When the IV finally finished, Connie's bleeding had finally stopped and she'd been thoroughly assessed by an obstetrician, she was given some antibiotics to continue at home and discharged. Throughout the whole process, Jacob stayed right by her side, but when he offered to go and move the car closer to the entrance so she wouldn't have to walk far, Connie felt the uncomfortably familiar rise in her heart rate. Sensing her unease, Jacob dropped a kiss to her forehead. "Won't be long, sweet cheeks."

Though he'd intended to help her dress in the clothes that Elliot had found, by the time Jacob returned, Connie was fully dressed, sitting on the edge of her bed trying and failing to pull on her shoes with hands that felt heavy from the medication she'd been given. Silently, Jacob squatted down in front of her as he'd done for Ava hundreds of times before and slid on her shoes. When he was done, he glanced up at his wife to find her giving him a tired smile. "Home?"

Connie nodded, and when Jacob stood up, she wrapped her arms around his neck so he could pull her up too before she hugged him tightly, burying her face into his shirt as she'd done the night before. "I love you."

"It's going to be okay, I promise." Jacob spoke gently into her ear before he wrapped an arm securely around her waist to guide her to the car, well aware that she would rather walk than be seen in a wheelchair. Despite the fact Jacob held most of her weight on their way down to the car, as soon as she was sat down, Connie was asleep, leaving Jacob to do up her belt.

Resting his head on the headrest, Jacob let out a long sigh. It had been a long, tiring day, but at least Connie had finally let him in. He hoped it would stay that way.

"Jacob?" Connie mumbled sleepily.

"Mmm?"

"Will you look after the baby while I sleep?" She reached out for his hand and rested it on her middle.

"I think I need to ask Elliot what medication he's given you, I quite like this new Connie." Jacob teased.

Connie gave a sleepy laugh and shut her eyes once more

The next day, after a more peaceful night for the first time in a while, Connie woke with a smile. She snuggled closer into the side of her husband, who responded with a soft groan as he stretched and wrapped her up in his arms.

"Morning, you." She tilted her head to kiss his lips softly, and he murmured slightly, still half asleep. She laughed, and wriggled her legs from where they had become tangled in the duvet as she slept. As she did so, it fell from his body, and she laughed as he sat bolt upright, snatching at air as she pulled the covers completely off the bed.

"You're a nightmare, you are." He pulled her over to sit across him, laughing as he kissed her and stroked his fingers through her hair. Today, the girls were coming back from his mum's, and he and Connie were going to make the announcement. She seemed happy about it, but still Jacob knew she was nervous.

"Come on. Let's get some breakfast."

"I'm not hungry." She shrugged, swinging herself from the bed and shrugging on her dressing gown.

"You won't be saying that in an twenty minutes' time, I assure you."

"Oh?"

"Mm. But, it's up to you if you don't want my pancakes."

Connie groaned and reached out to try and pull him from the bed. "Don't mention your pancakes and then stay right where you are!"

Smiling, Jacob allowed himself to be pulled from the bed and then marched towards the kitchen. "Can I at least get dressed before I do your bidding, Queen B?"

"No. It adds to the fun." Connie smiled, settling herself on a kitchen stool. Though her stomach was in knots at the thought of what had to happen that evening, she'd decided that maybe if she was falsely happy, maybe the girls would really be happy.

...

"Mummy!" Ava raced into the room and was about to jump on top of her mother on the couch when Jacob appeared and caught her, pulling her into his arms.

"Mummy?! What, no excitement about seeing daddy?" He questioned, tickling Ava and making her squirm and giggle before he rested her gently beside his wife.

"Are you better?" Ava questioned her, stroking Connie's hair gently.

"Almost," Connie smiled and drew the girl into her arms as she gave Martha a thankful smile. "Thanks for...everything. Where's Grace?"

"Just outside saying goodbye to a friend who lives across the road!"

