I'm so incredibly sorry for the wait and so incredibly overwhelmed with the response. I want to thank each and every one of you who took the time to read, review, favourite, follow or all 4! A hectic 2 weeks of deadlines and masses of work has meant that I had no time to write. But I was determined to get this updated ASAP so The Greatest Showman soundtrack, Easter chocolate, Hawaiian (yes pineapple) pizza and I stayed up late writing this. It is slightly longer than the last chapter as part of my apology for making you all wait so long. I hope you've all had a good Easter break and I hope you enjoy x

I ALSO APOLOGISE FOR ANY MAJOR GRAMMATICAL OR SPELLING ERRORS BUT I AM POSTING THIS AT 2AM AND I'M EXHAUSTED!

"Are you alright Madam Secretary? I'm sorry, did my food upset you?" Chef Marco wondered out loud.

"No, no, I'm okay Marco, thank you. I just have a bad case of the flu," Elizabeth replied weakly.

"Well, in that case, you sit here whilst I fix you up 'Mama's Chicken Broth'. It saved me every time I was ill when I was a young bambino."

A smile graced Elizabeth's features. Marco hurried out the door, tray in arms, eager to help appease the Secretary's illness and ever empty stomach. However, the queasy stomach she was feeling wasn't from the flu. It was from the sudden realisation that was filling her veins. Standing slowly and grabbing a glass of water to rinse out her mouth, she called as loudly as she could.

"BLAKE!"

The young assistant rushed in, fear written across his features (which he attempted to school when he came in view of Elizabeth). He forgot that she was CIA trained and knew exactly what was going through his mind. She sighed, knowing the resulting conversation was the last one she wanted to have, especially in that condition.

"Are you alright Ma'am?"

The one thought that crossed her mind was 'I'm far from alright'.

"Blake, I need you to help me."

"Anything, Madam Secretary."

The hint of a smile graced her features. Blake really was the best assistant she could have asked for.

"Thanks Blake. I need you to run to the shop for me. Can you get some ginger tea, peppermint oil, some more pastries for the afternoon meeting and..."

She hesitated for a few seconds before deciding against it.

"No, that's everything. Thank you Blake."

"Not a problem ma'am," he said with a slight look of confusion. The Secretary never drank tea, especially flavoured tea. Regardless, ever the diligent public servant that he was, he followed his instructions returning half an hour later with a bag full of the requested items. Elizabeth was perched on the sofa, eyes glazed over as she scanned yet another document in preparation for an impending afternoon meeting at the White House about the issue in Turkey.

"I return bearing gifts!"

"Oh Blake I could kiss you!"

"Thank you ma'am." He replied with a smile and placed the box of tea and bottle of peppermint oil in front of her. Noticing a bowl of a substance that closely resembled chicken soup (that was mostly untouched), Blake felt his heart begin to pound further. He turned to leave, pausing just before his hand hit the door knob.

"Permission to ask an impertinent question, ma'am?"

Elizabeth looked up, concerned. Placing the document down on the table and taking her glasses from their position perched on her nose, she settled into the sofa, prepared for the onslaught of personal questions from her assistant.

"Granted."

"Are you okay ma'am? And not just 'I'm fine' because you're obviously not fine. A few of us are anxious about your health. You seem to be exhibiting similar symptoms to my Aunt Cecile, and she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer just over a year ago. I'm concerned Madam Secretary."

When Jason was born, Elizabeth didn't think her heart would be able to stretch to fit in anymore love. And here was her bumbling assistant, fiddling with the end of his tie in an effort to stop his shaking hands giving away just how anxious he was. Elizabeth stood and crossed the room in a matter of strides before enveloping Blake in an awkward hug. Only seconds later, when his arms wrapped around her torso did Elizabeth feel truly content.

"I'm fine, Blake. Really fine. I'm not feeling too great at the moment, but I don't have ovarian cancer. It's just the flu, and I'm coming out the other side of it now. The tea and oil is to help with the nausea and I'll be as fit as a fiddle in a few days time. I promise I'm fine. I'm just starving!" Elizabeth reassured with a squeeze.

Blake nodded and, releasing his arms, exited the office to attempt to finish his work early so he could leave at a reasonable hour.

Elizabeth picked up a teabag and headed towards the kitchen. She knew the most obvious answer, but it couldn't be possible. When she asked Blake to go to the shop, she had decided that it wasn't possible. She was 47, for Pete's sake! Henry was 51, how could it physically be possible? How would it have happened? Well, she knew how it would have happened, just not biologically. But that wasn't important because it wasn't freaking possible. There was no way that she could be pregnant as Secretary of State and a mother of two older teenagers and an adult!

