I want to give a big shout out to everyone that has read the story so far. I want to send a special 'Thank You' to psion53, Kinley Orton, Livin on the EDGE AND foldintothenight. You guys rock! \m/~.~\m/ Here is chapter 9. Enjoy!

In what seemed like overnight, my belly really popped out and now there was no way I was hiding my pregnancy anymore. Not that I wanted to. I was halfway into my fifth month and I had a nicely rounded belly to prove it.

I had waited to schedule this ultrasound until Cody could be home for a few days. The two of us had talked a lot about this appointment. This was the one where, if we could get a clear view, we could tell if we were having a boy or girl. We had flipped back and forth a few times. At one point we thought we might want to know, then we were dead set against it and wanted to be surprised. Then we had looked at it logically. If we knew, we could start to decorate the nursery appropriately and I could go shopping with the girls when they came back in town in a couple of weeks. Plus, we could start to settle on a name.

I was humming along with the radio as he drove us to the doctor's office. I stopped humming suddenly and reached for Cody's hand.

"What? What's wrong?" He asked, instantly anxious.

"I feel it again." I told him and laid his hand flat on my belly right over the spot where I felt the fluttering sensation. It had started sometime a couple days before. We had stayed up half the night trying to get Cody to feel it. I had fallen asleep with him rubbing my belly. "Do you feel it?" I asked, moving his hand as the sensation moved. He shook his head, his face falling slightly.

"No, I can't feel it." I moved his hand for a few more minutes until I couldn't feel it anymore myself. "I didn't feel it at all." I lifted his hand and pressed my lips to his palm.

"I'm sorry, baby. We still have plenty of time. I think it's still early for movements." He cupped my cheek, stroking my skin with his thumb.

"I can't wait."


"You're positive you want to know, right?" Cody asked again for the millionth time. "It's all up to you, Georgia. I'll go along with whatever you want." He was sitting on the raise stool beside where I was leaning back on the angled bed waiting for Dr. Palmer to come in. He took my hand in both of his, stroking the back of it softly with his thumbs as I gave it one last thought. I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. I think we should find out. Then I can figure out if I'm talking you out of the name Peter Parker Runnels or Barbara Gordon Runnels." I teased. He laughed quietly.

"Fair enough. At least I wasn't the one to suggest Bruce Wayne Runnels." I laughed this time.

"True, but you know how I feel about Batman. You're lucky I didn't suggest Dick Grayson Runnels." We were both still laughing when Dr. Palmer knocked on the door and walked in.

"How are my favorite mommy and daddy doing today?" She asked with a smile.

"We're good." I rubbed my belly with my free hand. "All of us are. We are hoping someone wants to be photogenic today."

"I hope so too." She pulled the machine up beside the bed and input my information. "Do you guys have any questions for me? Pull up your shirt for me, Georgia." I pulled the bottom of my shirt up to the bottom of my bra, exposing my distended belly. She took the sheet and tucked it into the top of my pants and pulled them down just a touch.

"I have a question." Cody spoke up. Dr. Palmer squeezed some warmed gel on my belly and used the wand to spread it around a little.

"Okay?"

"Is it normal for Georgia to feel the baby moving but I can't feel anything even when she puts my hand right where it is?" He asked.

"It's totally normal. These movements right now are small compared to what's coming. Give it a few more weeks when the baby starts to really kick. There will be no mistaking that. You'll absolutely be able to feel those, Cody." She said with a smile and flipped the machine on. Both Cody and I smiled as our baby came into view. "We're looking good today. We're going to get you some great pictures." She proceeded to move the wand around checking what she needed to check, pausing every once and a while to explain what she was looking for and taking pictures for us. She got a shot of the baby's itty-bitty feet sticking up in the air. You could almost make out each little toe. "Did you two discuss whether or not you wanted to know the sex?" I squeezed Cody's hand.

