Chapter Twenty Three
One Year Later
Sydney walked into her house mumbling something about the CIA being jackasses for keeping her at work so late. She was nearly one hour late for her date with Julian. Tonight was their one year anniversary of their reconciliation. It was now just under five months that Sydney had been confirmed cancer-free and two weeks since she had been tested to see if her children would be affected by the cancer. It was all good news because they had found out that her children would be healthy.
After opening the door, Sydney stepped inside the house, dropped her bag on the ground and tore her jacket off. She threw her keys on top of the radiator behind the door and pulled off her shoes. "Julian?" she cried out. His car had been in the driveway, so he must have been in the house.
They had bought the house together after her cancer-free confirmation. It was a beautiful Tudor house in a nice neighbourhood in LA. Julian had agreed to move back with her as long as they could keep the house in France, just for special occasions, he said to her. She loved this house though, it was perfect for them.
"Julian, I'm sorry, I know I'm late," she cried as she ran to the bedroom to get changed. Julian had not answered her yet and she was a little worried. But this worry did not stop her from getting ready for their anniversary dinner. She opened the bedroom door and saw Julian standing in front of her in a tux holding a single calla lily. Sydney gasped and her eyes welled with tears when she looked around and saw the dozen vases around the room all holding lilies. Rose petals were scattered across the floor and the bedspread and candles were illuminating the room.
"Welcome home love," he said when she froze in front of him.
"You did all of this?" she asked.
"I almost didn't get it done," he said quickly, "But," he walked up to her and kissed her cheek, "I had your work mates keep you in late," he smirked.
She slapped his arm playfully, "So now I get it. I thought that 'emergency staff meeting' was a little silly."
"I called Sarah and told her what I had planned. She said that she would do whatever she could to keep you later."
"I love you," she whispered. "Can I get dressed?" she asked him sweetly.
"You already are. You look beautiful," he added.
"I'm in work clothes. See?" she held out the bottom of her skirt and showed him a purple paint stain. "Lizzie spilled purple paint on me this morning. Honestly, if she wasn't so adorable I would have killed her," she said smiling.
Julian laughed and then walked to the closet. Sydney knew that he was picking out her dress for her, but she couldn't see which one he was going for. Finally he turned around and held up a black dress with a slit up to the top of the thigh that went somewhat diagonally, and it had some embroidered flowers decorating it. "Oh, that's beautiful Julian," she gasped.
"Nothing's too beautiful for you."
Sydney changed into the dress and they headed into the dining room which was also lit by candles. Julian lit a fire in the fireplace and they ate a delicious gourmet meal that he had specially made for her.
When they finished eating Sydney and Julian danced to beautiful Cuban guitar music that happened to be Sydney's favourite. They danced for hours before Julian turned off the music. Sydney wondered why until he turned around. In his hand was a small black box. He walked up to Sydney and dropped to one knee.
"Sydney, I have loved you for so long now, and I could never have even thought of you coming to love me. I don't know what I would do without you in my life. You have saved me, given me everything that I could have dreamed of, given me so much more than I deserve. Love you more than anything in the world and I would do anything for you. I can't live my life without you beside me. Will you marry me?" he asked her.
Sydney just stared at him and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Instead of saying anything, because that didn't seem to be working, she pulled Julian up to her and kissed him passionately. When he pulled away, she noticed that he was shaking slightly. It was then that she noticed how nervous he must have been. She then breathed in and said, "Yes!"
He picked her up and twirled her around. He took her left hand and placed the ring on her finger. He kissed her again with such passion that they forgot about anything that wasn't in their little world of love at that moment. They barely made it to the bedroom before tearing off each other's clothing and collapsing onto the bed in extreme passion.
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Sydney and Julian had been engaged for three weeks when it started. She kept it from Julian because she knew it would break his heart. This morning she woke up and instantly ran to the bathroom, emptying the contents of her stomach. Recently, she had been sleeping much more than usual. She was glad that Julian hadn't noticed yet. He had been working a lot recently, trying to get a new job as a languages teacher at the same school she worked at. He was great with kids.
