Part nine. Writers block. Sorry for the delay.



"You want me to answer it?," Kenny asked, wanting to tease her, "I don't want you to stress out being pregnant and all."

"There is no way that I'm going to let you coddle me for the next few months," she retorted, "And go ahead, whoever it is sounds kinda pissed."

Kissing her quickly on the forehead, he yanked the door open, "Uh, hi. What's wrong?"

"Everything," Max heard Jimmy say, as the two men ventured back into the living room, "If it isn't one thing, it is another. And you two are right in the thick of it!"

"We are?," Max asked weakly, wondering if he had heard their news yet. This town, she thought, I'm never saying anything remotely personal outside these walls again. If Ginny knows, everybody must. I give up.

Jimmy tried to glare at both of them, but couldn't muster up the strength, "I heard an interesting rumor at Jill's office today, from her nurse no less! Let's clear this up before we move onto the next issue."

"Um, do you want to sit?," Kenny asked, shooting Max a look, "You seem, uh, kinda tense."

"Tense doesn't even begin to describe it," Jimmy shot back, sinking into a chair as he pointed toward the couch, "Both of you. Now."

Exchanging a look with Kenny, Max ventured, "What's going on?"

"You tell me," he replied, watching as Kenny took her hand in his, "Are you pregnant?"

Max swallowed before replying, as Kenny squeezed her hand reassuringly, "Yes."

"Were you ever planning on saying anything? This rumor is everywhere! People have the two of you eloping, splitting up, aborting, having it, and all sorts of other shit. You can't be too far along Max. Why didn't you say anything?"

"We didn't want you to find out this way," Kenny answered, "No one was supposed to know yet. It's too soon. We were waiting until the first trimester was up, so that way we know that things are okay."

Max picked up when he paused, "I don't how it started, the rumor that is, but we were going to tell you then. We know it changed things."

Jimmy swallowed and tired to compose himself with all that he had to deal with that day, "Yes, it most certainly does. What are you two going to do?"

"That's up in the air," Kenny offered, "We're having the baby, that much we're sure of."

Jimmy paused as he watched them. I thought that they would get married, he thought, seriously, "That's it?"

"For now," Max agreed, not wanting to delve into the tabled marriage issue, "Having a baby is enough of a change for now . . . we don't want to rush into anything else."

"Okay. Congratulations then," Jimmy finally settled on, floored that Max was actually pregnant, "We'll talk about what this does at the station later, and your maternity leave Max. Now, Rachel."

Kenny pulled Max closer to his side, as Jimmy filled them in on what had gone on over the past few days, and said as Jimmy finished, "Are you and Jill going to be okay?"

"We're working on it," Jimmy replied, "It's a lot for her to deal with."

"Why are you telling us this?," Kenny asked, "I mean Rachel is . . . I didn't think that she'd still be this upset. It's been over two months."

"Who knows? Jill thinks," Jimmy said pausing, thinking of the conversation that he had with his wife earlier, "Jill doesn't know what to believe. Rachel was drunk that night, and she probably didn't know what she was doing. Still . . . whatever happened between the two of you most likely had something to do with it. She has been sort of different since then."

Max nodded, thinking of the fight she had with her a few weeks ago, "Why do you think she would do that? She and Jill are friends and all . . . I don't get it."

"Neither do I," Jimmy agreed.



"Kenny didn't reject me," Rachel shot back, "He just doesn't know what he wants yet! He'll get tired of that little trollop."

"So you thought that you would make him jealous?," Jill asked, stepping back warily, "Do you have any idea what you're doing? What is wrong with you?"

"I know exactly what I'm doing. Men want me Jill. Your husband did, and Kenny does do too."

"You do know that Max is pregnant," Jill replied, repeating the unconfirmed gossip that she had heard, "I doubt that it is an accident either considering how they feel about each other. How they have always felt. Just leave it be Rachel, move on."

"She's pregnant? How long have they been screwing around then? Longer then they said I presume."



Kenny laid his hand on Max's stomach after Jimmy departed absently, and he couldn't help but feel guilty for the rift he had put in his bosses marriage. Did I do this to her, he wondered, but how? It wasn't supposed to get so complicated.

"Hey. What are you thinking?," Max asked softly, breaking into his thoughts.

"Nothing," he replied, focusing on her, "You okay? Jimmy didn't really take our news to well, but I guess a lot of that came from what was going on with him and Jill."

"She's hurting, but . . . How could she do that?"

"People get carried away in the moment. I think we know that better then anyone, and in our case it worked out."

Max nodded slowly, "Yeah it did. Do you want to talk to her? Maybe just to give her some peace of mind? What's the word? Closure?"

"Not really," he replied, "I ran into her awhile ago, and it didn't go so great. I think we all just need some space."

"Yeah. Not to change the subject," she trailed off, "But what do you want to do about this, uh, rumor going around?"

"We are a good source of gossip," Kenny agreed, eyeing her flat stomach, "Are you sure that you're pregnant? You're not showing or anything."

"I'm not even three months along. I shouldn't be yet . . . but I guess that'll happen soon enough. I don't really know what to expect. Will you still love me when I'm fat?"

Kenny smiled at her, "How fat are we talking about? Of course I will Max, you know that."

