Disclaimer - Please see earlier chapters

You know this whole story started nice and light - now it is getting all angsty, I think I'm getting better at writing the angst stuff now, which is help thanks to the tonne of Uni work I'm under. (only 8 weeks to go and I'm free !)

Alec swallowed as he went into the clinic. He knew why he was there, to tell Molly to go home, that she would be better off there. He went into the waiting area to see Max, Cindy, and Joshua, though Logan wasn't there.

He knew what Rollerboy was thinking right now. Hell, he needed someone to think the worst of him right now. Max had shaken her head, not said a word, and left him at the top of the needle. Now she was looking at him sympathetically. They all were, but he didn't need sympathy. He needed someone to hate him.

Shit, why wasn't Logan there. He really needed him there right now. He needed someone to judge him. Logan would, or at least he have the damn decency to let Alec know that he was reserving judgement until he picked over every aspect of the story he'd heard.

"Where is she?" Alec asked flatly, not really wanting to engage them in conversation.

"Waiting for the doc," Cindy said, standing up. "Alec, Max told us what you said, and Molly told us her side. From the sound of it, both of you were out of it."

"Doesn't matter what she said," Alec said, looking toward the room. "Still happened."

He took a step and went into the room.

She was laying on the bed, the Doctor talking to her; she turned as he closed the door. "Alec?"

"Excuse me?" the doctor asked on seeing him there.

"It's okay," Molly said to the doctor. "He's... He's... the father."

He didn't look at her. Instead he focused on the floor. "Molly, I understand why you're here, but I think that you'd be better going back. I don't think you being here is a good idea."

She nodded. "All right."

"I want you to be okay," Alec started to say. "But, whatever you decide you are going to do, it's probably better if you are near family, and that isn't here."

"I'll get what I need, and then I'll go," Molly replied. "You don't need to worry; I don't expect anything from you."

He nodded, turning around to leave as the Doctor began to talk to Molly. The handle of the door wouldn't give. Alec sighed. He guessed what was going on.

"Joshua," he said quietly through the door. "Open the door."

"No," Joshua said, "and don't think Max will make me."

"Please, Joshua. Trying to have dignified exit, here," Alec replied through gritted teeth.

"Alec, deal with it. Deal with Molly," Joshua said through the door as Alec pulled down on the handle, causing it to snap. Alec then turned around to the face the doctor and Molly, door handle in his hand.

"Sorry about this," Alec said, heading toward the window. The woman in the white coat stood up from her seat.

"I can call someone," she said, picking up the phone.

Alec looked at Molly. She smiled at him, trying to look reassuring. "It's okay. I understand."

He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Yeah."

The doctor sat down after finishing the call. "They'll have us out in fifteen minutes, but until then I could get on with this."

Molly nodded. "Sure."

"On with what?" Alec got embarrassed as he realised. He pointed to a spot on the other side of the small room. "I'll be over there."

"Alec, it is all right. It's a scan," Molly replied as the gel was applied.

"I'll still be over here," Alec said, getting as far away from them as he could.

Max swatted Joshua as they watched the caretaker take the door apart. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Medium fella need to talk to Molly, not run away," Joshua said.

Cindy sighed. "If they aren't ready, they aren't ready, Big Dog. You got to let them figure it out in their own time."

"Fine. Ain't ready. Both been through bad thing, but Molly say not Alec's fault. No blame. It was bad thing that did this to both of them, and I believe her. Medium fella may need more time, so probably does she, but not just them now is it?" Joshua stated.

Cindy turned to Max. "When did he get so into planned parenting?"

Max shrugged.

The door opened. Max walked in. Alec was still in the corner, but he was staring at the little screen as the thump of the heartbeat was echoing in the room. He didn't realise that the door was open for a second.

"Is everything… normal?" Alec asked.

"As far as I can tell," the doctor said smiling. "Good heartbeat, too."

"So?" Molly asked.

"Everything's fine," the doctor said. "You two have got yourselves a healthy one by the looks of it."

