Chapter 30

Don came in the front door to the Craftsman as quietly as possible. He walked into the living room and saw Elisabeth still curled up on the couch sleeping.

Alan looked up from his book and smiled. "Hi, Donnie."

"Hey, dad."

"Are you hungry? There are leftovers from dinner." Alan stood up, placing his book down on the table.

"Nah, I should just get Elisabeth home. I'm sure there's something at home to eat."

"Nonsense. I'll put it in a container and you can heat it when you get home," Alan replied as he walked into the kitchen.

Don sat down on the couch next to Elisabeth and touched her arm, rousing her from her sleep. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty, time to wake up--your prince is here."

She opened her eyes slowly and stretched. She looked at Don and asked, "What time is it?"

"It's a little after 11pm. Dad said you fell asleep after dinner."

"Oh, why did he let me sleep so long?" Sitting up, she suppressed a yawn. "Prince huh? Does this mean you're not annoyed at me?"

He sighed, "No. Just don't understand why you kept it from me that you still had clearance."

She shook her head. "I wasn't keeping it from you. I just haven't really thought about it." Rubbing her face more awake she explained, "The short story is I have clearance because back when we weren't, umm, talking before Thanksgiving the NSA approached me about becoming a consultant and gave me a few gigs."

Don flushed angrily, "What? You were consulting in the field? What, are you crazy putting our child in danger like that?"

Elisabeth's eyes blazed back at Don. She took a deep breath before talking. She said in the most even voice she could muster, "There you go again, making assumptions. What do you think, I'm an idiot? Of course I wasn't in the field. It was all encryption work. I can't believe you would think that."

"Oh. "

"You know, Don, I've had enough of this. You make it really hard to tell you things and then when I do tell you things you flip out."

He snapped back, "Well, if you wouldn't hide things."

Elisabeth snorted in disgust.

Alan walked in and said, "What are you two bickering about now? If I didn't know you two better I would say you were about to come to blows."

Don wearily replied, running his hands through his hair, "It's nothing, dad."

Alan looked between the two of them and sighed. "I'm going to go back in the kitchen. You guys have five minutes to work it out." He turned around and walked out of the living room.

Don sighed and reached out to touch her arm. She brushed him off.

He rubbed his jaw. "You're right, I don't make it always easy for you. I just get frustrated with things. So I'm sorry."

Elisabeth's mouth hung open ready to make some angry retort back when she shut it at Don's expression and blew out a harsh breath, "You know, when you go and actually apologize you really make it hard for me to stay mad. Listen, I promise I'm not purposely holding back anything from you. I'm really not. Okay?"

Don looked away for a moment before replying quietly, "Okay."

"Just so you know I haven't done any consulting since a few days before I started having complications. If you want I won't do it anymore if they ask."

"Do you want to give it up?" He met her gaze directly.

"No, Don I don't. I like still working with the NSA but if you want I'll sever ties with them."

He watched her for a few seconds, "No, I won't ask that of you. If you not putting yourself in danger then I can't ask you to give up something that makes you happy, so don't quit." He put his hand on the back of her neck. "It's late, let me get you home." Don called out towards the kitchen. "Hey Dad, we're done fighting if you want to come back in."

Elisabeth rolled her eyes. "Yes, Alan, we're all done."

Alan walked back in and handed Don a plastic container. "Good. Fighting gets you nowhere. Talking is what you have to do."

"Ok. Well, thanks dad. We're heading home now."

Elisabeth kissed Alan on the cheek and said, "Thanks, Alan, for dinner."

"Have a good night you two. Oh wait. Your appointment's tomorrow. Are you gonna find out the sex of the baby?"

Elisabeth nodded. "We can't agree if we want to know or not."

Alan smirked, "Why I am not surprised?"

"Alan, we'll work that out. It won't come to blows. I promise."

"All right young lady, I'll hold you to that. 'Night, son. Take care of my grandchild.

"'Night, dad, I will."

They were walking to the car and Elisabeth said dryly, "You're lucky that your dad interrupted our previous conversation. 'Cause I was about to kick your ass."

Don replied, opening the door for her, "You can't kick my ass. You're pregnant."

"Hey, if Jennifer Garner can go all Alias when she's pregnant, I'm sure I can too. Besides, pregnant or not pregnant I can still kick your ass."

"Yeah, yeah, you're all talk."

She laughed, "So, back to the whole gender thing. What do you want to do?"

"I want to be surprised."

"Come on, I want to know. Maybe we should flip a coin?" she said, as she got into the car.

Don arched an eyebrow before he closed the car door. "Interesting way to solve an argument."

She waited until he got in the driver's side before speaking. "Well, there is also a chance that the doctor is not going to be able to tell the gender anyway. Sometimes the baby doesn't cooperate and they can't get a good look at….the area. And since this is your kid, she's gonna be uncooperative."

He snorted a reply. "So you gonna tell me why you know a whole opera?"

She grinned and replied, "Yeah, but you have to wait till tomorrow. You only get to know one secret a night."

