i don't own them. i don't claim to. it's just for fun. sequal to disney deliberations. Chicago Contemplations by stephanie meyer Kieth was watching her orginize things in her lab. "So this is what you used to do?" "Yep. I kill the monkeys." "So the gorrillia thing wasn't completely out of character for you?" "Nope." "So you're back in research and Billy's moving back in wiht you and Emily and i'm getting a new er doc for county." "By way of Pheniox." "And all this was decided in Disney World?" "There's a reason it's called the Magic Kingdom." "Didn't Billy punch a mouse?" "Is there a reason you're here, Keith?" "I jsut came to see if tyhe rumors were true." "Which rumors?" "The ones dealing wiht your mad scientist like qualities. I was told to watch out for malaria and maggots?" "Ha-Ha." "Seriously. You like this?" "Keith, research used to be my life. I used to breath it! Now, I"m getting a second shot at it." "so I cna't convience you to help out in the er?" "Out Keith." Keith passed Dennis on his wayout. "Don't do it, man. She's breathing research." Back in Pheniox, Billy was filling out his last chart. "I am out of here!" "Lucky," Susna replied. "I'm still on for another hour. You're leaving when?" "Day after tommorrow. We still on for the hockey game?" "I don't know," Susan teased. "Won't your wife get jelous?" "Of you? No. That you get to see the Hawkes up close on the ice, yes." "Diane's a hockey fan?" "She has to be. I dragged her to all mine." "Love you, love your hockey." "Absolutely. Actually, she'd be prety good at it." "She doesn't seem like the type," Susan laughed. "She is, trust me. When she was pregnant with Emily, rightnear the end of the pregnancy, she had this wacked out dream. Seh wakes up gasping 'the baby'. I'm up thinking she's gone in to labor. Her next statement is 'you dropped the baby you pig'. Then she checks me right in the face. Knocked me out of bed." Billy and Susan had bonded greatly over the fact that they were out casts in the sports world of Pheniox. So they had formed their own Chicago based one. Truth be told, Susan spent alot of time bailing Billy's butt out to the fire after his hockey comments. The fact that Phenoix has a hockey tema deeply offended him. He's been know to remark that it wronged the balance of things, they didnt' have ice in the whole state for cripes sakes and that it was in the middle of a friggin deasert. Susan met Billy at his place. He opened the door and motioned her in. He was on the phone. "Baby doll, I gotta run. Susan's here. Yep, Blackhawkes." "Are you ging to paint your face?" Diane asked on the other end. "I only paint my face for you.(that sounded bad he thought) Give Emily a kiss for me. Love you." "Love you too." Billy hung up the phone. "REady." "Lead on." Billy and Susan were having as much as a conversation as possible. "So why'd you leaver her?" "A stupid reason. OH come ON!" Billy yelled at the ref. "I said things, she said things. General hostilities insued. I told myself I was leaving her before she could leave me." "Really? She seemed hopelessly stuck on you. I should know the signs." A player slammed into the glass. "That's at least three teeth. Glad i'm not a dentist." "We almost didn't get married because of me being in the same mindset. Here was this buetiful, intelligent, wonderful, classy woman dating the neandreathal." "your are not a neandrathal." "Point is, I thought she was going to wake up one day and think what the hell am I doing? I guess I never lost that fear." "Billy....check him,check him.....she married you! She had a baby with you!" "Not in that order." "Tell." "She found out she was pregnat just before I left for South America for four months..." "You left her for the first part of her pregnancy?" "I know. I know. Dumb. Insensitive. Etc, etc, etc. So, her idea, we get married in the airport right before my plane takes off." "Billy!" Susan swatted him. She was going to continure when she got the 'ahhah' look on her face. "That's it!" "What are you thinking? Whatever it is, I bet it's complicated and expensive." "You and Diane should get married." "We are married." "I mean have a wedding. A real wedding." "We had a real wedding." "Billy, every little gilr dreams about her wedding and trustme, ten minutes in an airport is not it." "Ok," Billy said through a mouthfull of popcorn. " A wedding. Big?" "Whatever the two of you want." "So, what she wants. But I look good for proposing so to speak, the ieda?" "Yep." "I like the way your mind works." Diane opened the box. "Billy, it's gouregous!" The thin, delicate guild glisted in the fire light. Billy and Diane were enjoying the evening. Emily had drifted