Charlotte's sitting at her desk at the practice, checking her emails when the smell of apple cinnamon fills her nostrils. She perks up and swallows. No, focus King. She blinks and turns back to her computer screen. The smell gets stronger and her mouth starts to water. She minimizes her email and pushes herself out of the chair. She walks around her desk and opens the door. She steps out of her office and follows her nose. It leads her into the kitchen where there's a platter of fresh Danishes on the counter. Her shoulders drop, her eyes close, and she smiles. She stands there, breathing in the scent of apple cinnamon.

Sheldon walks into the kitchen and cocks his head. "You alright, Charlotte?"

She blinks her eyes open and raises an eyebrow. "Hmmm?"

"I asked if you were alright."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

He goes for the Danishes but she hurries over to the counter and slaps his hand away. "Sure, you can get first pick."

She takes a napkin from the stack and grabs the Danish on top—the source of the wonderful smell that's wafting through the air. "Come to momma," she mumbles to herself.

Sheldon pays her no mind and studies the pile. He goes for one, but changes his mind. He furrows his brow and looks at Charlotte. "What would you recommend?"

"I recommend not touchin' all of 'em," she snaps. "Oh and stop stealin' all our food. Your office isn't even on this floor." She turns towards the door and walks back to her office.

"Humph," is all Sheldon can come up with as a retort. He takes a Cherry Danish from the bottom and sits at the island counter.

Violet walks into the kitchen, passing Charlotte on the way in. "She seems rather chipper this morning." She pauses. "Oh, fresh Danishes." She grabs a Blueberry Danish from the pile. "How's Amelia? I hear she's getting discharged today."

Sheldon nods. "She's doing ok. I saw her before I came to work this morning. She's up and moving around, and she named the baby finally."

"It's good that she named him. That's a big step."

He nods.

"So what's the baby's name?"

Addison interrupts him. "What're you two talking about?"

"Amelia."

"She looks good," Addison says, grabbing her green juice from the fridge.

"Sheldon was just about to tell me what Amelia named her son."

"Ryan Christopher Shepherd-Kerrigan."

"Thanks for the help, Addison, but I was getting to that."

"Beat you to it, Sheldon."

"That's some name," Violet comments, taking a bite of her Danish.

"Ryan after well, Ryan, and Christopher after her father," Addison explains, pouring herself a glass.

Charlotte comes back into the kitchen and over to the platter.

Sheldon gives her a dirty look as she goes for another Danish.

"Got somethin' to say, Sheldon? I'm hungry. Quit starin' at me."

"Eh, err—." Sheldon purses his lips and looks away.

Charlotte rolls her eyes and looks around. "Someone else wanna say somethin' 'bout me eatin' two Danishes 'fore lunch?"

Addison and Violet stay silent.

"That's what I thought." Charlotte takes a bite and leaves the kitchen again.

Violet laughs.

Addison chuckles. "It must be one of those 'steer clear of Charlotte King' days."

Sheldon snorts. "Either Cooper was an idiot or Mason really pissed her off this morning. I'm banking on Cooper."

"I think we all are," Violet adds.

Addison's phone beeps on the island counter. She picks it up and looks at the message. "It's Amelia. She's being discharged." She pauses and rushes towards the door, turning around again to face her colleagues. "And don't forget, we're having a small service this Friday at the cemetery."

Sheldon nods. "It's marked in my calendar. I wouldn't miss it."

"What if your ex-wife calls? Are you gonna drop everything and jet off across the world again." Violet jokes and looks at Addison. "I'll be there."

Addison nods. "9 AM sharp." She leaves the kitchen and turns the corner to head into the lobby.

Violet takes a sip of her tea. "I totally forgot about the service."

"Me too. I feel like the worst best friend ever."

"Did Addison even tell us about it? You know sometimes you think you ask someone a question or tell them something, but it was only in your head?"

"No."

"Really? That's never happened to you?"

He shakes his head. "No."

"Maybe that's just me then, but are you sure she even told us about the service?"

Sheldon's eyes go back and he tilts his head, as he tries to think. He nods. "I'm pretty sure she told us."

"Oh, well, good thing I'm free the whole morning." Violet carries her mug and Danish out of the kitchen and down to her office.

Sheldon takes his time and then heads for the staircase.


Charlotte's sitting in her office at St. Ambrose, charting and trying to get her story straight for when she answers the lawyers' messages. Her phone illuminates and beeps twice, letting her know she has a text message. She takes a break from the paperwork and picks up her phone. She reads it to herself: Do you have time for lunch? ;)

She laughs at his subtle suggestive text. He wants more office sex, clearly. She sighs, looking at the mound of paperwork on her desk and the blinking red light on her phone. She replies with: No, sorry, but an apple fritter + a cucumber and chicken salad + a pineapple-mango smoothie would be nice.

