*This story, though not directly related to 9.13, will spoil a HUGE plotpoint from that episode, so if you haven't seen it yet, avert your eyes immediately*

Hello again everyone! First off, I would like to thank everyone who read, or who read and reviewed the 2 165 487 stories that I put out last week – it's always a real treat to hear (read) what you guys think, and please know that I appreciate you taking the time to read my stories, and if you feel up to it, send me a review. My next task will be to reply to the reviews, so hopefully you'll find those in your inboxes soon!

There's nothing that I can really say to set this story up because I'm pretty sure that the title gives it away, so I'll let you just get on with it already. And please forgive me if it's a little weird or unrealistic – I don't have any kids and I'm the baby of the family (though since I just turned another year older yesterday you can hardly call me a baby anymore), so I've never had this type of conversation. I just went with what seemed plausible.

Oh, just so you know, I noticed that the fabulous laurzz has put up a story with a similar idea. I haven't read it, so if you find any similarities between hers and mine, it's pure coincidence. :)

Enjoy!

Telling Lucy

"Hi Mommy!" Lucy Messer called out enthusiastically as she came bounding through the front door, her father close on her heels.

"I'm in the kitchen, sweetie," Lindsay's voice rang out in response.

Kicking off her shoes in a hurry, Lucy ran into the kitchen and straight into her mother, hugging her tightly around the waist.

"Well hello to you too Lucy! Did you have a good day at school?"

"Yeah! We got to paint today, and I made you a new picture!"

"You did? Why don't you show me?"

Lucy pulled her backpack off and ripped the zipper open, rifling through her things until she came up with a folded piece of white paper. She carefully unfolded it and held it in front of her chest for her mother to see, proudly narrating her drawing. "That's you, me and Daddy at the park playing tag. Miss Johnson told us to make a picture of our family all doing an activity together."

"Great job Lucy, it's beautiful." Lindsay beamed down at her daughter before her eyes caught Danny's over Lucy's head. They shared a look for a moment, clearly on the same page: It's time to tell her. Looking back at Lucy, Lindsay added, "I'm going to hang it on the fridge. Can you help me with that?"

"OK!"

Lindsay carefully removed Lucy's previous masterpiece and placed it on the counter beside her, taking the new picture from Lucy and holding it up against the fridge so Lucy could stick all the magnets around the edges. When they were finished, Lindsay leaned down to kiss the girl's forehead.

"Alright, I want you to go change out of your school clothes and wash up for dinner. It's not quite ready yet, but Daddy and I want to talk to you about something first."

Lucy looked a little wary about the request, but she nonetheless left the kitchen for her bedroom. Before Lindsay had a chance to try and figure out what that was all about, Danny closed the distance between them and came to a stop right in front of her.

"Are you ready for this, babe?" Danny asked as soon as he was sure Lucy was out of earshot.

"I'm not sure I'll ever be ready because I honestly have no idea how she'll react, she'd never asked about brothers and sisters before. What if she doesn't want a sibling?"

"Then she'll have about six months to either change her mind or learn to deal with it, because she's getting one whether she likes it or not." Lindsay chuckled at his bluntness, but she knew he was right. "It'll be OK, Lindsay, I promise."

He leaned down to further reassure her with a sweet kiss, one of his hands sneaking up under her shirt to gently stroke the slight bump of her stomach. It wasn't all that noticeable yet, but Lindsay had started to wear more loose and flowing shirts within the past week just to make sure that Lucy didn't notice before Lindsay's twelve-week appointment. That was the deal she had struck with Danny: she'd forgive him for his outburst at the lab if he promised not to tell their daughter before she was out of the first trimester, knowing that once Lucy knew, she'd be telling anyone and everyone who would listen. Ever since her appointment three days ago, she and Danny had been trying to figure out how exactly to break the news to Lucy, and with that picture today, Lindsay knew that they would never find a better segueway.

At the sound of Lucy's imminent return, Danny stepped away from Lindsay, quickly checking over her shoulder to make sure that everything was OK with their dinner before taking her hand and leading his wife over to the couch. He kept her hand as they sat down, not quite ready to let go just yet.

They both watched as Lucy hesitated across the room from them, looking terrified and on the verge of tears. "Baby, what's the matter?" Lindsay asked quickly, starting to become scared herself.

"Is Daddy moving out?"

"What?!" Lindsay couldn't help her surprised outburst.

"No Lucy, I'm not moving out. I'm not going anywhere," Danny responded, no less shocked than Lindsay but better able to recover.

Lucy immediately ran for her father, jumping up into his lap and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "Promise?"

Danny's heart started to break for his little girl. He used his free hand to loosen her grip behind his neck and then he pulled her back so he could see her face and she could see his. Wiping at the few tears that had fallen down her cheeks, he smiled down at her in reassurance.

