The Broken Road

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fic!

Chapter Fifty-One

The third floor window overlooked a tiny cement courtyard. Brushing back the thin blinds, Trixie glanced out but didn't notice a set of brightly colored leaves gently sway their way towards the ground. She didn't see the small group of nurses clustered together on the benches, taking advantage of their afternoon break time. With a loud sigh, she let the blinds fall and turned away, her impatience getting the better of her, and edged a hip onto the window sill. It was her impatience, as well as her need for some serious exercise, that had forced her out of the crowded waiting room a short while ago. She needed to do…something. Anything. A walk had helped. Blowing out a frustrated breath, she grumbled lowly, "When are we going to have this baby?"

A tinkling laugh belonging to one seriously amused Honey Wheeler Belden was her answer. "It's a good thing you've only been here for a few hours, Trix," she replied with a lively grin, sitting down next to her friend. She placed her freshly opened can of Diet Pepsi on the ledge and crossed one ankle over the other. "I can only imagine what you'd look like if you'd been here from the very beginning."

"Hah, hah," Trixie shot back with a sarcastic roll of her eyes. A narrowed look down both sides of the hallway showed no activity. Nothing came from the waiting room; nothing came from the direction of Di's birthing room. The only people moving about were the small contingent of nurses manning the desk…which meant no news about the baby. She growled impatiently. "I shouldn't be surprised that it's taking so long. Punctual is generally not a word I'd use to describe Di."

Delighted to be chatting with her very best friend of all time, a luxury that fate didn't seem to afford her too much anymore, Honey laughed again. "You can say that again. Although I'm sure this is one time Di would have preferred to be on time. She's anxious for the baby to come. She's been pretty uncomfortable the past few weeks, you know."

No, she most certainly did not know. Trixie's smile gradually faded away. Guilt started to lick away at her, like it always did when her private life warred with her professional one. She squeezed her eyes shut while internally reminding herself that there was nothing she could have changed. Her former job always took precedence over her personal life. Always. Which was one of the main reasons why it was past time to give it up and time for her to move on. She needed the stability of home. Meeting Honey's concerned gaze without flinching, she murmured quietly, "I meant to tell you that I'm sorry I didn't make it back to help out with the baby shower. I really wish I could have been there."

Honey couldn't mistake the sincerity glimmering within the sapphire eyes before her. With the gentleness and tact she was known for, she waved an airy hand, unwilling to press the issue. "Don't worry about it, Trix. The day was a huge success. We have a ton of pictures to prove it. I'll email them to you when I get the chance. Believe it or not, even the boys had fun." The memories of the day sent joy straight through her. "I don't think they expected to at first, what with it being a baby shower and all, but…they loosened up after awhile. Can you believe it? Mart even won one of the party games!"

Relieved, Trixie offered up a quick wink and an even quicker chuckle. "I have to say that the enlightened baby shower idea had me practically rolling with laughter the second Mart told me about it. At first I wasn't sure what our mothers were thinking."

"Oh, I know exactly what they were thinking. And are still thinking," Honey put in, giving her head a gentle shake. Pitching her voice low for dramatic purposes, she revealed, "They knew what they were doing. They set an important precedent, one which all three of them will demand to be met. From here on out, any other showers will be co-ed, too. They want the entire family present. Not just the female members. No, they want everybody."

"Yep. My thoughts, too." Trixie had to bite her lip to keep from chuckling. Hell, it felt so good, felt so normal, to be chatting away the time with Honey, and laughing over foolish things. Her heart felt lighter than it had in a long, long time. "I still find it hard to believe none of the boys backed out."

"They couldn't. They would have had to face the combined wrath of all of our mothers. None of them wanted that. Believe me. They all made it," Honey replied cheerfully. But then an impish spark lit up her eyes. Going for casual, she picked up her can of soda and twirled a finger around the circle, pretending that the can was made out of crystal instead of aluminum. She could almost hear the whispery, musical sound. "For a while there, the only hold-out appeared to be Jim. He didn't show up until a good forty-five minutes after it started."

