A Comedy of Errors had everything you could possibly expect from a play of that title. With a little creative magic, the two sets of twins were being played by just two actors, something Mataya De Luca had no doubt her best friend was enjoying and hating all at once. As for herself, she'd completely disregarded the rules she enforced on Vicki last year and come back to work within two months, with Oscar getting quality time with his daddy and big sister while she wasn't around. And, frankly, it was just as well she was at the theater tonight. No one else would have been able to field that phone call from a frantic Humphrey Granger with half so much assured confidence. Somehow, word of what was going on had not yet reached the actors - still in the midst of Act One - but she knew that wasn't going to last. The idea, however, was to have the contingency plan in place before Jon found out what was happening.

Jon had just come off finishing the last in the 50 Shades trilogy and without much of a break had thrown himself back into the theater to tackle a part with a dual role, enjoying the challenge it offered, as exhausting as it could be. It was no secret that besides his wife and daughter, he lived for the theater, immersing himself in every role and giving it all he had. Tonight was no different, and despite everything that was going on at home - with the return of Kaylee and Vicki's impending pregnancy - he was as immersed in his role as ever, and completely unaware of the drama that was unfolding back home.

Thankfully, Mataya really did have everything under control. The understudy had been called and was being rushed through makeup, costume, and magic, and the ever helpful Olivia Storm had essentially stolen Jon's car keys to liberate his Bentley so it would be waiting for him outside the stage door. As the curtain fell on the first act, 'Taya swung into action, marching onto the stage to grab Jon's arm before he had a chance to rush off and do his interval bits and bobs. "C'mon, Jonny, time to go."

Still in costume and makeup and very much into his character, Jon was surprised to find Mataya taking his arm and escorting him off stage just as the curtain fell on Act One. "What the hell's going on?" he asked, obviously confused. It wasn't so much Mataya's presence that confused him as it was her insistence that he leave, wondering if he'd done something wrong, though from the look on her face, she didn't seem angry in the least.

She smirked faintly. "I'm not saying a word until you're out of costume and ....less oily," she informed him. "Just take it as read this is a good thing, you're excellent as usual, but you have to hand over the second act to your understudy." She paused, looking him in the eye. "Have I ever lied to you?"

Her answer only led to more questions in his head, wondering what was so urgent that he had to leave before the play had hardly begun. "Not in so many words," he replied, narrowing his eyes at her as he tried to read his best friend's mind. No, she'd never lied to him, but there was definitely something she was keeping from him - something important, though he wasn't quite sure what it was yet. The wheels were turning in his head, and it was only a matter of time before he hit upon the answer.

"Then trust me, you're going to want to be out of that costume and make up in ten seconds flat when the penny drops," she grinned, giving him a prod to get him moving again. Charm had always been in her arsenal of weapons, but when push came to shove, 'Taya had a tendency to either lay it on thick, or drop it altogether. It all depended on how Jon reacted when he finally worked out what it was she wasn't telling him.

"When the penny..." he broke off, eyes widening as at last the wheels in his head stopping turning and he realized what she was hinting at. There could be only one thing that could cause Mataya to replace him in the middle of a production, and that was an emergency at home. "Is it time?" he asked excitedly, his mind turning immediately to his very pregnant wife who was not due for a few weeks yet.

She chuckled, giving him a shove into his dressing room. "Yes, it's very time," she informed him. "Liv's got your car, she's waiting by the stage door to take you to the hospital. Emily and Cosmo are with Humphrey, and Johnny's staying there to help out. Just get changed and wash your face, you're not gonna be any help at all if you're still Shakespeared up when you get there."

"It's time?" he repeated, realizing he's guessed correctly. "Now"! But she's not due for two weeks yet!" Give or take. Second babies often had a habit of arriving a little earlier than expected. "She's already at the hospital" Without me" Did her water break" How far is she dilated" Why didn't someone tell me"!" he asked, in a flurry of questions, turning to face her after being shoved unceremoniously into his dressing room. Yes, he was wasting time, but changing and getting dressed was wasting time, too. If the baby was coming, then Vicki needed him!

'Taya followed him into the room, closing the door behind her and catching up a towel, which she then threw at him. "Wash and change while I'm talking," she ordered him, in that peculiar no-nonsense tone she usually reserved for the rowdy chorus. "Yes, it's time; second babies tend to come sooner; yes, she's at the hospital; her waters broke about a minute before you came off stage; dilated to five centimeters; and I'm telling you now." She laid her hands on her hips. "You have time, Jon. And I'm not letting you out of here until you look normal."

