HI EVERYONE!

THANK YOU FOR READING AND FOR ALL YOUR WONDERFUL THOUGHTS. THEY MEAN SO MUCH TO ME.

I HAVE BEEN UNDER A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF STRESS LATELY.

AS A RESULT, I'LL BE ENDING THIS STORY PRETTY SOON. I'M NOT SURE HOW MANY CHAPTERS I HAVE LEFT AT THIS POINT.

BUT HERE'S THE NEXT ONE.

I HOPE YOU ALL DECIDE TO STICK AROUND UNTIL THE END.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :D


CHAPTER 9: Please read and comment.

FRIDAY NIGHT.

Sophie was in the bedroom, lying on her side, reading her newly purchased copy of "What to Expect When You're Expecting," when she heard a knock at the door.

She looked up at the sound and smiled when she saw Chase tip his head into the room.

"Hey," she said fondly, flapping the page she had been reading and closing the book.

"Everything all right?" he asked. She moved over as he took a seat on the bed.

"Yep."

"Good," he said, returning her smile and rubbing her leg over the black pair of yoga pants she was wearing.

"You look nice. Got a hot date?" she teased as she gave him a once over. He was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a dark blue button down.

"Foreman invited me out for a drink," he said casually.

"On a Friday night? Should I be jealous?" she quipped.

He chuckled a bit. "He's having problems with Thirteen. Guy stuff, you know."

"Maybe he's having problems with her because he still calls her 'Thirteen,'" Sophie pointed out.

"Yeah, maybe," he said, still caressing her leg gently with a warm gaze.

As her eyes lingered on his adorable face, he glanced at the book that she had been holding the entire time.

"When did you get this?" he asked her, taking the book off the bed.

"A couple weeks ago," she told him.

He nodded as he flipped to the page she had flapped, skimming the text.

"I can't believe I'm in my third month already," she commented.

He smiled at her before focusing on the book again, which was open to the beginning of "The Third Month" chapter.

On the opposite page was a sketch of a three- quarter profile of a headless naked pregnant woman. The breasts on the sketch were slightly voluptuous and the abdomen was swollen. Chase's smile remained as he gazed at the picture, looking forward to when Sophie's still rather tiny belly would be getting bigger.

They had been back together for five days.

Chase had respected her wishes about not wanting to be intimate. They were still sleeping in separate rooms. At night, after work, they had slipped into a routing of having dinner together and relaxing on the couch. Sometimes, Chase would massage her feet, or she would fall asleep sitting up in his arms, her head resting comfortably on his chest while he would gently play with her hair.

They hadn't kissed once.

And he had been wanting to kiss her for five days.

But since she hadn't initiated or even mentioned anything about it, he hadn't either. 
So for the last five days, he had pretended to be completely comfortable and fine with their closeness.

But in reality, he was starting to get frustrated.

"Should I be worried that my belly's not that big yet?" she asked him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Chase turned to her, raising his eyebrows just a bit.

"You're only in your eleventh week. Most women in their eleventh week aren't even showing," he replied.

"I've only gained three pounds so far," she reminded him, trying to hide the concern in her voice.

"You've been vomiting every night and you dehydrated. I'm amazed you actually gained any weight at all," he said.

"Yeah, I guess…" she mused, placing a hand on her only slightly swelled belly in a protective gesture.

He looked at her contemplatively for a moment. He then tossed the book onto the night-stand.

"Stop reading, ok?" he told her.

"Ok," she said with a laugh.

Returning her smile, he patted her leg. "I won't be home late."

She shrugged. "Go have fun," she told him.

Chase gazed at her, the anticipation and tension growing inside him.

"JUST DO IT. JUST LEAN OVER AND KISS HER," a voice inside his head was screaming.

But instead, Chase cupped her face and stroked her cheek with his thumb before getting up off the bed. She smiled warmly in response to his soft touch.

"I have my cell. Call me if you need me," he told her before leaving the room.

After he closed the door, she sighed in frustration, wondering why the hell Chase didn't want to kiss her.


