Teaser at the bottom for something new ;)

As for all the others I have going on right now, I'm still working on them. Its slow going though, so, pretty please, stick with me?

Meanwhile, some fluffy sweetness to make you smile.

I own only this plot.

SPOV

Everyone was here. My parents, Carlos' parents, Juan and Maria, Grandma Mazur, my sister Valerie, her husband Albert and their four girls. Carlos' brothers, sisters and their broods of kids would be showing up later for dessert and the family football game.

I was sitting next to Carlos, my leg bouncing a mile a minute because we were working our way around the table expressing our gratitude and it would be my turn after my sister, who was speaking right now. "… And most of all, I'm grateful for my husband, who's just amazing," she gushed. I looked at Carlos and mimed gagging. My sister was the kind of woman who calls their significant other "sweetums" and "sugar-lumps" or any other term of endearment that could make you throw up in your mouth a little. He grinned and tried to hide it behind his hand, making me giggle. A throat clearing made me look away and I realized all eyes were on me, waiting for me to take my turn.

Aaaarrrrgggg!

I stood up and cleared my throat, hoping I didn't look as nervous as I felt. I plucked at Carlos' shirt and motioned for him to stand as well. Looking over at my mom I noticed she was absolutely beaming. Her smile only getting brighter when Carlos stood beside me. "Umm, okay. This is more an announcement than something I'm grateful for. Wait! I'm grateful too though." I stammered. Carlos grabbed my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "Umm, the thing is…" I cleared my throat again. "I'm pregnant…"

"You two are dating…" My mom blurted at the exact same time. "Wait… what?"

"I'm pregnant. That is, we're having a baby."

Crickets…

Everybody, but my youngest niece was silent. She was sitting in her portable high chair noisily shoveling cheerios into her mouth.

"Together? The two of you?" My mom uttered, recovering first.

"Yes, the two of us." I confirmed.

"But you're dating too right?" Maria said from next to my mom.

"Not technically, no." I said. Carlos squeezed my hand again. I looked up at him and he smiled softly at me.

"But… how?" Mom asked.

I flicked my gaze to my oldest niece, who was watching the volley of our conversation like she was at a tennis match. "We'll talk about that later."

"How far along are you?" Maria asked as she stood, rounded the table and cupped my face.

"Five weeks today. We didn't want to wait to tell you." She wrapped her little arms around me and squeezed tight. When she let me go, there were tears in her eyes. She grabbed Carlos and hugged him even tighter, whispering to him in Spanish.

My mom was next, pulling me close. "When are you due?" Her shock wearing away, excitement quickly coloring her face.

"July 31st, I think. I have a doctor's appointment next week to confirm the date." Everyone but my dad, had stood up and congratulated us. He was sitting staring at the two of us an indecipherable expression on his face. I moved to his side and put my hand on his shoulder. "Dad?"

He looked up at me. "You're having a baby?" He asked quietly. This wasn't good. This wasn't the reaction Val had gotten when she had first announced that Angie was on her way. My parents had about lost their minds.

"Yes." I nodded.

"With Carlos." He said looking at him over my shoulder.

Carlos rested his hand lightly on my hip. "Yes," he said.

Dad shook his head as if to clear it. "You're going to have to give me a few minutes here, Pumpkin."

"Sure… Okay." I turned to go back to my seat, feeling deflated. I knew that we weren't in the classic situation, with us not even being in a romantic relationship, but I was a big time Daddy's girl and his approval meant a lot to me.

"He'll be fine with it, Babe. Just give him a few to get past the shock." Carlos said as everyone chattered excitedly and passed dishes around.

"I know," I said. "It's just that… Wait! You didn't get to say what you're grateful for!" I whispered.

"That you asked me to father our baby." He said without even having to think about it. "That's what I'm going to say every year, Babe."

Jeez, sometimes he'd say or do something that really made my heart go nuts. That was definitely one of those times.

It wasn't until later, when the kids were outside and we were loading the dishwasher, that our moms cornered us.