The thought of children brought her to tears in the small bathroom. She sat with her back against the bathtub and cried until she saw Julian looking at her concerned in front of her. "Love, what's wrong?" he asked as he pulled her into his arms.
"It's back," she whispered into his neck.
Not understanding what she was talking about, his mind strayed to the worst thoughts possible. He put on a calm tone, "What's back, love?"
"The cancer," she whimpered, "I think it's back," she began to sob against him. As soon as she had said cancer he froze. He stopped breathing. His mind stopped working. He just froze.
After a few minutes he picked her up and brought her back to the bedroom. He got dressed and then picked up some clothes for Sydney and began to undress her. "What are you doing?" she asked tearfully.
"I'm getting you dressed. We're going to the doctor right now," he said. Sydney nodded and began to help him get her dressed. She was unable to do it on her own because she was trembling.
They got into the car and were at the doctor's office within fifteen minutes. Julian had called on the way there to tell him that it was an emergency and they needed to be seen right away. The office happened to be in the doctor's home, so he was able to see them before normal office hours.
Sydney sat on a cold bench with her sleeve rolled up. The doctor came in and took a needle from a drawer, explaining to Sydney that they were going to analyze the blood, checking for traces of cancer. Julian sat by her side, holding her hand the entire time.
They left the doctor's office and went to see a movie, trying to get their minds off things. The only movie playing at the right time was a spy flick. They gladly saw it and happened to be the only people in the theatre at the time, so they spent their time mocking the actors and pointing out everything that they were doing wrong. It was one of the things that they just loved to do. Watching the movie actually took their minds off everything for a while, and when they left the theatre they tried to get something to eat, but it didn't really work out. Both Sydney and Julian had no appetite because of their nerves.
Two hours later, they received a call from the doctor asking them to come back for the results. Sydney and Julian were asked to go into the same room they had left a few hours ago. Sydney sat on the same cold table and Julian took his place in the seat next to her and held her hand. The doctor came in and took one look at Sydney before he broke into a smile. "Good news Miss Bristow, the cancer is not back."
Sydney squeezed Julian's hand and exhaled. Julian stood and kissed her forehead. "That's so great Syd," he said kissing her lips softly.
"So do you know what's making me sick?" she asked the doctor.
He nodded and smiled, "Congratulations Miss Bristow, you're pregnant."
Julian's face instantly lightened up. He looked over at Sydney who looked shocked. The doctor noticed that Sydney hadn't moved and wasn't breathing. "Miss Bristow are you alright?" he asked quickly. Sydney looked up at him and a small smile began to creep up on her face.
"I'm pregnant," she stated quietly. "Oh my god, I'm pregnant!" she squealed. She jumped off the bench and hugged Julian, "We're having a baby!"
"Yes, we are having a baby," he whispered. The doctor laughed.
"Miss Bristow, we'll need to give you a referral to another doctor to do an ultrasound soon, and I'll give you a prescription for your prenatal pills. So far everything looks good. Just rest, no drinking, no smoking, no travelling in your third trimester… But other than that, you can live your life normally. Congratulations again, both of you."
Sydney and Julian shook the doctor's hand before leaving together. "I am so happy that I'm pregnant," Sydney said as they got into the car, "I was so scared thinking that it was cancer. I didn't want to leave you."
"I don't ever want to be without you Sydney. That's why we're getting married."
"Can we get married really soon?" she asked.
Julian looked over at her and smiled. He took her hand in his, "We could drive to Vegas right now and do it if you wanted to."
Sydney laughed and shook her head, "I think we should tell my father and Nadia all of this first. And I wasn't thinking today, I was thinking about next month. That way we know if the baby's okay and I can still look thin in my dress."
"You're going to be the sexiest pregnant woman in the world."
Sydney laughed, "I'm going to be fat. Are you saying that you want me to be fat?" she asked.
"No, that's not what I meant. I think that you'll look incredibly sexy with that baby in you because I'll know that it's a product of our love for each other."
