A/N: It was so hard to leave that chapter on a cliff hanger but it was fun writing it! Here is a little bit more cute before we get to drama.

Also - shout out to Coronavirus for allowing me to get more writing done! Two days into quarantine and I've already got more writing done than I usually get done in a week.

16 ½ Weeks

"I think we should paint the nursery blue." Aly suggested as the family threw out nursery ideas over dinner. "A light blue would be adorable, especially with a mix of some lighter blonde wood… oooh maybe some light gray wood!"

"What about just a light gray, keep it somewhat neutral anyway?" Stevie threw out. "We could do white or black wood with pops of color."

"Why are you guys putting so much effort into a room that the baby isn't even going to care about?" Jason asked clearly not interested in the conversation happening around him.

"Because it's fun!" Aly said.

Elizabeth and Henry just sat at the table taking in all the suggestions flying out around them. They had decided that Stevie would move into the guest room and the baby would take her room since it was closest to their master bedroom. They all felt it was time for Stevie to upgrade from her twin size bed so it made her transition to the guest room pretty easy and allowed them to get rid of Stevie's old furniture.

"Alright how do you girls feel about an airplane theme?" Henry asked actually getting into their conversation.

"I'm not sure that would be possible…" Elizabeth responded.

"I think we should keep it as neutral as possible, I know you guys hate the whole 'blue for boys, pink for girls' thing anyway, so let's keep it with grays, black, and white and we can soften it with really cute décor and accent pieces." Stevie suggested again to the group.

"Oh my gosh I just saw these crib sheets on Pinterest that we could get the baby's name put on that would be so cute!" Aly said pulling out her phone to show her family.

Aly showed them a picture of a very neutral nursery with custom black and white sheets. There were a few oohs and ahhs from the group before Aly added "how cute would these look with her name on them?!"

"Have you guys officially decided on a name yet?" Stevie asked her parents. "Because I still have some suggestions!"

"Let's hear them." Elizabeth said, not totally wanting to hear new names but always open to what her children might say.

"I think Annabelle is super cute!" Stevie told them.

"Isn't that that horror movie with that doll?" Jason chimed in.

"Ok so Annabelle is ruined, thanks." Stevie eyerolled.

"What about just Bella?!" Aly eagerly suggested.

Henry and Elizabeth looked at each other before Henry mouthed 'no' to Elizabeth. He had never been fond of the name Bella, he shot it down when it was suggested to them for both Stevie and Aly and luckily Elizabeth hadn't really cared one way or another.

"What about Jasona after your favorite child?" Jason snarked.

"That's it! That's the one!" Elizabeth responded sarcastically.

"On a serious note, we have it down to three." Henry told the group, pulling their attention off the ridiculous suggestion.

"What are they?" Aly asked, bringing Stevie's attention to the options as well.

"Well… I think our first option is Everly." Elizabeth told them looking at Henry for support. She was unsure why she was nervous but it felt crazy that they were seriously discussing baby names for their fourth child with their children.

"Ahhh that's cute! What are the other options?" Stevie said.

"Well, your mom really likes Margaret." Henry told them.

"Margaret seems… old." While Elizabeth may not have wanted to hear it, she was thankful for Aly's honest feedback.

"Ok, and option number three is Charlotte." Elizabeth said.

"That's cute too. I think if you do Margaret it has to be a middle name." Stevie added in.

To be honest, they weren't considering Margaret much these days. While Elizabeth loved it a few days ago, it had quickly fallen out of her top two spots.

"Charlotte Everly McCord… that sounds super cute! We could call her Charlie or Lottie!" Aly was speaking to the group but partially thinking out loud.

Charlie. Lottie. They hadn't really considered that and hearing the nicknames out loud for some reason didn't set well with Elizabeth and Henry.

"Maybe not Charlotte after all." Elizabeth whispered to Henry who agreed.

"Why don't you name her after that one song you guys used to play all the time. Wasn't that about a girl?" Everyone was pretty surprised to hear Jason suggesting a name, much less one that wasn't Jasona.

"Layla." Henry answered looking at Elizabeth.

"Everly Layla McCord, Layla Everly McCord. Those are both really cute!" Stevie said helping the couple to hear the names out loud.

"Do you think that's too many L's?" Elizabeth asked the group.

"No." Aly immediately answered.

"You might be on to something Jason." Elizabeth said getting up from the table to put her plate in the sink. "Who has dishes tonight?"

"Me." Aly answered clearly unhappy with her assignment.

"Sorry, Noodle." Elizabeth told her though she was clearly not sorry.

Though Elizabeth had a lot more energy at this point than she had months prior, she was still pretty exhausted by 8:00PM. They tried to stay up and watch some award show with Stevie and Aly but Elizabeth and Henry found themselves struggling to make it past the first 20 minutes of the show and Henry had already woken Elizabeth up twice by the time they handed out the first award.

"Alright guys, I think mom and I are going to bed." Henry told the girls as he and Elizabeth stood up from the couch.

Just as he said that and the glorious thought of partially uninterrupted sleep crept into Elizabeth's head, her cell phone rang with a call from the White House.

"Yes Russell?" She questioned.

"We've got a situation in Zimbabwe… we're going to need you in here right now." He told her.

"What's going on?"

"I would prefer if you'd come in for this." Russell sternly told her, refusing to answer the question.

"What is it?" She asked again.

"The South African forces have invaded Zimbabwe…" He began.

"Ok…"

"They're kidnapping and murdering women and children." Russell told her.

"Ok this seems like more of a UN situation…"

"They've kidnapped and possibly killed US foreign aid workers." Hearing that stopped Elizabeth dead in her tracks. She may not speak with her brother much but she knew enough to know that his family was on a two week safari on the west coast of Africa… with today being in Zimbabwe.

"I'll be right in." She responded nervously. She hung up the phone and immediately started to walk upstairs to change her clothes from her comfortable lounge pants back into the only pair of black maternity pants she had that fit her.

"What's going on?" Henry asked.

"I gotta go…" She told him not ready to face that reality that her brother might have faced losing his family just like he had lost his parents.