A/N: Written for The Reviews Springtime Gift!fic exchange for Madam'zelleGiry. Due to length, this will be a two-shot.

A bit of set-up for the story is that it's early on in the second season, the year 2021.

Disclaimer: SeaQuest DSV and its characters are not my creation. They are the creation of Rockne S. O'Bannon as a 1990's television series. This work of fanfiction is for entertainment purposes only and is not for financial gain. I am just borrowing the characters for a bit and promise to return them unharmed and in their original condition, maybe just a bit happier.

Chapter 1

Three months. It had only been three months since she'd walked out of Nathan's door, but Kristin still missed him. At the time, it'd seemed like leaving him was the best idea she'd had in ages, especially since they'd begun a strange and rather volatile sort of dance. Either they'd end up screaming at one another at the top of their lungs or they'd end up in the bedroom. They'd never had problems in the bedroom department, but she knew that wasn't exactly a healthy relationship, only getting along in the bedroom.

Not only had their relationship problems caused them both stress, but it also had begun to affect Lucas as well. They'd all been living under the same roof while the new seaQuest was being built. Nathan had bought a beautiful house for them on the water in New Cape Quest, just a short distance from the base. Kristin had been working in the UEO labs while the men would work at the base. She couldn't even remember where things had turned sour, since they'd all been happy at first.

She gave a shake of her head. It didn't really matter how it all began, did it? In her experience, happiness never lasted forever. She'd made her bed and now had to lie in it, so to speak. Besides, it hadn't been as though she never had a plan when she walked out the door. She was far too wise for that. Even before she'd begun packing, she'd called up her research university and explained the situation. Well, not in great detail. In fact, she'd told a bit of a white lie.

"The UEO labs are so slow right now, and I'm bored to tears. Do you have anything available for me?" Kristin asked, giving her friend a hopeful smile.

She couldn't make money an excuse, since she'd never once been concerned with finances. She'd taken on research projects that had paid next to nothing. But her colleague, Dr. Maddie Luther, had seemed to believe her.

"Even the UEO is having trouble?" the young woman asked with a raised brow. "At least we aren't the only ones."

Kristin's smile faded. "You don't have anything?"

"Well…there is one position available, but-"

"I'll take it!"

Maddie laughed. "But you don't even know what it is yet."

"I'm desperate. I honestly don't care what it is. I'll take anything."

Shortly thereafter, Kristin had found out that 'anything' was a guest lecturer position. Not the most glamorous position, no; the only reason it had been open was because being a guest lecturer meant travelling a great deal, and not many were interested in doing so. But to Kristin, that had seemed ideal, since she'd wanted to be anywhere but New Cape Quest. It had also been an opportunity for her to share her knowledge with other doctors and scientists, a definite upside.

The first week had sent her to Seattle. After that, it had been New York and then Brooklyn. As the days turned into weeks, she hadn't even given a second thought when she'd missed a cycle or two. At her age, she'd just assumed it meant Mother Nature was letting her body know that her reproductive days were coming to a close, though her doctor's intuition also told her stress could have been throwing things off as well. Needless to say, she hadn't been particularly concerned, since she'd been more focused on throwing herself into the guest lecturer situation, if only to get Nathan and the fact that she'd thrown away her CMO position off her mind.

The moment nausea had set in, however, she'd started to pay more attention to her body. Naturally, at first, she'd assumed it was a virus or perhaps a small case of food poisoning. But when she'd noticed how the nausea came and went and had been triggered by various smells or even nothing at all, she had started to wonder if there had been something more going on. Her first thought had been pregnancy.

She'd shaken her head, arguing with herself. "Don't be silly, Kristin. You've got a better chance of being struck by lightning."

That's what she'd told herself in Sacramento, but when she was in Tallahassee shortly thereafter, she'd finally broken down and picked up a home pregnancy test. Naturally, she'd expected to get a negative result, since she'd only purchased it to ease her mind; she hadn't actually expected anything to come of it. When she'd seen the small purple plus sign peeking through the clear plastic window, however, her heart skipped a beat. Several beats, actually.

It has to be a false positive, had been her first thought. Still, the very next day, she'd found herself at the walk-in clinic; part of her had still expected this to be some sort of hormonal imbalance. She'd been well aware of how often hormones caused such things. Immediately, though, a nurse had brought her back to give a urine sample. After that, she'd been brought to an examination room with grey carpeting and a painting of a mallard duck family swimming on a pond surrounded by reeds and cattails. She'd waited there for what seemed like decades, pacing back and forth and glaring at those happy ducks.

"Well, it's official," the young, blonde, curly-haired nurse, Amanda, said after knocking and stepping inside. "You're pregnant."

Kristin's mouth fell open. "Are…are you sure?"

The nurse smiled sweetly and gave a nod. "Congratulations. Now, as I understand it, you're here travelling for work, so we strongly suggest you follow up with your regular doctor…unless you have any other concerns."

