A/N: Really don't own them. See intro for anything else. Thank you for the reviews. Congrats to Soccer-Bitch for being review #100. Don will be by anytime with your prize. Want a prize? Then ya gotta review.

Don tipped his beer back and took a hit. He leaned against the wall watching Danny miss his shot. He pushed away and grinned. "Well, that settles it, Messer, you are so going down."

Danny waved his pool cue at Don. "Ya think so?"

"Ain't no thinkin' involved. I know." Don tapped his temple.

"I'll bet ya fifty."

"That you're gonna lose? Not much confidence, Danny. Moonin' after Lindsay has changed ya, Man." Don smirked as he shook his head.

"No, ya idiot. I bet ya fifty, yer goin' down," corrected Danny. "An' speakin' of moonin', who was callin' me up the minute his girl flew outta town cuz he was lonely?"

Don stopped his circling of the table and looked over at Danny. "I'm pretty sure that was you."

"I don't think so."

"Yeah. It was." Don looked up from the table. "Ya could fly out there."

"To Montana?"

"That is where Linds went, right?"

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. I don't know if she wants me there though."

"What Lindsay wants hasn't stopped ya from chasin' her before."

""This comin' from the man whose girl is in Toledo without him."

"My situation is just a little more complicated," replied Don. He lined up cue ball, shot and sent the stripped ball straight into the pocket. He walked over to his next shot. "I think yer scared."

"Fine words comin' from you, Flack."

Don sunk another striped ball. "Oh, I'll admit that I'm scared. Completely terrified. But I wouldn't go back. Not for a minute."

Danny shook his head. "I never thought I'd see the day."

Don looked up and grinned. "Amazing, isn't it?" He sunk his last stripped ball. "Eight ball, side pocket," he called. He lined up his final shot, and then lifted his head briefly. "Kiss that fifty good-bye, Messer."

Danny took a long pull on his beer. "Yer gonna choke like always, Flack." Don drew the cue back and sent it forward. The cue ball flew at its target. It hit the eight ball and spun backward. The eight ball fell into the pocket with a snap.

"You were sayin'?" Don picked up his beer and took a swig.

"That's it's a good thing ya won. After all, you have a kid comin'. Yer gonna need the money."

Don waved his beer bottle at Danny. "Sure. That's yer excuse." Don's phone rang. He grinned at Danny. "Speakin' of Tess." He thumbed the phone to answer. "Hiya, Sweetheart." There was silence at the other end. "Tess?"

"This is Adam. Tess' brother."

Don set his beer down. Danny's face fell as he watched the look of panic pass over his best friend's face. "What happened ta Tess?" Don gripped the edge of the table. His heart started pounding.

"Tess collapsed and is going down to Emergency."

Don suddenly unfroze. He headed for the door, grabbing his coat on the way. "I'm on the next flight ta Toledo. I'll call when I get there. Tell Tess I love her." He thumbed off the phone. "Gotta run, Danny. Tess is in Emergency."

"The baby?"

"Dunno. Adam jus' said she collapsed. I gotta go."

"Why would Adam be calling and tellin' ya Tess is in Emergency in Toledo?"

"Adam, Tess' brother, not Adam Ross. I'll let ya know." Don slammed the door behind him.

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Adam snapped the phone shut and dropped it back into Tess' tote. He clenched and unclenched his hand. He fought to bring his emotions under control and headed down to the ER. Adam caught up with Tess in the ER waiting area. He handed her the tote. She looked up at him with wary eyes. Adam kept his face blank.

"You forgot this. I assume your wallet's inside."

"Thanks. They wouldn't check me in until I had ID." She searched his face. It revealed nothing. "No lecture?"

"I promised Dad." Adam stepped back and watched his sister as an admissions tech checked her in. When the tech stepped away he approached her again. "I left Dad and Steph upstairs. Who do you want to stay with you until you're through?"

Tess shook her head. "I don't need anyone to stay. I'm fine, but who knows how long it'll take them to be satisfied. No one else needs to lose sleep."

