Chapter one

Chapter 6

Ethaniel looked at Sloan and said, "Hold it there mr. Sloan. No need to get all excited. We were just out with some friends."

Abi and Ben just stood there smiling. Abi was about to confess about where they had gone, but it seemed that Ethaniel had other ideas. She looked at him smiling then turned to face Sloan.

"Just as he said, we went out with some friends." She was looking at him for a minute then asked, "Why are so anxious to throw exusations at me William?"

"I'm not throwing any exusations, yet. I don't know why you insist on lying to me. If you went out with friends as you say, then why did you sneak out of the house at such an ungodly hour? And where is the scanner you left with?"

Abi was getting a little angry, "You dare follow me in my own home?" she asked. "And yes we had a scanner when we left, but why we had it is none of your buisness. Now it's past 2am, there are people and children sleeping in this house and I don't wanna wake them." She looked at Ethaniel and said "Good night," then pulled on Ben's hand indicating she wants to go upstairs. "Good night William, We'll see you in the morning. You better get some sleep if you're gonna "grill" us tomorrow," she said sarcastically.

Sloan looked at the three as they went up the stairs to their rooms. He was now more sure that something is going on, and he wasn't gonna leave untill he finds out what it is.

Abi was thankfull they decided to keep their findings in the car and not bring them in with them. Then they would have had no choice but to tell Sloan the truth. She hated having to lie to him, but she felt that at the moment, it is better to do so.

On the way upstairs Abi suddenly started to feel sick. She was nauseated and felt her stomach turning upside down. She squeezed Ben's arm and said "Ben, I'm not feeling very well, in fact I think I'm gonna be sick." She let go of his arm and ran the rest of the stairs into her room as fast as she could. She barely made it to the bathroom, falling down on her knees before the toilet and emptied the content of her stomach in it.

Both Ben and Ethaniel ran after her. Ben walked into the bathroom taking a small towel wetting it with cold water then sat on his knees behind her. He rubbed her back slightly trying to comfort her because she was still coughing and shaking. She leaned back against him and he gently cleaned her face with the wet towel. Ethaniel got into the bathroom with a glass of water, which she drank thankfully.

"Abi, are you ok? You want me to call a Dr.?" asked Ethaniel.

"No, I'm fine," she answered. "I think the stress of having this man here and his suspicions, innuendoes, and the nerve of him following us in our home, it just got to me. I'll be ok."

Ben was still sitting on the bathroom floor behind her and she laid her head against his chest. He then stood up picked her of the floor and gently laid her on the bed. He put a hand on Ethaniel's shoulder saying, "We'll be ok dear friend. Go get some sleep, cause you will be facing this man as well tomorrow."

Ethaniel left the room and Ben sat down on the bed next to his wife. "Abi, are you sure you're ok? Is there anything I can get or do for you?"

"No love, I just need to sleep. Will you just hold on to me?" She felt very week, so he helped her get undressed put her under the covers, then got undressed as well and laid down behind her, wrapping his warm strong arms around her and so they fell asleep.

6AM

Abi woke up feeling Ben's loving arms still around her. He held on to her all night long, comforting her when she woke up feeling sick again, wiping her face with the wet towel and rubbing her back again for support.

She got out of his embrace and bed, and headed for the shower. She took a small box out of her dresser and took it in with her to the bathroom. She has decided to give up working out this morning. Her body was still aching. It the bath, she followed the instructions on that pregnancy test kit she brought and then entered the shower. When she got out of the shower she looked at the result. Then threw the kit away.

When she left the shower she sat at her desk and wrote notes to the rest of the house members asking them not to inform Sloan of Ethaniel, Ben and her whereabouts last night. She left the room and shoved the note under each one's door, hoping they will not miss it, then went downstairs to the kitchen to get some coffee.

She turned on the coffee machine and the electric kettle, in case someone will want tea. A few minutes after she got in the kitchen, the door opened. Abi turned to look who it is and to her surprise it was Kristin.

"Mornin' Abi. May I come in?" she asked.

"Of course Kristin, come in. Would you like some coffee?" Asked Abi.

"I'd love some."

Abi purred her some coffee from the machine's brew. "Care for some cream with that?" she asked.

"Yes please," said Kristin.

"Did you sleep ok?" asked Abi.

"Yes, thanks I did. I wasn't expecting to find anyone here so soon. And frankly I did not expect you to be so friendly. I was expecting some hostility. Especially after all Phillip told me about what has happened."

"Not at all. It's not your fault. If anything the only person I do resent is Sloan. I hate it when… forget it," Abi was gonna say she hates it when people follow her and make innuendo's about her in her own home, but she kept those thoughts to her self. And a good thing I did she thought as she saw Sloan come in the kitchen.

"Good morning William. Did you sleep well?" she asked him.

"Yes. Thank you Abigail. May I have some tea please?"

"Sure," said Abi and made a pot of tea. She purred him some. She also put sugar on the table in case someone wants it.

The atmosphere in the kitchen became a little tense after Sloan's entrance, but as soon as the other guys came down and children started filling the kitchen with demands, Abi left with her coffee mug to her office.

Kristin followed her. "I hope you don't mind. I can't stand all this noise." She said.

"No at all. Come in my office we can talk in there. Where is Sloan?"

"He said he was gonna have his tea in the living room until we can get started with the interviews. What do you have in mind Abi?" asked Kristin curiously, wondering what Abi would want to talk to her about.

