In the Family Way

By ChristiBabe & Tina

Author's Note: Special thanks to Tina for dreaming the story up. For that you get equal billing. Also, a special thank you to JenRar for her beta skills. This story has actually been finished for a couple years (or more) but life kept me from going through the edits. Now seemed the perfect time to finally do so. Characters you recognize as Janet Evanovich's are hers. All original characters are mine.

Chapter 1:

Stephanie's POV

The sound of retching reached me and I rolled to the side of the bed so that I could go and check on Luci. This was the third week in a row that she'd been tossing her cookies in the wee hours of the morning. I had my suspicions as to the underlying cause, but it was a touchy subject and I hadn't quite worked up how I was going to broach the subject with her. Knowing Luci's father, if my suspicions were right, there were going to be rough seas ahead.

Slipping from bed, I made my way to the bathroom that we shared. My heart went out to Luci as I saw her with her arms on the seat of the stool and her head resting on her arms as she knelt before the porcelain throne. I let my eyes trace over the letters on the Orioles jersey she was wearing as I waited for her to finish.

Deep, heartrending sobs drew me closer and I placed my hand on her back. "Are you okay?"

It took a few seconds before the sobbing quieted and muffled sniffles took their place. "Peachy."

She pushed herself into a standing position and made her way over to the sink. After washing up and brushing her teeth, she turned around to face me and leaned her bottom against the sink. The look on her face told me she'd come to the same conclusion that I had as to the cause of these early morning trips to the bathroom.

"Have you made a doctor's appointment?"

Luci shook her head. "I know what's wrong. I don't need a doctor for that."

I bit my lip before straightening. "There are a lot of things to consider…"

The hardening of her face told me that her stubborn streak was rearing its ugly head but before she could say anything, I lifted a hand to stop her. "I only meant that there are changes that are going to be happening, plus what are you going to do about telling Les…"

Luci winced. "Right or wrong, I'm not telling him."

I opened my mouth but this time she was the one to raise her hand. "Lester's already told me, very emphatically, that he doesn't want children. Ever. I just can't…"

She bit her lip and I could see she was on the verge of losing it once more. I moved forward and hugged her. At first she was stiff but after a few seconds she loosened up and we stood like that for several seconds.

"Come on, if we're lucky, we can still get a bit of shut eye before the alarms go off to tell us we have to start the day."

I felt relieved at the chuckle that garnered from Luci.

I waited till she'd entered her room and shut the door before making my way to my own room. The clock on the bedside table told me that it was already four a.m. and if I was lucky, I could get another three hours of sleep before I had to get up for the day.

As much as I tried to get back to sleep, the events of the past eight years kept going around and around in my mind. I finally gave up and let the past seep in as my thoughts went to the first day that I'd seen Luci.

I was running late as I pulled into the parking space that Alexander had designated as my personal space. This was the third month that I'd been working for him and I was anxious to make a good impression because today I was meeting Alex's partner.

After turning off the car, I slipped my keys into my bag and climbed out of Big Blue. I hated the car with a passion, but found myself frequently making use of the oversized tank. Big Blue was Grandma Mazur's car—given to her by her brother when he went to the all you can eat buffet in the sky. It was my go to car when I was between cars and that happened with increasing frequency.

I used my key to let myself into the mansion and made my way to the office wing. I booted up my computer and got started on the work at hand.

About three hours into the work day, there were several loud thuds from overhead. I stood from the plush, leather chair that Alexander had custom made for me and headed in the direction of the noise.

I took the stairs to the attic where I found a young girl who looked to be about twelve or thirteen She was in a snit about something and throwing things around and mumbling. After standing at the door for a few seconds, I cleared my throat and asked, "Can I help you?"

She whirled around. "Didn't nobody ever tell you not to sneak up on people?"

I grinned. "It might have been mentioned a time or two. I'm Stephanie."

Our gazes locked for several seconds and then she hooded her eyes and said, "Luci."

"It's nice to meet you."

A deep male voice called out to interrupt our meeting. "Luci! Dove hai preso?"

The girl gave a deep sigh.

My Italian was a bit rusty, but I remembered the phrase. "Looks like someone is looking for you."

She grimaced. "My dad."

"Shall we join them?"

She shrugged. "I'm a bit mad at him right now."

"Why's that?"

She gave another deep sigh. "Because he sent Nico back to Uncle Alex. He's always spoiling my fun."

I couldn't help the grin that slipped onto my face.

Luci scowled. "Are you laughing at me?"

My expression sobered. "No. I'd never laugh at you, Luci. I was grinning because you remind me of me when I was your age."

She gave a brisk nod. "Okay then."

I waived my hand in the direction of the door. "Shall we go down and join your father and Alexander?"

She lifted a shoulder. "I guess.

The two of us headed toward the library where I knew Alexander would be at this time of day.

The ringing of the alarm brought me back to the present and I flopped over to hit the alarm so that it wouldn't wake Luci. As I climbed out of bed, I hoped that Luci was able to get some more sleep. Now that she was going to have a baby, she was going to need all the sleep she could get. After the baby was born, sleep would be a luxury. First things first, though. We needed to confirm what we already knew.