Alec paled, turning around and on seeing the open door bolted from the room.

"Your baby," Max said as she handed Alec a picture as she found him standing at the clinic entrance.

Alec turned to look at the picture of the grainy blob.

"Max?" Alec said looking at her for help.

She shook her head, causing Alec to bite his lip.

"I told Logan what you said," Max admitted.

Alec didn't look at her. "I guessed you would."

"He told me to be careful around you."

"That's good advice."

"I told him what Molly said, too."

"Why did you do that?" Alec asked. "It wasn't her fault. None of it was!"

"You said that it was like you weren't there. She said something similar."

"Max, she was possessed, and as for me, I have no idea what I was, but I was out of control."

"Don't buy that," Max said.

"You think I'm lying?" Alec asked. "No way in hell it excuses what I did, but it's real, everything that John and the rest of them said. I thought it was just a way of explaining things for them, but it is all real."

She shook her head, "No, I don't think so, but if there is something out there that can cause you to lose control like that, I want to know before someone works out how to bottle it and dumps it in our backyard."

"Right. Do what you want," he replied.

Max swallowed, "Molly said that you asked John to kill you."

Alec looked away.

"Alec, please talk to me," Max begged.

"What do you want me to say? That I didn't force her? That I didn't ra-" Alec took a breath. "Maybe. I don't know, but she wasn't herself, and even if I wasn't all there as well, I took advantage, Max. She may say that I didn't, that it wasn't really us there, but what happened wasn't right."

"I know, but Alec, isn't this something you have to sort out with her? Avoiding her or sending her away isn't going to help."

"Max, can you really risk me losing it like that again?" Alec asked. "Can she?"

"You won't."

"Can you be so sure? What if you're right that none of the ghosts and shit is real? What if what happened was because Psy-Ops was wrong about me? Maybe I just needed more time before I turned..."

"Alec, you didn't do this."

"How could you be so sure if I don't know?"

"I know you, Alec! You haven't turned. You won't turn, and I knew that before I even talked to her. I know when you told me, I left, but I didn't know what to do apart from go and hear her side," Max said, cutting him off.

Alec looked at the ground, feeling ashamed as Max continued. "I know, I don't understand the whole ghost crap, but I believe her when she says you aren't blame. And not just because I know you, but because of the way she says it."

Alec straightened up.

Max sighed as she saw the discomfort on Alec face, "Alec, she said that, if you want to see the baby when it's born, you can. If you wanted, you could be its father. Don't you see? She has no problem if you want be part of its life. Alec, if she was frightened of you or blamed you in any way for what happened, would she let you anywhere near the baby? I know if it was me, I wouldn't."

She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I can't imagine what you are going through right now, but maybe you can have something good come out of it."

Alec didn't reply, instead started to walk away.

"She's got some more tests to go through," Max said. "She'll be staying at Cindy's until she decides what to do."

He didn't turn back around.

He could hear the yelling as he got to the half-open door of Cindy's apartment. He carefully walked in to find Cindy trying to calm the situation down, although it wouldn't do much good.

Molly was trying to explain.

"You are coming home now, and that is final," John said, grabbing Molly's arm.

Alec didn't realise what he was doing. He just reacted. It was if something primal rose from inside him. He hit John, sending him to the floor, ending up standing between him and Molly.

"Don't you touch her," Alec said in a low voice, feeling the need to protect... something.

John took a second before he got up, looking at the two of them.

Molly put a hand on Alec's arm, trying to calm the situation. "Alec, it's all right. Please, I'm all right." Molly turned to her father. "Dad, I have to stay here right now."

"Are you staying here?" John asked Alec.

"No. This is my place," Cindy said, butting into the conversation.

"I'm staying in TC," Alec explained, still standing between John and Molly.

"So what now?" John asked.

Molly swallowed, turned to Alec. "Can you give us five minutes, please?"

"I think that would be a good idea," Cindy said. She turned to Alec who stood his ground for a second before Cindy took his arm. "Come on, Pretty Boy, let's give them a moment. We won't go far."

