Disclaimers: I still haven't heard from Tori Spelling regarding her dad's estate, so I still don't own 'The Rookies.' If I did, the lives of my characters wouldn't be so angst-ridden. I'm so cruel, sometimes.

Summary: The detectives question Elizabeth Smyth as the Gillis' new baby struggles to survive.

A/N: I want to thank my friend Gina G. for the help with the NICU information. She gave birth to a 31-week baby in 1982 and the diagnosis was grim. Nowadays, a baby born at 34 weeks wouldn't be considered a big deal, but in 1979, that was very different.

This is the last chapter and it's a long one.

Chapter 10: Answers and a Fight for Survival

"How long will it take?" Willie asked as Jill brought him a cup of coffee before sitting down beside him.

"The cesarean? Not very long. Once they get her cut open, they'll move pretty fast to get the baby out."

"I'm supposed to call my in-laws," he sighed as he sipped his coffee. "Jen thinks her mother-in-law should come down and help take care of Thomas while she's in the hospital."

"Why don't you wait until after you talk to the doctor?" Jill suggested. "Anyway, we've got everything under control for tonight."

"Not knowing is the worst part," he ran his fingers through his thick curls. "I was thinking a little while ago that now I know how Mike felt that night. When he was waiting for the doctor to tell him something."

"Everything's going to be fine."

"How do you know that? How many babies have you seen born this early that actually survive?"

"Not many," she admitted. "But a lot more than I saw when I first became a nurse. Willie, you can't give up now. That baby is going to take every bit of energy that you and Jen can muster to survive. It's not going to be easy, but I've seen it happen. I've seen it happen in babies born earlier than this."

"This whole pregnancy has been so strange. When Jen told me that we were expecting again, I was thrilled. But I could tell that she was less so. She's been constantly worried about how she's going to keep up with two kids. I mean, Thomas isn't exactly a calm kid," he smiled ruefully as Jill nodded in agreement. "It's going to be worse now with a baby with health problems."

"You're thinking ahead of yourself. Why don't you just wait and see what the doctor says?" She said just as the doors opened and the doctor stepped out.

Willie took a deep breath as he stood up. He hadn't been there when the doctor had come out to talk to Mike that awful night so long ago, but Terry had. He'd told Willie all about it, especially that part about wishing he hadn't been there when the doctor had delivered his bombshell. He wasn't sure he wanted Jill with him if he was going to be given bad news. "How's Jennifer?" He finally choked out.

"Your wife is doing just fine," the doctor told him. "She's in recovery now and we'll be moving her to a room on the maternity ward in the next hour or so. You have a baby daughter, Mr. Gillis."

"How is she?" Willie asked anxiously as Jill tried to make herself invisible.

"She's very small, just four pounds, two ounces. But, she came out crying, which is a very good sign. It means that she's a fighter. She's been moved to the NICU. The head of the neonatology unit will meet you up there in an hour. His name is Dr. Jefferson and he'll answer all of your questions," the doctor finished as he turned and hurried away.

"He didn't say when I could see Jennifer," Willie complained as he watched the doctor's retreating back.

"Why don't you talk to Dr. Jefferson first?" Jill suggested. "That way you can answer Jen's questions when she wakes up. By the way, what's your daughter's name so that I can tell everybody when I call them?" She grinned as he couldn't help but grin back.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he slapped his forehead. "Natalie. Natalie Jane after both of our grandmothers."

"Take a couple of deep breaths and go up to the 10th floor. That's where you'll find the NICU," she said as she reached out and tightly embraced her long-time friend. "Congratulations, daddy."

"Thank you, Jill. Thanks for waiting with me. I would've fallen apart if I'd been alone," he said as he hugged her tightly.

Willie went to the men's room to wash his face and compose himself before going upstairs to see his baby daughter for the first time. A girl, he told himself. Now they had one of each. He knew that Jennifer would be thrilled to finally have a little girl that she could dress up and take shopping. He walked over to the elevator and went up to the 10th floor as Jill had instructed him. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but what he saw when he stepped off of the elevator was nothing like what he saw in his imagination.

There was the traditional nurses' station with two nurses sitting behind it, but behind them, were two double doors and with the ominous letters 'MEDICAL PERSONNEL ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT' and then more huge lettering 'STERILE ENVIRONMENT.' One of the nurses looked up as Willie walked up to the desk. "May I help you?" She asked politely.

"Yes. I was told to come and find Dr. Jefferson. My daughter was just brought up here," Willie explained as the nurse looked at her clipboard.

"Name?"

"My name is William Gillis. They haven't asked me for the baby's name, yet."

"We usually don't ask for a baby's name until we know if the baby's going to survive or not," the nurse said cruelly as Willie just stared at her. "Please have a seat, Mr. Gillis, and I'll have Dr. Jefferson paged for you."

Willie sat down in a nearby chair, not liking his first taste of the NICU. He felt that the doctor who'd performed the c-section had lied to him. He'd led Willie to believe that the baby seemed to be fine. That no longer seemed to be the case. Willie sighed, wishing that Jill was still with him instead of downstairs making phone calls. He didn't like being alone in this strange place where no one but medical personnel were allowed to pass through the double doors with the huge red lettering.

In the NICU, Dr. Richard Jefferson and his team were working desperately to stabilize the tiny baby lying on the table before them. They were trying to thread a central line through the sub-clavian vein, which was difficult enough to do in a normal size baby, but was even more difficult in a baby whose veins were the width of a length of hair. But Jefferson was a pro who'd been doing this for several years now and he knew what he was doing. After finally getting the IV started, they got her started on oxygen before putting monitors at different points on her tiny body. At that point, Jefferson's pager went off. He looked at it before walking over to a phone and dialing. After listening to the other end of the conversation, he said in a terse voice, "All right. I'll be out in a few minutes to talk to him."

"The father's outside?" One of the nurses asked as she continued her work.

"Yes. Make sure that she's in the front row and I want her vital signs recorded every 15 minutes. Also keep an eye on her cranial and abdominal pressures. If they change in the slightest, page me immediately," he said as he left the NICU, stripping off his sterile garments and disposing of them before stepping on a button that would open the doors.

Willie looked up when he heard the doors open. The doctor who approached him looked to be in his 50's. He was tall and wearing green scrubs. Willie stood up. "Dr. Jefferson?" He guessed as the doctor nodded and held out his hand, which Willie shook.

"Let's talk about your daughter," the doctor motioned for Willie to sit back down. "Right now, her condition is extremely critical, but she's stable at the moment. As I'm sure you've probably been told, her lungs are underdeveloped, so she's having trouble breathing. We've placed her on oxygen and we're monitoring everything."

"When can I see her?"

"Oh, you won't be able to see her for several more hours, at least. And you won't be able to hold her for much longer than that. Her system is so very sensitive right now that the slightest touch will send her into shock. Hopefully, if there are no complications, you and your wife will be able to see her sometime tomorrow or the next day," the doctor said confidently.

Two days? Willie felt like punching this arrogant son-of-a-bitch square in the face. Didn't he realize that he was going to have to tell Jennifer something? Didn't he care? "Will she be all right?" He finally asked.

"As I said, right now she's stable, but honestly, her chances aren't good. Less than 50 percent to tell you the truth. And if she does survive, she'll face a host of other problems. Cerebral Palsy, possible mental retardation, delays in speech and development," he said as Willie just stared at him.

"Wow, you paint a real rosy picture, don't you?"

"Well, Mr. Gillis, I just want you and your wife to understand what it is that you're facing. I'm not in the business to paint rosy pictures. I'm in the business of saving babies that sometimes have no business surviving," he said as he stood up.

***MJMJMJ***

Terry and Serena had fallen asleep with the kids. Terry was in Willie's recliner with Thomas curled up next to him while Serena was asleep on the sofa with Mary Kate. They were both jolted awake by the ringing of the telephone. Terry reached out and grabbed it, groaning at the crick in his neck. "Hello?"

