Aaron tapped his foot in an unsteady tattoo as they waited for Doctor Heth to come in and let them know what exactly had happened to Erin. She had managed to come around during the drive to the hospital, and it had been such a relief to him to see her blue eyes focus in on him as she started to ask questions about what was happening to her. Now, they were waiting, and that was the one thing that he did not handle well. He also knew that Jack had to be going out of his mind, since he didn't have them at home, and there hadn't been a chance to call and give Jessica an update, since they didn't know anything.

"Aaron, darling, you won't be able to speed up anything by checking your watch and tapping your foot so quickly. Life doesn't work like that, much though we wish it would. And the tests that Doctor Heth had them run take time to come back. This isn't an episode of CSI, where DNA is identified in twenty minutes." He nodded before leaning in and kissing her cheek softly. "I didn't mean to scare you, I hope you know. I was just pouring myself a cup of tea and the next thing I knew, I was in the ambulance."

"It had to have happened quickly, since Carri didn't even know that you had passed out until I called for her. And a part of me is glad that Penelope wasn't there, since I know that she would freak out over seeing you wheeled away on a gurney. I know that I was not reacting with a clear head, and it took everything in me to not lose my cool in front of our colleagues. There will be enough rumors swirling around the bullpen by the time I get back to work come Monday."

"It's only Thursday, darling."

"And if you think that I'm going to work tomorrow while you're recovering, you have another think coming. Especially since I know that Jack will want to be glued to your side the moment you're allowed to come home, so I want to help put a buffer between the two of you, since I know that it can be a bit overwhelming."

She nodded tiredly, and reached out for his hand, threading their fingers together as she let out a long sigh. "What if she tells us that there's no heartbeat? I know that we're not out of the danger zone for losing a pregnancy, but I have been so hopeful that this would last until we reached the point of viability."

A few tears began to fall down her face, and Aaron reached out his free hand to swipe them away. "I am still hopeful that everything is all right with the baby. The paramedics said that there were no signs of fetal distress after I told them about the pregnancy, so that is the best sign that I am clinging to at the moment."

A wobbly smile spread across Erin's face as she nodded. "All right, I'll try to hold on to your optimism." She squeezed his hand a little harder as she struggled to keep from crying, and Aaron brought her hand to his lips, kissing it tenderly as he looked into her eyes. "I have a feeling, though, that we're not going to receive welcome news when Doctor Heth comes to tell us what's going on with me. I shudder to think what will happen if you lose me, too, in the office."

"We'll make it work, and it will only be for eight or nine months, if you have to go on bedrest, and then have maternity leave."

Erin laughed a little at that, shaking her head. "Somehow, I think that that won't work the way you want it to, despite the Director still trying to bend over backwards to give me everything that I want when it comes to this job." Aaron watched as his wife rubbed her stomach absently. "I really hope that we get good news, despite all the heavy feelings in the air."

He nodded, about to respond, when the door to their room opened, revealing the doctor in question. "I'm sorry that I haven't been able to get back to you before now, but as we all know, some of these blood tests take a little extra time, especially when we want the answers as soon as possible. I will get the most important news out of the way first. The fetal heartbeat is quite strong, and it doesn't appear as if there are any lasting effects of your fainting spell. Of course, I'll want to have you on weekly appointments for the next two months just to make certain that things are still on track. After those eight weeks of appointments, if things are still going well, we can scale back to every two weeks."

"That's good to hear," Aaron responded, watching as Doctor Heth checked Erin's chart before taking a seat on the stool and rolling it over to their sides. "Now you have the bad news?"

The doctor arched an eyebrow at him as she nodded. "Yes. Though I have a feeling that Erin might already know the news that I'm about to tell her, since it appears that she went through a similar experience with her previous pregnancy. Though this will be an earlier bedrest than last time. I looked at the notes from that pregnancy, and it looks like your OB allowed you to work from home when possible, but I am extremely concerned about the fact that you passed out in your office and that it took so long to rouse you. Your blood tests have all come back as normal, so I'm going to say that you are facing an inordinate amount of stress in both your professional and personal life, which is what precipitated that incident earlier today. As such, I am placing you under stricter bedrest orders this time around, especially given your age. You are not to work for the rest of this pregnancy, and I really would like it if you didn't go anywhere for the duration as well. However, I understand that you are accustomed to doing things, and won't place you under complete bedrest orders at the moment. That can change in a heartbeat, especially if you experience another fainting incident."

