Mike climbed in his car and drove over to Helen and Ellenor's apartment. He'd been planning on waiting until morning to try to find her but the idea of her driving around angry was more than he could bear. He parked on the street and ran up the two flights of stairs to knock on the door. Ellenor opened it and from the look of things, Mike had interrupted her and Matt.

Mike blushed, embarrassed. "Can I talk to Helen?"

Ellenor looked at Mike like he was crazy. "I thought Helen was with you."

Mike sighed. "We had a fight when she told me about the baby," he said, figuring that Ellenor knew about the baby.

Ellenor stared at Mike in shock. "The baby?" she asked incredulously, then said softly, "Well, that explains it."

"I thought you knew," he said weakly. Great, now Helen was going to be more upset because he'd told Ellenor. Ellenor shook her head. "She's not here though," Mike asked, clarifying.

Ellenor shook her head, then her eyebrows drew together. "What did you fight about," she asked suspiciously.

"I asked her to marry me," Mike answered.

Ellenor's jaw dropped as Mike left. He drove through the parking garage to see if Helen's car was in her spot, but it wasn't. Thinking, he drove by Bobby and Lindsay's apartment, hoping that she'd gone there. Her car wasn't there though, and he drove by the courthouse wondering if she'd gone into work. When that didn't help, he drove by Richard's grave. It was morbid, but when she was upset, Helen tended to go there and talk to Richard about it. The graveyard was empty though and Mike left, out of ideas.

He drove back to his apartment and flopped into bed feeling like he'd failed. He wished that he knew what he'd said wrong, why she was mad. If she didn't want to marry him, she could have just said no. What had happened? Mike stared at the ceiling, hoping that wherever Helen was, she was safe.

Helen woke up the next morning with a crink in her neck from sleeping leaning against the window. She looked out the window and saw that Boston was just starting to rise for the day. She stood slowly and her stomach churned. She walked slowly to her car and climbed in. Helen leaned forward, resting her head against her steering wheel as tears filled her eyes again. She felt so lost and confused. Not knowing where else to go, she drove to DYD&F, knowing that Lindsay would be there eventually and maybe she could tell Helen what the right thing to do was. Helen walked up the steps and wasn't that surprised to find that the office was still locked. It was only 6:30. She sat down slowly on the bench and waited, exhausted.

Lucy walked off the elevator and stopped, surprised to see Helen sitting on the bench next to the door wearing a halter top and jeans. Lucy and Helen had developed a friendship since they worked together on several rape cases. She approached Helen quietly and was worried when she didn't look up or blink. Helen just sat, staring straight ahead like she could see through Lucy. Lucy reached out and laid a gentle hand on Helen's shoulder, bringing her out of her daze.

"Hey," she said gently. Something was obviously wrong. "What's up?"

"Lindsay will be in soon," Helen answered.

Lucy nodded slowly. "Yeah. Do you want to come inside? You can wait in Bobby's office."

"Okay," Helen said. She followed Lucy into the office and walked into Bobby's office without a word. Lucy looked after her, worried. This wasn't normal behavior for Helen.

Ellenor came in a few minutes later and Lucy took advantage of the chance to try to glean at least a little info from her.

"What happened to Helen?"

Ellenor turned, surprised. This was the second time in less than 12 hours that someone had asked her about Helen. First Mike, now Lucy. What was going on with her roommate? "I don't know, why?"

"I came in this morning and she was sitting on the bench, just staring. I brought her inside and she didn't really respond to anything.."

"Where is she now," Ellenor interrupted.

"In Bobby's office waiting for Lindsay. What's going on?"

Ellenor glared at Lucy. "I don't know!" Before Lucy could respond, Ellenor walked to her desk, dropping everything there before walking to Bobby's office. She knocked softly, then opened the door. Helen was sitting on the couch and looked up at the door. Her eyes scared Ellenor. Helen looked so scared and confused. Ellenor approached carefully.

"Hey," she said softly. Helen didn't say anything, she was too afraid that everything would come pouring out and she didn't think that she had the strength to go through it twice. She didn't even turn her head. Ellenor waited, then continued. "Mike came by last night. He said you two had a fight?" Helen's eyes filled with tears and she blinked desperately, trying to keep them back. Ellenor sighed and sat on the couch next to her. "He told me about the baby."

That at least got a reaction. Kind of. Helen turned and looked at Ellenor and said simply, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I wanted to tell him first."

Ellenor nodded. "I understand. Wait, when you were sick...was something wrong with the baby?"

Helen closed her eyes briefly, remembering how scared she'd been, then nodded. "I started bleeding at work two weeks ago, the night that I was supposed to watch Zoe."

