n/a: tbh I forgot American thanksgiving was in November also this is an AU because I forgot how birthdays worked and if Walker is still 10 then Idina is 48, not 49... so just go with it, please. Thanks. Also, I am trying to figure out how to write time skips to help the story be a bit more concise, so bear with me. Let me know if you think I just should have started at the first scene break and skipped everything else, still unsure of that. And I am so glad you guys love this work so much! I love waking up and reading all your comments so please continue to show all your support <3

The next two weeks leading up to Kristen's party was semi-chaotic. Taye was free, no longer the blackmailer, though some of the public were not yet satisfied. It was hard going anywhere and Idina started driving the kids everywhere again while Aaron had to add in extra time to his daily commute. For the first time in years, they decided not to do anything large for thanksgiving, instead just spend some time together with the four of them before Walker had to go over to his father's for the rest of the evening.

Walker wanted to spend as much time with his dad as he could and Idina let him. She was busy, she realized. She had booked to voice work projects and had gotten her new album greenlit. She was determined to write it herself this time though. She wanted all the songs to be personal. And there was Erika, who still needed them. So, she let Walker stay over at his dad's if he called every night and came over occasionally.

Her walls had gone up, but Aaron and Idina were no longer outside. There were still Idina topics and Aaron topics, but they were much less defined than they had been before. They assumed there were also Dr. Snow topics that neither of them knew about and while they wanted to be the ones she went to for everything, they were glad she had someone.

Dr. Snow had recommended that Erika not be allowed to see her parents, nor that they are allowed to contact her. This also meant public photos of her were now prohibited. She could not be in her school yearbook, nor could she have paparazzi picture published without CPS banging down the doors of whoever dared to print them. This did not discourage foreign tabloids though. It made everything worse. People were more desperate than ever to know about the comings and goings of Idina's life. She uninstalled every social media app form her phone, telling her managers to post anything that she was legally required to post but no more.

Erika had more episodes of night terrors and Idina and Aaron now switched out on night watch, checking on her to make sure she wasn't lost in a fearscape of her own making and staying with her until she fell asleep if she was. Erika had yet to tell them what was plaguing her mind in the late hours, but they did, after much prompting, get her to promise to try and talk to Snow about them. They had also got her to agree to an extra session each week. And Idina could not help but notice that the box of Erika's New York things had been spirited away to the closet, still unopened.

The girl had not yet agreed to be measured on the inside of the pantry door. Aaron said it was the permanence of it that was scaring her, and they dropped it after the first day. They did, however, take out the hem on her pants. Erika had also asked for a haircut while Idina and she had been out shopping for jeans. The star had been sad to see the long locks go, but they were damaged and needed to go. Her hair was now close to Idina's length, but shorter and she seemed thrilled with the little upkeep that is required and was often playing with the soft ends when she had a free hand.

Everyone was looking forward to the breath of fresh air that was going to be Kristen's party. Walker would be coming, but not Taye. An invitation had been extended, but he had politely declined and given no reason. Erika was stable enough to talk to people and Idina promised the girl could stand by her side all afternoon if that is what she wanted. Aaron needed a mental break before the Christmas crowd came through his office doors and Idina just wanted to talk to someone. She had been secluding herself to the recording studios for her projects and the house while her bump grew too quickly, and her bruise faded too slowly.

The twins now formed a bump on her belly that was plainly visible in anything remotely form-fitting. Luckily for her, it was winter, and she could wear whatever fluffy, cozy, puffy thing she wanted with no scrutiny. Her morning sickness was slowly fading, and Aaron would not keep his hands off her abdomen and covering every inch of her stomach with kisses. He said he wanted to be there the second they started kicking, even though they were still weeks out form that. Erika was more comfortable with the idea than she had been originally. She would look at Idina's bump when she thought no one was watching her with a curiously similar expression to that of Walker. Idina prayed the girl was thinking of the fetuses forming in her belly as her siblings, or at least someone she could learn to love unconditionally.

The night of, Aaron was on nightmare watch. Erika was in a deep sleep, breathing peacefully and did not seem to be in any distress, so he crawled back into bed with his wife. She could no longer lay on him like she used to because of the bump and had a body pillow that was helping with the pain. He curled up by her back and draped an arm over her waist and rested his hand in her bump.

"Our girl's safe," he whispered, knowing she was not going to go to sleep until she knew Erika was all right.

