"Thanks Principal Foster, I really appreciate your understanding. I'm sure I'll be back bright and early tomorrow morning...thanks again...bye." Jess hung up the phone and stared at it in her hand for just a moment before blowing a heavy breath out of her mouth and turning back to Nick who was perched nervously on the edge of the sofa cushion clasping his hands so hard she could see the whites of his knuckles but she didn't comment. "I think that might be the first time I have ever called in sick."

"Look I know you hate doing that kind of stuff Jess but I think we have special circumstances here." Nick reasoned to a sombre looking Jess as she crossed the room to silently sit next to him. Leaning across to the coffee table Jess picked up the test and stared hard at the blue lettering, trying to make sense of the word 'pregnant' which had suddenly lost all meaning. Noticing the shake in her hand Nick trailed his fingers down the inside of her forearm linking his fingers tightly through hers before turning to lay a soft kiss on her shoulder where he allowed himself to linger for a moment until he felt her relax just the tiniest bit under his touch. As she noticed the heat of his lips through her sweater she felt her heart swell in a rush of emotion. Her eyes moistened and her lip quivered very slightly as her breath caught in her throat.

"I'm sorry Nick." She turned into his waiting arms, dropping the box to embrace him tightly.

"It's ok." He whispered into the material of her sweater as he held her. Pulling back he smoothed a tear away with his thumb and swept her hair away from her eyes. As she pulled off her glasses to dab her eyes his heart felt like it might break at her vulnerability. "It's gonna be ok Jess, whatever happens. We'll be ok."

She put her glasses back on and turned her eyes up to face him. "How are you so calm about this?" She laughed through tears, bemused by his demeanour. Nick shrugged and turned the corners of his mouth down. "I guess the thought of you having my baby doesn't scare me as much as I thought it would." He smiled. For a moment she returned his smile until reality hit her once again and he watched her face cloud over with fear, her hand slackening its grip on his until the uncertainty made him let go altogether."But it obviously scares you so maybe we should just get this over with." Nick mumbled, reaching down to the floor to retrieve the box but she immediately took it from him, reaching desperately for his hand once again.

"No it's not that! Nick look at me." She shifted in her seat to face him. "That's not it at all. It's just...Nick we've only been back together a couple of months and we promised each other no pressure, I mean that was the whole point of me moving out right? And if this..." She toyed with the box reluctantly in her hand. "If I'm...I don't want you to think that I've screwed everything up for us." As Jess lowered her shameful gaze away from him she left him momentarily dumbfounded and pondering if she even knew what she was saying, but as he watched another tear roll down her cheek he realised her fear was as real as anything. "Hey hey listen to me. First of all, if you are then we did it, not you...us. Together. Whatever happens we're in this together and nobody has screwed anything up ok. This is just something that happens, you know, it's all birds and bees and empty condom boxes."

Jess laughed, swiping a finger quickly under her eye. "You always do this." She smiled.

"Do what?"

"Just when I think I have you all figured out you surprise me all over again."

Nick smiled and rubbed his hand reassuringly up and down her thigh. "Speaking of surprises..." He glanced down at the test in her hand and her eyes followed his.

"Right...that." Jess exhaled heavily and stood up.

"You want me to come in with you." He offered.

"No!" Jess protested, suddenly seeming like her old self. "I don't want you to see me peeing. That kills the romance."

He laughed. "That's what you're thinking right now Jess."

"Yes! Romance is important to me." They smiled at each other before another silence befell them. "Ok...I'm doing it." Jess spoke with a modicum of conviction but her feet betrayed her by staying glued to the floor. "Here I go." She still failed to move."

"Jess?" He questioned but he barely got the word out before she cut him off.

"What if I am Nick? Seriously what if I am?"

"Then we'll figure it out."

"How?"

"Shouldn't you take the test first Jess?" He watched her rock back and forth on her feet, shaking her head just a little and trying to deny all the thoughts and possibilities he could see swimming around in her head as her panic started to resurface. "No I can't just jump into it yet Nick I have to think about this all logically in my head." She stuttered with nerves. "There would be so much to figure out I mean where would we even start?"

"Wherever we need to I guess." He looked up at her desperate eyes and realised she needed more. For whatever reason she needed him to have a plan, she needed him to work things out when her head was too clouded to do it. She needed him to be the one to step up and tell her that everything was going to be ok. Nick racked his brains and tried hard to figure out what all the grown up moves were, what did adults do in these situations? "Um...I don't know...well I guess we would need to rethink our living situation...um...you know, maybe think about getting somewhere together." She nodded her head and drifted back towards him, resuming her place next to him which he took as a signal to continue. "I mean things are pretty tight at the restaurant right now, financially, so I would probably try and get my job back at Clyde's as well."

Jess turned her head to him suddenly "You would do that?"

"Well yeah, then we could get a little money behind us and then after a few months we could find a decent place...maybe in Portland or something."

"Portland?"

"Yeah, I mean I assume you would want to be near your Mom right, I know women like to be near their Moms when they go through stuff like this don't they?" Jess nodded with a soft smile, unable to take her eyes off him as he poured out their future to her. She could see the cogs turning in his head the way hers had been for the past few days but where she had stumbled and let her fear get the better of her, he seemed so calm and clear. She had never seen it before and she had no inclination to stop him. "I mean I think I've probably learned just enough at the restaurant now to get another job somewhere else. Or...you know it doesn't even need to be a restaurant or a bar even...I'd take any job if you were pregnant. I'd do anything Jess. I know I've screwed things up in the past Jess and I know I've given you reasons to doubt me but I need you to know I would never screw this up. Ever. I know what it's like to have a parent who's not there for you and I will never be that guy. You mean everything to me and if you are pregnant then you and that baby would be my whole world. I can promise you that right now."