"So." Maria said. "What does 'not technically dating' mean?" I looked around the room for an escape and saw none.

"It uh…" I looked at Carlos.

"It means, that we made the baby together, but we're not together." He said, jumping in to save me.

"Why not?" My mom asked.

"Umm…" He looked at me wide-eyed.

"Because we were just trying to conceive." I said whispering the last part.

"So you did what? Used a clinic?" My mother said, sounding incredulous.

"No, we, uh, did it the traditional way. Jeez, do you really need to know all this?"

Maria turned to Carlos and smacked him lightly on the head. "You didn't even take her on a date first? Are you going to marry her? This isn't how I raised you!" She smacked him again.

He ducked away and I stood between them. "Don't be mad at him. I asked him. We went to a clinic to find out our options. Carlos and I didn't like some of the possible complications, so we decided to try the regular way first. He's been amazingly supportive. We both want this, but we don't need to get married. We're in this together." Despite my assertions that we weren't a couple, I smiled when I felt his hands wrap around me from behind. I was still waiting for my attraction to him to wane. I don't know if it was because of the baby or not, but I felt the need to touch him a lot. And when we were on the couch earlier, feeling his hands on me again was just…

Maria was scrutinizing her oldest child's face, she silently nodded, confirming something to herself. She pulled us both into a hug and leaned her head back to look at us. "You've made me very happy." She pulled Carlos' face down to kiss his cheek and then mine. "Very happy." She ambled off to see the stream of her grandkids slowly accumulating around the dessert table. We'd tell Carlos' brothers and sisters once they all arrived.

Mom was measuring grounds and I was bringing down mugs when my dad followed the aroma of coffee into the kitchen. He came straight over to me and hugged me tight, immediately dissolving the weight I hadn't realized his disapproval had settled on me. "Don't, for one second, think I'm not happy for you, Steph. This was kind of a big shock for me. If this is what you want, then I'm behind you."

"Thank you Dad." He kissed the top of my head and pulled away.

He turned to Carlos. "Come outside and help me set up the game."

"Dad." I objected but they continued through the back door, Carlos flashing me an untroubled smile over his shoulder.

"Stephanie, it'll be okay." My mom said, patting my back. "He just wants to talk to him."

I watched as they stood on the grass, not exactly tense, but not as friendly and relaxed as they usually were. My dad standing the same height as Carlos, yet heavier around the middle. Both men could be imposing when they wanted to be, but both of them were very good guys. I don't think my dad was going to haul off and punch him for getting me pregnant, but I didn't like not knowing what they were talking about. It was a relief to see the tense lines of their shoulders relax and my dad crack a smile. He said something else to Carlos, to which he nodded and then pulled him into one of those one armed guy hugs.

"See," she said, "they're fine. So, sweetheart, how're you feeling? Tired right?"

"Hmmm?" I looked away from Carlos and my dad. "Oh, yes! By the time I get home from work, I have just enough energy to eat something and then crawl into bed."

"That'll get better by the second trimester. It was awful when I was first pregnant with you, I was so tired and your sister was past really needing naps. It won't last long. Other than that you're okay?"

"I got sick this morning getting the turkey ready. Ugh, the smell and all that pale flesh." I felt a little nausea returning at the thought of it. "Carlos had to take care of putting it in the oven. I just couldn't do it." My eyes searched him out again. My mom looked out too.

"You two aren't a couple then?" She said wistfully.

"No." I said, stifling a sigh.

"But you want to be?" She pried.

"No, maybe, I don't know." This time the sigh slipped out. "Do you know what he did today? After I got sick, he went to the store for a few last minute things. When he came back, he had bought all these things that are supposed to help with morning sickness. It was really sweet."

"He loves you, sweetheart."

"I know. Since we were little he has, just not the way you're implying."

She stared at me for a beat. "Uh-huh, you keep telling yourself that."

There was another round of explanations and big hugs when Carlos told his brothers and sisters we were expecting. There was a lot of jokes about how they always knew we would end up together. We gave up trying to correct them after a while.

