Episode 16

"Third Time a Charm?"

I don't own these characters, but it would be nice if I did.

Wait...In this story, I created some of the characters, so I will actually own them.

Anyways, I do promise to keep them true to themselves.

And as to the ones I create, who they are is up to me, so...

London's Penthouse

Maddie just sat there on the couch stunned as she was having trouble believing that the man she loved who she had just recently found out had volunteered to go to a war zone was now standing in the doorway of London's Penthouse. Talk about a whirlwind of emotions, but he was really there. Unfortunately, another thought crossed her mind. Ever since London had mentioned it, Maddie had wondered how the next she and Trevor would go like, and it appeared that she was about to find out. But seeing him there in person, that didn't matter much to her as all she wanted to do was run over and throw her arms around him. She just wanted to hold him and cry. And she wanted to cry and apologize to him for what she had done. Seeing him again, she knew she had been wrong to push him away. Maddie knew it was all her fault that he ended up in Afghanistan. And she knew she was to blame for him being on crutches right then. And when it finally sunk into her that he had somehow hurt himself and was on crutches, a new batch of pregnancy hormones began to kick in. Maddie just about lost as the tears began flowing again, and Bailey immediately tried to comfort her. But that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted her Trevor and wanted to go to him and hope he would comfort her back.

But she couldn't. As happy as she was to see him again and know that he was alive and well, the shock of him being there had caused her to temporarily lose feeling in her legs. But she wasn't going to let that stop her, so she scooted herself to the edge of the couch and tried to rise up. Fortunately, Bailey was there to help her. And after a few steps, she regained the feeling back in her legs. As fast as she could, she ran over and threw her arms around Trevor's neck and buried her face into his chest as she began to cry even harder. For his part, Trevor tried to rub her back to calm her down. But, as he was on crutches, that wasn't the easiest task in the world for him to do. After what seemed like forever, Maddie finally stopped crying, pulled back from him and looked up at him with tear stained cheeks.

"You're really here..." She swallowed. "I didn't know. I just found out a few minutes ago that you had been in Afghanistan. I...I..." She paused as she felt even more tears coming.

He shushed her. "Yeah, I was. I was there for a story, and I figured going there would force me not to think about you. I knew if I didn't focus on what was going on around me, I knew bad things could happen..." He nodded down at his crutches. "...like this. But yesterday, this guy I had never seen before showed up at the camp looking for me. And he told me some news that rocked my world..."

"I can imagine..."

Trevor looked down and saw the bulge of Maddie's belly. "But hearing it and seeing it with my own two eyes are completely different things..." He paused. "So, its really true...you really are pregnant..."

Maddie could only nod. "Yeah, I am..." She paused before thinking about the irony of what she was about to say. "Surprise?"

"Yeah, you could definitely say that..." He shook his head. "Maddie, how did this happen? I mean...I always thought we were pretty careful in our attempts to make sure something like this didn't happen!"

"I know, I thought we were too. But, the doctor London took me too has a theory."

"I'm listening..."

"You remember back in June when I wasn't feeling too well, and the doctor put me on some meds?"

He nodded. "Uh huh..."

"Well...she thinks those meds counteracted my birth control and made it ineffective..."

"Lovely...Information that would have been useful to have known then!"

Unbeknownst to them, Bailey had returned over to stand next to Cody. And when they both heard that, both immediately turned to each other with the same expression on their faces and thought crossing their minds. They really wanted to know what the name of those meds were so they could make sure they didn't have their own surprise. But, both knew that was neither the time or the place to bring up that topic.

Maddie sighed. "I know...but, what's done is done."

Trevor had to nod again. "I guess so. I'm also guessing you and I need to talk..."

"Yeah, you're right. We definitely need to talk. " But when she turned around to lead him over to the couch, she suddenly remembered she hadn't been alone in the penthouse. She saw Cody and Bailey just standing behind the counter looking back at her with smiles on both of their faces. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Trevor, you remember me telling you about Cody Martin and his finacee, Bailey Pickett, right? Well, that's them. They're actually up here preparing all of the food for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow." She paused. "Let me think..."

Cody reached into his pocket and tossed her his keys. "If you want, feel free to use our suite. You should have plenty of privacy as we'll be here and Zack and Maya are still at work. We'll even call them and let them know what's going on so they won't interrupt you two. Take your time."

Maddie caught them and smiled back at Cody. "Thanks..." She turned back to Trevor. "Come on, follow me."

