The next morning Kate slowly slipped out of bed as she made her way into the bathroom, turning on the shower she stood there waiting for the hot water to come through when she started feeling nauseous quickly knelling next to the toilet Kate emptied the content of her stomach, back in the bedroom Mike awoke at hearing strange noises
"Kate?" he asked as he ran his hand along her side of the bed feeling nothing he moved out of the bed and made his way to the bathroom
"Kate?" he asked softly as he slowly opened the bathroom door to see Kate hunched over the toilet bowl
"Kate…" Mike said moving to her side as he held her hair back
"I'm fine…" she said holding the bowl as she finished.
"Doesn't look that way to me" he said softly as she moved back to lean against the wall
"Mike I'm Pregnant…" she blurted out
"What?" he asked moving to stand
"I'm Pregnant" she said looking up at him sadly
"How long?" he asked turning off the shower so he could hear her clearly
"3 months…" she answered
"3 months… so it could be Jims?" he said sadly
"It's a possibility" she answered as he stormed out of the room
"Mike…" Kate said moving off the floor as she ran into the bedroom
"How long have you known?" he asked pulling on his shirt
"I found out yesterday, you don't get to be mad at me for this you and I weren't even together until a week later" she said sadly
"A weeks difference there's a possibility it could be mine" he said stopping to look at her
"Yes…" she said sitting on the end of the bed
"What's the likelihood that it is mine?" he asked sadly sitting next to her
"A weeks difference, I'd say a 50/50 chance" she replied looking down at her feet
"Aw Kate…" he said wrapping an arm over her shoulder as he pulled her into a side hug
"Are you mad at me?" she asked softly moving her head to look up at him
"Of course not, I love you and I'll love this baby no matter what" he replied looking down at her
"There's a test we can do but it's a risk I could possibly loose the baby" she said not sure if he wanted to know if he was in fact the dad
"I don't want that, I wouldn't do anything to harm our unborn baby" he said brushing a piece of hair behind her ear
"We can get a DNA test once its born if that's something you want…" Kate replied looking deeply in his eyes
"I don't need some test to tell me whether I'm the father or not, I'll love this baby with everything" he said moving his head down to kiss her as he pulled away from the kiss Kates hand flung over her mouth as she made a quick exit back to the bathroom
"You have a shower once you're done in there, I'll go make you something to eat" he said pulling on his pants as he moved towards the stairs a grunt from Kate being her only response.
20 minutes later Kate made her way downstairs in her DPNU's her shirt still unbuttoned
"How you feeling?" he asked sliding a mug across the bench
"Like I've been hit by a truck, what's this?" she replied looking at the brown liquid in the mug
"Ginger tea, for the nausea" he replied grabbing the toast that had just popped in the toaster
"Thanks…" Kate said softly sitting at the counter as she took a sip from the drink
"So are you exciting about your first day?" he asked buttering the toast
"I've been on Hammersley for 5 years now" she replied grinning
"Yeah but not as Commanding Officer" he said moving to stand next to her
"It won't be for long though" she said turning to look at him
"What do you mean?" he asked reaching for the plate of toast
"I'm 3 months Pregnant Mike, that means 5 months on board before I have to take up a shore posting for the last month of my Pregnancy" she said sadly
"We'll work it out",
"What's there to work out, we're going to have to let Maxine know and you know how that's going to go down and…" she began saying as Mike placed a kiss against her lips
"What was that for?" she replied softly as he pulled away
"You were rambling" he said brushing a piece of hair behind her ear
"Sorry…" she said grinning at him
"We will work things out when it comes to it you don't need to say anything to Maxine until what?"
"5 months"
"Right 5 months see we've still got time before we need to tell anyone, except Bird just as a precaution while you're on board" Mike said reassuring her
"Yeah…" she replied softly
"Now each your toast" he replied placing the plate of toast in front of her
"Thanks" she said picking up a piece and taking a bite
"We'll make this work don't worry" he replied kissing the top of her head as he moved back around the counter placing some toast in for himself.