In an effort to burn off the thousands of calories we'd consumed over dinner, we all trooped outside into the brisk air. This time of year had always been my favorite, between the leaves changing and the weather turning cool, Halloween and Thanksgiving, it had always made me happy. That was one of the main reasons why I always volunteered to cook for everyone. I loved having everyone here and this, right here, was the pinnacle of the entire fall season for me. The family game had started five years ago when I had first bought this house. My big back yard had drawn everyone outside after our first holiday dinner and a tradition was born.

The teams divided up without fuss, my dad, me, Carlos, my two older nieces, Angie and Mary-Alice and Carlos' brother, Juan Jr. and his three boys. We stood back while Juan Sr. organized the rest of his grandkids, his other son and daughters into a formation. We were a rag-tag bunch, but this was going to be great.

Carlos appeared at my side, "You going to be okay playing?" He asked.

"Yeah, I always play." I said surprised that he even asked. "It's not like we tackle."

"I know, it's just that…" His arm tightened on my waist and he shifted so he could place his free hand on my belly. "Be careful." He said quietly.

I opened my mouth to lay into him for feeling the need to warn me like that, but when I looked up at his face, the words died in my mouth. He was so sincere. There was no rebuke or censure there, he was feeling protective of the baby and me.

I laid my hand on his chest, "We'll be okay. Okay?" He slowly smiled and nodded. "Come on, we need to spank your dad after last year." His grin turned mega-watt. His dad had banked on the fact that he had six very cute little kids on his team last year and we never really tried to get the ball away from them. This year all bets were off. All the kids had gone through huge growth spurts and, while still cute, I was feeling less inclined to hand them the game.

"I love it when you're vicious!" He said, planting a lingering kiss on my cheek. He turned to corral our team and I was left feeling a bit flustered. I looked around and noticed Celia, his sister, and Maria, looking our way and talking animatedly.

Gee, I wonder what they're talking about.

I was only surprised that the question of us getting married was only brought up once, and not even by my mother.

We were down to the final play of the game and we were down by 3 points. I was playing wide receiver and Carlos had shifted to tight end from his usual running back. He had already scored one touchdown, but had spent the majority of the game blocking anyone from accidentally hitting me, because, you know, seven year old little girls are brutal. We lined up and Dad backed up and lobbed the ball. I took off, knowing exactly where he was throwing it. I caught it 1 yard from the end zone and carried it over, so excited that I had just won us the game. Next thing I knew I was pulled off my feet as Carlos carried me around, doing a little touchdown celebration to the cheers of our family. Mary-Alice kicked the field goal over the make-shift posts and we took our victorious asses in to the warm house for a second round of pie and coffee, well, I had decaf.

I woke with a start to the sound of dishes rattling in the kitchen. I had sat down on the couch after everyone left around 7:00, and that was the last thing I remember. Looking at the clock on the cable box, I was surprised to find it was already 9:30.

Stretching, I headed into the kitchen, really liking what I saw in there. Carlos was putting the last plate back in the cabinet and the kitchen was clean. I loved making holiday dinners, but I despised the cleanup.

"If you're going to do this all the time, you don't have to wait for the baby to come to move in," I joked.

He turned and smiled. "Yeah?" He looked good there, leaned back against the counter, still in his football jersey and jeans and shoeless socked feet. Comfortable. The warm fuzzies that were taking over were definitely clouding my judgment, my brain conjuring scenarios best left unarticulated.

I needed to change the subject here, quickly. "You want to go shopping with me tomorrow? I really need to pick up some things."

"On black Friday? Really?"

"Yep."

"You're not going to get up at 4:00 am are you?"

"No!" I snorted. "I just need to go and get some things. You have a game tomorrow night, right?"

He pulled me closer and rubbed his thumbs under my eyes. "Yes, and I think you need to go to bed. I don't think I've ever seen you with such dark circles under your eyes."