Alec glanced over his shoulder as he left Molly to explain everything.

Molly took a breath as the door shut, turned to her father. "Dad, please sit down."

John ran his hand through his hair. "You disappear, not even a note, and I have to find out from your friends that you have probably headed out here?"

"Dad, it wasn't like that."

"I don't care what it's like," John said. "Molly, get your things. We are going home."

"I can't, Dad. I need to stay here for a few days."

John clenched his jaw; he didn't want to ask. "Is it him? Are you trying to fix things with him?"

"No, not exactly, and his name is Alec, and last time I checked, he was part of this family, or have you now decided that he doesn't deserve to be anymore?"

John didn't answer.

"Dad, please, I need to sort out a few things, and I need to do it here."

"Molly, you either go and get your things now and come with me, or I am carrying you down to the pickup and taking you home."

"I can't."

"You better have one goddamn hell of a reason why not."

Molly started to tear up as she got the sonogram picture out of her pocket. "I'm pregnant."

"What?" John asked as she handed him the picture.

"I'm pregnant, and it's Alec's."

John sat down as she continued.

"The doctor said it's healthy and seems to be growing all right."

"Jesus, you want to keep it."

"I don't know. Maybe, but I think I want to try," she said hesitantly. "I don't know if those doctors who told us that I could never have kids got it wrong or that it's because of what Alec is or anything else. I could just have been lucky, I suppose, but what if this is my only shot?"

John shook his head, "Lucky? You call this lucky? After what happened out there?"

"You can't even say it, can you?"

John didn't reply.

"Dad, Alec didn't attack me. He tried to fight me off. Whatever had possessed me didn't understand what he was, so it took him for a test run, decided it could have some fun."

"I don't want to hear this," John said.

Molly rubbed a tear from her eye as she continued. "Dad, he didn't force himself on me. My body was just as willing as his was. It was our minds that weren't. It mindfucked both of us, Dad, but it screwed with me first, so if you are going to say that only one of us got raped, then you have to say that I raped him."

"No, you didn't," John said. "You weren't right. You weren't yourself. He was meant to protect you, bring you home, but instead he..."

"He only did that because trying to save me, gave it a chance to crawl inside his head," Molly replied, cutting her father off. "Dad, you have to stop blaming Alec for what happened. I know you need to blame someone, but it shouldn't be him. He tried to fight it, but it used what Manitcore made Alec from against him. He tried to stop it, Dad, he did, but he didn't get what was happening until it was too late, until he... he wasn't him anymore. He isn't to blame for any of this. Why can't you see that? It was my fault. I walked into that hunt with my eyes wide open. I'm the one who screwed up."

John shook his head as he looked at his little girl. "No you didn't. Kenny took you in there half cocked, and if he hadn't, Alec would never have had to be there, and you would never have had to go through..."

"Stop it, Dad. It wasn't Alec's fault. It was mine," Molly said firmly. "What is it you always told me? Know what you are getting into, but always have a backup plan for the unexpected. I didn't double-check Kenny's facts. I took him on his word. I took his lead without giving him any input on what I thought, even though I knew that you thought things were off, even though I knew that things could go wrong. Alec... He didn't... He came to save me, save mom. So if you are going to blame anyone, blame me."

"Don't say that."

"Alec isn't a hunter, and he is never going to be. You may have taken him with you a few times, but he isn't a hunter. He's a soldier, Dad. A hunter would have shot me full of rock salt, and then tried to exorcise it from me, but Alec didn't do that. He tried to fight me, restrain me and stop me from hurting myself. He was trying to protect his unit, protect Mom, and save me. You gave him a job, a mission, and he tried complete it," Molly said. "You and Mom raised me in this, not him. I'm the one with experience, not Alec, Dad, so if it was anyone's fault, it was mine."

John couldn't look at his daughter.

Molly sniffed. "Dad, I know you and Mom don't like it, but I am an adult, and I have to make mistakes and take responsibility for my own actions."