They headed out in to the hallway and towards the elevators. And once they were gone, Bailey turned to Cody. "Looks like we didn't leave all the drama in New Haven like we thought we did..."

The Suite on the 23rd Floor

Several minutes later, Maddie and Trevor arrived at the twins' suite, and she opened the door for them. Letting him hobble in before she did, she closed the door behind them and locked it. Both headed for the couch before sitting down next to each other. For a few minutes, they both just looked the other with neither having any idea where to start. Trevor had so many questions that he didn't know what to ask first, and Maddie, realizing how badly she had screwed up, wanted him to be the first to speak. Finally, he just sighed.

"So..."

"Yeah..." She paused. "Trevor, I just want to say that...that...well, I know now I was wrong. I should have told you well before now that we were having a baby...that you were going to be a father..."

Trevor shook his head and sighed. "Don't go there right now..." He slumped back into the couch and stared up at the ceiling for a few more minutes. "Okay, we know that I found out yesterday. How long have you know that you were pregnant?"

Maddie winced. "Well, you remember the day you told me about your internship in London?"

He nodded before he realized what she was trying to say. "Since then?"

"Yeah..."

He tried to keep his cool as best as he could. "Alright...if you found out then, why didn't you tell me that night?"

Tears begin welling up in Maddie's eyes again. "You have to believe me...I was fully planning on telling you. For that entire week before, I hadn't been feeling well. One of the ladies I worked with had a kid with a stomach virus, and I thought I had just picked that up. So, I went to the doctor to see if he could give me something to combat it. You remember me throwing up a few times that week, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I remember."

"Well, that afternoon, the doctor dropped the bomb on me that I didn't have a stomach virus. Instead, he told me I was pregnant. Well, I was just as shocked to hear that as I assume you were when you were told. And I was scared to death too. Instead of going back to work, I went back to our apartment. But before I could open the door, I noticed their were several mothers and children in the park across the street from us. So, I went over there and just sat and watched them for a couple of hours. And after a little while, my fears began to subside. I started to think that maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. So, I headed back up to our apartment and waited for you to get home so I could tell you..."

Trevor cut her off. "So, what happened between then and me having to find out the way I did?"

Maddie sighed. "Like I said, I was going to. I even told you that I had a surprise for you that night. But if you'll remember, you said you had one too. And, you insisted you go first..."

"Well, I was excited about my opportunity in London! I thought you would be too! How was I to know that you had a surprise that was even bigger?" He stopped himself to try to reel in his emotions. "Okay, sorry for getting a little heated there. But that still doesn't explain why you didn't tell me! Damn it, Maddie, I had a right to know to know I was going to be a father!"

Maddie just took his anger in stride and nodded. "You're right. You did have the right to know. I don't know if I can explain what was going on in my mind when you told me your news. Just when I thought I had wrapped my mind around us having a baby, you dropped your bomb on me. All of a sudden, things didn't seem to make sense to me any more. I already had one major thing to tell you that was going to flip our lives upside down, and then you threw another one on top of that. For some reason, I...I don't know...I just began freaking out about everything..."

"Why? Why were you freaking out?"

"I think it was because it was just too much change for my system to handle all at once. Trevor, I could see how excited you were about your internship. I had totally forgotten all about it until I suddenly remembered you talking about applying for it and how you didn't think you had a chance of getting it. I remembered telling you that you had to chase your dreams and to go for it no matter what the odds were. And then, the you found out you got it happened to get it the same day I found out I was pregnant. I mean, the odds of those two things happening on the same day?" She shook her head. "But my mind was telling me that this was your dream, and I had told you to chase your dreams. You had just gotten the opportunity of a lifetime, and my mind was telling me that I would be giving you an unfair choice by making you choose between your dream and us..."

Trevor sighed. "Maddie, there wouldn't have been a decision to make! As happy as I was about the job, it would have paled in comparison to finding out I was going to be a father! I know it wasn't exactly in our plans at that time, but it was definitely in my long term plans for us..."

"Really?"

"Really. But now, everything is a complete mess. You broke up with me and I spent weeks and months trying to figure out why. And I never could come up with a reasonable explanation to that one. And you never took any of my calls either, so I was lost. I tried to move on, but it was so hard. And then when I think I'm starting to get there, this guy I've never seen before in my life shows up at our base camp in Afghanistan and tells me that you are pregnant with my child..."

