The fall passed by quickly. Both Ricky and Sharon were busy, Ricky with school and all of the different "senior" type things that went with it-Homecoming, school clubs, and more dating. Sharon was very busy with work, which is why at Thanksgiving it saddened her she wouldn't see both her kids. Emily was very busy at school, her final dance performance for the semester coming up. As hard as it had been, Sharon told her to stay at school; Sharon had to work anyway, and Ricky had been begging to spend the time with his good friend's family down at their beach house in San Diego. So, that left Sharon alone for Thanksgiving weekend and how she soon found herself on the phone with her mom, the one person she felt she could call right now.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Sharon," her mom said, the warmth of her mom's voice almost felt through the phone. "How was work?"

"Work was work," Sharon sighed as she sunk down onto her couch. "I'm glad to be home after a 24-hour shift."

"Well, I guess with you in charge now, that's to be expected some, isn't it?" her mom asked.

"Yes," Sharon nodded, not that her mom could see it. "The perks of being the captain, I guess if there are any. You'd think officers could keep out of trouble on Thanksgiving, but no, not all can."

"You sound really tired," her mom said. "Your dad and I have an excuse. What's yours? Work that bad, huh?"

"No, Mom," Sharon said, tearing up. "That's why I called."

"Oh, Sharon, what's wrong? Don't tell me Jack is back in town," her mom groaned.

Sharon managed a chuckle, "No, thankfully not. It's a different kind of mess," she said again, her voice cracking as she wiped away a tear. Her mom could hear her take a deep breath.

"Sharon, what's wrong? We've always been close. I know you don't have a lot of women there to talk to, so tell me," her mom prodded.

"Mom, I'm pregnant," Sharon said quickly and let out a breath that she had probably been holding for the last 48 hours since she'd had the news confirmed by her doctor.

"Pregnant! What? Sharon, how in the world?" her mom asked.

Sharon groaned, "Well, I think you know how. It's a very long story. It's a man I saw a few times. That's it. Mom, it's so embarrassing," she finally broke down and spent the next 10 minutes telling her mom the whole story, the story of the one other man she'd ever slept with, had gotten her pregnant. She was going to have a third kid, three kids of hers, two different fathers, the two men she'd ever slept with. Such was her life. She'd divorced one for abandoning them after he paraded women and alcohol in and out of Sharon's life, to fall into bed with another man, a man she didn't even know his last name, and here she was, pregnant with this baby.

"Oh, Sharon," her mom sighed.

"I know you are extremely disappointed in me. Believe me, I'm disappointed in myself, in the example I've now failed to set for my own kids. I'm going to be a single, divorced mom, raising a child out of wedlock, yet claiming to be a good Catholic. What's ironic is that I was on birth control, another no-no of the church, and it failed me. Somehow, this just seems ironic on so many levels."

"Well, Sharon, it's a shock yes, but you are always our daughter, and we'll always love you. Yes, it's not what we would have wanted for you, but believe me, we aren't going to turn our back on you or our grandchildren, all three of them. Sharon, we'll be there for you."

Sharon finally hung up with her mom, and she clutched the pillow over her chest as she sat back against her couch. She still had a few tears running down her face as the week's events replayed themselves in her mind. She was extremely grateful this Thanksgiving her kids weren't here, which too, was very unlike her, but she had another pressing matter to deal with, the apparent and unexpected arrival of what was going to be another child of hers.

Sharon had gone in for her yearly physical a week before, no major issues at hand. These were routine, and except for complaining of being tired, she didn't have any issues to note. She'd even laughed at the tired comment she'd made, also explaining she'd recently been promoted to Captain and had taken over her division, Internal Affairs of the LAPD. She'd worked there a very long time, rising through the ranks. It had been a good, safe job, except that it left her alone most of the time. She investigated cases alone, worked alone, and was always left alone. Internal Affairs, it was a tough job, but yes, relatively safe for a single parent raising two kids. She didn't have friends. Who would be friends with anyone in her division? Outside of work, men were scared off by her. She was intimidating as a police captain, something that always seemed to come out on a first or second date. That's partly why what she'd had with Andy had been exciting. He knew nothing about her, not that he hadn't asked about her job casually to start, but he didn't feel intimidated by her. Women weren't really in her circles. At work, she had mostly men in her division, and outside of that, she just didn't have much of a social life. She kept up with a few of the moms from Emily and Ricky's class, but even that, as the kids were getting older, well, people were moving on into different phases of their lives. That's how she came to be so close with her own mom, and when she received the official news 48 hours ago, she first had to get over the shock, and then she had to call her mom. As she sat there thinking about that now, cursed physical, she remembered the conversation with her longtime internal medicine doctor.

