I don't own SWAC. Please review :)

"Oh my goodness Sonny is it contagious?!" Was the first thing Tawni said when I told her.

"Tawni, it's not that kind of disease," I said, shaking my head. I hadn't meant to alarm her so badly, but I guess there is no easier way to say 'Graves' disease' without scaring someone.

We were sitting across from each other in the living room, me stretched out on the couch surrounded by my usual five favorite pillows and Tawni sitting on her knees in the armchair across from me. I envied her for being able to get comfortable so easily. It was a lot harder for me these days.

"I knew something was wrong. Remember me telling you that you were getting too skinny and that you needed to eat more?" Tawni said.

"No, I remember you asking me what my secret was to staying so thin because you wanted to learn it," I told her, thinking back to the moment she was talking about, which was a month before Chad left for England.

"Same thing," Tawni said with a careless wave of her hand. "So what exactly is it?"

I relayed everything the endocrine doctors had told me. It was a pain to repeat, but at least Tawni understood a little better.

"So are you going to be okay? Because if you need my help you know I'm always there for you."

"I'm going to be fine, Tawni. Besides, I have Chad now." I would much better prefer it if Tawni didn't reprise her role as my surrogate mother. I'm not sure I could survive it too well if I had two overprotective people looking after me.

"Yes, well, just remember that you can call me if you need me," Tawni said with a sniff, as if she didn't put much stock in Chad's care giving capabilities. "Anyways, gotta dash. Braden's taking me out to this ritzy restaurant tonight. He's being all mysterious about the reason though; I mean, my twentieth birthday was last month, so it can't be that."

"Maybe he's going to ask you to marry him," I said, half-jokingly. Braden and Chad were pretty good friends, and I happened to know that Braden had been bringing up the subject quite a lot lately.

"Oh Sonny, don't be silly," Tawni laughed. She flipped her blond curls over her shoulder and left.

I couldn't help grinning. Poor Braden didn't know what he was in for.

**********

Like Dr. Azzi had said, my thyroid condition did improve. By my ninth month of pregnancy my heart rate was back to normal, even though my thyroid was still making more hormones than it needed to. My hands had stopped shaking, however, and my eyes were a normal size once more. I still hated having to go to the hospital every few weeks to get my blood drawn so they could see how I was doing, but at least I didn't have to stay there overnight again. At least, not until the night mine and Chad's baby came.

"You did a wonderful job, love," Chad told me softly, his eyes full of affection for both me and the tiny dark-headed, blue-eyed girl sleeping in my arms. I still couldn't believe that he and I had made this special little being together, a little bit of me and a little bit of him combined into one. It was a miracle.

"We both did," I said softly, still worn out from the countless hours of labor. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open.

"Yeah, but I wasn't the one who carried her for nine months and then went through the pain of childbirth," Chad pointed out.

"The epidural did help considerably," I remarked. Thank goodness for modern technology.

"Even so, I'm proud of you. Charlotte's perfect. Just like you," Chad said, kissing the top of my head. I smiled and let my eyelids drop at last as Chad's gentle fingers stroked my forehead, lulling me into a deep sleep.