Vic was late for her date with Lucas, she overslept usually that didn't happen, Vic liked to sleep but she was used to getting little sleep due to her work, but this week she was exhausted.
"Good morning, sorry for being late." she said, sitting in the armchair in front of Lucas.
Vic loved their place, it was the only public place where they could act like a couple and Vic liked that, she wished she could hold Lucas' hand on the street.
"It's okay, no problem." Lucas smiled fondly at her, as he always did and Vic couldn't help but make her heart beat faster.
Cam approached them holding his notepad smiling.
"I want that eggy thing, please."
"That dish as a name."
"Cam knows what I mean."
" No, I don't know, but your husband already asked for you."
Husband.
That word made Vic's heart almost jump out of her chest, they had never talked about marriage before, Vic didn't believe in marriage, she didn't have a good experience with her parents' marriage. But there was something about Lucas that made her feel different.
" Hmm." Lucas laughed sheepishly. "I ordered the usual, eggy."
Vic smiled and her stomach filled with butterflies, he had a nickname for her, Eggy
"I don't know why Cam said that, sorry." Lucas said, breaking the silence.
"I don't mind being married to you." Vic said biting into some of her food.
"Good, my ex-wives didn't think like that." Vic gasped.
"Ex-wives? In the plural?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Hmm. Yes, I was married twice." he said, rubbing his facial hair nervously. "You know about Laura, I told you that night in the hospital, we were too young to get married and we're good friends now."
Vic couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy.
" And the other?"
" Eva, we were married only 6 months, she didn't like me to be a firefighter and in the end I think she didn't even like me." Vic reached for his hand and squeezed it in comfort.
"I'm so sorry." Lucas turned his hand up to intertwine his fingers with Vic's.
"It's all right ,and you?"
"Well, I was never married." Lucas let out a laugh. "Hum, I've never had any serious relationships, just you."
Both smiled and remained silent for a few minutes. It wasn't a comfortable silence but Lucas kept holding Vic's hand the entire time.
"I was looking at our options and there's only one, but I think it's too crazy." He shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
"You can talk, I don't scare easily." she said amused.
"Hum…" he sighed before speaking. "Marriage is the only option."
" What?" Vic's eyes widened.
Minutes ago they were joking about marriage and now it was serious, very serious.
"Like I said, too crazy, let's look at other options, okay?" Vic nodded in response.
(...)
Vic had just arrived at the station after breakfast with Lucas, she was in the locker rooms changing. Something was wrong, she was feeling extremely sick, that egg thing was her favorite food but now Vic couldn't think about it anymore.
"Vic are you okay?" She didn't even notice Travis approaching.
"Yeah, I'm just a little sick." She said, running a hand across her forehead to wipe away the sweat.
" Are you sure? Wait did you say sick? Are you by any chance preg..."
"What? No." Vic interrupted him in panic.
She turned her thoughts around but couldn't remember her last period.
"Vic, it's going to be okay." Travis placed a confrontational hand on her shoulder.
"Oh my God, I can't, Lucas and I were careful all time."
" Hey." Travis placed both hands on her shoulders making her look at him. "Don't panic okay? Let's check this out first." Vic nodded.
"Can you buy me a test please?"
"Of course." He smiled in response.
Travis did it, he quickly left the station without anyone noticing and stopped by the drugstore to buy Vic a pregnancy test. As soon as he got back she took the test and ran to the nearest bathroom to do it. After a few minutes two lines appeared on the test, positive, that word echoed in her head.
Victoria Hughes was pregnant with the baby of the fire chief, pregnant, she and Lucas were going to have a child, they had been seeing each other for a few months, they never talked about children or the future, Vic was panicking what if Lucas didn't want children? They couldn't even be together in public how were they going to have a baby?
(...)
They had been called to a fire at a coffee processing plant, getting there Lucas was commanding the scene, everything was going well the only thing Vic could think of was that he needed to tell him about the baby. Until the captain of Station 42 is trapped inside and Lucas comes in to save him, Vic panics she didn't want to, she was afraid of losing him, but Lucas promises he'll come back.
So she waits, she waits outside, begging every god in existence for Lucas to come out alive. She doesn't care about the other firefighters around her, her mind is on Lucas and that baby she was now carrying. She's panicking, Vic knows she's panicking, she can feel her heart beating fast, Vic's sure it's going to jump out of her chest, she's sure she's going to pass out right there.
Until he finally leaves, holding the captain of station 42, he takes off his mask and waves at her, he's fine and Vic can finally breathe. Now Vic was sure more than ever that she wants to spend the rest of her life with Lucas Ripley.
A few minutes later she finds him behind the aid car, she waits for the firefighter to finish examining him to approach him, Vic wanted to jump into his arms to kiss him, but they were in public.
"You could have" died. she said, her voice shaking.
"I said I'd be back." Lucas smiled fondly.
"I guess I didn't realize how important this is to me until I was here waiting for you to walk out those doors but…" Vic looked back to make sure no one was there. "I'm in, I want something real I want it ,I want to marry you I want a future with you I want love, I want real and I think you want it too." She bit her lower lip, she wanted to tell him she was pregnant but it wasn't the right time. "I think this must be the adrenaline talking but…okay… Lucas Ripley will you marry me for real?"
Lucas was in shock, he loved Victoria, he was sure he loved her more than anything and he wanted a future with her, but he didn't expect her to make the request, he didn't expect her to be prepared for all of this.
His mouth curved into a smile,Lucas wanted to kiss Victoria right there.
"You don't have to answer, we can talk about it tomorrow at our place, hum, I have something else to tell you." she said nervously.
"Okay, our place tomorrow." Lucas continued to smile at her.
"Okay." Vic smiled back.
(...)
Vic woke up earlier than usual, she arranged her hair in a different way, wore a flowery dress and did some makeup, she was nervous to meet Lucas. Vic felt the butterflies in her stomach, she looked like a teenager in love.
Vic waited anxiously for an hour at the restaurant, Lucas was late, he was never late, Vic texted him several times and got no response, that's when she realized he wasn't coming.
She got out of there as quickly as possible and went to the station, she needed to be distracted, she needed to work, she didn't want to think about Lucas anymore for the rest of the day.
"Hey what are you doing here?" Travis asked in surprise.
"He didn't show up okay, I don't want to talk about it." Vic said blinking to stop the tears from falling.
"Oh Vic, I'm so sorry."
"How could I be so stupid, it's obvious he doesn't want to marry me ,of course he won't want this baby either." Vic ran her hands through her hair in frustration.
Travis was about to answer when his cell phone rang, he grimaced as he read the number, it was Sullivan, his captain, he never called.
Travis answered his cell while Vic wiped the tears that were falling from her eyes.
"Vic? where's your cell phone?"
"I ran out of battery."
"Here, the captain wants to speak with you."
Travis handed the cell phone to Vic who seconds later turned pale.
"Vic? Vic what happened?" Travis asked putting an arm around her in case she passed out.
" It's Lucas, he's in the hospital."
Vic felt her heartbeat faster, she was grateful Travis was holding her at that moment or she would be on the floor.
"Come on, I'll take you to the hospital."
Vic just nodded trying not to think the worst when a pang in her stomach hit her.
