My computer issues with this site may have been taken care of (not positive, all I know is it's working now, lol). This chapter covers quite a bit. Timeline wise, I'd say it covers just over a week. :-)


"This car is nice. I really like it," Angela said from the driver's seat. "Call the guy over. I think I want to take it for a test drive."

"I don't know."

"Why, what's wrong?"

"The back seat looks kind of small." Eric opened the back door and climbed in and moved around. "It's not very roomy."

"And what exactly do you think we will be doing back there," she smiled, meeting his eyes in the rear view mirror.

"Not that, well, not while you're pregnant. But would you be able to fit a car seat back here? How big are car seats, anyway," he frowned.

It didn't occur to Angela that she'd have to eventually fit a baby and car seat in whatever vehicle she purchased today. Somehow that skipped her mind. "How am I supposed to know? You're the one with three younger siblings. You're like twenty-one years older than Josh."

"That doesn't mean I paid attention to details like car seats."

"That's very reassuring."

He moved to the passenger seat. "Are you okay?"

She took a deep breath and tried to stop herself from tearing up. She didn't want to start crying at a car dealership. "Yes, I just can't believe I didn't think about having to fit a car seat or that a baby would have to go somewhere."

"We don't know if a car seat will fit in my car either."

"You happened to buy a small SUV. We're screwed if a car seat is too big for that. I don't even want to know how big a crib is."

"Hey," he held her hand, "we're still getting used to the idea. In a few days we'll see the sonogram and hear the heartbeat. That will help make it more real."

"Yeah," Angela nodded.

"Do you want to leave, come back and do this another day?"

"No," she sighed. "I need my own car. I can't drive that rental forever."

"Excuse me," the car salesman walked over, "I see you've been checking out this car for a while. Were you interested in a test drive?"

"First," Angela began as they got out of the car, "let me ask you, how would I know if a car seat would be able to fit in the back?"

"Well, you can either bring in your own or we do keep a few in the back to test."

"Bring them out, please."

"But let me say, this model is notorious for a cramped back seat. I really don't think a car seat will work."

She sighed. "Fine. Then I need to see something bigger, but I don't want an SUV like you sold him a couple weeks ago," she pointed at Eric, "and I do not want a soccer mom van, are we clear?"

"Yes."

/

A couple hours and a lot of paperwork later, Angela was driving her new car. It was big enough for a car seat yet in no way an SUV or a soccer mom van. It was also a nice shade of green, so it was pretty, too. Eric teased her that all she wanted was a car that looked nice and went fast. It wasn't all she wanted, but it didn't hurt. They had just dropped her car off at the rental place for good and were driving to Eric's apartment.

"Maybe we should get you a horn that plays music or something," he teased as she leaned on the horn, "you know, for variety."

"The light is green, not yellow or red, and there is no one ahead of him. Why is he stepping on the brake?"

"To annoy you?"

"That's what I'm starting to think." Angela blew out a breath in frustration as she was unable to get around the slow car. "Do me a favor, check my purse and see if I brought my prescription sunglasses. They would be in the brown case."

Eric was skeptical. "You want me to go through your purse?"

"Yeah," she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "what's the problem?"

"One of the top guy rules is you don't go through a woman's purse. When I was younger I went into my mom's purse for gum or money, I forget which, and I couldn't look at her for about a week."

"Okay, well, guy rules aside, I'm giving you permission to go through my purse to retrieve my sunglasses. I can't think of anything you would be embarrassed by."

"If you insist." Eric grabbed her bag from the floor and opened it. "I don't think you need to carry your birth control with you anymore," he chuckled, "not that it did much for us anyway."

She smiled. "I haven't cleaned out that bag in a while."

"You don't say." He continued to dig around in search of her glasses. "I'm surprised you haven't gotten new contacts yet."

"When I saw the doctor she said the blurry vision probably pregnancy related, especially since it only happens with my contacts in, and trying to change my prescription now would be pointless. She said some women are unable to wear contacts during their pregnancy because of how their eyes change, but..."

"Wait, your eyes are going to get bigger," Eric interrupted, turning to face her, holding the case containing her sunglasses.

