Karen sighed and looked up from her vanity, a mascara wand paused halfway towards her face as she glanced at her husband and went back to applying her makeup, "I don't know, honey. We're going out to dinner and who knows what will happen after we get back to their place. I may just end up spending the night if it's too late, so don't wait up."
Stan shook his head, "I wasn't planning on it, since you rarely come home on the nights you go out with Jack and the others." He fixed his tie and walked over to her, bending down to kiss her forehead before straightening up. "Gave a great time, sweetheart, and I'll maybe see you later tonight."
Karen grinned up at him impishly, "Don't count on it, honey."
She watched him smile at her and then exit the bedroom, leaving her alone as she finished up her makeup and checked her hair one last time before she stood up, heading over the full-length mirror on the other side of the room. She surveyed her appearance, turning to the side and briefly thought about changing, but she was in no mood to look through her hundreds of outfits and change out of her dress. She sighed, running a hand over her stomach to flatten out the dress and turned on her heel, grabbing her purse and heading for the limo waiting for her downstairs.
--- --- ---
"Where should we go to dinner?" Will asked, coming in from the bedroom and looking at Grace and Jack sitting at the table.
"How about Chinese?" Grace asked, looking through various pamphlets.
"I just had Chinese last night," Jack complained, looking over at Grace and raising an eyebrow. "Wait a minute. So did you. How could you possibly want Chinese food two nights in a row?"
Grace shrugged, grinning sheepishly, "I don't know. It just sounded good. So, Chinese is out then. Any more suggestions?"
"How about sushi?" Will asked, looking over Grace's shoulder at the various pamphlets they had collected from different restaurants. It definitely made it a lot easier when it came to the group looking for a place to eat.
"We can't. Karen hates sushi," Jack said, being cut off as the front door of the apartment flew open and Karen came flying through it, "Speak of the devil."
Karen gave him a dirty look, "Don't tell me you've resorted to calling me the devil now too. I can only handle one gay a day calling me that."
"Of course, Karen," Will said, taking a seat on the couch. "We all know you're not really the devil. You're his mistress."
"Oh, you're a riot," Karen muttered, looking over at Grace. "Did anyone figure out where we're going to eat yet? And please, no Chinese."
Jack laughed while Grace shook her head, her eyes scanning the pamphlets once more, "Okay, we've established no one wants Chinese. The only other kind of food mentioned was sushi, but I know you hate sushi, so--"
"Wait a minute, honey," Karen interrupted, perching herself on the arm of the couch beside Will. "I don't hate sushi. Where would you get an idea like that?"
"You've told me before that you've hated it. You said you couldn't believe how anyone could eat seafood if it wasn't cooked yet," Grace said, raising an eyebrow at Karen. She knew she hadn't misunderstood her friend before.
"Grace, I think I should know what I like," Karen said, giving her a strange look. "I think sushi is a great idea for dinner tonight, if that's what everyone is in the mood for."
Grace, Jack, and Will exchanged a look before they finally nodded.
"Yeah, it sounds good. We had sort of originally planned to go for sushi until Grace told us you hated it, but if you don't, then it's fine and we finally found a place to go for dinner," Jack said quickly, ignoring the odd looks he was getting from his friends.
"I have no idea what he said, but let's go," Will said, standing up and grabbing his coat.
They made it to the restaurant fairly quickly and even though it was crowded and almost impossible to get a table, as soon as Karen dropped her name, they had a waiter showing them to a private area and a large table in a matter of five minutes.
"You'll have to teach me how to do that," Grace whispered to Karen, smiling gratefully as she took the menu offered to her from the waiter.
"Get a rich husband, honey, and I'll teach you everything you need to know," Karen purred, glancing over her menu and waved the waiter away.
"So, Kare, what do you say we go shopping tomorrow and you buy me a new winter wardrobe? This is New York and it gets so cold and you know how much new clothes make me happy," Jack said, laughing giddily and leaning over to kiss Karen's cheek.
"Poodle, we just went shopping last weekend and I filled your closet halfway up with a new winter wardrobe. You wouldn't have any room for anymore clothes even if I did say yes," Karen said, exasperated.
