Kansas City, the future

As Bay lay on the stretcher waiting for the CAT scan to commence, she felt the usual slight sadness. These yearly scans where the one time she allowed herself to truly grieve for Angelo. She always thought about her daughters and their relationship with their father and what Daphne has missed out on because of a stupid mistake someone had made at a hospital all those years ago.

What would have happened if they'd never been switched? Would Bay have had sisters who looked like her and who she would have squabbled with? Would they have given Regina and Angelo such a hard time as their daughters were giving them? And most importantly than all; would families have remained intact if a nurse hadn't made a terrible mistake?

Daphne might have chosen the most difficult career for a deaf person and she'd had to work twice as much as other doctors. Yet, Bay had always had a nagging feeling that the real reason she didn't want any children was because she'd grown up with an alcoholic mother and no father.

The whirring sound stopped.

"Mrs. Mendoza, you're all set and good to go." Bay heard the technician's voice over the speakers.

Bay stood up and buried the thoughts inside of her head until the following year. If she could have had one wish today, it was that Angelo would have had a chance to meet his grandson. Sadly, that would never come true. She rearranged her clothes and stepped out to the waiting room.

Regina looked up from the magazine she was reading.

"How did it go?" She asked.

"Same as always. The results should be in next week" Bay smiled at her "Thanks for coming."

"I wouldn't break the tradition, Bay. Not after so many years. Lunch?"

Bay smiled. Regina had gone with her to her second scan when she was 20 years old and had never missed one after that. In the beginning it had been coincidence, but over the years Bay had called her whenever she had one and Regina had come. It was as if those scans where their bond to Angelo.

Bay laced her arm with hers and they walked to the little café around the corner from the doctor. Once they found a table outside, Bay pulled her sunglasses up and fastened them in her hair. She looked down at the silver placemats and frowned.

"What's up Bay?" Regina asked worriedly.

"Grey hairs. Regina, give me your honest opinion. Do I have that many?"

Regina laughed "Where did you get that idea?"

Bay shrugged "Andrea. She said we shouldn't have any more babies because we're old and have grey hairs."

Regina squinted her eyes "I don't see any at first glance. There might be the odd one here and there, but I don't notice them. I think it's genetic. Angelo didn't have any and I only got them well into my fifties."

Bay took a sip from her glass "That's better than inheriting possible aneurysms."

"That's a way to look at it. I feel like we have hardly talked since the news of the baby. How are you feeling?"

Bay placed a hand on her belly. She was definitely showing.

"I feel well. Sometimes I want to meet little Angelo so badly that I can't wait for the due date. Other times I wish I wouldn't have to deal with a new born again."

"You'll be fine, Bay. It's such a blessing to be pregnant at your age. And with a boy. Ty must be over the moon."

"He was shocked that's for sure. We all were. Now the girls are slowly getting used to the idea. They're even helping me with the chores."

"They're good girls, Bay. You did well. How are you feeling about Alexis?" Regina asked carefully.

Bay's eyes clouded over "Not well Regina. Not well at all."

Regina nodded "I thought so."

"I'm an impulsive person. I've never hid my feelings from anyone, Regina. What you see is what you get. Now I have to and it's so difficult."

"Mothers need to make great sacrifices."

Bay took a bite of bread and chewed it slowly "She's changed over the past three weeks. She's no longer the bubbly, difficult teenager. It's happening too fast for me."

Regina nodded "She needs thick skin Bay. It's a difficult career she's chosen. You do well in masking your disappointment. She can't be worried about things at home."

"When I lie in bed at night and think about all those people who will be screaming at her and try to put her down, I want to strangle each one of them personally."

"She'll get through it. She's strong."

Bay felt her eyes moisten "Regina, what if she ever comes back like Ty did? If they ever do something like that to her. I don't think I'll be able to handle it."

Regina patted her hand "Don't think about that Bay. Just think about the education she'll get and what a great girl she must be to have been accepted in the first place."

"Can I ask you something really silly?"

Regina laughed "After so many years you ask me that? Of course you can."

"Do you think that this has something to do with how she was born and stuff? The circumstances around it?"

Regina looked serious "What? That some person waved a wand over her and said: You have to follow in your father's footsteps?"

Bay nodded eagerly "Yes"

Regina burst out laughing "Bay…that is the silliest thing I ever heard."