He would have insisted that all he needed was a jacket to toss over his Shakespearean getup, but he knew enough not to argue with Mataya. If he could just manage to keep calm long enough to get changed, he might make it in time. If he panicked, they might have two patients on their hands. "Okay, alright. Five centimeters. That's not too bad yet, right' He knew once her water broke, the baby could come any time, and he wanted to be there when that happened. "I should have been there, damn it," he chided himself, wondering if he should have taken a leave of absence from the theater until after the baby was born, but both Vicki and Mataya had assured him it would be fine. Besides, he was likely to drive Vicki nuts with his constant hovering and coddling all the time.

"Five centimeters is halfway there," his best friend informed him calmly, certain of this since she'd been through it herself finally only a couple of months ago. "And you know as well as I do that fully dilated does not mean one push and you're done. You have plenty of time, Jon." She watched him struggle for a moment before addressing the self-chiding. "No, you shouldn't have been there. You're right where you should have been, and everything has happened exactly the way you and Vicki talked about. Emily is looked after, Vicki is where she needs to be, you got through half a performance without freaking out on stage, and you'll be at the hospital in time, I promise you."

"You're right," he said as he drew the towel across his face to wipe off the makeup, his stomach all tied up in knots, wishing he could just teleport himself to Vicki's bedside without having to go through all the rigmarole. But then, Mataya was always right. "Is Brian going to be able to handle things here?" he asked, knowing he would more than likely not be back to finish his run as the twins Antipholus this time around. Shakespeare was his favorite, but his role as a husband and father was far more important to him than that of an actor.

"Yep, he's all ready to go, and I'll make the announcement myself before the curtain goes up on the second act," she assured him, leaning comfortably back against the door. "I've got Charles working on the press release and the inserts for the programmes as we speak. Oh, and Ludo said to tell you he loves you, but he doesn't want to see you again until rehearsals for Anthony and Cleopatra." Which was at the end of June. Paternity leave at the Shanachie was definitely generous.

"Why didn't she tell me before I left?" he asked, not for the first time that day. He clasped his hands tightly together in his lap to stop them from shaking torn between telling Liv to speed up a little so they could get there faster and telling her to slow down so they didn't hit anything. "I'm not fidgeting!" he retorted. At least, not anymore now that he was holding his hands steady.

"She probably didn't tell you because you have a tendency to worry ahead of time," Liv told him as gently as she could. "Labor lasts a long time, Jon. You'd be exhausted before she got to the pushing if she told you when it all started up." Thankfully, she'd been right about how long it would take to get to the hospital - there it was, rising into view ahead of them. "She's on level seven, and they're expecting you."

"Me, worry?" he echoed, knowing she was right. Vicki knew him better than anyone, after all. Fortunately, he didn't seem to need to breathe into a paper bag this time. At least, not yet. His hand was on the door before the car was parked, though he had enough sense not to open the door yet. "She's the one who's going to be exhausted," he pointed out with a frown, wondering if he should have brought flowers. No, he'd have plenty of time to do that later. "Oh my God, Liv. I'm gonna be a father. Again," Jon breathed as if he was just realizing this now, in awe of it every time he had enough time to let it sink in.

"Yes, you are." Liv was trying not to giggle at his babbling as she parked the car, killing the engine to get herself out of the driving seat. A belated bark from the back seat announced that Bella had come along for the ride, apparently not happy about being left with Johnny and Cosmo at the big house while Liv was going around town on her own. Thankfully, Liv had had the foresight to put down a blanket before letting her dog use Jon's backseat as a couch.

"Not now, Cosmo!" Jon remarked at the bark, turning his head toward the back seat and expecting to see the border collie there, but instead it was the dog Johnny and Liv had adopted only a short time ago. "Oh, sorry, Bella. There's a good girl," he said, reaching behind him to give the dog a pat before turning back around to push the door open. Not a word was said about Liv having a dog in the car. He had far more important things to worry about than a little shedding dog hair. He drew a deep breath as he glanced over at Liv. "Wish me luck," he told her, though the luck was for both himself and for Vicki.

With Bella out of the car beside her, Liv locked up and pressed the keys into Jon's hand. "You don't need any luck," she assured him. "Either of you. You're professionals at this now." She reached up to give Jon a warm hug one armed, unsurprised when Bella nudged in between them to share in the affection. "We'll stay at the big house tonight, so don't worry about Mr. Granger, Cosmo, and Emily. Just survive the night."

He nodded his head, a little surprised to see Liv getting out with him. He'd thought she was going to take the car back to Maple Grove, but apparently he was wrong. He assumed she already it all sorted out though. All he needed to worry about was joining Vicki before she had their son without him. "I can't thank you enough, Liv. This goes way beyond what I pay you."

