The sun's rays started to camouflage into the crimson red sky whilst, peering from behind the cotton clouds, the moon slowly began to ascend in to view. Mason stood at the window, the sky's warm light shining on his face as he studied the moon. From in between the tweed drapes, he noted the full circumference emerging above. Bathed in the light of the sun, the moon was even more beautiful than the increasing stars surrounding it. Hypnotized by its rays, Mason stared continuously at the moon. The pace of his heart gradually quickened from its steady tempo to an erratic beat.

Behind him, Mason could hear the faint mutters of Alex and her mother. He tried to tune in to the conversation, bring himself back into reality. But the searing pain building behind his eyes consumed all of his concentration, as he fought the urge to give in to his body and let his canine desires overtake him.

"I saw this coming…"

"Seriously?" Mason could almost hear Alex's eyes roll at her mom's comment, "now is the time to pull the 'I told you so' act?"

"I'm not saying that! But what have I been saying for the past few months?"

"Don't tell Dad you've switched to low fat butter?"

"Not that, the other thing!"

"You're gonna have to give me a clue here…"

Theresa tutted, the drama in her voice was almost enough for Mason to immediately jump into their conversation. "Your hair!" There was a brief silence before Theresa gave an exasperated sigh, "It was your hair! For the past few months, I've been complimenting you on how gorgeous it's looked. So, shiny and thick! It's such a giveaway, I can't believe I didn't piece it together."

"Well Mason's told me a couple of times my boobs have gotten bigger. Does that mean he should have known too?"

"Alex, do you really have to make this conversation so crude? I'm trying to have a moment with you!"

"But I'm not wrong, right Mason? …Mason?"

He snapped his head towards Alex, and soon he was hit with a wave of relief as the burning in his eyeballs diminished. "Sorry love, did you say something?" He asked yanking the drapes closed.

"Mom said she should have guessed I was pregnant, because she thought I had great hair all of a sudden. So, I asked does that mean you could have guessed because you said my boobs were bigger…"

Mason glanced at the drawn drapes and snorted, "yeah. Hindsight, eh?"

"Mason sweetie, are you ok?"

He turned back around, only to be met by Theresa and Alex's worried expressions as they sat huddled together on the bed. "Yeah sorry, I'm just worried about this full moon. I didn't realise it was tonight until Justin said before."

Alex shrugged, "Why?"

"Why? Because if we don't keep the curtains shut, and you as far away as we can from any moonlight, we'll have an angry she wolf to deal with."

"I think that's a little dramatic…"

"A little dramatic?" Theresa chuckled, "Alex honey I think out of all of us here, Mason knows what he's talking about. And until you get that potion, you need to listen to him!"

A clatter sprang from the door as it was forced open by a small figure. Dr Butcher shuffled in, her head in paperwork, as she meticulously scanned the pages held by her clipboard. "Hello Russo's! How are we feeling Alex, anything new going on? Well, apart from the freaky werewolf eyes, that your brother has told me about several times."

"No," Alex huffed, "I can't relax, I'm tired but I can't sleep and I'm not sure I have another contraction coming or if it's just gas."

"Woah, TMI," the Doctor remarked sarcastically. "Thanks Alex!"

"You asked…"

"Yeah but still, that was way more information than I actually needed to know." The corners of Dr. Butcher's mouth elevated, and a small giggle escaped her lips, then soon enough Mason and Theresa were following suit. The three of them smirking and tittering between themselves as Alex watched on tiredly, her eyes rolling at the sound of their laughter.

"Oh, come on Alex," Dr Butcher you've chuckled, "you've gotta laugh at these things."

"I'm not really seeing the funny side today…"

Dr. Butcher jutted out her bottom lip and softly stroked the hair on Alex's head, "okay sweetie, well let's change the subject then. How are you feeling, are the contractions any stronger?"

