Thank you all so much for your feedback.

Belle: Yes, I am an Aussie fan, and I bought the season four box set the day that it was released in Australia (all the way back in Januaury :D). In regards to Alias in Australia I have no idea when it's returning, but I certainly hope that it's soon. I don't know how long I can't wait to finally see season five.

"Get out."

Sydney, who had been about to peel a potato, stopped and stared at Juliette. "Excuse me?"

"Get out of the kitchen." Juliette said. "I'm cooking tonight."

"But we invited you over," Sydney protested.

"So?" Juliette replied bluntly. "Go, sit down and put your feet up."

"Juliette," Sydney laughed. "I am perfectly capable of cooking dinner."

"I never said you weren't, but I am telling you to get out."

"Give up, Syd." Vaughn said. "I don't see you winning this one anytime soon."

Sydney looked between Vaughn and Juliette and then threw up her hands. "Fine." She gestured towards the kitchen bench. "Juliette, it is all yours."

Juliette smiled. "Thank you. Now I want to see you on that couch and relaxing right now."

"Ok, ok, ok…" Sydney made her way to the couch and then looked over at Juliette. "Happy?"

"Much," she nodded.

Sydney looked at Vaughn. "You know, this isn't half bad. I could get used to this being waited on thing."

Vaughn laughed. "What about me, maman? Do I get to relax?"

"You get to peel the carrots." Juliette shot back.

Vaughn grumbled good-naturedly as he picked up the peeler. "I'm getting a little sick of this double- standard," he joked. "All this attention that expectant mothers get. What about expectant fathers? What am I going to get from all of this?"

"Ha!" Sydney snorted. "Joking or not, you've just earned yourself a slap Michael Vaughn."

"Quite rightly so," Juliette agreed, raising a hand.

"Whoa!" Vaughn stepped back, laughing. "How about I just take it back?"

"I think that sounds like a good idea." Juliette said.

"As well as intelligent," Sydney added as she blew Vaughn a kiss.

"Ooh!" Juliette exclaimed after they had finished dinner. "It almost slipped my mind. I brought over a few little things for the two of you. They're in my car- I'll just go get them."

As she walked out, Vaughn looked at Sydney. "How much do you want to bet that by saying a 'few little things' maman really a meant a large amount of stuff?"

Sydney laughed. "Yeah- and the two of us really meant for Boo."

Vaughn just shook his head. "If people keep giving us presents we're going to have nowhere to fit this baby."

A couple of minutes later Juliette walked in holding, surprisingly, only three bags.

"Ok," she said, sitting down. "First these," she held up two of the bags. "Some essentials- nappies, talcum powder, baby wipes etc. All the boring stuff." Juliette smiled. "You shouldn't have to be worrying about all this."

"Thank you." Sydney said sincerely as Juliette handed over the bags.

"It was nothing," Juliette replied. "I'm just trying to be a good Grandmère."

"Yeah, well, the rate you're going maman, the staff that work at any stores that sell anything baby related are going to know you by name." Vaughn joked.

"What? Like how the staff at any sporting goods store knows you by name?" Juliette quipped, a gleam in her eye.

Vaughn just laughed. "I'm just going to shut up."

"Right," Juliette picked up the third bag. "These I actually brought from home. I kept them specifically for the chance of grandchildren." She reached in and pulled out what looked to be a pile of books.

"Oh!" Vaughn suddenly exclaimed. "Are they what I think they are?"

Juliette nodded, handing him the books and then turned to Sydney to explain. "They're stories that Bill and I used to read Michael when he was a baby and a little boy. He loved them, even after we moved here."

"Oh! Quelle Heure Est-il? I remember this one." Vaughn said, his face lighting up. "It was one of my favourites- it had the clock face that you could change the time."

Sydney reached across for the book. She couldn't help but smile at the image of Vaughn as a little boy, getting excited over a book about telling the time.

"Is the Christmas one here?" Vaughn asked Juliette and she nodded. Sifting through the pile he soon located it. "Le Veille de Noël," he looked at Sydney. "We used to read this every Christmas Eve."

"Till Michael was about ten," Juliette added. "After that, it wasn't cool to read stories with your maman," she said in a teasing tone. "I thought, however, that you might want to share these with your own child."

"Juliette, these are incredible," Sydney said, thumbing through the book in her hands. "And I assure you that they will be put to good use."

"No way!" Vaughn broke out. "Vous Faites…? The sports one. This is like going back in time." He opened it up and started to read. "Vous faites le football…Aimes-tu la natation…Vous faites le tennis?"

Juliette laughed as she turned to Sydney. "Let's just hope that the baby actually gets to see them."

"Good morning," Vaughn said to Sydney as she walked out into the kitchen Monday. "Sit," he said, gesturing to the place that he had set at the kitchen bench.

Sitting down, Sydney gave him a curious look. "What is this?" she asked.