"No," she exclaimed as she swapped her glasses at a red light, "at least...I don't think so, but apparently your eyeballs can change shape a bit. They better not get bigger," she frowned. "Dr. Ramirez said I might be able to wear my contacts again before long, but not to count on it. Of course there are women who can wear contacts the whole time with no trouble at all. I hate those women right now. I think I'm just going to buy a few more pairs of glasses so I can alternate and not wear the same boring ones all the time. Who knows, maybe one day I'll like myself in glasses."

"You should, you look hot with glasses and without them," Eric smiled.

"You're hardly a fair judge. I just don't feel comfortable in them, I don't feel like myself."

"You could get that laser surgery."

"Are you kidding? Like I'm going to let someone shoot lasers into my eyes. You're nuts."

"Then I'm out of suggestions." He looked out the window as they approached his building. "I feel kind of bad that you have to park your brand new car on the street"

"What do you think I've been driving on?" Angela eased into a parking spot.

"With how fast you go? I'd be surprised if the tires have touched the pavement."

"Very funny," she leaned over and kissed him. "I'm not that bad."

"Sure. Maybe we'll watch Back to the Future part 2 tonight, since they have flying cars there you can live through the characters."

"You are so hilarious," Angela deadpanned. They continued to joke their way into his building. The second they stepped inside, however, Angela froze. The smell was overwhelming. "What is that," she covered her nose.

"It wasn't me, I swear," he held up his hands.

"No. Is that garlic and…oregano I think?" She could feel her stomach start to churn.

Eric didn't smell anything more than faint garlic, definitely nothing to get disgusted over. But from what he'd read so far, he knew Angela's sense of smell could probably rival that of a drug-sniffing dog at the moment. "I guess someone ordered pizza." He looked over and saw that she did not look well. "Are you okay?"

"I'm taking the stairs," she said in a rush. "If I keep waiting for the elevator I'm gonna be sick."

"That's six flights of stairs," he reminded her as she dashed for the door.

"I don't care."

Angela couldn't remember the last time she ran so fast. Unfortunately, by the time she got to the third floor she was feeling even worse- probably from running, she figured- and threw up in the garbage can in the stairwell. Thank goodness there was a garbage can. Eric was right behind her, there was no way he was going to take the elevator while she took the stairs.

"Are you okay," he asked, concerned.

She moved away from the garbage can after a minute. "Yeah, I'm fine. This had better not be the start of morning sickness."

"You were fine until you smelled the garlic, right?"

Angela held up a hand. "Don't say that word. I don't want to smell it, I don't even want to think about it right now," she closed her eyes. "But to answer your question, yes, I was fine until then."

"Maybe it's just a food aversion. All the books mention it."

"Do you know how hard it's going to be to avoid Italian food if that's what this is," she sighed. "Let's go upstairs. I may even drink some of your tea."

"Wow." He kissed her temple. "How about we take the elevator for the last few floors?"

"But what if people on the third floor are the evil pizza eaters?"

"What if it's people on my floor?"

She looked at him. "You're supposed to be the optimistic one in this relationship. Be optimistic!"

"Fine, my optimistic outlook is predicting an odorless elevator ride up to my apartment. Come on, you just sprinted up three flights of stairs. Now is not the time to start your marathon training."

"Okay, but if I smell anything bad, I'm going for the stairs."

"Deal."

A few minutes later they were entering Eric's apartment and Angela's senses were once again overtaken by the aromas of food, but this time it wasn't unpleasant.

"What's that?"

"I cooked."

"You cooked?"

"I've been cooking all day," Eric smiled as he closed the front door.

"How?" She set her coat, purse, and winter accessories on the chair.

"Slow cooker. The smell isn't making you feel sick, is it?"

"No, it smells amazing. What is it?"

"Beef stew, my mom's recipe, so you know it's good. Do you feel up to eating?"

"Yeah," Angela nodded, "a little bit at least. I'm going to brush my teeth and change. I think I think I left some pajamas here."

"You did. They're in the third drawer with my pajamas. I put them there when I did laundry the other day."

"Thanks. I'll be out in a minute."

"Do you want to eat at the table or the couch?"

