Chapter 7
Jack was lying on Karen's bed while she readied herself for bed. He was flipping through random TV shows, not really interested by any of them. Karen finally came in and lay down beside him. He flipped off the TV and turned to face her. She smiled at him, a smile he had almost forgotten because she had been so down lately. Their faces were almost touching and Jack automatically leaned forward and captured Karen's lips with his. They kissed for several minutes, breaking only to take a breath.

Karen hadn't realized how much she had missed human contact. It'd been several months since her last encounter with a man. She savored Jack's lips on hers, his tongue that slipped into her mouth. She'd almost forgotten it was Jack she was in bed with, and knew she couldn't get far with him. She had to stop it before she got too turned on.

"Jackie?" Karen asked, breaking the kiss. "What are you doing?"

"I'm kissing you, Kare." Jack breathed, looking deeply into her eyes.

Karen smiled. "To bad you're gay." She gave him a seductive smile just as the phone rang. She slowly sat up and reached for the phone that was on her bedside table. "Hello?" She asked into the phone.

"Hey, Karen. I hope I didn't wake you up." It was Grace.

"No, you didn't." Karen smiled, remembering the last time she'd seen Grace. Grace had been so kind to her, staying with her and comforting her. She wished she'd been a bit nicer to her.

"Well I was just wondering when you were planning on coming back to work. I hate to admit it, but I think I'm starting to miss your snide remarks about my wardrobe." Grace laughed and it was contagious. Karen started laughing too. "In fact, I almost wore sweatpants today!"

"Oh, honey, you really do miss me." They laughed again.

"Oh, before I forget, how are you doing. Jack told me you were sick, what's wrong?" Grace asked sincerely.

"I just had the flu." Karen lied, intending on telling her the truth when she saw her next.

"That's awful. Take your time getting back here then. I don't want to catch it!" Grace laughed.

"I will."

"Speaking of will, Will told me the court date is set for one week from today. I plan on being there."

"Well thank you." Karen smiled; glad to know she'd have a lot of moral support.

"No problem. Well I'd better let you go. You need to get some rest if you're going to get better."

"Right, lots of rest for the preg...I mean sick person." Karen caught herself.

"What was that?" Grace had heard it.

"Nothing. You're right, I need sleep. Night, Gracie." Karen quickly hung up the phone.

Jack smiled at her. "Nice going."

"Why thank you." Karen grinned and flung a pillow in his direction.

It was 12:06 at Grace Adler Design's. Grace was immersed in a mess of fabric and hardly noticed when Karen came in. Karen sneaked over to her desk and sat down, as she normally did and picked up a magazine, flipping through it. Grace finally looked up and noticed Karen sitting there.

"Karen!" Grace stood up, started to walk towards Karen, but then tripped and fell right on her face. Karen suppressed her laughter and quickly got up to see if Grace was okay.

"Grace, are you alright?" She bent down next to her just as Grace rolled over. Grace put a hand on her throbbing nose and right cheekbone, the places she had landed hardest on.

"I think my nose is bleeding." Grace's voice was nasally. Karen placed her hand on Grace's wrist and slowly pried it from her face. She saw the blood on Grace's hand and then saw it begin to drop towards the floor from her nose. She quickly pulled Grace up into a sitting position and grabbed some tissues from her desk, pressing them to Grace's nose. Grace's eyes began filling with tears, and her vision became blurry.

"Its okay, Grace. You're going to be fine." Karen set down beside her, handing her tissues when she needed them, and waited until the blood stopped. When it did, Karen placed her fingers on Grace's chin and examined her face. A spot on her right cheek looked like it could bruise within a few days. "Oh, honey."

"Does it look bad?" Grace frowned.

"No, it could be worse." Karen nodded.

"Owe, that hurt." Grace laughed, knowing how funny that must have been. "I guess I fell for you." At that they both laughed.

"I guess you did." Karen, still holding on to Grace's chin, leaned in and kissed her. It was short and sweet and to the point. Karen set down next to Grace and took her hands in hers. "Honey, there's something I need to tell you, and I feel horrible because I've been lying to you."

"Lying about what?" Grace looked confused, but had a feeling that what came next had something to do with Karen's slip up on the phone the other night.

"Gracie, I'm pregnant." Karen looked into Grace's eyes, and smiled. It was the first time she'd delivered the line with a smile.

Grace's eyes got big. "Karen! I can't believe... I mean you...pregnant! Wow, that's wonderful." Grace, very happy for her friend, reached forward and they embraced. "Who's the father?"

"Lyle, silly. But don't tell anyone."

"Why not?" Grace asked, confused.

"I don't want him to know about it. You know what he could do. I don't have the cleanest record either." Karen looked down, fussing with her button up blouse.

"Oh." Grace realized Karen really wanted this child, and after what Lyle did to her, Grace wasn't sure about him anymore. If the whole divorce hadn't happened the way it did, Grace probably would have persuaded Karen to tell him. Maybe he'd tell her to never bother him again, but now...now Lyle seemed like the greedy man who would take the child from Karen, and Grace knew she'd be devastated.