The tears returned to Maddie's eyes once again. "And you can't imagine the shame I feel for causing you to go off to Afghanistan where you ended up getting hurt! I will never forgive myself for that for as long as I live!" She wiped her eyes. "How bad was it? Was it an attack on your camp? An humvee accident? Did some kind of bomb detonate and you dove for cover or worse, got hit with shrapnel?"

Trevor looked at her funny. "Huh? What are you..." He paused when he realized what she was talking about, and he actually began to laugh. "Oh...are you talking about my knee? No, nothing like that happened. I was playing some pickup basketball with some of the Seals. I went up trying to dunk the basketball and missed. When I came down, I landed on my knee awkwardly. Turns out, I tore my ACL..."

Maddie just stared at him in surprise. "Huh? Basketball? But you were in a war zone!"

Trevor shrugged. "Actually, I was never in any danger. My assignment was a full access stint with Seal unit to see what there daily lives were actually like. The only gunshots I ever heard were when they were on their practice range. And we were in the far northeastern part of the country near the boarder with China. I wasn't anywhere near all the hills and caves where Al-Qaeda are..." He paused. "...I mean where they potentially are holed up..."

She was still confused. "But...but..."

He cut her off. "But that isn't relevant at all to what's really important. The important thing is that you and I are having a child together..."

Maddie just nodded. "I know. I know that a whole lot has been thrown at you in such a short time frame. But I want you to remember that our child is completely innocent here. All I ask is no matter what you feel about me anymore that you won't let if affect your relationship with our child..."

Back up in London's Suite

Even though Maddie and Trevor had been gone for almost a half hour, Cody and Bailey were still a little shell shocked by what has just happened. Fortunately for them, they still had the Thanksgiving dinner to prepare to keep themselves busy. So, for those thirty minutes, they continued working side by side slicing, dicing and chopping. But even though they were busy, both couldn't help but to wonder what was going on several floors below. And like Cody had said, he had sent a text message to Zack and Maya letting them know what was going on so they wouldn't accidentally walk in on Maddie and Trevor. Before too long though, Cody and Bailey both finished up the last dishes they were working on and didn't have the distraction anymore. So, both just turned to look at each other. However, Cody had to smile when he remembered the coincidences

"You know, Bails...this is twice now that something like this has happened to us..."

She gave him a funny look. "What do you mean, Sweetie? What has happened to us twice now?"

"Think back two and a half years ago. Then like now, we were minding our business when there was a knock at the door. Then, it was Maya showing up out of nowhere to see Zack while he had no clue that she was going to be there. Now, it was Trevor showing up out of nowhere to see Maddie when she had no clue that he was going to be there. And both times, we were left in an incredibly awkward situation where we had no idea what we were supposed to do. Then, we went and cleaned up our new suite. Now, we finished making Thanksgiving dinner..."

Bailey smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess you're right. At least this time, we didn't have to leave." She paused. "Maybe that's a good sign though? I mean, look how well everything has worked out for Zack and Maya since then."

Cody considered that. "That's true, but it also took them a full year to get back together after she showed up. And Maya didn't show up carrying Zack's kid...thankfully. One year from now, there will be baby food served to one person on Thanksgiving. The presence of a child can complicate things in a whole myriad of ways..."

"Yeah, it can, but at the same time, I would hope that Maddie and Trevor are both more mature at 24 than Zack and Maya were at 18 almost 19...or than we were at 17..."

Cody couldn't help but nod. "I hope so too, Bails..." He paused. "I mean, look how much we've matured in the past four years or Zack and Maya in the past two and a half years. I'd like to think we've all really grown since the days where we all acted like idiots."

"Me too."

"Well, look on the bright side. We do have everything ready for in the morning now. So, that's a positive."

"True. I just hope after Maddie and Trevor get done talking that we have one more person joining us tomorrow."

"That shouldn't be a problem. We always have more than enough food." He smiled at her. "But I know what you mean. If Trevor joins us tomorrow, then it shows there is hope still left for them..."

"Yeah. I hope they can overcome their differences somehow. If not for them, then for the baby. I can't imagine if something like that had happened to us."

Cody took her hand in his. "Well, I can't either, but I'm pretty sure it would have bumped up my time frame of proposing to you..."

Bailey smiled at him. "Really?"

"Really..." He paused and teased her. "Of course, I would be worrying about the end of the world as their would appear to be another immaculate conception..."

She laughed and pushed his shoulder. "Cody!"

