Summary: Set about a year after TM. The O'Connels are living in London and everything is perfect and peacefull. Evelyn just discovered she is pregnant and thats when things start to get complicated.

Rating: PG13

Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Pitty, isn't it?

Acknowledgements: I want to thank PurplePebble22 for everything she has done for me and this story, you are the best hon. Also thanx to Rosie-bec, who helped as well. Some higher force bless these sweet gals.

Everything comes full circle

Chapter 1 - What are you grinning at like mad?

by Liz Parker

Everything was perfect. They had a nice quiet dinner in a small London restaurant they both loved so much and just an hour ago, she gave him the news. Of course he was surprised. Who wouldn't be? Not that it wouldn't be possible. They were married, for Christ's sake, they loved each other madly and...well, they did all the things young married couples do. But still, it didn't cross his mind he would become a father. A father.

Ok, maybe it did. Maybe even more than once. Right, ok, now and then, he was literally daydreaming about it: him, Evie and a small kiddo running around their big house, unintentionally breaking things, bringing mud inside and making a lot of noise.

But right now, here, today, so real and near at the moment, it scared the hell out of him. The feeling of responsibility hit him with all its strength and after the immediate joy came the self-doubt. Was he really ready? Could he take care of a child? Be there for him or her for the rest of their lives? Could he do that? And what about Evie? Would he be able to fulfil her expectations? As husband, partner, friend and father of her child... his child. Yes, this definitely changes everything. Not in a bad way, but changes.

And still, despite all the self-doubt, he couldn't help it, he felt he was the luckiest man under the sun and the moon today.

"Honey? Are you alright?" Came a worried voice from across the table. "You are so quiet."

He could see the concern rising in her eyes. Rick quickly took her hand and squeezed it. He gave her a little smile and started to play with her fingers, pretending to be observing her wedding band in order to win some time to come up with a good response. Nothing came though, only a big sigh.

"I am so sorry Evie, I got lost in my thoughts." She twisted her hand so that it now laid over his.

"Care to share?" Evelyn asked playfully and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Well..." He didn't want to ruin this otherwise perfect evening with his doubts and concerns. But hey, this was Evelyn, Evie, his angel, his friend, his soulmate. He gave in.

"First I want to tell you that today, you made me the luckiest man in England. " She gave him a big smile. "On the other hand, the news made me a bit afraid...and doubtful..." the smile faded a little. "No, no! You get me wrong! I don't doubt you, nor our child, I doubt myself." She raised her eyebrows. "I am concerned about our future, afraid about you, the child, me being a father, be there 24/7 for a small being to whom I shall be dad I never really knew myself, I am afraid to screw up, not to meet your expectations." To his surprise, she gave him her most sweet smile. And a dazzling long kiss followed. After a moment, they broke apart, both speechless, just enjoying the moment.

"Darling, ..." started Evelyn. "That was one of the sweetest things you ever told me." He gave her a curious look, so she explained. "You just showed how much you care. You know that you are going to be a father for just about 70 minutes and you are already thinking about future far far away. That is very sweet, but you really don't have to worry. I and the baby are great and we also don't have to worry about the money," she grinned and lowered her voice "there is plenty of it even for our grand children." He returned her conspiratorial smile.

"Yeah, good old Benny left us a nice wedding gift." It still felt strange Benny was no longer amongst the living. Rick knew him for so long that even now, it seemed like Benny was somewhere out there, trying to trick another clueless tourists.

"Besides, you already exceeded ALL my expectations." Evie said in a seductive voice and continued in a more serious tone. "Rick, honey, if you be just half a father of what kind of husband you are, our child is going to love you beyond all measures. As do I." She bent over the table and gave him one of her not-so-innocent kisses. After they parted, they just kept looking at each other for a while, enjoying each others presence.

Evie looked beautiful today. Not that any other day would be much different, but it was obvious that today she made herself extra pretty for her husband. Rick knew that and he had to confess he enjoyed it, all the effort just for him. Her hair was now just a little bit shorter than it used to be when they met and she hadn't the fringe anymore. Most of the time, she wore her hair free, like today, for example. She knew Rick liked it that way.

