A/N: I know I'm a horrible person for making you guys wait forever for this chapter. I had this finished last week, but since it wasn't checked by my beta I didn't uploaded it before. It's still not checked, so if you think why is this chapter not as good as the first two, than that's the reason why. My beta is a very talented writer, and really improves my writing skills, so I'd like to take responisbilty for all mistakes in this. Once my beta will get back to me, I'll upload the improved version of this chapter. Hope you guys like it anyway.

I'm really blown away by the amazing responses this fic has gotten over the weeks. I mean 48 reviews after only 2 chapters, I think that's a new personal record, you guys truly are the best. It's a big motivation to keep writing! So keep the reviews, favorites and follows coming!

I still haven't decided if the Peck/Stewart baby should be a boy or a girl, so please let me know what you think. I truly take it in consideration!

Hope you guys will enjoy reading this chapter!


Not Live You've Been Counting

Chapter 3

"Babe, I'm home!" You yell as you open the door to your apartment. You're expecting an answer back, but when you enter the apartment, you're met with nothing but silence. You wait a few more seconds before dropping your keys on the drawer next to the door. You would have expected your 'welcome home' kiss by now, but the apartment remains silence, even after your keys hit the hard wooden drawer a little louder than they should.

You make your way over to the kitchen, which you find dark and empty. You slowly start to worry; what if Holly had passed out again? You know Holly hadn't thrown up or passed out since the two of you had left the hospital earlier this week, but the fear that it might happen again still hadn't left your mind.

You become more worried when you find the living room empty as well. It's weird, you expected your wife to be home, especially since she had taken the day off because her parents, your brother and Traci were all coming over for dinner in a few hours. Holly had wanted to stay home to prepare dinner, so neither one of you would have to deal with the last minute stress that preparing a homemade dinner would bring after a long day of work.

Looking around the empty apartment, you drop your bag to the ground and hang your jacket over a nearby chair, calling out your wife's name once again.

On your way to the bedroom you make sure to check the bathroom as well.

"Hol? Holly!?" But there is still no reply back. The quietness of the apartment is slowly driving you insane.

Once you open the door to the bedroom, you're met with nothing but darkness. It kind of confuses you, since it's still light outside. You notice that the curtains are closed and once you glance over at the bed you see your beautiful wife underneath a pile of blankets. You finally allow yourself to breathe again; she is fine, peacefully asleep in your queen size bed.

You stay in the door opening of your bedroom for a little while longer, appreciating the beautiful sight in front of you. After watching Holly's chest rise and fall for a moment, you walk over to the bed, leaving a soft kiss on your wife lips. A soft groan comes from Holly's throat, as the doctor slowly starts to wake up by the soft pressure that your lips have left on hers.

"Hey you." You speak softly, leaning in once again to press your lips lightly against Holly's.

"Hey." Holly says smiling once she opens her eyes and realizes that you're in bed lying next to her. You feel her arms wrap around your body, you snuggle in deeper, taking in the smell you've come to love so much. You give Holly some time to wake up properly and yourself some time to rest after a long day at work. Neither one of you is saying anything, you're just lying there, completely silent in each other's arms for a few seconds, or maybe even minutes.

"I missed you." You hear yourself suddenly say before placing a kiss on the top of Holly's head.

"I missed you too." Holly says in a sleepy voice as a small yawn leaves her mouth. She rubs her eyes, trying to get the last sleep out of it before she speaks again. "How long have I been out?"

"I wouldn't know. I was at work, remember?" You say, your lips brushing against her ear as you speak.

"Right." Holly recalls. "How was work?"

"It was fine. Not too bad." You leave out the fact where you got kicked to the ground by some junkie, not wanting to worry your beautiful wife, or breaking this peaceful moment the two of you are having right now.

"Hm, I see." Holly says before nuzzling her nose deeper into your neck.

"I'm so tired." She yawns out seconds later.

"Yea well, growing a baby does that to you." You say as you place a kiss on the top of her head.

"Yea, cooking dinner and stressing over the fact that you're about to tell your parents that they are going to become grandparents once again in a few months, also does that to you."

"I know." You nod understanding.

"Talking about my parents, what time is it?"

"Almost 5.30."

"What?" Holly shoots up, you're immediately bothered by the loss of contact and the cold air that rushes over you by the loss of the warm touch of where Holly's body had been only a few seconds ago.

"Baby, come back to bed." You say needy, grabbing the hem of Holly's shirt.

