Eric paced silently along the sidewalk leading up to Jackie's door, trying to find the courage to knock. In all his years, he had had to do many hard things. He had left Donna the night before their wedding, knowing that he couldn't go through with it. He had said goodbye to everyone and everything he had ever known to teach in Africa. He had stood up to his father on numerous occasions. And now, he was about to tell the woman he loved more than anything that he was going to have a child with someone else.

There were no words that could ever justify the logic behind the situation. Accidents happen, and there was really nothing more that could be said. It wasn't ideal, but it was the life he had been given. Eric knew that Jackie would find a way to be supportive because she loved him. He just didn't want to put her through the pain he knew she would bury deep inside. Even more than that, he didn't want to dull the glimmer that had been so evident in her beautiful eyes lately. They were almost going to be happy.

"Eric, when are you going to come in?" Jackie called softly from the doorway. Clad in a charcoal cashmere sweater, trousers and pearls, she looked every bit a Kennedy. She was leaning against the frame, watching him with an intrigued look on her face. "I've been watching you pace out here for ten minutes. Why don't you come inside and wear a path in our carpet?"

Chuckling to himself, Eric followed Jackie into the apartment. He could read the tension in her back as she escaped to the kitchen for something to drink. "Hey, J, could come in here and sit down? We need to talk."

Jackie sat her glass down with a hollow thud. She knew exactly what those words meant, even if she wasn't quite ready to admit it to herself. Crossing the room, she stood in front of Eric and stuck out her chin defiantly. "I don't want to know yet, Eric," she told him. "Before you say anything, I need you to kiss me one last time like nothing is going to change. I know it sounds silly, but it's important to me."

He didn't say anything as he hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her flush to his body. Pressing his forehead to hers, he stared intently into her eyes. He could feel her minty breath tickling his chin as she gazed back at him. Dipping down, he captured her lips with his. Jackie turned her head in response, deepening the kiss. As her tongue escaped past his teeth, Eric kissed her like their lives depended on it. His fingers tangled in her hair and her hands spanning his waist, neither of them wanted the connection to end. Finally, completely breathless with swollen lips, they had to pull away. Still, Eric didn't let go of Jackie, who was now leaning completely into him.

"The baby's mine," he whispered. He closed his eyes just as Jackie started to nod, her cheek brushing against his. A few moments later, he felt a familiar wetness rolling down her face. Opening his eyes, he automatically reached up to brush them away. "I'm sorry."

"You're going to be a father, you have nothing to apologize for," she assured him. "I guess I already knew that before you walked in here. I won't pretend that it's easy to hear, but I'm really happy for you."

"You don't have to be brave for me," he told her. "If you need to scream or cry, do it. I don't want you to hide how you feel from me. The only way we are going to be able to get through this is with honesty."

Jackie reached for his hand and entwined their fingers together before leading him toward the sofa. "Eric, I really am happy for you," she promised. "Like I said, it's not easy, but I know that you are going to be an amazing father. I've seen you around kids, you're a natural. Through everything else that is going on, I know a small part of you is excited."

Damn, she knows me too well, he thought to himself. "A bigger part of me is worried about you right now," he said. "I just want you to know that this doesn't change anything about you and me. I told Donna that, too. I am going to be with you, J. I can be a father to my child and be with the woman I love. I know that it's a less than ideal family situation, but we'll find a way to make it work."

"I'm worried about a lot of things, but that is not one of them. I know that you love me," she retorted. "How's Donna taking the news? Does anyone else know?"

Eric shook his head. "My mom showed up at the appointment, but we didn't tell her. Donna wants to wait until she can tell Bob at the same time. Mom is going to tell Red. She is worried about the stress this could possibly put on his heart. I told Donna that I had to tell you first. I don't know what she thought about that, and frankly, I really don't care. Other than that, she seemed to be taking it okay by the time we left. I know that she's really scared."

"Do you want me to go with you when you tell your parents?" she asked, unsure of her place in the entire situation.

"Of course, I need you there. I promise, I am not going to make a single decision without you. Some choices aren't going to be up to me, but anything Donna gives me a vote on, I will include you. This isn't just my life anymore, it's our life."

