JUNE 2021, SEATTLE

It was already morning when Max waltzed into her apartment, a smile on her lips. She'd spent a memorable night with Alec, as usual, and had only just left his place. She really ought to leave some of her stuff there. Over the last few months she'd been with him nearly every night, and she generally made it back home with just enough time to shower and change before work. Original Cindy was up and eating breakfast when Max arrived. Max grinned at her.

OC cocked one eyebrow and said "You just getting home now, boo?" Max shrugged and poured herself a cup of coffee. "That's some wild monkey lovin you two got going on." 

Max laughed. "Well they did give us greater stamina you know," she said teasingly.

OC made a face and said "It is way too early in the morning for the gory details." She handed Max a plate of toast. "Here boo, you gotta keep your strength up."

Max wrinkled her nose at the smell of food and took one tentative bite of her breakfast. She gagged and dashed for the bathroom. She came back to the kitchen a few minutes later, rubbing her lips to remove the unpleasant taste. "Must've ate something that disagrees with me." 

OC looked at her curiously and said, "Boo, you threw up yesterday too. Maybe you ain't sick."

Max went pale and stared at her in disbelief. Instinctively her hands moved to cover her lower abdomen. "Oh God I can't be," she whispered.  "What do I do?" 

"You gotta find out for sure," OC said reasonably. 

"But I can't go to a hospital!" Max protested.

"Go see Logan's doc then."

"Sam's a neurosurgeon. I doubt he knows much about babies…But maybe Dr. Shankar can help me. At least she won't be shocked by my lab results." 

"You gonna tell Alec?"

"No! Not yet. Not till I know for certain." 

OC hugged Max. "I can come with," she offered. 

Max shook her head. "That's ok. I'll be fine." 

Max was in a fog all day. She delivered every package Normal handed her without a single sarcastic comment. At first Normal was impressed, but as the day wore on he became suspicious and by mid-afternoon he was lecturing her on insubordination at every opportunity. She didn't even notice he was yelling at her. All her energy and concentration was focused on trying to sense if her body felt any different. The same three questions whirled around and around her tired brain – what kind of mother would she be? What would Alec think? What would the baby's DNA be like?

She knocked off work as soon as she reasonably could without getting fired and headed for the clinic. Fortunately, Dr Shankar was on duty. "Max," she exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here? Has the virus…"

"It's not Logan. It's me. I need to see you. Today. Please, it's really important," Max pleaded.

Dr Shankar gave her a puzzled look. She couldn't imagine why Max would need a doctor – she was never sick, and she didn't look wounded. "Ok.  Give me 20 minutes.  I'll squeeze you in."

Max sighed in relief. Not knowing was unendurable. She paced the waiting room, too nervous to sit.  Finally Dr Shankar summoned her and escorted her to an empty exam room. Max perched on the edge of the exam table. She took a deep breath and said "I, um, I think I might be pregnant."

"Ahh, that explains it. Ok, well, I'll can take some blood and run a test. But I'll have to do it after hours, so I won't be able to let you know until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Max said, her heart sinking. She wasn't sure she could wait that long without jumping out of her skin.

"The only way to get it done faster is to let a lab tech run the test." Max nodded glumly and pushed up her sleeve to let Dr Shankar draw a blood sample. When she was finished she patted Max on the shoulder and said, "I know it's hard, but try and get some rest."

But Max knew sleep would be impossible. She called Alec and blew off their date, claiming OC had an urgent female situation and needed company. He was disappointed but laughed it off. Max spent the night roaming the streets on her Ninja. The monotony of the ride soothed her nerves. Long after midnight she passed Fogel Towers. A light was still burning in Logan's penthouse. There was a time when she would have dropped by even if the lights were out, on the off chance that Logan was still awake. But it had been months since she'd done that, and tonight certainly wasn't the time to start again. She looked away and sped off.

Dr Shankar called Jam Pony shortly after 9 the next morning. Max pounced on the phone, and answered before the first ring had faded away. "I've got your results. You were right. You're pregnant."