The waiter came around again, taking drink orders, and the group looked at Karen in shock when she simply ordered water and not her usual martini or another type of alcohol they knew the restaurant served. As soon as the waiter was out of sight, they turned to Karen, who looked confused at all the attention she was getting.
"Karen, is something wrong? Why didn't you order anything alcoholic?" Grace asked, finally breaking the silence.
Karen giggled, "Oh, honey, I can go somewhere and order something non-alcoholic to drink." She paused, sighing as she saw her friends still looking confused. "Okay, okay." She sighed again. "I'm going to a meeting with Stan tomorrow and apparently the guy we're meeting is one of those pure geeks. Stan is afraid of the image the guy might get of us if I show up drunk and high, so he said no pills or alcohol until after the meeting tomorrow."
"Wow, Karen, do you really think that is a good idea? I mean, you might cause more damage when you're sober," Will said, shrugging.
Karen glared at him, "Excuse me? I am perfectly fine when I'm sober. I may not be sober most of the time, but that doesn't mean I don't know what it feels like to be there."
Will rolled his eyes while Jack leaned over to Karen, looking down her dress, "The girls are looking especially perky tonight. What did you feed them today?"
He reached over to initiate their casual fondling sessions, but as soon as his hand barely landed on the clingy material of her dress, Karen slapped his hand away, sighing irritably and turning away from him.
"Jack, stop," she said sharply.
Jack looked slightly hurt at her rejection, but he covered it with a hard look in her direction, "Well, someone doesn't have to be a bitch about it. Sheesh!"
Karen ignored him as the waiter returned with their drinks and to take their order. They all chose a sampler platter with several kinds of sushi on it, even a few that they all despised.
They made small talk until their dinner arrived a short time later, much to the relief of everyone.
Jack immediately reached for a California Roll while Grace poked at an oval shaped, white piece of sushi, wrinkling her nose, "Does anyone know what this is?"
Will looked at it, an eyebrow raised, "I think it might be squid, but I'm not going to taste it to find out."
"I'll try it," Karen piped in, shrugging slightly when three pairs of eyes snapped to her in unison. "What? It probably is squid and it looks fantastic."
"Go for it," Grace said cautiously, reaching for a piece which she recognized.
Karen sighed and reached for the squid and examined it and popped the whole thing into her mouth, chewing slowly and swallowing, not looking worried, "Not bad. Needs some salt."
Will picked up a small, reddish-colored piece of fish, which was attached to a small block of rice, and handed it to Karen, "Here, try this. I believe it's eel."
Karen shrugged and bit it in half while Grace's eyes widened at her friend's sudden liking for sushi, and ones that even she wouldn't even try. She knew for a fact Karen had never liked sushi and now she was trying almost every type on the platter. Something wasn't right and Grace was already confused.
"I think she's been drinking so long she's lost the ability to taste food. It's the only explanation," Will said.
"There's no other reason. Or it may actually taste good," Jack said, eyeing the other half of the eel still in Karen's hand.
Karen giggled, "Oh, honey, it's not that bad. They're actually pretty good if you don't think about what you're actually eating."
"Well then you can have all the odd ones while we eat normal fish normal people should be eating," Jack said, separating all the odd ones to Karen's side of the platter, which she didn't seem to notice as she downed the octopus and sea urchin.
"So, Kare, why couldn't Stan come tonight with us? I know Will invited him," Jack asked.
"Oh, he had some sort of meeting to go to or something like that and he couldn't get out of it. I'm not really sure what it was," Karen replied, reaching for her purse as she heard her cell phone ringing. She pulled out her phone and glanced at the number before standing up. "I'm sorry, guys, I have to take this. Excuse me."
She made a quick exit and her three friends watched her, each frowning slightly in thought.
"She's been acting weird tonight. Weirder than usual, I mean," Will commented, voicing what was on all of their minds.
"She hasn't exactly been herself after Stan practically came back from the dead, so to speak. It really affected her, but she seemed to be fine after she and Malcolm broke up and she got back with Stan. At least, I thought she was doing better," Grace said.
"No, that's not it," Jack said, glancing towards the restaurant's front door, in case Karen was coming back. "She and Stan have been having problems again. Definitely not as bad as when he was in jail and before he supposedly died; divorce isn't an issue here, but they're still fighting and of course, Karen doesn't like it."