Raising his eyebrows, Jacob glanced out the window. "No one I've ever seen before." He stepped aside as Connie glanced out, and then a moment later Ava joined them at the window. Grace looked happy, properly happy, which these days seemed quite unusual. When she saw everyone at the window, she gave her usual eyeball but Connie was surprised to see she smiled as well.

"Mum!" Grace quickly slipped off her shoes and ran to hug her mother, who lost her balance and was caught by Jacob's quick arm at her elbow. He glanced at her, at how her eyes had widened and her breath had hitched, and then at Grace, who apologised over and over, guiding Connie to the couch.

"It's okay, darling. Ava, come here." She motioned for her to sit on her lap, and she held Grace to her side as Jacob took a seat opposite them, leaning forward to close the distance between him and the girls. He nodded to Martha, who stood now in the doorway and she glanced to Connie, before making her way into the kitchen. She had to be honest, her daughter in-law made her nervous, but she was a brilliant mother to her grandchildren, and she made Jacob irrevocably happy. She had never seen her son so calm and so settled until the last few years; she could only hope that it would last.

"Mum, what happened?"

Grace looked at her mother intently, squeezing her hand as she did so. Connie glanced from Grace to Jacob, before sighing and holding the girls close to her.

"Mum?"

"Gracie, Ava..." She looked up to Jacob as she spoke, not breaking his gaze for fear that if she did, the sudden overwhelming urge to back down and suppress what she knew she needed to say would win over.

Jacob offered her a gentle smile, one hand reaching out to touch her knee and squeeze it gently.

When Grace saw this, a frown darkened her forehead, and before her mother could continue she said, "You're sick, aren't you? I'll have to go and live with dad and Emma. Just when I've made a proper friend!" She stood, upset, but Jacob captured her hand to drew her to him, nodding his head at Connie to continue.

"I'm not sick, Gracie, and you don't have to go anywhere." Connie reassured her, dancing around the issue because her stomach was in knots.

"Then what is it?" She questioned, leaning into Jacob nervously.

"...I'm going to have a baby." Connie finally managed, her eyes still on Jacob's who offers another smile, hoping that the hardest bit was over.

Ava was the first to speak, and her words brought a smile to her mother's face. "..Will it be here for my birthday? Then I'd get another present."

"It won't be here until christmas time, sweetheart." Connie replied, stroking her youngest hair though her eyes were still on Grace who stared at the floor.

"...Where is it? Do you have it, or does daddy have it?" Ava then questioned innocently, earning a soft laugh from Jacob and a shocked look from his wife.

"It..well...I have it, Ava. It's in here." Connie put her hand to her middle, finally laughing herself when Ava frowned and pulled up her top a little.

"Where does the egg come out?"

"I think we need to fill her in on some things." Jacob laughed, squeezing Grace a little as he worried because she'd remained so quiet.

"How long have you known?" Grace finally asked quietly, her eyes not moving from the floor. "Is that why you were sick yesterday?"

"Only a couple of days. I picked up an infection from a patient and I lost some blood, but I'm fine and so is the baby." Connie hoped by being completely honest with her daughter, she might be more willing to accept another sibling.

"But where does the egg come out?!" Ava demanded, pushing her mother's small bump gently.

Jacob stood then, pulling the youngest into his arms to take her from the room, hoping leaving Connie and Grace alone might help the situation. Giving his wife another smile, Jacob carried Ava from the room, intended to find something which would explain to her what was actually going on.

"Gracie?" Connie finally questioned gently, the silence unnerving her.

"I'm sorry, Mum." Grace looked up at Connie, before resting her head to the side of Connie's arm, just below her shoulder.

"What are you sorry for, sweetheart?"

"I am happy. I'm really happy for you and Jacob, I am." She smiled up at her mother, who smiled back, the relief passing through her eyes before being replaced with worry as she knew there was something else to come.

"That's very grown up of you, Gracie. But what's worrying you?"