Bay looked momentarily hurt, but then she laughed as well "Yeah…I think you are right."

- " -

"Ten more, come on, and faster!" Ty looked at his watch.

Alexis panted "I can't"

"Yes you can, come on!"

Alexis scrunched up her face in pain and managed 10 additional sit-ups. Ty looked at her proudly.

"Sixty sit-ups! That's my girl."

Alexis smiled and placed a hand on her stomach. She reached for the water. Ty stopped her.

"I want 20 push-ups now. You can drink after."

Alexis prepared to protest but took one look at her father's face and she knew it would be in vain. He had put her through hell and back for the past three weeks. She groaned but turned onto her stomach.

A group of young men briefly stood next to them and looked at Alexis admiringly. One look from Ty and they quickly walked away.

Ty looked down at his daughter and the muscles that had started appearing in her back. When they first started training three weeks earlier he'd had serious doubts that Alexis would pass the stringent six week boot camp. He had been hard on her; sometimes it had almost broken his heart when he'd seen the look of defeat on her face. But he hadn't relented and slowly the look of defeat had been replaced by a look of steely determination. Alexis had cried, begged and screamed but now that she was able to do the required amount of sit-ups, push-ups and pull-ups she was so damn proud of herself that Ty finally felt that it had all been worth it.

Now it was time for the next test. They had driven 20 minutes to get to a gym that specialized in gymnastics. Ty looked down at his sweat soaked daughter.

"Come on" He held out a hand.

Alexis took it and he handed her the water. She drank greedily.

"I can't wait to get in the shower." She started walking in the direction of the locker rooms.

Ty pulled her pony tail playfully.

"Not so fast, Mendoza, there's one more thing we need to do."

Alexis looked horrified "Not more, Dad, please."

Ty came to a stop in front of a rope.

"Climb it."

Alexis looked at it exhausted.

"Seriously Dad? Now? Couldn't we have done this at the beginning before my arms were killing me?"

Ty was beginning to look annoyed.

"Can we have less talking and more doing? Do you think they'll let you chose what to do when at West Point?"

Alex sighted loudly and took the rope. She started climbing, but her heart wasn't into it. She jumped back down.

"Again. Wrap one leg all the way around the rope and then step the other foot on top of both rope and foot. The higher you have your foot and the further away from you, the better."

Alexis bent down and rested her hands on her knees.

"I need a minute. Can you show me?"

Ty walked towards the rope and grabbed it while wrapping his foot around the rope. He pulled himself halfway up before jumping down.

"You got it?"

Alexis nodded and started again. She made it halfway up and shrieked loudly before jumping down. Ty looked at her worriedly.

"What is it? Did you hurt yourself?"

"I broke a nail."

It took all of Ty's willpower not to explode there and then. He turned towards his daughter and looked at her impassively.

"You know what? I've got better things to do with my time. Let's just go home."

Alexis looked at him horrified as he turned his back on her and walked away. She ran after him.

"Dad, I'm sorry. I'll do it, ok? Please don't walk away."

Ty's eyes were blazing "I can deal with your exhaustion meltdowns and help you get over them, but I can't deal with diva behavior. Is that what you're going to tell your commanding officer? That you broke a nail?"

"No, of course not Dad, I was just joking. I don't know what I was thinking."

Ty shrugged "I know you have the strength Alex, but you need to want it. You think I'm being tough? This is nothing. Those guys over there will make me seem like a puppy, believe me."

Ty saw the look of steely determination coming across Alexis face. He knew that she would do it now. She grabbed the rope and made it all the way up. She smiled triumphantly at Ty and he gave her a thumbs up.

"That's it for today."

Alexis looked relieved. She looked down and at Ty insecurely.

"Dad, how do I get down?"

Ty smiled at her and lifted his hands "I don't know. Figure it out."

Alexis groaned but slowly reversed her movements and made it down.

"I made it" She said proudly.

Ty nodded "You did. One more week and if you go on like this we might get to shoot after all."

Alexis hugged him "Thank you. I mean it. I'm sorry about the nail stuff."

Ty patted her back "Go get changed. I'll wait here."

It took Alexis more than 30 minutes and Ty was getting impatient and hungry. What the hell was she doing in there? It never took her that long.

