Welcome to the I Was at This Party sequel! This will be two or three chapters I'm not entirely sure yet.

Legal: I own nothing but the idea

Important things to know:

*You really should read I Was at This Party and the Christmas chapter before you read this. It's not necessary but it's very helpful.

*This begins about two weeks after the Christmas chapter. In case you missed you it the chapter is called "Best Christmas Ever" and it's in with the other Christmas shorts grouped together in Merry DeGrassi Fan Fiction Christmas!

*Chris & Marissa are Owen & Clare's ravine friends from I Was at This Party

Ch. 1 Shocking Surprise!

(CLARE)

"I called for an appointment and it's set up for the 30th at four so make sure you have no clients that day," I tell Owen as we sit down at the table to eat breakfast. Owen nods and pulls out his phone.

"No clients that day and I've already blocked it off so there will be no clients that day," Owen tells me and I smile.

"I have a meeting with Penn Weekly News this afternoon and I'll tell them I'm pregnant since that will probably affect me getting the job," I inform my husband. I'd told the paper that I was pregnant but it wouldn't affect my job too much since I do most of my work from a desk or sitting down to interview people anyway. However Penn Weekly News is a weekly news show and it could affect my job for that although it depends on if they want me to be an anchor or a field reporter.

"Good luck, I hope it doesn't affect you getting that job because I know how important it is to you," Owen says and I smile. I stop eating about halfway through and get up rushing to the washroom and losing my breakfast in the toilet. "You alright Sweetness?" Owen asks kneeling down and pulling my hair back.

"Yeah morning sickness," I reply leaning against the wall and Owen sits down putting his arm around me. He sits with me a moment and then gets up to get me some water and I drink it all.

"You going to be okay at work?" Owen questions kissing my temple.

"Yeah I'm feeling better now, I'll just be careful what I eat and morning sickness shouldn't last into the second trimester," I say using him to stand up.

"Considering you're maybe three weeks pregnant that's not entirely comforting," he replies.

"I'll be fine, if I begin to feel too nauseas I'll come home and work here," I assure my husband and he smiles.

"I'll clean up my first client isn't until ten," Owen says.

"Thanks Hubby I'll see you tonight," I grin kissing him tenderly.

I grab my briefcase and head to work. I spend most of the day researching a story I was working on before we left for Christmas in Toronto. I leave at four to go to my meeting with Penn Weekly News.

"Good to see you again Clare did you enjoy the holidays?"

"I did they were wonderful and I found out that I'm pregnant," I tell them.

"Congratulations that's wonderful news."

"Thank you we're both very happy but I realize it could affect my job here if you decide to hire me," I tell them.

"It does put us in a position to reconsider but we do want you as part of the family here. We wanted to start you out as a researcher, moving to a field reporter position and eventually an anchor position."

"That would be amazing," I grin.

"We'll put together an offer letter and send it to your office; we realize you'll still be working for the paper so we'll start you out part time."

"Any opportunity to work here would be incredible and part time would definitely be best for now. I look forward to hearing from you and potentially working here," I say shaking their hands before leaving.

"Hey Hot Legs how was your meeting?" Owen asks when I come in the house.

"It went great and I told them I was pregnant and they said it was something to consider but they still want me to work there."

"Hey that's great I'm proud of you Sweetness," Owen grins kissing me gently. "Guess who called?"

"Who?"

"Chris, he and Marissa are in town and they want us to come to dinner."

"It would be fantastic to see them we haven't seen them in nearly six years, not since their wedding."

"Are you up for it tonight? I told Chris I'd call him back as soon as you were home."

"Yes I'd love to see them and I feel great, I didn't have any other problems today. Call them back and I'll just go freshen up a little," I reply kissing him quickly before going up to the bedroom.

I change from work clothes to something a little nicer for going out. When I get back downstairs Owen tells me we're meeting at one of our favorite restaurants and we leave the house. We arrive first and get a booth for the four of us, while Owen and I are talking about what we'll get Chris and Marissa come in. I practically squeal when I see them and I get up to hug them, embracing Marissa first and then Chris. They sit down and we let them look at the menu and place our orders before we begin catching up.

"It is so good to see you guys. It has been way too long since we've seen you," I comment after the waiter leaves.

"I know it's been forever, our jobs keep us busy but you'll be seeing a lot more of us, Chris got a job her in Philly and we're moving. We're here to look at apartments and houses," Marissa says.

"Awesome we would love having you guys here. All our old friends are spread out all over the world. We made friends here of course but it would be great to have friends we've had for ten years living close by," Owen grins.

"Yes especially because I just found out I was pregnant," I tell them and they smile.

