The Test of Time
"Ned, I have to tell you something and I don't know if you're going to want to hear it or not."
Ned grew concerned, "Skye, you can tell me anything, I won't get mad."
Skye nodded, biting her lip, a few tears fell frrom her eyes, "Umm, I was looking at my calender today and I realized that, um, I, I'm late."
It took Ned a few seconds to comprehend what she was saying, "How..how late?"
"Five days."
"Have you had any morning sickness or dizziness?"
Skye shook her head.
Ned reached over and took hold of one of her hands, "Have you bought a pregnancy test?"
"Yeah, I got one today."
"Do you wanna take it now?" He asked.
Skye looked at Ned unsure, "Will you stay here with me?"
Ned smiled, "Of course, I don't want you going through any of this alone."
He got up and held his hand out to Skye, she took it and they walked towards the bathroom. Skye stopped him at the door, "You don't have to do this if you don't want to Ned."
"I want to." Ned said firmly.
Skye switched on the light,walked over and opened the medicine cabinet and took out the box, handing it to Ned. She watched as he opened the box and removed the contents. He placed them on the sink and opened the instructions. Picking up the applicator he handed it to Skye, "Here, you take this."
"Okay." She agreed as she took it out of his hand.
"Have you ever done this before?" Ned asked trying to break the tight atmosphere.
"No." Skye answered flatly, "You?"
"Yeah, I took one last week." He joked.
Skye laughed, "What am I suppose to do with this?"
"That?" He skimmed down the paper in his hand, "You get to pee on it."
"Wow, this is how I wanted to spend my night, peeing on a stick." Skye said sarcastically.
Ned laughed, "Okay." He continued, "Then you place the stick in the applicator and wait ten minutes."
"Sounds easy enough."
Ned nodded, "Well, you ready to do this?"
"What kind of question is that?"
Ned shook his head, "I'll wait outside." He shut the bathroom door behind him.
Skye looked into the mirror and the at the stick in her hand. The test of time.
Ned patiently waited in the bedroom he knew that there was great danger to Skye if she would try and carry a baby. Millions of thoughts ran through his head.
The bathroom door opened. Skye came walking out and sat down on the bed beside him, "Well, the hard part's over with."
"The hard part is waiting."
"It won't be that bad, it's only ten minutes." Skye assured him.
"The longest ten minutes in our lives."
Skye got up off the bed and walked over to the window, she pulled the drapes back, watching as it continued to rain. Ned watched her from a distance, he didn't want to upset her and he knew he wouldn't be able to find the right words.
"Ned, I'm so sorry, I didn't't mean for this to happen. I would never willingly hurt you."
Ned felt his hard sink, he got up off the bed and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist, "This isn't your fault Skye and it's not a bad things it you're pregnant."
Skye leaned back into his arms, "I know, I just didn't want it to be like this."
"Nothing's ever as it seems."
"Ned, what are we going to do if the test is positive? We're going to have a lot of explaining to do. Can you imagine the reaction if I just turn up pregnant? They're going to wonder how long we're been sleeping together."
Ned turned Skye around to face him, he looked into her eyes, "I don't care what anyone else thinks, you're the only one that matters to me."
"But, Ned you have other things to worry about, like Kristina, Alexis, Brooke and Jax, I don't want to be the reason you lose your best friend."
"If Jax can't support my decision, maybe he isn't the friend I thought he was."
Skye dropped her eyes and stared at the floor.
"Skye, look at me, look at me." He demanded as he lifted her chin with his hand, forcing eye contact, "Skye, you're not poison, don't you know that? Because of you Kristina has a mother figure and I have found the person I was meant to be with. You stand for everything good in my life. And if that means Jax is a friend I lose then it's worth it. You mean more to me than any other woman I've ever been with. I love you." He whispered.
"You love me?"
"I love you." Ned repeated softly.
A few tears dripped down her cheek, "I love you, Ned."
Ned pulled her closer to him, covering her lips with his. Skye pushed her tongue into her mouth, kissing him passionately.
"Do you know how long I've waited to tell you that? I knew the first time we made love and I was so afraid that I was going to do something to mess everything up." He confessed.
"How could you mess up, that's something I would do."
"No, I knew that it was extremely difficult to trust and believe in something after what Jax had done."
"Well, that's over. What Jax did is in the past and I'd like the think that it never happened. You've given me something to believe in, Ned, someone to trust and I know that if I ever need anything, you're here for me. In the past few minutes you've given me do much to look forward to and nothing could ever change that."
