Chapter 3

"Hey, I'm back." Monica announced cheerfully as she strode through the doorway of their apartment after the walking back from the doctor's office. Gloria and Andrew quickly glanced up from their spots at the kitchen table, where they were reading different sections of the newspaper and smiled a greeting. "So?" Andrew pried as he watched his friend approach the table. Luckily for him, Monica was feeling much better now and not in the mood for snapping at him.

She instead reached into her pocket with an excited smile and pulled forth a sonogram picture she had brought home from the doctor's in great anticipation to show her friends. "Look." She smiled proudly as she handed the small bit of photo paper to Andrew, who took one look before amazement and disbelief found its way into his heart and he immediately stood from where he sat and embraced his pregnant friend lovingly. "Oh, that's incredible." He breathed almost tearfully as he kissed the top of her head tenderly. She accepted the hug gratefully. But then Gloria wasted no time in standing from her own spot and snatching the picture excitedly out of Andrew's hand the moment he had drawn back from Monica.

Her jaw dropped and she gasped when she saw the little ultra-sound picture. "Oh, it's so beautiful." She exclaimed before she too, wrapped her arms around her supervisor in some form of rejoice. Monica only laughed in response as Andrew then stepped forward again and they all shared a group hug for a long moment. When they finally pulled apart, Gloria handed the photo back to Monica and she slipped it back in her pocket before turning and heading for her bedroom. "Well, guys, I'll be right back. I have to go and change before Adam and Tess get here." She then disappeared into her bedroom with a brief wave in her friends' direction. She loved them so much and was so glad they were being so supportive.

The truth was she going to change into a looser shirt for Adam, so hopefully he wouldn't notice anything different about her. She hadn't seen Tess in a while either, but knew she would notice, as she already knew anyway. But she was sure enough that Adam hadn't a chance of noticing. He wasn't the sharpest angel on the force. But she loved him. She had worked with him a lot before she became a caseworker. She still saw him around from time to time, for example today. She was planning on telling him about the baby, but she didn't want him to just walk through the door and say 'hey! You're pregnant.' That just wouldn't work.

But before she had even finished changing, she heard a knock on the apartment door and called for Andrew or Gloria to get it. She knew very well who it was and rushed the rest of the job, pulling her looser shirt quickly over her head and smoothing it out across her growing belly before hurrying out to greet Tess and Adam.

Sure enough, there they stood in the doorway, receiving hugs of greeting from both Gloria and Andrew. She waved a hello and rushed over to give them her own greeting. Tess beamed broadly when she saw her and quickly embraced her old pupil, only eyeing her stomach only for a brief moment, as not to let Adam on board with the secret. Adam quickly gave Monica a hug and kiss on the cheek and, just as she had suspected, he didn't seem to notice anything. He simply smiled a hello and inquired as to how she was doing.

"Good. Really good." She replied as the small group then headed over to the living room and seated themselves on the couch and in chairs. "But how about you?" She questioned, clearly desperate to change the subject before it even started. Adam nodded and smiled in response to the matter. "Can't complain." He shrugged as though he had nothing to report. They all spoke small talk for a little while and Monica could tell that Andrew and Gloria were just waiting for her to let the cat out of the bag so they actually had something to talk about other then the weather, or their jobs. Finally, after about fifteen or twenty minutes, Monica found the signal she was waiting for when Adam asked her another question.

"So, Monica, what's new with you? I haven't been seeing a whole lot of you lately." He reminded curiously as he stared over at her from the couch, to where she was sitting in an armchair. Monica took this as an opportunity and stood from her position. "Actually, Adam, I do have something I would like to speak with you about." She motioned for him to follow her as she began to make her way over to the bedroom again, where she knew they would at least have some privacy. Adam raised his eyebrows, clearly clueless as to what his old friend was talking about, but stood to follow regardless.

He followed her into the bedroom, where she shut the door gently behind them. Adam then turned to look at her with an expectant expression. It was obvious enough that he had no idea what was going on. "So, Monica, what's this about?" He ventured curiously as he rested his hands in his pockets in that way he did when he was uncomfortable. Monica sighed and quickly thought over her words in her head before she spoke them. "Adam, you'd better sit down this is pretty big." She suggested quietly as she avoided his gaze and motioned to the bed. Adam obeyed with minimal hesitance and nodded once he was seated for her to go on.

"What's going on?" He pressed softly as he made eye contact with her and held it purposefully. Monica pushed her amber hair behind her ears as a way of occupying herself as she stammered for words. But Adam quickly reached out and took her hand, as if trying to tell her that whatever was about to come out of her mouth, he would be fine with it. Of course he never EVER expected what she said next. She decided to just tell him, plain and simply. "I'm pregnant." She told him clearly as she then took over control of the conversation. Adam's jaw hung open and he dropped her hand back on the bed in shock. He rolled over several possibilities in his mind as to why this had come about, but could find none that fit Monica's description.

Monica could easily tell that he was desperately attempting to come up with some explanation for all of this and quickly made the decision to help him out. "See, my assignment is this young couple, the Tuckers, and they can never have children of their own. And so I…" But before the words even escaped Monica's lips, Adam had finished the sentence for her in a tasteful manner. "You decided to help them out." He assumed correctly as he glanced down at her swollen belly in understanding. It was quite clear that she was pregnant. He wondered why he hadn't noticed it before.

Monica nodded in confirmation and seriously hoped Adam would understand. He was quiet for a long, awkward moment as he considered the situation seriously in his mind. Finally, he broke the silence again. "Well, you're really going to do this then, huh?" He whispered in disbelief, as he was unable to get the matter out of his mind. Monica smiled and nodded somewhat helplessly before pulling forth that sonogram picture again to show him.

He took it slowly and stared at it for a good minute and a half before he spoke again. "Well, this is amazing." He told her with a proud smile before placing the picture down on the bed again and leaning forward to give Monica another hug. She accepted it happily, clearly grateful that Adam had taken this so well.