Ch 1- We Weren't Even Trying

* This takes place in an AU season 8 where WAG revisit the idea of having a child together after breaking up with Vince and Leo, and Karen divorces Stan following his return from the "dead."

Karen sighed as she woke up, hugging the blankets tightly to her chest. She furrowed her brow, squeezing her eyes tight, as the light crept in, making her already aching head begin to pound. She'd slept soundly the night before, but now that the budding hangover had started to take over, the last thing she wanted to do was open her eyes. She groaned, keeping her eyes closed as she turned over to face the center of the bed.

"Ummm, oh!" She yelped, surprised to notice her bare skin, make contact with someone else's.

She couldn't remember doing anything the night before, and apparently she had. All that she could recall about the previous evening was that she'd gotten her final divorce settlement from Stan, and that she, Jack, Rosario and several other friends (not including Will and Grace, who were in the midst of arguing over having a child together), had had a lot to drink in celebration of the apparently happy news.

In truth, she was just dying inside. The last thing on earth she wanted was to leave Stan. But it was over; it was done. And money or not, she was miserable. So she'd drowned her sorrows in alcohol, in pills … in God knew what else. She only knew that it'd been far more than even she was used to.

Even so, Karen found herself intrigued when the other body scooted itself closer to hers. She grabbed its arm, noting at once that it was a man. Her heart sunk when she realized her hand nearly fit around his wrist.

'It's not Stanley.' She thought. 'And it'll never be Stanley again … Oh to hell with him, if he doesn't want you, you don't want him!'

The owner of this body had not yet opened his eyes, and was still not fully awake. Unlike Karen, he wasn't used to drinking much at all, and felt far more ill than she. Nonetheless, the individual in question wondered the same thing Karen thought when he woke up to the feeling of someone else's skin:

'Who in the hell is that?!'

"Ummmm good morning." Karen purred. She understood what had

happened: and decided that just maybe, it would lead to a new chapter in her life.

"Um morning Karen." Jack mumbled, his eyes popping open when he said

Karen. "Karen!" He yelled, sitting up in bed and covering his chest with the blanket.

"Jack!" She sat up at the same time. He was the last person she'd ever expected it to be.

"Ahhhhhhh!" They screamed at once.

"Oh…O-M-G…Karen what happened?!" Jack was shaking.

The two jumped out of bed and stood facing each other, mortified. She held the comforter over her and he held a sheet over him, which was a bit ridiculous, it wasn't as if they hadn't seen each other naked before. Karen wracked her brain…had anything happened…?

"Honey, I-I don't know." She was beginning to shake a little bit herself. This was simply too awkward.

"Do you think we…we…" He could barely stomach the inquiry.

"Honey I…I don't know." She squeaked.

Jack paused, gulping. Now that he was fully awake, he was starting to recall the things they'd done the night before. It pained him so much to think on it; in fact he wanted to throw up.

"K-Karen…I think I…Karen we…. we yeah..." Jack wished he could simply disappear. He'd never felt so panicked or sick to his stomach in his life. He couldn't believe he'd slept with a… woman. "I'm really sure that you, that I…and you…that we…"

Sure he and Karen did a lot of risqué things together, it wasn't as if he wasn't familiar with her body. He wasn't even completely uncomfortable with her body…. But this! What did this mean? How did this affect his fabulously platinum gay identity … Oh no! He was no longer, a platinum gay! Jack bit his lip, fighting back the urge to be sick.

"J-Jackie I think your right." She said, sinking back onto the bed.

She sighed painfully, resting her aching head in her palm. The look that spread across her face pained him greatly; it was like watching her heart sink. He was disgusted, but wondered why she felt this way, seemingly so painfully sad. After all, he was a man, and she a straight woman. What was her problem with what had happened? It made him sick sure, but he hoped it wasn't hurting her.

"Jackie I'm, I'm sorry." Karen said very seriously.

Pieces of the previous evening where fluttering back to her, and she thought this was probably all her fault. She assumed she'd gone too far with him while she was high and drunk. Historically, the concept seemed accurate. But she couldn't stand the idea of ruining, or changing her relationship with Jack, not now when she needed him the most.

"It's not your fault Kare… Hey I'm going to take a shower…wash all these girl germs off me, wanna come?"

"Haha, come." She laughed and he giggled in reply.

Soon they were laughing together like nothing was ever wrong in the first place. Perhaps things wouldn't change after all?

"Really Kare, come with…"

"How are you supposed to get rid of lady germs if you take me with you?" She countered. He could tell she was a little hurt by this comment, lady germs.

"Oh Karen I…" She was surprised when he came to her side of the bed and kissed her aching forehead. She groaned, a small smile on her face. "I don't mean it that way… I'm so glad that if I had to wake up in bed with a woman, that it was you. I mean you are my girlfriend, remember?"

Karen nodded. A couple of years before, after she annulled her marriage to Lyle Finster, but before Stan came back, they'd decided to be each other's significant other, noting that they were the only ones good enough for each other. They'd made the decision to be a couple in every way, except of course for sex.

"And if we're partners." He continued. "And I love you, which I do. Then I guess its only fitting that we've done it, at least once." He reasoned.

He extended his hand to her. She smiled slowly as she looked up and took his hand in her own.

"Come on, Rosie's probably already in there." He said as they heard the water begin to run in the shower.

…

A Month And A Half Later

"Grace … Are you alright?" Will cringed, knocking on the bathroom door.

She'd been so moody lately, but not for the reasons they would've hoped. It was a sensitive time of year, and not at all the day to be doing what Grace was doing. He didn't understand that she longed for this news.