"Congratulations that's wonderful news. Oh I love babies but we cannot do kids right now we are way too busy. Chris' job has pretty crazy hours and I still have a year of nursing school. Possibly more, I had to transfer schools and could lose credits as well as starting a new residency. But this opportunity for Chris was just too good for us to turn down," Marissa says.

"We'll we're definitely glad you're here," I grin.

For the rest of dinner Chris tells us about his new job, Owen and I talk about work and Marissa talks about school. We talk about our holidays and family and remain at the restaurant for over two hours. We hug them before leaving and offer to help them find a place to live; before we go we make plans to get together again soon.

"It was so wonderful to see them, they've hardly changed and I'm so excited they're moving here. We've made a few friends but not like them and we've never had anyone to the house," I remark when Owen and I get home.

"Yeah I'm looking forward to having them here and having couples nights. You and Marissa can have girls nights and Chris and I can have guys nights. I'd been hoping for a while we could get Drew and Bianca or Adam and Maya to move here but Chris and Marissa is great."

"I'm going to take a bath before bed," I tell Owen giving him a loving kiss before I go upstairs.

"I love you Hot Legs," Owen calls after me and I giggle.

"I love you too Hubby Boyfriend."

(OWEN)

"OWEN!"

I'm awoken from sleep by my wife's urgent scream from the washroom. I jump out of bed and run to our washroom, I find her on the toilet but she's crying.

"I think we need to go to the hospital I'm bleeding," Clare says with panic in her voice and tears threatening to burst from her beautiful cerulean eyes. I look at her panties and see some blood there's some in the toilet as well. Seeing the dark crimson blood sends a panic in my heart but I remain calm for Clare's sake.

"Okay we're right now, let's get some clothes on. I'll grab you some sweats," I tell her going back to our bedroom and turning on the lights.

We'd been home just over two weeks and Clare's first prenatal appointment was next week. She's had some pretty bad morning sickness; even working from home a couple of days but Bianca had pretty bad morning sickness as well. Of course she's only seven weeks pregnant and every woman we've ever known has told us the last trimester is the hardest.

Clare comes out of the washroom and puts on the sweats, snow boots and her coat. I get dressed quickly and we go out to the car. It snowed again but we make it to the hospital and I tell them she's pregnant and bleeding so they send us up to maternity. A nurse comes in to get Clare's vitals and then gives her a hospital gown to change into telling her to have it open if front. When the nurse leaves the room I help Clare get undressed since she's supposed to be completely naked under the hospital gown. She gets the gown on while I'm folding her clothes and then she gets on the table squeezing my hand.

"Owen what if something is wrong?" She questions with so much fear in her town it breaks my heart.

"Then we'll get through it together like we always do," I assure her and then there's a knock at the door.

"Hi I'm Doctor Catherine Hale," she says shaking both our hands. "If you'll lie back on the table Clare I'm going to do an internal exam," the doctor instructs and Clare lies back. "So you're seven weeks pregnant?"

"I think so but I haven't been to my first appointment yet it's not until next week. We've been trying to get pregnant for a while," Clare tells the doctor.

"Okay well I don't see any vaginal trauma or tearing and you're no longer bleeding but I'm going to open your gown and do an ultrasound," Dr. Hale tells her and turns on a machine. "Have you had any morning sickness?" She asks while putting gel on Clare's belly.

"Yeah it's been pretty bad," Clare answers and I nod in agreement.

"How about weight gain?" The doctor asks.

"She's only seven weeks," I remind the doctor thinking she couldn't already be gaining weight.

"Yes almost four pounds," Clare replies and my mouth drops open.

The doctor puts the wand on the gel and a picture comes on screen. It looks like shapes and shadows to me but the doctor's face changes s she obviously sees something.

"Spotting and minor bleeding is not uncommon with pregnancies and your severe morning sickness and weight gain even at this early stage are because you are having multiples."

"Twins?!" We both exclaim in shock.

"Triplets actually," the doctor says.

"Triplets? How? Twins don't even run in our families," I comment.

"I was taking fertility drugs," Clare admits and my stomach ties in knots as my heart stops beating for a moment. She never said anything about taking fertility drugs; we'd talked about it and decided against them. I'm going to fight about this with her later but this is not the time.

"Fertility drugs definitely raise your chances of having multiples. You do seem to be at seven weeks but they'll confirm that at your appointment. Triplets are a high risk pregnancy and it's likely you'll go into preterm labor. Your regular OB/GYN will monitor you closely and will probably recommend a scheduled delivery either vaginal or by C-section. Preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, placental abruption, anemia, polyhydramnios are all potential complications with multiples. All things your regular doctor will discuss with you. Your placenta looks good, all three babies look good, I don't see any tearing or ruptures and the bleeding has stopped so it was just a little spotting. I'm going to discharge you but if you start bleeding again or any pain then come back in right away. Do you have any questions?"