"Oh God," Max said and gasped for air. The doctor's voice droned on in her ear but the words made no sense to Max. "I'd like to schedule an appointment for an ultrasound. We need to see how far along you are. Also, I'd like to run some tests on the baby, see how it's doing…Max? Max, are you still there?"

"I have to call you back." Max hung up on her and turned to look at Alec. He was perched on the edge of Normal's desk. He grinned and winked at her. Max closed her eyes. She wasn't sure how Alec would take the news, but she didn't think he'd be too happy about it. A baby didn't exactly fit into his lifestyle. She took a deep breath and headed over to him before she could lose her nerve. Grabbing his arm she pulled him to his feet and dragged him into the empty girls' change room.

Once inside Alec wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, murmuring "What's up, Max? You in the mood for a quickie?"

Max pushed herself from his grasp. "Alec!" she said, impatiently. He looked at her warily and waited for her to speak.

Max looked down at her shoes, and said slowly "I just got off the phone with Dr Shankar. It turns out I'm…pregnant."

The word seemed to echo through the room. Alec stared at her in silence for several seconds. She looked up at him nervously, expecting him to storm out. Instead he grinned and took her in his arms and spun, whirling her around and around. Then he set her gently on her feet, kissed her forehead and said, "I hope it's a girl who looks just like her momma!"

"You're not upset," Max said in wonder.

"Upset?" Alec held her at arms length and studied her face. "Max, you didn't seriously think I'd walk away from you? I may be an irresponsible jackass, but I'm not that big of a jerk. Besides, I love you. I go where you go."

Max grinned shakily. "I'm sorry. I'm just scared." 

"Don't worry so much. We'll figure it out," he answered. She nestled back into his embrace and tucked her head under his chin, reassured by the warmth of his arms around her.

----*----

It was Saturday night at Crash and the place was jammed. Original Cindy and Sketchy were throwing an impromptu party for Max and Alec. Sketchy was at the bar getting another pitcher of beer when Asha showed up. She squeezed in beside him and leaned across the bar to place her order. Sketchy eyed her tight top appreciatively. "Hey, I know you! It's um, um…" he snapped his fingers several times until the memory clicked into place, "…Asha, right? You're friends with Alec."

"Well, sorta." She looked at Sketchy out of the corner of her eyes. She vaguely recalled seeing him hanging out with Alec.

From across the room Original Cindy spotted Sketchy hitting up Asha. "Shit!" she swore under her breath. "This is not good." Sketchy never knew when to keep his mouth shut. She hurried to intercept before Sketchy could say anything to Asha about Max's condition.

Sketchy grinned lecherously at Asha. "You should definitely join the party."

"Oh, yeah? What party?" She followed his gaze across the crowded room. One of the Jam Pony messengers had his glass raised in a toast to Max and Alec. "I hope you learned your lesson, Alec," he shouted. "Next time, practice safe sex!" The group burst out laughing. Alec grinned and nuzzled Max's neck.

Asha grabbed Sketchy's arm. "What's going on?" she demanded.

"Alec knocked up Max."

"What?!" she sputtered in disbelief. "Max is pregnant?"

Original Cindy reached the bar in time to hear Sketchy say, "Yeah, didn't you know?" She smacked Sketchy hard on the back of his head. "Fool!" she said angrily.

"Ow," he complained, rubbing his head. "What the hell was that for?"

OC put her hands on her hips and glared at him. Sketchy looked across the room at Max and Alec and then over at Asha. "Ohh," he said. "Oops."

"Yeah, oops! You moron." OC raised her hand to hit him again but Sketchy ducked out of her reach. Grabbing the beer he slunk across the room.

Asha stared hard at OC "Does Logan know?"

Original Cindy crossed her arms and stared back. "Boo ain't told him yet.  It's complicated, remember?"

"He'll figure it out when she starts showing."

"Max'll tell him when she's ready."

"Well she better tell him soon." Asha pushed past OC and stormed out of the bar, the threat unspoken but implicit. 

