Aurora sighed.

"You're worried."  She said looking at her father.  "I'm sorry I scared you so much, but I'm okay, really.  I just... having Billy back and then the gun, I wasn't ready for it.  Hell, I figured someone took it like they took her rings.  I just wasn't prepared to get it back."

She forced a smile although her eyes held a hint of pain in them.  For a moment she thought about her mother, what she'd do right now, how happy she would have been and how worried she would have been too.  In her father's concerns for her health, she felt some bit of her mother's presence.  The woman who worried enough for ten men, and always tried to outthink everyone and everything... as if she could have been quicker witted and stronger willed than the reaper himself.

Sadly, she'd been wrong about that.

"I'll just do as the doctor says from now on.  This hypertension thing is serious.  I get it.  I, the baby, we could ..."  She didn't want to say die.  Words had power when you spoke them it seemed.  "... really be hurt.  So, I'll eat right, exercise, drink lots of water... get regular check-ups by the same doctor, not a new one each week.  I'll be fine.  And I've got Billy here now to help make sure of it, right?"

She smiled at him.

"We can plan the wedding another day.  Right now, I just... I want to get out of this hospital and back to the hotel."

Gavin shot an exasperated look and a reassuring smirk.

"Of course I'm worried. It's just being realistic. Call me in twenty years when your kid starts passing out in diners and we'll have a nice long laugh about how well you understand me."

Gavin smiled, but as his initial joy from the announcement settled he could sense a bout of melancholy approaching. He smiled warmly and enthusiastically at Aurora and Billy.

"Good. I am excited for both of you. Obviously, you both have a lot to do. You know where to find me, and I will always be just a call away."

He hugged his daughter, kissing her on the cheek, and clapped Eggs on the shoulder again. Still, he felt like a man carrying a time-bomb. He'd rush out, grab a bottle, and hole up in his room. It would pass. It would pass.

The future of the Byrne family was getting brighter by the day. He would make sure he was in a good condition to see it.