"BART!" Stefano bellowed from the living room. "If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get in here now." Bart rolled his eyes as he threw down the newspaper that he had been reading in the kitchen. According to Stefano, everything had to be taken care of when he said and how he said – period. Bart knew though that he had been involved with "the boss" for too long now to get out. It looked like the rest of his life he would be one of Stefano’s henchmen, which he found out rather quickly to be a pretty lonely life.

"Yeah, Boss" Bart said as he walked into the room. "What ya need?"

"Did you seem to forget about following Shawn and Belle Brady?"

"Ah…not exactly…its just that all they do is shop for baby stuff and hang all over one another – its getting old. She’s not even due for awhile yet, so it’s no big deal."

"Then how come Lexi just called me and during the conversation she happened to mention that Belle is at the hospital in labor at this very moment?" Bart swallowed hard, waiting for the Stefano’s wrath to begin. He could tell that he was definitely not happy about this little piece of information. "So," Stefano began, crossing his arms in front of him. "How do you say we fix this little situation? Looks like we have to think quick in order for every part of my plan to still be pulled off without a problem."

"Okay boss, I’m right on that." Stefano nodded.

"You better be. DON’T screw up. I’ve waited to long to get back at the Brady’s for too long only to have some incompetent imbecile to come along and ruin everything!" Bart nodded, Stefano’s angry voice still ringing in his ears. He didn’t know what exactly he was going to do to fix this now – Stefano didn’t give many chances to fix things so he knew that if he wanted to keep his job, or his life for that matter, he better get moving quick.

Dr. Bader sighed as she removed the surgical mask and cap from her head. Besides delivering the Brady twins, she had also delivered two other babies earlier that morning. She looked forward to heading home and curling up with a good book and a hot bubble bath. She opened the door to the waiting room only to be greeted by a vast number of Shawn and Belle’s family members.

"Well," Hope said nervously wringing her hands. Dr. Bader smiled as the rest of the family gathered around.

"Congratulations! The babies are here and everyone’s doing just fine. I promised Belle and Shawn that they could be the ones to tell you what the sexes are."

"When can we see them?" Marlena asked.

"Right now, if you like. But only for a few minutes everyone. Belle may say she’s feeling okay right now, but she’s going to need her rest."

A knock on the door caused Belle and Shawn to look up from admiring their two new babies.

"Come in," Shawn called, not wanting to put down the baby he was holding in his arms. Hope peeked inside.

"Mind if you have some visitors?" Belle and Shawn nodded as the various members of the family gathered into to the room.

"Geez Mom, what’d you do call all of Salem?" Shawn joked as he watched everyone squeeze into the room.

"Well, honey, everyone wanted to see the babies," Hope said motioning to everyone. Several camera flashes went off all at once. "And maybe take a picture or two." Laughter rippled throughout the room as several camera flashes continued to fire.

"Well, don’t keep us in suspense any longer Tink," Brady began. "Are you going to tell us what they are or what? Of course they couldn’t be wrapped in pink or blue blankets, that would make everything too easy."

"Well," Belle began, clearing her throat. "This is Allison Nicole," she said holding the baby up in her arms for all to see. "Born at 8:03pm, weighing in at 5 pounds and one ounce."

"And this is Joshua Evans Brady, born at 8:28pm, weighing a whopping 6 pounds 4 ounces." Marlena and Hope moved closer to get a look at their grandchildren. Each took one of the babies from their child’s arms and moved to show them to the rest of the family that had gathered in the room.

"How do you feeling Belle?" Chloe asked as she moved closer to the bed. Philip walked over next to Shawn and patted him on the back in congratulations.

"Okay, I guess. Tired, sore, but that’s all stuff I expected. It wasn’t that bad really, especially after Allison was born."

"I’m so proud of you two. Those twins are two of the cutest babies I think I’ve ever seen."

"Thanks Gram," Shawn replied as he placed his arm around Belle’s shoulder.

"Did you two take any pictures?" Hope asked as she turned towards the two. Shawn nodded.

