A/N: Okay all, the jacket has returned! Please read and review.

Chapter 10

Getting Ready

Alex prepared herself with information concerning the in vitro procedure. She hadn't realized how involved it was. Having spoken with the doctor alone, she had a second visit, with her sister and brother-in-law. Together, they set a date, based on Alex's cycle. The best time, was the first week of November. Alex put in the request for time off, the day of, and a couple of days off following the procedure. The level of excitement and anticipation increased as the date moved closer.

She returned to work four days after the procedure. Grateful that she had made an extra long weekend of it. She was still sore, and felt bloated. She moved slowly the first day. Bobby made himself available, getting her coffee, operating the copier...as best as he could, and doing her bidding.

Her desk was being inundated with small trinkets from Bobby. Many which made her laugh. Some, she found sentimental. A few others she quickly put in her purse, and she wasn't too sure how to respond.

Alex began thinking of Bobby's family. She frowned. She suddenly realized how little she knew about them. She knew his father had died, his mother was in a hospital, his brother, he was estranged from and didn't talk about him much. Sitting at her desk, she began taping her pencil against an opened file. Bobby looked up from the file he was studying.

He waited. "You need something, Alex? Decaf coffee?"

Alex smiled. She knew she had been running him ragged the last few days. Not so much out of need, but out of pleasure to have that kind of control over him. "No, no I'm fine."

She furrowed her brow. "How about joining my family for Thanksgiving?" It came out before she realized that she was even thinking about it.

Bobby sat back in his chair surprised. Alex bit her lower lip, waiting. "Ah, yeah, I guess I could. You sure?" He treasured his time to himself, and felt uncomfortable in family holiday settings. But, he had met her family at different times and found them to be the exception to the rule.

His response surprised her. She smiled. "Yeah, I'm sure." She returned to the file she was working on, missing the warm expression in his eyes. Bobby's heart lifted, and he smiled, returning to his own file.

The week before Thanksgiving, Bobby kept bugging Alex about what to bring to the dinner. She just kept telling him, yourself. His response was an eye roll. Her final answer, out of shear desperation was for him to bring a bottle of wine. He seemed pleased with that suggestion, and then began mulling over white, red, sweet, or dry. Eames sighed, happy to leave him to his own devices of figuring it out. But of course, he had to know what exactly was on the menu so he could make the right choice. At one point, he demanded Alex call her mother to find out if it was a turkey, duck, or chicken, and whether it was farm raised or free range. By the end of the week, he had both Alex and her mother in tears of laughter.

They had arranged it so Bobby would pick her up. He decided that she shouldn't be driving 'in her possible condition'. Stepping up to her door, he knocked. Dressed in a pair of cargo pants and a low cut knit top, she opened the door for him. Alex was chatting on the phone with her sister, she waved him in.

Glancing around the living room he found that she kept things pretty simple, a little cluttered, but simple. She had magazines on the the coffee table, a large couch with a colorful crocheted afghan, photos on the wall, a overstuffed chair with an ottoman, and a few very ignored plants along the window sill.

Hanging up, she beamed at him. "Well, it's confirmed, I am pregnant!" She moved around the room collecting things together.

He cocked his head. "She knew, before you?"

Alex smiled. "No, I knew." She touched her heart. "The doctor called my sister, and she called me with the confirmation. Hmmmm, just a few minutes before you arrived."

Bobby stared at her with amazement. This beautiful, petite woman was fulfilling the dreams of another couple, without any hesitation, or without gain for herself. Alex, humming, passed by him, taking an armload of items to the front closet. Dropping them on the floor, she opened the closet door open, and began hanging the items up. She looked at Bobby who was still staring at her, "A penny for your thoughts?" She smiled again.

Bobby could feel himself slightly blushing. He shook his head. He had never looked at Alex as anything other than his partner. He knew she was a woman, a tough woman, but never thought of her as womanlike. He furrowed his brow. "So, that means late July, mid August?" His question was his way to try to focus on something else.

She turned towards him, and stopped mid hum. "What, are you worried about, who your new partner will be?" She teased.

Bobby shook his head, not daring to look at her. "Just trying to get a time line."

Bobby stood in front of a photograph studying it. It was the Alex he had met years ago at the shop. He smiled. He reached up and touched the smiling little girl in the photo.

She put her hands lightly on her hips watching him. "I said, are you ready?"

He looking at her, nodding. Alex dug into the closet and brought out the jacket. She brushed of the shoulders, and then shook it out. Bobby took it from her, and held it out for her to put on. Slipping her arms in the sleeves, the jacket moved as if suddenly awakened. Bobby smoothed out the shoulders and the collar. Smiling as he did so. Feeling the stitching he had done years ago, underneath his sensitive fingers.

Alex tilted her head, feeling his touch beneath the jacket. Bobby looked down at her, suddenly aware of what he was doing. He moved back and lowered his arms. Alex slightly narrowed her eyes in teasing. "If you think you're getting this back, you better think again, Goren."

He smiled. "It's still too big."

Alex shook her head. "Nope, nope the way I see it, it's just perfect." Smiling to herself she added, In a few months, it will be more than just perfect.