If Lisa hadn't already looked pale, she certainly did now. She walked out of the bedroom and grasped the back of the dining room chair, almost bracing herself there as she gave Marion a horrified look.

"No, that's not a possibility, I mean that I would be pregnant. It's food poisoning, already feeling better, and the rest," she started to sputter, almost nervous as she waved her hand, "I had a cold when I got to France. That was standard, runny nose, a cough, all of that. I've been tired since I even came back from Florida, which has only gotten worse, but that's also because I have been traveling like crazy for the last two months. No, not possible, just exhausted with food poisoning."

"Really?" Marion frowned at her and crossed her arms, the two women standing across the table from each other talking. "So, there's medically no possibility you could be pregnant? I mean, I know you told me in the past when you were married to Dan, you had two miscarriages. I really don't want to pry or dig up painful memories, but there's not a chance?"

Lisa frowned and looked down, thinking through things or at least trying to gather her thoughts. When she looked up at Marion, her face expressed her horrified reaction, and she hissed as she made another face, "I mean, I suppose it's medically possible. My doctor said it couldn't and wouldn't happen, but yes," she grimaced again, "technically speaking."

"Okay," Marion let out her breath as she nodded. Both women could feel the tension in the room, and Marion eyed her, waving her hand, "Then, the next question would be is it, you know," she waved her hand, "possible." She paused and then pursed her lips before locking eyes with Lisa, "I'm really getting into dicey waters here in this situation, so," she swiped her hand over her face in a gesture as if she was wiping the slate clean, "I'm now only speaking to you as a friend. I have no father," she tilted her head and eyed Lisa. At that, Lisa who was still horrified with her mind racing, actually laughed at that as she blushed. Marion repeated, "As I said, I have no father, not one that would be romantically involved at his age. I'm only talking to my dear friend here who needs my help with her situation and her husband. Let's be frank-it's possible also, I assume because it's not like you're celibate, correct?"

Lisa sighed and looked up. When she looked back at Marion, Marion was smirking at her, and Lisa smirked right back at her, "Well, I've been in France for weeks, as you know, and no, I don' have some Frenchman over there."

"But you were here between trips," she pointed to Lisa, and as she said that, Lisa's face flushed, and Marion nodded. "Yup, not that it's even a suspicion, but confirmed with your red face even though your face has been pale since you walked in the door yesterday. So," she smirked, now with a teasing tone, "no Frenchmen, but you've been home between trips, and even that, as I recall involved a nice trip to a secluded fishing cabin. Let's face it," she smiled at Lisa, "even with age limitations, I'm guessing going at it like rabbits?"

"Marion!" Lisa's eyes widened, and she dropped her face in her hand, clearly now horrified and utterly embarrassed. "I cannot believe you said that or that we are having this conversation."

"Just admit it's a very real possibility from every angle, even if some random dude with a medical degree told you years and years ago it couldn't happen. Things change," she said, setting her gaze on Lisa. Lisa was quiet for several moments before she bit her lip and nodded.

"I just," she paused and continued, gesturing with her hand, "don't think that's it at all. I really don't. Yes, I had two miscarriages when I was married to Dan, but after that, they said it was just not something that would happen."

"Things change," Marion said with a nod. "You need to know for sure. I mean," she shrugged, "the symptoms fit-exhaustion for sure. You still look pretty rough, and yes, I can say that as your dear friend. You yourself told me you thought you were going into menopause, so how many stories do you read where women have babies later in life? You're not even that old. It would be the craziest thing for me, where yes, five years makes a difference with something like this, but yes, you're younger than me, so it's definitely something to check. "Sick to your stomach-"

"I was only sick yesterday," she pointed at Marion. "I know that was food poisoning."

"Fine," Marion nodded. "I think you need to be sure. Take a test. If it's not that, I am concerned," she met Lisa's gaze and frowned. "I already lost my mom to a very long illness, and I certainly don't want to go through that again, Dad either, so if it's not that, which we can find out with a test, you need to see your doctor."

"I'm, I'm fine," Lisa waved her hand, but even as she said that, she was not convincing herself.

"Prove it," Marion stated pointedly. "You need to at least take a test."

"Right now," Lisa looked up again, "I need to shower and head over to Fairfield. I can't stop working just because I am a little under the weather, which I am feeling better."

"Sure you are," Marion eyed her. "How about something to eat? Eggs?"