"Some, but I promised Belle I wouldn’t get anything in them that she may not want everyone to see. But I still got close to a roll."

"Ah…excuse me everyone, but Mrs. Brady needs her rest," a nurse said from the doorway. Everyone nodded and began to say their goodbye to the new parents.

"We’ll be back tomorrow sweetie," Hope said as she handed Allison to Belle. Shawn took Josh from Marlena’s arms as well.

"Okay…I have a feeling you won’t be the only one here tomorrow. I already have a feeling that these two are going to be very spoiled!"

"Of course they will be," John said leaning down to kiss his daughter goodbye. "That’s what being a grandparent is all about." The last few remaining family members laughed as they went to leave.

"Goodbye sweet girl, we’ll see you tomorrow. Call us if you need anything."

"We’ll be fine Mom, don’t worry. I’ll see you tomorrow." Marlena nodded as she lingered at the door for a final minute. For some reason she had a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. She shrugged it away, thinking it she was just getting caught up in the moment of it all. Seeing her baby girl now a mother was overwhelming – not only did it make her realize that Belle was no longer a little girl, but as her mother, she was no longer that young either. A mixture of joy and sadness wrapped around Marlena all at once. She glanced back at her daughter one last time and left the room.

Belle sighed as she watched the nurse wheeled the two incubators carrying Joshua and Allison out of the room. She reached back, pulling her hair out of the ponytail that it had been in and then laid back against the softness of the pillows.

"Still seems hard to believe there really here, doesn’t it?" Shawn asked as he sat down in the chair that had been placed next to Belle’s bed. "I mean just this morning we woke up as nothing more than a married couple. Now, less than 12 hours later, we’re a family."

"I know," Belle replied as she shifted in the bed so that she could see Shawn as she spoke. She placed her hand onto her stomach. "In a way its kinda weird knowing that there aren’t two little lives moving around inside of me." Shawn smiled as he took Belle’s hands into his.

"I’m so proud of what you did today Belle. I’m sure giving birth to twins, especially being as small as you are, wasn’t easy to say the least. But you made it look so much easier than I had thought that it would be for you…you know I was kinda scared that it was going to be horrible for you but from what you’ve said it wasn’t nearly that bad at all."

"It wasn’t. And believe it or not, I can’t wait to do it again." Shawn chuckled as a huge grin broke out on Belle’s face.

"How ‘bout we get these two home and settled in before we start planning the next edition." Belle giggled and leaned forward to kiss her husband.

"I know that silly, I’m just teasing. I think you and I are going to be busy enough as it is over the next year or two… But anyway…I don’t know about you, but I’m getting pretty hungry..."

"Just name what you want – your wish is my command."

"Actually I have this craving for chocolate ice cream."

"Craving?" Shawn asked laughing. "I thought for sure those were over and done with!" Belle swatted him playfully. "Okay, okay," he relented. "Chocolate ice cream it is. I think I’m going to get something for myself too. Now that you mention it, I am pretty hungry." Shawn stood up and moved towards the door. "I’m just going to run down to the cafeteria so I’ll only be gone a few minutes. Is there anything else that you want?" Belle shook her head no.

"Nope. Just the ice cream." Shawn nodded and then left the room.

"Mom, Dad…" Shawn said as he entered the cafeteria. "What are you guys still doing here?"

"Oh nothing," Hope responded a smile on her face. "After we left you and Belle we realized how hungry we were so we decided to make a quick stop for something to eat before we headed home."

"Yeah, Belle was hungry too so I came down to get us both something to eat," Shawn said as he took the empty seat next to his father.

"So sailor man, what’s it feel like being a father?" Bo asked as he laid his hand on Shawn’s shoulder. Shawn laughed as he ducked his head.

"I don’t know – it really hasn’t sunk in yet. Its so amazing to look at Josh or Allison and realize that out of our love came life – that part of me and part of Belle came together and created these two perfect little creatures." Hope nodded as she continued to pick at the salad laid out in front of her.

