Chapter 26

"Is that a line?"

"I don't know."

"I think it's a line."

"You're kidding? It's a speck."

"It could be a line."

"I know a line when I see a line. I've taken enough pregnancy tests. That's not a line."

"It's a line. Look. It's getting darker."

"No it's not. You're just seeing things."

"Come on, Carly."

"Seriously, look. It's not…this test is a dud. And don't even ask if I took the test right. There aren't many ways to mess that up." Carly tossed the test in the waste basket and moved back into the bedroom, stripping out of Sonny's shirt and putting her own clothes on. He watched her for a moment.

"Well, we have to go to the hospital and have a test then."

"I don't think so. Not right now." She zipped up her jeans, finding them a little harder to get on than usual. Maybe she was just bloated. Sure, she was a few days late, and she was usually right on time. But maybe this was just a scare. Yeah, she wanted a baby, but she didn't want to get her hopes up. Besides that, she was scared. Her first two births had been anything but joyous.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not ready yet. I want to wait."

"You're the one that just said there's no time like the present, Caroline. Come on, let's just go down there, and…"

"Sonny, no!" Carly replied quickly.

"What's the use of waiting? You're not going to get any less pregnant if you are." Carly rolled her eyes.

"Maybe I'm not ready to know yet. Things have been moving so fast…"

"I thought you were ok with that."

"I am," she replied. "But can't we just enjoy how things are before finding out that our lives are going to change again forever? I mean, if I am pregnant, our lives are immediately going to start revolving around a baby that won't be here for months. We have four other kids to focus on, and plus, we have each other to enjoy. Why don't we just pretend that this test didn't happen, and keep…trying. You never know…we might just waste a trip to the hospital to find out I'm really not pregnant."

"You're making excuses."

"No I'm not. Maybe the faulty test was a sign."

"It wasn't a sign. It was just a bad test. C'mon, Carly." He grabbed her purse and held it out to her. She felt like throwing it at him, and that surprised her. Maybe she was having mood swings after all. "Besides, the sooner we find out, the sooner you stop stuffing yourself with that junk food. Our baby needs to eat healthy.

"Oh no," she said, shaking her head. "Look, I appreciate how protective you are of me, but listen good, Corinthos, if you even try to get between me and my frozen pizza, you might lose a few fingers." He flashed his dimples and winked suggestively at her.

"You wouldn't dare. Not when you know how much you love what those fingers can do." Carly couldn't help but smile a little, and her heart quickened at the way those words just rolled off his tongue.

"Look," she said with a grin, kissing him on the cheek, "I'm going to go downstairs and play with the kids. You can come down and join us, but we're not talking about the test. I'll give it two days, ok?"

"Fine. Two days. But no junk food 'til we know for sure," Sonny replied. Carly rolled her eyes.

"Deal," she said with a shake of her head. With that, she flaunted out of the room, leaving him smiling and shaking his head.

Lulu walked into Kelly's. Her dad had just arrived home from another adventure with Robert Scorpio, so she'd quickly left her parents alone. So, when she stepped into the diner, the first person she saw was Jason Morgan sitting alone at a table drinking a cup of coffee.

"Hey," she said, walking up to the table. "Mind if I sit down?" A little stunned, Jason only nodded. "Thanks. I don't like sitting by myself." Jason just kept watching her. He hadn't had much contact with her since they'd gone on the road looking for Spinelli. He'd seen her come to his place only a couple of times to talk to Spinelli about something, but of course, had never really been a part of those conversations. "How are things?"

"Fine," he said slowly.

"How's Elizabeth?" Jason was silent, and Lulu smiled. "What? Just because she's not with my brother anymore, I can't wonder how she is? Elizabeth's always been great to me. The least I can do is ask how she's doing." Jason relaxed a little and put his cup down.

"She's doing better. The baby's great…growing. She's a girl." Lulu smiled.

"Cam'll be happy to have a little sister to look over."

"Yeah," Jason said, an obvious smile on his lips. He couldn't wait to be a daddy, and she could see that as plain as day.

"Yeah…I never pictured you having a kid. Especially with Elizabeth. But, I think you'll be a pretty good dad."

"What makes you say that?"

"You might think it's stupid."

"Try me."

"Alright," she smiled. "When we were on the road, we didn't really get along, but once you found out what was going on…about the abortion, you were really understanding…you gave me some advice that really helped me out. It made me feel a little less horrible about everything. So…I just figure that if you could help me like that, you'd be really good at giving a kid of your own advice." She smiled. "I just hope none of your kids ever have to go through what I did." She looked away.

