Brando was halfway through his cup of coffee when he noticed the time on the kitchen stove. It was almost eight in the morning, and Molly wasn't up yet. She was usually so good about getting up on time for her classes. So still being asleep was very unlike her. He put his coffee down on the island and decided to head upstairs and check on her. When he reached her room, he lightly knocked on her door. When there was no answer, he opened the door and called out to her. As he suspected, she was still in bed, fast asleep. He walked over to her bed and carefully sat on the edge of it. He then brought his hand up to her cheek and gently brushed some of her hair out of her face.

"Molly?" She let out a soft moan. "Molly?"

"Mhmm Brando?" She murmured as she leaned into his touch without thinking.

He smiled. "Hey sleepyhead, it's time to get up."

"Mhmm, what time is it?"

"Ten to eight."

Molly's eyes immediately opened, and she was quickly pulling the covers off of her. "Shit. Shit, shit. Mock trials start at eight-thirty, and I'm still lying in bed."

"That's why I came in to get you up. I didn't want you to miss your final."

"Thank you. I don't usually sleep through my alarm like that."

He nodded. "Look, why don't you get dressed, and I'll meet you downstairs?"

She gave him a nod as he got up and left her room. It took her ten minutes to get dressed and brush her hair and teeth. She usually liked to shower in the morning, but she didn't have the time today. As she was bounding down the stairs, Brando was walking out of the kitchen with a travel mug in his hand. She didn't pay him much attention as she went over to her purse in search of her keys.

"Hey, you seen my keys? I thought I left them in my bag."

He nodded. "They're on the table by the door."

Molly looked up and could see them sitting there and let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks."

"Hey, before you go. I made you some hot tea to take with you."

"Thanks."

She took the stainless-steel mug from him and rushed over to the door. Once she had her keys, she ran out the door slamming it closed behind her. Brando stood there for a moment, just looking at the door. He was about to turn around when he saw the very same door opening. Molly came rushing back in and made her way over to him.

"Forget something?"

"Yes." She gave his cheek a small peck. "Thank you."

He smiled. "Your welcome."

She smiled back before turning around to leave the penthouse once more.

###

It had been a relatively uneventful morning for Brando. He changed a tire on one woman's car and then inspected another's car. He was entering payments into the system when he heard the sound of the door to the shop. The mechanic looked up from his computer screen to see Jason walking toward him.

"Jason. What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you could order a part for my bike."

"Sure, whatcha need?"

"A stabilizer. I can put it in myself. Just tell me how much the part costs, and I'll take care of it."

"Is your bike outside?"

Jason nodded." Yeah."

"Well, if you want to leave it here, you can work on the bike at the garage when the part comes in."

"Thanks." There was a brief moment of silence before Jason spoke up. "So, I hear congratulations are in order."

"Who told you? Sam, Sonny, or Carly?"

"All three, actually, but I heard it from Sam first."

"And I'm assuming she wasn't too thrilled?" He asked.

The older blonde shook his head. "No, she was not. She has it in her head that you are not to be trusted. And she's worried that you're going to hurt Molly."

Brando closed his laptop. "And what about you? Do you agree with her?"

He sighed. "I can see where Sam's coming from, but no, I don't. You have been completely loyal to Sonny and the family since you have come into town. Which Sonny is grateful for, by the way."

"We're family. I know Sonny would do the same for me. Hell, he has. That was very generous of him to offer up the penthouse to Molly and me. I honestly feel safer with us living there. And after what happened at Molly's apartment, there's no way she could go back there."

"Speaking of what happened at the apartment, Sonny thinks till Cyrus is neutralized that Molly should have a bodyguard."

"I agree, but there's no way she's going to go for that."

"Well, I guess you'll just have to convince her."