"I kid, I kid..." He stopped when something crossed his mind. And once it had, he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it. "Though, I hope you know I'm not kidding when I tell you how much I love you..."

Bailey smiled at him again. "I know. I love you too. And not that I mind at all, but what brought on that spontaneous declaration of affection?"

He smiled back at her. "Well, I just remembered something Maddie said to us. Bails, we are extremely lucky. We're both doing well at school, and we have our immediate futures pretty much set in a way highly favorable to us. But what is happening to her is a reminder of what can happen when people forget what is truly important and let other variables affect their thinking. I know it happened to us too, and I'm grateful we were able to overcome it. Having you in my life is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I already know I'm the luckiest guy in the world, and I wanted to make sure you knew that I felt that way..."

"I know, Sweetie. I feel the same way about you too." She winked at him. "I mean, how many women have a fiance who is about to begin medical school and can cook the whole Thanksgiving dinner..."

Cody laughed. "I see how it is now! You only love me for my future earning potential and culinary skills!"

She leaned up and kissed. "I'd love you if you were a ditch digger and couldn't boil water. You'd still be the perfect feller for me..."

"I feel the same way about you too. That's why I sincerely do hope it works out for them. I know what its like to be happy and head over heels in love, and I can't help but want the same thing for all of my family and friends."

"I know that feeling all too well myself. And we'll be there to help them in any way we can." She leaned up and kissed him again. Of course, both realized they were all alone, and neither one of them had any inclination of breaking apart just yet. But before their kiss could grow any deeper and passionate, the door to the penthouse busted open. Almost immediate after it did, London, Zack and Maya all ran into the penthouse and began looking at them expectantly. Of course, catching them in the position they were in, Zack rolled his eyes.

"Geez...Do you two ever give it a rest? Could you not do that around the food we'll all be eating tomorrow?"

Cody sighed. "We thought we were alone..." He turned to Bailey. "This is really getting ridiculous how often we get interrupted when we do that..."

Bailey nodded. "I know. I know what I'm thankful for tomorrow - that we have our dorm room where no one can barge in on us..."

London had had enough by then. "Who cares about you two right now? Lets focus on what is important right now! Namely, was the text you sent Zack true? Is Trevor really here?"

"Yeah, he is. Trevor and Maddie are still downstairs in our suite talking."

Back in the Suite on the 23rd Floor

Trevor just sat there on the couch staring at Maddie. Did she really think he would do something to hurt his child like that? He couldn't think of a time when he head ever given her any inclination that he would ever do anything like that. While this wasn't exactly how he had envisioned finding out he was going to be a father, he already knew he would love that child with all of his heart and soul. He would be the best Dad to him or her that he could be. But the real question was what to do about Maddie? There was no doubt he was hurt by what she had done, and her reasoning why still didn't make a lick of sense to him. Then, for some reason, he realized that her not making any sense actually did make sense. He remembered what his older brother had told him about his wife's pregnancy. His brother had told him that with pregnant women, the question wasn't would they be crazy and unreasonable, but how crazy and unreasonable would they would be. So, after remembering all of that, he turned to face Maddie.

"Do you really think I would do that? That I would hold our child responsible for this? I would never do that..."

Maddie sighed. "Ordinarily, I know you wouldn't. But I also realize just how angry and upset you are with me, and you every right to be. I know I screwed up, but I don't want our child to suffer because of my mistakes..."

"Well, at least you didn't...you know...get it taken care of..."

She just gave him a look. "I would never have done that!"

He just looked back at her. "Oh really? Last I checked, you are as pro-choice as they come, Maddie."

"So? Trevor, I've tried to tell you this for years - being pro-choice is not the same as being pro-abortion. I fully support the right of a woman to choose what is best for her." She was getting a little heated now. "Think of me what you want, but know I never once gave any consideration to ending this pregnancy!"

Trevor held up his hand to calm her down. "Okay, okay. Settle down, Maddie. You know this is just an issue we disagree about. You know how much I value the sanctity of life..."

She smirked at him. "Except when there is an electric chair or lethal injection needle nearby, right?" She paused and smiled. "Or when there is a really big spider around and you beg me to kill it for you..."

"Hey! You know I'm petrified of those things!"

"Its still life though that you want extinguished..."

For some reason, Trevor couldn't help but to laugh out loud. That seemed like one of the 'debates' they had been having with each other for years now. Of course, while remembering the good old days made him smile, it also saddened him too. We're those days now gone forever?