"It's up to you, sweetness. I'll be happy either way. It's your decision." He kissed the hand he was holding. I nodded at her.

"We want to know." She smiled at us and moved the wand just a little. There was no mistaking what was on the screen. I felt the tears start to slide down my cheeks. Cody leaned in to look at the screen a little closer.

"Is that..." Dr. Palmer nodded, with a grin.

"Yes it is. It's a boy." Cody sat back, stunned into silence. Dr. Palmer checked a few more things before she removed the wand. "Did you guys want a copy of this?" I nodded. She typed something into the computer. She handed me a towel so that I could clean up. "When you're ready, come by my office and I'll print out the pictures and give you your DVD." She stood up. "Take your time." She closed the door behind herself. I quickly cleaned the sticky gel off the best I could.

"Eww. I can't wait to get home and wash this off." I untucked sheet and pulled down my shirt. Cody didn't say anything as he helped me sit up. I reach out to take his hand. "Are you okay, baby? I know you had your heart set on a girl but..." He cut me off by leaning in and kissing me. I ran my fingers through his hair. "Okay?" He smiled against my lips.

"More than okay." He kissed me again and rubbed my belly. "It's a boy, Georgie. We're going to have a little boy."


A couple of days later, I woke up to an empty bed. I called out to Cody thinking he was in the bathroom, but I got no answer. Before I could call out again, I heard stuff moving in the kitchen and Cody's voice as he talked to Blue.

I headed to the bathroom to potty and wash my face. I threw on the button down shirt of Cody's I had claimed as my own over my T-shirt and stretchy pants that I slept in and headed downstairs. I found Cody standing by the stove. I had to smile. He must have gotten up early, gone to the gym and was now making breakfast. He must have just gotten back because he was still wearing one of the muscle shirts he normally worked out in. I loved those shirts. They showed off his arms. God, did I love his arms.

I walked up behind him, pressing myself against his back as much as I could and wrapped my arms around him. He laid a hand over mine.

"Morning, sweetness." He turned around to kiss me.

"Morning, baby." I glanced at the stove around his shoulder. "What are you making?"

"I was going to make you some scrambled eggs." I grinned up at him.

"I knew there was a reason I loved you." I pulled him down for another kiss. "What are you going to put in them?"

"I was thinking just some cheese. Why?" He narrowed his eyes at me. "What were you thinking? Is it going to be gross?" I fake pouted.

"I don't think it's gross but you may not like it."

"That's probably true. The only one of your cravings I've liked so far was the potato chips and vanilla ice cream. That was surprisingly good." He tugged a little on my collar. "What do you want me to add for you, Georgie?" I walked over to the pantry and pulled out the plastic container I had put them in last time.

"Chocolate chips." He made a face. A 'eww that's disgusting' face. "I accidentally dropped some in my eggs a couple of weeks ago. It is so good when they melt just a little..." Cody waved his hand, cutting me off, not wanting to hear anymore.

"I'll take your word for it, sweetness." He kissed my forehead and took the container from me. "How do I do it?" I told Cody how to mix them in when the eggs were almost done. "Go on and sit down. I'll bring them to you." I sat down and noticed that Cody had his laptop open on the table but it had gone to the screensaver. I touched the little mouse pad and it went away, revealing what he had been looking at. I smiled. He'd been looking at baby furniture. I smiled up at him when he brought our breakfast over to the table.

"I'm not gonna lie, Georgia. This looks gross." He said, sitting my eggs down in front of me. They looked perfect to me. I scooped my fork in and took a bite.

"Mmm. So good." I scooped up another bite. "You want to try it?" I held the fork out to him. He sighed and shrugged.

"Sure. Why not? I've tried everything else." He took the bite I offered.

"So?" He shook his head.

"Yeah, Georgie, that's gross." I shrugged it off.

"That's okay." I took another bite. "More for me." He just shook his head with a grin and dug into his own eggs. "So, were you doing some shopping without me?" I asked, nodding towards the computer. He took a sip of his juice and shook his head.

