Once and Again Happiness And Heartbreak In The Windy City

Happiness And Heartbreak In The Windy City

Author: j_rock873

Rating: PG-13

Summary: This is a sequel to "Time Heals All Wounds". The family suffers another tragedy. This will not end happily.

Disclaimer: I own Zoe's wife, Rachel; Rachel's brother, Daniel Smith; Rachel's parents, Eric and Samantha Smith; her doctor, Ms Stevenson; and three to be named around the middle and end of the story. The rest belong to the show.

Reviews: Yes, I want them.

Author's notes: As always, words in italics are personal thoughts while words in all capital letters required special emphasis.

* * *

Around three years later

Zoe and Rachel had decided it was time to have kids. Just as they had planned earlier, Rachel would be the one to give birth to the kids they wanted. After making their final choice on the sperm donor, they followed every instruction and type of advice they had gotten from everyone. They would find out the hard way that all of the careful planning couldn't stop the upcoming and unseen tragedy.

Things seemed to be going along nicely. During the final months of the pregnancy, Lily or Rachel's mom, Samantha, would take turns watching over Rachel while Zoe worked. When she would arrive home at the end of each work day, she would check on Rachel whether she was sleeping or not. Zoe made sure to be quiet when her wife was asleep.

B&W Zoe and Rachel: (sit there smiling at each other)

"I can't believe we're going to be parents soon," Zoe says enthusiastically.

"Me either, Zoe."

B&W Lily and Samantha: (sit there just as excited as their daughters)

"Zoe and Rachel are going to be such good parents," Lily states with overwhelming confidence.

"I can't believe my baby is going to be having babies of her own." (Samantha let out a few happy tears)

Jessie, Katie, and Grace had come over to keep a nervous Zoe company. She would occasionally look over her shoulder at the closed door of the master bedroom. She was trying to relax while Rachel was sleeping.

"Zoe, relax, ok? Rachel's fine." Grace tried comforting her little sister.

"Yeah, Timex, calm down. She's only been sleeping for twenty minutes," Katie tells her while trying to lighten Zoe's mood.

"I know that. It's just that she's over a week late. Maybe there's something wrong that we haven't discovered yet."

"Zoe, Doctor Stevenson said the tests proved everything was good."

The girls went back to watching the movie they had been watching earlier, which just happened to be "Fast Times At Ridgemont High". They watched Zoe blush as Phoebe Cates's famous pool scene appeared on the screen. After the scene was over, the conversation picked up again.

"I can't believe that scene still makes you blush. It's been over five years, Zoe."

"Be quiet, Jessie. You and Katie still get all mushy whenever you see the Ferris wheel from our back porch," Zoe commented as she rolled her eyes.

They were interrupted by the sound of the bedroom door opening.

"Zoe, I think it's time to go to the hospital."

Zoe raced over to her as she felt her heart pounding a little bit louder.

"Let's get you to the hospital," Zoe babbled as she began to lead Rachel to the door.

"Uh, Zoe, aren't you forgetting a few things?" Grace asked with slight amusement.

"Like what?"

"Like Rachel's suitcase, your and Rachel's shoes, not to mention the car keys."

"Oh, right." _Dang, can I be any more embarrassed right now?_

"It's ok, sweetie. Just get me to the car. Grace, can you start up the car? Katie, can you grab my suitcase? Jessie, can you let everyone know that we left for the hospital?"

"Sure," the three girls replied unanimously.

They watched calmly as Zoe quickly backed out of the driveway and sped to the hospital. Jessie began making the necessary calls while Katie and Grace cleaned up the mess left in the family room.

"Hi, Lily."

"Jessie, is there something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just thought I'd let you know that Zoe and Rachel just left for the hospital."

"REALLY? We'll meet you there as soon as we can. I'll call Jake and Tiffany." Jessie laughed at Lily's tone at the moment.

"Jessie, no laughing at an eagerly-waiting, future grandmother."

"Sorry, Lily. I'll call everyone else. See you soon."

"Hi, Jessie, what's up?"

"Not much, Judy. Zoe and Rachel left for the hospital. We'll meet you there with the rest of the family."

"OK."

"Hi, Samantha. I just wanted to let you know Zoe and Rachel left for the hospital."

"Ok, we'll be right there." Jessie laughed again as she hung up the phone.

"What's so funny, Billie?"

"Samantha was so quick to hang up the phone that she forgot to say goodbye."

Twenty minutes later

Everyone had arrived at the hospital. Lily continued to pace around the waiting room.