Still, when going to museum, she wore long skirts, appropriate blouses, cardigans, hair tight in a bun, though some unruly curls always found their way to fall down her face. And Rick had to confess, again, that he enjoyed this "working" style very much. It was at least making him less jealous. Yes, he was jealous. Really terribly sometimes, but he couldn't help it. His wife was indeed a hot chick and he knew men way better than her, hell, he was one of them. And he also knew that some male thoughts and fantasies were shared by all of them. He remembered something. He once said that she was not a total loss. Aw, definitely NOT a total loss.

Rick was so deep in his own thoughts, that he didn't notice his glassy eyes, nor the large grin that was quickly spreading through his whole face. And even when it looked there was no place for more teeth on his face, it still grew larger.

"What?" came a sharp question. Evelyn was watching him, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Nothing." Came the unbelievable answer.

"Rick!"

"Hmm?"

"What are you grinning at like mad?"

"Nothing." He was teasing her now.

"Liar! You tell me this instant!" she reached across the table and punched him in the arm.

"Hey! That hurt! Can't a man have his secrets?"

"Not with me."

"Why do you think you are so special?"

"Because I am your wife." Now that sounded familiar...

"..." No response.

"Riiiiiick!" She pulled out her bottom lip. This woman really knew all kinds of tricks. He almost couldnt resist.

"What do I get if I tell you?" She was growing impatient. And also a bit annoyed, she had to confess.

"You get my dessert."

"That's it? Your dessert? We haven't even ordered it yet! C'mon, can't you think about something better?" he said in a playful tone. He was teasing her and she knew that. They were playing this game often and usually she enjoyed it, but somehow not today. Why didn't he want to tell her? Why did they have to play this hide-and-seek game? Her glumness and anger grew and before she could stop herself, she snapped.

"Damn Rick, you are behaving like a child, why don't you just stop blackmailing me and tell me what the hell you were thinking about!"

There it was. She regretted it the instant she said it. She knew she hurt him, moreover on his own battle field. She never complained about teasing, what's more, she supported it and now she was snapping and cursing so loud half the restaurant turned their heads and looked at them. To be honest, she didn't give a damn bout the restaurant, but she was really sorry about Rick. He didn't deserve this, she ruined everything. She looked at him. His eyes were on his plate, he looked really like a little boy who was just put down by his own mother. She sighed.

"Honey? Rick please, look at me." He lifted his eyes.

"I am - so - so – so - sorry I snapped." she took his hand and held it tight.

"It's the stupid hormones. They play with me like I was a doll. The one moment I am happy the next I am depressed the next I am furious and irritated for no reason and I can't help it." Tears started to form in her eyes.

"See what I mean?" they started to fall down her face.

"My previous self would kick my own bottom, and what does my present self? Sits here and cries its eyes out. I am really really sorry. Can you forgive me?" he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and smiled widely.

"Course I do angel."

"Apology accepted?"

"Indeed."

She dried her eyes with a handkerchief, then bent over the table and gave him such a kiss that would make even old soldiers blush. Hell, she already made one scandal today, why not make a second one? They wouldn't return in here for a long period of time, she was sure of it. By the way, when did she learn to curse like that, anyway? Rick was obviously having a very bad influence on her. Right now, she didn't care.

"By the way honey..."

"Alright, I'll tell you!"

"Would you be so kind, please? I am really really curious."

"I was thinking..." he made a dramatic pause "...that you weren't a total loss, indeed." He gave her his most charming smile.

"What! That's it? That's what you were grinning so madly about? That's what this all was about?" she asked astonished.

"Yep, that's it. Why, what did you think?" now he was the one who was curious.

"Can we skip this conversation? Today, I'm embarrassed enough for the rest of the month."

She sighed heavily and just now Rick noticed how tired she looked. He bent over the table and touched her cheek. The back of his hand moved up, caressed the side of her forehead, continuing with her cheek to her jaw line. She closed her eyes and gave in, then smiled gently, obviously enjoying his touch. Something caught Rick's eye and almost made him jump. The clock on the near wall showed almost midnight. He mentally kicked himself. It was time to go. An hour ago!

Evelyn was sleeping badly in the last weeks. Often, she woke up in the middle of the night and stayed up till dawn, reading a book or just looking out the window. She finally fell asleep just to wake in an hour to be one of the first in the museum. She didn't have to, but it was one of her habits. Rick didn't understand this. Why on earth would somebody get up early, when given the opportunity to sleep for some more time? Well, one of the few persons who did, was Evelyn. And he was smart enough not to argue with her. Ok, smart on the second shot, because after the first one, she made it perfectly clear that she would not change her habits just to stay with him in bed an hour longer for HIS amusement. He though this was a bit unfair, because it was not only HIS amusement they were talking about. But that was a whole other can of worms.

