Hey, thanks for all the reviews. This chapter isn't my best, but I hadn't written a chapter in a while. Sorry it took so long! I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 5
Nancy was scared of how Frank took the news. They had been staring silently at each other for the last two minutes.
"Frank I'm pregnant." Nancy looked at him to see what he was feeling. She looked in his eyes and saw nothing. For once he was unreadable. He did look like he was struggling to say something though, and she wish he would just say whatever he was thinking.
"Well," he said in a flat voice, "are congratulations in order?"
Nancy understood that he wasn't sure how she was taking the news herself. He wondered if it was good or bad news to her before he decided if it was good or bad news to him.
"To tell the truth, I'm really not sure." Nancy looked up at Frank and she saw something in his eyes this time. It was sympathy.
Frank did have sympathy for her. He knew how things were going with Ned and how she would want to raise a baby with two parents. He knew how she was at a good point in her career, and how having a baby would put her career on hold for a while. He knew she was scared, and he didn't want to make it worst for her. He had to be happy for her and show her this baby would be a good thing. Even if he was a little mixed up about it himself.
"Wow Nance, that's big news. I know the timing isn't the best, but you should be excited. This could be a good thing." Frank smiled half-heartedly and got up from the table. "I have to go to work now, but if you need anything call me."
Nancy knew he was a little freaked out, and that he wanted to collect his thoughts, so she didn't ask him if she could go into work with him like she had originally planned to. She just nodded and watched him walk out the door. When he left, she went up to her bedroom and cried. She had messed her whole life up. If she didn't marry Ned she and Frank could be married now. If she had trusted her instinct then like she usually did, she could be pregnant with Frank's baby instead of Ned's. The baby could've had two great parents to love it. She could've been a partner at Frank and Joe's agency. She really messed up. She loved and respected Frank, and he loved and respected her. Yet, she messed it all up and was married to a man that she didn't love and was pregnant with his baby. And she hadn't even told him yet because she was too scared. He would probably be mad about it, he had said he never wanted kids. This pregnancy was his fault though, one of those many nights he came home drunk and angry. She had to tell him sooner or later, just like she had to tell him she wanted a divorce. She prayed that he wouldn't ask for custody rights. She was planning to make her life over in Bayside. She couldn't go back to Chicago; life was over for her there. She wanted to get an apartment, maybe get a job at a local agency, maybe even Frank and Joe's. She wanted to raise her baby in a loving environment. Just like her dad and Hannah had raised her.
Nancy was tired of thinking about problems. She got under the covers, and cried herself to sleep.
Frank was looking through some case files absently. He knew his mind wasn't on his work. His mind was on Nancy and her baby. It made him so mad that such an undeserving and unappreciative man like Ned had a beautiful wife who was pregnant with his baby. He had always wanted to be a husband and father. Yet, he could never find a woman he wanted to even date. Joe always joked about how Frank acted like an old man when he was only 26 because he never went on dates. His nose was always buried in his work. Frank secretly knew why it was so hard for him to get a date. For the last six years, he had compared every girl he met to Nancy. To him, no one came even close to her. Now she was married and pregnant. She would be a great mom and he knew it. He wanted to be happy for her, he really did. It was just that he really wished that it were his baby. He loved Nancy even after six years of not even seeing her. He knew it sounded like some bad soap opera, but it was true. She was here now though, and he would give her any help she needed. He would go to the doctor appointments if she wished, he would buy weird combinations of food for her when she had cravings, and he would help her with the baby. The problem was that he knew she wouldn't take his help easily. She would need some persuading and assurances. He wasn't sure if this baby was reason enough for her to go back to Ned. She would want the baby to have both of its parents to raise it, even if that meant going back to a loveless relationship. He hoped she was smart enough not to put herself through that.