Jack hugged his stomach, straining out. "What...? But... I..." He wanted to pass out, but his body wasn't having that. Mark's mom hefted Sam against her side better, replying gently. "You were pregnant before..." Jack swallowed, looking between his kids. Shaking his head, he told her shakily. "But that was an accident and... I... I thought that was over." She rubbed his back comfortingly, upon asking him. "Did you follow up with a doctor to check? Because in my experience... once you get pregnant the first time, the body seems to know what to do for the next one." Jack bowed his head, shaking his head guiltily. He had been too embarrassed about it and didn't want to tell anyone about it. Trying to think, he uttered out under his breath. "But I had sex before we got here, and it hasn't been that long." She shrugged, telling him honestly. "Honey, I got no answers for you. Your pregnancy before wasn't... average. So, I don't know how long it will take you. Your pregnancy was accelerated before though. This could just be a new stage of it." Jack gave her a terrified look; his breathing was picking up as his anxiety grew.

Squeezing his shoulder, she told him calmly. "Every pregnancy is a little different. I had different kinds of pain when I was pregnant with my boys. Different cravings. You were pregnant with twins before... This one might be-" Jack cut her off to rush out in horror. "Oh god, what if I end up with another set of twins or triplets! I... I still have nightmares from the first one! I can't..." Jack couldn't finish because his breathing suddenly got strained. Clutching his throat, he tried gasping in air. His heart was racing and the fear that this was an asthma attack was making him struggle more. Mark's mom set Sam down, grabbing Jack's face to make him look at her. His body wanted to lay down, but she kept him upright and told him in a calm firm voice. "Jack, relax. Slowly inhale as deeply as you can. Count to three. Exhale." Jack inhaled in stages until his lungs where full, then counted before exhaling. She walked him through doing it again, while her fingers applied pressure to the sides of his ribs and back. He didn't know why she was doing it, but it was distracting him enough that he wasn't thinking about his struggle as much.

Rubbing her hand on the center of his collarbone, she told him with a smile. "There you go. Nice and easy. Take your time." A staff person rushed over, asking in a worried voice. "Is he ok? Should I call an ambulance?" Mark's mom continued to rub Jack's collarbone, telling the women calmly. "He should be ok now. Thank you though. I'm a nurse. He just had a mild asthma attack." The staff woman nodded but stuck around a bit to make sure everything really was ok. After a few seconds, Mark's mom asked the staff hopefully. "Do you know if there is a place here that sells ginger tea?" The staff pointed out the door, telling her with a bit of curiosity. "Ya. There is a tea store by the little yoga studio. Do you think that will help?" Mark's mom smiled, answering curtly. "Ginger tea and coke have been known to work in the past. So, I think we'll try some." The staff woman hugged a cellphone to her chest, asking still a little worried. "Are you sure?" Mark's mom nodded, relaxing more as she replied. "Quite sure. If it flares up again, I'll call them. Otherwise, I'm just going to watch him for a bit. This happens sometimes."

Jack raised an eyebrow, watching Mark's mom pick up Sam as she told the woman so casually. "You know how stressful the holidays are. Little attacks like this are common. He just needs a little break, and he should be fine. Thank you for your concern though." The staff woman nodded, then asked her sweetly. "Would you like me to ring you out real quick?" Mark's mom beamed, gesturing to the clothes in the cart as she said happily. "That would be lovely. Thank you. I'll met you at the counter, Dear." The woman collected the clothes to rush them to the counter. Jack couldn't stop himself from chuckling softly. Mark's mom moved to help him up with her free hand, chuckling back. "Well, you're able to laugh. That's a good sign." Slowly getting to his feet, he leaned into her a bit to steady himself. She wrapped an arm around his waist to hold him, telling him in a motherly voice. "You're going to be ok. You're not alone." Jack wasn't sure that was true, but he wanted to believe that.

Together they slowly made their way to the counter where she bought the clothes. Then after thanking the woman again, she led him out to find the tea shop. He felt better and didn't want to go, but she had already made up her mind. She wouldn't even let him push the cart or carry his kids. After ordering some hot ginger honey tea, they sat down to take a quick break. The tea was soothing to Jack's throat, the warmth relaxing the muscles. With his throat feeling better, he told her seriously. "You can't tell Mark..." She huffed lightly, nicely replying. "I wasn't going to. That is something YOU should tell him. But we should make sure that you are pregnant and it's not something else." Jack wiped away the smeared blood from his nose and the back of his hand, asking her softly. "How? Mark will notice..." She glanced around, then shifted to give Sam to him. Taking Sam onto his lap, she told him coolly. "Stay here with them. I'll be right back." Jack nodded, tickling Barry's legs in the cart. Barry giggled and thrashed, bringing a smile to Jack's face. Looking into Sam's bright blue eyes, he whispered to her. "What do you think?"

Sam put her thumb into her mouth, resting her head down on his shoulder. Kissing her forehead, he rubbed her back upon saying softly. "I hope neither of you got my asthma..." Seeing Mark's mom return after he finished his drink, she gave him a paper bag and took Sam, coaxing him up as she said. "Come on. I've got an idea." Jack stood up, peeking into the bag at the pregnancy tests. Closing it, he groaned out. "Do I have too?" She started pushing the cart toward the bathroom, telling him seriously. "Yes. If they come up negative. Then you need to see a doctor for something else. But if it comes up positive... At least you'll know." She stopped outside the public bathroom and he reluctantly slipped inside. Going into one of the stalls, he closed the door and started unboxing the three tests. After peeing on them, he leaned back against the door and waited for the alarm on his watch to go off. It was the longest three minutes that he had to endure. When his watch went off, Jack reluctantly picked up the first test.

