Idina was trying to enjoy everything, but it was hard. Something was gnawing at her very core and had no idea what it was or how to deal with it. Aaron told her she was anxious. Why shouldn't she be? This was her first press even while pregnant with the twins. And she had never really announced it, it had just got out, like everything else. Or along with everything else.

She'd drawn up a contract that every interviewer at so sign stating that they would not mention Taye, if she refused to answer a question they could not press the issue more could they publish the question and her refusal. They could not talk to Walker or Erika without prompting form Idina or Aaron. They were also not allowed to talk about the custody battle. Legally they could not before, but she just wanted to remind them. There were a few other things that Aaron had added as an afterthought, just in case. They needed to come off well in the media. This stunt they were pulling would be ripped apart by the Rivera's lawyer if they were not careful. It could also help in making anyone who saw it subconsciously think of them as a family unit. The judge would not watch it for that reason, but public opinion and pressure could not hurt.

It was a calculated move. Everything they were doing now was a calculated move.

The crowds were not going to be like the ones she was used too. This was a small event in a small venue, and she was the biggest name. Full stop.

Her mother called just before the hair and makeup team came. She had a firm chat with Helen about what exactly was and was not to be done when Idina was on bedrest, and especially once Aaron left. No motions of Taye. Period. Not her, not to Walker or Aaron or Erika. Erika was to be left alone, but not her own devices. Walker was to be treated nicely, but not given a free pass just because he was having a hard time. She was there to help Idina and she would therefore not lecture Idina about the past months, the argument they had that she could not remember, nor her night terrors. If she had an episode, Helen knew what to do at least. Idina did trust her. She was her mother after all. Her house felt like a minefield. She mapped them all out and knew where to step, but Helen did not have it memorized yet and if she made one misstep this would all go sideways.

Idina and Erika sat in the master bedroom while the makeup team worked. They were doing something light and natural for Erika, just hiding a few pimples and giving her eyes a bit of pop. She had nice chocolate brown eyes. With a bit of pink blush and lipstick, she looked miles away from the malnourished girl Idina had met months ago. They did her hair up in a high twist with two pieces framing her face and a silver circlet that matched the dragonfly necklace Idina had bought all that time ago.

The star's hair was braided back in an intricate weave that ended in a side bun encrusted with pale icy-blue flowers. Her makeup was done heavily, as she still had brownish marks on her skin that would not go away. She was given fake eyelashes, the full ordeal. The artist did a smoky eye starting with the colour of her dress and ending in the colour of the flowers in her hair. They made her green eyes stand out and look obviously green.

"I look weird," Erika said when Idina asked her what she thought.

"Good weird or bad weird?" asked Idina, needing clarification. If Erika did not like it, she would have it redone.

"Good weird," she said with a slight smile, turning her head to see all the different angles. Her cheeks sparkled a bit. They must have used a metallic blush.

Idina noticed they used to the same one to highlight her cheekbones or at least one with a similar sheen as it was not as intensely youthful as Erika's.

"You look beautiful," Idina told her and she smiled, hiding her face behind a towel.

The star thanked the artists and sent them their payment, the Joby came in and helped Idina change. Erika changed in her room and came back because Joby wanted to accessorize her. The dresser took silver jewelry from the same set for both Idina and Erika, giving Erika a few bracelets that went well with the circlet and necklace. Then she paused when she was about to put in the earrings.

"They're not pierced," Erika said in case there was any confusion.

"Oh," Joby said. "I think I have some clip-ons, hold on," she said, rummaging through her bag. She pulled out two pairs and help them up. "Dee, which ones?" she asked, turning to her employer and long-time friend.

She was holding up one pair that was medium-sized fake diamonds and the other was two small rosebuds with some leaves in a shade like those on the girl's dress.

"The rosebuds," Idina said. It was simple. The other pair was a bit too much.

"Ouch," Erika exclaimed as Joby skewered one of them in a bit too tight.

They were not enterally 'clip-ons' more like 'screw-ons' since they were small and not dangling. And old. Joby handed her the second one to do, only making sure that it was even and symmetrical with the other. Then she grabbed a small braided leather belt, about the width of Idina's pinkie figure and put it loosely around Erika's waist, giving her a bit more of a figure.

"You're gorgeous," Joby said with a wink. Idina agreed. Her dresser had done wonders on both of them.

They exchanged pleasantries and she hugged and tanked Joby again while the latter wished Idina luck with the pregnancy.

