I'm sorry for the unforgivable delay! I have been sooooo busy and then I almost gave up on this altogether cos I couldn't make this work! Anyways, I'm back so here ya go…chapter 14…

Chapter 14

Grace put down the phone and collected her things, ready to go visit Karen. She was intrigued more than anything at Karen's request for her to go over to her apartment. She thought that it couldn't be anything bad as she heard Dolly Parton playing in the background. 'Well, she finally played my CD!' she thought 'I hope she read the note. Oh, maybe that's what this is about!'

"What are you looking so happy about?"

The sudden voice made Grace jump. "Will! God, I didn't know you were there!"

He smiled but turned serious almost immediately. "Grace…I need to talk to you."

"Can it wait? I've got to go somewhere."

He looked at her, wondering if he was doing the right thing. "No…it can't. Please, I need to tell you something."

"What, has Greg dumped you already?" She laughed but seeing no response, Grace realised this was serious. "What is it? What's happened?"

He sat her down. At first he tried to manoeuvre her over to Karen's chair but he couldn't tell her while she was sat…there so he settled her on a chair she was upholstering for a client. "Will?"

He took a deep breath. "Ok, I don't know if I should be telling you this or not. I mean, it's not my place."

"Just tell me, please."

He sighed. "It's about Karen…and the baby."

Grace closed her eyes. Every time anybody mentioned Karen and the baby in that tone of voice, it was never a sentence she wanted to hear. There was always something wrong or something more for her to worry about. What was it this time?

"Look." She interrupted him. "Are they both ok?"

Will was taken back by her question. "Well, yeah...but…"

"Then I don't want to know."

"What?"

She sighed and got up from the chair, moving Will out of the way as she did so. "Every time I hear 'It's Karen and the baby…' or 'There's something you should know about the baby…' it's always something I wish I didn't know or something else that's going to cause me endless headaches worrying over. As long as they are both healthy, that's all I need to know. Everything else can wait. I just…I just want things to go back to normal, y'know? Like they were before."

"Oh, sweetie." Will wrapped Grace in a hug knowing exactly how she felt. Although it was true that this whole situation had brought them all closer to Karen than before, it was still a situation they all didn't need. And although a baby would change their lives for the better, sometimes they secretly wished it would all just go away.

"So…" Grace began, as they broke apart. "…can it wait?"

Will nodded. "It can wait."

Jack smiled to himself as he flipped through the catalogue. 'That would look so cute on little Enrique!' he thought. Of course Jack had already sexed and named the baby, he couldn't wait for Enrique Justin Walker to arrive! Thinking of his previous behaviour, he was ashamed. He'd behaved like a child and couldn't believe he almost ruined his relationship with Karen. With everyone.

"Hey!" she greeted Karen as she opened the door. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, honey, Come in."

It's true what they say, Grace thought. Pregnant women do glow. As she watched Karen, she could see a difference in her. She seemed to extrude happiness and although she could sense a small tension in the air, she felt relieved that Karen was finally on the up. They entered the lounge and Karen sat down on the sofa next to Grace. "Ok, I've something to tell you..."

Grace rolled her eyes a little. "The baby?" she asked with a slight frustration in her tone.

Karen looked stunned. "What?…I mean, yes but…how did you know?"

"Will." She said simply.

"You mean he told you?"

Grace shook her head, "No, he wanted to but I wouldn't let him. I just…I don't know Karen. I've said this to Will; this whole thing is just too much. I mean, ok, yes, it's you having the baby and it's so hard for you, I know that." She grabbed Karen's small, perfectly manicured hands. "But…it's hard for me too, hard for all of us. This baby is going to change so much and our lives won't ever be the same. I'm not saying that I'm not looking forward to it, of course I am, I can't wait! But it's just that…"

"…you'd rather keep it simple? Right?" Karen finished the sentence for her with a knowing smile. Grace sighed with relief, thank god Karen understood. "I do too honey, I just want to be able to enjoy this with out constantly thinking 'what's going to go wrong next?', you know?"

Grace nodded, "I'm so glad you feel the same, I was worried you'd be hurt or offended. That's the last thing I want to do, you're my friend Karen."

Then, without warning, Karen pulled Grace into a hug. Although slightly surprised at first, Grace hugged her back. Finally, each knew that the other would be there, no matter what. 'It's wrong,' Karen thought 'but I don't care. As long as Will keeps his promise, no one will know. Why does it matter anyway? He won't want to be a father, neither does Stan. We've got all the family we need.' Her mind was made up, the question of the father wouldn't be raised again. Stan would go on the birth certificate and that was that. Not just to save her own dignity, but her baby's too. Anyway, she wasn't totally sure it wasn't Stan's anyway, why put a cat amongst the pigeons?

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