Stephanie walks through the door of Grey House to find Grace awaiting her arrival. Stephanie offers a warm smile, and a genuine embrace.

"I'm so glad you're home. I brought the book you asked for."

"To be honest the book was just a ploy to get you over here. I reached out because I need you to talk some sense into my mother who, among other things, has apparently become a recluse."

"Do you know where she's at?"

"I believe she's doing laundry."

Stephanie furrows her brow, "That is oddly specific."

"The timer on her muffins should be going off any minute, though."

"You mean she's here? When did she get home? Where has she been? What has she been doing?"

"I think that would be a better explanation coming from her. I will say she's definitely got something cooking," Grace answers as she leads Stephanie into the kitchen by her elbow. The timer blares, and Cassie materializes as in sync as a Swiss timepiece. She stops in her tracks as she realizes that Stephanie is standing at the end of the island.

"I wasn't expecting you," Cassie admits as Grace attempts to back out of the room.

"I can certainly see that you are expecting…" she trails off.

Cassie takes a step closer, "Indeed."

"You mean to tell me that for months rumors have been swirling around Middleton that your marriage is in dire straits when in reality you're pregnant?"

"I left to spend some time at a cabin away from Middleton. I had to buy some time until this started to feel safe. The population of Middleton is not known for their boundaries. I just couldn't stomach the thought of being under public scrutiny if this all took a turn."

Without a word Stephanie wraps Cassie in a tight hug, "I thought you were having some kind of mid-life crisis."

"It feels like a crisis some days. My body is not as young, and willing to undergo change as it once was."

"This is exciting news. I had no inclination that you, and Sam had reached a decision to add a member to the family."

Cassie shakes her head as she lifts muffins onto a cooling rack. "We didn't reach any decision. As you recall when we returned from our world travels I was under the weather."

"I do."

"Apparently it was not a bug. I unexpectedly found myself expecting."

Stephanie waits a beat, "You're having a really hard time, aren't you?"

"Physically I am feeling a little better than I was in the beginning."

Stephanie offers a smile, and subtly shakes her head, "Not what I meant."

Cassie purses her lips, and shrugs, "I just have a lot of worry, and…"

Stephanie fills in the blanks, "So it's hard to get excited about something, or someone when there is so much risk. I've never known you to not be willing to be vulnerable. What is really going on?" Stephanie questions as she gets comfortable on a barstool at the kitchen island.

Cassie shakes her head, "It is going to sound absolutely ridiculous."

"I'll be the judge of that."

Cassie turns her barstool towards Stephanie, and gingerly takes a seat.

"The day that I found out I was pregnant I had just woken up from this gut wrenching dream."

"Tell me about it."

"I was outside. The sky was completely dark except for the full moon. I am standing in front of this tree, and there is this terrible crying coming from beneath it. I walk over to the tree, and look down, and there is a hole. The crying is coming from the hole. I start digging, and suddenly the crying stops. I dig even more frantically. Suddenly the moon disappears, and I can't see anything. I reach into the ground, and it swallows me whole."

"Was it a yew tree?"

Cassie subtly nods, "How did you know?"

"The yew tree signifies death."

"Then I found out I was pregnant, and the dream seemed to make sense. In an utterly egregious way."

"You're losing your magic, aren't you?"

She shrugs, "I don't know. What I do know is that things that used to come easily now hang like an albatross from my neck."

"And you don't feel connected to the important people in your life?"

"Not in the ways I used to."

"Have you considered that the dream is just a message that a piece of you has to be let go of before you're able to embrace your next chapter?"

Her dark eyes shift to her swollen midsection. Her hand rests in her lap. She shrugs, "I just wish it didn't feel like a black cloud was hanging overhead everywhere I go."

"I don't want to invalidate your feelings, but what if you've put too much emphasis on the dream? Perhaps it was just your brain's way of trying to make sense of what was happening to your body. What is your doctor saying?"

"I am a model patient who is defying expectations."

"Really?" Stephanie grins.

"The first part might be a slight embellishment, but the second part is true. Every time I go they poke, and prod at me, and come to the same conclusions. My body is tolerating the tiny uterine hijackers. My labs, and vital signs are consistent. The babies are growing satisfactorily."

"Babies?"

"As you well know I have never been able to do things in half measures. Not only am I unexpectedly in the family way at an advanced maternal age, I am also preparing for twins."

"So you're allowing fear to guide your life decisions? I've never known you to do that."

"Sam is so frustrated with me because I refuse to even consider names. I wouldn't agree to find out gender. I can't commit to a crib, or a wall color."

"Because it doesn't feel real?"

"It feels undeniably real. I just can't picture them. I keep perseverating on all of the terrible ways that this can all go wrong."

"I don't think isolating yourself is the answer. Here, or elsewhere. Cassie it's time that you let the community of people who care about you lift you up."

"I wouldn't know where to start."

Stephanie's eyes light up, "I do. I think you will find it unexpected."

"Who?"

"Martha."

Cassie furrows her brow, "Why Martha?"

"Apparently you are more connected than you think."

"What do you mean?"

"One day we were discussing your departure. She was picking up lunch, and it was absolutely dead. I kept going on about how concerned I was for you. She patted my hand, and told me that there was nothing to worry about. I of course was caught off guard, and I asked her why she thought that. She said to me that anyone given the gift of so many lives is entitled to all the grace we can muster. I initially thought she was talking about reincarnation. She quickly dashed that theory by clarifying by saying the lives within you. I told her that was an absolutely ridiculous theory, and she shouldn't engage in such gossip."