Sydney smiled and then giggled, "When did you get so sappy?" she asked, "What happened to the cocky British bastard that I fell in love with?"
"I don't know if you'd want him around our child. Something might happen. They might learn to be like me."
"Well, that's true. I don't want our child to be in the same life we lived. I want our baby to have both parents and not a dead one with the other not actually being a part of its life. I don't want it to be like us."
"I wouldn't mind a little girl that looks like you running around the yard. A little girl wearing a pink dress with pigtails and chubby cheeks, who smiles at her mother and giggles when you tickle her sides…" he drifted off as they turned a corner and got to the house.
"It looks like you've given this a lot of thought," she smiled, "But one BIG rule," she said seriously, "No guns in any place that could be accessed by our child."
Julian nodded seriously, "I would never dream of it," he said. They went into the house and smiled, knowing that one day they would enter the house carrying their baby. "Also, we should increase the security here. I don't want someone getting in here without us knowing."
Sydney nodded and hugged him tightly, "We should call everyone and get them over here so we can tell them."
"Your father is going to kill me."
They both laughed before Sydney went to the phone and dialled the first number, "Hey, dad. Can you please come to the house? Yeah, everything's just fine. I need to talk to you though. Okay, thanks. See you soon!" she said cheerfully before hanging up the phone. She then repeated the gesture by calling Vaughn, Weiss and Jennifer. They had waited for their wedding because they wanted to make sure that Sydney was going to be alright. They wanted to have her at the wedding and needed to know that she was healthy enough to participate in the ceremony.
An hour later everyone was gathered in the backyard looking at each other in confusion. Sydney and Julian sat on a small bench in front of the others, who were sitting on chairs. The pair smiled at each other before turning to the group, "We're engaged," Julian said like a lovesick puppy.
Vaughn looked like he was going to be sick and Jack's face was stoic. No emotion was passing over his face; it was just a look of complete and utter shock. Weiss and Jennifer however looked excited. "That's wonderful!" they both said. "I can help you with the wedding plans!" Jennifer squealed.
Sydney smiled and nodded, "Um… another thing…" she bit her bottom lip and looked at her father. "This morning I woke up and well… I felt nauseas and kind of freaked out. That was the first thing that happened before I was diagnosed with the cancer last year. Julian and I panicked and went straight to the doctor's," her father looked like he was about to cry. There wasn't a moment that she could remember that he had ever shown this kind of emotion before. Well, other than the time she turned up on his doorstep announcing that she was dying. "We found out that I'm pregnant," she said as a smile broke out on her face. Julian smiled as well and kissed her temple before glancing at Jack.
Jack let out a breath and slowly, a smile crept over his face. "So to be clear, you're not dying?" he asked.
Sydney shook her head and smiled, "Not dying," she answered.
"I can't believe my daughter's getting married," he said. He got out of his seat and hugged her, "By the way, I approve of him," he whispered.
"You do?" she asked as they pulled away.
"He's stood by you through everything. He really loves you Sydney."
Sydney kissed her father's cheek, "Thank you daddy."
She looked at Jennifer who was talking to Weiss, and judging by his reaction Jennifer told him something along the lines of 'I want a baby too'. He jumped off the bench and screamed, "ARE YOU CRAZY?" before sitting back down. He saw her hurt face and kissed her forehead before saying, "Not until after we're married," she giggled and got out of her chair.
Jennifer smiled at Sydney and gave her congratulations before Vaughn made any movement. He stood and hugged Sydney telling her congratulations before he kissed her cheek and left. "Vaughn," Sydney cried out after him, "Please Vaughn."
He turned around harshly, "Look, Syd I want to be happy for you. And I really am, but I can't help but be jealous. I wanted you to be with me! I wanted this to be you and me, announcing our engagement. I wanted that baby to be ours."
A tear ran down her cheek, "I'm sorry Vaughn, but things are different now. I'm with Julian and I'm happy."