"But the baby's okay," Ellenor asked, worried.

Helen nodded. "I had a doctor's appointment a few days ago, he said that the baby's perfect." Her hand rested on her stomach. "Thank God."

Ellenor smiled weakly, not sure how to respond. "That's good," she said. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Helen answered softly. Ellenor reached over to hug her roommate, but Helen pulled away. "Please. I..." Helen trailed off, unable to explain that she couldn't handle contact right then, it would break her.

Ellenor nodded, understanding. "How far along are you?"

Helen smiled slightly. "Three months."

Bobby and Lindsay walked into the office, talking quietly, Bobby's arm wrapped around Lindsay's waist. Lucy rushed over as soon as the door was shut.

"Helen's in your office Bobby, she's waiting for Lindsay, Ellenor's with her now, I think something's wrong because she's dazed and not quite with it, she looks like she's about to break down or something." Lucy took a deep breath since she'd spoken very quickly.

Lindsay turned to Bobby who nodded. "I'll work in the conference room," he said and kissed her gently. "I hope Helen's okay."

"Me too," Lindsay said. Lucy took her briefcase so she could go check on Helen. Lindsay knocked on the door and opened it slowly. Helen looked up and Lindsay immediately shut the door, hurrying next to her. "What happened," she asked softly. "What did he do?"

"He proposed," Helen answered softly.

Lindsay's jaw dropped. She'd been prepared for any number of responses, but not that one. "Why are you upset? You love him..."

"I know I do," Helen said, her voice filling with tears. "But I don't know if he loves me."

"Helen, of course he does," Lindsay answered, shocked. "Why would you think that he doesn't?"

"Well, I thought he did, but..." She took a deep breath. "We went to dinner, everything was great. I was so excited to tell him about the baby. We went back to his place and I gave him a card, it had a picture of a man and a little boy on it. Inside I put a picture of the baby, from the ultrasound, and wrote 'Happy Belated Father's Day. Love, Helen and Baby.' And he said something about not having anything to give me, then he said he did and asked me to marry him." Tears by this point were rolling down her cheeks. Lindsay pulled her into her arms and held her, rocking slightly.

"It's okay, Helen. It's going to be okay. I just don't understand why you're upset..."

"I told him that I'm pregnant and he proposed. Because of the baby."

"Oh, no, sweetie, that's not it. He does love you, he does."

"But, he didn't mention anything about love, it was just 'marry me'."

Lindsay sighed and continued to hold Helen as she cried. Ellenor rubbed her back comfortingly and looked at Lindsay, surprised.

"Helen," Ellenor said softly, "Mike came by the apartment last night, he said that you guys had a fight...I don't think he knows why you're upset though. Did you tell him?" Helen shook her head. "Maybe you should," Ellenor suggested cautiously. Helen shook her head again.

"Then he'll tell me that he does love me, but I'll never know if he means it because it's what I want to hear."

Lindsay sighed and Ellenor rolled her eyes. Helen was so stubborn! "Helen, if he hadn't proposed right now, if he'd waited a month or two, would you have said yes?"

"I don't know," Helen answered. "I think I would have. But I would have thought that he was proposing because he loved me, not because of the baby. I don't want to get married just because I'm pregnant, Linds. I've seen how those marriages end, and I don't want that for my child. I'd rather be alone raising her than have her see her parents fighting."

Lindsay nodded. She remembered all too clearly the screaming arguments from her own home growing up. She and Bobby worked every day to keep their son from having those memories. "I think you should still talk to him," she advised softly. "Not now, give both of you a chance to cool off and decide what you want."

"I don't want to," Helen said softly, the hurt obvious in her voice. "I don't trust him."

"Helen," Lindsay said surprised. "Why not?"

"Because..." unable to think of a real reason, Helen simply mumbled, "because I don't."

Lindsay nodded. She knew that pushing it wouldn't help Helen.

Ellenor spoke up then, still rubbing Helen's back. She thought that Helen was being ridiculous but it was obvious that Helen was miserable. "Helen, where were you last night, you didn't come home."

"I went to the Harvard library," she answered softly.

Lindsay nodded, remembering going there years before. Lindsay stood then. "Come on."

"Where are we going," Helen asked softly. She wasn't sure she was prepared to go out and face the world yet, couldn't she stay here where she didn't have to deal with anything.

"I'm going to take you home and you're going to have something to eat. Then, you're going to sleep because if you slept at the library, I'm willing to bet that you didn't get enough sleep."

"Then what," Helen asked softly. She was afraid that Lindsay was going to say that then she was going to see Mike.