"What exactly are the fighting about? Has she told you?" Will asked.
"I'm not going to betray her trust and tell you everything, but she did say Stan has been treating her differently since he came back. She said he's treating her almost like she's a little kid; he's constantly watching over her and he's almost afraid to touch her," Jack explained.
"He probably scared she's going to push him away again," Grace said, "Before he died, she was in the process of divorcing him and he might think she'll do it again."
Jack opened his mouth to continue explaining, but he spotted Karen coming back into the restaurant and he fell silent, exchanging a look with Will and Grace, wordlessly telling them to stay silent. He noticed she didn't seem to look too happy as she headed back to their table, her head bowed as she looked as if she was ignoring everyone around her.
"Kare, what happened?" he asked as she came up beside him.
Karen looked at him briefly before leaning down to pick up her purse, "Oh, uh, Stan's leaving on an unexpected business trip and I need to go." She paused, looking to Will. "Will, Stan's leaving some papers behind for you. Could you come by sometime tomorrow to take a look at them?"
"Yeah, sure," Will said, blinking in confusion. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Karen nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine, honey, but I need to go. I'm going to charge this dinner on my card before I leave, so it's on me."
She turned on her heel and was at the front podium, handing the man her credit card before her friends could say another word. They watched as she walked out the door only a few moments later and a look of confusion was exchanged between them at her seemingly more than unusual behavior.
--- --- ---
Will arrived at the Walker mansion the next afternoon, hoping someone was home. He knew Stan was out of town and he was sure Karen would be out of bed; it was already after two o'clock, after all. With the way she had been acting the night before, he was worried what he might find inside the mansion.
He tried the front door and wasn't surprised to find it unlocked, how Karen often seemed to keep it, despite it being a mansion and in New York. He headed through the entrance hall, not seeing any of the maids or staff, and went to the staircase. The first place he always checked was the master bedroom, where Karen was often found when she was left at the mansion by herself.
He saw the door of her bedroom slightly open and he pushed it open, peeking in and glancing around, not seeing her anywhere in sight. He frowned and glanced down the hallway, thinking for a moment before heading downstairs and through an archway and stepped into the den, seeing Karen curled up in a plush chair in front of the fireplace. He didn't blame her for sitting there; it was snowing outside and freezing.
He watched her for a moment, smiling slightly at how peaceful she looked as she stared into the flames, clutching a thick, wool blanket around her. She looked deep in thought and Will hesitated in interrupting her. It was so rare to see her so calm and quiet and he wanted to cherish the moment.
"Karen?" he called softly.
She turned toward him, a small smile playing on her lips as she spotted him, "I wondered if you'd ever get here, Wilma."
Will raised an eyebrow, "I have to work, unlike you. Speaking of which, why aren't you with Grace pretending to work? She mentioned you hadn't even shown up today and Jack said he hasn't seen you all day."
She shrugged, pulling her blanket higher over herself, "I called in sick. I didn't feel right when I got up this morning."
"You've been calling in sick a lot lately, according to Grace. Maybe Stan left at the wrong time for his business trip with you home sick," Will said, heading over to him and pulling a chair up next to her.
"I'm not dying, Will," she replied, smirking. "Why are you here again?"
"The papers Stan wanted me to see? Remember those?" he asked, trying to give her a not so subtle hint.
Karen giggled, "Right." She threw her blanket aside, and stood up, heading for the hallway while gesturing to Will behind her. "C'mon, honey. They're up in the bedroom. I put them there so I wouldn't forget them."
"And that really worked," Will muttered, following Karen up the stairs and into her bedroom.
She headed to her vanity and picked up two files, looking inside each one of them before holding one out to Will, "This one he said was for you to sign, but I can't remember why. You can take a look at it and figure it out for yourself." She held out the second folder. "This one is papers he signed that he needs you to have on file, I think."
Will looked them over, nodding as he read a few pages from each one, "Okay, I know what these are." He paused, looking up from the folders to Karen. "Where did Stan go to this time?"
"Chicago. He's going to be gone for two days. He wanted me to come with him, but what would I do there?" Karen shrugged, flipping a piece of loose hair behind her ear.
"You should have gone. I know the two of you are just starting to patch things up with your relationship," Will said, immediately regretting it as he knew Jack had told them the information in confidence, and not to be repeated back to Karen.
