AN's: I figured if TIIC could play around with the math, why couldn't I? And if in doing so I could give Jolie a happy ending on a day that once wasn't so happy for them… well, all the better. Hope you enjoy.

A Date To Remember

She wanted to chalk it up to hormones, but it was more than that. All she wanted to do was crawl deeper under the covers and hide beneath them all day, wrapped safely in his arms as if four years ago today had never happened.
But no.
He had gone behind her back and had the sonogram appointment she had purposely scheduled for tomorrow changed for first thing this morning, stating that he knew there would be nothing to interfere with him being there with her since there was no way that Bo was going to have either of them working today of all days. (As if her uncle wouldn't have given him the time off to go with her anyway, she thought sulkily, as she heard the bathroom door close and tried to get deeper under the covers, hoping he'd just leave her alone.)

"Aren't you ready yet?" John asked as he buttoned the last few buttons of his dark blue shirt and smirked at the mound that was his girlfriend. Laughing at her mumbled replied, he sat on her side of the bed and pulled back the covers so that he could see her, or rather the back of her head: "I thought you'd be more excited about this."

Sighing, Natalie decided to give up and flipped over: "any other day I would be," she told him, letting him know what was really bothering her without actually bringing up the subject.

John nodded: "Figured we'd replace a good memory with a bad one," he explained as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Now get dressed."

Still annoyed, she followed his orders and headed to the bathroom. In truth she didn't want to miss a chance to see the baby and now that she knew his reasoning for changing the appointment to today she was a bit better about it. However, that didn't mean she wasn't still pissed at him for not just telling her in the first place. Then again, that was John. Sighing, she started to get dressed to the day.

Meanwhile, John watched her till the door closed and them headed quickly to his desk. Unlike Brody he didn't need Clint Buchanan coming at him with a warning of a shotgun- not that he thought the man would- and Bo knew him well enough to let him make his move on his own time table. He jut wondered if Natalie remembered what that time table was…

Dr. Vivian Wright stared at the sonogram screen with a slight frown forming as she moved the wand over Natalie's belly. Something wasn't quite right. The doctor had a pretty good idea what it was, but couldn't get the angel she needed with the new machine to be sure. "Is everything ok?" Natalie asked at the expression on the doctor's face, noting also how unlike during her first sonogram the doctor was awfully quiet.

Sensing her patient's unease, Vivian forced a smile: "I'm pretty sure it is."

"Only pretty sure?" John asked as he clutched Natalie's hand, worry now building in both of them.

"These are new, high tech machines," Vivian started to explain as she took the wand off of Natalie's stomach. "Sometimes the older ones give better readings for…" she paused, wondering how to phrase her words: "well let's just wait and see what I can get off of the older one. This one isn't set up for the… the readings I need.
Now, let's print out the 3-d picture of your baby, and then I'm going to go and get another machine.
And, honestly, I don't want you to worry in the meantime. I'm just being overly cautious. Things look good."

John and Natalie shared worried looks, even at the hastily added words of the doctor. Seeing the rising fear in his girlfriend's face, John spoke for both of them: "whatever you need to do."

Vivian nodded as she headed towards the door: "And Natalie, please, try and stay calm. If what I think I'm seeing is what I'm seeing… well, most people would probably see it as a good thing. Like I said this machine just isn't set to read it," she added as she walked out.

"Probably?" Natalie spit out. "God why did we have to come today?"

"Good memory to replace the bad," John reminded, although his tone wasn't as sure as it had been that morning.

"And this is the good part?"

John pulled a stool over and sat down next to the exam table. "Well, if you want the good part…" he started, "Truth is, I was going to wait for later for this but… well, now seems like the right time," he admitted as he rubbed one hand against her cheek, causing her to turn her head to him and he raised the other to his shirt pocket. "Remember that agenda book I gave you that first Christmas after…"

Natalie swallowed: "I remember."

"Do you remember the date I had marked off?"

She exhaled: "I only saw the date that one time. I stopped using it after we broke up. It hurt too much…" she admitted as she blinked back tears.