Elizabeth spent the next few days in denial. From the continual meetings at the White House about the escalating situation in Turkey, to family dinners and nights alone with Henry, Bess was struggling to focus on life. The nagging issue that was a constant at the back of her brain was distracting her from living. And people were beginning to notice. Conrad and Russell, and Blake and Henry were showing their concern. This meant that it was starting to affect everything. There was only one solution. She would have to know for sure - to rest her ever inquisitive mind. She'd have to take a test. Elizabeth was good at tests. Having a clear, decisive answer always calmed her. The only issue was to how she would get the actual test. It wasn't as if Elizabeth could just walk into the local store and pick one up off the shelf without questions being raised. The best possible scenario is that the store clerk would keep it quiet and no one would notice. However, it was more likely to be splashed across the front page of every national newspaper. Not a situation that was desirable for Elizabeth. The speculation of the possible recipient of the test in the McCord household would lead to weeks of hiding from the paparazzi and headlines that would undermine the work done by the State Department in the mean time.

An idea popped into Elizabeth's head as her motorcade neared her house. Staying silent for the next few minutes, she planned just how she was going to persuade him.

"Hey Matt, you're finished at 7 aren't you?" She inquired.

"Yes ma'am, back on at 7 in the morning," he replied stoically.

"Great."

As they pulled up outside the charming townhouse, Elizabeth prepared herself for a fight with her (favourite) Diplomatic Security agent. Stepping out of the car, she turned towards Matt, who was holding the door open for her.

"Matt, would you do me a favour? Just between us," she asked with a whisper, whilst glancing around at the other DS agents.

"Of course ma'am, anything you need."

Elizabeth shared a small smile with the agent who nodded.

"Would you be able to go to a drug store at some point tonight and purchase a pregnancy test for me? Just a standard one will be fine – and give it to me tomorrow morning."

"Yes ma'am."

She was surprised at the lack of a metaphorical battle with the agent. With a final squeeze to his arm, Elizabeth headed inside for the night, finally able to relax with the knowledge that she'd have her answer in the morning.

Armed with the box in her blazer pocket (which Matt had silently passed her as he opened the door for her motorcade), Elizabeth strode through the State Department's 7th floor in the direction of the conference room, exuding confidence. The real contrast of emotions which she was feeling were concealed behind a focused shell, to avoid the inevitable questions that she was not ready to face. She entered the room where the staff was gathered for the morning meeting. Bess grabbed a bear claw and the coffee that Blake presented to her with a warm grin. She forced herself to remain present during the meeting despite how often she found herself wandering to the weight not only on her mind, but in her pocket. After what felt like an eternity, but was in fact only 15 minutes, Elizabeth left under the guise of a meeting at the White House. Knowing that she could be a few minutes late, and that she would be much more engaged in the debate that was almost guaranteed with Russell if she had a solid answer to her ever growing question, she headed towards the restroom determined to get her result.

It was only 1 minute and 48 seconds later when a call resonated down the corridor that had originated outside the disabled restroom.

"Blake!"

The man in question appeared only seconds later, confusion written across his features. As he approached her, Elizabeth grabbed his hand and dragged him into the restroom before locking the door behind her.

"Umm ma'am, what's going on?" Blake asked with a slight hint of fear detectable in his tone.

Elizabeth just pointed to the sink, upon which rested the pregnancy test and her phone, with a timer counting down the seconds until the result would be visible on the tiny stick. One tiny stick that had the power to turn her perfect world upside down in 2 minutes and 28 seconds.

Blake's eyes opened wide in shock, before he turned and slid down the door to sit next to Elizabeth. He grasped her hand in his and remained silent.

"I haven't told anyone. Except Matt who got the test for me. I didn't really tell him anyway, just asked him to pick one up for me. But he's probably guessed. I guessed a few days ago. I should have seen it sooner, having been through it three times previously, but I didn't think it was possible. I'm not that young anymore. Haven't all my eggs gone by now? And Henry's not young either. He's 51, his sperm must be persistent to get me pregnant. Sorry, too much information. It's just so... unbelievable. Oh god, I still haven't told Henry and he should be here for this. He deserves to be here for this. I'm depriving him of this moment and I feel so guilty and..." Elizabeth vented until she was overtaken with deep sobs, preventing her from talking.

Blake pulled her into his arms and rocked them back and forth, both waiting for the alarm to sound on the phone.