"Then we're going shopping, because you need retail therapy," Lindsay answered. Helen nodded, mostly because she was hungry and tired. She stood up and Ellenor hugged her.

"Feel better, okay? You can handle this."

Helen smiled weakly and let Lindsay lead her out the door. The rest of the office had arrived by that time and watched them walk out. Lindsay rubbed her friend's back gently. "I'm going to go tell Bobby where I'm going, okay? You wait here."

Helen nodded as Lucy approached slowly. "You okay," she asked nervously.

Helen nodded again, then decided to break the news. "I'm fine," she assured Lucy, who looked immediately relieved. "I'm having a baby."

The entire office stopped, surprised. Lucy was the first to react. She smiled and hugged Helen. "Congratulations, that's great."

"Yeah, congrats Helen," Jimmy added with a smile. Bec came up and hugged her, adding her well wishes and Eugene nodded in agreement.

Bobby and Lindsay had come out of the office to hear what Helen said. Bobby smiled at her and she nodded back as Lindsay came over. They left the office and drove to the apartment. Helen went to change into her pajamas while Lindsay made her a poached egg on toast and milk. Helen came back and sat down.

"I'm not really hungry."

"You need to eat," Lindsay encouraged. "Just this, it's not much." Helen sighed and put a bite of food in her mouth while Lindsay talked in a soft reassuring voice. "It's good that you told the office. They'll all be here for you, whatever you need."

Helen nodded slowly. She was tired and didn't want to talk about the baby or Mike anymore. Talking about Mike hurt too much. "How's house hunting coming," she asked, trying to change the topic.

Lindsay recognized what she was doing, but played along anyway. "Actually, I think we might have found one. It's just outside the city in Stoneham. Three levels, five bedrooms and three baths. Plus the master bedroom, which has it's own bath with a huge sunken tub/hot tub and a giant shower. There's a pool with a fence and a fenced in yard." Lindsay beamed thinking about the house. "Bobby likes it because the kitchen is huge. The basement's finished and has a bar and a pool table. There's an elementary school two blocks away and the junior high is five blocks in the other direction. There's a park a block away. We're going to put an offer down on it tomorrow."

Helen smiled, happy for her friend. "That's great." She yawned then and Lindsay sighed. "Come on, bed."

Helen laughed as she put her dishes in the dishwasher. "Yes, Mom," she teased and Lindsay laughed.

"And I don't want to see you up for at least three hours," Lindsay scolded, continuing the game.

Helen nodded and walked into her room. She left the door cracked open though, feeling better that someone was there. It had scared her to be alone when she'd started bleeding and since then she'd shied away from sleeping when she was alone in the house unless the phone was by her. She laid in bed and sighed, thinking again of Mike. She'd try to figure it out later, right then, the combination of lack of sleep and emotions had made her exhausted.

Lindsay laid down on the couch and began flipping through an issue of People magazine that Helen had bought. She then flipped on the television and fell asleep to Oprah.

Back at the office, Bobby was working in his office when Mike walked in, desperate. He'd gone by Helen's work and she wasn't there. Her car still wasn't back at the apartment and he was getting worried. When he'd driven by DYD&F though he'd seen her car and wondered why he hadn't thought to look there too. So he parked and hurried up to the office, past Lucy, and knocked on Bobby's door.

Bobby opened the door and stopped, surprised to see Mike. They'd become friends because Helen and Lindsay always had them spending time together. But Bobby wasn't overly happy to see Mike at that moment. Since marrying Lindsay, Helen had become like a sister to him. It wasn't surprising since she spent so much time at their house. But now Bobby was looking at the man who'd hurt Helen and he wasn't happy about it.

"Mike."

Mike winced. "Bobby, hi. Uh, could I come in?"

Bobby stepped aside and let Mike in. "She's not here."

"Yeah, I figured as much. Where is she?"

Bobby shook his head. "I'm not going to tell you."

Mike groaned. "Bobby, we're on the same side here."

"Really," Bobby said. "And just what side would that be?"

Mike sighed. "I guess you know about the baby." Bobby nodded and Mike continued. "I asked her to marry me."

"That seems to be the problem," Bobby stated.

"She turned me down, Bobby." Mike sighed and sat down on the couch. "I bought the ring weeks ago, before I went to Chicago. I was going to propose last night. But she told me about the baby, and all I could think of was how happy I was. I love Helen, I want to marry her and make a family with her. But she doesn't love me."

"Did you tell her that," Bobby asked.

Mike paused. "I thought I did. I...well, maybe I didn't tell her right then, but I've told her before, hundreds of times!"