"Mom, sit down. Walking around like that isn't helping anything or anyone."

"Sorry, Grace. I'm just nervous right now."

"We know, Lily. Can I get you anything? Maybe some coffee?"

"Yes, that would be great. Thanks, Judy."

"You're welcome," she said with a smile as she dashed off to find a coffee machine

"So have they picked out names for the twins yet?" Jake questioned as he began biting his fingernails.

"Yeah, but we promised we wouldn't tell anyone," Katie announced with a smirk.

Judy quickly returned with the coffee.

"That was quick, Judy."

"Well, it looked like you needed it pretty bad."

They all began to smile as Zoe appeared before them in doctors' scrubs.

"Hey, Timex, you're looking pretty cute in those scrubs."

"Thanks, Katie. Rachel said the same thing."

"How's she doing right now?" Grace inquired as she became more excited.

"Except for some slight pain, she's ok. The doctor said it can be any time now. I need to get back to her. I'll come out as soon as possible."

"Good luck," they all shouted at her.

Fifteen minutes later

Everyone had been waiting patiently until a disturbing call came over the intercom.

"Doctor Stevenson, you're needed in the delivery room immediately."

Zoe and Rachel's families could only watch in fear as the doctor and a few nurses rushed past them.

B&W entire group: (all sit there with panicked looks on their faces)

"OH NO, NOT OUR BABY GIRL!" Samantha screamed as Eric tried to get her to stop shaking in her seat.

Ten minutes later

Everyone watched as Zoe slowly made her way back to the waiting room. They became uneasy at the emotionless look coming from her eyes. When she reached Lily, she pulled off the mask and began to sob loudly.

"Zoe, what's the matter?"

"Rachel had to be given a c–section to get the babies out. They're doing ok, but Rachel…," Zoe spoke out before bursting into tears again.

"But what?" Lily and Samantha interrupted while everyone else started to have a sickening feeling in their stomachs.

"R-Rachel, she's D-DEAD! There was internal bleeding, and they couldn't stop it. I'm SO sorry, Samantha."

Zoe then collapsed, but Grace caught her before she hit the floor. Then they had to carry her to the seats behind them. Samantha and Jessie collapsed as well. Lily cried as she held her daughter tightly. The rest of the group could only look on as a nurse revived the three unconscious women.

When all three came to, Zoe stood up slowly and calmly questioned the group, "Would you like to see the babies?"

"Yes, are you sure you're ready to take us there, sweetie?" Jake declared hesitantly.

"I think so."

Jake held his daughter as she led the others silently to the nursery.

"There they are," Zoe sniffled as she pointed out the twins.

"So what did you name them?" Rachel's brother, Daniel, requested with a clearly choked up tone.

"We named her, Brooke Leigh and him, Daniel Michael."

"How did you come up with those names?" they responded with very curious looks.

"Well, Brooke is kind of a tribute to Grandma and Grandpa Brooks. Leigh is/was Rachel's middle name. She wanted to name our son after her only brother, and we both liked the name Michael."

She began to sob again while she got caught up in a group hug.

Rachel's funeral – Two weeks later

Katie and Jessie offered to hold the twins while Grace and Lily comforted Zoe.

"Are you sure you want to hold Brooke, Jessie? Or would you rather hold Daniel?"

"I would like to hold her if it's ok?"

"Sure thing, Billie."

They both glanced over at Zoe, who was doing a good job holding in tears before she saw Rachel's coffin. At that point she broke down, followed by the twins, who seemed to sense their mother's pain.

"Hey, Billie, look who made it to the funeral."

Both looked to the right and noticed Tara Brody as she quickly and silently sat down beside Daniel.

"I thought she said she couldn't make it time?"

"Well, I guess she found a way. I'm glad she could be here, and I'm sure Daniel feels the same way."

They both noticed an engagement ring on Tara's finger.

"Whoa! When did she get that rock on her finger?" Jessie asserted as she started to quickly look back and forth between Katie and Tara.

Katie gave a slight smile before answering the question, "She got it three weeks ago. They were going to announce it the day after the babies were born, but now I don't know when they will tell everyone. Possibly next week though."

They looked over at Tara, who smiled briefly before hiding her ring underneath the palm of her other hand. She then looked into the eyes of her fiancée; who was crying softly.

"Thanks for coming, Tara."

"No problem, it's the least I could do for my future husband."

She let him rest his head on her shoulder for the rest of the ceremony.