"Gail, my parents and your brother will be here in like an hour and a half." The doctor says serious.

"My brother is always late and I'm sure your parents can entertain themselves for a moment." You hadn't realized how tired you were until now, when you are laying down on your comfortable queen size bed with the woman of your dreams. "Ten more minutes, please?" You beg, playing your best smile.

"But I need to shower. You, need to shower. We still have to heat up the food and-" You cut her off by pressing your lips against hers. You smirk, as the memory of the first time you cut Holly's rambling off by kissing her, comes back to your mind. You smile, thinking about how you can take this moment one step further.

"I'm sorry, you just had to stop talking." You can't help but notice how the grin on your face grows as you speak the words you had also spoken in the interrogation room, four years from now.

"I'm glad to see that some things never change." Holly jokes as she lays back down in your arms again.

"Well, maybe they would if you weren't such a rambler."

"So much talking going on, why can't we just be kissing again?" Holly complains. You can't help but match the stupid smile on Holly's face when her lips meet yours again. It's not long until you feel Holly's tongue pressing against your bottom lip, begging for entrance. You settle yourself in between Holly's legs and put more pressure into the kiss. You hear a moan leaving Holly's mouth and when her hands travel down your body hitting one certain spot, you cringe. Holly notices it right away and pulls away.

"You okay?" You nod, biting away the pain, trying your hardest to look convincing, but you know you're doing a terrible job.

Holly lifts up your shirt and carefully traces her finger along the big bruise that has started to form on the side of your abdomen. You look down to where Holly's caring touch is sort of hurting you and notice how the bruise has start to turn purple already. You wish Holly hadn't seen it, because you know that now that she has she will start to worry, big time. You know the dangers your job brings, and unfortunately Holly knows them as well. You wish your wife wouldn't have to worry if you'd be coming home in one piece every day, but you know she does.

"Someone hurt you." She states softly, so soft that if it hadn't been completely quiet in the room, you probably wouldn't have heard her. You don't know what to say back, you were never able to deal with these kind of situations well.

"God, sometimes I truly hate your job." You look away, scared to look her in the eye. Because once again you hurt her, or well the sacrifice that comes with your job did. You had told her that you'd leave 15 if that meant that she would stop worrying, but she didn't want you to. She knew how much this job meant to you, how much you enjoyed being a beat cop. She would never ask you to leave, because she knew that if you'd leave 15, you'd leave part of yourself at 15 as well. She had also explained that she would worry anyway, no matter where you worked. You could be a sales manager for God sakes, and she would worry about you getting robbed, or stabbed in the streets. She had seen way too much innocent people on her table, so no, she wouldn't want you to leave your job. She would rather have you protecting the city from criminals like that while carrying a gun, than being one of those innocent people that would end up at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

"What happened." She asks, her fingers still lightly tracing along the bruise, like her touch would be able to magically heal it. You don't want to tell her that it hurts like hell, not wanting her to worry any more than she already does. You wish she wouldn't have to see the danger your job brings sometimes, but you know you can't spare her, even if you wanted to, even if you tried.

"It's nothing." You lie, trying to cover the bruise with your shirt again, but Holly's not planning on letting your shirt go that easily, so you give up.

"Gail that's not nothing." Holly says serious. "Who did that to you?"

"Some junkie we caught selling drugs on the street. Idiot made me run 7 freaking blocks before I was finally able to tackle him to the ground. He didn't really co-operate to say the least, he kicked me in my side while I was trying to cuff him."

"But you got him right?"

"Yea, Dov arrived seconds later and grabbed his legs so that I was able to cuff him." Holly nods.

"Does it hurt?"

"Only when you touch it." You notice how Holly's fingers immediately leave your side.

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry."

"But I was hurting you."

"Don't be silly, like your soft caring touch could ever hurt me. Besides, I like it when you touch me."

"I like it when you touch me too." Holly confesses. You pull her closer in your arms, the two of you lay in the darkness of your bedroom, appreciating the silence surrounding you for a little while longer.

Your fingers start playing on Holly's belly. "Did you ever think we would ever have a baby?" You hear yourself suddenly ask. When your eyes meet you see that Holly looks a little startled by your question, to be honest it surprised you as well.