"I feel fine now. I can sit at the table."

Eric got the food ready and boiled water for Angela's tea. He felt helpless seeing her get sick, especially knowing there was nothing he could really do to help. At least it didn't last long and she already felt well enough to eat again. Now if only he could ban Italian food from the building for the remainder of her pregnancy.

"So, here's where you're hiding out," Angela said to Thor as she entered Eric's bedroom. The cat was once again in the middle of the bed. "I don't blame you. If I was a cat I'd be in the middle of the bed, too."

The cat jumped down the second Angela entered the room and began meowing and circling her feet. "What are you doing?" She got the pajamas out of the drawer. "If you get stepped on, don't blame me." As she was changing, every item of clothing she discarded onto the bed, Thor pounced and rolled around on them. "Hey, I have to wear those later," she admonished before remembering she was talking to a cat. "Weirdo. Remember when you couldn't make up your mind about me?" She awkwardly patted the top of the cat's head before stashing her clothes in the grabbed one of Eric's warm sweatshirts before going back to the living room.

"Your cat is strange," she exclaimed as Thor was hot on her heels.

"What now," Eric asked as he carried the bowls of stew to the dining room table.

"I don't understand how he can go from being indifferent towards me one day to suddenly being all over me. He was lying all over my clothes when I was changing."

"Maybe he can sense the pregnancy? Animals can tell when the weather changes, maybe he knows something is different with you." He went back to the kitchen to retrieve her mug. "Is peppermint tea okay? I thought I had chamomile, but I'm out."

"That's fine, thanks." She took a small bite of the stew, hoping it sat well with her. "This is really good."

"You sound surprised. I told you I could cook, though I don't know if this technically counts as cooking."

"It does in my book."

"Thanks. So, when is our paper sponsored date," he smiled.

"Oh, that. They want to schedule it Wednesday because I have to have all the phony dates done by Friday night so I can put together everyone's profiles for the countdown. I told Sandra Wednesday may not work for us."

"Why not?"

"You really want to go out on a date the same day we have the sonogram?"

"What's the big deal? It can be a celebratory dinner that we don't have to pay for."

"I guess I assumed you would spend the whole night staring at the little picture they give us."

"Like you wouldn't be?"

"Honestly," Angela began slowly, "I have no idea how I'm going to react."

"What do you mean," he frowned.

She stared at her bowl. "This whole thing still has me feeling really freaked out. I'm still scared."

Eric reached across the table for her hand. "It's all going to be okay. You're going to be a great mom. I know it."

Angela smiled slightly and resumed eating, wishing she felt as confident about her abilities as Eric did. Maybe what he said earlier at the car dealership was right, maybe it would be easier and feel more real once she saw the sonogram and heard the heartbeat. She hoped it would help anyway.

/

"Hello?"

"Oh, my goodness, is this actually Rachel McGuire-Hunter," Angela teased. She had been trying to get ahold of her friend for days with no luck. Eric hadn't been able to reach Jack either.

"Shoot," a frazzled Rachel replied, "I knew there were more people to call."

"Call about what? Is that a baby I hear?"

"Yes."

"You got approved?"

"A few days ago we were granted temporary custody of three kids."

"Three," Angela exclaimed. She was panicking at the thought of one kid and Rachel and Jack had gone from none to three overnight. "Wow."

"I know- two boys and a girl. Seth is seven, Nina is four, and Milo is eight months. They've been in foster care since right after the baby was born. Jack took the older two to the park."

"What's it like?"

"It's chaotic, loud, my house is a mess...I love it," she smiled. "Seth and Nina aren't ready to completely trust us yet, but it's not as bad as Jack and I feared."

"That's great, Rachel," she smiled. "How...how long..."

"I have no idea. They're trying to find suitable biological family. If they can't, then we'll see what happens. It's impossible to predict anything at this point."

"I understand."

"Are you calling for the reason I think you're calling," Rachel asked with a smile.

"Yes. I went to the doctor just over a week ago and I'm definitely pregnant. I'm currently ten weeks along, I'm having an sonogram and hearing the heartbeat on Wednesday."

"Ten weeks?! Boy, you and Eric didn't waste any time, did you," she teased.