"Terry, it's Jill," her voice came over the line. "It's a girl. She's very small, but right now I don't know much more than that. Willie's upstairs right now talking to the doctor. Are the kids okay?"

"Yeah, they fell asleep here with us. I guess we should put them upstairs in bed," he said ruefully. "Is Jennifer all right?"

"Yeah, Willie was going to see her after he talked to the baby's doctor. Have you heard from Mike?"

"No. I'm guessing that he's still interviewing that psycho woman from hell. Anyway, give Willie and Jen a hug from me."

"I will. Put the kids to bed and get some sleep. I'll be home as soon as I can," she said as she ended the call.

***MJMJMJ***

At the precinct, Mike and Brinker were sitting in the interview room with Elizabeth Smyth, who so far hadn't said anything except for psycho babble. They weren't sure if it was all a very convincing act or if she truly was crazy. Mike suspected that it was a little bit of both. He didn't care. He was tired and he was worried about his friend's wife. Elizabeth's attorney was sitting at her side, but he was as stymied as the detective's. "Get her out of here," Brinker waved his hand dismissively. "Maybe she'll be more willing to talk to us after she's spent some time in a jail cell."

"But detective, if she's truly ill, maybe she should be hospitalized," her attorney argued.

"She's not 'truly ill,'" Brinker scoffed. "That's what she wants us to think. Believe me, a day or two in a jail cell with women who are truly crazy will loosen her tongue."

Brinker left the interview room as a uniformed officer came in and led Elizabeth away. Mike followed him to his desk. "What if she is crazy?" Mike asked his partner.

"Do you know about the M'Naghten Rule, Danko? It's the basis for the insanity defense. It all comes down to one basic question. Did the person know that what they were doing was wrong?"

"But what if she really thought that Mary Kate was Grace? I've seen pictures of Grace, Steve, and I've lived around my daughter her whole life. There were a lot of similarities. If I were crazy, I might think they were one and the same."

"She almost killed your daughter and your best friend's wife and you're defending her?"

"No, I'm not defending her. I'm just thinking that maybe it's a case of mad, not bad. Maybe something in her just snapped."

"You know what, Danko? I'm tired and I'm not in the mood to hear any more. Go home and get some sleep. We'll meet up here in the morning and try to talk to the mad hatter again."

***MJMJMJ***

Back at the hospital, Willie slipped into Jennifer's room and closed the door. He glanced at his watch. It was just after three in the morning. The baby had been born sometime before 10 p.m. the night before. He quietly pulled up a chair and sat at his wife's bedside as he took her hand. She stirred and opened her eyes. "What time is it?" She whispered.

"Almost three. How do you feel?"

"Tired," she slurred as she fought to keep her eyes opened. "A little sore. Thirsty. Could I get some water?"

"Sure," he poured her a cup of water from the pitcher at her bedside and helped her sit up to drink some of it, as she winced from the effort.

"The baby's dead, isn't it?" Her eyes filled with tears.

"No," he quickly answered her. "No, she's not dead. She's upstairs in the NICU. The doctor said we can probably see her tomorrow."

"She? A girl?" She smiled happily as he couldn't help but smile back. He didn't have the heart to tell her everything that the doctor had told him. At least not until she was stronger. "Have you seen her yet?"

"No, not yet. They were still working on her. I'll see her with you later today," he repeated as she watched his face.

"William, there's something that you're not telling me. What's going on?"

"Nothing," he quickly assured her. "Get some rest and we'll go and see the baby later."

"Natalie," she corrected him. "She's not 'the baby,' anymore."

"Okay. Natalie," he said as he squeezed her hand. "I'll call your parents when I get home. I'll ask your mother to come out for a couple of weeks to help take care of you and Thomas until you're back on your feet."

"How much did she weigh?" She asked sleepily.

"A little over four pounds," he said as she made a face. "I know that it's tiny compared to Thomas the tank."

"She's the size of one of Mary Kate's baby dolls."

With that, she drifted back to sleep. Willie sat there for several more minutes before getting up and leaving. There was nothing more for him to do but go home. Jill had checked in with him shortly before he'd visited Jen, but he'd sent her home. There was no need for her to wait with him and hold her hand any longer. He figured that he'd fill everybody in later today on what the doctor had told him. Remembering that his car was at home, he called for a cab and took it back to the house. Walking quietly into the house, he locked the door before going upstairs to check on Thomas, who was sound asleep in his own bed. Walking next door to the guest room, he walked over and shook Terry awake. "Where's Serena?" He asked, surprised that she hadn't stayed with him.

"I sent her home," Terry mumbled sleepily as he tried to wake up. "Jill came by and picked up Mary Kate about an hour ago. How are Jen and the baby?" He asked as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Jen was sleeping when I left. I'll fill everybody in on the baby's condition in the morning. I need to get home sleep. I have to call my mother-in-law in the morning which is something that I'm not looking forward to," he groaned as he rubbed his face.

"I'll let myself out," Terry said as he got up and pulled his shirt over his head.

Back at the Danko's, Jill had carried Mary Kathryn into the house and upstairs to her room where she changed her diaper and put her into pajamas without waking her up. As she was changing her, she detected several bruises on the baby's arm, the result of being tugged back and forth between Jennifer and that crazy woman. She put her into bed and covered her as Mary Kathryn rolled onto her stomach with her little butt up in the air and stuck her thumb into her mouth. Smoothing her dark curls, Jill covered her with a blanket before going into hers' and Mike's room, surprised to find her husband in bed asleep. She put on a nightgown before getting in bed and slipping her arms around his waist. He sleepily rolled over and pulled her into the warmth of his body, his lips grazing her hair. "What time is it?" He asked as his lips blazed a trail down her neck.

"Late," she whispered. "I thought that you'd still be interviewing Elizabeth Smyth."

"No, she's playing psycho. We're going to try again later today," his hands slipped under her gown as she bit back a groan. "How are Jen and the baby?"

"I'll tell you later," she whispered as she turned toward him in the darkness and kissed him. "I love you, Mike."

***MJMJMJ***

Willie was jolted awake only a few hours later by Thomas bouncing on the side of the bed. He looked over at the alarm clock. It was barely eight o'clock. He groaned as he sat up, feeling as if he'd been run over by a truck. "Where's mommy?" Thomas asked as he continued bouncing on the bed.

"Stop doing that," Willie ordered him. "I have to call grandma."

"Where's mommy?" The little boy asked more plaintively this time.

"She's at the hospital with your new baby sister," Willie announced to his son, who looked less than pleased with the news.

"I thought mommy wasn't having the baby until after my birthday. It isn't my birthday yet," he reminded his father.

"What can I say? It came early," Willie said grumpily as he reached for the phone. "If you can go and get dressed, I'll let you talk to grandma when I'm done talking to her."

"Is she coming to see me?" The little boy asked excitedly as he jumped up and down on the bed again.

"Thomas, stop! Go get dressed and you can talk to her," he pointed toward the door.

The phone in Ohio rang several times before it was finally answered by Elaine Howard, Jennifer's mother and one of Willie's least favorite people on the planet. "Hello?" The older woman answered.

"Elaine, it's William. I have some news about Jennifer. I don't want you to be alarmed, but she had the baby last night."

"Already?" Mrs. Howard gasped. "I thought that she wasn't due until the first of November."

"She wasn't. It's a long story, but she had to be delivered by emergency c-section last night. You have a new granddaughter," he added cheerfully, knowing that the lady tended to be the harbinger of doom where her daughter was concerned.

"Oh William, I'm so sorry. I know how badly you and Jennifer wanted another baby," she started sobbing.

"Elaine, the baby's doing just fine," he lied because right now nothing was further from the truth at the moment. "But I have a favor to ask. Jennifer's going to be in the hospital for several days and I have to work. I need help with Thomas. Could you possibly come?"

