Holly had been at the office for hours by the time Blake was roused from sleep. She pulled the bed side clock near her face and groaned. It was already after ten. She was never afforded the opportunity to sleep so late anymore, and by doing so now she felt like the majority of the day was wasted. She had called Rick the night before to let him know that she was safe, and that she was staying with her mother. He of course was concerned, but understood the motivation behind it. As she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, she wondered what she should do. She had no official job. She no longer considered Matthew work, and in fact Rick had stopped writing her a check many months before. She had her severance from Spaulding to rely on if needed, but she had no purpose it seemed.

As she was alone, she didn't bother with a robe. She went to the kitchen and poured cold coffee into a mug. Her fingers tapped out a cadence as she watched the timer on the microwave tick down. When it beeped, she pulled the mug from the inside and slammed the door. She saw that Holly had left the Journal front and center on the table. Blake sat down and read the front page. As she was reading the phone rang. Absently she reached over and picked it up, still engrossed in a story about the current mayor or Springfield and his plan to clean up the water front.

"Hello"

"Hi honey" It was Rick. "I just wanted to see how you were this morning"

"Rick, I asked you for some time and space. If this is your idea of either then we need to have a vocabulary lesson."

"Give me some credit. My first thought was to get into the car and drive straight to Holly's house." He confessed.

"I'm glad you didn't." She quickly countered "You caught me on my way out actually."

"Oh? What's on your agenda?" He asked as if he was simply checking in from the hospital.

"Actually, I have a meeting with Daddy. He and Mom have offered me a job at WSPR" she lied.

"I see." He said quietly.

"Don't worry, I will help you find someone to take care of Matthew" She quickly offered.

"No, that won't be necessary. Maureen will be happy to keep an eye on him until I can find a more permanent solution. Well, until his custody is determined that is."

Blake closed her eyes tightly. "Thank goodness for Maureen. Uhm, I really need to go."

"Can I call you tomorrow?" He asked tentatively.

"Rick, I don't think that is a good idea. I really need to go now."

"Fine, how about you call me then. Any time. I don't care when. Just call me, ok?"

"Good bye Rick" Her hands were shaking when she hung up the phone. While she hadn't really eaten anything, and barely drank her coffee she thought she may be sick. She ran to the bathroom where she collapsed in a heap on the floor. The tile felt cool on her cheeks, and knowing her mother cleaning lady she wasn't worried about it being dirty.

A week had passed since Rick called Blake. The date of the paternity test arrived. Rick was awake before both the alarm and the baby crying. He looked at the bedside clock, 4:26 it read. He rolled over and clutched Blake's pillow to his chest. It no longer held her scent at Maureen had promptly washed all the laundry, including the sheets when she started caring for Matthew. He closed his eyes again and tried to will sleep to consume him, but his thoughts wouldn't allow him. When he opened them again, he discovered that only fifteen minutes had passed. He threw the comforter off of him and swung his legs off the edge of the bed. From there he took a shower, and dressed for the day while waiting for Matthew to wake and demand breakfast.

When Matthew did wake, he did so as he had every morning since Blake left, looking over Rick's shoulder for her. Today was no different. Rick picked him up from his crib and held him close to his chest. "Hey buddy. You miss her too, don't you?" He kissed the top of his head and then laid him on the table where he changed his wet diaper. Rick dressed him in one of the outfits that Blake had bought him. He fumbled with the snaps causing Matthew to grow restless. "I know, I'm not as good at this as Blake, huh. Well, hopefully she will come to her senses soon." Rick said picking him up.

Later in the morning he pulled into the labs parking lot. At they were early and Mathew was sleeping Rick waited in the car for a bit until a car pulled in the spot directly beside them. When he looked out the window, he realized the car belonged to none other than Phillip. He took a deep breath, grabbed the diaper bag from the passenger seat and climbed out. He tried to pretend he didn't notice as he rescued Matthew from the confines of his car seat, but Phillip stood directly behind Rick's car, waiting.

"Hey buddy" Phillip cooed to Matthew when Rick straightened up. "How have you been? I know I get to visit with you tomorrow, but I miss you when you're not around"

"Excuse me" Rick said, pushing past.