"Wow, thanks. I'm glad I look so good to you." I tried to cover up the swell of hurt his words caused with sarcasm. He hadn't said anything mean, but his words stung none-the-less.

"That's not what I meant!" He insisted.

I backed away. "Sure." This was ridiculous, I could feel my eyes prickling! "I'm just going to go to bed." I could hear the shakiness in my voice and wanted to slap myself. I never had confidence issues.

I turned and headed for the stairs. "Thanks for cleaning up. I'll call you when I get up in the morning, okay?" I called, trying to inject some cheerfulness into my voice.

"Steph." I looked back and he was right behind me, following me up the steps and into my bedroom. "You know what I meant. The books say that you need to rest right now and you were up and doing things all day."

"Uh-huh." I muttered, mortified to feel a single tear trickle down my cheek. I swiped at it, but he saw it anyway.

"Babe." He hugged me tightly. "You're always beautiful. No matter what." If he thought that was going to stop me from crying, he was woefully mistaken. Apparently, hormonal me got hysterical over compliments. More than anything, I was annoyed with myself because I had thought that he didn't find me attractive and that had really hurt. I was full-on sobbing and seemed unable to stop. He held me close and maneuvered us into the arm chair in the corner of my room. Holding me tightly in his lap, just letting me weep it out. By the time the tears finally dried up, I was truly exhausted and headachy.

"I'm sorry." I whispered hoarsely.

"Don't be, your body has a lot going on right now. You need to sleep."

"I know." I was so drained, my brain was telling my legs to move so I could walk across the room and climb into bed, but they weren't getting the message. He must've sensed my reluctance and stood with me in his arms and placed me gently on the mattress. He went into my dresser and pulled out a t-shirt for me to put on and came back to me.

"Here. Lift up your arms." He said. I did as he told me and he pulled off my jersey. His hands slid around my back and he unsnapped my bra. He very carefully tugged that off as well and after a brief look at my boobs, he slid the shirt over my head and settled it in place. "Lay back." I complied and felt his fingers at the button of my jeans again. I lifted my butt and he wiggled the jeans down and off. I went to burrow under the covers, but he stopped me with a hand on my knee. "Wait." He slowly moved his hand to the hem of the shirt, lifting it past my navel. He bent and kissed my stomach, making my heart flutter again and then pressed a soft, sweet kiss to my lips, whispering, "Goodnight, Babe. I'll see you tomorrow." He backed away and was halfway to the door by the time I found my voice.

"Stay?" He seemed to debate it for a second.

"Okay." He finally agreed, disappearing into the bathroom and coming back in minutes, bare chested and clothed only in boxers.

I dragged myself out of bed and trudged into the bathroom to pee for the twentieth time today. My return to bed gave me an even greater view than the handsome man in my kitchen.

Carlos was lying on his side, facing mine, waiting for me. The blankets pushed down to his waist.

Suddenly, I didn't feel like crying anymore.

Yeah, I definitely needed to get a handle on my hormones!

Ah, the emotional instability of the first trimester. That shit is rough!

I am so in love with this Ranger! Just, don't tell my husband. He doesn't get how anyone can feel strongly for a fictional character ;-p

Here's the promised teaser:

The woman darted a glance in my direction and then back at Angela, "I'm Angela's aunt. Sorry I'm late," she murmured softly, never really looking at me.

"No worries, I'm Carlos Manoso. Are you on the emergency contact sheet?" I asked her. My eyes swept over her slightly stooped form. She looked like she should have been in a hospital room she was so beaten up. "I'm kind of responsible for her right now."

I got up and crossed to them. My initial suspicion confirmed when she automatically backed up a step, even though I was a good four feet from her.

So, I was tinkering with this last week and if all goes according to the outline in my head (Ha!) this story will be heavier than anything I've ever done, with some pretty horrible situations. But, hopefully, uplifting in the end. And it's me, so you know there'll be an HEA, they're just going to have to work for it this time.

Let me know if you're interested in this and what you thought of the update?

Thanks for reading,

Love,

EA xoxo