A/N: Thanks to all that reviewed! It means a lot to me. Now, on with the story!

Kate rolled over in bed, still half asleep, and didn't feel Jack on the other side. Slightly pulled out of her stupor, she sat up and vaguely remembered him kissing her on the forehead and telling her that he was off to work.

She had the whole day to herself and a shower was first on her list of things to do, so she slowly got out of bed still contemplating going back to sleep as she stepped into the two person bathroom. Thankfully it wasn't long before a gush of warm water woke her up completely.

It wasn't like her to be this tired. She'd been like this for about a week and she was wondering if she was coming down with a cold.

'I do tend to sleep more when I'm sick,' she reasoned with herself. Kate just shook it off and went downstairs to make herself something to eat, but after looking though the whole refrigerator and every cabinet for something substantial, and not finding anything, she decided on a bowl of Captain Crunch. She vowed after breakfast to go to the market and get 'real' food for the rest of the week.

000

Jack flipped through the files and picked up his load for the day. He took a deep breath and suddenly thought of Kate. The doctor smiled at the memory of her earlier that morning; how she reacted when he kissed her and told her he was off to work.

She had said 'I love you'. Did she say it on purpose? Was it a Freudian slip? Did she say it because it fit into whatever kind of dream she was having?

Did he love her?

He loved having her around. He loved the way she made love to him, the way she smelled right after her shower, he loved how peaceful she looked when she slept. He loved everything about her.

Did that mean that he loved her?

He barely knew her. Besides, she was right when she had said it was to soon after the divorce to talk about things that would make them a serious couple.

But hadn't he felt more for her in the last month they had been together than he had felt for Sarah after three years of marriage?

Confused, he shook his head, trying to release any thought that might distract him from his work. A swift slap on the back helped too.

"How are you this morning, Buddy?" Jack's redheaded companion, Mark, asked cheerfully.

"I have yet to figure out where you get the energy to be so happy in the mornings." He smiled a brotherly smile and greeted Mark with the same swat on the back.

"Coffee my friend. Coffee." Mark collected his charts and quickly glanced through them. "So, did you ever tell me when I get to meet your new girlfriend?"

"No, because she doesn't want to meet anybody yet." Jack didn't look at his fellow doctor sure of what response was coming. He dreaded it because Mark was true to his word but Jack appreciated the concern.

"If I don't meet her how can I know if I approve of her?"

"You trust me."

"I don't trust you."

"I'm sure you don't."

"The last time I trusted you, it ended up in divorce." It was supposed to be a joke but it still cut Jack like an insult. He looked at his friend, smiled widely at him, shook his head, and then started walking down the hall, ready for his first patient.

"I'll be over tomorrow at seven! Make me dinner!" Mark shouted behind him.

Jack closed his eyes in frustration. He knew no matter what he said Mark would come. He always did. Now he just had to deal with Kate.

000

Kate strolled through the grocery store looking for eggs, bread, and orange juice, specifically.

She was bent over the cart, arms crossed, resting all of the weight of her upper body on the small metal rail in route of the cold food section, when she passed by the personal care isle.

'Toothpaste,' she thought. The tube was quickly dwindling away to nothing – it would maybe last another week – and she didn't want to forget. So she veered into the isle and slowly walked toward the end of the isle where the dental care items would be.

On her way there, pink packages of tampons caught her eye. She'd be needing those soon enough and stopped to pluck a box off the shelf. In doing so, however, she knocked off several other boxes.

She bent over quickly to gather them up, trying not to be conspicuous. She piled them up one by one…there were four of them total, and when she went to pick them up another colorful box caught her eye.

First Response. A pregnancy test.

Kate stared at it briefly before grabbing one and putting it in the cart. She skillfully grabbed the toothpaste without stopping and decided that Jack could live without orange juice for another week. With that she headed for to the check out counter.

She tried to be as fast as possible as far as loading the items onto the conveyer belt was concerned. She set the two feminine products next to each other and thought it looked a little odd, so she moved the pregnancy test to the back of her load hopping that no one would notice she bought contradicting goods.

What possessed her to even pick it up? She wasn't late, not yet at least. And Jack had used a condom ever time. At least she thought so. But she had no signs that she was pregnant. No nausea, no increase in appetite, no fatigue.

'Wait,' she thought again. 'Yes, fatigue but it can be caused by anything – not necessarily pregnancy.'

She opted to take it anyway. So now she was sitting in the bathroom waiting for a very long five minutes to be up. She glanced at her watch again. Two minutes left.

Kate wasn't really sure how to feel. The very thought of being pregnant scared her more than anything else. She wasn't cut out to raise a baby…not with the lifestyle she had adopted. And abortion was out of the question. So what options was she left with?

The fear subsided momentarily, allowing a small smile to place itself on her lips. In one more minute she would know whether or not she would be a mother. In secret it excited her. Like every other little girl, Kate had dreams of being a mother, of having a family. But those dreams died along ago. For years she hadn't led the life suitable for a husband, two kids and shaggy dog in the back yard. She knew that but it didn't stop the wanting she felt.

The timer went off.

Two blue lines.

Negative.

Kate sighed not sure if she was relieved or sorry. At least she wouldn't have to worry about it now.

The brunette disposed of the test in the kitchen trashcan, aware that if she threw it away in the bathroom Jack would sooner or later see it.

The rest of her day went normally, but even after supper, Kate couldn't stop thinking about it. There was an uneasiness to the situation that felt foreign to her.

She couldn't want it. But then how could she be feeling remorse for something that was never there? She should be thankful. It was one less thing to complicate her already complicated life.

Next time: Kate meets Mark…what chaos ensues? And what about the added stress of Kate wanting a baby? What about the fact that Kate "accidentally" said 'I love you' to Jack?

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