off hours ago. "You already have an engament ring." "What?" "Let's get married." "We are married." "A wedding." "Are you serious?" "Baby, i have never been more serious. I have been told that every girl dreams of her wedding and it's not in an airport." Diane kissed him. "Really?" "Yep." Diane climbed into his lap. "Remind me to thank Susan," she said before she lost herself in her husband. Kieth was talking to his new attending, Susan Lewis, when Billy caught her shoulders from behind. "You are a genious!" "It went well." "Unbelievable! Hey Keith!" Billy dissapered down the hall. Keith sstarted again. "We opperate a bit differently than a county hospital...." he was interupted again. Diane caught Susan's arm. "I owe you. He nevesr wuld have come up with that on his own. I'll catch you later." She too disapeared. Keith raised an eyebrow. "What's that about?" "I know nothing." Susan tried desperatly to keep a staight face. Lisa breezed into Diane's lab. "So this is where you've been hiding." Diane looked up from what she was reading. "Hmm. Oh. Hi Lisa." "Hi Lisa? That's it? Oh no girl. You owe me much more detials than that." "Later? The first of the animals arrive tommorrow." "So that's why you're reading modern bride?" Diane blushed. "You caught me. Well, I guess I might as well fess up. Billy and I are getting married." "You're kidding." "No. Real wedding this time. All his hundred plus realitives and my handful of friends, the church, the cake, the reception the whole deal." "When?" "We haven't sest the date yet. He's still moving back, I have to get the lab started and then there's the law suite...I think I'm ging insane." Lisa smiled. "No you're not." "Well, when the walls are rubber, I'll remember that." There was a knock at the door. "Did everyone decide that my lab is Union Station! Come in!" Diane greeted the new visitor with hostile eyes. "Can I help you?" The man showed his badge. "Are you Diane Grad?" "Yes." "You have the right to remain silent...." he began to cuff her. "What are you doing?" Lisa was incredoulous. Diane on the other hand had a pretty fair idea what was going on. "Call Watters and legal. Get to Billy before the rumors do. The number of the sitter is in my purse, Billy doesn't know the new one." Diane was being escorted out the door. Watters was as mad as hell. He was stridding down the corridor with house counsul. "Isn't there some sort of statue of limitaions on this?" "Not on attmepted murder. That's what the family is claiming now." "Rdiucoulous! this is unbelievable. this hospital treats the boy who slaughtered our house council and now becouse of some over eager da, one of my doctors is arrested and chared wiht murder!" Aaron caught up with him. "Phillip, I just heard." "I want you to run damage control on the rumor mill, Aaron. The last thing we need is for her new grant yanked for pr reasons." "Research and crimanal record doesn't present the best picture," Aaron agreed. "How's Billy taking it?" "How do you think he's taking it? He's down at the police stating harrasing the officers." "So I guess they're going to know what." The bail hearing was intresting. The da's office was pulling out all the stops. "The prosicution is asking that the defendent be held without bail, your honor. She's already left the state once. We stipulate that she has the means and the will to leave again." "Your honor," hospital council was acting as the defence,"Dr. Grad was at a medical confrence. More to the fact, she came back. Bother her husband and her child are here, whom she is devoted to. Seh also is begining resesarch in her lab, which she would not abandon. Therefore, the defense is asking for the least amount possible." The judge thought the charge where a waste of time and his ruling reflected that. "Defense motion granted. Everybody get out." Susan was finishing a donut and talking to Billy at the admit desk. "How's Diane?" "She's pissed," Billy said through a mouth full of fritos. Susan snatch the bag out of his hands. "Do you allways eat like this for breakfast?" "You're one to talk," Billy scoffed as he grabbed the bag back. "I can't believe they arrested her." "Over eager DA. He's running for elecion. Decided we're the bad guys." "You think he can make anything stick?" "Naw. Hospital counsilis going to put on a show that would make the eel proud." "I hope so Billy." Diane ws sitting in her lab trying valently not to vomit. It's stress, she kept telling herself. That's what it was. Starting the lab up. The arrest. The fact that she and Billy were back together. that's what it was. She tossed a pencil onto her desk. "Aw hell. Who am I kidding." "Dr. Grad?" one of her lab