Happy belated Christmas present to you.

"You're doing great. Take a deep breath." Ed reminded me as he now stood to the side of me; his confidence and support calmed my nerves enough for me to take in a deep breath so I could walk into the living room. Wordy and Hank were quietly conversing with each other at the kitchen table. I was so focused on them that I didn't notice the floor creak under my foot until Wordy had looked up at me.

He held a look of awe like he couldn't believe I was really there. I didn't blame him. How was I really here? How was I back standing in the home I shared with Hank? How was I standing among friends? Mostly I was wondering how we were both standing here. Hank should have been dead. I should have been dead. We should have both been dead.

"Hank." My voice was ever so quiet. I still didn't know the right words to say as I found myself pulling a chair out at the end of the table; just one seat away from him. It took a moment but he slowly raised his gaze and our eyes locked with one another.

"Donna?" He stammered, his lower lip trembling as he raised his hand then dropped it like he was trying to decipher if I was real or not, or if this was some sick joke that was being played on him. "Is that really you?"

"It's really me."

"I don't understand." His eyes held a bewildered, wide-eyed look as the wheels turned in his head. I just hoped there were some questions of his I could answer. "Where have you been all this time?"

"I was staying with someone who believed they were keeping me safe."

"Did they hurt you?" He asked, not able to look me in the eye for a few minutes; like he was still trying to force himself to believe I wasn't just a figment of his imagination.

"No, nothing like that." I shook my head, trying to imagine what kinds of things could be going through his mind. Who was he blaming for my absence, when the only person who had truly hurt me was the one who caused me to lose my memory? Just as I had that thought, one of the babies kicked my stomach which caused a wave of nervousness to run through my veins. "Can I show you something?" It took him a moment before he nodded and I scooted back from the table, cradling my swollen belly.

"You're pregnant?" His gaze slowly followed down to my belly, realization setting in that he was going to be a father.

"I am."

"You're actually pregnant?" He stated with pure delight this time like he couldn't believe what I was telling him. It made me happy he was excited about the pregnancy. In a way, it kind of took away the nervousness I had been feeling for days now about telling him. "Sorry. It's just we've been trying for so long." Wordy and Ed exchanged a look with each other as if they were hearing this for the first time. "When we lost our baby last year, you were devastated."

"We lost a baby last year?"

"You were seven weeks along." His voice was quiet, the loss still radiating strongly as when it happened. "It was the middle of the night; happened so quickly we couldn't tell anyone. You didn't want to tell anyone." He avoided looking at Ed or Wordy, probably because he already knew what their reaction would be. "Can I ask, how far along are you?"

"Four months."

"So you don't know whether it's a boy or girl yet?"

"Not yet."

"Oh." He gave a look of disappointment as he looked over at the clock. I read the clock myself and realized I had already been here for about an hour. How did time go by so quickly?

"There's something I should tell you about the pregnancy." I rubbed my belly again, thinking back to when I had found out at the hospital that I was pregnant with twins.

"Well, it looks like baby is healthy." Moving the wand around my bare belly, her smile faded and her face screwed up with concern. "Hang on, it looks like there's not just a baby there-in fact, there are two babies."

"Two? I'm having twins?"

"You're having twins. Congratulations!"

"Donna?" Hank's voice faded back in, filled with the same concern the doctor had when reading the ultrasound. "Is there something wrong with the baby?"

"I'm not having a baby, Hank. I'm having twins."

"Twins. As in two babies?" I nodded and his eyes grew wider at the realization that we were going to be parents to not just one baby, but two. "That's amazing, and yet it's so hard to believe that you're standing in front of me. Now I'm finding out I'm having twins."

"This is a lot to take in all in one night." Wordy leaned his fist against his cheek as he watched Hank carefully. "How are you doing with all of this?"

"I'm okay." Shaking his head, he stared at the kitchen wall near the sink. "A little shocked. I don't think its all sunk in yet that I'm staring at my dead wife. What do we tell her sister and her friends? Who else knows she's alive?"

"Everyone on Team One, as well as Greg, Wordy, Sophie, and Clark." Ed tipped his chin over in Wordy's direction.

"Wait a minute. Sophie and Clark know?" Wordy questioned, taking interest in this newfound information. "I've barely thought of a way to tell Shelley or the girls. What's your secret?"

"Sophie helped find Hank. Clark overheard us talking about Donna one night, but he's far from knowing all the details."

JULY 30, 2011

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy Birthday, dear Riley. Happy birthday to you!

As they finished the song, Riley licked her lips hungrily at the chocolate cake sitting in front of her. It clear by the eager glint in her eyes, she was ready to blow out those five purple candles and dig in. When she had blown them out, Wordy immediately removed the candles and placed them in a glass of water sitting to the side of him. Pretty soon he was handing her a small piece of cake and she was shoving it into her mouth.

"Looks like she likes the cake." Ed teased, motioning over to the five-year-old who was now licking her fork.

"We're a sucker for chocolate at my house." Wordy looked over at Shelley as he handed her a piece of cake. She nodded in agreement before forking a small piece and putting it in her mouth. "Which pretty much means we don't get chocolate unless its a holiday or a birthday."

"That bad of an addiction, huh?"

"Oh, yeah." Shelley piped up, glancing over her shoulder as Ally passed by her and walked into the kitchen. "This one especially loves it." She whispered, pointing over to her oldest daughter as she pulled a glass out of the cabinet.

"We like to call her the chocolate monster." Wordy confided quietly, dishing out another plate of cake and handing it to Dean, who just chuckled, shook his head and walked back into the living room. Needless to say, that got them all laughing as Ally walked over to the table with a confused glance on her face.

"What's so funny?" Ally asked her mom as she set the empty glass on the counter.

"Nothing, honey. Please go find your sister and ask her if she wants some cake, okay?" Shelley raised her eyebrows at her, like she already knew the answer to her own question, then chuckled again as her oldest daughter disappeared from the kitchen.

"Can I please have some cake?" Isabele inquired politely as she pulled out the chair next to Riley.

"You may." Wordy obliged, cutting her a small piece of cake and placing it in front of her.

"Thank you!"

"What's the matter, Izzy?" Riley questioned, licking the chocolate off her fingers, then polished off the rest of her cake. "Do you not want your cake?"

"I do." Isabele tilted her head as she stared down at the plate. "I'm just trying to figure out how I want to eat it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do I eat the frosting or the cake first?"

"That's easy." Riley shrugged her shoulders like it a no-brainer question. "Eat both."