"Oh of course. I'll get packed and catch the first flight that I can today. I'll call you later today with the flight information. Are you sure that everything's all right, William?"

"Yes. I just need help with Thomas. Call as soon as you get your information and I'll pick you up at the airport. Thomas wants to talk to you," he handed the receiver out to his son, who had all of his clothes on backwards.

After letting his son talk to his grandmother for a few minutes, Willie took the phone from him and hung up before removing Thomas' clothes and dressing him correctly. "Where are your shoes?" He asked as he looked at his son's bare feet.

"I don't know."

"Go find them and some socks and I'll make you breakfast."

"Is grandma coming today?" He ran after his father. "Is she bringing presents?"

"She'll be here later today. Go find your shoes," Willie repeated as he went downstairs.

When Mike went outside to get the morning paper, Mr. Simpson came across the street to meet him, leading Charlie by his leash. "Good morning, Mr. Danko. How are Mary Kate and Mrs. Gillis this morning? That lady didn't hurt them, did she?"

"Mary Kate's fine and Jennifer will be. I think that we all owe Charlie a steak dinner," he smiled as he knelt down and ruffled the dog's neck as the front door opened.

"Charlie!" Mary Kate cried out as she ran outside in her pajamas and threw her arms around the dog's neck.

"I told you that he'd protect the children if it ever came to that," the old man said as Jill came out of the house.

"When can we pick up the puppy?" Jill asked as Mike looked at her and grinned. "He's got to be a great puppy if his daddy is any indication."

"You can pick him up anytime. I've got him all housebroken, so he'll let you know when he needs to go out. I just wanted to make sure that nobody was hurt," he said as he took the dog's leash in his hand.

"Everybody's going to be okay, thanks to Charlie," Jill smiled as she picked Mary Kathryn up in her arms.

Later that morning, everybody gathered at Willie and Jen's house as he explained what the doctor had told him about the baby the night before. "Have you ever worked with the guy?" He turned toward Jill.

"No, but I've heard that he's one of the best."

"He's got to be the most arrogant asshole I've ever met in my life. Maybe that's part of what makes him so good. All I know is I have to tell Jennifer something that falls somewhere between what he told me and what I want her to hear. And I have to deal with my mother-in-law, who's always convinced that the world is going to end at any moment."

"When is she getting in?" Mike asked.

"At three this afternoon. Jill, can you keep Thomas while I go to the airport? It'll be easier to talk to her without him interrupting every five seconds."

"Of course. You didn't even have to ask," she smiled at him.

"I have to go," Mike apologized as he stood up, looking pointedly at his watch. "I'm meeting Brinker at 10 and we're taking another stab at Elizabeth Smyth. Then, I'm going to call Alexandra and let her know that we have her in custody."

"Has anyone called her husband?" Terry asked.

"Brinker called him last night. He's supposed to be flying back into the country sometime later today. I'll talk to you later," he walked over and kissed Jill.

"I also need to go," Willie also stood up. "I want to see Jen before the doctor comes in to talk to her."

"I've got it under control," Jill smiled as she walked over and kissed him. "Give her a hug and a kiss from me and Mike."

Jennifer was sitting up in bed, still groggy but less so when William walked in carrying a bouquet of red roses. He put them on the dresser before walking over to the bed and kissing her softly. "Why didn't you tell me how bad it really was?" She accused as he pulled up a chair and sat down.

"I take it that you've met Dr. Jefferson," he sagged in his chair.

"Him and some other doctor with a name that I can't even begin to pronounce. All he did was talk about all of the bad things that can happen. He didn't tell me that she could survive without any complications. All I heard was stuff about brain bleeds, blindness, and cerebral palsy, something called necrotizing enterocolitis, which is something to do with her intestines. And the whole time he's listing all of these things, the son of a bitch is practically gloating!" She shouted as she burst into tears.

"I know. I wanted to hit him myself."

"When I asked him when I could see her, he said maybe it would be sometime today. William, if she's going to die, don't we have the right to see her and at least touch her? I want to see my baby!" She sobbed as William got to his feet, angry at how upset she was becoming. This wasn't fair!

"You know what? You're right," he stomped out of the room and immediately went to the elevator, punching the button for the 10th floor when he stepped inside. When he got off of the elevator, he walked up to the nurses' station. "I want to see Dr. Jefferson," he demanded as the nurse looked up from her work.

"And you are?" She stared at him.

"William Gillis. My daughter was transferred up here late last night."

"Oh yes. The Gillis baby," the nurse confirmed as she picked up the phone. After speaking for a few minutes, she hung up and looked at Willie. "The doctor will be right out."

Five minutes later, Dr. Jefferson emerged from somewhere with another doctor at his side that Willie had never seen before, but he figured that he must be the other doctor that Jennifer had been talking about. "How may I help you, Mr. Gillis?" Dr. Jefferson asked, as he didn't even bother to introduce his colleague.

"Why didn't you wait until I came back up here before you talked to my wife?"

"Mr. Gillis, let's face some facts, shall we? The sooner that your wife learns the reality of the situation, the better off everybody is going to be," the doctor stated coldly.

"You act like there's no hope."

"As I told you earlier, Mr. Gillis, your daughter's . . . "

"Natalie. Her name is Natalie," Willie angrily corrected him.

"Your daughter's chances of survival hover at around 50 or 60 percent. It will be many weeks before she'll be able to leave here, if she survives that long. At this point, her survival is literally minute to minute."

"We want to see her," Willie stuck his chin out stubbornly as he stared at the two doctors. The other doctor had yet to say one word to him. "Today. Now, as a matter of fact. My wife doesn't want Natalie to die without knowing that someone loved her."

"Your wife is recovering from major surgery," the second doctor finally spoke, also in a clipped British accent. From the accent, Willie took him to be a native of India or maybe Pakistan.

"She wants to see her daughter," Willie repeated.

"Very well," Dr. Jefferson sighed in irritation. "We'll have someone come and get your wife and you can see your daughter in the next hour." With that, he and the other doctor turned on their heels and left.

An orderly came down to help Jennifer into a wheelchair and he wheeled her up to the 10th floor where she met William. Dr. Jefferson came out of the NICU and looked at both of them. "This is a sterile environment. You'll both have to wear gowns, masks, hair coverings, gloves, and shoe guards. You'll have to thoroughly scrub before you go in and when you leave. You can see your daughter, but you cannot touch her. It will send her system into shock and alarms will go off. If you touch anything outside of your daughter's incubator, you will have to leave and scrub up again. Do you both understand?"

"We're not idiots, doctor," Jennifer said in a tight, cold voice.

After scrubbing and then donning the sterile garments, they went into the NICU. The first thing they noticed was the noise level. It was deafening. Monitors were beeping all around them and lights were flashing on these monitors, creating an atmosphere that felt psychedelic. There were approximately 20 incubators in the small room, many of them occupied, but those that were contained babies that were obviously very ill. Willie and Jennifer noticed parents around some of these incubators. The orderly wheeled Jen in front of an incubator in the front row. The card in back of the incubator read 'Baby Girl Gillis' and listed both her date of birth, birth weight, and length. Her name was conspicuously absent. "Why isn't her name on the card?" She asked William. "I told you to fill out her birth certificate."

"They don't put their names on the card until they're sure that they're going to live," a woman in the row behind them said. "Your baby is among the sickest here. She's the only one in the front row. That's where they put the worst ones. My baby was there when he was born."

"How long has he been here?" Jen asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Almost two months. He's going to graduate soon. That's when they move them to the regular nursery. He weight almost five pounds. They told me he wouldn't live, but he fooled all of them," she boasted proudly.

Jennifer didn't say anything more. She looked into the incubator at the tiny baby lying there. She didn't look anything like what Thomas had looked when he was born. The nearest Jennifer would describe her to friends was she looked like a spider monkey. Her arm was so tiny that her wedding ring would probably fit around it up to the shoulder. Her skin was a mottled reddish color and translucent. She felt like she could see every vein. There was an IV coming out of her upper chest, near her neck and there were white discs covering her head and chest with wire leads coming out of them. "Why are there so many of those white things on her?" She asked one of the nurses walking by.

