This chapter starts a few days after Chris' date with Jem.


Natasha tried to hide her grin as Chris gushed about Jem. Considering how heartbroken Chris had been a few weeks earlier about his break-up with Nate as well as leaving his friends and family in Australia to move to America, it was almost hilarious how enthusiastic he was now.

As Chris paused to take a breath after what felt like ages of him rambling, he noticed Tash's strange expression, "What's wrong?"

She shook her head dismissively, "Nothing"

Chris narrowed his eyes at her, "Then why are you staring at me like that?"

Tash chuckled, "I'd forgotten how endearing you can be when you fancy someone" she admitted

"Really?" Chris questioned, blushing slightly

Tash nodded, "I remember you acting like this when you and Aidan first got together" she reminded him, "And I remember you calling me and talking to me for hours when you started dating Hudson and then Nate"

Tash frowned as she noticed Chris' face fall slightly, "Sorry, that was really insensitive of me to bring them into conversation"

Chris shook his head, "It's fine, seriously" he assured her, "I've moved on"

Tash grinned, "I can see that"

Chris sniggered, "You know, there's no better feeling than that rush you get when you're really into someone" he murmured

Tash nodded in understanding. She had felt the same way about Andrew back when they first met. Although she had been using him to annoy her dad at the time, she really did care about him and she loved the excitement of dating a guy like him. That's why she had tried so hard to keep their relationship going, leading her to do things (such as lying about being pregnant to stop him from leaving her in favour of Summer) that she still regretted deeply to this very day.

Chris suddenly looked thoughtful, "I just hope it's not too soon" he murmured, thinking back to the conversation that he'd had with Jem after their first date

"What do you mean?" Tash questioned in confusion

"Well it's only been a few weeks since Nate and I broke up" Chris began, "I really like Jem but I'm not sure that I'm ready for a serious relationship yet"

"Well didn't you say that you and Jem agreed to take it slow?" Tash recalled, "Even if you're not sure right now, he's giving you time to figure out what you really want"

Chris held her gaze thoughtfully, "I can't believe that you're giving me advice like this, considering your track record"

Tash looked offended, "Hey! I do know a thing or two about relationships, I've had to learn from my mistakes"

Chris shrugged, "Who'd have thought that out of the both of us, you'd be the one to maintain a functioning relationship for over two years?"

Tash grinned smugly, "Well when you're as awesome a partner as I am, it's hardly surprising"

Chris laughed, "How Andrew's managed to put up with you for so long is beyond me" he joked

"And me" Andrew remarked as he entered the room and set himself down next to Chris, "So what's up mate?"

Tash pulled a face to try to silently warn Andrew not to encourage him, but it was too late. Chris launched straight into his story about Jem, much to the amusement of the blond man next to him and the annoyance of Natasha, who was hearing it all over again almost word-for-word. However, she was glad that Chris was smiling for the first time since he had arrived in New York, and hoped that he would be able to juggle his situation with Lucy and his relationship with Jem without too many issues down the track.

xxx

Chris smiled softly as he read the text from Jem wishing him the best for Lucy's scan. Chris had told Jem about the baby possibly having spinal muscular atrophy after explaining to him at the end of the last basketball session that Lucy was due a scan to check on the baby. Lucy was tapping her feet impatiently as she sat beside Chris in the waiting room and was sneaking looks at Chris' phone.

"Ah, that's nice of him" she murmured

Chris looked confused, "What?" he asked, not realising that she had been peering over his shoulder

"The text from Jem" she replied

"You can't read other people's texts!" Chris hissed as he turned his mobile away

Lucy shrugged, "Sorry, I'm just a bit on edge"

"Oh, really?" Chris mumbled sarcastically before nodding to the table full of reading materials in front of them, "Read a magazine or something"

Lucy sighed as she reached over to take a magazine from the top of one of the piles. Just as she had opened it and began to read, she and Chris were called in for their appointment.

