AN: I get really attatched to characters lol, especially characters I create.

My phone randomly did a system reboot today...I lost a lot of brainstorming and partially written chapters. Hard Enough Left took a real beating. I just sat there in shock when it said I had 0 memos saved.


She feels her chair roll backwards from her desk at The Wheel Well and hands on her shoulders before he plants a kiss on her cheek.

"Hey, Stickers." She murmurs, eyes still on the screen in front of her.

"Time to go home."

"What?"

She finally looks up at him as best she can from her position, but pauses and sinks further in to the chair when he kneads the knots out of tensed muscles with his thumbs.

"We're going home."

"I have work to-"

"The twins will be covering both The Cone and The Well. You are eight and a half months pregnant." He rounded the chair and put an arm out to help her up. "Please don't overdo it."

She stared at the screen a moment then up at him with that silly grin on his face.

Ugh, hormones.

She'd normally just be appreciative, yes, touched to know that he cared but this pregnancy had been a roller coaster on her emotions and the littlest thing made her tear up. Sally blinked and nodded, pulling herself up with his help and allowing him to take them home.

She'd expected him to be a great father but she hadn't realized he'd be such a dutiful and caring husband.

From the moment she'd told him they would be parents he had become incredibly protective and supportive. It had surprised her somewhat, though she realized it really shouldn't have. She'd cried over those feelings of guilt too, she was really ready for this part to be over. Sally had watched a few of her friends back in L.A. go through pregnancies almost alone, the fathers having little or nothing to do with planning registries, reading up on what to expect or having much interest in the development process at all.

So when Lightning had asked what color she wanted him to paint the baby's room, she'd looked up from the baby's-R-us website and nearly burst in to tears.

They'd chosen a soft yellow, because they hadn't known if it was a boy or girl yet.

Doctors appointments had become day long affairs, seeing as they had to travel halfway to Flagstaff, and she knew his excitement was equally balanced with a sense of melancholy. There were fears he'd never voice to a total stranger even when they held the life of his little family in their hands.

They'd both cried the first time they heard a heartbeat over the monitor.

And when they found out it was a her.

She never got the chance for that cliche moment of reading through baby name booklets. They never sat together testing names out loud to see if a first and middle name sounded good together and rolled off the tongue or if it would be too many syllables and hard to pronounce.

The look on his face when he asked what she thought of Jessica, specifically Jess for short had sold her, adding her mother's name had been his idea also and she'd fallen in love in an instant.

Jessica Lynne McQueen.

Sometimes the most perfect things really were that simple.

They'd spend hours discussing what they thought she'd be like. Who would she take after more? Would she someday have his height or her shorter stature? Would she get that faint curl his hair got after it reached a certain length or would it be straight like hers?

In the end it didn't matter. As long as there were ten fingers and ten toes they'd be happy.


Sally was grateful for her husband's foresight, because little miss Jessica had decided to come early.

She'd been afraid she'd broken his finger in the car, luckily it was only bruised.

Considering their daughter's early arrival, she'd been surprised when they were released with a clean bill of health after two days.

She'd spent sleepless nights trying to get comfortable during her pregnancy, now she spent sleepless nights trying to figure out how to keep a newborn happy.

At least they could tag team this part.

She woke with a start and reached for the clock on the nightstand. Three-thirty and she hadn't heard a sound? Was everything ok? Without waking her husband, she got up quickly and went to check on their daughter, but the soft lamplight coming from the room, and Lightning's quiet voice stopped her in the hall. She watched for a moment with a hand to her chest, glad she hadn't interrupted.

"I know you'll like him." He murmured to the half asleep newborn, kicking the rocker in to motion and checking to see what was left in the bottle he held. "He's a little silly sometimes but you get used to it. He's been calling you Miss Jessica for months already."

"Everyone's so excited to meet you, Jess. Flo and Ramone already have a party planned, Red's got flowers he wants to put under your window for you, I can't even speak the language but I guess Guido's been asking about you just about every day. We're all just so happy you're here and healthy..."

He set the empty bottle aside and went back to studying her tiny little features.

"Doc would've adored you. Trust me, he'd play it down, but you would've gotten anything you wanted."

He looked at her little fingers wrapped around his own. "Kind of like you already have with me."

Sally watched as he stood and went to put her back in the crib before she retreated back to their room. She had just gotten comfortable when he returned and she could just see him by the light of the nightlight in the hallway. She whispered tiredly. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah." He kissed her cheek and she could hear his smile. "Everything's perfect."