A/N: Sorry this took so long. I've been feeling a little sick.

"So it says here that you're an orphan?"

Justin swallowed hard. Then he stated firmly, "Yes."

The doctor just blinked. "What were your parents' names?"

Brian narrowed his eyes. He was about to interject (the interview was quickly becoming a violation of privacy), but Justin spoke before he could, replying evenly, "Harry and Sally."

Brian rolled his lips into his mouth, trying very hard not to laugh. They'd gone to a dollar theatre a few nights ago to see When Harry Met Sally (they didn't have a television).

The doctor quirked an eyebrow. In a skeptical voice, he observed, "Harry Dickens…what an unfortunate name…."

Justin colored, but then, in a cool voice, elaborated, "Despite his potentially unfortunate name, he was a hero and a loving father. According to the nuns who raised me, he used his dying breath to save me. He fought his way through falling beams to get to my bedroom and then carried me outside. He died from smoke inhalation a few seconds after he got me into the front yard, just as the firemen were arriving."

The doctor paled (and Brian smiled, though he quickly hid it, scrubbing his face with his hand and turning around). Justin was a much better liar than Brian ever gave him credit for. The doctor shook his head and replied softly, "I'm sorry. I'm sure he was a fine man." Then after clearing his throat, he asked, "So how have you been feeling in the last couple of weeks?"

Justin fidgeted a little and, nervously, looked over at Brian, who had turned back around when he'd regained his composure, "Well, I've been having a lot of mood swings…crying a lot." Brian had been so patient with Justin, so loving, but Justin was afraid that the man was reaching his breaking point. Brian's expression was unreadable, but his eyes intense. Justin sometimes wished he could read Brian's mind. Granted, he could decipher the smallest flicker of emotion in Brian's eyes and every non-blank expression ever to grace Brian's face, but when Brian's eyes and face were blank, Justin had no idea what he was thinking. At such times, Justin's insecurities assailed him, and he started imagining the worst (that Brian regretted asking Justin to marry him, regretted running away with him to Vermont, … regretted ever meeting Justin).

The doctor inquired, "Have you experienced a great deal of anxiety or irritability?" bringing Justin's attention back to him, for a second.

Justin swallowed hard and then looked at Brian again. Brian's eyes and face still betrayed no clue as to what the man was thinking. Justin turned back to the doctor and replied, hesitantly, "Well…I haven't been irritable much. In fact, hardly ever. But…I have been a little anxious. More so early on than now."

"How have you been sleeping?"

Justin peeked back over at Brian. Justin wanted to cry he was so frustrated (Brian still showed absolutely no emotion). Then he returned his gaze to the doctor and admitted, "I have a hard time getting comfortable, so sometimes it takes me a while to fall asleep, and I wake up a lot to go to the bathroom. And, ummm, I've been having vivid dreams; a lot of them are nightmares."

Despite Justin's nervousness about his admission, the doctor didn't seem concerned. He merely pushed forward, asking, "Have your eating habits been consistent?"

Justin smiled and relaxed a little. "I have absolutely no trouble eating."

Brian chuckled. "I can vouch for that." Justin looked over at Brian and smiled even more brightly. Justin detected no underlying disappointment or anger.

Justin was so happy and relieved that he just kept gazing at Brian, forgetting where he was and what he was doing. Brian just made it worse. He smiled softly and held Justin's eyes with his own. So only after the doctor had asked his next question ("Have you experienced difficulty concentrating or memory loss?") three times did Justin hear him talking (he still hadn't heard the question).

Justin turned back to the doctor. He looked like he'd been in trance. "Huh?"

The doctor repeated, for the fourth time, "Have you experienced difficulty concentrating or memory loss?"

Justin blushed a bright red, and Brian burst out laughing. Justin grew even redder and replied, "Not often. Sometimes I feel a little scattered, but other than that my concentration and memory have been normal."

Brian quirked an eyebrow, Justin imagined, as he remembered this morning.