Despite her extensive training, Trixie started. Just a little bit. Just enough for Honey to see that her apparently innocent mention of Jim hit its mark. Needing a distraction, and needing it quite badly, Trixie blindly reached out. Luck was with her. She grabbed her own can of soda. Strawberry pop, commandeered for her by one thoughtful younger brother. Or maybe he'd just wanted an excuse to get away from the others with only Whitney at his side. Either way, she enjoyed the sweet strawberry taste as it slid down her throat. "Umm. Well, good, then," she fumbled clumsily for a response, suddenly finding the worn tiled floor extremely fascinating.

Because Trixie wasn't looking anywhere near her, Honey allowed a triumphant grin to cross her face. She swallowed her answering chuckle, though. She didn't want to press her luck too much. "Yes," she chirped out blithely, eyeing Trixie the whole time with the intensity of a circling hawk preparing to go in for the kill. Jim would have recognized the look. It was the exact same one she'd given him the day she'd cornered him in his office. "He was late. But he did have a pretty good excuse for his tardiness. If I remember correctly, he had another meeting with his contractor about his house up at Ten Acres. You remember he was building up there, right?"

How could she forget? The floor plans she'd accidentally knocked off a desk in Mr. Wheeler's den six months ago flashed vividly before her eyes. Trixie nearly wrinkled her nose in disgust. A log cabin. A nice enough plan. A nice enough style. A nice enough house. She admitted it all but…Oh, to hell with it. Who was she kidding? It simply wasn't the house she wanted ruling over Ten Acres. It wasn't a…she sucked in a pained breath, ordering herself to not even go there. It couldn't matter. Or at least that's what she tried to convince herself. "Yeah," she bit out with more of a snap to her tone than was warranted.

The lovely topaz eyes brightened with mirthful pleasure. Oh, yeah. The smile reigning over her face matched perfectly. Well aware that she had struck quite a chord within Trixie, Honey decided to pluck it a little further, wanting to see how far she could take it. If she got some more information about the current state of Trixie and Jim's relationship, she'd consider herself even luckier. But she was savvy and she was smart. She kept the exultation out of her tone. "It wasn't an easy process, the building and the what-not. I think it cost more than Jim originally planned to pay for it, too. It is finished, though. In case you were curious." She paused expectantly and waited patiently for Trixie to respond, her eyelashes fluttering wildly.

Dying to know, but knowing that asking would be a way of giving away a little too much, it took a good thirty seconds before Trixie relented. With an annoyed scowl tainting her face, she grumbled out the most obvious question, staring down at a small speck of dust on the floor, "What does the house look like?"

"I can't rightly say," Honey responded with a drawn out little sigh. She almost brought the back of her hand to her forehead but thought the action might be a little too over-dramatic. After all, Trixie wasn't stupid. Far from it. "With Brian's slightly insane work schedule, we haven't been able to visit the new and improved Ten Acres, as Dan's been billing it. Not yet. We were hoping to stop by for a visit today but we've spent Brian's entire day off here, ironically enough, at the hospital. Can't imagine why," she added dryly, quirking her lips.

Not wanting Honey to get a good look at her face, Trixie lifted her head from the floor and glanced out the window. She watched a leaf as it blew off a branch and began its mesmerizing descent, where it gradually joined the others on the ground. And she quietly bemoaned the fact that Honey was not easily offering up any information. Apparently, she'd only answer if Trixie asked. To put it plainly, that stung. She hated having to grovel for information. Especially to her best friend. As the silence stretched on, it became clearer and clearer that was what Honey expected her to do. It looked like she was back to instigating. How she despised instigating. She gave in with ill grace. "Has Jim moved into his house yet?"

