A/N: Sorry for the slight delay in getting this chapter written. I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season so far, no matter what it is that you celebrate this time of year! As an early Christmas present to you all, here's the chapter I think a lot of you have been waiting for - the big reveal of why Don and Stella actually got married! I hope that you all enjoy it - there's lots more good stuff to come!

"Hey, where'd you disappear to?" Hawkes asked as Mac returned to the waiting room early that afternoon.

"Had a few things to take care of," Mac said.

"Right," Hawkes nodded knowingly. "How was Jersey?"

"How'd you know I was in Jersey?" Mac asked suspiciously.

"Julia told me what you asked her, and what she told you," Hawkes said. "It doesn't take a detective to figure out where you went. Have they got any leads yet?"

"Quinn said they were pursuing a few possible suspects," Mac said. "She promised to call me when they make an arrest. Beyond that, she couldn't tell me much, though. I'm sure you remember how much of a stickler she is for procedure."

"Hard to forget," Hawkes said. "But they seem confident?"

"It's a little hard to tell…Quinn's always confident," Mac said. "Did I miss much here? Any word on Stella?"

"They moved her to an ICU room about two hours ago," Hawkes said. "They reduced her sedation when they moved her, so she could wake up any time now, although I wouldn't expect it right away."

"Why not?" Mac asked.

"Well, I haven't been able to get Julia alone long enough to go over the surgery in detail, but from what she's said in passing, Stella lost a lot of blood, both at the scene and in the OR," Hawkes said. "Even with transfusions, it's going to take a while for her body to make up the lost blood volume – and that's assuming that she doesn't develop any internal bleeding."

"Is that likely?" Mac asked in concern.

"It isn't unheard of," Hawkes said. "I wouldn't say that it's extremely likely, either, but it isn't out of the realm of possibility, and Julia does seem to be concerned."

"Can we see her?" Mac asked.

"One at a time, but yeah, you can. I was in there for a bit earlier; I think Lindsay and Flack are in there now," Hawkes said. "So, I guess it's really one at a time, plus Flack. He refuses to leave her side…I don't think I've ever seen him this torn up about anything."

"His wife is fighting for her life, Hawkes," Mac said sadly. "There's nothing easy about not knowing if the woman you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with is going to live or die. How else would you expect him to react?"

"I guess you have a point," Hawkes agreed. "It just feels so strange to think of Stella as his wife, you know? It's not like any of us have had a chance to even get used to the idea of them being anything more than friends, and now they're married?"

"It isn't our place to judge them," Mac said. "I'm sure they had a good reason for getting married, and I'm sure Stella had a good reason for not telling us."

"He does seem to love her," Hawkes commented. "I just wish we knew if she felt the same way."

"She does," Mac said.

"I thought you didn't know about them?" Hawkes said in confusion.

"I didn't," Mac said. "But I do know Stella, and I know that whatever her other reasons may have been, she would never have taken that step if she weren't in love with him."

"Can I ask you a question?" Lindsay asked as she sat opposite Don at Stella's bedside.

"Sure," Don said quietly, not bothering to move his gaze away from Stella's pale face.

"How did you know?" Lindsay asked.

"Know what?" Don asked in confusion.

"That you loved Stella," Lindsay said. "That she was the one, that you could trust her with your heart. How did you know that you guys were both in it for the long haul? That getting married was the right thing to do?"

"That's a lot of questions, Lindsay," Don commented. "You got somethin' on your mind?"

"You never talk about it," Lindsay said. "Neither of you do, really. I guess I just want to know, because everyone out there expects me to understand your relationship just because I'm the only one who knew about it."

"Honestly, I couldn't tell you when I first knew that I loved her," Don said. "It just sort of grew on me, real slow, like the feelings had always been there and now they were just comin' out of hiding or something."

"But how did you know that it was love?" Lindsay asked. "How did you know that you were in love with her? That it wasn't just sex…or loneliness?"

Don sighed, glancing over at Lindsay, knowing that they weren't just talking about him and Stella anymore. "When I'm with her, it's like there was this part of me that was always missing that isn't missin' anymore," Flack said. "Yeah, we fight a lot, and we drive each other insane, but you know that cheesy saying about people who find their other half? It's kinda true, Linds. She makes me feel whole…I guess that's how I know that I love her."

"And that's why you married her?" Lindsay asked curiously. "That's why you proposed?"

"Not exactly," Don sighed, closing his eyes to hold back a few tears as he gently squeezed Stella's limp hand and thought back to the night that their whole lives had been turned upside down…

Stella silently slipped her key into the front door, turning it slowly as she softly pushed against it, easing her way into the apartment with only the slightest sound. Dropping the key back into her purse, she stepped quietly into the dark apartment, carefully closing the door behind her.

