A/N: Hi there! Thank you for the reviews/follows/favorites. I'm really happy you are reading my story despite the show not coming back for another few months. I don't have much to say, so here is chapter 2, I hope you'll like it, and please continue to show your support!

CHAPTER 2 - Realization

"Emily Victoria Rhodes!"

Emily raised her head to discover her best friend, furious, at the entrance of her office.

"Not again…" Emily groaned.

Gemma didn't listen, walked inside the office and closed the door.

"It's been four days. You need to talk, you need to think about it, and you need to decide." she said, sitting on the chair opposite Emily and crossing her arms, her voice softening. .

"I don't have the time right now…" Emily said, avoiding the topic.

"Emily…" Gemma scolded.

Before she could answer, Emily's phone rang and she answered. She was called in commands op and just left Gemma alone in the middle of the Chief of Staff's office, the red-haired pissed that her best friend wouldn't take the matter in her own hands. Gemma left the West Wing, annoyed, and decided to call the doctor to book Emily an appointment. If her best friend didn't want to do anything about it, then she would. At least, she needed her pregnancy to be confirmed.

"Clear your schedule for tomorrow morning, you have an appointment at 9:30 a.m. I will take you there, go with you and stay with you, don't even try to deflect, or I'll kick your ass and tell that whole damn very old building you're working in that you are pregnant."

Emily sighed when she saw the text. She knew Gemma was right, but she just didn't want to think about it. She had felt nauseous again that morning, and Seth's coffee had made her sick, but still, a confirmation would make it even more real, too real. She didn't want to, she didn't have the time to, and she couldn't do it. Deep inside, she also knew that she should probably abort before it was too late, she was in no way ready to have a baby, her life wasn't stable enough, and she didn't even have someone to share that with. But was she actually capable of doing it? That was a big question. And what would that mean for her future? To her latest knowledge, she couldn't even have children, maybe it was her one and only chance to have a baby, to have that future that she had put in brackets years ago when she had been told the terrible news.

Just like the past four days, Emily spent the rest of her day withdrawing and burying herself into work. She wasn't talking, she was just in her thoughts all the time or bossy with anyone who would cross her path. Her closest colleagues and her deputy had seen it too. Seth, who had become much more than a colleague, could definitely say that things had been off for almost two months now, but it had suddenly become much worse and he couldn't get a grip on why. He had tried to talk to the new Chief of Staff, but he had been sent off and knew well that she would only talk when she would be ready to. He couldn't help being sad for her though, he could feel that she wanted to talk, that she needed to. Seeing Emily's best friend coming to the West Wing twice in four days was telling him that it was something serious, since he had never met her before. Seth was fairly certain that Aaron had something to do with Emily's recent behavior, and he was also fairly certain that something had happened between the two. He had seen them dancing around each other for a while and deep inside, he knew they were meant to be. They had such a strong dynamic together that everyday since Aaron had resigned, he was sad not to be able to work with both of them anymore.

Early the morning after, Seth was in his office reviewing something when he heard a knock at his door.

"Hey man…" Seth said, smiling "What are you doing here?"

"I'm supposed to meet Emily for that bill. Guess I'm gonna see Phil again…"

"What do you mean?" Seth asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She deflected a couple of times. And the only time I met her, it just wasn't… It was awkward." Aaron explained, honest.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Nah. Not really… How is she doing?"

"Personally?"

"No, on the job" Aaron cut his friend short.

"Oh… She's fine, she's great. I mean, you know Emily, she'll get the work done…" Seth answered.

A sad smile formed on Aaron's face. He was nostalgic of the time he had spent at the White House, especially the time he had spent with Emily. He thought he knew her, but after she had investigated him, he never stopped wondering if he truly did. After all, he had spent only a few months working with her, and it was well known that in Washington you couldn't trust anyone. She had betrayed him the day after they had had sex, the day after he had finally let his feelings do the talking. Even if deep inside he knew it wasn't possible, he couldn't help thinking that maybe it was all part of a plan, that maybe she had planned all of this ahead. Since his resignation, the only thing that had made him stay in Washington was Nadia. His cousin had scored a job with Congresswoman Yoshida, and this was the only reason why he had accepted Hookstraten's offer to become her Chief Strategist. He didn't want Nadia alone in the jungle that could be Washington D.C.

Although he didn't know that, Emily had for once a good reason to send her deputy to the meeting with Aaron. At 9 a.m. sharp, Gemma had knocked at Emily's door to take her to her appointment, and as promised, she stayed with her the whole time. The stress of the appointment had made Emily throw up again, and when the doctor announced her that she was indeed pregnant, and seven weeks along, she ran to the nearest bathroom to throw her guts down the toilet again.

"Em…" Gemma sighed as she entered the bathroom stall and squatted down near her best friend.

"I can't, I can't do this…" Emily said, crying.

"I know… I know…" Gemma answered, rubbing Emily's back.

Emily was sobbing, she felt helpless. She didn't know what to do, what to say. It just wasn't her time to be a mother, she couldn't do this. It was bringing back so many terrible memories of the time she had been told she was infertile, it was bringing back all the hopes she had given up of starting a family.

"Listen to me, Em. We will figure this out. Look, it's 10:30, you're going to be late. So I'll drive you to the White House, you'll try to push that at the back of your mind for the rest of the day, and you try to come home early. I'll be there, I'll leave work early too. And we will talk, and figure this out together. Okay? I'm here for you, no matter what." Gemma tried to reassure her.

