A/N: Not mine

Chapter Six

The nurse was busy with a freshman that had a nosebleed, so Grace and Luke took a seat. It was almost 10 minutes before the nurse appeared, peeling off slightly bloodstained gloves.

"Grace Polk and Luke Girardi, right? What can I do for you?"

"I fell and hit my head in gym class."

"Ok, come right through. Luke, you can either go back to class or wait here for Grace."

"I'll wait thanks."

"Why am I not surprised."

The nurse, Ms. Roberts, was pretty young and had only started at the school the previous September. She led Grace into her office and gestured for Grace to sit down. After a moment at the computer on the desk, Ms. Roberts turned back to Grace.

"Right, so you fell and hit your head, right?"

"We were paying soccer and I fell on my side. I hit my head on the floor." Grace was feeling a little clumsy and foolish.

"Any headache?"

"A little I guess."

"Dizziness?"

"No."

"Vision blurred?"

"No."

"Ok, great. You probably don't have a concussion or anything. I'm going to give you some pills for your headache and then I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Um, I can't take any pain pills."

"Do you have an allergy? It's not on the system. If you give me a minute I'll update your file."

"It's not an allergy." Grace took a breath. "I'm pregnant."

Ms. Roberts didn't react.

"How many weeks?"

"14."

"Ok. Have you felt it move yet?"

"Uh, no. My OB told me that would probably start around 16 weeks."

"That's fine. Any cramps?"

"No."

"Things are probably fine. I think you should try and see your OB today just in case though. And from now on, stay away from contact sport. I'll put a note on your file. Until you want to make this public knowledge, I'll say it's due to the head injury. Is that ok?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"You can go talk to Luke now. He's probably going out of his mind right now."

"You just assume he's involved."

"C'mon. Everybody knows about you two. It's hot gossip, but strangely his mother didn't react at all to the news her son was making out with her older daughter's best friend. I assume she knows everything?"

Grace nodded.

"Right, do you have your OB's number?"

Grace nodded again.

"Get Luke in here, then call your OB. I'm going to get lunch. You're welcome to stay here as long as you want."

With that Ms. Roberts left a stunned Grace in the room. She couldn't believe that a faculty member hadn't reacted at all.

Luke pushed his head around the door. "She said it would be ok for me to come in." "Fine. She told me to call and make an OB appointment."

Luke looked slightly puzzled.

"OB?"

"Obstetrician. You know, doctor that takes care of pregnant women. Didn't you read any of the stuff I know Joan's been shoving at you for the last month?"

"You told her?"

"The nurse? I kind of had to. Anyway, I have to call the doctor. The number's in my bag, which is in my locker."

"I'll go get it."

Luke left, leaving Grace alone and feeling a little guilty. She hadn't been thinking. The truth was that the weight she had put on had left her a little off balance, which she didn't want to admit. Luke returned pretty fast with the notebook.

"I'm gonna go find Mom. I'll borrow the car to take you to the appointment." Luke disappeared again.

The only appointment that Grace could get was at 4.00, but the doctor told her to rest until then, and if she had any cramps to go right to the ER. But Grace was fine. She stayed in the Nurse's office all afternoon, and by the time she and Luke arrived at the medical center even her headache was gone.

The nurse showed them into an examination room and told Grace to lie down on the table. Grace pulled off her jacket and sweatshirt, leaving just a slightly tight t-shirt, under which her stomach was obvious. Grace lay down and pulled her shirt up so her bump was fully exposed.

Luke felt kind of awkward. He had no idea what he was supposed to do, and no matter how many times Grace assured him that everything was fine he was still worried. This wasn't the easiest situation to begin with, but right now he was feeling helpless, young and stupid.

"Hey. Quit walking in circles, you're making me dizzy. Sit." Grace gestured at a seat next to her head.

Luke sat down and reached to rest his hand on her stomach. Grace didn't say anything so he just left it there for a few moments, then to Luke's supprise, Grace reached up and took his hand.

It wasn't that long before the doctor arrived. Dr. Shaw was in his fifties, with graying dark hair. He had a kind of fatherly air to him. He smiled at them as he entered.

"Grace, I hear you had a fall."

"I fell on my side in gym class."

"Any cramping since?"

"Nothing."

"No spotting?"

Luke looked confused.

"Hi. You must be Dad." Dr. Shaw reached out his hand to Luke.

"I'm Luke Girardi." Luke shook his hand. This was all kind of surreal.

"Spotting is a small amount of bleeding. It's a sign of miscarriage." The doctor explained to Luke. "But I take it you've been fine?"

Grace nodded.

"Sounds good. I'm just going to do a sonogram to check everything then."

He pulled a trolley mounted sonogram machine over to the examining table. The gel he applied to Grace's stomach made her jump.

