Curve balls

Chapter 1

12.6 years

Sara lay in bed, looking over at Neal, gently snoring next to her. It was almost two in the morning and she turned over, trying once again to find sleep. Neal felt her move against him and without so much as waking, he turned over following her lead and spooning her as he pulled her close. His body was solid and warm against her and Sara tried to let herself melt into him, but she was just too restless and she finally gave up, deciding to get up, fearful that if she kept moving she would end up waking him.

She hadn't quite found the words to tell him what he needed to know. It was bad enough that she had known for a few days; when Neal found out, he would no doubt have a little trouble sleeping himself. She made her way to the kitchen and warmed up a glass of milk as she looked around the kitchen and family room, eerily quiet at this hour of the night. This was the nerve centre of their home, where Hope and Liam did their homework, where they had their meals, where they curled up and watched movies together on Friday nights, where they lived their lives.

She spotted a picture of Hope on the bookshelf in the family room – she'd been no more than three years old at the time, Sara mused. Back then, they had been hoping and praying they could have another baby, Neal had been working for Peter part-time as well as doing some freelancing... everything had been in transition. Nowadays, their lives were much more settled. Both Hope and Liam were in school; their 'baby' was already in grade 2, learning to read and becoming independent. Neal had been working full time at Finch and Johns for over 7 years and although he still worked on the odd case with Peter, those were few and far between. Hope was twelve going on twenty and she continued to be an amazing kid, fine tuning her skills in the studio, still playing on the school soccer team, strong and fearless like her mom.

Their lives were settled and they were content with the day to day routine. Sara and Neal had long since felt that everything was perfect and that they could happily go on living their lives this way, raising their two kids, blissfully living from season to season without any abrupt changes to mess things up. Sure, there were the usual ups and downs. Lately, Neal had been worried about Peter's health and he fretted that his friend might be headed for some trouble; June was getting older and in the last year, her health had begun to deteriorate and Mozzie, well, Mozzie would always be Mozzie, mischievous and paranoid, whatever age he was. Everyone around them was getting older and although the changes were subtle, they were still noticeable – especially when you had the misfortune of looking at pictures from ten years before.

Sara would be turning 44 in a couple of months and Neal, well Neal would be turning 49. That seemed incredible to her; he was still his gorgeous self with a little bit of grey at the temples and his beard, when he let it go in the summer months as he was prone to do, was mostly grey now. But he was still Neal - strong, loving, sexy Neal she thought as she took a sip of her cup of warm milk.

Sexy Neal would definitely react though, when she finally spilled the beans in the morning. She had decided it was unfair to keep him out of the loop any longer and she had arranged for them to go out for brunch on the following morning – just the two of them. She'd tell him then. The kids could fend for themselves for a couple of hours, especially if Mozzie came over, which was his habit on Saturday mornings. He was always on the prowl for Neal's breakfast of eggs, bacon and French toast, the traditional offering on weekends.

She sighed and thought maybe now, she could get some sleep and she made her way back upstairs to give it a try. She settled in next to Neal and he stirred.

'Whassa matter?' he mumbled, half asleep

'Nothing, honey. Go back to sleep' she answered as she curled up behind him

She felt him take her hand which she'd wrapped around his waist and give it a quick peck as he settled back in and, as if he'd never come around, he immediately resumed his soft snoring. It took a while but finally, Sara was lulled into sleep by its regular rhythm.

WCWCWC

'I'm telling you Neal. I don't trust the guy' Mozzie said as he followed Neal around the kitchen, holding a cup of coffee in his hands

'Well, Moz, maybe you shouldn't have crossed him' said Neal as he finished getting breakfast on the table

'Kids! Breakfast is ready!' he called out

'But...' began Mozzie

'Moz, you're the one who's been playing this dangerous little game with Sara and it's not surprising that someone would decide to retaliate' he said, his voice impatient.

For years, Mozzie had been ratting out some of his least favorite arch-enemies. When Mozzie was crossed, he didn't hesitate to strike back, and over the years, he'd given Sara leads on snitches about a dozen times – just the 'not-so-nice' guys, mind you. Working the streets made for strange bedfellows and unlikely alliances but it also made for grudges and settling of accounts – and Mozzie was not prone to forgiving and forgetting. Whenever someone annoyed him, he would put the guy's name on his ever growing 'grudge' list and when he had the opportunity, he would burn them by giving Sara a lead and letting her send someone of her team in to investigate. It had led to the recovery of a number of valuable art pieces and Sara was glad for the leads – an appreciation which translated into often hefty recovery fees for Mozzie.

Most times, the guys involved didn't have a clue who'd ratted them out – which was fine with Mozzie; he sure as hell didn't want his name appearing on anyone else's grudge list. But the arrangement had its price as Mozzie was finding out and his reputation as a snitch among snitches had begun to make the rounds. This time, Mozzie was convinced he'd been found out and he was fearful that Johnny Berlinger aka 'The Predator' was gunning for him. He wasn't getting the sympathy he'd hoped to get from his best friend so he turned his attention to the kids who'd made their way to the table for breakfast. He scoffed at Neal one last time and sat, grabbing the plate of French toast and putting one on everybody's plate before serving himself.