She gurgled something unintelligible and put a hand over his. He kissed her cheek and fell asleep beside her. Idina was twelve weeks pregnant, the scariest bit was now over.

~

"Aaron!"

Aaron groaned, the light hurting his eyes.

"Aaron! Wake up!" someone was shaking him violently.

"Dee?" he muttered.

"Aaron," she said again. She was sobbing.

"Dee," he said concerned, sitting upright, and rubbing his eyes.

"Aaron," she whispered again, shaking. "Blood," she said, breaking down. "Aaron, there's blood," she cried.

It took him a second to put two and two together. Blood. She was pregnant. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Adrenaline shot through his blood and he bolted into action. He called an ambulance.

"Dee, lay down please," he said, relaying the operator's instructions. "Try and stay calm baby," he said, trying to soothe her. There was no soothing his wife. "The ambulance is going to get here, and you will be fine. The twins are still there right now, we still have time." He somehow managed to get her into a semi-prone position while the phone operation rambled on.

Erika heard the commotion and came wandering into the room. Aaron instantly put her to work gathering things they might need and asked her to stay on the line while he talked to Idina. Erika had everything packed in bags quicker than Aaron could have ever done once he had told her where everything was.

"Make it stop," she begged through tears, a hand under her pants and between her legs.

"Are you in pain?" he asked.

"A bit, not enough. Not as much as it should be," she said in a weak whisper. "Please, I cannot lose them, Aaron, please make it stop. Make it stop. I am so scared, Aaron, I am so scared. Please stop it, please."

His blood was pounding through his veins. He could barely hear what was happening as Erika went downstairs to let the EMTs in. She could not lose them, not now, not after all this. He was crying too as he held her hand and gave her every comforting work he knew, empty as they may be. He thought about the ultrasounds. They were so healthy, so perfect. Everything had been all right at Idina's last check-up, barely three days ago. Walker had tagged along. He had asked a million questions and Felicity had answered them all with a sweet smile on her face and given him candy, telling Aaron and Idina that they were amazing parents and that she was so excited she was helping them bring more life into the world. Idina and Felicity were on a first-name basis.

This was supposed to work.

He felt betrayed and angry like the world was stabbing him the back and laughing as he bled out and screamed at it in anger. He was angry at the world for doing this to him, for making Idina suffer and making him watch, incapable of doing anything.

Only one person was allowed in the ambulance. Erika could not drive. Aaron did not want to leave Idina alone. Aaron did not want to abandon Erika here to her worries. Somehow, he came up with the plan to put Erika in the ambulance and drive behind it himself, even though he knew he should not get behind the wheel when he could barely comprehend what was happening as they took Idina away, his precious wife whimpering and begging for help as they did so.

He made it to the hospital and met up with Erika. Idina was being seen by a medical professional who knew what they were doing. Felicity had been called. They were examining Idina right now.

The two of them sat down in the waiting room and waited.

~

Everything was fine. When those words left the doctor's mouth Aaron thought he might faint from relief. His children were fine. He hugged Erika in pure joy, spooking her the slightest, but she was glad too, he could tell.

They were brought to Idina's room where they were greeted by the sight of Idina moping on a hospital bed in a white hospital gown.

"Hey there, Chickadee," Aaron said, swooping down to her level. Erika stood behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. He wiped some hair of his wife's blotchy face. "Everything's all right, did they tell you that? The twins are fine." One of her hands trailed down to her bump. "Yes Dee, they're still there. You amazing person, you. You kept them safe. You did that. Because you are amazing," he cooed, trying to get her to look at him.

Idina stifled a sob.

"Hey, baby, don't cry," he said as she started to break down. He held Erika's hand for emotional support and ran a finger down Idina's cheek. She was still staring into nothing, her expression unwavering. He could barely tell if she was hearing him. "I promise, the twins are safe," he repeated, over and over again. "They're safe, honey. All because of you. I love you so much. I knew you could do this. You can do anything you want too, Dee, anything at all."

A doctor came in with a clipboard and both Erika and Aaron looked at him. Idina did not stir. He was Einstein looking, with short but frizzy white hair and roadmap of wrinkles across his face.

"So, for the-" he paused, looking ta the three of them. He put his clipboard down and came over, kneeling on one knee to be at their level, a sympathetic look on his face beneath his wiry western-moviesque mustache. "You've had quite a scare, haven't you?" he asked to no one in particular. "But I assure you it's all right," he continued. "I have to do one last ultrasound, then you are free to go," he explained. He stood up.

