When Holtz woke up the next morning, she groaned.
"I got way too drunk, didn't I?"
"Yep," said Abby. Holtz felt a cold bottle of water pressed against her forehead. A bottle of pain reliever she suspected was lovingly being placed next to her chest.
"Bless you," said Holtzmann, whimpering.
"I had to call Kevin to come get you upstairs after we got Patty and Cheyenne a cab," said Abby. "You wouldn't listen to me or Erin, but you couldn't complain when you were being picked up and carried. Although you did bang on him a few times with your fists. I think it amused him."
Holtz whimpered again and popped two of the pain reliever into her mouth and took a sip of the water before turning on her back.
"Please tell me I didn't do anything that warranted my picture being placed on the wall behind the bar or the police being called."
"Not this time. You were quite happy up until the point that Patty had to pull you away from fussing out a woman when you were way past tipsy."
"What about?" frowned Holtzmann.
Abby sighed. "You overheard her say something about how disgusting it was that I was there at the bar drinking when clearly all I had was a glass of water."
"She deserved it then," shrugged Holtz. "You can't just sit at home."
"Not when someone's got to drag you back home after you started singing Pink's anthology at the top of your lungs at the table. You were putting on quite a show."
"AGAIN?"
Abby nodded.
"You even got Cheyenne and Erin to join you this time. They made good backup seat dancers."
"... At least I wasn't alone."
Abby laughed to herself and patted Holtz on the shoulder. Holtzmann took that moment to put down the water and medicine on the bedside table beside her. She went frigid when she heard Abby cough loudly with what sounded like an irritated throat. She reached up and felt of her wife's forehead, ignoring the flinch Abby made as she did so. She was very warm, and her skin was flushed.
"You're sick."
The brunette sighed, which made her cough again. "It's just a cold Holtz. I probably picked it up last night."
"Probably from the lady that was fussing about a pregnant woman being in a bar. I'm going to call the doctor and see-"
"It's just a cold."
"You have a fever, Abby. You remember the conversation we had with the nurse a couple of months ago about immune systems being suppressed when you're pregnant?"
"Ugh, I hate when you're being overprotective," said Abby, getting back under the covers. Holtz snorted at that, pulling the comforter and sheet over her own head and got forehead to forehead with her wife. It was then she noticed that Abby was completely dressed and had taken the blanket off the bed and wrapped herself in it.
And was still shivering. Holtzmann sighed, shaking her head.
"You've got chills, Abs. I'm really calling the doctor." Holtz got out of bed. "You should have gotten me up sooner, even with the hangover."
"Then you'd turn into a worrywart, which is what you're doing now. You need to rest too."
"Yes, but there's a reason. You're actually not well," Holtzmann said, going into the bathroom. She came back with the digital thermometer from their first aid and sick supplies. Holtz pulled down the covers and handed it to her wife. Abby pulled the covers back up and the blonde heard the beep of it being turned on. She grabbed a quick shower and got dressed, putting her hair up quickly. She came back out and found that Abby had poked her head outside the comforter. Holtzmann looked at her wife, gesturing to the thermometer on the bedside table.
"102.3." Holtz went to the other side of the bed and started to hand her the Tylenol bottle. Abby shook her head. "I've already taken them," she said. "I'm not a complete idiot. Just one that's really tired of physicians."
Holtz nodded, feeling slightly sympathetic. But only a little.
"Can you go wake Erin up?" asked Abby. "She fell asleep on the couch after Kevin got you upstairs. Didn't want to get near her again since I could possibly still be contagious."
"It's a little too late for all of us if it's the flu," said Holtzmann. She decided to be a little mean to her wife. "You do realize honey that the flu can cause premature labor, don't you? Shall I start packing?"
"I'm burning every single one of your mix tapes," said Abby. "So help me Jills."
Holtz grinned and skipped once or twice out of the room. Erin was still asleep on the couch, snoring a little. Holtzmann went over and shook her shoulder.
"Go home, Gilbert."
"Ugh," said Erin, wincing as she woke up. "Why-" Holtz shook the Tylenol bottle still in her hand.
"Want one?"
"Five," she mumbled, moving some hair that had gotten stuck to the side of her face. Holtz handed her two and sat down the bottle.