Max smiled back, as her love for him flowed through her, "So what do you want to do then? Confirm? Deny? Play dumb?"

"I don't know," he trailed off, "I'm still getting used to the idea of it all, and I don't know how to explain it all to people."

"Like why we're not . . . well you know."

"Yeah, what about you?"

"It isn't anyone elses business what we do. Unless they ask why don't we just play dumb? If everyone wants to gossip, let them."

"It'll drive them all nuts."

Max shrugged, "Well that's what they get for spreading rumors."


"So Max is pregnant," Jimmy said in way of greeting.

Jill looked up, still somewhat uneasy, "Really? How are they dealing with that?"

"I'm not sure, I think that they're both in shock still. They're not getting married, which surprised me, but they're having a baby. A baby Jill! They don't know what they're in for."

Jill nodded, "I doubt that they do. I went to see Rachel while you were out."

"What! Jill!"

"I needed to! Jimmy. She needs help. It's like she lost her mind or something. She wants him back Jimmy, and I don't know what she was trying to prove with you besides trying to make him jealous. I don't know what she is going to do. And she didn't take the news of Max's pregnancy to well."

"You told her?"

"She was going to find out eventually . . . and she made me so angry Jimmy. I'm worried about her."



"Congratulations," Littleton said, holding out his hand to Kenny a few days later, "It came as surprise, but still."

Kenny shot him a look, and tried to suppress a grin, "I guess it was."

"Yeah," Littleton trailed off, thinking how they were both remaining mum on the subject, like they had been doing with their relationship, "Are you two making any plans yet?"

Kenny shrugged, "Not yet, we're just taking it as it comes."

He nodded, "Uh, when is she due?"

"Listen, we weren't planning on telling anyone yet," Kenny finally replied, "It came as a shock to us, and neither of us really know what we're doing yet. Max is a wreck over telling her family, and I don't want her to have to answer a lot of questions that she isn't ready for yet. She needs some space after all the pressure I put on her."

Littleton paused, as Kenny looked away, "What sort of pressure? I've heard stories floating around . . . about what you two are going to do."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"The most frequent is her having an abortion."

"Never," Kenny practically spit, "I would never ask her to do that, and we didn't even consider it. I asked her to marry me dammit, and she freaked."

"You proposed? Really?"

"Yeah. It didn't go so well, but . . . we're okay. Max wants some time to deal with everything, and doesn't want to get married because she is pregnant. We've only been dating two months, she is right about that, and doesn't want to rush it."

Littleton nodded thoughtfully, "And you?"

"I'd marry her today. I know I wouldn't have proposed to her if she wasn't pregnant, but this baby . . . it put things in perspective for me. Showed me what was important, but if she wants space, I'll give it to her."


"What?," Jimmy asked, staring at Wambaugh dumbfounded, "You can't be serious. Doug!"

"I'm more then serious," Wambaugh blustered, "My client is charging you with sexual assault."

"I didn't do anything. Your client is crazy, and I don't know what is wrong with her. I never touched her, even when she threw herself at me."

"We'll let the courts decide that," Wambaugh declared, "I suggest you find a lawyer because discovery is on Wednesday."


Max wearily tossed her jacket on the sofa and slid her feet out of her shoes. I didn't know that this would make me so tired, she thought, and this is only the beginning. What the hell is going to happen next? I don't know anything about kids, and I'm not sure that I want too. Sinking back against the couch cushions, she closed her eyes and relished the silence around her.

"Shit," she said aloud, as a knock sounded at the door, "Five minutes of peace, that's all I ask. And possibly a hot bath. That's it, really. It's open, come in!"

"Do you have a minute?," Jill asked, as she ventured inside, "I saw your lights on, and just thought that I would stop by."

Max nodded, "Sure. Are you okay?"

"How are you feeling?," Jill countered, not wanting to bring it up right away, "Are you still having morning sickness? Your first trimester is almost over, so it should be going away."

"Some, I'm looking forward to it being finished. What's going on?"

"Haven't you heard? I thought that you might know by now . . . or didn't you work today?"

"Jill?"

"Rachel's suing Jimmy for sexual assault, for what happened the other night," Jill finally answered.

"What? Jill! She can't do that. He didn't do that, you know that. Anybody with a half a brain knows that."

Jill nodded, "I know, but it's he said she said. I just needed someone to talk to, and Jimmy is in one of his moods, sulking about the house."

Max nodded carefully, "She's so bitter and angry . . . but why take it out on him? Does it go back to when she was mayor and they butted heads?"

"Partly, and that coupled with her break up with Kenny . . . and it makes sense to her," Jill trailed off, "Seeing you two . . ."

"Yeah," Max agreed, "That had to suck . . . I wish that I could fix it. I mean me and Kenny are really happy together, but look at everything that it caused. Jill, no one will believe her."

"I know."



Kenny walked to his truck after he finished his shift, and tried to stifle a yawn. I just want to crawl into bed with Max. Even if she asleep. What are we going to do about our living arrangements, with this baby? I guess it's an alternative to marriage, I wonder if she'll go for it? We've still got a lot to work out. And all of this with Jimmy and Rachel now. I just want to go to bed.

"Is anyone there?," he called out, hearing the footsteps behind him, "Hello?"

"Hello," a voice said softly, as the gun went off.



To be continued.