"I promise you Lucy, I'm staying right here with you and Mommy. Now, what made you think I was moving out?"

"The other day at school, my friend Rebecca said that her mommy and daddy wasn't gonna both be living with her. They said that they wanted to talk to her and her daddy told her that he was moving out because he and Rebecca's mommy didn't love each other no more. Then Ricky, the mean boy in my class, came over and said that it was called a 'di-vorce.' His mommy and daddy don't live together either because they fight all the time and now he only sees his daddy on weekends. Ricky said that if your mommy and daddy say they want to talk, it means they're getting a divorce."

Both Danny and Lindsay were stunned into speechlessness. Lindsay had half a mind to go give that boy Ricky a good talking to (and maybe a good thump upside his head too), but at the same time she felt sorry for him; his parents' situation had taken a toll on him and stolen away a bit of his innocence. And then there was her poor sweet daughter who still trusted so blindly. She assumed that Ricky was completely right, unaware that your parents saying 'we need to talk' could mean any number of things and that a divorce was preceded by fights and arguments and tension that kids could pick up in, if not witness first-hand.

Letting go of Danny's hand, Lindsay gently pulled Lucy from his lap and into the space between her parents. "Some mommies and daddies do get divorces, Lucy, and it's very sad, but that's not happening with Daddy and I. We still love each very much and we love you even more. And just so you know, Ricky wasn't right about everything he told you: wanting to talk doesn't automatically mean your parents are getting a divorce and not all fights leads to divorce either. Daddy and I get mad at each other sometimes and we fight, but that doesn't mean we don't love each other anymore. Does that make sense?"

Lucy took a few moments to answer, but eventually she nodded her head. Lindsay looked up at Danny and he only nodded at her as well, giving her the go-ahead to take the reins for this conversation.

"Lucy, what Daddy and I wanted to talk to you about, it's something good. We'll have to make some space in your room for when it arrives…"

"A pony?!" Lucy's eyes were the size of saucers, the sadness and worry from only a few moments ago completely gone as her mind immediately jumped to her greatest wish in the world.

"Lucy, we've gone over this before – you can't have a real pony in your room. Think smaller, kid," Danny replied as he pinched the bridge of his nose, praying for the day his little girl would stop wanting a pony of her own, and especially one that would live in her room.

"No sweetie, it's a –"

"A bookcase?" Lucy cut her mother off with another guess, and though there was nowhere near the same enthusiasm this time, she was still a bit excited.

"No, not a bookcase either." They'd been talking about getting a bigger bookcase for Lucy's room that could hold all her storybooks and still have some room for toys too, so at least this guess was more practical. "It's a baby, Lucy. You're going to be a big sister, I have a baby growing in my belly right now."

Lucy looked a little confused at first, but then a light bulb seemed to go off in her head. "You mean like Miss Katie at daycare?"

"Yes, Miss Katie is having a baby too, but her baby will be here much sooner than ours. The baby isn't coming until the summer, right before you go back to school."

"Oh, OK." Lucy stopped speaking again, which started to worry Lindsay a bit until she noticed that her daughter had her thinking face on. "Will I have to share all my toys and books with the baby?"

"Not right away because he or she will be too small to use them, but eventually yes."

"Can I have a baby sister?"

"You may get a baby sister, but you could get a baby brother. Daddy and I don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet," Lindsay replied cautiously, starting to feel like they were heading in a bad direction.

"If it's a baby brother, can we trade him for a sister?"

"That's not how it works, Lucy. You don't get to choose if it's a boy or a girl, you get what you get," Danny stepped in then, not liking where this was heading either. "How come you don't want a baby brother?"

"Because boys are yucky, Daddy," Lucy replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. As he heard Lindsay try and cover up her laughter with a cough, he found that he wasn't even that mad that his five year old had called him yucky.

"Can you remember that for when you become a teenager, please?"

Lindsay quickly kicked him in the shin for that, but she couldn't hold back her laughter anymore. Danny eventually joined in with her, all while Lucy looked back and forth between her parents, having absolutely no clue what was going on at the moment. A few moments later, Lindsay recovered enough to speak again.

"Whether it's a boy or a girl, we're keeping the baby that we have and we're all going to love him or her, alright?"

"I guess," Lucy agreed rather reluctantly, which Lindsay was willing to take for the moment. They still had a lot of time to convince her, if need be, that a baby brother would be a good thing. At least she wasn't unhappy about the idea of a new baby in the family to begin with, so Lindsay's worst nightmare hadn't come true.

"How come your belly isn't big like Miss Katie's, Mommy?" Lucy asked after a few moments of silence.

"Because her baby is nearly finished growing in her belly and is almost ready to be born. A baby grows in a mommy's belly for nine months and as the baby gets bigger, so does the mommy's belly. Our baby has only been growing for three months, so he or she still has another six months to grow in my tummy."

