Marshall's signature trait of clumsiness was almost the very thing that led to his downfall, which wouldn't have been that big of a deal if it was just any other day and someone wasn't counting on him to come back in one piece. As it turns out, refilling a water bowl was probably a task best saved for last, having to carry one around while desperately trying not to spill it wasn't a challenge for the faint of heart. And the two smaller figures below him (who had nearly gotten their poor paws stepped on twice now) weren't being the most helpful.

"Uncle Mawshall, can we play with Audwey?" Ruby eagerly asked, her innocent mind blissfully unaware of the Border Collie's condition—she truly meant well despite there not being a worse time to ask. With the small bit of calmness he was able to find within himself, he took a deep breath before gently looking down at his niece and nephew, only having enough room in his head space to feel just a bit guilty for robbing them of their playmate.

"Ruby, Gus, I'm sorry, but Audrey won't be able to play again today. She had a seizure and she really needs her rest," he softly explained. He knew the two couldn't fully grasp what a seizure was, let alone how much they limited her. As far as they were concerned, seizures were just a bad thing that Audrey was terrified of. Still, that explanation seemed to be enough to buy her some time from her cousins.

"Ohh, okay. Well, tell her we hope she feels better," Gus chimed in. Marshall smiled and nodded, not having the heart to tell them that she was in no state to be responding—unlike Everest, she never said a word when she wasn't awake. Before he got himself roped into a full conversation with them, he turned around and stepped into the elevator, thankfully getting away before it was too late. If the pups had seen the treats held captive in his paw, it all would've been over.

With only a single small spill on the way down—in all fairness, that was less than he was expecting to have—he managed to get back to his daughter's dog house. The dally opened the door to his daughter's house, tip-toeing inside and setting them where she could easily reach them before he looked back up.

"Hey, sorry that took so—" Before he could say anything more, a sharp sound came from Everest that made him freeze in his tracks. Admittedly, he probably should have known better, but the noise that was supposed to be getting him quieter had to be louder than his own voice.

"Shhh," she hushed, pointing at the sleeping Border Collie that was hugging her leg as if he somehow had forgotten about their daughter passing out just moments prior. Regardless, he never fused and stepped next to Audrey, softly kissing her forehead before motioning towards the door. The husky, trying not to feel as guilty as she did for leaving, pulled a blanket over the pup before they silently stepped back outside and closed the door behind them.

"Well...I guess she'll be out for a while. Did she ever wake up once you got her in bed?" he asked, gripping the husky's paw as she sat down against the grass. His voice was still softened in comparison to his normal volume, just in case what he said managed to work its way through the door. There was no reason that it should, but at the same time, overestimating a soundproof wall was something no one wanted to do—the amount of surprise that had been spoiled purely through not talking quietly enough was pretty disappointing.

"Barely, I don't even know if she was fully awake, she just looked up at me and asked if it was okay if she took a nap, and obviously I said that was fine. I take it she had a seizure?" she questioned, even if she pretty much knew the answer to that—though she didn't want to make any assumptions without being sure. Either way, the Dalmatian nodded, giving her the confirmation she never wanted in the first place. "Figures, poor thing. What even caused it? Was it just stress?"

"Some idiot wasn't paying attention to the road and made another car swerve. It ended up getting really close to the sidewalk where she was, that's right when it happened. She couldn't even move at first, she was terrified." As he expected from her, the husky rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed groan, a fair warning for the anger towards the driver that was on its way.

"I swear, I'm gonna lose my mind if people don't learn how to drive those stupid things. That driver should be thankful that I wasn't there," she complained, and she meant what she said about them being lucky, there weren't many things in this town that were scarier than an angry, motherly husky. That plus the bad light they had already held towards cars, raising someone who was instinctually scared of vehicles ended up giving them a new opinion or two.

After everything the poor pup had been through, they had taken the liberty of making themselves the safest drivers they could—not that they weren't before, of course, though now it was more something they explicitly pushed themselves towards. And through that process, it made them notice how common it was for other people to lack the care on the road that they did. It quite literally drove them insane, someone simply cutting them off was enough to terrify their daughter.

"Trust me, I was tempted to do something, but Audrey had to come first. It was a pretty bad seizure too, it was one of the ones where she lost her memory when she first woke up." The husky nodded and smiled sympathetically, softly kissing his cheek in an attempt to brighten his spirits—today was meant to be a happy day, after all, even with all of this.