She'd shaken her head. No sense in seeing the doctor when he'd just tell her the same thing.

That had happened just one month ago. It had taken her a little while to clear her head and decide what to do next, but she had then decided the first thing she'd needed to do was contact the baby's father. Contacting him hadn't been at all difficult; she'd read about the launch in the papers, so that meant he was just a vid-phone call away. However, she'd always felt there were certain things one didn't just tell someone over the phone. Pregnancy fell into that category; this had been something she'd rather tell him in person. Getting together with him, however, hadn't gone over so well, though.

Although he sounded surprised to hear her voice, Tim had put her right through to Nathan's quarters without question. Nathan's face appeared on the screen immediately after.

"Keeping the beard, I see," she greeted softly.

He nodded. "It certainly saves me time in the morning." He paused, eyeing her carefully. "This is quite unexpected."

"I…I know, but I did say we'd keep in touch."

"All couples say that after they part ways; it doesn't mean it actually happens," he pointed out.

"I didn't stop caring because I left, you know." Her breath suddenly caught in her throat; perhaps calling hadn't been the best idea after all. She bit her lip. "Are…are you upset that I called?"

"No, no, of course not. I mean, I'm glad to hear from you. How…how've you been?"

She paused for a moment. She had told herself that if he'd asked her that, there was no way she was going to admit she was anything but fine. No matter what, she didn't want him knowing how she really felt. Not only that, she didn't want him swayed by the pregnancy. Just because she was pregnant didn't mean she expected him to marry her. Certainly she wanted him in the baby's life…that is, if he wanted to be. But she wanted it to be his objective decision, so to speak. And if he decided he still wanted her, then she'd tell him she never stopped loving him. Of course, they'd have to learn how to play nice with each other again, but they'd cross that bridge if they got there.

She forced a smile. "Fine…just fine. And you?" She craned her neck to look past him. "The new ship looks wonderful, what I can see of it anyway."

He stepped away from the screen to allow her a better look. "I'm sorry I can't give you the full tour. It's not quite like the old one, but you know…it works. But I've been fine. A little busy, obviously, but fine."

"I'm glad to hear it. I, uh, suppose you're wondering why I'm calling…"

"A little, yes," he said, laughing softly.

His laugh helped to put her at ease, whether he knew it or not. She took a breath before speaking. "As you know, I do a lot of travelling now."

"Oh, yes, the lecturer position. How is that going for you?"

"Fine…it's fine. I couldn't ask for anything more. I was just wondering if you've got a mission planned soon."

A brow rose in question.

"I…I know you can't share details. I just meant if you happen to know where you're going to be, let me know, and I can meet you. I have something I need to speak to you about, but I…I'd really rather do it in person." She looked down at the floor, afraid of the look he was probably giving her.

After several moments of silence, he finally replied, "We don't exactly plan missions beforehand. You know that."

"I…I know. I was just…being hopeful. You're not planning on taking shore leave anytime soon?" she asked, looking up at him again.

"Not this soon into the tour, but what is so pressing you can't tell me now?" The concern in his voice was evident. "Are you all right?"

She held up her hands. "I promise I'm fine. I just…" She took a breath. "I'm… You see, I'm…" Suddenly, a thought occurred to her: Nathan never once mentioned if he was interested in having more children. After everything that had happened with Robert, she suddenly doubted it. She realized she just couldn't tell him…not yet. "I'm pretty sure we never discussed what to do with the furniture."

"Oh, is that all?" he asked in relief. "I don't really care. You can have it all if you want."

She bit her lip. That wasn't what he was supposed to say. "No, that wouldn't be very fair. Besides, I'm hardly ever home, as you can understand, so I have little use for it. If you don't want it, it should be sold and the money could be divided equally. But we can discuss it more when we see one another. Do…do you think it might be anytime soon? I realize it's not really an emergency, but I'd like to have this resolved sooner rather than later. That would be easier for both of us; wouldn't you agree?"

To her relief, he gave a nod, whether he actually agreed or not. "Of course, but I make no promises about when we could meet. You know how unpredictable the schedule can be here."

"I realize that, but as I said, I can easily meet you just about anywhere. I'm going to be near New Cape Quest the rest of this month and part of next month as well."

"I'll let you know," he assured her. "Your mobile number's still the same?"

"Oh, thank you. And, yes; you can call anytime."

"You're very welcome. It was wonderful to hear from you," he told her.

"Likewise. We'll be in touch. Take care, Nathan."

"You too," he said before cutting the link.

Nathan had indeed kept true to his word and had called her whenever he'd known they'd be on a mission near the States. They'd never been able to match their schedules, unfortunately, so although she was three months along, Nathan still knew nothing about the baby. She knew she had to change that.