Honey understood Trixie well; picking her for information was not easy. God, it must be killing her. For some reason, the realization amused Honey to no end. She didn't have an ounce of sympathy for Trixie's plight. Not a single ounce. "About four days ago," she answered, her voice as sing-songy light as she could make it. Enough to set Trixie's nerves a-jingling. Grinning maniacally into her can, she finished off the rest of her soda and used the swing of her honey-colored hair to disguise her amusement. A well-timed cough covered up a runaway chuckle.

"What…" Even as she damned herself for asking, Trixie didn't have the power or the self-control to stop herself. Damn it, she needed to know. She needed to find out everything she could about Jim. She pushed herself off the ledge and inquired in a grating tone, "What about his apartment? In the city?"

"Oh!" Honey exclaimed, making her eyes entirely too innocent. She even threw in another fancy flutter of her long lashes for good measure. Anything to further provoke Trixie. "You don't know, do you? I mean, how could you? After all, you just returned home a few hours ago."

Fed up with the irritating song and dance routine, Trixie whirled around, her blue eyes once again flashing with impatience. "Honey Belden," she declared, slamming her hands on her curvy hips and jutting out her stubborn chin. "How the hell could I know? Anything? You know I haven't been in contact with anyone…for months now."

"True. Very true," Honey nodded her head sagely, enjoying her torment of Trixie and the obvious effect it was creating. Her friend was seriously entertaining when she was miffed. "You don't have to beat around the bush, I hope you know. You can just ask me anything you want to know. Anything. Believe me, I will gladly tell you. Anything," she repeated again. Smiling serenely, she inclined her head to the side and invited her to continue the questioning period with an elaborate flourish of her wrist.

Good Lord, her friend could be such an ass sometimes. Trixie grumbled; low, loud and severely displeased. But she knew she was going to do it; even before the words started tumbling out of her mouth. She knew she was going to ask about Jim. It wasn't merely a matter of curiosity; no, it was a matter of necessity. She had to know. Especially since Honey was now looking like that famed cat who swallowed the unfortunate canary. With belligerence clearly stated in every line of her body, she snarled out past her clenched teeth, "Does he still have his apartment in the city?"

"Oh, no. Not anymore." Pretending to inspect her recent manicure, Honey blew on her fingernails. A small devil in her wouldn't allow her to offer any more information. It was much too much enjoyable watching Trixie simmer and stew.

Her blue eyes carried an uneasy mixture of surprise and vexation. Since Honey wasn't going to share any information without a direct question first, she ungraciously posed the next one, her demeanor even more irritable than before, "Is he commuting to work from Sleepyside?"

"Now why on earth would he want to do that?" Apparently finding the idea of Jim commuting to New York City every day extremely hilarious, Honey tossed her head back and let out a loud set of jovial giggles that were purposefully meant to be infuriating.

"So…he must be working from home?" The edges of her lips curled down. Gleeps, she wasn't going to be left with any dignity. Not when Honey was through with her.

"Nope. Not at all." Done with inspecting her nails, she turned the full force of her attention on Trixie. And waited for Trixie to draw the only possible, logical conclusion. How would she react? Through narrowed eyes, Honey couldn't accurately predict her reaction.

Just as she expected, it didn't take long. Trixie whipped her head up. Her curls flew in a haphazard mass around her face before she hurriedly stuffed them behind her ears. As usual, they immediately disobeyed and fell back to frame her face. She didn't notice. A hand snapped out, wrapped around Honey's elbow and tugged her closer. "Honey Belden," she began warningly. "Are you trying to tell me what I think you're trying to tell me right here?"

"I'm not trying to tell you anything at all," Honey replied, seeing the awareness creeping with blazing speed across Trixie's face. Shocking Trixie was quite a feat. "You already know. My God, Trix. You've always had excellent instincts, especially when it comes to a mystery, big or little. So, why don't you tell me what you've figured out? What conclusions have you come to?"

