This Love…

Season 2 Episode 4: We Are Family

"What is it, Kayla? What's wrong? Are the babies all right?" Aiden asked as Kayla looked at the screen of the ultrasound she was currently doing.

Kayla smiled reassuringly. "The babies are fine," she assured him. She looked at Hope. "The cramping is perfectly normal. It just means your uterus is expanding because of your pregnancy. It tends to be more intense the more babies you carry," she explained, her smile appearing again.

"Thank God that's all it is! I was so afraid I was going to lose them," Hope said, her hands on the side of her stomach as she looked down at her stomach with watery eyes. "I don't remember that happening with my other pregnancies. I mean, I got cramping, but this was intense!"

Kayla turned the machine off. "I assure you, it's nothing to worry about. So far everything is looking great for both babies."

"So, is she free to come back home?" Aiden asked.

Kayla glanced at him. "Yes," she said simply before turning her attention back to Hope. "Was there anything stressing you out when you got the cramps? I know stress can sometimes trigger them."

Hope shrugged. "It was nothing, really. The kids are just having a hard time adjusting to me accepting Aiden back into my life."

Aiden sighed. "I tried to push things too fast by having a family day out together at the zoo. The kids weren't having it. They were angry with me and rude to me. I tried to ignore it, but Ciara told me she wished I had died like Chase, and in so many words, said that he and I both deserved to die. She also invited Rafe to join us. I snapped, and went off on her. Then of course she and Shawn went off on me in return. That's when the cramps started." He looked away in shame.

Kayla's expression was sympathetic. "I can see both sides. You can't expect the kids to just forgive you overnight. They are very protective of their mother. But Ciara shouldn't have said what she said to you. I think it was only normal for you to lose your cool. But you have got to get it together. Do you know what stress can do to a baby?"

Aiden shook his head. "It's been so long since Meredith was pregnant with Chase. I don't really remember much."

Kayla looked at Hope. "Surely you know?"

Hope nodded. "I never really had a problem with stress in the past though."

"Well, let me inform you. When you're stressed, your body releases cortisol and other hormones that are the same hormones your body releases when you feel you're in danger. You get into the fight or flight mode, which causes an enormous amount of stress if it happens too often. Stress from the mother, believe it or not, can alter your babies' stress management systems," Kayla began. "Their bodies could have an inflammatory response."

"Which means?" Aiden asked, still not getting it.

Kayla looked at Aiden. "It means it can mean poor pregnancy health. It can also cause developmental problems down the road for the babies. When in the womb, babies are very susceptible to their mother's feelings and habits and it can affect the way they develop." She looked at Hope. You being over stressed could cause the babies inflammatory responses to make them come out much earlier than they should. Also, they could in turn also be a much lower weight than they should be. It could even do as much damage as to make one or both of your babies have behavioral issues in the future."

"It's kind of hard to reduce the stress lately," Hope said.

Kayla shrugged. "Well, you need to find a way to manage the stress. Your babies' lives could depend on it—especially with you having them so late in life. Have you considered taking some time off from your job?"

"I'll take time off once I go on maternity leave," she replied.

Kayla shook her head. "Not good enough! I recommend you take time off immediately. I know you love your job, but I'm sure it can also be stressful."

"Not to mention it's dangerous, being a cop," Aiden said. He looked at Hope. "I don't want you risking your life or our babies' lives. What if some criminal kicks you in the stomach or shoots you? Even with a bullet proof vest it can't be safe."

"He has a point," Kayla said.

"I've been a cop for many years now. Trust me; I know how to handle myself," Hope said; slightly annoyed that they were trying to make decisions for her.

"Well, it's different now! It's not just about you anymore, Hope. You've got two more lives inside of you. You're an amazing cop, yes! You're a pro at what you do. I'm not saying you're not. But you're not exempt to the danger any more than any other cop is. Things still happen." Aiden took her hand in his own and kissed it. "I just don't want anything bad happening to you or our babies."

Hope looked at him, her expression softening. "I have to work. I'm not the type to just sit at home doing nothing."