Lastly, for shoes, Idina had bought Erika a pair of elegant sandals where the straps around her feet were tied with a ribbon around her ankles. Idina opted for black flats.

When everyone had left, Idina and Erika stepped out to find Aaron and Walker. The two of them were on the main floor, dressed, polished, and ready to go.

Aaron noticed them first and his face lit up. "I think we're going to be two thorns among roses," he told Walker.

The boy shook his head. "I'm the most handsome one," he said. "You're a thorn though."

Everyone chuckled. Aaron escorted them to the car that waiting outside. Idina had hired a driver. Why not, she had told herself. No one wanted to drive anyways, and she wanted Walker and Erika to get the full experience. This would be the only time in years the whole family would be able to go as the twins would be too young for these types of events for the next few years. And even then, she wanted to keep them out of the stoplight until they were older, as she had done with Walker.

She sat between her husband and son, rubbing her belly. Walker had been to a few of these events before and was telling Erika exactly what he thought would happen. Idina was not one hundred percent sure how it would go, so she just let him talk. Idina smiled. This was perfect. Leaning against her husband, she let out a soft sigh of relief and felt his arm slip around her back and hand fall over hers on her bump.

She could not believe she was thirty-nine weeks pregnant. In three more weeks, they would meet their baby boys.

They arrived at the premier and Walker was quick to air his disappointment at how small it was. Idina laughed it off and told him to suck it up. They walked inside and she met by her co-stars, a lot of up and comers for whom this was their biggest project. They were all as excited as had been when Rent was opening. It was bringing back so many good memories. Everyone commented on her bump. It was practically the literal elephant in the room. She gently told everyone she was having twins; in case she had not mentioned it before. It seems she had not for everyone went wild.

Idina was grinning ear to ear before she even made it out of the hallway. Press was done first. There were a few reporters form some middle line papers and some bloggers and YouTube commentators, but that was it. All packed into a small room. She scanned it for a minute. It seemed everyone was walking in a circle counterclockwise.

The interviews were all the same. Aaron and the kids stood off-camera for the most part. How are you? Good, a bit nervous, the usual. Excited? Yes. Tell me about the pregnancy! Well, it was a bit of a surprise. Especially the twins part. Twins? Did I not mention it? How far along? Thirty-nine weeks. Shouldn't you be on bedrest? Then Aaron would chime in: She starts tomorrow. And so forth. Walker showed off his moonwalk and Mikael Jackson moves to anyone who would watch, which was everyone. Erika smiled and said a few simple things. Yes, this was cool. Having a celebrity for a mother was odd. Idina and Aaron were so nice. Idina kept an arm around the girl the entire time.

When it was over, they went to the back room where there was refreshment until the screening.

"Mom!" Walker said excitedly.

"What pumpkin?"

"The dinosaur man is here!"

"What?" she asked again

Walker pointed to Chris Pratt. Idina had no idea what he was going here.

"Can we go talk to the dino man?" he asked.

"Maybe," Idina said, watching him to see if he was busy.

Aaron and Erika were at the long table of refreshment chatting quietly and Chris Pratt did not seem to be busy. When the person he was talking to too walked away, Idina and Walker came up, after Idina had expressly made Walker promise to behave on the threat of being more than grounded if he did not.

"Excuse me, hi," Idina said with a small wave.

"Hi!" he exclaimed. "I just want to say I'm a huge fan," he told her. "I was supposed to be on this project but had scheduling conflicts. Figured I crash this last-minute anyhow." That made more sense.

"Thanks. This is my son Walker. He loves your Jurassic World movies," she said.

"Were they real dinosaurs?" he asked. "Mommy says they weren't, but I think they were."

"They were real, all right," he said, kneeling to Walker's level. "I got bitten and everything too." He showed the boy a few markings on his hand that did not come from dinosaurs, but Walker was eager enough to believe.

"I knew it!" Walker exclaimed, looking up at Idina. "Just because you haven't seen something doesn't mean it isn't true. Else how do you know you have a brain? You can see someone else's but you can't see your own."

"There's a thing called a brain scan," she reminded him. "You've seen my brain and so have I."

"Oh, right," he said. "But the dinosaurs were real." He turned back to Chris. "I love the T-rex," he told him. "but the made-up dinosaurs were a bit silly. You should have used something no one knows about like a Kosmoceratops or a Stygimoloch. That one is a Greek name that translates to 'horned demon from the river of hell'. That would have been cool. But it is not as big as the made-up one, so it might not have looked as cool. The Kosmoceratops was supposed to be really pretty though, that's why it's got the 'Kosmo' bit."

