"I haven't been to London since I was fifteen!" Scout exclaimed, clapping her hands like a child.

George looked at her delightedly. They were sitting in the back of a plush black SUV, much like the one they'd driven to Surrey in, except this one was hired for the day and had a privacy screen and a driver. George decided it would be easier than looking for parking all over the city while they ran their errands and he went to his various meetings.

"Thank you, George, for letting me tag along," Scout declared, leaning over to kiss him.

"You're so very welcome," he responded, smiling and kissing her back, putting his arms around her and making the kiss last. "You know, having a driver makes being in a car with you much more fun," he murmured a few minutes later. "Except, Jesus, we have to get out in a minute, and I'm sporting major wood," he laughed, sitting up and adjusting the front of his pants.

Scout laughed her melodic, musical laugh, sitting up and smoothing down her dress. She'd lately begun to wear actual maternity clothes, and today she was wearing a pretty dress, covered with pink lace and snowflakes. George thought he'd never seen her look so beautiful.

They got out in front of a tall building, where George had a meeting scheduled with his "team", a group comprised of lawyers, a manager, a publicist, and Kelly, along with some other people Scout didn't know. Scout had been mildly surprised that morning to see George in a shirt with a collar, and realized that it was the first time she'd ever seen him so attired, and with a tie, no less, though it was a loosely knotted, whimsical Christmas tie.

George grabbed her hand and helped her out of the car and they entered the building, where he greeted the security guard by name. They took the silent elevator up to the twenty-seventh floor and got out, where, again, he knew everyone by name, and they headed down the hall to a conference room.

Everyone was already assembled, and all looked their way when they entered. They all looked mildly surprised to see Scout, and stared curiously at her, but Kelly was the one Scout was worried about. Scout saw the blonde woman blanch as her gaze locked on her and George's clasped hands, and she also saw her eyes widen as she saw Scout's maternity dress.

Greetings were called out all around as George waved and grinned at everyone.

"Everyone, this is my girlfriend, Scout," he said, putting a hand on her back. "And this is our bump," he added, dropping her hand and stroking her tummy. "We might have a name for you come next April, okay?" And he smiled happily around the room as people cried out in surprise and gladness.

Scout heard calls of, "Wow, man!" and, "Jesus, George, really?" and "Congratulations! Why didn't you tell us sooner?" as people came around the table to shake his hand and hug him and, in some cases, her.

But through it all Kelly remained seated, smiling cautiously, disbelieving. Probably no one but Scout noticed her lack of participation in the well wishes which the people in the room were bestowing on Scout and George. Scout uneasily recalled the conversation she'd overheard between George and Kelly on the staircase at Farraway Mist, when he'd told her in no uncertain terms that there was no chance of there ever being anything between him and Scout.

And now she was carrying his child.

Scout sat and listened attentively to the relatively short meeting, considering how long George had been out of the game. He was going to head into the studio next year to record, and probably film another movie in the fall, which seemed so exciting and alien to Scout, though George had assured her that it was actually extremely tedious and boring. He really just wanted to stay home with her and the baby, and if he'd known his personal life was going to get so exciting, he would've put all this other stuff off a few more years, he'd told her.

"So," a tall man with a beard said to Scout, "I suppose we have you to thank for bringing George back to us, then?" Scout thought his name was Nash, though she wasn't sure.

"I'm sorry? What do you mean?" she asked, confused. "All I've done is try to put his library back together, that's all." She smiled at the assembled people.

"Well, all I know is six months ago he wouldn't return anyone's calls and had no interest in doing anything, and now he has a full year of work booked, and the only difference in his life is you, and it's a huge difference, so I'll put it down to your influence," Nash said, eyes twinkling. "He certainly looks different, and I haven't seen him this happy in a long time, so thanks for that as well, young lady."

"You're completely right, as it happens, Nash," George said, lifting Scout's hand to press a kiss to her knuckles. "You see before you a changed man," he announced to the room with a smile. "Amazing what being really happy will do for a person," he said.

"Okay, you have to stop now, I'm getting embarrassed," Scout said softly, and everyone could see she was turning red.

The meeting broke up shortly after that, but George got called back into the room as they were leaving, so Scout dashed into the bathroom, and was waylaid by Kelly as she was washing her hands.

The petite, blonde woman had obviously been crying a little.