As if on cue, Sara appeared at the foot of the stairs looking her usual elegant self in fitted jeans and a turtle neck sweater and Neal glanced up, smiling in appreciation. His wife looked amazing and he was always proud to be seen with her out in public.

'You ready, Neal?' she asked as she came over to place a kiss on Liam's forehead then Hope's

'How come you guys get to go out to breakfast and we don't' exclaimed Hope, pre-teen hormones always ready to bubble to the surface

'Mom and I are allowed to have some alone time together' answered Neal as he stepped up to ruffle Liam's hair 'besides you get to hang out with Uncle Mozzie'

WCWCWC

Sara and Neal made their way to their local breakfast hangout, the place where they often took the kids on weekends. It was always a busy place but Sonia, their regular waitress, managed to find them a quiet out of the way spot towards the back when she noted they were flying solo. It was nice to be alone, just the two of them for a change, Neal thought, totally oblivious to the reason Sara had proposed the outing in the first place. They settled in and had just ordered their food when Sara spoke up.

'Any news on Peter?' she asked her husband

Neal's face suddenly turned serious.

'No, the test is on Monday' he responded

'It could be nothing' said Sara

Peter had been dealing with problems that pointed to some sort of issue with his prostate gland. At the ripe old age of 60, he'd started to slow down letting his underlings at the Bureau do the heavy lifting and he'd begun to notice some worrisome signs which Elizabeth had finally convinced him to confide to their family doctor. The doctor was sufficiently concerned to send Peter for further testing and he was scheduled to have a PSA test on the following Monday. Although Peter always put on a brave face, Neal had seen worry in his best friend's eyes when he'd met him for lunch earlier in the week.

Sara and Neal knew more than anyone else how serious illness could creep up on you; Sara had recently reached her ten year milestone cancer free and the couple was so thankful that she had come out of her struggle with ovarian cancer relatively unscathed. They knew that illness could rear its ugly head without warning, as it had in Sara's case, and that once it got a hold of you, it took control of your life until it was good and ready to let you go.

'Well, he doesn't say it, but I know he's worried' volunteered Neal, his own concern apparent

'Yeah, well, El is trying to be strong too. And then there's the whole thing with Satchmo...' added Sara, taking a sip of coffee

Their food arrived and although Sara thought she'd made a safe choice, she looked down at her plate of Eggs Benedict and her stomach suddenly lurched; she made a most unusual gagging sound as Neal looked up, noticing her very pale looking face.

'You okay?' he asked

'I'll be right back' she barely got out as she made a beeline for the washroom.

Neal watched her as she walked away (was she actually running?); there was a nasty flu going around and he hoped Sara wasn't getting it.

Sara barely made it to the washroom in time. She'd been sick like this every morning for the past 5 days and she was surprised that Neal hadn't yet picked up on that fact. She'd been trying to hide it from him as she continued to work out how she'd answer his questions if or rather when he found out. Neal was the hardest person to keep secrets from – he was observant and curious, a lethal combination.

Strangely, she felt fine after she threw up and usually, she could go back to eating normally – except if the smell of bacon was in the air – that was a definite gag trigger – and this place reeked of bacon.

She came back to the table, smiling shyly at her husband. 'Sorry about that' she said, sheepishly

'What's going on?' Neal asked, solicitous 'Honey, are you getting that flu?'

Sara just shook her head. 'I'm fine' she said as she took a mint from her purse

Neal hesitated for a moment then carried on; if Sara said she was fine, who was he to push it? His wife hated being doted on and he'd learned long ago, that he'd know in good time if she had something to tell him.

'So, you were saying about Satchmo?' Neal finally said, as he noticed the color returning to Sara's face

'Yeah, Neal...' she said, as she put down her fork and grabbed for his hand. She had pussy-footed around the issue long enough.

'What?' he asked, suddenly curious as to the intensity he could see in her eyes

'There's something... I ...' Sara blubbered

'Sara? What is it?' Neal asked, suddenly alarmed

Sara was not usually reluctant to discuss anything – their marriage was based on trust and honesty, at least most of the time – and whatever she was hesitating to tell him must be pretty major to have her reacting this way.

'Is it one of the kids?' Neal continued as Sara stared at him, obviously unsure how to continue

'Neal, stop!... it's not the kids' she finally said 'Well, at least it's not about Hope or Liam...' she added wryly

Neal just stared at her, puzzled, and she could see those lines forming between his eyes; the ones that appeared whenever he was worried or didn't understand something.

Finally, Sara couldn't take it anymore. She squeezed Neal's hand, stared right into his big blue eyes and spoke.

'I'm pregnant!'

TBC