Title: To Bend and not Break (2/?)
Author: VietAngel
Rating: PG-13

Summary: George has a huge secret, Callie has huge news, and when the two collide everything explodes…pulling Callie and George apart but opening the door for new lives, new loves, and allowing Callie to reconnect with the father she never really knew.

Author's Note: Sorry about this chapter being so short, but I really felt that this moment needed to stand alone to have the proper impact.

It had been a long and exhausting day, but somehow George still felt energized. Maybe it was just nervous energy coursing through his veins…he was about to change his life forever. He truly didn't want to hurt her, but it was the right decision…it was the best thing for both of them—all of them.

He felt horrible, but it wasn't fair to her to keep pretending. She deserved better. He wished he could be the man she needed him to be, but he wasn't, and that was a fact that wasn't going to change. He really did love her—but not in the way she deserved to be loved. His biggest regret was letting things get so far out of control. If he hadn't let it go so far, if things hadn't moved so fast, he wouldn't be on his way to break her heart right now.

He took a deep breath and tried to collect his thoughts. It was just before 11:00 pm. Normally she wouldn't be asleep yet, but she hadn't been feeling well lately so he didn't know what to expect. If he had to wake her for this, it would make it that much more difficult. She would already be cranky, and what he needed to say was going to make her positively livid…or suicidal…either way it wouldn't be good.

Much to his dismay, he found her sprawled across the bed on her back sleeping comfortably. The sight tugged at his heart strings. He questioned the sanity of anyone who would deny her beauty. She was undoubtedly a gorgeous woman, but like this? She was just plain adorable.

He slowly sat on the edge of the bed so as not to jar her from her slumber. He wasn't ready to wake her…not yet. For now he was content to just let his eyes drink the sight of her in. This would likely be the last time he would get a chance to do so. As he reached to brush and errant lock of hair from her face he caught sight of something on her stomach. The hem of her shirt rested slightly above her navel ad he could see the ends of a few lines of…was that paint?

"What the hell?" he muttered as he eased her shirt higher to get a better look. 'Hi Daddy!' stared back at him in big, bold, green letters. The sheer force of what those words meant nearly knocked him off the bed and onto his ass. Tears stung his eyes as a gamut of emotions coursed through him. Callie, his wife, the woman he had come here to break it off with…she was pregnant with his child. The tears finally flowed as his fingers lightly traced the letters on the smooth, olive colored plane of her stomach.

"George? Please tell me those are tears of joy," Callie said as she slowly sat up. Her voice was heavy with sleep; her eyes pleaded with him. "I think I might die if they aren't."

"They absolutely are," he replied, and it was genuine. "So I'm going to be a daddy. How did this…when?"

"You really need me to explain how?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm about six weeks along. I just found out today; Addie did a serum test. Turns out that virus we thought I had wasn't a virus at all."

"You're amazing, you know that?" George said as he cupped her cheek and leaned in to press a soft kiss to her lips. She pulled back suddenly and tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn.

"My God, you're probably exhausted and I'm keeping you up like an idiot. Let's get you to bed," he stated. She would have argued with him, but he was right. She was exhausted and she wanted nothing more than to crawl under the covers and curl up against him.

"I should wash this off first," she replied, gesturing to the paint covering her stomach. She made a move to get out of bed, but he stopped her.

"Don't move a muscle. I'll take care of that," he said. Callie had no problem complying. This kid was draining her already. George disappeared to the bathroom and returned shortly with a soapy wash cloth and a towel. He gently and lovingly washed and dried her belly before dipping his head to press a kiss to it and say hello to baby O'Malley. He quickly stripped down to his boxers before helping his wife out of her clothing.

"I'm sorry about this. I didn't mean for you to find out this way...I had a sexy strip tease planned and everything," she said softly as they crawled under the covers and he spooned around her…pulling her body as close to his as physically possible.

"How I found out doesn't matter. I'm just happy to know," he replied. He kissed the nape of her neck, and both their hands rested against her stomach. He smiled a bit as he heard her breathing even out…she needed her rest more than ever now. Sleep didn't come so easily to him though. Instead, guilt had decided to wrap about his heart while confusion danced in his head.

He had come here with the intention of changing his life; he never expected life, or more accurately a life, to change him. Knowing that he cheated on his wife had been enough to burn a hole through his gut…but now he had to live with the fact that he had been cheating on the mother of his child the whole time. He felt like his chest was going to cave in. Callie had been growing a life while he was out sowing his seed…and the fact that he was doing it with his best friend made the whole situation that much more horrible.

George cried like he had never cried before and he was glad that Callie was in too deep a sleep to hear him. He cried for what he'd done to the woman in his arms, for their unborn child, for Izzie, for being a man his father would be disappointed in.

He had come here knowing that it would lead to a broken heart…he just never expected that heart to be his own.

TBC…