When she finally emerged he was ready to give her a piece of his mind. Then he noticed that she'd been crying.

"Alex, what happened? Are you crying?"

"Ryan just broke-up with me." Alexis stifled a sob.

Ty did a good job at hiding his elation.

"Then he's a fool"

"He says that ever since I got accepted into West Point I'm a different person. That it's changed me and I've gone all military on him. That can't happen, can it?"

Ty groaned inwardly and felt a weight on his chest. For the first time he wondered if Bay had been right after all. He put his arm around Alexis's shoulders.

"It can Alex…it can."

Kansas City, the past

Bay stood next to the changing table slightly unnerved. Alexis was sick and she only had one diaper left. She hoped that it would last until Ty got home. She tried calling him to no avail. As he was meeting Daphne for lunch Bay tried to FaceTime her instead.

Daphne answered almost immediately.

"Hey Bay, what's up?"

"Daph, I ran out of diapers. Can you tell Ty to pick some up on his way back?"

Daphne laughed.

"Why don't you call him yourself?"

"I've tried, but he's not picking-up his phone. Aren't you having lunch with him?"

Daphne frowned "Not that I know of. I'm not eating at all with the workload I have this week."

Bay's face looked like thunder "I see. I'll speak to you later."

Daphne looked worried "Bay…wait…"

Bay had already hung-up the phone. Alexis whimpered and Bay went to check her temperature. She felt hot to the touch. Bay decided to try the ibuprofen again. She felt a cold rage seeping through her as she tended to her sick daughter. After she had administered the medication she lowered her blouse and let Alexis feed for a bit. The exhausted infant quickly dozed off and Bay placed her in her cot.

Fighting back the tears Bay pulled a suitcase from under the bed and slowly and methodically started placing all of Ty's belongings in it. She thought about the past two months her husband had been back. The messages he kept receiving on his phone that were deleted the moment Bay asked about them. The times he had stepped out of the house to have whispered conversations. The "lunches" he'd been having. For Bay everything was black and white. Ty was having an affair. He had just broken the golden rule of their relationship. She stifled a sob as she placed the suitcase in front of the door of the guest house.

Before she could burst into tears she heard Alexis cry again. Bay knew that she had to keep it together for her daughter. As she cradled Alexis in her arms, Bay felt even more furious. How could he have left her with a sick child while he went to meet some skank somewhere? Things between them were still far from the way they had been, but Bay thought that they were slowly piecing their lives together again. That was until now!

Alexis still felt hot and Bay started removing some of her clothes. Her daughter was sweating so she decided to run a bath for her. She felt a tug at her heart when she looked at the exhausted face of the baby and wished that she could take some of the suffering from her. Once Alexis was asleep again, Bay allowed herself to break down and cry.

Half an hour later she heard the key turn in the door and the thud of the chain preventing it from opening.

"Bay!" She heard Ty's voice cry out "Open the door."

Bay stayed rooted to the spot. Ty knocked on the door again.

"Come on Bay, please let me in. Please."

Bay moved as close as possible to the door so that she wasn't within sight but didn't need to shout.

"Go to hell Ty. I spoke to Daphne."

She heard Ty take a deep breath "It's not what you think Bay. Please let me in. I can explain."

"Save you're explanations for whoever you're seeing. Maybe she's interested. I'm not!"

"I'm not seeing anyone. Not like that. Please let me explain."

Bay moved to stand next to the door and Ty's heart nearly broke at seeing her swollen eyes.

"Not like that?" Bay's voice broke "So you are seeing someone."

Ty's eyes clouded over "Let's talk. I'll explain what I can."

Bay had never heard her husband sound so defeated. She stepped back and opened the door. Ty picked-up the suitcase.

"Not so fast. The suitcase stays out."

He nodded and placed the bag with the diapers on the floor.

"How's Alexis?"

Bay looked at him with eyes full of hurt.

"She's sick Ty. Just as sick as she was this morning when you lied to me and left. She's sleeping now."

Ty ran a hand through his hair.

"Can we sit down?"

Bay pursed her lips but sat on the couch primly. She folded her hands on her lap. Ty sat across from her and rubbed his hands together.

"Bay…I'm sorry. I'm not having an affair, ok?"

Bay looked at him with blazing eyes "Then you better explain why you lied to me, why your phone keeps getting messages that you delete, why you have whispered conversations outside and…." Her voice broke "And why you haven't touched me since you got back."

