Kathy sobbed and shook her head. "Oh Nick! It just seems like nothing is going right for us. It's like a curse."

Nick slid into the chair beside Kathy, pulling her into his embrace. "God would not do that to an innocent child Kathy. It's not a curse." She sniffled and buried her head in the hollow of his neck and shoulder. "Tell me what's wrong."

"She said the baby's heart doesn�t appear to be developing properly, and if the condition doesn't improve, the baby may be stillborn or die soon after birth." A fresh set of tears coursed down Kathy's cheeks.

Nick stroked her face gently. "We'll get a second opinion." his voice was strong and firm.

"What good will that do?" Kathy asked, her voice hollow.

"Carter's are strong. No doctor is going to tell me my child won't live. We Carter's are survivors."

Kathy glanced up at her husband. Tears had traced a path down his face, but now he looked determined. "You certainly are." she admitted. Anyone who knew what Nick had gone through since the plane crash that had claimed his sight 4 years ago could not deny that this Carter at least, was a survivor.

Nick placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. "We'll go see another doctor in the morning. You look in the phone book and find the best one. Alexa might know someone."

Kathy gasped slightly. "I can't ask her, not after all this, it would be too awkward."

"I'm sorry." Nick apologized quickly. "I spoke before I thought. You could call the hospital though, they could refer you."

"Alright." Kathy hugged Nick tightly and he kissed her cheek again. "I love you." she whispered.

"Not half as much as I love you." Nick vowed.

"Is this the end of whatever we were going through?" Kathy wondered aloud.

"I sure hope so." Nick stood and pulled Kathy up to stand next to him. "I never want to feel that way again."

Kathy looked down at Tigger, still sleeping soundly on the couch. She glanced at her watch, surprised by the time she nudged Nick. "Let's take Tig to bed, he probably won't wake up now."

"What about dinner?"

"We'll worry about it when he wakes up, right now I want to catch up on some quality time with my husband, just him and me. That okay with you?" She gathered Tigger up and handed him gently to Nick. "You take him to bed, darling."

Nick held his son to his chest, tears falling down his face once again. She trusted him. She loved him. They were going to have another baby.

"Thank you Kathy, for everything."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alexa was pacing in the hallway. If she didn't pace, she sat staring at the test willing it to turn out the way she wanted it to. So she paced. It was less nerve-wracking.

She�d come across the pregnancy test that Taylor had bought when she was digging around in the bathroom for something else. She�d stared at the box for a few minutes, and then taken the test before she could back out. It was the perfect time; Taylor was out, she was by herself in the apartment. She was still getting sick regularly; the flu should have been long since over. She needed to find out. She still didn�t know what she was going to do if...

The timer sounded, and Alexa stared at the bathroom door. Oh good lord, I can't look. She took a couple of deep breaths.

The image started to blur as she looked at the test, and she held her eyes shut, said a little prayer, and then opened them. Same result. Oh God! "I can't be." Her voice was barely more than a whisper. She felt her hand start to shake as she walked blindly to the nearest phone. The numbers were barely visible through her tears, but she finally managed to dial a number.

"Hello?"

"God, Nicky. I'm so glad you answered. We need to talk."

"What is it, Lex?" He could hear the emotion in her voice, but he didn't know exactly how to read it.

"Can you get away? I don't want this to be over the phone."

She heard him put his hand over the phone and call to Kathy, but she couldn't hear the response. A second later he was back. "Can't. Kathy's watching me real close now, and I can't really blame her. I'm trying to make this right."

Alexa nodded, sighing. She understood that. She was still wondering if there was a way to do that.

"Lex? You still there?"

"Yes, Nick. Still here. It's just not something I wanted to say on the phone." She looked again at the test, still clutched in her hand. It wasn't something she wanted to have to say at all. Not now. She noticed Nick didn't say anything. She figured it meant he was waiting for her to go on. "Nick, I'm pregnant."

"Fuck!" The curse was muffled, Alexa assumed it was in case anyone was nearby to hear him. He babbled for a second, and then spoke, anxiety riddled through his voice. "Is it... It can't be..." He never finished a sentence.

"I don't know, Nick. That's why I'm telling you."

"Does AJ know?"

"No." The one word spoke volumes.

"You have to tell him. If it's his..."

"At this point it's an IF, Nick. You know that as well as I do." Alexa didn't mean to sound as harsh as she had. "I'm sorry, Nick. I just..." She�d wanted to give him some warning.

"I know." He sighed heavily. "Listen, you have to go to a doctor and get a real test. They can tell you timing and stuff right?" It was still a rarity for Nick to be in the responsible role, but in this case, he knew it was what he needed to do.

"I am a doctor."

