I decided a while ago to extend this, but I wanted to finish my fic "The Second Wedding" first. That's done, so now I will continue this story! This chapter is actually a sort of parody of an episode of one of my favorite shows. I'll give the specific show and episode at the end. For now, ENJOY!

Tiana was fuming. Her mouth was scrunched in to a very dissatisfied frown, her arms were crossed over her chest, her foot was tapping and there was a kind of fire in her eyes that the kitchen staff had only seen before when some naïve and incompetent chef decided to change one of her recipes because he thought that it needed a little something more. That poor soul had been fired. Now the entire kitchen staff and two of the waiters stood back as they all stared at the six plates of food in front of her. They all hoped they wouldn't get fired. None of them had done anything wrong, but they had learned from experience-and from her husband's personal accounts-that when Tiana gets mad, it's best to stand back a few feet and stay away from corners.

"I," Tiana finally spoke in a quiet voice, "am insulted. I am insulted!" Her voice rose in volume. "I'm not just insulted, I'm offended. No, I'm not just offended, I am beyond offended. Did you tell them I was beyond offended?" She pointed an accusing finger at the waiter nearest to her. He gulped.

"Yes, ma'am, I did," he replied, voice cracking with nerves.

"That's it!" Tiana declared, sweeping her arms out to her sides. "Get their names because they are never eating here again." She huffed, shaking her head. Charlotte poked her head into the kitchen and walked over to the group.

"Hey, what's goin' on?" she asked. Tiana gestured to the dishes of food in front of her.

"They sent it back! Sending my food back?" Tiana growled. "Unbelievable."

Charlotte was in shock. A hand went to her heart and she blinked rapidly. "They sent it back?" she echoed.

"Yes! They sent it back! My food! My 'you-haven't-lived-until-you've-eaten-it-food!'"

"Well, honey," Charlotte said, placing a hand on Tiana's shoulder (the staff thought she was very brave to do this, "what did they say was wrong with it?"

"You name it: too salty, too hot, too sewery."

"Honey, calm down. These people were obviously uncultured imbeciles."

Tiana nodded. "Yes, they are, but all the imbeciles come here in big groups together and make my restaurant look bad!"

Charlotte nodded, patting Tiana's shoulder. "I know, I know. Now don't get mad at me, but I have to ask: are you sure there's nothing wrong with the food."

Tiana didn't get mad at Lottie (and if she did, who would've been able to tell the difference) but she did look mildly more annoyed.

"Of course I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the food!" she replied almost wildly. Charlotte noticed that some of the staff had very uncomfortable looks. "I would know if something was wrong with my food! I tasted every last dish that came back. Phillip tasted it, Carter tasted it, Anna tasted it, every last one of us tasted it and it tasted fine!" Now the entire staff was very interested in the ceiling, the floor, their jackets, the bottoms of their shoes, but none of them were look at their boss.

Charlotte pointed to one of the dishes. "Would you mind if I-?" Tiana's face fell.

"You don't believe me?" she accused.

"Oh, no, no," Charlotte said quickly. "Nobody believes you more than me. I believe you completely. But it's easier for me to go out there and take on those who doubt your amazing cooking skills and threaten to run them out of the city if I've actually sampled one of the dishes."

Tiana gave in and handed Charlotte a fork from a drawer. Everyone watched as Charlotte scooped up some of the food, raised it to her lips, and stuck it in her mouth. She chewed and winced as she swallowed.

"I have been enlightened to the ways of stupid customers," Charlotte decided. "And I can see where the sewery comment came from." Tiana was in shock.

"What? Are you serious?" She couldn't believe it. Charlotte pulled Tiana off to the side while speaking to the staff.

"Would y'all mind bringin' me a glass of lemonade? Oh, and Sugar? Yes, you. Please send out these customers some desserts on me."

"You're sending them desserts?" Tiana was getting mad again.

"Tia, honey, I love you and I love your cooking, you know I love your food, but…what I just ate…it was one of the worst things I've ever tasted and I've tasted some very bad things!" Tiana sighed, looking defeated. Charlotte put her hands on her shoulders. "Are you sure you didn't drop something in there? Like manure?"