Seeing the result, he moved to the next two. All of them had the same answer. Stuffing them back into the bag, he threw them out and washed his hands before leaving the bathroom. Outside, she looked at him with worried eyes, asking gently. "Well?" Jack inched closer to her, nervously answering as he looked around for anyone within earshot. "Well... I'm pregnant." She squealed a little, hugging him close and almost squishing Sam as she excitedly told him. "That's great! I'm so happy for you." Jack wanted to share in her excitement, but the last time had scarred him for life. He didn't want to go through that again. Giving his cheek a kiss, she saw his downtrodden expression and told him lovingly. "Oh, honey. This is good news. I want you healthy for your babies." Jack nodded numbly. She brushed the bangs from his eyes, telling him sweetly. "It will go smoother this time. We know what to do now. You'll be ok, I promise." Jack shook his head, telling her honestly. "It's not just that... How am I going to tell Mark? He barely keeps it together with two kids... Now this? This is my fault. He's going to be pissed..."

She raised an eyebrow, playfully chuckling back to make him smile. "He had some part in this too, you know." Jack let a tiny smirk pull at his lips, but he had a feeling that the candle had been his undoing. Which made this his fault. She squeezed his arm, telling him coolly. "It will come at a surprise to him, I have no doubt. But that is why it is important for you to decide what you want. You can either work together... or... Things get complicated." Jack exhaled heavily. Touching his cheek, she whispered to him comfortingly. "We'll work this out. I won't tell him. But you should contact that friend of yours from last time. The woman with that... cat boy. I'll contact Doctor Trey." Jack lifted his head, asking suspiciously. "Doctor Trey? The shirtless doctor? You're still in contact with him?" She blushed a bright red, turning away now as she guiltily mumbled out. "What? A girl can't have good looking guy friends?" Jack crept after her, teasing out. "Ya... I'm sure that's all it is. Mark is going to lose his mind if he hears this." She puffed her chest up, innocently stating out. "I'm a single woman that is grateful to the man for bringing my grandbabies into the world. That is all."

Jack huffed, chuckling out. "And he's just a single man who happens to be six-packed doctor." She waved him off, changing the subject quickly as she said aloud. "We're not talking about me right now. Now... in your condition, you won't be able to drink. So, I'll have to buy a substitute for you. We still need a few things on my list. And if you wanna get something without the rest of us knowing. Just let me know so that you don't lose me somewhere. Otherwise, I'm curious... Do you think you'll have the little one before Christmas?" She stopped short, letting out an excited squeal as she told him. "A Christmas baby? How magical would that be?!" Jack rolled his eyes, mumbling out. "I think that would suck... You get screwed on your birthday by rolling it into Christmas." She shot him a soft glare, cheerily interjecting. "But the Christmas season is so warm and colorful! What's not to love about that?" Jack shook his head with a smile, until she pulled his arm to stop him. Facing her, she whispered to him affectionately. "Jack... I just got an idea. What if you tell Mark using the Christmas Pickle?"

Jack couldn't help laughing as he blurted out sarcastically. "Oh, yes... Nothing like getting a gift you can't return. It will go down in history as the time when finding the Christmas pickle, put him in a pickle of a situation. No. I don't need that on my conscious." She rolled her eyes at him, pushing the cart on as she told him lightly. "You're over thinking it." Jack gestured back where they came from, seriously telling her. "Mark, is going blow a fuse if I tell him. I'm willing to bet on it. You didn't see him before we got here. He was a stressed out monster! I tell him this and... I might as well tell him that he'll never rest EVER!" She slowed the cart outside of another store, commenting back with a gentle expression. "You should have seen his father's face when I told him that I was pregnant with Mark. But he warmed up to the idea and Mark will too. You just have to assure him that you are not going to make him do it all on his own this time." Jack winced, dropping his shoulders in regret.

She touched his cheek with the back of her hand, sweetly telling him. "A little advice? Mark is stubborn and hardheaded. Guys like him shoulder the burdens of the world in the hopes of saving someone else from carrying it... Until you show him that you can hold your own... He'll continue to dominate your relationship to do things on his own. That's why you need to learn to work together. Or you'll continue to butt heads relentlessly." Jack took Sam from her, shrugging out. "You're right. But how do I do that when he doesn't let me?" She chuckled pushing the cart in the shop, upon answering. "Whenever I was left with the kids. I was stressed. Tired. And craved a break to just be... anything except a mom. You get sick of always cleaning up their messes, changing diapers, holding them, watching them, making them food. You want to sit down for more than a minute to do something you want to do. Sometimes the father comes home tired and refuses to take the burden from you... So, you get drained and irritable. You get jealous of their free time to relax." She looked over her shoulder then, asking him with a smile. "Do you see where I'm going with this?"

Jack nodded, softly saying. "Ya... I think I do." She stopped to look over a Christmas ornament, telling him warmly. "You've hit a rocky patch in your relationship. We all do. But there is no doubt in my mind that you two are good together. You just need a break to work the important things out. Then you'll be more in synch with each other." Taking a little frame ornament off the shelf, she looked it over, then handed it to Jack to look at. Pointing at it, she told him with a motherly smile. "Put the Ultrasound photo in that. I did that with the two other ornaments that I have for Sam and Barry on my tree. I'll need to complete the set." Jack smirked as he read the engraving before his smile faded upon telling her uneasily. "I don't know if I should tell you this... but at the hotel... Mark told me that he's afraid that his father is disappointed in him. And that he won't be around to see them grow up." She slowly inhaled with a distant look. Jack thought he'd said something wrong, but she suddenly grinned. Nudging him playfully with her shoulder, she sweetly informed him. "I'll talk to him." To Be Continued...