"Well, maybe you can ask Roman to give you a desk job, or have you do traffic tickets. At least then you'd be safer, and you'd still be able to help fight crime," Kayla suggested.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Giving someone a ticket for parking illegally is barely considered fighting crime." She sighed. "But, if it will help protect the twins," She looked at Aiden, "and help you feel better, then fine. I'll ask Roman to just give me non-dangerous, non-stress-inducing work."

"Thank you!" Aiden kissed her hand again.

Kayla nodded. "The first trimester is the most dangerous, so especially now it is imperative that you remain stress free and take care of yourself and the twins."

"I will. I promise," Hope said.

Kayla wiped the gel off of Hope's stomach, then Hope pulled her shirt back down and sat up. "Thanks Kay. I appreciate all the advice."

"You're very welcome!" Kayla said, hugging Hope once Hope was standing up again.

"Don't worry, Kayla. I'll take good care of her and the babies," Aiden assured her.

"I'm going to hold you to that!" Kayla said with a nod.

~*came back to me.*~

Hope was up at the desk, filling out a form and talking to Maxine. Shawn and Ciara had been waiting in the lobby, and were more than relieved to hear that their mother and the babies were going to be okay. Hope had told them everything, and now both Shawn and Ciara were feeling guilty.

"Yo. Aiden," Ciara called out.

Aiden looked over at her.

Ciara nodded toward the private waiting room. "Can we talk to you for a minute? Please?"

Aiden nodded, and followed them into the room. Shawn shut the door behind them.

"We want to apologize. We acted like children earlier, and it was uncalled for. We know you were just trying to do something nice for us," Ciara began.

Shawn nodded. "I'm just very protective of my mother. You hurt her so badly in the past—twice at that! It's just a little hard for me to be able to trust you the third time around. Even so, I never should have been rude to you. I can see you're trying to change for the better. I don't know yet if I believe you will actually change for good, but I'm willing to see if you do. This will be your last chance though. Mark my words."

Aiden nodded. "As it should be! I promise you, I will not let you down. I'm really sorry I tried to push this day on your guys. I'm just so eager for you guys to like me and, for you to give me another chance. You both love Rafe so much. I can see why. He protected your mother when I only hurt her. But I promise you, you will see that I can be just as good of a guy as he is. I already love your mother more than I feel anyone else ever could. Romantically anyway."

"I'm sorry I invited him to the zoo and tried to push him and mom back together. That was disrespectful and rude to you and I apologize," Ciara replied.

Aiden nodded. "It's all right. I agree, you shouldn't have invited him, but I understand. I shouldn't have expected you to just forgive me just like that and accept me."

Shawn blushed. "As for me, I was a jerk for snapping at you about the dinner. I guess no matter what age I get, I'm still worried about someone trying to take the place of my dad. With Rafe it was different because he had my father's blessing. With you, I don't even like y—I mean… I haven't even warmed up to you yet, so it made it even worse. I know you weren't trying to take my dad's place. It just felt like you were."

"I'm sorry. I promise that was no my intention. I just knew you liked boats, and honestly it was one of the only things I knew about you, so I went that route," Aiden admitted.

"For me, well, you know me. I haven't changed. You can just buy my happiness with diamonds or any other kind of gemstone," Ciara teased.

Aiden laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

"But seriously, I'm sorry I acted like a brat. I told myself this year I'd be more mature, what with my schooling and internship. Then here I went, reverting back to my ten-year-old days. The zoo was actually a very thoughtful idea, and I enjoyed it more than I let on, so thank you," Ciara said.

Shawn nodded. "I enjoyed it too."

"I don't trust you a hundred percent yet either, but I'm willing to give you a chance—a real chance this time," Ciara promised.

"I appreciate that. And in turn, I promise to not be so pushy," Aiden said with a nod. "By the way, what changed your mind about me so suddenly?"

Ciara and Shawn looked at each other, then at him.

"We saw how caring and concerned you were when our mom was on the ground with bad cramps," Shawn admitted.

Ciara nodded. "I'm her daughter, but I wouldn't have laid down on the dirty ground like you did with her. It made me realize how much you really do love her."

Shawn nodded. "It made me realize that too."