Her phone lights up a few seconds later, Cooper's name blinking on the screen. She opens the message and smiles as she reads it: On my way. She pushes her phone to the side and gets beck to charting.

Her office door opens around twenty minutes later and she's startled by the loud click. She shuffles her feet and jerks forward. "I'm awake."

Cooper laughs. "You're drooling on your patient charts." He walks over to the desk and haphazardly stacks the files, moving them to the edge of her desk.

She grunts. "Hey! I have a system for that."

He sets the bag of food in front of her. "Would you rather worry about the organization of your files or would you rather eat your lunch?"

She smiles.

He takes out the plastic container. "One cucumber and chicken salad." He pulls out the clear cup. "One pineapple-mango smoothie." He reaches for the white paper bag and puts it in front of her. "And two apple fritters."

She looks at him and smiles wider. "I didn't actually think you'd go out and get me all this."

"Anything for you." He leans over and presses his lips against hers. He tilts his head and rests his hand against the side of her face. The kiss lingers for a good two minutes before they're both out of oxygen. He pulls back and smiles.

She starts with her dessert first as if she didn't get enough of the fried pastries this morning. She knows that's going to be her weakness for the next seven months. At least she can blame the extra weight on the baby growing inside her, instead of the extra-way-passed-the-recommended-amount of calories she's going to be consuming. She closes her eyes as her teeth sink into the flaky crust. "Mmmm," she mumbles. Just the taste on her tongue makes her mouth water.

He watches her for a second and then asks, "When can I tell people?"

She stops chewing and blinks her eyes open. "Huh?"

"You know, let the world know you're pregnant?"

"Don't you even dare open your mouth to anyone 'til I tell you to or you'll be sleeping out in the hallway—not even the couch. You'll be downgraded to the hallway if even so much as hint at it."

He laughs, but quickly stops when he realizes she isn't joking. "I'm not gonna tell people until you give me the verbal ok to do so, but I need to know when that will be. I just need a ballpark."

She sighs. "Look, I haven't really done the math yet, so I don't know how far along I am, but that's not what I'm basin' this decision on."

"Ok?" He sits on the edge of the desk and looks at her.

She set her apple fritter on the top of a napkin. "This should be the happiest moment in my life, aside from getting married, but the timing sucks. It truly sucks. Not only are we dealing with a grieving nine year-old boy, but we have to contend with the fact that my friend, a person I love, only got a few minutes with her son before she had to hand him over to the transplant team, who ultimately ended his doomed life. So what I'm sayin' is that I want things to die down a little 'fore we go and rub our happiness in everyone's faces."

He nods.

"Or I want to wait until I can't hide the bump anymore, whichever comes first."

"What if someone finds out?"

"Then they find out. I can't do anythin' 'bout that. You just better not have a hand in 'em findin' out."

He smiles. "Ok."

"I mean it."

"Ok."

"Cooper—."

"I said Ok." He pauses. "But—."

She shakes her head. "Don't even finish that."

He sighs. "I'm gonna let you finish working." He pauses. "I'll pick up Mason around four."

"He'll be in my office doin' homework or playin' with his 3DS. I might not be in here with him. I might be in the conference room."

"He'll be in your office, no matter what?"

She nods. "Unless he wonders off to the cafeteria or somethin'. He's been in this hospital more than once, Coop. He knows his way back to my office."

He stands up and kisses her on the lips again. "I'll see you later. Enjoy your lunch."

"I certainly will." She smiles. "And remember what I said."

"I won't tell anyone. It's gonna be hard 'cause despite it being horrible timing, I'm over the moon." He pauses. "And let's face it, Char, we're not exactly known for our timing."

She laughs. "Ain't that the truth?"

He gives her a quick peck on the lips and walks over to the door. "I love you."

"I love you too." She pauses. "Oh, wait, you remember that we have that service thing for Amelia on Friday, right?"

He nods. "I didn't forget." He pauses. "Since Erica's buried in that same cemetery, I thought we could bring Mason and let him wish his mom a happy Mother's Day, show her the scrapbook he made for her, give her the card he spent a week making, and just let him visit with her for a little bit, while we're paying our respects for baby Ryan."

She smiles. "We can ask Mason if that's somethin' he'd like to do 'cause it's up to him, Coop, but that sounds like a beautiful idea." She pauses. "I can ask him on the way back from school."

"Sounds good to me. Let me know tonight what he says." He opens the door and disappears out of her office, heading down the hall towards the exit.

She looks down at her lunch and smiles. "He wins bonus points for this." She picks up her apple fritter again and goes back to enjoying her food.


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