Zach woke feeling rested as the afternoon sun streamed into the bedroom. It only took a moment for him to remember that he was at the casita and that Kendall had been there waiting for him. He reached out to pull her against him and found the bed beside him empty… and wondered if it had been only a dream. He felt desolate in that moment, but then heard a faint sound from the bathroom and breathed a sigh of relief before swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He noticed his old t-shirt on the floor and realized that it must have been what Kendall had been sleeping in the night before and padded to the closed bathroom door.

Finding the door locked against his intrusion he knocked softly before calling, "Kendall… are you alright?"

"Mm-hmm," was the only answer before he heard a groan and another sound he couldn't identify.

He knocked more urgently, "Kendall… you don't sound alright. Open the door and let me in."

"Give me a minute," she answered, sounding out of breath. He could hear running water as he waited impatiently next to the door until she turned the lock. He quickly opened the door and pulled her into his arms and nearly pulling the robe off of her body in his haste. She wrapped her arms around him and said, "I'm fine Zach… it's okay."

"You're not okay… I can see and hear that you're not okay," Zach said as he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed. After laying her gently against the pillows, he sat beside her and stroked the hair from her face. "What is going on? Why did you lock the door?"

Kendall grasped his hand in both of her own and brought it to her lips. After a moment she sighed, "I really am okay… I promise. I locked the door because I was trying to let you sleep… and I was hoping that I wouldn't disturb you."

"Please… tell me what you found out from the doctor," Zach implored her quietly. The only thing he could think of was that something was wrong and that she had risked her health to come to him at the casita.

Kendall used Zach's arm to pull herself into a seated position and then patted the bed next to her, "Come here next to me, Zach. I'll tell you everything you want to know… but I want to lie in your arms…. I've been so lonely without you."

He settled himself next to her and pulled her into his arms before asking once again, in a voice raspy with emotion, "Tell me what's wrong… now."

Kendall nodded her head, and Zach schooled himself to patience as he could tell she was trying hard to reply to his question. After moment she answered, "I kept my doctor appointment after you left… but I already knew what it was. I knew before you left for England… but I didn't have the words to tell you…"

He pulled her even more tightly against him, stroking her hair and kissing her forehead and eyes before responding anxiously, "Whatever it is… we'll fight it. Kendall… I'm not giving up on you or us without a fight. We'll find the best doctors… no matter what it takes… no matter what it costs… I will not lose you again."

Kendall placed her fingers against his lips, "Shh, shh, shh…. I'm sorry. It's nothing like that and here I am still letting you worry over nothing. I don't know why this is so hard for me to tell you… but… but I promise you… that I didn't lie to you… and I didn't break our agreement." She looked at him with pleading eyes as a tear slid down her cheek, "Please believe me."

Zach looked at her in complete confusion before answering her distress hoarsely, "Of course I believe you… why wouldn't I believe you? Just tell me what it is already!"

"I'm… I'm… Zach… we're…" Kendall stammered. She took his hand from her cheek and laid it on her abdomen with her hand resting against his before whispering, "I'm pregnant, Zach. We're going to have a baby."

He looked at her without comprehension for several seconds before realizing the import of her words. He looked from her face to their hands and back again, seeing the fear in her eyes… fear that he would reject their child… fear that he would reject her. He closed his eyes for a moment and let her words wash over him… Kendall is pregnant. Kendall is having my baby. Kendall loves me. He opened his eyes once again and they were dancing with happiness as his face lit with a smile of absolute joy. He pulled her tightly to him and kissed her, first tenderly and then with a fierceness that came from the elation that flooded his entire being. He had a chance to become a father… the right way this time… with the woman he loved. No lies, no subterfuge… instead with commitment… and love… the way it was meant to be.

He finally drew back and looked at her carefully, "Why were you so afraid to tell me? This is happy news."

"But… but we promised… no babies," Kendall answered, her eyes lowered. "That first night at the Valley Inn… you made me promise I wouldn't get pregnant. I… I broke the promise."

He shook his head in confusion, "Kendall… that was when we had an open marriage." He gently lifted her chin until she met his eyes, "And I made the same promise to you. It seems to me that we both broke the agreement. Why are you so afraid? Don't you believe I can love our child? Do you doubt me that much?"

"No! Zach… no! Never!" she answered vehemently before saying more quietly, "But I didn't know how you felt about having a baby… and I didn't want to let you down... or hurt you again."

He smiled as he answered, his hands gently stroking her face, "When we made that agreement neither one of us was in a place where we could even think about children… oh, Kendall… I'm so sorry that you had to go through this alone. I should have been with you… then you would have known how happy this makes me."

