"Casey and Alex are already here!" Sean called nervously from the doorway into the master bedroom. "Are you guys coming?"

"Your-" Gregory paused and released his white-knuckled grip on the bathroom sink "Father should be downstairs already. He said he wanted to talk to the caterers." He swallowed and prayed Sean would stay where he was.

"Oh, okay."

Sighing in relief he dropped his head again and tried to find whatever strength it was that Olivia used to drag herself around when she felt this way. He shook his head and rinsed his mouth out again. He wouldn't ask Olivia to go to this party if she was sick. He would have cancelled it.

Reality intruded into his musings. Olivia would have hidden her condition. He would have insisted that she was fine and the party would have gone on.

"Mom?" Sean's voice was soft behind him and Gregory turned around quickly.

"Sean-" He paused, twitching his fingers nervously. Olivia was kind to Sean. He had to remember. "Sweetheart you startled me."

"Just wanted to tell you Alex and Casey were here." Sean studied him for a moment. Letting more emotion into his face than Gregory really ever saw. "You okay?"

Nodding quickly made his head spin, but Gregory kept up his smile. "I'm fine darling." Was the 'a' right? Sean still looked concerned. "Where's Tiffany?" He pretended to just now notice his jewelry box was open and turned quickly to close it. "Will she be joining us at the party?"

Sean gave him a funny look. "Yeah. You knew that from this morning mom."

"I did?" Gregory didn't mean it to be a question. Sean was still staring at him. God, what did Olivia do in these situations? "I'm sorry darling. I must have forgotten." Reaching for Sean's arm seemed to calm him a bit. Gregory wondered if he'd ever get used to being on the other side of an arm. "Let's go get her."

Tiffany would distract Sean. Tiffany would prattle on about whatever it was a homeless little waif like her thought about and Gregory would be off the hook. Why did Olivia get to go play host and talk to the caterers? He would have done that just as well as she could.

"Are you still sick? Caitlin said-" Sean began with the same concerned look Olivia teased him about getting.

Gregory stopped suddenly. Sean looked just like him with his head tilted like that. Perhaps it was just a trick of the light, but there was something so familiar in his bearing. he had to force himself to keep walking, to smile that comforting smile that he'd never realized took so much effort before. Olivia should be here with him.

"Oh Sean you look amazing!" Tiffany flew out of her room and into Sean's arms just as Gregory had hoped.

But much to his chagrin, she didn't stop at a hug. She wrapped her grasping arms around his son's neck and thrust her tongue into his mouth.

Completely appalled, Gregory backed away from them and took a deep breath to inform them that their behavior was not what he expected from in his house. He drew himself up to his full height and paused. He was just up to Sean's shoulder. Even with the damn heels that already were making his feet sore.

It wasn't the same to look up at his son and then dress him down for behaving like the hallway was his own personal love nest. Being Olivia didn't have the same presence as he did. They'd never behave like this in front of him. For now he was trapped. He turned to leave, catching the railing of the stairs when that dammed flighty feeling settled into his stomach.

What was it about Olivia's body where the slightest motion was a problem? He had to stop on the landing and wait for the black edges to disappear from his vision before he made it down to the dining room. Gregory had to smile at the party. Rose had done a beautiful job. The caterers even had a fountain of champagne for the toast Olivia was going to have to make to that reporter Vanessa Hart. Olivia was an excellent public speaker when the occasion called for it.

Alex ran up to him as he finished the last step. "Olivia, you look simply fabulous. you just have to always show up us poor colonials don't you?"

Gregory had to forcibly remind himself to use the accent. Did Olivia play with Alex the same way he did? "You look serviceable." He remarked dryly as Alex kissed his cheek. "I half expected to see you in a leather jacket and fedora."

"Even Indiana Jones gets dressed up occasionally. Usually to sneak into Nazi parties." Alex winked, calming him down a little with her good cheer. "The fuhrer seems to be working the crowd to his satisfaction."

Olivia was weaving through the crowd, just as he would. Alex said something else that he missed and then she caught his arm. "Are you sure you're all right? Gregory seemed a little concerned about you."

"I fainted earlier." He admitted with the same look as a guilty child. "He thinks I have the flu."

Alex petted his shoulder with a motherly smile. "And he's still having his party. I'll have to give him a talking too, won't I?"

Gregory smiled suddenly amused that Alex would take his side against himself. "I'd appreciate that."

"Esquire works too much anyway." Alex lead him over to the food and helped herself to a glass of champagne. "If I was married to someone like you I would have retired by now."

"So that's why your marriage didn't work. You needed a wife not a husband?" He teased with a raised eyebrow, forgetting to use his English accent as he fell into the easy banter he was so used to with her.

Alex gave him an odd look as she took a sip of champagne. "Sometimes you and Gregory sound so alike, it's hard to tell you apart."

"We have been married over twnety years." Gregory looked quickly away. Olivia was caught in conversation with Vanessa and Michael and not around to save him. "I'm sure you're just exaggerating."

"I probably am." Alex shrugged and sighed off the idea. "Come on, let me take you out to get some air. Gregory was right, you look a bit peaked." She took his arm, not giving him the time to get out of the conversation. She settled them on the bench on the corner of the patio.

"Spending too much time over at the radio station?" She offered a bite of the chocolate cheesecake on her plate with her fork. Just like she used to during late night study sessions towards the end of college. When Gregory couldn't tear his hands off his books, Alex always made sure he ate. He took the bite out of habit, forgetting that Olivia knew nothing about their little ritual.

Before he realized what he had done Alex was grinning at him like the Chesire Cat. "Piss off any witch doctors lately Esquire?"