"You don't have to sit here by yourself. Do you want me to send Steph down?"

Tess shook her head again. "John's been trapped all evening with Nagyanya Zsuzsu. Now given a choice, I'd take her over Nagymama Sophie, but I don't John is going to have the same opinion."

"Then I'll stay."

"Well, that will at least keep my blood pressure up," griped Tess.

"Your choice is Steph or me."

"My choice is for all of you to go home."

"Well, that isn't going to happen. How will you get home?"

"I can take a cab. There are cabs in Toledo."

"You aren't taking a cab. Me or Steph?"

"Are you going to bully Stephanie into staying with me?"

"If that's what you want." Tess started to protest again. Adam pushed away from the wall. "I'll send Steph down." He walked off before Tess could say anything else.

Tess was ensconced in an exam room when Stephanie appeared. She looked very disgruntled as she flopped down into the bedside chair.

"It's your fault anyway," accused Tess.

"I wasn't the one that knocked you up."

"No, you were just the one that blurted it out to Daddy and Adam. In front of a nurse, who's making me sit here in the ER."

"You were lying on the floor, Tess."

Tess sighed and lay back against the bed. "Me fainting after sitting for a long time is nothing new. I'm just a little dehydrated and stressed."

"And a little pregnant," reminded Stephanie.

"Which is my business, not yours."

"Well, it's all out now," grumbled Stephanie.

"Yes, it is. Not the best timing, Big Sister. Don't you think Daddy had enough stress going on right now without adding that little tidbit?"

Stephanie leaned forward and glared at Tess. "I really didn't do it on purpose, Tessie."

"Well, on purpose or not, you did it, Stephie." The two sisters glared at each other until Stephanie looked away.

She looked back at Tess with slight smile playing about her lips. "You were probably too busy to notice, but Adam turned all shades of red."

Tess rolled her eyes. "I'm glad you think almost giving Adam a stroke is funny." Tess looked at the ceiling and dug her finger into her scalp. "God. The lecture he's gonna give me."

"He won't be the only one," pointed out Stephanie.

"Eva and Stash," groaned Tess. "Uncle Stash already told me I had better be at Mass tomorrow morning. Maybe now that I'm a fallen woman I can get out of it. Maybe they won't find out until I head back for New York." Tess looked over at Stephanie. "Maybe if you can keep your mouth shut." They dropped into silence again.

"I'm sorry I'm not Don." Tess glanced over at her sister with a funny look. Stephanie shrugged. "I mean he should be here with you waiting to hear everything is okay."

"Everything is okay," insisted Tess. She leaned back against the bed again. "His birthday was a week ago tomorrow. He turned thirty. I had a surprise party on Saturday."

"And you didn't invite me?"

"Ha. Ha." Tess glared at her sister then closed her eyes. "This has been such a crazy year. Nowhere even close to a year." Tess took a deep breath and slowly let it out. With the inactivity of waiting, she was starting to feel the exhaustion creeping over her.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything," Stephanie apologized.

Tess shrugged. "It might have gone better, it might not have. Too late to worry about it now," Tess sighed. A doctor came in with Tess' chart putting an end to their conversation.

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It was very early morning when Tess and Stephanie finally escaped the hospital. They wearily walked out to the parking garage, the frigid air doing nothing to stir them.

"I don't suppose they'll let us sleep in tomorrow," whined Stephanie.

"You mean today. You might be able to. I'm sure Adam will be getting me up very early to yell at me." Tess dug in her tote looking for her phone. She found it and pulled it out. She checked the time. "Maybe I should just go straight to Mass." Tess held up her phone. "It's about six am."

"You have got to be kidding me. I'm gonna kill Adam."

"Good. Then you'll be in worse trouble than I am." Tess flipped open her phone.

Stephanie looked at her incredulously. "You're gonna cam him?"

Tess shook her head. "No. I want to put off Adam's 'discussion' as long as possible. It's just…"

"You're checking voice mail." Tess blushed a little. Stephanie smiled. "Hey, that's fine. Cute even."