Karen's eyes narrowed on him as she placed her hands on her hips, "You've been talking to Jack. I knew I shouldn't have told him anything!"
"He did tell us parts of what's going on with you and Stan, but not everything. We were just worried about you. You've been acting strange lately and by that, I mean stranger than usual," Will said.
"Maybe I have been, but that didn't give Jack any right to tell you what I had said to him in confidence," Karen pouted.
"But he didn't, Karen! He just told us you were having problems with Stan, which we sort of already knew. He didn't give anything away," Will explained, sighing heavily when Karen rolled her eyes and turned away. "He didn't do anything wrong this time."
He fell silent, looking down at the folders in his hand before he realized Karen wasn't yelling at him, like he thought she would. He glanced back up at her and he frowned when he saw her leaning on her vanity, her head bowed and a hand crossed over her stomach.
"Karen?"
She didn't answer and he stepped closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to face him. He was even more confused when he saw her eyes tightly closed, her bottom lip between her teeth, and a mask of pure pain etched across her face.
"Karen, I'm sorry if I went too far--"
"No, Will, something's wrong," Karen interrupted, gasping sharply.
"What's wrong? What's happening?" Will asked quickly, almost imitating Karen in her infamous confused moments. "Are you in pain? I think you might need to sit down."
"Will, stop! I'm pregnant, okay?!" she blurted out, fully intending for Will to never find out. "But something is happening. This shouldn't be happening!"
Her panicked voice wasn't enough to bring Will out of the shock of what she had just confessed to him. Flashbacks flooded his mind and it suddenly made sense. Her constantly calling in sick to work, her sudden cravings for a food she hated, fatigue, and refusing alcohol suddenly came together. Even her brushing off Jack's usual fondling of her breasts the night before made sense.
He managed to pick his jaw up off the floor and wrapped an arm around Karen when it looked like she was about to collapse at any moment, "How far along are you?"
"It will be three months next week," Karen bit out, moaning as she felt sharp pains in her abdomen that she knew wasn't supposed to be happening. "Oh God, I've got to get into the bathroom."
She hurried towards the large bathroom, but closed the door before Will could follow her. He tried the knob, but found the door already locked.
"Karen, c'mon, let me in! You need help," he called, turning towards the doorway, "Rosario!"
Karen didn't reply, but Will could hear her heavy breathing through the door and muffled sobs. He pounded on the door again, and again, didn't get a reply.
"Something wrong?"
Will turned sharply and spotted Rosario standing behind him, a feather duster dangling from between her fingers, "Do you have a key to this door? We need to get in now."
"I don't think that door has a key. What happened?" Rosario asked, glancing curiously between the door and Will.
"Karen is in there and she needs help. She's pregnant, but something went wrong and she won't come out," Will explained in a hurry.
Rosario didn't need to be told twice as she went to the door, pounding on it the same way Will had only moments before.
"Go away, Will!"
"It's me, mami. Open the door," Rosario instructed softly, not receiving a reply, "Miss Karen, please. I promise you I'll be the only one who comes through the door if you open it."
It was silent for a few moments until they heard the lock slide out of place and Rosario used the moment wisely as she turned the knob quickly, should Karen change her mind and lock the door again. She closed the door behind her and Will found himself sighing in frustration.
He didn't know much about pregnant women, but he felt stupid for not knowing Karen was pregnant. When he thought back to the previous month, the signs were all there, but he had failed to piece them together. The main clue he should have confronted her about was her no longer drinking or taking pills. He had brought it up once and Grace had several times, but each time she had an excuse and changed the subject. He should have known something was wrong from the first time she refused to drink. He couldn't even remember the last time he had seen her with pills or alcohol.
He had no idea why she would choose to hide this from them and he immediately wondered if Stan even knew. He had a feeling if Stan did know his wife was pregnant, he wouldn't have left the state for a business meeting. Stan was more protective of Karen than ever since he had been back and Will had no doubt he would've liked to have been home constantly to look after her.
The door of the bathroom opened, and Will snapped to attention as Rosario poked her head out, looking grim, "I think you need to get the limo. She's bleeding pretty badly and she needs to get to a hospital."
"Oh God," Will groaned, turning and running for the door.