"Stop fussing I'm fine" Kate said as Mike reached a hand out to help her out of the car
"You threw up twice more after eating your toast" he said sadly
"It's just morning sickness I'll be fine" she said closing the car door as he grabbed her bag
"Kate…" he replied sadly
"Stop! I'm already over this morning, I've thrown up three times, feel like crap and I've brushed my teeth four times this morning I'm producing my own breath mint; I don't need you being over protective" she snapped as the locking of the car broke the silence
"I was just going to say you forgot something" he replied grinning
"I'm sorry it's just been a long morning, what have I forgotten?" she asked confused as he held up her necklace with her dog tags on it
"How did I?" she asked feeling her neck
"You left them in the car last patrol, I added a bit of something to it though" he said revealing a ring on the end
"How did you get that?" she asked smugly
"I may have snuck in the bathroom while you were showering, didn't want you to lose it" he replied as he pulled the necklace over her head
"I'm not supposed to wear jewellery on Patrol" she said softly
"I think you can make an exception for this one, can't have my future bride losing her engagement ring before the wedding" he replied as he placed his hands against her cheeks
"Technically we haven't really set a date yet" she said grinning up at him
"Not yet anyway" Mike answered
"The crew aren't even aware yet, how are we supposed to plan a wedding?" she replied looking into his eyes
"With great difficulty" he said grinning as he placed a kiss against her lips as they heard a wolf whistle coming from on deck of Hammersley
"2Dads" they said at the same time as Mike pulled away
"Come on I'll walk you on board" he said wrapping an arm over her shoulder as they made their way towards the boat.
"Oh Bird!" Kate yelled from her place in her cabin as Jess stopped in the hallway
"Ma'am?" she asked moving towards her cabin as she spotted Mike sitting on her rack and Kates shirt still not done up her mind began to overthink
"Oh hello Sir" she said grinning
"Bird focus" Kate said watching her eyes wander
"Yes sorry Ma'am" she said continuing to smirk
"Have you got a minute to chat?" Kate asked looking out into the corridor as she pulled Bird into her cabin and closed the door
"Is everything okay" she said confused as she straightened her shirt up
"So um…" Kate said indicating for bird to sit down at her desk
"Your acting very strange Ma'am" Bird replied as she sat down Kate moved to sit next to Mike
"Kate and I have some news that we'd like to share with you, but only you can know due to medical reasons" Mike said placing a hand on Kates knee
"Okay…" Bird said confused as she noticed the ring hanging off Kates dog chains she got more confused sine that didn't have anything to do with medical stuff
"I'm pregnant…" Kate said after taking a deep breath
"What! OMG!!" Bird yelled lunging at Kate as she pulled her into a hug, as Bird wrapped a spare arm around Mike pulling him in also his head next to Kates ear as he whispered
'Maybe we should tell her about the other thing too' as he felt a hand squeeze his lap
"Bird, you can let me go now" Kate said grinning a few minutes later as Bird pulled away
"Sorry it's just so exciting!" she said grinning widel
"How far along are you?" she asked sitting back down
"I'm 3 months so I'd prefer it if no one knew just until I hit the 5 month mark of showing" she said hopeful
"Absolutely Ma'am you can count on me" Bird said grinning as a voice came through the intercom
"CO request to the bridge, CO request to the bridge" Charge's voice echoed through the ship
"I guess I should go" Kate said arising from her rack as she moved towards the door and out of her cabin as she got to the first step onto the bridge Mike grabbed her arm
"What's wrong?' she asked turning to face him
"Stay safe" he said squeezing her hand
"Of course" she replied smiling at him as she wrapped her arms around his waist as he hugged her tightly resting his chin on her head
"Both of you" he said softly as she pulled away from the hug he kissed her lips softly as she made her way onto the bridge.
"Bird do me a favour?" Mike asked turning to look at Bird who made her way out of Kates cabin
"Anything" she replied smiling widely
"Keep an eye on her for me, I know she can take care of herself I just…",
"Worry about her being out at sea" Bird said interrupting him
"Yeah, her morning sickness has been pretty bad" he said sadly
"Don't worry Sir, I'll look after her I've got some tablets I can give her that won't affect the baby" she said reassuring him
"Thanks Bird, I best be off" he said looking at his watch
"Bye Sir" she called out as he made his way down the corridor.