"Rick, could you wait a second?" Phillip asked.

Against his better judgement Rick stopped.

"Listen, once we have this test everything changes. I was thinking that maybe we could come to some kind of understanding. Maybe come up with some kind of agreement among ourselves" Phillip said quietly.

Rick held Matthew close to his chest as he turned to face Phillip. "What did you have in mind, Phillip? Instead of a judge we find King Solomon?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm trying to be a friend here."

"A friend?" Rick laid a hand over Matthew's ear as his voice was increasing. "You've got a warped sense of humor, pal. No, the day you slept Meredith and got her pregnant was the day you stopped being anything close to my friend. Of course, with time I may have been able to overlook that, but the minute you tried to take this child away from me, well that severed any chance of that."

"What would you do Rick, if the roles were reversed? Hmm? Do you mean to tell me that you'd deny your child? You can't do that man; I know you couldn't. You'd want him raised on the hearth of the Bauer family, don't deny it."

Rick moved within inches of Phillip. "First of all, you pig, I wouldn't have slept with your wife, and secondly if I had, I wouldn't have lied about it."

Matthew began to fuss from being held so tightly. Rick looked down at him. "I'm sorry buddy, we're going to go inside now."

"She wasn't your wife yet" Phillip answered back.

Rick snorted, and shook his head lightly. "You've got an answer for everything don't you? Ok, so she wasn't my wife, but you were my best friend and that makes this all the worse. Go to hell, Phillip" He turned on his heel and marched into the office leaving Phillip in the parking lot fuming.

Inside Rick stopped at the reception desk. "Hello, I'm Fredrick Bauer, I have an appointment" The receptionist didn't even look up. She slid a clip board and pen across the partition. "Fill these out and someone will be with you shortly." Rick, holding the baby in one arm, the diaper bag dangling from the other grabbed the clip board but knocked the pen to the floor.

"Here, let me help you" Phillip said as he entered the door.

"No, I've go it" Rick said, dropping everything but the baby in a chair before retrieving the pen.

The pair sat on opposite ends of the waiting room. The only noise was Matthew babbling happily in Rick's arms. He stopped abruptly when a solid wooden door opened and the name "Bauer" was called. Rick stood, Matthew in one arm, clipboard and diaper bag in the other. He followed the casually dressed woman to an exam room in the back.

"Hello, my name is Susan. Can you confirm your name and date of birth please." Rick rattled the information to her. "Ok, and that of this handsome little guy" Rick repeated the process.

"Well, hello there" she said to Matthew as he bent at the waist and used her hands as bongo drums. He sat up and gave her a toothless grin. "Aren't you a cutie" She grinned back at him. "I shouldn't say this but you look just like your Daddy. Ok cutie, let's see what tests we're doing today"

Her fair cheeks turned crimson when she discovered she was performing a court ordered paternity test. She cleared her throat and returned to a more professional demeanor. "I will be using what looks like cotton swabs to remove cells for the inside of your cheek. It won't hurt a bit." She informed Rick. "Do you have any questions?"

"I don't think so, I am a doctor after all."

Susan nodded and pulled open the sterile sheath of the cotton swab. Rick reached down and pulled it out. "Thirty times please" she said as he put the swab in his mouth. Matthew craned his neck and observed the process with great interest. He tried to grab it when Rick presented it to the tech, but he pulled it away before Matthew could contaminate it.

"You're turn cutie" Susan addressed Matthew.

She pulled out a smaller version of the swab and placed it in Matthew's mouth, holding his cheeks with her thumb and pointer fingers. He reached out grabbed her hand. "You're going to help huh, ok" She smiled at him again. Counting to thirty she completed Matthew's sample as well.

"Alright Mr., I'm sorry, Dr. Bauer. I need you to sign an initial these specimen labels. Rick took the pen and did as request. "Great. With the holiday season upon us I can't imagine that they will be back until after Thanksgiving, and more than likely not until the second or third week of December. If you have any questions, please direct them to the court as we will not be able to furnish you with any additional information. Do you have any further questions?"