"I just don't fit, Mum." Grace looked down as she whispered, edging from her mother's side to sit straight against the back of the couch. "I don't look like Ava, and I'm not going to look like the new baby. I won't look like Dad's new baby. And I know I look like you, and like dad, and I know that Jacob is as good as, better than a real dad to me." She looked back up to her mother, whose eyes were teary as she listened to Grace talking. "Mum, please don't get upset..." She reached over her mother's shoulders to pull her into a hug. "You've got these two perfect children with Jacob..." She pulled back, her voice wobbling now. "And I just ruin it."

Connie's eyes flickered shut for a moment as she tightened the grip she had on her daughter. "Grace, you don't ruin anything. I wanted you for so, so long and I fought so hard to have you in my life...I don't care if you get cross or upset or snappy, Grace. I love you and I can't imagine my life without you!" Connie pulled back then and took her daughter's face in her hands, wiping away tears. "You don't ruin anything, Gracie. You're my baby girl and I can't imagine my life without you." As her mother whispered those words, Grace moved to bury her face into her mother's top to muffle the sound of her tears. "Is this because of what your father said?"

Grace finally gave a small nod, sniffing loudly. She'd been thinking about it for hours and every second that passed it seemed to hurt more. Her father had a new family, and her mother did, too. So where did she fit in?

"Well I think you know by now that I think your father is a stupid, arrogant man." Connie spoke fiercely and this brought a small smile to her daughter's face. "I don't know what he was thinking saying that, Grace, and I'm so, so sorry you had to hear it, but your family is here, with me. I love you just as..more, maybe, than I love Ava, because I know what it feels like to lose you. Jacob loves you, too. And as for Ava, you're her big sister and she wants to be just like you. Pretty soon I'm going to end up with 2 snappy little girls who know how to put me in my place."

Grace pulled back a little, her face now red with tears and her hair stuck to her cheeks. "But I panic all the time and i get scared, but Ava is always happy, and if the new baby is like her-"

"I know why you get panicky and scared, Gracie, and it's my fault, not yours. I was not..." Connie paused for a second to draw in a deep breath, for she'd never really said this out loud before. "I was not a good mother to you when you were younger, but I'm trying to make up for that."

Jacob, who was hovering in the doorway, watched them for a moment before slipping back to Ava where was was study a large children's book about birth he'd found on Connie's office bookshelf, Grace's name written neatly in the cover.

Hours later, Jacob found Connie sitting on Grace's bed, stroking her hair through her fingers as she slept. It wasn't far from midnight now, and he had expected her to already be in their room by the time he had finished shutting the windows downstairs. He stood in the doorway, watching his wife as she murmured quietly to her daughter, before coming to stand next to her and touching his fingers gently to her shoulder. Her head turned to look at him, before turning back to Grace once and then easing herself from the bed, walking past Jacob and across the landing to their room.

"How are you feeling?" He took her arms and settled with his back against the doorframe, pulling her close to him as he tilted his head to look at her.

"Pretty good." She gave a smile, which widened as Jacob bit at his lower lip and swung their arms gently together, intertwining their fingers. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because... We're having a baby. And you're it's mother and absolutely nothing else could make me any more happy." He kissed her head, before standing a little straighter and bringing her tightly to his chest, his hands resting around the curve of her back. "I say this, but actually I'm not sure how I'll cope with another mini-you."

"Well that's rude."

"True though. Ava's already nailed it."

"Nailed what?"

"The stare. I get it every morning when breakfast isn't already ready and waiting." He mimicked his daughter's expression, earning a laugh from Connie as she slapped his arm lightly.

"You never know, it could be a mini-you."

"Nah. Come on, those Beauchamp genes are a force to be reckoned with. Mine don't stand much of a chance."

"Would you like it to be a boy?" She spoke softly, looking up at him as his hands drifted to her middle and lingered there.

"Whichever, it's a part of you and a part of me. That's all I want, Connie."

Connie gave a small smile and then glanced back at grace. "..i think i want to sleep in here tonight."

Jacob dropped a kiss to her hair. "Go and get changed, then, and I'll stay here incase she wakes up."

Connie gave another smile and reached up a hand to brush his cheek. "I love you."