Title: When The Time is Right
Author: TheDreamyOne
Rating: PG-13
Type: Drama/angst/romance
Summary: (Companion fic to "Murder U" by Ardeth Saunders) While dealing with a serious situation in his brother's life, Farron eventually learns he's about to have a couple issues of his own to deal with.
Disclaimer: UC:Undercover and its characters belong to NBC (?) and Shane Salerno. Farron, Kara, Loralei, Rachel, and Tristan Donovan belong to Ardeth Saunders and are used by permission. No infringements intended.
A/N: This piece takes place in the same time line as "Murder U" and gives insight to what was taking place in Farron and Kara's lives while things were upside down in Frank and Loralei's.
***
Flipping through an old magazine that she had absently picked up, she looked at the pages with unseeing eyes. She was frightened, more frightened than she had ever been in her life. She had been feeling out of sorts for about a month now, and had no clue as to what was happening to her. She didn't let on anything was bothering her when she was with Farron, afraid she would worry him unnecessarily. It hadn't been too hard to hide her fears from him, since he hadn't been around during any of the odd spells she experienced.
She sighed and glanced around the waiting room. It was filled to capacity with the sick and injured. She didn't like doctor's offices. Who did, for that matter? She closed the magazine and plopped it back on the table in front of her. It caused a loud thud and several people turned in her direction. With an apologetic smile, she sat back in her chair and focused her attention on her fingernails. One thing you could always count on in a doctor's office was waiting.
"Mrs. Donovan?" a nurse called from the doorway.
Kara had been lost in thought and the name slipped by. Only married three months, she was still unused to being called by that name.
"Kara Donovan?" the nurse called again.
Kara stood quickly; at once embarrassed she had not recognized her own name being called. She was glad Farron wasn't with her to witness that. She was glad he wasn't with her for more reasons than that, because she did not want him worrying about her. He had enough to deal with, constantly trying to overcome his past.
She went through the normal pre-exam rituals, height, weight, and blood pressure. Kara wrinkled her nose up at the nurse when she commented that she had put on about ten pounds since her last visit. Hell, she was surprised it wasn't more, considering all the rich foods she and Farron had devoured while on their honeymoon in Italy.
Two weeks spent doing the tourist thing – Trevi Fountain, Vatican, etc. That was during the brief moments they came up for air. Most of their time was spent on the beaches of Naples when they weren't exploring each other in their hotel room. She had made the comment that with the time they spent in bed, they might as well have stayed at the apartment. His response had been that they couldn't make love on the beaches of Italy while in their apartment. Well, he had been right about that.
The nurse led her to an examination room and ordered her to strip down and put on the paper robe that lay on the table. After she left, Kara quickly shed her clothing and slid the robe on with the opening in the back, as the nurse had indicated. She hopped up onto the table and covered her legs with the paper 'sheet' she was given. A shiver crawled over her body when the cold air hit the exposed skin of her back. Another reason to hate doctor's offices – the annoying little robes they give you to cover yourself.
"Hello, Kara," Doctor Berger greeted her upon entering the small exam room. "Haven't seen you in awhile, dear. How have you been?"
She smiled bleakly at her lifelong doctor. His age was showing, she figured him to be about sixty now. His thick tuft of white hair was unruly and stuck up in several places. She always thought he was handsome in an odd way, even as old as he was. "Up until recently, just fine, Doc."
He instructed her to look straight ahead while he checked her pupils. "What's been happening?"
"I've blacked out a few times in the last two weeks. Just woke up on the floor. Except this morning...it was in the shower." She sucked in a startled breath when he placed his stethoscope to her back. At his command, she breathed deeply for him, exhaling when he indicated she should. "Dizzy a lot and have recently lost my appetite."
"Hmm...and how is that husband of yours treating you?" He asked absently, placing the stethoscope over her heart.
"Farron treats me like gold, Doc."
"What does he think of all this? It could be stress from a new marriage. Or...you still working for the gallery?"
Kara shrugged. "Not much since the wedding. And Farron doesn't know about this. I wanted to see you first."
"I see. Kara, have you kept track of your menstrual cycle?" he asked as he jotted notes in her file.
"Yes, they're on schedule," she answered, swinging her legs nervously. "Believe me, I thought I could be pregnant. But I haven't missed a period."
Doctor Berger smiled warmly and patted her shoulder. "Darlin', that doesn't always mean you aren't pregnant. Many women go through the first several months of pregnancy while still having their monthly flow. It's not unusual."
Kara's eyes widened. "I...had no idea. I never bothered to take an over-the-counter pregnancy test because of that."
He nodded and reached for the door. "Go ahead and get dressed. I've ordered blood work for you. The nurse will take you to the lab once you're dressed. I'll call you as soon as I have the results."
"How long will that be?" she asked, still stunned by what the doctor had told her.
"I promise, Kara, I'll be calling you tomorrow as soon as the results are back," he assured her with a smile. "Go ahead and get dressed. I'll talk to you soon."
She watched him leave and sat for several minutes before she was able to get her limbs to respond to her brain's commands to move. Pregnant? Having Farron's child was something she had thought about for some time, but never dreamt it would happen so quickly. After all, she was taking birth control. Farron had never brought up the subject of having children, and neither had she. Wasn't this too soon in their marriage? What if he wasn't ready for a child?
