As much as Camille loved an audience, she was decidedly not loving being stared at by an entire lab full of people. After taking a few days to wrap their heads around what they'd done, and visiting a doctor just to be completely sure, Camille and Fisher had gone to Maggie and come clean about their relationship. Maggie had been predictably livid, but Camille had managed to cut the lecture on inter-lab dating short by not so subtly slipping the news of her pregnancy into the conversation. She'd learned pretty quickly that it was hard for people to be mad at a pregnant woman, and the radiant smile that almost immediately formed on Maggie's face did nothing to quell that theory. After a congratulatory round of hugs, Maggie agreed to give the pair a few more weeks to keep things under wraps, but now their time was up, and as agreed, Camille and Fisher were required to make their announcement to their co-workers. Kirsten of course already knew, and Camille caught her smug little smirk from the back of the pack and scowled at her in reply before she cleared her throat.
"So... Fisher and I have an announcement to make," Camille started, gripping the platform railing in front of her. Beside her, Fisher adjusted his tie, but he never took her eyes off of her, and under his steady gaze Camille immediately felt her nerves start to lessen.
"We're, uh, we're together," Camille announced. "Fisher and I are a couple."
On the lab floor below, there were murmurs of acknowledgment, but no one seemed particularly perturbed by the information they'd been given.
"That's it?" Tim from Engineering asked, folding his beefy arms across his chest. "We all came into the lab early so you two could tell us you're doing the nasty?"
"Well, about that," Fisher drawled, sliding an arm around Camille's waist and smirking as Ayo and Chelsea started to giggle. "There's just one other thing we need to tell everyone."
"Fisher, is this really the time and place?" Cameron asked with a smirk, leaning against the empty corpse cassette. Fisher ignored the big-haired scientist.
"Camille's pregnant," he stated proudly. "We're having a baby."
This time the lab actually did fall silent. Camille noticed that Cameron suddenly straightened and whirled around to give Kirsten a dumbfounded look, and she reminded herself to congratulate her roommate later on actually keeping a secret to herself. All at once, it seemed, the occupants of the room burst into cheers and applause, and a blushing Camille let Fisher kiss her on the temple before she made a beeline for the staircase, where Kirsten and Cameron were waiting for her.
"You are full of surprises, Engelson," Cameron quipped with a lopsided grin, pulling her into a hug. "Congratulations."
"Thanks, Goodkin," Camille said. "Believe me; it's still blowing my mind every single day." She suddenly wrinkled her nose as she realised that Kirsten's hands were on her waist.
"Kirsten, what the hell are you doing?"
"I've been wanting to do this ever since you walked into the kitchen this morning," Kirsten commented, tugging at the hem of Camille's loose tank top. "You're showing. I need to see."
Camille pushed Kirsten's hands away and wrapped her arms around herself protectively.
"Really?" she asked incredulously. "Right here, right now?"
"I kept a secret all to myself," Kirsten pouted. "Please?"
Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, Camille gritted her teeth and then let out a defeated moan.
"Fine," she grumbled. "But it's not even obvious. It just looks like I had a big breakfast."
"A big enough breakfast that you can't button your pants?" Cameron teased as Camille inched her shirt up slightly to reveal the very beginnings of her baby bump. Kirsten was right in saying that it had really only happened that morning; Camille had glanced in the mirror on the way to the bathroom and stopped short when she'd noticed the sudden curve to her lower abdomen and the way her cami was clearly tighter than it had been before. Then, of course, had come her jeans.
"Shut up," she snapped at Cameron, and rolled her eyes when he chuckled. "My wardrobe really was not designed to cater for an expanding waistline."
"Ugh, I don't have to go shopping with you, do I?" Kirsten whined, her hands plastered to Camille's exposed stomach. "You know I hate that."
"I can take you shopping."
Three heads swivelled towards the lab entryway, and Camille quickly tugged down her shirt as Linus took a step forward. Camille let out a shaky breath. She'd avoided looking anywhere near Linus during the announcement, just as she'd been avoiding him in the weeks prior, and now he knew why. His normally expressive face was hard to read right at that moment, however.
"Can I talk to you?" he asked, staring point blank at Camille. Swallowing hard, Camille nodded and followed as Linus turned and headed towards the lunchroom. Glancing around, she caught Fisher, who was talking with Maggie and Ayo, following her with his gaze, and she gave him a reassuring half smile as she left the main lab area. Shutting the lunchroom door behind her, Camille took a deep breath and finally met Linus's eye.
"Linus," she started softly.
"You didn't think that maybe I deserved to be told this information before everyone else?" Linus cut her off, forcefully throwing himself down into a chair and folding his arms across his chest.
