Elizabeth McCord was not as oblivious as her daughters thought she was. It was almost amusing at this point that they thought they could hide something from her. She may be Secretary of State, but she was also a trained CIA analyst, and more importantly their mother. She recognized the girls odd behavior but she wasn't quite sure what was causing it. She noticed the way Ali and Stevie shared cryptic glances across the dinner table, and the way that they always seemed to be talking in hushed whispers. It was starting to really bother her, she couldn't understand what was so secretive that they couldn't just tell her. Was it about her job? Did they not want her to run for President?
The breaking point for her came when Stevie announced that she was taking the day off to visit with an old college friend that was in town. Stevie was good, but not good enough, and Elizabeth knew she was lying. Unfortunately, she had a bunch of important meetings to get to that morning so she couldn't investigate more.
That night when she came home she asked the DS agents if anyone came or went this morning, as they keep a log in order to keep track of the family's whereabouts. Their answer puzzled Elizabeth, apparently Stevie and Ali left together around 11 and did not return until after 3. Elizabeth thanked them for their help and continued inside, now with more questions then she had answers.
It was a late night for her, so she wasn't surprised to find the rest of her family had already gone to bed. Henry had waited up and was perched on their bed engulfed in a book when she walked in. His smile upon seeing her was quickly replaced with a frown when he saw her face.
"Hey sweetheart, you ok?"
Elizabeth laughed at that. To Henry she was an open book, he could always tell when something was troubling her.
"Hmm, have you noticed any odd behavior from Stevie or Alison?"
"No, why, is something wrong?" Henry questioned back.
"I'm not sure, the two of them have been acting weird lately, and you know how Stevie suddenly took the day off of work to visit an old college friend, well I checked with the DS agents and apparently Stevie and Alison left together this morning for several hours."
Henry now wore the same concerned expression she did. He highly doubted Alison just tagged along to meet up with Stevie and her friend, which meant the friend was probably a total lie, so what had the girls been doing? It was unlike them to hide something from their parents. Both parents were equally confused.
Henry pulled Elizabeth into a tight hug, knowing she was stressed out about out this already.
"It will be ok, I'm sure whatever it is the girls will come forward sooner or later." Henry reassured her.
Elizabeth just nodded in response. Henry, while as sweet as he was, did nothing to expel the uncomfortable twist in her stomach. She continued to get ready for bed before joining Henry. She laid there in silence for a few moments before rolling over to face him.
"I miss when they were little, and they would tell us everything. I mean Alison could never hide anything from us when she was young. Remember that time when Stevie was ten and she tried to organize a surprise dinner for our anniversary but then Alison told us by accident?"
Henry smiled at the memory. Alison had been so excited when he picked her up from school that afternoon.
"Hey Ali, how was school?"
"It was so much fun, Miss Jones got a fish tank for our class and we got to name the fish, it was awesome!"
Henry laughed at his daughters excitement.
"Alright noddle, I have to stop at the grocery store before we come back to pick up Stevie from soccer because we need to get food for dinner."
Before Alison could think it through she blurted out, "oh don't worry about that daddy, we are making dinner."
Henry was perplexed, "what do you mean honey?"
"Nothing!" Alison replied too quickly.
Henry turned around to face Alison.
"Noddle, are you and your sister planning on making dinner tonight?"
Tears started streaming down her face as she nodded her head. Henry thought his heart was going to explode at the sight in front of him. He wondered how he got so lucky to have two such kind loving girls.
"It-it was supposed to be a surprise."
"Oh, baby it's alright. Surprise or not, your mother and I will love it."
"But Stevie is gonna be so mad at me, she told me I couldn't tell." Alison hiccuped.
"I will talk to Stevie and explain the situation, Alright?"
"Ok."
Henry was pulled from his thoughts when he heard Elizabeth sniffle. It was then that he saw the tears pooling in his wife's eyes.
"I miss our babies Henry."
"Me too."
All Henry could do was wrap his arms around his wife and hold her. And it was in that position that the two fell asleep.
Elizabeth awoke with a start, sensing something was wrong she just wasn't sure what yet. And then she heard it, Alison's sobs accompanied by Stevie's hushed whispers. She got out of bed and was going to investigate when she heard Stevie say that they needed to go to the hospital. At this Elizabeth ran into to the room, much to the shock of both of her daughters.
"What's going on?"
A/N: ahhh ok so I hope you guys like this chapter, sorry for the cliff hanger but it had to be done. Let me know what you thought in the comments, and as always thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed thus far!
