Note: If you're trying to track the timeline/progress of Mindy's pregnancy, I'm using 10 months/40 wks = full-term pregnancy, including the two weeks prior to conception.


The days leading up to Mindy's check-up pass without too much drama. In spite of herself, she exchanges brief flirtations with Drake, catches herself, then chalks them up to her increasing mood swings. She's spending more and more time at the Parker-Nichols home once again, in Drake and Josh's bedroom. It's never been this difficult or awkward before for her and Josh to be 'just friends.' There's a bizarre moment one evening, tucked between the longing glances he keeps casting at her, when he mentions that a co-worker has asked him out for drinks. She has to be a supportive friend because she cannot be anything more to him right now and she forces the words out of her mouth, that, yeah, he should go. It takes him a second to hide the disappointment in his eyes; he'd been hoping for more of a reaction.

The day of Mindy's appointment arrives and the baby appears to be in perfect health, heart still beating strong and fast. Mindy's health on the other hand gives the doctor some concern; her blood pressure is elevated. It's not uncommon for some women to develop high-blood pressure during their pregnancies but it could lead to complications. The doctor wants to monitor her blood pressure closely for the next couple of weeks, to see if it is something that may cause problems down the road. Drake asks the doctor about the potential complications but she doesn't want to alarm them, only telling them that it would mean a higher chance of health risks for Mindy and the baby, including premature labor. The doctor wants her to avoid as much undue stress as possible to see if that helps lower her blood pressure at all. Mindy raises an eyebrow and gives Drake a warning look that says, 'You heard the doctor.'

Josh has a fit when they tell him of their plans to break the news on Thanksgiving. He points out that combining their families' dinners will probably have them expecting Josh and Mindy to announce that they're engaged, not that Mindy and Drake are having a baby. He begs them to reconsider. Megan's all for being entertained and agrees that it's best to just rip off the band-aid.

Drake mentions Mindy's blood pressure and the word 'complications' and Josh stops fighting them. Drake watches Josh move towards Mindy, all puppy dog eyes, and he repeats to himself that he's backing off. He sees Mindy's shoulders sag, the tension easing, as Josh places an arm around her and she lays her head back against his chest. Easy, hard, fair, unfair.

When they were in high school, the lines between Josh and Mindy's friendship and romance were blurred from every angle. Generally, there was less kissing and cuddling and they were free to date other people when their relationship was of a platonic nature but the chemistry and desire to be together was always there, no matter how much they tried to deny it. The inklings of that same old pattern are still etched in their interactions with one another.

Drake's about to leave the room when Mindy calls out to him, "Take me home?" He perks up and nods, "Yeah."

Mindy and Josh hug each other good-bye and exchange pecks on the cheek. It's weird to see but it doesn't seem to bother them, not from where Drake is standing.

In his car, she gives no preamble, just, "Josh has a date tonight."

Drake is honestly surprised, "Really? How do you know this when I don't?"

"Josh and I talk," she says simply.

"Yeah, but, you and he, you guys, you both keep telling me how much you love each other and now he's off dating some random chick and you're okay with that? I really do not get you two."

"Look, Josh and I are fully aware of our love for one another but we have agreed that since I don't know how I'm going to feel in an hour, much less in six months, that a legitimate separation was in order. That means that Josh can date other people and I have to be okay with that."

It's a testament to his newfound restraint that he doesn't question if that means that Josh will be okay with her dating other people, him specifically.

Mindy steers the conversation to the topic of her parents and her brother. Drake barely knows her parents but he can clearly remember them as snobby upper-crust types, overly protective and extremely judgmental, who highly disapproved of Josh dating Mindy and disapproved of him being related to Drake even more. Mindy's relationship with Josh was something they tolerated, if only because he made her happy and wanted to give her the world. When it came down to the bare bones, no one that they didn't already approve of was going to be good enough for their little girl. The hole carved out for her in her family was rigid, with sharp edges, and while she was firm, she curved here and there. It's no wonder she's a little crazy.

Mindy doesn't know how they're going to react. Between their love for her and what is sure to be their disappointment at her predicament and their disdain of Drake, she's expecting anything from dismay followed by stoic acceptance to being temporarily disowned. She's preparing herself for the worst. Drake should be prepared for her father's wrath because, no matter now her dad treats her, he will want to kill Drake.

Then there are Drake's parents. If anything, what's going to upset them the most will not be Mindy's pregnancy, not since Audrey already expected as much, but the naming of Drake as the baby's father. That's going to be the real shocker.

Drake parks in front her apartment and Mindy has an urge to reach out and touch him. She unbuckles her seatbelt and tries to the open the door but it's still locked; she blushes, just a little, as she fumbles with the lock and the door. She doesn't trust the thoughts invading her mind. Her heart has never belonged to anyone but Josh and she's rarely entertained thought of anyone other than Josh. She's really starting to hate no longer being in control of her emotions.

