"You cheated on him?" Greg ventured. After Amy had spoken she had dissolved into fresh floods of tears. Allison, being Allison, had enveloped her daughter into a hug, holding her until she was still and choking for breath. He didn't want to ask, but he had to, even if it meant more tears. Tom's plane was landing at 11:03, and it was already 10:27. His son-in-law would be on the doorstep by midnight, and Amy needed to be calm for that.
"No." Amy whispered, stressing the two-letter word with such an urgency that he was shocked. He wasn't sure that she would have any energy left after all the grief, but apparently he was wrong. It was Allison who spoke next.
"So how did you screw up?" They braced themselves for a new onslaught of tears, and were surprised when Amy drew a deep breath and unfolded her knees, setting her feet heavily on the floor. Seeing her with her hands tucked underneath her thighs Greg was reminded of the day, more than twelve years ago, when she had accidentally set fire to his couch. She had made a birthday cake for him; lit the candles and everything. But as she paraded it into the living room, she tripped over his cane and the cake went flying; the lighted candles sparking a bonfire in the middle of the couch. She had sat in this exact position, unsure of whether she was going to get in trouble. She began to speak;
"You know how a few months ago I caught a cold that wouldn't go away?" Amy didn't stop for an answer. She frowned and continued, "Well, Tom convinced me I should see a doctor, and I was prescribed some anti-biotics. They were pretty standard, but what we didn't realise, what I didn't realise, was that the antibiotics effectively cancelled out the active ingredient in my birth control pills." Allison gave a small sigh of recognition, and Greg felt his stomach knot even tighter than it had been before. Amy's eyes flickered up towards her parents, avoiding their eyes but gauging their reactions at the same time.
"I'm pregnant."
"How far along are you?" Allison asked the most harmless question she could think of. Amy sighed.
"I'm not really sure…" a small blush crept across Amy's cheeks. "Around seven weeks, maybe. I haven't exactly gotten around to…anything."
"Ok," Greg set a tray down on the coffee table; it held two mugs of coffee and one of herbal tea – apparently, even given the early stage of Amy's pregnancy her system couldn't handle caffeine. "So I'm guessing Tom knows you're pregnant." He handed out the mugs and sat on the couch, lacing his fingers with Allison's. Her fingers were cold and shaking so he squeezed her hand, grazing his thumb over her fingers reassuringly.
"Yes." Amy said, sipping her tea. Almost instantly she seemed to relax; she hadn't eaten or drunk anything since getting to Greg and Allison's house at just gone ten that morning and she hadn't realised how desperately thirsty she was.
"What did he say?" Allison asked, her fingers tensing underneath Greg's touch. They were both dreading the answer; assuming that the reason why Amy was so terribly upset about the pregnancy was because Tom didn't want it – maybe he had suggested a termination. Neither was expecting what came next;
"He was so happy." Amy gasped, her voice laden with unspoken tears. "He was so, unbelievably happy. He wanted to call you guys, and his parents and really, I think he was on the verge of shouting it from the rooftop but then he realised that I wasn't jumping around the room with him and…Oh God. It wasn't even a real fight, I just sat there. And his face – his face when I suggested…I've never seen him so hurt, he didn't know what to do. He left, and then I left." Amy took another sip of tea, trying to steady her hands. "I'm barely twenty-five, I have another two years at Hopkins, three years worth of residency…half the time I feel like I'm playing at being a wife, I don't know if I could handle being a mother too."
"Amy," Greg almost moaned, leaning forward and resting his chin in his hand.
"Please don't be disappointed." Amy whimpered, misinterpreting the look her father gave her.
"I'm not!" he hastened. "God, I am anything but disappointed in you." Beside him Allison shifted, trying to work out what he was talking about. Greg sighed and looked his daughter square in the eye "How can you not believe that you can do this? You are the most incredible person I know. You're kind, and caring, unbelievably smart, beautiful, successful. You're the best daughter I could ever have wished for, and you are going to be the best mother any child could ever want." Tears fell down Amy and Allison's cheeks but Greg was dry-eyed.
"I mean it Amy. And if I'm disappointed in anyone, it's me, for not making sure you knew that." And then they were both on their feet, Amy wrapped tightly in his arms. She wasn't crying, at least not obviously. He kissed the top of her head fiercely, and reached down to pull Allison into the embrace. Allison brushed away stray tendrils of hair from Amy's face and without saying anything, managed to say everything.