A few hours later it had just turned lunch time when the crew started lining up outside the galley with Dutchy manning the bridge
"So how does it feel to be the CO?" 2Dads asked turning to face her
"It honestly doesn't feel any different" Kate said grinning
"Except now you can shack up with Mike and have no consequences" he said smirking as Kate crossed her arms the crew stopped in their tracks to face them
"Excuse me?" she asked putting on her boss like voice
"Ah you know, you and the boss I mean Mike anyone wanna help me here?" he asked turning to face RO, Bird and Charge
"You're on your own with this one 2Dads" Charge said as Kate winked at him before removing the smile from her face as 2Dads turned back to face her
"I just mean everyone knows how much you two have a thing for each other it was obvious the way he'd look out for you and vice versa" he said smiling hopeful as to not get in trouble
"Well that's…",
"All I'm saying is we're happy for you both and it's about time" 2Dads said interrupting her as she moved forward he closed his eyes nervously
"Thanks for that 2Dads, I'll make sure you get an invite to the wedding" she said grinning widely as she patted his back he opened his eyes in confusion
"Hang on you mean I'm not in trouble?" he asked confused as she grabbed a plate of SCRAN off Bird
"Um no, but you will be if you don't let me eat my food in peace" she said smirking
"Ma'am…" he asked as Kate moved towards the Senior Sailors Mess
"Yes 2Dads what is it now?" she asked opening the door
"Are you and Captain Flynn really engaged?" he asked hopeful as everyone turned to look at her in surprise waiting for her answer
"Whatever would give you that idea?" she said winking at him as she entered the Senior Sailors mess closing the door behind her she could hear 2Dads continuing to talk rather loudly like he wanted the whole ship to hear him.
Half an hour later Kate made her way out of the Senior Sailors mess and into the galley, emptying the contents of her plate into the gash as Bird made her way in
"Everything alright Ma'am?" she asked as Kate began washing her now empty plate
"I thought I could eat but I just couldn't stomach it all, I'm sorry" she said softly
"It's okay, do you want me to make you a sandwich or get some dry crackers?" Bird asked as she moved towards the kettle
"No I'm fine honestly, I'll just grab something later if I can manage to keep it down" she said drying her plate as she placed it back on the clean plates
"I can bring you a brew if you like?" she asked reaching for a mug
"Bird stop fussing I'm fine I'm a big girl I can look after myself" she said placing a hand on her shoulder as she made her way out of the galley and onto the bridge.
5 minutes later Bird made her way onto the bridge and over to Kate in the Captain's chair "Ma'am" she said passing her a mug
"What's this?" she asked in confusion
"Ginger tea" she replied winking at her that didn't go un noticed by Dutchy who was sitting at the controls
"Thank you" Kate replied as she took a sip as Bird exited the bridge
"So I heard you caused quite a commotion at lunch" Dutchy said grinning at her
"Me? never" Kate said grinning
"So is it true?" he asked
"Is what true?" she asked acting confused as she took another sip from her drink
"Oh come on, the gossip going around that you and Captain Flynn are engaged" Dutchy said as she just looked at him
"I have no idea what you're talking about" she replied softly as he laughed.
"Something in the water dead ahead!" RO called as Kate looked forward seeing something big half floating
"Full Astern both engines" Kate said quickly
"Full Astern both engines Ma'am" Dutchy repeated as the ship came to a sudden stop Kate spilt her hot drink down the front of her
"Shit!" she yelled as she jumped out of the Captain's chair quickly pulling at her shirt so it wasn't stuck to her skin
"What's going on?" 2Dads asked as he entered the bridge
"There's something in the water dead ahead" Kate said hissing
"Are you okay Ma'am?" Dutchy asked finally wondering why Kate had jumped out of the chair yelling shit
"Fine, what the hell was that thing?" she asked reaching for the binoculars as she continued to hold her shirt.
"It looks like a… hang on that can't be right" 2Dads said looking through his binoculars
"Is that?" Kate asked turning to face him
"Yes I do believe so" 2Dads said grinning as Kate reached for the intercom
"Here their CO speaking, we've got what seems to be a foreign object floating in the water 200 metres ahead of the bowel, prepare to investigate by sea boat" Kate said placing the radio back down
"Dutchy, 2Dads go be a part of the boarding party" Kate said as she looked through the binoculars again
"Yes Ma'am" they replied as they exited the bridge.
5 minutes later Kate watched as the RHIB crashed along the water and came to a stop
"Sit Rep Dutchy?" Kate asked through the radio
"Ah yeah Ma'am it appears to be a dead body; he's been weighted down with bricks but..." he said as he pulled the man onto the RHIB
"Dutchy is that?" 2Dads asked
"Dutchy what's going on?" Kate's voice crackled through the radio
"Hang on Ma'am" he said through the radio as Kate watched on through her binoculars
"I don't know if this is strange or not but we've got a few dead carcasses of what looks to be cows Ma'am" Dutchy said through the radio
"Did you say Cow carcasses?" Kate asked looking at Bird confused who was standing on the bridge with her
"Yes Ma'am I'd say about 3 or 4, could they have fallen off a cattle barge?" he asked
"It's possible, look just bring the dead body back on board and I'll get in contact with NAVCOM" Kate replied through the radio
"Copy that" Dutchy replied as the RHIB's made their way back towards Hammersley
"RO you have the ship" Kate said as she quickly looked at Bird passing her the radio and binoculars before running down to her cabin in quicks hope of emptying the contends of her stomach in the toilet rather than over the side of the ship.