She pushes the door open, "Thanks again for taking me to the doctor and driving me home."

"My pleasure." His smile is genuine and he's oozing charm but it's not his intent and he's completely unaware that the charm is rolling off of him in waves.

"Good night," she says quickly, climbing out of the car as fast as she can.


Thanksgiving arrives and it's been over a week since Mindy's morning sickness began to subside but she's feeling ill. It's her nerves and she knows it. She's had a simple, loose navy blue dress picked out for days. She sits in her car outside of her parents' house, her fingers passing over the double strand of pearls around her neck and she feels like a little girl again. She's spent the past few weeks making excuses as to why she can't make it to their family dinners and why she can't attend church with them. She hasn't spent a significant amount of time with her parents or her brother since she found out that she was pregnant. She takes a deep breath, both hands pressed to her midsection as if she's seeking strength from her unborn child, and slowly exhales.

It's just before 2:30 in the afternoon when she unlocks the front door and glides into the house wearing a small smile. Her brother is setting the table in the formal dining room, her father is in his office, and her mother is in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on dinner. It's easier for her to assist her brother with preparations than to field questions from her mother or father. Her brother's applying to colleges so she can make their conversation about him and he'll allow it.

Mindy greets the Parker-Nichols family when they arrive at approximately 2:47 p.m. and she ushers them to the living room to wait.

Drake catches her hand in the foyer, pulling her aside, out of view from his parents. He whispers, "Hey, you doing okay?"

"Right as rain," she says with fake cheer. She glances towards the archway that leads into the living room, "I'll be fine as soon as we get this over with."

Josh steps into the foyer and Drake and Mindy pull their hands away from each other. He's still holding out hope that they're going to change their minds, "Still going through with this?"

Drake nods and Mindy answers, "Affirmative."

Mindy returns to the kitchen to help her mother carry the food into the dining room. As Mindy places one of the gravy boats on the table, she notices her mother scrutinizing her.

"You've done something different with your hair."

She breathes an internal sigh of relief, "I'm letting it grow out."

At 3:00 p.m. sharp, the Crenshaws and the Parker-Nicholses gather around the table and say grace. Mindy's father carves the turkey and everyone begins making small talk. Her father makes a pointed remark about Mindy being so distracted that she doesn't have time for her own family and sends a dirty look Josh's way. Her mother looks at her father and calls him, "Dear," in such a way that Drake knows that Mindy inherited wearing the pants in her relationships from her mother. Walter makes a comment about how good the food looks and thanks Mindy's parents for opening up their home to them. Mindy's father sits and the serving dishes are being passed around the table.

There's a break in the small talk and Mindy says, nonchalantly, "I'm pregnant. Can you please pass the green beans?"

Drake, Josh, and Megan's movements slow while everyone else's halt. There's the muted clatter of a fork hitting the tablecloth and no one says anything for several seconds.

A vein on the side of her father's neck starts pulsing and he glares at Josh, "I always had my doubts about you and your family and what sort of influence you had on our Mindy. You got her in trouble on purpose, didn't you?"

"Don't you talk that way about my son," Walter says, his never before seen backbone making an appearance. "Josh and Mindy are adults and they've been together for a long time. To be honest, I think that we should all be grateful that this is the first time something like this has happened."

Mindy's mother has her own two cents, "Our Mindy was a good girl before she got involved with Josh. We raised her properly. He seduced her."

"And how do you know that she didn't seduce him?" Audrey casts a quick look at Mindy and Josh before continuing, "Not that any of that matters, they are clearly in love with each other and Walter and I will supp—"

Mindy and Drake are sitting across from each other and their eyes meet. She speaks loud enough so that she can be heard over Audrey, "Josh did not get me pregnant."

Her father says, "Of course he did, Mindy; you just told us that you're with child."

Her eyes land on her plate, "It's not Josh's child."

Walter looks at his son, "Josh?"

"It's not my baby, Dad." He makes a show of placing his hand over Mindy's on top of the table.

"I don't understand. Why would you bring our families together and tell us that you're pregnant if Josh isn't the baby's father." In Audrey's head, it's playing out like Wheel of Fortune. She see the letters that have been revealed and they make sees but she can't say the words yet because there's still a level of uncertainty.

Drake finally speaks up, standing, "Because I'm the baby's father."

"No."

"Mom—"

"No. Drake Jared Parker, you may be a lot of things, but you are not the type of man who would break your brother's heart—not like that. Not with her. Drake…."

Mindy's mother shakes her head, "This uninspired directionless slacker, honey? Is his IQ even in the triple digits?"

"Mother!"

Her father's voice booms, "Don't take that tone with your mother, young lady!"

