Late that night Annie and Josh walked into the house followed by a silent Chris.

Josh put the pizza on the counter while Annie grabbed plates.

"Brain cancer," Annie said.

"Shepard is coming up with a plan," Josh reassured.

"She's getting in touch with the specialists in Vancouver," Annie replied, "is it sad that I'm relieved?"

"Not at all," Josh replied, "it's an answer to a lot of your questions. But let's eat something you've hardly eaten today. You might not feel hungry but the monkey must be."

"Monkey wants yogurt, banana,kiwi and chocolate chips," Annie said.

"We have it all ," Josh replied, shaking his head at the strange combination. But it wasn't the strangest combination she had eaten recently.

"After dinner," Annie said, "C are you hungry?"

"Hardly," Chris replied, "but you need to eat."

"Would people stop bugging me about food," Annie complained.

"You have to eat. I know you're tired and stressed but Ellie needs you to eat," Josh said.

"Ellie," Chris said, "you're naming her Ellie."

"Nickname," Josh said, "were keeping her name to ourselves and you can't tell anyone you heard the nickname. We're just trying it to see if it fits and we like it. We won't confirm until she's born."

Annie decided to distract Chris, "she's really wiggly right now. C do you want to meet her?"

"Can I," Chris asked, "how do I do that?"

"Hand," Annie laughed.

He reached towards her and let Annie place his hand where the baby was kicking.

"She does that every day," Chris looked shocked.

"All day and more at night. She may be nocturnal," Annie laughed, "the more I move the calmer she is so when I'm still she likes to have a dance party."

"Does it hurt," Chris asked.

"Not usually sometimes she gets my rib or a good jab at my spleen and that's annoying but she's not hurting me yet," Annie replied, "but we should eat it's already almost 11."

They all grabbed plates and ate in silence.

"We're off the rest of the week," Josh said, "we need the time off."

Annie nodded, "sleeping in tomorrow for sure. But we should check in at some point."

"If they clear the crowd," Josh said.

"I'll get rid of them," Chris said, "when you were operating I took a strip off dad for that. It wasn't right to spring them all on you."

"I should have expected it," Annie grumbled, "they never listen to me or what I want. I told them surgery day was not the day for the circus. The hospital isn't equipped for that. It's a quiet day not a family reunion."

"I told dad that," Chris growled.

Josh sighed, "that wasn't fair to expect you to do that. "

"Now with this tumor being cancerous they'll be around longer," Annie said.

"They can't all stay," Josh said.

"Mama was telling them to come in small groups," Annie replied.

"We're not doing anything about it tonight," Josh said, "now eat, shower and sleep."

Annie finished her second slice of pizza, "anyone else still hungry?"

"You finish the ham and pineapple," Josh said.

"One more slice," Annie said, "then kiwi, yogurt, banana and chocolate chips."

"Just eat," Josh said, "I'm going to get Chris the extra bedding."

"I'll get the bedding," Annie said.

"I'll do it," Josh said, "you eat and get ready for bed."

Annie grumbled, "bossy."

"You're over tired and stressed Annie. You've had a hard day please just let me take care of you ," Josh pleaded.

Annie replied, "I'll clean up here then I'm going to shower."

"Go get ready for bed," Josh said, "I'll be in soon."

Annie hugged him, "I won't sleep until you're there."

"Shower and read then," Josh suggested, "I need to talk to your brother."

Annie nodded and hugged Josh leaning her head against his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head and felt her relax against him.

"Night C I'll see you in the morning," Annie said.

Chris paused before hugging her.

"I can still hug you baby isn't that big," Annie laughed.

Chris hugged her, "good night Ann get some sleep."

"Night C," Annie replied.

Once the shower turned on Chris asked, "she's not okay is she?"

"She's not. I don't know what the fuck your parents are thinking," Josh snapped, "they know she doesn't trust them and they don't respect her boundaries then they spring that on her."

"I know I told dad but they wanted the show," Chris said, "they wanted the whole family to show Teddy something. It was about out numbering you guys. They want to bend Annie to see their side."