"You mean after you dumped me?"

"Whatever, John," she shot back, turning her head away from him. "You know you're really not helping right now, right?"

"Natalie, look at me," he entreated, then when she did, continued, now holding out a familiar looking ring box: "Unlike Brody, I don't need threats of a shotgun, because above all others I choose you."

Natalie swallowed back tears as she answered: "Yeah, well, you came back for me and I stayed for you."

"That a yes?"

"Well, if we want to avoid shotguns I guess so. I just don't think it'll fit right now, " she told him, a touch of sadness in her voice as she held up her left hand and let him see that her fingers had started to swell slightly.

"Taken care of," he replied as he opened the ring box and took the ring out, to show that it was on a gold chain.

"Wow, really thought this out, huh, McBain," she said as she started to sit up.

"I can plan things without your help once in a while Buchanan," he replied as he fastened the chain around her neck and then kissed her cheek.

"That all I get?" she pouted.

"Till we get home," he promised as he helped her lay back down.

Natalie groaned slightly at that: "you know we really have to discuss that. I'm not raising a kid…"

John grinned: "I figured as much. We'll start looking soon."

"And we have to start thinking of names," she continued to ramble to fill the silence and distract herself.

John laughed, then at her glare decided to call her on what he figured she was already thinking: "don't tell me you don't have some boys name in mind with either Asa, Benjamin, or both in there somewhere?" he said as he brushed a piece of hair off of her face and let his hand linger there.

Natalie blushed slightly: "I was thinking of Benjamin Asa," she admitted. "But I was also thinking of Jude Thomas since I know you don't want a John Jr. and well… it would be a slap in the face to Michael and Marci if we had a son and named him Thomas, although we'd have to ask Kevin how he'd feel about Asa being the middle name if we went the other way because of Ace."

John nodded: "I didn't count on you thinking of Jude."

Natalie rolled her eyes and punched him slightly in the shoulder: "You should've guessed. But no Angela or Wendy if it's a girl."

"Huh?" he asked, trying to follow her logic. He had expected her to go with some family name she'd have to explain the connection but no where had those names entered his head.

"You know? Peter Pan?" she told him, then clarified at his blank look: "Wendy's brother's were John and Michael."

John groaned and shook his head as Vivian came in with a tech rolling in a slightly older machine. "Everything ok in here?" she asked.

"Yeah, we were just going over ideas for baby names," Natalie said with a smile and then frowned slightly as a thought hit her: "Oh my gosh, we're going to have to co ordinate lists with Jess and Brody…"

"I doubt Jude Thomas will be on theirs," John said sarcastically. "And you were closer to Ben then her, weren't you?" he said, deciding to use logic at when he received a glare from his fiancé.

"Yeah."

"And she only named Meghan after someone in your family. Now relax so Dr. Wright can finish this test and we can get out of here."

"Bossy," she pouted as she got back into position.

"I outrank you," he teased.

"Only at work, mister."

"Told you what payback would be if you were the patient didn't I?" he shot back as Vivian and the tech finished setting up the older machine and the doctor moved over and placed more gel on Natalie's belly before she could retort.

Slowly she moved the wand and a grainy image appeared and a sound came out of the machine…

"That's the baby's heartbeat, right?" Natalie asked as she listened closely and John leaned closer to do the same.

"Yes," Vivian answered evenly, " and see there's baby," she said pointing out the harder to identify shape.

"But it sounds different. Almost as if there's an echo. There's… there's not something wrong with the baby's heart is there?" she asked as she started to panic and rise instinctively.

"No… watch," Dr. Wright said as she shifted the wand and looked to John who moved to help Natalie lay back down with one hand and tightened the other around hers. "See that shadow behind the baby?"

"Barely," John said.

"Wait is that. . . I mean. . ." Natalie stuttered as realization started to set in.