Trevor slumped back into the couch more. "This is so not how I expected this to happen for us. I mean...I fully expected you to tell me one day that we were going to be parents. And, I was actually looking forward to it. But to have it happen this way?" He shook his head. "Never would have seen it coming..."

The fire had left Maddie as well. "I know. And I can fully see in retrospect just how wrong I was. I guess hindsight truly is 20/20. But at the time, I thought I was doing the right thing for everyone. I didn't want you to hate me for costing you your dream. I didn't want you to ever resent me..."

He could only pause and nod. "Well, I guess on some level I can kind of understand that. I don't like it, but I can understand it. But did it ever occur to you that we could have had it all? I mean, you could have come to London with me, and we would have still been together!"

Maddie just looked at him. "Believe me...that thought did cross my mind. But the more I thought about it, I just knew I would have been miserable living in London and being pregnant. Think about it, Trevor. The only person there I would know would have been you. I would be pregnant living in a city where I would be an ocean apart from my family and friends. And I would have been at the mercy of the health care system over there. Aren't you the same person who keeps telling me that their system never really helps anyone? Would you have trusted the health of your unborn child to something you have so little regard for?"

"Well...I...ummm..."

She continued. "And with your job, the paper would have constantly been sending you out to who knows where. If I hadn't been pregnant, that wouldn't have been a big deal. But, I was. I've never been through anything like this before, and I didn't want to be left all alone. Tell me...how often would you have really been around with you constantly being on assignments?"

He winced. "Well, if I'm honest, I probably was only at my flat to sleep while I was there..."

"See?"

Trevor sighed again. "Yeah, I can kind of see that too. But don't you think I would have changed things if I knew I had you at home pregnant?"

Maddie just gave him a look. "Do you really think you could have just told them 'No' when they wanted to send you off somewhere?"

"Well, I would have just turned down the job then!"

Maddie sighed. "And that's why I didn't tell you. I knew that was your dream job, and I wasn't going to take that away from you..."

Trevor sighed again too. "And while I think I can understand that now, it was still my decision to make..."

She could just nod. "You're right. I should have given you the chance to make it. I'll be sorry for the rest of my life that I didn't." She wiped her eyes. "Looking back now, I'm not even sure what I was thinking..."

"I can't blame you for that. Being a guy, I will never be able to understand the way pregnancy hormones can reek havoc on a woman's mind and body. I remember laughing when my brother told me all of his horror stories. But now that its happening to me, its not so funny any more..."

"I won't use hormones as an excuse..."

"My point is I know they can make you a little irrational at times. That has to count for something, right? But lets move on to some things that are more important right now. First and foremost, when are you due?"

"Towards the end of March."

Trevor just nodded again as he thought out loud. "Alright, this will give a whole new meaning to March Madness. Okay, March is when our..." He paused again before looking at Maddie again. "Do we know what we're having yet?"

Maddie shook her head. "No, not yet. The doctor asked me if I wanted to know, but I told her I wanted to be surprised. The only thing I did ask her was to make sure that there was only one in there. I've been spending a lot of time with Carey Martin. And after hearing some of her horror stories about her pregnancy, it freaked me out so much that I wanted to make sure it wasn't twins..."

He could help but to laugh at that. "I can only imagine...Twice the crazy is something I could do without right now."

"And next month, I'm starting Lamaze classes. London has agreed to go with me, so if..."

He cut her off. "Not anymore! I might have missed the first five months of your pregnancy, but I'm not going to miss the rest of it..."

"What about your job in London?"

He laughed again. "Oh, nothing to worry about there. The Seals covered for me and said I got hurt while on the job, so I'm on paid medical leave now. And I will be through the rest of my year with them. Besides, I finished all of the research I needed, so all I have to do now is write it up. I can do that anywhere. Besides, with me being on crutches, I can't really be sent out on assignments for a while..." He paused. "Besides, once the year is over, I would have been in Boston again full time as it was..."

That caught her off guard. "You would have?"

"Yeah, that was another surprise I had for you. About the same time I applied for that internship, I also applied for a job at Boston Globe. I was hoping I would get it so we could have come back here. I knew how much you were missing your family and friends. Well, I found out a couple of months ago that I got the job..."

Maddie shook her head. "Wow...when I screw up, I screw up royally..."

"I won't deny that..."

She turned to look at him. "So, what do we now?"

