Gwen's hand flew to her mouth; fresh tears sprang to her eyes. "Yes—I'll marry you. Of course I'll marry you."
Hank's eyes widened. "You . . . you will?"
"Of course I will." Smiling through her tears, Gwen cupped his face. "Were you really expecting a different answer?"
"No." Hank laughed at himself. "No, I guess I wasn't."
"I love you, Hank." Gwen blinked back tears.
"I love you, too," Hank smiled. "But I need you to give me your hand back," he laughed. "There's something I still need to do."
Beaming, Gwen removed her hands from his face and slipped her left hand into his awaiting palm.
His eyes glistening at hers, Hank slipped the ring onto her finger.
"Oh, Hank, it's beautiful," Gwen gushed.
Hank's smile grew. "Do you really think so?"
Smiling, Gwen admired the ring. "Of course I do."
His heart leaping in his chest, Hank jumped to his feet, picked her up, and twirled her around. "I love you, Gwen."
Gwen smiled as he gently lowered her to her feet. "I love you, too."
Hank captured her lips in a kiss.
Gwen pulled him in closer.
Pausing for a moment, she leaned back and looked into his eyes. "Hank—just a few minutes ago, when I gave you my answer—what were you worried about?"
"Nothing." A sudden peace infusing his body, Hank smiled and stroked her cheek. "I mean, I was worried about something, but it turned out I was worrying about nothing—absolutely nothing at all."
"I told you I wasn't in labor," Sheridan grumbled to Luis as Eve walked into the room.
Luis tucked a strand of hair behind Sheridan's ear. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay—you can't blame me for that."
Eve laughed. "Luis, face it—she can blame you for anything she wants to right now. However, I do agree with you about the need to be cautious at this point in time."
Luis smiled. "See—Eve agrees with me."
"I do on that point at least," Eve laughed, smiling as she reviewed the printout from the fetal monitor.
Luis watched Eve take some notes.
"You can relax, Luis." Eve smiled and put down her clipboard. "I agree with Dr. Valerii's assessment—everything looks fine."
Turning to Sheridan, Eve squeezed her shoulder. "I heard that you had quite the day."
Sheridan laughed and rubbed her belly. "You can say that again."
Luis's face lit up with a smile. "You should have seen her, Eve. She really put Alistair in his place."
Eve's smile grew. "That must have felt amazing."
"It did," Sheridan smiled, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "I feel like nothing he does can touch me anymore—like I've finally broken free from his emotional prison."
"I'm so happy for you, Sheridan," Eve said.
"So am I." Julian stepped into the room, Mike right behind him. "There's nothing quite as freeing as breaking out from under Father's thumb."
Sheridan beamed at her brother. "No, there really isn't."
Sheridan caught sight of Mike. "Mike—I had no idea you were in Harmony."
"I came to talk to Dr. Russell—and, when we heard you were brought in, I wanted to make sure that you were okay." Mike dug his hands into his pockets and smiled shyly. "I hope it's okay that we're in here. The nurse told us it was all right to come in."
"It's fine," Sheridan laughed. "I'm not in labor. Luis just got a little overzealous."
"Hey," Luis said, cupping his hand over her belly. "I told you—I just wanted to be safe."
"I don't think you have anything to worry about, Luis." Eve sat down beside Sheridan. "I think Sheridan's body is just getting ready for the big day. Your little girl will be in your arms before you know it."
"Are you sure about that, Eve?" Sheridan laughed softly and ran her hands over her belly. "I really think she doesn't want to come out."
"Oh, trust me—she does." Eve smiled at Sheridan. "But right now, I want you to go home and get some rest—and don't hesitate to call either me or Dr. Valerii if you have any other pains that you feel uncertain about."
"Thank you, Eve." Sheridan squeezed Eve's hand. "We're so lucky to have you in our life."
"Yes, well, I just want to make sure that your baby comes into this world safely." Eve looked up at Mike. "That we're all happy and safe from now on."
Mike blinked back tears. "Please . . . excuse me. . . . I didn't mean to get all emotional. It's just that the way you all care about each other . . . for the entire time I've been searching for my family, I've always been hoping to find something like this."
Eve smiled softly at him, a tear springing to her eye.
Mike's voice thickened with emotion. "I've been thinking about it a lot, Dr. Russell—I'd really like to take that DNA test."