"What do they make that stuff from? Liquid nitrogen?"

Dr. Shaw laughed. "It's a possibility."

He picked up the wand and placed it on her stomach. A picture appeared on the screen, and through the speakers there was a sound like a rushing underwater.

"Nice strong heartbeat." Dr Shaw moved the wand to try and get a better picture.

Suddenly Luke saw it. The screen focused, and there was his child. He could see it moving it's arms and legs, and he could see its heart beating.

"Looks like everything's fine. You were lucky. So no more contact sports of any kind, but do take exercise. Swimming, going to the gym, running, something like that."

Grace just nodded. She was looking at the screen too, but it was Luke's expression that got to her. Even though in reality they were just a couple of stupid, unlucky kids, Luke looked like any other proud father. He couldn't take his eyes off the screen and looked amazed.

"Can you tell if it's a boy or a girl yet?" Luke asked, finally turning back to the doctor and Grace.

"Not yet. It needs to be about 20 weeks for that to be at all accurate."

"You want to know?" asked Grace.

"Not if you don't. I mean if you want a surprise that's fine. It's up to you."

"You can have an opinion. It doesn't mean I'll listen to it though."

"You're lucky to have him Grace. Most of my younger patients don't have anyone.

"Right then. I'll just take a couple of pictures for you then I think we're done. You have another appointment in two weeks, right Grace?"

"Nearly three. It's two weeks Saturday."

"Great. Well Grace, Luke I'll see you then. Luke, if you can bring a family medical history that would be great. So, here are two more photos for the album."

With that he left them.

Luke handed Grace a few paper towels to wipe away the gel from her stomach. They grabbed their stuff and left.

"Do you really not want to know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"Part of me does, but I think I want a surprise. I think it's just kind of nice not to know until it's here. Is that ok with you?"

"It's your decision. I don't mind, but it might be easier to pick names and things if we knew."

"I'm not even half-way done yet and you're thinking about names? Not a chance. Ok, new rule. No talking about names until I say so. Ok?"

"Fine." Luke started the car and headed out of the parking lot. "Do you want to come back to my house? Joan collected all your homework from this afternoon, and Mom will kill me if I don't bring you back to prove her grandchild is ok."

"Your Mom's lost her mind over this hasn't she."

"It's looking that way. After this she's probably going to try to get you to stay in a bubble for the next few months. So do you want to come? I think my dad's cooking pasta for dinner."

"Sure."

Dinner had come and gone. Helen had been thrilled to have Grace there, but Luke had been strangely silent since they'd returned from the doctor's office. Now Joan and Grace were upstairs doing homework, and Helen wanted to know what was wrong with Luke.

"Sweetie, I know you had a scare today, but everything's fine."

Helen took a seat next to her youngest son, who was sitting watching TV.

"It's nothing mom."

"Luke. You've hardly said two words this evening. You didn't even join in when Kevin was insulting Joan. I'm your mother, I know when something's wrong."

"Maybe that's the problem?"

"That I'm your mother?"

"No, Mom! Being a parent!" Luke paused and looked at his mother. "When I saw Grace fall, my first thought wasn't for her, it was for the baby. I thought about a 14-week-old fetus before my girlfriend! And then, normally I wouldn't have a clue what to in a situation like that, but everything just switched off and I was calm, and I knew what to do."

"It comes with parenthood, sweetie. Even when you're dying inside, you just do whatever you can. You'll get used to it."

"Mom, it scares the crap out of me. At least Grace will have finished High School. I have to go back after the summer!"

"Luke, you knew all of this when you said you wanted to be involved."

"No, God, that's not what I mean. I don't know what I mean. I mean when I saw the baby move on the sonogram, it was the best moment of my entire life. Then when I try to imagine having to take care of it when it gets here, I can't. I have no idea what to expect.

"And Grace it acting totally different. I mean not all of the time, but when she was with the doctor, she was acting, well, acting like a normal girl. She couldn't stop smiling, she wasn't sarcastic at all, and she held my hand the entire time."

Helen laughed.

"Mom! This is not funny! I don't know what to do?"

"Sweetie, don't say this to Grace if you want to ever hold you child, but it's her hormones. She's just started her second trimester and she's pumped full of them. They'll make her happy all the time. Believe me though, from experience, enjoy them while you can. She's going to be a cranky witch in the third trimester. I think I made your dad sleep on the couch for a month because he was breathing wrong when I was pregnant with you.

"Luke, I know this is a lot to deal with, but by the time the baby gets here, you'll be as ready as any new parent. And you have everyone here for you. We'll all help you both get through this."

Luke looked at the floor, not sure if he should tell is mom a certain bit of information. "Rabbi Polanski still won't let Grace in the house. Not even to get more clothes. All she's got is the stuff she sneaked out of there two Saturdays ago when her dad was at the temple."