She spoke slowly, hardly daring to believe the words that were coming from her mouth. "Jim's not working in the city. He's not commuting to the city. He's not working from his house in Sleepyside, either. He's…" Trixie stopped; stunned by the only possible answer her intelligent brain could come up with.

"Not working. In other words, he's currently unemployed," Honey helpfully supplied for her. She leaned in closer. Because of the astonished expression stamped vividly across Trixie's face, she offered quietly, finished with tormenting her, "He turned in his resignation to my father during the summer. If I remember correctly, it would have happened right around the time of the baby shower. However, Jim being Jim, he stayed on longer to help train his replacement. He only left the company very recently."

Oh. My. God. Jim resigned from his position. From his father's company. The information sank in with a great deal of shock intermixed with a huge side helping of disbelief. Pressing her fingers against the soft fabric of her pants, Trixie blew out a long, steadying breath. It took quite an effort for her to murmur, "Oh, woe."

"My thoughts exactly," Honey shared with her. Since they were still amazingly alone, an odd achievement to accomplish within a large, boisterous clan such as theirs, she hastened to add, "Jim hasn't shared any possible job plans with any of us. None of us have a clue about what he wants to do next or what his plans are. All he's said is that he's going to concentrate on finishing his house right now. He seems extremely content without having any job prospects right now."

Content? There was that word again. She remembered it vividly from their talk out on the bluffs during a pretty April day. Content. But she wanted him to do so much more than mere contentment. And she wanted him to experience it all. With her. She leveled a twin gaze of serious blue on Honey. Could the surprises get any larger? Trixie didn't think so. "He doesn't have any plans? Jim Frayne? Our Jim Frayne?"

"Not a single one." She inched closer until their hips touched on the sill. Now it was time to ferret out some information that wasn't quite so…sisterly. If Trixie hadn't been so shocked by Jim's resignation, she would have caught on sooner. And most likely would have immediately bolted for safety. Ready to get to the heart of the matter, Honey put a surprisingly strong hand on Trixie's elbow, keeping her in place in case she should decide to take off, and said in a confidential voice, "I'd have trouble believing it myself. If…"

The if hung in the air just a little too long for Trixie's liking. For the second time, her senses went on full alert. "If?" she parroted, not certain if she should take the bait or not. Her eyes slid towards the waiting room. Suddenly, the area appeared extremely inviting to her. Safety in numbers. There was always safety in numbers. And there were an awful lot of people inside that room, who'd be more than willing to engage in a conversation with her. Jim was inside. He'd help her out. She knew it. She would have made a dash for it if Honey hadn't increased the pressure on her arm.

"If I hadn't seen the way he looked. When he came back. From California," Honey stressed the last word purposefully, staring pointedly at her friend. All merry pretence was gone; she wanted Trixie to understand. She knew. She damn well knew what happened between the two of them during Jim's vacation. But she wanted to hear it from Trixie herself.

"Oh." Her mouth fluttered open and then closed and repeated itself a few more times for good measure. Trixie glanced up weakly, a bright pink highlighting her cheeks. From the description Heidi and Jocelyn had both given her about Jim, he hadn't appeared happy about the news behind her sudden departure from San Diego. He'd been upset, distressed and worried. Very, very worried. She could only imagine what he'd look like upon his return to New York. Probably like death warmed over. She could relate. She'd had to counteract the exact same feeling in order to put on her professional front for her mission. "Gleeps."

"Oh, gleeps," Honey echoed back the two words with a smart little bite to her voice, only with a little more force than Trixie had employed. Her hair swung from shoulder to shoulder as she shook her head and pointed an aristocratic finger right underneath Trixie's nose. "There's no use in trying to throw me off guard here. I'm warning you right now. I already know. Everything."

Oh, but she didn't. Not quite everything. However, a Honey Wheeler Belden being privy to a few significant bits and pieces of information was just as dangerous. This time she chewed on her bottom lip. "The phone call," she mumbled to herself, remembering the one Jim had unintentionally intercepted for her. The morning…no, the afternoon…after their 'wedding night'. The blush blossomed in intensity.

