Prologue:
Pink – two lines.
She turned slowly and looked at the pregnancy test stick again, almost as if she had imagined it the first time – no, there was no question in what she was seeing, both lines were clearly defined. Unless this the test was wrong – she was in fact pregnant.
There was joy.
There was fear.
There was – what if this a false positive?
His voice called out to her from the other side of the door, pulling her back into reality and that included not keeping him in the dark for another minute, even though this had not been planned and wasn't exactly the best timing considering she was knee deep in the middle of an undercover investigation, one that she couldn't drop out without the suspect starting to ask questions on where she went?
Moving to the door, she turned the knob and opened it.
"So?"
Reaching for the pregnancy stick on the bathroom counter, she was speechless as she turned back to him and extended an arm in order for him to see the results, which his eyes then lowered from hers down to the test in her hand and all he could do was take a breath inward, glancing down at the lines. "Two lines—that means…"
"Possibly Pregnant."
He exhaled as the words left her lips – possibly pregnant.
The two of them knew that if she was, their engagement would need to be shortened or maybe even put on hold, considering the idea of walking down the aisle pregnant wouldn't be in the plans, not with the kind of wedding dress she had in mind.
"Lani – "
Her eyes shifted from the pregnancy test up to him.
Eli bit down on his bottom lip as he slowly reached for her hand – he knew she had to be rocked to the core at the possibility of getting pregnant again and carrying another baby in her belly and going through all the emotions, knowing the way it had ended tragically for the both of the last time.
This time would be different.
This time they were in love.
This time – he would be there from the start.
She glanced down at the results one more time before setting the pregnancy test stick back down on the bathroom counter, and then she turned off the lights and led Eli out of the doorway entrance and back into his room, where she could finally sit down and take in what had just happened.
Entering the room, Lani dropped her hand from his and sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling a little uneasy about how he would feel – this was happening because she had been on medication for an upper respiratory infection and it caused the birth control pill to be ineffective, something that is very rare but possible.
"How are you feeling about this?"
He shoved both hands in the front pocket of the jeans – how did he feel? He loved her, that's how he felt. Having a baby with her – it was something that held more meaning for him after they lost David, it was then that he realized just how important she really was and why.
And now – it meant more to him than he could say.
"You know I love you."
"That's not what I asked."
True, it wasn't what she asked; it was, however, a big part of the reason that he wanted to dive into this without hesitation, no second glance and no regrets on anything. "Maybe not—" he said, removing both hands from his jean pockets and walked over to the bed, sitting down next to her. "With you – I'm all in." He met her gaze, holding them in that moment for just a little bit longer.
Lani nodded, smiling cautiously.
No unnecessary stress.
No thought about not going through with the pregnancy.
This time – it was right, for the both of them.
Eli placed the palm of his hand over the top of hers, leaned toward her and placed a soft and tender kiss against her lips, letting her know that they would go through this, pregnant or not, together.
"I guess I should make an appointment," Lani breathed in and then spoke softly, as their lips parted just slightly and they both pulled back. "To confirm whether or not we're really pregnant, or if it was an inaccurate test."
Eli nodded and said, "I want to be there."
"You have that meeting—"
Shaking his head and interrupting, "I don't care, I want to be there."
It was a losing battle – even if the test turned out to be a false positive, or she was in fact pregnant, she knew that he would want to be there either way. This wasn't going to be like last time.
There were no secrets and lies.
There weren't any thoughts about whether ending the pregnancy was best.
If she was pregnant – it was meant to happen.
Eli had been filling the Commissioner spot for the past few months, whether it was temporary or not was left to be seen; however, so far there had been a few bumps along the way, and if Lani ended up being pregnant, this was bound to cause another rift between the two of them in regard to the job.
He'd want to keep her out of the field.
She would still want to be involved in the action.
Either way, it was something he found himself thinking about through the night as he held her in his arms, knowing that he would want her and this baby to be safe and protected at all times to ensure that she carried full term, or at the very least to take as many precautions as possible for that to happen.
Walking into the interrogation room – he found her deep in thought.
"You almost ready?"
She had been chewing lightly on the pen in hand, glancing up from the laptop as he entered and closed the door behind him. It had been a tough morning, trying to concentrate on the undercover assignment when she found herself staring at the clock every few minutes.
Their appointment to confirm the pregnancy test was in less than an hour.
"I've been ready for hours," she told him, closing the screen on the laptop, watching as he sat in a chair directly across from her, leaning in slightly with a smile on his face. "You know, it could be a false positive test. We might not be pregnant."
"I know."
She just wanted them to be realistic – the test seemed to show they were, but at the same time, what if it had been defective? What if there was another reason it showed a positive pregnant result? She didn't want either of them to build up their hope that maybe this was their time – maybe this was their chance to be a family.
"I'm sorry, I just don't want to hope for something that might not happen."
Eli rose to his feet, walked around to her side of the table and sat down on the edge, facing her as she turned to him. "If it doesn't happen – we will be all right." He smiled. "We still have each other; We're still getting married." She stood, he turned forward, and she stepped in between his legs, placing her hands on either side of his face and kissed him.
"What was that for?" He asked, once she took a few steps backward.
Gathering the paperwork next to the laptop, she scooped them in her arms and then stepped back toward him for a brief moment. "For always making me feel better, for loving me in the way that you do."
And he did – he loved her in ways that nobody else had.
She did the same for him.
Eli stood from the table and followed her out of the interrogation room, knowing that the two of them would soon find out if the test was accurate. If not – that was their answer. And if it was, would she be considered high risk because of what occurred during her first pregnancy? What then?
...