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Emily met Daniel at the door as he was coming in from mowing the lawn. "Mommee sick, Daddee," she said, her little face full of worry.

He went into the bathroom, found Casey leaning over the toilet. He knelt down, rubbed her back, took her long hair and held it up and out of the way. He frowned as she continued to have the dry heaves, even when it was obvious there was nothing left on her stomach. When she finally nodded, he grabbed the glass and filled it with water.

"Thank you," she said quietly. She rinsed her mouth, spit, then took the mint he offered her.

She was too pale. And she'd already been sick earlier that morning. "I’m calling Doctor Montigue," he said. That she only nodded wearily let him know that she wasn’t feeling well at all.

The doctor agreed to examine her.

She insisted on taking a quick shower, and it was while she was dressing that she felt it…just a small cramp. Then the warmth of blood on her leg. "DANIEL!"

He raced into her closet, saw her standing there, her eyes wide with fear, and a small trickle of blood on her inner thigh. "Oh, god! No!" he whispered, his own eyes going wide.   He grabbed the phone beside the bed and called the doctor again. He listened carefully, then hung up. "Let’s get you dressed babe," he said softly.

Her eyes were full of shock and fear. She managed to nod, allowed him to dress her. He found an old washcloth that he folded and put between her legs to catch the blood. Emily was fastened into her car seat, he would call Erin to come get her later.

He didn’t bother with speed limits or stop signs…he made sure the way was clear, then drove through each intersection. When he arrived at the base, he enlisted the help of one of the gate guards. That man carried Emily while he carried Casey to the elevator. She was silent, her eyes wide and haunted.

Dr. Montigue took her immediately into the examining room. Daniel took enough time to call Erin, then began pacing the corridor. He nearly panicked when two nurses and a medic hurried into the room where his Wife was being examined, pushing two large pieces of medical test equipment. Emily was sitting on one of the plastic chairs, her own little eyes wide. He looked down at his daughter, sat down beside her and pulled her into his lap.

"Mommee sick, Daddy?" she asked, her lower lip trembling.

"I don’t know, Princess. Mommy had…has…Mommy has a baby in her tummy. We have to make sure that Mommy and the baby are all right," he replied.

Emily thought about this for a minute. "Baby in Mommee’s tummy?"

"That’s right, Princess," he said.

The door to the room opened and the doctor stepped out. His face was unreadable.

Daniel was on his feet. "Is she okay? The baby? Is the baby okay?"

Dr. Montigue looked up at the terrified young man. "They’re both fine. I just ran an ultra sound. The baby was right where it should be, and didn’t appear to be in any jeopardy. There are no tears anywhere in the womb that we can find. Casey confirmed that if she weren’t pregnant, that this would be a day for her menses. There are women who continue to menstruate all through their pregnancies. We don’t understand how this happens, but it sometimes does. Now, I’m going to keep her at least overnight for observation, she went into shock, and that’s not a good thing for either one of them. There doesn’t seem to be any more bleeding. I think this is just one of those freak things that sometimes happens."

He dropped down onto one of the chairs. She was okay. The baby was okay. He could breathe now…his heart could beat normally now. He glanced at Emily. "Mommy is okay, Princess. So is the baby," he said softly.

The doctor smiled. "I think the best thing for her now would be rest. I’m sure she’d rest better if the two of you were with her."

With a grateful smile, Daniel went into the room.

Her face was nearly as white as the pillow her head was laying on. She was asleep, or at least appeared to be, and she was hooked up to an I.V. She turned her head toward the door and opened her eyes when she heard them enter.

"Hey, gorgeous," he said softly.

"Hey, handsome," she replied in kind.

"Are you okay?" He was standing by the bed now, his fingers wrapped tightly around her hand.

She nodded. "Doctor Montigue says the baby is fine."

He nodded. "Yeah, he just told me."

"I’m so sorry," she whispered.

"For what, babe?"

"For scaring you like this," she replied.

"Casey, there isn’t a damned thing for you to be sorry about," he admonished. "Don’t you dare start blaming yourself for something that isn’t even your fault."

"I’ll try." She reached up and touched Emily’s leg. "Hey, Baby."

"Mommee sick?" Emily asked. Her eyes were wide again, seeing her mother lying in that strange bed, and the tube that went from her arm to the bag that hung beside the bed.

"Just tired, Baby," Casey replied. "Would you like to lay here beside me?"

Emily nodded, and Daniel lowered her to her mother’s arms.

"Mommee’s baby sick?"

Casey looked up at Daniel.

"I told her you had a baby in your tummy," he explained.

She nodded. "No, Emmie, the baby is just fine."

Erin and Aaron knocked lightly on the door, and then entered the room, both of them wearing matching worried expressions. "Oh, Casey, darling, are you all right?" Erin asked. She hurried to the side of the bed, began brushing blonde hair from her daughter’s face.

"I’m fine, Mom. The baby is okay, too."

Aaron looked at Daniel. "Casey and the baby are all right; how about you, son?" he asked gently.

Daniel started, looked over at his father-in-law. The man’s concern touched him deeply. "I’m fine…now. Scared the hell out of me, though."

The older man nodded. "I can imagine. This makes me doubly glad that you aren’t going out on missions right now. I think it would be better if you stay near her during this pregnancy."

The young man nodded. "I was just thinking the same thing. With Emily, it seemed so…easy. Now…" he shrugged.

"Each pregnancy is different, they say," Aaron said.

"Well, so far, this one certainly is," Daniel replied.

Erin looked from Daniel to Casey and back again. They both looked tired. "We’ll take Emily home with us. You call when you’re ready for her to come home," she said. She leaned down and kissed Casey’s cheek. "Rest, my darling daughter. I’ll talk to you tomorrow."

Casey smiled. "Thanks, Mom. Love you. You, too, Dad."

Aaron smiled. "Love you, my darling daughter." He also leaned over and kissed her cheek. Gave Daniel’s shoulder a affectionate squeeze, and then followed his wife, who had Emily in her arms, out of the room.

Daniel sat down on the edge of the bed. He took her hand and raised it to his lips. "Your mom is right, you should rest."

"Will you stay here with me?"

He smiled. "Nothing can budge me from your side, Angel. I’ll be right here."

She pressed her cheek against his thigh, closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.

Daniel leaned his head back against the wall and closed his own eyes. How close had he just come to losing them? Or at least the baby? He thanked whatever gods must have intervened to keep his wife and child safe.

A  A  A  A  A  A

Dr. Montigue gave Casey a prescription to help with the nausea and morning sickness. After two days in the hospital, just for observation, he determined that there was nothing wrong with her, or the baby, and sent them home. Casey had been ordered to take it easy, and to stay off of her feet as much as possible for at least the rest of the month.

Daniel had decided to work from home, and Duncan had agreed with him. Their entire "family" had been shocked and worried when they learned of the near tragedy. He was in the den, working on two new tablets, when he paused to listen to Casey reading to Emily, a story about a new baby in the house. He smiled. Right now, all was well with his world. That’s all he could ask for, all that he would ask for.

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