Brooke silently swore after she looked down at her swollen feet.

As careful as she had been about what she ate, being on her feet throughout the course of the day had resulted in not only a nagging feeling of fatigue, but the dreaded swelling she had been warned about during her last visit with Janine Connelly.

After slipping off her flats, Brooke moved towards the bed and began stacking pillows to elevate her feet. When she finished, she turned towards the bathroom. She stopped suddenly, when she caught a glimpse of her reflection from the dresser mirror. Having forgotten she was still wearing the colorful maturity dress, she studied the image with a thoughtful smile.

"Well, at least this outfit bought me a seat on that sardine can they call the Long Island Railroad," she mused as she ran a hand lovingly over her stomach. "Too bad the big, bad Fed managed to beat Mommy in court today, huh baby? Oh well maybe, after you're born, you'd do Mommy a favor and spit up on the bad man's favorite suit? Yeah, just thinking about that makes Mommy feel better. How about you, little one?"

Brooke continued to smile as she thought about the life growing inside her. Despite the odds, despite the warnings and possible ramifications Brooke indulged herself and imaged McCoy and their child together; hoping that the miracle of her pregnancy would lead to a second miracle by resulting in a healthy happy mother and child.

"Brooke," McCoy called out as he closed the front door and looked around the empty living room.

Spotting the discarded briefcase by the coat rack, he started towards the bedroom.

"Hi honey how was your day," Brooke asked brightly as she ignored the amused smirk on his face while she moved to give him a peck on the cheek.

"I thought you had court today," he responded, while he raised an eyebrow as his eyes continued to take in the sight of his wife in her maturity attire.

"Oh that's right. You were still asleep when I got dressed this morning," she said as she turned around to model her outfit. "What do you think Mr. District Attorney? Do I get an A for effort?"

"And they say I'm the one that will do anything to win a case. How did your outfit go over with the judge?"

"Better than my oral arguments," she said while she headed for the bed and propped up her feet. "She ruled in Sam's favor. The case will be heard in federal court. The up side is he promised the murder charge would stand no matter what else he had to use as leverage. Sam said he'll make sure that bastard does the max for Janine's murder."

"Will that be enough for your boss," he asked as he alternately took each foot in his hand and studied them carefully.

"Yeah. Michael joined us for lunch. He admitted we probably should have let the case go without a fight. He knows better than to let to personal feelings color his professional judgment,' she said thoughtfully. "Some would say that's something Michael could learn a thing or two about from you."

"I thought I was a ruthless bastard his friends can't trust as far as they can throw him. Mad dog McCoy who 's willing to stoop lower than low just to win a case."

"That's you alright," she said as she ran a hand through his disheveled locks."Maybe that makes you a better public servant than most of us, Jack. I bet you'd have taken one look at the facts of this case and called the Feds yourself. It really was a slam dunk for Sam. I just didn't want to admit it."

"Don't be so quick to put me back up on a pedestal, Brooke," McCoy said solemnly as he massaged her foot. "I've had my share of fights with the States Attorney's office. When Alex Borgia's murderer was up for trial, it wasn't easy to just walk away from that fight."

"I know that. I remember you talking about the case. I'm not saying you're flawless Jack. I'm just saying maybe you did what you had to do in the Waxman case. Congratulations, by the way. I thought you might be out celebrating with Mike and Connie."

"Connie isn't in much of a mood to celebrate and Mike was anxious to get out of the office on time for once, "McCoy said as he looked up from her feet. "I don't want you to think I'm obsessing, but you're really swollen, Brooke. Have you thought about calling one of Dr. Connelly's partners just to be on the safe side?"

"Janine warned me about this the last time I saw her. If the swelling doesn't go down by morning, I'll opt out of the nine a m staff meeting and go down to Memorial without a fight. Even Manhattan General, if that would make you happy."

"It would," he said brightly as he gave her a grin. "You seem to be in an unusually compliant mood this evening. Dare I push the envelope and ask you if you're ready to tell me about what's been on your mind the last few days?"

Brooke slowly nodded her head, reassured by Prescott's prediction of McCoy's ability to understand her dilemma, as well as hoping McCoy would have the insight she lacked into the complexities of the relationship between former spouses.

"Dare away," she said at last, as she patted the place beside her on the bed.