Their relationship was unconventional, and they all were well-aware of that fact. Not a one of them would have ever expected to end up in such an arrangement, and they had all had their doubts and questions when it had begun, but they hadn't had any other option. The three of them had been in love, and no matter how it had happened and how strange it was, they made it work.

It had all begun with Dan, of course. Walter and Laurie might have never met had it not been for him, and certainly wouldn't have considered being friends, much less lovers. He had known both of them for years, from different places, and they had both fallen for him and his kindness. When they had been introduced, both had assumed that Dan was in love with the other and hadn't made a move.

Eventually, things only grew more complicated when they both caught themselves caring for one another, and then they discovered that neither of them had been wrong: Dan was in love with both of them and hadn't known what to do about it. But then Walter grew to care for Laurie and Laurie grew to care for Walter, and with all of their feelings out in the open, the solution was obvious.

It was scary at first, deciding to try this relationship out, and it had been uncomfortable on more than one occasion, but along the line, their strengths in the relationship overcame their weaknesses- they all loved each other fiercely and were loyal and devoted and there was no jealousy within. It was a rough start, but they had more than managed to make things work.

As with most relationships, there was intimacy, and somehow that had almost been easier. Letting all inhibitions go and giving in to passion was easier than trying to figure out their feelings and how they fit into the world around them. But with that degree of intimacy, there was bound to come a day when their family would grow.

"I'm pregnant," said Laurie bluntly, because she said many things bluntly. She had never been the type to knit a tiny sweater and pass it around as a hint or make some joke about having a 'bun in the oven', and actually hiding a bun in their oven just to drive the point home.

Perhaps she could have said something to lead up to it to prepare her lovers for the news, but she didn't really think about that. And once her announcement was made, both Dan and Walter were speechless, staring at her as if they were waiting for her to say something else.

Dan was the first to regain his composure. "I...wow, Laurie, that's, uh, that's...wonderful!" A large smile spread across his face, already making him look every inch the proud father.

"It is," agreed Walter. He was always soft spoken, even in times of great excitement, and now was no exception, though he did give just the slightest hint of a smile at the idea.

"How long have you known?" asked Dan.

"Not long," she replied. "I took a few home tests while you guys were out, and they kept coming up positive, so I went to the doctor today. I'm only a few weeks along, but I'm most definitely pregnant."

There was no discussion of what to do about this, though Laurie had wondered if there would be. The three of them had never talked about having a family or even if they ever intended to have children, and there had been a part of her that had wondered if they would even want her to keep it. She had not let herself get attached to her unborn child, because she was not sure what she wanted for herself and she was not sure what Dan or Walter would want.

But now both of them were overjoyed and for the first time, she allowed herself to be overjoyed as well. Of course this was what she wanted; her chance at a full, happy family and a home life full of love, not only for them men she loved but for a child of her very own. This was what she wanted, and she realized that she couldn't have been happier.

Then Walter asked a question that had been on the back of her mind from the beginning, and that had been overshadowed by her question of what might happen. "Who do you think the father is?"

"Well, I don't know, obviously," she replied with an eye roll, her sarcasm hiding her own concern.

"Just curious," he said. "Thought you might have a feeling about it. It doesn't matter."

"That's right," said Dan with an easy and gentle smile. "We're all in this together and we're all going to be raising the baby. I'm their father and you're their father and Laurie's their mother. No matter whose it is genetically, the baby is all of ours."

That was true and Laurie knew it and accepted it, but when she had a chance to be alone, she still let herself wonder. This wasn't a typical family setup, and children grew up knowing who their mother and father were, picking out features that they shared with each. Having a third parent in the mix and never addressing the genetic father's status wasn't something she had ever seen herself doing with a child, and she really wondered whose the baby might be.

Dan or Walter? Dan's dark hair or Walter's red hair? Or perhaps her dark hair, perhaps the baby would look the most like her, and then there wouldn't be a way to figure things out from looks. Maybe she was thinking too hard on this, because the more she thought the less she could imagine. It dawned on her then that she was really trying to decide who she wanted to be the genetic father, and the reason she could not decide on her preferred features was because she did not have a preference.

Whether it was Dan or Walter, she would be just as happy, because she was with both of them. She was over thinking things because of the newness of the situation, but there was really nothing more to think about. It would be better to approach this simply, just as Dan had. Besides, wouldn't it be better for a child to be raised knowing two fathers from the beginning and never needing to know which one was 'really' theirs rather than what had happened with Laurie?

Her mother was married up until Laurie was seven years old, and her marriage was not a happy one. The man she was raised to believe was her father was angry and liked to take his anger out by yelling at Laurie and her mother, and it was not until they were divorced that Laurie began to recall some of the arguments she had overheard and put two and two together. She soon made the discovery that her mother must not have been faithful and that Laurie was not the man's daughter at all. There was someone else out there who was her father, someone that she didn't know.

When she found out about Eddie Blake, she hadn't even considered him as a possible candidate. Her mother had several friends who all could have been her father, and none of them had nice things to say about Eddie. From what she overheard, he had not been a very good person and had made a lot of questionable decisions. She was never clear on the details as a child, but she figured that he must have done something terrible to her mother.