"Linus, I'm sorry!" Camille whined. "We were trying to keep it on the DL..."
"Kirsten and Cameron knew," Linus shot back, and Camille pressed both of her palms to her forehead.
"In my defence, Cameron was never supposed to know," she said flatly, and Linus flared his nostrils.
"I have defended you, and looked out for you, and protected you, for all this time," he stated. Camille threw her head back in frustration.
"I didn't know how to tell you!" she cried exasperatedly. "Knowing how you feel about me, Linus, how you've always felt about me... I didn't want to hurt you! And things with Fisher, they just happened so fast. I didn't think it was anything to tell anyone about at first, but then it just kind of escalated..." She trailed off as she caught softness starting to creep across Linus's features.
"I fell in love, Linus," she murmured. "I am head over heels in love with Quincy Fisher, but the thought of hurting you with that information still tears me apart."
"Camille, are you happy?" Linus interjected gently, and Camille bit her lip as she realised that tears were inching slowly down her cheeks. She let out a shuddering breath.
"I really am," she whispered, clasping her hands across her abdomen. "I never even imagined something like this would make me this happy, but it does. He does. I can't imagine my life without him in it."
Linus was suddenly on his feet and gripping her hands in his.
"That's all I really needed to know," he told her sincerely. "Your happiness, that's what's important to me."
"I really am sorry," Camille sniffled, and Linus gave her a rueful grin.
"I'll get over it," he murmured, and Camille folded herself into his welcome embrace. They hugged for a long time, and when Camille pulled away, she quickly wiped at her tear-stained cheeks with the palms of her hands. Linus fondly shook his head at her.
"It's going to take a while for me to get used to the thought of you with a baby," he admitted. Camille felt her cheeks grow warm as she grinned sheepishly.
"It's weird, I know," she drawled. "But honestly, between all of the freaking out, I'm actually really excited about this." She paused to glance at her stomach again.
"Please tell me you weren't kidding about the shopping thing," she said, fixing Linus with a begging stare. "If my pants fall down in front of the whole lab I will never ever get over it."
Linus laughed as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and headed them both towards the doorway.
"We'll go tomorrow," he promised. "Right now though, if it's ok with you, I think I'd like to shake the hand of your boyfriend."
A happy smile forming on her face, Camille tucked herself in a little tighter to his side as they made their way back to the lab floor.
It soon became abundantly clear to all involved that Camille's pregnancy was going to be a full Stitchers program affair. Within weeks of the announcement, a dry erase board appeared in the lunchroom, courtesy of Linus and Cameron, with betting pool statistics for potential due dates, and if the baby would be a boy or a girl. A second board called for suggestions for a name for 'The Little Fish'. Camille had to admit the moniker, while obvious, was quite cute, and it wasn't long she and Fisher were both using it when they talked to each other and Camille's growing bump. Fisher of course was enamoured with Camille's expanding belly, though Kirsten most definitely gave him a run for his money. She demanded to touch the bump as often as possible, a habit that only grew once Camille begrudgingly moved out of the house and into Fisher's place. Camille felt so guilty about leaving Kirsten behind that she could rarely refuse when Kirsten begged for contact, but she also secretly found the whole practice a little bit adorable. Despite the fact that Camille had specifically stated to Maggie that she didn't want to be treated any differently just because she was expecting, as her pregnancy progressed subtle changes took place within the lab. Ayo, who had keenly offered ultrasounds whenever they wanted them, kept one of the hospital gurneys in the infirmary made up just in case Camille ever felt like she needed a nap, and Tim and Alex began to take turns at bringing mugs of tea to the woman in question, even though she never asked. A second chair mysteriously appeared one day at Linus's communications desk, and the whole lab watched as Camille stubbornly avoided it for several days, and then they collectively smirked when after a particularly fast-paced stitch, she sank down into the chair with relief etched all over her face. Several of the lab team also noticed on the day that, halfway through a stitch, Camille had suddenly but very calmly risen from her chair, walked up to the platform where Fisher stood in his usual observation space with Maggie, taken her partner's hand, and placed it against her rounded stomach. The unbridled amazement that had crossed Fisher's face, accompanied by Camille's own thrilled smile, told those that were watching that the couple was experiencing their baby's first kicks. The pair had tried diligently to keep their professional distance while in the lab, but after that moment, their mood softened, and it seemed the entire lab was grateful for it. Stolen kisses and belly rubs were met with gentle ribbing from whoever caught Camille and Fisher in the act, but there was always a smile behind the words, and Camille felt a certain warmth knowing that even though her blood relatives may never even know her child, they would most definitely have the Stitchers lab family to look out for them.