"Might want to get your sick supplies ready," said Holtz. "Abby's picked up something. I think it's probably the flu. She's got a fever and she's shivering."
"Wasn't that last client of ours sick too?" Erin said. "The one who kept seeing a floating cat."
"Yeah, she was probably hallucinating the cat part. But that floating vapor she was not," said Holtzmann. "And that's probably where the flu was picked up from." Holtz looked at Erin when she heard her laugh.
Erin pointed down to the coffee table in front of her. "I think someone was already ahead of you." Holtz looked down and saw two pills on a napkin, a bottle of water, and a small pack of pretzels.
"That's not fair, I didn't get any pretzels," pouted Holtz.
"That's because I'm her best friend and you're just her wife," said Erin with a small smirk. She stuck the two pills back in the Tylenol bottle and opened the water. She took the other two and picked up the snacks. Holtz gestured to the pretzels.
"I could fix breakfast if you'd rather have some eggs and bacon than stale salty bread."
"I'm good," said Erin. "I don't think I can stand bright lights at the moment, but I'm good. You two going to need anything?"
"The ability to kick whoever gave Abby the flu despite the fact that she got a flu shot?"
"Not all flu strains are covered, you know that."
"I do remember college biology, thanks."
"Go make some tea, make sure she's comfortable," said Erin.
"I've got to call and get an appointment," Holtz said automatically. She noticed her cell sitting on the coffee table. She went to grab it when Erin put a hand over hers.
"Let Abby make it. She already feels helpless as it is these days."
Holtz hesitated, knowing the logistics of such. That would mean Abby wouldn't call and-
"Stop thinking," said Erin.
"That's like telling me to turn off my life."
"She'll do it if she feels it's necessary," Erin said. "And don't turn off your life. You two are cute together."
"Not planning on it honey bear," winked Holtz. "I have a family to take care of. Someone got to look after you and Patty."
Erin scoffed at that. "You mean someone's got to look after you and Patty. Which is what I do."
"I think out of all of that, Patty's the one looking out for all of us," said Abby, walking into the room. She had wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. She coughed a little to clear her throat of congestion.
"Morning Erin."
"You are sick," said the redhead. "Come sit Abby."
"I thought I'd come relax on the couch a while," sighed the brunette. "Anyone want to watch a movie?"
"That'd be better than going out in all the people shopping like crazy," said Erin. "Thanks for the pretzels."
"I'll make some popcorn," said Holtz.
"Not in the lab please," said Erin.
"We do have this little thing in the kitchen called a microwave Erin," said Holtz. "I'm not sure if you're familiar with it, but..."
Erin stuck her tongue out at Holtzmann, who grinned and went off to the kitchen.
"You want some tea?" Erin asked Abby gently. "I could make us some."
"I'll do it," said Holtz. She started filling up the kettle and putting it on the stove.
"I was going to say that'd be nice, but my wife beat me to the punch," said Abby. The popcorn was already popping and it was starting to smell good, what little she could actually smell through the stuffiness in her nose.
"You need to be resting," said Erin. "You're just starting the onset of symptoms."
"I am sitting down, so I am resting," said Abby. "I just want to think about sickness and babies as little as possible over the next couple of hours." Erin nodded and picked up the remote for the TV off the coffee table.
"Pick us a good one at least," Abby said, getting comfortable.
They ended up watching Gravity, which had turned into a discussion after the movie about the science and whether it was plausible with all the new advancements in the field of aeronautics. It ended up starting a debate between Erin and Holtz which left Abby smiling at her wife and best friend's banter. Her head was on a pillow in Holtz's lap, and it didn't take long for her to drift off, all wrapped up in a couple of blankets. It was only when they heard a slight wheezing sound did they realize that Abby had fallen asleep.
"Took her long enough," said Holtz softly, looking fondly at her wife. She tucked a loose strand of her behind her ear.
"I think she was enjoying the movie and the discussion," said Erin. "She likes Sandra Bullock."
"Pffffsh," said Holtz. "You didn't see us watching The Heat. She liked Melissa McCarthy more."
"I'm sure," said Erin, amused. She looked at Holtz. "At least with the new laws about maternity leave fully in place now, you two are going to get 12 weeks of paid time off from the city for the baby after it's born. It'll help get some more movies in."