"Hey, what are friends for, right?" she asked with a grin, giving him a gentler push toward the main doors than Mataya would have done. "Go and be the man for your wife. I've got Bella to see me home safe. Right?" She looked down at the beautiful bitch beside her, who looked up and barked as though in reply. A week with Johnny and Liv had done wonders for the canine's confidence already.

He assumed she'd have the sense to take a cab if she needed one. It wasn't as though she couldn't afford it. He was more than generous with what he was paying her, and he'd given her a credit card to cover expenses when she needed it. "Thanks, Liv," he said, touching a grateful kiss to her cheek. "Maybe we can return the favor someday." Though nothing had been said, he knew Johnny and Liv were hoping to have a family of their own someday. "I'll call as soon as I can."

"Maybe." Liv smiled, waving him away before turning to walk Bella off hospital property. Might as well get a walk in before going back and rescuing Johnny from the Old Man and his great-grand-niece.

Jon paused a moment to wave back at her before turning and bounding up the stairs and into the hospital to find his wife. Seven, Liv had said. He knew the way well enough. He'd been here multiple times in the past, but thankfully, this time it was under happy circumstances.

Vicki was on her umpteenth circuit by the time he got past the security doors on level seven, paused by the nurses' station as a fresh contraction made itself known. Her hand was white-knuckled on the counter top, but somehow she still managed to raise a grimace of a smile for her slightly frantic husband. "Nice timing," she breathed in a huff, straightening up to give him a kiss. "We're getting close."

"Sorry, I came as soon as I could," he told his wife, noting the white-knuckled hold she had on the counter. She might be brave for the doctors and nurses, but he could tell from one look at her that she was in a good deal of pain. He returned her kiss before taking her arm to help her along. "How close?" he asked. Seeing her still on her feet was both comforting and worrisome. She wasn't so far along that she wasn't trying to walk the pain off, and yet, she was far enough along that she had gotten herself to the hospital.

"Close enough that ....you need to get me back into a bed pretty soon," she admitted, proving with one sentence that she'd been disobeying the nurses since getting here. Her hand slid into his as she leaned into him, more than happy to make use of his strength as she turned back toward the room she'd been put in for the duration. "You smell like slap."

"That's what happens when you have your husband called away in the middle of Shakespeare. If it wasn't for Mataya, I'd probably be here in tunic and sandals." He smiled at the thought of that, knowing it might have caused a mild uproar to have had Jonathan Granger arriving at the hospital to see his wife through labor in what amounted to a nightshirt. "I'll shower later," he promised, as he started back toward the rooms reserved for women in labor. "How's Junior?" he asked, obviously concerned for both his wife and child.

Vicki laughed softly, finding it all too easy to imagine Mataya De Luca bullying her husband off the stage and into street clothes before letting him leave the theater. They had to stop again fairly quickly as she was brought up short by another contraction, but she was getting better at coping with them, breathing deeply until the waves of pain eased off once again. "All plugged in and ready to go, apparently," she answered Jon's question as though the contraction hadn't interrupted them at all. "This one doesn't have Emily's good manners."

Having been through this once before, Jon sensed their son's need to nurse, or at the very least to bond with his mother in a way he couldn't do with his father. "Patience, little one," Jon told his young son quietly. "Your mother just went through an ordeal bringing you to life," he told him. Though Jon knew the infant wouldn't understand his words, he might find his voice soothing, as he had when he was still in his mother's womb. "What do you say, Vicki" Are you ready to meet our son?" he asked, with a soft smile on his face when Vicki was settled in bed.

"Can't we just stick a tube on it and let him suck from there?" she asked laughingly, tugging one of the pillows from behind her to settled underneath her arm before undoing the buttons on her clean night-gown. "I take it the little monster is already demanding his dinner, hmm?"

"He is his father's son," Jon replied, beaming proudly and happily at her, and why shouldn't he be? He was the proud father of two beautiful healthy children and married to the woman of his dreams. Life didn't get much better than this. Once she was settled and ready, he handed the little lad over, carefully placing the newborn in his mother's arms. "He's beautiful, Vicki. I'm so happy." If she looked, she might see tears of happiness in her husband's eyes. He was, after all, something of an emotional sort.

She smiled, better luck with baby number two in getting him latched on the first time than she'd had with Emily. Blue eyes rose to meet Jon's tearfully happy gaze. "Of course he's beautiful," she told him gently. "He's your son." She looked down at their baby boy, genuinely touched by how comfortable the child looked as he suckled for the first time, stroking her fingertip against his cheek. "Cleverer than Emily, though," she chuckled. "This one didn't need a map to find my boob."