Bobby sighed. He wanted to protect Helen, but he'd seen for himself how much she was hurting and Lindsay had filled him in on what had happened. He had a feeling that the best way to keep Helen from hurting was to get her and Mike back together.

"She thinks you proposed because of the baby," Bobby said bluntly.

Mike gaped at him for a second. "But I didn't!"

"She said she was pregnant, you responded with a marriage proposal. She thinks that you're trying to do the right thing by marrying her."

Mike stood up, angry. "That's not it though! I bought the ring weeks ago, before I had any idea that she was pregnant..." Mike broke off, worry etching itself on his features. "How has she been? Has she been sick? How far along is she? How long has she known?"

Bobby sighed. "She's about three months I think, about a month behind Lindsay. She's known for about...two weeks? I think that's right. Maybe two and a half. She...she had a little problem right after she found out."

Mike felt his heart drop. "What happened? Is she okay? Is the baby?"

"They're both fine, now," Bobby assured him. "She started bleeding and went to the hospital. They put her on bed rest for two weeks. But since then, they've both been perfectly fine."

Mike felt guilt begin to eat at him. "I should have been here for them. She shouldn't have been alone."

Bobby held out a hand. "You had to be with your grandfather, Helen understands that. And she wasn't alone. Lindsay and Ellenor and I took good care of her."

Mike nodded. "She knew for two weeks and didn't tell me," he said softly.

Bobby shook his head. "I asked her about that. She said, what was it, oh yeah, she said that she wanted to tell you to your face, she wanted to see for herself if you were happy. She's perfectly prepared to raise this baby alone if you don't want it..."

"Of course I want it!" Mike exclaimed. "It's my baby! How could she even think that?"

Bobby shook his head. "I don't know. But if you do leave, she'll have plenty of people to help her out. And if you leave, I wouldn't recommend coming back." Bobby knew if Mike left, he'd find a way to hurt him for hurting Helen.

"I'm not leaving," Mike said firmly. "I'm trying to figure out a way to convince Helen that I proposed because I love her, not because of the baby. But even if she won't marry me, I'm still going to be part of my child's life."

Bobby nodded. "Good."

"I'm glad you approve," Mike answered sarcastically. "Now can you please tell me where my girlfriend is?"

Bobby shook his head. "I can't, they'd kill me if I did."

"Bobby!"

Bobby shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mike. But when you find her, make sure she knows what you told me. She doesn't listen too well, especially when she's hurt."

Mike rolled his eyes. "I know." He started for the door, then turned back. "Hey, Bobby. Thanks."

Bobby nodded and Mike left, realizing as he did that Lindsay wasn't at her desk. He paused next to Lucy's desk. "Lindsay in court?"

Lucy shook her head and glared at Mike. "She's taking care of Helen, what the hell did you do to her?"

Mike groaned. "Never mind." He hurried out of the office, figuring that they'd taken Lindsay's car wherever they'd gone. He drove by Bobby and Lindsay's apartment first since it was closer and didn't see the car, so he drove by Helen's again. When he saw Lindsay's blue Accord, he smiled and parked right in front of it. He jogged up the two flights of stairs to Helen's apartment and knocked on the door.

Lindsay jerked awake and quickly stood up, hurrying to the front door before it could wake up Helen. She opened the door without looking through the peephole because their door at home didn't have one so she wasn't used to it. Lindsay froze when she saw Mike standing there.

"I need to talk to Helen," he said without preamble. He had no doubt that standing in front of him was another protector of Helen's. Lindsay might have looked physically less, but Mike had no doubt that she would protect her best friend like a she-bear protecting a cub.

Lindsay shook her head. "Too bad," Lindsay answered firmly. "She's sleeping and I'm not waking her up."

"Then I will."

"No," Lindsay said in her mother voice. "You won't."

"Lindsay, I need to see her." Mike hated that he was being forced to almost beg.

"I'm not letting you hurt her again," Lindsay hissed firmly.

Mike sighed. "Please..."

He was interrupted by a dejected voice from behind Lindsay. "Let him in, Linds," Helen said softly.

Lindsay sighed, but stepped away from the door. "Are you sure," she asked softly.

Helen nodded. "Yeah. We do need to talk. And I guess we're going it now."

Lindsay nodded and squeezed Helen's shoulder for support. "Do you want me to stick around?"

Helen shook her head. "No, I'll be okay." At Lindsay's doubtful look, she smiled slightly to reassure her friend. "I will. I'll call you after, I promise."

Lindsay nodded and hugged Helen goodbye before leaving without saying anything to Mike. When she was gone, Mike looked at Helen. "Thanks."

Helen looked back at him, exhausted. "What do you want, Mike?"