A short time later, Chase and Foreman were sitting at a quiet restaurant- bar in downtown Princeton. Foreman had suggested going somewhere closer to campus, but Chase actually wanted to be able to hear himself talk and think.

"So what'd you tell her?" Foreman asked.

"That you're having girl problems," Chase replied as he played idly with his beer bottle.

"And she bought it?" Foreman asked, arching his brow as he brought his own beer up to his lips.

"Sounded reasonable enough," Chase muttered with a shrug.

Foreman eyed his colleague knowingly.

"So you're still not having sex, I take it," Foreman commented.

"She won't even kiss me," Chase admitted sadly.

Foreman gave him a sympathetic half- smile. "She'll come around."

But Chase wasn't convinced.

"We've been back together for five days already," he said.

"Wow. A WHOLE five days?" Foreman snarked.

"Shut up," Chase mumbled.

"Technicially… are you really even together if you're not getting any?" Foreman added, unable to resist his urge to get a rise out of Chase.

Chase snorted and shot him a dirty look as he picked up his beer bottle.

"No, that's a good philosophical question. Kinda like, 'if a tree falls in the woods, and no one's around to hear it, does it make a sound?'" Foreman continued, a smile spreading across his face, thoroughly enjoying winding Chase up.

Chase continued to ignore him as he took a generous swig of his beer.

"So what are you gonna do?" Foreman asked.

"What can I do? I told her that I understood that she's not ready to be intimate yet. And I'm not gonna be a jerk and force myself on her," Chase said.

Foreman nodded slowly, his brow furrowing.

"So exactly how much porn have you been watching?" Foreman asked.

Chase darted a glance in his direction and then focused back on his beer.

"Too much," he admitted, causing Foreman to burst out laughing.

"It's not funny," Chase mumbled.

"Maybe you should invite her to watch with you," Foreman suggested.

"She won't even kiss me. You think she'll really watch porn with me?" Chase countered.

Foreman took a moment to think that over, finally shrugging in response.

"We're supposed to go out with her parents and Wilson and Ingrid tomorrow night," Chase commented.

"I'm sure that'll be delightful," Foreman said, his voice laden with sarcasm.

Chase grunted out a weak laugh. "Her mum convinced her to quit med school."

"Because she's pregnant?" Foreman asked, incredulous.

"She's due at the end of March. And her mum put ideas into her head that it's gonna be too hard to take care of a newborn and finish school at the same time," Chase replied.

"…A baby is a full- time job," Foreman conceded, taking another sip of his beer.

"I told her I'd take a paternity leave," Chase mentioned.

At this, Foreman choked slightly on his beer, almost spitting it out across the bar.

"What? Why is that so odd?" Chase demanded.

Foreman swallowed whatever liquid was left in his mouth and wiped his lips with a nearby square paper napkin.

"It's not. It's just—" Foreman began.

"Not like me to do something that selfless," Chase finished for him, deadpan.

Foreman met his annoyed gaze and shrugged slightly.

"Well… yeah," he admitted.


While Chase and Foreman were still getting their drink on, Sophie had abandoned the TV and decided to call someone who would be brutally honest with her about her situation with Chase.

"He hasn't kissed me yet," Sophie said over the phone.

"…Do you WANT him to kiss you?" House asked in irritation, already losing his patience with her.

"We've been back together for five days already. I figured he'd try to kiss me by now," Sophie said.

"YOU'RE the one who told him that you're not ready to be intimate yet," House reminded her.

"It's just a kiss. It's not sex," she argued.

"A kiss is a PRELUDE to sex. He doesn't want to start anything that you won't let him finish," House shot back.

"That's ridiculous. He's perfectly capable of kissing me without it leading to sex," Sophie stated confidently.

House snorted on the other end.

"Women are idiots," he stated.

At this, Cuddy, who was sitting next to him on the couch and reading a romance novel, slapped him with the back of her hand without bothering to look up from her book.

"Ow!" House whined.

"Did you just get slapped?" Sophie asked in amusement.