Dutchy made his way onto the bridge a few minutes later looking for Kate as he moved towards the Captain's chair seeing it was empty
"Where's the CO?" he asked Bird as he spotted her holding the radio and binoculars
"In her cabin" Bird replied as he exited the bridge turning the corner he knocked on Kate's cabin
"Just a second" Kate called out as she opened the door
"Ma'am, is everything alright?" he asked concerned
"Yeah, where's the dead body?" she asked moving out of her cabin
"On the boat deck, you sure you don't want to change first?" he asked motioning to her wet shirt and pants from the drink she spilt earlier
"No, it's practically drying off as we speak" Kate said making her way down the corridor
"Ok…"he replied following her
"So what do we know about the body?" she asked as they made their way out the hatch
"Not much, looks to be male, head wound to the side of the head possible cause of death" he said as the new second medic looked it over
"What have we got Sharky?" she asked knelling next to him
"No ID, no personal affects it's amazing the sharks didn't get him with all the dead cows everywhere" he said pulling back the plastic the body was wrapped in
"There's something else" he said reaching for the man's hand
"What's that?" she asked looking at the bloody hands
"Someone's burnt his fingertips off" he replied as he moved the hand to get a better look Kate started to feel nauseous
"Someone obviously doesn't want us identifying him, bag him up and put him in the cool room" Kate only just managed to get out as she moved towards the back of the boat she began dry retching
"Ma'am are you okay?" 2Dads asked standing next to her
"I'm fine…" she said as she coughed before fainting and falling forward the chain not being closed making her fall into the water as the current began pulling her away from the ship.
"MA'AM!" 2Dads yelled as he jumped in after her
"MAN OVER BOARD, MAN OVER BOARD!!!" Dutchy yelled to the bridge as he threw in a life buoy with a flare
"What the hell happened?" Charge yelled as he watched 2Dads trying to grab Kate and support her head
"She fainted, 2Dads jumped in after her" Dutchy yelled as he moved to where Kate fell over and jumped in the RHIB
"Man over board, prepare to recover by sea boat" RO's voice said through the intercom
"Kate… come one wake up" 2Dads said as he wrapped an arm around her stomach as he tried to hold her head out of the water
"2DADS! How is she?" Dutchy asked as the RHIB came to a stop next to them
"She's still unconscious" 2Dads said swimming the short distance to the RHIB as Charge and Dutchy carefully pulled Kate out of the water placing her along the chairs
"Give me your hand 2Dads" Charge said as Leo grabbed his hand he pulled him into the RHIB
"Well done, well done" Charge said patting his back as 2Dads looked at Kate sadly.
"Get her to the wardroom" Sharky said as 2Dads and Dutchy carried Kate on board
"What's wrong with her?" 2Dads asked sadly as they carried her through the corridor and into the wardroom
"I don't know" Dutchy replied as they placed her down on the bed
"Bird to the wardroom at the rush" Sharky said through the phone
"This is all my fault I didn't latch the chain" 2Dads said sadly
"This is no one's fault 2Dads" Dutchy said as Bird entered the room
"Kate! What's happened?" she asked moving to Kates side
"She was dry retching over the side of the ship and fainted, fell into the drink" Dutchy said softly
"What do we do?" Bird asked looking across at Sharky
"Check her vitals she may have swallowed some water so put her on her side and check her airways" he said softly as Bird rolled her onto her side Kate began coughing up water
"Oh thank god!" Bird said rubbing her back
"You guys go deal with the dead body we're fine here" Sharky said to Dutchy and 2Dads
"Come on 2Dads you can go get cleaned up" Dutchy said patting his back as they left the wardroom.
"Are you okay Ma'am?" Sharky asked as Kate moved to sit up
"What happened?" she asked confused
"You fainted and fell overboard, 2Dads jumped in after you" he replied
"2Dads?" she said surprised
"Are you right here Bird, I've got to go over the dead body" he said moving towards the door as Bird nodded.