Nick raised his eyes to meet hers seeming to realise for the first time that he was saying the words out loud, but he meant single one of them. A few moments passed between them with Jess' silence suddenly making him nervous and concerned that he had overwhelmed her when she was already on edge. He opened his mouth to say the first thing that might ease the situation when he felt her throw her body against his with a thud, locking in a tight embrace, so tight he could feel her tears trickling down the skin on his neck. Finally he felt her grip slacken as she pulled back from him but kept her arms resting on his shoulders.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"What for?"

"For saying all those things. I've spent the last few days thinking about what this would do to us so soon after getting back together and it isn't until right now I've allowed myself to think that maybe this could be something pretty wonderful. I mean...I don't know...maybe we could do this."

He gently caressed the side her face, trailing his thumb back and forth on her cheek. "I know we could. A little person that's half you and half me?...I mean that kid will be weird as hell but we could do it."

Jess laughed. Her brain started to merge a catalogue of images, trying to imagine what their child would look like but all she could picture was Nick's big head on a baby's body and it made her giggle even more. "A little kid with your turtle face would be cute as hell." She smiled.

"Hmmm I would kinda hope your genes would overpower mine but whatever." He smiled.

"I would really like it Nick." She smiled as emotion caught in her throat and continued to glisten in her eyes.

"A turtle baby?" He laughed questioningly but she slowly and softly shook her head.

"No...all those things you just talked about. I imagined this being years down the road when we would have have time to plan everything and make it perfect but now I know that everything you just said, that would be perfect. Just doing this with you would be perfect."

Nick rested his hands over hers and squeezed them with affection "I guess we should find out exactly what it is we're doing huh?" Jess nodded and grasped his hand harder. "Ok."

Nick paced right outside the bathroom door despite Jess' protestations. For something he assumed would only take a couple of minutes, it felt like he had been waiting a lifetime. He paused when he finally heard a flushing noise and tapped softly on the door. "Jess can I come in?"

"Uh...yeah."

Nick opened the door slowly to find Jess sitting bolt upright on the closed toilet seat, her palms pressed together and her hands clasped between her knees nervously. His gaze flickered to the sink to see a small white plastic stick begging for acknowledgement. It was amazing how something so small and insignificant could command so much attention. He wandered slowly to sit on the side of the bathtub, encouraging Jess to shuffle sideways on her seat as he sat opposite her and grabbed her hands which were still rigid with anxiety.

"So how long does this thing take?" He asked through a deep breath.

"Um...about four minutes I think."

Nick nodded slowly. "You doing ok?"

"Yeah I'm ok. It's weird I feel nervous but also a little..."

"Excited?" He finished her sentence for her and they let out a laugh of agreement.

"It's crazy I know, I mean I've been ignoring this all week but now that you're here this doesn't... I don't know...I don't feel as scared."

"I would never let you go through this on your own Jess."

She smiled and threaded her fingers thorough his, swaying their hands back and forth playfully in time with each second that past them by. "How long left?" Nick breathed heavily. Jess unlaced her fingers from his and glanced at her watch. "About two and a half minutes." They sat in silence for a few moments allowing a few more seconds to tick by, the quiet letting their minds wander further still.

"God Jess a few months ago did you ever imagine we'd be sat here like this?" Nick let out a laugh that was tinged with disbelief.

"No" She giggled.

"I mean two months ago we weren't even a couple!"

"I know...but there is nobody I would rather go through this with than you Nick."

He shrugged off her statement jokingly as his gaze strayed with embarrassment but she pulled his attention back to her. "I'm serious Nick. Every big moment that I've been through in the past few years you've always been there. And yeah ok, you kinda, maybe got me into this one..." She giggled and squeezed his kneecap playfully. "...but as soon as you knew something was up you were here in a flash. I don't know how you do it but I'm sure glad that you do. If there is a little person on the way and they're half the person you are then I know I'll be the luckiest girl in the world."

"Jess." He whispered with emotion catching in his throat, unable to offer any words that would match hers. Even if he could there was no time. He saw her gaze fall to her watch and then to the item on the sink and he knew it was time. He knew the next minute might change the course of his life forever. He felt her hands grip his harder as her wide gaze fell on his. He watched her rise to her feet and her hands fall away. He followed her instantly, his hands grazing up and down the thighs of his jeans with nerves. Jess picked up the white plastic in her hands and closed her eyes for a few moments trying to prepare herself for what might come. When she opened them she stared hard at Nick catching the same emotion in his eyes that was running through every organ in her body. She steeled herself and looked down, countless images flashing before her eyes of the life that her and Nick may be about to embark on. Then there is was. The answer to the question she had been asking herself over and over for the last week. Her heart was thudding and she could feel the blood rushing around in her ears so hard she almost didn't hear Nick talking to her.

"Jess? What does it say?"

She looked at him seeing an expression she had never seen him make before, his face was full of anxiety and hope at the same time. He was leaning towards her expectantly, his hands fidgeting the way they always did when he was excited. His eyes were wide and she was pretty sure he hadn't blinked for the last minute. She knew his heart was pounding as hard as hers, she could almost hear it in his breathing which was the only sound filling the room. She could finally feel the words working their way up her throat.

"It's negative."