"I've never heard of those," Chris admitted.

"Really? Mom got me a bunch of books from museums and they have all the dinosaur facts in them. But since you were working with real ones, shouldn't you guys have known what dinosaurs to use?"

"We could only use the ones we could revive with mosquito blood," he reminded Walker. "Maybe they haven't found those ones yet."

"Oh," the boy said. "When you find a Stygimoloch, can you let me know? I really want to see one."

"Of course, bud!" the actor exclaimed, motioning to Walker to give him a high five. "I'll let you know if we find one for the third movie. You seem to know your dinosaurs, that's for sure."

"So, I'll know if you make it up," Walker informed him.

"Yes, you will."

Walker ran off to go tell Aaron that the dinosaurs in the movies were real.

"Sorry about that," Chris said even though he did not look sorry.

"Payback for Let it Go?" she asked. He nodded and she giggled. "You do realize I only sing the song, right? I did not write it or anything like that."

"It's still your voice we hear," he informed her. "And congratulations on the pregnancy. When are you do? A few months ago? It looks like you're growing a fully-formed human, not a baby," he joked.

"Twins," she informed him. "And above-average levels of amniotic fluid."

"Dang, that's going to be a lot of diapers."

She nodded in agreement. "Aaron's claimed the role of stay-at-home, bless him," she said. "I don't think he knows what he's getting himself into. It feels a bit mean."

"No parent does. That is the joy. You'll get to sit back, relax, and watch him completely have no control."

She chuckled. "That does sound amusing."

The screening was about to start so everyone went to their seats. Idina and the rest of the cast gave a little speech before she settled down in the front row between her two boys. She held Aaron's hand and looked past him to Erika, who gave her a thumbs up.

When the movie was over, they left quickly as Idina was starting not to feel so good and her left hand was twitching. They made quick apologies, but no one seemed to care, knowing she was pregnant with twins.

Upon arriving home, Aaron sent her straight to bed. He told the kids they could stay up, but not too late as they still had school, then went to check on his wife. She was in the bathroom, puking.

"I think I ate something off," she said, looking absolutely miserable. Her makeup was smudged, and her dress was wrinkled, and she had fly-away hairs sticking out of her braid every which way. "Does anyone else feel bad?"

"Just you," he said, and he kneeled down and rubbed her back. "Come on, I'll help you get cleaned up."

"I'm not done yet," she informed him before hurling again. "Okay, now I'm done," she announced, trying, and failing to reach out and flush the toilet. Aaron did it for her. "The twins are fussing," she informed him. "I can't wait until they're out and not my sole problem anymore. I feel bad for you."

"If I can do anything now, let me know," he said.

He helped her up. She bushed her teeth and removed her makeup. Then they went to the bedroom and changed. Before getting into bed, Idina just stared at it.

"You good?" Aaron asked.

Idina nodded. "I'm just going to be stuck on bedrest tomorrow."

"You need it," he said. "Come on, I'll pamper you, I promise."

"I'm not an invalid."

"I know, but the doctors have said you have to go on bed rest." He sighed. "It's just for a few weeks, Dee."

"Don't go," she said. "I really don't want you too."

"I have too. I've missed too many days and I'll be taking paternity leave if not quitting," he explained.

She pouted but crawled in anyway. Aaron moved closer to cuddle as she adjusted her pillow, but Idina brushed him off. He sighed.

"Don't huff," Idina snapped, "or I'll kick you out."

"Fine," he said, turning over. He turned off the light and so did she.

~

The next few weeks were not bad. Helen was a huge help around the house and kept Idina entertained during the day. Idina barely talked to her husband in the days leading up to his departure. She knew it hurt him; it hurt her too, but she did want to be hurt even more when he left even after she had pleaded with him not too. He would be home for her birthday. She told herself to grow up and get over it, but it felt like a betrayal. Angelika, and her mother, though she had some built-up resentment towards Taye and fear that was coming out. Yet they both admitted it was hard on Idina and she needed him. But Idina needed to know it was hard on him too.

Idina spent a lot of her time going over her case for Erika. Helen offered to testify if it was needed. She had been around Erika this past couple of weeks and was a therapist. She had also met the girl when Idina had her spell of crippling anxiety over the blackmailer (and Idina finally got it sorted out then Helen had flown over once, but that she had stayed at the house for three days and Idina had fallen asleep). There was a noticeable difference that would play in their favour. Angelika had offered to testify too if Idina was okay with her discussing some of their private session and say that Idina truly cared for Erika and saw her as her daughter.

