Thank you all so much for your feedback. It was greatly appreciated.

"Syd?" Vaughn knocked on the bathroom door Sunday evening. "Are you ok in there? We've got to get going. Francie will be wondering where we are."

He stepped back as the door flew open, revealing a frowning Sydney. "I'm not going," she said bluntly as she marched passed him and into the bedroom.

Vaughn closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath before following. Sydney had been in a grumpy mood all day, and he had been hoping that going to the party at Deep Inside would cheer her up. However, that was obviously not the case.

"Why don't you want to go?" he asked.

Sydney stared at him as if he were clueless. "Look at me, Vaughn!" she exclaimed, throwing out her hands.

Vaughn took in the simple blue dress, fitted open denim jacket and flat jewelled sandals and drew to a blank. "I've got nothing."

"Vaughn," Sydney exhaled exasperatedly as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "I look terrible."

"No, you don't." Vaughn said as he sat beside her. "I like that dress."

"I am not talking about the dress, Vaughn. I am talking about me. I look enormous! And," she added quickly, before Vaughn could respond, "don't even start on that whole 'you're pregnant, not fat' talk, because I don't want to hear it."

"You're gonna hear it," Vaughn replied. "Because it's true."

"I don't care." Sydney said obstinately. "I look awful."

"Well, I happen to think that you look incredible."

"Vaughn!" Sydney looked at him. "You think I look good in your trackies. What kind of a judge are you?"

Vaughn laughed. "I am your husband. You should trust me when I say you look great- whether it be dressed up when close to nine months pregnant or wearing my tracksuit pants."

Sydney just raised her eyebrows in a disbelieving look.

"Come on," Vaughn ran a hand up and down her back in soothing strokes. "When you walk into that restaurant tonight, nobody is going to be thinking how big you've got. They are going to think that you look fantastic. And happy. And glowing. And how lucky you are to have such a handsome man by your side."

To his relief, Sydney gave a snort of laughter and then placed her lips on his cheek. "You are way to good to me, Mr Vaughn."

Vaughn smiled and then stood up, holding out a hand to help her up. "That's only because you make it worth my while, Bristow."

"Oh my god, Syd." Amy said, walking up as she and Vaughn entered Deep Inside. "You have no idea how much I hate you right now."

Sydney blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"Look at you," Amy waved a hand. "When I was that far gone with Dillon I looked like a sumo wrestler. You are looking fantastic."

"You didn't look like a sumo wrestler," Sydney protested, ignoring the not so subtle nudges that Vaughn was giving her.

"Yeah, I did." Amy said. "And it was Troy who told me."

Sydney's jaw dropped. "He didn't?"

Amy nodded, laughing. "He was only joking and luckily I was in an extremely good mood at the time."

Sydney grinned. "Is he here?"

"Yeah," Amy glanced over towards the bar. "He's getting some drinks."

"Speaking of which," Vaughn leant down and pecked Sydney on the cheek. "I'll be right back."

Sydney nodded and then turned back to Amy. "Have you spoken to Francie yet?"

Amy shook her head. "We only got here a few minutes ago, and from the looks of it, she's a little busy at the moment."

Sydney smiled. "Doing what Francie does best?"

"Of course. I figured we could wait until she's free to enjoy herself before talking. Have you got the tickets?"

"No," Sydney replied. "Ainz and Weiss have…" she trailed off looking around the restaurant. "Can you believe that it has already been a years since Fran opened this place?"

"That I can believe," Amy replied. "What still bamboozles me is how calm and collected Fran is around this place."

"I know!" Sydney exclaimed and then smiled. "I guess it just proves that she is made for this life."

"Who's made for what life?" Vaughn asked, coming up beside them, drinks in hand.

"Hey!" Amy said. "How did you get those drinks before Troy?"

Vaughn laughed. "Probably because he's standing up there talking to Will."

"That'd be right," Amy rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "If you'll excuse me, I have a drink to get."

"Speak to later," Sydney said as Amy walked off.

As Sydney took her drink from Vaughn, it was impossible to ignore the smug smirk on his face. "Shut up," she said, raising her glass to her lips.

Vaughn's eyes widened innocently. "I did not say a word."

"You didn't have to. Your expression was speaking in volumes."

Vaughn shrugged. "I've got no idea what you're talking about…by the way," his face broke into a mischievous grin, 'have I told you how fantastic you look tonight?"

A couple of hours later, the music stopped and Francie stepped up, with microphone in hand, on a small platform that had been set up at the far end of the room.

