Hallie didn't see Randall hardly at all during the week now. And she began to notice something new in his behavior that she didn't like. A stressful and exhausted form of him, that he would often back out at having dinner and hangout with her in the evenings. Even on some Saturdays now.

One month later, Hallie also began having issues of her own. She began getting sick. She began taking some days off because her stomach illnesses got to her. Her boss was pretty understanding. But at work, she began to feel stressed and just when she thought she felt fine, she would end up running for the kitchen's bathroom.

Randall was so busy at work that he didn't even realize she was sick. She never told him. She didn't want him to worry about her.

They tried to keep to their Saturday nights, but there were even then when Randall began to say that he was tired and needed some rest or he just wasn't in the mood to hang out, but when they were together, he was often moody.

As Hallie was seeing this hardness come about to him, she didn't like it. And she still hadn't met his family yet. She wanted to, and if she brought them up, he did get a little mad at her. "I said I would arrange it when I got time. I'm too busy right now for it."

"I hope you arrange it soon." Even Hallie seemed to get more snappy now. But how could this have escalated so fast? They hadn't even been together a year yet.

Hallie loved Randall, but she didn't like this side of him. She was beginning to believe what the others said about him.

"What is this project, Randall, that Waternoose has you working so hard on that it leaves so little room to be with me or to breathe?" Hallie demanded one night.

"It's none of your business! It's my business only!" He snapped at her.

That mean remark ended up making her tear up. She then ran to the bathroom and threw up her dinner.

Randall sat at the table, hoping he didn't hurt her too much, but then he heard vomiting. He got up and went to the door.

"Hallie?" He knocked. "Are you alright?" He still cared for her, he just didn't realize his actions had consequences too.

"Go away." He heard her say.

He opened the door, not listening to her.

"What's going on?"

"I said get out!" She screamed at him.

She had never yelled at him like that before. "I need to know what's going on."

"Nothing!"

"You aren't making yourself sick, are you?"

"NO! Now leave me alone! I'm fine!" She took a glass mirror off the sink and threw it at him.

It did finally make him duck out of the room. The mirror shattered on the wall. He closed the door on the way out.

Randall had never seen that side of her before. This suddenly had his attention. He went back out to the living room, figuring she just needed time to cool down.

When she came out later to get a glass of water from the kitchen, she saw he was on the couch.

"Why are you still here?"

"I just wanted to give you some time to cool off. What's going on, Hal?"

"Nothing."

"That didn't sound like nothing to me."

"I'm fine. Just one little upset."

She went into the kitchen to get the glass of water.

Randall got up and walked up behind her. He put his top hands on her shoulders, hoping to comfort her, but it spooked her and she dropped her glass. It shattered on the floor and water splattered everywhere. She turned around real fast.

He ended up stepping on a shard of glass and screamed out too.

"Randall! What are you doing?" She demanded.

He held his right front foot. "Just trying to rub your shoulders. I'm sorry."

"I think it's time you left for the night. I'll clean this up."

"But-"

"GO! GET OUT!"

Randall hurriedly got away from her. He left her apartment.

"Oh, here, you might need that." Hallie said on the way out. She tossed a dish towel at him.

He had no idea his outburst would make her that mad at him. He sat down and made sure to see if he had glass in his foot. He found one and got it out, and he used the towel to wrap his foot up, to stem the bleeding. Once done, he limped out of the building.

Hallie cleaned up the mess on the floor. She didn't step on it. How could their relationship have gone so far downhill in such a quick moment?

….

On Monday, she talked to some of her female co-workers about how she was feeling lately. "You were told he could be a jerk."

"I wanted to take a chance with him. He was so nice for awhile. I saw a side of him that most don't see. I know he's still got that potential. But it has something to do with his job obviously."

"He's obviously not for you then. But how long have you been sick, Hal?" An orange tentacle female asked.

"It's a little over three weeks."

"If it's gone on that long, you need to see a doctor, and yet, I have a hunch of what it is." Mrs. Grifton said.

"What?"

"Have you slept with him?"

"Uh," she lowered her voice. "Yes, but we used protection."

"It's not always guaranteed to work. Going to the doctor is the best way to find out for sure."

Hallie hated going to the doctor. But she needed to know, and Randall would need to know. Plus her parents would also need to know.

She made an appointment.

Two days later, Hallie was sitting in the exam room, waiting for some results. She had done the embarrassing tests and now she was just waiting.

When her doctor came in to see her, she asked, "Have you been sexually active lately?"

"Kind of." Hallie said nervously.

"Well, the results are in. Congratulations. You're expecting." The blue female said.

Hallie probably wasn't hugely surprised, but this was a shock. She had had unprotected sex once with Randall, when they were drunk. And she had mated with him again not long after. Maybe the condom had broken? It was hard to tell from which incident it had happened from. But it did matter now, what was she going to do?

Hallie wondered how her parents and Randall were going to take the news.

…

She wanted to tell Randall first, but he was often so busy and grumpy now that he kept on blowing her off. What was so important about this project that he couldn't take some time off of it at times just to be with her? Everyone needed off time from their jobs just to be able to function.

Randall was working so hard that he wasn't eating as much or sleeping. He was so exhausted and stressed. And his boss wasn't helping either. He also really began to even lash out at Fungus. He lashed out at almost anyone, Hallie too.

Hallie tried to make dates with him, but always said he was too busy. When he finally would try to make time for her, sooner or later, it would turn to how much he hated Sullivan and how he was losing to him all the time. Or how much Waternoose was cutting his paycheck just to make him work harder on this project.

Hallie couldn't always control the throwing up, but she tried not to do it in front of him. She tried to listen to him, but when she kept asking what was the project, he would just snap at her. He would try to apologize, but she sent him away.

Her hormones were not letting her be herself. She got upset easily by his crabby remarks. Then he would either go home or go back and work more on the machine, and then he would just stay at the factory, in the employee's lounge.

…..

The time had passed all too quickly.

Hallie finally gave up for now on trying to tell Randall. When she finally had an exam, she went alone. She had the sonogram proof of what she and him had created together.

She cried that her child's father wasn't there for her. She went to her parents' house and she reluctantly gave them the news.

Cassie and Mason weren't too surprised, but happy for her. But when they found out how Randall had been treating her, Mason was pissed. He had hoped that it wouldn't come to this. But then, there had been something about Randall he knew he seemed to have been hiding.

"How far along are you, honey?" Cassie asked.

"Seven weeks."

"Does he know?"

"No. He's been so busy I haven't had time to tell him. I've tried, but then he blows me off for what's stressing him out and it's the same thing all the time."

"Jobs can be stressful at times."

"Sullivan and his friend are really nice guys. They're my friends too. I just don't see how he could dislike them so much. If he tried to get to know them more, it might be different."

"There's still time to tell him. I'm sure he'll want to be there for you when he learns of it. It'll be a shock at first, but maybe impending fatherhood might get him to think about something good. But then, he might not at all." Cassie tried to give encouragement.

"I'll keep trying, Mom. But no guarantees."

Mason hoped Randall would stop doing this when he found out that he had impregnated his daughter. Or he would make sure that Randall never saw her again if he kept up this dangerous outlook.