He paused. "That's a very good question. Maddie, you really hurt me with what you did, and I still find myself wondering where we go from here. But, the fact remains we are about to become parents in about four months. This leaves us in a real quandary..." He paused again. "But as far as I'm concerned, there's really only one thing that we can do..."

Back up in London's Penthouse

London, Zack and Maya all looked at each other in apprehension. For Zack and Maya, both were wondering what was happening downstairs and hoping everything was going well. London was feeling much of the same things as well as a little anger. Why hadn't her father's man called and told her that Trevor was on his way back to Boston. If she had known, she could have forewarned Maddie and maybe made things easier on her. She pulled out her phone and was about to call her father's guy and chew him out when her cell phone advised her that she had a voice mail. Clicking on the button, she listened to it.

"Miss Tipton, this is Wally calling you back. I finally found the man you asked me to locate and confirm he is who you were looking for. I have him the message you wanted me to give him, and he is adamant about heading back to Boston as soon as possible. I'll arrange for his transportation. If you have any questions, feel free to call me back."

When the message ended, London discovered the call had come in the day before and she threw her cell phone down in disgust.

"Stupid cell phone! It should know better than to keep a voice mail secret from me!"

She shook her head and focused her attention back on Cody and Bailey. "Okay, I want you two to tell me everything that happened when Trevor showed up. And don't leave out a single detail!"

So, Cody and Bailey recounted everything that they could remember. And the fact that stood out to everyone else was the fact that Trevor was on crutches and had a knee brace. Zack turned to Maya.

"What do you think that could be?"

She shrugged. "Could be ACL, MCL or PCL. Maybe even the patella tendon..."

Cody spoke up. "Guys, not that we're not happy to see you all, but shouldn't you all still be at work?"

London shrugged her shoulders. "Maya's last appointment today called and cancelled, so she headed to our offices to wait on Zack to get off. And I was in his office talking to them when your text came in. When he showed it to me, I decided to call it a day for all of us and we immediately headed back here..." She paused. "Are you sure there isn't anything else you remember them saying?"

Bailey shook her head. "We've told you everything we heard before they left to head down stairs."

London sighed. "I hope everything is going alright down there. If not, it will be me up all night with Maddie handing her tissues as she cries. And you might want to take everything back down to Carey's room so doesn't pull a Zack in the middle of the night too..."

Zack was offended. "Hey!"

Everyone just gave him a look.

"Still..."

Bailey shook her head. "Lets hope it does go well then..." She paused. "But until we hear anything, maybe we should try to get our minds off of what is going on down there?"

"Like what?"

Cody paused. "Well, Zack...a couple of months ago, we ran into an old 'friend' of yours at school..."

"Yeah? Who?"

"Theo..."

Zack was confused. "Theo? Who is..." He paused when it dawned on him. "You mean that punk who had me dancing like a puppet when we were kids?" He shook his head and scowled. "What's that jerk up to now?"

Bailey grinned. "Well, thanks to us, he's looking at a lifetime in prison..."

"Huh?"

Quickly, Cody and Bailey explained to the three of them about their encounter with Theo as well as their plan to turn the tables on him.

Zack just looked at his brother. "Wait a minute! You...Baby Bro...actually punched someone and basically knocked him out?"

Cody nodded. "Pretty much..."

"Huh...I guess all that working out has finally paid off for you. I still can't picture you doing that though..."

"Well, I did once pin you while I was wearing a banana costume..."

Zack rolled his eyes. "I wasn't even really trying then."

Maya spoke up. "So, Bailey...you and Gertie are talking self defense classes too?"

Bailey nodded. "Yeah. After what happened to you last summer, they sounded like a really good idea. Plus, Gertie's semester has been kind of brutal, and she says hitting the big bag has been very therapeutic."

She laughed. "Yeah, it can be."

"Plus, I like knowing I have moves to defend myself. You have that and London has her Kung Shoe..."

London spoke up. "That's Shoe Jitsu..."

"Either way..." She paused. "I do have a question though. You said you heard a crunching sound when you destroyed that guy's knee. I didn't hear one. I was trying to figure out what I did wrong."

"Did you hit him in the front or the side of the knee?"

"The front."

Maya smiled. "There you go. You do a lot more damage from the side. But our situations were a little different. I had a few moments to plan what I was going to do while you had a guy charging at you and had to react quickly."

Bailey nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. I'll have to remember that from now on..." She laughed. "Maybe I'll have to use it on Friday morning. Something tells me the crowds at the mall would back away from me if I did..."