"Those are monitors. We have to monitor everything on her," the nurse quickly explained as she rushed by.

"Even her head?" Jennifer was confused.

"It measures intracranial pressure," the woman behind them explained. "Preemies are prone to brain bleeds. My Christopher had a level three brain bleed when he was eight days old."

"Is that bad?" William piped in.

"Well, not as bad as a level one. But they said he'll probably be slow to learn. I don't care. I'm just glad to have him live," she smiled. "Don't look so confused. Before too long, you'll be explaining things to other parents. The doctors and nurses don't tell you squat," she said as she lowered her voice.

"She's so tiny," Jennifer whispered, longing to reach in and just touch her tiny hand. But she didn't want to stress her out and make these people mad at her. She had a feeling that if you angered these people, they didn't let you come back.

William just stood there staring into the incubator. He watched her tiny chest moving up and down rapidly, as if she was struggling for every breath. An alarm started going off, startling both of them. A nurse came rushing over and lifted the cover on the incubator. After checking on the baby and adjusting a few settings, the alarm went silent. "Is she okay?" He asked.

"She's fine," the nurse assured them as she closed the cover. "Alarms go off in here all of the time. Often they don't mean anything."

"I'm getting tired," Jen suddenly announced as she looked up at William. "Can you take me back to my room?"

William asked the nurse to summon an orderly, who came and wheeled her back to her room and helped her back into her bed as he pulled up a chair. "Your mother's arriving this afternoon."

"How'd she take the news?"

"The way she usually takes everything. Like she's Chicken Little and the sky is falling."

"Natalie didn't look so bad," she told him. "I mean, she looks more like a monkey than a newborn, but she didn't look as scary as I thought she would. What did you think?" She looked at him.

"She did look a little funny," he admitted. "But that baby behind her looked like a normal newborn now, so I'm sure she'll look the same in a few weeks. She sure looks different than Thomas," he grinned.

"That's because Thomas was a tank like his daddy," she smiled sleepily. "I'll be glad when she doesn't have all of those wires and tubes sticking out of her everywhere. It makes her look like a lab experiment," she shuddered at the memory.

***MJMJMJ***

Elizabeth Smyth looked smudged and disheveled following her night in jail. She now sat across from Mike and Lt. Brinker with her attorney at her side. Her hair was scraggly and hanging in her face. "Are you ready to talk to us?" Brinker asked.

"Will you give my daughter back if I do?" She asked as she shoved her hair out of her face.

"That little girl that you attacked last night isn't your daughter," Brinker told her. "We found your daughter in a freezer back in June. Do you remember that?"

"But she came back," Elizabeth insisted as the three men stared at her in stunned disbelief. "When I saw her in court that day, I knew that it had worked. I told my mother that she should've had daddy frozen, so that he could come back, too."

Listening to her, it was clear that she'd completely descended into full-blown madness. Mike knew that it wasn't an act. She was clearly 51/50. "Why'd you freeze Grace?" He asked.

"Because I got tired of her constant screaming!" She shouted as she pulled at her hair. "I told him that I never wanted a kid! My mother told me that Grace was payback for being such a rotten kid! I wanted to send her away, but no school would take her because of her damn heart! I knew that if I froze her, that there was a chance that she could come back and be normal. Then I saw her that day with those other people and I knew that my prayers had been answered. I don't know who gave her to those people, but she wasn't theirs. She was mine," she punctuated the last sentence by poking at her chest.

"May I speak to you gentlemen?" The attorney asked as they left the room, where they were met by the D.A., who'd been watching the interview through the one-way mirror. "It's clear that my client is extremely disturbed."

"That may be so now, but how disturbed was she when she injected that child and waited for her to suffocate before she placed her in that freezer?" The D.A. asked. "I want her evaluated by a psychiatrist before I decide how to proceed. For now, she stays in jail."

"How's your daughter, Sergeant?" The attorney asked Mike.

"She has bruises all over her arm from where she was pulled by your client. Thankfully she's at the age where she forgets things quickly," Mike said as he turned to walk away. He walked over to the phone and dialed the number of Alexandra's foster parents. He was surprised to find her home from school. Her foster mother put her on the phone. "Alexandra, it's Sgt. Mike Danko. I just wanted to let you know that we have Elizabeth in custody."

"I know. Maggie called me earlier. She said that she heard it on the news. She said that she'd heard that Jennifer had gotten hurt. Is that true?"

"Yeah, but she's going to be fine. She had the baby last night, though. A little girl," Mike added. "How are you doing?"

"I'm leaving for London sometime in October. My grandparents have a found a school for me and everything. My father is transferring to his firms London offices, so I'll be seeing him a lot more often."

"That's terrific. You'll have to come and visit us before you leave."

"I will. I'm glad that you caught her, Mike," she said as she ended the call.

***MJMJMJ***

Willie arrived at LAX half an hour early to await the arrival of his mother-in-law. He noted that her flight was on time, so he sat in the passenger waiting area to wait. It had been a long day and he was exhausted. He'd arranged to take time off from work until the baby was out of danger, but he couldn't get an answer on when that was going to happen.

He looked up when he heard the flight number announced. He got to his feet and walked to the end of the deplaning area and waited as people began to slowly trickle out of the long tunnel. He finally saw his mother-in-law emerge from the tunnel with a large canvas carry-on bag slung from her shoulder. She walked up and embraced Willie. "How's Jennifer?" She asked as he took her bag. "I have other bags."

"I figured as much," he said as they began walking toward baggage claim. "Jennifer's doing fine. Her doctor said she'll be released in four or five days. She got out of bed to go see Natalie for the first time."

"William, do you really think it's wise to name the baby? After all, how likely is it that she's going to live?" The woman asked as she fell into step beside her son-in-law.

"Jennifer and I wanted her named whether she lives or not," he snapped as they approached the baggage claim area. "Please do me a favor and try not to upset her. Things are rough enough right now."

"I don't want to upset her, but both of you need to be realistic."

"Elaine, I don't want to have this conversation here," he stated in a firm voice.

"Well, we're going to have to have it eventually," she said petulantly as William pulled her bags off of the carousel.

It never ended, he thought to himself as he flagged down a porter, who placed the bags on a cart. The woman never had a cheerful thought about anything. It was constant doom and gloom. It was a miracle that Jennifer hadn't suffered from ulcers while growing up.

In the car driving toward the house, talk was confined to neutral topics such as his job, the weather, his and Jen's friends. "Didn't you say that one of your friends has a child Thomas' age?" She asked as she looked at the passing scenery.

"She's actually almost two years younger. But they play together all of the time. Jennifer even babysat for her earlier in the summer."

"Now do you think that was really wise? Jennifer must've been incredibly exhausted being pregnant herself and then having to take care of two small children," the older woman scoffed.

"We'll drop your bags off at the house and then I'll take you to the hospital to see Jennifer," he said, ignoring her comment. She liked to act like everything was his fault where her daughter was concerned. It reminded him of what Jill had always complained about in her own father-in-law.

Thomas was still at Jill and Mike's, so he wasn't even aware that his father was home. William took the bags into the house and dropped them off in the guest room before getting back in the car and heading for the hospital again, a drive he was beginning to think he could make in his sleep.

Jennifer was up and gingerly walking around when she saw William and her mother step off of the elevator. She tried to brace herself for her mother's critiquing. "Jennifer, do you think that you should be out of bed?" She asked as she kissed her daughter on the cheek.

No 'how are you?' The criticism started immediately. "My doctor wanted me to get up and walk around," she answered as she took William's arm.

"Let's go back to your room," he suggested as he assisted her in walking back to her room and back into bed. "Have you seen Dr. Jefferson and whathisname anymore?"

