"Hey beautiful" Jack called out as he let himself into Nikki's place, having already messaged her that he had finished work and was on his way around so they could have dinner together. They'd been together six months, and he couldn't believe it some days that Nikki was his girlfriend. He was thinking about asking her to move in with him, and his dad, and he wondered if she would want that yet or if she wanted to keep their own spaces for a while longer.

"Oh hi" Nikki smiled as she stepped into the hallway to greet him, looping her arms around his shoulders as he threw his keys on the table near the door and wrapped his arms around her back, leaning down to kiss her. "How was work?"

"We're not talking about work, it's your day off" Jack whispered against her lips and grinning when Nikki giggled and moved her hands to his shoulders, then his chest. He stole another quick kiss before she could respond "I need to use the loo, then I'll be in"

"I'll get you talking about your day" Nikki teased as she moved away from him and ran her hand through her hair, tying it up with a hairband she had on his wrist as she walked away. She missed Jack's frown as he leaned back down over the banister to the top floor of Nikki's apartment, but she giggled when she heard him call out 'is that one of my jumpers?', choosing to ignore him because they both knew that it was.

Standing in the bathroom washing his hands, Jack thought about what he was going to make Nikki for dinner, or perhaps they could get takeaway, they hadn't that had for a week or two. He smiled at his reflection in the mirror, wondering what his younger self would think if he knew that one day he would be on the brink of asking Nikki to move in with him after being in a relationship with her. He moved to dry his hands, accidentally kicking the rubbish bin Nikki had in there and swearing softly, leaning down to move it back into place. Jack paused though, blinking and reaching into it to pull out a box from between the tissues in there, his heart speeding up when he saw the pregnancy test written on the front of it. He looked at himself in the mirror again, then towards the door, and back down to the box, shaking it a bit and hearing that it was empty. Nikki hadn't mentioned that she thought she might be pregnant, he thought that they could talk about things like that, she hadn't even mentioned that her period was late or that she missed it. She had confided in him three months into their relationship that she thought she might not even be able to get pregnant, she'd had one scare with Matt, but nothing like that before. Maybe it was just another one like that. He needed to know though.

Nikki was sitting at the counter in her kitchen with a glass of orange juice in one hand, the other hand holding open the pages of a book that Sam had let her borrow a few days before, she didn't hear Jack come in until he said her name. She didn't look at him, putting her juice down and continuing to read.

"Hmm?" she asked, marking her page with her hand and turning her head to look at him, her heart feeling like it had dropped to her stomach when she saw him standing in the doorway to the kitchen dining room with a box in his hand. She had completely forgotten that she had thrown that in there that morning, she had been meaning to take the bin out but had lost track of everything when she had opened her book. "Jack..."

"You didn't tell me that you thought you might be pregnant"

"I didn't want to worry you"

"I wouldn't be worried" Jack told her quickly, walking over to her and putting the box on the counter next to her, watching as she reached over and stood it on it's side "The test isn't in there"

"No, it's in the bin in the bedroom" Nikki responded, not looking at him, turning back to the book instead and marking the page, shutting it "It's negative"

Jack didn't think he had been so disappointed in a long time, not since the test results had come back that Cara wasn't his but Ryan's. He swallowed heavily and nodded, running his hand through his hair.

"Right"

Nikki looked at him when she heard the disappointment in his voice, her chest physically aching when she saw the look on his face.

"How far did you think you are?"

"I don't know, I just had a feeling and apparently I was wrong" Nikki shrugged, fiddling with the sleeves of his jumper that she had on as he wrapped one arm around her shoulders, made easy where she was still sitting on the stool at the counter, his hand stroking her neck with his thumb "My last three periods have been lighter, I missed the middle one completely, and I just thought..well.." she trailed off and swallowed the lump in her throat as she saw Jack nod, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"Sounds like you need to make a doctor's appointment"

"No, it's fine, periods are finicky things" she sniffed, wiping her eyes and looking at him again "Would you have been okay, if I was?"

"Absolutely I would be" Jack nodded without hesitation, resting their foreheads together and closing his eyes for a few seconds, he wanted to be a dad so much now, but if that wasn't what was meant to happen then that was okay too. He had Nikki and that was all that mattered.

