"I'm sorry Mrs. Eaton. We're going to have to admit you."

Tris exhaled hard. She knew it was coming, but that didn't make it any easier. She was thirty-two weeks pregnant and had been experiencing preterm labor throughout the day. Though she tried everything possible, she hadn't been able to get the pains to stop, so Jorik had driven her and Rebekah from their morning at the family center straight to the hospital in Tirana.

"It's too early," Tris said to Dr. Hoxha, who nodded in agreement.

"I think we were able to stop your labor," he comforted her. "Your waters did not break, and the contractions are easing off now. But I'm afraid we won't be able to send you home. We need to keep you here to monitor the babies."

"For how long?" Tris asked, aghast at this new development.

"Probably until they are ready to be born," the doctor said. "I told you it was a possibility. You are very small to carry twins. Your blood pressure is a little high, and now you are having contractions. You need to be on bedrest and be monitored so we can make sure your babies are safe and so we can intervene right away if you try to have labor again too soon."

Tris groaned. "So you're going to keep me here for, like, weeks?" she asked.

The doctor nodded. "They're preparing a private room for you," he said. "You'll be confined to bed most of the time, but there's a television, some comfortable seating for your husband and visitors, and a refrigerator for snacks and things. I'm sure your staff will make it very comfortable for you."

Tris sighed. She wanted to fight back, but another ripple of cramping took the fight out of her. The doctor was right. She needed to do whatever it took to keep Lilly and Five safe until they were big enough to be born.

A sudden commotion in the hallway allerted them to Tobias' arrival.

"Zotëri!" ("Sir!") barked the agitated voice of one of the nurses. "Ju nuk mund të hyni në atë dhomë derisa të jeni të qetë. Gruaja juaj ka nevojë që ju të jeni të qetë."
("You can not enter that room until you are calm. Your wife needs you to be calm.")

"Tobias," Tris recognized Amar's voice in a rare commanding tone. "Sit down."

A second later there was a knock on the exam room door, and Dr. Hoxha bade the visitor to enter. It was Amar, and Tris greeted him with a rueful smile.

"It's okay," she said. "The contractions are easing off. They wanted to be born today, but Dr. Hoxha stopped it. Everything is fine."

"Good," Amar said simply, and Tris could hear a complex assortment of emotions in that simple word.

Before she could say anything else, he left. Dr. Hoxha's eyebrows shot up, but Tris understood. Amar's first order of business was calming Tobias. Both for his peace of mind and for hers. She needed her husband, but she needed him calm. Amar could make that happen.

The doctor watched the monitors for a few more minutes, making little thoughtful tutting and clucking sounds as he made notes in Tris' chart. Amar knocked again, and this time he brought a very pale and shaken-looking Tobias with him into the exam room.

"I'm fine," Tris said firmly, though all three men could see that she was upset. "The babies are fine. I had some preterm labor, but Jorik got me here quickly. My water didn't break, and Dr. Hoxha got the contractions to stop - or at least slow down. It's getting better. We're fine."

"Okay," Tobias croaked. His color began to return to normal as he stepped to her side and took one of her shaking hands in his.

"I need to keep Mrs. Eaton in the hospital," the doctor said calmly. "The immediate danger is passed, but we need to make sure she isn't leaking amniotic fluid. We also watch the babies and keep her on bedrest so this doesn't happen again. If she had been at home instead of at the center when this happened, she might not have gotten here in time."

Tobias' eyes flew to Tris' face. When he saw that she wasn't resisting but was biting her trembling lip, he knew she had been truly scared by the incident.

"Are you alright?" he asked his wife in a husky voice.

Tris nodded, unable to form even a simple "yes" as her eyes filled with tears.

"Perhaps we should step out for a minute," the doctor said to Amar.

Amar nodded. "I'll check in with Rebekah and Jorik," he said of the duo waiting in the lobby.

The two men left, and Tris began to cry.

"Stay calm," Tobias warned, putting a hand on either side of Tris' huge pregnant belly.

Tris sniffled, trying to get ahold of her wild torrent of hormone-fueled emotions. "I was so scared," she admitted in a whisper.

"I know," Tobias said gently. "You did the right thing coming to the hospital."

"I have to stay until they're born," Tris continued. "Dr. Hoxha wants me on full bed rest and observation until it's safe."

Tobias just nodded. "Whatever it takes," he said resignedly.

"You're a good daddy," Tris encouraged in a weak, tired voice. "I'm sorry I'm not very good at this whole pregnancy thing. First I couldn't quit throwing up, and now I'm trying to evict my little tennants too early. My blood pressure is up, too, but that's probably just stress from the premature labor pains."

"Zemra ime," Tobias said in a warning tone. "You're growing twins. That's a difficult thing. You're doing everything you can."

"Still," Tris lamented. "Pregnancy is a normal, natural thing. I had no idea I could be so bad at it."

