Chapter 4

Jack's mind was still reeling when the realization caught up to him. He jerked his head back up to search her eyes for the truth.

"Kate?" He clearly had no idea how to respond.

She opened the door wider, "Jack, come in and sit down. We need to talk."

He stumbled to the couch and she sat across from him in the overstuffed chair. Sitting down, her bloated belly was even more noticeable, and she caught him staring at it.

"Yes, I'm pregnant Jack. But this isn't exactly the way I imagined telling you."

He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She could tell he was floored, and it took a lot to stun the almighty Jack. She remained calm, since she had the past five months to come to terms with the news.

"And before you even ask, yes, it is yours."

"How did this happen Kate?"

She almost smiled at the thought of explaining to him how babies are made. "Jack, I'm about six months along."

"Six months?"

Thoughts of Teri invaded his mind. She had told him she was pregnant mere hours before he found her dead. He had been on a roller coaster of emotions that day, so very joyful at her unexpected news, and then utterly destroyed by her death. It took him a long time to come to terms with it and yet it all came flooding back.

He looked up at her again, this time with anger in his eyes, his tone accusatory, "You did this on purpose. You wanted a baby, and you knew I didn't, I couldn't, not after everything that has happened." Then almost in a whisper, he added, "You can't replace what I lost."

He instantly regretted lashing out at her. He was mad at himself, not with her, and he knew she wouldn't trap him into anything. She just wasn't like that.

Now it was her turn to get angry, "No Jack, I did not," she yelled back. Trying to calm down, she went on, "I wasn't the one who came to your house and got into your bed. You did that."

"You knew I wasn't on the pill, but apparently you didn't think about that when you came over here to say goodbye." Having stated her case, she went on, softer this time, "Jack, I was as surprised by this as you are."

He reached his hand up and massaged the area between his eyes at the top of his nose and scrunched his eyes. Kate had noticed the gesture appeared only when he was worried or upset.

Jack raised his head, but couldn't look Kate in the eyes and instead focused on the bulge in her belly. "I know you didn't plan this. I'm sorry, this was the last thing I expected when I came over here. "

"Look Jack, I can take care of this myself, you don't have to get involved. I just thought you had a right to know."

He just sat there, unable to process anymore. Kate sat across from him absently rubbing her swollen belly, waiting for his reply. God, she looked even more beautiful to him than he remembered, pregnancy definitely agreed with her, while it scared the sht out of him.

He didn't know where to begin and needed time to think about things before he said something else he would regret. He grabbed his keys off the table and got up to leave. He just couldn't deal with this right now, not after everything he had just been through and was still going through.

"I have to go meet Kim at the hospital," then stopped in his tracks. "Oh god, Kim...what am I going to tell her?"

"She knows, Jack." Yet another surprise.

He flashed her a look and his eyes narrowed, "She knows? How? Why didn't she say something to me?"

Kate tried to explain, "She thought I should be the one to tell you. Kim came over here when you were in Mexico to find out if I knew anything about what was going on with you. She was really worried about you, she just wants you to be happy. Don't be mad at her Jack."

"I'm really sorry, I don't have time for this right now, I'll come back by later." Jack couldn't breathe in this house anymore and made for a hasty exit.

He stopped at the door, and turned around, looking back at Kate, "You look beautiful, Kate. I missed you. I'm really sorry."

He held her gaze for a moment, then walked out and climbed into his Expedition, silently wishing that he hadn't stopped by here after all. His life was turned upside down again in an instant, and this time it was going to be even harder to stay removed.

If you want to do this job well, you have to stay detached.

To Be Continued...