"Hear that Dee, you'll get to see them again," Aaron explained. Idina's closest hand was still on her stomach, so Aaron reached over and took her far hand and held it in his. Then he turned to the doctor. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened, per se," the doctor explained. "Some women still experience menstrual bleeding during pregnancy. As far as we can tell, it was nothing more than that. It can range for occasionally, like in Idina's case here, or every month without pause."

"That's it?" Aaron asked, very underwhelmed. That was it? Idina had gotten up, seen blood, and freaked out. Who would not? He had been so scared. They had both been so scared. Aaron was feeling sick again. He was so relieved and yet so distraught that it had been something this simple and dumb that nearly derailed their life. And no one had ever bothered to tell them that this was something that could happen.

"I'm going to do the ultrasound now," the doctor said moving over the machine.

Aaron pulled up Idina's shirt for him, knowing she would be more comfortable if he did it over the stranger. He had to move her hand and she just curled it by her chest. Idina did not flinch as the cold gel was applied. Aaron squeezed her hand, trying to get a reaction out of her. He breathed a sigh of relief when he looked up at the screen and saw his children.

"See, Idina, look, baby, they're just over there, I promise," he muttered trying to get her to look. "Chickadee, come on, please. Just do this little thing for me. Look over there."

Erika got on her knees by the bed too and took Idina's other hand. Aaron whispered to her, asking her to try and talk to Idina.

"Just look and the screen, Dee," Erika said softly after a moment.

That got her attention. Erika had never called Idina 'Dee' before. Idina looked up, then tentatively followed Erika's hand to the screen she was pointing at. Her face broke into relief slowly, as if someone had hit a button turning the world into slow motion. There was suddenly life in her eyes and her lips quivered upwards and she sighed in relief, closing her eyes tightly as if to freeze the moment in her brain. She squeezed Aaron's hand, but said nothing, too overcome with emotion to speak.

"The twins are fine," the doctor said. "Everything is fine, other than the scare. You'll be uncomfortable for a few days, but other than that everything is well."

Idina just sighed again, her gaze locked on the screen. Erika had let go of her hand and it was now on the opposite side of her stomach, her thumb rubbing up and down.

"I'm going to stop the ultrasound now," the doctor warned.

"Okay," Aaron said, looking to Idina. She was still a bit trapped in herself and he just hoped she would be okay with it too.

The screen when black and as the doctor turned off the machine then cleaned the gel off her stomach.

"Congratulations," he said. "You're going to have two strong, healthy kids, Mrs. Menzel. And I can tell they will be lucky to have you for a mother. My wife went through the same thing when we had our first child, my daughter Lia. She's healthy, happy, and has two lads of her own now," he explained. "It's a scare for sure, but there's nothing wrong nor are they in any danger. I also know Dr. Jackson quite well. She is well respected in the field. If you have more concerns, please talk to her. She will have many more answers than I do. You're in good, capable hands."

Aaron thanked him as he was handed the release paperwork and was informed, they could stay here a little while longer if Idina needed some time to recover. He still felt shocked. It was too early in the morning for this. It was barely eight o'clock. They had been there two hours and a half. He was hungry, stressed, dizzy, and on the verge of cranky. And it would be nothing compared to what Idina was feeling in the moment.

Aaron filled out the paperwork- why was there so much of it?- and gave Erika his debit card, asking her to find the cafeteria and get something for them to eat while he filled out papers.

Idina rolled onto her side and took Aaron's hand as he was filling out the paperwork. He looked up and smiled at her. There was life in her eyes again.

"Can you make me feel better?" she asked.

"Of course," he said, tender and soft. "What do you want me to do?"

"Make me feel better," she repeated, not giving him any hint to that was wrong or what she wanted him to do about it.

"What's wrong, 'Dina?" he asked. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

She started tearing up again. "I don't feel good," she said.

Aaron put the paperwork down and got up close to the bed. He stroked her and looked her over for signs of discomfort. "Dee, baby, what's wrong? Where does it hurt?"

"Here," she said quietly, pointing to her head, "and here," she said, pointing to her abdomen.

Okay, he thought to himself. He knew she was having cramps, but she was probably hungry as well. She probably had a headache too. He had one. And he would not be surprised if this had brought back a lot of painful memories. It was not much, but it was something.

