"I can't believe you're going back to the states," the tall woman said in her thick British accent, folding up a box in the living room.

"I know, but that's where my family is and I want them to know their grandchild. Besides, NASA offered me a job in D.C." Spinelli looked at her colleague with a smile.

"But the health benefits here are so much better," Loral complained. Her blonde hair was loosely in a bun and her blue eyes pleaded with her friend to stay. Loral had been her friend since her first day at Cambridge. They had a few classes together and having a friend in a country is always good to have. Loral was twenty-seven with a five year old son, Geoff. Her husband died in a tragic factory accident in the next town over. Her current love affair was Jonathan who was a wonderful man and a great father figure to Geoff. Loral and Spinelli continued their friendship after their classes took different directions, hosting girls nights and poker parties between the couples.

"Everything is better here, honestly. Even the food that I thought I would never enjoy. But my parents and in-laws need a chance to get to know their grandbaby." Spinelli argued.

"I just don't want you leave," Loral put down the box and raced to her friend, pulling her into a big hug. "I'm going to miss you."

Spinelli hugged her back, squeezing Loral's shoulders.

"I'll miss you too, Love. We promise to come back. After all, the baby is going to need her God Mother at some point in their life,"

Loral pulled away and blinked.

"God Mother? Me?" Her eyes lit up with excitement. "I can't believe this! Geoff and Jon will be so excited!"

"I thought that letting you know would help cope with us leaving," Spinelli gave her a half smile.

"I promise to uphold my duties of God Mother," Loral saluted Spinelli and laughed, hugging the small pregnant woman again, tears filling both of their eyes.

I can't believe my time here is over. It feels like it just began...

She could not get comfortable if it saved her life. Her back ached and the chair was made from cheap materials that didn't help her discomfort. TJ, on the other hand, was passed out asleep before the plane took off.

"Can I get some water?" Spinelli asked the stewardess as she walked down the aisle.

"Not a problem Sweetie," The woman was tall in her dark blue stilettos and her blazer and slacks hugged her thin body tightly. She couldn't be more than thirty. She pulled out a plastic up and filled it with ice and water, handing it to Spinelli.

"Thanks," she sipped the water and sighed, reaching into her bag and pulling out a bottle of pills that helped her nausea.

TJ shuffled in his seat and continued to sleep. She had no idea how long she would handle sitting on the plane with nothing to do.

"How long have I been out?" TJ groaned, rubbing his face with his hands.

"About three hours," Spinelli said, flipping through the airline magazine for the sixtieth time.

"Man, I feel hung over." He stretched and pulled her closer to him. "I had a dream about our baby,"

She smiled at him and kissed his cheek.

"He was about five and you was teaching him how to throw a football. And I was there making sure he knew how to catch."

Spinelli scrunched her nose at the thought of her throwing a football. She hated football. It was a mindless sport or big guys fighting over a weird shaped ball. She couldn't stand baseball either and don't get her started on soccer.

TJ laughed, taking the magazine out of her hands.

"Hey, I was reading that... again." She protested.

"Not anymore. We need a game plan for when we land."

"I thought we already had a game plan."

TJ rubbed his neck, looking at her.

"Yeah, to stay with your folks until we get our own place." He had a worry in his voice.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know, I just don't want to end up living with your parents forever, especially when we have this little guy on the way." He placed his hand on her stomach, his lips twitching to a slight smile.

"I know what you mean, but we don't have any other choice. Your parents or mine and we both agreed my parents are the easiest to live with."

TJ nodded, agreeing to her words.

"I don't want to worry. Once I go meet up with my new boss, we will be racking in the dough in no time. And our credit is pretty good so getting preapproved for a home loan won't be a pain either. We'll get a good interest rate and buy our house and everything will be fine. We have a few more months before she's born so we have time." She reassured him by patting his leg.

"How did I get so lucky?" He asked, looking into her eyes. They were soft and warm like melted chocolate chips on a cookie.

Spinelli looked at her watch and smiled. "We should be landing in forty-five minutes. Did both our parents come?"

"Yeah, Mom should have picked up your parents and are going to meet us at the luggage claim."

"Sweet," Spinelli snatched the magazine back from TJ and starting looking through the catalogue again, hoping it would pass the time.

"Ashley, TJ, over here," Spinelli looked up from her feet and saw her parents standing by the conveyer, waving their hands in the air. Mr. and Mrs. Detweiller were with them.

"Hey guys," she said, strolling up to the parents, a smile on her face.

"Ashley, your-" her father stared at her stomach, words could not be formed into verbal sounds.

"Pregnant, I know. Surprise."

Both sets of parents were quiet.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Her mother demanded.

"We wanted to surprise you," TJ said, putting his arm around Spinelli.

"Well, we are very much surprised." Janet scowled at Spinelli then her son, livid that they didn't inform her of her future grandchild.

"We know you're probably not too happy with us, but we wanted to surprise you since we were going to come back anyway." Spinelli stated. The conveyer belt started to move and started spitting out luggage. TJ, Bob and Sam left to gather their bags, leaving the girls to talk.

"When did you find out?" Flo asked, pulling her into a hug.

"A few months ago. We were just as surprised,"

"I'm sure," Janet spat.

"Janet, calm down. These are our kids. They've been married and gone to school. They have a good life and are now starting their family. So shut it." Flo snapped at her friend and turned back to her daughter. "Do we know the sex?"

"No, we wanted to wait until I got an OBGYN here at home,"

"At least we'll be there for something." Janet narrowed her eyes, scowling.

"Shut your hole." Flo shouted.

Janet sealed her lips tight, looking at her shoes.

"I know you guys are disappointed that we didn't tell you as soon as we found out, but we thought it would be more sentimental to do it in person," Spinelli grabbed both of the women's hands and squeezed.

Janet looked away, blushing with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry for being rude."

"We got the bags," the boys returned, bags in hand. The six of them left the airport, on their way home from a long flight, ready to rest up and start the next chapter in their life.

What could go wrong? Spinelli asked herself.