"Oh, honey." Helen wrapped her arm around her son. "I'm glad you told me. Is she still living at the Roves' house?"

"Yeah, but they don't have a spare bedroom, so she's been sleeping in Adam's bed, and he's been sleeping on the couch. They can't do that forever, can they?"

"That's up to Grace and the Roves. But she knows we're here for her right?"

Luke nodded a little. "I think so."

"That's the important thing."

Helen hugged her son and left him on the couch. She returned to the kitchen, grabbed a few things and left the house on a mission.

It only took Helen about 5 minutes to get to the Polanski house. But she sat in the car for almost a half hour before she got out and walked to the door. She checked her watch and saw that it was 9pm. Late enough that Rabbi Polanski would have finished dinner, but not so late that he would have gone to bed. Perfect

It didn't take long for Rabbi Polanski to open the door. "Hello," he asked a little puzzled.

"Hi. I don't know if you remember me, but we met on parents' night at school. I'm Helen Girardi."

"Joan's mother. Yes, I remember now. What can I do for you? I'm more used to your daughter turning up here unannounced. If it's Grace you need to speak to then I'm sorry but she's not here."

"That's really what I wanted to talk to you about."

Rabbi Polanski's expression turned hard. "Ahh, well I'm sure you know some of the situation from your daughter, but I really fail to see how this is anything to do with you? My relationship with my daughter is my business."

Helen stopped. She suddenly realized that Grace hadn't told her father that Luke was involved, and it wasn't her place to tell him. "I'm sorry sir, but Grace is a student of mine and my daughter's best friend. I don't mean to tell you what to do; I just thought that it might be helpful to get another parent's point of view. She's your daughter. No matter how you feel about her actions, she should always be welcome in your house."

"She's welcome to come back any time Mrs. Girardi. I simply won't allow her to return until she gives up this fantasy of keeping the child. As soon as she's ready to think about putting the child up for adoption, I'll welcome her back."

Helen struggled to keep her emotions under control. "With all due respect sir, shouldn't that be her decision?"

"Mrs. Girardi, she's still a child herself. How can she possibly take care of a baby on her own? She won't even tell me who the boy involved is. So I assume he's either totally unsuitable, or she doesn't know who he is. And honestly, I don't know which one of these options is more likely.

"You're not Jewish, Mrs. Girardi. You can't understand how I feel, or my position in our community. Grace's actions are an embarrassment to me, but that doesn't mean I don't love her. I just need her to see sense before I can help her."

"You don't have a very high opinion of your daughter do you?" Helen didn't mean to be rude, but Rabbi Polanski was so frustrating. "What happens if she never changes her mind?"

"Then I wish her good luck. But being a single parent at 18, with only a high school diploma isn't an attractive option. She'll change her mind."

"I think I should go. Thanks for talking to me Rabbi. I'm sure I'll see you around."

Helen didn't even wait to be shown to the door. She just left, got in the car and drove off. When she got home she quietly snuck upstairs and sat on her bed thinking. She wasn't ready to talk to any of her children and Will, the person she did need to talk to, wasn't home yet.

She could hear Grace and Joan talking down the hall, and knew that the decision she had to make was a tough one, and one that needed to be made as a family. But with the exception of Will, she knew what the family would say. So she just lay on her bed and waited for her husband to get home.

Will had been called out in the middle of dinner when a suspect in one of his robbery cases had been arrested on another charge. The interview took hours so it was after midnight when he finally got home. Helen was asleep, but like always she woke up when her husband slipped into bed beside her.

"Hey honey. Did you get the bad guy?"

Will kissed his sleepy wife. "One of them. There are always plenty more out there. But we had physical evidence tying this guy to a couple of armed robberies. The DA's pretty confident."

"That's great. We have to talk though."

"Now?" Will looked at his watch. "Helen, it's 12.47 in the morning. Can't this wait?"

"I went to see Grace's father after dinner. She's still living at the Roves' house and there's not enough room there so Adam has to sleep on the couch."

"Helen, I know that's not the ideal situation. But it's not up to us. Grace has to figure things out with her father herself. I don't think she'd like you interfering."

"Will, we're going to have a spare bedroom after Saturday. She's part of the family now. Besides, if she lives here then Luke will be able to be much more involved."

"Helen, are you suggesting we ask Luke's girlfriend to move in with us? C'mon it's not even like they can act like they're innocent anymore. That sounds a little to much like setting up house."

"Will Girardi, what're they going to do? It's not like this'll give them opportunity to do anything they haven't done before. Besides, she's not just Luke's girlfriend, she's Joan's best friend and the mother of our first grandchild."

