A/N - Okay this was written a couple of days ago but I never got a chance to upload it and I realise that Karen may seem a little bit OOC but I decided that she needed a moment or two of that. Anyway on with the chapter.
It had been six weeks since the leak and neither Karen nor Derek were any closer to knowing about who had leaked the information on Karen's pregnancy but neither of them really wanted to know or cared. Once they had dealt with the initial reactions of their family and friends, the leak had made everything an awful lot easier. Karen no longer had to make the reasons for her departure from Gastby clear to the public and suddenly the paparazzi was starting to stop their constant interest in what had been dubbed as "Broadway's Royal Couple", satisfied that they knew all they needed to sell papers.
Karen and Derek sat in the lounge of their apartment cuddled together on the sofa which now faced the New York City skyline instead of shunning it, the lights of the city that never slept shining on them in the midst of its nightlife "I know that we don't have to decide for another couple of weeks but did you want to know the baby's gender before or after it's born?" Karen asked quietly.
"I don't mind, whatever you think we should do love," Derek said softly, immediately realising that he'd said the wrong thing once he saw the reproachful look in her eyes accompanied by raised eyebrows and an angry frown.
"Dammit Derek, why do you have to be so passive? This is your baby too you know," she shouted at him as she leapt up from where she sat.
"Yes but-"
"Don't you 'yes but' me Derek Arthur Wills, I will not let you make me decide on everything for this baby!" she interrupted "I'm going out before I say anything I regret!" she continued, grabbing her coat, purse and phone before rushing out the door. Derek sat on the couch in stunned silence, contemplating whether or not he should follow her out the door. After a couple of seconds of decision making, he decided to stay put believing that Karen would come back eventually.
The moment Karen left the apartment she regretted everything she'd said, she regretted bringing up the subject, she regretted leaving the apartment but all of the regret had bubbled into anger and that anger made her desperate to prove a point to Derek so she set about deciding who she should go and visit. Julia was on a date with Michael - their third one that week -; Bobby, Dennis, Sue and Jessica were probably at some nightclub. That only left Ivy and Ana but the likeliness of either of them having any sympathy for her was pretty unlikely but she decided to go there anyway. She stepped out of the building and hailed a cab.
When she arrived at Ana and Ivy's apartment, Karen was glad to see her friends and sleeping god-daughter "Karen, are you okay?" Ivy asked, the concern obvious in her voice from seeing the mixture of anger and sadness in her friend's face.
"Derek and I had an argument," Karen replied with a sigh as she was led into the apartment.
"What about?" Ana asked, continuing Ivy's concerned tone.
"He's just being so passive when it comes to everything," Karen said "He's just like 'Whatever you say Karen' or 'I don't mind if you want it' " she continued in an attempt at a British accent.
"And this is a problem why? If I had a man who did that I'd be freaking well celebrating," Ana said with a smile.
"Yeah think yourself lucky Karen, you've tamed the dark lord. He's never been like this with anyone else before," Ivy continued.
"I know it's just… it's just that I wish he'd have an opinion or at least tell me his opinion, you know? I just feels like he's too scared to tell me his opinion for fear of pissing me off," Karen ranted, bringing herself to the verge of tears.
"Oh honey," Ivy said, wrapping her arms around Karen, enveloping her in a hug as Karen let go and burst into tears "I'm guessing those are the hormones, come on, let's sit in the lounge and watch a movie, you wanna choose?"
Karen brought herself out of the hug and knelt down by the DVD collection eventually settling on Easy A, being the film from Ivy and Ana's collection that least represented hers and Derek's story. She and Ivy sat on the couch while Ana made a large bowl of popcorn and poured some orange juice into wine glasses and handed them out. By the time the movie had ended, Karen had drifted off into a peaceful sleep on the couch.