"Just go into his bedroom," House muttered, shooting Cuddy a glare, who was still reading.

Sophie reluctantly got up out of the bed and headed the few feet down the hallway on the second floor of their home to the media room. The day bed that Chase was still sleeping on was made, and the room was tidy, as Chase usually kept it.

"Ok, now what?" Sophie asked flatly.

"Now turn on the TV," House instructed her.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Just do it," he ordered her.

Sophie sighed and turned on the TV as House had told her to.

"What channel came up?" House asked after a few moments.

"Cinemax On Demand," she replied.

"Check the active rentals…" he trailed off in a leading voice.

Sophie rolled her eyes and pressed "Active Rentals," waiting for the screen to change to see the most recent TV shows that Chase had been watching lately.

And then when it did, her jaw slowly slacked open.

"…Oh my god…" she said softly.

"Your shocked and appalled reaction tells me that you just discovered he's been watching porn," House deduced.

Her eyes scanned down the list of twenty suggestive titles, a laugh escaping her throat.

"…A LOT of porn!" she uttered, still staring at the screen.

"So what does that tell you?" he asked pedantically.

"There's actually a movie called 'Good Will Humping?'" she asked, incredulous. "I thought that was just a bad joke!"

"No, you idiot. He wants sex!" he stated.

"So you're saying I should sleep with him because he's jerking off every night to... 'On Golden Blonde?'" she asked, scanning the rest of the titles.

".. That's actually a good one," House admitted, turning down his lower lip.

"Why couldn't it be 'On Golden Brunette?'" she muttered.

House chuckled a bit. "Maybe they'll do a sequel."

"Gimme the phone," Cuddy said in annoyance, yanking it away from his ear.

"He's following your lead. If you want to kiss him, then just go for it," Cuddy told her plainly.

Sophie exhaled, mulling over everything in her mind.

"…Thanks," she finally said before hanging up.

Cuddy handed the phone back to House after hanging up and resumed reading. House kept a thoughtful gaze on her and the romance novel she was reading as he took the phone back.

"What happened to 'Lesbian Prison Stories?'" he asked her.

"I finished it," she replied casually, still focused on her book.

"…Wanna watch 'On Golden Blonde with me?'" he suggested.

"Nope," she replied curtly.

House nodded, staying silent for a moment.

"If I find a title with the word 'brunette' in it, will you watch with me?" he offered.

At this, she looked up from her reading, taking a well- timed pause as she fought the grin that was forming on her lips.

"All right," she acquiesced.

House then eagerly got off the couch and limped as fast as he could towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" she asked him, confused.

"To the garage!" he called out over his shoulder.

"I KNEW that's where your secret porn stash was!" she shouted out.

"NO YOU DIDN'T!" he shouted back before going out the front door, leaving Cuddy on the couch, laughing.


By the time Chase got home from the bar, Sophie was asleep.

He quietly opened the door to her bedroom and found her lying on her side on top of the blanket. Her copy of "What to Expect When You're Expecting," was tucked underneath her elbow.

Chase laughed slightly, remembering that he had told her to stop reading. It didn't surprise her in the least that she hadn't listened to him.

He crossed the few steps to the bed, watching her sleep for a few moments. He smiled softly at how peaceful she looked, a sudden urge to climb into the bed with her rising within him.

But instead, he carefully lifted her elbow just a bit and slid the book out from under her, placing it on the night- stand. Still asleep, she stirred from the movement, rolling over onto her back.

Chase froze in his spot, hoping that he hadn't woken her.

She then opened her eyes slowly.

It took her a moment to focus on Chases, a tired smile forming when she realized it was him.

"Hey," she said, her voice still raspy from sleep.

"I'm sorry I woke you," he said in a gentle voice as he took a seat on the bed next to her.

She moaned in discomfort as she rolled over back towards him. "How was the bar?" she asked him.

"You all right?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, it's nothing," she said dismissively, trying to get comfortable.

"What's nothing?" he pressed.

"… My breasts hurt," she told him reluctantly.