"No, I'm positive, Lottie. I tasted each dish every step of the way."

Charlotte thought of any other possible solutions. "Are you feeling alright, honey? Because sometimes being sick can throw your taste buds off."

"No, no, I'm fine. Well-I did have a little bug last week but I feel just fine today!" Tiana insisted.

"Well, I'll tell you what we're gonna do. We are gonna get your doctor over for a check-up in case it was more than just a little bug. For now, we're gonna let someone else take care of the food. Who's second in command here?"

"Phillip is." Tiana sighed and shifted her weight. "The food was really that bad?"

Charlotte opened her mouth to disagree, then snapped it shut and nodded. Naveen came in through the door to the kitchen.

"That crowd was not letting me off the stage," he complained. "They just kept demanding song after song after song. I am exhausted and I have not had a single thing to eat since this morning." He spotted the dish Charlotte had just sampled. "Hey, that looks good!" He took a step towards it.

"No!" the staff cried leaping toward the dish. Naveen jumped back, hands raised in mock-surrender.

"Alright, fine! I will not eat it!"

"Be happy you're loved, Sugar," Charlotte told him. She steered Tiana to the door. "Now you go straight up stairs and lay down. No arguing! I'll be up in a few minutes." Tiana gave Naveen a quick kiss before leaving the kitchen.

"What is wrong with the food?" Naveen asked. "And what is wrong with Tiana?" One of the waiters interrupted to give Charlotte her lemonade.

"Thank you. And bring Naveen here a coffee and some beignets," she called over her shoulder. She steered Naveen to a little table in the corner of the kitchen. "Why didn't y'all tell me Tiana was sick last week?"

Naveen sighed, rubbing his forehead. "You know, Tiana: she does not like to make a big deal out of things. She was sick, yes, but she seemed to be over it."

"Obviously not. She had six dishes sent back that she thought tasted fine and they tasted awful."

Naveen nodded as the beignets and coffee were placed in front of him. "That does not surprise me. Last week we had soup for dinner and she threw hers out because she said it tasted like vinegar."

"What was the soup?"

"Tomato."

Charlotte gulped down the last of her lemonade. "I'm goin' upstairs and calling the doctor. You keep the restaurant runnin' for your girl, alright?"

Tiana stared in shock at the doctor.

"I'm what?" she managed to ask.

"You're pregnant!" the doctor repeated. "Congratulations!"

"I'm what?" she repeated.

"I would recommend you cut back your work in your restaurant to reduce your stress level but otherwise you're in perfect condition to carry through this pregnancy."

"I'm what?!"

The doctor sighed. "Ma'am, I can't keep repeating myself. Now if you could come down to my office again on Monday around three, we can probably make a better guess at how far along you are and when the baby will be due. I'll let you tell your friend and your husband." The doctor patted her hand and left the room. Charlotte rushed in past the doctor and sat on the bed at Tiana's feet.

"So, honey, what did the doctor say?"

Tiana sat up on the edge of the bed. "Promise not to scream?" she asked. Charlotte nodded. "I'm pregnant." A squeak emitted from Charlotte's mouth. "You promised!" she reminded her. Charlotte nodded and grabbed a pillow and screamed into it.

"Tia, Tia, Tia! This is just the bee's knees! Oh I'm so excited! Come on, smile! Why aren't you celebrating?"

Tiana blinked. "I-I'm still processing, Lottie. I don't know what to feel." Shouldn't she be happy? Excited? Anything? The shock left her numb.

"You do want to have a baby, don't you?" Charlotte asked.

"Of course I do!" Tiana said without hesitation. She was in shock again with this new realization. She wanted a baby. She wanted to be a mother. She put a hand to her stomach. "There's a person growing in me, Lottie!" she whispered in astonishment. "My baby. Baby mine."

A tear trailed down Tiana's cheek. She wiped it away, smiling. "Well, Lottie. It looks like Mama's finally getting that grandkid!"

The show is Gilmore Girls in Season 3 Episode 18 "The Big One." Kudos to those of you who spotted the reference right away.