A/N: First off, thank you for all your lovely reviews, I can't believe I've gotten over 100! Secondly, I'm so sorry this chapter has taken so very long. I got busy and I got a bad case of writers block and had no idea what to do next. But here it is and I hope you enjoy and continue to review.
"Lenny?" Bridget yelled through the closed door of the baby's nursery.
"Don't come in, this room is supposed to be a surprise!" Lena yelled back from inside the nursery where she had spent most of the last week. Lena had taken Bridget to the baby store and asked her to pick out the baby's bedding, but that was all the say Lena had given Bridget on the matter. She wanted to give her niece somewhere special to sleep and was using her artistic talents to do so.
"I won't. Do you know where my black dress is?"
"It's hanging up above the washing machine."
"Thanks."
"Are you getting ready for your dinner with Eric?"
"Yeah, do you think the black dress will look good on me?"
"Bee, he hasn't seen you in months, anything will look good on you."
"Lenny, will you come out of there? I don't want to talk to you through the door."
"Okay, give me a second."
"I'm going to go change, I'll meet you in the living room."
"Nice of you to join us." Tibby quipped when Lena finally joined them on the couch.
"You've got a little paint on your nose." Carmen said as she poked a large, pink spot on Lena's nose.
"When do we get to see the nursery anyway?"
"When I'm done, you can't rush an artist you know."
"So are we really going to let Bee go out to dinner with Eric without us?"
"I can hear you!" Bridget called from her bedroom.
"I don't know," Lena replied lowering her voice, "I don't think we should stop her."
"Guys, it's not like she's meeting an internet stalker, this is Eric we're talking about here." Tibby rolled her eyes.
Bridget cleared her throat as she entered the room, "So, how do I look?"
"Oh Bee, you look beautiful!" Lena said with a smile as she turned to look at Bridget.
"You look entirely too good to be almost six months pregnant, that's how you look!" Carmen stood and began fussing with Bridget's long blonde hair.
"Yeah Bee, are you trying to kill the guy or something?"
"I don't look all fat and puffy?" Bridget asked as she patted her round belly.
"No, you look pregnant."
"Thanks Tibs."
"What? That would only be a bad thing if you weren't actually pregnant. But you are so it's all good."
"Okay, well I need to go. I'm going to be late."
"Wait," Lena said catching Bridget's hand and giving it a squeeze. "You sure you're going to be okay?"
Bridget smiled reassuringly, "I'll be fine Lenny, no matter what Eric says. I'll see you guys tonight, don't start the movie without me." Bridget said with a wave as she grabbed her purse and headed out the door."
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Bridget stood nervously outside the restaurant waiting for Eric to arrive. She became suddenly aware that her nerves were affecting her unborn baby as she felt her daughter tumble and kick inside of her.
"Hey Bee." Bridget looked up to see Eric standing in front of her looking more gorgeous than he ever had before. He held his arms out to her and she walked into them. 'God this feels good.' She thought to herself as she buried her face in his chest.
"Hi." She whispered, feeling as if the entire world around them had disappeared and been reduced to just the three of them.
"You are you know." He whispered back.
"I am what?"
"Still tall, blonde, and beautiful." He said, rubbing her back with his strong hands.
"Well," She said pulling away, "You sure do know the way to a girls heart Eric Richmond."
He studied her entire body with his eyes, "You look…."
"Like I shoved a soccer ball up my dress?"
"No, amazing." He paused. "May I?" He asked, reaching his hand towards her swollen belly.
"Of course." Bridget smiled, taking his hand and placing it firmly on the spot on her belly where her daughters kick could be felt.
"Wow…" Bridget couldn't help but smile as she watched Eric melt when he felt their baby kick. "She's strong!"
"You're telling me." Bridget said with a laugh.
"Does it hurt?"
Bridget shook her head, "No, not really. It's nice actually."
"Well," Eric said, wrapping his arm around her protectively, "Let's get you two inside."
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"So how's your dad?" Eric asked as he took Bridget's hand in his own. They were sitting at a small table tucked cozily into a corner at an upscale Italian restaurant.
"He's…..my dad." Bridget said with a shrug. Eric nodded understandingly. "Hey, I just got these the other day. Prepare yourself for extreme cuteness." She said digging though her purse and digging out her latest ultrasound pictures.
"God," Eric said taking them in his hands and studying them intently, "She really is gorgeous."
Bridget nodded proudly, "Look, she's sucking her thumb in this one."
"Do you have a name picked out?"
"Not really. I mean, there are some that I like but I wanted to wait and talk to you first."
"Really?"
Bridget nodded sincerely, "She's your baby too. I want you to be involved in her life…….if you want to that is."
"I want to Bridget, I want to be there for both of you. I talked to my coach and I can't get out of my contract for another year, but after that I can come be here for good and coach college soccer. I love you Bridget and I want to spend the rest of my life with you but I don't want you to put your life on hold for me."
"I love you too." She whispered, wiping the tears from under her eyes.
"Come here." He said pulling her into his lap and kissing her.
"I can wait."
"Yeah?" He asked, pushing her blonde hair out of her face.
She nodded, "No one makes me feel the way you do."
"I'll come home as often as I can, on holidays and stuff. We're supposed to be in Australia the week she's due, but I'll do everything I can to be here with you." He kissed her again.
"We'll be okay if you can't be here."
"Yeah? Who's your coach?"
"Lena." She said with a smile.
"Lena? The same Lena who passed out when Carmen cut her thumb cooking us an authentic Mexican dinner?"
Bridget laughed a little; she really appreciated the fact that Eric had spent so much time getting to know her friends. "Yeah, that Lena. But that Lena is also sweet, gentle, calm, and really great at encouraging me. Besides, Tibby and Carmen will be there if she passes out."
"Well, I want to be there too."
"I know you do. I've got a video you should watch before though, letting you go in unprepared would be cruel."
"It's that bad huh?"
"You have no idea." She said wincing at the mere thought of the birthing video.
"You," He said kissing her "can do anything you put your mind to."
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"You sure you can't come back to the apartment for a little bit?" Bridget asked for the third time as they left the restaurant together. The three and a half hours they'd spent together hadn't been enough.
"As much as I'd like to, I've got a really early game tomorrow. But I've got another two days in the city after that and I want to spend every spare minute with you."
"Tonight was really nice."
"It was, wasn't it?" He said, pulling her body into his.
"I love you Eric." She said before kissing him deeply, passionately.
"I love you too, both of you." He said bending to kiss her stomach.
