Disclaimer:

Josh, please don't sue. I can assure you that I don't own anything that you would want. Although if you keep messing with the Kandy I might not want to return the characters to you when I'm done with them.

I hadn't intended on this chapter turning out how it did, but these characters refuse to do what I tell them to. They go along their merry ways disrupting all my plans for them although thankfully, they have yet to clean the bathroom or burn down the house when I try to make them do something.

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxo

Kirsten didn't go home for Thanksgiving weekend. She made up a story about having a paper due the day after the break, and she wanted to take advantage of the campus being quiet in order to do a really good job on it. For her mother, who was concerned about Kirsten's spending the holiday apart from the family for the first time, she told her that her friend Sandy lived in Berkeley and had invited her to spend the holiday together. Of course, Kirsten failed to mention that her friend was named Sanford instead of Sandra, but still, it was mostly truth. Besides, she would come clean in three weeks when she went home for Christmas break.

Sandy had invited her to spend the weekend at his place, since the dorm would be almost deserted and he knew that she would be missing her family. Kirsten accepted his offer gratefully. She felt bad about not going home, knowing that her ten-year old sister Hailey would be disappointed, but she simply couldn't face her parents yet. It was one thing to stretch the truth or omit certain facts over the phone, and another to lie to their faces.

Sandy picked her up at three thirty on Wednesday afternoon. He brought his car, and winced as he lifted her suitcase into the trunk. "You do realize that I only live half a mile away, right? And that you're only going to be gone for three days?"

"I thought guys liked to show off how much they can carry," Kirsten teased. "Aren't you a macho man?"

Sandy shook his head. "Not at all. I'm afraid I'm a wimp."

Kirsten laughed, suddenly filled with affection for him. Sandy never failed to make her smile. "But a chivalrous wimp, nonetheless."

"Of course," Sandy replied, bowing deeply. "We Cohens may whine and complain, but we're always gentlemen about it."

She laughed again, and Sandy couldn't help noticing how her hair shone in the November sunlight and how blue her eyes looked. It was getting harder to remember that she was still hurting over her ex, and that girls like Kirsten never went for boys like him. They were just too different to have anything serious between them.

She was a good friend, though, Sandy had to admit. At least he had that.

When they got to the apartment, Sandy insisted that Kirsten take his room for the weekend while he slept on the couch. She protested that she couldn't kick him out of his own room, and that she would be perfectly fine on the couch. Sandy stubbornly insisted that he'd already claimed the couch and there wasn't enough room on it for both of them. "Three of us," he added, "if you count the baby."

"The baby," Kirsten echoed, touching her stomach lightly. "Next Thanksgiving it's going to be six months old."

She sighed and sat down on the sofa. Sandy joined her, sitting a little farther away than usual. He didn't know if she wanted companionship or wanted some space. He wondered if he should have encouraged her to go home for Thanksgiving, to take one last holiday with her family before her life changed forever.

Kirsten gave him a small smile. "I have to say, when I left for college this fall I never expected this to happen."

Sandy looked down. He wondered if he wasn't being a bit selfish about all of this. After all, if he hadn't slept with Kirsten the night of the party, neither of them would be in this situation. She would likely be dating a blond-haired, blue-eyed football or water polo player, and he would be…well, where he was before he met Kirsten, plowing through law school and occasionally dating a nice Jewish girl that his mother would approve of. Personally, Sandy thought his life had changed for the better the moment he met Kirsten, but it was entirely possible that she didn't feel the same way.

"Hey." She punched him lightly in the arm. "Since when are you quiet?"

"I can be quiet," Sandy protested.

"Sandy, in the entire time that I've known you, we've never had a silence longer than five seconds," Kirsten argued. "This is just weird."

Sandy sighed. "It's nothing. I'm just thinking, that's all."

"About what?" Kirsten probed gently. "The baby?"

He risked a glance at her. "I know this wasn't how you thought college was going to be," he began. "And I know you likely wouldn't be here with me if you weren't pregnant, and I'm sorry if I pressured you into anything you didn't want to do."

"Sandy, stop it," Kirsten commanded. "I'm an adult and no one makes me do anything I don't want to do. My father can tell you that."

"Kirsten," Sandy replied, his tone gentle, "You were a debutante. Your father owns most of Orange County. You can't have planned for your life to turn out like this."

"What are you saying?" Kirsten demanded. She was angry now, and hurt, and confused as to where this had come from. "It's my life, Sandy, and you're right, I hadn't expected to be having a baby when I was nineteen, but it's going to happen. And it's not up to you to decide what I want or what I need."

Sandy hadn't meant to upset her. That was the last thing he'd wanted, and now unless he could find the right words their relationship would be irrevocably damaged. What had possessed him to make such a mess of things?

"You're my best friend, Sandy," Kirsten added softly. "And not because you got me pregnant."

"In that case," Sandy grinned, "I'm going to be a selfish pig and say that regardless of the circumstances, I'm pretty damn glad that you're in my life."

Kirsten was overwhelmed by the rush of affection that she felt for him. Sandy was so adorable when he smiled at her like that. She had never known a man who was so thoughtful and giving of himself as Sandy was. In that matter, she'd never known a man like Sandy. She had loved Jimmy, but he was definitely a boy.

She reached over and brushed a stray lock of Sandy's hair out of his eyes. He needs a haircut, she thought to herself, trying to distract herself from the fact that her heart was beating significantly faster than normal. It was just the pregnancy hormones. She loved Jimmy.

Didn't she?

"What do you think it's going to be?" she asked Sandy, in an attempt to distract herself. "Boy or girl?"

"Hmm." Sandy thought for a moment. "Honestly, I'd be happy with either, as long as it looks like you."

Why was he being so sweet when she was trying so hard not to be attracted to him? "Those eyebrows aren't hereditary, are they?" Kirsten joked.

Sandy grinned. "If they are, I suspect we'll see them on the ultrasound."

He needed to stop smiling like that, Kirsten decided. No man should be allowed to have a smile like that.

Then again, Sandy was single. He'd even offered to marry her. And it wasn't like spending the last three months moping over Jimmy had brought him back.

"You know," she began, placing her hand on Sandy's, "if I recall, your bed is big enough for two."

Sandy hadn't seen that coming. "What?"

"If you want to, that is," Kirsten continued, her voice only slightly above a whisper.

Sandy swallowed. Of course he wanted to. He'd wanted to ever since he first laid eyes on her. "Are you sure you're okay with that?"

She kissed him, lightly, on the lips. "I wouldn't have suggested it if I wasn't."

The last of Sandy's resolve broke down. After all, he was only human.