Disclaimer: I'm working on it. Deviously. Through the night. With limited success. And by that I mean, no success.

A/N: Quick shout-out to JenRar who called these four words to the Tee! And to all my guest reviewers, and JoanOver to whom I cannot respond, but know that your support and reviews mean the world to me!

This chapter is dedicated to isabellsah Cullen, RhoJ, Barb4psu and First Generation Scot, four amazing people on this site whose talent knows no bounds and whose advice, comments and encouragements stay long after everyone else forgets! Thank you, guys, for being the amazing people you are!

Enjoy!

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Ranger

I rubbed a tired hand over my face. My eyes felt gritty from the lack of sleep; when I wasn't up with Babe being sick, I was up worrying about Babe being sick. She wasn't getting better, and since I came home yesterday, she'd been strangely quiet and subdued. Even sick, my Babe was always animated, so I had a valid reason to be worried.

Stepping into the shower, I allowed the scorching water to pound against the ropes of taut muscle in my back. I didn't indulge myself for too long, not wanting to leave Babe alone while she was still ill. Armed with this logic, one can only imagine my surprise when I walked into the room to find Steph in her robe, ready to go into the shower.

"You're up early, Babe," I commented, sliding my arms around her and kissing her neck. "That because you're feeling better or because you're feeling worse?"

"I'm okay, Batman," she mumbled, her voice and body tense, even when I rubbed soothing circles into the small of her back. I frowned worriedly; that motion always calmed her down.

"Babe," I tried to broach the topic of Babe seeing a doctor with a little tact, even as I braced myself for a fight from her side of epic proportions.

"We'll talk after I shower, okay Batman?" she interrupted me, almost stiffly, and it struck me again that something aside from her physical state was bothering her. "I'm going to be late if I don't shower now."

"Late for what, Babe?" I asked carefully, trying to ascertain whether her aloof responses this morning were to some fault of my own.

"Doctor's appointment," she answered a little too quickly, sounding a little too defensive. Was I being over paranoid?

"You never go to a doctor willingly, Babe," I observed casually, my senses on high alert as I raked my gaze over her. She looked tired, and I wondered whether she had gotten much sleep last night, or whether she'd just laid in my arms. Her face was ever so slightly thinner and her forehead creased with lines as she unconsciously frowned with some emotion unbeknownst to me. She worried her lower lip between her teeth, a gesture I knew she did unawares when something was on her mind. Something was wrong, but what? What was important enough that Steph would willingly see a doctor? Was it something bad? Did she suspect it was something bad? Is that why she was worried and acting distant? A chord a panic struck hard and fast and deep inside me as I scanned her body again. Did I miss something in these past few months? Did I miss something being wrong? Did her face really look so gaunt, or was I panicking now?

Snap out of it, Manoso! A voice snapped in my head, sounding surprisingly like my CO. I blinked fast, clearing the vestiges of anxiety from my mind. Swallowing hardly, I tried to think clearly. If it were something big, something to be afraid of, I'd have to trust that Steph would have told me. Above all, she was my best friend. We had no secrets from each other.

"Don't overthink this, Batman," her calm voice grounded me, along with the hands she framed my face with. With the love in her eyes, a blanket of calm settled around me like an ocean settling after a vicious storm. Gone was the wooden exterior and deliberately darting eyes, and in its place was the woman I loved more than life, keeping clear azure eyes trained on me and purposefully synchronizing our breathing when I hadn't realized I was breathing more rapidly.

"Nothing is wrong?" I demanded cradling her face in my hands, mirroring her movement. "You're okay?"

"I will be," she sighed, turning her face into my palm and pressing a warm kiss to it. Fear and trepidation and uncertainty crept on to her features once more and she shut her eyes tightly. "I promise that it's nothing bad."

I growled low in my throat, hating how vague everything was. "What time is the appointment, Querida?" I asked huskily. "I'll clear my schedule."

"No," she shook her head and waved off the protests she could sense coming. "I have to do this alone, Carlos," she told me firmly. "I promise I will come see you the minute I'm back home."

Try as I might, I couldn't persuade her to reconsider. My heart gripped in icy talons of fears, I headed down to five to try to see through the day without killing someone.

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"I give, I give!" Lester grunted from underneath me, and I promptly released him from the pin. Part of me felt bad about taking out my frustrations and nervous energy on my little brother, but at the same time, he'd seemed to sense something was bugging me and antagonized me until I called him to the mats for it. It was only when he'd grinned at my summons did I realize that he was goading me into it.

Getting up, I cast a cursory glance over him, making sure I hadn't let my control slip enough to cause damage. That was never the intention of the mats; it was to spar and practice moves, and release tension and ill-feeling in a controlled environment that would minimize damage and compounding ill-feelings. I was satisfied when I only catalogued a few bruises here and there; he'd be sore in the morning, but that was it.

"Want to tell me what's going on?" he panted, scrubbing his sweaty face with a towel.

"How do you mean?" I countered neutrally.

"Don't bullshit me, Carlos," he snorted. "You gonna tell me or do I have to ask Beautiful?"

"She won't tell," I shrugged, trying and failing to look nonchalant. "She said she'd tell me when she got home today."

"You mess up?" he asked me with narrowed eyes. I shot him a glare.

"No, I did not…"

"Bossman!" Ram interrupted me, looking worried. My gut clenched and immediately my senses went into overdrive. "It's Bombshell," he said grimly. "She's waiting for you in your office. She was crying."

No sooner had the words left his mouth before I was tearing out of the gym like a bat out of hell. I ignored everyone else, locking the door to my office before facing my Babe, who was sitting on my chair, her eyes bloodshot and her lip swollen from where I could bet she was gnawing on it all day.

"Carlos," she whispered. I was across the room in an instant, gathering her in my arms. Lifting her quickly, I sat down and placed her on my lap where she promptly curled into me, hiding her face in my neck.

"What happened, Babe?" I asked softly. "Tell me, Querida. Please talk to me. Let me see those beautiful eyes."

She looked up at me, unshed tears making her eyes glisten. She looked sad, even a little worried, but there was also happiness there. Fear. Hope. Determination. And a boundless love.

"Babe?"

And so, four simply uttered changed my life forever.

"We're having a baby."

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