"I think your father and I felt the same thing when you were born."

"You know, I didn’t think that it was possible for me to love Belle anymore than I already did. But after I saw her bring those two into the world today, my love for her has grown ten-fold." Hope smiled at her son’s words.

"That’s so beautiful honey. I’m so proud of you and Belle both. I know you both were pretty scared with this whole idea of becoming parents when you were so young, but you two are handling it so well. You two are going to make great parents."

"I hope so Mom. But if we run into trouble I know two people who will be getting a phone call."

"And we’ll be right there to help you, day or night. Whatever happens, your father and I as well as John and Marlena will be standing there besides you, supporting you all the way."

~ * ~

Belle sighed as she shut her eyes tighter, trying to block out all of the hospital sounds that were filtering inside of her room.

‘I wonder what’s keeping Shawn’ she thought as she opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling above her. ‘It seems like he’s been gone forever.’ There was no point in her trying to get any rest now – she knew that just as soon as she began to drift off, sure enough, Shawn would return from his trip to the cafeteria. Carefully she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and eased herself to the floor. Gingerly she stepped forward, the soreness of the entire lower half of her body showing. She made her way over to the door and walked out of the room. She knew that the nursery was just down the hall so she decided that she could go down and peak in at the twins while waiting for Shawn to return with their food.

Belle smiled as she approached the nursery’s window – there they were - her son and daughter. She reached up and touched the glass as though doing so would somehow allow her to be able to touch the two babies that lay in front of her. She still found it hard to believe that she and Shawn were now parents. Just this time last year they were beginning to think about college and their future, neither one guessing that this was what fate had in store for them. As she continued to watch the babies, scenes of her and Shawn’s childhood floated across her mind. She remembered all of the times that had convinced Shawn to play house with her, never thinking that one day it would actually happen. For years she was sure that having Shawn Brady fall in love with her was nothing more than a hopeless dream that would never become a reality. But now here they were, married and the parents of two beautiful little babies. What had been nothing more than a childhood game for them was now a reality.

Belle’s daydream end as she watched as a nurse enter the room and make her way through the nursery. As she passed each incubator, she leaned down to check on the baby inside. First, she checked on Allison who was wide-awake and looking around the nursery. Then she moved on to Josh, who looked as though he were fast asleep. She glanced at him and moved on, but Belle was surprised to see that instead of continuing to move on, she turned back refocusing her attention on Josh. Belle’s heart began to beat faster as the nurse whipped out her stethoscope and began to listen to various spots on the baby’s chest. Panic seized Belle as she watched the nurse scoop up her son and yelled for another nurse who was in the back of the room. She stood there frozen, watching every move of the two nurses. While one frantically began to work on her son, the other went to the phone and quickly began dialing a series of numbers. It became evident who the nurse had been calling when several seconds later, a voice came over the hospital’s loud speaker.

"Code blue in the nursery…code blue…will the nearest available doctor head to the nursery stat. I repeat code blue in the nursery."

Belle watched in horror as she watched the scene unfolding in front of her. Just a few minutes earlier she had been admiring her little boy, who she thought was fast asleep in his incubator. Now, she could do nothing more than watch as two nurses seemed to be doing whatever they could to get him to breathe.

"Code blue in the nursery, code blue."

"No!" Belle shouted as she watched a flurry of doctors run down the hall and into the nursery. She couldn’t believe that she was actually watching this happen and couldn’t do anything about it. Her little boy was slipping away from her right before her eyes.

~ * ~

"So mom after you say bye to Belle, you’re going to head home right? It’s late and you still have to get JT from Gram’s house."

"I’m fine, honey don’t…"

Hope’s reply was interrupted by a scream. "No!" Shawn dropped the bag he was carrying and sprinted in the direction of the scream.

"That’s Belle!" he called over his shoulder to his parents. Hope and Bo instantly broke out in a sprint to find out what was going on.

