Title: Surprise

Author: Alison (a.c.barker@student.murdoch.edu.au)

Author's note: A while ago I was ready to end In the Absence of Fear
forever and so out of frustration I created this. Its ***very*** short and
not very intersting, but Livvy told me that I should grab life by the
testicles and...oh wait. I said that. Sorry Livvy. She just said that I
should post it. So here it is. Pay attention to the ending.

Disclaimer: DEK owns most of the characters (Although he hasn't yet created
the child, so maybe I could sue him if he decides to write one into the
show…) and I take no credit for them. I mean no harm to the show.

****************************************************************

The doors swished open before me and hissed shut again as I walked through
them in pure bliss. This was better than my first kiss (Michael Evans,
sixth grade), better than graduating from law school (Harvard)…even better
than all the victories in court put together (too many to name). People
were staring at me curiously as I passed them by, but that was probably
because I was walking about ten feet above the ground. I could feel a grin
spreading across my face and I laughed as the people looked away nervously.
Can't anybody smile at strangers anymore? Have we become so closed off to
the notion of being a community? Or are we too busy embracing individualism
– the "I don't have to value your opinion because I'm an individual and you
should respect me for that " religion. I would normally feel bad about the
decay of the community spirit, bit I felt far too happy for that.

I finally reached the office and tried to compose myself before heading
through the doors. How will I tell him? I had been so afraid when I
realised that I was so late – the pages of my diary had been frantically
flicked through as I counted the days. I was in the middle of a big trial
at the time and it just didn't seem right to be so serious when all I
wanted was to smile for the rest of my life – the muscles in my cheeks
became sore as I tried to repress my feelings through hours in court. I
remember the curious and later the frustrated looks that I received from
everybody – defence and prosecution alike. Of course I didn't have proof at
that time, but I could feel it deep down and it felt so right. Now I had
proof. But the arrival of the proof meant that I would finally have to
reveal my secret.

In the elevator I took a deep breath and felt my hand unconsciously travel
down to my stomach. Of course I could feel nothing, except an overwhelming
peace descend around me as I focussed on that area. The dinging of the
elevator startled me and my hand dropped to my side as I pushed through the
people waiting to get in. The familiar faces looked up as I walked in the
door. I was sure that in the trip from the elevator to the office my belly
had suddenly bloated into a full term pregnancy and that everybody could
see it. But they simply smiled hello and continued on with their work. I
sighed with relief. "Is Bobby back yet?" I couldn't believe how composed my
voice sounded.
"He's in his office," Lucy replied distractedly.
"Thanks," I felt normalcy return and knocked briefly on Bobby's door.
"Hey," he smiled warmly.
"Hey."
"Where did you disappear to this morning?"
"I had an...uh…an appointment."
"An appointment?"
"Hmmm." I lowered myself onto the sofa and watched him direct his focus
back to the file he had on his desk. I loved to watch him work. His
determined concentration was almost child-like and very endearing. I waited
for his attention to revert back to me.
"What appointment?" he asked, looking up from his file again.
"With Dr. Elliot."
A frown appeared on his face and I saw his sudden concern, "Is something
wrong?"
"No. Not wrong exactly."
The wheels were turning in his head and I could see that he had guessed.
"Really?" he grinned broadly.
"Really what?" I teased, drawing out his agony.
He jumped up and sat next to me, taking my hand in his. His hands were
always so warm and they enveloped mine completely. He played with the rings
on my finger and waited for me to reveal the truth.
"Due date, March 14th," I whispered in his ear intimately.
The smile that covered his face was contagious and I felt myself laughing
with excitement. He kissed me hungrily then wrapped his arms around me. I
surrendered to his embrace, contemplating the hectic marriage that had
preceded this day of immense joy. There had been the surprising engagement,
the romantic wedding and weeks of heated arguments in between. The
arguments were still as passionate and regular in occurrence, but the
making up made all feelings of hurt and anger worthwhile. My diary had
received sudden attention as the doctor predicted when the conception must
have taken place. The day pointed to the middle of a major trial and I can
almost hear the words that we had yelled at each other across my desk. For
the first time, I had feared that our marriage wouldn't last and the same
fear had also appeared on his face. He had stayed late that night and
exhausted, I had fallen into bed, still feeling hurt and angry. He had soon
joined me and neither of us could stay angry at each other for very long.
The night had been amazing as we both released all the tension that had
built up over the weeks of the trial. We had both appeared in court the
next day with smiles on our faces, they contrasted with the gloomy, tired
faces of everybody else.

Bobby pulled away and said thoughtfully,
"We'll have to convert the spare room to a nursery."
"It's too soon to think about that," I teased him.
He frowned, "Its never too soon to think about these things."
I nodded, "You're right…we can paint it pink." I thought dreamingly of our
little girl in a pink palace of lace and elegance.
He wrinkled his nose with distaste, "Pink? I was thinking more along the
lines of blue."
"Blue is for boys."
"Do you have insider information? How do you know it won't be a boy?"
"I just have a feeling."
He shook his head at me and said with assurance, "It will be a boy."

I laughed at his determination. We hugged again, I felt his kisses on my
neck; they moved to my cheek and finally found my lips. We sat for what
seemed like hours just sharing the excitement, until Lucy walked in and
destroyed the feeling.
"Didn't you get enough at home?" she asked darkly.
"No," Bobby replied earnestly. I slapped him playfully, causing him to
smile jokingly back at me; we both laughed.
Lucy looked at us both as though we were out of our minds, "Bobby, I need
you to sign these before I can fax them."
"Put them on my desk," he gestured casually in the general direction and
Lucy hurriedly deposited the papers before rushing out the door.
"They need to be faxed within an hour. So can you hurry?" She pleaded.
"Sure."
I could see that the papers wouldn't be signed as long as I was sitting
next to him. "I have to get back to work," I announced, eliciting groans
from Bobby.
"So soon? We have to celebrate."
"Tonight," I promised enticingly.
"Okay. But I'm not going to get any work done."
"Good. You work too hard anyway." I stood up and felt him tug me down onto
his lap, "You're not going just yet."
"Oh really?" I leaned back against his chest.
"Can we call him Ben?"
I laughed again, "Who says it's going to be a he?"
He mimicked me perfectly, "I just have a feeling."
I slapped him.
"I love you," he said seriously.
"I love you too," I replied. The kiss tingled through my body and I decided
that if I didn't go now, I would lose all the resolve to work. "I have
cases to work on," I stood in the doorway, enjoying is disappointment,
before closing it gently and turning to face everybody in the office. We
would tell them soon, I decided. But not today – today was our day and we
needed to enjoy it alone. I looked up as my best friend walked in the door.

"Helen!" she exclaimed. "I've been trying to call you all morning."
"Hey Babe," I smiled at her blissfully. "Are you free for lunch?"
"Sure. McAllisters at one?" Lindsay asked.
"I'll see you there."
I couldn't wait to tell her the news.

THE END

**********************************************

Ha ha! You thought it was Lindsay that was pregnant, didn't you? It was
originally going to be about Lindsay, but I felt cruel. I'm sorry it is so
short. I'll go back to writing "In the Absence of Fear" now.