Flint awoke with a start. He was afraid he had cried out, but Alison continued to sleep peacefully by his side. He took a few deep breaths, trying to still his pounding heart. He wondered how long it was going to take for the nightmares to stop. At least he was finally back at home, so unlike the last few nights, he could see for himself that Alison was alive and well.

He looked at the clock, and as he assumed he had only been asleep a couple of hours. He could tell that sleep wasn't coming again any time soon, but he was too tired to get out of bed. Instead he rolled over to face Alison where he could make out her dim shape in the dark. He forced his mind to not focus on any part of the nightmare, and instead he thought about their future together. He hated that he had given her a scare the last few days, but since she had recommitted her love to him, some good had come from it.

She stirred awake. With a half-asleep voice she asked him if he was okay. He nodded, kissed her forehead and pulled her close to him. Eventually, he settled down enough to fall back asleep.

A few hours later Flint was back on base hoping to take care of business as quickly as possible. Luckily, General Bradshaw seemed to have the same goal.

"So even though Mindbender escaped our capture yet again, the fact that he is very much alive and up to his old tricks should give the Joe team a valid reason for existing for at least a few months into the new year. Good work, men." General Bradshaw said with a rarely seen smile.

Flint watched as Duke patted Falcon on the back. Seeing Duke show affection to his younger brother was another rarity, but Flint knew the kid earned it. "As promised, I want to start the holiday stand-down. I will be taking a few days myself and spending the holidays in DC with my family. I assume you can set up a duty roster to share the leadership roles while I am gone?"

Duke nodded. "That will not be a problem."

"Good. Then this meeting is dismissed. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all," the general said and then left the room.

"Wow. I guess he's in a hurry to get home," Falcon said.

"I don't blame him," Flint remarked. He then reached over to shake Falcon's hand. "In the chaos of yesterday, I don't think I got a chance to thank you for the rescue."

Falcon blew on his knuckles and then rubbed his chest. "All in a day's work, Flint. Duke, let me know when you get the schedule up."

Falcon left leaving Duke and Flint alone. "Falcon has come a long way," Flint remarked.

"He has. He still has a lot to learn, though." Duke eyed Flint for a moment. "Are you okay? You look like shit."

Flint laughed. "Thanks. I didn't sleep well last night. I guess it's the lingering effects of Mindbender's device. But I'll be okay."

Duke continued to stare at him. He pointed at the mission file on the table. "Doc is ordering you to take the standdown period as mandatory R and R, but he wants you to stay local the next couple of days so he can keep an eye on you. I'd also be remiss if I didn't remind you that psychiatric services are available."

"I know. But I'll be fine. I think the time off is just what I need. I'm sorry, though if I'm leaving you short-handed."

"You won't be. Falcon and I aren't going home so we could easily split the on-call duties. Plus, Beachhead said he isn't leaving until after the first. He needs some time off to take care of a few things, but he already said he was willing to take a couple of shifts."

With a final thanks to Duke, Flint left the room and pulled out his phone to call Alison. However, she beat him to it as the phone rang and her number appeared on the screen.

"I'm so happy you answered," she said. "The OB-Gyn just called. They had a last minute cancellation, so they can squeeze in my ultrasound if we can get there before lunch time. Are you free?"

Flint told her he was, and that he was heading home to pick her up. During the drive to the apartment, instead of focusing on the excitement of getting the chance to have another look at his child, Flint couldn't help but dwell on his irrational fears. His mind wouldn't let him forget the horror of hearing the baby's heartbeat stop, and he was afraid that he was going to experience that sense of loss again.

He didn't want to let Alison know his dark thoughts, so he tried to put on a show for her benefit. Luckily, she was so excited that she seemed content with carrying on a mostly one-sided conversation. They walked into an empty waiting room and Alison's name was called shortly after they took a seat.

Flint tried to continue the charade, but his heart began pounding as they walked down the hallway to the examination room. He stopped and tried to catch his breath. Alison noticed, and turned towards him with a concerned look. "Dash, are you okay?"