The chaos hits then. There's yelling and screaming, seats being pushed back from the table, standing, shouting, finger pointing and jabbing. Words like "disgraced," "hussy," "male slut," "dog," "loser," "stuck-up," "pig-headed," "not good enough."

There's so much hostility and tension and now they know, this is what Josh was trying to warn them about. Megan's tempted to start pelting them all with food.

It has been building but the intensity comes all of a sudden, the sharp, blinding pain in Mindy's head. Throbbing. Her heart's pounding. Her vision becomes fuzzy and it feels like everything's happening in slow motion. Her brother, who hasn't spoken a word since her announcement is the first to notice that something's wrong when her body stiffens in the moment before she pitches forward and crumbles to the ground.

There's a flurry of movements, gasping, shouting. Megan's the first to have the presence of mind to call for an ambulance. They can hear the approaching sirens as Mindy begins to regain consciousness and she's confused and she feels…off. They're fussing over her and she doesn't know why she's on the floor or why her brother is holding her. Panic and fear are surging through Drake's body and the medics are asking them questions, trying to ask Mindy questions but she can't tell them anything because she has no clue what's going on and she's growing more and more anxious and she can feel herself going back under. One of the medics says something about 'hypertensive crisis' and they shift into overdrive to transport her to the ER.

The Crenshaw and the Parker-Nichols families travel in a caravan to the ER. They wait in tense silence for a few hours. Drake and Josh wring their hands and their family alternates in comforting them. Mrs. Crenshaw is on the verge of tears, wringing a handkerchief and clutching her pearls.

Drake rises when he sees Mindy's OB-GYN walking towards them.

The doctor explains, "Mindy's blood pressure spiked, dangerously so. We've got her on an IV and the medications we're giving her appear to be working. We will be keeping her until her blood pressure reaches a healthy level."

"And the baby?"

The doctor hesitates, her tone changes, "The baby's heart rate is a little lower than we would like it to be. We are monitoring the fetal heart rate as well."

The implication that all is not well is there.

The doctor continues, addressing the group, "Someone will let you know when you can go in and see her."

It's another two and a half hours before a nurse steps off the elevator and scurries over to them, "You came in with Ms. Crenshaw? She's asking for Drake."

He looks surprised, her parents look affronted, "Me?"

"Yes, sir. Follow me."

Mindy's in a small room, the back of her bed raised at a forty-five degree angle. She looks tired and pale, worn down, IV inserted in the back of her hand. Wires from under her hospital gown lead back to the fetal heart monitor sitting next to the bed. Her eyes brighten when she sees Drake, "Hey."

"Hey. How are you?"

She shrugs, "I have been better. I can't say that I've been worse. What did the doctor tell you about the baby?"

"Just that they're monitoring it."

"You really do want this baby, don't you?"

"I think I've made that pretty obvious."

She gives him a short nod. "For the duration of my pregnancy, I am going to name you as my health proxy. If, later on, there is an issue with my health and the baby's, if there are complications, and I am not in a state to make decisions regarding treatment…don't feel guilty about choosing the baby over me."

"What?"

She speaks deliberately, "If you have to choose between trying to save me or the baby, you should choose to save our child."

He can't even begin to comprehend what she is telling him to do. "Mindy—"

"It's a possibility, Drake, not a big one, but it is a possibility. We should be prepared."

He scrunches his face up, "I don't know if I could do that."

"Are you afraid of me, Drake?"

"Yeah, kind of."

"If you do not following my wishes, I will make your life an absolute living hell."

Drake deflates. He can't bear the thought of losing either of them and if he had to choose, he doesn't think that he could. It's not his decision to make, he rationalizes; Mindy has already made up her mind. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"If I change my mind, you and my lawyer will be the first to know."

Drake eyes the fetal heart monitor, "What if the baby doesn't make it?"

She looks determined, so sure of herself, her hands circling her lower abdomen, "No, he or she is going to make it through this so-called crisis. We'll be okay. Just, if there's a problem later, I want to know that they'll have the best chance. I know I can trust you to do what's best for our baby."

He smiles for the first time since dinner was served, "You trust me?"

She looks down for a moment before grabbing his arm and pressing his hand to her stomach. She answers, "Where the welfare of your child is concerned, yes, completely."

It's too early for him to feel any movement, they both know it, and Mindy hasn't even detected the baby moving for the first time yet. He can feel how her stomach's beginning to harden. He knows this, he's read about this; it has to do with her uterus growing.

The nurse peeks into the room, "Excuse me."

Mindy nods at her and the nurse closes the door. "You should go. They don't want me having visitors just yet, not with what happened; not until they've brought my blood pressure down lower. I argued that, as the baby's father, you had every right to check on us personally."

"Thanks."

He starts to move away and she catches his hand and pulls him down low enough so that she can raise herself up with minimal effort and kiss him softly, her lips lingering on his. She lets go of his hand and settles back down.

"Thanks for not leaving me alone."