"Thanks," he said quietly. "I appreciate that…I mean, I didn't really know what to say to you. I just knew that everybody makes decisions, and I know what it's like to regret them." Lulu nodded, and she wanted to change the subject. So, she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"So how's Spinelli? I haven't heard from him in a few days." Jason sighed.

"When I left the penthouse, it was sitting on the couch in his robe playing computer games. He's been kind've depressed since Sam left. I always thought he had a crush on her or something, but I think he misses talking to her."

"Yeah, they're good friends."

"I don't see why he just doesn't go visit her. I mean, she's just at the Metro Court." Lulu smiled.

"I can answer that."

"You can?"

"Yeah. He's your friend too. He doesn't want to say anything to make it uncomfortable for anybody."

"That makes sense," Jason said, taking a sip of coffee. "Why don't you go visit him? I'm sure he'd like the company."

"Oh…I don't know. Jason, I don't want him to get the wrong idea."

"There's nothing wrong with being somebody's friend. It doesn't always have to be more than that, does it?"

Lucky stood in the park, in the very spot he'd met Sam. All he could think about were the tears in her eyes before they'd kissed. Then the way she'd leaned into him for just a moment, before getting scared and pulling back. God, he had never thought a woman could drive him this crazy. There had been a time when all he could think about was Elizabeth. Now…now all he could do was think of that kiss. He lost sleep thinking about it, and when he did sleep, she filled his dreams.

It was five after two. She wasn't coming, he'd decided. Maybe she hadn't gotten the note. Yeah, that was it. No, Carly's staff was very dependable. Maybe she didn't come down to work? No, she wouldn't risk her job just to avoid him.

Sighing heavily, he finally decided that she just didn't want to meet him there. He couldn't blame her. Her life had been turned upside down with Elizabeth's revelation. His had too. He'd just wanted to reach out to somebody who might understand just a little bit about what it was like.

Turning to walk back to his car, he froze when he heard a voice behind him.

"Lucky." He turned, coming face to face with her. She was there. Was he dreaming?

"Sam…" She looked as if she was set to run at any moment. No sudden movements, he told himself. "You came."

"I don't know why," she confessed. "I don't know why I came, Lucky." Moving toward her, he placed his hand against her cheek, pleased when she didn't pull away.

"I'm glad you did," he whispered. "Can we go somewhere and talk?" Letting a tear slide down her cheek and splash against the pavement, Sam only nodded, uncertain of what she was going to say.

The children had all gone upstairs to play, and Sonny was in the kitchen cleaning up after lunch. Carly was picking up in the living room. Having just bent down to get one of Kristina's dolls, she stood up quickly, feeling a rush go to her head. Her stomach began to turn, and she gripped the armchair so she wouldn't fall.

"Whoa, whoa," Sonny said quickly, coming out of the kitchen just in time to see his wife start to sway. He rushed over to her, helping her stand up straight. "That's it. We're going to the doctor. Pregnant or not, I want to make sure you're ok." Not feeling up to putting up a fight, Carly nodded.

"Let me just…call Lulu to watch the kids." Sonny nodded and handed Carly the phone. In three rings, Lulu answered.

"Hey Carly."

"Hey," Carly said slowly. "You busy?"

"I was just going to see…well, never mind." It wasn't like he'd feel stood up if he didn't even know she was coming. "I'm not busy. What's going on?"

"Sonny's taking me to GH. Could you watch the kids?"

"Oh God, what's wrong?"

"I'm sure everything's fine," Carly replied, a little worried, but a little suspicious. Maybe it was time for that test after all. "Can you do it?"

"Yeah. I'll be right over."

"Ok, we're leaving now, but Max will be here 'til you get here."

"Ok. Good luck," Lulu replied before the line went dead. She put her phone in her purse, and she started toward the street through the alley. Shivering at how overcast the day was, she picked up the pace, wanting to get to her car as soon as possible. But, before she could get to the car, a strong pair of arms encircled her, and a hand clasped over her mouth.

"Shut up or I swear I'll slit your throat." That was the last voice she heard before a blunt object was knocked into the back of her head, and she went hurtling to the pavement.

Author's Note: Please keep the feedback coming. Feedback helps me write. It's nice to know what people think and hear opinions of the way the story's moving. It makes the writing process a lot easier. So please, keep it coming!