Both

Disclaimer: Nope, the characters are not mine - they belong to Ms. Pierce. And I would never ever steal from her. Just borrowing. Promise!


Alanna lay on the soft sand, her head resting in George's lap. He was combing her hair with his fingers and she was slumbering, enjoying his caress and the sun warming her face. Abruptly, she opened her eyes and turned her head so that she had the sea within her view. Just as she'd thought, her little toddler was walking straight towards the big blue. She knew George was keeping an eye on their son, but still…

"Thom. Don't go so close to the water." He stopped obediently, and Alanna added more softly "Come back here". She disliked constantly worrying this much for him, but the feeling was there to stay. She watched as he sat down near them and began drawing in the sand with his little fist.

"So, when are you plannin' on telling me, what we're havin'?"

"Hmm?" She turned her head back to look up into George's eyes.

"The baby. You've kept me waitin' long enough. Is it gonna be a boy or girl?" His fingers had stopped moving and come to rest on her left cheek. She brought her own hands up to rest on her stomach. She was due in little over three months and it showed.

"Why? Does it matter? I thought you didn't care as long as it was healthy…" She trailed off, wearing a shy smile on her face. He'd been longing to know for months now, but he was a patient man, her husband. She knew it was constantly on his mind, like an itch you wanted to scratch, though he'd tried not to show as much. Thus she hadn't told him the sex of the child. It was usually impossible for her to keep anything secret from him, and she enjoyed for once having the upper hand. Truthfully though, it had confused her for weeks. Getting mixed signals, thinking it was a boy the one moment and a girl the next. Why should he have the answer handed on a silver plate, when she'd been the one to figure it out?

"Of course I'll be happy either way, but people have started asking. Maude in particular would like to know, so she can start preparing a room for the little one. And I need to know what things to buy, clothes and the like…" now he too was smiling. That particular crooked smile she loved so.

He wasn't getting it that easy.

She snorted. "As if a baby can tell which colour scheme it's supposed to be surrounded by. And you don't give a rat's arse about what colour the room should be. No, you're just so used to knowing everything about everyone and it bugs you to no end that you can't have this simple little piece of information while I can."

George gave a short laugh. "I'd hardly call it 'simple little piece of information', lass. It's way more than that. But yes, it does bother me not to know. Now, do you enjoy torturing the man who loves you?"

"Yes" Alanna said simply. She turned her head to study their son, who'd moved on to digging a hole in the sand. She couldn't help but smile.

George laid his hand under her chin and steered her head back till her eyes were once again locked on his. He said nothing, simply arched up an eyebrow. He wasn't going to wait any longer, she could tell.

"Do you really want to know?"

He just looked at her.

"It's both."

"Both?" She watched the confusion on his face. He was probably thinking she'd gone mental. Pregnancy would do that to you. Or so she used to tell him. Before he could put the two and two together, she said "Twins." finally putting him out of his misery.

He was quick to catch up; "A boy and a girl?"

She nodded and watched as his face lit up.

He might be happy, but, she thought, certainly not as over joyous as she was – she got to have two children and only had to go through pregnancy once for it. Really, could you ask for more?