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General Hospital's Genie Francis and her husband of six years, Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: The Next Generation), are about to go where they've never gone before: a place called parenthood.
"This is our first baby and we're so excited," says Francis from the couple's home in Southern California.
"When we found out, our jaws dropped to the floor," echoes a very-happy Frakes.
The news came as surprise to the couple who - until Francis' return to the West Coast-based GH last October - had been navigating the difficulties of a bicoastal marriage.
"See what happens when you get back under the same roof," she laughs. The twosome had hoped to keep news of the threesome a "private, wonderful and delicate secret" between close friends and family until after the first trimester.
But the price of fame - and a few well-placed "spies on the set" - she says, "forced our hand."
Contrary to what fans may read elsewhere, she says, "we have not been trying to have a baby for two years."
When she broke the news to co-star Anthony Geary (husband Luke on the ABC soap), she says, "he jumped up out of his chair, like he was the daddy! It was really cute."
Her Port Charles clan has been nothing but supportive, she adds, despite the not-too-perfect timing.
"I had hoped to develop the character for a year or so. I mean, I just started working there. But this is the way God planned it," she says. ABC says they'll write the pregnancy into the story line.
The Francis/Frakes production is due in August.