###

Luckily when she showed up to her mock trial, her teacher ran way more behind than she had. It was a relief to know that she wasn't going to be in trouble for being late to her final. It was also a relief to have another final in the books. She was reasonably confident she passed it with flying colors, and she couldn't be happier. She just wished she didn't spend most of it nauseous. After that, she made her way over to the law library to study for her remaining exam. Once her eyes and brain were sufficiently tired, she packed up her stuff and headed over to the Metro Court. When she got there, Ned, her performing partner, was already there. But Lucy was running late. A few minutes passed before Ms. Coe showed up. She had them practice their routine for two hours before she thought it was perfect enough. As she was wrapping up at her aunt's hotel, she noticed she had two texts. The first one was from Brando. He wanted to meet her at Kelly's for an earlier dinner. She had not eaten all day and was starting to get hungry. Quickly she responded and told him that sounded good, and she would see him soon. The other one was from her friend Chelsea. Molly had the unfortunate responsibility of being her maid of honor. Chelsea wanted to schedule the final fitting for their dresses. Something Molly was dreading. She hadn't told her friend about her pregnancy, and she knew she'd have to. Because if she hadn't, it would surely come up when her bride's maid dress didn't fit like it was supposed to. It was not till she was almost to Kelly's when she decided to text her. Molly figured she could have her over or invite her to lunch and tell her the news. She was just finishing the text when she nearly bumped into someone.

"Shit, I'm sor-sorry." She struggled to get out when she saw who was there. Standing in front of her was Cyrus Renault.

"No sorry necessary. I should have been watching where I was going." He paused for a second and smiled. "I'm Cyrus, by the way."

"I know."

"And you…you are Sonny's niece, aren't you? Molly. Lansing. Davis."

"I see you did your research." She replied as she tried to appear unphased by what he just said.

"I make it a point to know everything about who I'm going up against."

"Well, if you know who I am, then you should know we have nothing to discuss."

"Oh, I don't know If I'd agree with that. I think we have plenty we can talk about."

"Is that so?"

"Mhmm. Like Jordan Ashford, for example. You know it is such a shame what happened to the commissioner's son. A man that meant something to you, if I'm not mistaken. I sure hope something doesn't happen to someone else you care about. Like that mechanic friend of yours, for instance. Brando, isn't it?"

Molly's heart began to race at the mention of his name.

"I mean, imagine the tragedy… he goes out to his car one morning and gets inside. Puts his key in the ignition, and then boom!" He raises his voice as he throws his hands up in the air for effect. "It is blown to smithereens!"

"You know, as much as I'd love to stay and chat with you some more, I have somewhere to be."

Just as she was about to walk past him, the gray-haired man grabbed her arm.

"You tell your boyfriend to stay out of matters that don't concern him."

"Or what?" Molly sneered.

"Or I'll just have to go after something he cares about."

She tried to jerk her arm away, but his grip grew tighter.

"Get your hands off me."

Cyrus got right up to her face and smirked as he parroted her own words back at her.

"Or what?"

"Hey! Get your damn hands off of her."

They both looked up to see Brando quickly making his way down the wooden stairs of the docks.

"Well, if it isn't the grease monkey himself! We were just talking about you."

"You heard me. Get your hands off of Molly."

Cyrus let go of the brunette and put his hands up in defeat.

"I was just having a nice chat with your girlfriend here. She has a lot of fire in her. But I'm sure you already know that."

"If you have anything you need to say, you can say it to me. Leave Molly out of this."

The older man was going to respond when his cellphone went off. He looked down at the message that popped up and frowned.

"Seems I have some important business to attend to." He put his phone in his pocket and started to walk away. "Oh, by the way, tell Sonny I said hello."

Once he was finally gone, Molly could not help the shiver that ran through her body. Brando noticed and immediately pulled her into his arms.

"Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

She rubbed her cheek on the flannel he had on. It felt comforting against her skin.

"No, I'm okay. I think he was just trying to scare me."

"Well, it seems like it worked. Your shivering, for god sakes."

She pulled back a bit, so she was face to face with him.

"Let's get one thing straight, okay. I was not scared. He just said some things that were a little unnerving. That's it."

"Like what? What did he say?"

She left his embrace and walked over to the bench.

"He basically…he said that he'd put a bomb in your car."

"He what?"

She nodded. "When I did not seem all too bothered by that, he told me to tell you to stay out of his business. So, I said or what?" She looked down at the ground for a second before looking back up at him. "That is when he told me if you didn't, he'd go after something you care about."