"Don't remind me," Will grumbled. "It just feels a little like we're letting Luke and Grace play house. I mean what's next, letting Adam move into Joan's room?"

"I'd like to think that, God forbid, if Adam had nowhere else to go we'd let him stay here. And Grace wouldn't be in Luke's bedroom. We could turn Kevin's room into a room for her and the baby. I mean, I know it's all hypothetical, but I feel so bad for her. Her mother's not about, and Adam's is dead, so I kind of feel like a parent to all three of them. Grace is gonna need advice from someone who's been there. Do you remember how scared we were when I was pregnant with Kevin?"

"I see your point sweetie, I really do. I just think it's a big decision. We have to think how it would impact the family as a whole."

"She is part of the family, Will. Whether she and Luke stay together or not, she'll always be part of the family because she's the mother of Luke's child. I think we have to give her this option, even if she says no."

"We have to talk to the kids first. This has to be a unanimous decision."

"Is that a yes?"

"It's a lets talk about this as a family."

"Oh, I know exactly what the kids will say. Kevin will say he shouldn't be involved because he's moving out. Joan will say yes, but demand we soundproof the baby's room so it won't wake her up and Luke will go all quiet but be happy. I just don't know if Grace will say yes."

Will and Helen asked their three children what they thought of the idea over breakfast, and their answers were almost exactly as expected. The only exception was Luke, who suggested that he swap rooms with Joan as well, so that he's be right next door to Grace and the baby if they needed him. This idea made Helen smile. Her little boy was already thinking like a father! And to everyone's surprise, Joan agreed. All that was left was to ask Grace.

It was decided that Helen should be the one to make the offer. Will pleaded that he didn't know the girl well enough, Joan said that Grace had told her to butt out of her life enough times already and Luke refused on the grounds that it might be misconstrued as an overture towards formalizing the relationship, (his words). So Helen was left, and she decided to ask as soon as possible.

Helen got the chance she'd been waiting for after her 3rd period Art History class. She'd been thrilled when Price had suggested that she teach this class, and even more thrilled when both Adam and Grace had signed up for it.

"Grace, do you mind staying after class for a few minutes?"

"Sure, Mrs. Girardi." Grace felt a little awkward. After Luke and her display yesterday, no one had any doubts as to their relationship, and when Mrs. G. asked her to stay after, a few of the girls in the class giggled. Plus, Mrs. G had asked Grace to call her Helen out of class, so this was all a little weird.

The class trooped out as soon as the bell rang, leaving Helen and Grace alone in the classroom.

"Is this ok Grace, you don't have to get to class or anything?"

"It's fine. I have study hall. I can miss that. Is this about my last essay? I know it was from before the holidays, but I wasn't concentrating well. I can do it over if you want."

"Grace, your essay was fine. In fact, you're pulling a straight A in my class so far." Helen took a seat on top of one of the desks, opposite where Grace was standing.

"I didn't know you have a 4.0 average Grace."

Grace half-smiled. "I don't think anyone does. It kind of ruins my 'anti' reputation, you know? So is that what you wanted?"

"I think I have to be blunt Grace. I went to see your father last night."

Grace stopped. A hard, impassive mask swiftly swept across her face. "Oh."

"I didn't mean to pry, it's just that Luke told me you're still staying with Carl and Adam. So I went to try and talk to your father, Grandparent to Grand parent."

A flicker of panic crossed Grace's eyes, but disappeared almost as soon as it appeared.

"Don't worry. I realized he didn't know about Luke just in time, so I just pretended I was a concerned teacher."

"Thanks." Grace crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked out of the window. "He's not going to change his mind you know," she continued.

"He's almost as stubborn as you. But where does that leave you? You can't stay with the Roves forever.

"And that's where we come in. We've talked about it as a family and we want you to move in with us. Kevin's moving out so we'll have a spare room, and Joan and Luke are going to switch rooms so Luke can be next to you and the baby when it's born. You don't have to decide right now, but just think about it."

Grace was silent. She actually couldn't believe that they were offering this to her. "Uh, thanks, for the offer I mean. I have to think about this."

She left the classroom almost on autopilot, not really paying attention to her surroundings. So Helen was left alone in her classroom for the rest of 4th period and almost to the end of lunch. But Grace returned almost as abruptly as she had left. She took a seat on one of the tables.

"I went to talk to Joan and Luke. They're the ones who have to live with this."

"Grace, I told you this was a family decision. They want this too."

"That's what they said. So I guess I have to say yes. If you really want me there, that is. I mean, c'mon do you guys really want the sleepless nights again?"

"Grace, we mean it. Kevin moves out this Saturday, but if you don't mind you can move in a week after that. We have to get things ready for you." Helen impulsively hugged Grace. Grace stiffened and looked very uncomfortable, but she didn't say anything.