Chapter Fifty: Razor's Edge

Willis took a moment to register what I'd said, and when he did, his grin lit up his whole face. "Are you serious?"

"Yup." I smirked. "And don't ask how it happened, because I think you know the answer to that."

He laughed, half from excitement. "Wow. I didn't think it'd happen this fast."

"We never seem to have good timing on this, do we?" I looked away for a second. "When I went off my pills before I left for Requiem, I wasn't expecting to see you for months. Maybe even a year. I wasn't exactly prepared when I bumped into you just two months later."

"Me, either. But I'm glad we weren't." Though he knew it technically violated policy, he was so excited and thrilled at the prospect that he leaned in to kiss me. "I've been wanting another baby with you since Khan, Coop. But I knew you couldn't when you got accepted into War College, and I thought...I thought we'd have to wait a long time."

"Yeah. I'm not sure what'll happen with that now, but I guess we'll see once we get home. They said they'd defer my attendance for a while for a combat mission, but I don't know about this." I kissed him back. "But I'm happy, too. You're a great husband and a good father, Will. If we are having this kid, he or she is going to be very lucky to have you for a dad."

His grin widened and he kissed me again. By then I realized if we kept this up we'd be creating a scene, so I pulled back when it was done, still smiling.

Glancing out at the staging camp around us, and all the people - civilians and military - I sobered and said, "Well, it's not going to be a walk in the park finding out we're having another baby in the middle of all this."

Willis's expression got more serious, too. "What are you going to do? We're supposed to be going to Savannah next."

I sighed. "I don't know. But I do know that honestly, in my position, I shouldn't even be on the frontlines anymore. I think if I hang back in the command tent with General Bolowsky, like he might've preferred all along, I'll be okay and can still participate. The portal's gone so it should just be some cleanup operations as we go further south."

"Good. So that means no crazy stunts, or going anywhere unsafe?"

I shook my head. "None. Not after Ecuador. And that wasn't my choice."

"I know," my husband replied quietly. Then it seemed he thought of something else, because he turned to face me again, an inquisitive look in his eyes. "What about the drinking? Have you had any alcohol lately?"

"Not a drop," I said. "Nothing since Requiem." I shifted my stance. "It's been a little rough, but I'm glad now that I haven't touched the stuff in months."

He smiled faintly. "Soon to be nearly a year."

I scrunched up my face, almost physically hurt. "Don't remind me. Please." When I opened my eyes again, I said more seriously, "But in a way, I think this might be good." I'd have to go cold turkey, but hopefully this way I could kick the habit before it really started.

I realized now that the alcohol had gotten to be too much of a crutch for me since returning home from Khan. Although given the amount of devastation here, I wasn't sure how plausible it was going to be to stay away from it. After giving birth would the nightmares come back? Would I have new ones from what I'd seen here over the past month in South Carolina, or what we would encounter soon in Georgia? Or Requiem before that? I didn't know. But I did know I was staying far away from anything harmful as long as I was carrying our child.

"Natalie?"

I returned from my thoughts and found Willis looking at me again. "Yeah?"

He frowned. "Is there a reason you haven't gone to find out for sure yet?"

Again I found my attention drifting through the camp, full of refugees still and with plenty of work to be done, even after securing the city. Plus more in Savannah. "Too busy, mostly," I answered honestly. "But I also didn't want to stir the pot quite yet. I was going to let Bolowsky know before we left for Georgia."

"Well, now's the time, right? I'd like to go with you."

He seemed anxious to find out if the possibility were true, and to be honest, so was I at this point. It would help to know what I could and couldn't do from here on out, and if I were even going to be allowed to join in on the campaign in Georgia, even from afar. And right now, my husband was here as well, so I wouldn't have to go through it all alone. I finally lifted my hands up and sighed.

"Why the hell not? Let's go see Doc again."


Reynolds was surprised to see us walk out of the medical tent only to return a few minutes later. His immediate reaction was one of concern - for Willis. "Sir? Is something wrong from the fall still?"

"Nope. I think you patched me up pretty good, Doc. This time we're here for the lieutenant colonel."

He looked me up and down, confused. "She seems fine to me, sir."

"We've...got a bit of a potential situation we'd like cleared up."

It took a second, but Reynolds eventually got the hint and nodded. "Sure thing, Major. Let's head back to where we were and I'll administer the test."


As we sat waiting in the partitioned area again - I wouldn't exactly call it a room - I turned to face Willis after a while.

"As much as I'd like you here with me, you should get to helping your air wing out with the evac once we know."

"I know. I wasn't planning on staying here much longer, even if I'd like to."

I smiled faintly. "See you in Savannah, right?"

He reached over and took my hand in his, stroking it with his thumb. "Maybe. Let's hear what he says."

The medic returned to our section then holding his datapad, currently scrolling through tons of data. It finally stopped on an open file and he looked down to read it. When he glanced up again, he was smiling.

"Ma'am, sir, congratulations. You're four weeks pregnant, Colonel."

"Yes!" Willis shouted, turning to me instantly to give me a quick kiss and a hard embrace. I found myself grinning too as we held onto each other.

A well of emotion opened up inside me as I marveled at the fact that despite everything that had occurred in the past few months - from the fighting on Requiem to the long, miserable trip back to Earth and the battles to save the cities of the East Coast - something good had come out of this. Something pure and new and living. We were going to have our fifth child, and though the timing was a little off, I found I couldn't have received more uplifting news after all the tragedy we'd both been through recently. All the lives we'd seen ripped away from us, and from others. All the carnage and ruin and heartbreak.

In a way, it was this that we'd been fighting for all along. The chance to feel happy again, together, and to go back to our normal lives post-war and Khan after this.

"I love you, Will," I whispered to him fiercely as we pulled back a bit, resting our foreheads together.

My husband just smiled and replied, "I love you, too, Natalie."

In front of us, Doc Reynolds cleared his throat. "So? Am I telling the general, or you, ma'am?"

"I'll do it," I said. "I'd like to still be in that convoy headed south when we go, so I think he should hear it from me."