"Twins are… a lot," Tobias said, trying to help. "But you're doing well. You've handled everything with grace, and you're absolutely beautiful. I never understood why they say that pregnant women glow until I saw it on you. You aren't waiting for the babies to be born to be a good mother - you already are one. I know this is hard for you, but you're doing it for them."

Tris nodded resolutely, even as her eyes welled up with tears. "I don't want to stay in the hospital," she whimpered. "It could be weeks."

"I know," Tobias sympathized. "But we're parents now. We do what we have to to keep our kids safe and healthy."

.

Tobias' pep talk really did help - at least for the first few days. So did the support of the Eatons' staff and friends in Albania, and their loved ones in America.

Amar and Rebekah packed luggage for Tris and Tobias, and brought their things to Tirana. Amar rented a hotel suite near the hospital for Tobias, and rooms in the same hotel for himself and Rebekah.

Tris' assistant came to the hospital every day so Tobias could work for a few hours, and Tris could keep up her language and cultural lessons.

Back at the estate, Roza oversaw the decorator's finishing touches on the nursery, and prepared the house and staff for the twins' arrival. George and Tori visited Tris when they could. Jorik brought things back and forth to and from the estate as needed. He always stopped in to visit, but Tris knew that seeing Rebekah was his real motivation.

Christina called almost daily. Tobias threw a fit after her first call because he knew how expensive the international rates were, and neither he nor Tris had American phone numbers anymore. He sent a group text to Tris' friends asking them not to call, but to text Tris and have her call them. They gratefully accepted his offer, and Tris spoke to at least one of her friends every day she was in the hospital.

Her family, too, called or emailed most days. Caleb continued to email his sister a lot. He was still loving school - and Myra - and saw his therapist less and less often. The siblings rarely talked about the past, preferring to build their relationship on the present. Tris found that she liked this new version of Caleb, clean from Jeanine's drugs and under the influence of Myra's gentle support instead.

When her daughter was hospitalized, Natalie offered to fly to Albania, but Tris assured her that she would rather have her help once the babies came. Instead, they talked on the phone, and Tris' parents assured her that they were there for her day or night, even if all she needed was someone to entertain her with conversation.

She wasn't happy about being stuck in the hospital, but she reminded herself often of Tobias' words - "whatever it takes" - it was worth anything to give her babies the growing time they needed to be born healthy.

.

After ten days in the hospital, Tris was bored out of her mind. Every day was the same. Every morning she woke up alone in her hospital bed. Tobias would stop by after her breakfast and before his work. He timed his morning visits to line up with Dr. Hoxha's morning rounds, which kept him in the loop about her progress, but it also limited their time alone together.

When her husband and Amar left for Tobias' Tirana office, Rebekah would arrive for Tris' daily language lesson. That lasted until around noon, when the hospital staff brought lunch.

Afternoons were the worst. Tris had hours to fill, and there wasn't often anyone to entertain her. She read books, watched movies, talked on the phone if anyone was available, and took naps. Tobias rarely came back until after dinner, and the time passed slowly trapped in her bed.

One day Tris was tapping idly at her laptop, and mindlessly ran her name through an internet search. She grimaced at the old news story from when the press blew her cover back in Chicago. She watched the morning show clips that she and Tobias did for the art opening. She saw a few of her wedding photos and the stories about Jeanine that mentioned or quoted Tris.

Still bored, she entered Tobias' name. She had Googled him before, back when they first met. As expected, the results looked a bit different after nearly three years of business news and life changes. But what caught Tris' attention was a new article from a gossip site. "Trouble in Paradise?" the headline read. "Tobias Eaton seen all over town with unknown brunette beauty while his pregnant American wife is nowhere to be seen. Is this another divestment and acquisition for the business mogul?"

Tris blanched as she scrolled down the page. Picture after picture showed Tobias and a tall, thin woman with long, dark hair. The photos showed the pair eating at an outdoor cafe, walking down the street together with Tobias' hand on the woman's lower back, and Tobias holding the door of his black Mercedes for the woman - outside of the hotel he was staying in.

It wasn't some isolated business lunch blown out of proportion, Tris knew, because in each picture they were wearing different clothes. She was horrified, devastated, and felt betrayed not just by Tobias, but by Amar as well. Tris knew that if Tobias and the woman had been in his car, Amar certainly knew about it.

I should have known better, she lamented as tears began pouring down her face. What would someone like Tobias want with a nobody like me?

Not knowing what else to do, Tris copied the link to the article and texted it to her mom. It was early morning in Chicago, but she knew her parents would help her.

She chose her dad's number from her contacts and hit the call button.

"Tris?" Andrew's drowsy voice picked up after two rings.

"Daddy!" Tris sobbed.

"Sweetheart are you okay?" he asked in alarm. "Are the babies okay?"

"Tris?" Natalie's worried voice joined the conversation. "Sweetheart, It's Mom. We have you on speaker."