"They've started to last about thirty-seven seconds now," Theresa interjected earning another eye roll from Alex, "and they're just under eight minutes apart."

"Sounds like things are moving! Should we look and see how dilated you are?"

Alex's nose wrinkled as she grimaced, "really, can't we just wait a little longer? It's so awkward…"

"Sorry to break it to you Alex, but there are three of us in this room with you. And by now, we've all seen everything we need to see, so there's no need to feel awkward about it."

Alex lay herself back on to the firm pillows behind her, "that hasn't made me feel any better…"

"Open your legs for me please!"

"And that is the last thing I want to be doing right now…"

"Rule one of motherhood," Dr Butcher began pulling on her latex gloves, "any small bit of dignity you have left, is now considered gone! Besides, if you would have said that to him about nine months ago, you wouldn't be in this situation now."

Simultaneously Alex and Mason felt their ears burning and their cheeks lit a fiery red. Dr Butcher cast a glance at Mrs Russo who was fighting to suppress her laughter, and she gave her a knowing nod.

Alex stared up at the ceiling, gripping on to the pillows either side of her head. Her teeth gritted as she waited patiently for her heartbeat to slow, and for the sickness in her stomach to fade, along with the radiating temperature erupting from her face. The room went silent as they waited for the Doctor to finish the exam, but the tension made Alex feel even more unsettled.

"Does it normally take this long? It didn't feel like it took this long when I was examined earlier," Alex croaked trying to peer over her body. She couldn't help but wonder had the Doctor found something? Or worse, had she realised something was wrong?

"Don't worry I'm all done," the Doctor announced to Alex's relief, "you can cover yourself back up now. You're five centimeters!" She announced removing the gloves and disposing them into a nearby trash can, Dr Butcher's face gleamed and Theresa bounced over to Alex in excitement.

"Halfway there Mijha!" Theresa captured Alex in her arms and smothered her in kisses.

"Not long now," the Doctor added, "and if you want to visualise it your cervix is about the size of a slice of lime now."

Alex winced, grimacing at the thought, "I didn't want to 'visualise it' but thanks for sharing."

The Doctor turned to Mason, "if you'd like Mason, during the next examination you can try feel the cervix. If you're interested?"

The rose pigment in Mason's face drained, "I think I'll give it a miss thanks…"

"So, what now?" Theresa asked bounding from the bed, "when do we start thinking about pain relief? I mean, she hasn't even got a birth plan, do we need to make one?"

"We don't do anything until Alex has had that potion, I checked it about twenty minutes ago, and it's nearly brewed to the strength we need. I'd say maybe another hour? Then once you've ingested it and I'm satisfied it'll do the job, we can look into planning pain relief. But until then, your best friend will be Mr. Gas and Air, and you need to stay put. Don't go near any windows, and definitely not outside."

Alex nodded mindlessly, staring at the blank wall in front of her.

"Oh, and that reminds me," the Doctor added scribbling on to her notes, "no food until after the potion. It has to be taken on an empty stomach but stay hydrated. I'd recommend ice chips for now."

"Harper's gone to get her some right now," Theresa declared proudly.

"Good," Dr Butcher collect her paperwork, "I'll be back with the potion in about an hour. You know where to find me if you need me," she called sliding her way out the door.

"Thank you doctor!" Theresa stroked Alex's face before giving her another bone crushing hug, "oh sweetie, this is all becoming so real now. Isn't it exciting!"

"Isn't it just," Alex muttered.

"Mijha what's wrong?"

"Don't do this, you can't do that. Don't go there, don't eat that, drink that. Like, give me a break! As if this isn't all already completely overwhelming, now I'm getting orders thrown at me too!"

"No one bosses around Alex Russo," smirked Mason.

"Exactly! And now I just have to sit here and do nothing…"

"But Alex mija, you love not doing anything?"

"Yeah, when it's my choice! It's not the same when you're forced to do nothing. I'm getting bored! Who knew the miracle of labour would be such a buzz kill."

