Intensive Care Unit, Room 725

Jenny's Point of View

After Lanie and I went back to the waiting room, Alyssa was very true to form and immediately asked me to hold her. She gave a loud squawk of annoyance when I tried to move to a chair, so I stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by my family and friends, rocking her back and forth and apologizing over and over until she was calmer. Once I made sure that she had her stuffed ladybug with her so she didn't stage her own coup d'état on me, I took her with me to room 725.

Kevin was lying on his bed, hooked up to a heart monitor and a few other things, and I had to reassure myself that the sight of them didn't necessarily mean that my husband was in peril anymore. (Especially if Amaya's parents—the two best trauma surgeons around—were the ones who did the operation to get the bullet out) His damaged arm was in a sling, and I noticed that he had a few scrapes here and there on his face and arms, probably having gotten them when he fell after the shot.

Lanie had warned me that Kevin would probably be asleep and/or on pain medication by the time Alyssa and I got to him, but that didn't matter to me. All that did was getting to be with my husband. And just like I thought, Kevin was already sound asleep when we arrived.

It took Alyssa a second to register what she was looking at, but when she finally got it, she turned my face towards hers, forcing me to look her straight in the eyes.

"Daddy sleepin'?"

"Yes, he is, Ladybug."

"No like."

"I don't like it either, but daddy got hurt."

Her bottom lip trembled dangerously. "Why?"

It took everything in me not to cry at the weight behind her question, even if it was completely innocent. I replied in the calmest tone I could, wiping the silent tears that were already falling down her face.

"I don't know why."

Alyssa was quiet, and I could see that she was thinking about them as deeply as a one year-old could. She didn't protest when I sat down in the chair next to Kevin's bed, which I was thankful for because I really needed to take a load off my feet. After a minute, she patted my face to get my attention and started signing a few words while she leaned her little body towards her father.

"La'ybug wan' kiss an' hug."

"That's very nice of you, but we have to wait until daddy wakes up to do that?"

She pointed to herself. "Poke daddy 'wake?"

I smiled at her. "Oh, my silly little one, we've gotta be gentle with daddy because he got a really big owie."

Alyssa pouted at this, but it didn't even last for five seconds because we saw that Kevin was beginning to stir. We both moved closer to him, and my heart turned over in delight at just the sight of those bright blue eyes looking into mine again… even if his medication was making him look a little hazy.

I kissed him, and even though he was in a weakened sate, he returned it.

"There's my girls."

He reached towards my belly with his good hand, and I held it against the bulge. The babies both kicked his palm as hard as they could, making us both smile.

"And my little boys are here, too. I have everything I could want right now."

Tired of being ignored, Alyssa clapped her hands together happily. "Daddy, you up! I no poke-poke!"

Kevin was disconcerted by her words, but still humored her. "Thanks for not poking me, Princess Alyssa."

She blew him a kiss before leaning back against me. Kevin, meanwhile, had a questioning look in his eyes.

"Jenny?"

I put a hand over his free one. "Right here."

"I… water?"

I helped him take a drink, and I even tried to fluff his pillows, but Alyssa had attached herself to me again and wasn't letting me move, so I just settled for leaning back in my seat while I continued the conversation.

"Do you remember anything?"

"I remember being taken to the ER and how Javier tried to fight his way back when I was being taken to surgery…"

A sudden thought crossed his mind as his voice trailed off and he tried to sit up. I wouldn't let him and gently pushed him back down, knowing exactly what he was going to ask.

"Javier is fine. Other than a few stitches he got when he fell in the alley trying to get into the ambulances and apologizing to me before sending himself on an unnecessary guilt trip, I promise you that he's fine."

Kevin chuckled but immediately winced in pain.

"This really sucks, Jenny!" he complained. "I'm stuck in bed and I can't even laugh!"

"I'm sorry, babe." I cooed sympathetically. "If I could take your pain away, you know I would."

He became serious for a minute, reveling in the contact with our hands. "But after all of these years together, I still remember what it was like when you were the one in the bed and I was the one in the chair. I guess this puts us on a level playing field now…"

"Kevin Francis Xavier!" I admonished. "I can't believe you just said that!"