"No." She speaks softly. "I mean you hadn't really thought about having children when we met, you made that pretty obvious." You recall the event at the beginning of your relationship where Holly had asked you if you saw yourself having children one day. You had told her you hadn't really thought about it yet, but promised her you would. You weren't sure if you'd ever want children at all, but you knew that Holly wanted them. You remember how the thought of losing Holly over this had terrified you. You had never cared so much about someone as you did about Holly. You had never understand that love sick feeling everyone described when they talked about their lover, never had you ever felt the need to listen to love songs, they were disgusting, how could people enjoy listening to something like that? But then you had met Holly and suddenly all of those things started to make sense. So you hadn't said anything about it at the time. But the look on Holly's face had told you that she knew. She knew you weren't ready to have children yet and both of you knew that maybe you'd never be.

You look Holly in the eye, you are almost scared to ask what you're about to ask, but you have to, you have to know why she had decided to stay with you back then.

"So, why would stay with me? I mean if you didn't think we would ever have, you know, a baby." You ask carefully. Holly starts playing with your hand, the one that was dancing over her abdomen just a few seconds ago.

"Because I love you. I'm not just gonna leave you because we disagree on something."

"Holly, it was kind of a big deal to disagree on, you know."

"Well, I loved the idea of becoming a mother, but it's just, I love you more, you know? I mean, I could picture my life without having any children, I thought about it when I was about twenty, same sex marriage was still illegal back then and I knew a lot of people thought it was wrong for two people of the same sex to be together, let alone have a baby. So yea, I could picture my life without any children in it, I had done it before, but I couldn't, no, I refused to picture my life without you in it." She places a kiss on your hand. "I could have find a new girlfriend, someone I was sure would want to start a family someday, but she wouldn't be you. She would never be you. I couldn't do that, not to her, not to me and most of all not to us. Because I love you, baby or no baby."

"I love you too Hols." You say as you place a kiss on her lips. You rest your hand against the small bump that's starting to form on her stomach. "I'm really glad we're doing this Hol. I know in the past it might have looked like this was not my dream, that this was not what I wanted, but it turns out it is. This, you, me and this little one-" You say as you place a kiss on Holly's belly. "is all I ever wanted. Maybe I didn't realize it back then, but I'm glad I realize it now." This time it's Holly who places her soft lips against yours.

"I love you." You whisper as you lay your forehead against Holly's.

"I love you too." Holly connects her lips back to your own again, you deepen the kiss, suppressing a moan from Holly's throat. You wish you could take this moment further, but you also know that Holly's parents will be here in an hour, so against your own will you break apart.

"We should probably hop in the shower."

"Yea probably." Holly says as she pecks your lips once again.

"You wanna save some time and shower together?" Holly laughs.

"You and I both know that's not gonna save us any time at all Gail."

"Well, it would if you would just keep your hands off me."

"Says the one who kept me up till 2am because she couldn't keep her hands to herself last night."

"Like you complained."

"Oh no, I'm not complaining at all." Holly pecks your lips before sitting up and making her way over to the bathroom. When she reaches the door she stays still in the door opening and turns around.

"Well, you coming?" She asks.

"Yea, probably really soon." You hear yourself say. Holly who's noticing the double meaning in your sentence smiles at you, while she starts to unbutton her shirt.

"You are crazy, you know that right?"

"Crazy about you, yea." You mumble before following Holly, who just dropped her shirt to the floor, towards the bathroom.


"Oh God. Oh God." Holly says, her breathing getting faster and faster.

"Holly! Holly!" You say, grabbing both of her shoulders with your hands, trying to get her attention. "Stop panicking and start breathing! Your parents are going to love our news. Remember how when Jonathan and Chelsea told them they were expecting Zoya it was all your mother could talk about for months?"

"Yea. Yea, I remember that." Holly says softly, her breathing already becoming slower.

"Okay, good. Now try to remember that." You say, before placing a quick peck on her lips. "We should probably open the door, before they'll ring the doorbell again, or think that we're too busy having sex again."

"Gail." Holly says laughing, you're happy when you notice that her breathing has become back to normal again.

"What, like you don't remember the last time your parents came over and your dad accused us of having sex because we took a little while longer to open the door."

"Gail, we were actually making out back then." Holly says, the smile on her face growing as she remembers the last time her parents came over. "Besides," She continues. "I don't think he took that conclusion only on the time we took to open the door. I think that the huge hickey you left in my neck and the way our hair was not exactly in shape anymore, pretty much gave us away."

"Well anyway, we shouldn't let your parents wait forever." You say as you make your way over to the door, Holly following you. Before you open the door, you grab both of Holly's shoulders one more time, trying to give her some last encouraging words.

"Remember; we can do this."