"Mama," Tris cried. "I… I think Tobias is cheating on me. I sent you a link to an article. He's been out with some other woman. I shouldn't… I should have known - should have expected this. I'm not… I don't belong here in his world. I can't… I want to go home!"

"My girl," Natalie crooned, passing her phone to Andrew after she'd seen what Tris sent her. "You are that man's world. He loves you. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this paparazzi nonsense. Have you talked to him?"

"No," Tris sniffled. "I don't know what to say. I can't really blame him. I never belonged in his world, and I'm sure he's realizing that now that I'm not there. I'm failing at the basic human skill of pregnancy, and he's bored being alone. I'm sure he's realizing that he could do better."

"That's not true and you know it," Andrew said sternly, but with warmth. "At the risk of getting my head bit off, you're hormonal and emotional right now, Beatrice. You're not seeing things logically. Mom is right; Tobias wouldn't do this to you. He's a good man. We'll get this figured out."

Someone tapped on Tris' hospital room door. She swiped quickly at her tear-streaked face as Rebekah poked her head in.

"I'm on the phone with my parents," Tris said, waving dismissively at her assistant.

Rebekah hesitated, but when Tris repeated the gesture, she retreated.

"As much as I hate to hear any man dismiss a woman's feelings as 'hormonal,' Dad has a point," Natalie said, trying to lighten the mood. "You're under a lot of stress right now."

Tris' phone beeped with an incoming call. She looked at the screen and rejected it when she saw that it was Amar.

"I just want to go home," Tris repeated. "I can't do this. I can't live in a foreign country. I can't handle twins. I don't belong in Tobias' world. I want to go back to being nobody special. At least when Peter cheated on me I didn't read about it in some gossip column!" She broke down in big, heaving sobs.

Across the ocean, Andrew reached for Natalie's hand. Neither of them knew what Tris was talking about regarding Peter. They knew their daughter had been in a short-term relationship with a boy by that name, but this was the first they'd heard about her being cheated on. They also couldn't believe that Tobias would do that to their daughter. They felt helpless, and their hearts ached for their grown-up little girl.

When Tris first called and woke them up, Natalie had seen the article, showed it to Andrew, then texted Amar. When Tris broke down, she sent Tobias' assistant another message.

N: Is someone close? She's falling apart. This cannot be good for the babies.

A: Rebekah went, but she sent her away. We're almost there.

.

Tobias had been in a very important meeting with some of his Greek shipping interests when Amar stuck his head in the door.

"Mr. Eaton, I'm sorry to interrupt," the assistant said. "I'm afraid it's an emergency."

"Tris?" he asked, suddenly on high alert.

Amar nodded.

"Excuse me," Tobias said as he leapt from the table.

The second they were out of the conference room, Amar started explaining. "She found the article," he said. "Natalie messaged me. I sent Rebekah to the hospital. Tris' parents are trying to calm her down, but we need to go before any harm comes to the babies."

Tobias swore angrily. "Get Samuel in here to finish the meeting with the Greeks. Call the lawyers and have them deal with the article. If the babies are hurt because this sends Tris into labor or something, I'm suing. I have to call Therese."

Tobias turned and marched down the hall to the big office he kept in Tirana. As he walked in, he slammed the door behind himself. He opened his phone and swiped to his recent calls, pressing send.

"Hey, it's me," he said with a heavy sigh when the woman answered. "My wife saw that article. I'm going to have to tell her about us."

.

.

Amar drove the car up to the front of Tobias' Tirana office building. He hopped out to wait for his boss just as he received Natalie's second message - the one where she asked if someone was close. He quickly fired off his reply as Tobias walked up.

"Tris has refused to see Rebekah," Amar informed Tobias. "And Mrs. Prior messaged again. She's worried about the babies. Tris is very upset."

Tobias swore again. I fucked up, he thought over and over, the words repeating in his head like a drumbeat.

Amar pulled up to the hospital entrance, and Tobias bolted from the car and into the building. He skipped the elevator and ran up the stairs to his wife's room.

He heard her sobs as soon as he stepped out of the stairwell, and Tobias' heart shattered. Guilt and fear paralyzed him for a moment, then he pressed on.

Without knocking, Tobias opened the door to Tris' room. He saw his heavily pregnant wife rolled up in the fetal position, using her entire body to surround their unborn twins as she sobbed. Rebekah sat on the edge of the bed by Tris' back, stroking the pregnant woman's shoulder and keeping Tris' hair from falling in her face while she cried.

"You need to calm down," Rebekah was saying. "Think of the babies."

"How… how could he do this to me?" Tris wailed. "I feel so… blindsided. I thought Tobias was better than the others. He's not… mean… like his father. I never thought he would… cheat… like his… his ancestors. I believed in him, and he… he… Who is that woman, and how long has he…"

Tris' voice broke on another sob.

"She's my sister," Tobias said in a strong voice. "I didn't tell you because we're waiting for DNA results, and because the doctors didn't want you to have any extra stress. The woman in those pictures is my half-sister - Evelyn's daughter, Therese."