"Excuse me…hi…sorry for the interruption, but I wanted to get the formalities over so that we could enjoy the party for the rest of the evening.
Deep Inside has always been a dream of mine, since starting my business degree at the ripe old age of 18. There were points when I thought that I was kidding myself, that I would never be able to make this happen. But, exactly a year ago tonight, I opened those doors to the public for the first time and have never looked back since.
However there was no way that I could do this on my own and there are quite a few thank-yous that I need to make. So please, bear with me and if I forget you, I apologise now and next time you visit, dessert will be on me."

"Hey Fran! You can forget me." Weiss voice called out. "I won't mind. I swear."

Francie let out a small laugh. "I'll keep that in mind, Eric. First and foremost, I want to thank each and every member of my staff, past and present. Without you Deep Inside would be nothing. You all should know how much I appreciate the way you keep this restaurant running smoothly every day.
On that note, a special mention for Drew, my second in command. Thank you for keeping my baby open when I couldn't be here personally. To return to work and find everything, as it was the last time I was there, was all the medicine that I would ever need.
To my family, thank you for your support and encouragement. Mum, dad, if it weren't for you raising me the way you did, there is no way that I would be able to run a successful business. You set me up for life and I cannot thank you enough for that.
My friends, and I'm sorry Eric, this includes you as well. You all supported and encouraged me in this endeavour, as well as tolerating my mood swings, freak outs and just plain craziness, not only leading up to the opening of Deep Inside, but in life in general.
And finally, to all those who choose to eat here, thank you. Again, this place could not be a success without you.
I think that just about covers everybody, so I'll shut up and let you all return back to the party, because I know that's what I want to be doing. So eat, drink and celebrate Deep Inside's first birthday with a great gusto. Thank you."

Applause rang out as Francie stepped down from the platform and the music started up again. Walking across to her friends, Francie's face was positively glowing.

"How was that?" she asked.

"Perfect," Sydney replied, pulling Francie into a tight hug. "Happy Birthday," she said into her ear.

Francie laughed, stepping back from the embrace and turning to Weiss. "Sorry about the thank you…but given what Ainz told me you went through for that awesome present sitting in my office, I think that I could organise a free soufflé or two."

"What are you and Syd doing for Christmas Day?" Weiss asked Vaughn as the two of them drove home after hockey Tuesday night.

"Maman's again," Vaughn replied. "You and Ainz?"

"Both families are going to her parents." Weiss shuddered. "It's going to be insane…mum wants us there all day. I'm not even going to have chance to enjoy my presents."

Vaughn smirked. "What are expecting to get?"

"That's beside the point…all I know is that I will not even get a chance to think." Weiss paused. "If it weren't for Christmas Eve, Ainz and I would escape to the middle of nowhere at this time of year."

"Oh, come on. Where's your festive spirit, Weiss?"

"My festive disappeared, along with Ainsley's, at the time when we started sharing Christmas Day with Lillian Weiss and Renee McPhee."

Vaughn laughed. "Weiss, you mum is not that bad."

"I know that, and neither is Renee. When they're apart. But together…they are so alike it's scary. They're scary."

"And what would Ainz do if she heard you talking about her mother this way?"

"She would agree with me whole-heartedly," Weiss said. "So, as I said before- thank god for Christmas Eve."

"And Santa on the fire truck." Vaughn added with a grin.

Weiss sighed. "The highlight of my year."

Later that night, Vaughn was sitting up in bed, reading, with Sydney fast asleep beside him. She had crashed the second her head hit the pillow and was now snoring slightly. Vaughn couldn't help but smile, and made a mental note to mention it toher the next morning.

Closing his book and placing it on the bedside table, Vaughn took a second to gaze upon Sydney's sleeping form. She was so beautiful, so peaceful, so…awake?

Her eyes flew open as she brought a hand up to her forehead and the other to her stomach.

Vaughn knew exactly what had happened. "Dream?"

Sydney nodded, biting her bottom lip. She was starting to get a little rattled by the regular occurrence of these dreams.

"E.T baby again?"

"No," Sydney shook her head. "I went past my due date and I never went into labour and I just kept getting bigger and bigger. And the years passed and Francie had a baby and so did Ainsley and I was still pregnant." She looked at Vaughn. "I was so massive that I couldn't leave the house."

"Don't let it get to you, Syd." Vaughn said. "Like babies in the freezer and E.T babies, you never giving birth is kind of impossible."

"I know that, Vaughn, but when you are in the middle of a dream you don't tend to see the logic of the situation." She drew in a deep breath. "It's starting to freak me out. Why am I having all these crazy baby related dreams? What do they mean?"

Vaughn gave a smiled compassionately. "They're just dreams, Syd. Nothing more."

Sydney brought both her hands to her swollen belly. 'Only dreams,' she told herself. 'And nothing more.'

She kept repeating those words as Vaughn lay down close to her, trying to convince herself that they were true.