"Do you really think that fifteen years of friendship can go through that, that you'll still be there for me after that?" Emily asked, still crying.

"Hell yes! Girl… You're my best friend. I would raise that baby for you if I had to!" she exclaimed. "Please, don't make me do that though…" she laughed.

Emily chuckled softly, partly feeling better after such an eventful beginning of the day.

"I took the flyers the doctor gave me. I'll bring them to your place tonight, okay? I'll make dinner." Gemma continued.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Thank you…"

Emily wiped the tears that had fallen down her cheeks and stood up from the floor where she had been sitting for the past few minutes. She splashed some water on her face and brushed her teeth. She felt depressed at the idea that she was so organized and practical even to the point that she had brought with her a toothbrush and her make-up bag, already knowing that she would probably cry and vomit. She took a few minutes to redo her make-up, and then hugged Gemma to give her strength for the day.

When she arrived in the West Wing, she decided to hide in her office as much as she could, and she thought it was working pretty well until Seth knocked on her door a couple of hours later.

"I saw Aaron this morning." Seth stated.

"Okay?" Emily asked, not really sure what Seth was insinuating.

"We talked about you. He asked how you were doing and said you've been avoiding him lately. You deflected this morning…"

"I had an appointment" Emily brushed things off.

"Oh, just like the last time, right?" Seth asked, trying to push her a bit.

"I can't remember. I guess, I don't see why I would do such a thing otherwise…" Emily ignored Seth's hint.

"I know something happened between the two of you and you don't want to tell me…" Seth smirked.

The comment suddenly made Emily furious. Her look darkened and her hand gripped on the pen she was holding.

"Nothing happened! Ever! Okay? Now if that is all you wanted, just leave me alone and go back to your office." she yelled.

Emily's behavior took Seth aback and he raised his hands in protestation.

"Woah, slow down Em. I'm sorry. No more teasing, ever, again." Seth tempered. "But you know…" he said after a pause, "you can talk to me whenever you want, whenever you need, about anything. Okay?"

He could see that tears were threatening to fall down Emily's cheeks, but she clearly didn't want to talk right now, so he didn't push more.

"It's a hard time, but yeah… Thank you." Emily smiled softly, her mood softening.

Seth left Emily's office with a nod, and she continued her day at the White House. It had started as a crappy day, so obviously it continued the same way. It was busier that she needed it to be, and nothing was going the way she wanted. The other meetings she had did not go the way the administration had hoped it would, and it seemed that nothing could work. In addition, she never managed to push her pregnancy at the back of her mind, even if that is what she wanted the most, and she almost burst into tears at least four times during the day. By 6 p.m. she looked like a ghost, and Phil, her deputy, offered to take over her and sent her home.

Gemma was already at her apartment when she arrived, and she had to admit it felt good to come home to someone cooking. Emily changed into comfortable clothes, and almost opened a bottle of red wine before her best friend made her realize that she probably shouldn't do it. Instead, Gemma offered to make soft cocktails and Emily sat at the kitchen island, distractedly listening to her best friend talking about her day.

By the end of the dinner, Gemma had not yet addressed the burning topic of the evening. She didn't know how to address it. They could both feel the tension, so the red-hair decided to launch the topic anyway.

"You know, you need to make a decision..." Gemma started.

"I don't think I can make a decision..." Emily said, her voice low.

"You don't have a choice, you have to make a decision, Em. Either you keep it, or you don't. But you need to decide."

"But how can I make such a decision. It's only been what, five days that I've known. Five days ago, I still though that I was infertile, and I suddenly end up pregnant of a guy I don't talk to anymore. I don't know what to do, how do you want me to know." Emily explained.

"But..." Gemma said. "You really are considering keeping it?"

"Yeah... Maybe... I don't know. What if it's my only chance to have a baby, a family that I thought I would never have."

Both girls sighed. Gemma could definitely understand what she meant. She could clearly remember the day when Emily's doctor had told her she had hormone problems and she could probably never have children of her own. That night, Emily had cried until dawn, drunk a full bottle of tequila on her own, and thrown up all day afterwards. It had been one of the hardest moments of her life.

"But, are you ready for this? What about... the father?" Gemma asked.

"What about him?"

"You should tell him. He's going to be a dad..."

"I haven't made my decision yet, so he might not be... And even though, we still don't talk, I don't see why he should know."

"Because I'm sure he's far from stupid, he's going to guess, he's going to do the math, and he will know he is the father. He's going to be hurt if you don't tell him..."

"He's the one who decided not to talk to me anymore..."

"Em... I know you. You're lying." Gemma scolded.

Emily sighed again, she knew Gemma was right, but she couldn't help it. She didn't want to tell Aaron anything, she couldn't even see him yet. As for Gemma, she could see that Emily had already made her decision, even though she had not realized yet.

"You're going to keep it, aren't you?" Gemma asked again.

"I guess... What would you do?"

"I don't have my word in this, whether you keep it or not is none of my business. But you already know what I would do..."

Yeah, Emily definitely knew what would Gemma do.

"But you get why I'm considering keeping it, right?"

"Of course I do. I just probably wouldn't handle it the same way..."

"With Aaron you mean?"

"Yeah..."

Emily couldn't help but sigh once more. Aaron should know, it was obvious, but she couldn't resolve to telling him.