"You probably think you've got it made, don't you?" she began, dabbing at her eyes as she made eye contact with Scout in the mirror.

"I'm sorry, what?" Scout asked. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't give me that," Kelly said, eyes narrowing, turning to Scout. "You probably never thought you'd get someone like George in your wildest dreams, did you? I bet you never had a fellow in your life until now. You were probably passed over at school dances, never asked out, never snogged properly, definitely never shagged, am I right?" She smiled viciously.

"You know George thought you were a lesbian, right? He actually thought you were a man when he first saw your photograph," she continued, nodding. "How ever did you manage it, hm?" She took a step closer to Scout.

Scout took a compensatory step back.

"How did you manage to entice him, with that shapeless figure of yours?" Kelly looked Scout up and down. "I mean, you know who his first wife was, right? And who he was with before that?" She looked down at herself. "He was with me. But even I couldn't compete with Tessa, you know? Runway model, fashion week, Vogue, Paris, then she got those boobs, then she was a Victoria's Secret Angel, one of the most beautiful and photographed women in the world. George couldn't keep his hands off her." She smiled at Scout.

"Did you know they once nearly got arrested for shagging in one of the screening rooms at the Cannes Film Festival?" She nodded at the sick look on Scout's face. "Oh yeah, they couldn't even wait until they got back to the hotel, they were that randy for each other. They were so high that night, too! He used to do lines of blow off her naked body, he thought it was the sexiest thing in the world." Kelly's eyes were shining as she spoke to Scout, who was holding on to the edge of the sink.

Scout looked up, trying to see if she could get around Kelly and get out of the bathroom, but when she tried, Kelly moved, frighteningly quickly, blocking her way out, and Scout was scared, scared for herself and for her baby. Kelly looked crazy, Scout saw real madness in her eyes.

Kelly's eyes dipped again to Scout's protruding dress. "You think you're special? You think you're the first person to do that?" She gestured toward Scout's tummy, and Scout put her hands on her abdomen in a futile gesture of protection.

What?

Behind Kelly, she could hear people pounding on the door to the bathroom. She was pretty sure one of them was George. Apparently they couldn't get the door open.

"George!" Scout shouted, hoping he could hear her.

"Yeah, why don't you ask George?" Kelly was saying in a sinuous voice. "Ask him if this is the first time he's ever been waiting to be a daddy, hm? See what he says?"

What?

By now Kelly was right up in Scout's face, and Scout was backed up against the wall, with nowhere left to go.

"Can you please get away from me?" she asked firmly.

"No!" Kelly shouted, just as the door crashed open behind her, shattering the tiles of the bathroom wall.

Four or five people ran into the bathroom, George among them. They all saw Kelly pushing against Scout, with Scout holding the shorter woman off by the arms. George ran to them and roughly pulled Kelly off, throwing her behind him.

"Get the fuck off her," he yelled. "Scout, darling, are you okay?" he asked, pulling her into a hug.

"I'm fine," she reassured him, smoothing her hair off her face. "I'm fine, George, honest, relax, okay?"

"Couldn't get the door open," he said. "Damnedest thing, it wasn't locked or anything, almost like someone on the other side was holding it shut..."

Kelly, who'd hit the floor, slowly rose.

"I was just telling her about your last similar experience, George," she announced with a smile. Scout could tell by the blank looks on the faces of the other people in the bathroom that they, too, had no idea what she was talking about.

Maybe she was just crazy. God knew there was plenty of evidence to support that theory.

"Could you guys just get her the fuck out of here, please?" George asked them, and they took her by the arms and led her out.

"Are you really okay?" he asked her softly. "Do you need to sit down? Or maybe we should go home?" He looked into her eyes, kissing her forehead.

"George, are you fucking kidding me? I still have to buy Christmas presents for half my family," Scout said with a laugh. "I can't let some blonde bimbo with big boobs run me out of town. Now let's just grab some lunch and get on with the rest of our day, okay?"

"I knew there was a reason I loved you," he said, grinning at her.

"I thought it was my impeccable pedigree," she said seriously.

"Yeah, that, too," he agreed, nodding. "Plus you look absolutely adorable in that pink dress, too." And he dropped a kiss on her nose. "Let's grab lunch."

And the topic that crazy Kelly had brought up was not brought up between the two of them.