He let out a curse. "The something being you and the babies?"

She nodded. "But I don't think he knows about me being pregnant."

"Yeah, now he may not. But you're going to start showing soon, and then what?"

"Then we'll deal with it then."

He shook his head. "I saw Jason today. He said Sonny offered to get you a bodyguard, and I think we should take him up on his offer."

"What? Absolutely not!"

"Are you already forgetting what just went down here?"

She groaned. "No, but I'm a grown woman. I handled my own just fine with Cyrus."

"Really? Was that before or after I showed up and told him to get away from you?"

"Brando listen-."

"No, you listen! Today you were lucky. What if I hadn't shown up when I had?"

"But you did."

"I did this time, but I won't always be able to be with you. That is why you need a bodyguard."

"Let's just talk about this later, okay?"

"There's nothing to talk about. When we get home, I am calling Sonny."

She sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get her way on this one. "Must you always be so stubborn?"

He laughed. "That's rich. The queen of stubborn is calling me stubborn."

"Well, it takes one to know one."

Brando walked over to her and smiled. "Come on. I believe I promised to take you somewhere to eat."

Molly smiled at him and then turned toward the direction of Kelly's. She didn't make it more than a few steps before she noticed something wrong with her eyesight. She could sense tunnel vision setting in, and her peripheral started to go dark. Ms. Davis tried to say something, but no sooner did she open her mouth; she started to fall backward. Her eyes fluttered for a brief moment, and then they completely closed. Before she could hit the ground, Brando caught her, causing him to fall to his knees. He repositioned himself and pulled her into his lap.

"Molly?" She didn't respond. "Molly?" Nothing. "Come on, Dollface, wake up!" He lightly shook her.

A few more seconds passed, and her eyes started to flutter open slowly. She let out a groan as she tried to get her bearings straight. When her eyes finally adjusted, she spoke.

"Why are you hovering over me?"

He gently caressed her cheek and brushed away some hair that had fallen on her face. "Hey, Dollface, you passed out."

She slowly tried to sit up with his help.

"I did?"

"Yes, and I definitely don't think that's normal. I'm taking you to the hospital."

###

As soon as they got off the elevator, Brando slowly guided her to the nurse's station. Elizabeth was the first one to see them and walked over to them.

"Hey, Molly. Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine. I just fainted for a moment."

"You are not fine. You fainted, and you're carrying twins."

The nurse arched her head back a bit. "Wait, you're pregnant?" Molly nodded.

"Can we get her a wheelchair?"

"Of course."

Elizabeth rushed off to get her ex stepdaughter the chair. Molly looked up at Brando and rolled her eyes.

"I'm fine, Brando. I don't need a chair. Your overreacting."

"Am I really? What if you pass out again?"

"Well, you caught me the last time."

"Molly…"

"It's probably normal."

"Look, either you sit in the wheelchair, or I'll carry you to the room."

She knew he was serious, and when Liz came back with the chair, she opted to sit in it even if she didn't want to.

"So, Molly, how far along are you?" Liz asked as she wheeled her to an empty exam room.

"A little over two months now."

"Wow, how exciting. Have you told your father yet?"

Once they entered the room, Molly sighed. With everything going on, telling her dad had completely slipped her mind.

"No, I haven't. With everything going on, it didn't even cross my mind."

"Well, I'm sure he'll be ecstatic to hear the news."

"I would hope so."

"Oh, by the way. I ran into Jason. He told me what happened at your apartment. It's a good thing that Brando was there. Jason said if he hadn't been, who knows what could have happened."

Brando took her hand and gently helped her out of the chair and onto the bed. She looked up at him and gave him a closed smiled.

"It was."

Elizabeth smiled back. "I take it this is Brando."

"Yes, it is."

"It's nice to meet you…"

"Elizabeth."

Brando extended his hand to her, and the nurse gave Molly an impressed look. She then shook his hand.

"So how do you know, Molly?"

Liz walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a gown for the young brunette to put on.