She groaned audibly as she slipped off the table and reached for her clothing. Things were moving in slow motion, everything except her thoughts, that is. They were spinning in her mind like one of those playground merry-go-rounds and she wondered if she could stop it so she could get off. She was growing dizzy by the things spinning around in her head, and suddenly found that amusing. Right up until the time her face met the examination room floor.
***
Kara drove around for a while, not really having an idea where she was going until she wound up at the public library. She wandered through the stacks after asking the librarian for assistance on locating books about first time pregnancy. That thought, only hours old, continued to boggle her mind. She absently covered her abdomen with her hand after pulling down a volume the librarian recommended.
Wandering over to a nearby table, she sat down with her book and began to read about the first trimester of pregnancy. She wondered how far along she was and quickly admonished herself. There was no proof yet that she was pregnant. She sighed heavily; she might very well be setting herself up for a lot of heartache. She closed the book and pushed away from the table. She decided to wait for the doctor's phone call before she made herself any crazier than she already was.
"Hey. Fancy meeting you here."
Kara heard the familiar voice of her sister-in-law and looked up quickly. She hugged the book to her, careful to cover the title. Until she was sure that being pregnant was what was causing her health problems, she didn't want to take the chance of anyone else knowing her suspicions. Well, the doctor's suspicions. She didn't want to get her hopes up enough to say they were her own suspicions. If word got back to Farron in any way, shape, or form before she found out for sure, she would feel even lower if it turned out not to be true. Especially if he was happy about the news. Would he be?
"Loralei," she acknowledged, slightly flustered. "Wha-what are you doing here?"
Loralei smiled amusedly. "I could ask you the same thing." She nodded toward the book Kara held. "What're you reading up on?"
"Mmm...just checking on authenticity of a painting for a friend," Kara lied and hoped it was convincing. "You?"
"Starting that new teaching job at Mord, you know? Had a few things I wanted to brush up on and the college library doesn't have the book I need." Loralei frowned slightly as she watched Kara fidget and look away as if she wanted to escape. "Are you okay, Kara?"
"Uh-huh...fine...just fine." She shuffled her feet slightly, wishing she could just fade away. She knew if she stood talking to Loralei for too long, she would spill what was going on. "I hate to say this, but I really need to run. I have a few errands to run and I promised Farron I would meet him and a few of his friends for dinner." Kara, you're turning into such a liar! After a brief goodbye, she left Loralei quickly. She imagined her new sister-in-law thought she was losing her mind.
***
Farron heard the apartment door open and watched as Kara entered carrying a bag of take-out from one of their favorite Italian restaurants. He got up from the couch and came up behind her, circling his arms around her waist and kissing her neck tenderly. "What's for dinner, baby?"
"Baby?" Kara squeaked. Did he ask about a baby? Her mind had been elsewhere when he spoke and she hadn't really heard what he said.
"You know, dinner? Food?" he teased, hugging her tightly. "Missed you today."
Kara smiled and began to relax a little. If she kept this up, she was going to go out of her mind. She turned in his embrace and wound her arms around his neck. "Missed you, too, darling Farron." When he bent his head to capture her mouth in a fiery kiss, she sank her fingers into his long, silky black locks.
Farron pulled back reluctantly and cupped her face tenderly in his hands. "Where'd you disappear to today?" He had called the house and her cell phone and either got the answering machine or her voicemail. He had wanted to meet with her to discuss something that came up suddenly with work. He had been contacted by Texas DEA and asked for his assistance in establishing the target areas for an upcoming roadblock in a venture they were undertaking to discourage drug trafficking on their highways.
"I just had some errands to run. No big deal," she explained elusively.
Farron's brow shot up, an odd habit he had picked up in the last several months. He almost chuckled thinking about it. Maybe a little too much time spent with his twin. "No big deal," he repeated. He smiled a little and kissed her forehead. "You never listen to your voicemail?"
Shit! She had forgotten all about her cell phone. She had turned it off while at the doctor's office and never turned it back on. "I turned it off earlier and forgot all about it. Sorry, Farron."
He hugged her tightly before releasing her just when his stomach growled, announcing its hunger. "Naw, don't apologize. I got a little worried about you when you didn't answer. " He looked over her shoulder to the food on the counter. "Smells good...what did you bring me?"
Kara laughed and slapped his arm playfully. "You have your choice. Eggplant Parmesan or Lasagna." She turned back toward the counter, Farron's arms still encircling her waist.
He brought his lips to her ear. "And for dessert?"
Kara felt his hands slide down to her hips and pull her snugly against him. She moaned softly. The things he could do to her with just the slightest of touches. "You keep that up, baby, and we'll skip right to dessert."
Farron's hands moved to hers and took the containers from her and placed them back on the counter. "We can reheat this, I think," he insisted, bending slightly to lift her into his arms, his hunger for food completely forgotten.
"You're so bad," Kara said with a grin. She clung to his shoulders while he carried her off to their bed.
"Would you want me any other way?" he asked teasingly as he lowered her to the mattress.
"I want you every way possible," she admitted sappily as he lay beside her.
"Shel?"
"Hmmm?" she responded as he began nuzzling her neck.
"I love you."
When he pulled back far enough to look into her eyes, she reached up and slid her fingers into his hair, moving it away from his face. When he was in a naughty mood, he commanded and she obeyed. Nothing overly kinky, just sensual torture they both enjoyed. When he was feeling vulnerable, he was so tender and in tune to her emotions it almost made her cry. "And I love you, my darling Farron." No more words were needed as they showed each other how deeply their love for each other ran.
***
To be contintued...