"You might just be hungry," he said. "Erika's getting some food. She'll be back soon."

"Erika," Idina said.

"Yeah," Arron encouraged. "She's going to get food." His wife was still so out of it. He did not blame her. He knew how shattered she would have been if anything happened and truthfully, he did not for a second believe he was equipped to handle it on his own. Idina was his world and he was not naïve enough to believe that he could solve everything for her, as much as he wanted too. Just like he could not solve everything for Walker or Erika. There were just times when people needed help and guidance that he could not supply and all he could do was led them towards the people who could.

"She called me 'Dee'," she said with a smile.

Aaron smiled back. "Yeah cutie, she did."

"I'm not cute," she said.

"I think you are."

"I'm cake," she said, again with another small smile.

"You are. You are the most delicious cake, and the cutest human, and the sweetest Chickadee. You're everything wrapped in a small five-foot-four package and I can't believe you're mine."

"Make me feel better?" she asked again, her mossy green eyes hopeful.

"How do you want me to do that?"

She thought for a moment. "I'm hungry," she said, and Aaron nodded. "And I, um, I want you to make me feel good." That was somewhere.

"What aren't you telling me?" He was trying to keep his voice steady, but her reluctance to share was scaring him. He knew she had not been pinching at her arm as the scabs had healed an no new ones had returned, but the fact that she had tried to hide it from him originally still plagued his mind. He wanted her to come to him with this. He could not bare it if she tried something and hurt herself. It would be his fault.

She took his hand and placed it on her hip. "Make me feel good," she repeated, her voice still soft and distant. "When you make my body feel good and beautiful you make my brain feel good." She was keeping steady eye contact and she seemed to be seeing through whatever haze was still clouding her mind the more she spoke. She put his hand under the scrub shirt so that there was now skin to skin contact and Aaron instinctively started lightly drumming in her thigh, making her smile a bit. "Everyone was touching me," she explained. "And it makes me feel dirty. Like you should not touch me either because I am spoiled. But I want you too. I want you to make me feel nice again," she explained. She paused. "And make the outside feel nice because the inside does not. I want you to do all the things you do to make me feel beautiful."

Aaron nodded. She wanted to be held, loved, and comforted, even if she was saying she wanted him to caress her. He knew his Dee. She was just trying to get it out in the easiest way she knew how. He could do that. He coaxed her out of the bed, and they sat down in the armchair, Idina on his lap. She laid her head down on his shoulder as he cradled her, one of his hands on her bump, thumb obsessively rubbing the top of the incline.

"Do you feel beautiful now?" he asked as he rocked her back and forth gently. She had one hand on his chest, gripping his shirt fabric, and the other was cupping his on her abdomen.

"Yes," she said. She wrapped an arm around him and pulled herself closer. "I'm sorry I let them touch me," she continued. "I swear I did not like it; I'd never cheat on you. I love you, I swear," she said.

"Dee, you did nothing wrong. The doctors had to examine you to make sure the babies were fine. It's just like what Felicity does."

"I know, I just don't like it," she said. "I'm not keen on giving birth here. I know it's not going to be safe to have a home birth this time, but I don't want people I don't know delivering the babies."

"I'll be beside you the entire time."

"You'd better be," she warned. She squeezed his hand and kissed his cheek. "I'm going to be livid if you leave me all alone with doctors and nurses. I mean absolutely irate, Aaron. You will not leave me alone until the twins are in our arms and when the nurses whisk them away to do all that hospital stuff, then I will sleep and you will stalk them and film everything and if anything other than that happens I will make your life miserable, mark my words."

"Guess you're feeling better?" he said with a chuckle. He kissed the top of her head. He wanted to see what it would look like when Idina was trying to ruin his life. He had a sneaking suspicion it would only last a week or two, and they would be the worst two weeks ever before she either felt bad or missed him too much to continue. Then he'd tease her about it forever. Even though the idea was appealing, he was not leaving the delivery room. There was no way he was going to miss the birth of those twins.

"Yeah," she whispered against his neck. "I'm still hungry though. And I have a splitting headache." She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, taking him in, a dainty smile on her dainty lips. "I was so scared," she admitted. "I didn't mean to worry you over nothing. I just went to the bathroom and saw blood and it was like the world stopped," she breathed. "I thought something was wrong and I freaked out and I'm sorry if I freaked you out. It's a horrible feeling and I never wanted you to experience it."

