Part Two

"I'm never going to that doctor again."

Michael looks up at her, a look of bewilderment in his green eyes. She can guess why-- it's not every day that she just barges into his office without so much as a word to his secretary. She's probably the only person in the world he would tolerate such behavior from, with the possible exception of their children.

"Syd," he says, glancing sideways at Jake Hansen, who is seated across from him at his desk. "You already went to the doctor? I thought you were going to come here first so I could go with you."

"I'm sorry, Michael, but I was running so late. Emily threw up, and Grace needed a diaper change, and--"

"Emily threw up? Is she okay?"

"She's fine. She ate a bug."

"She ate a bug? What is she, a cat?"

"Fascinating as this is," Jake says, looking as if he has just wandered into The Twilight Zone. "I think I'll head back to my office. We'll finish this up later, Mike?"

"Yeah, Jake," Michael says, rubbing his forehead wearily. "I shouldn't be more than half an hour."

"All right," Jake says. "Good to see you, Syd."

"You too, Jake," Sydney says, feeling a little embarrassed for the way she'd barged in. When he leaves, she says, "I'm sorry, Mike, I'm such a wreck."

"It's okay. Sit down, honey," he says, gesturing to the chair that Jake left empty. "First things first. You found someone to watch Grace and Emily? Where did you leave them after the bug eating incident? And did you actually see her eat this bug?"

"No," Sydney says, smiling at the ridiculousness of the situation. "I mean, yes, I found someone to watch them, no, I didn't see her eat the bug. I was getting Gracie zipped into her coat, and then I hear Emily throw up, and I rush over to clean her up, and I say, 'Why didn't you tell me you didn't feel good, angel?,' an she says, 'I ate a bug, Mommy.' Like, apparently she found one crawling on the floor, or something."

"Great," Michael says with a smile. "So who did you get to watch them?"

"I dropped them off with Mrs. Winthrop."

"Mrs. Winthrop?" Michael groans. "That's why she ate the bug, Sydney. She was trying to make herself sick so she wouldn't have to go to her house."

"Oh, Mrs. Winthrop is not that bad," Sydney says, rolling her eyes.

"Emily hates her."

"She was the best I could do, on short notice," Sydney counters. She smiles, almost in spite of herself. "I didn't want our little girls to find out that Mommy was having a baby before their daddy did."

"You're really pregnant?" he asks joyfully.

"I really am."

"Oh, honey." He walks around the desk, and she rises so he can hug her. "Even after everything you said last night, you would have been disappointed if you hadn't been, wouldn't you?"

"Maybe just a little," Sydney says, touching her own stomach. "I still think this is totally the wrong time, and I hate that we didn't plan it, but now that I know for sure that he or she is coming…" she shrugs as if to say, What are you going to do?

"How far along are you?" Michael asks, covering her hands with his own.

"Five weeks," Sydney tells him.

"So, Jamaica then?"

"Jamaica," she says, kissing him.

"Everything's okay so far?"

"It's just fine, baby."

"Good." He kisses her, and says, "So why are you never going to that doctor again?"

Sydney rolls her eyes. "I probably will. She just made me feel ridiculous. I told her I thought I was pregnant, and she was like, But Gracie's only five months old…aren't you taking some kind of birth control…and so on, and so on, as if it's completely ridiculous for a woman my age to have an unplanned pregnancy." She looks away. "Maybe it is ridiculous."

"It's not ridiculous," he assures her. "It's wonderful."

She smiles weakly. "I'm still so nervous, Michael. Gracie will still be so little."

"We'll figure things out," he says.

She adjusts his tie-- it always seems to come loose at some point in the day-- and kisses him. "I have to go, baby. I have to be back in time to get Jack from school. I'm sorry for the way I barged in here."

"It's okay, sweetie. I love you."

"Love you, Michael."