Author's Notes: As always many thanks to my beta, Mediatorsk. Everyone else, just enjoy and please review ;)


She has lost count on the many times her eyes have wandered to Pete's office. Meg, the woman from yesterday is in there, and while Violet's hormones are playing more nicely today than they were yesterday, she still feels uncomfortable seeing the two together, even if it's just chatting… and apparently laughing.

It doesn't do her any good to stand around and watch what her logical side knows are two friends catching up, nothing more. She also needs to refill her mug. As she stands in the kitchen, pondering on whether to make herself some tea or coffee, she spots Naomi and Addison coming out of Addison's office. From the way they cautiously make their way towards her, Violet can only conclude one thing…

"Is this an intervention?" she asks.

Naomi hesitates, "We're… concerned," she admits, "I mean, you were there the last time Pete decided to get involved with someone from the practice… you know how badly that ended…"

"What Naomi's trying to say is that we don't want to see you getting hurt," Addison explains.

Violet tries not to think about yesterday's sudden complication and instead attempts to focus on her mindset prior to Meg's arrival, "I know what I'm doing…"

"Are you really?" Naomi frowns in disbelief, "Because yesterday… to me that felt a lot like déjà vu…"

Violet knows Naomi is referring to when their former colleague stormed out of her office only to never return. They even had to pack up her things for her and ship it to her new workplace, as the woman refused to set foot in the practice for even for a minute to get them herself.

"It's nothing like that," Violet tries to assure both women, mostly herself, "And more importantly; I'm not Sharon…"

"Wait, who's Sharon?" Addison frowns.

"Our former OB-GYN," Naomi explains, "The one Pete ran off a few months before you came out here…"

"Oh," the redhead nods in understanding.

"And I'm nothing like her," Violet insists, "No matter what happens, I'm…" Violet pauses as she feels the bile rising in the back of her throat, damn morning sickness.

"Are you alright?" Naomi asks with a frown.

Violet struggles to fight the bout of nausea as she answers, "Yeah, just… excuse me…"

She tries to walk calmly in direction of the restroom, but feels her pace picking up quickly the closer she gets. Once inside she darts into one of the cubicles, barely finding time to close the door behind her before she empties the contents of her stomach into the porcelain bowl. She doesn't move from her spot on the floor until she's certain nothing more can come out.

Exiting the cubicle she's surprised to find Meg standing in front of her, checking out an angry red mark on the lower part of her back in the mirror, "It's an insect bite, right?" she asks.

Violet shrugs, "Not really my area of expertise. I'm the psychiatrist here at the practice…"

"Right," Meg nods, "Oh, hey, about yesterday… I'm really sorry; I honestly had no idea… I'm so used to Peter being unattached whenever I drop by, it never occurred to me he might have something going on…"

Violet nods, "I get it." Having the woman in front of her, it's hard to fault her. With all the years Violet's known Pete, if she had been the one breezing in and out of his life, she probably would have made the same assumption, "So, Pete told me you were residents together?"

Meg nods, "It took a while before we got to talking, but when we did we just clicked right away. We had a lot of similar goals in life, so when I eventually left to join Doctors Without Borders he was right there with me…"

Violet frowns in confusion, "Wait, Pete did Doctors Without Borders? For how long?"

"A couple of years… he never told you that?" Meg asks confused, "Wow, maybe he has changed… back then that was pretty much his opening line."

"When was this?" Violet can't help but feel a bit curious about Pete's mysterious past, wondering at the same time why in the eight years she's known him he hasn't said a word about it.

"Fifteen years ago?" Meg shrugs, "I was a bit surprised when he quit. Originally he was only supposed to take a few months off, but then he met someone, married her and settled down here. We tried to stay in touch, as much as you can when one of you is constantly moving around the third world. Eventually our friendship just slipped through the cracks."

"But you're here, now," Violet points out.

"I was asked to attend a Developing Nations Conference here in LA, so I figured while I was in town I'd look him up," Meg chuckles, "Imagine my surprise to find him all caught up in holistic medicine, I mean, he always was very open to alternative treatments, especially whenever we were low on supplies, but I never thought he'd go as far as abandoning old school medicine in favor of it…"

Violet shrugs, "I wouldn't say that's what he's been doing. For as long as I've known Pete, he's always been about finding the right balance…"

"You know a different Peter than I do," Meg comments, "You know it's funny… I've always only known him as Peter, a few years out of his life and even that's changed…"

"What was he like, you know, back then?"

"Amazing," Meg shrugs, "Amazing doctor… I'm sure you know…"

"I've only ever seen Pete do Eastern medicine," Violet reminds her.

"Right," Meg nods, "Well, one time we were treating these children in Bosnia. The orphanage was under mortar fire. An evacuation was ordered, but it was impossible to get the kids out. Peter refused to leave the kids behind; he stayed with them through the night. Most of the kids survived because of him…"

At some point, without even realizing it, Violet's hand has taken to stroking her stomach. It's like hearing about Pete's dedication to those kids makes the idea of having one with him a little less scary. Meg arches her brows as she sees this, but she doesn't comment. Violet can only assume the woman was in the room while she was tossing her cookies earlier. You don't have to be a doctor to put two and two together.

"He's always been very fond of kids," Meg shrugs, "To be honest; I'm surprised he and his wife never had any…"


Violet isn't too surprised to find him on the other side of the door.

"How are you feeling?" he asks.

"Nauseous," Violet admits, it seems like ever since she found out she was pregnant, her nausea has amped up, the stress of the situation probably having a lot to do with it.

Pete reaches out and tucks a few stray hairs behind her ear, "You know, we could try treating that with acupuncture," he offers.

His gesture brings out a small smile. The idea of maybe becoming a mother, it scares the hell out of her, but Pete's calm concern has a very soothing effect. Whenever he's there, she feels like maybe things will be alright. "Maybe we can do this," she studies his expression as she says it.

The smile she receives reaches his eyes, "Really?"

"I'm scared," she admits, "I've never been one of those women whose life evolved around the idea of starting a family, more the opposite. Just the thought of having kids of my own terrifies me, to know that one is currently growing inside me…"

Pete responds by wrapping his arms around her, pulling her close. Violet sighs as she leans into the hug. "What are you so afraid of?" he asks.

Violet meets his eyes, "That I'll fail? That I'll somehow turn into my mother? I don't exactly have the best role model when it comes to parenting…"

Pete presses his lips to her temple, "All kids really need is love, you are more than capable of that."

Violet sighs, "I hope so…"