Thank you all the reviews! I seem to have worried a few people with my last comment. So, two promises. Firstly, I will always post the second half of an episode the day after the first half, or as near as makes no difference: I won't post the first half without the second half being ready. Secondly, my aim is to have no more than a week between episodes. I've stretched this to posting the first half of one episode a week after the second half of the previous one, hence the slipping of days, but I'm trying not to go beyond that. Trust me, I'm not one to abandon stories. Hopefully you're all reassured!

CHAPTER TWO

"Sutton Mercer,"called out the receptionist.

Ethan gave Emma a reassuring look. He wanted to hold her hand, but as far as anyone else in the room was concerned he was merely her brother-in-law. Accompanying her to a doctor's appointment wouldn't raise too many eyebrows, so long as they weren't too affectionate towards each other.

Emma raised her hand and the receptionist showed them through into the office. Emma had made the acquaintance of Doctor Lythgoe, a serious but fair-minded middle-aged woman, during her time in town. She and Ethan took seats opposite her.

"So, Miss Mercer, what can I do for you?"Lythgoe asked.

Emma looked at Ethan for support for a moment before speaking. "Can you guarantee this is patient confidentiality?"

"Of course."

"I'm not Sutton Mercer. I'm Emma Whitehorse. Ethan's my husband."

Lythgoe looked more than a little annoyed. "Can I ask why you lied?"

"It's a bit difficult to explain,"Ethan admitted. "Basically, Emma's pretending to be Sutton and Sutton's pretending to be Emma."

"I seem to remember hearing something like that before. Okay, suppose I don't ask you too many questions at the moment. What can I do for you?"

"I'm pregnant,"Emma explained. "And I need to make sure everything's all right with the baby."

Lythgoe nodded and reached for the phone. "Yes, of course. I'll just make you an appointment at the hospital…"

Ethan stopped her. "No hospital. We can't have this on record."

Lythgoe looked annoyed again. She indicated an ultrasound machine nearby. "I can give you an examination myself but it won't be as thorough as you'd get at the hospital."

"I'll take it,"Emma answered.

"All right. Get on the examination table."

Kristin's smile when Emma told her the news was a joy to see. "Really?"

Emma nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier but there was so much to sort out, and Sutton, Laurel and Dan to tell. I was hoping I'd get a picture of the scan but Doctor Lythgoe said there was no way to get one printed without it going on the record."

"But the scan went okay?"Kristin asked.

"Yeah, everything's where it should be."

Kristin gave her a hug. "I'm pleased for you, Emma. You'll be a fantastic mum."

"And you'll be a fantastic grandma." Emma hesitated. "I mean, if you don't mind…"

Kristin gave her a serious look. "Emma, I might not have given birth to you or raised you but I would be privileged to be the grandma to your baby."

Whatever reply Emma could have given was halted by the appearance of Phyllis in the doorway. "Is Peter here?"she asked, walking into the house without preamble.

"No, he's at work,"Kristin answered. She nodded towards Emma. "You, ah, remember Sutton?"

It occurred to Emma that the last time she'd met Phyllis she'd been posing as Sutton too: Years out and proud and she still hadn't met her as herself. "Hello again, Mrs Chamberlin. Or should I call you Aunt Phyllis now?"

"Mrs Chamberlin will do fine. There's no need to pretend we're family just because you were one of my sister's mistakes, especially since you seem to have accepted Kristin as your mother. Much like Char has."

Emma sighed. "You didn't say that to her, did you?"

"What if I did? Char is my daughter, just as Peter is my husband. I'd trouble you both to remember that."

"I just can't believe that woman,"Emma complained, once she was at home with Ethan. "I can see she comes from the same gene pool as Rebecca."

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "She's really that bad?"

Emma sighed. "No, perhaps not. But she's not going to make things easy for Kristin, or Char."

"Do you think she was behind the phone call?"

"Maybe, if she was really out of the loop. I guess I should ask her but we're not really in the right place for cosy family chats."

"So, nothing we can do at the moment?"

Emma had a sudden mischievous look on her face. "Well…there is one thing."

Ethan looked at her curiously. "What?"

"How long do you think we've got until Dan gets home?" Emma saw that Ethan was getting the point. "After all, give it a few weeks and I'll be too big for you to fancy me."

"You'll never be too big for that,"Ethan assured her. "But I do fancy you quite a lot right now." He kissed her and they slowly lay down on the couch.

Jordan and Laurel came through the arrival gate at the airport in Vegas, looking about them. "Still not too late to back out,"Jordan commented. "I'm sure there's an outgoing flight back to Arizona leaving soon."

Laurel shook her head. "No, we've come this far. Besides, it'll be good to see Sutton again."

They noticed a smiling, dark-skinned woman waving to attract their attention. She came running over. "Laurel and Jordan, right? I'm Lexi."

"Er, yeah,"Laurel confirmed. "How did you know?"

Lexi held up her phone. The screen displayed a picture of Emma, Sutton and Laurel. "Sutton gave me your photo. Come on, I'll show you back to the motel."

"Where are Sutton and Mads?"Jordan asked as they picked up their bags and followed her.

"Well, they did want to come but they've got something else to deal with."

Mads was waiting awkwardly in the bar as Troy approached. "Hey, I got your message." He kissed her on the cheek. "So, what, you just wanted to hang out?"

"Not this time." Mads nodded to her right.

Sutton, who had been out of sight in one of the booths, walked over to them. "Hello, Troy."

Troy was thrown by her sudden appearance. "Emma! What are you doing here?"

Sutton sat down next to Mads. "Someone tried to rape me and someone else killed him."

"Okay, that's quite an ice breaker."

"And at the moment I'm most worried about the person who killed him. Because that was a pretty isolated spot for someone to just happen to be walking by. So I'm wondering who would have followed me out there. Doctor Hughes? You?"

"Hey, I was with Mads last night,"Troy protested.

Sutton looked at Mads. "We were together earlier that evening,"Mads confirmed. "But I'd left by then."

"And I didn't go out after you left,"Troy insisted. "Look, maybe it's not about you. Maybe this…"

"Travis,"Sutton supplied.

"Maybe this Travis had enemies. Maybe it was him they were following."

"Maybe,"Sutton conceded.

"Or maybe it's something to do with Alec."

Sutton was thrown by that one. "Alec?"

"Yeah, it is him that you're investigating, right?"

Mads looked confused. "But Alec's…"

Sutton stopped her, looking Troy in the eye. "Whatever's going on, we've been waiting too long. We need to find out if Eduardo's at that clinic and the only way is to go in there and do a thorough search. So. Are you going to help us or not?"

End of Episode Seven