"I know. I know." She speaks softly. You lean in placing a soft kiss on her lips. You pull apart when the two of you get interrupted by the doorbell ringing once again.

"Showtime." You whisper.

"Showtime." Holly repeats, before you open the door to meet Holly's parent.

"Mila, Carlos, come in please." You say polite as both Holly's mom and then her dad wrap you in a hug first, before hugging their daughter who's standing behind you.

"We brought wine." Holly's mother tells you with a smile. Your eyes lock with Holly's, the panic seen in both of your eyes, trying your hardest not to tell them your news right away.

"How lovely." You say polite as you take the bottle from Mila's hands. You're still trying to get used to calling Holly's parents by their first name. Ever since you and Holly got engaged they had told you to drop the formal name calling and call them Carlos and Mila, you were officially part of the Stewart family now, there was no need to be that formal anymore.

"What took you two so long to open the door?"

"Carlos." His wife said stern, but Carlos continued anyway.

"Were you girls making out again? Because I've gotta say Holly, not really your style."

"Dad!" Holly said embarrassed, begging him to stop.

"What can I say Dr. Stewart, this one has a hard time keeping her hands to herself." You say, wrapping your arms around Holly's neck from behind.

"Gail!" Holly says embarrassed, turning around begging you with her eyes to stop embarrassing her in front of her parents, the older Stewarts and you just laugh.

"How many times do I've to tell you Gail, you can call me Carlos." Holly's dad says friendly.

"Right, I still have to get the whole doctor thing out of my system." You say smiling.

After taking both of the older Stewart's coats and leading them to the dining table, the four of you have a little chit chat before the doorbell rings again.

"That would be my very annoying brother." You announce, before getting up from the table to make your way over to the door.

"Gail's brother is coming as well?" Holly's mom asks surprised.

"Must be a hell of an important dinner." Holly's dad states.

"You girls okay? One of you is not awfully sick, are you? Please tell me nothing's wrong." Mila says a little concerned. You understand her concern, the only time they've had dinner with Steve, was when you had announced that you had to go on a dangerous undercover operation for a month, and of course that time the two of you had told them about your engagement.

"No mom, everything is fine." You hear Holly say, as you greet Steve and Traci by the door.

"You sure? Your dad works at the hospital, maybe he can arrange something? Make your treatment quicker, more efficient."

"Mom, none of us is sick!" Holly says louder this time. "Can't we just have a nice dinner with both of our families together? You know, lots of people do it."

"So, you're sure everything is okay?"

"Okay, I'm leaving now." Holly announces before escaping into the kitchen.

Traci and Steve who just arrived at the table look at you, Steve of course knowing what is going on, and why he was invited to dinner.

"Is she okay?" Traci asked a little concerned.

"Give me a minute." You say, excusing yourself before you follow Holly towards the kitchen.

"What the hell Hol?" You ask, once you enter the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, but that woman is seriously working on my nerves." She says as she starts busying herself with some pans that are already on the stove. "Why you're laughing? This is not funny." She snaps as she splashes some water your way.

"Ey! Mercy! Mercy!" You say, putting your hands up in the air, trying your hardest to maintain your laughter. "It's kind of funny."

"What? What's funny?" Holly asks a little impatient.

"That sometimes through all the hormones it's really hard to see my usually oh so patient Holly."

"I don't know how much longer I can keep it." Holly sighs. "Was I really that bad?"

"She will understand." You say, placing a kiss on Holly's forehead. "Please come back to the living room? You can't hide here all night."

"Fine." Holly sighs, following you back into the living room.

You two apologize for your little moment in the kitchen and sit back down at the table. The six of you talk about work and some other light subjects, like the weather and sports, for a while, Holly escaping to the kitchen every now and then, to warm up the dinner she had prepared earlier that day. When she returned after checking the food once again, she announced that dinner was almost ready.

"Let me help you." You say before leaving the table.

"I can help too." Traci says and gets up to follow you to the kitchen. When Traci leaves the two of you alone in the kitchen, after you handed her two plates of food she could carry to the table, you walk over to Holly.

"You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Holly says smiling.

"Let's do this." You say, placing a quick peck on Holly's lips. Holly grabs the last plates of food and carries them to the table, while you grab the bottle of wine, Holly's parents had brought with them, from the counter and follow Holly into the living room.

"Can I provide anyone with some wine?" You ask politely.

"Please dear." Holly's mom says as she hands Steve the bowl with potatoes.