"So much for that" Lucy grumbled as she returned her magazine and stood up. Chris chuckled as he followed her in, though he suddenly grew more nervous about what was going to happen once they were in the room.

xxx

Because Chris and Lucy were carriers of the spinal muscular atrophy gene, the nurse had to check whether or not their baby would have it by carrying out chorionic villus sampling. Although it took less than fifteen minutes to complete, they were the most excruciating fifteen minutes that Chris and Lucy had experienced in a long time, and even after the procedure they would have to wait a few more days to find out the results. In the meantime, since Lucy was just over 14 weeks into her pregnancy, she and Chris were offered the option of finding out the baby's sex.

They glanced at each other uncertainly and Chris shrugged, "Well you're the mum, what do you want to do?"

Lucy raised her eyebrows, "You're the dad, you should have an equal say" she pointed out

"Yeah, but you're the one carrying the little bean" Chris argued lightly, "And you've just had a needle inserted into your stomach, so I think you deserve to make this decision"

Lucy chuckled, "But it would be unfair for one of us to know if the other doesn't want to"

"So you do want to know?" Chris clarified

Lucy nodded, "I think it would be easier if we did" she replied, "We'd be able to buy clothes in blue or pink and decorate the nursery-"

Chris was taken aback, "Wow, talk about gender stereotyping!" he exclaimed

Lucy shook her head, "Sorry, that was old-fashioned of me" she apologised, "But what do you want?"

Chris shrugged, "I'd like to know as well, it would definitely be more useful to know now, and I don't think I could wait until the end of the year to find out"

"Me neither" Lucy agreed, then glanced at the nurse, "So yeah, we'd like to know"

The nurse couldn't hold back the chuckle at their conversation, a conversation which she had heard several versions of as a result of the job. She checked the information from the scan, "Well congratulations, you're having a girl"

Lucy and Chris grinned at each other in delight, "That's amazing!" Lucy breathed

"Well it would have been amazing no matter what" Chris pointed out

Lucy nodded, "True" she agreed before letting out a breath as the nurse finished up, "Wow, it feels really real now that we know"

Chris squeezed her hand, "Yeah, it does" he exhaled and gazed at the image of their baby on the monitor, as if trying to imprint it in his mind forever.

xxx

"I know it's a bit premature but should we start thinking about names now that we know we're having a girl?" Chris asked as he and Lucy sat down on the couch.

Lucy smiled, "You know, I was just about to suggest the same thing" she revealed

Chris was pleasantly surprised, "Really? Any ideas yet?"

Lucy nodded, "Well I really want to name her after my mother, Anne" she replied thoughtfully

Chris smiled softly, "That's a great idea" he replied, knowing how important it was to Lucy to use her late mother's name, perhaps as a way of letting her memory live on.

Lucy nudged him gently, "But what about you?" she asked

Chris shrugged, "I was thinking of something like 'Katherine' or 'Katie' after Kate" he told her, remembering his conversation about baby names that he'd had on his first date with Jem

Lucy's eyes lit up, "Oh, that's lovely!" she exclaimed, genuinely loving the idea of using the names of family members who were taken from the world way too soon.

"So what about Anne Katherine Robinson-Pappas?" Chris suggested

Lucy nodded, "I like the sound of that" she hummed

"Me too" Chris agreed as he sank into the sofa next to her and allowed a comfortable silence to fall upon them

Lucy let out a deep breath as she rubbed her bump which was just beginning to show, "I'm really nervous about the results of the CVS" she admitted quietly

"So am I" Chris agreed and turned to look at her, "But no matter what the result is, we deal with it together and we don't let it affect how we feel about little Annie, right?"

Lucy nodded and pinched Chris' cheek fondly, "You already sound like a dad" she chuckled, liking the way that Chris was already giving their child cute nicknames

Chris pulled a face, "I know, it's kind of scary!" he whispered and set a hand on Lucy's bump, "It'll be ok" he reassured her and the baby (and himself). Inwardly, he was more terrified than he could admit, but he knew that he would stick to his word about the results: he had to be strong, now more than ever.


Thanks for reading! Now the story is at the point where the readers need to dictate where it goes from here, so thanks for the suggestions so far: as you can see I'm working them in as I go along. I wasn't sure about the baby's name (we probably won't ever find out Anne's middle name) so I've stuck with the original 'Kate' theme for this - though the full name doesn't flow very well, but never mind. As always, I'm happy to consider any suggestions, and reviews are always welcome!