Another chapter up. Thanks for reading and the feedback...

The two of them sat in the bathroom, on the floor with their backs resting against the bathtub. C.J. had been so glad that Julia had come out to visit and had hugged her friend's frail body when she had disembarked from the airplane in Houston, and then they had driven back to Wild Fork to catch up on what each other had been doing.

For C.J. that had been a little awkward because Julia had known her well enough to know that something was up and forced the truth out of C.J. over ice cream in nothing flat. That she had been tired and not feeling particularly good. Not to mention that she had been a couple weeks late and that six weeks before…

"When you going to take the damn test," Julia asked.

C.J. nibbled the ice cream off of her spoon slowly, clearly still thinking up an answer.

"Because there's no reason to do so," she said, "I can't be pregnant."

Julia harrumphed.

"You mean you didn't have sex with anyone lately, that why?"

C.J. shook her head.

"Because we took precautions…"

Well, she had been on the pill anyway. If she were pregnant then she definitely wanted the money back on her prescription. But no, he hadn't used a condom if that's what Julia had been wanting to know because when they had gotten down to it, neither had one.

"We didn't expect to do anything," she said, "It just happened…"

"And so many a knocked up woman has told her doctor…"

"Hey, that's not me," C.J. said, "and that's how it did happen. We were just talking and his girlfriend just left him and then we kissed."

"One of you must have had some idea," she said, "to make that first move."

"He kissed me and then things kind of…progressed from there."

And oh they did, she thought back to when they had been sitting together at their favorite spot by the stream. But not so quickly that one of them, she couldn't remember who, had suggested they head on back to the barn first.

"Does this guy have a name?"

Then she saw C.J.'s expression and her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

"No way…you and …him?"

C.J. just remained silent.

"I mean it couldn't be anybody else," Julia continued, "So what has he got to say about all this?"

C.J. put her ice cream down.

"He doesn't know."

"What?"

"He flew back to L.A. remember," she said, "He left her a job offer and I'm thinking about taking it but if I were…pregnant, that might complicate things a lot."

"Why, you two obviously care about each other…as everyone knows and you're further along in your relationship…than I guessed but you can work it out."

C.J. ran her hand through her hair as she had stretched out on the bed.

"It wasn't a serious relationship," she said, "We went back to the barn and had sex before either of us could stop ourselves…"

"Why would you do that anyway," Julia said, "You're both adults."

And C.J. remembered that her last thought in the barn would have been to halt what was happening, to stop themselves before they had taken some horse blankets into an empty stall. After they had spread them down on the straw, Matt had drawn her into his arms and kissed her again. Her heart raced against his chest as she placed her arms around him and drew him closer to her. After they broke from their kiss, he looked her in the eye.

"Are you sure about this," he asked, breathing unevenly.

She nodded and drew him close to her again and the blankets welcomed them both.

There had been much more than that but she kept those memories hidden from even herself, let alone her nosy friend who had been pestering her to run down to the drug store and get a pregnancy test. As if she would do that in a small town where everyone talked and where news of her purchase would surely hit the gossip stream before she'd even walked out of the store.

"I'll buy it for you," Julia said, "They don't know me at all."

C.J. felt foolish agreeing to her friend buying the test so she wouldn't feel like she had been wearing a scarlet letter and they had hit the road to the drug store before it closed and C.J. waited feeling very self-conscious in the car until Julia had brought out the brown bag and handed it to her only when she had gotten back in the passenger side.

"The cashier who looked barely out of junior high barely glimpsed twice."

They had gone back to the house but they had to wait until the following morning to take the test so they ate more ice cream on the back porch waiting for the sun to go down. Roy had come out to check on them but kept his distance, all too aware of the importance of their time together. She didn't know if the intuition honed by his years in covert operations had caused him to know more about her than he revealed, because that had happened before but she knew he would never pry either.

She tossed and turned most of that night, thinking about him where he lived over a thousand miles away. Christina hadn't returned and in fact had sent him an email that she would be moving to Paris to take some modeling gigs there including a lucrative one associated with a new perfume campaign. He had been happy for her because success had been what she wanted and they had drifted apart so much by then.

C.J. didn't believe that Matt had ever told Christina about what happened between them. IF they broke up, it wouldn't be an issue between them but it wouldn't draw them together either. Their lives still remained separate from one another and what they shared, a pleasurable interlude.

But a baby would change that and not necessarily in the right way.

"Would you not tell him," Julia had asked earlier.

"No, I would never keep it a secret," she said, "But just because we'd share a child, doesn't mean we get married or anything like that."

"He might want that."

C.J. had sighed.

"But that's not what I want," she said, "What I'd want for our child is two parents who love him and who could raise him together even they weren't together."

Julia rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Why don't you give him a chance to decide if he wants those terms," she said, "I think he cares about you a lot more than you give him credit for."

"I know he does," C.J. said, "but we've never been in love or anything like that and if I get married, I think that's what I want."

Julia looked surprised.

"I didn't have you pegged as a romantic," she said, "You've always been so pragmatic."

And C.J. had to agree with that, because she never felt like jumping into any relationship feet first. Even that offer she made to Matt during the end of their road trip, she had spent considerable time thinking about and how it would unfold. That she would leave him and go to law school having that memory of him and her making love in that cabin by the lake. And as it turned out, the reality had surpassed the planning.

But this had seemed much more complicated especially if the test that awaited her in the morning yielded a positive result. The next step would be trying to figure out how to tell him. She already worried about what kind of response she would receive, how he would react with the news.

Their baby wouldn't want for anything least of all their love but how would it impact their friendship that they both valued so much? She would go to California so they could raise their child together, separately but within the same state and somehow they would figure it all out. But she still wondered how.

Her sleep that night didn't provide an answer for her by morning's light. Julia had been sleepy eyed when C.J. had wakened her up and told her she had started the testing but had to await the results. They had gone to the bathroom and closed the door, settling themselves down on the floor and making themselves comfortable for the wait.

"How long has it been," C.J. asked.

Julia rolled her eyes.

"One minute since the last time you asked."

"Oh…sorry."

Julia rubbed her friend's shoulder.

"You're just nervous that's all," she said, "Whatever happens, it will be okay, if anyone can figure out what to do, it's you two."

C.J. knew rationally that Julia was right but emotionally, she hadn't been so sure. She wished on one level that Matt would embrace her and their child as his family and that he did love her that way, how he had showed her in the barn. In his arms, she had never felt so cherished and protected during a time she needed both and they had talked awhile afterward in the afterglow of what they shared before getting dressed and heading back to the house.

And then the next day he had left to go back home.

"I hope so," C.J. said, "But I don't know if I'm ready for all that…it's so much to deal with…for both of us."

"But you'll be together and you know he'll be there," Julia said, "and that's what counts."

They waited a few minutes and finally, C.J. couldn't wait any longer and she asked Julia to check the test for her while she closed her eyes and prayed.

Not for the test to be one way or the other but that she would be able to handle the reality of both outcomes.

Julia tried not to draw out the results too much.

"Let's see," she said, examining it closely, "it's…."

"Just tell me without the dramatics."

Julia smiled.

"You dodged a bullet girl," she said, "It's negative…"

"Oh…"

That's all she could say not sounding as relieved as she thought the news would leave her but she did believe that she could move on.

"You alright," Julia asked.

C.J. paused allowing the emotions to filter out and through her before nodding.

"I'm just fine…"

They stood up and left the bathroom after disposing of the test, heading back to get dressed and face the new day. C.J. heard her cell phone ring from the table next to her bed. She picked it up to see who was calling and clicked it on, smiling softly as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"Hi Houston…."