Maya laughed too. "Not a bad idea..."

The whole time, Zack had been there thinking when something else dawned on him. "Wait a minute!" He focused his attention back on his brother. "You came up with that plan. And you came up with the one back in Kettlecorn. When did you start becoming so diabolical?"

Cody laughed. "I guess I always was to some degree. But it really comes out when I have to do something to impress or protect Bailey."

Zack shook his head and glared at his future sister-in-law. "Why couldn't you have been around when we were kids? I could have used you as an excuse to get Cody to devise some epic pranks back then!"

She laughed. "Thanks...I think."

Cody shook his head. "While I wouldn't have minded that at all, I wouldn't have minded having Maya around then too. You know, someone who can actually tame you and get you to see reason..."

"I don't know about all of that! She loves a good prank as much as I do..."

"Well, I know of one prank she never would have helped you pull..."

"Yeah, what's that?"

Cody smirked at his brother. "Do the words 'girl's volleyball team' mean anything to you?"

Zack glared back at his brother. "Yes, they do...and that's all that needs to be said about that!"

Maya laughed. "Wait a minute! What happened with a girl's volleyball team?"

"Ummmm...Nothing. Just a stupid prank we pulled."

"No, tell me what you did..."

Fortunately for Zack, he was about to get a reprieve as about that time, the door to the penthouse swung open again. Everyone just turned to see Maddie walking in with Trevor hobbled in behind her on his crutches. And both were surprised to see that there were even more people in the penthouse then when they had left.

"Shouldn't you guys still be at work?"

London rolled her eyes. "Have you already forgotten that I'm the boss! Enough about that though, what's going on with you two?"

"Well..." Maddie turned to Cody and Bailey. "...is there enough food for one more tomorrow?"

They both nodded. "Absolutely."

"Good..." She beamed. "...because my fiance is going to join us for Thanksgiving! I'm engaged!"

Now, everyone was staring at them again, but this time it was in complete shock.

London was even more surprised now than when Maddie told her she was pregnant. "You...you...you're engaged?"

Trevor smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we are. I know this isn't the most conventional way to propose..."

Cody laughed. "Don't have to tell me about that..."

"But, it was the thing to do. We still have some issues to work through, but at the the end of the day, I'm still crazy in love with Maddie..."

Maddie kept beaming. "And me with Trevor!"

"While I might not like what she did, I think I have a good understanding now of why she did." He smiled. "But I told her this was her one get out of jail free card..."

"And I told him nothing like this would ever happen again..."

"Besides, I was planning on proposing anyways and already had the ring before all of this happened. I just had to change the where and when of it..."

Cody laughed again. "Again, don't have to tell me about that..."

"But we're having a baby, and I can't wait to have my own little family..."

Maddie was still beaming. "And after being so shocked that I fainted, I happily accepted once I regained consciousness..."

Bailey smiled. "I'm so glad everything worked out for you two then..."

"Well, like Trevor said, we still have some things to work on, but I believe we can do that. Its kind of like you told me. We can't let our stubbornness get in the way ever again. And we won't..."

Trevor finished for her. "...And we love each other, and that's what's really important. What happened happened, and we can't change any of that now. But we can move forward as our little family will soon grow."

Cody nodded. "That's a good way to look at things. Its very...mature." He paused and grinned. "Now, with you two back together, I can finally ask a question that's been on my mind ever since I found out about this baby..."

"What's that?"

"Well, with you being so conservative and Maddie being so liberal, how are you going to raise your child?"

They both looked at each other and laughed. "Oh, we'll worry about that later. Something tells me we might not be as dug in with our beliefs that we thought..."

London finally spoke up again. "You're darn right you will! We have other things we need to deal with right now! Maddie, Bailey, Maya...we have a wedding to plan!" She paused. "And I just know Arturo is going to view this as a challenge with an ever expanding bride..."

Maddie shook her head. "London, I appreciate that, but we don't need anything fancy..."

"You might not need it, but you're going to get it! Thankfully, after Moseby and Tut's wedding and then working on Cody and Bailey's wedding for over a year now, I'm an old pro at this. So, come on ladies, we'll head down to the twins' suite and get to work." She paused. "And since you're the groom, I guess you can come too, Trevor. I guess you should have some say in this..."

Zack spoke up. "Hey! What about me?"

Cody threw him an apron and grinned. "Well, there is still a couple of pies left to make for tomorrow. You get to help me make them..."

