At 9:30 on Tuesday morning, Charlotte's sitting on an exam table at the practice. She's staring at the blank screen of the ultrasound, taking in and letting out short and controlled breaths. She's numb and withdrawn. She could hardly sleep last night because she kept thinking about this appointment. She's been relatively ok since the diagnosis, but last night and this morning, she's been a wreck.

The door opens and Cooper walks in. He smiles, but quickly sighs. "Sweetie?"

She turns her head and raises an eyebrow. "Hmmm?"

"Nervous?"

She nods, knowing she can't possibly hide anything from him—it's a curse and a blessing at the same time. "And I'm still a little jittery from when Addison took blood."

He laughs.

"Shut your mouth."

He rests his hand on her shoulder and squeezes gently. He rubs his thumb against her skin and kisses the top of her head.

She sighs. "I need to relax."

He nods. "Yeah, you do." He pauses. "What can I do to help?"

She shrugs.

"It's gonna be ok." He pauses. "I have a six year-old patient who had Gastroschisis. She's got a small scar on her stomach that's barely visible. She's fine—no other complications, no other medical issues. You'd never know her intestines were once outside her body."

"That actually made me feel better."

He smiles. "I thought it might."

She shifts on the exam table and takes his hand, tightening her grip slightly.

Addison opens the door and walks into the room. "Disregard the very pregnant woman squatting in the hallway. She's trying to kick-start labor."

Cooper nods. "I almost ran into her. Actually, she almost ran into me." He pauses. "Does that actually work?"

"Squatting is used to help the baby descend."

"This may seem like a stupid question, but will she need to have a C-section? I mean the baby's organs are outside its body, that seems like it would make delivering vaginally difficult."

"That's not a stupid question at all. Unless there's a problem, mainly with the baby's heart rate recovery during her contractions, Charlotte will deliver naturally."

"Really?"

Addison laughs. "We'll talk about that more as you get closer to your due date, but yes, really." She pauses. "Do you have more questions before we do the level two ultrasound?"

Cooper shakes his and looks at Charlotte, who does the same. "Nope."

"If you have anymore, don't hesitate to ask." Addison opens Charlotte's gown and squeezes some ultrasound goo onto her stomach. She presses a button on the machine and studies the screen.

"Addison?" Charlotte closes her eyes and squeezes Cooper's hand. She doesn't like the silence or the stoic look on Addison's face. It makes her nervous.

Addison turns the screen towards them.

Charlotte opens her eyes and looks at the ultrasound machine.

"Your baby definitely has Gastroschisis, and it seems like there is a larger amount of intestines outside the body than what I was hoping to see."

"Oh."

"That just means that surgery will have to wait until about a week after birth."

"Oh," Charlotte repeats, not knowing what else to say.

Cooper sighs, brushing his hand against his wife's cheek. "But the baby's still alive?"

Addison nods. "The baby's heartbeat is strong. Length and weight are on track for fifteen weeks gestation, which is great because with Gastroschisis there is a chance of Intrauterine Growth Restriction."

Charlotte blinks slowly. "Are we done?"

"Are you ok, Char?"

"I'm fine, Coop. I just have to go to the bathroom."

Addison wipes off Charlotte's stomach and nods. "We're done." She pauses. "I'll let you know the results of your blood test as soon as I have them."

Charlotte nods. "The baby's ok? I mean, aside from its organs being on the outside of its body?"

Addison smiles. "Yes."

"I can breathe again—thank you."

Addison writes something in Charlotte's chart and leaves the room.

Cooper sighs and wipes away Charlotte's tears that spontaneously fell from her eyes after the door clicked shut. "You sure you're ok?"

She stands up and glares at him. "What do you think, Coop? I'm tryin' to be ok. I'm not, but I'm tryin' to be. I'm hopin' for the best from this point on. I'm not gonna think about the Gastroschisis. I'm just gonna enjoy the pregnancy—as best as I can."

He smiles. "You're amazing." He pulls her into a hug and runs his fingers through her straightened hair. "And I love you."

She hugs him back and then separates from him quickly.

"What?"

"I have to pee." She squirms a little. "Can you untie the gown, please?"

He nods and stands behind her. He holds the knot in between his fingers and tries to untie it. "It's stuck."

"Damn it."

"Stand still."

"I can't," she says through gritted teeth. She pulls away from and grunts. "Screw it." She opens the door and rushes down the hallway to the bathroom. At this point, she doesn't care who sees her.

He laughs. "God, I love her." He picks up the newest sonogram picture and stares at it. For the first time, he sees the baby and doesn't even pay attention to the mess of intestines taking up a portion of the grainy picture. He grabs Charlotte's clothes from the chair, walks out of the room, and heads down the hallway to the bathroom.