"Maybe you better just leave it for today…" He suggested lightly.

Within a flash, she opened the door, leaning against the doorframe, her eyes wildly drilling into his. He gulped, just a bit nervous.

"It's as good a day as any for it, now if you could, just let me pee on a stick in peace!" Will jumped as she slammed the door.

"Touchy…" He mumbled.

"I heard that!"

It was, you see, Grace and Leo's anniversary. She opened the door again, taking the box from the drug store out of his hand.

"Forgot something?" He asked.

He sighed as she grabbed it and slammed the door in his face again. Will was worried. How were a gay man and a straight woman ever supposed to find happiness in this way? Especially when they'd both just gotten their hearts broken by the men of their dreams.

Will looked up when Jack and Karen walked in, the door slamming behind them. Karen hadn't felt right since just before lunch, as if she'd known what was coming, and now she found it hard to contain her emotions. What kind of life would she have now? Would Rosie leave? Would Jack abandon her? Would there even be a place to live now? There were too many unanswered questions. She was shell-shocked and about to be sick, but determined to remain cheery in front of Will and Grace. The last thing she wanted to talk about was her money problems.

Jack was sickened by the proposition he'd gotten at lunch, and had yet to tell Karen about it. But with what had happened, he found himself weighing it in his mind.

'She's taken care of me all this time.' He thought, seeing through her passive-aggressively cheery façade. 'Maybe its time I do something for her… Nah I can't. Beverly Leslie! I mean yuuuck.'

"Alright, where's the cake?" Grace asked, bursting out of the bathroom.

"Oh you're taking another pregnancy test." Jack observed, picking up one of the boxes on the table.

"Don't rub it in." Grace added, already biting into a bit of the cheesecake.

"Yeah, please don't rub it in." Will insisted.

"Kare remember when we took these that one time, it was kinda fun." He said, trying to lighten the mood. Will raised an eyebrow.

She giggled. "We were sad because we thought Jackie's would be positive." Karen started to laugh at the memory as Grace looked back resentfully.

"Well mine sure isn't. Will maybe you better try."

"I think I'll hold off." He watched all three of his friends skeptically.

"Come on Kare, lets take one, for old times sake, besides it'll get your mind off of your money…"

"Shuuuuuu. The last thing I wanna talk about is my money problems."

Karen decided to humor Jack. Like a mother with a small child, she wanted him to think that his idea, which had been intended to make her feel better, would actually work. But it would do more harm than good. It reminded her of all the time she'd squandered with her Stan, and with Mason and Olivia. It wasn't as if she longed for children at all, but she didn't like the reminder of what would never be.

Grace sighed, as Jack and Karen scurried off to opposite corners of the apartment to take their tests. She sighed, laying her head on the table as the doorbell buzzed.

"I got you your fav!" Will announced.

"Woopie." She mumbled. He ran his fingers through her hair as he grabbed his wallet off the table and made his way down to greet the pizza guy.

As soon as the coast was clear, Grace got up and darted for the message machine, turning the volume down and playing the last thing on her inbox.

"Hey Grace, it's Leo…"

…

"What's taking you so long, Kare?" Jack whined, knocking on Will's bathroom door.

She came out after a long pause, a small frown on her face. Jack couldn't help but notice she looked pale.

"It's alright we'll get through this together." He squeezed her hand.

"Yeah…" She replied weakly, gulping. She was about to be sick.

"I'm kinda sad." He said as they made their way back to the living room. Karen stared, almost comatose. "Mine was negative. I really thought it wasn't gonna be for a second."

Distracted, Karen tripped, but Jack caught her just before she fell. She made her way to the couch and while Will, Grace and Jack all made a beeline for the pizza and cake, she went right for the Vodka Will had poured her. The thing she needed most right then was a drink.

"So you guys'll never believe what weird thing happened to me today." Jack, in a lighter mood now, started to laugh. "Some weird little old elf asked me to share half his fortune with him. Can you believe it? Me and Beverly Leslie, how hilarious!"

Karen choked as she drank; looking back up at Jack, fire in her eyes. Jackpot. Or, should we say, Jack-pot.

"Jackie I think we'd better go."

"But Karen I'm just eating my…"

"There's not enough vodka!" For the way she felt right then, there wasn't enough vodka in the world.

"I just gave you a whole bottle!" Will complained.

"Hey I could use some of that right now." Grace realized, her mouth full.

Karen said not a word, but instead uncorked the large bottle and began to drink, all of them staring back as she guzzled it. She finished without another word and she and Jack got back on the elevator as he continued to joke and tease about the ridiculousness of Beverly's proposal.

"You'll do it!" She said, grabbing his collar and slamming him into the wall.

Karen didn't want to force it, but she was panicked in more ways than one now and saw this as their only way out.

"But Karen! I don't like him I think he's gross."

"Oh yeah, and Stan wasn't a little bit gross?!"

"But I don't love him."

"And when's that ever stopped you before?"

Jack gasped as if he'd been slapped. "Well played!"

Karen pushed Jack out as the elevator reached the first floor, sending him on his way to be sacrificed to Beverly Leslie. He turned to question her more but the doors closed. She needed to be alone.

Crying now, she stopped the elevator purposefully, just when it reached the space between the second and third floors. She sighed, sniffing as she leaned against the wall and started to fish something out of her purse. She held the stick up to her eye-level, her fate manifested in a tiny plus sign.

"Oh Stan, you bastard, how could you leave me like this?" She whispered.