A/N: This is a little more AU than I typically go, but the idea fit better as an AU than canon. Maya inadvertently gave me this idea and I stole it. Thanks to everyone that faves & reviews...guests or registered, an extra thank you to the guests that started leaving names so I can figure out who's who :)
I'm planning to start Graceland over starting this weekend, so hopefully it gives me some motivation to finish one of the many things I have started but haven't finished.
Paige was the last person he expected to see in DC.
Special Agent Paige Arkin.
Paige was DEA and Mike met her almost five months earlier at a training in Chicago. They clicked instantly. One thing led to another and they skipped out on the rest of an incredibly boring banquet and spent the rest of the night in her hotel room. Considering that Paige lived in LA and he was in DC, he figured that he'd never see her again, unless they ran into each at another training.
Paige was walking out of a conference room, going over a file with a colleague, seemingly oblivious to his presence. Mike smiled as he watched her, remembering how her lithe body felt tangled around his.
Her hair was down, hanging around her face in loose waves. She was dressed casually, wearing a black blazer over a simple white tshirt.
She looked incredible.
Paige rounded the corner and his jaw dropped and his eyes widened the moment he noticed her baby bump.
Jesus Christ.
She was pregnant.
Maybe she was seeing someone now. Or had a boyfriend back home when they slept together.
Fuck.
Maybe she didn't. Her baby could be his. He could be a father.
Why didn't Paige call him?
Even if she lost his number, she knew how to find him. She knew he worked for the FBI and that he worked in DC.
Holy shit. That baby could be his.
Was Paige traditional? Would she want to get married? Should he propose? Would they live together? Start dating?
He needed a bigger apartment. His one-bedroom was fine for now, but babies had a lot of stuff. Did he need a yard? Was it too early to have a yard? He would have to look at school districts before he moved. He didn't have the slightest idea what kind of stuff he was supposed to look for in a school district. Should they be thinking about private school? Were there any decent public schools in DC?
He wasn't sure what his insurance covered in terms of kids. He and Paige probably had the same insurance, but he would have to look into getting the baby listed as his dependent. Could he do that with an unborn child?
What the hell was he going to tell his family? His mom would probably be thrilled. For the past few months, she had been harassing him to get back together with his old girlfriend and dropping hints about grandchildren, especially since one of his cousins recently had a baby. He would have to call his cousin and ask for advice about everything.
He barely knew anything about babies. Most of his cousins were older and he moved away to go to college by the time his cousins started having kids. He would have to stop at the bookstore on his way home today and pick up a book. Maybe there were classes he could take.
Mike tugged at his collar, his anxiety level rising as his mental to-do list kept growing.
He didn't know how to change a diaper or have the slightest idea what stroller was the safest. What kind of crib should he buy? What did babies eat?
He could learn how to be a good dad. He could do this. If there was one thing he learned from his own father, it was what not to do.
The one thing he knew about babies was that they were expensive, but he had recently gotten a promotion, they could do this. He would have to meet with a financial advisor and start looking into college funds.
Heading into work today, he thought his biggest decision would be where to go for lunch. He never would've imagined that he'd have to start thinking about college funds and pre-schools. Was it too early to get on a waitlist for pre-school? Was it true that the best ones filled up early?
There were so many thoughts running through his head right now that he could barely think straight. He needed to sit down. A drink. He needed a drink.
Holy shit.
He barely knew Paige. What if the two of them clicking had more to do with them looking to hook up and less to do about compatibility? They were going to be in each other's lives for the foreseeable future.
He knew she liked vodka tonics. Her name. Her job. And what she looked like naked. How she tasted.
Paige looked up as she approached him, smiling brightly as she stopped in front of him. She waved away her colleague. "Mike, hey. I've been meaning to call you." Paige rested her hand on the small of her back.
"It's - it's good to see you," Mike said, struggling to keep his voice even. Should he be offering to get her a chair or something? Did her back hurt? Maybe she was thirsty? Or hungry. Pregnant women needed to eat more. He knew that. Lunch. He should take her out to lunch. "Do you think - maybe - are you free for lunch?"
