Author's note: Thank you to NotMarge, Luna von Rae, NicoleR85, partygirl98, musicjunkie1996, ZabuzasGirl and Jinxofthe2ndLaw for the reviews! I hope I conveyed in that chapter just how much Hank has evolved since he met Zoey. Anyone else having a Warm Bodies flashback? "Wanting change is step one, but step two is taking it." And I think Hank definitely has done that.

I don't know if anyone's guessed, but I'm a huge fan of that movie/book. If you haven't seen/read Warm Bodies, I highly recommend it. The movie is adorable (hello, Nicholas Hoult), and the book is one of the most amazingly poignant and real things I've ever read. So many great quotes to choose from, but I think my absolute favorite is: "There is no ideal world for you to wait around for. The world is always just what it is now, and it's up to you how you respond to it." :-)

Enceinte?

We decided not to put too much effort into trying for a baby, for fear that love-making would otherwise become a chore, rather than an expression of passion and intimacy between us. Instead, we wanted to let things happen naturally and let "fate" or whatever other powers at be in the universe choose when we would conceive. So Zoey stopped taking her contraceptive pills the day after our conversation, but otherwise we continued on just as before.

That's not to say I didn't know when the best time to "try" was, once she stopped taking those pills. My body was now completely attuned to hers, thanks to me being a feral mutant. It meant I could smell the pheromones my mate emitted once she actually started having a true fertility cycle again, and my instincts kicked in accordingly. That certainly led to a lot of fun nights... and mornings.

It also meant that when our efforts succeeded, I could smell that too.

In a strange sort of symmetry, my realization occurred about four months later, on February 20, 1974- the sixth anniversary of the very first day I saw Zoey Dubois in Marceline's Cafe and Bookstore.

We always did something special to mark the occasion of that particular day, even though I obviously didn't speak to Zoey for the first time until a few weeks later, and didn't start buying her mochas until later still. Despite that, I always took note of February 20th. It was the day I fell in love with her from across the room, the day I finally saw someone, something worth trying for. Even though it took me months to actually do anything about it, the journey from my state of arrested development until now started on that day.

With that in mind, I left the Institute early to go home and make Zoey her favorite meal (besides anything chocolate): steak au poivre and mashed potatoes. I also got her flowers and a new book-the original French version of La Belle et la Bete, by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont.

Sappy? Me? ...Maybe just a little.

Zoey got home right when I was putting dinner on the table in the dining room.

"Hello, handsome," she said, breezily strolling into the kitchen. She peered over the bar to see what I'd made. "Oh, wow, my favorite! And flowers? What's the occasion?"

I won't lie- I felt a little wounded that she didn't remember, after all the years we'd been doing this. It was our own private version of Valentine's Day.

"Oh, Hank, I'm just kidding," Zoey assured me, taking in my crestfallen expression. She held up a small box where I could see it. "I got you sponge cake!"

I grinned. "And I got you chocolate lava cake. How are we going to chose?"

She snorted. "You can chose if you want to. I'm having some of both."

We both laughed.

Zoey sashayed over to give me a kiss. She snuggled in my arms for a moment while I held her tightly, inhaling deeply-

And then again.

It was subtle, the change in her scent, but it was definitely there. I only noticed because I was so sensitive to her in the first place.

"Why are you sniffing me, you weirdo?" Zoey teased, pulling back slightly so she could see my face.

"Your scent's changed," I explained meaningfully.

She giggled flirtatiously, her cheeks flushing up. "Ok. Let's eat dinner first before it gets cold, and then we'll-"

"Not like that, sweetheart," I cut in. I put my hand on her perfectly flat stomach to illustrate my point. "Something else entirely."

Zoey's mouth fell open in shock, her eyes wide with surprise. "You think-?"

I nodded, my expression probably just as stunned. I was too astounded to even begin processing all the possible ramifications of this discovery.

Her smile was like the sunrise- the promise of a new day, a new beginning. It was so infectious I had to smile, too. The astonishment started to fade just a little, leaving behind an almost painful nervous excitement.

"Oh, Hank-" she whispered, with an evident wonderment that was likely mirrored on my own face.

Both of Zoey's hands joined mine on her tummy, holding my palm over the place where our child quite possibly was beginning to grow.

"Hey, Uncle Hank!" a familiar voice called out behind me, less than a week later.

I turned to see Olivia skipping my way and tried to arrange my expression into a welcoming smile.

"Hi, Livie," I greeted her. "Do you need something? I'm in a bit of a hurry-"

I was actually leaving the Institute early today so I could meet up with Zoey for a doctor's appointment. Before we got our hopes up too much- more so than they already were, anyway- I wanted our suspicions confirmed. Zoey seemed to trust my sense of smell more than I did. Or maybe I just wouldn't fully believe she was pregnant until we had a professional's opinion.