"Sharon, I called you back in here because we drew blood to run a panel and make sure you aren't anemic or anything like that. Well, it appears you are pregnant."

"I'm what?" Sharon said, the color draining from her face, her hand instantly going to her stomach.

"That can't be right," she shook her head, tears already forming. "It can't be."

"Well, have you," he nodded to her. He didn't need to finish his sentence because she nodded.

"Yes, but it was back in September/October timeframe," she explained.

He nodded, "Which, that would be about right then."

"I was on birth control!" she exclaimed, that realization hitting her.

"Yes, I see that in the notes. That was one question, if you were taking it, but your last visit was also mid-September when you were here with an ear infection. I vaguely remember it, you wondering if it was from the pool. It ended up getting nasty, and we needed to treat it with an antibiotic."

"Which can make birth control ineffective-I knew that, and I didn't even remotely think of it," she hung her head, her hands covering her face, completely mortified she was now going through all this. "I didn't even think about it," she said again, as she held back a sob. "There's been no one since my husband, and well," she started to cry, "this is unbelievable."

He nodded, "I know it's probably a shock. Your age is a factor, yes. I'm sure you thought maybe things were just heading toward menopause."

She looked up, "I've been so busy with work, my new job, I didn't even realize. I've been tired, but nothing else. I was pretty sick with my other two."

"Well, each baby is different, and what I know of you, you power through anything, so you're going to need to slow down and take care of yourself, better care of yourself. Now, I've got an ultrasound here to get the exact weeks figured and all, so let's get started."

It took another hour, ultrasound, tests, a flood of information, and finally more appointments, but Sharon left the doctor's office with her stamped physical, but ready to curse herself for the waiver on it, at least a wavier that would hold for the next nine or so months. Actually, that was less. The doctor dated her right at nine weeks, cautiously optimistic things would continue to go well.

"You're not out of the woods yet, still the first trimester and all," he told her, "but, we did get a heartbeat, and that's always a good sign."

She was speechless at the tiny being on the screen, the heartbeat going strong. She touched the screen, still unable to talk, but nodded when he asked if she would like a few pictures. He continued to explain her risks, going through the various testing options due to her age, cautioning her that while she'd already done this twice before, one had been 20 years ago and the other 17. She was older, and her body knew it too.

Sharon continued to sit on the couch, her eyes closed as she rested. It was late, and it was quiet. She opened her eyes and removed her pillow, looking down at her still relatively flat stomach. It amazed her that soon, probably very soon, her stomach wouldn't be able to hide her indiscretion any longer. It killed her she had to explain this to her kids. It was easier to talk to her mom, as odd as that was. Her mom was her mom, and she was supposed to be the mom to her kids, the example. She cringed at the idea of explaining this, this huge lapse in judgement to her kids. Above all, she was not going to call this baby a mistake. She didn't believe a baby could be a mistake, even if it wasn't planned and coming into her life at the right time. This baby was hers, and hers alone. It had to be; she didn't even know Andy's last name to contact him, not that she wanted to contact him, not now if he was back together with his ex-wife. That somehow could make it even worse. Sharon popping in, looking like some homewrecker, pregnant with a man's child, a man who at the time, was single, but could very much be involved with his wife again. That would be another whole embarrassment. She'd tell her kids she had been involved, but not with whom or any of the details as to where things had happened. Ricky didn't need to think about that image. There was something to be said about her own kids not knowing the guy's identity. The birth certificate she was sure would be depressing too. She knew the father, sort of, and she wouldn't have a problem listing him, but she didn't even have a full name. Yes, her indiscretion was coming back to haunt her, now for the rest of her life.

Sharon spent the rest of the weekend resting up. She'd finished her 48 hour on call cycle, and after that, she had some free time on Saturday and Sunday. Ricky was coming home Sunday around dinner, so she still had some time to relax, and quite frankly, she needed it. Now that she was keenly aware of a tiny human growing inside, she realized just how tired and exhausted she was all the time. She wanted to kick herself for not realizing the exhaustion sooner. It was hard to miss, but she'd been working that hard at work, chalking it up to the new job.

The job, that was another issue. She would have to tell her boss about her needed maternity leave. She was due toward the end of June, not exactly sure if this baby was a result of her idiotic behavior at Stanford or at Arizona State, not that it mattered either way, but still. Speaking of the colleges, Ricky had decided on Stanford and heard back from them just last week. Sharon was happy for her son, glad he didn't let Stanford being Jack's college get in the way of what he wanted. Sharon was trying to remind herself that now, the same idea. She didn't want to let her horrible behavior to get in the way of a new baby. Yes, it was almost traumatic to think of the changes in her life she was going to have now, but deep down, she loved children and would welcome this one with love.

