'Mimimimim.'

'Yes, Mumum is right here, I'm right here.'

Alexis smiled at her little girl as she sat in the family waiting area of Washington Memorial's ER, Lindsay with Zane in his pram beside her as they waited for Brie to arrive. Watkins was a strong ,capable person but she was also a first-time mother going through any pregnant woman's worst nightmare - heavy bleeding when there should be none. She'd been lucky enough to have a good pregnancy and then the issues afterward. Mulgrew had helped her to see that it wasn't a punishment, it was simply bad luck, and now Alexis could think of no better way to show her personal growth than supporting a new mother through her own crisis.

Beside her, Lindsay say gently pushing Zane's pram back and forth while the little guy snoozed. Just as well Alexis thought, as Lindsay's expression would have scared him to tears. Her lip was curled and was almost appeared to be muttering to herself as she tried to hold in her tears.

'Linds, are you okay?'

'No,' she snapped, then repeated herself in a gentler tone. 'No, I'm not okay.'

'Evie will be okay, we were right there with her when she started to bleed.'

'She shouldn't be here,' Lindsay all but snarled. 'She's cop, she's pregnant and she's nervous enough about having her first child. Brie doing what she's done the last five months hasn't helped at all.'

'What has Brie been doing? Alexis asked. 'I only her a little of it from Shane after Evie was there for cards night.'

'It's what hasn't been happening. Every time there has been anything to do with Evie's health, Brie has been more about protecting Marcus' feelings than supporting her wife. She even missed a few doctor's appointments because she'd been out late with Marcus and overslept. That's not even the worst part.'

'What's the worst part,' Alexis asked with no small amount of trepidation.

'Well last night, Evie missed dinner because of work, and Brie bitched her out for it in front of Marcus, and Evie just lost her mind. One thing led to another and it came out that Brie lied to Evie about never having a sexual history with Marcus.'

'Oh no.'

'Oh yeah. So she put some stuff into a bag and stayed at our place. Brie didn't call her once.'

Alexis felt her throat close up, shook her head. 'How could she be that selfish? This is her wife, her child.'

'A child that she has no biological connection to. By legal rights she is a parent but there is no bloodline, that's Marcus,' Lindsay pointed out. 'How would you feel about watching a former lover of Shane's be essentially the surrogate to you?'

'I'd be devastated and probably wind up here.'

'Exactly.'

'Pupupupupup,' Petra burbled, stretching her hands skywards; she offered a gummy smile to Alexis, which nearly had her bursting into tears. She had only met Brie once or twice, but today she'd have no qualms about giving her a piece of her mind about just how much she'd fucked up the very best thing in her life.

Looking around, she saw Cam cutting through the crowd to reach them. It always threw Alexis off to see Cam without his black lacquered bamboo walking stick, like trying to eat fries without some kind of delicious dipping sauce. He was in pale green scrubs, the signature colour of the ER nurses, and he had on a pair of nifty Nike gel-soles with the bumped heel on the right one to compensate for his knee problems.

'Lindsay, Alexis, Watkins wants to see you. I'll keep an eye on the kids.'

'How is she doing? What about the baby?'

Cam shook his head, and Alexis felt her stomach bounce hard. She took Lindsay's hand in hers like they were little girls on a school trip as they headed to the exam room. On the gurney Watkins was in a hospital gown, laying on her side, breathing slowly and deep.

She looked so much smaller than Alexis remembered, so fragile. Watkins wasn't as tall as Meredeth or Beckett but she was still clocking in around five-seven, with narrow shoulders and the sexy pear shape that would have made any man breathe hard. Mos people would have assumed she was in costume in her uniform but her eyes were all cop and they got a taste of her subtle ass kicking when they assumed wrong about her.

'Evie, it's Alexis,' she said quietly, taking her new friend's hand. 'How are you feeling honey?'

'My heart...something's wrong and they s...said...the baby might have to b...be born soon. C...a c-section.'

'Oh Evie.' The tears came quick and hard, but Alexis kept her voice strong. 'You will get through this, you and the baby and Brie-'

'No cheese...ly...ing bitch...'

'It may sound stupid but she probably didn't want to hurt you,' Lindsay said gruffly. 'She probably was trying to do what she thought was best.'

'No...t enough...she...lied...'

'Save your energy,' Alexis soothed her, then looked over her shoulder when the door opened and Brie burst in. Her red hair was a messy tangle and her face was a study of panic, grief, and outrage. She looked nothing like the usual Glamazon chef everyone saw in her cafe. 'Brie's here.'

'Bitch.'

'Oh, Evie! Oh my god!' Brie's hands flapped like caffeine addicted butterflies as she rushed to her wife's side. 'Oh my god, Crackers, what is going on! What happened!'

The doctor, who'd been so quiet in the corner that Alexis had barely registered his presence, stepped forward with Watkins' chart in his hands. 'You're the next of kin?'

'I'm her wife,' Brie snapped, subtly nudging Alexis out of the way taking Watkins' hand as she began to cry. 'She's my wife, and this is my baby, and I need to know what happened.'