She placed his hand against her still flat stomach and answered, "You were with me… even when there was an ocean between us I had your child with me. A child I didn't even know I wanted until I found out I was pregnant."

"I have so many questions… so many things I want to know," Zach said to her. "But the most important ones are already answered. I love you, Kendall… and I love our baby. There's really nothing else, is there?"

"You're right… nothing else matters… but you still deserve to know everything," Kendall answered. "And I want to tell you… everything… but can we do it over some food? I know you have to be starving… and some dry toast and ginger tea will generally stay down."

"So… that was… but it's not…" Zach said uncertainly.

"It was morning sickness… better known as all day sickness by pregnant women everywhere. It's not too bad… some days I'm not sick at all," she answered. "But other days… like today… are more tricky. That's what my headaches were too… just my body getting used to the baby... our baby."

"Are you okay now?" Zach asked as he continued to hold her in his arms. After she nodded her head he continued, "One thing I don't understand, Kendall. If you weren't trying to get pregnant… and I believe you when you say that… then how did it happen? Those pills are supposed to be completely effective."

Kendall giggled and turned red before answering, "Completely effective means 99 percent… and that's only true if you don't miss a dose."

He looked at her in surprise, "You missed one pill? That's all it took?"

"Actually… it was two. And it's all your fault," she answered cheekily.

He raised an eyebrow, cocked his head and deadpanned, "Well… I already know that."

She laughed gleefully before continuing, "When you whisked me away to Vegas, you bought me an entire wardrobe… but didn't get any of my personal items from the condo. I had to call my doctor from the Bellagio to get a duplicate prescription filled… and it took a couple of days. Everything happened so fast… and suddenly we had this marriage… and I wanted you so much… that I didn't really consider the consequences. I'm sorry."

"Kendall," Zach said sternly. Her eyes met his and he noticed a flicker of unease in their depths before he said soothingly, "I'm not sorry." And then drew her into a languid and tender kiss. After a moment he reluctantly released her and leaned his forehead against hers as he breathed a sigh, "I'll go make your toast and tea. You rest."

"No, Zach, I don't want to rest. I don't want to let you out of my sight… we've been too long apart already," she answered as she rose with him.

He pulled on a pair of old jeans from a drawer and Kendall wrapped her robe more tightly around her before they went to the kitchen. He insisted on taking care of her before preparing himself an enormous breakfast while she sipped her tea. At one point when he had bacon frying, coffee brewing and eggs scrambling, she looked at him with an odd expression and then ran from the room. He watched her with concern, quickly turning off the stove. He served up a plate of what had finished cooking and took it and her tea to another room. When she returned, she found him seated in the living room by the fireplace smiling at her relieved expression from being out of the kitchen and its odors.

While Zach ate, Kendall explained how she had pieced together the reason he had left. He looked at her with surprise when she explained how she got directions to the casita from Maria… and laughed aloud when she described his caretaker's surprised reaction to her sudden and unexpected arrival. She had been waiting for him for three days… and was almost ready to give up hope. If he hadn't shown up by the end of the day, she had planned to return to Las Vegas and hire an investigator to find him. Finally she explained to him how she had realized their love for each other on the day after Ethan's death, and he felt sad that it had taken him so much longer to see the truth.

In turn, Zach explained what he had heard and the pain he had felt at her supposed rejection. He had lashed out impulsively and left… because his pain had been too great to allow rational thought. He had spent every day on the road wanting her beside him and wishing he had never left. Kendall cried quietly as he described his desolation… and how he had dreamed of her every night. While he told his tale, she crawled onto his lap and held him in her arms as they cried together… tears of happiness and sadness mingled together with love.

Zach dipped his head and kissed away her tears, wondering at the depth of his love for this fragile beauty… while at the same time recognizing her strength and resilience. As his kisses became more demanding, Kendall pulled back and caught her breath before saying, "Not yet… we'll miss the sunset…"

He looked at her in bewilderment before understanding dawned on his face, "Can you ride? I mean you're…"

"I'm pregnant, Zach... not an invalid. I'm healthy, the baby's healthy… and…" she looked at him lasciviously, "…you're very healthy. I want to ride out to the dunes and watch the sunset and make love under the stars."

He nodded his head in agreement, "I'd like that… after all… we missed our anniversary. And I can't think of a better way to celebrate it than alone with you in the beautiful desert."

"We missed our… you're right! Two months ago… Oh, Zach… most wives are fortunate if their husbands remember the year… Have I told you lately what a lucky woman I am?" Kendall said with a grin.

He laughed in pleasure at her use of his words and whispered in her ear as he held her close, "No luckier than I."