"But it's true!" he protested. "I still haven't encountered a bomb like you have, but as of today, I've survived a really bad wound."

"Be that as it may, I still don't want to hear anything like that for awhile, okay?"

"But—"

His protest was cut off by Alyssa, who was giggling hysterically at him. We smiled at her, both relieved that she wasn't feeling to anxious about the situation.

"What are you thinking about?"

She giggled again. "Daddy funny."

"If I'm the funny one, what about mama?"

Alyssa seriously thought about it before answering. "Mama win."

She and I fed the birds while Kevin pouted.

"I can't believe that both of my girls are against me!"

"You shouldn't always fret, my love," I massaged my belly as the babies began shifting around restlessly. "Especially when there's a good chance that I really could be growing two baby brothers for Alyssa inside me."

"That's true…"

I looked back down at Alyssa and pressed one of her hands against the spot where her siblings were squirming around.

"What do you think about two little babies, Alyssa?"

She immediately pulled away from me and expressed her thoughts loud and clear by blowing a raspberry not at me, but directly at my belly.

"Please, little one?" I tried.

She blew another big raspberry and shook her head furiously so that her blond hair was flying in her face.

"NO!"

My eyes filled up with tears as I realized that my latest attempt to get Alyssa to accept my pregnancy had fallen flat on its face again.

My heart, however, sank a few feet towards my stomach when I looked over at Kevin and saw that his expression had suddenly become very dark. When he turned to look at me, I almost felt ill because of the feelings he was radiating.

"There's one thing that I remember from the alley, but that's because I'll never be able to forget it for as long as I live."

"What's that?"

"Seeing my mother's lifeless body on the ground and wondering if I could have saved her."

"Leila hadn't been part of your life since you were three."

"But I knew her name, and I could've tried to look for her!" he argued. "The only reason I never did was because it would've opened old wounds with Thomas because he has always resented our mother for the choices that she made when he was a baby."

I didn't say anything because I knew that there was no way that I had any understanding in the situation we were currently discussing.

"I mean really: whatisgoingon? It's like we're in a war, Jenny. First was Johanna Beckett, and then there was Tatsuya Serizawa. They even got Lanie's mom and Tobias' dad, and I've always had the feeling that both of those deaths are connected to this tangled web we're all part of. What happened to them does not qualify as coincidences."

I knew all about what happened on the day that Susan Parish and Conrad King were found murdered because Lanie had called me in a state of grief.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Absolutely." He nodded. "There are no such things as coincidences in my line of work."

"Did Kate teach you that one?"

He nodded again, but got back on topic, still sensoring his words for Alyssa's sake. "Whoever this is that's doing all of this has gotten other people, too!"

"Like Lucy and Elijah Queller?"

"Yes. They even got Alexis' mom, and now they got mine! Who's going to be next?"

"Hopefully nobody else. My heart wouldn't be able to bear it…"

My voice died as I began to feel rapid kicking movements in my belly, and I couldn't help smiling.

"Why are you happy?" Kevin demanded in a slightly grumpy tone.

"The babies are moving as much as they were this morning!"

He perked up immediately. "Really? I want to feel!"

"Oka—ouch!"

Alyssa had hit me square in the belly and now had her arm in the air, prepared to strike again. I caught her arm and held on when she struggled.

"Alyssa Rae Ellenor!" I scolded her. "That was really naughty, and it hurt me and the babies. Tell us that you're sorry."

"No!"

Kevin leaned towards us from where he was on the bed so he could try to reason with Alyssa.

"Why did you do that?"

Our daughter blew another raspberry at my belly before answering him, signing as fast as she could.

"Babies kick La'ybug off, so La'ybug hit back. They no wan' me, La'ybug no wan' them."

She blew three big raspberries at my belly before leaning back in my arms, only to yell at the babies in Toddlerspeak for kicking her. Kevin wanted to help me, but obviously couldn't.

I cried.

After a few moments of this, there was a knock on the door, and we looked over to see that Juliana, Emily and Thomas were all standing in the open doorway. (I noticed right away that Juliana was towing an ultrasound machine with her) When Alyssa saw them, she greeted them with the same kind of enthusiasm that she had shown to Jordan, and that made me start crying all over again, so I had to explain myself to them since Kevin hadn't been there when the original incident happened.

