It had been several months in the process, and now was the day they'd found out - they were going to find out if Sidney was pregnant. It was an uncomfortable and awkward experience, having to collect eggs from Gale and sperm from him, and then to plant the embryo inside Sidney's womb.

Gale and him had spent many nights hugged together, excited, and scared, for the results. Sure, Sidney was healthy and had never had any complications concerning her menstrual cycle or ovulation, but considering the couple's luck last time a baby was a part of the conversation, things ended in the worst possible way.

The appointment was in fifteen minutes, and Gale and himself just made their way to their car and started making their way to the hospital. He had been nervous all day, his mind completely unconcerned with all the paperwork piled in front of him. Everyone else at the department seemed to get the idea that he wasn't entirely present, and so bothered him as little as possible.

His leg had been bouncing since the moment he woke up, and he couldn't shake the pressure in his chest. He was anxious that things would go wrong again, even if the odds were stacked in their favor, and yet he was also thrilled. If things went right, then he'd finally get the chance to be a father, and Gale a mother.

He had been patient for a little under a decade for the opportunity, and now he was given his second chance to make it happen. He didn't quite know what spurred him so much to want a child, but it didn't matter to him. He just wanted to care for his baby, send them off to school, take their prom photos, watch them cross the stage in a cap and gown, see them graduate college, and make a family of their own.

He parked in the hospital's parking lot with six minutes to spare. He looked over at Gale and asked "Ready?"

It had been a whirlwind the past few months for Gale. Once she decided she was ready, and had made sure that Sidney was too, she threw herself into learning everything she could about the process of surrogacy and what both she and Sidney could do to give them the highest chance of success. When Gale decided she was committed, she didn't back down until she got what she wanted, and so she spent hours every day reading about pregnancy, surrogacy, women's health, and everything she could find about parenting and child development. She wanted to avoid making any mistakes she possibly could, and so learning absolutely everything she could about anything she could think of she would need to know seemed to her the way to go.

She had been taking the medication prescribed to her to stimulate her ovaries, and once they were deemed ready, had undergone the procedure to remove her eggs. It had been uncomfortable and somewhat painful, but it was obviously necessary. Sidney had been compliant with taking the medications she needed to stimulate her hormones in preparation for receiving Gale's eggs, combined in the lab with Dewey's sperm sample, and four weeks ago, she had undergone the procedure to implant two of what had been determined as the most viable eggs in her womb. They had reached the four week mark after the egg implantation, and it was finally time for Sidney's appointment to determine if one- or both, possibly- had "taken" and she was pregnant.

Gale had resisted, almost entirely, from pestering Sidney over the past four weeks to ask if she felt any differently or if she thought that she was pregnant. The woman was doing them the favor of a lifetime, and she was trying hard not to irritate her in the process. But she had no such restraint from obsessively wondering it to herself, or speculating endlessly to Dewey and sometimes Tatum. Not that Tatum helped- she was convinced, as illogical as it was, that she "knew" Sidney was pregnant from the day of the implantation.

"Because I do!" she had insisted when Gale asked her with clear skepticism how she could possibly know something before it was visible on any measurement yet invented. "She just looks different! She smells different too!"

Sidney didn't look any different to Gale, and she wasn't about to go smelling her like a creep to test Tatum's theory either. She tried to ignore Tatum's unwavering conviction, knowing that it would be all the more disappointing if she let herself buy into it and it turned out she was wrong. Still, it was hard not to get her hopes up, especially when Tatum, much like her brother, refused to focus on work the day of the appointment, instead word bombing Gale with her excited "evidence" of Sidney's pregnancy.

"She said the milk smelled funny the other day, and it wasn't, it was fine. And she's been going to bed earlier lately, she says no if I ask her if she's tired but she never admits things like that, she thinks it's complaining. You don't just keep going to bed early if you're not tired, and everyone knows people are wiped out when they're pregnant. And she snapped at me for popping gum. It's pregnancy mood swings!"

"Tatum, we still have shit to get done other than the appointment today, pull together and focus," Gale had attempted to redirect her, but the research Tatum was supposed to be working on was not as compelling to her as the research she too had clearly been conducting about pregnancy. In the end Gale had given up and tuned her out, taking over some of her tasks just to get them out of the way for their next broadcast later that week.

It was still an adjustment, working with Tatum in person now rather than mostly virtually. Technically, Tatum could have continued to do most of her work virtually rather than in person, and some days she still chose to, but more and more often she was coming into the studio instead now that she and Sidney had moved thirty minutes outside of Woodsboro and the commute was doable. Sometimes Tatum's closer proximity grated on Gale's nerves, but sometimes it was a strangely welcome thing. Today, it was a little of both.

