A/N: Hey guys I'm back with another chapter. I hope you like it!

C.J.'s eyes flutter open as the sun shines through the drapes. It's Sunday so she has absolutely nowhere to be. She feels Danny's beard tickle her stomach and hears him whisper something. What's he doing? C.J. thinks as she tries to make out what he's saying. Why's he talking to- Ohhhh… A small smile creeps on her face as she lays still, and she listens to him.

"…And then I got her a goldfish," he whispers, his thumb tracing her waist. "Because how was I supposed to know that when Josh said she liked goldfish, he didn't mean the actual fish but the crackers?" C.J. bites her lip to keep from laughing. "She made fun of me for weeks for getting her that fish. Still does sometimes. But she loves her. The fish that is. She even managed to fly her all the way out here. Her name's Gail, by the way. I told Mommy the guy in the store named her but really it was me." There's a small pause, as Danny runs his fingers over her stomach, delicately drawing, what C.J. can only assume is a heart, with the tip of his finger. "Mommy and I got to see you for the first time yesterday. You're still so tiny. Like a peanut. Mommy pretended not to cry but I saw her wipe a few tears away when she thought I wasn't looking. I didn't tell her though." C.J. reaches out and hits his shoulder playfully. Danny lifts his head in confusion, smiling when he sees she's awake.

"I didn't cry," C.J. tells him matter-of-factly. She really had been crying, though. Danny sits up so he's next to her. "I did not cry," C.J. repeats.

"Sure," Danny says and kisses her. "Morning," he murmurs against her lips.

"Morning." After a small pause she adds; "I didn't cry." Danny rolls his eyes at her and takes her hand, tracing the inside of her palm with his finger. "Maybe a little," she mumbles, mostly to herself. "What were you doing down there?" she asks, gently touching his shoulder. Danny blushes and looks down, avoiding her eyes. C.J. pokes him, a smile spreading across her face. "What were you doing?" she laughs.

"Nothing," Danny mumbles.

"Danny." She stretches the word.

"I was just… talking to the baby." Danny's face has turned crimson and C.J. can't help but grin from ear to ear.

"That is so sweet," she says and pulls him a little closer. Danny kisses C.J. again, longer this time, before scooting down towards her stomach. His beard tickles her bare skin as he places a gentle kiss on her tiny bump.

"Hi, Peanut," he whispers, smiling against her stomach.

"Peanut?" C.J. repeats.

"Yeah." A smile spreads across Danny's face as he smiles up at her, propping himself up on his elbow. There's so much love, so much kindness, in his eyes that C.J. can't stop herself from tearing up. Danny's brows furrow and he looks at her, worried. C.J. quickly shakes her head, assuring him that she's alright.

"I'm fine," she sniffs, hurriedly wiping the few tears that managed to make their way down her cheeks. "These are happy tears." Danny takes her hand and gives it a squeeze. "It's just the hormones," C.J. laughs, her voice all high and squeaky. Danny chuckles and turns to the baby.

"Did you hear that?" he asks, stroking her stomach. "Mommy's crying because of hormones." C.J. smacks him over the head but there's a smile playing on her lips.

"Ouch!" Danny exclaims.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that hurt?" C.J. raises both her eyebrows, unimpressed.

"Yeah!"

"Good." Danny rolls his eyes at her. "Did you hear that, Peanut? Your mother's violent. She hits me." C.J. reaches out her hand and runs her fingers through his hair. It's soft, like cotton, and she could spend all day messing with it if he'd let her. "But she secretly loves me," Danny goes on. "I think she loves you more, though."

"True," C.J. cuts in.

"See?" Danny kisses her stomach again before climbing up to sit next to her.

"I do like you just a tiny bit," C.J. tells him.

"Yeah?" Danny moves a little closer. His hand is on her waist and even though she's been with him for almost two years now, she still gets butterflies every time he touches her. The good kind. The kind that make her breath catch in her throat and her cheeks flush.

"Just a bit." C.J. shrugs and kisses Danny's nose. "I need to pee," she whispers and gets out of bed. She can feel Danny watching her as she walks to the bathroom.

"So, I was thinking," Danny yells through the closed door. "That we could take a walk today."

"Along the beach?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." C.J. exits the bathroom and returns to her spot next to him on the mattress. Danny wraps his arms around her as she places her head on his chest. Her safe place. She remembers the morning after she came to Danny's apartment for the first time. She had fallen asleep with her back turned towards him but woken up with her face safely buried in his neck, his arms wrapped around her. Danny kisses the top of her head.

"No morning sickness?" he asks.

"Oh no, I was already up visiting my old friend the toilet bowl," C.J. informs him.

"How did I not wake up?" Danny pulls her a little closer, stroking her side with his thumb.

"I've become very skilled at vomiting quietly."

"That's not a real thing," Danny laughs.

"Oh, but it is. I'm terribly good at it." Danny kisses the top of her head once more before moving to get up. C.J. lazily drapes her arms around his waist, trying to stop him from leaving.

"Don't goooo," she complains, her face buried in Danny's side of the mattress.

"I'll make breakfast," Danny tells her and plants a kiss her forehead before leaving the room. C.J. drags herself out of bed and follows him reluctantly. As Danny stands at the counter, C.J. walks up behind him and wraps her arms around his waist, burying her face in his neck. Danny can't help but laugh.