"Not really. I was reading that baby magazine you had in the den and there was an article about the best cribs on the market today and I was doing some comparisons online. I wasn't going to buy anything without talking it over with you first." He reached across the table and took my hand. "I promise." I just smiled.

"So, what did you find out, daddy?" That earned me a big smile from Cody. He proceeded to tell me the pros and cons of each crib on the list. I ended up on Cody's side of the table. Before I could sit in my own chair, he pulled me gently down into his lap. I was leaned against his chest as he flipped back and forth between our choices.

"Well, which one do you like the best, sweetness? This one," he clicked on one that was a finished honey colored wood that could turn into a daybed when he got a little older, "or this one?" He clicked to a darker wood crib that matched the woodwork we already had in the house and could turn into a big boy bed when he was ready for it. I tapped the screen.

"This one. I like this one the best. It'll go perfect in his room and it will go well with the monkey motifs we agreed on." We had already picked out the room color and Cody had already painted the walls a soft pale green.

"That one it is then." He proceeded to order the crib and found out that he could pick it up from the store that was maybe 20 minutes away and he could pick it up in an hour. "This is perfect, Georgie. I'll go pick it up and you can sit in that rocking chair we found last week and watch me put it together. Then we'll put up some of the monkey stuff we bought yesterday." I sat up and kissed him.

"Deal."


About a half an hour later, Cody was on his way to pick up the crib and I was carrying a few towels to change them out in the downstairs bathroom before I carried the rest upstairs to our bathroom. I was heading down the hall when there was a heavy-handed knock at the front door. Blue barked once at me and trotted off to the door. I followed behind him, wondering who could be at the door. We weren't expecting anyone for any deliveries. I smiled to myself as I thought it might be Cody back quicker than I expected. My happy smile quickly faded when I opened the door to find one of the last people I ever expected.

"So this is the right house. Good to know." Dusty said, the unhappiness and anger dripping from every word.

"What are you doing here?" I asked nervously.

"Where's my son?"

"He's not here." He shoved past me and walked into the house.

"Don't give me that bullshit. I know he's in town. Where is he?"

"I told you, he's not here. Didn't you notice his truck was gone?" He turned back to face me.

"Don't get smart with me, girlie." He turned to yell up the stairs. "Cody!" His yell was unexpected and scared me, making me drop the towels I had been holding. Dusty caught that movement out of the corner of his eye and turned back to me. I saw in his eyes the second he saw my belly. "Son of a bitch. Is that real?" I step back and smacked his hand away as he made like he was going to touch me. I put my hands over my belly protectively.

"Of course our baby is real. What kind of question is that?" He shrugged.

"I know how you kind of girls are. You'll do anything to keep your meal ticket. And I see you found the number one way to hook your filthy claws into my son. You knew he'd never leave you if you were knocked up. No matter how badly he probably wants to." He leaned in, trying to intimidate me. "How'd you pull it off? Lie about being on the pill? Did you poke holes in the rubber?"

"No. I would never do that. I was just as surprised as Cody was." I said quietly. His intimidation was really working on me. He laughed out loud.

"So now you're an actress as well as a gold digging whore. Yeah, sure you were surprised." He glared at me. "Are you even sure that little bastard belongs to Cody? How are you gonna explain to him when that kid grows up to look like one of those richy rich bastards your family runs with, huh?"

"Shut up. I would never do that to Cody." He pointed to my belly.

"Looks like you already did." I didn't want to cry in front of Dusty but I was unable to stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks.

"Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to make you hate me like this? Why can't you just be happy for us?"

"Cause I refuse to let my son be attached to a horrible bitch like you for the rest of his life. And I'll be damned if I let him raise another man's bastard. The moment you pop that kid out, I'm demanding a DNA test. And if you got lucky and it does belong to Cody, I'll personally make sure that you are kept as far away from it as possible. Your time bleeding my boy dry is over."