"I would have done the same thing if I were in your position. I would prefer we freaked out over nothing then do nothing when something is wrong. So if it happens again, maybe we can be a bit more level headed, but we are still going to come here to the emergency room and forcing them to look at you and we won't leave until they tell us it was nothing and we overacted, or, if something is wrong, they fix it."

Idina nodded. "Okay. I love you. I am sorry if I scared you. I never wanted to scare you."

"Dee, you were practically dying from fright. If something ever scares you that much again, I am ordering you to bother me about it. I want you to come to me with everything."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, nuzzling him with her nose and planting light kisses on his soft skin. "I want you to tell me stuff too," she replied. "Like when work is stressing you out. You do not need to pretend to be perfect more me. I like your voice," she rambled, making Aaron smiled. He liked her voice too. He loved it when she went on these senseless rambles about how much she loved people or how excited she was about something. "So, is anything bugging you at work?" she asked.

"No," he said truthfully. "It can be stressful sometimes, but I'm a lot better now that I've been sleeping more. All thanks to you, babe," he said, rubbing his nose against hers. He kissed her lips. "I keep telling you, you're my human stress ball. Your voice is enough to calm me down. I have a voicemail I play whenever I am too stressed out, the one where you talked about the difference between fraternal and identical twins, and about placentas. I never thought I'd be so interested in placentas." They both chuckled.

"I'm not eating it," she warned him.

"I don't expect you too."

"What are we going to tell everyone?" she asked, finally saying what was looming over them.

"You can tell them that it was me," Aaron said. "I was having, ummm, stressed induced heart palpitations and we thought it might have been a heart attack."

"I don't want to say that," she said. "Wouldn't your work know you were lying? And we might worry your family unnecessarily."

"They won't know and it's not like I'd be asking for time off work, so I don't need any proof," he said. "Work is stressful, and even if it wasn't stuff like that can happen when people work themselves up without knowing it, as they fixate on how much they have to do such as shopping and cleaning and suddenly they're having a panic attack and have no idea what's going on."

Idina hugged him. "Okay, thank you," she said. He hugged her back with both arms, pulling her close.

"We should leave now," Aaron said. "I got you a change of clothes, so you won't be stuck in your pyjamas. Well, Erika packed them, so I do not know what is in there, but there are clothes."

He helped her up and she changed in the bathroom while Aaron finished filling out the release papers. Idina came out wearing a loose long-sleeved grey shirt and black yoga pants, her scrubs rolled in a ball and hand on her stomach.

"Where is Erika?" Idina asked.

"I sent her to find the cafeteria."

Idina took out her phone and sent Erika a text. There were only and a handful of texts between them, mostly Idina reminding her of something. "Does she have her phone on her?"

"I have no idea."

"Aaron," Idina scolded. "You have to think of this stuff." She was starting to panic when a knock came from the door frame. She sighed in relief. It was Erika.

"The cafeteria's not open until ten," the girl said. "So, I got stuff from vending machines." She had a handful of veggie sticks and chocolate bars and three water bottles.

Aaron smiled and Idina hugged her. "I was worried," she told the girl.

"I don't mean too," Erika said.

"I know," Idina replied, kissing her head. "I was just worried. I will always be worried about you."

They walked to the desk and got Idina officially released. Idina texted her publicists the statement she wanted to be posted online and told them not to ask questions, just reiterate her statement and emphasize that Aaron was alright and that everyone needed to make sure that their mental health was in check. They got breakfast at MacDonald's drive-through. Aaron made sure to ask for a side of carrots and tipped them well.

"You're going to turn me orange," Idina joked as he handed them to her.

"Change your cravings then babe," he said. "I'm just taking care of my wife."

They parked the car in an abandoned parking lot, to hungry to make it home. When they did make it home, Aaron insisted everyone get a few more hours of sleep and then they would talk about still going to Kristen's party. It started at three, and it was barely ten in the morning. Idina somehow managed to pull Erika and Aaron into bed with her. She snuggled her daughter and kissed her shoulder while Aaron's height advantage gave him long libs that he could use to hold both his girls while he nuzzled his wife and held Erika's hand. He was growing accustomed to holding her hand. It was the thing she seemed the most comfortable with him doing. No one was keen on how the morning had started, but this wasn't a bad conclusion to the mid-morning before a party.