AN: The next couple chapters are mostly backstory. My original idea was just the history, so that's why it's probably more detailed than it needs to be.

Myka took a sip of her drink and began. "I met Jake at a party my junior year of college."

"Wait, you were at a party?" Pete interrupted.

"Not by choice," Myka responded, rolling her eyes at him. "As you've clearly guessed, I didn't have a lot of friends in school. I usually stayed in and studied, but my roommate was a partier, and that weekend she dragged me out with her.

"I was standing in a corner watching my roommate drunkenly make a fool out of herself when he came up to me. He was in my Shakespeare class, so I knew who he was. I'd had a little crush on him all semester, but I didn't think he'd ever notice me. He was smart and cute and popular; he could've had any girl he wanted. So I was shocked when he came up to me and said he'd been wanting to talk to me in class but never worked up the courage.

"We stood there talking for a couple hours until my roommate came over and said she was going home with a guy I'd seen her dancing with. Jake walked me back to my apartment. At my door I asked him to come upstairs and he did. I wasn't sure if it would turn out to be a horrible joke – maybe he lost a bet with his friends – but I decided I was going to enjoy it while it lasted. I'd never been with anyone before and I wanted to take the opportunity while I had the chance. At least that's what I told myself.

"It was a great night. I could feel myself falling for him, but I knew I had to protect myself. I kept telling myself that it was a one-time thing. It didn't mean anything. I told myself I'd expected it when he was gone the next morning. I was crazy to think it meant anything to him. I didn't care that he didn't even leave a note. I'd just been using him as well.

I wouldn't let myself admit it, but I was terrified to see him in class on Monday. I didn't know if I could handle his taunts or worse if he went back to ignoring me. But when I went to class, he wasn't there. He wasn't there all that week. Or the next week. We had the following week off for Thanksgiving. It wasn't until almost a month later that he finally showed up, and by then I was pretty sure I was pregnant."

"Wait, so Myka 'I-have-a-color-coded-plan-for-every-contingency' Bering had unprotected sex with a man she'd only known for a few hours?" Pete interrupted.

"Of course not," Myka said, punching him in the arm. "I wasn't on the pill because a gorgeous guy coming up to me at a party and wanting to sleep with me was the last thing I thought would ever happen. But Jake used condoms."

"Condoms? Plural?" Pete teased.

Myka blushed. "Like I said, it was a great night."

Pete wiggled his eyebrows at her, but he let her continue her story.

"The day he came back, he must have snuck into class late and sat in the back, because I didn't know he was there. After class, I was putting my things away when he came up behind me. He said he felt terrible for leaving me so quickly and asked if we could get coffee so he could explain what happened.

"It turns out he'd received a call early that morning telling him his grandmother had been taken to the hospital in Connecticut. He'd had to rush off to be with his family. His grandmother hadn't made it, and he'd had to stay to help with the funeral arrangements. He said he'd been thinking of me the whole time and he really wanted to see me again, take me out on a proper date. I agreed.

"We planned to go to dinner that Friday. A few days after we had coffee, I took a home pregnancy test and of course it was positive."

"What did you do? I can't imagine how you must have felt."

"I was scared, obviously. I was absolutely terrified. I decided that I would go to dinner with him and get to know him as best as I could. If I thought the relationship might go somewhere or if I thought he would react well to the news, I'd tell him. If not, I wouldn't tell him and I'd … end it."

"You actually would have had an abortion?" Pete was shocked. He didn't know Myka that well and he'd never thought about her having to make that choice, but for some reason it surprised him.

"I don't know," Myka said softly. "I was twenty. All I knew was that I couldn't raise a child on my own."

Pete nodded. "Well, it sounds like you didn't have to make that decision. I take it the date went well."

Myka smiled. "Yes, the date went well and no, I didn't have to decide whether or not to end my pregnancy. Jake was wonderful. He was charming and funny and intelligent. I'm sure I was terrible company because I was so worried about whether or not I should tell him and how he would react if I did. He talked about his family. He had an older brother and sister who were twins and a younger sister. He was very close to his parents and his siblings. When he told me he was really looking forward to having a family of his own someday, I started to think everything might be okay.

"Once I realized I might have a future with this man, I knew I had to tell him about the baby. I was fairly sure he wouldn't run for the hills, but I had no way of knowing for sure. We went for a walk after dinner, and I was so nervous I nearly threw up my meal."

xxxxx

They ended up sitting on a bench in a nearby park looking out over a pond. Jake turned to Myka and said, "You seem really nervous. Like more than first date nervous. Is something wrong?"

It's now or never, Myka thought. She took a deep breath and said, "I really like you. And for some reason I may never know, you seem to really like me, too. The last thing I want to do is mess this up, but you need to know. I'm pregnant."

Jake was silent for a moment. He turned back to the pond as he processed these small but life changing words. Glancing back over to her, he asked, "It's mine?" At Myka's nod, he continued, "We used protection. Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm pregnant or sure it's yours?" Myka asked.

"Both I guess," Jake said.

"I took a home pregnancy test a few days ago and it was positive. I haven't been to a doctor yet, but those are supposed to be pretty accurate. And you're the only man I've been with."

Jake nodded. He knew she'd been a virgin when they slept together and although she'd jumped into bed with him, she didn't seem like the type of girl who would have sex with just anyone.

"I know we used protection. I don't know how this happened. Condoms are only 97% effective when they're used properly. Maybe we messed one up. Or maybe this is one of those times the 3% screws you over."

Jake nodded again and finally turned back to face her fully. "We clearly have a lot of things we need to discuss, but before we get into that, answer me one question: Do you want this baby?"

Myka was surprised by his question. She'd spent so much time worrying about how he would react to the news and whether or not he would want the baby that she hadn't stopped to think about whether or not she wanted it. With a start she realized she did. She'd never given much thought to having children before. If anything, she thought she would be too focused on her career and wouldn't have time for kids, but now, with the choice in front of her, she realized she didn't want to give up this child. Feeling tears well in her eyes, she placed both hands over her belly and nodded. "Yes," she whispered.

Jake breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Good. Me too."

At his words, the tears Myka had been fighting poured out and she let out a sound that was half laugh, half sob. Laughing through her tears, she pulled his face toward her and pressed her lips to his. "Thank you," she said softly as she released him.