Thank u guys so much for the positive feedback! I had written the previous chapter planning on it being a one-shot, but your reactions made me want to write more! The way I see it right now, it won't be a very long story, maybe just one or two more chapters after this one.

There's not much dialogue in this one cause I was trying to portray Neal and Sara dealing with the pregnancy and the changes it brings to their lives. Hope you'll like it!

Please leave your thoughts! Thnx!

Soph

As smooth as he could, Peter walked over to the kitchen table to grab the last dishes and quickly glanced over to the ladies who were chatting away with their glasses in their hands. He turned around and while walking over to the dishwasher, where Neal was filling it with tonight's dinner's dishes, he made some last minute adjustments to the conversation he had planned in his head.

He put the dishes on the counter and Neal almost immediately picked them up and placed them in the dishwasher.

Alright, so maybe it was none of his business, but curiosity was killing him. And he was never one to shy away from his born tendency to know about things, so he wasn't going to shy away now. He just needed to figure out a strategy that would get him the most results.

He put his hand on the counter and leaned against it, watching Neal carefully, prepared to catch every expression or shifts in body language that could tell him what he wanted to know.

"So," Peter started, stalling a little as he was still figuring out the best way to go about it. He knows Neal is a very private person, even with everything they'd been through, there were certain things Neal just didn't like to discuss - his thoughts and emotions being two of them, "have you asked her…?" He left the question open for Neal to fill in the blanks.

Neal got up and closed the door to the dishwasher in the process, "Have I asked who what?"

"You know," Peter urged and gave Neal a little more time to think and when he couldn't make the link, Peter finally rolled his eyes and continued, "Have you popped the question? Have you asked her to marry you?" His voice was an urgent whisper, making sure the women in the living room couldn't hear him.

Neal was without a doubt the perfect objectification of perfect body control. Not only was forgery an utterly precise activity, or did cracking saves and picking locks require a stealthy precision, but everything that came afterwards – be it getting caught or be it fencing – required the highest level of careful and precise control.

It was just something that went from him being very good at it, to it being his way of life: perfect body control.

But even to him there were some things – things that didn't belong in his every day life, that just popped up out of nowhere – that caught him of guard.

It would have been almost unnoticeable, had it not been for Peter knowing him so very well. He had watched Neal carefully and under his scrutinized eye Peter had noticed Neal's body stiffening and his eyes widening. He saw how Neal briefly caught his breath and how, when Neal put his hand on the counter to lean on, it slipped.

Tough Peter had expected this kind of reaction, his amusement at watching it happen was now spread across his face in the form of a mischievous half-smile, and he couldn't help it.

"Wha-Why?" the boy that had taken over Neal had stammered, "Do you think I have to?" His eyes were big with the innocence of an inexperienced kid.

He was well aware that this was just Peter having a good time, but the insecurity inside him made him overlook it: Neal had always put effort into talking – or chatting. He had enough knowledge to be able to talk about almost any subject possible with any given person, he made sure he followed the news and was politically aware so that when it was required of him to talk, he could talk.

He could talk about any- and everything – but himself. Not only was that an extremely important aspect of his life as a con, it was also a blanket he could snuggle under and be comfortable. Keep his private life, private.

Had someone started asking questions about him, there was always something he could say to divert the conversation ánd the person to somewhere safer.

Though his life here, with Sara, and Peter and Elizabeth, had affected this habit and had slowly built a tunnel to his personal life, nothing came close to the giant whole that was immediately created for his child as soon as he found out about it.

It was a big change and it had left him on unfamiliar territory. But even with this, there was nothing Neal was more afraid of than of being a bad father to either his child, or in Sara's eyes. There was nothing he wasn't willing to do to prevent that from happening. Even if it meant getting up close and personal with Peter.

"Well, yeah!" Peter stated as a matter of factly, "You're already moving in together, you're having a baby… you guys couldn't be more married than you already are, why not make it official?"

Neal thought about that for a while. Was he right? This is Peter after all. He's wanted them to get hitched since that morning he's caught Sara in his apartment after "their version of Sudoku in the afternoon".

But then again, his words did make a lot of sense and Neal could remember a certain time in his past when he had intended to get married in his life. It wasn't something he ruled out.

"What if she doesn't want to?"

Peter raised his eyebrow in encouragement, "Only one way to find out."

Laughing at El's story about Peter's late night ritual of brushing his teeth with nothing more than boxers and a pair of socks while dancing to the Bee Gees, Sara put her glass of water on the salon table.