Ned let out a small laugh, "I'm glad you feel that way because the cat's out of the bag. Now that Jax knows everyone else will too."
"It was bound to come out eventually, time was our enemy. No we just have to tell the Quartermaine's."
"Telling them will be the easy part, taking their reactions will be where the fun comes in."
"How long has it been?"
Ned looked down at his watch, "Six minutes."
"Four to go."
"About what I said earlier about the test being positive."
"Yeah?"
"I didn't mean it in a bad way. I would love to have your baby, in nine months or two years down the road, I just didn't want you to feel like I was trapping you."
Ned took her hand and led her to the window seat, he kept hold of her hand, "I don't feel trapped, in fact I feel gracious that you could be carrying our child."
"Thank you. It's just that I want to do everything right this time. I want to get to know you better, stabilize your relationship and be committed before we bring children into the world. I guess I'm just a little old fashion."
Ned smiled, "I understand you wanting everything to be secure before having a baby, but sometimes what you need is a surprise, everything happens for a reason and if you're...we're pregnant then we'll just have to take things one step at a time."
"Are you trying to say that you want me to be pregnant?"
"I'm saying if you are I'll be thrilled and if you're not I'll be thrilled too. I just want to know about the risks."
Skye took a deep breath, in the mess of things she had completely forgotten about the danger to her health, "Doctor Meadows said that I could get pregnant. That wasn't the issue, it was carrying the baby to a viable point that would be the test of time."
"Well, then the question is are you ready to take the risks?"
Skye was silent for a few moments, "I would take any chances to bring a child into the world. And plus, things have come a long way in medical technology. Babies born in the second trimester can survive."
"I just don't want to do anything to jeopardize your health. Having to live with the thought that I killed you by getting you pregnant would devastate me."
"Ned, I'm touched that you thought that far ahead." Skye laughed, trying to take her mind off the risks.
"I'd be lying if I said that this never crossed my mind, after you told me that day in May that having children could put your life at risk and the baby might not make it to term I always wondered if you would go up against everything to prove them wrong. To show that you beat the odds because if anybody could, it would be you."
"Then we'll see if this is the time I'm going to put my life on the line. It's something I'm willing to do. I need a miracle to pull it off though."
Ned moved closer to Skye, pulling her body towards his, she rested her head on his shoulder, " We may not be expecting our miracle baby by the end of tonight, but I promise you that sometime in the near future I will hold your hand though ten hours of labor while you give birth to our son."
"That's a promise that I'm definitely going to hold you to."
Everything was quiet for several minutes.
"Are you scared?" Ned asked softly.
"That I might be pregnant? Yes, I mean we've just started out and our relationship is moving forward. Maybe I'm being selfish, but I want you to myself for a while."
"And you'll have me, for nine months or nine years. Unless you get tired of me."
"I'll never get tired of you." Skye whispered sincerely.
Ned lifted her chin up and softly kissed her lips, "Good, because I love you and I'm not going anywhere."
"I love you, I just hope you won't get tired of me."
"Tired of you? Are you kidding? You've got a thousand tricks up your sleeve."
They both started laughing.
"Skye I need you in my life and no matter what Jax, or Alexis or anyone else for that matter says, know that it's not true because everything I've told you is what counts."
"I would never let them influence the feelings that I have for you. On a good day or a bad."
Ned glanced at his watch, "Well."
"Is time up?" She asked.
He nodded, "Yeah, and it has been for a while now."
"And you said it was going to be the longest ten minutes of our life." Skye said sarcastically.
"We found a way to ignore time."
Skye looked towards the bathroom, "Are you going to look or not?"
"I'm right behind you."
They got up and he followed her into the bathroom, she stopped at the door, eying the object laying on the sink, Skye took a deep breath and walked over to it, she kept her head up while she picked the test up, watching herself in the mirror. She clasped it tightly in her hand.
"I can't look." She confessed.
"What do you want it to say?"
"I'm not sure."
Ned walked over to her, she opened her hand and he took the applicator. Skye clamped her eyes closed. Ned looked down at the test in his hand and then back up at Skye, he seen that her eyes were closed.
"Well, what do you see?" Skye asked nervously.
"I see a......" Ned trailed off.
"A what?"
"I see a blue line."
Skye slowly opened her eyes, Ned held the test up to her, "A blue line." He repeated.
"A blue line." Skye confirmed.
"Yes."
Skye looked at him puzzled, "Ned, what the hell does a blue line mean?"
TBC...
Please, please, please, I'm begging you, review!!!!!