Charlotte walks into the kitchen at lunch time and looks around. "What," she asks, opening the refrigerator door. "Why's everyone starin' at me?"

"Congratulations," Jake says, sipping his coffee.

She glances at Sheldon and sees that he's looking away from her. "Are there any secrets in this office?" She sighs. "Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag, so I might as well announce it—officially. Yes, I'm pregnant."

Sam eats a spoonful of strawberry yogurt and swallows. "Congrats. There's nothing like holding a little baby in your arms."

"What's everyone talking about?"

Charlotte turns around and sees Amelia standing in the doorway, her hand clutched around her purse. "You don't look so good."

"So what's everyone talking about?" Amelia asks again, quite obviously ignoring the blonde.

Everyone remains silent and looks away, staring at their feet, each other, the food items in front of them—anything but Amelia.

"Oh. Charlotte made the big announcement, huh?" Amelia disappears out of the doorway and back down the hallway.

Charlotte runs after her and grabs her by the arm. "Amelia, wait."

Amelia grunts as she rips her arm from Charlotte. "I'm not in the mood." She continues down the hallway and shuts herself off in her office.

Charlotte feels a hand on her shoulder, so she whips her head around.

"She'll come around. Just give her time."

"I'm worried 'bout her, Jake."

"We all are."

Charlotte sighs and walks back into the kitchen. She grabs two packets of baby carrots and a water bottle, and sits down at the island counter. She rips open the bag and bites off the tip of a carrot. She closes her eyes and smiles. "God, that's good." When she opens her eyes, her colleagues are staring at her. "What? I've been cravin' baby carrots all mornin'. Sheesh. It's like none of you have seen a pregnant woman eat before."

"I'm surprised Cooper could keep a secret this big," Sam jokes.

"I am too."

"Hey, give me more credit than that."

Charlotte gasps.

Cooper laughs and gives her a kiss on the side of her head. "I guess you told everyone."

"Sheldon beat me to it." Charlotte grunts.

Cooper hooks his arm around her shoulders and smiles. "At least you don't have to hide it anymore. You're starting to look like a grandma in all those baggy sweaters."

"Excuse me?"

Cooper swallows. "A very beautiful grandma."

"Nice try." Charlotte finishes her two bags of carrots and goes looking for something more filling than twenty baby carrots.

"Did you tell them about—did you tell them everything?"

Sheldon tilts his head slightly. "What's everything?"

"That answers my question." Cooper pauses and looks at his wife to make sure it's safe to continue.

Charlotte gives him a slow nod and then opens the fridge.

"The baby—basically some of the baby's intestines are outside its body. Addison assures us that everything else is normal. Charlotte's healthy, the baby's right on track from fifteen weeks gestation, but he'll need surgery after he's born."

"It's a boy?"

Cooper looks at Sam and blinks. "Huh?"

"You said he'll need surgery after he's born."

"Oh, no, we don't know the sex of the baby yet. That was a generic he, not a gender specific he."

Charlotte lets out a breath and closes the fridge door, holding a container of cherry tomatoes in her hands. "This any of yours?"

Sam raises his hand. "Those are mine."

Charlotte looks at him, waiting for him to offer them to her.

"Do you want them?"

Charlotte has a smart remark on the tip of her tongue, but refrains. She's got her eyes on these tomatoes and Sam's the kind of person who would refuse to let her have them if she says something snappy, so she just nods and says, "Yes."

"Go ahead." Sam looks at Cooper. "You better feed your wife 'cause she's eating all our food."

"I feed her, I feed her well, thank you very much."

Charlotte sits back down at the island and pops a tomato in her mouth.

"Do you want some lettuce to go with those tomatoes and carrots?"

Charlotte glares at Cooper, but her face softens. He's being serious and thoughtful, not sarcastic. She smiles. "I'm ok, but thank you."

"I have to get to the hospital. You heading there at all today?"

Charlotte nods. "Mmhmm. Soon—well soonish."

"Soonish? What does that mean?"

"An hour, maybe an hour and a half. I'm gonna be there the rest of the afternoon."

"Ok." Cooper pauses. "I'll see you later." He kisses her again and walks out of the kitchen.

Charlotte rolls her eyes. "Why the hell are you people starin' at me again?" She throws a tomato at each of them. "I'm not that interestin'. Stop it."

The guys dodge the tomatoes and Sam looks down at the floor. "Those were perfectly good tomatoes—my perfectly good tomatoes."

"Oh quit whinin', Sam. Besides, you gave 'em to me, so technically, they're my perfectly good tomatoes, therefore, I can do whatever I want with 'em," Charlotte counters, but when she finishes the container, she's really wishing she didn't waste the other three. She stands up and slides the empty Tupperware container to Sam. "Thank you for the tomatoes." She downs her water, chugging it.

