"So," Doctor Felicity Jackson started, "the good news is I know what's wrong and it's fixable," she said.

"So, there is something wrong with me?" asked Idina.

Dr. Jackson gave her a sympathetic look. "No, not exactly," she pulled out a diagram. "What's happening is that your uterus is not forming a thick enough wall, so as the baby grows a few different complications can occur that end in a miscarriage."

"So, I'm broken?" asked Idina.

"No," she replied firmly. "It's quite common and it's faxable. What happens is either the fetus gets too heavy to be supported, or the wall cannot protect it from trauma. In some rare cases, the wall could break entirely. I am really surprised no one picked up on this until now. It is extremely dangerous for both child and mother."

"What can we do about it?" Aaron asked.

"There's an operation," she said. "We make some stitches along the uterus providing the support it lacks."

"And how successful is it?"

"Very," she replied, "over ninety percent in most situations."

"Most situations?" Idina echoed.

The doctor nodded. "You see, when you start menopause, one thing they don't often tell you is that you're likely to experience random bursts of fertility." So that must have been why it happened so quickly. "However, since your body is no longer on its proper cycle, it will often drop more than one egg."

"What are you saying?" Idina asked.

"I'm saying that you are carrying twins."

Twins. No. She could not do this. She could not be responsible for the deaths of two more innocents.

"What does this mean for the surgery?" Aaron asked.

"Can it even be done now that I'm knocked up?" she asked. She could not bring herself to say the other word. Knocked up was disgraceful and stupid and rash and the things she currently was.

"We only do it after impregnation," Jackson replied. "So, no fear there. The things with twins are that it moves the timetable up. It also means that we are going to have to monitor this closely. Normally I would want you in here every week, but I understand with your current situation this may not be the safest option, or even possible. There might be complications once the procedure is over, however, the earlier we get this done the less likely it will be."

"How early are we talking?" asked Aaron. He could tell Idina was losing it despite the brave face she was displaying. He wanted to get through this before she completely lost herself. She needed to know this was going to be okay.

"Honestly, I would have had it done last week," she replied. "If you are able, I'd like to refer you to a hospital and have it done tonight. Like I said, the earlier it is done, the lower the chances of complications will be. And with twins, they are going to get bigger twice as fast. It is my professional recommendation that you have this done tonight. I can get you an emergence referral for life-saving surgery."

Aaron looked over at his wife.

"I want to do it," she said quietly. She looked like a deer in headlights. Aaron felt bad for her.

"If you want to," he said, "then we will." She nodded in confirmation.

Jackson wrote up their referral and prescribed Idina some laxatives. She protested at first, but Jackson stated simply that the risk the laxatives posed was less than starting the surgery without them. She then walked them through exactly what the surgery was, how it would be performed, and any side effects they might expect. Idina seemed to sober up a bit. She liked facts and planning. The surgery was not dangerous. The issue would be later, to see how her body reacted to it. They would also need to make sure Idina's uterus was expanding properly with the growth of the twins. With a single child, there was little to no risk, but the extra weight and size of the twins meant that she had to be monitored in the last trimester to make sure they do not burst.

"If you make it to twelve weeks," she said, "I'd say you have a very good chance of carrying them full term, or at least until they're formed enough that we can medically intervene. I don't see any reason why this won't work out as long as we monitor the situation and keep you healthy Mrs. Menzel. "

"Thank you so much," Idina said.

"Yes, thank you," repeated Aaron.

"I know I shouldn't ask, but do you want to see the ultrasound?"

Aaron looked at his wife. It was up to her. He kept his expression blank because he knew she would say yes if she saw how much he wanted this, and her mental state mattered more than his desire to view a photograph.

"Yes," she said timidly, tentatively. Aaron squeezed her hand and tried to not smile like a maniac.

Dr. Jackson smiled at them and handed them the ultrasound pictures. Idina took them like she might break them if she held them too tightly. She broke into a giddy grin he had not seen since their wedding day and tears of joy welled up in her green eyes.

"Look," she said, holding up the pictures so that he could see. She pointed at some blurry blobs. "That's them," she said quietly.

He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder as they looked at the picture. It was their children. He kissed her behind the ear. She was chuckling softly with a childlike grin.

"Thank you again, Dr. Jackson," Idina said.

"Think nothing of it," she said she handed over the referral and prescription. "I'll see you soon."

Idina nodded.

They got up and left, then discussed it with their escort. The hospital was called in advance so that they could prepare, then they phoned the cabin. Aaron talked to Erika quickly, letting her know what was going on, then he handed the phone to Idina and Erika put Walker on.

"Hey there Walkie-Talkie," Idina said, using the nickname he was growing out of. She was clearly in a better mood.

"Hi mom!" he said cheerily.