Without telling Jack, Nikki booked a doctor's appointment for a week after he had found the pregnancy test. She wanted to make sure that everything was okay with herself, she'd missed one or two periods before, had them lighter than other months, she had been having them for years after all and every month was different. Perhaps it was the fact that she had been thinking more and more about having a baby that it had affected her more this time. The others she had been scared, and the relief when she had her period again had been unreal, but this time he felt as though she was being robbed. She could still remember the disappointment when the tests had come back negative, she didn't tell Jack she had taken one every day for four days and each was negative, she didn't want him worrying about her.

"Right, we'll do a blood test to see if we can find something that is wrong, and we'll go from there Nikki"

Nikki smiled at her doctor and nodded, brushing off an imaginary piece of fluff from her trousers as she did so, biting her lip and sighing.

"Could it be early menopause? I know I'm approaching that age..."

"A lot of women do worry about that sort of thing, but nothing else you've said to me indicates that it could be one way or the other" her doctor smiled at her as she wrote on a piece of paper to sort out a blood test for her patient "But we'll know more and we can eliminate some things when the blood results come back, but try not to worry too much"

That was easier said than done, Nikki thought to herself and she sighed and nodded, taking the paper from her doctor and smiling her thanks.

"Just book a test at the reception and I'll talk to you in a week or two when the results are back"

Nikki hated keeping things like this from Jack, but she couldn't have him worrying about her while she waited for the blood test results to come back. She knew that Jack was suspicious though, he hadn't mentioned the pregnancy test since she had thrown it away in the rubbish bin outside, and they hadn't even talked about children since then. She wanted to talk to him about the subject, but she was scared that she would start an argument with him, so she kept the entire thing to herself and decided that she would until she got some sort of answers from the doctor, if she ever did. She knew that it might just be something that had nothing to do with anything she was worrying about, her body might just be adjusting and had changed a bit and would go back to normal.

Looking at her phone on her desk when it buzzed, she frowned when she didn't recognise the number on the screen. Picking it up, she answered it and leaned back in her chair, running her fingers through her hair.

"Doctor Alexander"

"It's Doctor Andrews, Nikki"

"Oh, hi" Nikki opened her eyes and leaned forward against her desk again "I was going to phone later to see if the results were back, I didn't think you'd phone"

"Normally we don't, there's nothing to worry about but I was wondering if you could come and see me any time soon"

All sorts of things went through Nikki's head, and she was silent for a few seconds as she tried to find the words.

"It's nothing you should be too worried over, I just want to discuss the results of the blood test as soon as possible if that's okay"

"I can come in later this afternoon, around four?"

"Perfect, I'll see you then Nikki"

Nikki hung up the phone after thanking her doctor, putting her phone on her desk and burying her hands in her loose hair. She would have to speak to Jack about this some time she knew, but the thought of telling him now after keeping it from him for this long was daunting enough. She looked up when there was a knock at the door and it opened, smiling slightly when she saw Sam poke her head inside.

"You okay?"

"Yeah" Nikki nodded and picked up her pen again to continue jotting down her notes "Or I would be if I could finish these. I need to leave before three today by the way, I have an appointment at four. Jack doesn't finish until six I need you to tell him that you've sent me somewhere to do some work"

She didn't see Sam's frown when the older woman heard that, still writing her notes, but she looked up when she heard footsteps and Sam moved to sit on the chair in front of Nikki's desk.

"Are you okay?"

"It's just some blood test results" Nikki shrugged, looking up at Sam who raised an eyebrow at her and nodded.

"As long as you're okay"

"I'm..." she bit her lip and sighed, putting her pen down and shaking her head "I thought I was pregnant, turns out that I'm not, but my periods have been weird so I went to see my doctor and she wanted me to have a blood test"

"And you've not told Jack?"

"Jack found the pregnancy test box, which was my mistake, and I told him the tests were negative, but I've not told him about the blood test" Nikki informed Sam, knowing that the older woman was confused by that by the look on her face "I don't want him worrying"

"He's your partner, it's his job to worry. You worry about him"

"That's different"

"It's no different at all, Nicola"

"I hate it when you call me that, you sound like a disappointed mother"

"I think that's what you need sometimes" Sam told her with a smile and a laugh, resting her arm on the chair she was on and putting her head on her hand to look at the younger woman. She hadn't known Leo and Nikki together, but she had learned enough about them both to know that Leo would be so proud of her for her position in the lab, in his old office. "What would Leo have said?"