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Dr. Elena Marquez sighed. "You do realize the health risks for a pregnant woman your age?"

Kristin had been getting the proper prenatal care, but her doctor wasn't happy about the fact she'd been doing so much travel for work.

"Surely, they can find something else for you that involves less travel, can't they? As you know, the miscarriage rate is much higher at your age. Not only that, I know you said you were working on talking to the father, but we can't hold off too much longer on the abnormal chromosome screening tests. You know how vital that is, since the risks for abnormal chromosomes numbers increase the older the mother is. You wanted him to be here for that?"

"I'm hoping he will be, yes…but you see, he travels for work himself, and-"

"Does he even know about any of this?"

Kristin shook her head quietly. "I wanted to tell him in person, but getting together with him has been…difficult."

Dr. Marquez frowned. "I'm not trying to be hard on you at all, but my job is to keep you and your baby healthy, and right now, I worry about the both of you. Please talk to your employer and talk to your child's father. Not only that, your blood pressure is a little high. You need to keep your stress levels down, or you'll end up on bed rest before you know it. You will work on these things?"

"I promise."

"Great. I'll see you back in two weeks, and I expect a few changes, if you know what I mean."

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Kristin did indeed know all the risks for 'a pregnant woman her age', and of course she wanted a healthy baby; she also wanted her child's father involved as much as possible, but it was all easier said than done. She also knew why her blood pressure was elevated. With her worry over what Nathan would say about the baby, she'd developed panic attacks and nightmares. She knew most of it was due to her overactive imagination, worrying Nathan was going to write both her and the baby off forever, but a part of her told her it could very well happen, and that scared her to death.

Still, she owed it to her unborn child to follow the doctor's orders, so she gave Maddie a call and explained the situation.

Maddie's mouth fell open. "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?"

"I've only known for a short while myself," she explained, giving a small shrug.

"Well, be that as it may, of course we can't have you travelling everywhere, not at your age."

Kristin cringed inwardly. On one hand, she appreciated the fact that her friends knew the health risks for pregnant women older than age thirty-five, but on the other, she hated being reminded every five minutes that she was a forty-four-year-old pregnant woman.

"But the good news is you can continue lecturing locally, if you're interested."

"Oh, yes, please."

"There are a few drawbacks, though. You'll be giving some of the same lectures but to different groups. It can get a bit boring and tedious."

Kristin waved a hand. "Oh, I don't care about that. As long as I have something to keep my mind busy because soon, it will be diapers and bottles and all that." She paused. "But I would appreciate it if you kept this pregnancy thing between us for now. It's just…it obviously wasn't planned and-"

"You don't have to explain. I promise I won't say anything."

Feeling rather accomplished, she then tried to relax. She put on soft music and lit some lavender candles for deep breathing and meditation. She even repeated a mantra: Nathan will be happy about the baby. The baby and I will be healthy. Everything will be fine. After repeating it several times over, she was feeling much better until her ringing mobile broke her concentration. Her heart skipped a beat when she looked at the caller ID: Nathan.

She took a deep breath and answered, "Hello?"

"I was wondering if you'd have time to meet us tomorrow? We'll be right near Pearl for meetings."

"Oh…well, normally that would work, but I don't think I'll be able to…at least not anytime soon. You see, they've changed my schedule a bit, and now I'll strictly be in New Cape Quest, at least for the next several months. But the good news is that the next time you're back home, we can plan to meet somewhere."

"Oh, well, that's too bad, but I understand."

Kristin thought she heard a bit of disappointment in his voice, but she couldn't be sure.

"You're sure you don't want to just talk about this over the vid-link sometime? I'm free Wednesday; that's my day off."

She paused and glanced down at her tummy, which was just starting to get a little rounder. "I…I'll tell you what. If we can't see one another within the next few weeks, we'll do just that. I'd just really rather talk about it in person is all."

There was a long pause. "Kris, is there something you're not telling me?"

She shut her eyes tightly, mentally debating if she should just come clean. Before she could really decide, she heard herself answer, "Of course not."

"I was just checking. Well, I've got to run, but maybe we'll see one another soon."

"Maybe. Thanks for calling," she replied, her voice suddenly shaking.

"Anytime. We'll talk soon."

The moment she hung up the phone, she went into hysterics, and she wasn't even sure why. Why couldn't she bring herself to tell Nathan the truth and why in the world had she made up that ridiculous furniture lie? She didn't care about the furniture any more than he did. She was so worked up, she knew relaxation was out of the question now. Instead, she ended up in the bathroom, losing her dinner. She then lay in bed, hoping she'd be able to calm down enough to talk to Nathan, since she doubted they'd be able to see one another, at least not before she was as big as a house.