"Sweetie, it's just one hour, then once you've took the potion you can eat what you want, go for walks around the hospital. You'll be drugged up to the eyeballs on pain relief, believe me you'll be so relaxed, you'll love it!"

"If you say so. Not quite the reassurance I was expecting but I'll go with it." Alex slumped forward, grasping her stomach, her eyes clamped shut as she let out a low whine. A nauseated pain spread through her abdomen, and Alex recoiled into herself whilst whimpering softly.

"Another contraction baby?" Theresa rubbed Alex's back, but she was unable to answer. Alex managed to muster a small nod of her head before burying her face into her pillow and clamping her jaw on to it tightly.

Her bite tightened as the contraction intensified and Mason watched uneasily as Theresa softly reminded Alex to breath, "the Doctor didn't tell us where to find the gas and air." He stated stammering on his words, "I'll nip and ask her when we can get some, she can't go another hour without any pain relief."

Theresa nodded in agreement with him as she continuously massaged Alex's back, Mason watched on helplessly before rushing out of the room.

Charging through the hallways he brushed past the other patients and hospital staff. Closely, he examined each wooden door he passed as he ventured further down the corridor, reading the name tags closely. He mumbled under his breath each name he read as he hunted for the correct one, "Dr. Angelus, Dr. Banshee, Dr. Basilisk, Dr. Bu-"

The door swung open and Mason instantly collided with a small figure and a stack of cold leather books, his head jolted back violently as the dusty leather knocked into his face before crashing to the floor with the others.

"Oh I'm so sorry," the Doctor panicked as she scrambled to the floor to gather her books, "I didn't see ya there!" Mason knelt down alongside her and passed her one of the textbooks.

"Sorry, my fault I shouldn't have stood so close to the door."

Doctor Butcher remained scurrying around on her hands and knees, but her head snapped towards Mason when she heard the soothing accent. "Mason? Is everything alright, is it Alex?"

"No she's fine," he glanced around him and lowered his voice, "I just need to talk to you about something."

"Okay, well, is it concerning Alex?"

"Yes but no," He lightly bit his bottom lip, "would this stay confidential?"

"Confidential between you and Alex? Sure!"

"NO!" His eyes grew in size as he pleaded, "just between you and me. Definitely not Alex…"

Dr. Butcher rose to her feet, keeping her eyes fixated on Mason, "Do you want to step in my office?"

He glinted over his shoulder again and scanned the area, "Uh, no it's okay thanks. I'd rather just get this over and done with so I can get back to Alex, she thinks I'm asking about the gas and air." Dr Butcher moved closer, listening intently as he whispered, "what are the odds of everything being fine with Alex and the baby if I've been in this situation before, and both mum and baby turned out fine?"

The books Dr. Butcher held in her hands clattered back on to the floor, "excuse me? Are you saying that-"

"Do you think Alex and the baby would be ok? That's all I need to know…"

Carefully the doctor lowered herself to the floor and one by one she dragged the books up from the cold linoleum beneath her, "I guess it'd give them better odds. But it'd depend on if the other girl was a wizard or not. If she was a different species, then it could have a different affect."

Mason crouched next to her hand handed her one of the books, "is that really important?"

"If you want a definite answer, then yes!"

A crackle erupted through the air as a muffled voice exploded through the P.A system, "Dr. Butcher to the ER. A gremlin has tried to unravel a mummy… again."

"Damn, not again! But this isn't over," she warned Mason, "we'll discuss this properly when I get back." The Doctor hurried past him, knocking his shoulder as she scurried away. Mason stooped as he listened to the doctor's footsteps grow fainter as she walked away. Her footsteps became lost in the small gathering of passersby, their chatters gradually camouflaging her steps. However, the doctors chirpy voice travelled back towards him, "oh, hi Harper. Tell Alex I'll be with her shortly please, I've got a situation in the ER."