"No. I'm actually grateful. Maybe you could take mother upstairs and let her see the baby," she suggested as her mother wrinkled her nose in distaste. "What's wrong, mother? She's your granddaughter. Don't you want to see her?"

"I just think that maybe I should wait until she's a little stronger."

"Suit yourself," Jen said under her breath.

"Speaking of the baby, do you really think that it was such a good idea to exhaust yourself by babysitting when you were pregnant? How do you know this isn't what caused you to be into premature labor?" Her mother chastised her as Jen rolled her eyes.

"Mother, you make pregnancy sound like a terminal illness. I know what caused me to go into labor and it had nothing to do with babysitting Mary Kate. I wasn't even taking care of her when this happened."

They had decided not to even tell her about the events of the past few months. It'd just upset her and Jen got enough of that from bi-monthly telephone calls.

***MJMJMJ***

Back at the Danko's, Jill was playing with the kids in the living room when she heard the distant rumble of thunder. "What was that?" Mary Kathryn's eyes were huge in her face.

"That sounded like thunder," Jill said excitedly. "Let's go look outside to see if it's going to rain."

When she stepped onto the back patio with the kids, the sky was filled with dark clouds and the air smelled heavenly with the smell of approaching rain. It had been a long summer without so much as a drop of it. "Can we play in the rain, Jill?" Thomas asked.

"No, I don't think your daddy would like you playing in the rain. Come on, let's go back inside and play," she ushered them both inside and closed the sliding door.

It had just started raining when the doorbell rang. Jill opened the door to let Willie and his mother-in-law into the house. "Daddy!" Thomas ran into his father's arms. "Where's mommy?"

"Mommy's at the hospital with your sister. I told you, don't you remember? Aren't you going to say 'hi' to grandma?" He asked as he pointed his son in his grandmother's direction.

"Grandma!" Thomas hugged his grandmother happily. "What did you bring me?"

"Thomas Andrew!" Willie scolded his son. "Oh I'm sorry. Jill, this is Jennifer's mother, Elaine Howard. Elaine, this is Jill Danko. She's Mary Kate's mother. I know that this is a stupid question, Jill, but did you have any trouble with him?"

"No, he wasn't a problem. It's nice to meet you," Jill smiled at the woman. "I've heard a lot about you. Mike should be home soon."

"I can't stay. I told Elaine that I'd take her and Thomas out to dinner. I want to go back and visit Jen for a little while this evening. Could I bring Thomas back after we eat?"

"William, that won't be necessary," Elaine argued. "I'll stay with Thomas while you go visit with Jennifer. After all, you don't want to keep imposing on your friends just as you wouldn't want them imposing on you."

Jill didn't say anything but the look that she exchanged with Willie spoke volumes. Had she just intimated that Jennifer babysitting Mary Kathryn had been an imposition? They chatted for a few minutes more before Willie left with his son and his mother-in-law. The thunder boomed louder as Jill went into the kitchen to make dinner.

It was pouring rain when she heard the garage door open almost an hour later. Mike came running into the kitchen as Mary Kate ran up to him, protesting when he picked her up. "Wet, daddy, wet!" She pushed away from him as he began kissing her all over her face. "Stop!"

"Hi, baby," he walked over and kissed Jill. "It's raining outside."

"So I notice," she grinned at him. "How'd it go this morning?"

"Well, I'm beginning to think that Elizabeth Smyth is one French fry short of a Happy Meal," he grinned as he stole a slice of tomato from a plate on the counter.

"So there's not going to be a trial?"

"I don't know, but right now it doesn't look that way. Have you talked to Willie?" He stole another slice of tomato, which he shared with his daughter, much to her delight. Tomatoes were one of her favorite foods.

"Yeah, he was here a little while ago with his mother-in-law. He's going back to visit Jen this evening. I was going to take care of Thomas, but his mother-in-law insisted that she would instead. She didn't want Willie 'imposing,'" she said as she made a face.

"How's the baby?"

"About the same, I guess. Willie didn't say and I didn't ask. I didn't want to upset Thomas. I'll try to call Jen after dinner. Did you want to talk to her?" She looked at him.

"Nah," he shook his head as he shifted Mary Kate in his arms. "I'll let you women talk about babies and how much it hurts to walk after you have them."

"Yeah, well, you can have our next one, okay?" She teased as he kissed her once again.

"I think that even if I could, I'd pass. I'm going to go read the paper."

Jennifer was running a slight fever when William visited her after dinner, so she wasn't allowed to visit the baby. "So, did you get mother settled okay?" She asked as he pulled up a chair by her side.

"Yeah, she stayed home with Thomas. She didn't want me 'imposing' on Mike and Jill."

"You've got to be kidding."

"It's okay. At least Thomas was happy to see her, although he was upset that she didn't bring him anything."

"Give it a few days and she'll be buying out every toy store in town. I hope that while she's spoiling Thomas that she remembers that she also has a granddaughter now," she stopped when she saw the look on William's face. It had clouded over slightly at the mention of the baby. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he kissed her hand. "I just think that maybe we should wait until things look brighter before we start talking about baby gifts."

"Now you're beginning to sound like that stupid doctor and my mother!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm just trying to see things realistically. I just don't see the point of buying a bunch of baby stuff right now. For one thing, it could be two months or more before she does come home. You heard what that lady in there said earlier. Her son has been here for two months and is just now being moved to the regular nursery."

"I know in my heart," she placed her hand on her chest, "that everything's going to be okay. I know that it's going to be rough, but everything's been rough since the day we met. Why should this be any different?"

"I wish that I had your confidence."

"So do I," she whispered sadly.

Jennifer visited her newborn daughter diligently as often as she could during the five days that she was in the hospital. She was saddened that William didn't visit with her as often as she'd like for him to. She was scheduled to leave the hospital the next day and it upset her to have to leave Natalie behind in this room full of fear and uncertainty. But this particular day she was pleasantly surprised to see that Natalie no longer had the ventilator tube sticking out of her tiny mouth. Instead, she had tiny oxygen prongs sticking out from under her nose. She motioned to one of the friendlier nurses who worked the unit. "Is Natalie better? I notice that she doesn't have the breathing tube, anymore."

"The doctors don't like to leave the babies dependent on the vent for too long because it can cause further damage to their lungs. So they try to wean them off of the vent as soon as possible. Today was the first day that they were successful in keeping her off of it. She still has a huge hill to climb," the nurse walked away to tend to the other babies.

In the last couple of days, Natalie had been opening her almost transparent eyelids when she heard her mother's voice. She opened them now and seemed to stare at Jennifer with the unfocused eyes of a newborn. She longed to touch her, but she'd heard the shrillness of the alarm when another parent had dared to reach through to touch their baby just a couple of days earlier. Needless to say, the nurses hadn't been pleased and had admonished the parents to please keep their hands outside of the incubator. "How old is your baby?" She heard a voice near hers.

She turned to find a woman about her age sitting beside the incubator next to Natalie's. "She's five days old. How old is your baby?"

"Two weeks old tomorrow. She's just now starting to make progress. I just want her to make it until graduation day."

'Graduation Day' was the magical day when these precious babies that had been born too soon could move into the regular nursery, one step closer to going home with their families. All of the parents longed for that day, but many of them never saw it. In just a few days, Jen had learned not to befriend the other parents, because often she'd come in to find that another baby had died. She'd told Jill on the phone a few nights before that the NICU nursery felt like the most hopeless place on earth.

***MJMJMJ***

Mike was sitting at his desk when his phone rang. "Danko!" He barked into it, imitating his partner.

"Sgt. Danko, this is Anderson Rush," Mike recognized the name of Elizabeth Smyth's attorney. "My client would like to speak to you."

"I don't know that I have anything further to say to your client," Mike said as he looked across the aisle to Brinker, who was motioning for him to tell him what was going on. "Hold on, Mr. Rush." He covered the receiver with his hand. ""It's Anderson Rush. Elizabeth Smyth wants to see me."