"Exactly," Honey answered with a great deal of cheer. "It's got to be the best call I've ever made. Somehow, I highly doubt if I'd ever found out that you and Jim were shacking up together in Vegas without it."

Shacking up? The size of her eyes doubled. "Honey!" she gasped, shocked at her friend's choice of words.

Taking pity, she dropped an arm over Trixie's shoulders and squeezed lightly. "Hey. Jim told me…well, not quite everything, if you know what I mean. He didn't take the time to paint a perfectly clear picture of what happened between the two of you in Vegas, darn his little soul, but he told me enough for me to infer exactly what happened between you too, if you catch my meaning. So I do know. Just not all of the spicy, salacious, sensational details. Understand?"

Trixie thought she did. Years of being friends helped her follow the rather convoluted explanation. She nodded dumbly. Even simple, monosyllabic words were momentarily beyond her capacity.

A wide smile adorned Honey's face while she settled on one thought. Her brother and her best friend. Together again. It would be like the completion of a circle. If only they could make it happen, make it stick. Make it right. This time, she had extremely high hopes for the couple. She caught Trixie's hand. "All I can say is…it's about time, Trix. About damn time."

She cleared her throat. "Yeah," she replied weakly, wondering if her face was as red as it felt.

Honey didn't pay any attention to Trixie's obvious embarrassment. "Now, this is pure speculation here, but I have a feeling, a strong feeling, that the week you had together is exactly why Jim wanted to stop working for our father. You finally gave him the momentum he needed to change the course he's been set on for the past few years."

A fair enough assessment. After all, Jim had given her the impetus she'd needed to leave her job, too. There was something strangely comforting in the belief. Now they merely had to steal some time away from the others and broach the subject. Together. Trixie's heart started to race; with nerves tinted with anticipation and eagerness. The conversation they needed to have was more daunting and more difficult than her last mission. And, yet, infinitely more momentous. She couldn't force any sound past her suddenly dry mouth.

"You can't go back to California without talking to him about this," Honey lectured, wagging a pointed finger under Trixie's nose. "I'm warning you ahead of time. I don't care if I have to kidnap you, lock you in the old clubhouse or put you in one of those abandoned buildings accumulating out there in the preserve. You are not leaving Sleepyside without resolving everything with Jim. Not this time. Not ever again. I have a lot of people who will back me up on this, too. You won't be able to get away. We'll keep you here." She let out a low bob-white whistle and declared haughtily, just daring her to protest, "Bob-White honor."

Tucking her hands into her pockets, she stared Honey directly in the face and inhaled slowly. The words came easy. "Honey, you don't have to make any serious plans under the cover of moonlight or put a sedative in my drink. I've already solved it for you. You see, I'm not going back to California. Not this time. I'm home." A sense of peace came over her, proving how wonderful her decision to return home was. It felt so refreshingly sweet to be saying the simple words. "To stay."

Catching Honey off guard was an experience never to be missed. First her eyes slowly grew to twice their normal size. Then her mouth fell open. Her skin went glassy pale before a lovely pink quickly refilled it. And the small squeak of surprise made Trixie smile hesitatingly. She reached out, touched her suddenly quiet friend on the shoulder. "Honey?"

First tapping one ear, then the other, to make sure she'd heard correctly, Honey shook her head. Satisfied her weak knees were going to support her; she stepped forward until she was right in front of Trixie. Grateful for her extra few inches of height, she stared down, a glimmer of happy tears already swelling in her eyes. She believed; even before she asked, she believed. "You're…home? To…stay? Like…permanently?"

A smile, beautiful and bright, spread across Trixie's face. "I am home, Honey. I'm not going back. I resigned from the agency. I've already sold my house and my car. The sale won't be officially final for a week or two yet but…yeah, it's as good as done. I really am staying. Right here. Right in Sleepyside," she clarified when Honey continued to stare at her as if she had suddenly sprouted wings.