"And you did everything that you were supposed to. At least she's sleeping now, that'll help with her headaches. We should probably just hang around here until she wakes up." At first, that sounded like a perfect plan without a flaw in sight until the Dalmatian remembered the main event of today that had managed slipped his mind in the midst of the chaos. And unfortunately, now they were on a time crunch that wasn't giving them much room to spare.

"Shoot, Eve, we gotta go to Katie's for your checkup. Your appointment is in like ten minutes." Everest's eyes widened, her mind finally catching up to the fact that yes, that appointment was as soon as it apparently was. How she could have lost time for something so big was a mystery to her, but what should've been an event worth celebrating was slowly turning into an issue on its own.

"But what about Audrey? She'll be terrified if she wakes up completely alone." Marshall let out a quiet, questioning hum as he went into deep thought. There was no right answer here, but he needed some trick up his sleeve, matters such as these needed their utmost attention. Their other pup needed to make themselves known to the world, and Audrey clearly needed a parent to be watching over her...and suddenly, a light bulb appeared above his head as he made a connection. They weren't the only parents around here.

"Hey, Skye, come here!" he called out, pulling the Cockapoo's attention over to them—hopefully her pups wouldn't be too upset that she was being dragged away from watching them play. The tan dog tilted her head in curiosity as she jogged over to them, letting out a small hum in curiosity about her purpose.

"What's up? Shouldn't you guys be heading to Katie's by now?" she asked in return, simply knowing that they had an appointment soon—what they were going for was completely out of her line of sight, and she had no plans of pushing an answer out of them. Admittedly, she was only half paying attention to them as she took turns looking at them and back at her pups to make sure that they weren't killing each other or something along those lines.

"Well, we're gonna leave soon, but we kinda need a favor from you. Audrey had a seizure just a few minutes ago and she's taking a nap now, so would you mind staying within earshot of her until we're home? If she wakes up before we're home, she'll probably be scared to death if no one is there." Now appearing just as concerned as they did, Skye's face fell to a much more worried expression—and while that was never something they wanted to see, it at least meant she was on their side.

"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that, I hope she's doing better now. But yeah, I can totally do that, I don't mind at all. Is she gonna need any medicine? Or do you only want me to comfort her when she gets up?" Marshall smiled to himself, thankful to see that her motherly instincts had no issue being called upon on such short notice. Things like this were one of the endless benefits of living with the family you've known for pretty much your whole life, definitely outweighing all the sibling fights.

"Actually, yeah, she might need some headache medicine when she wakes up, but just being there when she gets up would probably be enough. Thanks, Skye, I really appreciate it," he praised, leaning forward and quickly hugging his self-appointed sister. The Cockapoo smiled and returned the favor without hesitation, just as quickly hugging Everest before planting her paws back down on the grass.

"No problem, I'll call one of you if she gets up. Now you two go to Katie's, y'all don't wanna be late. Hope everything goes well!" The two smiled and nodded, turning to one another and nuzzling against the other's neck before they began the walk down to Katie's—paws locked and tails intertwined. Not before thanking Skye again, of course.

Now that they knew Audrey was being left in safe hands, the couple was now free to let their minds relax on the walk down to Katie's (so long as they could ignore the anxiety in the back of their heads). But as they got closer and closer, they started to feel more and more like puppies themselves. Frankly, they didn't care much about their pup's gender, but no parents in their right minds wouldn't be eager to find out. It was one of the first steps in getting to know their beloved child, one step closer to forming the bond they always wanted.

It was incredibly tempting to run ahead in excitement, to be taken by the wind without letting a single second go to waste. However, they decided to at least try and hold themselves together and spend the moment with one another, their heads leaning against the other's shoulders. Even Everest's usual nervousness when it came to medical visits had pretty much fully disappeared from her mind, she had only positive thoughts as they stood outside the door to their pup's future.

"Katie? We're here. The Dalmatian looked around the empty room, his paw tapping against the ground in anticipation—as good as a moment as this would soon be, excitement would get anyone a little bit on edge. Whether by good timing or just hearing him through the walls (again, if it was the latter, this was why he refused to trust soundproof), the girl walked through one of the doors.

"Hey! There you guys are, I was wondering when you'd show up," she happily exclaimed, setting the clipboard in her hands down on a small table before bending down on her knees as the two ran for the pets she always gave. Everest sat against the floor with her tail wagging, and Marshall—as childish as it may have been—flopped onto the ground and rolled onto his back for belly rubs. His mate would've made a joke if she wasn't just as happy, and he ended up getting the belly rubs he was after, so it was all worth it in the end.