"Yeah. That's just what I wanted to hear." Tess flipped open her phone. Missed call, voice mail. She pressed the button to listen now. Tess punched in the access code, waited through the intro and resaved three messages. Finally, her new messages started to play.

"Tess. This is Bette. Don just called. He said you were in Emergency. God, I hope you're alright. He's on his way, but his flight won't get in until late morning. Tess, please take care of yourself. Call me as soon as you can." Tess stopped.

Stephanie had continued forward for a few steps before she realized it. She turned back toward Tess and frowned. 'What?" Tess just waved a hand at her sister.

"Tess, Sweetheart. Goddamn airport. Sorry. The flight's hung-up. It'll be later than I thought. I don't even know if yer listening ta yer voice mail. I shoulda jus' flown out with ya. How come ya couldn't come from somewheres with more flights? Never mind. It's just hanging out in airports not knowin' what's goin' on. I'll grab a cab when I land. I love you, Sweetheart." Confusion enveloped Tess.

Stephanie's unease grew as she watched her sister growing more concerned. "Tess, what's going on?" Tess just waved her hand again and continued to listen to messages.

"Tess, Sweetheart, the frickin' plane is finally getting ready ta take off. They finally managed ta de-ice it or whatever the hell they were fuckin' around wit'. Sorry. I'm being waved at ta turn off the phone. Jus' a minute. Ya won't be able to talk ta me. Please leave a voice mail. I'll call ya as soon as I can. Okay. Okay. See. I'm turning it off. Love ya. Please be okay. Promise me." The message ended. Tess shakily pulled the phone from her ear. She sat down on the edge of a parking barrier.

"Tess?" Tess didn't answer for a minute. She looked up at Stephanie. The eyes were dark with rage. Stephanie took a step back.

"Did you call Don?" she asked very slowly, working hard not to scream. Stephanie shook her head.

"Adam," they both said at the same time. Tess resisted the urge to smash her phone. She wanted to break something. Anything. It had been a long time since she had been so absolutely furious.

"I…am…going…to…kill…him," she ground out through clenched teeth. Stephanie believed her. She was almost willing to help Tess do it. Tess flipped open her phone and held down a button. She tugged hard on her braid while she waited for it to ring through. "Don." She took a deep breath, trying desperately to bring her rage under control. "I wish I could have talked to you. Or talk to you now." She took another deep breath. "God. I wish I knew exactly what Adam said to you. I'm fine." Tess took a deep breath. "The baby is fine." Her voice rose in pitch. Tess felt tears starting to prickle. She took several deep breaths. She didn't want to panic Don any more over nothing. "The doctor did an ultrasound. He didn't need too. There was nothing wrong." Tess tried to swallow back the tears. "I know you wanted to be there. I made sure we got a couple of pictures." Tess could feel the cold dribble of tears over her cheeks. She tugged at the end of her braid. "I was dehydrated. I had been sitting too long. I stood up too fast." She snuffled a little. "And I was just a little stressed." Tess dug at her eyes. "I'm still a little stressed. I'll call you again. Hopefully, I'll get through. I love you." Tess snapped her phone shut and stared at it. Her anger had deflated as she had talked to Don's voice mail, leaving her feeling even more rung out.

Stephanie touched her arm. "Are you okay?"

Tess shook her head. "No. No, I'm not. There is nothing the least bit okay about this whole situation." Tess shivered. "However, since I don't plan to freeze, I can't just sit here." She stood up. "I don't want to go home just yet. Why don't you drop me by St. Stephen's?"

"Are you sure?"

Tess nodded. "Yeah. I need to be on some neutral ground. I still feel like throttling Adam."

"I could do that for you," suggested Stephanie.

"Don't. Just let Daddy know I'm okay and that I'll catch up with him later."

"You shouldn't run away, Tess."

"I'm not." A brief smile passed over her face, and she shook her head. "I'm just getting off the thin ice."

"You're crazy, Tess."

"Pretty much," agreed Tess.

Stephanie sighed. "Come on or you aren't gonna make Mass." She started for the car with Tess following.

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