"I do," Aiden said with a nod of affirmation. "I have since the day I first laid eyes on her."

Shawn nodded toward the door. "I guess we better get back out there. Mom's probably starting to wonder where we got to."

"Is it too soon for a group hug first?" Aiden asked them with a hopeful grin.

Shawn and Ciara both gave him a look.

"Baby steps, Aden," Ciara said, an eyebrow raised at him.

Shawn nodded. "Plus, that seems a little bit corny, don't you think?"

Aiden laughed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

They headed back out to the lobby, and Hope smiled when she saw them. "There you are! I was wondering where you three went." She raised an eyebrow. "Is everything all right?"

Aiden, Shawn, and Ciara all nodded.

"We've come to a better understanding of each other," Aiden told her.

Shawn and Ciara both nodded.

Hope looked at them suspiciously. "Okay…" She looked at her watch. "It is too late for the dinner cruise?"

Aiden nodded. "Sadly, yes. But you and the kids can go out. I'll get fast food or something and go back to my place so that you guys can have some mother, son, daughter bonding time—just the three of you." He smiled weakly.

Hope looked like she was about to say something, but Ciara spoke first.

She shook her head. "No. We're supposed to spend the whole day together, remember? That includes evening." She grinned at him.

Shawn nodded. "We can always go to Red Lobster. We may not be able to eat on the boat, but we can at least still feel like we're at sea, right?" he joked.

"Are you guys sure you don't mind me joining you? Because I'm totally cool with giving you some space," Aiden said, his hands held up.

"Join us, please," Shawn said to him.

Ciara nodded. "It will be fun," she said with a smile.

"You heard them. They want you to come with us." Hope smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You don't want to disappoint them by not joining us, do you?"

Aiden shook his head and smiled; revealing his dimples. "I wouldn't dream of disappointing them!"

Hope grinned. She kissed his cheek, then wrapped her arms around Shawn and Ciara.

"To Red Lobster it is!" Aiden said, walking on ahead of them and therefore leading the way. Maybe things are finally looking up, he thought happily. Hope and the babies were okay, the kids were finally accepting him, and Rafe was leaving town very soon. He just hoped things continued going well, for he knew that with him, good things happening was usually just the calm before the storm.

~*came back to me*~

"So, I know you guys don't know the genders yet, but do you have any names in mind for the babies?" Shawn asked as he took another bite out of his cheddar biscuit. He closed his eyes. "Man, these things are heaven!"

Hope smirked. "Don't fill up on those before your dinner even gets here! And no, we haven't really decided upon any names yet. At least I haven't." She looked at Aiden. "Have you?"

"Actually, if either of them is a girl, I kind of have a name that's become special to me," Aiden admitted.

Hope smiled, and gently stroked his hair. What is it?"

"Madeleine," Aiden replied.

Hope smirked. "You mean Madeline?"

Aiden shook his head. "No. Not Mad-el-ine, but Mad-el-aine."

"It's kind of pretty, but different when pronounced that way. Why Madeleine?"

"Well, it actually has to do with Chase," Aiden confessed.

Ciara paused from her chewing and looked at him.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be talking about him in front of you," Aiden quickly apologized.

Ciara swallowed the bite of biscuit and shook her head. "No, it's all right. He was your son. Continue what you were saying." She sipped her iceless Coke.

"Well, one day I walked in on Chase listening to a Backstreet Boys CD. I told him it didn't sound like the kind of music he usually listened to. I asked him what he was listening too. He was embarrassed to tell me, but I finally got it out of him that it was Backstreet Boys. He was embarrassed to be listening to a boyband. Of course all in good fun, I razzed him about it. But then he admitted there was this one song he couldn't get out of his head. His friend's girlfriend loved the Backstreet Boys and was always making them listen to Backstreet Boys when they were all in the car together. One of their songs is named 'Madeleine" and Chase fell in love with it as soon as he heard it. He downloaded the song and taught himself to play guitar to it. His friend had taught him how to play guitar, so I had bought Chase a guitar, and it really seemed to help him heal. Chase had an amazing voice; you wouldn't believe it. When I heard him play and sing 'Madeleine', it made me fall in love with the song too. Now I really love the name," Aiden explained.