"Sorry," Chase said with an apologetic, lopsided smile.

"It's not your fault," she told him as she sat up on the bed, leaning against the headboard.

"Actually... it is," he quipped, making her laugh.

"So did Foreman help you with your girl problems?" she asked casually.

"… He's… the one… who needed advice—" Chase stammered.

"You actually think I fell for that?" she asked with a twisted smile.

Chase laughed sheepishly. "I can't fool you, can I?"

"Nope," she said, her smile broadening.

"…You know what I told him?" he asked.

"What?"

"That I really wanna kiss you," he replied, barely above a whisper.

Her smile softened at his loving gaze on her.

She then leaned forward and touched his cheek as she gave him a slow, gentle kiss. He cupped her face in kind, his soft, full lips brushing hers tenderly. She opened her mouth ever so slightly, tentatively caressing his tongue with hers.

He moaned lightly into her mouth, a wonderful feeling spreading through his chest as they kissed, he yearning for so much more.

He wanted to lower her down onto the bed and slip in underneath the blanket with her. He wanted to touch her everywhere, to shed each other's clothing and once again feel her soft skin against his. His urge to make love with her was overwhelming.

"Tell me what you're thinking," she whispered against his lips.

"…I can't…" he breathed, his cock already beginning to strain against the front of his jeans.

"Please," she begged softly, decadently exploring his mouth, her own arousal growing.

"No, baby…" he murmured.

The space between her legs tingled intensely at what he had called her, her breath becoming shallow.

Unable to hold back any longer, she gently pulled him on top of her as they continued to kiss. He nestled against her body, careful not to put too much pressure on her breasts or her belly. She whimpered at the feel of the bulge in his jeans against her.

"Am I hurting you?" he asked with concern.

"No…" she breathed.

They deepened the kiss, his lips never leaving hers. Feeling bold, he slowly rolled his hips against hers. She gasped, their lips parting for a moment.

"Can you feel me?" he asked in a desperate, husky voice.

"…Yes…"

He pressed his forehead against hers, gasping slightly for breath, the intensity building up between their bodies as he continued to slowly and gently thrust against her. By now, he was fully erect, the strain becoming painful as her clit tingled deliciously, despite the layers of clothing between them. He could feel the pressure building to the point where he might not be able to hold it back.

"…Baby… I can't…" he managed to say, his eyes tightly shut.

"…Don't stop…"

"Oh!"

He buried his face in her hair, his body shuddering at his sudden, overwhelming release. Her breath hitched, holding him close to her as he went over.

He shuddered again from the aftershock against her. After a moment, he rolled off her body and onto his back, at which she nestled against him, rubbing his chest over his t- shirt.

They shared a comfortable, intimate silence for a few moments, he caressing her back.

"… I'm sorry…" he finally said.

She lifted up off of him, truly surprised at what he had said and his now forlorn expression.

"For what?" she told him.

He pressed his lips together, not sure if he could answer her.

"… For everything," he finally admitted remorsefully.

She smiled sadly at him, reaching up to touch his face.

"I hurt you so much…" he began, the emotion catching in his throat.

"And I still love you," she reassured him.

He drew in a breath and let it out as he pulled her closer, nuzzling his nose into her hair, enjoying another quiet moment between them.

"You wanna touch the baby?" she finally asked him.

He nodded.

She rolled over onto her back and lifted her shirt slightly, exposing her slightly rounded belly. Chase beamed as he gently placed his hand on her, caressing her abdomen. She gazed at him lovingly, knowing exactly how happy he was feeling at this moment, and thrilled that she was finally sharing it with him.

He continued to rub her belly, making slow circles, neither of them saying anything for several moments.

"My parents are coming tomorrow," she reminded him.

"Mhm…" he murmured, a beautiful smile remaining on his face as he touched her belly.

"…We should probably erase the porn on the TV before they get here," she added.

He raised an eyebrow at her, his hand stopping momentarily.

"Do they have any titles with brunettes?" she asked with a smirk.

TBC…