She was glad that Sidney and Tatum had decided to buy a house together closer to hers and Dewey's, and they had managed to find one rural enough to give them more anonymity and security. It was close enough to be able to see each other often, attend Sidney's appointments, and for Tatum to work with Gale more closely, as Tatum would be taking on far more responsibility for the production company when Gale took her maternity leave with the baby. If there was a baby to take the time off for.

Before the time of the appointment, she and Tatum had parted for Tatum to pick up Sidney and for Gale to drive to the station to ride together with Dewey to the hospital. Tatum had given her an excited hug, smirking as she said, "You wait, you're gonna see I'm right. I'm totally a pregnancy psychic. At least with this."

"Psycho, maybe," Gale had jibed back, but she had accepted the hug and returned it, appreciating Tatum's enthusiasm even if she was trying not to get too drawn into it.

She was quiet as she sat beside Dewey in the car, aware of the nervous energy emanating off of him. Sometimes she truly could see the similarities he and Tatum shared as siblings; whereas Tatum had talked endlessly and fidgeted with everything she could lay her hands on, Dewey too practically seemed to vibrate with anticipation. Gale felt less excited as they pulled into the hospital parking lot than anxious. This just didn't seem like after everything they had gone through for this, the time and energy they had all extended and the obstacles of will, circumstance, and timing that had come up before- how could she be lucky enough to nevertheless end up with a healthy child, a healthy pregnancy, even if it wasn't her body experiencing it? Was it even something she deserved?

As Dewey asked her if she was ready, she nodded, even as her heart seemed to have relocated itself in her throat. She reached for his hand as they walked inside the lobby, riding the elevator to meet Sidney and Tatum in the OBGYN waiting room. After a quick greeting and exchange of hugs, Sidney signed herself in, and they all waited for her name to be called. While Tatum kept up nearly nonstop stream of whispers as she played ceaselessly with Sidney's fingers with one hand and twirled a strand of her own hair in the other, Gale remained almost motionless, her anxiety rising. What if it hadn't worked? They would have to try it again, and it would be more months of effort and waiting and going through this all over. The eggs she had left weren't determined to be the best to try, so didn't that mean there was less chance it would work?

Sidney, meanwhile, seemed composed, sitting between the other two women. She let Tatum mess with her hand with patience, and when her name was called, as Tatum practically jumped to her feet, she rose without hurry, although she too was excited to have the blood test done to get the results. She touched Gale's arm, then Dewey's lightly as they walked, Tatum swinging her hand almost like a kid in her eagerness.

The four of them in the small exam room along with the nurse who took Sidney's vitals and updated health information made the place almost comically crowded, and Gale soon started to feel fidgety herself and somewhat claustrophobic. She edged herself against a wall, as far from Sidney and the medical equipment as possible. After Sidney's vitals were proclaimed to be good and her blood was drawn, the nurse left to test it, and the room seemed to close in smaller and smaller to Gale. It seemed an eternity before the doctor entered the room, introducing himself, and collectively she could feel them all holding their breath.

"Congratulations," he said warmly, including all four in the room in his gaze and smile. "Ms. Prescott, you're confirmed to be pregnant. We're going to go ahead and do an ultrasound to confirm fetal size and due date. It's a little early usually, but if you have an active little one, it's possible we may be able to hear the heartbeat today."

Sidney's shoulders slumped with relief, and her face broke out into a huge smile, her dark eyes lighting up. "Really? Oh my god, that's amazing!"

Tatum whooped, actually punching a fist in the air, and did a dance of victory before flinging her arms around Sidney and kissing her soundly. "I told you I knew it, I told you! Sidney Prescott, the ultimate badass at everything she sets out to do!"

Gale remained motionless for a few seconds as the words sunk in. Confirmed to be pregnant. Sidney- and through her, she and Dewey too- were pregnant. Their second chance, improbable as it was, had arrived.

She smiled slowly, tremulous, and her eyes shone with tears as she moved almost in a daze to Dewey, wanting him to take her into his arms. Looking up at him, she said in disbelief, "It worked. Dewey, it worked. We're going to have a baby."

He stood next to Gale, who had seated herself at the farthest wall from Sidney. The time it took for the nurse to take her vitals and draw her blood felt it was ten times longer than what the clock told him.

The room was silent when the nurse left, everyone seeming to be holding bated breaths. He didn't like the silence, but he himself had nothing to say either. The answer would be given to them any minute now, and it was a fifty-fifty if everything went right. Of course the odds were in their favor, but they had surpassed the low odds before with Rowan and still lost them.