Nikki sighed when Sam asked her that question, she had thought about that as well, despite Leo having been gone almost ten years. Ten years that felt equal parts long and short at the same time.

"He would have told me to tell Jack, and if I didn't want him to know then he would have gone with me to the appointment and waited in the waiting room"

"And...?"

"And I would have neither told Jack, or waited for Leo to take me there" Nikki couldn't help but grin at Sam across the desk, the Professor sighing loudly and rolling her eyes as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Will you at least text me or call me to tell me you're okay?"

Nikki nodded at Sam's request, the nerves making her stomach clench painfully.

"I'm what?"

"You're pregnant"

Nikki blinked at her doctor, shaking her head and running her fingers through her hair. Of all the results that she would have thought she would be getting when she entered the room, it was definitely not that.

"That's not...how?"

Her doctor gave her a pointed look, her lips twitching up and Nikki rolled her eyes and sighed, trying to get her head around what she had just been told. How could she be pregnant? The tests were negative and she had been having her periods.

"How far along?"

"Well that's what I wanted to talk to you about urgently actually" Doctor Andrews told her patient as she looked down at the blood test results on her desk, especially at a highlighted part of it "Your hormone levels in the results indicate that you're probably around eighteen weeks"

Nikki stared at her, trying to work out if the other woman was joking or not, her eyes going down to the paper on the desk and she held her hand out for it. Doctor Andrews handed it over, leaning back in her chair and waiting for the other doctor to look it over. Nikki stared at the results on the paper, then up at the other woman in the room, and then back at the paper in her hand that was shaking slightly as she trembled.

"I took five tests, and they were all negative. I've had my periods, I've not put any weight on" Nikki swallowed the lump in her throat and shook her head, the results were wrong, she couldn't be "Okay that last bit is a lie, I've noticed that my trousers are a little bit tighter but not eighteen weeks pregnant tighter"

"Some women don't experience the symptoms that people think pregnancy comes with, I've had women that come to me and are surprised to learn that they're even further along than you are"

Nikki didn't say anything to that, she knew of course that pregnancy wasn't the same for everyone who experienced it, but she had never in her dreams thought that this would be the results she would be getting.

"You're sure?"

"I can book you in for a scan at the hospital to make sure, they can sort out dates and things for you properly there"

"I need a minute" Nikki whispered, feeling suddenly light headed at the thought of everything that was going on, closing her eyes and hearing Doctor Andrews stand up from behind her desk and walk around to her side "Fuck"

She opened her eyes, seeing the doctor looking at her with a concerned look on her face.

"Do you want me to get them to call someone for you from the reception?"

"No. No I'm fine, thank you. I just need to..." she shrugged and looked at the test results again, her iron levels were low too she casually noticed, something that was probably also to do with the pregnancy.

It then hit her. She was pregnant. With Jack's baby.

She was pregnant.

"Eighteen weeks?" Nikki whispered to herself as she stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom in just her underwear. She could see a little bit of added weight to her, she hadn't even thought much about it after the negative tests, just put it down to the way that she was eating proper meals now that her and Jack were together and it was an excuse to eat properly together, not skip meals or just put something quick and easy on. She couldn't imagine that there was a whole eighteen week fetus just under her hand that her and Jack had made together. The thought made her grin, despite still being wary of the news that the doctor had given her, and she stroked her stomach with her thumb and hummed. "Your dad is going to be so shocked"

She turned when she heard the door of her flat open and then close, Jack calling out her name. Nikki felt the nerves grow but she couldn't keep the smile from her face as she quickly threw on some clothes and made her way down to greet him, kissing him softly.

"You're late, I thought you were going straight back to yours at this rate"

Jack smiled, moving his hand out from behind his back and showing Nikki the bunch of flowers he had got for her on his way from work to here, leaning down to kiss her.

"For you, my darlin'"

"Jack, thank you, you didn't have to" Nikki grinned as she took the bunch of flowers from his hand, smiling when he leaned down again to kiss her on the cheek.