You fill Mila's, Carlos', Steve's and Traci's glasses. Everyone already started with dinner as you put the bottle of wine down on the table, before sitting down yourself.

"Why are you girls not having any?" Carlos asks. "Is the brand not good? You two do like red right?"

"The brand is perfectly fine Carlos, don't worry." You reassure him.

"You girls want me to grab a white from the cabinet in the kitchen?"

"We're good mom." Holly says, trying to hide the huge grin on her face.

"Please don't tell me you're on one of those crazy diets everyone seems to be on these days, the two of you are already so thin." Steve and Traci are also looking up from their plates now. "See, I told you one of them is awfully sick. Something is wrong, they never declined alcohol before, well except for when they were driving, but neither one of them is driving tonight." Mila tells her husband in a concerned voice.

"We're not sick mom!" Holly says for the third time that evening, getting slightly annoyed that her mother won't seem to drop the subject.

"Okay, so if neither one of you is sick, what the hell is going on here?" Traci asks. "I've never seen Gail Peck decline any form of alcohol before." You hear Holly taking a deep breath.

"Mom, Traci, Steve, dad." She starts, looking around the table, making eye contact with every single one of your guests as she calls out their names. "We've a confession to make." She nervously grabs your hand under the table, you see that she is no longer able to hide the huge grin that has started to form on her face and you can't help but smile too. You're so busy staring at Holly with pure adoration that you don't even notice the four other people at the table that are staring at you, waiting for the big news.

"We're not drinking any alcohol because-" Holly can't finish her sentence because Holly's mother jumps up from the table.

"Oh my God, are you girls pregnant!?" Holly looks at you and you give her a small encouraging nod, it's so small you know the other people at the table probably haven't even noticed it, but you know that Holly did. Holly looks back at her mother, grin from ear to ear, and nods.

"Yes, we are." She says smiling and you can't help but place a kiss on your wife's cheek.

Before you know it everyone is on their feet, congratulating and hugging you and Holly. When everyone has said their congratulations and returned to dinner again, which is a little colder than it should be, the questions start.

"So, who is carrying the baby?" Carlos asks. You see the sparkle in his eyes and you still can't believe that there are actually people that are just as happy as you and Holly are, to bring a little baby into this family.

"Holly is the lucky one to deal with all the hormones and stretch marks." You joke. You notice how both Holly's parents are extremely happy as they get up to hug their daughter. For a moment it makes you sad, that your mom and dad are not here to celebrate with you. But then again, your mother would probably say a rude comment about how it's not her grandchild anyway, since you're not the one carrying. And the thought of that makes you glad that she is not here to ruin the moment. Steve notices, you're a little down and pats you on your shoulder.

"Remember sis, family is not defined by blood, but by heart." He says as he points his finger just above your left boob.

"I know, you say." Trying your hardest to suppress a smile. You're glad Holly isn't noticing any of this as she is answering all the questions her parents are having. "I'm just sad dad is not here, I mean he might never deserved the title of the best dad ever back in the day, but he'd be a hell of a grandpa." Mila who seems to notice that something is wrong with you comes over and wraps you in a tight hug.

"Thank you Gail, My daughter couldn't have wished for a better wife or a better mommy for my grandchild. Thank you Gail, thank you so much." She says in between her happy tears. "Your kid is gonna be a very lucky boy or girl." The word your hits you, as tears start to fall from your eyes. You're glad Holly's parents don't only see this baby as Holly's baby, but as your baby as well.

"Thank you Mila." You say honest.

"Oh Gail, of course. You know we love you, you're our family too now." You feel arms wrap around your body from behind, as Holly lays her chin on your shoulder.

"You okay?" She asks softly.

"More than ever." You wipe the tears on your cheek away and spin around to place a kiss on Holly's lips. The whole room goes all 'aw' when the kiss happens to be a little longer than you intended it to be. You pull away, but lean in and place one quick peck on Holly's lips before pulling completely away.

"Okay guys, show is over." You joke, as everyone sits down in their chair again.

"So how long have you two been-?"

"Pregnant?" You finish Traci's question. Traci nods.

"Yea."

"14 weeks." Holly replies, the grin returning to her face.

"What? 14 weeks already?" Holly's mom asks surprised. "You two kept it a secret for that long?"

"We just wanted to be sure you know. Pass the crucial first 3 months and make sure everything is fine with the baby."

"Three months? But then you already start to show a little, right?" Traci asks curious, remembering how she started to show around 13 weeks when she was pregnant from Leo.