The sound of the cab door shutting jolted Amy awake. She had been lying half-asleep on the couch, alone in the room now. Greg and Allison had gone to bed at around a quarter to midnight, at Amy's insistence. She wanted to talk to Tom alone, she said, and both Allison and Greg had agreed to leave them to it. Swinging her legs down onto the floor she stretched, before making her way to the door. She stood for a few seconds on her side of the door, knowing Tom was on the other side. He always laughed when she claimed that they were soul mates, intrinsically linked, yet now she could have sworn that she could feel his heart beating. She breathed out heavily, seizing the door handle and opening it. Tom was stood on the doorstep, a suitcase at his feet and a light dusting of snow on his shoulders. Amy took a half-step backwards and to the side, allowing him to enter the house. She shut the front door behind him, locking it as he set the suitcase at the foot of the stairs, shrugged off his jacket and hung it silently on the coat-rack. They faced each other, neither one saying anything.
Sitting close together on the top stair, Greg and Allison had an obscured view of the scene. Allison was clutching Greg's hand tightly – they hadn't really been sleeping but when the sound of the cab issued she had dragged him out of bed. He didn't want to eavesdrop but at the same time he did. He nudged her slightly, trying to get a better view. Not that there was anything to see, Tom and Amy were still just standing there staring at each other, perhaps waiting for the other one to speak first or perhaps just trying to think of something to say.
"Amy…" Tom finally began, a full five minutes after entering the house. Amy didn't let him finish, flying at him and wrapping her arms around him and kissing him. He was stunned for a moment, and then responded; reaching up and cradling the back of her head with one hand – her hair twining in his fingers, and pulling her towards him with the other.
Greg stood as quietly as he could, pulling Allison up with him. Avoiding the creaky floorboards they crept along the hall towards their own bedroom. He shut the door behind them and stood with his back up against it, a smile toying on his lips. Allison eased into bed, shivering in the cold sheets.
"What?" she asked, noticing that he wasn't making any move to join her.
"We're gonna be grandparents." He laughed.
Amy blinked awake, adjusting to the light coming through the curtains. She looked around her, recognising that she was in her old bedroom, rather than the fold-out bed of the studio apartment she and Tom shared. Shifting onto her side she realised that Tom was lying next to her, awake but with an empty space in the middle of the bed between them. They hadn't spoken at all the night before; when they had finally broken apart, gasping for air, she had led him wordlessly up the stairs into her old bedroom. Now, she became conscious of the fact that she wasn't wearing anything – they were just covered by a sheet. They had somehow managed to displace the thick winter duvet; it lay on the floor with their clothes.
She looked at her husband and realised that he was on her side of the bed. He slept on the right side of the bed – in their apartment that side was nearest the window, while she preferred the left, nearer the door.
"I'm on your side." Tom stated, and in any other situation Amy would have laughed, at how they were able to think the same thing without meaning to. As it was, she wasn't sure whether he was talking literally; about the bed, or figuratively – telling her that no matter what she decided to do about the baby, he was ok with it. Amy shuffled a little bit nearer to him, not all the way over to his side, but closer all the same. In turn, Tom edged nearer. They weren't touching, but Amy could feel the warmth of his body radiating.
"I…" she began, but didn't continue. Tom reached out and rested a hand on Amy's hip. She inched closer and lay on her back, her side pressed up against his.
"Amy?" Tom asked and she looked into his eyes. His arm was resting over her body, underneath the sheet and she took his hand, placing it lower on her abdomen. "Amy?" he asked again, as she laced her fingers with his, on top of the spot that soon would be blossoming with their child.
"We can do this." Her eyes shone, and he answered her with a kiss.
The Diagnostics Department was one step away from becoming a day-care centre. Just as it had been the day before, the room was overflowing with children. Foreman and Chase had been given permission to skip clinic hours and work on charting in between feeding and playing. If anything, it was because House had enlisted the help of three nurses to help with the unruly rabble; nurses who were needed to help deal with the onslaught of coughs, sniffles and runny noses that were frequenting the clinic.
"Oh my word." Amy said, her hand to her mouth as she surveyed the room. Ben and Lucy were scribbling on the whiteboard, Levi was underneath the desk, bashing toy cars together. Chase was juggling his daughter and Foreman's youngest son, both of whom were screaming, while Foreman himself was at the sink, trying to scrub marker pen off his daughter's face. House and Cameron were nowhere to be seen.
"Need a hand?" Amy asked, as the twins ran towards Tom, almost knocking him off his feet. Chase looked more than thankful as Amy took Foreman's son, holding him against her chest. The baby quietened almost instantly, gulping down air and Megan, now that she wasn't sharing her daddy followed suit, allowing Chase to settle her on his hip so he could give Amy a one-handed hug. Tom meanwhile suggested that Foreman use wet-wipes on Isobel's decorated face. When Cameron and House entered the conference room five minutes later, carrying lunch for everyone, it was a far cry from the chaos they had left behind. Max and Megan were both asleep in the office, their baby-carriers side by side. Isobel, now with a spotlessly clean face, and Lucy were making paper chains with Amy, while Tom was playing cars with Ben and Levi. Chase and Foreman, both looking absolutely exhausted, were in the office with the babies, nursing mugs of coffee and their sore heads. Chase's wife Carrie was in Florida, for a conference, and Libby, Foreman's wife, was suffering from a terrible cold and resting in bed.
