Author's Note: This is a collab fic with tea induced scribbles. Completely AU from my other stories.

Chapter One

Andrea woke up to her own snore with a start and winced as the morning greeted her gut clenching nausea and headache. She tried to remember how much she had drunk last night only to feel bile rise in her throat.

Definitely too much… she thought wryly, she swallowed which barely abated her nausea. Last night had been a mixed bag of celebrations and bittersweet memories of the past few years. She groaned her hangover induced misery while she pulled the bedding closer to her body.

She immediately frowned as she felt the smooth feel of high thread count against her skin. She lifted the doona and sheet up; her eyes near bugged out as she realised she was naked. She was not one to sleep naked, a cold sweat beaded across her skin as her brain clicked onto some key details like she wasn't in her own room nor was she alone as the bathroom shower was running.

No,no,no… she thought slightly panicking as she had had a one night stand and fallen asleep instead of slipping out. It was definitely going to send the wrong the message to whoever the man was. Then it hit her that she couldn't remember who the man was.

Memories of last night flittered through her brain as she tried to piece together the events. It had been the Navy Ball which attendance was not optional. She drank with the other sailors and then her brain decided to skip the key information she wanted to know- straight to the sex.

The delicious, toe curling, sweating and messy drunk sex with a physically fine specimen of man as she recalled strong arms. She remembered feeling that confident balance of being feminine and strong with her mystery man. Something that was rare given her job and rough edges tended to emasculate the male populous. Yet, she had no idea who it was. Figuring it was best to keep that mystery alive, she quickly got out of bed and started pulling on her dress and shoes. She would've searched for her knickers and bra but the shower had turned off, telling her it was time to escape.

She picked up her purse and was two steps from the door when her lover of last night stepped into the main room.

"Morning." Mike said, Andrea was thank that her back was to him as it gave her time to compose herself before she turned to face him.

"Mike." She replied, trying to be calm and collected with her raging hangover and overzealous mind pointing out all the identifiers that Mike was the man from last night. It was not fair, he stood there in nothing but a towel. Looking delectable, something she would've barely notice before last night and now blaring at her; reminding her that she had had him under her and over her. She had gripped those muscular arms. His-

"Were you going to a runner on me?" he asked in amusement as he snapped her out of her dirty reminiscing session to a halt. She cleared her throat and gave her all to keep her eyes on his ches- Face... eyes on face... she mentally corrected herself and where her eyes were looking.

"I have things to do." Andrea said casually… like vomit, eat a burger and pretend I didn't just ruin one the few true friendships in my life and work place by sleeping with you… she added silently.

"Uhuh." He said not buying it. "Do we have to talk about last night?" he asked her casually.

"No, no I'm good." She assured him, a blush warming her face as she realised the insinuations he could make from her 'good'. "It was a drunk thing between old friends. One time thing, it was really good. You don't need to worry. I had-" she gave a sigh, "Can you just let me off the hook here?" she asked him uncomfortably, it was clear she was the one falling into a mess while he just stood there weirdly amused by it all.

"Yeah, as long as you're ok." He told her, but she didn't miss the smug and amused smile played faintly on his lips.

"I am, I'll see you tomorrow at the briefing." Andrea said as she took the exit and left the room. Mike watched the door close and gave a frown.

"That was weird." He mumbled to himself.

4 months later,

Andrea made sure the coast was clear in the p-way before she pressed one hand to the wall and blew out a breath. The ship had been rocking and rolling for over 24 hours thanks to a storm cell. Normally, she was not one to get seasick but it was kicking her ass at the moment and it was hard to hide it from the crew. But she did as it was just bad form for the XO to be seasick.

Once the wave of nausea died down in her, she straightened up and rolled her shoulders back and knocked on Mike's quarters.

"Come in." he called out. She opened the door and stepped in; closing the door behind her. "Gator underestimated that storm cell." He quipped as the ship rolled again and a pen rolled off his desk. Mike caught it and swivelled in his chair to face Andrea.

"Another 48 hours, we'll be clear but we'll be three days late for docking in at Norfolk. They've been made aware." Andrea said as she sat down in one of the chairs besides the lounge in his quarters.