"I know you've not been feeling great lately, and yes I know you've tried to hide it from me but I know you, Doctor Alexander"

Nikki leaned up to kiss him properly on the lips, running her fingers of her free hand through his hair and then moving away to walk down the hallway towards the kitchen area, nerves starting to get to her again.

"Are you feeling better now?"

"I.." Nikki trailed off, putting the bunch of flowers down on the kitchen counter so she could go and find a vase to put them in, turning to look at her boyfriend who leaned on the counter and smiled at her "I've been to see the doctor"

Jack frowned, she hadn't told him she was planning to go, let alone that she already had.

"What about?"

"Well I went last week and I got a blood test done, I got the results today" she told him, pushing the copy of the test results over to him and biting her lip nervously, wondering what he would say now that it was actually a reality. She watched as Jack unfolded the paper, looking over the words and numbers on the page and then glancing up at her, raising an eyebrow.

"I know I'm brilliant, but I'm not a doctor..."

"I'm pregnant"

Jack had not expected those words to come out of Nikki's mouth at all, especially after what had happened a few weeks before with the tests. He looked back down at the paper, then back at Nikki, seeing her eyes glassy with tears. He swallowed the lump in his throat, pushing away from the counter to quickly wrap her in his arms, stroking her hair with one hand and putting his other on her back, kissing her head and sniffing as his throat closed up slightly, hearing a soft sob come from her that made the tears slip down his cheeks.

"You are? But the tests..."

"I couldn't believe it either, I thought..I thought it was going to be..I don't know what I thought but.." Nikki sniffed and leaned back to look at his face, a happy sob coming from her as she saw the tears on his cheeks too "Jack I'm..the doctor says that I'm eighteen weeks"

"Eighteen weeks?!" Jack gently moved her away from him, looking her up and down and shaking his head "No way are you eighteen weeks, darlin', there's nothing of you"

"It's possible, some people just don't show until a lot later, and I've put on a bit of weight but not a lot and I..."

"You still get your periods?"

"But they've been lighter, and some people do bleed still during pregnancy, that's why some people don't know they're pregnant until they're actually in labour" Nikki told him, putting her hands on his cheeks and stroking them with her thumbs, a few more tears falling down her own cheeks as a wide grin formed on Jack's "I should have connected all the dots, some doctor I am"

"To be fair to you, you do only deal with dead bodies" Jack pointed out, turning his head to kiss her palm gently, feeling like his heart was going to burst out of his chest. Of all the news Nikki could have given him, this was the one he was least expecting. "A baby, Nikki"

"A baby" Nikki nodded and snuggled her head into his chest, closing her eyes and sighing softly "I have a scan in two days, Doctor Andrews managed to get me in quickly considering the circumstances so they can make sure we're both okay and so they can sort out dates and things"

"I'm coming with you"

"We'll have to tell Sam, she won't let us both have that time off so soon" Nikki whispered, feeling him kiss the top of her head again, stroking her loose hair gently and hearing him hum.

"We can get to that tomorrow, for now let us just enjoy this news for ourselves"

Jack held her close, leaning down to rest their heads together and unable to keep the smile away from his face. They were going to have a baby together.

"Can you believe that there is a baby in there" Jack told Nikki as they sat on the couch together a few days later, Jack's arm curled around her back with his hand resting on her belly, their string of scan photos in his other hand "A whole baby"

"I wasn't thinking there was half a baby" Nikki responded without opening her eyes, her head resting on his chest, his hand on her stomach was so warm and comforting, and the exhaustion of the past few days of worry had caught up with her finally. "You know something?"

"What?" he asked, kissing her head and smiling, something he couldn't stop himself from doing every time he thought about her and the baby.

"I was wondering how you manage to be so big, and yet this baby managed to hide from us for this long"

"Hmm, she's going to be a shorty, just like her ma"

"Shut up" Nikki opened her eyes and slapped his stomach gently, looking up at him and smiling as he grinned cheekily down at her, pressing a kiss to her forehead and then to her lips "Our baby, Jack"

"Our baby" he breathed, resting their foreheads together and unable to keep the smile from his face.

Everything had fallen perfectly into place, and they were both so happy for it.