Erin blushed guiltily as she nodded. "It has been a stressful time, yes. My best friend and her husband were in a terrible car accident, and I had to watch their baby while she recovered enough to come home. Though I suppose that I can start backing off a little, now that I'm under doctor's orders."

"That is what I love to hear. And since you're on full bedrest now, I've taken the liberty of scheduling your next eight appointments with me. Oh, and it goes without saying that you are not to drive to these appointments on your own. Are we clear?"

"As crystal, Doctor Heth. Now, I know you hate to hear this question, but when can I go home? I need to make certain that our son is doing all right. He worries too much about me for a seven year old, but after the way he lost his mother, I don't blame him."

"I'll want you here for one more hour of observation, and if your blood pressure remains in normal ranges that entire hour, then you'll be cleared for release."

"Thank you, Doctor Heth," Aaron replied, giving the woman a small smile as she patted Erin's shoulder before leaving the room. "So, only one more hour before we can head home. I should probably let Jessica know, and then she can start making meal preparations."

"All right." Erin didn't let go of his hand as he pulled out his phone and hurriedly dialed his sister-in-law. "Please, let me talk to her, too, before you end the call?"

"Of course, darling." He allowed his face to soften into a tender smile as he brought the phone to his ear, waiting for Jessica to pick up. "Jessica, I am so sorry that we haven't called until now, but we finally got the results, and let me start with the wonderful news. The baby is healthy and strong."

"That is wonderful, Aaron! But there's bad news?"

"Sort of. Erin's been placed on a rather strict sort of bedrest, which means that she won't be able to return back to work until after the baby is born."

"We'll work with that, Aaron. It's a good thing that I have a job that allows me to work from wherever, so I can look after her and Jack. Though I do hope that she won't think that I'm hovering. I don't want her to feel like she's a child, you know?"

"I do, Jess, but I think that she'll understand in this case. We'll be coming home in about an hour, but Erin wanted to talk to you before we left. Here she is."

Aaron handed the phone to Erin, and she smiled tiredly at him as she began to talk to Jessica, her free hand holding tightly to his as she started to cry a little while speaking about the changes they were about to face as a family. There was something so brave about the way she was talking about doing whatever it took to protect the little life growing inside her, and he tapped his thumb against her hand in a steady rhythm, finding himself desperate to kiss his wife and hold her close. Finally, she ended the call and then pressed the phone close to her chest as she let out a deep sigh. "I didn't think it would be possible to find a new family at this point in my life, Aaron. My parents are gone, and I was an only child, so I adored having Erik's family to make up for that missing part of my life. But they quickly dropped out of my life when Erik committed suicide, and I know that they don't look at my kindly when talking to my children. I think that's part of why Molly is so angry with me, they're encouraging that anger in her. But with you and Jessica, well, I've started to rebuild a little of what I've lost."

He nodded before leaning down and kissing her softly. "I am glad that your heart has been able to find a soft landing amongst us."

"It was you and Jack, sweetheart. You patiently healed this broken heart of mine and have helped me change back into the woman I once was, before Wyoming. I won't ever be that same driven, naïve, woman again, but with you, I feel like I can love freely again. You know everything that happened, and you never judged me for that."

"How could I judge you for something that wasn't your fault?" he murmured before kissing her head lightly and pressing his hand gently against the small rise of her stomach. "But we're making our new beginning together, and in a way, I think that we've managed to save and change each other from the lonely path that we'd been travelling down. And we will look after you while you're on bedrest and make certain that nothing we can control goes wrong from here on out." Erin nodded a little as she curled up closer to him, her head coming to rest on his chest as they waited for Doctor Heth to release them.