"Sgt. Danko?" Mr. Rush called out as Mike came back on the line. "She'd still like to speak to you. Could you come to the jail this afternoon?"

"I'll be there at three o'clock," Mike glanced at his watch. That was just over two hours away.

"Okay and Sgt. Danko, she just wants to talk to you. She has no desire to see your partner," the lawyer said as the call ended.

"I'm meeting Elizabeth Smyth at three o'clock," Mike said as he hung up the phone. "Sorry boss, but I have to leave you at home."

"She doesn't like me, huh?" Brinker grinned. "I guess that I didn't show her enough of my award-winning personality."

"I guess not," Mike chuckled as he went back to his paperwork.

"How's Officer Gillis' wife, by the way?"

"She's doing great. She's coming home sometime today."

"It must be hard for them to have to leave the baby there," Brinker mused out loud. "Do they have any idea how much longer she'll be in the hospital?"

"They don't know. It's day to day right now. Jill said it could be weeks or months."

At the Gillis', William opened the door for Jennifer, who slowly walked into the house. Thomas started to run to his mother, only to be stopped by his grandmother's hand on his arm. "Mommy doesn't feel good," she told the little boy who looked at his mother with a trembling lower lip and huge brown eyes full of tears.

"It's okay, mother. I missed him," she felt like sobbing as she opened up her arms and Thomas ran into them. She winced as he hugged her a little tighter than she would've liked, but she'd missed him so desperately that she ignored the pain. She walked over to William's recliner and carefully eased into it. "William, can you bring me my bag? Thomas, have you been a good boy for grandma?" She asked as the little boy solemnly nodded. "Daddy and I brought you a present."

"What is it? What is it?" He jumped up and down.

"This is from your baby sister, Natalie," she pulled out a t-shirt that said 'I'm the Big Brother' in huge letters. Thomas wasn't impressed with the shirt, but he liked the next gift, which was a new package of toy soldiers for his huge collection. "This is from me and daddy for being such a big boy while mommy was in the hospital."

"Look, daddy! Infantry!" Thomas showed the soldiers to his father.

"How do you know these things?" William glanced at his wife, who just shrugged.

"Mike told me. Can you open them?"

"Do you really think it's a good idea to let Thomas play with toys that advocate war?" Elaine asked with a grimace on her face.

"Why not? My brother and I had toy soldiers and we turned out fine," William said as he opened the package for his son.

"Thomas, how would you like to go play with Mary Kate tomorrow?" Jen looked at her son, who nodded happily.

"Jennifer, you've just come home from the hospital. You should rest," her mother chastised her.

"I want to play with Mary Kate," Thomas pouted.

"You will tomorrow. Go play with your soldiers," she said as she kissed him before he scampered off to his room.

"I honestly don't know why you asked me to come and help you with Thomas if you're not going to rest," her mother left the room in a huff.

"I don't either," Jen whispered under her breath as William sat on the sofa and looked at her. "Has she been like this all week?"

"Actually, today's been a good day. Today, Thomas has actually thrown more tantrums than her and not the other way around," he looked at her as she rolled her eyes and laughed. "You relax and I'll go talk to her."

William walked into the kitchen where Elaine had taken things out for lunch. "She's going to wear herself out," she grumbled as she put some cold cuts on a plate.

"Elaine, she's fine," he assured her. "It's not easy for her to be home while Natalie's still in the hospital. She should be home with a baby to take care of."

"William, what's going to happen if that baby dies?" Elaine turned to glare at him.

"I expect that we'll grieve and then we'll try to move forward. Don't let Jennifer hear you talking like this," he warned as he turned to leave the room.

"Would you please ask Thomas to wash his hands?" She called out after him.

***MJMJMJ***

Before he left that afternoon to go meet with Elizabeth Smyth, Mike called the D.A. and arranged for him to meet him at the jail. If she was planning on confessing, which is what Mike was hoping, nothing could be done unless the D.A. was present to approve a possible plea deal.

When Mike arrived at the jail, he was shown to a room where Elizabeth Smyth and her attorney were already waiting. A short time after Mike's arrival, the D.A. arrived, as well. "I understand that you wanted to talk to me," Mike sat down at the table.

"You seem much nicer than your partner," she told him. Dressed in an orange jumpsuit with the roots beginning to show in her blond hair, she didn't look any different than the other prisoners being housed in the jail. "I don't want to go to prison."

"Yeah, well, you're going to jail," Mike informed her. "For how long is up to you."

"I don't understand what you mean," she said innocently as Mike looked over at the D.A.

"What he means is if you tell us how you killed Grace, maybe your attorney and I can work something out that will let you walk out of prison before you start collecting your social security," the D.A. intoned.

"You mean if it was maybe an accident?" She asked hopefully.

"Mrs. Smyth, the D.A. and I aren't idiots. All of us seated in this room know that Grace's death wasn't an accident. Your husband found the vial of succinylcholine. How'd you obtain it?" Mike asked.

"I stole it. A colleague of my father's works at the children's hospital. He looks the other way when I take drugs from the hospital," she appeared nonchalant as if stealing drugs from a hospital was no big deal.

"Does this colleague have a name?" Mike asked.

"I'd rather not get him involved."

"He's already involved," the D.A. jumped in. "This is a man who took an oath to save lives and instead he lets people steal things from the hospital's drug locker. Is this a doctor that you'd want taking care of your child?"

The last statement made Mike take pause. He knew from his and Brinker's investigation that Grace had been cared for at the children's hospital. He made a mental note to call Brinker when he was finished here. "When did you make the decision to kill Grace?" He asked.

"I think that it was after I fired Paloma."

"Why'd you fire the one person who knew how to take care of her?" Mike asked incredulously.

"She was telling the staff that I was abusing the children."

"But you led your husband to believe that she was still working for you."

"I didn't want him to worry. He always made such a fuss over both of those girls. I was constantly telling him that it's not a good idea to fawn over them. It makes them willful and spoiled."

"You know what's ironic? Those are the exact same words that your mother used to describe you," Mike said.

"My mother always hated me because I was close to my father. She hated him, too. But, she loved adding his money to her own already substantial fortune."

"Let's talk about the morning that Grace died," Mike said, trying to get her refocused. "Why'd you choose that particular morning?"

"I don't know. It was as good a day as any other, I guess," she shrugged.

Mike was finding himself glad that he hadn't brought Brinker along. As volatile as his partner could be, he'd probably have reached across the table and slapped Elizabeth silly. He knew that he felt like doing that very thing right now. He'd never met a colder person in his life. He now understood why some animals ate their young. Her mother should've drowned her at birth.

"What time did you go up to Grace's room?" Mike asked.

"It was late, sometime after midnight. I waited until Alexandra had gone to sleep. She'd always stay up late reading," she made reading a book sound like a mortal sin.

"Did Grace wake up when you entered the room?"

"No. If she'd awakened, she would've started crying. She had a cry that went straight up your spinal cord," she shuddered in remembrance. "I got the vial of succinylcholine and the syringe and walked up to her bed. She opened her eyes when I stuck the needle in her arm, but by then the drug had already started working."

"How long did it take for her to die?" Mike asked, dreading the answer to his question. Mary Kate was the most precious thing in his life besides Jill and the thought of hurting her was incomprehensible to him.

"I don't know. Probably about five minutes."

"What happened after you made sure that she was dead?"

"I wrapped her in the quilt from her bed and carried her downstairs to the garage where the freezer was. I put her in it and closed the lid."

"What'd you tell Alexandra when she woke up and wanted to know where Grace was?"

"I lied and told her that I'd had to take her to the emergency room. I'd had to take her on several occasions before, so she had no reason to doubt me."

"When did you call Brad Rogers to help you move the freezer to the storage unit?"

"Later that morning after Alexandra had gone upstairs with her tutor. I told him not to come to the house until after five because I didn't want the freezer delivered until close to closing time."

"When did you rent the unit?"

"A few days before Grace died."