Olivia's face fell.

It was hard to believe that the tall, coltishly pretty thirteen year old in front of me was once the little girl I carried around on my shoulders at the New York Aquarium on my birthday so long ago. Olivia was already taller than her aunt, something that made Zoey pout whenever we teased her about it. But it made me sad, how fast Olivia was growing up. I had a feeling it was a taste of how I would feel about my own children someday.

"Darn," Olivia whined. "I was hoping you would help me with my English paper."

I sighed, knowing I would be a bad uncle if I didn't help. I'd been tutoring her when necessary for years now. "When's it due?"

"Day after tomorrow," she admitted sheepishly.

"Ok. Do what you can on it today and I'll help you out tomorrow," I promised. "I've got to get going now, though. I'm meeting your aunt."

"Ooooh," Olivia teased, falling in to step next to me as I started walking again. "Are you guys playing hooky today? Can I come too?"

I snorted. "No- on both counts," I replied. I offered no further explanation.

Zoey and I had decided that even if we were expecting, we weren't going to announce it for a couple months. Just in case...

So much could go wrong, for both mother and baby, and if I stopped to think about something bad happening to Zoey for even a moment I would start to panic.

Obviously, it might be a little too late to be having second thoughts.

Some glimmer of my disturbing ruminations must have passed over my face, because Olivia froze in her tracks.

"Uncle Hank?" she squeaked. "Is something wrong with Auntie?"

Without waiting for an answer she reached out and grabbed my wrist.

"Livie," I scolded, snatching my arm back quickly. "You know you're not supposed to do that."

"Sorry," she told me, immediately guilty. She always felt contrite when her impatience got the better of her and she invaded people's thoughts. "Just- your face, I thought something was wrong and you were trying to hide it."

For a brief moment I had hopes that I'd pulled away too fast for her to get a read on me.

But then Olivia squealed and clapped her hands, just like she used to do when she was little. "Auntie's pregnant! I'm going to be an auntie!"

Damn.

"Shhh!" I pleaded, glancing around. Thankfully there was no one nearby. "We don't know for certain yet. And anyway, you'd have a cousin, not a niece or nephew."

She waved off the correction. "I'm so excited! I can't wait to-"

"Livie," I said seriously. "You can't tell anyone. No one, do you understand?"

Olivia pouted. "Why not?"

"It's not your news to share, is it?" I asked rhetorically. "You shouldn't even know right now. Zoey and I will tell people when we're ready, ok?"

"Ok," she agreed, sighing.

"Promise?"

"I promise," Olivia replied sullenly.

"Thank you. Now I won't have to send your aunt after you," I teased.

She rolled her eyes. "Right, because a short, pregnant lady could catch me."

And with that hilarious mental image, I take my leave.

Zoey shifted uncomfortably on the paper cover of the examination table. The crackling sound seemed to fit her obviously frazzled state of mind.

We were waiting in the exam room for the test results to come back, both trying to stay patient. The delay was practically interminable, though it seemed to be harder for her than myself. I couldn't say I blamed her- after all, she was the one who'd be doing all the hard work if we got the news we were hoping for.

I brought our entwined hands to my lips and pressed kisses against Zoey's fingertips, trying to calm her. Her eyes immediately softened as she held my gaze.

Even after all this time, that look still gave me butterflies.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you," I replied, kissing the back of her hand. "It's-"

A knock came at the door, and both of us sat up a little straighter. Dr. Stevenson, a myopic middle-aged man with a paunch, entered the room and gave us both an avuncular smile.

"Dr. and Dr. McCoy, nice to see you both," he said warmly. "We have your test results back, and-"

Zoey squeezed my hand so tightly I felt her nails digging into my skin. Meanwhile, I'd stopped breathing back when the doctor first knocked on the door.

"-I'm pleased to say that you are indeed pregnant. Very newly pregnant, but still."

And finally, I could breathe again.

Dr. Stevenson gave us a moment to compose ourselves after he delivered the news.

Zoey had happy tears in her eyes as I stood up and pressed a kiss to her forehead, holding her close. A stupidly happy grin was on my face, and she... she was absolutely radiant with joy.

This angel is ecstatic to be carrying my child. Will wonders never cease?

I stayed standing while the doctor began to run through information that we needed to know now- mainly a long list of things Zoey wasn't allowed to do, from the sounds of it- but it was like he was speaking from the other end of a long tunnel.

Because it was truly sinking in for me.

We were having a baby. I was going to be a father.