"Sorry if we were late, Audrey...had a seizure earlier, so we've been helping her recover from it," the husky explained, her eyes falling to the ground in concern—though she did end up looking over at her mate, who was still laying on his back against the ground. Within the first second of eye contact, the spotted dog jumped back up, playing it off as if she was the one laying on the vet's floor.

"Oh shoot, is everything okay? If she needs you two at the lookout we can reschedule this, trust me, I won't mind." Although the offer was tempting, Everest shook her head in dismissal. Of course, she'd never put anything above her daughter whether it was at a time like this or not, but she had seen the Border Collie sleep an entire day away after a seizure. Odds were by the time they did get home she'd never even know they were gone.

"Thank you, but it's alright. She's napping right now, and she only fell asleep recently so she'll probably be out for a while. And Skye is keeping an eye on her just in case she wakes up, but if she calls we might have to go back home." That explanation appeared to do just enough to earn Katie's satisfaction, getting a nod from her for the time being—though she did seem a bit hesitant to leave her friend behind.

"Oh yeah, Katie, Audrey wanted me to ask if she could come over for a sleepover tonight. I'm not sure if she will now 'cause of what happened, but I'll leave that decision up to her," Marshall cut in, meaning that now it was the vet's turn to have her eyes light up in excitement. Though she was the only one jumping for such joy, Everest simply looked over at him with a confused eyebrow raised. "Oh, yeah, she asked me about that on our walk home, I told her it was fine."

"You bet she can, we've wanted to have another sleepover for a while now, and...I have been meaning to talk to her about something. Either way, as long as she feels good enough, I'd keep her home if she needs rest. We could always push it to tomorrow," the girl answered, accompanied by Everest nodding to show her approval as well. "Well, unless anything important has happened or anything's changed since your last checkup, I think we can go ahead and get started with the checkup."

"So...what about the ultrasound results? Those have come back, right?" the husky quickly interjected, exchanging a quick, excited glance with Marshall. Katie smirked, softly petting the dog's head as she looked down at her clipboard—something that the two of them had to fight off urges to jump up and snatch out of her hands.

"Yep, they did, but we'll save the best for last and go over those once we get your checkup over with. But for the record, your pup looks like they're developing properly, so don't worry about that." As disappointed as they were to have to wait even longer, they could at least take some joy in the fact that they were healthy. The bar was a bit low, but all things considered with the cards life constantly forced them to draw, they were willing to take all they could get. At least that promise shouldn't be breaking anytime soon.

"Ugh, alright, let's just get it over with." Everest gripped onto Marshall's paw as they trailed behind the girl, following her every step until they reached one of the routine checkup rooms. Already knowing the drill at this point, the husky climbed up onto the cushioned table with a bit of help from her mate—now feeling starting to feel just a bit nervous. Old habits die hard, apparently.

"Alright, open your mouth and keep this under your tongue," the girl instructed, handing her a thermometer which was quickly set into her mouth. Meanwhile, the nurse set a scale in front of her, motioning for the husky to step on (who was hardly given a break once the thermometer started beeping).

"Katie, is all of this really necessary? I did all of this last time?" The husky complained after handing over the thermometer, now having to wait through the beeps of the scale until she was allowed to get off—why all this doctor stuff made so much was a question she'd probably never have an answer to. Katie checked both the temperature and the number on the scale before writing them down, only to move both of them aside as she looked down at the dog.

"Trust me, I hate this as much as you do, you would not believe how much paperwork I have to fill out at the end of the day. But, it's just to make sure you're healthy, if I stopped doing the checkups I don't think I'd be allowed to run a vet clinic. Ask Marshall if you want, he probably knows all about it too," she explained, going silent as she placed a stethoscope against Everest's chest. The lavender dog took deep breaths and raised an eyebrow at her mate, wondering if he had anything to add. At this point, any conversation that wasn't orders being placed against her was something she'd die for.

"She's not wrong, Eve, no doctors can get out of it and none of us like doing it." The husky chuckled to herself, though she was more so smiling to herself at the sight of his body language rather than the explanation itself. The joy-filled look in his eyes, his tail being nothing more than an excited blur. This was the equivalent of a long, drawn-out car ride to a vacation, and now had they finally turned onto the last road leading them to their final destination.

"Alright...that seems to be all the boring stuff done, I just need to ask you a few questions and then we're good to go. Have you been feeling okay recently? Physically and Mentally?" Out of the thousands of questions and checkup tasks Everest always had to go through, this question was always the most grueling of them all—even if it made perfect sense to ask. Sure, she had gotten a lot better about talking about her problems, and the problems themselves had gotten far better than they used to be as well, but that didn't exactly make it a comfort.