"And this is what you are doing now?"

"I'm trying to."

"So you've made up your mind?"

"Dad, I hate the fact that I got used as a meat puppet, that it used me to control and hurt someone I care about like that. I hate the fact that I have to admit that you and Mom were right about Kenny."

"Molly, please," John said. "Come home."

"I'm almost twelve weeks, Dad. The doctor said that, once I'm over that, my chances of losing the baby go down."

"But that doesn't mean you have to go through with it. Molly, you have your whole life ahead of you. Don't think that you have to go with this because you have got some idea in your head that it is the right thing to do."

"I'm not, but it is still my decision, Dad. I'm not thinking that keeping it or getting rid of it is the right thing. I don't know what is. I wish to God that I never got in Kenny's car, but I did, and this is where it's got us. I'd be lying if I said that there is no part of me that isn't thinking that it would be better for all of us for me not to have this baby, but there is a big part of me that is also thinking what if this baby is my only shot of having a child of my own."

"No," John said as he stood up. "And considering everything, you can't be sure everything will go okay."

"I know that, but what if it does?" Molly asked. "I'd have a baby that is part of me. Dad, I love you and Mom, I do. You raised me, gave me everything that makes me who I am. I couldn't imagine having anybody else as parents, and I've never once felt that you and Mom loved Billy more than me, but this baby would be mine, really mine, my family, my blood."

John clenched his jaw, "Molly..."

"Dad, I lived with the idea of not being able to have a baby since I was one. I've known what uterine scaring meant since I was twelve, and no one, especially at that age, should have to deal with the consequences of it."

"I know that," John replied. "You don't think I saw what you went through."

"Did you?" Molly asked. "That night, the night you were brought back to life, it not only robbed me of having children when that stupid piece of wood ended up skewering me, but it took your sons and Jo. I watched you and Mom try and get over that; the two of you tried and never did. Christ, Dad, a five second hover feed on the news more than ten years later made you rush out here because you thought it might be a link to Dean."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Please, tell me how the hell what happened to me that night was meant to compete with that? I know that you never meant to, but how could I ever really talk to you and Mom about what happened to me without it reminding you of what happened to them? How could I talk to you, to say how angry I was, without me blaming them for what happened to me?" Molly asked. "I don't know if they needed me to be there to bring you back, but I was three years old, Dad! I should never have been there! I should have been at home, in bed sound asleep, not at a cabin in the middle of the woods, and I sure as hell should not been anywhere near a summoning circle."

"But that doesn't mean you have to go through with this now. You..."

"No, Dad, don't say it," she said, cutting him off. "Don't say that, if I'm pregnant now, then that means that I can get pregnant again. I know that there are risks. The doctor is doing tests, which is why I have to stay here. They know about transgenics here. They don't at home. And if you're worried about anything else, it isn't like I don't know how to get in touch with an exorcist if I need one."

"Molly, think about what you are saying."

"I am," Molly said. "I know what you are going to say, but I can deal with what happened."

"Can you?" John asked. "Can you honestly say that you are going to look at this child and not think about how you got it? That it's not going to affect how you feel about it?"

Molly nodded. "Yes! Yes, I can!"

"You can't say that for sure," John yelled.

"And if I get rid of it, do you think I wouldn't regret it, especially if it is my only shot? Do you think you trying to march me to some clinic somewhere between here and home is going to make any of this any better?"

"Molly, see sense."

"I am seeing sense, here. It is my body, my decision, Dad."

"Okay, but you don't have to decide anything right now. You can talk things over with your mother."

Molly shook her head. "No, Dad. You and Mom don't get a say in this. The only person who has a right to say anything is Alec."

"Molly, he's your brother."

"No, Alec is not my brother, not genetically, Dad! And that is what counts here! It isn't as if we grew up together, either. I don't know what he is to me, but I hurt him. Because of me, he doesn't know who he is anymore. He doesn't trust himself, and I wouldn't blame him if he hates me for it," Molly retorted.

