Chapter 9 Lyle was bound and determined to find something that would get her. He'd never lost. Ever, and this shouldn't and wouldn't be an exception. He was going to get the biggest dirt on Ms. Karen Delaney St. Croix-Popeil Walker Finster.

"Hello, Matthew." Lyle breathed into the phone. "I have a job for you." Lyle smiled into the phone.

"Come on, Kare. We're going to be late!" Jack cried from the bathroom door.

Karen sat at her vanity, mascara wand in hand, attempting to connect the mascara to her eyelashes. It wasn't an easy job, especially with Jack jumping around in the background, screaming at her to hurry up. "Hang on a second will you." Karen squinted one eye closed and brought the wand to her eyelash. Very carefully she opened and closed her eye until the mascara was applied perfectly.

Jack watched quietly from the doorway. He saw her beauty, and despite his sexuality, he seemed drawn to her. He had seen her in her ups and in her downs, and it never ceased to amaze him that no matter how awful she felt, or how unfeeling she looked, she was beautiful. Even hunched over the toilet in the morning, make-up-less, she still looked stunning.

Karen caught his staring eye in her mirror and smiled at him. "Whatcha thinking, McFarland."

"I'm thinking," He said as he went to her and wrapped his arms around her chest, whispering in her ear, "about how beautiful you are." Karen was grinning from ear to ear. Suddenly she felt his tongue in her ear and she jumped, but then laughed.

"Oh, honey." Karen giggled. She quickly put the wand back into the mascara tube and sat it down. She put her hands on Jack's cheeks, turning so that their lips met. Jack was in bliss, enjoying the attention she gave him. Finally Karen pulled away, opening her eyes and staring with a minx like grin at Jack. "Now, I have to reapply." She dropped her hands from his face and turned, picking up her lipstick. She opened it and watched Jack out the corner of her eye.

"Well, hurry Kare. I can't wait much longer to see the baby." Jack smiled, jumping up and down. "We're going to see the baby! We're going to see the baby!" He sang out. By the looks of it, Jack seemed more excited than Karen about seeing the child for the first time. But that could be far from the truth. Karen was overly excited. It had just been such a long time since she had showed such an emotion, that she was afraid she'd forgotten how. And Jack seemed to be carrying her excitement.

After Karen made sure her lipstick was flawless she re-capped it and set it down. She stood up and looked at Jack. "Okay, I'm ready."

Angel was more than happy to see Karen again. She noted that since their last meeting, Karen had made a lot of progress. She seemed sober and a bit surer about the whole baby thing. After taking the necessary tests to make sure the baby was healthy, Angel had Karen lay back on the check up table and pull up her shirt. Jack stood beside her, and of course Will and Grace had come. They wouldn't have missed this for the world. They stood next to Jack, watching as Angel placed a cold gel onto Karen's stomach. She shivered as it touched her, but soon she was used to it. Angel explained what she was doing as she did it, and soon had a clear view of the fetus. Everyone looked at it, not sure what to make out of the black and white screen.

"Here's the head." Angel pointed out and suddenly they all saw it.

Karen, after studying her child, stole a look at Jack. He was grinning like a mad man at the screen. Karen wanted to reach up and stroke his face, kiss him, but she held back, knowing that would be awkward. She also noticed Grace was looking on with fascination. She knew Grace had wanted a baby and this would definitely be a learning experience for her. Will, despite almost never having cared for Karen in his entire life, also looked enthralled by this experience.

"Have we decided if we want to know the sex?" Angel looked at Karen, who quickly brought her attention back to the baby.

"Oh, um, I think I want to wait to find out." Karen was intrigued by not knowing the sex of her child. She wanted it to be a surprise.

Jack groaned. "Aw, Kare. I was all excited about finding out if it was a girl or boy." He sounded disappointed, and Karen knew it would drive him insane to not know.

She just grinned at him.
Unbeknownst to the gang, someone was listening outside.

TBC...