"Wanna tell me what happened and why you smell like ginger?" Bird asked sadly moving around to stand in front of her
"I don't know, one minute I was throwing up over the side then everything went dark, as for the ginger I spilt my drink over me when we stopped" Kate replied as Bird hit her arm
"Why didn't you tell me!" she said moving to close the wardroom door
"Ow" Kate said holding her arm
"It was just a drink, it doesn't matter" Kate said confused
"I'll be the judge of that, where did you spill it?" she asked
"My front and the top of my legs" Kate replied rolling her eyes
"Strip" Bird said crossing her arms
"Excuse me?" Kate asked confused
"Strip out of your clothes you could have burns and not realise, could be why you fainted your body was going into shock"
"I'm not stripping my clothes" Kate said softly
"I'll do it for you" Bird said reaching towards Kates shirt
"Okay, okay" Kate said pushing her hand back as she began to undress
"Happy?" Kate asked standing there with her pants down near her ankles and standing there in her underwear
"Not really, it doesn't seem you've done damage to your legs so you can pull your pants up but…"
"But what?" Kate asked looking down as she spotted the massive red rash on her stomach
"What is that?" Kate asked confused
"That would be a mild burn from your hot drink, I'll need to clean it up a bit and put some ointment on it" she said moving towards the cupboard
"You think this is why I fainted?" Kate asked pulling her pants up
"It's possible that you didn't know about it and your body was trying to deal with that and the vomiting" she said grabbing the first aid kit and placing it next to her
"Can I at least have aa shower first, change into clean clothes?" Kate asked as Bird nodded
"That's probably a good idea, the sea water might be irritating it more" she replied as Kate pulled her grey shirt back on
"I'll be 5 minutes" Kate said slowly moving towards the door
"I'll be here" Bird replied getting the ointment and stuff ready as Kate exited towards her cabin.
10 minutes later Kate made her way back to the wardroom seeing Bird sitting on the bed picking at her nails
"Knock, knock" Kate said as she entered
"I was beginning to think you weren't coming back" she said moving off the bed as she spotted the now vacant bed
"Would I do that?" Kate asked closing the door as she moved towards the bed
"Do you really want me to answer that? Shirt" Bird said putting on a pair of gloves as Kate pulled her shirt off
"Do you think this would affect anything with the baby?" Kate asked sadly
"I doubt it but I'll do a check once I'm done, can you lay down for me?" she said as Kate moved to lay down the wardroom door swung open
"Hey Birdy how's the CO?" 2Dads said poking his head around the door
"The CO is fine but we're a bit busy here" Bird sad as Kate leant on her elbows to look up at 2Dads
"Oh that's something I'll never get out of my head sorry Ma'am" he said moving to close the door
"2Dads!" Kate said grabbing her shirt and covering herself
"Are you decent?" he asked closing his eyes
"Yes" Kate replied as Bird began cleaning up the burn as she pushed Kate to lay back down
"What's that from?" he asked sadly as he moved to stand next to her head Kate covering her top half with her shirt
"I spilt my drink earlier, I'm fine anyway…" Kate said as looked down at her sadly
"I'm sorry Ma'am" he answered surprising her
"What are you sorry about I hear you saved me" she replied confused
"I did but I'm also the one who didn't pull the chain across if I had of done what I was supposed to you wouldn't be lying here"
"2Dads this burn has nothing to do with what happened out on deck this is all my doing" she said reassuring him
"But I…"
"I wanted to say thank you, for saving me" she said reaching for his hand
"Really?" he asked confused
"You didn't just save me 2Dads" she said looking at Bird who smirked
"I'm sorry?" he asked confused
"You save us…" Kate said looking down at her stomach
"Are you?" he said as Kate nodded
"Congratulations Ma'am" he said as she squeezed his hand
"You can't tell anyone just yet I'm waiting for the right time to tell everyone obviously Bird knows because she's first medic" Kate said as Bird sprayed Kate's burn
"What the hell!" Kate screamed as she squeezed 2Dads hand harder
"Sorry it's the disinfectant…" Bird said smirking
"Ow, ow, ow my hand Ma'am my hand!" 2Dads said trying to loosen her grip
"Sorry 2Dads, you should go I'll be done here shortly just let Dutchy know for me" she said letting his hand go
"Yes Ma'am and congratulations again on both things" he said winking at her as he moved towards the door and out of the wardroom
"He saw the ring didn't he?" she asked laying her head down flat
"Yep" Bird said applying the cream, as 2Dads was walking down the corridor towards the bridge the whole ship echoed with Kates voice
"BLOODY HELL THAT SHIT HURTS!!" hearing faint laughter seconds later.