Mason's head pricked up and he quickly turned, Harper stood only a few feet away clutching a cup of ice chips. She emitted a cold aura as she stared blankly at him, her eyes glazed in rage.

Mason edged closer to her, "What did you hear?"

A wet force collided with his face, Mason clamped his eyes shut as the cold stung his skin. He peered down, and noticed the ice chips scattered around the floor, along with the cup that once contained them.

Harper marched closer, "I heard pretty much everything."

Mason grimaced as a fiery slap burnt his cheek, the sound of Harper's hand colliding with his face echoed through the hall, and it had attracted the attention of some onlookers.

"Bloody Hell Harper, What the f-"

Mason flinched as Harper's nails dug into his arm, and she yanked him into the doctors office, slamming the door violently behind them. "Don't curse at me wolfy, how could you? How could you do this to Alex!"

"It was years and years ago, I haven't cheated, I'd never-"

"Not the point!" Harper let out a growl, "I'm guessing she doesn't know?"

Mason silently shook his head.

"And I'm guessing you're not planning on telling her?"

Mason dropped his head before once again shaking it. A gurn appeared on Harper's face, "are you kidding me!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't, especially now! I've tried to tell her in the past, not long after she found out about me being a werewolf actually, but it was just never the right time.

"What, and now you're scared because you've left it so long?" Harper snarled before Mason nodded and winced, "Seriously!"

"I know, I'm such a prick." Mason slumped down on to the floor, holding his head in his hands.

A small thump alarmed Mason, he peeked through his hands only to see Harper sat next to him. "I wouldn't say that," she sighed lightly, "I'd say you are a dick."

"Same thing."

"A stupid dick, actually."

"I know…"

"So, what now? We can't go and drop this bombshell while she's mid contraction. Or was you going to wait until she was mid push instead?"

"I don't know, but obviously I won't ask you to keep this from her. I don't want to put you in that position, it's not fair."

"And make me look like the crappy one for telling her?" She scoffed, "yeah right!"

"Well, what then? Like you said, I can't tell her today!"

"Mason, you can't tell anyone with a newborn this type of news it'll be way too much for her. The next few weeks will be crazy, she doesn't need all that stress. She'll be recovering from the labour, then there's the sleepless nights…"

"Feeding schedules…"

"She might choose to breastfeed?"

"That'll be hard…"

"It's so demanding, she'll be exhausted!"

Mason's eyes shone with emerging tears, "what should I do?"

A hot puff of air escaped Harper's lips, "I really, really don't know. This is like Sophie's choice…"

"Who's Sophie?"

"Wow. I really wasn't expecting that response from you. It just means it's an impossible situation!"

"Tell me about it. Upset my girlfriend the day she has my baby, or just wait and upset her another day. Either way, she's going to be upset."

"Upset? This'll crush her!"

Mason whimpered as he returned his head into the palm of his hands, "don't make me feel worse than I already do!"

"Well you should have told her!"

"I know."

"Like three years ago when you met her."

"I know!"

A moment of silence filled the room, Harper watched Mason intently as he remained hidden in his own embrace. "Who's the mom?"

There was another brief pause, "it doesn't matter."

"It must matter if you were telling the Doctor about it, was she a wizard?"

"No she wasn't, and I only mentioned it to the Doctor so I could reassure myself that Alex and the baby would be okay."

"Was she mortal?"

"No, besides if she was mortal then it wouldn't be a hybrid pregnancy. The baby would automatically a werewolf."

"So, what was she then?"

Mason grunted as he rose to his feet, "it doesn't matter! It was in England, a very, very long time ago. The baby was adopted, and I lost contact with the mum. End of story."

"But it's not, because we still haven't decided what to do about this!"

"We?" Mason choked, "You said we? You're in on this?"

"Only because I don't want Alex to get hurt. But, hypothetically, if you told her eventually what would be the worst thing to happen? Yeah, she'd be mad and upset with you. But would it be that bad if she knew?"