"What's gotten into you?"

"Hormones," she mumbles. Her excuse for everything these days. "Plus, you're like my personal pillow."

"Well, your personal pillow would like a bit of space to make breakfast." Danny turns around in her arms and kisses her quickly before leading her back to the table and making her sit down.

"Coffee?" C.J. asks hopefully.

"No chance." C.J. groans and puts her head on the table.

"Oh, wait. Do you hear that?"

"What?" Danny doesn't turn around as he puts the eggs in the skillet.

"Yes, that's definitely the baby telling me that it doesn't mind if I have a cup of coffee in the morning."

"Not happening." Danny scratches her scrambled eggs onto a plate and places it in front of C.J.. She mumbles something that could be mistaken for a thank you and digs into her breakfast.

C.J. knows he's watching her as she dips her toes into the cold water. She smiles over her shoulder and the wind blows her hair in her face. Danny laughs, his hands in his pocket. It's in moments like these, when he's standing there like that, with his scruffy face and kind eyes, that C.J. can't quite believe all of this is actually happening. She remembers the first time they met, when she clumsily fell into his lap on the campaign bus and proceeded to ignore him for the following week out of embarrassment. She thinks about when he got her Gail and about their stolen kisses in her office when they thought no one was around. Back then, she didn't even dare to dream of a future like this. C.J. walks back to him and slips her hand in the crook of his elbow.

"What're you smiling about?" Danny asks and kisses her temple.

"You," C.J. laughs and tugs his arm. They walk in silence for a while. C.J. listens carefully to the sound of the waves, enjoying the quietness she has only just gotten used to.

"C.J.?" Danny says then. His voice his soft but C.J. can detect a hint of something else in there. She turns to look at him.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"What?" she laughs.

"I know we didn't plan for this," Danny goes on as they keep walking. "I know what the doctor said yesterday wasn't the greatest news in the world." He gives her hand a tiny squeeze as C.J. blinks a few tears away. "I know you want to protect the baby. And I know you're scared. I don't ever want you to be scared. Okay?" C.J. nods and her vision becomes blurry as tears make their way down her cheeks. "I've got you." Danny pulls C.J. into a giant hug, letting her bury her face in his shoulder, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. "Both of you. It'll be alright," he whispers into her hair. C.J. closes her eyes, wanting nothing more than to believe him. She thinks of the little baby they saw on the monitor yesterday, thinks of how tiny and helpless it looked, of how much she wants to spend the rest of her life protecting that child. She thinks of what the doctor told her, about her blood pressure being too high and the baby's heartbeat being too weak.

"I hope it's not scared," she whispers. She can feel Danny smile against her temple.

"What?" He pulls away to look at her and wipes a few tears from her cheeks.

"The baby," C.J. says. "I hope it's not scared." Danny kisses her nose as if that will make everything better. It kind of does. "I would be scared," C.J. goes on. "It's all alone in there."

"I'm sure it's not," Danny assures her. They start walking again and C.J. holds on to his arm a little tighter than before.

"How do you know?"

"Because you're it's mother. And one thing I know for sure is that C.J. Cregg doesn't scare easily." She swats his arm with the back of her hand.

"Not true."

"Very true," Danny insists as he plants a piss on her temple.

"Okay, a bit true."

"I know you're trying to be strong," Danny tells her as she bends down to pick up a seashell. It's white with two small black dots on either side. "I know you pretend like everything's fine. You don't have to pretend with me, C.J.." She slips the seashell into Danny's pocket.

"I know." They're silent again. The normally so articulate C.J. Cregg has suddenly lost the ability to speak. But that's okay. Danny can talk enough for both of them.

"Whatever you need, let me know. I'm here. I'm your guy."

"I know," she repeats. It seems to be the only thing she can bring herself to say. There's a knot in her throat and tears threaten make their way down her cheeks. She swallows, hard, and turns to look at Danny. "I'm scared," she tells him, her voice tiny and fragile. It's the first time she's really admitted that, even to herself. "I'm scared and I don't know what to do and I don't like not knowing – you know how I hate that – and I just want to keep the baby safe but I don't know how and it's scaring the shit out of me, Danny, it really is-"

"C.J., breathe," Danny reminds her as he gently squeezes her shoulders.

"Right." They stand like that for a while. "I'm scared. I'm really scared." It takes everything she has to admit that to him. Even after all these years, she still has this nagging feeling in the back of her mind that he might leave her if she shows him too many weaknesses. She knows he won't, he's promised he won't, but she can't help it. "I'm scared I'll do something wrong. I'm scared I'll hurt the baby. I don't know how to be a mother, Danny. I don't know how to do any of that stuff. I don't know how to change a diaper or make a bottle or stop children from crying. I'm gonna fuck it up, Danny."

"You won't," he assures her and a tiny part of her believes him. The part that knows he's always right about these things, the part that knows she's being to critical with herself. The other part, however...

"How do you know?"

"Because I know you." Danny pokes her nose to make her laugh. It helps. "And won't fuck it up. I promise. You'll be great."

"I'm scared," she says again.

"You can be scared," Danny assures her. "It's okay to be scared. But you don't have to be. I've got you."

"I know," she tells him. And she does.

A/N: Yay, you made it to the end. I hope you liked this chapter. Reviews are always appreciated.