A/N: Supposedly, I'll be away this weekend if I can sort out these STUPID coach ticket websites. Anyway, whatever happens there won't be another post till Monday/Tuesday. Thanks for the reviews and until we next meet...

Enjoy.

Dr. Romero put down his stethoscope and looked at George kindly "Anything else?"

She eyed him curiously "So those were 'fake'?"

"They are normally referred to as Braxton Hicks contractions" he corrected

Don who was sat beside her on the couch, widened his eyes "So she's not going into labour?"

The doctor shook his head "Not yet anyway"

George let out a sigh "Well that's great (!)"

Don rubbed her shoulder comfortingly "Thanks doc"

The doctor straightened up "I would recommend taking things slow so near the end of your trimester. Have you been sleeping and eating well?"

George made a face "Well. Sometimes"

The doctor tucked his hands into his suit pockets and looked at Don "As long as she keeps away from anything too strenuous and that includes this wedding you're planning as well as eating and sleeping better... then she should be fine. Can you make sure of that?"

George rolled her eyes "I'm right here you know"

"I know" said the doctor good humouredly "But you don't seem to be taking my advice"

She resisted the urge to make a witty retort "Well, thanks for coming down"

Don stood up to shake the man's hand "I'll make sure she behaves herself" he said smirking when George scoffed indignantly

Once Don had seen Dr. Romero out he went to rejoin George on the couch only to find Atticus had taken his place and was bouncing up and down eagerly at his owner.

"Guess he's happy you're okay too" said Don watching her play with the dog, he tucked his hands into his jean pockets "How are you feeling now?"

George tickled Atticus behind his ears "Better. I really freaked out for a minute back there...and for the record those contractions aren't mild. I'd like him to try one of them on for size and see how that's mild"

He glanced at his wrist watch, remembering he was supposed to have returned home to check whether or not his place had been cleared by the fire inspector, but at that moment he had far more pressing concerns "Well clearly your mouth is still in excellent working order"

She rolled her eyes then flashed him a smile "Thanks for staying"

"What did you think I was gonna do, run off?" he said seriously "I'm not...I care about this kid and what happens to it and you too. Don't ever forget that"

She stared at him for a few seconds, wishing he'd simply said that to her before Orson had come back into her life.

"I'm going to get you and Atticus something to eat, then I'm gonna head off. You promise you'll eat?" he said trying to sound stern then he headed into the kitchen, seemingly satisfied with her nod.

George sat there quietly, still staring at the space he had just occupied.

"Not you again"

Raising her eyebrows indignantly the lab tech turned around about to give the stranger a piece of her mind only to smile when she saw that it was Mac

"Well is that anyway to greet your favourite employee?" she said brightly

He folded his coat over his arm "I've told you before Ronnie I don't have favourites"

She rolled her eyes "You don't have to lie, no one's here" she said conspiratorially then patted the stool at the diner, right next to hers "Have a seat"

"Sorry, I just came to get a coffee, I'm on the clock, so I can't stay long" he warned, knowing how easily it was to be dragged into a conversation with her, not that he always minded

Ronnie shrugged as he sat down "Fair enough" she continued to twirl her straw around in her milkshake

He watched her do so wryly, wondering at her bad mood "You know what holiday today is?"

"A crappy made up one for consumerist morons" she muttered then smirked "Too harsh?"

Mac smiled "If I remember correctly, only last week you sent me a miniature teddy bear thing and said that you loved this holiday because it was so...cheesy and cute at the same time? What changed?"

She made a face "Yeah well..I was being nice. It's terrible and anyway, what about you? Why aren't you celebrating?" she said pointedly

"Point taken" he placed some money down for his coffee and raised his fresh paper cup of coffee to Ronnie "Happy Valentines Day"

She smiled and raised her glass to his cup "The same to you boss"

He patted her affectionately on the shoulder as he left, she watched him go then turned back to her milkshake. She had to tell him, there was nothing for it.

Adam put down his headphones and glanced over his desk curiously, Ronnie walked over, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and sweat pants, apparently she'd just come from the gym.

"Hey" he said smiling, she certainly was a sight for his sore eyes

She seemed vaguely uncomfortable "Hi. I know I'm not working today but I really needed to talk to you. Can you take a quick break?"

He looked around the lab and the amount of work he had to do "How long for?"

"Just five minutes"

He nodded "Alright. But I have to take care of some A/V stuff so can you wait ten minutes?"

She half smiled and he wondered why she seemed suddenly so nervous, he checked that no one was watching then leant over the desk and kissed her.

She seemed surprised but reciprocated warmly, her cheeks tinged with pink "Uhm, okay so ten minutes...meet me on the fifth floor by the vending machine"

When Adam finally made it up to the fifth floor fifteen minutes later, Adam found Ronnie where she said she'd be, by the vending machine, she was leant against the side, her brow deeply furrowed. Clearly there was something troubling her.

"Hey. Got you something" he said and reached into the pocket of his lab coat, retrieving a heart shaped red lollipop

She stared at it and sighed "Adam..."