"So your belly will get as big as Miss Katie's, 'cause that's big!"

Danny was biting down so hard on his lip to stop from laughing and when he dared to glance at his wife, he noticed that behind the death glare she was giving him, her insecurities were bubbling back up to the surface. When she was pregnant with Lucy, it didn't matter how many times, and how sincerely, he told her that she was still the most beautiful woman in the world to him, she could never see herself as anything but a fat, beached whale. Though Lucy hadn't meant anything by her question or her comment, it had nonetheless brought up old issues for Lindsay. He needed to head this off as quickly as possible.

"Yes Lucy, Mommy's belly will get big like Miss Katie's as the baby grows, but that doesn't mean that Mommy won't still be beautiful, right?"

"No!" Lucy exclaimed immediately, leaning up to throw her arms around her mother's shoulders and sloppily kissing her cheek. "You'll always be the prettiest mommy in the world to me, Mommy."

"Thank you for that, Lucy." Lindsay smiled brightly at her daughter and then turned grateful eyes on her husband, who seemed to know her better than she did at times. Between her husband and her daughter, maybe they could keep her from feeling so down about her ever-changing shape this go around. "And as the baby gets bigger, you'll be able to feel him or her move around in my belly if you'd like. He or she might even react to hearing your voice."

"The baby can hear us while it's in your tummy?!" Lucy's tone made it seem like that was the strangest thing she'd ever heard.

"Yes sweetie. Daddy used to talk to you all the time while you were in my belly and as soon as you heard his voice, you'd start moving around and kicking up a storm."

"I don't remember that," Lucy replied with a twinge of sadness in her voice.

"That's OK Lucy, you were too little to remember, but you can talk to the baby if you want to when he or she is bigger to see if the same thing happens."

Lucy considered the suggestion for a few moments before suddenly asking, "Can I say something to the baby right now?"

Lindsay sucked in a sharp breath before simply nodding her head, knowing that she'd choke on any words that she tried to say. As Lucy bent over to bring her face close to her mother's stomach, Lindsay locked eyes with Danny, who looked just as shocked as she felt. Then, in a quiet voice, Lucy began.

"Hi baby, I'm Lucy, your big sister. I still hope that you're a baby sister in there, but if you're a baby brother I'll try to be nice to you and like you even if you're a boy and boys are yucky. We can play with my toys together but only when you're older because Mommy says you'll be too little at first. You'll like Mommy and Daddy, I promise, they're the best mommy and daddy in the world! Mommy is really pretty and nice and makes the best peanut butter and jam sandwiches, and Daddy is really silly and he plays all kinds of games – I'll teach you how to beat him at Candyland because he never wins! And then you'll get to meet Uncle Mac and Uncle Flackie, and Jo and Hawkes and Sid and Adam – they all work with Mommy and Daddy to catch bad guys and they're awesome! You'll like them too. I hope you can hear me in there – Mommy says you can but I don't remember Daddy talking to me when I was in Mommy's belly. Anyways, if you forget what I said I'll remind you when you're here, OK?"

Lucy stopped speaking and watched her mother's stomach intently, seeming to be waiting for a response. A few seconds later, the sound of the timer in the kitchen going off broke the moment. Now that it was over, Lindsay found herself at a bit of a loss. Mindlessly starting to rise to head to the kitchen to attend to dinner, and to also get a few moments to herself to figure out what just happened, she froze when Danny's voice filled the silent void.

"OK Lucy, time for diner. Can you help me set the table?"

"OK." The little girl bounded off the couch and headed for the kitchen, her mind already moved on to the next task. It wasn't her fault because she had no idea how much her talking to her baby brother or sister meant, but it nonetheless made Lindsay feel a bit sad. Then suddenly, the importance of what had just happened hit Lindsay like a massive wave and she choked back a sob, not wanting Lucy to hear it. Looking up at her husband with tear-filled eyes, she saw him smile and nod in understanding before he leaned in to capture her lips.

"Take your time, babe," he whispered to her before pulling away and following Lucy to the kitchen.

As Lindsay sat there, one thought just kept repeating itself in her head: That was the very first moment of interaction between her children.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lindsay sat back and watched Lucy laughing as she ran around in a field of grass yelling "Try and catch me!" Then Lucy suddenly stopped and looked over her shoulder, seemingly trying to bait her chaser, which Lindsay assumed was Danny's role in all this. Sure enough, Danny came into her eye line but he wasn't alone – Danny was stooped over, keeping an unsteady little boy on his feet. Lindsay watched as both her daughter and husband encouraged the little boy to keep going, his legs wobbly but his face split in two with a wide grin. After a few more careful steps, the little boy was at Lucy's feet, giggling as he let go of Danny's hands and fell into Lucy, which made her stumble back a step before she caught herself and wrapped an arms around the little guy's back.