He forced a grin. "I'm fine. I'm sorry, I just need to run to the bathroom." He could tell that Alison questioned the excuse, but he needed a moment or two to get a hold of himself. Once inside the bathroom, he splashed cold water on his face and tried to calm himself down. What finally got him moving was the idea that in the unlikely event his nightmare had come true, he didn't want Alison to learn the terrible news on her own.

He entered the examination room and saw that she was alone. He went to her side, grabbed her hand and kissed it. She frowned at him and with her free hand rubbed at his hair. "Dash, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just being paranoid."

She brought her hand down to caress his cheek. "I'm sure everything is fine."

Before he had a chance to echo her statement, the ultrasound technician entered the room. She introduced herself, prepped Alison and a short time later their baby's image filled the screen. Flint let out a sigh of relief as he could see with his own eyes that the baby was alive.

They watched as the technician took several measurements and screen shots. Flint's anxiety began to grow again as time went on. The technician remained silent as she did her work. Flint couldn't help but wonder if that was a sign that there actually was a problem. But then she turned to the two of them and with a smile announced, "Everything looks good."

Flint should have been relieved once again, but he couldn't help but think about the tentative nature of her statement. "What do you mean by 'looks'?"

"I'm sorry, that's standard terminology. From Alison's test and all that I've seen you have a perfectly healthy fetus. There are no obvious abnormalities, but as I tell every expectant parent, there are never one hundred percent guarantees when it comes to the birth of a child."

The technician typed away at her keyboard. "As I said, I think everything is fine. I'm printing up some souvenir photos for you to take with you. Do you want to know the sex?"

"Yes," they both said without hesitation. Alison smiled at Flint and then turned back to the screen. "Do you know what it is?"

"I do," the technician said as she scrolled through a series of still shots. "She wasn't shy for the camera."

"It's a girl?" Alison asked. When the technician nodded, she playfully punched at Flint. "See, I told you."

The technician laughed. "I haven't kept records, but I do have to say that more times than not, the mother instinctively knows what her baby is. I think it shows the bond that exists already between mother and child."

Flint's fears abated when he saw the radiating smile on Alison's face. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"You're not disappointed?"

Flint shook his head. "Not at all. I'm very excited about my daughter." He meant what he said. There might have been a time in the early stages of Alison's pregnancy where he would have expressed disappointment in not getting the son he wanted. But after all that the two had gone through he was so incredible grateful that he had the opportunity to raise a healthy baby girl with Alison.

That last thought resonated so deeply within him, that he wanted to do something to chase away any of his lingering fears and doubts. Once the two exited the doctor's office, he stopped Alison in the parking lot. "Let's get married."

Alison laughed. "Didn't we have this conversation last night?"

"No. I don't mean at some point down the road, I mean right now."

Alison startled. "Can we do that?"

"To be honest, I don't know what the exact rules are here, but I do know people run off to the justice of the peace all the time. If we have to wait a few days, at least we can get the paperwork started."

Alison thought for a moment and then she enthusiastically nodded. "Okay, let's do it."

They drove to the town hall, and walked inside hand in hand. After explaining their request to the receptionist she looked at them with a smile. "Congratulations. I have good and bad news for you. The good news is that Arizona has no waiting period for marriage licenses. So, you just fill out the forms, give me your IDs, and I can give it to you right now. The bad news is if you're looking for someone to perform the ceremony for you today, you're out of luck. Since we're so close to the holidays we're working with a skeleton crew, and all of our qualified individuals are out of the office until the 27th. I could, though, call around to a couple of neighboring towns to see if someone else is available."

Flint wanted to say yes, but he noticed that Alison seemed to be hesitating. "What do you want to do?"

Alison pulled him out of the receptionist's earshot. "I think we should go ahead and get the license, but waiting a few days may not be a bad idea. This way we can prepare a bit more."

Flint had to admit he was disappointed since he had started to run with the idea of making everything official as soon as possible. But he also realized that this was probably a far cry from the type of wedding Alison had envisioned for herself. So he needed to give her what she wanted.

With a smile and a nod, he grabbed her hand and walked back to the receptionist. "Let's make an appointment for the 27th."