"I probably have a million but I can't think of them just now," I reply.

"When you of one write it down and discuss it with your doctor when you go in."

"Thanks Doc," I nod and she leaves the room. "I'll go get you discharged while you get dressed again," I tell Clare.

I leave her room and get her discharged, when I get back to the room she's dressed and we leave the hospital. Our drive home is very silent and tense, a fight is waiting to happen and when we get inside the house the moment explodes.

"HOW IN THE HELL COULD YOU KEEP ANYTHING FROM ME LET ALONE SOMETHING LIKE THAT CLARE?! WE DISCUSSED THIS AND DECIDED AGAINST IT YOU'RE PUTTING YOUR BODY AT RISK!"

"I know I'm sorry but we'd been trying for so long and talking about in vitro which is expensive a…"

"I don't care about the money Clare, money isn't a issue it's never been an issue with us. We both have good jobs and make decent money, besides which I have a trust and we have my parents. I don't care how much money it takes I care about keeping you safe. If you were thinking about taking fertility drugs you should have talked to me."

"I know I'm sorry but I was getting frustrated and scared, we weren't getting pregnant and I wanted it so bad so I made an appointment. I started taking them in late November. I know I should have talked to you and I'm sorry but I knew you'd try and stop me."

"Yes because after we heard the risks we decided that it was too dangerous for you. I thought we had both decided."

"Well it's less risky than in vitro which could leave me infertile. And I know we talked about adoption but I wanted to pregnant and I wanted the baby to be ours. I talked with the doctor the drugs they gave me have the lowest risk of side effects and complications. The drug worked, I'm pregnant we're having triplets can't you just be happy about that?"

"I am happy about that Clare, I'm ecstatic about that. I'm going to be a dad to triplets. Three kids all at once and you never have to be pregnant again. I'm thrilled that you're pregnant and having triplets that's amazing but I wish you'd told me you were going to the doctor and talked to me before going to the doctor. We never keep anything from each other and this was a huge thing to keep from me."

"I know I'm sorry, I know I should have told you and I'll never keep anything from you again."

"That's right you won't," I reply taking my wife into my arms and kissing her softly. "So triplets? We're going to need a lot of stuff."

"Owen we need a bigger house, this is a two bedroom house a two bedroom house can't sustain five people with three little ones. We have to move, we have to start looking at houses," Clare exclaims.

"Slow down we don't need a big house right away the babies aren't even here yet and we're not going through the stress of packing and moving until after the babies are born. The doctor said triplets is high risk and so we're going to keep you as stress free as possible. Our house will be fine for a while, for the first few months they'll be sleeping in our room anyway right? So we'll set up the extra room as the nursery, the changing table and cribs and toys and all that stuff. When the kids start crawling we'll baby proof, gates at the stairs and stuff like that. I'd say this house is good for at least another year so don't stress about moving right now," I assure my wife.

"We're still going to need a lot of stuff," she comments.

"Stuff we're not going to worry about right now. You're going to have to be up in a couple of hours do you want take a nice long shower with me and then go to breakfast?"

"That sounds nice. I know we're excited and scared about having triplets but can we keep it between us until after the appointment? I just don't want to tell anyone yet until it's been confirmed by our own doctor."

"As always anything you want Sweetness," I grin and give her a loving kiss.

(CLARE)

"Hi I'm Dr. Denise Buxton and you must be Clare and Owen," the female doctor says. She has a friendly smile, soft brown eyes that almost perfectly matches her hair which is cropped short and frames her round face. She's about two inches taller than Clare and slightly chubby.

"It's nice to meet you," I smile as she shakes both our hands.

"I see that you had some spotting last week and went to the hospital. They said everything was okay but found out you were having triplets."

"Yeah that's what the emergency room doctor said," Owen nods.

"Alright well why don't you lie back and we'll get a 4D scan and see what's going on in there," Dr. Buxton says and I lie back. She turns on the machine and puts the wand on my belly. An image begins to appear on screen, three amniotic sacs with three little tiny people inside. Actually at the moment they look more like jelly beans with legs but there are three of them. Dr. Buxton prints a few pictures for us and then I put my feet in the stirrups so she can do an internal. After that she discusses with us the risks of carrying multiples, precautions to take and that we'll probably induce labor or deliver all three by C-section. I then give a urine sample and a blood sample and find out that my due date is September 5th although the doctor is certain I'll be delivering in mid to late August given my size. We make an appointment for three weeks from now and then we go home.