John clenched his jaw. God, she was stubborn. "Okay then, let's talk about Alec. Let's go with what you said. He isn't to blame for any of this. So have you thought about what this is going to do to him? He was messed up when he went, Molly. You're right about him being messed up now. You saw him when he came in here."

"Okay, he was wrong to hit you, but I'm guessing he freaked out a bit because I'm pregnant."

"With his child."

"Yes, his child," Molly repeated. "If you saw someone manhandling mom or Mary when they were pregnant, what you have done?"

John looked away for a second. He had to concede that point. "So, are you two planning to play happy families now?"

"No, I don't want that. I don't think of him like that." She shook her head, breaking away from her father's glare. "I told him that I came here to find out what I could expect with the baby, that I don't want anything from him, that he doesn't need to do anything."

"And that's fair on him?" John asked. "Molly, you say don't blame him – fine, you don't. Then you telling him that you are having his baby and you want him out of your life ain't right."

"That isn't what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" John asked. "Because if that is what you said to him, then that is what you are doing."

"I meant that, if wants to see the baby, he is welcome, but if he doesn't want to, then I understand why."

"Has he said that he wants that?" John asked.

Molly shook her head. "No, he's still in shock about everything. He told me to go home, to stay away from him. I understand why, but if he changes his mind, I'm willing to talk."

John ran his hands over his face. "And how do you think that it is going to work if he does? Are you going to move here where it's his friends, his life, where you'll have no one, or is he going to move back to live near us? To a town that thinks that he took off because I caught the two of you together?"

Molly shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well if he wants to see the baby, you'll have to think of that. It isn't like it was before the pulse. You can't just jump on a plane to cross the country for the weekend like you use to," John said, to which Molly said nothing, allowing John to continue. "You said you want a baby of your own, family of your own. Don't you think that, considering how much shit he's been through, he might want the same thing?"

"I suppose."

"You suppose?" John replied. "Even if it hadn't gone down the way it did, he has had his life turned upside down more times than I can count, Molly."

"He hasn't said anything one way or the other for definite yet."

"Yet! He hasn't said anything for definite yet! What if he does want to be part of it, Molly? Can you really deal with that? Are you going to be able to cope with a kid as well as all the issues that Alec has? And I'm not talking about what happened to you in Kentucky," John said. "What if he says he'll be part of it, and then realises that he can't do it. You going to cope with that?"

"If I have to, I will."

"But what if he doesn't want anything to do with the baby? What if he changes his mind on that? Don't you think that one day he might come and claim it? That some animal instinct in him won't kick in one day and make him come banging at our door, not just wanting to be part of its life, but demanding that you hand it over to him? Are you ready for that?

"Stop it, Dad!" Molly looked at her father. "It won't come to that. We'll work something out. It worked for you and Mom, didn't it?"

"What?" John asked.

"Dad, if it hadn't been for the pulse, would you have moved in?"

"That was different!"

"Not when you come down to it. If you hadn't moved in, you and Mom would have sorted something out about Billy. She wouldn't have stopped you seeing him, and I'm not going to stop Alec seeing the baby. And so what if Alec and I will never think of each other the way that you and mom do? I'm not going to stop him being a father to this baby if he wants to be, either here or at home."

"Fine, but what if he doesn't, and he sticks to that? Molly, even if it comes out all healthy, it is going to be transgenic. It is going to go through things you don't understand," John reasoned.

"Dad, stop it," she begged. "I want to try."

"That baby is going to go through things you can't imagine, things that you can't help it with."

"I know, and if Alec doesn't want to have anything to do with us, then I'll at least know some people here that I'll be able to ask," Molly replied.

"Girl, you got this rose-tinted notion going on in your head."

"Notion? Please, tell me how this is a rose-tinted notion? Do you think that for one second that I wanted to have a child this way? Do you think that I wanted Alec and me to end up in that cave? Do you think that I wanted to tear this family apart?" she asked, waiting for John to respond.