"You did it! Good job! Lucy praised him enthusiastically before turning her attention to Lindsay. "Mommy, did you see that?"

Just as Lindsay was about to open her mouth to reply, she startled awake, more than a little disoriented. Out of pure instinct she reached out for Danny beside her but only found dead air and a cold bed beside her. Closing her eyes for a moment, she shook her head to clear the fog and started to remember what was going on: Danny and Lucy were already gone for the day, to work and school respectively; her shift started later, so she got to sleep in; she only had one child at the moment, but another was on the way and last night they'd broken the news to Lucy. Then Lindsay remembered how the rest of the night had gone…

When Lindsay finally got her emotions back under control, she went to join her family for dinner, feeling pretty good about their conversation and how Lucy had handled the news. However, as the night went on and Lucy hadn't mentioned the baby again, Lindsay started to get more and more worried. Though she could admit that it was nice to not hear any more talk of 'yucky boys,' it worried her that her normally inquisitive, 'my favourite word is "why?"' child didn't ask want to know anything else, like what a new baby would mean in their lives or what they would need to do to prepare for the baby or even the question Lindsay was dreading the most, "where do babies come from?" Lindsay had shared these fears with Danny after Lucy was in bed and he'd been quick to remind her that Lucy had only known for a few hours and was therefore still trying to wrap her mind around the idea. He reassured her that telling Lucy had gone reasonably well and that they still had tons of time to get more questions from her and that there was no need to talk about everything in one night. As she fell asleep with Danny's arms wrapped tightly around her, she tried to relax and take his word for it.

However, without Danny there to calm her fears and with the abrupt end to that particular dreamscape, all her worries from last night came rushing back. She'd give anything for that dream to come true, but she couldn't help but fear that it wouldn't. Not only that, but now there was a little voice in the back of her mind that was teasing her by saying that Lucy, despite their plans to include her in the pregnancy and prepare her as much as possible for what was coming, would not take to the new baby once it went from an idea to a reality, whether it was a boy or a girl. And it wasn't like that was too absurd of an idea – it's one thing to talk about what a baby is like but it's a completely other thing when you're seeing it first hand, waking you up in the middle of the night and demanding almost all of your parent's attention. Lindsay herself hadn't liked her younger brother very much those first couple of months because, to her young self, he never seemed to stop crying and her mother only paid attention to him at the time, so who's to say that her daughter wouldn't experience the same thing? As her thoughts continued to swirl around her head, her alarm clock went off and it gave Lindsay the chance to re-focus her mind on getting ready for the day. Pushing all her other thoughts to the back of her mind, she threw back the covers on the bed and climbed out to head for the bathroom.

Coming back to her bedroom a short time later feeling clean and refreshed, she dressed quickly and dried her hair. After clasping her watch to her wrist and putting her phone in her pocket, she headed out to the kitchen for some breakfast. She still wasn't overly hungry in the mornings so she settled on a couple of pieces of toast with the thinnest layer of butter to make it easier to go down. She ate slowly, knowing that eating too quickly would leave her feeling gross for the rest of the day.

Happy that she was able to finish her breakfast and still feel good, she quickly cleaned up after herself and opened the fridge to grab a bottle of water to take with her in case she got thirsty on the way to work. As she went to close the fridge door again, about to set out for the day, that was when she finally noticed it. She had to look twice just to be sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, but once she processed that it was real, tears were making it hard for her to see properly anymore.

There, in the middle of Lucy's latest painting, the one she'd brought home only yesterday and the inspiration for telling her about the new baby, was a new stick figure. The figure stood out a bit, drawn in crayon while the rest of the picture was in paint, but that didn't matter to Lindsay. Lucy's teacher had asked the class to paint a family picture and Lucy had done that, but after learning that there would soon be a new member in the family, she'd apparently fixed the picture to reflect the new addition. As Lindsay wiped away her tears and continued to stare at the painting, all her fears suddenly seemed silly because this one little drawing told Lindsay everything she needed to know about how Lucy was really adjusting to the news of her sibling - and there was nothing to be worried about.

Tearing herself away from the picture to head to the front door to collect her things and head off to work, Lindsay was once again thinking about her earlier dream and she smiled brightly, knowing that she was one step closer to having it come true.

True story: When my parents went to tell my older sisters (who were about 10 and 8 at the time) that they were having me, my parents made it into a sort of guessing game and told them that they'd have to make some space in their shared room for something. My sisters' guess:

A bookcase.

*facepalm*

Sometimes I still think they'd have liked the bookcase more, but they're stuck with me now! *evil cackle*

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it and thank you so much for reading! :)