Chapter 30

After the December rush and Christmas holiday, Shane and Oliver decided to stay in for a quiet New Years with just the two of them. They had a nice dinner and popped open some champagne. They'd taken the decorations and tree down over the last week. Settling by the fire Shane looked around, "It feels a little bare."

"It does." Oliver agreed sitting down next to her with his arm around her shoulders. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

"We're ending the year with Seneca?" Shane asked.

"Quite right." It always pleased him when she could guess the source of his pearls of wisdom.

"You couldn't find anything more up to date than a Roman philosopher?" Shane asked smiling.

"You can't beat the classics." Oliver responded. "If you'd like something more recent, how about 'You can't reach for anything new if your hands are full of yesterday's junk."

"I'm not familiar with that one." Shane asked puzzled.

"I should hope not. I read it off a bumper sticker on the back of a Winnebago from Arizona last week."

"Oliver O'Toole." Shane said laughing almost spilling her champagne.

"I was perplexed by the bumper sticker as I would have put the Winnebago firmly in the junk category by the looks of the back of the vehicle."

Shane enjoyed listening to how his mind worked when he went off on these random ponderings. "I'm going to enjoy this champagne since it may be my last for a while," she said laying her head on his shoulder.

"Why would it be your last?" Oliver looked at her inquiringly putting his glass down.

She sat back up, "I thought we were going to start trying to add to our family this next year. Our lives have been busy, and we haven't had a chance to talk about it again. I'd like to stop taking the pill next week. If I'm not taking it, I shouldn't really be drinking. The doctor also gave me some vitamin samples she said would be good for me to start taking."

Having had time to think since the last time they talked he had realized he hadn't asked many questions. "Did she say the likelihood of it happening again?"

Knowing he was worried about her she took another drink before answering knowing he wasn't going to like the answer. "About 15-20%. She said most people go on to have perfectly normal pregnancies. My doctor was a lot more informative than the ER doctor. She said it might not have had anything to do with me being run down from being sick. There could have been something wrong with the baby or it could have attached in the wrong location. Knowing what happened she said she'd keep a closer eye on me during the early part of a pregnancy."

"What does 'keeping a closer eye on you' mean?"

"If I get pregnant, doing a few more ultrasounds to check where the baby is at and checking bloodwork to make sure hormone levels are where they should be. It would just be a few more doctor appointments than normal until she was sure everything was going as it should."

Oliver had pulled her closer needing to hold her while they'd been talking. "Are you sure you're up to this? Shane, I don't want you doing this just for me."

She leaned her head back. "I'm ready but if you're not we can wait."

"I'm ready. Did you want me to stop drinking with you?" Shane started laughing at the concern in his voice.

"No. Oliver I'm emotional on a good day. You may need a drink now and then to get through the roller coaster my hormones will be riding. There's something else we need to talk about."

Thinking what could top fertility, pregnancy and babies, Oliver swallowed not even wanting to ask, "And that is?"

"About working with the CBI. I know everyone is worried I've taken on too much while I was contracting with them."

"I'm not going to disagree with anything you just said." Oliver replied honestly.

"If we're going to try adding to the family and with everything the Foundation is getting involved in, I agree it's time to stop moonlighting as Dad calls it."

It warmed his heart every time she called his father Dad. "None of us was trying to push you into doing something you don't want to do but you were putting in a lot of late nights Shane."

"I know. The work is challenging, and I felt like I was making a difference. I can make just as much of a difference working with you through the Foundation. I do need to start taking better care of myself. It's going to be hard enough decreasing the coffee habit without staying up late on top of it."

Oliver had taken another sip of his drink and started choking thinking about living with Shane going through coffee withdrawal. "You can't drink coffee either." He said in between coughing.

"Oliver have you never been around pregnant women?" Shane asked patting him on the back.

"Not extensively no." He answered. "I mean it's common sense regarding the alcohol."

"Well you may have a lot to learn." Shane said trying not to smile. She picked up her glass savoring the drink before laying her head back on his shoulder.

"Things are going to rapidly change again this year aren't they." Oliver said contemplatively.

Shane grinned teasing him, "But you've gotten so good at embracing change Oliver. You said so yourself just recently."

"Famous last words." Oliver responded taking another drink.

Later that week Shane called Dale to let her know she'd decided before contacting their supervisor. She handed in all the electronics from the CBI by the end of the week. Oliver noticed the computer farm in the spare bedroom looked remarkably smaller although it remained impressive.

After one day of trying to go cold turkey without coffee, she wound up with a splitting headache by lunch time. Handing her a bottle of pain tablets with a small cup of coffee, "Don't try to be a hero Mrs. O'Toole. The first step is admitting you have a problem." Shane glared at him taking both before walking away. She slowly started weaning herself off her coffee fix lessening how much she drank each day.

The next weekend Shane found Oliver reading a book on fertility when she got back from a run with the dogs. "Uh Oliver, I don't have a fertility issue. Remember got pregnant accidently."

"I know but this has all the information on what you're supposed to do and not do for the healthiest pregnancy."

She looked at what else he'd gotten. 'What to Expect Before You're Expecting' She thought how sweet until she saw 'The Fertility Diet' was at his elbow. "You're so not taking away my chocolate." Shane stated. "I'm already going through caffeine withdrawal."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Oliver assured her innocently. He didn't disclose he'd come so close to trashing her chocolate stash after reading the pre-diabetic chapter his hand had made it to the pantry door before he questioned if there was a jury of women in the world that wouldn't side with her harming him if her stash were missing in a hormone induced chocolate craving scenario. She eyed him warily on the way out of the room to take a shower still not sure how she felt about his reading material. "Shane without coffee is much more suspicious." He said to the doodles after she'd left the room.