Decisions

Author's Note - Well I've been reading fanfics for long enough so thought it was about time I wrote one of my own! I don't want to give anything away regarding the storyline of this fic, you'll have to read to find out more. Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer - I am in no way associated with the production of ER, I do not own the characters or anything to do with the show.

Spoilers - None, if you are up-to-date with the episodes shown in the US and the UK.

Rating - PG13, just to be safe.

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Carter entered the ER with more aprehension than perhaps was necessary. Never before had he felt this nervous about coming to work. But then never before had he arrived at the hospital with a pregnant girlfriend in tow. He knew deep down that nobody would judge him, more than likely everyone would be thrilled for him and warm to Kem immediately. But there was still that knot of anxiety settled in his stomach as he tightened his arm around Kem's shoulders and guided her through the main doors and into the waiting area. He then proceeded to triage where he gently tapped on the glass, trying to get the attention of the nurse behind the window. Her head immediately shot up,

"Please sit down sir and wait your turn."

Carter looked at her quizzically, then reminded himself that this woman probably had no idea who he was. He certainly couldn't remember seeing her around before he left for Africa. He knocked again, but this time showed his identity card.

"You wanna let me in?" he joked, assisted by a playful smile. The nurse smiled back and opened the doors for him before introducing herself.

"Hi I'm Sam Taggart." she said, shaking his hand. "You must be the famous Dr Carter! I'm sorry about that little incident... I didn't realise who you were!"

"Hey don't worry about it, it could have happened to anybody." he replied, giving her another smile.

"Thanks... look sorry I have to get back to it..." Sam said indicating to her vacant position at the triage desk. "I'll see you around." And with that she was gone.

Carter looked around him. He could see so many people he knew carrying out their various duties. Frank sat behind the admit desk munching on a doughnut, Chuny and Haleh was standing in the corner gossiping and Weaver was having a rather one-sided conversation with a poor med student. 'Some things never change' Carter thought to himself. It was then that Haleh caught his eye, he hadn't realised he'd been staring. She bounded over to him, a smile spread across her face.

"Carter, you're back!" she exclaimed warmly before engulfing him in a hug. This drew quite a few spectators and before Carter knew what was happening he was being hugged and spoken to from all directions. Suddenly he felt a hand grip his. In his rush to greet everyone he had forgotten about Kem. Everyone around him had gone quiet so he took this opportunity to introduce his new girlfriend to them.

"Everyone this is Kem. We're having a baby together."

There was a short silence before the couple were again met with rounds of hugs and words of congratulations. Carter didn't know why he'd been so nervous earlier. If this was the way half the staff reacted, the other half shouldn't be any different. Except maybe one person...

He hadn't spoken to Abby since he left for Africa the second time. He often laid awake at night thinking about her. Thinking about their relationship. Both of them knew it wouldn't be easy but for a few short months being with her had been the easiest thing in the world. It felt so right. He was even planning to propose. But when his Gamma died and Eric was off his meds everything went downhill. They failed to communicate with one another, it seemed best to keep their feelings to themselves, to put up the barriers and not let anyone break them down. That was their undoing - lack of communication. And as he laid under the African sky thinking about it all, he decided to write the letter. Breaking up with her was one of the hardest things he'd done in his life. But he conceded it was for the best. Then he met Kem and as they say, the rest is history. He wondered though how Abby would take the news of Kem being pregnant. He didn't think she'd be thrilled, but maybe she would be civil enough about it. He hoped they could regain the friendship they had, but that was something he'd have to wait to find out. Surely it wouldn't be long before he bumped into Abby - then maybe some of questions could be answered.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when he felt someone squeeze his hand. Kem had never let go during all the wellwishing.

"Come on," she said softly, "we've got an appointment in OB remember?" And with that Carter led her upstairs.

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Carter and Kem exchanged smiles as they left the elevator, Carter proudly carrying the sonogram picture in his hand. Every so often he would look down at it, just to remind himself that it was real, that this little baby was his son. They stopped to talk to Luka and showed him the photo. Luka seemed genuinely pleased for them but had to quickly excuse himself when a nurse alerted him of an incoming trauma.

"Everyone seems really nice" Kem remarked as Carter put his arm around her shoulder.

"Don't speak too soon, you haven't met Kerry yet! She's probably still shouting at that poor guy from earlier on!"

"She can't be that bad!"

"No you're right, she's not. Just do everything she says and you'll be fine!"

Kem giggled and Carter planted a kiss on the top of her head. They began walking towards admit.

It was then that he saw her. She stood in front of the desk, chart in hand. She glanced sideways and caught his eye. She quickly averted her eyes but it was too late, he'd seen her. She reluctantly walked towards him.

"Hi" she said, trying to sound casual.

"Hi Abby" Carter replied. He awkwardly pulled her into hug. "So I see you're back at med school?" he asked, indicating the white coat she was wearing.

"Yeah I needed a change." Carter just nodded his head.

"So who's this?" she asked looking over to Kem.

"Oh this is Kem. We met in Africa."

"Hi, nice to meet you Kem". They shook hands and Kem smiled in return.

Everything was silent for a moment before Abby turned her attention to the photo in Carter's hand.

"So... what's this?" she asked gesturing to the piece of paper. Carter let her take it and studied her face as she looked at it. Her expression was unreadable.

"It's a sonogram picture of our baby boy" Kem blurted out, obviously excited to be sharing the news.

"Oh congratulations" Abby answered politely, giving the photo back to Carter.

"Thankyou" they both said in unison.

After another awkward silence Abby spoke up,

"You know I have one of those sonogram pictures too!" She reached into her pocket, pulling out a similar piece of paper and handed it to Carter. He studied it closely.

"Except mine is a picture of my baby girl."

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Author's Note - Well as I said this is my very first attempt at any kind of fanfic writing. If you have read this and have enough time, please review. It would be nice to see what people think about my writing. Thanks.