"I'm going to protect my wife and daughter," Josh said.

"They thought by seeing her they could get her to cave. They didn't know how strong she's gotten," Chris said.

"That crowd was something else," Josh said, "loud, rambunctious, overwhelming. It explains a lot about Annie's reactions to crowds."

"The family here is calm," Chris said.

"They respect us," Josh replied.

"Annie isn't okay is she," Chris said.

"Three panic attacks today," Josh said, "right now she needs to sleep and be held."

"Held," Chris asked.

"When she gets to this stage physical contact is the only thing that will calm her. We use something called deep pressure," Josh explained.

"Who," Chris asked.

"Me or Teddy only," Josh said, "she's not letting anyone else touch her. Your mom isn't respecting that. She keeps trying to hug and touch Annie."

"I saw that and my aunts today," Chris said.

"It's a trigger for her," Josh admitted.

"I'm the only person besides you and Teddy that knows about her PTSD right ," Chris asked.

"Owen," Josh replied, "we've all dealt with it in some form. It's something we can talk about with them. We all know each other's triggers. Next time you take Meghan in a helicopter without any of the family please tell Nathan first and let him hug her before she goes."

"How can I help," Chris asked.

"I'll look after her," Josh said, "I need you to be the go between with your parents. Teddy, Owen and I will look after Annie. What do you need? You're caught between the sister with cancer and the pregnant one."

"Jessica I haven't had a relationship with since I was 18," Chris admitted collapsing on the couch.

"What can I do," Josh asked.

"Take care of Annie," Chris said, "she's been my only family for years. I've had the two of you since you moved here. But today that's an explanation for the hell we went though."

"I've only heard Annie's side of what happened," Josh asked, "do you want to tell me yours?"

"I left two. I wasn't smart enough for university so I enlisted," Chris said, "Annie's injuries were worse but mine were more frequent. Jessica stole from us, she would kick me, punch, hit, bite."

"I'm sorry dude," Josh said.

Annie joined them in her pajamas, her long damp hair in a braid.

"Hey," Annie said , "everything okay?"

"Just coming up with a plan," Josh said, he reached towards Annie. She took his hand and sat in her favorite chair."

"What's the plan," Annie asked.

"We don't know," Chris admitted, "but no repeats of today. I sent all but Wendy and Jim's family home. Annie asked grandmere and papa to stay, she's more comfortable with them."

"Thank you," Annie replied, "Shannon stayed?"

"She did. She wants to talk to you more when you're ready," Chris said.

"Jessica though this explains so much," Annie said.

"It does," Chris agreed.

"Maybe she didn't actually hate us like we thought," Annie said, "how much was the tumor?"

"That's your area," Chris said.

"I'll ask Dr Shepard," Annie said, "it explains Jessica but why can't mom and dad accept us for who we are."

"I don't know," Chris said, "it's always been the Jessie show. We were always the back up singers."

"It was. We were always out of synch at least I was," Annie said, "it made more sense when I got to know mama. What didn't fit with them was all her. But that cost me mom and dad."

"Jessica couldn't handle it," Chris said, "we don't know what mom and dad have been though. Why did they make the choices they did."

"I don't know what happened but I promise that it will never happen to my daughter," Annie said.

"We won't let it happen," Josh promised.

"I know," Annie said, "I thought they gave up on me because I was the second choice."

"Second choice," Chris said, "that's what you thought?"

"I was adopted. Little orphan Annie," Annie replied, "you were really theirs."

Chris sighed, "you were the first the one we had to measure up to. And you set that pretty high."

Annie began to cry, "but you were plan A. You have their DNA. She carried you and felt your little kicks and hiccups. You were theirs."

Josh could see Annie staring to spiral and cut her off, "we need to go to bed. It's after midnight you need to sleep. Come on I'll go shower and you can read or curl up with Milo."

"I'm too stressed to sleep," Annie whined.

"Come on," Josh said, offering her his hand, "do you want me to carry you?"

"No," Annie sniffled.