"A little yea." Holly says proudly, getting up from her chair, lifting the shirt she is wearing a little to show off the little bump that has started to form on her stomach. It's so small, you probably wouldn't even notice it if you didn't know it was there.

"I can't believe I didn't notice it was there before." Mila says almost unbelievable.

"It only started about a week ago or so. And you'd probably don't even see it if you didn't know it was there." Holly says, quickly putting her shirt back down again and taking place at the table again.

"Well, I know it was there and I still didn't saw it." Steve says.

"Wait, what? You knew?" Traci asks, her eyes getting bigger. "You didn't feel the need to tell me?"

"Ey, it wasn't my place to tell." Steve says defensively. "Besides, I only knew about it for like 5 days, or so."

"I may or may not have blurted it to him when Holly called from the hospital." Gail explained.

"What? You were at the hospital?" Carlos asks concerned. "How come I didn't know about that?"

"I may have asked the nurses to keep it as quiet as possible. One of them asked if she should call you, but you were in surgery and well it was really not that big of deal, I just passed out, that's all." Holly explains.

"You passed out?" Mila asks. "Are you okay? Was everything okay with the baby?"

"Oh yea, we're both absolutely fine. Perfect even. They made an ultrasound and said everything looked the way it should look."

"You have an ultrasound?" Holly's mom asks in adoration, her eyes getting bigger. "Oh please, can I see it? Please?" Holly nods and gets up from the table, making her way over to the bedroom.

"I still can't believe we're becoming grandparents again." Mila says with a smile so big, everyone who'd see her would think she won the lottery, and maybe in a way she had.

"You already have a little boy right?" She asks Traci.

"Yea, my son is twelve." Traci smiles proudly.

"Twelve." Mila says unbelievable. "They grow so fast. I still remember the day Holly and Jonathan were born like it was yesterday." She says dreamy. "And look at my babies now, all grown up and ready to start their own family." Mila says smiling at you, and you can't help but smile back. You're so glad that Holly's parents have fully accepted you into their and Holly's life.

"How's Jonathan doing?" Steve asks, remembering Holly's brother was in the military.

"He's doing great. We got the opportunity to Skype with him earlier this week. He misses Zoya like crazy of course, but he will be home in about three months, so we're all counting the days for him to get home safely."

"I can imagine." Steve says. You hear a door close somewhere else in the apartment as Holly returns to the table, handing her mother the picture of her last ultrasound.

"Aw look at this Carlos." Mila says in pure aw as she shows the picture to her husband. Then they hand over the picture to Steve and Traci, who look in adoration to the picture as well.

"Damn, this is cold as hell." You look up at Holly, who just took a bite from her food. The entire table starts laughing. With all the baby news going on everyone forgot about dinner.

"If you guys will hand me your plate, I'll heat them up and we can eat a nice warm dinner in a few minutes." Holly says, getting up as she starts to collect some of the plates. Holly's mother and Traci get up as well.

"Let us help."

"No, no, please you are the guests, I can handle it." Holly says.

"You're pregnant." Mila states.

"Exactly, I'm pregnant, not disabled, I can still cook."

"I'd offer to cook but-"

"Oh hell to the no." Holly says interrupting you. "I didn't spend all day in the kitchen preparing this dinner, to let you ruin it in the last five minutes." You pout.

"I can cook." You say protesting. Steve laughs.

"Keep telling yourself that."

"No seriously, I can cook."

"Gail, heating up lasagna and making grilled cheese don't count as cooking." Holly says playfully.

"Oh." You say a little disappointed. You know it's true, you're a terrible cook, but you can cook amazing things when you really put time and effort in it. Everyone at the table laughs once again, and you don't really care that they are laughing at you, this is your family and you're glad that you are having such a great time with them. After everyone is done laughing Holly, Mila and Traci disappear with the plates into the kitchen and Steve and Carlos start talking about some sports game that according to them was on television the other day.

You take the time to grab the ultrasound from the table, you hear Steve and Carlos talking in the background and Traci's laughter coming from the kitchen. You stare at the ultrasound of your baby, your baby, that still sounds a little strange. In a few months there is going to be a little baby who's going to call you mommy for the rest of its life. You can't believe how much your life is about to change in just a few months, but you also know that you've never been this ready for something to change. You notice how the smile on your face grows as you remember how you and Holly had found out that Holly was pregnant only 2 months and 16 days ago.

2 months and 16 days ago, not like you've been counting.