"Well, your pregnancy test was right," Dr. Laura Bolton stated as she entered the exam room Lindsay currently occupied. "Blood tests confirm it. You're about six weeks along."

"Six weeks?" Lindsay asked surprised.

Dr. Bolton smiled. "You didn't notice you were late? Most women check like clockwork."

"My job's stressful, I don't usually worry about it," Lindsay managed haltingly. Six weeks pregnant? Danny was going to kill her.

"I'm going to get you on pre-natal vitamins and get you set with another appointment, okay?"

"I…" Lindsay started, looking down at her hands.

"Unless you're not keeping the baby." The doctor was looking concerned.

Lindsay looked up alarmed. Not keep the baby? That hadn't even crossed her mind. Her decision wasn't a difficult one to make. "No, no, no. I'm keeping the baby."

"Then we'll set up the next appointment."

Lindsay was extremely preoccupied when she stepped into the lab after her appointment. She'd already cleared the appointment with Mac, so her late entrance into the lab was not going to be a big deal to her supervisor, nor to Stella.

"Montana," Danny called from down the hall, noticing her step off the elevator. "You're never late."

"Doctor's appointment," she answered, urging herself not to flinch at the unknown double entendre of his sentence.

"You okay?"

She looked up at him, slightly startled by the question. "Sorry, I keep zoning out."

"The appointment, Linds. You okay?"

"Doctor said so," she answered, carefully avoiding the subject of her pregnancy. She wasn't sure how he'd take it and she was pretty sure a child was not something he was prepared to be tied down to. They'd never even discussed having kids or anything past the current stage of their relationship.

"What made you go?"

"Routine check up, Dan. I'm fine," she promised with a smile at his protectiveness.

He pulled her to his side, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Good. You still working with Stella?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Just got a double homicide," he answered with a sigh. "Hawkes, Mac and I are on it."

"Let me know if you're going to be home for dinner okay? I should be off at the end of shift," she said.

"Sure thing," he replied, glancing quickly around the hall and pecking a kiss to her lips. "I'll see you."

"Yeah."

Stella pulled Lindsay down the hall when she returned from her second doctor's appointment in as many months.

"Okay, Lindsay, spill. Now," she ordered.

"Stella, I have no idea what you're talking about," Lindsay said with a sigh.

"You were late today and Mac had no idea why. Danny didn't even know where you were. Then there's the bathroom runs, the tea instead of coffee, the care on cases… That's not like you. What's happening?"

"I haven't been feeling well, that's all."

"You're a coffee addict, Lindsay, I've never seen you turn down a cup before."

"Tea's healthier."

Stella sat Lindsay down in her chair, reclining against the desk. "Lindsay…"

"I'm pregnant," she finally blurted.

Stella was still for a minute. "You're not happy about it?" she asked tentatively.

"I don't know, Stel," she said, running a hand over her head, pushing her hair back.

"You don't know? I'm sure Danny's excited."

Lindsay wouldn't meet Stella's eyes.

"Lindsay?"

"I haven't told him." she admitted. "Stella, I can't."

Stella crouched in front of Lindsay. "Why not?"

"I just… I can't do it."

"You've come this far together. He'll stand beside you, not matter what you decide. You know that."

Lindsay felt tears welling in her eyes. "That's not it."

"Then what on earth is going on? When was the last time you and Danny spent a night together?"

"With cases, we haven't had the time. He's working when I'm not, I'm working when he's not… we haven't even been able to have a real meal together."

Stella sighed. They'd taken so long to come to this point. It had taken forever for Lindsay to finally accept that Danny was going to be there for her, through thick and thin. Something like this, keeping a secret from him like his own child with the woman it was so obvious he loved, could tear them apart.

"Why haven't you told him?"

"I cannot do it, Stella. I can't."

The older woman sighed. "You have to tell Mac, Lindsay. He's going to want to know about this."

Lindsay dropped her head into her hands. "I didn't want this to happen," she said, her voice muffled by her hands.

Stella put a hand on the young CSI's back. "It'll work out Lindsay. I promise."

"Have you told him?" Stella asked a couple of weeks later as they processed another scene side by side.

Lindsay shook her head sadly. "What if he doesn't want it?"

"Then he'll talk to you about it. You've come this far, it's not really fair to be mistrusting now."

"Stel, you don't understand, I can't risk something like that."

Stella stopped processing and looked at her companion and the forlorn look on her face. "You're going to regret it more if you don't tell him anything," she said wisely.

"I know that, but…"

"You can't risk it," Stella quoted. "Why not?"

"I'm not… I can't talk about it."

"Does anyone know?"

"A couple of people back in Montana," Lindsay answered softly. "It's a private matter Stel."

Stella sighed as she watched Lindsay retreat into the shell she'd built up so many months ago. Her relationship with Danny had broken down some of those walls, but apparently they weren't as many as the team had originally thought. "You have to talk to somebody."

"When I'm ready to talk about it, I will," Lindsay promised.

"The start of your second trimester," Stella said, her tone brooking no argument. "Whatever you have to do to be ready you'd better do before you start showing. Danny's going to be upset enough that I found out before he did, let alone that he's finding out with the rest of the lab because you're showing."

Sometimes, Lindsay hated it when Stella was right. "That's three weeks away," Lindsay whispered, doing the mental calculations in her head.

"Then you'd better do some quick thinking," Stella said. "I don't want to push, Linds, but Danny… you guys have something there and it would be a shame to start taking steps backwards now."

Lindsay took a deep breath, evaluating her options. "Two weeks," she decided. "I'll tell him sometime in the next two weeks."

Stella smiled. "There's my girl," she said, giving Lindsay a one armed hug before they both moved on to processing.

Lindsay sat on the couch at Danny's apartment a week later, completely and totally lost in thought. She didn't even hear Danny open and close the door. In fact, she didn't even register he was there until she felt the couch dip with his weight.

"You all right?" he asked, his hand trailing over her spine.

She looked up at him in surprise. "Danny!"

He laughed. "You must have been really out of it, Montana."

"Sorry," she apologized contritely. "I've got a lot on my mind."

"Anythin' you wanna talk 'bout?"

Lindsay shook her head. "Not right now."

It placated him that she would tell him. It was the way she worked. It took some time for her to process what was going on in her mind before she could talk to him, or anyone else.

"Take all the time you need."

Thanks to the reviewers! The whole thing's written, I'm just posting it. It's the second trimester and the day Lindsay's going back to work after her shooting that are important so weeks are going to be skipped like you would not believe. Let me know if there's something you'd prefer to see in between the scenes that are written!