Although it was pitch black, she easily made her way across the living room to the bedroom door, pausing in the doorway as her eyes adjusted to the small rays of moonlight shining through the bedroom window.

Stella had never actually used her key before, and she wasn't entirely certain she was a bit nervous about whether or not she should have used it tonight. She had never completely understood why Don had had the key made for her. At the time, he'd claimed it was because she was spending so much time at his place, but Stella didn't buy it. She'd never arrived when he wasn't already present – it was part of their unspoken arrangement that she only came when he called, just as he only came to her apartment when she called him. If it had been anyone else, Stella might have thought that the key was symbolic, but somehow she doubted that Don Flack was the type of man to think that deeply about something.

As she leaned wearily against the doorframe and watched him sleep, she felt a sad smile playing at her lips. No matter how much she had tried to hid it, despite the fact that she had still seen him nearly every day at work, she had to admit that she had missed him. In the weeks following his sister's release, their relationship seemed to have cooled off considerably. It had been one of the risks that Stella had known she was taking when she helped clear Samantha. She had thought that she'd prepared herself for it, but there was no denying that the past few weeks without Don had been painful for her.

Rolling over in his bed, Don was jolted out of his fitful sleep by the sight of a shadow hovering in the doorway, seemingly lost in thought. Squinting in the pale moonlight, he sucked in a breath when he recognized the figure, his mind frantically trying to figure out if he was actually awake. Was he really seeing her here, in his bedroom, or was this yet another dream taunting him with the one thing he was certain he could never have?

"Stella?" he mumbled groggily, propping himself up on his elbow as he sought to get a better glimpse of his unexpected visitor.

"Hey," she said nervously, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans and staring intently at the carpet in front of her feet.

"What's wrong?" Don asked, quickly recognizing the change from her usual confident, self-assured manner. "What's going on, Stella?"

"I just…I need to talk to you, Don," Stella said. "We, uh, we really need to talk."

"It's three in the morning, Stel," Don groaned, reaching out and pulling back the edge of his comforter. "Come to bed and we'll talk when the sun's actually up."

"Don," Stella said cautiously, noticing the way he had flopped back against his pillows.

"I'm sleeping," Don mumbled, tossing a pillow across face.

"I'm pregnant," Stella said, a bit bluntly but nevertheless effectively getting her point across.

Don bolted upright in his bed, the pillow falling haphazardly to the floor as he stared in shock at Stella, searching for the laughter in her face, something to tell him that this was some sort of practical joke. Instead, all he found written in her features was the same fear and surprise he felt growing in the pit of his stomach.

"Okay, so now I'm awake," Don said, motioning for Stella to join him in the bed. "Come on, I guess we should talk or somethin', right? This is…I guess unexpected is an understatement?"

"Yeah," Stella nodded, hesitantly moving into the room and taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry, Don. I know the timing is horrible…I know things were just about to go back to the way they were…"

"Don't," Don interrupted quickly. "Don't, Stella."

"I am sorry," Stella insisted. "Even if you don't believe me…"

"Stop," Don said again. "It isn't that I don't believe you, Stella…it's that I don't want you to be sorry. I don't want you to apologize. I know you didn't plan this, I know it's as unexpected for you as it is for me. And yeah, I guess the timing could be better, but honestly? I don't know about you, but I don't want to go back to the way things used to be."

"You don't?" Stella asked in confusion.

"Look, I don't know exactly what you'd call what we've had for the last six months, but whatever the hell it is, I don't want to lose it," Don said. "And maybe a baby isn't exactly the smartest way to hold onto that, but it's not like we've got a whole lotta options at this point, Stella…you are having the baby, right?"

"Yes," Stella quickly assured him, taking her own reassurance in the way his features visibly relaxed at her words. "I could never do that, Don, I could never not have the baby. Besides, it's a little late at this point."

"What do you mean?" Don asked.

"I'm fourteen weeks," Stella said.

Confusion quickly clouded Don's face as he tilted his head to the side, noticing for the first time the way Stella's abdomen was, indeed, slightly rounded.

"So, what, you were just waiting to tell me?" Don asked. "All these months, you've known and didn't think it was important to tell me?"

"Two weeks," Stella clarified. "I've only known for two weeks. I know, it's crazy, I never understood how women could not know that they were pregnant, but I never had any morning sickness. I haven't really gained that much weight yet, which the doctor says is normal…and I had some spotting, which I thought was my period, since I've always been light. I just…there was so much going on, I never put the pieces together."

"So how did you find out?" Don asked.