"I'm going to be gone a bit longer than we thought, okay?"

"Okay," he said. He sounded concerned.

"Are you having fun?"

"Yep."

"Find any dinosaurs yet?"

"No," he said. "Are you okay mommy?"

"Yeah Walk," she said, "The doctors are going to help me get all better, okay?"

"'Kay," he mumbled. "I love you."

"I love you too, pumpkin. I will see you later tonight. Behave."

"Yes, mom." She could hear the eye roll.

"Is surgery scary?"

"No, this one isn't," she replied. "And besides, they let you sleep through the whole thing. So, I'll fall asleep and I'll wake up and everything will be better."

"That doesn't sound that bad," he replied.

"No, it's not," she said. "I love you so much."

"I know mom."

"I know you do. But I love you."

"Bye mom," he said.

She chuckled. "Bye Walk, be good, I'll see you tonight."

"Bye." He hung up.

"Everything will be fine, Dee," Aaron said.

"I know," she replied. "I'm nervous, but I'm excited. This could work."

He took her hands in his. "This will work."

"I don't want to get too confident," she trailed off. "Please don't get your hopes up too much. This might work, but it might not."

Aaron nodded. "I know what you're saying."

"We need to stay realistic, and I'd prefer more skeptical instead of more hopeful."

"You're in charge of this Idina. I'm just here to help you through it."

"Thank you, and I know. I just do not want you to get hurt. I hate seeing you in pain, especially when it's my fault."

"Dee, if anything happens it will not be your fault. I want you to tell that to me. It is not your fault."

Her lip quivered. "It's not my fault," she said.

"You need to take the laxatives now," he said, handing them to her.

She read the label. "It says two now and one right before the surgery." She unscrewed the lid and took two.

"Feel different?"

"No," she replied. "It's literally been two seconds."

"I'm anxious," he admitted.

"You can't be anxious Aaron, because I'm about to jump out of my skin."

"Side effects?"

"No," she said curtly. She was getting annoyed at him. He could tell.

"Okay, I'll stop," he said.

When they got to the hospital Idina had to use the washroom immediately. While the laxatives had calmed her nerves and were supposedly going to make the surgery a whole lot easier, they were also relaxing every muscle in her body and inducing diarrhea. She spent a good fifteen minutes in the bathroom before coming out. By then, the nurses were ready to prep her for surgery.

As they wheeled Idina away, he looked at the ultrasound again. His wife was five weeks pregnant with twins. He touched the pictures fondly. His little ones. He wondered what they would be like, who they would look like, who they would take after. Would they be girls or boys? He supposed they were not identical, so it could be one of each. He hoped for one of each. If this went well, he would be a father.

He still could not believe Idina was five weeks pregnant. It was insane.

Everything in his life was insane right now. He was hiding out in the middle of the woods because of threats and blackmail and his wife was pregnant. There was nothing in the growing up manuals about this. Such was life, he figured.

He wandered around the hospital, even though he knew he should not. He picked up some treats and a gift for Idina at the gift shop then got some coffee and a sandwich that tasted like sandpaper before going back to the waiting room. He wanted to call Walker and Erika, but he knew it was a risk he should not take unless it was necessary.

A doctor came in and called Idina's mane. Aaron stood up right away.

"How is she?" he asked.

"The surgery was a success," he said. "No complications. Everything went smoothly. She's coming around now, but she's been refusing pain medications, so she'll be a bit loopy from the anesthesia and in a lot of pain."

Aaron nodded and thanked the doctor. A nurse let him to Idina's room One of the escorts was outside, making sure no one with harmful intent got in.

He knocked on the door frame. "Hey there chickadee," he said. She was laying down in the bed, her eyes half-open. He walked in. "How are you feeling?"

"I think I've been stabbed in the gut," she replied.

"Well, you kind of have been?"

"I've been killed in an alley?" she asked. "Am I dead?"

"No, Dee, you've just come out of surgery."

"Right," she said. She was looking around the room. "I like the flowers, they're pretty."

"What flowers?"

"Those ones," she said pointing at the ceiling.

Aaron sighed. The doctor had said she would be loopy till the anesthesia wore off. Then she would be in a lot of pain unless she asked for pain meds. And knowing her, she would not. She would put anything in her body that could harm their babies. At least he knew she was a happy drunk. Maybe she would be a happy post-surgery loopiness person as well.

"I got you something." He held out the brown teddy bear he had gotten from the gift shop.

"Last day of chemo?" she questioned, reading the sign it was holding.

"There was nothing else."

"I love it," she said, snuggling it and kissing it. "I'm replacing you," she informed him. "This silly little guy never got me pregnant." She tickled it under the chin as if it was a dog. "You like that, don't you?" she asked it. "What should we call him?"

"Whatever you want honey," he said.