"Uhm...physically I'm fine, I still get pregnancy sicknesses and stuff like that, but Marshall said those were completely normal. A-and mentally, I guess I'm doing alright there too. I've been under a lot of stress recently, but other than that, I feel good," she answered, lowering her head in hopes of this being the end of the talk. Of course, she knew better than to trust that small spark of confidence, getting out of any conversation with doctors seemed to have lower odds than winning the lottery.

"I see, well, the whole sickness stuff is totally normal, don't worry about that. Do you know what's been causing you this stress?" Once again, Everest gave a gentle nod and raised her head back up (having to use most, if not all of her willpower to keep eye contact). As guilty as this made her feel, she knew Marshall felt similar to herself, making this part a little more bearable—after all, it was never kind to talk about someone behind their back, even if it was sort of necessary here.

"I-I do, it's partially just stressing about the pup...but also I think Audrey. Not that she's doing anything, it's just that things have been really hard on her recently, and it worries both of us. I know she's strong, and I trust that she'll get through it, but as a parent, it's still scary, you know?" Now letting a bit of her professionalism drop, Katie nodded solemnly and softly scratched her head, entering that comforting stage that a lot of doctors had come to know over the years.

"Don't worry, I get it, stress about your pups is always common, that's just how parents are, you two are far from the first to feel that way. But Audrey is strong, and she's always been a fighter, I have full faith that she'll be able to get through everything she's going through. She is loved so much by everyone around her, and I know you two are doing everything you can," she warmly explained, doing her best to bring a small light of comfort to the parents as she set her hand on the dog's head. Thankfully, Everest softly smiled and licked the bottom girl's hand, forming a similar reaction on her own face. "Are there any other health things I need to know about?"

"Thank you, Katie, we try to tell ourselves that. And no, I think that's everything." Katie happily nodded before helping the husky off the table, letting her sit by Marshall's side as they looked at each other with grins. The vet sat down in her own chair and quickly picked up a few pieces of paper that had been laying face down on her desk, looking down at them before smiling up at the pair.

The two of them could see her excitement sneaking its way onto her face as she looked down at whatever papers were in her hand, ones that unfortunately were placed back onto her lap before either of them could catch a glimpse. However, her expression was screaming good news, giving them an equal rush of excitement as they looked at each other in anticipation—almost positive that they knew what she was holding.

"So...I'm pretty sure that's all the checkup stuff out of the way. Everest, Marshall, are you two ready to see the results?" The two looked at each other nervously, nodding and giving a gentle squeeze to the other's paws and wrapping their tails around the other's—bracing themselves for the moment they had all been waiting for.

This was arguably one of, if not the, most groundbreaking part of the pregnancy—aside from when the puppy was actually born, of course, but that was too obvious to count. Weeks had been building up to this, and now, they were mere seconds away from the big reveal, the last big step into getting to know their precious pup. And hey, even once the excitement died down, at least coming up with names would be easier.

"Well...it looks like you two are going to be having a very healthy boy!"

And with that bit of information, the two parents looked at each other with the most childlike smiles (oh the irony) and joyfully teary eyes, having to fight off every urge telling them to start crying. Everest leaned forward and threw her arms around her mate, each of them holding one other against their fur. Even if it was quick, the two of them pressed their lips against one another's, only to separate moments later with happy, giddy laughter.

"Congratulations on your son, guys, I hope Audrey's as excited as you are to have a brother," Katie praised with a small laugh, petting both of their heads. With the couple being just barely able to hold themselves together, they forced the gaze shared between them back onto her—having to genuinely try to speak in a coherent manner.

"Thank you, Katie, we really appreciate everything you've done for us. And yeah, I guess we do need to tell everyone soon." The girl smiled and nodded, standing up and opening the door for them to go back into the world—only now they were leaving with the thought of their son by their side.

"No problem, I'm happy to help. If Audrey still wants to come over tonight, lemme know what time. and if either of you have any questions, just call me. Other than that, I think we're all done here." Although any questions that they would have had if common sense had been forgotten during the wave of excitement, neither of them could think of just about anything other than their son. And without much else to do, they bid their farewells and walked outside for the journey back home.

And despite the lingering worry of their daughter's condition back at the lookout still flying around in the back of their heads, for the most part, all they could think about was the bright future ahead of them for the newest addition to their family; the second miracle in their lives that they considered nothing short of a blessing. The upcoming life ahead of them got closer and closer with each waking morning, one where all four of them could be together and happy for the rest of their days.