"Alyssa refuses to accept the babies, and it's really breaking my heart. She'd rather be with anyone else but me right now, and I've tried everythingto get her to come around…"

Juliana put a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. "Well, we've come to rectify that situation."

"That's great," Kevin tried to find a place in the conversation. "But what are they doing here?"

Using his good hand, he gestured towards Thomas and Emily, the former of whom rolled his eyes.

"I wanted to see you, Kev," He almost scoffed. "And I just so happened to be in the room when Juliana said that she needed someone to roll the other bed in here, seeing as she already had her hands full with the ultrasound machine."

I caught Alyssa's elbow as she tried to hit my belly again in response to the babies kicking her in the side.

"I beg your pardon, Thomas? 'Roll the other bed in'? What do you mean?"

Emily answered this one, touching a hand to her own pregnant belly. "We brought in a portable bed for you to use while Juliana runs the check-up because we figured that you wouldn't want to be away from Kevin for awhile. I tagged along to check on everyone, and to watch the ultrasound."

My husband and I smiled at the others gratefully, thankful that we belonged to such a loving and close-knit family.

(I think that one of the most valuable lessons that he and I could've learned today, especially with the turn out in the waiting room is: friendsarethefamilyyouchoose)

Once Alyssa realized what was going on, she gladly accepted Thomas' invitation to be held and relaxed contently in his arms. I just swallowed my pride and let Juliana help me up onto the bed when everything was ready.

The whole check-up went by with nothing unusual happening, and Juliana had nothing but kind words to say. In fact, things were so good that Juliana praised me for being in such good shape.

Looking at Alyssa, however, we saw that she was quickly becoming torn between being interested in what was going on and in carrying on with regarding my belly with contempt as Thomas and Emily explained to her what was going on. When we got to the part about that involved seeing the babies on the screen, I forced myself to pay attention to Juliana as she updated us on the babies' progress. The second that that part was over, we heard a tiny but audible gasp from Alyssa, and when we looked at her again, we saw that she was completely mesmerized by the footage of the babies on the screen and was understanding everything that her aunt and uncle were saying as they all moved closer for a better look.

Alyssa eventually turned her gaze away and turned to look at Kevin and me.

"Babies in there?"

"That's right." I told her. "They're both in there—one baby, two babies."

She turned in response towards Kevin when he called her name and watched him patiently.

"What do you think now?" he asked her. "You're going to be a big sister."

"They see my words?"

"No, they can't, Princess."

A mischievous glimmer appeared in her eyes, telling us that she clearly wasn't buying her father's words one bit. Still in Thomas' arms, she leaned back towards the screen and signed at it.

Ladybug loves her babies.

Not wanting to question how or why she changed her mind, I just let my heart melt because I knew that Alyssa had just accepted her siblings completely on her own terms, and she embracing them with her arms wide open.

As if Alyssa signing at the babies wasn't enough, she proceeded to use both of her hands to blow kisses at the screen.

The rest of the check-up went by pretty quickly, but when Thomas placed Alyssa back on my lap, mine and Kevin's overall moods improved even more when she kissed my belly and began rubbing it like it was a very fluffy pet cat.

After Thomas, Emily and Juliana were gone, I was alone with my family for all of three minutes before Amaya's parents came in to assess Kevin's progress for the time being. Much to Alyssa's dismay, Kevin was getting sleepy from his medication, and he actually did fall asleep before we were out of the room, making Alyssa go from being dismayed to distraught.

I had to sit down with her on a bench out in the hallway before she would consider going any further.

"Mama," she asked. "Daddy go sleepy-time?"

"Yes, he did."

She scowled slightly. "I go 'poke-poke, daddy geddup'?"

"Not right now."

"Why?"

"Because his medicine is making him very tired. He needs to rest so he can get better faster."

"Daddy go 'nomnom,' sleep, get better?"

"Yes."

Alyssa heaved a heavy sigh and squeezed her toy ladybug to her side.

"Mama, I sad."

"So am I."

"We go home? Cuddle?"

Suddenly, that seemed like the best idea in the whole world.

"That's a great idea, Ladybug."

She leaned her head against my shoulder and nuzzled my neck in response.