"What did you all me earlier?"

"Chickadee?"

"Let's call him Chickadee," she replied. "Wait no, I'm chickadee. Let's call him something else."

"Whatever you want," he repeated.

"Another bird name," she decided. "Give me a bird name hubby."

"Uh, Peregrine, Robin, Kestrel," he listed off some bird names from the top of his head.

"We got to be careful though. If we give the bear a name we like, we might end up naming a kid after a teddy bear and then they'd get bullied for the rest of their life."

"Red-wing blackbird?" Aaron suggested. They would never name a kid that.

Idina giggled. "If you name the kids after a bird, I'm going to get a divorce and change their names. Then we can get married again and have a huge wedding."

Aaron wondered why she was joking about divorce so much. He was probably reading into it too much. He made jokes like that too sometimes, though that had fallen out of taste these past weeks. She probably would not remember any of this tomorrow.

Idina yawned.

"If you are tired, get some rest. You deserve it. You're growing two people, you know."

"But what about you?"

"I'll be here when you wake up."

"No, how many people are you growing?" She was looking up at him with the biggest green puppy eyes he had ever seen. If she remembered how to make that face when the anesthesia wore off, he was a goner. He would be doing whatever she wanted for the rest of his life. Not that it would be a bad thing.

He stroked her black hair. "None," he replied, "but I've got to take of you and you're three people, so I'll go with three."

"I feel bad for you, I've just got two. I guess I am three people," she continued with a smile, "I'm so cool, aren't I?" She played with the teddy bear.

"Yes, you are Dee, you're amazing."

"I thought I was a chickadee!" she exclaimed.

"You are. You're my chickadee," he said as she yawned again.

"We should call the girl Chickadee," she said. "And then you could call 'Dee' and have the two prettiest girls on the planet run to your call."

"The girl?" he asked.

"There are a girl and boy," she informed him.

"I thought it was to early to tell?"

"Huh?"

"I thought it was too early to tell the genders," he repeated.

Idina looked at him in confusion. "It is, what are you talking about?"

"You said we should call the girl Chickadee."

"We should," she said.

"How do you know it's a girl?"

"There's a girl," she just stated, perplexed. "I'm high Aaron, don't take anything I say seriously." She was starting to look a bit less relaxed and a bit more present.

"I won't, I promise."

"This must be great for you!" she mused. "I'm high and restrained and you can play with me however you want, and I won't remember a thing. Like didn't you tell me I was stabbed? I'm already unsure."

"I told you you felt like it because some had cut you up for surgery."

"Right. I went under the knife. Wait until the tabloids hear about that. Idina Menzel visits a plastic surgeon, comes home with baby Chickadee!" She laughed at herself.

Aaron was grinning ear to ear. He loved her so much. He took her hand. "I'll make sure it never gets out," he assured her.

"I love you," she said, stars in her eyes.

"I love you too Dee."

She yawned again.

"Go to sleep Dee, I'll be here when you wake up."

"No," she said. "I'm going to be in pain when I wake up." She pouted. "I want to enjoy this before I hate you for existing," she said. "Because that is what happens when you make someone pregnant. 'Cause like I'm going to be in pain and puking and all that and all you have to do is watch and it's so infuriating because it feels like it's all your fault I'm like this even though it's not. And then if you can bear to stay in the room when they come, I am going to tear you a new one for putting me through this." She gestured at her stomach. "I'm going to get so fat! And ugly. I was huge with Walker. How big will I be with two little watermelons stuck in there? I might explode."

All her feelings and worries were starting to come out. And he was here for her.

"Dee, you can hate me all you want for this, okay? And I'll stay in the room when they come if that's what you want."

"I won't make you promise that; it's loud and disgusting," she replied, "because I'm loud and disgusting."

"You're beautiful," he said.

"You're only saying that because you can sense my pregnancy hormones or whatever and it's triggering your fatherly protective qualities. Once the kids are gone, I'm going to be ugly."

"I could never think that Dee, trust me." He kissed her on the lips. They were dry. "Want some water?"

"Yes please," she said, batting her eyes. Post-surgery Idina was going to be the death of him.

He reached over to the counter and got her some water, then helped her drink it as she was not supposed to be sitting up yet.

"You totally have a feeding fetish," she said, her speech getting a bit slurred. Her eyelids were dropping, then jutting back up. She was exhausted.

"Go to sleep Dee, dream about it if it makes you feel any better."

"I got it," she said, "if I get pregnant and fat, then I need your help, then you defiantly have a feeding fetish."

He kissed her forehead. "Just go to sleep."

"Okay," she said, closing her eyes. She put her hand out. "Hold it and stay with me?"

"Of course," he replied, taking her hand. He rubbed circles in her palm until she fell asleep.