"Get out." I said softly.

"Excuse me?"

"Get out!" I yelled. "Get the hell out of my house!"

"Not till I see Cody." He said, crossing his arms and standing his ground.

"You don't have a choice. This is our house. Now leave!"

"Who the hell do you think you are to demand anything of me? You no good…"

"Georgia?!" I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding at the sound of Cody's voice coming from just outside the front door. He must have been worried because when Dusty had shoved his way into the house, the front door was left wide open. Cody jogged in the door and stopped short when he found me back against the wall, crying and his father in my face. "What the hell is going on? What are you doing here?" He questioned of his father, coming to stand in front of me.

"I came to see you, son. We need to talk." He looked over Cody's shoulder to glare at me. "I need to talk some sense into you." Cody took a step over, blocking Dusty's view of me.

"Talk sense into me? You think you know what's best for me, right?" Dusty nodded.

"I do. I'm your father."

"Then act like it! What kind of father barges into his son's home and scares his pregnant wife?"

"How do you even know that kid is…" Cody cut him off quickly.

"Don't you fuckin' dare go where you were just about to go with that." I laid my hand flat on Cody's back, trying to keep him calm so he didn't say something he might regret.

"Come on, Cody. We both know what kind of girl she is. Do you really want to be saddled with a whore for the rest of your life just because that kid might be yours?"

"That's it! I won't have you stand there and insult Georgia in her own home. She doesn't need this shit and frankly, neither do I. Get out of my house."

"Is this how you really want this to go, Cody?" Dusty asked, making his way out the front door.

"This is your doing, dad. Not mine." Before he could say another nasty word, Cody slammed the door shut in his face and locked it. I had moved from my place against the wall. Blue came out from under the coffee table where he had run to hide when Dusty started to yell. Cody walked back to stand in front of me. "You okay, Georgia? Did he touch you? Did he hurt you? Is the baby okay?" The tears were still trickling down my cheeks.

"We're okay. He didn't touch me but he tried. He just scared the hell out of me." I said softly. I stepped into his open arms that he wrapped around me and pulled me close.

"I'm so sorry, sweetness. I can't for the life of me figure out why he's doing this. I know that our fathers don't like each other over some deal that went wrong twenty years ago, but I don't know why they're taking it out on us." He kissed my forehead. "I'm going to look into getting some security cameras installed. So that when I'm away, you have a little more protection." I nodded.

"Whatever you want, Cody. I'm okay with anything you want." He kissed me softly, laying a hand on my belly.

"We were having such a good day. Let's get back to it."

"Okay, baby." I said, smiling up at him, trying to put the last half an hour out of my mind. He smiled back and changed the subject.

"So when I went in to pay for the crib, I found this giant monkey that you're going to love. This monkey is going to be bigger than him for a good four to five years." I laughed.

"Where are we going to put a monkey that big?" He took my hand and led me to the door.

"I figured we could set it in the corner and when he gets a little bigger, we can set it by the crib. You know, if he tries to climb out, he'll land on the monkey and not the floor." Cody explained with a smile.

"Okay. If you say so, Code." I leaned up and gave him another kiss. "Come on, daddy. Let's go see your giant monkey."


Dusty slam the door shut behind him. He had never been so pissed in his life. That little Cooper bitch had her claws in Cody deep. Now that she was pulling the pregnant bullshit, it was going to be so much harder to get his son out of that mess.

"There you are, Honey. Where did you head off to so early this morning?" Michelle asked him as she walked out of the kitchen.

"I went to see Cody." He dropped down into his chair. "Have you talked to him lately?" She nodded.

"I talked to him the other day. Why?" He shook his head.