"Remember the department physicals we all had to have last month?" Stella asked. "It's standard procedure to include a pregnancy test in the blood tests of all female employees. It just took them a while to process the results. When the doctor called me back in to tell me, I asked her where the hidden cameras were. I thought the guys down at the precinct were playing a joke on me or something. I don't think I really believed it until I went to the OB and I saw the ultrasound. I was going to tell you right away, I really was, but you were so busy with Sam getting out, and I thought I'd just wait until the next time we, you know, saw each other…and then that never happened, so here I am."

"I guess we're not so great at the communication thing, huh?" Don asked.

"I guess not," Stella agreed.

"So, where do we go from here?" Don asked, wrapped his arms around her as she leaned back against his chest.

"I don't know," Stella admitted. "I really don't know."

"Do you…I mean, I know this'll sound crazy…but do you maybe want to get married?" Don blurted out.

"I…what?" Stella asked, her eyes widening in shock.

"It's just an idea," Don said nervously. "You know, somethin' to think about."

Truth be told, Don was terrified that the only reason Stella was still with him was because she was pregnant. He'd always thought that couples who got married because of a pregnancy were setting themselves up for failure, going about it all wrong – he'd told Danny as much when Lindsay had gotten pregnant. Now that he was faced with the prospect himself, though, he had to admit that, even if it wasn't ideal, he'd do anything he could to keep the woman he'd fallen in love with in his life.

"Don?" Lindsay asked, waving a hand in front of his face, pulling him from his memories. "Where'd you go there?"

"Just thinkin'," Don said. "Rememberin'."

"So, why did you marry Stella?" Lindsay asked.

"Because I love her," Don said. "I married her because I love her."

"Just because you love someone doesn't mean that you can make a marriage work," Lindsay said.

"It doesn't mean you can't, though," Don said. "Just because you've been hurt in the past doesn't mean it's going to happen again, Lindsay. People make mistakes, sure, but they can learn from them, too."

"You really think so?" Lindsay asked.

"Yeah, I do. Look, when I wake up in the morning, she's the first thing I think about," Don said, reaching up to gently run the back of his against Stella's cheek. "When I go to bed at night, I have a hard time sleeping if she's not there with me. When something good happens, the first thing I want to do is tell her, and when something bad happens, all I want is for her to hold me. She's everything to me, Lindsay…when someone means that much to you, you just get to a point where you know that it would hurt more to lose that person without ever trying than it ever would to try and fail. You get to that point where you can't not take the risk. You just have to close your eyes and pray like hell you don't get your ass kicked."

"Was it worth it?" Lindsay asked. "Everything you guys went through, was it worth it to get to where you are now?"

"No," Don said, earning a look of surprise and confusion from Lindsay. "Yeah, I know that's not what you expected to hear…you wanted to hear me say that even though it hurt, that even though it was hard, what's on the other side is worth all the pain, right?"

"Well, yeah," Lindsay admitted.

"Maybe it is for some people," Don said. "But what we went through, it was hell, Lindsay, pure and simple, it was hell, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Am I happy with where we are now? Yeah, I am. But if someone offered me the chance to change what happened, I wouldn't have to think twice, I'd do it, even knowing that we might not get to where we are now. Because the pain that we both went through – especially what Stella went through – there is nothing that could make that pain worth it."

"Are you ever going to tell me exactly what happened?" Lindsay asked.

"Not today," Don said. "I just…there are some sorts of pain that just need to stay private for a while, Lindsay. But if you're asking whether what happened to us was anything like what happened to you and Danny, the answer is no."

"Okay," Lindsay nodded. "I'd guess I'd better go make sure Allie's alright, but I'll stop in later."

"Give her a kiss for me," Don said.

"I will…and, um, thanks, Don," Lindsay said, squeezing Stella's hand before quietly slipping out of the room.

"I think you were right, Stel," Don said as soon as the door closed behind her. "Monroe's still head over heels for Messer, she's just scared out of her mind about it. Guess I owe you twenty bucks now, huh?"

Don sighed as the only response he received came in the form of the steady beeping from the machines surrounding Stella.

"You know that I love you, right?" Don said continued. "I know I don't say it enough, but I love you, Stella. So, maybe you could just open your eyes for a minute…I know I said take your time, and I'm not goin' anywhere, but you're startin' to scare me a bit, baby."

Getting no response, Don sighed again and let his head drop just a bit, fatigue starting to overtake his body as he continued to hold onto her hand and send up yet another silent prayer. A few moments later, the unexpected sensation of a weak grip squeezing his hand caused Don's head to shoot back up in anticipation, a smile of relief crossing his face as blue eyes finally locked with green.