Vivian nodded as she explained: "It's not common, but sometimes one twin hides behind the other and their heartbeats are so in since with each other it almost comes across as sounding as one," she finished as she lifted the wand and turned to the machine and started pressing buttons for printouts. "Chances are we won't get a clear picture of both of them at any point in your pregnancy, but they're both there and from the sounds of the heartbeats both healthy. And based on their size… which if you remember at your last appointment I told you was a little too small for your weight gain…"

"I remember," Natalie said with a roll of her eyes and a disapproving look from John whom she had neglected to tell that piece of information to.

Laughing at the exchange, Vivian smiled: "I take that back. You're weight gain might actually be a little low. I'm also reevaluating your due date. I don't think you conceived as early as you thought you did. From the measurements, from both sonograms, and from your other tests, I'd say you're more likely due in March. Most likely around St. Patrick's Day. Although with twins you can still go earlier and with your family history I want to watch your blood pressure and everything else we talked about. Although I have a feeling we can cross one concern off the list with the date change?"

"Yeah. We can," Natalie smiled.

"What concern?" John asked.

"I was drinking before I knew I was pregnant, John. It's not like we planned it. And I was worried that it might hurt the baby. If my due date was wrong then…."

Dr. Wright jumped in: "I told her she didn't really have to worry about it anyway, but first time mothers to be worry a lot, especially when they've seen someone they love go through the loss of a baby," she finished. "I'll leave you two alone now so you can get a handle on your emotions and Natalie can get dressed," she added before walking out.

"Twins… I can't…" Natalie said stunned as the door closed.

"St. Patrick's Day," John sighed kissing her forehead. "Born then or not, full circle."

"Good to wipe away the bad," Natalie smiled.

"We'll have to think of god Irish names if they're girls since you have boys names covered," he mused.

"You really ok with those names?"

"Yeah," John shrugged. "Now you have any ideas for girls names?"

Natalie shrugged: "It's silly. Roxy always watched this soap Ryan's Hope when I was a kid. The mother…. I used to wish she was mine or my grandmother… to just be part of that family… anyway, her name was Maeve. I also like the one daughter, Siobhan."

"I don't know. Ryan Hope on it's own sounds good to me," John shrugged.

"But John, our first daughter should have your mother's name for a middle name!" she protested.

"Only if one's a boy and one's a girl and we use Thomas for the middle name…" he started then laughed. "Or we could use Ryan Hope for one girl and one of the other names with Eve for the other…"

Natalie laughed: "Right… twins…. Gonna take some time to get my mind wrapped around that one!" she said as she sat up and then paused: "John, do you mind if we keep the fact that we're having twins secret?" she wondered as he started to help her off the table.

"Fine by me."

"Good… OMG. What about godparents. We have to come up with two sets now. Thinking up one set was going to be hard enough!"

"Not Rex!" John said, immediately proving her point and causing her to smile,

"Then not Michael either. I'm still pissed at him and Marci for their part in our breakup and for her almost killing my mom."

John rolled his eyes at that then had a thought and looked at Natalie who as he opened his mouth said exactly what he did: "Bo!"

Laughing, Natalie started to change her top: "what about Gigi for godmother?"

John nodded, he liked the stubborn waitress: "you two have gotten close, he remarked, with no further comment.

"Yeah," Natalie agreed as she turned to face him. "What?"

"I'd asked Antonio…"

"But?"

"Think he'd come back, even for this?"

"Then have Chris be his proxy," Natalie suggested, surprising him with her knowledge that there could be one, "or we can ask Kevin."

"I'll ask Antonio first."

Natalie shrugged as she crossed the room and bent down to pick up her purse: "What about another godmother. Normally, I'd ask Jess, but with her having a new baby so close… "

"Well, Shannon's out. And like you said, so's Marci." he said as he put an arm around her shoulders.

"At one time I'd ask Star…"

"We don't have to figure this all out in one day, you know. We do have to March to figure this out."

Natalie laughed: "Yeah. We do. And a wedding to plan first. How soon do you think we can get a date at your family's church in Atlantic City?"

"Next Weekend work for you?"

"Pretty sure of yourself there, huh?"

John shrugged as he opened the door: "knew a guy with shotgun if you said no," he teased as they exited the room

"Let's just tell the family. Starting with Bo," Natalie smirked as she elbowed him in the gut and came face to face with Marty.

