Lisa waited patiently for Rick at their usual spot for lunch. She was holding an envelope that held the result of her latest test. She had held out as long as she could but eventually Rick had convinced her it was worth finding out for sure.
"I thought you said you could wait," she said when he brought the subject up again.
"I said I could," he confirmed. "But I didn't say I wouldn't try to convince you otherwise. Besides, I want to know if we need
to decide on a girl's name." He flashed his sweetest smile.
"Do you really want to know?" she asked.
"Only if you want to," he conceded.
"Hello," Rick greeted her when he arrived. "Have you been waiting long?"
"Not too long," she said, stroking the envelope gently.
"Have you ordered? I'm hungry," he said, flipping through the menu knowing full well its content being a regular but did it just as a habit.
"Rick, I've decided," she began.
"What are you getting?" Rick put down the menu and looked at her. He looked at the envelope she was handing him with a look of confusion.
"About the baby," she explained. "I asked Jean to check if we're having a boy or a girl."
Rick looked at the envelope in his hand reverently. Its content was what he had longed to know but knew how hesitant Lisa was about it.
"Aren't you going to open it?" she wondered, noting his hesitation. She had anticipated him eagerly tearing the envelope to find out.
"Are you sure? I didn't mean to pressure you into this. Look, I won't bring up the subject again." He felt guilty now that she had gone ahead and gotten the result.
"It's alright," she assured him. "I think you're right, we should find out. It would ease the anticipation and we can start calling our baby Roy or decide on a girl's name."
"I'll love the baby either way," he reminded her.
"I know," she confirmed. "You've proven that with Clarisse." She encouraged him to open the envelope.
Rick opened the envelope and read its content quickly. He nodded his head in serious consideration.
"Well?" Lisa held her breath while she waited.
"I think Clarisse got her wish," he said with a wink. "Hello Roy, can't wait to meet you." He touched Lisa's belly to connect with his son.

Clarisse was overjoyed when Rick and Lisa informed her that she was getting her wish. She climbed the couch and hugged her daddy tightly then kissed her mommy.
"And we've decided on a name," Rick informed Clarisse. "We're naming your baby brother Roy."
"A boy named Roy," Clarisse announced, touching Lisa's bulge. "When will he come?"
"In a few more months," Lisa replied.
"I can't wait to play with him," Clarisse said happily.
"Well, it'll be a while before you can play with him," Lisa explained. "He'll be too small and all he'll want to do is sleep and cry."
"Just like you were," Rick said.
"I wasn't a cry baby," Clarisse said.
"Say's you," he said and tickled her.
"Mommy, help," the little girl squealed, trying in vain to fend off her dad's tickling.
"Alright you two stop it," Lisa said in her admiral tone they all were familiar to.
Rick gave his daughter a face which she mimicked to Lisa's amusement.
"Ouch!" Lisa exclaimed suddenly.
"What's wrong?" Rick asked in alarm.
"I think Roy wants to play with you guys," she replied, touching the spot where he had just kicked her.
"Do you want to feel the baby?" Rick asked and guided Clarisse's little hand to where Lisa's hand was.
"The baby is moving?" Clarisse asked with wonder.
"Yes," Rick acknowledged. "And I think little Roy is getting hungry so will you help me make dinner?" He got up and prepared a feast with his little girl while Lisa watched.

"I think you better get the bassinet out of storage," Lisa reminded Rick while they spent an idle weekend at home.
"Ok," Rick agreed and headed to the little storage room.
"Mommy look," Clarisse called out. "I made a drawing of daddy, you, and me." She pointed each one of her crayon drawn figures.
"That's beautiful," Lisa said, tears welling in her eyes for the sweetness she felt from Clarisse's gesture. She kissed the top of her daughter's head as a reward.
"I can draw more," Clarisse said proudly. "I can draw in different colors."
"That would be wonderful," Lisa said. "I'll go see what's taking daddy so long. Stay here, ok?" She slowly got up and waited for her daughter to acknowledge.
"Ok mommy," the little girl said without looking up from her drawing.

Rick found the bassinet behind a hefty box. He moved it to get the baby bed but his attention was drawn to a framed photo that was lying on top of a shelf just above it. He recognized it and picked it up. He didn't realize that it was there all this time.
"Rick, what's taking you so long?" Lisa called out from behind him. "Did you find it?"
"Yeah," he managed to say then turned to face her. "I also found this." He showed her the framed photo.
"Yes, I still have it," she said, trying to read his body language.
"I thought you didn't find anything at your place."
"It wasn't at my place," she replied, trying to understand where he was going with it. "I left it on Breetai's ship when we went on the deep space mission. He returned it to me when we went to discuss the SDF-3 plans."
"So you kept it?" he asked dejectedly.
"I didn't see anything wrong with that," she said, wondering why he was making such a big deal of it.
"Why do you need to keep it?" he asked. "Is it because you don't want to forget him?"
"I've always had it with me," she said defensively. "Are you asking me to forget my past?"
"If you really believe he's dead, yes." He was just as surprised by his response as she was.
"That's not fair Rick!" she said, close to tears. After all they've been through; she couldn't believe that he still doubted their relationship.
Rick saw the hurt in Lisa's eyes. He wanted desperately to comfort her but was frozen in place by his jealousy. He couldn't understand why he felt so upset but knew that he still begrudged Karl for being Lisa's first love.
"Do whatever you want with it," she said as a parting shot. She left the room without another word.