"Lunch sounds amazing. Hey, can you hold this for a second?" Paige asked, handing him a handful of files and a notebook.
"Yeah, sure," Mike said, relieved to be doing something helpful, even if it was just holding her stuff for a minute. He watched her curiously as she lifted the edge of her shirt. He looked around the office, no one seemed to be paying attention to them and she was oblivious to the dumbfounded agent standing before her.
This was how she was going to tell him the baby was his? Because if it wasn't his baby, she wouldn't be lifting her shirt for him to touch her stomach? Was the baby kicking?
This was really happening.
Was there something wrong with the air conditioner? He didn't remember it being this stuffy, earlier.
"I've been out here a few weeks on this case and..." Paige's voice trailed off as she reached behind her back and suddenly she was holding her baby bump in her hand. "I've been dying to take that off all day. I'm really getting sick of having to wear this everyday."
Speechless, Mike stared at the fake pregnancy belly in her hand. Her tshirt ballooned out a little, but he could see how flat it was through the thin layer of cotton.
Relief coursed through his veins, as he realized she wasn't pregnant.
It wasn't until Paige followed his gaze with her eyes that he realized he had been staring.
"Wait, did you think I - that we - that I was really pregnant?" Paige asked.
Mike tried to figure out the least embarrassing way to answer her question and wasn't able to come up with one. If he said, no, he'd look like an oblivious jerk. If he admitted to what just ran through his mind, he'd look pathetic. There was no way he could tell her that he practically had their kid enrolled at a prestigious preschool and he moved to a suburbs so the baby could grow up playing in a yard. His saving grace was that he hadn't imagined some quickie wedding at the courthouse over lunch. "Maybe?"
Paige nervously laughed, "No, definitely not pregnant. I - no, relax." Getting pregnant was definitely nowhere near the five year plan she had for herself. Especially getting pregnant with some guy she met at a conference. Even if he was cute. And a federal agent so he wouldn't give her shit about her job. There was a reason she never told guys what she did for a living. She made that mistake a grand total of one time and she never intended to make it again. Because the last thing she needed was for some guy to tell her that her job was dangerous. No shit, it was dangerous. That was why she was a trained federal agent.
Mike awkwardly ran his hand through his hair, "So what brings you out to DC? You mentioned something about a case?" Mike asked, clearly relieved to have something else to focus on.
"Yeah, I'm out here for the next few months. I'm working on the Vega case and trying to convince one of his dealers mom's to give up her son's location because I'm pregnant." Paige motioned to the pregnancy belly in her hand. "Well, not me, but for the case - my cover, my cover is pregnant," Paige quickly added. The hope was that if she could flip the dealer, she could get the intel she needed on Vega. "Didn't you mention something about lunch?"
"Yes, lunch!" Mike eagerly exclaimed. "Is there anywhere you want to go?"
"I'm the newbie in the area, take me to your favorite place. Maybe later, we can go out for a drink or something," Paige suggested, flicking an invisible piece of lint off his suit jacket. She tugged on his jacket a little to pull him closer, so there would be no mistaking her intent her invitation as just friendly.
She intended to sleep with him again. She really had been meaning to call him when she got to DC, but she got consumed by the case. Now that she had run into him again, there was no reason why they shouldn't pick up where they left off. She was in DC for the next few months, they could have fun together.
Mike thought she was pregnant, with what could've very easily been his baby and he hadn't run, which was more than she could say for an ex she once surprised with this pregnancy belly. Maybe Mike was actually a decent guy and not one of the losers she usually fell for.
She barely knew anything about him other than how he was in bed. But did anything else really matter?
What she had figured out in the few minutes they had been talking was that she wasn't the only one interested in spending some alone time with him. Every female that walked by them glared at her and judging by the way Mike was completely focused on her after finding out that she wasn't pregnant, he wasn't interested in any of his admirers.
And she wasn't interested in any of the guys that had been not so discreetly checking her out since she arrived in DC.
She was perfectly okay having a little fling with Mike. He was technically the only person she knew in DC and she was looking forward to spending some more time with him.
Or something.
THE END
