Mara went down into the Manor kitchen that morning feeling sick to her stomach. She sat on a stool at the island, crossed her arms upon the counter, plopped her head upon them and groaned.

Piper turned around from what she was preparing for breakfast and went over to Mara. "You feeling okay, sweetie?" She smoothed down the bark of Mara's hair in a comforting manner and because it didn't look like Mara had brushed her hair yet.

"I don't know," Mara whined before groaning and sitting upright. "Yesterday I felt fine but today I feel blah times a million."

Piper reached out and touched Mara's forehead with the back of her hand. "You don't have a fever."

Prue and Phoebe heard Piper say this as they walked into the kitchen together. They both went over to Mara as Prue asked, "What's wrong?"

"I think she's coming down with something," Piper replied as she noted that Mara did look pale. "Mara, maybe you should call that doctor from your Coven and get a check up or something."

Before Mara could even reply, she darted straight to the rubbish bin and threw up quite a lot before she started feeling some relief. "I think you're right," she groaned and accepted a moistened paper towel from Phoebe. "Thanks." After wiping her mouth she gestured upwards. "I'm going to the Loft to get their number."

Phoebe pouted and hugged Mara. "Feel better soon, sweetie. We're here if you need anything."

Mara smiled because she knew that and headed up to the Loft. She felt a little dizzy after climbing the stairs and was glad when she reached the Doorway and went right through it. "Anybody home?"

Eva came out of her bedroom at the Loft and went right over to Mara. "Oh, Dove, you look sick."

"I feel sick." Mara sat down on the sofa and rubbed her forehead. "Piper suggested seeing the doctor from the Coven and I think she's right. I'm not sure if a normal doctor is the way to go for whatever this could be."

Eva reached out and touched her daughter's head with an analytical look in her eyes. There was something…off about Mara but she couldn't place what it was. Finally she called out, "Felix!"

Mara didn't understand why her mom was calling for Felix and that made her worry. "What's going on?"

"You rang?" Felix asked as he joined the ladies then stopped dead in his tracks. He sniffed the air as he moved closer to them and finally sniffed right in front of a recoiling Mara.

"What do you think you're doing?" Mara thought this was getting weirder by the second.

Felix stood up straight and nodded at Eva's questioning expression. "No doubt about it."

Eva's eyes widened as she slowly turned to her daughter.

This act made Mara even more uncomfortable. "Someone better tell me what's going on right now or else I'm gonna start whipping out some magic."

Felix could tell that Eva was still in shock so he ripped off the Band-Aid. "You're pregnant."

Mara guffawed at that. "Funny, really funny." There was no way she was pregnant. At least that's what she thought. "No, that's impossible. The only person I've slept with is Bash and Whitelighters can't have kids….right?" She thought with the whole having died and essentially being Angels thing made that so.

Eva slowly sat down on the arm of the couch. "Oh, Dove, Whitelighters are absolutely capable of having kids." She watched as Mara's face became even paler than it already was. "It's okay. You're okay. Just breathe."

"Just breathe?" Mara couldn't believe that was her mother's advice. "I'm freaking pregnant with a magical Immortal Witch-Whitelighter baby and you want me to just breathe?!"

"There's more," Felix interjected. "Pregnancies for Immortal Witches aren't like normal pregnancies."

Mara gave Felix an expression that screamed he better explain in that very moment.

Felix took the hint and told her what he meant. "Immortal Witches only age about a year every ten years. So nine months is actually years unless a spell is cast to expedite the pregnancy and then the child will age like a mortal until they turn eighteen when the Immortality will kick in." He thought for a moment then looked at Eva. "Did I get that right?"

Eva nodded as she took Mara's hand. "You got that right."

If Mara could bring herself to her feet she would have gotten up in that moment and started pacing around and freaking out. "You're telling me that either I stay pregnant for years or cast a spell to instantly have my kid?" She started laughing before she started crying, "This is insane!"

Mara didn't give either Eva or Felix a chance to respond to that before she shouted out, "Bash! Get your Whitelighter ass down here now!"

A moment later Bash Orbed into the Loft with a worried expression upon his face. "What happened?"

"You got me pregnant is what happened!" Mara shouted at him then booked it to her feet and to the bathroom because she felt like she was going to be sick again.

Bash stood there stunned because he couldn't believe it. "No…no, no. No way. Immortal Witches aren't even capable of having kids until after they turn a hundred."

"Mara isn't just an Immortal Witch, Bash. You know that." Eva's tone was quiet when she said that to him and sighed heavily.

Bash dropped into the nearby chair. He honestly had no idea this was a possibility and had no clue what to do about it. "I didn't think…" Bash dropped his face into his hands. "I'm so stupid."

