A/N: CAUTION, there are SPOILERS in this fic. I took the ones that I had read and put a twist to them.
She could not be pregnant. She just couldn't. Her life was just starting to take off, and while children were something she wanted, not now. Especially not now.
But all of the signs were there. She was tender, she had skipped a period, and certain smells would set off her stomach. In truth, she hadn't given the first two symptoms much thought, but it was the last one that caused her concern. She just knew something was wrong. In her mind, she kept repeating that she couldn't know for sure until she took a test. So, when it was positive, she refused to believe it.
Outright refused to believe it. That's why, a day later, she was missing rehearsals and sitting in a doctor's office. They had taken a blood sample and the results would be in later that afternoon. In the meantime, she was chewing her nails to the quick, in worry. It wasn't a natural habit for her, but she figured it was better than pulling her hair out.
At 4 PM, she finally decided to drop in on rehearsals just to check up on any new notes. When she walked in, she pretended to be a little sicker than she really was for appearance and sat towards the back. But Derek spotted her due to his sixth sense and raised an eyebrow at her. He had been ignoring her for the last few weeks and she had been avoiding him just as equally. Instead of holding his gaze, she dropped her head to pretend that there was something important on her phone.
Not even 20 minutes later, her phone actually did ring; it was the doctor's office.
"Hello?" she answered quietly while she made her way out of the theater and into wardrobe for some privacy.
"Is this Miss Karen Cartwright?" the woman on the other end asked.
"Yes, that's me," Karen answered.
"Miss Cartwright, your blood test came in, and congratulations you're pregnant," the woman said with an enthusiasm that was escaping Karen. "Would you like to set up an appointment with the OB GYN?"
"Ummm.." was the only sound out of Karen's mouth. She was starting to feel light headed and the woman's words sounded muffled. "Not right now," she managed to say.
"Alright, have a nice day," the woman said before hanging up.
Karen felt the phone slip out of her hand and heard it hit the floor. Then she sensed the blood drain from her face and her knees go slack. But before she hit the floor, a pair of strong arms encircled her waist and sat her down on a nearby box.
She looked up to find Derek's eyes staring down at her with concern.
"Thanks," she squeaked out.
"You alright?" he asked.
"No," she said and her eyes welled up with tears that threatened to spill over.
"Oh god," said Derek while rolling his eyes. "Don't start crying just because I touched you."
"No, it's not that," she said as her lips started to quiver. "I'm pregnant," she blurted out.
Her admission made Derek's knees go weak as well, and he ended up sitting down next to her.
"Well, shit," was his response. Karen wasn't his to worry over, but he still cared for her.
"Yeah," she said in a stupor.
"Is it Jimmy's?" he asked.
"Yeah," she repeated.
"Double shit," he voiced. On impulse he reached over to take her hand and give it a squeeze. Karen clung to his hand like a lifeline. "Do you know what you want to do?" he asked.
"I literally just found out. I haven't even talked to Jimmy," she confessed.
"If this was the ideal situation," he said. "What would you want to do?"
"Keep it," she said with a tiny smile. The ideal situation for Karen was a loving husband and a nice home. She didn't necessarily need a white picket fence but a Brownstone would do.
"That's what you do then," he told her with a reaffirming squeeze.
"That's unusual advice coming from a man who dislikes children," she said.
"It's not my life or child," he said. "If I were involved, it might be different. But I'm not. You have to do what's right for you."
"How do I tell Jimmy?" she wondered. For some reason, talking to Derek had calmed her down.
"You have to find him first, darling," he said. Jimmy had taken off a week earlier in a drug fueled rage. Kyle had no luck in finding him, and Derek had been forced to get a replacement.
"My parents," Karen wailed. "They are going to kill me; they feared what the big city would do to me and now this." She buried her face in her hands and unintentionally brought Derek's hand up as well.
"Darling, people in small cities get pregnant by accident all the time," he tried to reassure her that it wasn't that bad.
"What am I going to do for work?" she asked. "I'll have to give up Hit List and Broadway. I'll have to move back to Iowa!" she exclaimed. She felt her heart rate spike. Just minutes ago she was calm, and now she was on the verge of a panic attack.
"Take a deep breath darling," he said. Derek had dealt with panic attacks before. Granted it was usually actresses about to go on stage, but he figured he could handle this situation as well.
Karen breathed in through her mouth and out through her nose.
"Good," he encouraged her. "Listen, I won't let you move back to Iowa. We'll figure out something. I promise. Okay?"
Karen nodded her and continued with the breathing.
"That's enough. You can't do too much or you'll pass out," he advised. "Feel better?"
"Yes," she said.
"You have to take this one step at a time," he said. "What's the first logical step?"
She sat there a moment deciding what needed to be tackled first.
"Deciding what I want to do with the child," she said "But I already know the answer."
"And you're sure?" he asked.
"Yes," she asserted. "No matter what."
"Alright. What's next?" he prompted.
"Call my parents?" she asked.
"Probably," he chuckled lightly at how terrified she looked at having to talk to them. "After that?"
"Arrange for some doctor appointments. Then try to find Jimmy," she said. "Somewhere in there I need to have a conversation with Ana about all of this."
"Besides finding Jimmy, it shouldn't be too hard. There will probably be more things that need to be done but not at the moment," he said and squeezed her hand one final time. He released her and went to stand but she stopped him.
"Thank you Derek," she said softly. "You didn't have to deal with this but you did."
"It's not so easy to stop caring about you sweetheart," he answered.
She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.