Jackie tried to muster a smile as she looked up at Eric. As her face started to fall, she decided to just give in to her true emotion and get it over with. Once she had a nice, hard cry, she would be able to deal with everything head on. "I'm going to cry," she informed him plainly. "It's not going to be pretty, and I don't want you to feel bad. I just need to get it out before it gets any worse."

"What can I do?"

"Just hold me," she pleaded before falling into his arms. Eric gathered her into his lap, wrapping her arms around her like a blanket. She buried her face into his shirt and allowed the tears to come. Stroking her hair gently, Eric held her tightly as her body became wracked with sobs. "This isn't fair."

"I know, it wasn't supposed to be like this."

They sat like that for a long time, completely silent and folded into each other. Jackie's tears finally subsided, but she never pulled away from Eric. She clung desperately to him, trying to make sense of her life. How had she gotten here? Maybe if she had ended things with Hyde sooner, maybe if she hadn't been so scared to tell Donna, maybe if Eric had stayed in Africa… There were a million things she could have changed, each giving her a different result. Still, she would never change anything because that would mean taking away a baby from Eric. No matter how much she was hurting, she could never do that to him. She knew that he had already fallen in love with his child.

"Maybe it was supposed to be like this," she said suddenly. "I mean, we talked about ending our relationships a thousand times and always found an excuse not to. Maybe you had to stay with Donna long enough to get her pregnant. This child could be a part of your destiny."

"You're amazing, you know that?"

"I know," she grinned. "Eric, I want us to live together."

He was stunned by her unexpected admission. "You said it was too fast."

"I was wrong. It wasn't fast enough. You're right. I've waited my entire life to realize that what I needed was right in front of me. I want to share my life with you."

"This isn't just because of the baby?"

Although it hurt, she knew that it was a fair question to ask. "No," Jackie promised. "I want to live with you. A huge part of me wanted to say yes right away, but I needed to wait until you found out about the baby. I wanted to see how I would feel and react before I gave you an answer. I still feel the same I did when you asked me the first time. I want us to get an apartment together."

"You don't have to do this. This shouldn't change how you feel about living with me."

"Are you kidding?" Jackie asked incredulously. "This changes everything, Eric. Look, I don't know what I am supposed to do here. I'm not sure how to feel or think or act. The only thing I am certain of here is that I can't lose this, us, because of something we have no control over. I want you to be a good father to this child, but I think you can do that with me in your life. I don't want Donna's pregnancy to stunt any kind of growth between us. You were right when you asked me, this is the next logical step. I don't just want to share my life with you, I want to share my home with you."

Eric gazed at her, his eyes full of wonder and amazement. "You are incredible," he murmured as he brushed his mouth over hers. Their faces were so close that each word became a caress from his lips to hers. "I can't wait to start a home with you, to start a life."

"This isn't going to be easy, but we're going to get through this together," she pledged. "I love you too much to let anything take you away from me."

"How did I get so lucky?"

"I ask myself that every day."

Bells chimed somewhere in the distance, indicating that it was now five. Kitty would be home from the hospital soon. They had planned to tell Bob around dinner. "As much as I don't want to do this, I have to head home. We're supposed to tell Bob when my mom gets home. Her shift ended at five."

"Let me just run in the other room and change," she told him. "Maybe I should take my own car over so that I can drive home. You probably should stick close to the house tonight."

Eric grimaced. "As much as I want to be with you tonight, you're probably right."

"You can head over without me if you need to talk to Donna before."

"Nah, I'll just follow you over when you leave," he said, following her into the bathroom. Sitting in the wicker armchair in the corner, he curled up and watched as she started on her hair.

"What kind of hairstyle is appropriate for telling your boyfriend's parents that he is going to have a baby with someone else?" she wondered aloud to her reflection. Running her fingers through her silky tresses, she decided that she didn't need to do much. She was already dressed fairly conservative and her hair looked fine. As she watched Eric in the mirror, anxiously wringing his hands behind her, she knew that he wanted to get this over as quickly as possible. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Huh?"

"You need this to be over so let's get over there."

He nodded solemnly before following her out of the bathroom. Helping her to shrug on her coat, he took her hand as they headed out of the apartment and back down to their cars. Standing between the Vista Cruiser and Jackie's driver side, Eric wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him like he had earlier. "It'll be over soon."

"I wish that was true, Eric, but it's just beginning."