Chapter 2

Archie slowly opened his eyes giving them a chance to adjust to the bright sun shining in the window. He looked over to his side to see Claudia sleeping peacefully. She had a smile on her face it made him think hard about what she might be dreaming about.(1)He slowly inched his way to her and planted a passionate kiss on her lips which quickly intensified when she had woken and realized what exactly was happening.

Archie reluctantly pulled back from the kiss, looking into her eyes for a moment. "What were you dreaming about?" he asked with a look of wonder on his face.

As soon as this question was asked the smile on her face grew "I was just dreaming about us, our future."

"Oh yeah; what exactly did you see?"

With that question her grin slowly faded. "We were on the beach and...."

"And what?" He pressed carefully.

"You were rubbing my belly and talking to it...almost if like i was..."

Before Claudia was able to finish she was cut off by Archie.

"As if you were pregnant?"

"Yeah ....but it was just a dream right?"

Claudia flashed him a quick smile and then proceeded to get out of bed and walk over to the bathroom. Calling from the bathroom she yelled "Are you on today?"

Archie whose mind was still on what Claudia had just said to him shouted back "What?...Oh yeah"

"What time you have to be in?"

"Noon; You?"

"Ten."

With that Archie heard the shower running and he was left sitting on the bed thinking about how Claudia may have felt about her dream. She was smiling in her sleep which led him to believe that she maybe wanted it to be real and not only a dream. He remembered the day she was was shot, about the comment he made when she squeezed his hand. But being a doctor he knew that could have very well been a reflex. They hadn't talked about it since she was released from the hodpital and moved into his apartment with him. Archie decided that maybe he should investigate her feelings about the situation so he could better understand what she may or may not want. He got up and slowly trotted to the door, he lightly tapped then proceeded on in.

"Yes Archie?"

"Would you min if i joined you?"

"Of course not." Archie stepped into the shower and wrapped his arms around Claudia.

"Would you like to go out to dinner tonight?....You know after work"

"Yeah sure I'd love to."

Archie's grin grew "Great."

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Later that night Archie and Claudia sat across from each other at one of their favorite restaurants.

"This is really sweet of you Archie. Thank you for taking me out."

"Yeah of course. I love taking you out."

They both flashed each other a grin. The waiter walked over to the table, "Hello what can I get you two today?"

Claudia looked up at the waiter. "I'll have the pasta with garlic bread."

Archie waited patiently until she was done and than he proceeded to order. "I'll have Steak with steamed broccoli.

"I will be back momentarily."

As soon as the waiter left Archie's attention went straight back to Claudia.

"Claudia can I ask you something?"

"Yeah sure."

"Well your dream from this morning you were smiling..."

"Yeah....."

"Well you seemed happy. Does that mean that having kids it something you might want?"

"Archie..can we not talk about this right now?" She said, obviously uncomfortable.

"What did I say wrong?" Archie asked, immediately confused.

"Nothing I Just...I....." She said, not finding the right words to explain how she was feeling right now.

"Claudia hey, what's wrong?" He pressed, carefully.

Sounding both desperate and scared Claudia responded by saying: "Archie, please not here not now" (31)

"Then when?"

"At home later on."

"Oay fine,for now. We can just enjoy dinner..."

The ride home was pretty quiet No one said a word. Just as they were entering the apartment Archie tried to make small talk.

"So anything interesting happen at work today?"

Claudia looked down at the ground almost as if she felt ashamed.

"I didn't go to work today Archie."

"What....Where did you go than?" He asked, surprise obvious in his voice.

Claudia looked at him with tears in her eyes, not knowing what to say.

"Baby what's wrong? Where were you today?"

"The doctors."

Claudia looked up at Archie's face with the expression of shock on his face as he began to piece things together. When he was (39) finally spoke it came out dry.

"Claudia are....did you go for a pregnancy test?"

Claudia's tears now spilling out of her eyes at a more rapid speed looked up at Archie."Yes."

A small grin began to tease the corners of his mouth."And?"

To be continued