Emily could feel Alex awaken around four AM in the way all her muscles seemed to tense. She didn't need to ask to know it was because she knew what day it was...

She found Alex's hand under the cover and squeezed it tightly. She wanted to tell her not to be nervous, but knew it would do no good. Instead, she said, "Why don't we get breakfast?"

A beat.

"At four AM?" Alex asked in a whisper.

Emily laughed softly. "Denny's is open..." When Alex didn't respond, she gently prompted, "It's better than lying here stressing about the results for the next three hours."

"I can worry and eat at the same time," she joked weakly, even though it was a largely accurate joke.

Humming a little note, Emily cocked her head, let her gaze rake over Alex. "Well, in that case, I may just have to come up with a more distracting distraction..."

Alex raised a brow. "Meaning what, exactly?" she challenged.

Emily just smirked, then with a low growl, she pounced on Alex. She affixed her lips to Alex's throat, gently grazing the skin with her teeth while she palmed her breast through her nightgown.

Alex giggled at the sudden amorous turn of events, her arms wrapping around Emily's neck. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked.

"Distracting you."

"With sex?"

Emily pulled back, brow raised. "That a problem?"

Alex knew she wasn't supposed to have to think about the answer, but at the same time, things hadn't necessarily been romantic of late. It wasn't that she didn't want to have sex, more that she'd been so absorbed in her worry that she hadn't had the energy for anything else. And in that moment, she could have said that she was too nervous, knew that Emily would respect that...but she also knew that Emily had been extremely understanding and she wanted to express how grateful she was for that.

She smiled softly, cupped Emily's cheek so she could lean in for a tender kiss. "Not a problem at all," she murmured.

"You seem to be in an awfully good mood," Tara observed as Alex took a seat across from her.

Alex tried to bite down on her bottom lip to quash the smile struggling to break free...not entirely successfully. She just couldn't help it. "I've had a good morning," she said evasively.

Tara laughed. "I'll bet you did..."

Alex felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment.

"No need to be embarrassed," Tara insisted, "It's a good thing." Alex said nothing, merely gave her a dubious look. "Really," she maintained, "You're allowed to have a healthy sex life."

She still seemed mortified, but nodded her agreement anyway. Clearing her throat, she said, "I feel...okay. About getting the results today, I mean."

Tara smiled encouragingly. "I'm glad to hear that. We've worked hard to get you to this point. Of course, our work isn't done once you get the results – regardless of what they say, you're going to have a baby in a few months and that will undoubtedly bring up memories and feelings regarding Ethan."

Much as she knew that to be true, Alex didn't want it to be true. She wanted a clean slate, a fresh start; she wanted to be a mom with a new baby and no baggage.

As if sensing this, Tara said, "You're going to have so much love for this new baby – not in spite of Ethan, but because of him. You'll also have pain, but that's not something you should try to erase."

"You're starting to sound like a fortune cookie," she muttered.

Tara nodded, as if she'd suspected as much. "Alex, none of this is quick easy fixes, but there can also be wisdom in simplicity." A beat. "Okay, that wasn't any better."

Alex just sighed. "I guess I just hoped there was a light at the end of the tunnel..." That seemed to alarm Tara and it took a moment before Alex realized why. "With therapy," she amended. "I don't want to be doing this forever."

"You won't be coming here forever," Tara assured her. "But first I need to be satisfied with my assessment of your mental state."

She nodded slowly, wondering where exactly her life had gone wrong that she needed other people to be sure she wasn't a danger to herself or others. How she'd gotten to the point where sometimes she wasn't even certain of the answer.

Tara gently reminded, "Alex, it's not a personal failure to need help."

She wished she could believe that.

Alex ducked into the car, just in time to hear Emily say, "Perfect timing: Alex just finished." She raised a brow, curious as to who was on the line. "It's your doctor," Emily mouthed, causing Alex's brows to leap up her forehead.

"Oh, umm... Hi, Dr. Crenshaw," Alex announced her presence, climbing into the passenger seat. "I'm assuming you have the results of the amnio?"

"Correct," the doctor replied, then paused a moment.

Immediately, Alex's anxiety spiked. She could feel the blood draining from her face, her hands starting to shake. "It's bad news, isn't it?"

"Oh, no, no – not at all," the doctor insisted, "It's just a snag."

"A snag?" Alex echoed, panicking once again.

Emily reached across the centre console, rested a hand on Alex's thigh to silently remind her to calm down.

The doctor's tone immediately became apologetic. "Sorry to alarm. I only meant that the sample of amniotic fluid we took wasn't large enough to run all the tests necessary, so we'll need to take another sample."

Alex exhaled shakily, struggling to process this information. "Oh... Okay? So, there's nothing wrong?"

"Nothing you need to be concerned about," the doctor said.

Those words did nothing to soothe Alex's racing mind, but she bade the doctor goodbye nonetheless. Then, as soon as she did, she turned to Emily with wide alarmed eyes.

"Okay," Emily started the reassurances preemptively, "This is not a situation where we need to panic."

Alex raised a brow. "Are you sure? Because the way she phrased it..."

"No, Alex. We are not going to let our imaginations run away from us," she insisted. "As far as we know, we're having a happy, healthy little baby and that's what matters right now, okay?"