At the mention of that, Lisa about gagged, just the thought of them. Marion smirked at her, "See, you are nauseous. I know you are, and you said the coffee was upsetting your stomach earlier too."

"It doesn't change that I can't just lie around here and wait to get over food poisoning. Marion, I have a business to run. I've been in France for weeks, as you know, and I do need to go over to Fairfield. Besides," she lowered her voice and looked down, "if I'm not feeling well, I can go up to the house. I did live there."

"Fine," Marion said almost with an edge, one that had Lisa look up at her. Marion had crossed her arms, "I'm picking up a pregnancy test, and you are going to take it. I'm serious, Lisa. I am worried something is wrong, and you, yourself," she gestured at her, "lost your own mom early on. We've both had sickness in our families, and I'm not about to lose you too."

Lisa nodded and then rolled her eyes, "I'll take a test. I appreciate your concern, and yes, you do bring up a good point that I need to watch my health and not just brush things aside. I don't want to go anywhere either. You and I are sticking around together for a long time, and yes, I could never put Jack through something like that, not when he's gone through it before."

"Listen," Marion smiled softly at Lisa, "I am sorry if I've worried you more, but watching you feel so awful is miserable, and if it was just a one-day thing, I wouldn't have said anything. It's not, though. You've felt badly for weeks, and at this point, it needs to be checked out. I'm going to stop by Fairfield later, and you can start the process of elimination."

"I'm sure everything is going to be fine," Lisa said, and as she spoke, Marion walked over to her to give her a hug. The two women embraced, and as they stepped back, Lisa reached for Marion's hand and patted it as she gave her a small smile, "Just trust me. I'm fine. I'm exhausted for months of travel and going to feel better as the day goes on and I get this food poisoning out of my system. I'll be fine, and your test will prove it."

Marion nodded and stepped away, gesturing for Lisa to go get her shower. As she stepped away, Marion pointed at her, "We're getting to the bottom of this starting today. That's what a good friend does, they watch your back even when you don't want to."

Lisa checked in with Jack but only after she arrived at Fairfield, calling him to let him know she was at work. He was clearly worried about her, asking how she felt, and once she reassured him she was on the mend, the two only talked briefly; both had a lot of work to do, but he promised he'd see her back at the house later that afternoon. Once off the phone, she sat back in her desk chair and closed her eyes. She felt awful, but she wasn't about to admit that to Jack or to Marion. The toast she'd had for breakfast was sitting okay, but one of her stable trainers had been carrying around a hot cup of coffee and that had about had her gagging too. She really wanted to get this food poisoning out of her system. Thankfully, work was going well, and there were not a lot of issues to deal with at Fairfield. It was still her stable, though, so not checking was not the responsible thing to do. She did have plenty of paperwork to get caught up on from her weeks away, and as she sat there with her eyes closed and tried to rest briefly, her mind wandered.

Marion had put all kinds of crazy ideas in her head, and truthfully, she was frustrated now that she was thinking them. She knew she wasn't pregnant. No one else, well except Dan but he wasn't part of this now, had heard that doctor years ago. She and Dan had still been married a couple years after that and nothing, so no, that wasn't a possibility. Just the idea of it had brought back some very painful memories, memories that had been trickling into her mind all morning. She'd had too much damage, scar tissue and the like from two miscarriages. The doctors said she couldn't carry a baby, and she'd had to work through that. Those miscarriages had been horrible and traumatic, not something she ever wanted to think about again, and up until now, she really hadn't. Surprisingly, that was not the reason she and Dan had divorced, but once she'd worked through that, she had thrown herself into her work, happy to have the reputation and stable she now did. She knew Marion meant well and did care about her, but even reliving those memories this morning had her emotions all over the place.

However, as her mind wandered, she couldn't help the anxious feeling she was having. Why did Marion have to point out things that, yes, she should have thought about her health too. Her mom had died very young. She wasn't much older than her mom had been when she'd been sick. It wasn't something she wanted to think about, but now that it had been pointed out to her, Lisa couldn't stop thinking about it. What if something was wrong? She had been so content moving through life, especially this last year, first dating and then marrying Jack. She was happy, and she knew what often happened when you were very happy-your world came crashing down. Lisa shifted in her desk chair to look toward the window, away from the door, and as she sat there and looked outside, she wiped at tears she didn't even know were falling. Nothing was wrong. Nothing could be wrong, but what if it was? She wasn't sure she could handle that, and it was not something she wanted to put off on Jack. He didn't deserve that. He'd been through it with a wife once already, and the last thing he needed with their significant age difference was to have another wife with health issues. She reached over to her desk and picked up a framed picture she had of the two of them, smiling at it, studying it, even though she knew every detail of the picture by heart. Oh, she loved her cowboy. Funny that people in Hudson, not all but some, had told the two of them they didn't see it-they didn't see or understand the attraction, but as Lisa sat there and looked at the picture of the two of them, one from actually the beach in France, she smiled, thinking about how happy Jack had made her this last year, how much she loved him, and how she couldn't have something wrong because it would utterly crush him, and that wasn't something she could allow. No, she was fine, and she'd prove it to Marion. Sometimes the body needed a good rest, and yes, food poisoning was terrible and often took days to fully recover.