"Well," Honey murmured, not quite sure what to say next. In the short span of two minutes, Trixie had managed to smash all of her carefully arranged interrogation plans. Not that it mattered. It didn't matter in the least. She let out a high-pitched sound that should have decimated the sound barrier, much to the outraged chagrin of the nearby nurses who aimed a frosty glare at them, and gleefully threw her arms around Trixie. Their giggles combined to make a beautiful sound. "That's the best news I've heard in a very long time!"

After nodding at the trio of annoyed nurses sitting at the desk, causing more than one of them to silently sigh in response, Dan sauntered over towards a hugging Honey and Trixie, his fourth cup of coffee for the day clutched in his hands. Chortling to himself, he admitted that there must be a plethora of caffeine currently chugging through his veins. He stopped a few feet away and admired the sight of the women entwined together in what could only be termed a jubilant embrace. "Hey, girls," he called out, interrupting them without an ounce of guilt. "What are you celebrating? Did I miss it? Do we have any news on the baby front yet?"

"No. You didn't miss anything. There's no news about the baby. Not yet." Honey swiped a finger underneath her eyes, wiping away some of the moisture spilling out, and turned a watery smile to Dan. "Trixie, here, has some absolutely, positively, perfectly perfect news to share. Don't you?"

Trixie was jolted forward by the slight push at her back. "Honey!" she exclaimed, not completely sure if she was ready to tell anyone else yet or not.

Employing a move made famous by the currently scowling Belden, Honey rolled her eyes in exaggerated exasperation. "Goodness, Trix. Like he's not going to find out sooner or later. Come on. Have a heart. Let me tell him. It'll make my day."

How could she deny her? She couldn't. Trixie nodded once. "Fine, Honey. Go for it."

Biting back a charming giggle, Honey stepped forward and, with a flourish of her hands, announced to their interested audience, "Daniel Mangan, allow me to present to you the newest resident of Glen Road, Miss Beatrix Belden."

"Resident? You mean…" For once, words utterly failed him. Dark, obsidian eyes flew to Trixie. She couldn't say a word; could only find the strength to nod her head again. Momentarily staggered, extremely shocked, it took a while for his mouth to catch up to his mind. When it did, he rasped out in amazement, "What the hell. Are you kidding me? Are you freaking kidding me?"

"No. She's not. I'm not. I'm really back. I'm here." The sight of their normally cool and collected friend looking so unaccountably shocked made her smile. In response, her words poured out in a torrent. "I'm not going back. At least, not back to work. I resigned, Dan. From the agency. I'm done with California. I'm ready to stay home."

His eyebrows winged up. He'd hoped; Lord, how he'd hoped, but he'd never truly expected her to give the whole secret agent thing up. What it took…the strength; the desire. He marveled at her. Slowly, the edges of his lips curved upwards. A special spark lit up his eyes. Knowing she'd given up more than the normal private investigative job everyone else thought she had, he grabbed her and pulled her in for a tight, celebratory hug. "Damn, Trix! I'm so proud of you. So very proud of you."

His response warmed her. She stepped back from the circle of his arms. Once again, she found herself blinking away fresh tears. Because he knew the full truth, his words of praise meant a lot to her. Through a voice thick with unshed emotion, she whispered hoarsely, "Thanks, Dan. That means a lot."

"It also makes you the lone Bob-White who hasn't flown back home." Honey leveled a contemplative stare on him, wondering if she could nudge him in that direction. It would be wonderful if all seven of them would be within short driving distance of each other. Exactly like it was supposed to be. "So? What do you think? Are you up for making us a complete bevy of seven again or what?"

Dan inclined his head to the side and smoothly side-stepped the question. "Hey. What can I say? Who can tell what fate has in store for each of us?"