"Thirsty?"

"Shut up, Sheldon." Charlotte tosses the water bottle and walks out of the kitchen, her stomach still rumbling.

Charlotte walks through the ER doors around 2:30 and is immediately stopped by a nurse at the central nurses' station. "What is it, Brandy?"

The blonde-haired nurse hands her a plastic container and a bottle of iced tea. "Dr. Freedman said to give these to you."

Charlotte looks at the hot pink post-it attached to the container and smiles as she reads it: You and the baby both need more than just baby carrots and cherry tomatoes. Enjoy. Hope you're having a great day. She looks at the nurse. "If you see Dr. Freedman before I do, tell him I said thank you." She adjusts her purse and takes the salad and iced tea off the counter. She stuffs the bottle in her purse and disappears down the hallway, heading to her office, her stomach growling louder than ever.

Cooper's lying in bed, reading The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-to-Be, when Charlotte walks in, visibly exhausted. He lowers the book and smiles.

"Doin' some light readin'?" Charlotte laughs and crawls into bed after taking off her heels. She scoots closer to him and rests her head on his shoulder.

"Just trying to stay on top of everything." He presses his lips against her forehead and drapes his arm over her, running his hand back and forth across her lower back. He closes the book and sets it on his nightstand. "You look exhausted."

She fights back a yawn and slides her hand up and down his chest, brushing her palm against the soft cotton of his T-shirt. "It's been a long day."

The door opens and Mason comes in. He smiles and gets up into bed. "Hi, momma."

She lifts her head and separates from Cooper. "Hey, sweetie. How was your math test?"

"I think I messed up one or two questions."

"That's ok. You'll do better next time."

"So you're not mad?"

"Course I'm not mad."

Mason squeezes between his parents and lets out a sigh of relief. "Good."

She touches the tip of his nose and smiles. "Did you try your hardest?"

Mason nods. "Yes."

"Then that's all I can ask for, Mase." She pauses. "Your homework all done?"

"Almost. I have a lot tonight. I just wanted to say hi 'cause I heard you come in."

"Go do it and then get ready for bed."

"Ok, momma." Mason gives her a kiss on the cheek and slides down the mattress, hopping off. He leaves the room and goes back to his.

Charlotte curves her body around Cooper again and looks at him. "Coop?"

"What is it?"

"I—I felt the baby move earlier. At least, I think it was the baby. It felt kinda weird—like popcorn popping."

He smiles.

"It sorta stopped me in my tracks."

"I'm jealous."

She laughs. "I kinda liked it."

He smiles wider and slides his fingers through her hair. He can't think of anything else to say, so he just says the one thing that comes to mind, which is, "I love you."

She closes her eyes and her lips curve upwards into a small smirk. "I love you too." She pauses. "And thank you for my salad. It was delicious and exactly what I needed."

"You're welcome." He pauses. "I heard you started a food fight in the kitchen at the practice?"

"It was hardly a food fight, Coop. I threw a tomato at Jake, Sam, and Sheldon 'cause they kept starin' at me."

He laughs. "I would have killed to see that."

She sits up and gets off the bed.

"There are homemade cookies in the kitchen—ok, they're from the store, but they're still good. Chocolate chip, sugar, and oatmeal raisin."

She smiles. "Chocolate chip cookies, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream, that sounds delicious right 'bout now. You want any?"

"That does sound good, but I couldn't eat another bite if you paid me to."

"More for me." She laughs and changes into something a lot more comfortable.

"I know something else whipped cream would look good on."

She turns her head and smiles at him. "I know what you're thinkin', but we can't—not with Mason here."

He sighs. "I know. I can't wait until we move."

"I can't wait either—but not just 'cause of that." She disappears into the bathroom. Great. Now I'm thinkin' 'bout sex. Damn it. She walks back into the bedroom and sighs. "You had to bring that up, didn't you? 'Cause baby carrots and chocolate chip cookies aren't the only things I've been cravin' lately."

"I didn't need to hear that."

"If we moved last year, we wouldn't be havin' this problem." She's annoyed and frustrated and irritable, mostly because she's incredibly horny. She thinks for a second and then faces their bedroom opening. "Mason, come in here, please!"

Mason appears in the doorway a couple minutes later. "Yes, momma?"

"I need to take a shower. Do you have to go to the bathroom at all?"

Mason shakes his head. "Nope. You can take a shower. I just gotta brush my teeth later, that's all."

She smiles. "That's all I wanted to know. Go finish your homework. By the time you're done with your homework, I should be done takin' a shower."

Mason nods and walks back to his bedroom.

"I'll meet you in the shower in fifteen minutes, Coop." She smirks and heads into the kitchen.

He takes a deep breath in and lets it out slowly. "I love being married," he whispers and picks up his book again.

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