"I know, and that's what makes things better. Because, as much as I love you, I just want you to be happy, and you're happy with him. I want to be your friend though, if that's alright."
"Well, that's a change in the discussion," she mumbled but nodded, "I want to be your friend too, Vaughn."
They hugged and he left through the front door. Sydney jumped when Julian came up behind her and put his arms around her waist, "Everything alright, love?" he asked.
"Jesus! You scared me."
He laughed and kissed her head, "Sorry," he sheepishly apologized, "So is everything alright with Vaughn?" he asked.
"It will be, he just needs some time."
"So earlier, was that really your father saying that he approves of me?" Julian asked.
Sydney laughed, "I think it was."
Sydney turned around and kissed him softly. They walked back out to the backyard and saw Jack, Weiss and Jennifer talking to each other. Jack asked them if they had thought about a wedding date yet, "Um…" Sydney answered, "We're planning on next month. That way it's before the baby arrives and I can still fit in a wedding dress without looking like a whale."
"Syd, you won't look like a whale," Weiss quickly countered.
"I'm going to gain like thirty pounds in the next nine months, I'm going to look like a beached whale!" she screamed before breaking into sobs. "I'm going to be hideous and everyone's going to hate me and Julian's going to leave me and I'm not going to be able to take care of the baby and…"
Julian cut her off with a kiss. "Syd," he said when they broke apart, "I will never leave you. You are going to look like a goddess. You really are. We are going to be together, and we will love this baby more than anything in the world."
"I'm so sorry, Julian, it's these stupid hormones," she laughed, "I don't even know why I'm crying."
"Great," Julian sighed, "Nine months of this," he whispered and Jack chuckled.
"Laura was unbelievable. She cried almost twelve hours a day. It was impossible for her to stop sometimes. Hopefully Sydney won't be like that."
Sydney groaned, "I don't want that to happen to me," she laughed.
"Well we have to make an appointment with the doctor to see how far along she is, and the due date."
"I think we should do the amniotic test to see if there are any traces of genetic abnormalities," Sydney said.
"If you want to, love."
Twenty minutes later everyone had left and Sydney and Julian were once again alone in their home. "Syd, do you want to find out the sex of the baby before it's born?" Julian asked suddenly.
"I don't know, do you?"
He nodded, "I want to get the nursery ready for this little one," he said as he rubbed her stomach lovingly, "before it comes."
Sydney smiled at him, "What would the other terrorists say if they could see you like this right now?" she asked him jokingly.
He laughed and shook his head.
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"Come on, Syd you are strong, you can do this!" Julian screamed as another contraction tore through his wife's body. She was pushing as hard as she could and within a few seconds a shrill scream from a new life's lungs tore through the room.
"It's a girl," was the next thing he heard. He looked over at Sydney who had tears running down her face. Julian had to admit that there were tears in his eyes as he watched the doctors check his daughter's vitals. A few moments later she was in his arms, intently paying attention to the new world around her.
"Hello beautiful," he whispered, "You are the most beautiful baby girl in the world."
He placed her in Sydney's arms and she instantly smiled at her, "Hey sweetheart," she whispered. Julian kissed Sydney's forehead and whispered that he loved her. "What should we name her?" she asked him.
"I was thinking about Lily for her middle name," he admitted. Sydney smiled at him and then looked back at their daughter who had just fallen asleep in her arms, "How about you pick her first name," he added.
"I don't know if you'd feel bad about it, but would Francine be okay?" she asked tentatively.
Julian nodded and smiled, "Francine Lily Lazarey?" he asked with a smile on his face. He looked down at their little bundle of joy and then at Sydney, who began to smile, "It's perfect."
"Hey Francie," Sydney whispered to the sleeping baby, "We love you so much." Sydney looked up at Julian and smiled, "So what are we going to tell her about how we met?" she said jokingly.
"We'll figure it out," he replied, "We are spies, after all."
The two spies watched their daughter sleep for a while longer as they watched their new, normal life begin to unfold before them. Sydney was no longer living a life of loss, but a life with a happy ending.
The End