"Belle, what is it, what’s wrong?" Shawn asked out of breath once he reached where Belle was standing. She could do nothing more than point to the flurry of activity that was now taking place in the nursery. Shawn quickly scanned the babies in the nursery, noticing that the only one that was missing from the incubators was his son.

"Oh my God," he whispered as he wrapped his arms protectively around Belle. Belle buried herself in his chest, her body racked with sobs. Bo and Hope could do nothing more than watch in disbelief as the doctors tried restore life to the tiny newborn. Suddenly the blinds that they had been watching through were quickly shut, no longer allowing them watch what was taking place.

"I’m going to see what I can find out," Bo said as he headed towards the nearest nurses’ station. Hope nodded, not wanting to leave Belle or Shawn’s side. She reached out and touched her son’s shoulder, guiding them back towards Belle’s hospital room.

"Why don’t we go back to the room. I’m sure that’s where the doctors will be looking for you to tell you what is going on." Shawn nodded and scooped Belle up into his arms, following his mother down the hallway. He made his way into the room and gently laid Belle onto the Belle.

"Please Shawn, don’t let go. I need you to hold me," Belle cried through the tears.

"I’m right here baby. I’m not going anywhere." Belle gripped onto Shawn’s shirt as he gently began to rock her back and forth. Bo stuck his head into the room and motioned for Hope to join him in the hall.

"What’s going on?" she asked as joined Bo in the hall.

"I wasn’t able to get much. Just that one of the nurse found him not breathing in the incubator and that now they are working to restore his breathing. The nurse said that someone should be out to talk to us shortly." Hope nodded, placing one hand to her forehead.

"I can’t believe this is happening. I mean we just saw him an hour ago and he was the most perfect little thing…" Hope’s voice broke as she was suddenly struck with the full realization of what was going on. Bo pulled his wife into his arms.

"I know, Fancy Face, I know. Maybe we should call John and Marlena – that way they’re here in case…" he found that he couldn’t bring himself to finish the end of the sentence. Hope nodded as she pulled herself from Bo’s embrace.

"That’s a good idea. There’s a phone we can use in Belle’s room." The two re-entered the hospital room to find Shawn still sitting on the bed holding Belle.

"What did you find out?" Shawn asked instantly. Bo moved towards the telephone as Hope walked over to where Shawn and Belle were sitting.

"All the nurses would tell your father is that the nurse found Josh not breathing and that they were working to get him to breath again."

"Do they know how long he wasn’t breathing?" Hope nodded no. "That was all they said. The only other thing they did say was that someone would be out to talk to us soon." Hope looked over her shoulder and motioned towards Bo. "Bo’s calling John and Marlena to let them know what’s going on." Shawn nodded, somewhat relieved that he wouldn’t be responsible for doing so – he could barely find his voice to talk to his mother, he didn’t think he could make it through a phone call to his in-laws.

~ * ~

Marlena, John and Brady sat amongst the Chinese take-out boxes as they shared a late night dinner. Chinese take-out had been a Black family favorite for years since Marlena was not known for her cooking skills. The dinner itself was not nearly as tense as it usually was and all three accredited it to the birth of Belle’s twins. The phone ringing broke into Brady’s kidding – he had been saying that the Chinese restaurant didn’t even have to ask what their order was anymore, all they had to do was say their name and they knew what they wanted to order. Marlena got up from the table to answer the phone.

"Hello," she said, her face lit up by her smile.

"Marlena, its Bo. I think you and John should head up to the hospital."

"Why what’s wrong?" Marlena asked her voice filled with alarm. John and Brady stopped their kidding and focused on Marlena’s conversation.

"We don’t know much of the details yet, but one of the nurses found Josh in his incubator, not breathing. All we know is that they’re working on him now."

"Oh my God. We’re on our way." Marlena didn’t even wait for Bo’s answer before hanging up the phone.

"What’s wrong?" Brady asked rising from his chair. He knew he and Marlena weren’t always that fond of one another but he could tell by the look on her face that something serious was going on. He noticed that tears had already formed in the corners of her eyes and were quickly threatening to overflow.