"Maybe he'll have better luck with women than I did," Jon remarked, seeing a little irony in the situation. Though he didn't recall the tumultuous love life he'd had before he'd met Vicki, he hoped his own son would not make the same mistakes he'd made or suffer the same heartaches. "All's well that ends well," he said, quoting Shakespeare. He reached over to brush his wife's hair away from her face, turning his attention to the woman who'd stolen his heart and saved his soul. "You never cease to amaze me, Mrs. Granger." And from the sound of his voice and the look on his face, he meant that in the very best way.

"Oh, yes, I should get a medal," she chuckled softly, her attention leaving their son to train upon her husband tenderly. They were as private here as they were ever going to get, and the next few weeks promised to be somewhat hectic. Thankfully, however, they had plenty of help on hand. "I love you, Jon. I can't think of anything else I can say that would express it better."

"Some feelings can't be expressed in words, Vicki," he smiled softly, happily back at her. "What do you think Emily is going to think of her baby brother?" he asked, his fingers stroking her cheek as his eyes turned back to the suckling newborn.

She laughed quietly, resting her head on his shoulder as he looked down at Ben. "I have no idea," she admitted, and that was a worry in itself. Emily was only just fourteen months old herself - hopefully she was close enough in age with her little brother not to mind too much that he had arrived at all. "Maybe I can convince her to use him as a living dolly for a while. Get her to help looking after him, maybe."

There was no need to worry that either Emily or Benjamin would lack for love or attention so long as they lived in the Granger household. There were plenty of people ready and willing to step up and help the young couple, both family and friends, and Jon wasn't too worried. He had no doubt Emily would come to adore her baby brother as much as he adored his own siblings. "Should I bring her to visit in the next day or so?" he asked, knowing there were designated sibling visitation hours, but not wanting to tire his wife out.

Vicki nodded. "As soon as you can," she told him quietly. "I don't want her to feel left out or pushed aside, and with any luck, I'll be home tomorrow evening. Everything went well tonight, and Ben's obviously a healthy little scrapper." She smiled down at the baby as he smacked his lips, finished for now, and gently raised him onto her shoulder to rub his back as his head wobbled around, turning his blinking eyes toward Jon. "I completely forgot to check the bag for her big sister present."

"It's all right. I'll double-check before I leave for the night, and if you forgot, I'll sneak it in tomorrow." He chuckled a little at the little boy who seemed to have honed in on his father's voice and was searching inquisitively for him. Jon reached over to touch the baby's hand, his heart melting as tiny fingers curled around an index finger. "He's got a strong grip," he observed, noticing how easily the baby's name came to both their lips. Benjamin seemed to fit for some reason. "I can bring Emily up after lunch. Let you get a little rest first."

She smiled ruefully, remembering the ill-fated attempt last time around to stay awake all day that had ended with Johnny and Liv getting a crash course in Baby 101 without supervision. "I'll rest," she promised him. "I'm not making that mistake again. And neither are you," she added, nudging him with her elbow gently. "No more getting up when I get up this time, Jonathan Granger, or I'll dose you with cold meds."

Jon smirked, blue eyes bright with amusement and happiness. "Yes, dear," he replied, remembering the first days after Emily had been born and how exhausted they'd both been. They had both learned a lot about babies in the last year, and with any luck, things would be easier this time around, even with two to care for, instead of one. "Mataya said I'm not expected back at the theater until June." It meant missing Cyrano, but he was sure there were other competent actors who'd like their turn in the limelight.

"Right," Vicki drew out the word with a laughing smirk of her own as beside her ear, Ben burped hugely and dropped his head on her shoulder, still gripping Jon's finger. "She's enforcing long paternity and maternity leave on us, but she's back at work within six weeks. I'm sensing a double-standard here."

"That's 'Taya for you," he replied with a chuckle of his own. Look for the definition of workaholic in the dictionary and Jon was certain you'd find Mataya De Luca. "Anyway, we both deserve a break." It was true. They'd both been busting their butts the last few months, juggling work and family. They never seemed to get much time for a break lately. "I say we enjoy it. He's only going to stay little for so long."

"Oh, I'm not complaining this time," she laughed quietly, shaking her head as she lifted Ben down from her shoulder once again. "Now then, little man, should we give you a wash before we get you into your clothes and put you down, or are you going to burst my eardrums again if we try?"

"I'll take care of him, Vicki. You need to rest," Jon volunteered, wanting to do his part in this whole child-raising thing. It was the least he could do when his wife had just endured hours of pain giving birth, not to mention months of feeling like a beached whale.