----*----

Monday after work Max reluctantly picked the lock on Logan's door and let herself into his apartment. As hard as it was for her to tell him that she was carrying Alec's baby, she knew he had to hear it from her first. It would be unbearable for him to learn about it from Asha.

Logan looked up in surprise at the sound of her footsteps. "Hey you," he said, grinning in delight at the sight of her. His heart raced. This was the first time she'd been by in months. Maybe it was a sign, maybe she'd finally come to her senses and dumped that reckless bastard.

"Hey," she said quietly. She bit her lip nervously. "Look, there's something important I need to tell you. And I've spent the whole day trying to figure out what to say."

Logan's smile faded. "That sound ominous," he said. He walked past her into the kitchen and stood at the sink with his back to her.

Max followed him and stood in the doorway of the kitchen. She took her hands out of her pockets and hugged her ribs. "I'm, uh..."  She closed her eyes and said softly, "I'm pregnant."

Logan gripped the edge of the sink with both hands until his knuckles turned white. "What?"

Max winced at the coldness in his tone. "I'm pregnant."

Logan was silent for a long time. Nervously Max said, "Logan, say something." Finally she heard him whisper, "Get out."

"Logan…" she said despairingly.

Logan spun around, his face contorted with rage. "Get out!" he yelled, and flung one of the dirty glasses from the sink at her head. Instinctively Max ducked and it shattered against the wall. She bolted from the room.

----*----

Late that afternoon Logan stormed into Jam Pony, furious and desperate to lash out. He ignored Normal's protests about "employees only" and headed straight for the lockers where Alec was joking around with Sketchy. Without a word Logan hauled back and punched Alec in the face. "You bastard!" Logan shouted. "You had no right!" He panted in fury, waiting for Alec to attack and give him a reason to hit him again, completely forgetting he didn't stand a chance in a fight with the transgenic.

Alec glared at Logan and put the back of his hand to his nose – he was bleeding. He deliberately made no move to retaliate, or even raise his guard. "She's not your property, Logan. I didn't force her to pick me over you. She did that all on her own. Maybe she just got tired of you," he taunted. 

Logan grimaced in rage and swung again, but Alec blocked him easily. He gripped Logan's arm painfully and said through gritted teeth, "Sorry, one free punch is all you get. And I'm not gonna fight you, cuz that would hardly be fair."

"She's only with you because of the virus!" Logan hissed at him.

Alec smirked. "Hey, whatever you gotta tell yourself." Logan shuddered and tore himself from Alec's grip. He stared at Alec in hate and pain and then turned and stomped out.

"Whoa, dude," Sketchy said watching Logan leave. "I don't know what he's so bent about. It's not like he and Max were a thing. I mean, as far as I know they never actually did it."

Alec gave him a cross look. "Shut up, Sketch. Believe it or not, I actually feel bad about this. Logan's a decent guy and I screwed him."

"Yeah, well, all's fair in love and sex my man." Sketchy gave Alec a mock punch to the shoulder. Alec shrugged him off and sat on the bench, pressing his hand to his nose.

Max arrived at Jam Pony from a hot run in time to see Logan throw himself into his Aztec and peel out. She'd never seen him so furious. With a sinking feeling she dashed into Jam Pony and scanned the room for Alec. She could see the blood on Alec's face from across the room. "What the hell happened?" she demanded as she rushed over.

"Moneybags decked Alec," Sketchy answered.

Alec just shrugged and said "It was only fair to give him a free shot.  Hell, I did ruin his life."

Max tugged Alec's hand away from his face. "Let me see," she said.

Gently Alec caught her hand in his and said, "Max, I'm fine. The bleeding's already stopped. Don't worry about it. He's just pissed. I would be too."

"This is all my fault," Max moaned. 

Alec reached up and pulled Max onto his lap. "No it's not," he insisted. "It takes two to make a baby, remember." Laying one hand over her stomach he said, "Logan'll get over it. And everything else will be ok.  I promise."