A/N: Hello everyone! Hope you enjoy my latest story--it's coming along slowly, but hey--at least it's coming along. hehehe. Everyone enjoy! Until next time--ya'll are the best--PCGirl.

Disclaimer: All characters are property of ABC/Disney--I'm just using them for my own entertainment and will put them back where I found them when I'm done. ;)

"What did you just say?" asked Natalie as she stood in her office.

"I lied--I'm not your uncle, Natalie," he said and waited for some sort of reaction--anything that would give him hope that he hadn't royally screwed this up. It'd been a week since the Go Red Ball and he was tired of waking up from dreaming about Natalie and knowing he couldn't have her. So here he was—standing in her office and laying it out on the line—hoping she'd fine it in herself to forgive him one day.

Natalie just stood there in shock--she couldn't tell if he was conning her, but something in her gut told herself to believe him--that it would explain why she couldn't seem to get him out of her head for all these months, "Why did you do it?"

"I wanted the name Buchanan--and I thought this was my chance. What I didn't realize was getting the name meant I had to give up you--and I can't, you are in my blood too much now."

"So you think it's just a switch? Just like that you'll tell me we can be together and I'll be ok with that--that I'll be able to forgive you just like that and go back to you? Talk to Cris and John--they'll tell you that I don't take lying to me lightly. Now please leave before I have you escorted from the building," she said as she sat down and went to work on her computer--not looking up so he could have a chance to say anything else. "Oh, and Jared?" she said, still without looking up. "I expect you to tell the family first thing at the board meeting tomorrow--or I will."

He didn't say anything, just nodded and finished walking out of the office.

"You know--it doesn't really surprise me that he was lying. The whole family is going to be better off without him," said Jessica as she gave the Rodi's waitress a polite nod when she delivered their food. She watched her sister for a moment and was surprised when she squirted ketchup on her fries instead of her normal mustard, "No mustard?"

"God no--for the past few months the thought of it makes me naseous," said Natalie as she held her stomach. "It's so strange--I've ate mustard on my fries since I was a kid, but since Christmas I just can't."

"I know what you mean--the entire time I was pregnant with Bree I couldn't even think about eating anything citrus--oranges, lemons, grapefruit--it all made me sick. But as soon as I had her I was back to my normal self," said Jessica--oblivious to the look on her sister's face.

Natalie just smiled at Jessica as the conversation turned to what cute thing Bree had done lately.

Natalie sat on the edge of her bed--she'd gone to the store last night and bought a test. This all still felt so surreal, but here she was waiting for the timer in her bathroom to ding though she knew the answer already. She'd never missed a cycle her whole life, even with the stress of both Cris' death and John's also--she still was regular. And now she was more than six weeks late.

She thought about how she'd tell John--what his reaction would be. He'd never really mentioned kids before--but it didn't matter. She raised herself alone while Roxy drank and gambled their money away--she could raise her child alone if need be with as much love and devotion as two parents.

She heard the timer ding and walked into the bathroom, looking down at the results and she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She bit her lip and decided she'd make a detour to the hotel and tell John before starting her day at BE.

Whatever the future held--whatever he decided, she knew from here on out she wasn't just making decisions for herself, but for the child that she was already loving.

He was surprised by the knock on the door--it was early and he hadn't been expecting company. As he opened the door a half smile appeared on John's face--it'd been way too long since he'd seen Natalie and was glad she'd decided to stop by for a visit--obviously on her way to work by the way she was dressed, "Hey--you want to come in?"

Natalie smiled at him as their blue eyes locked, "Sure--it's won't take long, I've got to get to work soon." She walked in and noticed everything seemed the same. She glanced at the slot machine and she got a puzzled look on her face as she walked over towards it and placed her finger on the ragged edge of the broken glass, "Is this a--?"

John laughed at her reaction, "Yes--it's a bullet hole, put there by Ramsey when he was shooting at Shane and Gigi."

Natalie laughed too, though the thought of danger entering John's home worried her, "I'm glad you were there to protect him--he's just a kid," she said and suddenly tears filled her eyes.

"Hey--what's wrong?" he asked as he came towards her.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she said as she put her head down and tried to make the tears stop. "I--I just never imagined telling you like this. I thought we'd be married, or at least together. Not like this--where we rarely see each other and our child was conceived after a long night of drinking."

"Our child? Conceived?"

Natalie froze--she hadn't realized she'd been talking out loud. She looked up and met his eyes--there was confusion in them already and she decided she might as well just say it--no reason to beat around the bush, "I'm pregnant."

John just stood there in front of Natalie--unsure of what to do or say. Had he just heard her right? She was pregnant with his child? He felt his heart beat just a little faster at hearing the words--he'd pictured children with Natalie, but he thought their chance had passed.

He put his hand on her elbow and motioned her towards the orange couch and then walked around the back of it, pulling open the drawer of his desk and taking out the small black box without hesitation before going back and sitting down on the coffee table in front of her, "I know this is probably in bad taste--I mean most people are engaged and married before they have kids, but this is the best thing for all of us."

Natalie looked up at him and started laughing--even after seeing the confusion return to his normal blank facade she couldn't stop. Finally she rubbed her face and was able to, "I'm sorry--I--John this isn't the answer. I didn't come here to try and tie you down with a commitment. Don't take this the wrong way, but we aren't ready for marriage."

"Before--,"

"Before I thought it would help our screwed up relationship and I learned then that it didn't and I still don't think it would. I just came by to let you know--so you can prepare yourself at the thought of being a father."

John smiled at hearing her say the words and then chuckled a little, "I'm going to be a dad."

Natalie smiled a bit also now, "Yeah."

"You know--if there's anyone I want to be the mother of my child--it's you. You are going to be amazing," he said as he brushed a loose strand of her firey red hair away from her beautiful face.

"Thanks--I think I needed to hear that reassurance," she said as she stood up and went towards the door. "I've got to get to work, but I'll call you when I have my first doctor's appointment--that is if you want to come," she said, backtracking herself.

"I wouldn't miss it," he said as he stood, stuffed his hands in his pockets and watched her again walk out of his apartment.