"I have one more question," Mike folded his hands in front of him on the table. "Were you also planning on killing Alexandra?"

"I don't know. I think Alexandra had learned to keep her mouth shut and to stay out of my way. I can't say what would've happened if she hadn't continued doing that."

"So, what're we talking about here?" Mr. Rush asked the D.A.

"Second degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and first degree child abuse. Fifteen to life, take it or leave it," he looked at the defendant and her attorney.

"That's ludicrous!" Mr. Rush roared.

"Then she can take her chances with a jury," the D.A. started to rise.

"Wait!" Elizabeth called out as she bent down to confer with her lawyer. "What's the minimum that I'd have to serve?"

"Eight year," he answered. "That's before you come up for parole the first time. That doesn't mean you'll get it."

"I can't go to trial. My mother is already bitching that I've caused her enough embarrassment and my husband has filed for divorce. I'll take the deal," she said as her voice quivered.

"I'll have the paperwork drawn up for you and your attorney to sign by tomorrow afternoon. Is that all right with you, Andy?" The D.A. asked Mr. Rush.

"That's fine."

***MJMJMJ***

By late that afternoon, Jennifer's mother was driving her absolutely crazy, so she took Thomas and went over to Jill's as she'd promised her son the day before. When Jill let them into the house, they saw Mary Kate playing on the floor with a black puppy. "I see that Mike picked up Mary Kate's birthday present," Jennifer commented as Thomas ran over to play with the pup.

"He went and got him last night. She's been chasing him all over the house all day today. By the way, his name is Seven," she grinned at her friend.

"Seven?"

"It's short for 'Code Seven.' And, Mr. Simpson told Mike that he was the seventh puppy born in the litter. How're you feeling?" Jill asked as Jen walked over and gingerly sat on the sofa.

"Like I've been beat with a two-by-four, but I had to get out of the house for a while. My mother's driving me insane," she smiled as they watched the kids playing with the frisky puppy.

"I'll put on some coffee. Let's go into the kitchen."

Jill and Jen were soon to learn from Rule Number One in the motherhood handbook. Never leave two toddlers alone for more than a minute. They were chatting in the kitchen when it occurred to them that they were no longer hearing the kids. "Where are the kids?" Jen asked as she got up to look in the living room.

"They might be in Mary Kathryn's room. You stay down here and I'll go check," Jill urged as she got up and went upstairs.

She noticed the smell when she was halfway up the stairs. A sickening stench that was familiar and yet unfamiliar all at the same time. A stench that she couldn't identify. She looked into Mary Kathryn's room, but there was no sign of either child or the dog. The smell was stronger up here and seemed to be coming from hers' and Mike's bedroom. She walked into the bedroom where she heard the unmistakable voices of the two children. She walked into the bathroom doorway and just stood there, not knowing whether to spank both of them or burst out laughing.

The puppy was sitting on the floor staring quizzically up at the two children. Mary Kathryn was sitting in the middle of one the sinks on the double vanity while Thomas stood on his tiptoes on the floor. Both of them were wet and sticky from what had to have been five or six bottles of Mike's aftershaves and colognes. The smell was overwhelming and enough to make you want to pass out. "What do you two think you're doing?" Jill asked as both children jumped in fright. "Thomas Andrew, get downstairs right now!"

"What's going on?" She heard Jennifer's voice from the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm sending Thomas down to you," she shouted back. "You might want to hold your nose!"

"Thomas, what've you gotten into?" She heard Jennifer scold her son. "Jill, I've got to take him home and bathe him! I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry about it!" She called back.

"Is Mary Kate as bad as he is?"

"No, she's worse," Jill shook her head as she looked at her daughter, who just gave her an impish grin in return as she held out her arms.

"I'll talk to you later," Jen called as Jill heard the door open and close downstairs.

"Smell good, mommy," Mary Kathryn continued smiling as she held out her arms for her mother to pick her up.

"No you don't," Jill disagreed as she walked over and turned on the bathtub, filling it with water. "You're very bad."

She removed her daughter from the counter and quickly removed her wet, cologne saturated clothes and plopped her into the tub. Even after bathing her and shampooing her hair several times, the smell of the cologne lingered. Jill figured that it was just going to have to fade over the next few hours. She was still bathing her when she heard the door leading from the garage into the house open and close. "Daddy!" Mary Kathryn called out happily.

"Babe, where are you?" Mike called from downstairs.

"Up here. I'm giving Mary Kathryn a bath," she called back.

"What's that smell?" He asked as he came upstairs.

"I'll tell you in a minute," she removed the baby from the tub and wrapped a towel around her before carrying her into their bedroom. "The kids took a bath in your cologne and aftershave," she explained as she sat on the bed with Mary Kathryn in her lap.

Mike bit back a grin as he knelt down to play with the puppy, who'd been patiently waiting by the bed for his new playmate to play with him. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but where were you?"

"In the kitchen having coffee with Jennifer. Okay, I admit that I let her out of my sight for 30 seconds, but Mike, she knows that she's not supposed to play in here."

"She's also two years old. She's not going to stay out of anything. Hey, look at it this way. Nobody got hurt," he stood up and kissed both of his girls before leaving the room.

"Are you going to have to set the house on fire before he scolds you for anything?" Jill asked her daughter, not expecting an answer. Instead, she got a grin that was so much like Mike's that she couldn't help but grin back. "I love you even if you are a destructive little menace. Come on, let's go get dressed and then we'll make daddy dinner. Or, even better. Maybe we'll ask daddy to make us dinner."

As Jennifer had expected, Thomas getting into the cologne was her fault. "He's a small boy," her mother pointed out the obvious to her daughter as if that thought had somehow eluded her. "He's going to get into things that he shouldn't. That's why you have to watch him every single minute."

"Go ahead and tell me that's why William and I shouldn't have had a second child," Jen said bitterly as the phone rang. "Hello?" She answered the phone. "This is she. What? I'll be there right away."

"What's wrong?" Elaine asked, noticing that Jennifer's face had gone white. "Jennifer, what's wrong?"

"I have to go to the hospital. The nurse on the phone just said that they need to take Natalie up to surgery right away," she was frantic as she searched for her purse.

"For what? Jennifer, you're not in any condition to drive. Call your friends and get one of them to take you."

"Mother, I need to go now! Can you bathe Thomas and put him to bed for me? Tell William to meet me at the hospital when he gets home!"

"Jennifer, stop!" Her mother put her hand on Jen's arm as Thomas stared at both of them. "Call your friends and have one of them drive you. You just had major surgery. You're not in any shape to drive. Here," she held out the telephone receiver.

Jill answered the phone at the house. She listened as Jennifer hysterically repeated what the nurse had told her. "Of course I'll drive you. Wait there and I'll be there in two minutes," she hung up and went into the living room where Mike and was reading the paper with Mary Kathryn on his lap. "I have to take Jen to the hospital. There's a complication with the baby. Can you take care of her?"

"Yeah. When Willie gets home, I'll take her to my mother's and bring him up there. Call me when you know something," he kissed her as she left the house.

When they arrived at the hospital, they went upstairs to the 10th floor. Jennifer walked up to the nurses' station where they immediately paged Dr. Jefferson. She was pacing when the doctor came through the double doors of the nursery. "Mrs. Gillis?" He looked at her and Jill. "Let's talk over here," he tried to direct her away from where Jill was standing.

"No. Whatever you say to me you can say in front of Jill. At least that way I can avoid the doubletalk that you've been feeding me and my husband for the past six days."

"Very well. Your daughter has a hole between two chambers in her heart. In a full-term baby, this hole will usually close before birth. But in premature babies, this hole often doesn't close on its own, so it requires surgery," he explained as Jennifer felt as if she was about to faint.

"When?"

"I've paged the pediatric cardiologist. He'll be up here shortly to explain the surgery to you. Is your husband on his way?"

"He was at work."