Growing up not knowing who her father was and pretending to be clueless got to be too much for her and one day, she snapped, demanding that her mother tell her the truth. Her mother got a sad look in her eye then and told her the story of what had happened with Eddie that had made her friends hate him so much, but then she told Laurie more of the story, the full story.

He had made mistakes, yes, but there had been something between them before that, and when they ran into each other years later, it was still there. She said she wasn't sure why it was; maybe because she was so miserable in her marriage and was looking for something to take her mind off of things. Either way, things had heated up between them until they were found out and had to stop seeing each other, and by then, she was already pregnant.

Laurie had not been enthusiastic about meeting Eddie, but he had apparently known all along that she was his daughter and had wanted a chance to meet her for years. Despite all the bad things she had heard about him, he seemed to genuinely care for the daughter he had never had, and she had to remind herself that he was a bad person and that she did not like him. They saw each other a few times after that, but she had refused to warm up to him.

Thinking about her childhood and her mother, Laurie realized that she would be the next person who would need to hear the news and so she picked up the phone and dialed her number.

~X~

"Mom, I'm pregnant."

Sally could have dropped the phone when she heard that shocking bit of news, but she had always been one to drop bombs just as casually as that and she managed to keep herself under control. "Is that right?" she asked. "One of those boys turned out to be man enough?"

She made comments like that sometimes, implying that neither were fully men both because Laurie needed both of them to be in a happy relationship and because they were attracted to one another. When Laurie had confessed the nature of her relationship, Sally had been more than a little surprised and incredibly confused as to what good could possibly come from them all trying to share each other. It was hard for her to understand what was going on between them and was just not something she was used to.

Still, she knew she wasn't one to judge, not with the confusion she had put Laurie through growing up, not with the promiscuous nature she had flaunted when she was younger. In the end, she gave her approval, saying that she was at least proud that her daughter managed to bag not one, but two cuties.

This news, however, was news that she understood, news that she could be happy about. When she had found out that she was pregnant with Laurie, she had been scared and uncertain, given her strained marriage and her affair with Eddie, but even then there was a part of her that was excited at the prospect of having a child and she had never once regretted her decision to keep the baby. She understood what this meant and she was excited. For once, she didn't even care that she was being given another sign that she was getting old; she was honestly happy that she was going to be a grandmother.

"Really, that's great news," she said, before Laurie could get angry at the remark she had made. "Have you told them yet?"

"Of course I have, they were the first to know," her daughter replied. "But I figured you should be the second."

"You know, I think..." She paused, knowing Laurie wasn't going to like what she said next. "I think that Eddie would like to know about this too."

Laurie gave a frustrated sigh. "Yeah, I know, I thought about that too, but I don't wanna have to talk to him."

"It's his grandchild too, Laurie."

"I know, I know! Doesn't mean I like it," she muttered. "If you wanna tell him, you can, but I'm not going to be calling him up any time soon."

They hung up not long after that, and Sally did not hesitate before dialing Eddie's number. She hadn't talked to him much since Laurie had grown up and moved out, and she hadn't seen him in person since the last time she had tried to get him and Laurie to get along. Being with him after all that had happened was strange and, more often than not, she found herself feeling guilty when she was with him. She had chosen a husband she didn't love over the father of her child, and she did not know how Eddie felt about all of that. Surely, he must hate her for it.

He answered after only a few rings and when she said who it was, he replied, "'Course it's Sally, ya think I don't recognize your voice after all these years?" He chuckled in the easygoing manner she remembered from their youth.

"I'm calling with news about Laurie," she replied. He knew about the strange relationship as well, and likely had felt just as odd about it as she did, but had never said anything. Probably didn't think he had any right to, given the fact that he had had no hand in raising her.

"Yeah? Good news, or...?"

"It's good news, really good news." Suddenly, she found herself choked up and hadn't realized just how sentimental all of this was making her. "Eddie, our daughter, she...she's going to have a baby."

A silence followed and she could hear him taking in a deep breath before he spoke. "Really?" he asked. "I mean, she really is? You're not messin' with me, are ya?"

"I'm not, it's true! She just called me with the news. We're going to be grandparents."

"Well, I'll be damned..." Sally hadn't heard Eddie sound this happen in a long time, and realized that he must have a sentimental side himself. "Little Laurie's having a baby." He paused before asking, "Did she want ya to tell me?"

"She...was reluctant, but she said I could. I think she knows that you have the right to know about it," said Sally.

He sighed, and for a moment, she felt bad for him and wished that there was some way she could change things so that Laurie would not resent him so much. As if he had read her mind, he said, "Listen, I really wanna be a part of the baby's life. I mean, my own grandchild, I just...do ya think you could talk to her? I know you've tried, we've both tried, but...this is different. Can you help me try to get her to like me a little more?"

"Yes," she replied, "I'll do what I can." She knew that she had her work cut out for her, but Laurie hadn't had the best childhood thanks to her and the family situation she had put her in. Sally wanted this baby to have something better than that, and hoped that mending fences between Eddie and her daughter would help matters.