A/N: Hi Flashpoint fans! This story picks up at the end of the episode "Thicker Than Blood," then loosely follows the events of the ensuing episodes…or how those episodes might have played out with one major twist in the show's storyline, which will be revealed by the end of this chapter. There will also be chapter in between or out of the scope of the show's episodes. I've never written for Flashpoint before, so I apologize for any errors in background that I might make. Please leave a review and let me know what you think!

"So Jules…asking about kids?"

"Does nothing escape your notice?"

Ed Lane sighed as he shoved his vest into his locker and stared at the pictures of his family stuck to the inside of the door. Greg may have dismissed it when he'd attempted to raise the subject on the drive to the credit union that morning - and granted, it had been a rather obvious attempt to change the subject away from his own marital drama - but after so many years of working together, he liked to think he could read any of his teammates pretty well. Something about the look on Jules Callaghan's face when she'd asked that question had been bothering him all day. He just couldn't quite put his finger on why.

"Hey."

Ed turned around as he heard footsteps and nodded as he came face to face with the woman he'd just been thinking about. "Hey," he said softly.

"Listen," Jules said, glancing down at her feet in a move Ed knew meant she was both nervous and slightly uncomfortable. "I, uh, I wanted to let you know if you ever need to talk…"

Ed smiled sadly, knowing that some of his teammates could read him just as well as he could read them. There were very few secrets among Team One. "It's okay," he said, hesitating for a moment. "But you know that goes both ways, right?"

Jules nodded. "You need any company?" she asked. "You want to go grab a bite?"

"I…" Ed started to refuse but then paused, glancing down at his watch as he silently calculated the time it would take him to drive out to his in-laws' place in the suburbs. "Okay. I could do with a quick burger."

Jules smiled. "Great," she said. "Meet you out front in five?"

"Yeah," Ed nodded. "Okay."

He waited until he heard the door close before turning back to his locker and taking one last look at his wife's picture. "Alright Jules, let's make this quick," he muttered. "I've got a family to get back to."

Ed took a long sip of his beer and leaned back in his chair as he watched Jules play with a french fry on her plate. They'd gone most of the meal with only a few words passing between them, and he knew it was going to take something big from him to shock her into coming clean about what was on her mind. He only hoped he hadn't completely misjudged the situation, because if he had, what he was about to do would be highly embarrassing.

"So," he said cautiously. "Exactly how far along are you?"

Jules nearly spit out her water before she quickly set her glass on the table and gaped at Ed. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard what I asked," Ed said calmly. "How far along are you?"

Jules frowned and leaned forward against the table, looking as though she were about to protest the question. A quick look at the concern in Ed's eyes, though, and she felt the fight leave her. "I'm not sure," she admitted reluctantly. "Probably about eight weeks."

"Have you seen a doctor?"

"Not yet," Jules said. "I have an appointment for my day off next week. But I took six at home tests, and they were all positive."

"Wow," Ed muttered, shaking his head. Even when he'd been asking the question, part of him had been sure she was going to deny it. "I don't quite know what to say, Jules."

"You know, that's pretty much exactly the reaction Steve had when I told him," Jules said.

"Is it his?"

Jules rolled her eyes. "No, Ed, I've been around on the side, just for kicks. Of course it's his."

"I didn't want to make any assumptions," Ed said, throwing his hands up in mock defeat. "I knew you'd had a few dates, but I didn't know it was that serious."

"I'm not really sure how serious it is," Jules admitted. "We've only slept together a few times."

"It only takes once," Ed pointed out, earning another eye roll from Jules. "At any rate, you're having a baby together."

"Maybe."

Ed frowned and looked at Jules in surprise. "Maybe?"

"I don't know. You should see Steve, Ed, he's so excited," Jules said. "He's probably out buying more onesies and bibs as we speak."

"Jules," he said carefully, his tone full of friendly concern. "How do you feel about this?"

Jules bit her lip nervously and glanced down at her hands. She knew Ed loved his son, and she knew he was about to have a daughter he'd love just as much. She wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to understand the way she was feeling at that moment.

"Honestly?" she said with a heavy sigh. "I have no idea what to feel. Until I saw those damn lines on those tests a few weeks ago, I'd never given a whole lot of thought to the idea of having a baby of my own."

"And now?"

"I still don't know," Jules admitted. "I worked my ass off to get a spot on the SRU, Ed. I've had to work twice as hard as anyone else to keep my spot on the team secure and I…"

"Jules, you're one of the best cops I've ever worked with," Ed pointed out. "That isn't going to change just because you have a child."

"Not for you, maybe," Jules said. "But Ed, there are only two women in the entire SRU right now, and Donna Sabine isn't likely to be having a baby any time soon. If you think there aren't people - high-ranking people - in the department right now who would grab any excuse to get me out of the old boys' club permanently, then you need to take off those rose-colored glasses you're wearing. There's absolutely no precedent for this, Ed. There's never been a pregnant SRU officer."

"You've always been a trailblazer," Ed pointed out. "Why stop now?"

"Because there are department regulations about pregnant officers," Jules said. "SRU or not, they still apply."

"I take it you've done your research on those regulations?" Ed asked, knowing that he himself was somewhat ignorant on what the department required - after all, as Jules had pointed out, it had never been an issue any SRU team leader had had to deal with before this moment.

"You can't be in the field past the start of the second trimester," Jules said. "A pregnant officer has to transfer to a station-bound position within her unit. Which raises issue number one."

"There are no station-bound positions on an SRU team," Ed said knowingly.

"Exactly," Jules said. "The rules state that if there are no available positions within the unit, the pregnant officer has to transfer to another unit - without her spot in her regular unit being held. If I wanted to come back to the SRU after the baby was born, I'd have to requalify. I'd be starting from square one, Ed, and only when there happened to be an opening on one of the teams. It might not even be Team One."

"That's absurd," Ed said. "It takes months to go through the SRU process. People spend years on the qualified wait list. Those rules can't be right."

"It's not so bad if you're trying to get back to homicide or vice," Jules said. "When the rules were written, there were no women in any elite units, especially not the SRU. Ed, you know it took me years to even get a shot at trying out for the SRU, let alone being a member of Team One. I just don't know that I'm prepared to give that all up."

"Are you prepared to give up being a mother?" Ed asked hesitantly, holding his breath a bit as he waited for her response.

"Maybe," Jules said. "I was never one of those girls who sat around dreaming about a husband and kids, Ed. I'm not saying I don't like children, but I'm thirty four years old and I've never felt like I needed to have them to be complete or anything. I love my life and I don't think I feel like I'm missing anything."

"But you're still torn about what to do?"

"I grew up Catholic, Ed, and I still believe a lot of what I was taught," Jules said. "And I don't want to hurt Steve, because he's so excited about this baby. I just…I don't know what to do. I don't know what I want. And I don't know how to decide."

"What can I do to help?" Ed asked, reaching across the table and grabbing her hand as he saw the tears welling up in her eyes.

Jules shook her head and smiled sadly. "You're already doing it," she said. "I just need time, Ed. I need more time."