My muse is running at highest speed possible right now. I know that this makes 6 in progress stories for me and that is a lot. I am about to work on a new chapter for I'll Never Stop Loving You and also hope to update You Cry More today. My goal is to work on all stories this week with at least one chapter. Thank you for your patience and I do hope you'll like this new story as well!

Summary: If she had said jump, he would have asked, How high? As long as he had known her, he had been in love with her. Now that Anna needs him to pose as her boyfriend/father of her child while on a holiday to visit her parents, he realizes he really would do absolutely anything for her.

Little Wonders

Anna paced back and forth in front of her bed, chewing on the inside of her thumb. Her stomach was flipping and twisting under her skin. She paused her movements and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves.

Beep. Beep.

The timer on her phone made her jump. Her eyes popped open and she swallowed hard. After this moment, she would face the truth. A huge part of her wanted to turn away and leave her small flat. To ignore the very possible truth for a few more hours.

Dropping her hands to her sides, Anna slowly stepped back into her bathroom. She inhaled sharply, before glancing down at her countertop. Tears immediately filled her eyes and she could feel a crushing weight growing on top of her chest. Her hand grabbed the small stick on the counter and a sob left her lips.

Positive.

She allowed the stick to fall out of her hand and then covered her face with her hands. Her head shook.

"No," she murmured to herself. "No." She whimpered and headed back to her bedroom.

What was she going to do? She was an adult.

At 32, she had a decent job and could support a baby on her own. But….more tears came. A single mother at 32. Plenty of people did it.

Her hands landed on the taut skin of her stomach and she tried to imagine it expanding to accommodate a baby. A shuddering breath left her lips and she shook her head. How was she going to do this?

Her mind went to her parents. Her father was very traditional. He would be so disappointed. It would already be bad enough that she wasn't married, but the fact that there wasn't even a father would really be the nail in the coffin. Her mother would probably be more understanding, but even she would give her the look. The look that said she expected more of her daughter and that said this wasn't Anna. And she would be right. It wasn't Anna. But she couldn't tell them the truth, because that would only make them look at her in a worse way.

Anna bit down on her lower lip and crawled into her bed, thankful she had called in sick for work today. Because she knew there was no way she be able to function now.

Part of her wanted to call her friend, Mary. But she couldn't. Not right now. Mary just had a baby and Anna didn't need to burden her with her problems. She sighed.

What was she going to do?

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

The Next Day

With as precise precision as possible, John placed the two cards on top of the large tower he had made. Whenever he was stressed with work, he found it was calming to build card towers. He had given up drinking several years ago and this had become his new and healthier coping mechanism.

Ring. Ring.

His hands shook and the entire tower fell.

"Dammit," John muttered under his breath.

Grumbling under his breath, John turned to find his phone. However, as soon as he saw who was calling, his face brightened. It was Anna. The two had been good friends for several years. And he cared for her, a lot. He never let that show, though. He was much older than her and knew she deserved to find someone closer to her age to love.

It had actually been several weeks since he had heard from Anna. He had texted and called her a few times within those weeks, but for the first time ever, she had ignored him. So he was glad to be hearing from her today.

"Hello?" He happily said into the phone.

"Hi. John?" Her voice was tight and John immediately worried.

"Anna? Is everything alright?"

"Um….." Anna's voice faded. "Can I ask you to do something with no questions asked?"

"Of course." Anna could ask him nearly anything and he would say yes.

"I just need you to drive me somewhere tomorrow and then bring me back home. Can…can you do that? I can't ask Mary. But if you can't, I can call a cab. I just…." John heard her voice catch in her throat.

"I can do that, Anna. You don't have to call a cab. Is…is there anything I can do for you?" John asked, worried about her. She sounded so scared, so broken.

"I….I said no questions," Anna reminded him.

"Okay. Just text me when you have a time and I'll pick you up tomorrow."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

He parked in front of her flat and began to get out of the car. But before he could, he already saw Anna rushing out her front door and toward his car. She looked different. Paler, almost sickly. It was cold out, but she only had on a thin jacket. John walked over to the passenger side of the car and opened the door to let her in.

"There's a blanket in the back seat," he told her. Anna nodded, but didn't say anything. As she sat in her seat, he could see her knees bouncing up and down anxiously. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but he had promised not to ask any questions.

Anna gave him the address to put into his phone and then she didn't speak another word to him. The entire ride there, John kept glancing over to her. Something was incredibly wrong and it killed him that he didn't know how to help.

When they pulled into the parking lot, he realized they were at an OBGYN's office. He glanced at Anna, who just unbuckled her belt and began to climb out of the car.

"I….I'll call you when I'm done," Anna stammered. John shook his head.

"No, I'll come in with you and wait in the waiting room," he said, not allowing Anna to argue. Anna's lips twisted and then she sighed.

"O….Okay."

John walked a few paces ahead of Anna. Every few steps, he would turn to face Anna and see that her steps had gotten slower. Her eyes were on the building and she looked absolutely terrified.

"Are you sure you…..?"

"No questions," was all Anna said, before hurrying her steps and passing John to go inside of the building.

The two sat in the waiting room and waited for Anna to be called back. John had a sneaking suspicion on why they were here, but he didn't say anything. He just kept glancing over at Anna to check on her.

When she was called back, John sat back in his chair. Now it was his turn to be anxious. He picked up a magazine and tried to flip through it. But his mind was with Anna. Anna was one of his best friends. And he loved her. How could he ever help her through this?

Only a few minutes later, Anna came rushing back into the waiting room. She had her arms wrapped around her chest protectively and was asking John to stand.

"We…we have….we have to go now," she urgently stated. Her eyes were darting back and forth in the lobby. John quickly got up and followed Anna back into the parking lot. He tried to go to open her door, but she had already climbed into the passenger side.

John stood by her door and let out a loud breath. He opened his mouth to speak, but decided not to say anything.

Getting back into the car, John drove Anna back home.

"Th…thank you," Anna said sincerely. Her eyes met John's and her lower lip began to tremble.

"Why don't you let me come inside with you," John offered. "I can make some tea."

He could tell that Anna was debating on how to answer. Thankfully, she nodded her head.

Inside, John went to her kitchen to start the tea. His eyes fell to Anna, who had crawled up on her sofa and turned on the television. Another sigh left his lips.

The teapot whistled and he quickly grabbed it from the stove to quiet it. Then he made both him and Anna some tea. He knew how she liked hers: one cube of sugar and a splash of milk.

Taking the cup to Anna, she gratefully placed the warm steaming cup into her hands. Then she took a long sip. John sat down next to her and place his cup on the table in front of him. He wasn't quite sure what to do next. Should he ask her how she was doing? Offer to make her lunch? Leave?

"I….I…." Anna's lips trembled. "I couldn't do it," Anna finally quietly said. She turned to meet John's glare. "I couldn't do it," she repeated. "Now…now what do I do?"

John felt lost. Even though he had an idea of what she was speaking about, he didn't know for sure. He just reached out and brushed his fingers against her flushed cheek.

"What do you want to do?" He carefully asked. Anna's head sharply shook. She moved forward and wrapped her arms around John's neck, pressing her head into his shoulder.

"I…I don't know. I….I don't know."

To be continued...

Thank you so much for reading and please let me know if you'd like more!