"Hey, 'Dina," Helen said as she entered the room. "Walk's asleep and Erika's studying for her exam tomorrow, so if you don't need anything I'm going to head out."

"Thanks, mom," Idina said.

She sighed. She had been crying because she'd thought that had to go to the bathroom, then it turned out to be a contraction, then she fell asleep and had to go to the bathroom after all. And it had been over twelve hours since Aaron had texted her he loved her and she was due to give birth in six days and she wanted those obnoxious excuses for a bundle of joy out of her and being more joyful. Oh, and did she mention her breasts were aching? They were. Someone needed to milk her or find her a stray baby to feed because is this kept up, she was going to have irreversible damage. Idina was going to have her entire uterus removed after this, then have the surgeon give it to her so that she could burn it.

"Oh, 'Dina, honey," Helen said after she'd gotten her daughter to spill the beans. "You know, you were the easiest baby to carry but a nightmare to look after. Cara was the nightmare pregnancy and much better tempered. Maybe you'll have two sweet-tempered boys."

"I want them to be hell," she said. "So Aaron knows what he put me through."

Helen chuckled. "Dee, if he sticks it through the entire birth as he promised, he's going to know. Aaron hates seeing you in pain, and since you're being stubborn about painkillers, he's going to suffer well enough watching you."

"I know," Idina sighed. "I love him so much, mom. I am so lucky I finally realized it before it was too late. Sometimes I wish Taye never happened, but then I wouldn't have Walker and I'd do everything over again a million times worse to have him."

Helen kissed her head. "That is how I feel about you and Cara, the bad times were horrendous, but I'd do everything over again for you two. And all my amazing grandchildren."

"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing?"

"For what sweet?"

"For everything. For Erika, for Walk. For the twins. I do not think I can do this. Sometimes I think I should have just had an abortion."

"You are doing everything right. And Idina, honey, there is no way you would have had an abortion. You have had children ripped away from you from things beyond your control. It would have been the wrong thing to do for you."

"But that is my point, maybe I was being selfish by keeping them. I am going to be forty-nine in five days. I can't care for two boys for the next eighteen years."

"You're not alone. You have Aaron and Walker. I am sure Erika will help too. I do not think she is comfortable around babies, but that doesn't mean she won't love them."

"I'm not sure she can love people," Idina admitted. "Not the way we do. I know she goes through all the motions, but it always feels like there's a disconnect and no matter how hard she or we try, it's always there."

"Her walls aren't going to come down in one shot. You got lucky they came down how they did and when, but I think here are some that are protecting her from things on the inside, not just external factors and those will take a lot more time."

"I know," Idina said. "I read her files. I know exactly what it is. It is awful, makes me grateful for everything I have. That makes me scared. I do not know how to empathize with it because all I can do is imagine. And I do not believe I'd be as functional as she is."

"It's survival," Helen said. "You and Aaron are doing everything right. I am sure the courts will see that. They will see reason, Dee. Those people are not her parents; they gave up on that years ago. You and Aaron have been better parents than they were period. Through everything. The judge must see that. And either way, I know you two will continue to care for her. If the worst happens, she only needs to stick it out until she turns eighteen. Then she can move back in with you and no one can stop her. But it will not. I will do everything I can to help you out. She's my grandchild now too and I'll be dammed if some court takes her away from my baby and tells me I can't see her."

Idina smiled. "Thanks, mom." She yawned. 'I think I'm good, you can go now. I know who to call if something comes up. The kids do too. I love you, good night."

"Goodnight, 'Dina," Helen said as she left the room.

~

This was Aaron's second to last day of meetings. Tomorrow he would be leaving and he would be arriving home in time for wife's birthday. He was on his break, pulling out his phone to text the bi-daily 'I love you' to his wife when he noticed he had missed a message from her this morning.

Hey babe, just wanted to let you know I think it is gonna happen today. Been having all the same warning signs I had with Walk. Don't rush, this stuff takes a while, but try and finish up quickly, k? Erika and Walk are at school, so mom's taking me to the hospital. I'll text you when it really starts kicking in. Love you, xo Dee

Ps get here now or I'm going to make sure you're not in their lives.

Aaron froze. It was happening now. Today. The text had been sent a half-hour ago. He still had time. He had to go. Time was speeding up yet the seconds in between each heartbeat grew as he somehow managed to casually walk out of the break room, do his last presentation, then solemnly announce his wife was starting labour and leaving.