A/N: Okay, no tar and feathers please. I have a reason and I think you'll all like it in the end. I promise. Remember what I said about Stella. It comes in handy as you read this chapter. Anyway, in this chapter Lauren tells Charlie about the baby, Danny blows up, Lindsay calms him down and their is a Messer grandchild. I own nothing and am stil counting down the days to September 26th!! AZ for president!

Chapter 21: Knocked Up

He got up and stormed out the door. The echo was loud that Lindsay swore the lab could have heard it. Lindsay sat saying nothing as loud as someone could. She looked from Stella to Lauren and back again. Not trusting herself to not scream she started signing.

"How could you?" Lindsay began. "I thought we talked about this! You sat right there and told me that you weren't ready for sex. You told me that you and Charlie weren't that serious. Have you even told him?"

"Lindsay she wanted to tell you and Danny first," Stella started to say.

"Stay out of this Stella!" Lindsay snapped.

"Don't yell at Aunt Stella Mom!" Lauren cried. "I asked her to come with me. If you want to yell at someone, yell at me. I'm the one that messed up. I'm the one that let everyone down. Yell at me!"

Lindsay was at a loss of what to say next. She'd apologize to Stella later but right now, she had to hash this out with Lauren. She was worried about where Danny was and where he was heading. She knew his temper and what he was capable of when agitated. She turned to look at Stella.

"Could you go after Danny and calm him down before he does something he's going to regret later?" Lindsay asked. "Do whatever you can. Have Flack arrest him. Let him cool down in lockup."

"Sure thing Lindsay," Stella smiled. "It's going to be okay."

Stella gave a loving squeeze to Lauren's shoulder as she walked out of the living room. She went out the door and tripped over Danny, literally. He was sitting on the stoop hanging his head staring at a faded photograph of Lauren. He didn't say a word he just sat there staring at the photo.

"I remember everything that happened the day she was born. I was in the ballistics lab with Mac. You had heard the call on dispatch and paged me. I had just checked the page when you came in holding up the sign. I got stuck in traffic and I didn't make it in time. I could hold her in my hands she was that tiny. I don't know what to think right now."

Stella sat on the steps with Danny. She put her arm around his shoulders. "Everything will turn out all right, in the end. I promise."

"I still want to kill him," Danny muttered.

"I know Danny, but you can't," Stella said. "You need to go back in there and talk to your daughter. She really feels like she's let both you and Lindsay down. She needs her father right now. Get in there."

She gave him one final nudge and stood up. She had done her part now it was their turn. She watched from the corner as Danny walked back into his home. She could only imagine the angry yet silent words to be thrown around the house that night. Stella couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of the Messer's. They were going to get something she had wanted her entire life. She wanted her own family. She was on a list to adopt but the agencies always frowned on the fact that she was single with a high stress job. Still she could dream.

Once the Messer's and the Gordon's got the anger and disappointment out of their systems, they all came to a reasonable decision. Lauren would carry the baby and her and Charlie, together would make the decision to keep the baby or give it up for adoption. The four parents let them know that whatever they chose to do would be the right decision for them and they wouldn't fight them on it.

One afternoon, after Charlie had finished his last class of the day they got together to make their choice. Lauren knew she was not ready to be her mother. She had a lot of things she wanted to do before she settled down.

"What are we going to do?" Charlie asked taking her hand. "Whatever you want to do. I'll support you no matter what."

Lauren had thought a lot about what she wanted to do. She wanted her baby to go to someone who would love her as much as she did and who would give her a loving home. She wanted this baby to have the best of everything and there was only one person who she could think of to fill that role besides her own mother and Ryah.

"I want to give our baby to Aunt Stella," Lauren said, looking at Charlie intensely. "I can't think of anyone who would love her more than we could. And we would always be a part of her life be able to watch her grow up."

"Then let's go tell her the good news," Charlie said, smiling. He took her hand and they jumped in the first cab and were off to Stella's.

As many times as she had gone over to her godmother's house she had never been this nervous. Her choice would come as quite a shock to Stella Bonasera. She would not be expecting this. They arrived outside Stella's building and were greeted by George, the old gentleman who worked in the building. They rode up the elevator to Stella's floor. She rang the bell and clutched Charlie's big hands.

"Lauren? Charlie? What a pleasant surprise! Please come in," Stella greeted letting the two teenagers into her home.

The three of them settled into the living room. Lauren declined something to drink being that she was too nervous to even think straight. She was half-afraid that Stella would say no. She took a deep breath and began to speak and sign.

"As you know Aunt Stella, our parents have left the choice of what we're going to do up to us. And Charlie and I have talked about and we have decided on what we're going to do," Lauren said, not taking her eyes off Stella. "We're going to give her up for adoption." Stella's heart sank. She would never get to be a part of this child's life. Lauren noticed the sadness in her aunt's eyes. "But we have chosen her new mother. That is if she wants to."

It took Stella a moment to figure out what Lauren was hinting at. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "Are you asking me to adopt your baby Lauren?"

"We can't think of anyone else who would love her as much as we would. Aunt Stella, would you adopt our baby?"

"I would love to," Stella said crying. She gathered the two in her arms hugging them tightly. She had never been so happy in her entire life. She vowed that moment to be the best mother she could possibly be.

As the months passed Stella, Lauren and Charlie hashed out the rules for their involvement in their child's life. They were under no circumstances to tell her that they were her parents until she was twelve years old. They were not to question how Stella raised her but to be supportive of her. They had to agree that they would not try to take her back when they got older. They agreed to all of Stella's terms and signed a contract stating that if they were to break any of terms and conditions Stella had the right to deny them any access at all to the child.

"All right Lauren one more push," her doctor said. Charlie sat by her holding her hand. It was enough for Lauren knowing that he was there with her. She cried out giving one last push.

The soft cry of the baby was the first thing Lauren heard. She never thought she would ever get to hear this sound three years ago when she was thinking about getting her implants. The baby was cleaned and laid in her arms. Lauren couldn't believe that this was happening to her. She placed a small kiss on the smooth skin of her little girl's head. She looked through the delivery room window to see her loving family. Her parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. One face stood out to her. Stella was crying, knowing that soon she would be a mother.

Lauren and Charlie sat staring at their daughter. They had no idea she could be so beautiful. Lauren never wanted to put her down but she knew she'd have to very soon. Stella said that she and Charlie could name her. That would be their greatest gift to her. Lauren had thought long and hard about what she wanted her and Stella's daughter's name to be. She wanted it to reflect her and Stella's charm and life. She had read hundreds of baby name books, got ideas from her friends at school, her nurse at the doctor's office and of course from her rock Charlie.

"What are we going to name her?" Lauren signed to Charlie. "I have so many choices I can't pick just one."

"You said you wanted something that no one else would ever even think of. You want her to be one of a kind, just like Stella," Charlie replied. "Why not give her your middle name for her first name?"

"I want it to be special, have a meaning to something in both our lives and Aunt Stella's."

"Brooklynn?" Charlie offered.

"No," Lauren teased. "I got it."

It was a happy day when Lauren and the baby were released from the hospital. It was even more of a happy day when they drove to Stella's to have the "Welcome Home Baby Girl Bonasera!" party. Lauren had kept the baby's name a secret until the day she gave her to Stella. It was very hard to keep it a secret from everyone. Nevertheless, she had managed to. She carried her into Stella's now baby proof apartment looking around. She had spent several years in this apartment. She would have sleepovers with her godmother, Christmas cookie baking parties. Now her, Stella's daughter would grow up with the greatest woman in Lauren's life besides her mother.

"Welcome to your new home Charlotte-Lindsay Renee Bonasera."