Rick stood frozen in place and stared at the photo. He didn't notice Clarisse enter the room with her drawing.
"Daddy," Clarisse tugged at his sleeve. "Look at my drawing."
Rick bent down and tried to focus on the drawing Clarisse was showing him. He smiled and gave her a kiss.
"What's that daddy?" Clarisse asked, pointing at the photo frame he was still holding.
"It's a picture of mommy when she was young," he managed to say.
"Let me see," she said and looked at the picture. "She's very pretty. Do you have any more pictures of mommy?"
Rick snapped out of his mood. He realized he was wrong to ask Lisa to forget her past when she had clearly accepted his.
"Do you have any more pictures of mommy?" Clarisse repeated, looking around a bit.
"Yeah," he said and went to get the photo album he made for Lisa. He showed Clarisse the few photos that survived the First Robotech War.
"She is so pretty. I wish there were more pictures of mommy," she stated innocently.
"Well, we can take more pictures," he suggested.
"Just like my drawing," she announced proudly.
"Just like your drawing," he repeated and hugged his little girl. He found wisdom in her simple wish.

After putting Clarisse down for a nap, Rick went to look for Lisa. He found her reading in their room. He sat at the edge of the bed and started to give her a foot massage. He gauged her mood by her acceptance of his touch.
"Rick, you don't have to do that," Lisa finally said. She was still upset with him and tried hard to keep him at bay by concentrating on her reading.
"Would it help if I said I was sorry," he began. "I know I shouldn't act that way."
"Why are you so jealous of him?" she finally asked the same thing.
"Were you ever jealous of Minmei?" he ventured a comparison.
"A little bit when you were still pining for her," she admitted. "But that ended when we became a couple." She watched Rick sigh.
"I don't know why, but I'm just worried that if you see him again or someone who looks like him," he trailed off.
"Rick," she said gently and extended her hand to him. "I'm over him. I'm in love with you and only you." She kissed him to reinforce that admission.
"I love you," he whispered. "And I'm sorry I acted the way I did."
"You have to trust me," she reminded him, trying to change the mood.
"I do. It's just that I got to end it with Minmei," he revealed. "I don't think you did and I remember you having a crush on Kyle."
"That's a name I haven't heard in a while," she said with a soft chuckle. "I was never in love with Kyle. He just reminded me of Karl." She wanted to clear that up between them now.
"That's just it," he insisted. "I remember how emotional you got talking about him. I think that was the first time I realized you were capable of loving someone."
"Ouch, was I really that bad?" she asked, pretending to be hurt.
"I think you kept everyone in line with your strict facade," he noted carefully. He didn't want to use the word sourpuss just in case he got into deeper trouble with her.
"Except you," she said softly. She watched Rick brighten up with that comment. He even ventured to move closer to her.
"Well, you know me," he said with a teasing tone. "How many times have I disobeyed orders?"
"Too many to count," she teased back. "At least you followed orders when it counted."
There was a momentary silence between them as they looked into each other's eyes and expressed their feelings that way.
"The reason I left the photo on Breetai's ship was because I was finally ready to move on," Lisa finally said. "I didn't think that he'd find it, much less return it to me." She laid her head on his shoulder as he snuggled beside her.
Rick listened intently. He remembered seeing it and stammering an apology when she found him looking at it in her quarters while he waited for her during the joint mission to deep space with Breetai to recover the satellite factory. He also remembered the awkward conversation they had.
"Anyway, it's over now," she said finally. "We can close that chapter right?" She ran her hand up and down his chest.
"Not quite," he admitted.
"What?" She was surprised he wasn't satisfied with that. She raised her head to look at him and was relieved to see him smiling but wondered what he was thinking of.
"I've decided we'll keep that photo," he declared with a smile. "It's a cute photo of you; it'd be a shame to throw it away."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive. Besides, I think I'm just going to make you fall deeply in love with me that even if there was another guy who looks like him, you wouldn't even give him a second look." He felt secure in his relationship with her now more than ever and enjoyed the laughter he got from her.
"So does that mean I have to do the same?" she challenged him.
"I'm already deeply madly in love with you," he declared. "But I don't mind falling in love all over again."
"Oh please, I don't think I want to start all over again," she said, thinking much farther than he was.
"Not at the very beginning," he assured her, knowing how much heartbreak he had caused her at the start of their relationship. "How about any time after I realized how much you mean to me?"
"Hmm, I think we can work something out," she said with a sensual smile that Rick couldn't resist.