Trixie grinned up at him and winked as she proposed an idea. Maybe he'd go for it; maybe he wouldn't. All she knew was that she wouldn't mind working with him. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she realized how much she'd love it. He would make detectiving extremely entertaining. And fun. And successful. Gleeps, he'd be a wonderful match. "If I could steal you away from the DEA, maybe you'd like to go into business with me. Belden & Mangan. What do you think? How does that sound?"

Intriguing. Very, very intriguing. Dan lifted his head up, stunned by the proposition. Was she serious? He couldn't accurately tell. But the idea itself…wasn't half-bad. No, it really wasn't. In fact, it was becoming downright tempting. Partnering with her would be…incredible. His eyes darkened as the idea took firm root and grew. He tried to laugh it off, he truly did, but he knew that he'd have something serious to think about, once the whole baby business was finished. He hid his burgeoning interest behind a joke. "You'd have to rethink the name. Somehow, I don't think BM is exactly the term you'd want potential clients using to address the agency."

Honey could barely contain her excitement. She clasped her hands together, excitement pouring off of her in waves, and battled the urge to jump up and down like a schoolgirl. Trixie and Dan working together would be perfectly perfect. Not only would Trixie finally get to have her detective agency, something Honey had always carried a small smidgeon of guilt over, but she'd also have a wonderful partner in Dan. Who would have to move back to Sleepyside, too. It couldn't get any better. She didn't let a sound slip past her smiling lips. Instead, she watched with avid interest and prayed for an affirmative answer from Dan.

"The name's definitely negotiable," Trixie replied with an amused chortle and a slight shake of her head that sent her curls bouncing. "I truly am thinking of starting up an agency here, though. I learned a lot while I was out in California. I'd love to apply it to my own agency. Plus it would solve my own unemployment issue, too." She reached out, put a hand on Dan's arm, and stated sincerely, "And I'd love to have you as a partner. I mean it, Dan. I really do."

"Let's table this discussion for later, Trix." It was surprisingly hard for him to suggest it, especially when the idea was so new. And alluring. And flattering. And maybe just what he needed, now that he could admit to becoming rather burned out with the DEA and the insane hours and the dangerous situations he sometimes found himself in. With great reluctance, he followed his own suggestion, knowing he'd contemplate it more when he was alone, and declared hoarsely, "Right now I want to know about your change of venue. Does anyone else know yet?"

"Nope. Just you and Honey. Nobody else. I'll tell all the assorted others later. In fact, I didn't mean to clue Honey in just yet. I was planning on waiting until tomorrow to share it. After all the excitement of the birth died down but…" She held her hands out, palms up, and released a loud sigh. She'd come to learn firsthand that the best-laid plans didn't always work out so well, especially when they involved her friends and family.

"You can't blame her, Dan. She couldn't resist my awesome interrogation skills!" Honey chimed in, giving herself a congratulatory pat on the back. "No one is immune, you know."

"She is good," Trixie added, her eyes sparkling with a bright light that had been missing for a very long time. "And she is right."

"Mum's the word, then, huh?" Dan tossed his empty container into a small wastebasket.

"Tomorrow will be soon enough." Trixie studied the clock placed high above the nurse's station. Thinking of Di and the amount of hard physical work she'd put in for the last twenty hours made her wince. Labor wasn't something she was looking forward to; not anytime soon. Di was a brave, brave woman. "Do you think our newest one will ever grace us with her presence?"

Curious himself, Dan craned his neck to glance down the hallway. First he heard the rhythmic sound of boots on the floor. Then he saw a shadow followed by a familiar head. A pleased grin took its time to cross his handsome face. Because the girls weren't looking in the correct direction, he took Trixie by the shoulders, turned her around and gave her a small push forward, earning him an indignant glare for his trouble. His triumphant announcement caused Trixie to gasp and Honey to gape. "Look in front of you, Trix. I think you've got your answer."