True to their pact four months ago, everything had returned to normal between them. Surprisingly their work relationship and friendship hadn't entirely been affected by their one night tryst even if Andrea did have the occasional wandering eye in his direction. And the memories of that night playing in her mind from time to time; she could still remember the scent of his skin and the taste of him, her body had no qualms in reminding her that it wanted more.

But she tamped down on that side of her as she knew it was more about her loneliness and basic physical needs than some deeper need for a partnership or love. Two things she just wasn't ready for even if her body was a traitor.

"Everything else is running smoothly, and I need you to sign off on this transfer." She told him as she passed the reports and transfer papers to him. He frowned as he took the papers.

"Who wants off the Nathan James?" he asked out of curiosity, he looked down at the transfer papers and saw her name. His eyes grew wide as he looked up at her with shock and confusion. "I thought everything was going well here." he added, looking hurt; she hadn't expected it but knew what she said next would really throw a wrench into the works.

"I love the Nathan James and being XO. Working with you has been a dream. But you'll understand the reason when you read it." She told him, he turned over the page and he grew very still.

"Pregnant." he said in a careful manner.

"I'm pregnant, over 16 weeks. Without an ultrasound it's hard to tell but given the rules; I have to transfer to shore duty as per the rules and regs." She said, she could see him doing the math in his head. She could tell the moment he realised he was the father too.

"How long have you known?" he asked, his tone was curious not accusatory as it was clear he was digesting the information.

"When we hit the last patch of rough seas a week ago. To be honest, I thought I was going into menopause but I guess I was wrong about that." Andrea said hoping to inject some levity and humour into the situation.

She knew exactly how he felt, it was cruel mix of joy and grief. Grief because it reminded her of how she always wanted more kids with Bill but never got round to it and because she had lost her little girl. Lilly would never grow up or know her sister. She and Bill had died well before their time in the cruellest way possible. Yet at the same time, she was scared shitless of the future and incredibly overwhelmed in joy as she'd selfishly get to be a mother again. She would have this whole new person to love. All those conflicting emotions and thoughts made her feel like an emotional wreck.

The phone behind Mike rang as he rubbed a hand down his face. He just mirrored her emotional state that she wasn't sure what to say to make it better. He reached back and picked it up.

"Slattery here." he said, she watched as he acknowledged whatever had been said and told them he'd be up in five minutes before he hung up the phone. "We need to talk about this." He told her.

"I'm keeping the baby and I'll completely understand if you don't-"

"Geezus Andrea, that isn't where I was going with that statement. I want to talk about us and this baby. I want to be involved in his or her life." He told her, Andrea didn't know whether to be relieved, vomit, freak out or all of the above. But the sailor in her told her to be calm and cool. The woman told her to remember that Mike wasn't an asshole and they were adults bot teenagers.

"I'm sorry, I know. I'm not at my best as I'm getting anxiety over trying not to vomit here from morning sickness." She said bluntly, he gave a small closed lip smile. "It's not a good look for the XO to paint the side of ship every time the ship rocks-" Andrea stopped as Mike took hand in his. "What are you doing?" she asked, it was a familiarity they never displayed with one another while on the ship but even so, it wasn't like he was holding her hand. He held her hand upright and then pressed his thumb a couple inches down her wrist.

"It's a pressure point to relieve nausea." He told her as he gently massaged the spot in a circular motion. She nodded and took a couple breathes feeling herself relax somewhat as her nauseous overactive mind had been afraid of him declaring his love or something ridiculously out of character for him. "How's that?" he asked as he gently released her hand a couple minutes later.

"Better." She replied honestly as she felt calmer and considerably less nauseous. "Where did you learn that?" she asked.

"Three kids, Christina had bad motion sickness." He told her with small sardonic smile. "I want in for this, but right now isn't the time to talk. So, let's put a lid on it and talk after we get back to Norfolk. Sound good?" he asked as he rose from his chair and picked up the transfer papers from his desk. He signed the document for her.

"Yes, thank you." Andrea said with relief as it meant they both had time to digest what was happening and think about what they wanted.