Charlie arrived home from the youth center to find Nicole and Lorraine playing with Nicholas on the floor. Charlie looked around the room but couldn't find Cassie, "Hi Lorraine," Charlie greeted her mother-in-law.
Lorraine stood up and nodded, "Hello Charlie."
"Hi honey," said Nicole kissing Charlie on the cheek.
"So where's Cassie?" asked Charlie.
"She's upstairs," said Lorraine.
Cassie came down as soon as she heard Charlie enter, "Hi Charlie," she greeted.
"So have we, um, even begun to discuss the issue at hand?" asked Charlie.
Nicole and Lorraine sat down on the love seat. Lorraine cuddled Nicholas and sighed before she said, "Well, Cassie explained everything to me."
"And we have talked about, you know, living arrangements," said Nicole.
"But this is something we might have to get Mrs. Holden involved," said Cassie.
"For what?" asked Charlie.
"For the legal stuff," said Nicole.
"She would probably have to be emancipated from my brother and sister-in-law," said Lorraine, "And either go with you ladies or me."
"They threw her out, what more emancipation do you need?" asked Charlie.
"Honey, you know we need to do so legally," said Nicole.
"I know," Charlie sighed, "I'll talk to Claudia Joy tomorrow."
Denise exited her patient's rooms looking for one of the ER doctors for a consultation. She found Blake at the main station, "Dr. Hanson."
Blake turned a little, "Denise I think we're on a first name basis by now."
"Yeah I know," said Denise, "Just trying to be professional. I just wanted to consult you one of my patients."
"Well what's the case?" asked Blake.
"Well, I have a patient that's exhibiting symptoms of lupus, and before I gave any treatment, I wanted to get a second opinion," said Denise.
"Okay, I'll be there in a few moments," said Blake. Denise nodded and started to walk away before Blake spoke, "Denise, how long was it after Molly was born before you went back to work?"
Denise took a deep breath and thought about it, "Well, Frank was deployed when she was born, and then Jeremy was killed, and for a while I was actually an EMT instead of a nurse, so I'll say she was around nine months."
"Oh," said Blake a little disappointingly.
"Why?" asked Denise.
"Because Tonya thinks she's ready to go back to work part time and I don't think she's ready," admitted Blake.
"Well did you tell her how you feel?" asked Denise.
"Ni, I didn't have the heart to tell her last night because she seemed so excited," said Blake, "But she can barely be away from the baby for an hour, let alone a couple 6-12 hour shifts."
"Look Blake," said Denise, "I love being a Mom, it's the best thing I've ever done. But I also love being a nurse, and even though I knew I'd miss her, I wanted to be able to continue that passion. To be someone besides Mommy."
"I never thought of it that way," said Blake honestly.
"Blake, I can't guarantee it won't be an adjustment for her and you, but I think you should both have a good talk and make some decisions before jumping to conclusions," said Denise.
Blake nodded, absorbing the information and said, "Well maybe Tonya and I can go out on a date alone while maybe a certain someone watches Julia?"
Denise chuckled a little and said, "I'll talk to Frank and you can talk to Tonya, but I think we'd be able to arrange something for maybe tomorrow."
"That would be great," said Blake.
Denise turned to go back to the room before she said, "And by talk I mean talk and not the kind of talking you two did the last time," she smirked.
"Yeah, absolutely," said Blake.
Holly walked into the Hump Bar to start her shift and Gloria was already there, "Gloria, you're here!" said Holly surprisingly.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" questioned Gloria looking at Holly confusingly.
"Well, you know," said Holly.
Gloria sighed and said, "Yeah, well thankfully I woke up feeling fine this morning." The two women heard the door open and Patrick walked in, "Lord help me," Gloria whispered under her breath.
"Afternoon Mrs. Truman, Gloria," he greeted.
"Afternoon Lieutenant, what can I get you?" asked Holly.
"Just one beer, Blue Moon on tap," said Patrick.
Holly went to get the desired beverage while Gloria and Patrick stayed in awkward silence, "I wonder if he knows?" Gloria questioned to herself.
Holly handed Patrick the beer and went to wait on a few of the customers at tables, "So how have you been?" asked Patrick
"Okay," said Gloria, "You?"
"Pretty good, I leave for Ranger training soon," said Patrick, "Glad to see you're feeling better."
"Oh no, he has to know, I knew I shouldn't have told anyone," thought Gloria, "I guess your Mom told you?"
"What? That you had a stomach bug? Yeah when she got back from your house," said Patrick.
Gloria smiled a little, more out of her satisfaction for Jackie keeping her secret than for what Patrick had said, but it worked out just as well, "Yeah, I hope I'm passed the worst of it," she said, which was the half-truth. Though in reality, she probably knew the morning sickness was only beginning
Patrick swallowed the last of his drink and said, "Well I probably should be getting home. I have to report to the barracks tomorrow at 0800 hours." He put two $5 bills on the counter and said, "Split it with Mrs. Truman and keep the change. Glad to see you're feeling better."
Patrick walked away and Holly came back to the counter. Gloria handed her one of the $5 before Holly said, "He doesn't know does he?"
"No," said Gloria, "And I plan on keeping it that way for a while. I'm going to try to hide it for as long as possible until I can't any longer, obviously."
"Why? This is a great thing that's happening to both of us. I've told everyone I know," said Holly.
Gloria tried, but she couldn't stop the tears, "Because I'm afraid when push comes to shove, Hector's going to leave me and the baby," said Gloria before she turned and stormed into the back office in tears, leaving Holly standing there alone and shocked.