"Honestly, I didn't tell her at first because she was younger, and we were still in school, so I was worried it'd be too much for her. Besides, I have no idea who or where the child is, so what was the point in bringing it up? And I didn't think it would matter, magical cross breeding hardly ever happens! I thought lightening doesn't strike twice, I didn't think this would ever happen again…"

"But now it is happening again, so doesn't Alex have the right to know at some point?"

"I never saw the baby, she was taken from her mum and given up for adoption straight after she was born."

"She?"

"Yeah, and I don't know who she is or what powers she got. And that scares me, it scares me because it means there's a chance she didn't develop any powers, and instead she became mortal."

"Is being mortal really that bad to you magical beings? I think it's ok!"

"Harper, if she was mortal then that's mean she's probably long dead by now. She'd have the life span of a mortal, not like us 'magical beings.'"

"Oh, I didn't think of it like that. I'm really sorry."

"No I'm the one who's sorry because if I told Alex about the baby, I'd have to tell her all of that as well. And then she'll probably realise that it means we've got to spend the next twelve or thirteen years wondering if we'll outlive our child. Hopefully, if they develop some powers, they can live for hundreds of years like us, instead of about eighty-something like any other mortal. And I know I'm going to have to spend years thinking about that, but I don't want Alex to share that burden too."

"But she already knows the baby might not develop powers."

"Yeah but I feel that if I tell her this, it makes it real. And I can't give her the answers she'll need. Look, I only told the doctor because I wanted to know that both Alex and the baby would be okay during the delivery, and just focus on that."

"So, we never tell her."

Mason stared blankly, "what?"

"Mason, I know I'm going to feel shitty about this for like forever, but I'd rather know my best friend was enjoying being a mom and being with her child rather than carrying all that worry around with her."

"And if somehow she finds out you knew?"

Harper jutted her shoulders, "I don't know. Ideally, I'd tell her all of that and hope she'd understand. But she'd probably really pissed at us both, I mean, hopefully she'd get over it…"

"Hopefully…"

Harper rose to Mason's level, "Mason, look I really like you. You're apart of the family, but you've put me in a really shit position. If Alex finds out, neither of us are going to look good in all of this."

"I know, and I genuinely hate that I've let it go on for this long and that you've got involved. But I can't dump this on her, especially now."

"Okay, so it stays between us."

"Right, thank you Harper."

"Don't thank me, I'm not doing this for you."

A sudden click coming from the door as the handle dropped down alarmed both Harper and Mason. They both felt the sudden urge to rush and do something. Anything. Specifically, anything that didn't make them look suspicious. They looked around frantically and tried to disperse, though they were suddenly halted when Justin appeared in the doorway.

He eyed them suspiciously, "hi guys. Is everything ok?"

Harper turned to Mason, though unfortunately, he looked just as dumbfounded as her. But when she turned back to Justin, much to Mason's dismay, Doctor Butcher had appeared next to him.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting you two in here," she tittered robotically, "can I help with anything, is it Alex?"

"Sorry," Harper stumbled, "we didn't mean to intrude. We just thought some of Justin's books might be in here, and we just wanted to read some, right Mason?"

"Yeah…" His anxious tone earned him a slight jab from Harper's elbow, "your mum wanted to know what stuff you've been reading about. So, we thought we'd look."

Justin's eyes narrowed, "really, She didn't seem interested before?"

"Well she is now!" Harper exclaimed, "come on Mason!" Her dainty fingers seized his arm as she pulled him past Justin and the Doctor, "we need to get Alex some more ice chips, I spilt the last ones…"

A wave of relief hit Harper once she heard the office door shut behind her, "thank you," Mason mumbled next to her. "now we just have to hope the Doctor doesn't say anything to Justin…"

"I've not done this for you," Harper spat, "it's for Alex. Now come on, we need to get back."