Mara returned at that moment and asked, "When can you cast the spell?" None of them expected her to say that, she could read that on their faces. That made her say, "Don't make me ask again."

"You have plenty of time to process this, Dove. You don't have to make a decision right now." Eva couldn't help but feel like her daughter wasn't prepared for this.

"I am not staying pregnant forever. And I – I can't be a mom. I don't care if I'm Immortal, I'm only eighteen freaking years old. There must be some sort of Coven adoption thing." Mara couldn't even consider being a mother, not at this point in her life.

Felix jumped in there before Eva or Bash could put their opinions into the mix. "There is another option. You could always do the other acceleration spell." He turned to his sister. "If the Coven Leader approves."

"What other spell are you talking about?" Mara wanted answers before making a decision.

Bash knew what Felix was talking about. "It's a spell that will accelerate the aging of an Immortal child to the age of eighteen. They'll have the maturity if mental capacity and knowledge of someone of that age but they won't have any real memories. It essentially strips them from having a childhood." He looked at Mara seriously. "I'll support you with whatever you decide."

Mara had no idea what she wanted to do. So many things were swirling around in her mind that she needed a break. "I need time to think. No one follow me." She pointed firmly at them before going back through the Doorway to the Manor.

Once she was gone, Eva backhanded Felix for suggesting the other spell. "What were you thinking?! You know there's a greater chance of a child to grow into the dark end of the spectrum without being raised properly."

"Believe it or not, any child of Mara's is going to be more dark than light, whether or not the father is a Whitelighter." Felix left Eva with those words and returned to his bedroom.

Bash got to his feet, feeling like he was in a daze. "Why am I feeling like this? I – I knew it'd happen. I just…"

"You didn't think it'd be so soon." Eva understood what he was he trying to say. "Time travel is a finicky thing, Bash." She was going to leave him alone but turned back to ask him something. "Does Mara know you met her long before she met you?" She wasn't surprised to see him shake his head at that. "I suggest keeping it that way."

Bash happened to agree with her and Orbed away until he felt it was okay to be near Mara again.

Mara sat with the Sisters in the living room of the Manor and told them everything that had happened. Presently she waited for one of them to say something because there was nothing but silence. "Please tell me I didn't just break your brains."

Prue was the first to ask, "What are you going to do?" She made sure to add in, "And whatever you do decide, we're here for you."

"Absolutely," Phoebe spoke without hesitation. "We've got you."

Mara was grateful and truly appreciated it. "I don't know what to do. I don't feel ready to be a mom and despite what I said, I don't think I could let anyone else raise my kid. And what Bash said about that acceleration spell stripping away their childhood, I couldn't do that to them. I – I don't know what to do. This is the last thing I expected to happen."

Piper had waited to say something but chose that moment to say, "Take some time, Mara. You don't have to make a decision today. Heck, you have years to figure things out if that's what you need. No one is pressuring you to decide today, so you don't have to."

Mara knew that, she understood it, and yet she still felt like she needed to make the decision as soon as possible. "What if I said that I wanted to cast the spell today to accelerate the birth timeline?"

The Sisters all looked at each other in silent conversation before Phoebe said aloud to Mara, "I guess we'd ask you to wait until we at least got some supplies."

Mara laughed at that answer, she couldn't help it, and felt better when the Sisters laughed right along with her.

Bash waited a bit before Orbing to the Manor, and after a stern talking to from each of the Sisters as well as being told they were going off to see their Aunt Gail, he went outside where Mara was sitting on the steps. Bash sat down beside her without a word. He was going to give Mara the floor first.

"We're not getting married if that's what you're thinking about." Mara couldn't make that any clearer.

"I didn't even consider that, Sweetheart." Bash looked at her face and tried to read her expression but he wasn't getting anywhere. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking I need time." Mara picked at her fingernails. "I found a potion in the Tome to pretty much take care of morning sickness and stuff since the pregnancy lasts so long. I already took it and feel much better. I don't know what's going to happen, but I know I need time to figure it out." She finally looked at Bash to ask, "You're not going to disappear on me, are you?"

"Not even the Elders could take me away from you." Bash kissed the side of Mara's head and wrapped his arm around her when she rested her head on his shoulder.

"None of this feels real. I feel like I'm going to wake up and find this was all a dream." Mara scoffed lightly because of how surreal everything felt.

"I know the feeling," he gently replied because that was the utter and complete truth.

"Any regrets?" Mara needed to know what he felt about all this.

How could Bash regret something he already knew was going to happen? "No, Sweetheart. No Regrets."

Bash and Mara sat their together for a while in silence. They were each lost in their own thoughts and yet remained grounded together. What was going to happen next, neither of them knew for sure, but the beauty of being Immortal was they had all the time in the world to figure things out…right?

End Season 2 Episode 17