"Ned, I have to tell you something and I don't know if you're going to want to hear it or not."
Ned grew concerned, "Skye, you can tell me anything, I won't get mad."
Skye nodded, biting her lip, a few tears fell frrom her eyes, "Umm, I was looking at my calender today and I realized that, um, I, I'm late."
It took Ned a few seconds to comprehend what she was saying, "How..how late?"
"Five days."
"Have you had any morning sickness or dizziness?"
Skye shook her head.
Ned reached over and took hold of one of her hands, "Have you bought a pregnancy test?"
"Yeah, I got one today."
"Do you wanna take it now?" He asked.
Skye looked at Ned unsure, "Will you stay here with me?"
Ned smiled, "Of course, I don't want you going through any of this alone."
He got up and held his hand out to Skye, she took it and they walked towards the bathroom. Skye stopped him at the door, "You don't have to do this if you don't want to Ned."
"I want to." Ned said firmly.
Skye switched on the light,walked over and opened the medicine cabinet and took out the box, handing it to Ned. She watched as he opened the box and removed the contents. He placed them on the sink and opened the instructions. Picking up the applicator he handed it to Skye, "Here, you take this."
"Okay." She agreed as she took it out of his hand.
"Have you ever done this before?" Ned asked trying to break the tight atmosphere.
"No." Skye answered flatly, "You?"
"Yeah, I took one last week." He joked.
Skye laughed, "What am I suppose to do with this?"
"That?" He skimmed down the paper in his hand, "You get to pee on it."
"Wow, this is how I wanted to spend my night, peeing on a stick." Skye said sarcastically.
Ned laughed, "Okay." He continued, "Then you place the stick in the applicator and wait ten minutes."
"Sounds easy enough."
Ned nodded, "Well, you ready to do this?"
"What kind of question is that?"
Ned shook his head, "I'll wait outside." He shut the bathroom door behind him.
Skye looked into the mirror and the at the stick in her hand. The test of time.
Ned patiently waited in the bedroom he knew that there was great danger to Skye if she would try and carry a baby. Millions of thoughts ran through his head.
The bathroom door opened. Skye came walking out and sat down on the bed beside him, "Well, the hard part's over with."
"The hard part is waiting."
"It won't be that bad, it's only ten minutes." Skye assured him.
"The longest ten minutes in our lives."
Skye got up off the bed and walked over to the window, she pulled the drapes back, watching as it continued to rain. Ned watched her from a distance, he didn't want to upset her and he knew he wouldn't be able to find the right words.
"Ned, I'm so sorry, I didn't't mean for this to happen. I would never willingly hurt you."
Ned felt his hard sink, he got up off the bed and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist, "This isn't your fault Skye and it's not a bad things it you're pregnant."
Skye leaned back into his arms, "I know, I just didn't want it to be like this."
"Nothing's ever as it seems."
"Ned, what are we going to do if the test is positive? We're going to have a lot of explaining to do. Can you imagine the reaction if I just turn up pregnant? They're going to wonder how long we're been sleeping together."
Ned turned Skye around to face him, he looked into her eyes, "I don't care what anyone else thinks, you're the only one that matters to me."
"But, Ned you have other things to worry about, like Kristina, Alexis, Brooke and Jax, I don't want to be the reason you lose your best friend."
"If Jax can't support my decision, maybe he isn't the friend I thought he was."
Skye dropped her eyes and stared at the floor.
"Skye, look at me, look at me." He demanded as he lifted her chin with his hand, forcing eye contact, "Skye, you're not poison, don't you know that? Because of you Kristina has a mother figure and I have found the person I was meant to be with. You stand for everything good in my life. And if that means Jax is a friend I lose then it's worth it. You mean more to me than any other woman I've ever been with. I love you." He whispered.
"You love me?"
"I love you." Ned repeated softly.
A few tears dripped down her cheek, "I love you, Ned."
Ned pulled her closer to him, covering her lips with his. Skye pushed her tongue into her mouth, kissing him passionately.
"Do you know how long I've waited to tell you that? I knew the first time we made love and I was so afraid that I was going to do something to mess everything up." He confessed.
"How could you mess up, that's something I would do."
"No, I knew that it was extremely difficult to trust and believe in something after what Jax had done."
"Well, that's over. What Jax did is in the past and I'd like the think that it never happened. You've given me something to believe in, Ned, someone to trust and I know that if I ever need anything, you're here for me. In the past few minutes you've given me do much to look forward to and nothing could ever change that."