Rick stood, and balanced Matthew on his hip. He reached out and shook the techs hand. "No, thank you. I appreciate your kindness." He smiled and exited the room. He held his breath when he got to the waiting area, but fortunately Phillip was nowhere to be seen. When he got to the parking lot, he noted that his car was gone too. "Alright buddy, lets head home" he said to Matthew jovially, only home was the last place Rick was headed.

The typically forty-five-minute drive back to Springfield was complicated by snow that had begun to fall. Traffic, despite it being after rush hour was crawling at a snail's pace. By the time Rick reached his destination he was feeling stressed, especially since there was no snow when he arrived. He took Matthew from his car seat again and went to the door. He knocked on it and waited, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He had hoped Blake would answer, but wasn't shocked when it was Holly.

"Rick"

"Hello Holly"

Holly stepped out onto the front porch, hugging her arms around her trying to stave off the cold. "This is a surprise" she said, stating the obvious.

"I figured if I called Blake would run away again. It's kind of cold out here, would you mind if I brought Matthew inside?"

Holly looked over her shoulder at the closed door. "I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think that is a good idea. Blake has worn herself down to the point where she is in bed with the flu. In fact, that's why I'm home today and not at the station. She's been sick for the past few days."

"Sick huh? Well, maybe I should have a look at her. It's a little early in the season for the flu, but not horribly so." Rick shifted Matthew to his other arm. "Is she staying hydrated? You need to make sure she drinks plenty of fluids. When she can keep those down give her broths to eat until she can handle light solids like toast and apple sauce."

Holly reached out and laid a hand on his elbow. "Rick, I'm her mother. I think I can handle a little stomach flu. I will tell her you stopped by."

He felt defeated. He knew if she was feeling well that she'd love to see Matthew, but he couldn't push her and he couldn't risk exposing him to an illness this close to Thanksgiving. "You're right Holly. Would you please tell her I stopped by. I wanted to let her know that we had the paternity test done today. They said we should have the results by mid-December based on a three-week time line. Could you also tell her that this little guy cut his first tooth." He sighed. "Holly, just tell her I miss her, and that I hope she is doing alright."

"Rick, I'm sorry that you're going through this, and yes, I will tell her. You better get him home. It's too cold for him to be out in this weather"

Holly stood on the porch, and didn't go in until Rick had pulled out of the driveway. When she went inside Blake stared at her from the couch. "Who was that?" Blake asked, half asleep under a blanket.

"No one important. Just an old friend stopping by to say hello. They left when I told them you were sick. Would you like some soup?" Holly asked.

"Oh no." Blake said, pushing herself up to a sitting position. "The idea of food makes my stomach flip flop"

"Honey, you need to stay hydrated at least." Holly walked over to her and laid a hand on her forehead and then both of them on her cheeks. "You don't have a fever, bu you look pale. I'm starting to wonder if it's something you ate? Well, if you're not hungry I at least want you to drink some ginger ale."

Blake swallowed "No, I don't think it's something I ate, but I'm starting to have a better idea of what it might be" she said under her breath as Holly walked to the kitchen.

The next day Holly went into the station but came home early to tend to a still ailing Blake who was once again taking up residence on the couch. Her knees were pulled up into her chest, and she wore a far off look on her face. Holly dropped her briefcase on the floor next to the door and a stack of mail on the table.

"Hi honey" Holly said looking through the stack. "Ugh, that time of the month again." It was a statement, not a question.

Blake's head immediately shot up. "Why would you say that mother? I'm not a teenager anymore."

Holly furrowed her eyebrows, creasing the space between them. "What? I meant the mail, there was nothing in the box besides the monthly bills. What did you think I meant?" Holly rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just still not myself I guess." Blake got off the couch and folded the Afghan that she had previously been hiding under. "Oh, Maureen Bauer called."

Holly dropped the envelopes back to the table. "Fabulous. What did she want?"

"I'm not sure. She said she wanted to ask you something and asked that you call her back as soon as you could." Blake shrugged. "I have to go out for a bit. I'll see you later" She gave her mother a peck on the cheek and grabbed her keys before leaving.

Holly shrugged. "Well gee Blake, I'm glad I rushed home to take care of my sick daughter. I finally become maternal and you become prodigal."