Rory was the nephew of Anna Windass who was being looked after by Eddie and Anna in July 2010, as Anna's sister-in-law had taken her husband to London for his birthday. When Eddie was spotted by Steve and Becky McDonald they were led to believe that they had been successful in their adoption application (as both couples were looking into adoption at that time). Eddie made no attempt to tell the McDonalds that Rory was simply family and pretended he was his adoptive son, prompting Steve and Becky to contact social worker Dawn Coghill. Eddie sheepishly admitted the truth, and Dawn reminded them that the adoption process wasn't a competition.