Maya laughed. "I like it! Take good notes, Zack. If they're good, you can keep making them later."

Zack just sighed. "Fine..." And when everyone had left, he turned to his brother. "Should I be concerned?"

"About what?"

"Well, you proposed to Bailey from a hospital bed. Trevor proposed while on crutches. Will I know the time is right to propose to Maya when I do something to seriously hurt myself too?"

Cody just shook his head and laughed.

Boston

On Thanksgiving Day, all of the guys (except Cody who had to do the actual cooking) watched football while the ladies continued making plans for the impromptu wedding. Both Maddie and Trevor wanted to have it done before the baby arrived, so that only gave them four months. And by a twist of luck, they found a Saturday in mid February that would work out to be perfect – Valentine's Day. Since it was that day though, Maddie wanted it to be early in the afternoon so that it didn't interfere with everyone else could still make plans with their significant other for that evening.

Of course, Trevor figured that gave him three months to get off his crutches so he could actually walk unassisted on his wedding day. And to help him out, Maya told him to contact the BU fit&rec center, and she would help him with aquatic therapy personally. The only downside was that by then, Maddie would be eight months pregnant and any kind of honeymoon where they would have to fly would be out of the question. But, London a step ahead of them. She arranged for them to have the penthouse suite at the New York Tipton so they could honeymoon there. Plus, she wanted them to be near a hospital in case Maddie went into labor early.

So, with all of the basics set and London having a new project to dive into, everything else could wait until after the meal was over. And like usual, everything was so delicious that they didn't mind Zack boasting about how good the pie he had made was. Naturally, it was a lemon one. Unlike past years though, there weren't a lot of leftovers once they were done. Trevor got to see first hand how Maddie could now eat, and he admitted he was a little frightened.

Even though they continued on planning the wedding after they ate, it didn't stop most of them from being out at the crack of dawn the next morning for Black Friday. And Zack was in luck that year. With Trevor unable to get around that well, it was decided that he should stay back at the hotel. Immediately, Zack volunteered to stay back with him to keep him company and watch more football.

By early Sunday morning, everyone was a little sad to see the holiday break over with. Especially Maya, Zack, Cody and Bailey as it meant they had to return back to school. Well, it did for Zack and Maya. For Cody and Bailey, they didn't have class on Mondays, and all they really had planned was to check on their experiments again after being gone for a week. And as Cody and Bailey were loading their bags onto a luggage cart to begin their trek back to New Haven, Maddie stopped by to see them again.

"Do you two really have to head back so soon?"

Bailey nodded. "Unfortunately, we do." She smiled. "But, we should be back soon enough. If all goes well, we won't have any finals to take which will give us an extra long Christmas break. So, by the time you begin to miss us, we'll be back again."

"Well, good luck to you both with the rest of your semester..."

Cody smiled. "Thanks. And good luck to you in your attempts at trying to reign in London. We've been there before and know how difficult it can be. And if I may offer you one suggestion...chloroform."

Maddie laughed. "I'll have to remember that..."

"Its good to see you so happy again, Maddie."

"Because I am happy. I'm about to marry the man I love..."

Bailey smiled. "Welcome to the club..." She paused. "Can I ask you a question though?"

"Of course. Name it."

"Well..." She began hemming and hawing. "As a future doctor, what kind of medication where you on that diminished the effectiveness of your birth control?"

Maddie just laughed. "As a future doctor? Yeah right! I'm betting the question is of more the personal variety, huh?"

"Well..."

"Don't worry..." She rubbed her belly. "I'm not really in any position to say anything, now am I? Besides, you two are getting married in a little over seven months. What you two do in the privacy of your own bedroom is no one else's business..."

"That's the way we see it..."

"So do it..." She grinned. "As for the med I was on..." Maddie leaned in and whispered it to Bailey.

"Ohhh...yeah, I don't think I would have to worry about that..."

"Lets just hope you don't..." Maddie grinned. "Anyways, there has been one other benefit to all of this..."

"What's that?"

Maddie laughed. "I'll end up getting married before you guys after all!"

Cody laughed too. "I guess so. But, remember, I did propose first..."

"Yeah, yeah..." She paused and smiled. "But I can safely say that you two can mark me down for a +2 on my RSVP now."

To be Continued...

AN: Congrats to the 60 young men and their families who lives will be changed tonight in the NBA draft. Of course, 10% of those will Kentucky Wildcats...