He shrugged "I know , not the greatest Valentine's day gift ever but I felt bad that I was working today. We haven't had a real date yet"

She took the sweet from him "Its not that. This is really cute I just...something happened a couple of days ago and I've been meaning to tell you I just didn't know how to"

"You know you can tell me stuff" he said affectionately "Go ahead"

"Danny kissed me a couple of days ago" she said quickly

"What, he came on to you?"

She felt even worse now by his look of genuine concern "Not exactly...he kissed me but I guess I let it go on for longer than it should have"

He folded his arms "Why are you telling me this?"

She fiddled awkwardly with the sleeves of her top "Adam, I really like you, I'm just trying to be honest here...if we're gonna be seeing each other, I kind of owe it to you"

He went silent, not really looking at her, she stared at him quietly, hoping that this wasn't the end of what had the potential to be a great relationship or their friendship.

"I gotta go. I said five minutes" he said finally

She took a step towards him but he backed away "I'll call you later"

She watched him walk away and as much as she wanted to blame Danny for how guilty she felt that was only half the reason.

Stella peered around the door to Mac's office "Knock, knock" she said pleasantly

He looked away from his bulletin board "Stella, come on in"

She walked over and stood beside him, staring at the notes on the board for a few minutes, he shot a brief glance at her and had a sudden inexplicable urge to brush a loose strand of hair away from her cheek, but just as he was considering this she turned to him suddenly.

"You think we're any closer to catching this guy?"

He put his hands into the pockets of his navy suit "He's a smart guy, knows how to clean up after himself and a lot of the evidence is...coincidental at best"

She stared at him seriously "You alright?"

Surprised at her sudden switch of subjects he stared back, she looked at him with her gold flecked eyes and it was if all of a sudden she knew exactly what he was thinking.

He forced himself to turn back to the board "It's just this case"

She placed a hand on his shoulder, it was something completely spontaneous but managed to be completely intimate all at the same time.

"You know where I am" she gave him a gentle smile

He nodded appreciatively, then her hand was gone from his shoulder and she had left his office.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Don stumbled out of his bedroom hoping he wasn't late for his shift. He wandered into the lounge, he caught sight of a clock on the wall and made a face.

He was four hours too early for his shift, rubbing his forehead he wandered out of the front door to see if he had any mail only to find Ronnie sat outside on the front steps smoking.

"I thought you were at your dance class?" he said prodding her with his foot

She raised her head and peered at him "No I...Eugh, Donald, put on a damn shirt. This isn't Playgirl"

He rolled his eyes "Fine, I was trying to be nice but whatever"

She stubbed out her cigarette while he went back inside, moments later she followed, settling on the sofa, a tense expression on her face.

Don looked wistfully in the direction of his bedroom, imagining the four hours of sleep he could have then he looked at his downcast sibling and reluctantly turned away from the bedroom.

"Alright, whats up?" he sat down next to her

She shrugged her shoulders "Nothing, I'm just a little tired"

He prodded her with his elbow "Come on, I'm lending you my ear. This is a one time offer, free if you cook dinner tonight"

Ronnie exhaled quietly "You promise not to react or break anyone's legs?"

Don put on a mock-solemn expression "I promise. Let me get a tee shirt on first"

She agreed vehemently "And not to soon, thats the last time I ever want to see your freaky nipples"

He scoffed and headed off to get changed, returning moments later now in a black tee shirt, he sat back down on the couch.

"Alright spill"

She looked at him hesitantly "I think that I've just been dumped and I kissed someone I shouldn't have"

Don who had been unaware of the fact she was even seeing anyone up until that point groaned "This is the part where I regret asking you what was wrong. "

She pulled her knees up to her chest "Okay, forget it"

"Alright I'm sorry. I'm listening. Go ahead"

"Danny kissed me a couple of days ago, I told the guy I was seeing-Adam and he...well he basically ran a mile"

Don stared at her "The same Danny that broke your heart? The same Danny that's my friend? And Adam the guy you work with?" he said incredulously

She pouted crossly "Well I didn't ask for any of this to happen and yeah, I do realise how much of a bad soap opera my life is turning out to be"

He put an arm around her shoulder and tried to remember what George had told him about not being too overprotective "Okay..so Danny kissed you, I thought you two were over each other"

"That's what I thought! Then he did that and it was like everything was back to the way it was...but I still really like Adam and I can't just forget what happened with me and Danny or why we broke up" she said in one breath

"Well if you ask me, you can do way better"

She rolled her eyes "Here we go..."

"But...you need to make a decision and I get that. So...maybe you need to stay away from those two for a little while. Give yourself some space to think"

Ronnie raised her eyebrows, surprised by how calm he was being "That actually makes sense. Y'know coming from you"

"Ha, ha" he said and squeezed her shoulder "Listen, whatever you decide, I've got your back"

She cooed "Aw. Thanks D" she squeezed him back "You know what, you've made my bad week just that little bit more tolerable"

He snorted "You wanna talk about bad weeks? For the record, my bad week trumps yours. In love with your pregnant sort of ex-girlfriend and co-worker who is getting re-married to the secret ex-husband you didn't know she had? Then you win but until then..."

She was silent for a few moments then responded "For the record" she mimicked "You don't get to use that to win choice of what we're watching on TV or to win every other argument"

Don chuckled ruefully

"Damn"