"Ha ha. I know, it happened right away."

"How did Eric react?" Angela told her the entire story of Eric's reaction. "You waited almost a week to tell him? Angela..."

"I know," she jumped in, "I was wrong, but I can't change that now. I'm not going to exclude him from anything else."

"How are you feeling? Any weird pregnancy symptoms? Fill me in on all the stuff I've missed."

"Oh, it's a blast. I'm exhausted all the time, I cry over anything, my boobs are killing me, I still can't wear my contacts, and I've developed an aversion to Italian food- all Italian food."

"Really?"

"Yeah, if I get so much as a whiff of it, if I see it, hell sometimes if I think about it too much or hear someone talk about their lunch plans, I feel sick. I've thrown up a few times. And it's not morning sickness because it's all Italian food related." She took a sip of water. "Let's change the topic, please."

"What did other people say? I feel so cut off all the way out here."

"Oh, we haven't told anyone else yet. I'm not ready. This is a big thing to wrap my mind around. I told Eric sometime after the first trimester we could start telling people. Though I did say since I told you, he could tell one person who could also keep a secret. It's only fair. I think he's going to tell Jack, so tell him to watch his phone for a call."

"Okay." Milo started getting fussy in Rachel's arms. "I'm sorry, but it's time to feed him."

"No, go. It's okay."

"Pretty soon you'll be saying that," Rachel said softly.

"That's so weird."

"It'll be good, you'll see." The baby's cries got louder. "Let me get off the phone. Call me or email me, just keep Auntie Rachel updated."

"I promise," Angela laughed.

/

Trish turned off her computer monitor and went to get ready for bed. It had been almost a week since her last email to Angela had she had still received no response about her request to visit. Her niece had answered every other question and responded to every other comment, but her most pressing request had gone unanswered. On one hand, she couldn't exactly blame Angela. She hadn't seen her niece in over two years. She could blame her brother for that, but nothing was stopping her from visiting during that time. Trish didn't have to cut off visitation as well. That was her choice. She was afraid that if she saw Angela again she would crumble and tell her everything, breaking the promise she had made to her brother.

However, did Alvin still deserve her loyalty? He was back in touch with the one person Trish hated more than anyone, the one person Angela hated. He should be moving heaven and earth to reconnect with his daughter while he still had the time. Instead he was putting that effort into rebuilding a relationship with the woman who once called herself Angela's mother. How would she feel if she knew her parents had reunited? Trish had a feeling Angela may consider that an even bigger betrayal than Alvin not telling her about the cancer.

She couldn't let the little family fall apart. Her niece may have friends, close ones from the looks of the pictures, but they couldn't make up for family. Trish had to put them back together. She had to fix this, she had been letting the foundation sit cracked long enough.

/

"Are you feeling better?"

Angela was resting her head in Eric's lap as he massaged her scalp. "Mmmhmm, just keep doing what you're doing."

"The paper didn't choose a safe restaurant for you?" Her sensitivity to Italian food had only gotten worse as the week went on. The other day he had eaten spaghetti for dinner, hours before they would be seeing each other, and when he showed up at Angela's apartment that night after work she swore she could still smell it on him. Eric ended up having to brush his teeth and took a precautionary shower just to avoid making her sick.

"It was fine for the most part. Then the people at the table next to us got something really seasoned and the smell was overwhelming."

"How did your "date" react?"

"He was surprisingly understanding, but then he was a doctor."

"You told him you were pregnant?"

"No, I just said between the meal and the dessert, something didn't agree with me. I still felt bad, though." Angela closed her eyes.

"Be extra nice in your profile of him."

"I will." She was trying not to fall asleep. "Tomorrow's the sonogram."

"I know," Eric smiled, "I've been counting down since you told me about the about the appointment."

"That's sweet. And don't think I didn't notice the name book you have stashed at your place."

"I couldn't help myself. Are you feeling better?"

Angela opened her eyes to look at him. "If you're asking about the nausea, yes, I am. If you're asking about the baby in general, that depends on when you ask me. I wish I could be as confident as you are, but I didn't grow up with the same positive examples."

He leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss. "We'll figure it out together."