Alice felt the bed sank next to her. She halfheartedly woke up and threw an arm over Tracy.
"I miss our king," Tracy said.
"I know. Listen, I need to tell you something and I need you not to make a big deal out of it," Alice mumbled.
"What is it? Can it wait until morning?"
"Okay. It's just a baby kicked, the first real kick I felt," Alice whispered.
"So our baby likes our family drama?" Tracy was more awake now.
"I guess. Tiger, she probably won't do it again," Alice said as Tracy placed her head on Alice's stomach.
"She? You bought into my wanting a daughter, huh?" Tracy's hands traced Alice's hips.
"Tiger. Stop. Please, stop that." Alice's face was flushed and her eyes darkened.
Tracy suddenly was jolted back to reality, that this wasn't their king size bed but rather a hospital bed. "I'm sorry. God, this isn't good timing."
"You're a little off,"Alice agreed, rolling on her side. Tracy lightly kissed her.
"I planned on ravishing you. I planned on kissing every inch of your body. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. It's just a little cruel to get me work up when we both know nothing should come of it. At least right now." Alice chuckled.
Tracy's hand found its' way under Alice's shirt, tracing the tattoo of the Greek eternal life symbol in the dark.
"If you're offering to give me a back rub I wouldn't refuse."
"Just was thinking about the time Burroughs saw your tattoo. Did you ever tell her the whole story?"
"No. I should call Julia and tell her we finally got married and about the twins," Alice followed Tracy's gaze to her stomach, "Hey, better late than never."
"She can't get upset about it too much, right? You did save her life."
Alice thought about her cousin that she donated bone marrow to. "True."
"God, I want to sleep."
"I'm sure they will wake us if there's any news."
"Yeah."
"Tracy, honey, wake up, baby sister." Alan shook his sister awake.
"Al? What's going on?"
"Monica wants to talk to us about the surgery."
"Ah, o.k." Tracy glanced at Alice. "Are the boys and Brook still here?"
"I think Ned is. Georgie came and took Dillon and Brook back to your house. Is Alice o.k.?"
Tracy glanced over at her wife, asleep. "She's exhausted. I thought second trimester was supposed to be easier."
"At her age, and the day you two had it's no surprise she's tired."
Tracy woke Alice. "Hey, Lion. I need to talk to Alan but you should sleep."
Alice smiled sleepily. "O.k. Wake me up when you return."
"Well, it should be simple but I want to be clear. At Edward's age, we should be preparing for anything," Monica warned.
"Anything?" Tracy whispered. Alan squeezed her hand.
"Monica is just being cautious. What's Dad's chance of survival?"
"About 80. It looks pretty good. But prepare o.k.? I need to scrub now." Monica hugged Tracy and briefly kissed Alan.
"It should take a couple hours. Tracy, Dad's going to have a hard recovery," Alan started to say.
"If you're suggesting what I'm thinking you're suggesting my wife is going to kill us," Tracy groaned.
"Why would I kill you now?" Alice asked.
Tracy and Alan looked up with guilt looks. Tracy sighed and smiled charmingly.
"Alan thinks when Daddy gets release, we should move back into the house," Tracy said.
Alice sighed and rubbed her belly. "For no more than a month and I want a long weekend alone with you afterwards."
"Maybe we should consider the gatehouse. We would've more privacy and if we have Brook Lyn stay at the main house, we could have wild unbridled sex," Tracy said.
Alice raised an eyebrow. "Tiger, the last time we truly had wild unbridled sex was when Brook Lyn spent the weekend at Serena's eight months ago. We don't do wild unbridled sex."
Tracy pouted. Alan chuckled.
"I couldn't do that even if I wanted to now. But I do love the sex we have." Alice kissed Tracy.
"That was too much information," Alan said.
"Hey, someone might think you might be newlyweds," Ned teased, handing them coffee.
"Is this decaf?" Alice asked.
"Of course. How's my baby brother?"
"You mean, your baby sister," Tracy corrected.
"I hate to do this but Monica and I think its twins and we want one of each." Alan said.
"Really? I don't know if Tracy and I can handle twins."
"Sure, you can," Tracy grinned at her wife.
"Well, we can find out the sex in a couple weeks. But I don't know if I want to know."
Alice was met with objections. "Hey, as the person whose body has been invaded, whose hormones are out of whack, and is freezing a fair amount of the time, I get the final say."
"Of course, Lion." Tracy gently kissed Alice.
"Just want a healthy baby and mom." Alan said.
"I'll try to deliver."
Monica came into waiting room. Alan stood up.
"What happen?"
"Edward's going to be fine. Just need to take better of himself. "
"Like the rest of us." Tracy commented.