Molly sighed as her father stood there in silence. "Dad, I know it won't be easy. No way in hell will it be easy."

"Christ, Molly. These people are living on a knife edge. They can't be sure that someone won't find an excuse to round them up or worse, and if that does happen, they'll fight. They'll fight tooth and nail. Don't think for one second that it won't turn into a bloodbath, because it will."

Molly glared at her father. "Yes, I know that, but that didn't stop you sending Smurf and those kids out here."

"Yes, I did, because they wouldn't have had a chance any other place but here," he replied curtly. "And you know that, too. But you aren't them."

"No, I'm not. But that doesn't change things."

"Really, do you want your child to be caught up in it? Because if this place does explode, you'll have to run; you'll have to take your baby and pray to god that no one ever works it out what your baby is. And take it from someone who knows bringing up a child on the road ain't easy, and that's when you haven't got the world against you."

"I know that," she admitted.

"And what if it doesn't come out okay? You don't know half the things that could go wrong considering how you got pregnant let alone the fact that you're human and Alec isn't."

She raised her eyes and looked straight at her father, "Dad, if you and mom knew that Billy was going to have Down's before he was born, would you have made her make a choice?"

"Molly!" John said firmly.

"Would you?"

"You know damn well I wouldn't have!" John said, bolting up from the chair he was sitting on, causing Molly to take a step back, "And don't you dare bring your brother into this."

Molly looked at the floor guiltily, "I'm sorry, sir."

"I get that right now you aren't thinking straight, so I'll what you just said slide, girl."

"Yes, sir."

"Go get your coat. You can get any test results you gotta get sent on," John said firmly.

"She isn't going any where if she doesn't want to. If Molly wants to stay to talk to the doctors, then she stays," Alec said, standing in the doorway, although Cindy was making a valiant attempt to try and pull him back into the other room.

John glared at Alec, "It's like that is it?"

Alec continued to stare John down. "She isn't going anywhere she doesn't want to, and no one is going to make her do anything she doesn't want to do."

"You think I'd do that?" John asked.

Alec furrowed his brow, "I don't know, John. You tell me."

"So you decided what you are going to do if she goes through with it?" John asked Alec as Molly watched on in silence.

Cindy pushed past Alec to get into the room as the two men continued their standoff, "I get that you two need to do this, but if you are going to bust each other up, I'd appreciate it if you took this outside."

Both men looked at the small woman in front of them, causing Cindy to turn to Alec. "And you can get that Alpha dog look off your face right now, Pretty boy, before I go get a washcloth and scrub it off! You know damn well I don't like too much testosterone stinking up my place. Takes too damn long and too much air spray to get it smelling halfway decent, and the ozone layer has taken enough damage as it is."

She turned to John, "Look, OC don't know you, but she gets the picture; you ain't happy, you want the best for your family just like any Papa would. You want your girl safe and sound especially after what went down even though, right now, you got a lot to get your head round. Just like she does."

John didn't reply for a second. "I appreciate you giving my daughter a place to stay..."

"Would have done that for anyone who needed it," Cindy said, cutting John off, "But if you and Pretty boy really feel the need to start something, you ain't doing it here, 'cause the neighbours won't like it, and truth be I ain't got the funds to redecorate if you two break my place."

"Cindy," Alec started to say before OC, who was still facing John, raised a finger in his direction, causing him to fall silent.

"What do you say? You willing to hear your girl all out, here? Probably best for all in the long run. Maybe let her finish what she started with the docs and such," Cindy asked John as Molly and Alec watched on.

Molly silently bit her lip as John looked at her.

"Good, we'll let you talk," Cindy turned, and as she left she grabbed Alec by the arm. "You are coming with me and letting the two of them talk it through."

"I'm sorry about that," Molly said as Alec and Cindy left before turning to her dad. "And I'm sorry about asking if you would have made Mom choose."

"Molly, you haven't thought this all the way through."