"I guess he didn't tell you then." He sighed. "That Cooper girl," he refused to call her by her name, "is knocked up. She's saying Cody's the father." Michelle covered her mouth and sat down across from him. She knew she had to play it cool. She didn't want Dusty to know that she actually already knew about the baby. It seemed the only person that wasn't upset about Cody and Georgia was her. She actually adored Georgia. She could tell that her son was crazy in love with her as well. When Dusty had gone out of town for work, Michelle had even had dinner with the two of them a few times. Hell, she'd even had lunch with Georgia a couple of times, just the two of them. They had made her promise not to tell Dusty any of it and she was going to keep her promise. She didn't want them to stop talking to her as well.

"Oh. Wow." She said, feigning shock.

"I know." He agreed. "I don't know how she thinks she's gonna be able to pass off another man's child as our son's. I refuse to let her get away with it."

"What if the baby really is his, honey?" Michelle asked, trying to show Dusty some logic.

"Then we'll make sure Cody get sole custody of it."

"Do you think that's fair to her? She is the mother." Dusty nodded.

"He was tricked into this sham of the marriage and she doesn't deserve to be in an innocent baby's life. I just want her gone." Michelle bit her tongue. She wanted to argue with him on their behalf but she knew it would do no good in his current mood.

"Cody's not going to know for that, Dusty. Whether you see it or not, he does seem to care for her." He shook his head.

"Then we'll just have to make him see her for how she really is. If I just had…" He stopped mid-word as an idea came to him.

"Just had what?" He didn't say anything as he stood up. He leaned down and kissed Michelle.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm going to take care of this. I'm gonna help our boy out of this mess." Dusty headed to his office, shut and locked the door behind himself. Not that he didn't trust his wife, he just didn't want her to be involved in this. He clicked his computer off of the screen saver and did a search for the number he needed. He got the number and did his best to tamp down on his anger as a young lady answered.

"Cooper, Steele and Gregory. How can I help you today?"

"I need Mr. Cooper's office please."

"Please hold for me while I send your call through. Have a good day." Dusty gritted his teeth as he suffered through the irritating classical they had as hold music. He was about to hang up when someone finally answered.

"Mr. Cooper's office. Joy speaking. How can I help you today, sir?"

"I need to talk to Mr. Cooper."

"May I ask who's calling?" Dusty new he couldn't give his real name because Cooper would never take his call. He thought quick.

"This is Doug Ruben. I'm calling on behalf of Vince McMahon of the WWE. He would like to speak to Mr. Cooper about possibly doing some work for us."

"Of course, sir. Hold on for just a second so I can check if I can just put your call right through." She put him on hold again but this time it was only for about 30 seconds. "Okay Mr. Rubens, I'm going to transfer you to him."

"Thanks." After one ring, he picked up.

"Cooper."

"Cooper, it's Dusty Runnels and don't hang up before you hear what I have say." Harrison sighed.

"Why shouldn't I hang up on you? You lied to get your call through and you're already wasting my time."

"Look, neither of us likes the other but we do have a mutual want here."

"And what would that be?"

"Neither of us wants our kids married to each other." Harrison was quiet for a moment.

"That is true."

"When was the last time you or your wife talked to your daughter?"

"I don't know. A couple months I guess. She won't really take our calls since that whole thing at Thanksgiving. Why?" Dusty decided to just drop the news on him.

"Cause your girl's knocked up and she's saying that it's my son's." Harrison was quiet so long this time that Dusty was sure he had hung up. "Hello? Cooper? You still there?"

"Yeah. I'm still here." Dusty heard him take a deep breath. "Are you sure? Are you sure Georgia's pregnant?"

"I am. I saw it with my own eyes and when I questioned her about it, she confirmed it. Plus, when Cody came in he went into super protector mode and confirmed it as well."

"My daughter would never lie about who the father is."

"Be that as it may, whether or not Cody's the father, we still don't want them together."

"No. No we don't."

"Good. So I have an idea. Do you know any of your girl's exes?"

"I know a couple. Why?" Dusty smiled and leaned back in his chair.

"Okay, so here's what I was thinking…"

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