Ned let out a small laugh, "I'm glad you feel that way because the cat's out of the bag. Now that Jax knows everyone else will too."
"It was bound to come out eventually, time was our enemy. No we just have to tell the Quartermaine's."
"Telling them will be the easy part, taking their reactions will be where the fun comes in."
"How long has it been?"
Ned looked down at his watch, "Six minutes."
"Four to go."
"About what I said earlier about the test being positive."
"Yeah?"
"I didn't mean it in a bad way. I would love to have your baby, in nine months or two years down the road, I just didn't want you to feel like I was trapping you."
Ned took her hand and led her to the window seat, he kept hold of her hand, "I don't feel trapped, in fact I feel gracious that you could be carrying our child."
"Thank you. It's just that I want to do everything right this time. I want to get to know you better, stabilize your relationship and be committed before we bring children into the world. I guess I'm just a little old fashion."
Ned smiled, "I understand you wanting everything to be secure before having a baby, but sometimes what you need is a surprise, everything happens for a reason and if you're...we're pregnant then we'll just have to take things one step at a time."
"Are you trying to say that you want me to be pregnant?"
"I'm saying if you are I'll be thrilled and if you're not I'll be thrilled too. I just want to know about the risks."
Skye took a deep breath, in the mess of things she had completely forgotten about the danger to her health, "Doctor Meadows said that I could get pregnant. That wasn't the issue, it was carrying the baby to a viable point that would be the test of time."
"Well, then the question is are you ready to take the risks?"
Skye was silent for a few moments, "I would take any chances to bring a child into the world. And plus, things have come a long way in medical technology. Babies born in the second trimester can survive."
"I just don't want to do anything to jeopardize your health. Having to live with the thought that I killed you by getting you pregnant would devastate me."
"Ned, I'm touched that you thought that far ahead." Skye laughed, trying to take her mind off the risks.
"I'd be lying if I said that this never crossed my mind, after you told me that day in May that having children could put your life at risk and the baby might not make it to term I always wondered if you would go up against everything to prove them wrong. To show that you beat the odds because if anybody could, it would be you."
"Then we'll see if this is the time I'm going to put my life on the line. It's something I'm willing to do. I need a miracle to pull it off though."
Ned moved closer to Skye, pulling her body towards his, she rested her head on his shoulder, " We may not be expecting our miracle baby by the end of tonight, but I promise you that sometime in the near future I will hold your hand though ten hours of labor while you give birth to our son."
"That's a promise that I'm definitely going to hold you to."
Everything was quiet for several minutes.
"Are you scared?" Ned asked softly.
"That I might be pregnant? Yes, I mean we've just started out and our relationship is moving forward. Maybe I'm being selfish, but I want you to myself for a while."
"And you'll have me, for nine months or nine years. Unless you get tired of me."
"I'll never get tired of you." Skye whispered sincerely.
Ned lifted her chin up and softly kissed her lips, "Good, because I love you and I'm not going anywhere."
"I love you, I just hope you won't get tired of me."
"Tired of you? Are you kidding? You've got a thousand tricks up your sleeve."
They both started laughing.
"Skye I need you in my life and no matter what Jax, or Alexis or anyone else for that matter says, know that it's not true because everything I've told you is what counts."
"I would never let them influence the feelings that I have for you. On a good day or a bad."
Ned glanced at his watch, "Well."
"Is time up?" She asked.
He nodded, "Yeah, and it has been for a while now."
"And you said it was going to be the longest ten minutes of our life." Skye said sarcastically.
"We found a way to ignore time."
Skye looked towards the bathroom, "Are you going to look or not?"
"I'm right behind you."
They got up and he followed her into the bathroom, she stopped at the door, eying the object laying on the sink, Skye took a deep breath and walked over to it, she kept her head up while she picked the test up, watching herself in the mirror. She clasped it tightly in her hand.
"I can't look." She confessed.
"What do you want it to say?"
"I'm not sure."
Ned walked over to her, she opened her hand and he took the applicator. Skye clamped her eyes closed. Ned looked down at the test in his hand and then back up at Skye, he seen that her eyes were closed.
"Well, what do you see?" Skye asked nervously.
"I see a......" Ned trailed off.
"A what?"
"I see a blue line."
Skye slowly opened her eyes, Ned held the test up to her, "A blue line." He repeated.
"A blue line." Skye confirmed.
"Yes."
Skye looked at him puzzled, "Ned, what the hell does a blue line mean?"
TBC...
Please, please, please, I'm begging you, review!!!!!