"Let's go to bed," Josh said, "we'll know more tomorrow afternoon."

Annie nodded and let Josh pull her up out of the chair. She could have done it but she was tired and overwhelmed. Josh put his arm around her and guided her to the bedroom.

Chris watched them go. He wished his fiancé was as supportive. He had begged Becky to come with him to this and be there with him but she didn't want to leave her life. Usually when things were tough he leaned on Annie and Josh but he realized after today he needed to support them. This wasn't Annie but he couldn't figure out how much was their parents and how much was the baby. But she had been excited and bouncy at New Years. They had talked the day before Jessica had been brought to the hospital and Annie had been great, she had just done her first solo transplant.

Annie sat on the edge of the bed still crying, "cancer. Jessica has cancer. You heard Shepard she was 99% sure. All these years I've been angry and bitter and blamed her when it was a tumor and cancer acting. She was actually sick and I refused to believe it. I'm

A doctor, a surgeon and I didn't see it. How did I not know?"

Josh sat beside her, "babe you can't have known. They'd never had a CT or an MRI. You saw the behavior and the symptoms and made a logical diagnosis from what you saw. You hadn't seen her in 8 years. That tumor had been growing for 12-14years."

"14 years ago that's when she started hurting me like really hurting me where I needed X-rays and sutures," Annie said.

"So you lived with it for 6 years," Josh said.

"Three years of pre med at UBC," Annie said, "it started in grade 10."

"How could you have known," Josh said, "you were a kid. I've seen your scars from her. You didn't know. That's your parents not investigating."

"I should have seen the signs. Put it together," Annie said.

"It's a zebra," Josh said, "they had no reason to run the tests. They looked for horses."

"When treatment didn't work they didn't look for more answers," Annie said, "I should have pushed for it."

"You protected yourself," Josh said, "you can't blame yourself. Her behavior is so erratic I wouldn't think it was a tumor. No one could think like that without the scans. You're okay, we're okay, Ellie is okay."

"She's wiggly," Annie said.

"You enjoy baby wiggles while I shower. Then I'll hold you until you fall asleep," Josh said.

"Quick shower," Annie asked.

"Two minutes," Josh promised, "you get cozy."

Annie nodded and began to move all the extra throw pillows off the bed placing a couple on the floor on her side of the bed. She sometimes liked them to help her get more comfortable. She laid down and tried to get comfortable. She was over tired but couldn't begin to turn her brain off. Josh slipped into bed with Annie putting his arm around her, she moved his hand to where Ellie was kicking and wiggling. He left the hand there and gently kissed the back of her neck.

"Breath and relax," Josh whispered, "I'm right here you're okay you just need to breathe. Stop fighting it and sleep. We're home in our room. Your safe it's just you and me."

Annie whispered, "can you hold me until I fall asleep?"

Josh replied, "I will. You're okay. I love you."

"I love you too," Annie whispered.

Slowly Josh felt Annie relax in his arms and her breathing slow. She was asleep for now. He knew she would wake up either being uncomfortable, needing the washroom or the last couple weeks a nightmare.

Saturday morning Teddy sat staring blankly out the window to the backyard her hands wrapped around her now cold and untouched coffee cup. Allison and Leo had stayed at Evelyn's the night before.

"You're up early," Owen said, joining her on the window seat.

"Can't sleep," Teddy said.

"Cancer," Owen said, "it explains some of it but doesn't excuse the shoddy parenting and abuse or abandonment."

"It doesn't," Teddy said, "but we'll know for sure Monday. Amelia was 99.9% sure it was cancerous. I'm trying to figure out how to fix it. To get Jessica the treatment she needs and get Annie's stress down."

"Jessica will have to go back to Vancouver," Owen said, "get her stable then transport."

"They had her at children's hospital in Vancouver for six weeks ten years ago where was the head CT or MRI then," Teddy asked, "the complete neuro work up?"

"Her symptoms were behavioral and cognitive," Owen said, "it presented as mental health which is way more common than a brain tumor."

