Month 7

Abby took a long breath in, closing her eyes and relaxing both hands on her stomach.

"Are you alright, Abby?" Callie asked softly. She placed a hand on Abby's forearm comfortingly.

Abby opened her mouth, preparing to speak again when she felt a thump at her stomach. She froze, her soft brown eyes widening. Callie tilted her head to analyze Abby.

"Abby?" Callie asked softly. She placed one of her hands on top of Abby's hand which rested on her stomach. "What's wrong?"

Abby released the breath she was holding and smiled. "I'm absolutely perfect. She's kicking now."

Abby took Callie's hand and placed it on the side of her stomach. Callie smiled and laughed when she felt a 'thump!' at her hand.

The two were sitting side by side on a worn couch in the Recreation Hall. The seat faced a wide window framing the silent, peaceful Earth. It was late into the evening, when most of the residents had gone to sleep for the night, save for the last stragglers finishing up a hasty game of chess.

Abby and Callie frequented this spot often. It had the most wonderful view of Earth, perfect for dreaming up stories of returning back to home, even as children. During the evenings, or even the night times when they were younger, Abby and Callie loved to sit at the couch to share stories of their lives. They could take a break from being students, interns, a diplomat or a doctor. They could just be themselves, together as friends.

"She's so strong!" Callie exclaimed, a bright smile dashing across her lips.

Abby laughed. "She is! She'll be a fighter, this one."

"Have you thought of a name for her yet?" Callie asked.

A great smile spread across Abby's face as she looked down at their hands on her stomach.

"Well, we've thought of a couple of names but we're not decided yet."

Callie lowered her voice to a whisper, "You know, 'Callie' is a very nice name. Just a thought." Both Abby and Callie laughed, their delight echoing throughout the room.

There was a soft hiss from the sliding door and both women stopped to turn their heads. A weary-looking Marcus Kane walked quietly through the doors, his eyes directed towards the ground. Both the ladies watched as he made his way across the room, heading towards the next set of sliding doors.

"Counsellor Kane?" Callie called out teasingly. Her voice startled Kane and he stopped in his tracks, looking at the women. His open hand that was outstretched towards the door closed and fell to his side.

"Callie...Abby," Kane said, nodding his head. A small smile appeared on his lips as he turned to look at Abby. He looked down and saw Callie's hand on the side of Abby's stomach.

Abby took a sharp breath in and Callie exclaimed, "Oh!"

Kane's expression froze in concern. What happened? What was...what-

"Marcus, come here," Abby said. With one hand on her stomach, she extended the other to encourage him closer.

Kane opened his mouth but no words came out.

"Marcus, quickly! She's kicking!" Abby repeated, urging him closer.

He moved to the back of the couch, looking down into Abby's eyes. Callie moved her hand off of Abby's stomach and Abby took one of Kane's hands in hers. She pulled his arm down and placed his hand on her swollen stomach, feeling around for the spot.

Thump!

"Did you feel that? Marcus, she kicked you!" Abby exclaimed with excitement. Kane's heart started to beat faster with excitement.

"Let me go get Jake! I'm sure he's still working at this time of night." Callie said as she sped quickly to the Engineering Sector. The sliding doors hissed once again and then closed shut.

Silence permeated the room. The remaining chess players had vacated the Recreation Hall, leaving Abby and Kane alone. Abby sat on the couch, holding Kane's hand on top of her stomach as he leaned over her.

"Yeah. I felt that, Abby," Kane whispered. Abby laughed and closed her eyes, feeling the occasional kick from the child as her hand rested on top of Kane's.

"I can't believe it... it's all been so fast," Abby whispered to herself.

"What's been so fast?" Kane asked. He leaned down to rest his opposite forearm on the back of the couch as his other hand felt the baby's kicks.

"The baby...she'll be here soon, and I don't know..." Abby's said as her thoughts trailed off. "...I don't know if I'm ready...what if it's not good enough...what if we're not good enough."

Kane turned to look into Abby's eyes, watching her blink back the tears in her eyes. She breathed in and shook it off, using one hand to grasp her hair to pull it over one shoulder.

Damn hormones, she thought to herself.

"If you're still the Abigail Griffin that I know," Kane said, pausing to think of his next words. "...Then this child is going to absolutely adore their caring, selfless, intelligent Mother...no matter what."

Abby looked at Kane with a mixed expression of unexpected shock and curiosity. She never would have expected those words to be said about her...especially from Marcus.

"Although, she can be a bit bossy but..." Kane added, softly nudging Abby's shoulder with his arm.

"Ha. Ha." Abby replied drily. She pursed her lips, desperate not to give in although she couldn't help it. She grinned and nudged Kane right back, laughing smoothly.

"You know, 'bossy' is just another word for 'confident', and 'always right'," she joked. They laughed together and then settled in silence once more.

Kane looked down at his hands, realizing that they were still resting on Abby's stomach. Her hand remain on top of his, so Kane quickly stood up and slipped his hand out from under hers. He cleared his throat and walked around the couch to the table in front of them.

"Did you want some water, Abby?" Kane asked as he picked up one of two half-drunken mugs of water.

"Yes, thank you. That would be nice," she said. Abby thought she felt a shift in Kane's mannerism just before he had removed his hand from her stomach. I hope he didn't feel uncomfortable with his hand on me, she thought. They had never been physically that close before, and she supposed that her being pregnant wouldn't change that.

Kane sat down on the couch beside Abby, leaving a reasonable amount of space between the two of them.

"The next generation...do you think they'll be the ones to make it down to Earth?" Kane asked, staring longingly out the window at the peaceful planet.

Abby watched the seemingly still picture before her. The enormous home, surrounded by an infinity of stars and nothingness.

"I really hope so." Abby looked down at her hands, smiling to herself.

It was quiet once again between the two of them, taking a pause to gather their thoughts.

"Her name is Clarke."

Kane looked over at Abby, taking in the subtle joy shown by her upturned lips and crinkled eyes. He didn't know how to describe it, but Abby's eyes seemed to dance in the light, as if they were elated by her choice in name. He turned his gaze back to the visionary world on the other side of the glass.

"Clarke," Kane whispered under his breath.

"Clarke Griffin," Abby echoed back, barely audible for anybody to hear.

Only two months to go.


A/N: Thanks for reading! It's been a while since the last update, so hopefully I'll be able to have the last couple chapters out quicker. Thanks for hanging on, hope you enjoyed, please review :)