Hope smiled at him and gently squeezed his hand. "You can name our daughter Madeleine. That is, if at least one of them is a girl." She winked at him.

"So, you like the name?" Aiden asked her.

Hope nodded. "After that story, yes. I do like it! It's different, but it's also very pretty."

They smiled at each other.

"I was thinking the name Haiden. That could work for either a boy or a girl," Ciara suddenly spoke up.

They both looked at her.

"Haiden?" Aiden asked.

Hope grinned big, knowing exactly where her daughter had gotten that name. "It's a combination of both our names," she explained to Aiden. "It's your name with the H from Hope before it. Not a bad name choice, actually."

"H-aiden. Haiden. I get it now." Aiden grinned at Ciara. "I think that would make a great boy name! Or, like you said, if your mother and I had two girls, it could also serve as a girl name."

"Too bad the best boy name is already taken," Shawn said.

Hope, Aiden, and Ciara looked at him.

"What name?" Hope asked him; confused.

Shawn grinned, and pat his own chest. "Shawn of course!"

Ciara rolled her eyes, but Aiden and Hope both laughed.

"Very funny!" Hope said sarcastically.

Aiden was still smiling as he looked at his watch. They had ordered a half hour ago. His smile faded and looked around, wondering if their food was coming yet. He was starving.

Suddenly, his eyes fell upon a woman who was all too familiar to him. She was tall with a short blonde bob. She was way overdressed for red lobster with a big fur coat, a black quilted Channel bag, white dress slacks, black high heels, a white button-up blouse with pearls, and a black and white form-fitting blazer. She was waiting to be seated, looking at her diamond watch. She had a scowl on her face as if she were annoyed that anyone dared to make her wait to be seated.

As if sensing that she was being watched, she looked over, and their eyes met. Her grin grew wide, and she quickly headed for their table.

"Crap!" Aiden muttered under his breath.

"What?" Hope asked.

Before Aiden could reply, the woman showed up right beside him. "Aiden! It's been so long! Over half a year! How come you never call me?" She pouted.

"What are you doing here, Carol?" Aiden asked, not even trying to disguise his annoyance.

Carol pouted. "That's not really the nice greeting I would expect from you."

"Aiden, who is this?" Hope asked; curious.

Carol smiled at her. "We talked on the phone before—years ago when you wanted me to take care of Chase. Sorry I couldn't do it at the time. I was about to go on a cruise with my new boyfriend. Well, then boyfriend anyway. I simply could not take a teenager in. I'm too much of an on-the-go person!"

"So that means you must be…" Hope trailed off.

"My sister," Aiden finished for her. "Carol is my sister, and she was just leaving."

Hope, Shawn, and Ciara all looked confused.

Carol just rolled her eyes and smirked; not having his brash behavior. She clicked her tongue. "So rude! All right, I'll leave you to your family dinner. Just a fair warning though? You haven't seen the last of me." She turned to Ciara. "Love the necklace by the way."

"Thanks. My friend Rafe gave it to me," Ciara said.

Aiden chose to ignore it. He knew Ciara was just stating a fact. Besides, he had a bigger problem on his hands…

"It's stunning, just like you," Carol said to her.

Ciara tossed her hair over her shoulder and grinned. "Why thank you!" She never had been one to turn down flattery.

Aiden fought to not roll his eyes. He didn't want Ciara thinking he was rolling them at her.

After Carol left, Aiden shooting her a nasty look until she was seated on the opposite side of the restaurant, Aiden turned his attention back to Hope, Ciara, and Shawn.

"What was that all about? Don't you like your sister?" Hope asked.

"I don't want to talk about it. Can we please just forget we saw her and enjoy the rest of our evening?" Aiden asked with a weak smile.

Before Hope could reply, their food came. Thankfully for Aiden, everyone was so hungry that food took precedence over their curiosity.

As Aiden ate, he only half listened to Ciara telling them about a funny story that happened at her internship. His mind was too occupied thinking about his sister, what she was doing there (she always had an ulterior motive), and how he could get her the heck out of Salem as quickly as possible.