"Hi." Cameron said, slightly surprised to see both her daughter and her son-in-law babysitting in the conference room. She had planned to take the day off with Ben and Lucy, but given the sounds of make-up sex that issued from Amy's room when she woke around 6am, she had decided it wouldn't hurt to take the kids to the hospital for one more day.
"Hey." Amy answered brightly.
"I'm hungry." Levi mumbled, dropping his toy car and plodding over towards House, who held a laden tray of food in his hands.
"Easy, buddy." Foreman smirked, coming into the conference room. House set the food onto the table, drawing Amy aside as Cameron began separating plates for each child.
"You ok?" Like Cameron, he had found it hard to ignore the noises coming from Amy's room, but he assumed from the way neither Amy nor Tom could stop smiling that they were fine. Amy blushed slightly and nodded.
"We're fine. And I'm starving." She said, moving behind Lucy who was seated at the table, swiping some fries off her little sister's plate.
"HEY!" Lucy yelped indignantly and Amy laughed.
"Did you change your hair?" Chase asked her, preparing Megan's lunch for when she woke up from her nap. Amy shook her head, looking puzzled. She sat down on Tom's lap, his arms wrapped protectively around her middle.
"Yeah, there's something different. What's going on with you?" Foreman asked. Amy tried to hide her laugh, as Tom murmured;
"She's glowing." He didn't say it quietly enough, because both Foreman and Chase's jaws suddenly dropped as they realised what he meant.
"You're pregnant?!" Chase asked, leaning on the back of a chair. Amy felt Tom's arms wrap tighter around her and she nodded. The room was filled with excitement and congratulations; not just from Chase and Foreman but also from House and Cameron, and Lucy and Ben. The rest of the children were too young to understand what was really going on, but they laughed at all the grown-ups.
The Maternity waiting room could definitely do with some new furniture; he made a note in his mind to inform Lisa Cuddy of that fact in the morning. Actually, glancing at his watch he realised that it was morning, by four hours.
"Happy birthday." Allison whispered, noticing him checking the time. Across from them, sitting on a sofa that was equally uncomfortable to the chair that Allison and Greg were sitting in; her on his lap, were Tom's parents. Peter was half-engrossed in a crossword, while Maggie was knitting nervously. They raised their heads to wish him a 'happy birthday' too, smiling at the sight of Ben and Lucy curled around each other on a couch.
"I think we'll go stretch our legs." Peter suggested, setting his newspaper down on the couch. Maggie nodded;
"You'll come find us if there's any news?" Tom had called them as soon as he and Amy had gotten to the hospital. Forty-one hours later and they were worried first that the baby was a few weeks early, and second that he or she was taking so long to arrive. Greg and Allison had told them that nothing was wrong, but they themselves had both been anxious. Especially when Amy hit the twenty-seven hour mark; making her labour longer than Allison's with the twins, but they had been reassured after one look at her chart – the baby was just taking his or her time. Peter and Maggie wandered out of the waiting room, rolling the kinks from their shoulders. Greg closed his eyes wearily…
"Greg? Allison?" Both doctors jumped awake at the sound of Tom's voice. They sat upright, adjusting to the early morning sunlight streaming through the window. Tom was stood in the doorway, exhausted but brimming with excitement and happiness. A note on the table told them that Peter and Maggie had taken the twins to get breakfast in the cafeteria. Tom beamed at them.
"Amy wants to see you." They got to their feet quickly, ignoring the stiffness that two nights in the uncomfortable chairs had bred. Following Tom to Amy's room, Allison reached for Greg's hand. Tom opened the door and ushered them inside.
Amy was sat on the bed, knees bent up and covered by a thick blanket. She looked ten times more exhausted than Tom, but the smile on her face brought tears to Allison's eyes. Propped in Amy's lap, swaddled in a huge blanket, was a tiny baby. Tom rounded the bed and perched next to his wife, grazing a thumb lightly along the baby's cheek. Amy tore her eyes away from the bundle and looked at her parents, scooping the baby up and displaying her prize to them.
"Mom, Dad, meet Emily."
So that's the last chapter. And the end of the trilogy...which I'm quite sad about if I'm honest. Thank you to all those of you who reviewed; PLEASE review the final chapter - even if you didn't like it. I'm thinking about writing some new stuff so keep any eye on my profile if you like the story. Sarah x