"Ha ha. Hey, I told them. I told Megan and the guys."

"Really?" Her eyebrows rose slightly. "What did they say?"

"Well, Megan wished us well and said to call her if you wanted to talk or just have lunch. As for Colby and David, I
didn't stick around for a response."

Elisabeth started cracking up. "What do you mean?"

Looking a bit contrite he said, "Yeah, I sort of blurted it out and drove away. "

Elisabeth chuckled before answering. "Fed, you're gonna have a lot of questions to answer tomorrow."

Don sighed. "Yeah, I know."

Chapter 31

Don called out to Elisabeth the next morning as he tied his tie. "Hey, you almost ready?"

"Yeah, just need to put my hair up." She stepped out of the bedroom a few minutes later and pronounced, "I'm ready."

They both made their way downstairs to the parking lot to the black SUV and headed over to the obstetrician's office.

Elisabeth looked over at Don out of the corner of her eye as he drove. "So, what do we want to do? Find out if it is a girl or a boy or not?"

Don kept his eyes on the road and said, "I think I want to be surprised."

"Oh come on, you hate surprises."

When he didn't reply, Elisabeth lapsed into silence.

"Don, I think I know why you don't want to know."

"Yeah, you do? Why don't you enlighten me?"

"I think by knowing if it is a boy or a girl it will make it more real."

Again Don said nothing.

She continued, "Hey, listen, I know how you feel. It's still surreal for me too but there's going to be no denying it pretty soon. I'm gonna look like I swallowed a beach ball or at least that what those dumb books you bought me say." She paused, "But if you really don't want to know that's fine."

They were at a stoplight when Don turned his head to answer her, "You want to know, huh?"

"Yeah, I do. I'd like to be able to give her or him a name. They say that babies can hear before they are born and I think she should know her name."

"Why do you need the doctor to confirm it for you? You keep saying she. You already seem pretty sure it's a girl." Amusement colored his voice.

"Yeah, well, even I can be wrong sometimes."

He snorted, "Sometimes?"

She grinned back at him, "It's been known to happen."

Don thought about what she'd said. Yeah, she was right. Finding out if it was a girl or boy did make it more real. He secretly did want to know. If it was a boy he'd teach him how to play baseball. A girl he would teach how to play basketball.

Don said, "All right."

She excitedly said, "Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I guess we're going to get into another argument soon."

"What? What are you talking about? What would we argue about now?"

"Picking a name. That's what we'll argue about."

She started to laugh. "Oh, yeah, that's gonna be real fun. Well, what names do you like?"

"Don for a boy."

"Obviously. But I'm telling you it's gonna be a girl so the name Don is not gonna work."

"Well, why not? She could be a girl named Don. Like the Johnny Cash song, 'A Boy Named Sue.' It could be short for, ummmm, Donna. I think it would be cute."

"Oh, no! Her name is not going to be Donna. Not gonna happen, Fed. You better come up with something else."

He grinned. "See? We're already arguing."

She grinned back at him, "Whatever we pick we have to put some thought into, 'cause some people just name their kids and don't even think. Don't even get me started on some of the names I've heard."

"Yeah, like what?"

"Let's see...Apple, Rumor, Hazel, and Matilda to name a few of the girl names."

"Apple? You're kidding me."

"Oh, I wish I was."

He started to laugh, "How about we name her Kiwi and if it's a boy, Onion?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sounds good."

He grinned back at her. "Come on. We're here. Time to find out if we're having a kiwi or an onion."

Don arrived at the office at about 9:45am and turned on his computer. He took out the small copy of the sonogram he'd been given. In the corner of the picture it said Baby Eppes. He tacked it up on his corkboard way in the back. Megan walked by his desk and said, "I just got a call from the courthouse. The guys that we took down in the raid can't seem to point their fingers fast enough at the man in charge, Colbert. So it looks like he'll be going up-river for a real long time."

"That's good news."

She grinned as she bent over to look at the songogram. "The one guy kept asking how we figured out that the song was the Barber of Seville. Apparently he thought he was really clever with his code."

"Did you tell him we have a secret weapon?"

Megan laughed. "Hey, how was the appointment?"

"It was fine." He leaned in close and signaled for her to move in so he could tell her something.

She quietly said, "Really? Do you guys have any idea on a name?"

"No, not yet. Hey, did you know some celebrity called his kid Apple?"

Megan started laughing. "Yeah, I heard some pretty crazy names, too. You two are not thinking of naming the baby
Apple or something like that, are you?"

Don just looked at Megan.

She grinned, "Yeah, I didn't think so."

Don noticed that Colby was staring at him. "Colby? You see something you like?"

Colby said, "Uh, no, Don," and quickly hid behind his computer screen.

Don turned to Megan and said, "He's been staring at me since I got in the door."

"Yeah, well the moment I came in David ambushed me and started asking me all kinds of questions. I told him maybe he should talk to you. You really threw them for a loop."

"Only them?"

She chuckled, "Well, I guess me too." She sighed, "I better get back to my desk and finish the report 'cause my boss is such a hard ass."