"That was Bo. They don’t know all the details yet, but one of the nurses found Josh in his incubator, not breathing." John closed his eyes, shaking his head.

"Well what are we waiting for, let’s go." Brady quickly moved out of the room, heading towards the entryway of the penthouse. John and Marlena, both overcome with shock could do nothing more than follow.

Belle jumped as the door to her hospital room opened. She thought for sure that it had to be the doctor coming to update them on Josh’s condition. But instead, her father, mother and Brady rushed into the room.

"Oh my sweet girl," Marlena said through her tears as she rushed to where Belle was sitting with Shawn. "Have you heard anything yet?" Belle shook her head no as she leaned forward to accept her mother’s embrace.

"Mom maybe you can find out something for us. I mean you’re a doctor here, wouldn’t they have to tell you what’s going on. They told us that someone would be in to talk to us but that was close to half an hour ago!"

"I’ll try honey, but since I’m not Josh’s doctor…" A knock on the door caused everyone to look up. John reached over, pulled the door open and Dr. Bader entered the room.

"Belle, Shawn," she began. "I’m sorry it took so long for me to come and talk to you, but I wanted to have a better idea of what was going on first." Belle nodded as she eased herself back to where Shawn was sitting. He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her, not only as a mean of support for her but for himself as well. "Right now, Josh is stable but he is in very serious condition. We are not sure why but for some reason his lungs are very immature, which is especially surprising considering that you carried him to term. He is on a ventilator right now but there is no way of knowing how long he went without oxygen to his brain…"

"Does that mean he could have suffered brain damage?" Marlena asked interrupting.

"Yes that is a possibility but as I said, we don’t know anything for sure. Once we have a better idea of what is going on we will move ahead and do testing to determine that. But I do need to warn you, things are extremely touch and go right now. You may want to consider having Josh baptized as soon as possible." Belle looked to Shawn and nodded, still trying to absorb everything that the doctor told them. "I’ll let you all discuss this while I go and see if his tests results are ready. I’ll be back shortly." The adults stood there in silence as Dr. Bader excused herself from the room.

"It’s going to be okay," Shawn said automatically to Belle. But in the back of his mind he wasn’t so sure – he had already been faced with losing the twins once, early on in Belle’s pregnancy. He couldn’t believe that they were being faced with that possibility once again. "We’ll have Allison baptized at the same time. Remember we did that with JT and Isaac when we weren’t sure that JT was going to make it. But he did and Josh will too."

"Do you have godparents picked out already?" Hope asked. Shawn nodded.

"We were thinking about Sami and Brady for one and Chloe and Philip for the other. We hadn’t thought that far ahead to figure out who would go with which twin."

"Well that shouldn’t be too hard to do," Hope said looking to Marlena for confirmation. Marlena nodded in agreement, then stepped forward and spoke.

"I’ll start making the calls."

"Chloe…Chloe wake up," Craig said as he shook the young girl’s shoulder slightly.

"Philip…not now…I’m sleeping," Chloe mumbled in response as she tried to bury herself deeper into her pillow. Craig rolled his eyes and shook Chloe harder.

"Chloe its not Philip, its Craig. And I need you to wake up." Chloe rolled over and rubbed her eyes.

"Craig? What is it? Is something wrong?" Craig shook his head.

"Marlena just called. They don’t know much yet, but Belle’s little boy was found in his incubator, not breathing."

"Oh my God," Chloe gasped. "Is he…Did he…"

"No, they were able to revive him, thank goodness. But things are still touch and go for the moment. The doctors have suggested that they go ahead and have the twins baptized just in case. Belle and Shawn would like you and Philip to be godparents to one of the babies, that’s why she called." Chloe looked up and Craig was surprised to see a tear streaming down her face.

"Do you know if Belle’s mom talked to Philip yet?"

"No, she asked if you would call." Chloe nodded.

"I call him while I’m getting dressed. You can go on back to sleep – I’m sure Philip will drive me there."

"Are you sure you don’t want your mother and I to go too?"