Justin waited a couple of seconds, but then burst out, a little defensively (as though Brian had been physically prodding him), "Okay…so sometimes, uh, Rex has to tell me things a few times before I remember…"

"Based on everything you've said, I wouldn't worry too much about the mood swings. They're a little unusual in the second trimester, but not unheard of. Some people have mood swings throughout their pregnancies, while others only in the first and near the end of the third."

Justin sighed. "So they're probably going to continue?"

The doctor nodded.

Then Brian was behind Justin, squeezing his shoulder and whispering into his ear, "I kind of like the mood swings. Every day with you is an adventure." Brian said the last part in a smirking drawl. Justin turned to look at the man, hoping desperately that he was serious, that he really didn't mind the mood swings, that maybe they even amused him. Justin could have cried he was so relieved to see that Brian wasn't just fucking with him (Brian's eyes had lost all their amusement for a second and held something soft and warm, just for a heart beat or two, as they did when Brian said something sweet, something he was being truthful about). But Justin didn't cry. He turned back to the doctor, blinked a few times, and beamed.

But that joy ebbed when the doctor added, "But if you find yourself experiencing overwhelming depression or anxiety, let me know. In general, I avoid giving people medications during pregnancy, as few have been proven completely safe for the baby, but anxiety and depression, if serious and untreated, are even more likely to cause problems, such as premature birth, low birth weight, developmental problems, and an increased risk of postpartum depression. In that event, I would want you to speak with a hospital psychologist and possibly prescribe anti-anxiety medication or an anti-depressant."

Brian's grip on Justin's shoulder tightened (so did Justin's heart). Brian asked, his voice filled with a concern and panic that Justin hadn't heard since he'd first experienced round ligament pain, "Do you think that's a real possibility?"

The doctor shook his head. "From what Grant's said, no, I don't think such a step is warranted. Just covering all my bases."

Brian and Justin both breathed a sigh of relief.

Five minutes later, Cleo made her second on-screen appearance.

Brian tilted his head back and forth a couple of times and then observed, "She kind of looks like a snorkel."

Justin replied, half in amusement, half in indignation (a timbre that remained in his voice throughout this exchange), "You're saying our daughter looks like a diving mask?"

"No…the smurfs who lived at the bottom of the ocean with those tubes on their head."

"Those were snorks! And Cleo does not look like a snork!"

"Then what's that thing, right there? It's a tube!"

"That's not a tube; it's her hand. She's sucking her thumb."

"Oh…" After a pause, Brian repeated, wonder in his voice, "Oh…" He looked down at Justin and then back up at Cleo. He had to turn away, pretending to adjust his tie, to prevent tears from falling. It was all so overwhelming. This…this feeling was something he never could have anticipated experiencing 6 months ago. He'd loved Justin a month in (a conclusion he'd only reached retrospectively…that early in their relationship, Brian had still been trying to pretend he merely liked the boy), and he'd loved Cleo since the first flutter… she'd literally wiggled her way into his heart, and that love (for Justin and Cleo) had grown with each passing day, but now…now he felt it so keenly he could barely remain upright, could barely keep the tears in. For the first time in his life, Brian had a family, a real family, and as incredible as that felt, it also scared the shit out of him. What if Lindsay had been right? What if Brian were incapable of being a good partner and father? What if he let the people he loved most in the world down? His chest seemed so hollow then and he felt a little faint.

But then Justin grabbed Brian's hand and pulled him around. "Look, she's wiggling!"

Brian looked up at Cleo. She was indeed moving around. It looked like she was dancing. Justin must have agreed because he said, his voice all excitement and laughter, "I think I've seen you doing that at Babylon." Then in mock horror, Justin exclaimed, "Oh no! Please tell me she didn't inherit your rhythm, or lack thereof!"

Brian smiled and looked down at Justin, half-muttering, half-whispering, "Little twat."

Brian swallowed hard as he threaded his fingers through Justin's and looked back up at Cleo. Failure was simply not an option.

TBC…