techs looked up. "Nevermind." Diane was flopped in front of a locker in the women's locer room. There was a bench. She just didn't have the energy to get up and move to it. Susan stoppedc infront of her. "You ok?" "I've been better." Susan sat down next to her. "Want to talk about it?" Diane snorted. "Not really. There's nothing to talk about. Teh deed's been done." Susan's brow furrowed." What are we talking about?" Diane's reply was thrawted by Lisa's arrival. "What are you two doing down there?" "Sick," Diane replied. "Oh," Lisa's eyebrow arched. "Pregnant?" "Damnit! How do you do that?!" "You have the flop. Does Billy know?" "Haven't we had this conversation before?" "Did I miss something?" Susan asked. "Lisa can diagnos pregnancy on sight." Diane rested her head against the locker. "What is it about me and calanders?" "Everybody goofs the prediction sometimes." "I'm thirty six years old. I'm too old to goof. Hell, I was to old to goof the first time." "So I take it Emily was an oops?" Susan asked. "You have no idea. I don't know if I can do this again." Lisa crouched down and put an encouraging hand on Diane's shoulder. "Sure you can. And do you know what the best part is?" "What?" "Billy's here for the whole ride this time. You can puke on his shoes while he's still in them." Diane laughed. "Of course, you know this is because we decided to get married again. Everytime we get engaged this happens." "Diane, you've only been planning a wedding twice." "Let me have this one Lisa. I need to blame him." Lisa laughed. "Do me a favor. I want to be in the vincity when you tell him. I hear it was rather spectacular last time." "Are you lusting after my husband?" Diane grinned as Lisa danced away. "Well..." Lisa ducked as a bottle of shampoo hurtled toward her head. "Billy! Put me down!" "Do you have any ieda how much I love you?" Billy said right before he kissed her. On the other side of the nurses's station, Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Again?" Lisa, who was on his left, put in, "Diane, says it's because they were talking about getting married again." "That must be it," Aaron replied. Kate gently knocked on the stall. "Are you ok, Diane?" The door opened. "Fine." She went to the sink and washed out her mouth. "God, it was never this bad with Emily." "All day." "Constenly. I can't keep anything down." "Have you seen Dennis yet?" "In fifteen minutes. I have to be in court at two. I'm never going to make it." "I think you can get the judge to be leanent." "How do you figure?" "You say pregnat and men treat you like you're made out of glass." "Not Billy." "Well," Kate smiled as she breesed out, "if there's a rule, Billy is usually the exception." Diane got through court without vomiting. Three hours. It was a record. What happened wasnt' that magnifiecent. The judge, regarding the charges as hooye, allwoed the proceuction to rant and rve, and them summarily announced that he was accepting the plea of temporty insanity due to extreme grief, the dfendent is allowed to go given that she had already sought professional help, announced that the hearing was a mockery of the justice system, and told everybody to get out. "I hate court rooms," Diane muttered under her breath. "All my experiences in court rooms have been horrible. Alan's trial, Danny's trial, every time I got yanked out of one foster home and plopped into another." She and Susan were flopped in Susan's office, sharing a package of dingdongs. "Custody battles are never fun for anyone, "Susan put in. "You've been to family court?" "With my niece and my sister." "Ouch. I've never tried to get custody. I mean, even when billy andf I were splitting up, custody of Emily was never an issue." "What were you going to do?" "The six month split until she started school and then we'd look at schools to decide. Where she went to school, she'd spent vacations in the other." "Rough." "But at least it was civil." "Untill you pushed him in the fountian." Diane laughed and tossed the wrapper at her. She tried to get up but sunk back down on the couch. "Whoa." "You ok?" Susan sat next to her friend. "Fine. Nausea just hit." "You're still sick?" "Dennis says I can expect this one to be rough. I think he's right on the money." "So, I take it your post poning the wedding." "Yep. I"ll be damned if I get married pregnant again. Hell, Billy would probaly take off to some third world country again." Billy sank down on the bed and wrapped his arm around his wife. "How you feelin'?" "Just don't make any sudden moves." He kissed her. "Not a problem. I'm bushed." "Glad to be back?" "You better believe it baby doll." They fell asleep in each others arms.