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Somehow, she was able to pull herself together, at least enough to plan her lectures and make it through the next week. No, as Maddie had said, there wasn't a great deal of variety in the lecture process anymore. But Kristin had thought of ways to alleviate that and make small edits here and there based on her group. If she noticed the scientists she was lecturing looked a bit bored, she found ways to make her lectures interactive, making a mini-experiment. If her scientists seemed quiet and more thoughtful, she would ask several thought-provoking questions and leave time at the end of the lecture to discuss the answers with the group. Making such tweaks helped keep her mind off everything else for the time being.

Two weeks had passed since Nathan had invited her to Pearl; she hadn't spoken with him since. As she noticed her belly growing, she knew she was going to have to break down and tell him, but she was procrastinating. Not only that, instead of going home every night, she'd been staying at the New Cape Quest Hotel, since the lecture seminars were held there, and since her apartment was a thirty-minute drive away, it was much easier with the pregnancy.

She'd had an appointment with the seminar coordinator in the lobby to discuss the itinerary for that day, so she reluctantly pushed herself out of bed. One thing she noted with the pregnancy was that she was exhausted twenty-four/seven. At this point, it should have been lessening; at least it did when she was pregnant with Cynthia, but as she was constantly being reminded, she was much older now. She'd also started wearing baggier clothes. It wasn't that she was trying to hide her pregnancy, but she didn't want anyone treating her any differently because of it. And the New Cape Quest Hotel wasn't too far from the base; all she'd need is for someone to recognize her and blab it to Nathan before she got the chance to explain. She wanted to tell him herself, even though she'd been putting it off; she just didn't want anyone else ruining it for her.

As she made her way down to the lobby, however, her jaw nearly dropped to the floor when she saw Nathan and crew. She quickly turned around, hoping to retreat; she wanted to see him, but this wasn't on her terms. She wasn't prepared. Oh, please, I hope he didn't see me, she thought.

"Kristin? Is that you?"

Damn it. She put on a smile and turned back, only to see him walking towards her. The rest of the crew cast a few glances her way but then walked towards the check-in desk. "Well, fancy seeing you here, sailor." She did her best to keep her voice steady and casual. "This is certainly unexpected."

"You can say that again," he agreed. "I was going to be giving you a call later, but I guess I don't have to. We're in town for repairs."

She clicked her tongue and gave a smile. "On a new boat. What a pity."

"Don't even get me started," he said with a shake of his head. "I'm not too thrilled, but it can't be helped." He paused as his brow furrowed. "Why are you here; is something wrong at your apartment?"

"No, not at all. This is just where I work, giving lectures at seminars several times daily. It's easier than going home every night. I do go home on the weekends." She glanced over Nathan's shoulder and noticed a woman with short dark hair and stunning crystal blue eyes staring at the two of them rather intently. She also couldn't help but notice the disapproving look she was giving. Kristin nodded her head towards her. "A friend of yours?" she asked Nathan.

He turned around and saw who Kristin meant. "Oh, that's Dr. Wendy Smith."

"Ah, my replacement," Kristin said. "I do recall the name now." Kristin had aided Secretary General Noyce in choosing her replacement, and Dr. Smith seemed the most qualified. "Though she doesn't look particularly pleased to see me."

Nathan waved a hand. "She's just concerned about me; we're very close. Excuse me for a moment."

Kristin watched as he walked towards Wendy and put his hands on her shoulders. Although she couldn't hear what they were saying, she watched Nathan's face intently. The expressions he was making, the way he put an arm around her shoulders…it was all too familiar. A flash of jealousy hit her as she suddenly realized Nathan had moved on.

A small voice in her head quickly shook her back to reality. And why shouldn't he? He had every right. You left him, remember?

She gave a gentle nod, as if to confirm it to herself. She had no right to be jealous, but that didn't stop it from happening. Still, she had to force it down for the time being.

As Nathan returned, however, she couldn't help but question his actions. "Close, hm?"

"Yes, we're friends." He paused, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're not honestly asking me to justify it, are you?"

Kristin noticed that Wendy had backed away but was still lingering by the elevator, waiting for Nathan to return. "Of course not; I just couldn't help but notice how she's about five seconds away from having your name tattooed on her bottom. I think that says more than friends."

"At least she'd be willing."

It was like a slap and an all-too-familiar reminder of how dangerous they could be when they were together. Kristin shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the sting to subside and trying to hold back tears.

"Kris…" she heard him mutter. "I didn't mean…"

She held up a hand as she regained a small bit of control before opening her eyes once again. "It's fine, really." She'd lowered her voice to a whisper meant only for his ears. "And you're absolutely right. I was never keen on being branded as your property. I'm so thrilled you finally found yourself a willing victim. I hope you two are very happy together. Now, if you'll excuse me…" She heard him start to mutter something, but she didn't wait. She made a bee-line for the ladies' room; she only had ten minutes before her meeting.

A/N: A huge thank you to Cheile, BluNephilu, and Edhla for the beta/brainstorming help.