Zoe could barely see through the tears stinging her eyes as Rachel was slowly lowered into the ground. Immediately after everyone had paid their respects, she rushed to the limo waiting for them at the entrance to the cemetery. The majority of the immediate family piled into the car and headed to Zoe's house. Katie and Jessie, however, buckled the twins, Brooke and Daniel, into the backseat of Zoe's car before following the limo home.

B&W Zoe (sits there sobbing on Grace's shoulder while the rest just look at her sadly)

"What am I going to do now? I can't do this by myself. Rachel was stronger than me. It should have been me, not her."

B&W Grace: "Don't ever say that again. We're all here for you, Zoe." (The rest just nodded in unison)

Zoe's home - An hour later

"Zoe, you need to eat something. You haven't eaten a thing all day."

"I'm NOT hungry," Zoe began to argue with her dad while feeding her daughter a bottle.

"Listen to your dad, Zoe."

"Fine."

Zoe handed Brooke to Grace, smiled at Daniel, who was being held by Katie, and rolled her eyes in her mother's direction. After she was finished eating, she headed back to her seat on the couch. Shortly after that, she was interrupted by Rachel's brother.

"Uh, Zoe. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, Daniel. What would you like to talk about?"

"Well, Rachel and I made something for you while she was pregnant with the kids."

"You did? What is it?" Zoe muttered with slight reservation and confusion.

"She wanted to make this DVD in case something like this happened. You know she liked being prepared for anything," he informed her before nervously handing it to her.

"OK."

"Would you like to watch it now or later after everyone leaves?"

"Did she tell you which she preferred since you know what's on it?"

"She said it didn't matter whether you were alone or not."

"Let's watch it now then."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

They all gathered around the couch and on the assortment of chairs spread through out the family room or stood nearby. Daniel handed the remote over to Zoe, who took a deep breath before starting it up. She felt someone gently set their hand on her shoulder. She grabbed it, slowly looked behind her, and ended up looking into the face of her caring mom. She smiled at Lily, who was beginning to slowly cry, before turning her attention back to the tv screen.

On the DVD

"Hi, Zoe. I guess if you're watching this, it means I died. I just wanted to say one more time what you mean to me. When I saw you, it was love at first sight. I never believed in it until you came along. You were more than my wife, my best friend, or my soulmate. You were my personal angel sent down from heaven to make me happy. No other girl made me feel the way you did. Which I think was made obvious the first day we met."

Rachel paused a minute to smile at Zoe, causing her to blush a bright red. Grace and Katie, who were still holding the twins, smirked at her. Daniel and Jessie did the same thing. The others just gave her curious stares.

"Zoe, I know you think you're not strong enough to handle this, but you're wrong. I know you are strong. When you can't be, everyone will be there for you, Brooke, and Daniel. Don't ever forget that."

All of a sudden, Rachel began to sing Bryan Adams, "Heaven" to her. Zoe quickly looked over to her brother in law and smiled. He immediately returned the smile. As the song continued, Zoe began to cry softly and shake a little. She quit only after Lily rested her other hand on Zoe's right shoulder.

She looked up and mumbled gently, "Thanks." _Why did she have to pick that song?_

Jessie began to reach over for the remote, but Zoe refused to let go.

End of the DVD

The family gradually began to say their goodbyes and prepared to leave. They watched silently as Zoe and Samantha gently laid the twins in their cribs. As Jessie and Katie made their way out the door, they were stopped by an emotionally drained Zoe.

"WAIT!"

"Yeah, Zoe?"

"Is there anything else we can do for you, Timex?" Katie smiled at her.

"As a matter of fact, there is something I would like to ask you."

"What can we do?"

"Well, here it goes."

Zoe explained the situation to them and patiently waited for a response. Jessie and Katie looked at each other for a few seconds before turning back to her.

"Sure, Zoe. We'll do that."

"REALLY? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

They grinned at Zoe as Katie pulled Jessie into a tight hug. Jessie and Katie moved in with Zoe temporarily until they started a family of their own. Jessie took on the role of being a stay at home mom while being a nanny for the twins as well. Since Brooke, Daniel, and Jessie and Katie's daughter, Billie, were always around each other, they became very close. When they headed to college, each of them followed in their parents footsteps. Brooke went to MIT while Daniel and Billie headed to Harvard. Tara and Daniel got married not too long after Rachel's funeral. Zoe dated a few more times in the years that followed but was content to never marry again.

The End


End file.

Once and Again, Drama, Tragedy