After she'd gotten over the shock that she was adding another child to her family, Sharon thought it through and decided she would tell the kids at Christmas. Finals were coming up for both, and she didn't want them stressing over their finals worrying about her. Besides, she would then be around 13 weeks, just out of the first trimester, and the heeded caution from her doctor still lingered in her mind. She'd tell them then, not that she'd be able to hide it much longer, but Christmas, she would break the news that they would add another Raydor to the house.

Raydor. That sounded odd, but Sharon had come to grips with it being her name too. Yes, she'd gotten it from Jack, but she shared it with her kids, the family she'd raised, alone, without Jack. This baby would be a Raydor, quite simply once again; she had no other last name to use, not that if she even knew Andy this would be a walk in the park. She'd thought it through and decided one good thing was this baby was hers alone, no shared custody, no fighting, nothing. She'd seen enough of that in the police force. She didn't need domestic issues surrounding her baby. This baby would be loved, by her, by his or her siblings, by Sharon's parents, and that would be enough.

By the time Christmas arrived, Sharon had talked herself into a nervous wreck. She was almost sick at the idea of telling her kids, and her "bundle of joy" was starting to reveal him or herself. She'd popped and almost overnight. Pants no longer fit, and luckily, she was still able to hide the baby with dresses and blazers, her typical work attire. It also helped that Ricky, bless him, was oblivious to many things, including her changing appearance.

Things hit the fan when Emily arrived home for Christmas. They had saved decorating the tree for her arrival, even though it went against Sharon's sense of occasion to have the house decked out in early December. Quite frankly, it had been a nice relief, as she had been completely exhausted through early December. However, as Emily bounced in, finished with her fall semester, she was ready to celebrate.

"Well, now that I'm 21, I brought our favorite wine, Mom! Merry Christmas! Let's enjoy!" she had exclaimed shortly after she'd arrived from Phoenix.

"Guys, before that, let's sit down," Sharon had told them, glad that here, in the late evening, she was in her relaxed outfit of yoga pants and an oversized sweater. It would hide things that she was sure the kids would be glaring at in a matter of minutes."

"So, I'm just going to come out and say it," Sharon started after the kids had sat down on the couch. She'd taken perch in her orange chairs, only now realizing that the condo might be a mistake now that she was going to add another person to it. It already felt closed in with just Emily and Ricky home. "I'm pregnant," she let it out quickly, releasing her breath as she gauged the kids' reactions.

"Ahh, good one, Mom," Ricky grinned. "Christmas practical joke," he chuckled.

"Ricky, this isn't a joke," she shook her head, not anticipating this reaction.

"Wait, you're back together with Dad? Oh, Mom, that's not going to turn out well. Another kid? He's stuck you with another kid?" Emily had exclaimed.

"Wait, what? She's serious?" Ricky turned to his sister and then to his mom. When he faced Sharon, he saw the reaction meant she was serious.

"Kids," she started, waiting for them to meet her gaze, "I am serious, but I'm also serious when I say this baby isn't your dad's."

Both sets of eyes bulged out, the look of shock evident, "What?" Emily shrieked.

"Mom, some other guy? Who? No guy has been around here," Ricky said in a panicked state.

Sharon held up her hand to silence the kids, waiting for them to calm down. She wasn't upset; she realized this was a shock, but she needed to explain once they'd gotten over the initial impact.

"Sorry, Mom," Ricky instantly said. "I shouldn't have reacted that way."

"Kids, I'm not going to get into details. My adult life is mine alone. The father is not in the picture, someone I briefly new early in the fall. All you need to know is that you are getting a new sibling. I don't expect this to be easy for you, and I know it will completely uproot our family, but that's the way it is. I will still love you with my whole heart, now all three of you."

The kids sat there stunned as they listened. It was quiet, and then, Emily stood and hugged Sharon. She said nothing, but she hugged Sharon. Sharon started to cry with that.

"Mom," Emily said, loudly enough for both Sharon and Ricky to hear her, "We'll be here for you, for the baby. You did this all alone the first time around. You got things right with me, even though Ricky is another story," she smiled and both Ricky and Sharon laughed. Sharon wiped her tears as the laughter broke the tension. Emily continued, "Mom, this time, we'll be here too. It's our baby, all of ours."


So, I'll say it again. I really don't want to hear complaints or negative comments. Save it. Refer back to the rules in Chapter 2. Sharon loves rules, and so do I. You don't like the twist? LEAVE the story. A couple of people have been begging me to write a baby story, and yes, I know we have tons. We have tons of just about any storyline anymore, oh well. It's MY STORY. I try to come up with ideas based on stories people ask me to write. There are plenty of things I really don't enjoy reading, so guess what, I stop reading! Again, go back to my rules in Chapter 2. Those who are still with me, thanks for reading! Hope you are enjoying it. Things are far from over...