"Sing to me Blake."

Blake complied, wanting to appease the Secretary's inner turmoil.

"Here comes the baker with his tray like always..."

"Beauty and the Beast? Seriously Blake?" Elizabeth laughed whilst wiping her eyes.

"Sorry, I was on the phone with my niece last night and she kept singing it."

"It's fine Blake, just sing to me."

He decided to change the song this time.

"Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter,
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's alright"

A small smile graced her features as the alarm sounded on the phone. Bracing herself, she turned off the alarm and picked up the little stick. She opened her closed eyes and stared down at the single line on the stick.

Negative.

A small sigh of relief escaped her lips. Looking up at her assistant, she shook her head. Blake nodded silently as she disposed of the test in the bin. He unlocked the door and peered out, to check if the coast was clear for them to leave. After deciding it was safe, he opened the door wider and both exited and stood just outside the door, staring at each other. Gratitude shining in her eyes for the interaction that would not be vocalised for a long time to come, she nodded and headed towards the exit in order to attend the White House meeting. Turning in the opposite direction, Blake headed to his desk in order to prepare a binder on the environmental condition of the South China Sea.

Henry jolted awake as he felt the side of the bed dip under the weight of his wife. Contentment filled his body as he put his book and glasses on the bedside table and wrapped his arms around the love of his life, who currently had her face pressed into her pillow.

"Evening beautiful."

"Evening handsome," Elizabeth replied without moving her face from the pillow, which resulting in the mumble that escaped her mouth.

Henry just chuckled.

"Tired, love? Come on, get changed and come to bed."

"I took a pregnancy test today."

Elizabeth sat up and looked her husband in the eye.

"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you my suspicions earlier, I just didn't want to face the real possibility of pregnancy. I feel so guilty of depriving you of our first possible moment in the journey of parenthood again but I couldn't tell anyone. I just took it in the State Department restroom. Blake was there with me. I realised too far in that I couldn't do it alone and he was the only other option. I'm such a horrible person; a horrible wife," she finished whilst launching herself face first back into her pillows, unable to deal with the look she expected on Henry's face.

"Wow, okay. I'm not going to sit here and say it doesn't hurt that I wasn't and that Blake was the one there holding your hand instead of me. But, I understand," he said as he lent down and wrapped his arms around her. "I wasn't there when you took the test with Stevie because I was deployed overseas but that doesn't make me any less her father. It won't with this baby either. I mean it's a lot to face, we aren't young anymore and we have three grown children who I have no idea how we're going to go about explaining this to, but we can do it together. You... you are pregnant right?"

Elizabeth looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears not only at the kind words uttered by her husband but at the realisation that she would have to break the hope filling his heart.

"No Henry, I'm not. The test came back negative and I got my period through this afternoon. I must have just missed the last couple of months due to stress and weight fluctuations. That causes irregularities in periods."

He felt his spirit crack slightly - the possibility of another child waking his inner dream of a large family once again. However, he didn't spend long on the mourning of the idea. His family was perfect just the way it was, with the possibility expansion or not.

"It's okay babe. We're just fine the way we are, and it wasn't like we were trying anyway."

Elizabeth rolled over and into his arms. She inhaled his scent, something which always evoked an emotion in her, whether it be lust or love.

"There is one thing though. If I'm not pregnant, this has gone on too long to still be considered as the flu. What if there is something seriously wrong Henry? Blake said earlier I had similar symptoms to an Aunt of his that has ovarian cancer. Henry, what if I'm dying?" Bess whispered as if afraid to voice her inner suspicions.

"Do not say that. You are okay Elizabeth. We can go to the doctors tomorrow or the day afterwards to help you know what is wrong. But. You. Are. Not. Dying."

The last 5 words were punctuated with kisses that made Bess' toes curl. It didn't help to appease the nagging in her brain.

"Tomorrow. I'll find out tomorrow."

So that's it! The scene at the beginning of the chapter with Blake is loosely based on his "coming out" scene at the end of Season 3 because I thought it was adorable. I'm sorry if the chapter felt a bit Blake-centric but I just love him as a character and wanted to explore his sort of mother-son relationship with Elizabeth. I shall endeavour to bring in his more sarcastic nature in following chapters. And don't fret! Our other favourite characters shall feature more heavily in the story still yet to be told.

I'm also not going down the illness route, so please keep reading as I have a few other tricks up my sleeve!

Songs:

"Belle" from Beauty and the Beast

"Here Comes The Sun" by The Beatles

As always, reviews are most welcomed! 😉