Feeling the weight of something being dropped in her lap, Lisa's eyes sprang open, and immediately she was horrified realizing she'd fallen asleep there in her desk chair. She saw a bag and looked up to see Marion standing over her, arms crossed with a look on her face.

"You're not feeling any better. I can see it. You just changed venues, going from the house ot work."

"I was just resting my eyes," Lisa waved her hand.

"Really?" Marion tilted her head. "What time is it?"

"Ahh," Lisa tried to glance at her watch, but she couldn't without Marion noticing. She honestly had no clue the time and truly was horrified that she'd fallen asleep. The idea that her staff had walked in to her sleeping-

"Lisa, it's 2:30."

"2:30, no, it can't be," she said, her facial expression giving her away as she turned back toward her computer screen, and yes, it was 2:30. The last she'd looked at it, the time had read 12:05. No, I wasn't-"

"Please, Lisa," Marion begged, putting her hands together, "just be straight with me, okay? I'm not going to share with Dad. Whatever is going on, you're going to be the one to tell him. I'm here for you, whatever it is, but this is not you. You don't fall asleep at work. With your car up at the house, your staff thought you were there. No one had any idea you were in here sleeping."

"I'm just," she shook her head as she moved the paper bag, "out of sorts. I told you, food poisoning, the jet lag now, all of it-a mess."

"I'm guessing you haven't eaten?" Marion nodded to the bag she'd put on Lisa's lap originally. "I brought you a sandwich."

"Oh, well you didn't need to do that-"

"It's there with a pregnancy test, and with my limited options in town and knowing that anywhere I bought one, people would talk, I got it from Maggie who does stock them there in the back. I love that woman and the random things she sells from that to horse bridles. So, she won't say anything, but I had to explain a bit. She said to tell you she's worried about you too and prays all is okay."

Lisa waved her hand, "I told you, that's not the issue."

"Well, if it's not, something is. How about you have that sandwich?" Marion nudged the bag toward Lisa and added, "It's turkey and Swiss, which I know you love."

Lisa, who had reached for the bag sat back, and her face almost turned green at the mention of the sandwich. She shook her head and glanced up at Marion, "You just mentioning that made my stomach turn. I'm not sure I can eat that."

"I didn't get chicken," she pointed at Lisa "because you said that was a suspect for your food poisoning, but you've never had any issues eating turkey. It's your favorite, so yes, Lisa, something is wrong. Come on," she nudged at her. "We're going up to your house and starting the process of elimination while I make you some tea and find something for you to eat."

"Marion," she frowned, "I appreciate you coming over and even," she rolled her eyes, "bringing that stupid test, but I'll be fine. I can manage."

"No, we aren't doing this," she said, tugging at Lisa's hand. "You forget I have two stubborn daughters so I can go all crazy mom on you. Come on. If I leave you here, you won't eat, and I know you won't take that test. So, it's either take it here in the privacy of the Fairfield house or take it at home and let your husband-because remember, in talking about these sensitive matters I have no father," she smirked, "find the pregnancy test. You decide. I'm not leaving until we rule it out."

"Fine," Lisa sighed, gripping her desk as she stood. She was dizzy and hoped Marion didn't notice that, but as she took a breath and got her bearings, she glanced over at Marion, who had definitely noticed and was standing there watching her. Lisa looked to her computer where she hadn't gotten anything done in the last couple of hours with her apparent nap and collected her phone before nodding at Marion.

"Let's get this over."

Marion followed her to the door, waving her hand, "You realize you're calling the doctor regardless of the result of this-the difference is just what doctor you are calling."

Lisa looked over her shoulder and narrowed her gaze at her friend, "You're awful persistent. I thought I was the wicked stepmother, but as far as stepdaughters go-."