"You going to tell Abby to take maternity leave?" said Holtz. "Because I'm not. It was bad enough getting her to limit her time around our equipment and the lab."
"You both need to," said Erin. "To spend time bonding with your child."
"Is it bad of me to want to run when I think about us and childcare? I mean, a kid, Erin. Changing really stinky diapers. Learning to make really crappy mac and cheese. Wait, I like really crappy mac and cheese. Uhh... Feedings every two to three hours. Never sleeping again. Actually trick-or-treating on Halloween instead of buying candy at half-off the next day."
"Mmhmm," said Erin. "A beautiful child with really cute dimples and curly brown hair all dressed up in a lab coat telling everyone they're a scientist."
"Of course. Each year, a new female scientist," said Holtz. "That's obvious Erin."
They both sat still when Abby went into a coughing fit in her sleep. But once it was over, she settled back down. Holtz rubbed her shoulder.
"I'm going to have to start investing in mini lab coats."
"Honestly Holtz... are you really going to try to have a kid yourself after this? Like, really soon after?"
"Well, that wasn't personal at all, Gilbert."
"Sorry. Abby told me that since you two really didn't think you had time with fertility and such. But don't you think you need to devote a little time to raise this one for a little while?"
"The thought has occurred to me, yes."
"And?"
"Everything's still up in the air," shrugged Holtz. "This one's still cooking. Anything could happen in the future. I could get pregnant. I could not get pregnant. There could be a miscarriage. Maybe Abby has the second one. Or Patty could win the Nobel Peace Prize. Or you two do for the Yates-Gilbert Equation. Maybe I lose a leg in the lab. Maybe Patty loses a leg in the lab. Poor Patty. Or-"
"I get the point, Holtz."
"Good," yawned Holtzmann. "Ms. Nosey."
Erin gestured in the air. "I'm not trying to. I honestly just need to know these things for the business. Personally, you and Abby could have 15 more kids and I wouldn't care."
Holtz flailed and pretended to put a hand over Abby's ear that was facing up.
"Not in front of the pregnant woman."
Erin leaned her head to the side, realizing something. "You really... you don't want to get pregnant, do you? You like Abby being pregnant."
Holtz looked sheepish. 'I did... in the beginning. But I have discovered I have enjoyed watching the experiment grow from the outside. I'm not violently opposed to the idea by any means, and I'm pretty sure Abby is intent on me getting pregnant just to get back at me for the fact that she did get pregnant. So yes to your observation. Both of them."
"Revenge... children."
"No, revenge gestation. There's a difference."
"I swear you two are like children yourselves," said Erin, shaking her head. Holtz pushed a piece of hair back behind Abby's ear.
"Which is why we'll be the best or the worst parents ever."
"I'm seeing family Halloween costumes," smirked the redhead. Holtzmann shrugged.
"You know, you should really talk to David about you two having a kid. Then everyone could grow up together. Abby really likes the idea of our kids being friends."
Erin shifted in her seat uncomfortably.
"You- you don't want kids?" asked Holtz. Erin leaned forward and looked to see if Abby was still asleep. She leaned back, relieved.
"David and I talked about it. Honest talk, I didn't just agree with him. And neither one of us are really kid people. We like the idea of taking a vacation when we want. No school plays, no constant sickness, no babysitters. Lots of wine bottles in the fridge. We like the quiet."
Holtz looked skeptical over her glasses.
"But no drawings on the fridge, juice boxes, and homework. No gold stars for achievement and you teaching them physics at a young age. Science fairs that you know they'd win just out of the sheer awesomeness of their mom."
Erin looked wistful for a moment at Holtz's words.
"I know when you're lying Erin."
She sighed. "You sound like Abby."
"It's because we're thinking the same thing." Holtz paused. "I'm probably the worst person for this, but talk to him. Really, really honestly Erin. You want to do this."
Erin looked down at her best friend, who was still in deep sleep. Even all covered up, she could tell Abby's left arm was wrapped around her abdomen, holding her child like she should be. She sighed.
"I'll try."
"Good," said Holtz. "You said they were going to be gone all weekend?"
"David won't be home till Sunday night."
"Want to watch another movie? I'm kind of stuck here for a little while."
"Sure," said Erin, smiling. "You are comfortable."
"Napping on Abby is way better," said Holtz. "But it's my turn to be the pillow."