Dr. Helen Magnus

Helen wasn't exactly in the interest of keeping her plans for Will's birthday a secret but she imagined he wouldn't want a big party and would prefer to spend it quietly and at home as they'd done for the past two years. That was more than fine with Helen, who was still sleep deprived more often than not, and she took Gregory with her up to the Compound to bake what she felt like was a spectacular cake. It had just a touch of chocolate in the sauce and banana in the cake part - while it wasn't chocolate banana nut bread, it was close enough to the concept while still passing for an actual birthday cake.

She'd dressed Gregory in his little Blue Jays onesie and a teeny baseball cap that she coaxed from the box and, cake done, started going through the machinations to get both cake and baby back down to the hut by the time Will got home. With the stroller, it was quite simple, and she would have to remember to thank Nikola yet again for his generous gift.

Once she got back home, she laid Gregory in his cradle (where he was more than enthralled with the mobile Uncle Nikola had made him) and dressed herself - she could finally fit back in the green dress from St. Patrick's the year before last and she knew it was one of Will's favorites. She spritzed on a bit of her rapidly-dwindling perfume but left her hair loose and simple, just the way Will liked it.

"Today is your daddy's birthday," Helen sing-songed, completely shameless when it came to babytalking around Gregory. "We're going to make sure he has a good time, aren't we? Yes, we are."

Helen hadn't entirely expected the baby to come early and with the whirlwind of Thanksgiving and labor, it was really only a few days later that it sank in that she and Will were parents. She and Gregory were still settling into a rhythm with feeding and at the moment, it was more 'he cries, you feed' than anything else. While it was exhausting, the hard bits were yet to come, and Helen felt like the days were starting to run together.

It was just before dawn this time when Gregory cried and it was much easier to bring him to her breast and nurse when he was asleep beside her than the first few times when she'd gotten up to get him from his cradle; Helen had a sinking suspicion that Gregory was going to end up in bed with them more often than not.

Once she'd gotten Gregory settled and nursing happily, she looked over at Will, who seemed just as bleary-eyed as she felt. "I believe it may actually be our anniversary, if I've got my days and nights straightened out. Happy anniversary, Will."

Helen had originally been of two minds when it came to knowing the sex of their unborn child but the idea that it might spark some sort of memory for Will tipped her over into wanting to know. Besides, he had wanted to know the sex before he lost his memories and Helen felt like she owed it to him, among other things.

She was, predictably enough, incredibly healthy and strong and the baby had obliged turning over in such a way that they could see they were having a boy. While Helen knew she and Will would have been happy with a girl, certainly, a boy was what they'd both wanted deep down. Helen couldn't wait to see him in the little baseball outfits that Will had picked out or to see Will teaching him how to play catch and the like.

As they left the clinic, Helen slid her hand in Will's just like she used to before the island had decided to steal his memories. "A boy. I was really hoping we were having a boy and I'm so excited. You are too, I trust?"

Pregnancy milestones seemed to come a bit faster for Helen with this pregnancy than with Ashley and she suspected it was, in part, because Will was so excited. He'd been apprehensive and shocked at first, yes, but he'd warmed up to it and it eased her concerns considerably. There was no way she was doing this alone.

She'd had a prenatal checkup (everything fine, of course) and Will had gone with, giddy as she was. But today, she had her stethoscope from the clinic and was down in the vet's office with a very particular goal in mind: heartbeats.

She should be able to hear it by now at 16 weeks, give or take, and while it would have been easier with more sophisticated equipment, Helen had every confidence she and Will could find it. They'd both been to medical school, after all.

So she was stretched out on the exam table, shirt rucked up, and trying to instruct Will where the baby was most likely to be.

"Try it a bit to the left, perhaps? They don't always sit in the same place, in my experience. You'll want to be sure it's faster than my pulse."

It was the second year that Helen had to plan a birthday for Will as his (wife, this year, girlfriend last) significant other and while last year's attempt had been absolutely well-received, she was nothing if not interested in constant improvement. To that end, she'd decided to plan a picnic for them at the waterfalls. She'd wanted to go to the second island but after having gone with Nikola to scout a place and it ending disastrously, well. That was nixed.

She'd woken him up in (what she hoped) was a particularly-nice way and shooed him off to deal with patients while she went to put them together a picnic basket and bake a cake. She could have just asked Shari for one at the bakery, yes, but Helen wanted something she'd made with her own two hands and while she didn't have chocolate for the frosting, she managed to top it with a bit of sugar and a mango-rum sauce that she thought had come out quite nicely.

That done and the hour rapidly approaching when she'd told Will to meet her, she donned her bikini and her favorite cover-up (blue, with little white daisies printed on it) and carried the basket down to the waterfalls to meet him.

After seeing John off, as it was, Helen was sort of loose ends rattling around her hut-now-house waiting on Will to get home. She sort of wanted to seek him out directly but, considering John was out there and may or may not be sane, she didn't want to take the risk of him catching her unawares.

Every little sound of the house settling had her on alert and when the door finally swung in, she called out to confirm it was actually Will before leaving her bedroom.

"Will? Is that you?"

[From Here]

Helen nodded, sliding her hand down to take his and squeeze it. Maybe it would just be best to spend some time together and let Will process what he'd received and if she could help, she would. Just as it'd been last year after Halloween, Helen wanted to comfort him, and she hoped she was equipped to do a good job at easing his anxiety even though she wasn't trained to do so.

She was quiet on the walk there, just keeping close, and she let them into the hut before nodding toward where she'd laid out her pajamas.

"Should I change for bed, you think? I doubt we'll be going anywhere."

Helen had been supposed to meet Juliet for breakfast at the Winchester on Saturday morning and when she hadn't showed, she'd gone to her hut. She was...gone. No sign of her things, no sign of her, nothing. She'd asked one of her neighbors, a silver-haired fellow named Jack O'Neill, and the two of them had searched for a while before Jack said that he couldn't find a trace of her and she must have disappeared from the island entirely. Helen thanked him for his help and her steps were heavy as she made her way back to see Will.

Her heart caught when Will was still there, feeding Roy, and her voice was slightly shaky when she spoke.

"Will? Could...could we talk for a moment, darling?"

Something strange was afoot on the island and Helen wanted to keep as quiet as possible as to keep from blurting out something or other she shouldn't. She'd done well enough, spending most of the day in private research in order to brush up on animal surgical techniques. She spent a few hours in the Council office as well, handling a few items of business and familiarizing herself with the files kept on the island residents. A great many talented people came to this island, it seemed, and Helen felt lucky they'd chosen her to lead them.

Exhausted, she let herself back into the hut and dressed for bed in a light, cool gown before flopping into bed. Please, please don't let Will ask her anything.

She'd barely caught her breath when she fell back on the pillow and this, Helen mused, was the absolute best part about being with Will. He made her feel, feel so much more than she'd felt in almost a century, and as confident and as amazing a woman as she knew she was, he still made her nervous as a schoolgirl.

Which was why Helen Magnus was tossing and turning in her bed, trying to find a way to ask Will Zimmerman a very important question. A question which he'd said no to, some months before, and that had her more nervous than anything.

"Will?"