"tell your family what? Is everything ok with the baby?" she asked with a mixture of concern and envy.

John and Natalie shared a looked as Natalie stepped out of his hold and indicated with a hand gesture that the blonde shrink- who incidentally had no business as far as Natalie knew of being on the maternity ward- was all his. "Everything's fine with the baby and Natalie, Marty, thanks for asking," John started. " We just have some plans we want to discuss with them," he continued, softening his tone, "and we want to let our families know first."

"Much be nice to have that option," Marty couldn't help but say spitefully.

"Yeah, well, when you get your tests results at the hospital and don't leave them around for the town crier to find it's a bit easier," Natalie shot back in much the same tone as she rubbed at her eyes.

"Hey, you ok?" John asked her, concern evident in his voice.

Natalie nodded: "tired… overwhelmed…" then she changed gears to cover in front of Marty: "scheduling this appointment to make good memories to try to out weigh the bad was a good idea, John, but why the hell did you have to make it so damned early?"

Shaking his head, John took her in his arms and kissed her forehead: "ok, change of plans. We're going home. You're getting some sleep, especially since you didn't sleep well last night."

"I didn't keep you up did I?"

"Nope. Couldn't sleep for much the same reason. Maybe with a new outlook on today's date we'll get a better night's sleep tonight."

"I hope so or I'll be worthless at work tomorrow."

"We don't we call out. Plans… to make…" he teased. "Anyway, you take a nap I'll call my mom, whose probably left me at least a dozen messages already since she, you, Bo, and Antonio are the only ones who seem to remember what today is- was."

"What? Are you kidding me?" Natalie asked outraged, pulling back slightly.

"Hush. I'm talking."

"Right. Doesn't usually happen. Shutting up now," She mocked, earning a quick peek on the lips, pulling back he continued: "Anyway, then I'll try Mikey and Marci and Antonio."

"Gonna ask him?"

"Suppose I have to questions to ask him."

"Three. Jamie's old enough to be a Junior, you know."

"Junior what?" Marty wanted to know.

Ignoring her, John continued: "Then I'll call Bo and ask whose better to call your Dad or…"

"Considering the circumstances?" Natalie asked, reminding him of who her mother was married to without saying more.

"Right. Your Dad, with Renee and Nigel to help set up."

Yawning and leaning into him Natalie smiled: "Sounds like a plan. Can we leave now?" she almost whined.

"We better or I'll be carrying you and you're getting too heavy for that," John teased.

"And whose fault would that be?"

"Didn't hear you complaining at the time," he said as they headed towards the elevator, which thankfully opened for them and they stepped into leaving a confused Marty behind.

"Never said I did," Natalie shot back leaning against him and the wall, eyes closed. "John, I know this might sound crazy, but with everything that Mitch and Alison have done and we've been through do you think we can make special security arrangements for when the twins are born? Only certain doctors. Nurses. Family members. As long as everything is all right keep them with us at all times?"

John stiffened slightly then kissed her forehead. He hadn't thought of that or that she'd still fear Mitch and his minions and he should have: "I'll talk to Bo. You want me to talk to Mike about…"

"Ill… that's a little weird don't you think?" she asked as they got off of the elevator in the garage.

"Wasn't one of the doctors who delivered you and Jess your Mom's brother-in-law?"

"Ex brother-in-law, yeah. And if you're ok with it I could be."

"I'll get him to give us a name and come in as back up, ok?" he said as they got to the car and he opened the door for her and helped her in.

"Sounds better," she agreed, unaware of the danger lurking in the shadows of an unraveling man's mind as he tapped papers he promised his fiancé had changed nothing as she wept in Dr. Wright's office before he left her to the doctor and Marty Saybrooke.

He would get his answers.
He would raise a child that wasn't his, but he wouldn't allow another man to raise one that was, and if Ford was the father of Jessica's that meant that he had to be the father of Natalie's baby, didn't it?
Fate wouldn't be so cruel as to make him the father of neither.
He had to make her get the paternity test.
Had to…