"I know, but please, Dad," She took a step forward taking his hand and placing it on her stomach. "Dad, I know you are trying to protect me, but this is your grandchild I'm carrying, not just because you raised me, but because it's Alec's child too."

John tried to pull away, but Molly stood firm, "Please think about this, Dad. This means that, though two of your sons took away my chance of having a baby, another one, even though it happened in a way that neither of us wanted, gave it back to me."

"Molly, don't!"

"Dad, this baby has Alec's blood in its veins. That's the same blood as Dean, as Mary. Don't you want a little piece of them running around, to watch that grow up?"

John didn't say a word as he pulled his hand away.

"Dad, I'm having a hard enough time as it, don't try and make me choose, not before I've talked to the doctor," Molly said, holding back the tears.

John sighed as he looked at the girl in front of him, resigning himself to the fact that it would do more harm than good taking her home until after the doctor had his say.

The clinic was quiet the next day. Alec sat outside the office, not sure what to do, not knowing why he was there except that Joshua and Max wouldn't let up about it. If John and Molly were leaving, then what was the point? They'd all be better off without him. They'd be better off if John had never found him.

He looked at the two pictures in his hands, the one that John had given them when they first met, the one of Dean and Sam. Alec could bet that wonderful Dean Winchester would never have gotten himself into such a mess. He never would have screwed up so badly. And now the result was a blob that seemed to resemble a large misshapen peanut in the other picture he held.

Carr was in there as well as the other doctor that Logan had found, so she would be getting everything explained to her about mutation, retroviruses, DNA degradation, and progeria, as well as everything else that could go wrong. John was sitting beside her, who was probably thinking about other things, that whatever had possessed Molly was now part of the child she was carrying. Of all the screw ups that Alec had been responsible for, he had to admit that this had to go down as a world record.

"Hey, Alec," Gem said, readjusting the bag of things she was carrying while trying to control the hyperactive three-year-old in front of her.

"What are you doing here?"

"Hello to you too," she said, trying to stop Eve from tangling up her kiddie reins.

"Sorry," he said, hanging his head.

"Max asked that I come down to talk to someone about babies."

"She and Joshua aren't going to let this go are they?" Alec asked. "Does everybody know?"

Gem shook her head. "No. Not yet."

"Right," Alec replied. "You know the whole story."

She was confused. "What story?"

"Nothing," Alec quickly replied. "Gem, she's probably going to be going today, anyway."

"That's okay," Gem said. "Gets me out and about."

Alec looked down at Eve, who was climbing on the furniture. "She's grown."

"Yeah, my little monster," she said with a smile on her face. "She's runs me ragged."

Alec smiled. "Really."

"She can blur now. Not that she realises she's doing it, but she can, in small spurts, start to run, and then she's off, and next thing I know, I hear the crying start because she can't work out why she is further down the hall than she is suppose to be."

Alec let out a little laugh. "That must be fun."

"Dalton decided we should get a little treadmill. At least then she'd be in one place."

"How is the little guy?" Alec asked.

"Fine. Hates being in school, doesn't see the point, but we fought hard enough to get them into high school, so he is damn well finishing it."

"Max and her integration ideas."

Gem raised an eyebrow. "Unless we scatter, we are going to have to live here, which means getting along because there are a hell of a lot more of them than us and you know that. And as for integration? – Alec, an ordinary girl? I never thought you'd be one of the ones to go down that route."

"Right," Alec said as the door opened and both Molly and John came out.

"Alec," John said coldly.

"John," Alec replied, before turning to Molly. "Everything okay?"

She nodded before Alec introduced her to Gem and the little ball of energy that was Eve.

John had wandered off down the hall.

Alec turned to Molly. "What's going on?"

"We might be staying longer that I thought," she replied.

"Why? You sure everything is all right?"

"I'm fine, but your friend Dr Carr says he knows a cardiologist that he can put Dad with in touch with."

"Billy?"

"I told you he wasn't good," Molly said

"How bad?" Alec asked.

"Let's just say it isn't good," Molly replied.