"Alexa."

She gave a defeated sigh. He wasn't going to give up, and she knew he was right anyway. She just didn't want to make this situation that permanent. "I know. Right away."

Alexa heard him cover the phone again, and a muffled conversation ensued. She waited, knowing she was putting Nick in yet another awkward situation, just by calling. She knew he must be talking to Kathy. "I have to go. Let me know what happens." Nick's tone had changed. Alexa realized Kathy was probably still standing nearby.

"Okay. Thanks. And I'm sorry."

"It's okay, just... take care of yourself."

Alexa held the phone for a moment, the receiver still next to her ear. What was she supposed to do now?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alexa was curled up on the sofa, her knees hugged tightly to her chest, when Taylor first saw her. Taylor looked at the blank way Alexa was staring toward the television curiously. "Uh, Lex? You know the TV�s not on, right?" There was no reaction from Alexa, and Taylor sighed before flicking an envelope at her. "Fine, here. This was downstairs for you."

Blinking her eyes, Alexa finally looked at Taylor, before picking up the envelope that had landed beside her. The paper inside slid to the other end as she flipped it over, staring at her name addressing the front. She recognized the handwriting, and her stomach jumped. She flipped it back over, and ripped it open, pulling out the folded paper.

Taylor was still standing nearby, trying to be inconspicuous, watching everything Alexa did. To her every move seemed excruciatingly slow. She jumped at the sound of Alexa�s voice.

"You might as well sit down, if you�re going to hover over there anyway." She unfolded the paper without looking at Taylor, and let her eyes skim over it. She read it twice before sighing and tossing it to Taylor, who had just sat down. "Here, snoopy." She passed one hand over her eyes, and sighed again.

Taking the note in one hand, Taylor�s eyes ran over the words quickly and then her brow furrowed. "I don�t get it. Shouldn�t you be happy?" She glanced at the note again, "A formal invitation to dinner at Chez AJ. Am I missing something?"

Alexa spoke quietly before Taylor could say anything further, "I took the test." She didn�t raise her eyes from where they were focussed on the floor, waiting for the expected reaction from Taylor.

"You what?" She waited for Alexa to elaborate, and when she didn�t Taylor sat silently trying to figure out what was going on. She gasped suddenly, drawing Alexa�s eyes from the floor, "Oh my god. You�re pregnant."

Alexa nodded glumly.

"Ohmigawd, I�m gonna be an aunt." Taylor grinned for only a second. "But you�re not happy about this, are you?" She was shaking her head at Alexa.

"I want to be, I want kids, but the timing right now is just so bad." She fiddled with the edge of the pillow in her hand.

"You don�t think AJ will be happy?"

"Haven�t thought too much about it considering I don�t know for sure that it�s his."

Taylor looked puzzled for a second, until she realized what Alexa meant, "Oh Lord... I hadn�t thought of that."

Alexa nodded, "Exactly. I wish I hadn�t. I might actually be able to convince myself to be happy about this."

"Then you need to find out for sure." Taylor sat straight like that statement solved all the problems.

"Already have an appointment day after tomorrow. But how do I go see him tomorrow and pretend I�m not keeping some major secret. He�ll see right through it."

Taylor sighed, deep in thought. "You can�t not go. Not when you�re just back together. So you go, if you tell him, then he knows, and if you don�t then you tell him later, after you�re sure."

"And I have to deal with the fact that he realizes I was keeping it from him. Yup, that�s a much better idea. Either way this sucks Taylor." Alexa suddenly punched at the pillow, frustrated with herself for letting this happen.

"Okay, so listen, this is what you do." Taylor sat on the edge of her seat, hands spread wide, ready to share her plan. "You go over there tomorrow with every intention of telling him the whole truth. But don�t just suddenly blurt it out, or something stupid like that, you have to find the right moment, right? And if that moment doesn�t come about, then you just wait. Then it�s not like you were intentionally keeping it from him, it just didn�t happen to come up in the conversation." She blinked at Alexa, waiting for a response.

Alexa looked skeptically at Taylor through half-closed eyes. "Ya, y�know that something that just comes up in regular conversation... " She shook her head. "This SO sucks."

"You know, Lex, it might all turn out just fine, and you�d be all depressed and whiney for nothing."

"I�m glad you�re optimistic." She�d been trying to hope it would all turn out perfectly all afternoon. So far she was failing miserably. She just kept dwelling on the worst case scenario.

"One of us has to be. So you�re going to go tomorrow, right?"

"Of course...." Unless she figured out some way to be working, what other option did she have? She just hated the idea of having to lie...

"And what are you going to tell him?"

It took Alexa a minute before she answered. "I have no idea."