I stood up and sat her on my hip and started walking towards the exit doors at the end of the hall, wanting my next long-term goal to be nothing more than being at home on the couch, cuddling with Alyssa and indulging the twins in whatever weird cravings their little hearts would surely be desiring by the time we got there.

I just needed to get my purse first.

Waiting room, Kate's Point of View

At one point, Amaya's parents stopped back in the waiting room to shoo everyone out of the waiting room because we had been apprised of Ryan's condition, and he wasn't in good enough condition to receive any visitors. I saw the logic in leaving, but I couldn't, especially since I've treated him like a son after he wrote me that letter on my first Mother's Day, but I just couldn't do it.

See, when Jenny and Alyssa left the room, Jenny had accidentally left her purse behind, so I decided to hold onto it for her until she came back to collect it. That was one reason that I didn't want to leave, but the second reason was far more pressing than the first.

During the time that I'd been in the waiting room with my friends—and the rest of my immediate family who had turned up in Jenny's absence—I'd started feeling ill as if the symptoms of the preeclampsia that Jordan had speculated at were coming back.

Even though I had told my sister-in-law that I couldn't have the disease, I was now pretty sure that I did... and given my mom's medical history, I couldn't afford to be in denial for too much longer.

Had I told anyone else?

No.

I had somehow convinced myself that everyone already had enough on their plates to worry about with Ryan being in the ICU and with comforting his little daughter and pregnant wife, both of whom were very worried.

As a result of that, I was now trying to convince myself that it was okay to let someone know that I wasn't feeling all right, and that it was okay to ask for help.

But in the middle of the flurry of activity that was everyone leaving the room to head back to work or their perspective homes, there were two people who followed me to the other side of the room by the window: Jordan and Krista.

"What do you two want?" I felt slightly annoyed at having been followed.

"You have preeclampsia but haven't told anyone." Krista said in a very straightforward manner. "Why is that?"

I immediately glared at Jordan, who in turn, held her hands up in surrender.

"I swear, Kate, that I didn't say anything about it! Krista figured it out on her own because she had two severe cases of it—one for each pregnancy."

Recalling that Jordan had mentioned this when she and her family had come to dinner at the loft, I softened up and turned back to Krista, who was watching me with lots of compassion.

"My son and daughter—Jacob and Savannah—almost died inside me because I was too scared to admit that something felt wrong."

I held my hands out to her. "Did your fingers ever swell? Slightly more than what was normal?"

"Yes, they did. My feet, also." She confirmed as she inspected my swollen fingers a little closer. "Have you had high blood pressure or constant backache?"

"Yes, and yes." I withdrew my fingers. "My back hurt something fierce after we had company the other night, and I was immobilized for almost an hour. Juliana documented high blood pressure at my last appointment, and I've been careful ever since. I've been watching what I eat, exercising right—basically, I've been doing do everything that I can to make sure that this last leg of this pregnancy will be smooth sailing until delivery, and yet…"

"Something feels off to you, anyway?" Krista suggested.

"Exactly, and I'm scared.My mom had preeclampsia when she was pregnant with me, but she isn't here anymore, so I can't even ask her for help!"

Krista and Jordan looked like they were about to say something in response, but they didn't get a chance because at that precise moment, two things at the same time that made the two older women go into 'mama bear' mode: my vision became very hazy, and I felt a sharp twinge in the side of my belly that I've only ever associated with contractions.

Oh, no.

Please, no.

It's too soon…

The next few minutes were a complete blur to me because I was just trying to focus on staying as alert as I could.

(At least I was aware that someone was holding my hand at all times)

I became calm and focused after Juliana had administered medication into my system to stop the pain and—to my horror—the labor. As I became more and more aware of my surroundings, I noticed that I was now lying on my left side. I tried to move, but Juliana fussed at me to not move too much if I could help it.

(Thank God that Castle was in the room and that he was in my direct line of sight)

Before I could ask Juliana what was going on, I heard a new person enter the room—a man, judging by the sound of his heavy footsteps. What set off warning bells for me was when Castle stopped talking abruptly, having been startled into shock by the appearance of the new person.

I really couldn't help but share Castle's feelings when I saw who the other person was.

"J-Josh?"