"Breakfast," Vaughn replied, placing a plate of French toast and glass of orange juice in front of her.

"I can see that," Sydney said. "But it's a weekday. Breakfast is usually a slap dash affair. This," she pointed to the plate in front of her, "is usually reserved for weekends and holidays."

Vaughn just shrugged. "It's the first day of your last week at Ken Olin," he said. "I thought you might like something special."

Sydney's face broke into a grin. "Thank you…" her smile suddenly grew impish. "So does this mean I get something like this every morning this week? And what about dinner? I wouldn't mind special dinners, either."

Vaughn laughed. "If you play your cards right, who knows what might happen," he winked. "Though, if we want any dinner tonight- special or not special- I've got to do some shopping. The fridge is getting pretty bare and the freezer is looking pretty sad, too."

At the sound of the word 'freezer', Sydney's eyes widened slightly, and it did not go unnoticed by Vaughn. "What?" he asked.

"It's nothing major." Sydney replied. "But you just reminded me- I had the weirdest dream last night."

"Weird dream? This could get interesting," Vaughn said with a grin. "What happened?"

"Well, I had the baby, except that it wasn't one baby, it was like ten babies…maybe more. I wasn't really counting."

"You gave birth to ten or more babies?" Vaughn asked, the thought absolutely terrifying him.

Sydney nodded. "But that wasn't all. Because we were only expecting one baby, we kept one and put the rest in the freezer."

Vaughn let out a snort of laughter. "In the freezer? For what- safe keeping?"

"I guess," Sydney replied. "It was so we could just defrost one when we were ready for another child." She bit her bottom lip. "You know, it's a little disturbing when you think about it. Babies in the freezer…who does that?"

"And who dreams about it?" Vaughn put in as Sydney raised her glass of juice to her lips.

Sydney smiled, placing the glass down. "Well, if dreams are really your sub-conscious trying to tell you something, what on Earth is mine trying to tell me?"

"Maybe we need to get a bigger freezer," Vaughn deadpanned. "Because I don't see us fitting nine or more babies in ours."

"Sydney!" Jack's face looked a little surprise when he opened the door Tuesday evening. "Come in," he stepped to the side to allow her to enter.

"I just brought this back." Sydney explained, holding up a copy of Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent. "I finished it last night."

"Oh, thank you." Jack took the book from her hands. "Did you enjoy it?"

Sydney nodded. "I did. I should thank you. I probably would never had read it unless you lent it to me."

Jack gave her a small smile. "Would you like something to drink? I've just put the kettle on."

"I'd love a tea if you've got any."

Jack nodded and gestured down the hall. "Come on, we'll go in the kitchen." As they walked down the hall, he looked at Sydney. "So, where's Michael this evening?"

"He's got hockey tonight."

"Oh right. He's told me about the team. How are they going?"

"Really good…a little too good, actually." Sydney said with a smile as they got to the kitchen. "It's about time they got a thrashing."

Jack let out a small chuckle. "Getting some big heads on the ice?"

"Yeah," Sydney replied as she sat at the table. "But only on the ice, thankfully."

They fell into an easy chitchat as Jack went about preparing their drinks.

"So, how is everything?" Jack asked as he sat down opposite Sydney.

"Good," she said. "I finish up at Ken Olin on Friday."

A wistful smile crossed Jack's face. "I remember when your mother went on maternity leave. She didn't know what to do with herself. It drove her insane…me, as well."

Sydney felt a small flutter in her stomach. It was a rare occasion to hear her father speak about her mother, and she wasn't going to let this opportunity go to waste. "What did she do?"

"Your mother never was one to sit around and do nothing. Her holidays were always spent doing things around the house, or art projects or something. So there she was, weeks off giving birth and she was insisting that she totally capable of stripping wallpaper from the spare room, or replacing a wonky shelf, or to throw a pot on her pottery wheel." He paused. "I was worried that she was going to overdo it, or even worse, hurt herself and she was frustrated because she wasn't able to do things the way she used to."

Sydney let out a small laugh. "Sounds like fun."

Jack looked up at her. "And for some reason, I can see something along a similar line happening with you."

"Oh really?" Sydney took a mouthful of tea. "So dad, tell me. Just exactly who do I get my stubbornness from? Yourself? Or mum?"

"Oh, you get it from your mother. You get so much from you're her." Jack's voice dropped a few octaves. "And that's why you're going to be such a fantastic mother."

Sydney's face broke into a nostalgic smile. "She really was a great mum, wasn't she?"

"She was," Jack said simply. "And she would be so happy for you…you do realize that, don't you?"

Sydney nodded. "I just wish…that sometimes…I wish," she faltered, unsure of whether she could continue."

"She is, Sydney." Sydney looked at Jack surprised and he let out a small chuckle. "Juliette. She's been encouraging me to open up."

Sydney laughed, as she raised her mug to her lips. Who would have believed it? Juliette had achieved the near impossible, and that was the best gift that anybody could give her.