This takes place just after Steffy overhears Liam and Ivy's conversation about love.
"I am not mad Liam... I'm not, i swear to you. I'm, I'm just disappointed" Steffy says with a heavy heart. "you know I thought it would be different this time around, i thought we would have learnt from the endless Hope Liam Steffy love triangle. I thought that this was our time, our final time, that we would get our shit together, that we would work it all out for Aspens sake, that we would honor her memory. That when Aspen became a big sister the only dramas in our lives would be us running out of whatever the hell I am craving in that very moment. I guess I was wrong Liam."
"What are you talking about Steffy? You know darn well that I love you! If I didn't love you with all my heart I wouldn't have proposed to you. As for Aspen I miss her every day! One day we will look back and realise that she was the guiding light that continually brought us back together. You know I like to think that my heart is made up of so many compartments, there is one for my mum, my Dad and my Brothers, places for past lovers who have all taught me things about love, but do you know who owns the biggest piece of my heart? It's yours baby, a huge chunk of my heart is yours forever! But Aspen, she IS my heart. So yeah I hope by the time we decide to make her a big sister this, whatever this is, has settled down in a major way. I want the only dramas that we face to be you wanting crunchy peanut butter at 3 in the morning when we only have smooth!" Liam tearfully declares.
"You remembered that?" Steffy queried. "I remember it all baby, every kick, the sound of her little heart at the sonogram, every craving you had. It is all ingrained in my memories, locked away in a safe place that i visit every single day. You know I think about her all the time, what she would look like, who she would take after, would she be a quiet gentle little girl with a daredevil streak. Would she be a wild child and I be her calm, just like I am your calm. But most importantly would I be the father she needed me to be, would I know how to love her implicitly, would I know how to give her all that she needs, would she know how much daddy loved her, still loves her?" an emotional Liam states while staring at the floor.
"Baby, Liam look at me!" Steffy urges while pulling Liam's seated body against her torso into a tight embrace. "She knows... She knows how much we loved her, how much we still love her, that we miss her every single day. She knows that her daddy is her safe haven, hers and mummys calm. She knows that you, my love, would have been the best Daddy possible for her. But do you know what the most important thing that she knows is? She knows that you're going to make the best daddy to her little brother or sister! She knows that you are going to make the next 7 months drama free for her, for mummy, for you, but most importantly for this little munchkin!" Steffy tearfully whispers while rubbing the barely noticeable bump that is her belly.
Liam gazes up lovingly towards Steffy, pleading with his eye that what he thinks he just heard is really happening. "please tell me what I think you are telling me is true!"
"Well Daddy, that depends on what you think I am telling you!"
"Steffy are we... are you pregnant? Are we having a baby?" Liam queries while dragging Steffy to sit over on the lounge. Internally hoping with every piece of his being that he and Steffy were going to get a second chance at being parents, at being a family.
An emotional Steffy quietly sits next to Liam and silently nods her head.
"But how?" a shocked Liam states, while Steffy gives him an 'are you serious' look.
"You, know I don't mean 'how', I know very well 'how' that baby got made! In fact I am sure we both know the ins and outs of how that baby came to be, it is one of our favourite past times after all! My question is more about how with your medical conditions. I thought that Dr Caspery said that you falling pregnant naturally, without medical intervention was extremely unlikely, if not impossible and that when it came time for to want to start a family that we would need some assistance."
"Oh we know the 'how' very well, I like the 'how' with you a lot! Trust me I was just as surprised as you are. When I went to see Dr Caspery this morning it had never even crossed my mind that I could be pregnant. That I could have the most important thing in this would growing inside of me, half of you and half of me. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would fall pregnant this easily, in fact I had mentally acknowledged that when we decided that it was time for us to try for a family again we would be spending a lot of time at the office pre conception let alone during a pregnancy and that is to say if we were lucky enough for procedures to work. But somehow this little miracle happened. Somehow, the stars aligned, Aspen, your mum and Phoebe managed to sweet talk someone, and we Daddy, ended up with our own New Year miracle."
" Wait did you say 7 months?"
"I was wondering when you would pick up on that! I know it's crazy right! I thought I was just seriously stressed out. I mean work has been seriously crazy not to mention everything else going on around here. It never even crossed my mind I was pregnant. I thought that every little thing that was a sign of being pregnant, was my body trying to process all the stress we have been under. Turns out I was wrong, that nauseated feeling I have been having, morning sickness. My aversion to more than one cup of coffee a day not wanting to drink wine and we both know how much I love my vino, woman's intuition. I know you are shocked, hell I am too. When I went to see Dr Caspery this morning I was mildly freaking out, I mean I haven't had a normal cycle since... since I got onto that stupid motorcycle and we lost Aspen, everything was irregular but I never skipped multiple months. So when I walked into her office today I was preparing myself for the worst possible news, that something was terribly wrong with me, to be honest all I could think was that I was going to have to have surgery again, but this time it would be removing any chance I would have to every fall pregnant, taking away any and every chance of us starting our family. Luckily, after a handful of exams, peeing on a stick, a blood test and finally an ultrasound, she gave me, us, the best news possible. So yes I did say 7 months, which you do realise lines up roughly with our weekend away in Aspen..."
"Steffy, my love, you have no idea how happy you have just made me. I can't believe I am going to be a Daddy again! Aspen our daughter defiantly takes after her mother... always interfering, with the best of intentions!" while looking up at the roof "Well baby girl, mummy and daddy, dont mind one bit about your meddling. You use whatever pull you have up there to make sure that Mumma and your little brother or sister stay nice and safe and I will do the exact same thing down here." pleaded Liam with his sky baby.
"Liam, I'm scared, I can't lose another baby, I won't survive that. Dr Caspery told me I need to be careful during this pregnancy, that I need to avoid all unnecessary stress. She wants to see me fortnightly during this pregnancy, she is classing it as a high risk pregnancy, so I know I can't handle added stress that this situation with Ivy and Wyatt is putting on me, on us. We need to stay out of it, I need to stay away from anything and everything that is toxic in any way shape and form. For you, for Aspen, for myself but most importantly I need to do this for our baby. Do you think the President and Vice President of this company can just disappear for the next 7 months? Relocate to our safe place in Aspen, away from all the drama and stress? Away from all the crazy?"
"I get it baby, I really do! You have no idea how much self control it is taking right now to not make you take a leave of absence, wrap you up in cotton wool and not let you leave the house for the next 7 months. But I know you way too well to think that going all protective caveman on you would actually work. As for getting away to Aspen, I am sure we could play hookie for a couple of days, borrow either the Spencer Jet or the Forrester Jet, get disappear to our special place. What do you say, shale I make a call?"
"Can we really just disappear for a few days? I'm in on one proviso, the second we get on that plane we turn our phones off, no contact with the outside world. We will leave the caretakers number with my dad that way if there is some kind of major drama we are contactable. What I want, what I need the most is for us to reconnect, as lovers, as partners, as parents, as almost husband and wife. I need for us to spend this special time together, enjoying these beginning stages of our pregnancy, in the place where I feel the closest to our daughter... with you."
"Consider it done! Let's go, let's go home and pack. By the time you have packed your bags, and yes I know I said bags because I know you far too well to know you don't know how to pack lightly! I will have arranged one of the family jets to whisk us away for a few days. Starting the new year as a family. Together."
"I like the sound of that, Family, together." "You Liam, you are my calm and I am your wild!"