"Oh, well perhaps you need a refresher that the evil stepdaughter can make the stepmother's life miserable, and I'm going to do that until you start taking care of yourself. I'll start with bringing along this lunch and test," she flashed a fake smile. "Can't forget either. I know you're really excited about both. Think of it this way-both have something in common. You'll be in the bathroom for each one-the test to take and the lunch," she shrugged with a smirk, "to throw up when it doesn't sit well with you. Come on," she opened the door, "our fun afternoon awaits, but remember, I'm not the stepdaughter in this matter, just your friend. I can't put those ideas of my dad in my head right now, just helping my friend here."

A half hour later, because Lisa had stalled not wanting to do anything but ignore that something could be wrong, she walked into the kitchen where Marion was waiting, sitting at the kitchen table, eating her own late lunch, the sandwich that Lisa couldn't stomach earlier. She put down the sandwich and looked to Lisa with a hopeful expression, whatever that would mean, but Lisa's expression gave nothing away.

"Well? What's the story? Please tell me you didn't disappear that long without taking that test."

Lisa sat down across from Marion, and Marion continued to study Lisa, lowering her head to try and make eye contact with Lisa.

"Lisa?" Marion asked again, hoping to get a response from her. Lisa sat there, stone-faced and finally looked at Marion.

"I, ahh," she started to tear up and then the tears started cascading down her face before she could even utter more. "The test was positive, but I can't be pregnant." At this point, she was almost inconsolable as she waved her hand around. Marion sprang into action and moved quickly around the table to embrace her as Lisa continued to talk. "I stood there, staring at that test and thinking over things. I'd have to be what, maybe six weeks or so however they calculate it, but that's the problem. I had miscarriages at seven and nine weeks before, so this is just some cruel punishment, here we go again. I can't be pregnant. I can't deal with this again, go through this heartache," she was sobbing now, Marion having pulled her into a tight hug as the two women processed things. "I can't do this," she shook her head. "I can't tell Jack and I can't believe I'm going to have to go through this grief all over again. It's been almost 15 years," she paused talking but continued sobbing. Marion gripped the back of her head as she held her tightly. "The doctor said I wouldn't get pregnant again, and this is that nightmare, a pregnancy that will only lead to another miscarriage. This is awful."

"Hey, you are strong, one of the strongest people I've ever met. Oh, Lisa, I'm so sorry you're so upset. Gosh, I mean, I thought pregnancy was possible until you talked me out of it or rather told me about your trauma with it, and then I was terrified you were deathly ill. We will be there with you through this. Dad will want to help."

"I can't tell Jack," Lisa stated in a firm tone, pulling back, tears still rolling down her face, but dead set on her statement. She locked eyes with Marion and shook her head, "I can't, not now, not with this disappointment coming. I just can't this minute-"

"Call your doctor. Get an appointment, and then, you can tell Dad and take him with you. You're going to need him. You can't go through this alone especially with as traumatic as you said your miscarriages were before. I'm so sorry. I can't imagine the gut-wrenching pain thinking ahead to what lies ahead."

"Marion, I mean it," Lisa said sternly, now wiping at her face as she took a deep breath and locked eyes with her. "Jack is not to know, not yet. I need to get a handle on this, and no, I'm going to that appointment on my own. I know how bad things were the last two times I had a miscarriage, and I need to prepare for this on my own. You may not understand, but I need that information first before I tell Jack, before it happens," she said, breaking down again, and Marion pulling her back into a comforting hug. "Please, let me do what I need to do."

"Lisa, I'm not going to pretend like it's a good idea to go to that appointment on your own. Dad really should know, but I will respect what you want. I'll go with you if you want-"

"No," she sat back again, biting her lip this time as she wiped at her face. "I need to get the facts myself. Where's my phone?" She started to look around, but Marion stood and walked over to the counter where Lisa had left her phone. She handed it to her with a sad smile.

"We're here for you, and we love you. I know you had Dan the last two times, but this is different. You have all of us, whatever happens in the next couple of weeks."

Lisa's hands were shaking, but she took the phone from Marion and scrolled through it until she found the number she wanted in her contacts. Marion held her free hand and sat down next to her while Lisa made the call.

"Yes, hi," she said into the phone with a shaky voice, "this is Lisa Stillman, and I would like to make an appointment and soon. I've ahh had two miscarriages in the past, and it looks like I'm heading down that road again," she said glancing to Marion who nodded with encouragement. "I'd really like to be seen as soon as possible so I can prepare."