The next thing was the morning sickness. She wasn't sick every day, but every second or third. They though it was some kind of virus, along with the nausea, bad sleeping and headaches, it made an impression of a nice ugly stomach bug. This was also the reason why she went to see the doc.

So there was the bad sleeping, nausea, morning sickness, early get ups and headaches. And two other things that sucked.

First was the biiiig delivery from Egypt. Evie was talking about it for weeks. A big delivery of all kinds of stuff from a dig near Luxor. From pottery through artifacts to jewelry and some writings. And then, 12 days ago, it finally arrived. Everything was there really, no complain about that. But, and here comes the BUT, everything together in one big 3 cubic meters container! The folks who sent it really didn't care bout the packing. Some stuff was even broken. Evelyn was so furious, Rick have never seen her like that in his life. So she and another few colleagues of hers would be spending another few weeks studying that stuff. They already saved, what was left and sorted it.

And to all of this, and much to Ricks annoyance, she got a new boss, and from what he heard, he was a big asshole.

So Rick was now sitting there, in that restaurant, midnight nearing, and wondering how the hell his wife could still go along and find the nerves to sit there with him and not complain she was tired and exhausted. He observed her face. Now he could see it, damn, she was literally falling asleep, her head pressing heavily against his palm.

"Sweetheart?" No response.

"Honey, it's time to go home." The weight of her head against his hand was growing, was she really falling asleep on his hand in a restaurant?

"Evie. Evelyn! Wake up, dear!" Nothing. He didn't want to do it, but it looked he didn't have another choice.

"Evie, I am so sorry, but I am afraid I just broke one of your artifacts!" Her eyes snapped open.

"Which one?" She looked sleepily around, taking in her surrounding, slowly remembering, where she was.

"Don't worry, none, you just fell asleep and I had to somehow wake you up. And this always works." He chuckled.

"And there is no other way to do that than to tell me you broke something very valuable, thousands of years old and irreplaceable?" She gave him a glare.

"Hey, I tried the nice way. Twice. Or more." He tried to defend himself. Then, his voice softened.

"I am sorry. I'll pay and then we can go, ok?" He gave a signal to the waiter and paid their bill.

The night was cold so Evelyn was awake in a second. She shivered slightly and before she could make a comment about the cold weather, Rick's jacket was tangled around her.

"You will be cold." She protested. He really had to laugh at that one.

"Believe me angel, I lived far more colder nights. I am used to it."

"Well, not anymore, at least for the last year." She said with a wicked smile. Rick didn't know why, but it made him blush. She giggled shortly, then gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you anyway. Always being my hero."

"To your service, ma'am." He made a little salute.

The ride home was in comfortable silence. Evie fell asleep in five minutes so Rick had some time to think. His wife was stressed. No wonder why, but it was definitely not good for her. It was not good for her before, but now even more. He had to take care of that. Have an eye on her, so she ate properly , slept and took breaks. The hard part was, how to make it so she didn't notice? She didn't like him being too overprotective, she still was the stubborn girl who declared she was proud of who she was, a librarian. Maybe not a librarian or a girl anymore, but still proud of who she was.

Rick sighed, it would take some time to think out a plan.

After he parked the car, Rick somehow managed to get Evelyn out of the car, shut the car, carry her to the door, open the door, shut it behind him, carry her up the stairs and to their bedroom where he laid her on the bed and undressed her. Through all this, she didn't even stir. She must have been really exhausted. Rick wondered if he would be able to carry her like this in 5 months. Time would tell. But he was already so looking forward to it. He removed his own clothes and laid beside her. She instinctively snuggled into him. He smiled and whispered.

"Sweet dreams beautiful. I love you. Both." To his surprise, he got a sleepy answer.

"We love you too."

TBC

A/N: So what do you ppl think? Let me know, I love reviews, they let me know there are ppl out there whoa actually read this. I like conctructive criticism, feel free to sent me your opinions on my story, your ideas or suggestions. Makes me improve myself.

About the story, there is more coming. :) Hopefully see you soon, yours Liz.