnny, home from hospital, Rhona realises that she wants another baby. As she has not got pregnant again, she decides to adopt and discusses it with Paddy. He agrees and the references selected by Paddy and Rhona include Aaron, Pearl and Leo's teacher, Tess Harris (Nicola Stephenson). Tess befriends Rhona and tells her that she is in love with a married man. Rhona encourages Tess to go for it, saying life is too short but after Tess dies, Rhona learns that Paddy is Tess's married man. Initially Rhona insists on carrying on as normal but soon realises that she and Paddy cannot stay together, let alone adopt a child, as things are so bad between them that they didn't realise that Leo was hurting April.