"Nothing much, I just wanted to get to know you a little better. Don't worry. I will not try to influence you in any way. I promise not to talk about the things you are here to question. So do you and Phillip know each other for a long time?" asked Abi.

"Actually yes we do. We met in Boston. He had a small parish there and from time to time he was checking in with the legacy. We spent a lot of time together. He is a very kind sensitive man. Why do you ask?" wondered Kristin.

"Well, I was wondering if maybe you could help me. Help me help Phillip. He is in turmoil at the moment. He has doubts and I'm not sure I can help him, though I promised him I'll do all I can. I was actually hoping that if you have time, after this audit is done, to stay here and maybe help him. He seems to be connected to you. And maybe a friend will help him more then a stranger like me."

"Well actually I promised Derek I'll come to San Francisco and start settling down in there, but I suppose I can stay for a while," she said.

"You know my father? That's no problem. I'll call him and tell him I need your help. You're moving from Boston to SF? Why?" asked Abi.

"My brother," she said. "He lived in Boston as I did, and now that he is dead, I can't stay there. The memories, it's just too hard. I figured San Francisco is a good a place as any to start fresh."

"He died in Boston," stated Abi, "I understand," she said to Kristin and took another sip of her coffee.

Meanwhile upstairs

Ben stretched out feeling Abi was no longer beside him. He got out of bed into the shower. He was brushing his teeth when the box in the garbage can caught his eye. A pregnancy test kit. He frowned. Probably a false alarm or Abi wouldn't have thrown the results a way. He wondered, according to the tests done Abi was now a healthy young woman and they were making love almost every night for nearly 6 weeksnow so she should have been pregnant by now. Maybe the tension is too much. I need to get her out of this house for a while. We need to go on a proper honeymoon. He finished getting dressed and went down for his own morning coffee. When he got in the kitchen, the last of the children were leaving for school accompanied by their parents. He purred himself some coffee and went to look for Abi in her office. He heard voices from inside and wondered if he should come in or not. He knocked on the door hearing Abi saying, "Come in."

Ben walked in seeing Kristin sitting with Abi. "Morning," he told her then looked over at his wife. "Good morning sweetie. How do you feel?" he asked.

"I'm ok Ben, really. Don't worry."

"Kristin, I would like to talk to Abi in private for a minute, do you mind?"

"Not at all. I'll be in the living room with Sloan," she said.

Abi smiled at Kristin as she left the room. "So Mr. Adler, what do you have on mind?"

"I saw the box in the garbage can and I was wondering. Are you…?" he stopped looking into her eyes. What he saw made his heart skip a beat. She smiled at him tenderly and joy lit up her face.

"Yes, I am," she said grinning.

Ben picked her up from the chair holding her tight in his arms swinging her around the room. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Well, the test says I am, but I have to go to the Doctor to make sure. But Yes, I can feel it, I am. Well, we are going to have a baby."

Ben was thrilled. It's all he ever wanted, to marry Abi and to have children with her. The woman he always knew was the love of his life.

"Ben, put me down honey. You are making me dizzy," she said to him as he was still swinging around the room with her in his arms.

He immediately stopped and put her down. "Sorry my love," he said grinning as well.

Abi looked at her watch, "Hey, it's 8am, aren't you supposed to go to work?" she asked him.

"You trying to get rid of me so soon?" he teased.

"No, but if there is one I'm trying to get rid of is Sloan. The sooner we get started the sooner he'll be out of here. And then you can finally take me on that honeymoon you promised."

"Ok, I'm outta here," he said. "Try not to let him get to you too much. I'll see you tonight." He was about to leave the room, when he turned back to her not noticing she followed him to the door and was standing right behind him. He almost knocked her over, so he grabbed her in his arms. He then lowered his head his lips meeting hers in a sweet soft kiss. "Have I told you today that I love you?" he asked.

She smiled back, kissing him now, "Yes, you just did, and I love you too," she replied. She hesitated for a minute but then she asked, "Ben, please let's not tell anyone just yet. At least until we know for sure. I don't want anyone to know just yet."

"Ok, I won't say anything until you want me to," he answered, kissed her again and left.

She went to see if all her members have arrived from their errands. They were all in the control room working on the box they got from the museum. She went in and talked with them for a while making sure everyone had a good night sleep with no more of the dreams they mentioned. They all said they are ok, and they even looked less edgy then the day before, so Abi went looking for Sloan and Kristin.

Minutes earlier

Sloan and Kristin were both sitting in the living room talking; Sloan looked at her and said, "The only reason you are here is to assist me if I should need help. I don't want you to interfere in any way. All you have to do for now is listen and write comments on the interviews being held. You will have time to ask questions when I say so."

Kristin looked at him and nodded in agreement. She hated being put in this position but he was the boss.

She sat there quietly when she saw Abi come in. "Do you want to get started?" Abi asked them both.

"Yes, please. May we use your office?" asked Sloan.

"Sure, help yourselves. Whom do you wanna talk to first?" she asked.

Sloan looked at the files he was holding, "Esther," he said. "Kindly send her to your office."

He knew Eti was Abi's best friend and has known her since childhood. Therefor he expected her to be the hardest person to get to.

Abi went back to the control room and asked Eti to go meet the two auditors in her office, while she sat with her other members trying to help them solve the mystery of the box and get their minds of the interviews they are about to go through.

As soon as Eti entered Abi's office Sloan greeted her standing up and said, "Please sit down."

She sat opposite him and Kristin. She felt a little anxious. She heard how sneaky this man can be and was terrified she might slip something that might hurt Abi.