The click of the door's handle turning sounded louder than it would've had the silence not heighten his hearing to listen for any small sound. His face was a mix of worry and hope as he watched the doctor enter and check his papers.

"Congratulations."

He only had to hear the one word to know that it was a success, and his heart immediately jumped with excitement, an audible intake of breath coming from him as his lungs struggled to take in air due to his elated heartbeat.

His face looked as happy as a Labrador's, and he was certain if he had the tail of one that it'd be wagging at a million miles an hour. Tears glossed over his eyes as he took Gale into a tight embrace.

"We did it," he said before looking over at Sidney and thanking her, then looking to the doctor and thanking him as well. "I love you," he murmured to Gale, pressing his lips to hers.

Gale hugged Dewey back, squeezing him with all thr strength she had. For once she wasn't worried about his back, and it was doubtful in his exhilaration that he felt any pain. She laughed at the pure, almost comical joy on Dewey's face, her own eyes aglow as she beamed up at him. Arms still around him, she kissed him back, a little longer and more thoroughly, and then murmured back against his mouth.

"I love you."

Tatum, her arms still wound around Sidney's neck, laughs gleefully, eyes shining with happiness too as she looked over at them.

"I was right, told you," she reiterated. "I'm going to be an aunt!"

She released Sidney to launch herself over to Gale and Dewey, shoving herself into their embrace by hugging both at once. Then, a wicked grin on her face, she turned and announced to the doctor, "My girlfriend is going to have my brother's baby!"

"Tatum!"Sidney said, but she was smiling too. "I'm so glad, guys. Congratulations."

She looked down at her still flat stomach. "I feel like people will be telling me congratulations, but it's really you."

"It's you too," Gale corrected. Wiggling away from Tatum and Dewey, she moved to Sidney and gave her a tight but brief hug too. "We couldn't have this without you. Thank you."

"Well, let's get her prepped for the ultrasound," the doctor said, and the other three moved out of the way as Sidney climbed back on the exam table, lying back. The ultrasound was transvaginal, given the early state of her pregnancy, so Gale kept her eyes between Sidney's face and the screen, waiting. The doctor made some notes and measurements on the screen, pointing out their baby- to Gale it had barely any form at all. It looked like the curl of a comma.

"It will be starting to grow arms and legs in the next two to three weeks," the doctor explained. He moved the instrument, and then smiled. "Yes, there it is. A heartbeat."

He pointed to a very fast, almost fluttering blip on the screen. "That's cardiac activity."

He pulled his sister into the hug as she pushed herself into their embrace, unbothered by the intrusion. The hug made him feel warm, but he was quick to pull back when Tatum announced Sidney, her girlfriend, was carrying her brother's baby.

"Tate," he said disappointingly, however he internally was going to allow it as it clearly gave her glee, and it showed in the subtle smile on his lips.

He too thanked Sidney for her help and stood beside Gale as they waited for the doctor to return. He almost couldn't see their baby on account of how small it was, but he was just able to make out the fetus when the doctor pointed it out.

When the doctor pointed out the blip on the screen and said it was their baby's heartbeat, tears threatened to breach. In the past decade, he never thought he'd get to see his own child, let alone have one, but now it was happening, and he was watching his - their - baby take shape.

He took one of Gale's hands into his and squeezed it lightly. "They're there," he whispered in disbelief, as if she couldn't see the baby too. "That's our baby."

Tatum is still full of excited energy, and she shifts her weight back and forth restlessly as she waited for the ultrasound to be projected so they all could see. She was practically bouncing on her toes, even as she held Sidney's hand.

"Does that hurt? Does it feel weird?" She asked as the doctor got the ultrasound wand in place.

"No, it doesn't hurt, it's just a little uncomfortable," Sidney answered patiently, eyes on the screen.

Her eyes showed interest and curiosity as she watched the image on the screen appear. As the doctor pointed out the fetus and the heartbeat, Sidney smiled, looking somewhat awed.

"Wow. It's so strange to think that there is a future human being inside me right now. And that we all start out looking like that. It's so tiny. And it already has a heartbeat? Wow. That's amazing."

Gale stared at the screen with wide eyes, unable to look away. That barely visible flicker on the screen was the evidence of her baby, her child developing. It was growing, and already it had one of the features that made up life. A heartbeat. Her baby already had a beating heart.

She said nothing, squeezing Dewey's hand back as strong emotion played over her face. Her baby. Already, she knew without a doubt that she would do anything to keep it safe. She hadn't doubted that she wanted a child, but she realized suddenly that even before their baby was visibly baby shaped, she already loved it.