Ty bit his lip. He took her hand but she pulled it back. He sighed loudly.

"Bay, I love you. And I love Alexis. More than anything in the world. You have to believe that."

Bay wiped at her eyes "Well, you have a strange way of showing it."

Ty wiped his hands on his jeans, something that he only did when he was nervous.

"I'll try and explain. I'm not allowed to mention any of this so please keep it to yourself."

Bay nodded tentatively.

"When I got injured we weren't supposed to be where we were. If someone found out even years from now, the ramifications could be tremendous. That's why they took me away. They fixed my body but more importantly, they wanted to fix my head to make sure that the information never came out."

He looked at Bay. She nodded "Go on."

Ty frowned "They kept me isolated for two months. The doctors and nurses wouldn't talk to me, only the psychiatrist. They did things to my brain…I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."

He saw his wife starting to look worried, but she still didn't say anything. He took another deep breath.

"One day they decided I was fixed or whatever and they put me in a plane to KC with the understanding that I would never again speak about what had happened."

Ty dropped his head in his hands.

"It's been hard Bay. I knew I needed some help, but it's not like I can walk into any doctor's office. If I mention it, they'll lock me up again."

"But you have been seeing someone Ty, who?"

"About a month ago I got a message from someone in my platoon. I can't give you his name. He went through a similar experience. I've been meeting with him once in a while. It helps to speak to him."

Bay had tears in her eyes again. She grabbed his hand.

"Oh Ty. I had no idea."

"And you shouldn't have. No one should. But you're the person who I am closest to and I can't risk our marriage over it."

"I'm so sorry. The signs were so blatant. I think I overreacted."

"Sweetheart…I would never cheat on you. Please believe that. I'll work on the other thing. I want to be with you so badly" He rubbed his eyes "For two months every time someone touched me it was to do something awful. When you touch me those memories come back. It's not you; it's just some kind of reflex."

Bay stifled a sob "I had no idea." She said again "Now it makes sense."

"But it shouldn't." Ty said angrily "And it's the same with the friend I am meeting. We shouldn't be damaged to a point where our wives can't touch us."

Bay nodded "What can I do to help?"

Ty ran his fingers over her knuckles "I can only hope for your patience. I know that I'm all messed up at the moment but I'm feeling a slight shift in the right direction."

Bay tentatively placed her hand on his cheek "Of course I'll wait. I've been a basket case myself lately. I love you."

Ty looked incredibly relieved "The time I get to spend with you and Alexis is the happiest of my life. I might not be able to show you at the moment, but if it weren't for you…I don't know…"

Bay looked horrified "Ty, don't speak like that. Ever! You hear me?"

Ty nodded "Can you forget we had this talk now?"

Bay smiled sadly "We can. What a fine pair we make. You with your PTSD, me with my PPD. I wonder how we coped until now."

Ty nodded equally sadly "I know you've had it rough as well and you can't imagine how often I want to slap myself for not being there for you."

"I'm better since you're back. Still not fine but better. Recognizing I had PPD helped me cope better with it. We will never be the same people again, will we?"

Ty shook his head "No. Probably not. But that doesn't mean things can't get better" He squeezed her hand "Can I get my suitcase?"

Bay managed a small laugh "Yes."

Alexis cried and Ty got-up quickly "I'll check on her. Have a rest. This was a hard day. I'll never leave you again when she's sick."

"It's ok Ty. I was thinking of you doing other things and it made me so angry. I'll get the suitcase."

Bay lay on the couch and closed her eyes. She felt an odd sense of peace engulf her. For weeks she'd felt a sense of insecurity when thinking about her marriage. She'd blamed herself thinking of her mood swings and her changed body. She was struggling with losing the pregnancy weight and she'd thought that Ty might have not found her attractive anymore. Now that they had spoken it all made sense. Bay felt a sense of happiness that she hadn't felt since getting the news that Ty was back. One step at a time….

Thank you for your continued support and reviews. You are the best!

This chapter was in response to the requests I got for tough Ty. I hope I made him justice without being too hard one him.

I so much want to do cliff hangers but I guess the secret is out of the bag when I started writing in the future. So we all know that they'll get through it but it can't all be roses all the time.

Please review!