"I think you should work from home today, I don't have any clients today so I can be home with you," Owen tells me when we get home.

"I need to go into work I have things to finish and I'm only eight weeks. She said to take it easy but all I'll be doing at work is sitting behind a desk. Besides I have to the paper and PNW that we're having triplets and I may be restricted or even on bed rest any time after the last half of the pregnancy. When we're both home tonight we can start calling your family and our friends to tell them we're having triplets."

"Sounds good I love you Hot Legs," Owen grins.

"I love you too Hubby Boyfriend," I smile and he gives me a scowl before kissing me. "You can start clearing out the spare room to get it ready for lots of baby things. And maybe begin making a list of all the things we'll need in the next few months, before the babies and after. It would be good to get it organized, although some of it we'll get at a baby shower I imagine. Oh and call Chris and Marissa see about getting together for dinner with them," I tell Owen as I grab my briefcase and get ready to leave.

"Anything you wish Sweetness," Owen replies and I grin.

"I love you more than anything," I smile and kiss him gently before leaving. I get in my car and drive to work at the paper. Before I get to work I go into my editor's office.

"Good morning Clare how was your appointment?"

"It was good thanks but I found out I'm having triplets."

"Wow triplets congratulations," Jeff says.

"Thanks we're excited, and also petrified."

"Yes I can imagine that's how my wife and I felt with our first child and we were only having one."

"The doctor said multiples was considered a high risk pregnancy and there's a chance I might be on bed rest or some point. I'm also going to have some restrictions as the pregnancy progresses," I inform my boss.

"Yeah that would make sense especially carrying triplets I would thing that was quite high risk. Just keep us informed and let us know what your needs are, if you need extra time off we can arrange for a medical leave of absence."

"Thanks," I smile.

"Congratulations again," Jeff says and I thank him before leaving his office.

I sit at my desk and get to work, I tell a few more people that I'm having triplets and everyone is happy for me. They tell me congratulations or that it's triple trouble or something like that. I leave at four to go to the TV station, I just need to finish research for a segment and put the copy together. I tell my bosses here that I'm pregnant with triplets and will have restrictions but since my job with them right now is all research and copy and they have no problem if I do it all at home. When I finish up I head home and it's a little after six.

"Hey Sweetness how was work?" Owen asks after greeting me with a kiss.

"It was good, Jeff said I could take a medical leave of absence if necessary and to just let them know what I need. The station said I could do my job from home so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Good, I called Chris and they'll meet us for dinner but we're meeting at seven so we should get going pretty soon."

"I'm just going to change and I'll be ready," I tell him.

I go up to our room and change out of work clothes to a pair of jeans and a sweater. When we get to the restaurant Chris and Marissa are already here. We hug them at sit down at the table, ordering as soon as the waiter comes to our table.

"So Owen said you had big news?"

"Yeah big as in multiples were' having triplets," I tell them.

"Oh my gosh that's amazing! Congratulations!" Marissa grins and leans across the table to hug me again.

"Wow three that's going to be a handful," Chris comments.

"Yeah they outnumber us it's going to be an adventure but hopefully they'll also keep each other entertained," Owen says.

"So who else have you told?" Marissa asks.

"I told the paper and the station but I've been at work all day."

"I called my parents and my brother they were all extremely excited. Mom's already talking about shopping for them. Tris too, between the two of them they'll have your baby shower all worked out. Dad was super happy about all the grandkids and Janice was excited. I haven't called Adam yet I figured Clare would want to do that."

"Yes I do, I'll call Adam as soon as we're home," I reply.

We spend the rest of dinner talking about having triplets and getting ready for them. We say goodnight and promise to get together again soon before Owen and I drive home. As soon as we're home I get out my phone and call Adam.

"Hey Hot Legs," Adam answers.

"Hi Bashful is Maya around I have news for you guys."

"She's right here and I just put you on speaker," Adam tells me.

"Hi Clare," Maya says so I know she's there.

"So we're having three baby Milligans, I'm pregnant with triplets."

"Holy crap triplets!" Maya exclaims.

"Wow, I mean congratulations but wow," Adam says.

"Owen told his parents and Tris but we haven't called your parents or Drew and Bianca, given how late it is there though I think we'll wait until morning."

"Yeah good idea. This is great news though congrats again I can't believe you're having triplets."

"Neither can we."

So the update is tomorrow and will begin with Adam and Maya arriving for a visit as we get a little farther into Clare's pregnancy.