"If they had it could have saved Annie years of pain," Teddy said, "I wish I could erase that for her. Then seeing her yesterday."

"That was hard on her," Owen agreed, "I spoke to Dan about it. How pushing Annie will only drive her away."

"They don't get it," Teddy said, "they should be in her life however she wants them to be. But now this isn't the time. Owen, she was over this. She was happy. The day before the collapse she did her first solo transplant. She was bouncing around the hospital. She was happy and excited she was so confident. Yesterday that was 8 years of work at least undone."

"I know," Owen said, "I've said as much to Dan. That who they are seeing isn't Annie. She still hides who she is. I think she'll be fine when they go home. Teddy we'll figure out a way to get Jessica her treatment and keep Annie safe. We won't lose Annie. Leslie might still be mom to her face but Annie doesn't talk to her unless she has to. Annie hides from them. She comes to us. When you hear her talking we're her parents and the McKellars."

"I know I don't worry about that," Teddy said, "I always assumed I'd have to share her. But yesterday seeing how much hurt there still is. They all pressured her to go back. Told her to come home. No matter how many times she said this is her home. And no one respected her not wanting to be touched."

"Leslie and Dan don't either and I know I've said something so has Josh many times," Owen said, "Annie sits or stands with things in the way."

"She uses the nurses station as a physical barrier they can't cross," Teddy acknowledged.

"Their words and actions don't match," Owen growled, "and calling themselves her real family."

"That made me angry. I stayed in my office after that," Teddy grumbled, "if any of them cared where were they? Why didn't they reach out? They all could have emailed or called or gone to visit."

"I don't know. They blame Jessica but it's not all her fault," Owen said, "they made choices."

"I want them all out of my hospital," Teddy said, "at least in ICU Jessica can only have two visitors. I'm going to make them think they have to choose which two."

"Were going to protect our daughter," Owen said, "she looked so much younger yesterday. That wasn't our Annie."

"It was their Annie," Teddy agreed, "she was so unhappy and upset then no one except Marie, Doug, Shannon and Catherine respected her. She tried to speak up and they shut her down."

"Josh said there was a major panic attack," Owen replied.

"She shouldn't have been at the hospital," Teddy stated, "when I found out they were all coming Annie should have gone home. She would have been calmer. Now she's worried about her check up Monday because she's sure her blood pressure is up."

"Look at what's going on around her," Owen said, "all of ours is."

"Today I should check in but you're going to stay here with our kids," Teddy said, "our kids need a quiet home day. Well give Annie and Josh time to process then have them for dinner."

"Chris was on his own," Owen said.

"Where was Becky," Teddy asked.

"Becky is like Beth, she can't handle this," Owen said, "I never told Beth when Dan died. She could hardly handle Meghan being captured. It was my sister. I needed her to be there for me and she wasn't. I had you."

"You always had me," Teddy promised.

"I wonder what Dan Mooney would think. Seeing us now," Owen asked.

"He'd be happy for us," Teddy smiled, "the guys that know are."

"Teddy we will work through all of this," Owen promised.

"We need to get her diagnosed and stable then she has to go back to BC," Teddy said, "their support network is there, their provincial government will cover all of Jessica's treatments."

"Work with the doctors there as much as you can," Owen said.

"We'll get through this," Teddy reiterated, "our priority is Annie. Dan and Leslie will focus on Jessica. We need to support Annie, Josh and Chris. This is going to bring all that trauma back."

"It will," Owen said, "but we will be with them."

"We always are," Teddy said, "but why now. These should be ecstatic happy months for her."

"They will be," Owen said, "we'll get Jessica stabilized and home. Then we have a while before that baby comes."

"Ten weeks," Teddy said, "almost there. She's going to need me more."

"We will be there for her," Owen said, "we always are."

"I know she calls you Uncle Owen but she thinks of you as her dad," Teddy said.

"I've already told them that I think of her as my daughter," Owen said.

"How did they reply," Teddy asked.

"No response," Owen said.

"We should go get our two," Teddy said.

"I'll make fresh coffee while you get dressed," Owen replied.