Don grinned and went back to writing his report. He looked up from his paperwork and caught Colby starring at him again. "Granger, knock it off."

Colby's face turned red as he went back to stare as the computer.

"Uh, hey, Don, " David said nervously as he walked over.

Don replied, "Hey."

David said quietly, "Umm, so what you told me and Colby last night...you weren't kidding, were you?"

Don sighed. "No, David. I wasn't."

"Oh. Ok." David started to walk away and turned back around. "So when is she, um, due?"

"What? Oh, May 29th."

"Oh, good, hey, if you guys need any help…."

Don nodded. "Thanks. I may take you up on that."

Colby wheeled his chair over. "Uh, hey, Don. So do you know if it's a boy or a girl? Or is it too soon to tell something like that?"

Don out of the corner of his eye saw Megan at her desk trying not to laugh at the three men. He said quietly, "It's going to be a girl."

Colby said with a wide grin, "Wow, really? A girl. That's great."

David nodded, "That's great, man."

Don warily asked them, "Any more questions?"

Both men shook their heads and took off back to their desks.

Don got up to get a cup of coffee and he noticed that Megan was still stifling her laughter. He walked over and said,

"Knock it off Reeves, or you'll be the one we call first for diaper duty."

Megan started to laugh harder. She said, "As long as I get to be Auntie Megan."

Don rolled his eyes and went back to his desk.

It was about 6:30 when Don started to pack it in for the day. He bid good night to Colby since he was the only one left
from his team. As he was starting the car his cell phone rang. He recognized the number and said, "Hi, Elisabeth."

"Hey, Don. Do me a fave? Grab some milk on your way home so I can make one of those damn shakes the doctor wants me to have."

"I can get you some skim milk for your damn shake if you wish," he said trying to keep the amusement out of his voice.

"Good."

He heard her mumble, "Damn doctor." He laughed.

She said, "What are you laughing at, Fed?"

"You and the doctor today. I thought you were going to smack her when she told you that you're not gaining enough weight."

"Well, I would have if you had not been there. I mean, come on? How much more can I eat?"

"Elisabeth, come on, she said you were a little underweight, that having the shake thing would give you that extra boost."

"Yeah, well, you can go and drink it."

"I'm not the one carrying a baby."

"Yeah, why again am I the one carrying the baby?"

"Uh, 'cause you're the woman."

"Damn. You think by now they would have come up with a way for the man to share more in this."

He laughed. "You can be so difficult sometimes. Yeah, I'll grab the milk. She wanted it made with whole milk right?"

"I swear to god, Eppes, if you come through that door with anything more then one percent milk I'm gonna shoot you with your own gun."

"All right, all right, jeeze. Two percent it is."

"Hey, I said one percent."

"And I believe the doctor said whole or two percent milk."

He heard her muttering under her breath.

"Are you done cursing me and the doctor out so you can tell me if you had any luck on the apartment search?"

He heard her sigh. "Yes, and no. There wasn't much in apartments but I found a small townhouse up for sale that fits our budget."

"And?"

"Well, it's like four blocks from your dad's place and I wasn't sure how you would feel about being closer to where your dad and brother live."

"Umm hmm? That may not be such a bad idea. I'd like my dad to be closer to you in case of an emergency and I can't get there. Maybe you can call and check it out?"

"Um, ok. I'll do that."

"Do you need anything else for your damn shake or anything else while I'm there?"

"No, we're good on stuff and I do have some fresh fruit and yogurt to use. All right let me go, the oven bell is going off." She teased, "Don't want to burn your dinner."

"Yeah, I'd appreciate that. I'll see you later."

After picking up milk he saw that he missed his dad's call. He dialed him back.

"Hey, dad. I see you called."

"Hi, Donnie. Yeah, I did. I was calling to see how the doctor's went."

Don grinned at the phone. "It went fine. They did an ultrasound of the baby and some blood work and the doctor told
Elisabeth she thinks that her weight is a bit too low. So she now has to make sure she drinks two fruit milk shakes a day. Needless to say she is less then happy about that."

Alan said, "I can imagine. I was actually calling because I wanted to see if you guys minded if I stopped over later. I refinished the rocking chair that your mother rocked you and Charlie in and I think you two should have it."

"Aw, dad, that's really great, but why don't you hang onto it. We're looking for a bigger place."

"All right son, that makes sense."

"Hey, dad, where are you? I hear a lot of background noise."

"Oh, I'm at this little store." He paused. "Ok, I'm at the Carter's outlet. I wanted to get a receiving blanket like your mother had for you and Charlie and I am standing here wondering what to get."

Don smiled at his dad. "Well, if it helps you any you should buy a pink one."

Alan chuckled. "Pink? Really? I'm gonna have a granddaughter? That's wonderful. You know what? I think I'm also going to buy this 'I Love My Grandpop' bib in pink, too."

"Ok, dad. Knock yourself out. I'll talk to you later."

"All right, son. Give Elisabeth my best."

"I will. 'Bye, dad," Don said with one last smile before he hung up.