Gregory swallowed. Licking his lips slowly as he tried to think, he realized he didn't have another choice. "How'd you know?"

"Olivia-" Alex paused and laughed wickedly. "It is Olivia in your body isn't it?" When Gregory nodded she continued, "She didn't know anything about our bet. When I asked her to pay up she covered fairly well, but-"

"You knew better."

"I did." Grinning around a vicotrious bite of cheesecake, Alex stared into his face. "There's some of you in the eyes."

"That's what Bette said."

"When you're not paying attention your voice is all you." She set her plate aside and cupped his face. thoughtfully. "Being a woman doesn't seem to agree with you. You look tired."

"Don't you know it's not polite to mention people's shortcomings?" His best impression of Olivia won him a shake of her head.

"You sounded just like her then." She finished the last of her champagne and glanced back towards the house. "She does a killer impression of you. I think I'm the only one who knew the difference."

"And if I hadn't lost to you in liar's poker-"

"I wouldn't have been the wiser. Don't suppose you would have bothered to tell me-"

Gregory sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "I don't think we intended to tell anyone. We're both hoping it's some kind of dream we'll just wake up from."

"Sounds like a poor kind of plan." Alex teased with a note of seriousness. "You're just going to keep going to bed and hope you wake up yourself again someday?"

"I don't know what else to do." Gregory hined as his head spun for a moment. He ended up holding his head up with his hands. "It's been such a handful just not to be commited for thinking i'm someone everyone else in the world swears I'm not."

"And you've been sick. Haven't you?" Her fine eyebrows knit thoughtfully. "Olivia is rather concerned about you."

"Maybe she just wants to make sure she gets her body back in top notch condition." He was only half teasing. The state of his stomach made it hard to be amused. "Tell me all women aren't nauseated all the time. This is just a hell of a flu bug. Right?"

"I can think of a time when Olivia was nauseated all the time." Alex's meaning slipped past him as Bette snuck up on them.

"So can I." She added brightly. Gregory found she was enjoying this just a little more than she should be. "I didn't want to scare you or I would have mentioned it earlier-"

Alex and Bette shared a look that made Gregory instantly nervous. Until today, he would have sworn nothing made him that agitated anymore. Bette and Alex knew something he didn't. He hated feeling helpless, but it was suddenly all around him. Everyone knew more about being a woman.

"Out with it Bette." Gregory pulled himself up to his full height, trying to ignore how much his heels were starting to make his feet ache. "Now."

To her credit, Bette was unintimidated. In fact, all he earned was a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry Greggy, it's just not as scary when Olivia does it."

"The voice?" Alex wondered aloud to Bette as she shared the smile. "It's not the same Esquire. I'm sorry. Olivia's too-"

"Don't say it-" Gregory warned viciously and this time they believed him.

"I was going to say pretty." Bette offered as she sat down in a huff. "Honestly I was."

"I'm pretty?" Gregory asked with a raised eyebrow, too confused to keep up his anger.

"Gorgeous." Alex ventured cheerfully as she took a second flute of champagne from the wandering waiter.

"If I felt like going up against you dear-" Bette patted his shoulder and took a glass of champagne as well. "I'd have made a run at Olivia long ago."

Gregory reached for the champagne out of habit. "Oh really?"

Alex and Bette slapped his hand away in unison. "No you don't" Bette ordered sternly.

Alex was more gentle. "I'm sorry. We can't let you have any of that."

Gregory let the waiter leave before he turned on his friends. "I'm not the alcoholic. I don't see why I shouldn't."

Bette whispered something to Alex and she nodded immediately. "We just can't let you." Alex repeated as Bette left the bench to disappear inside.

Still confused, Gregory started to stand up. "All right. Olivia doesn't have a problem with cigars, I can get one of those from the humidor-"

"No cigars either Esquire." Alex sat him back down, taking his hand in support as Bette returned with a cup of coffee.

"You probably shouldn't have this either, but I thought you could use it." Bette wrapped his hands around it and sat down on the other side of him.

Gregory ignored his coffee. He looked from Alex to Bette and decided to appeal to Alex. She was at least attempting to hide her amusement. Bette was barely holding back her laughter.

Alex sighed and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I hate to be the one to tell you this, especially considering it's your first day as a woman-"

"Tell me what dammit?"

"We-" Alex and Bette shared another look.

This time Bette couldn't take the suspense. "We talked about this, and we agree. Olivia was feeling sick awhile before you switched bodies."

"And you told me about the time she fainted at the Police Station." Alex piped up in support.

"If I didn't know better-" Bette added with a preemptive wince.

"We think you're pregnant." Alex finished finally.

Gregory started to laugh even as his coffee cup started to drop from shocked fingers. "You can't be serious- I can't possibly be-"

Bette caught the coffee cup and Alex put a hand on his other shoulder as she stood up to support him.

"This isn't some kind of joke?" He wondered numbly as Alex prevented his feeble attempt to stand up.

"We'll take you to the doctor tomorrow."

Bette forced the coffee back into his hands. "Drink this. And think for us Greggy. Have you been using protection?"

"Protection from-" Gregory swallowed the coffee and wished desperately he could drink something stronger. Anything stronger. "Oh god."

"Hey-" Alex rubbed his shoulders, trying to settle him a little. "It's not so bad. You're married and you love your husband very much."

"My husband?" Gregory let Bette take the empty coffee cup from him and tried to force his mind to work coherently. For one of the few times in his life, it failed him. "What's Olivia going to think? I mean we haven't talked about this at all."

"She loves you." Bette reassured him as a smirk broke through her sympathy. "It's going to be okay Greggy."

"After all, you're not the first woman to have a baby." Alex pointed out cheerfully as she and Bette descended into giggles.