"No, I’ll be okay. I’ll call you and let you know what’s going on. Depending on what’s happening, I may stay at the hospital for awhile."

"Okay sweetheart." Craig rose from where he had been sitting on the bed. "Be sure to let Belle and Shawn know we’ll be thinking and praying for them and the twins."

~ * ~

Chloe and Philip emerged hand-in-hand from the elevator and walked down the empty hallway towards the hospital’s chapel.

"I still can’t believe this is happening," Philip said quietly.

"I know. I can’t even imagine how Belle and Shawn must be feeling right now. I mean if we were in the same situation…"

"I know. I was thinking the same thing when I was driving to your house. When I told my father what was going on, he said to make sure that Belle and Shawn know that money is no object. He said that if he has to, he’d use the jet to fly in the best specialist in the country. He wanted to come with us, but I told him to stay home and I’ll let him know how things were once the baptisms are over."

"I was surprised when Craig and Nancy offered to come too. I told them the same thing – that I would check in with them once this was over." The two now were standing in front of the chapel doors. Philip took a deep breath and opened the door and followed Chloe into to the room. The first few pews of the chapel were already filled. Philip was amazed at how many people were there, considering the late hour. On either side of Belle and Shawn were Bo and Hope, John and Marlena. Sami sat next to them, holding who he assumed was Allison, since the baby in her arms was wrapped in a pink blanket. Next to Sami sat Brady. In the pews behind them sat both Bo and Hope’s parents. Off to the side sat the hospital’s chaplain.

"Sorry we’re the last one here," Philip whispered as the two approached the group. "We got here as quickly as we could."

"Your fine," Bo whispered to his little brother. "We’re still waiting for them to bring Josh from the nursery."

"How’s he doing?" Chloe asked, as she stood next to Philip.

"No change." Chloe and Philip nodded and then moved aside to talk to Belle and Shawn. Chloe kneeled down in front of where Belle was sitting and without saying a word, she reached forward and pulled her into a hug. Shawn stood up to greet Philip.

"How you doing buddy?" Philip asked as he pulled Shawn into a hug. Shawn nodded and sniffed, trying not to cry.

"Okay, trying to stay strong for Belle a the moment, but it’s a lot harder than I thought it would be." Philip nodded.

"Well you know I’m always here if you need someone to talk to. If I were you, I think I would have probably destroyed half of the hospital by now." Shawn smiled in spite of himself. He knew Philip didn’t have the best temper, especially when it involved someone or something hurting Chloe.

"Brady’s to thank for that. He and I went on a walk earlier and I ended up taking it out on some very unsuspecting pillows that had been left in the lounge." The conversation stopped as the chapel door opened and Dr. Bader stepped in.

"Belle, Shawn…can I speak to you a moment?" Shawn nodded and took Belle’s hand who was looking at her husband in terror. It was almost as though Dr. Bader didn’t have to say anything, her motherly instinct was telling her that something had once again gone wrong. Everyone else stood silent, watching them stand in the back of the chapel talking to the doctor. Dr. Bader only said a few words before Belle crumpled in Shawn’s arms, crying uncontrollably. The family looked among one another with a mixture of shock and horror written all of their faces. Both Hope and Marlena covered their mouths in a silent scream, knowing by Belle’s reaction what Dr. Bader had just told them. John looked at the ceiling silently asking God why this was happening as Bo placed his hands on Hope’s shoulders in support.

"He didn’t make it," Brady gasped, saying what everyone else was thinking. Sami gripped her niece tighter to her chest as she sunk down to the pew below in disbelief. Dr. Bader placed a comforting hand on Shawn’s shoulder as she said a few more words and turned to leave the room. Marlena and Hope were already out of the pew rushing forward to their children. Belle and Shawn had both sunk to the floor holding on to one another as their bodies shook violently with tears. The rest of the family stood by helplessly, unsure of what was to come next. The sound of heart wrenching cries echoed throughout the chapel as the reality of what had just happened slowly began to sink in.