I don't own WOWP.

Ian got to the door first. He threw it open to find a dark-haired girl standing there, covered head to toe in snow.

"Dani?!" What in the world are you doing here?" Alex asked in astonishment. Dani Romano was her best friend from the magical world. She hadn't expected to ever see her again.

"What do you think I'm doing here? I go on vacation for two weeks and come back to learn that my best friend's married and living in Europe!" Dani said, almost hysterical. She crossed the threshold and stared narrowed her eyes at Ian. "And just so you know, I don't like you."

"No Dani, it's his dad who's evil, not him," Alex said quickly.

"Runs in the family I say," Dani responded, although she did calm down a little.

"Dan, I still don't get why you made the nearly impossible trip to our front door just to say hello," Alex said as Ian closed the door behind the newcomer.

"Well truth is, I was kinda enlisted by your family. Apparently Russo magic is the worst kind to use around Pendragon land. Believe me, they tried. So they sent me instead; the Romanos are probably the obscurest of magical families. And I really wanted to come anyway, so here I am," Dani explained.

"I'm glad you did," Alex said with a smile. If she couldn't see her family, at least she had Dani to make her feel better; the girl was like a sister to her.

"You must be cold. Why don't you and Alex sit by the fire and I'll go get you some tea," Ian said.

"Fine, but don't poison it or anything," Dani said curtly.

Alex laughed. "Come on, Dani."

Dani whistled as they sat down by the hearth in the living room, glancing around at every extravagant furnishing and tapestry. "Beats my house. This place is like one hundred times bigger," she said.

"How are things back home?" Alex asked, curling up on her favorite couch.

"Same old same old. My mom spends a lot of her time over at your house, trying to cheer everyone up."

"Is it that bad?"

"Not terribly. Although my mom did bring board games last time, which she wouldn't do unless she was desperate."

Alex laughed. She had missed her friend's humor over the past couple of months.

"Well you haven't changed a bit. No wait, I take that back. You are a little pale," Dani noted.

"That's not anything different," Alex said, hugging her knees again. She wasn't sure how her friend would react to the news.

"No, this is different. Are you sure you're not sick or something?"

"I'm sure."

"Alex, you should know by now that you can't hide anything from me. Come on, spill." Dani scooted the ottoman she was sitting on closer to Alex, who suddenly wasn't feeling too well. Her heart was beating at a nervous pace.

"Please stop," Alex said, covering her mouth. Her stomach was threatening to repeat past history, and she didn't exactly want to run to the bathroom with Dani there.

"Irritable and sick, but for no obvious reason. This isn't like you, Alex." Dani had dropped her joking manner and was now looking Alex up and down as if searching for an answer.

"Well you usually are when you're---" Alex stopped mid-sentence, finding it hard to finish.

Dani's eyes widened. "Are you...pregnant?" She asked in a low voice.

Alex nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Alex! What in the world were you thinking?!" Dani shrieked, clearly shocked.

"What's going on?" Ian asked, drawn to the living room by Dani's shriek. He was wiping scalding tea off his hands.

"You!" Dani said when she saw Ian. Her eyes narrowed again. She marched up to him, completely ignoring the fact that he was a whole foot taller than her. "Think you can just take advantage of her just because she's stuck here with you? Are all Pendragons really that selfish?"

"It's not like that!" Ian retorted, angry. It didn't help things that he already felt responsible for the situation.

"Stop it, you guys!" Alex demanded, but no one heard her. It wasn't until she got up and raced towards the bathroom that the two stopped arguing.

Dani apologized immediately when Alex reappeared. "Sorry, Alex. I got a little...carried away. I guess I was just so in shock, and yelling is one way for me to handle things," she said.

Alex smiled wanly. "I know. It was kind of unexpected."

"I'm still happy for you, you know."

"Dani, it's okay. Besides, I might have been worried something was wrong with you if you hadn't overreacted," Alex joked.

Dani grinned and helped her friend to the couch.

"I think I have an idea," Ian suddenly said, looking from his wife to her best friend. "It's not my favorite, but it might just work out."

And that was how Dani was appointed to help Alex while she was carrying the child. She sent a message home to her mother that evening, saying that she would be staying for a couple months because Alex was seriously ill. At least that's what she had to say. No one, not even Alex's family, could know about the baby. Word traveled like lightning in the magical world, and Arthur would have surely found out one way or another.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Alex asked her friend after her first night sleeping in the castle.

"Of course. My mom's busy enough; I'm probably making it easier for her by staying here," Dani responded, stirring the eggs with the wave of her hand. She had insisted on making a large breakfast that morning after Ian left for work. "Anyways, what if I went home and you fell off the edge of the mountain or something? Nope, I'm staying here."

Alex smiled. "Well it does get pretty lonely when Ian's not here," she said.

"About Ian. You sure he's okay?" Dani asked.

"Yeah. We've gotten to know each other pretty well over the past several months. Anyway, do you think I'd be in this situation if I knew he wasn't a good guy?"

"But he is a Pendragon, and you know how they are."

"Just because his family has a reputation doesn't mean he's like that. Remember your Grandpa Vinnie?"

"Alex! You know we don't speak of Grandpa Vinnie and his 'issues'."

"Oh, you mean with the mob?"

"Alex..."

"Hey, just making a point. You turned out okay. Or at least I think you did."

Dani slapped her with a kitchen towel and laughed. "Okay, okay. I got it. I'm just worried."

"We all are. Maybe we should just try to relax; stress only makes it harder."

"True." Dani busied herself with buttering four pieces of toast. "So do you have a name picked out yet?"

"Dani, I just found out yesterday," Alex reminded her.

"Oh come on. When we were little we had a whole list of names picked out."

"Yeah, but that was a long time ago. I'll have to talk to Ian about it."

"Or you could just name it after your best friend."

"Oh yeah, a boy named Daniela. I can see that happening."

"If it's a girl, you nut. or Daniel, if it's a boy. My name's pretty versatile."

"Really? Well, we'll see."

Notes: Dani is based quite a bit off of Demi Lovato. I needed a comic relief character, so I brought her in. Thanks for reading, please review.