"You guys have a great marriage," Sara stated with awe, "I mean, almost 15 years together now and you're still madly in love. That's beautiful."

Elizabeth, who had smiled broadly at the compliment as a way of thank you, watched Sara's expression carefully when she suspected just a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Well you and Neal aren't doing so bad yourselves. God knows you two have put each other through a lot but you always survived and in the end it has only made your relationship stronger."

Sara had smiled at that, somewhat proud and somewhat embarrassed at remembering the things she'd put Neal through in the past.

She considered herself a grounded person, someone driven by reason and not by emotion. But there was just something about Elizabeth, her tranquil confidence and her ability to put things in perspective, that had made Sara like her even more. In times or situations where she couldn't rely on her own reason, she knew she could always rely on Elizabeth's.

"I remember the first time Peter brought you to our house," Elizabeth remembered, "you guys had worked together before, but this time, boy, you were on fire. You two were really eager to bring Neal down and charge him with any- and everything you could,"

"Oh God!" Sara briefly buried her face in her hands and looked up with embarrassment written all of her.

Elizabeth allowed a quick chuckle before continuing, "It was a little over 8 years ago and you were so mad, I could almost smell it on you, you were on fire. And look at you and Peter, now. Neal has wormed a way into your lives, permanently, and you wouldn't have it any other way."

"Yeah," Sara mused, still feeling the embarrassment inside her look for a dark corner it could hide in, "funny how things work out."

"Oh, I hear ya," Elizabeth tilted her wineglass as if to toast before taking sip, "so, how's the house hunting going?"

"Ugh, don't even get me started," Sara groaned, "If the floor boards aren't loose, the staircase is a one way ticket to the hospital. If the kitchen isn't going to kill you, the neighborhood sure will."

"Aw," Elizabeth sympathized, "Well, you guys will get there. Your house is out there, you'll find it."

"Tha-" Sara started but was cut off by the strangest feeling in her belly, "Ow.." she wrapped her arms protectively around her small baby bump and looked down, focusing on what was going on inside.

Elizabeth immediately sat up and placed her hand over Sara's arms, "Sara, are you okay?" when Sara however didn't answer she turned her head away from her, facing the kitchen, "Neal! Peter!"

Within seconds the boys were in the living room and after taking one look at the scene in front of them, worry had almost completely taken over Neal. He pushed it aside and kneeled down on the floor next to Sara.

"Sara? What's going on, are you alright?" His voice was strained with worry and it matched the tight clenching of his jaw. He placed one hand on her lower back and put his other over the arms she had wrapped over her belly.

"Sara?" Neal desperately pleaded.

She then looked up from her belly and turned to look down at Neal, who was surprised to see that she was smiling broadly.

"Wha-?"

"It's early!" Sara laughed.

"What?!"

Sara shook her head at her previous words, realizing now how disturbing they must sound, and took hold of Neal's hand. She placed it on the right side of her belly button, never leaving Neal's gaze.

And there it was again. She watched Neal's face instantly brighten up as he felt it too; the baby kicked. Somewhere in the far back, his mind finally made sense of Sara's previous words: During their first echo, they had impatiently asked the doctor how long it would take before they could feel the baby kick and she'd told them around 15/16 weeks. Sara was now 13 weeks into the pregnancy.

But that was all in the far back of his mind. The rest of his mind seemed to keep bubbling up with joy. He felt how his heart worked twice as hard and he'd almost think it was for the sole purpose to supply his body with enough oxygen as the whirlwind of emotions almost left him breathless.

He aimed his gaze away from her belly and looked up at her, only to recognize every sparkle of emotion in her eyes as he assumed she could recognize his. They shared their laughs, happy but somehow unbelieving, and Neal lifted himself off the floor just enough to meet Sara halfway for a quick kiss.

"Peter, El, you have to feel this. It's amazing." The happy couple turned away from each other to face the other broad smiling couple right across from them.

Elizabeth, not needing a second invitation, sat up again and placed her hand on Sara's belly.

"Oh my God," she whispered as she felt the ever so soft flutter against her hand, "That's amazing."

Peter, however, needed a little convincing that it was really okay to touch Sara's belly. It took a few seconds but in the end, there were four brightly excited faces with ear-to-ear grins in the Burke's living room.

I have to say, I didn't reread this for any mistakes ( I tend not to do that right after I've written something cause it always makes me wanna change everything and eventually I end up with something entirely different). I'll try to make time tomorrow and correct any mistake.

Please review!

Soph