"I was actually married to her father for a while."

"This really is a small town, huh?"

She laughed. "Yeah, it is."

"So is there any way we can page Dr. Qynne and have her examine me and tell me I'm fine so I can go home."

"Molly, you passed out."

Molly looked at him and rolled her eyes. So, what if she did? She felt completely fine. "I'm fine. I just want to go home."

"Listen, coming from a nurse and someone who's had three kids passing out can be normal in pregnancy. It's when other symptoms coincide with it that it can be a problem. What were you doing when you passed out?"

She sighed. "I was on the docks. I had a run-in with that Cyrus Reanult guy. We went back and forth for a bit, and then Brando showed up. He got him to leave, and then the two of us started to argue about Sonny getting me a bodyguard. We were supposed to be heading to Kelly's after that. But then the next thing I know, I'm lying in his lap, and he's practically hovering over me."

"And what about before that?"

"I overslept and was almost this close to being late for one of my finals. Then I was in the law library for a few hours. After that, Lucy wanted to meet with Ned and me to go over our routine for the nurse's ball. So, I have been running around all day."

"Did you eat anything today?" Liz asked.

She nervously frowned. "Brando made me some tea this morning."

"Christ Molly…" Brando cursed.

"Well, I was busy. And a little nauseous at one point."

"I think I know what the problem is here, but It'd be better to have your doctor examine you and have it come from her."

"Okay. "

"In the meantime, why don't you change into this gown, and I'll go page her."

Molly nodded and watched as Liz walked out of the room. She was waiting for Brando to lash out at her for not eating, but he didn't.

"Molly, I know you may have been busy and nauseous, but you still should have tried to eat."

"I know, I know. It's just been a busy day between studying and my mock trial exam. And I then had to meet with Lucy. You haven't met her yet, but she can be pretty intense. I would have tried to eat something, but there was no time. Then I knew we were going out to eat, so I didn't bother at that point. Plus, I started to feel nauseous during my exam."

He took her hand into his and gently rubbed it. "Well, this can't be a recurring thing, Molly. I can't afford to have a heart attack over worrying about you."

She smiled. "It won't be. I promise."

###

"So, Molly. Ms. Webber tells me you passed out today."

"I did."

"She also told me you didn't eat anything."

"Well, I had some hot tea for breakfast."

"Molly, you are pregnant now. With twins. You must eat every day. Even if you're feeling nauseous."

"I know. Today was just stressful, and there wasn't much time for me to get anything down."

"Well, I'm sure I don't need to tell you that stress is not good for you?"

She shook her head. "You don't."

"Well, what about her passing out?" Brando asked.

"It's completely normal. But I am going to use the doppler just to check the twin's heartbeats and make sure everything is okay."

They both gave her a nod.

###

"But everything is okay now?"

"Yeah, the doctor said she's completely fine. Apparently, passing out is a normal occurrence with pregnancy."

Sonny nodded though he knew his cousin couldn't see it through the phone. "And this happened after she had the run-in with Cyrus?'

"Yeah, and I'm sure the stress of that didn't help matters. She said it didn't bother her, but I could tell she was a little shaken up."

"Of course, and that's probably exactly what he wanted. Listen… I'm going to send one of my men over tomorrow. Now that's it clear that Molly is on his radar, it makes even more sense that she has a bodyguard."

"Thanks, Sonny."

"And Brando? Tell Molly Carly, and I are glad she's okay."

"I will."

Once he hung up the phone, he made his way out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"Oh, good you're off the phone. Dinner arrived."

"Why didn't you tell me? I could have gotten the door. You should be off your feet resting."

Molly rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. So, tell me how the conversation went with Sonny." She asked as she opened the top of her salad.

"It went well. He's sending someone over tomorrow."

"That's going to look good. Walking into my remaining final with some big burly guy lurking around me."

"It's not about optics, Molly. It's about your safety." He told her as he pulled a piece of pizza out of the box and put it on one of the plates, he set out earlier.

"I know. I'm just not used to this."

"Neither am I.

Molly put her fork down and looked around the room. "Things really are changing, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they are."