"My husband's going to bring him up here as soon as he gets home," Jill quickly interjected as the doctor nodded and walked away.

"That's what I've dealt with for the past week," Jen sighed as Jill led her over to some nearby chairs. "Would you like to go with me to the nursery? I want to see her."

"Will they let me in?" Jill asked as they walked back up the double doors of the NICU where Jen stepped on a button on the floor. The doors swung opened as she led Jill to a sink where they both scrubbed before donning sterile garments.

One of the nurses looked up when the two women entered the nursery. "I want to see my baby," Jen explained as the nurse nodded. She knew why Jen was there.

"Would you like to hold her?" The nurse asked as Jennifer looked at her in surprise.

"I'd love to hold her," she said as they approached Natalie's incubator.

The lady whose baby had been in the incubator near Natalie's watched as the nurse showed Jen to a rocker. She then went over and opened the cover on the incubator and carefully lifted the tiny baby out, wires, tubes, and all. Jen could barely breathe as the light as air bundle was placed in her arms. She lightly touched the top of her head and her fingers as monitors beeped all around her. "They think that she's dying," the woman commented as Jen and Jill turned to stare at her in shock. "That's the only reason they're letting you hold her. They did the same thing to me. Their reasoning is if your baby's dying and they let you hold it, you can't come back and say they wouldn't let you hold or touch it."

Jill thought that it was an awful, heartless thing to say, but she also knew how true it probably was. "I wish that William was here," Jen whispered as she bonded with her baby. "Would you like to hold her?"

"No, this is your time. How much does she weigh now?" Jill asked as the doors opened and Willie walked in.

"Four pounds, five ounces. Her weight goes up and down," she said as she watched William approach. "They're letting us hold her. Come over here and sit down."

"No," he said as he practically backed away from her. "I like seeing her with you."

"She needs heart surgery. We're waiting for the cardiologist. William, please come and hold her. You might not get another chance," she begged as tears filled her eyes. She knew that if she started crying, she'd have to give Natalie back and leave. Tears weren't considered sterile. The only people who cried in here were the babies and they all sounded like bleating lambs.

"I can't," he turned and fled back through the double doors.

"He's been like this since her birth. He might visit her once a day and stay for 10 minutes. I've tried talking to him, but he won't discuss it," she looked down at the baby as the doors opened and a strange man entered. He walked over to where she was sitting with the baby. "Are you the cardiologist?"

"I'm Dr. Hanson," he introduced himself. "I'd like to examine the baby before I speak to you and your husband. So, if you'd please step outside."

Jen reluctantly handed the baby back to the doctor before leaving the nursery with Jill, who smiled when she walked out of the nursery and saw Mike. She walked over and slipped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "I need for you to talk to Willie when you get a chance," she whispered as he looked at her.

"Okay," he nodded as he held her.

They watched as the doors to the nursery opened and the cardiologist stepped out, beckoning for Jen and Willie to join him. She reached for his hand as they sat down by the doctor. "As I'm sure Dr. Jefferson has explained to you, Natalie has a hole in her heart. What I'm going to do is repair this hole with a Dacron patch. In a normal sized baby, this surgery isn't particularly dangerous. But it's risky in a premature baby. It's always a risk to put a child of any age and size under anesthesia. I've performed this surgery many times on both full-term and premature babies. I just want you both to be aware that there are risks," he said gently as he looked at both of them.

"What'll happen if she doesn't have the surgery?" William asked as she continued clutching his hand.

"There's still a chance that the hole could close on its own, but your daughter risks suffering from heart failure. This isn't emergency surgery, but I really feel that it should be done now."

"How long does it take?" She asked.

"About an hour and a half. She'll then be in recovery for about an hour, and then she'll be moved back up here. I want you both to trust me. I've been doing this for almost 20 years."

"Successfully?" She asked.

"My success rate is 90 percent."

"What do we have to sign?" She asked as William looked at her. "I want her to have a chance, William. I want to be able to hold her again."

After they signed the papers, Willie took the elevator downstairs. Jill glanced over at Mike, motioning for him to follow his friend. Mike got up and went over to the elevator, hitting the 'down' button. "A doctor who operates on the tiniest of babies must be very skilled, don't you think?" Jen asked Jill.

"I'd think so to use a scalpel on someone who's not much bigger than Mary Kathryn's baby dolls."

"Have you ever been in the operating room when the patient's been a baby?"

"No."

Willie was standing outside when Mike came out. "Jill suggested that I might want to talk to you."

"Jen's upset because I didn't want to hold a baby a while ago. She said that I might not get another chance. I haven't been able to visit her as much as Jen does."

"Do you know why that is?"

"I'm afraid to get attached to her, Mike," he admitted as his voice cracked. "What if I let her into my heart and she dies?"

"Willie, you're Natalie's father. Whether you admit it to yourself or not, she's already in your heart," Mike placed a hand on his friends' shoulder. "Keeping your distance from her isn't going to change that."

"Did you have this same feeling when Jill got shot that night? That feeling that your whole world was about to crash in on you?"

"You have to believe that Natalie's going to be okay. And yes, I did have that same feeling," Mike answered him. "Come on, let's go back upstairs."

Jen and Jill looked up when the elevator doors opened and the two men stepped off. Willie walked over and sat down beside Jen as he pulled her close to him. "I should go call Terry and your mother to let them know what's going on," he sighed as he kissed the top of her head.

But just as he got up, the elevator opened once more and the doctor stepped off. Jen held her breath as he approached them, but she relaxed when she noticed that he was smiling. "Your daughter is quite the fighter," he told them as Jen began sobbing in relief. "She came through the surgery like a trooper and she's now in recovery as we speak. She'll be back up here in an hour or so."

When they were able to see her after the surgery, it was hard to see her with that long incision running down her small chest, but she seemed to look so much better. She continued to improve in the days that followed and it was only a matter of time before the day came when they visited her and she was no longer in the front row.

It was shortly after Thomas' fourth birthday in late October when Natalie finally had her graduation day. Jennifer cried the day she went to visit her and her name was finally on her card in the incubator. Even Dr. Jefferson grudgingly admitted that he was pleased with how well she'd done. Her homecoming date was tentatively scheduled for the second week in November.

***MJMJMJ***

Thanksgiving was a joyous holiday this year. Natalie had been home for almost two weeks and was doing amazingly well. Although still small for a two-month-old, the doctors had assured her parents that she'd quickly catch up with other babies her age.

Everybody had gathered at the Gillis' for a traditional dinner. Natalie was passed from person to person, dressed like a little princess in a frilly pink and white dress with white tights, a pink bow on top of her head. Thomas wasn't overly impressed with his new sister or the attention that she was getting. Mary Kate seemed much more accepting, probably because she realized that the baby didn't belong to her mommy and daddy.

They were getting ready to sit down to dinner when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Willie got up from the table and went to answer the door. He was surprised to find Alexandra and her father standing there. "Alexandra, please come in."

"This is my father, Harrison Smyth," she introduced her father as Willie shook his hand.

"We were just sitting down to dinner. Would you like to join us?"

"I'm sorry, but we can't," Mr. Smyth apologized. "We're in Los Angeles to visit Margaret for the holidays. We're leaving tomorrow, but Alexandra wanted to come and see the new baby."

Everybody was happy to see Alexandra. They all hugged her and made a fuss over her. She smiled widely as she walked up to Jennifer, who was holding the baby. "Oh, she's so tiny," she breathed as he lightly touched the baby's small fingers.

"Believe me, she's huge now compared to when she was born. How's London?"

"I love it. My father relocated to the London offices, so I get to see much more of him."

"That's wonderful."

"I'm glad that everything turned out all right," Mr. Smyth said as he watched Jennifer with the baby.

"So am I," she smiled as she looked down at her sleeping daughter. "We definitely have a lot to be thankful for this year."

The End

A/N: I apologize for the length of this chapter. I thought there was one more chapter after this, but I was wrong. Please read and review.