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Chapter 2

Vic wakes the next morning to cautious optimism in her heart for the coming months and a new voicemail from Sean on her cell phone. Listening to the message makes her realize why he had opted to call her cell phone so early in the morning rather than the landline, knowing it would be less likely to wake her than the latter.

"Hey, it's me. I just thought I'd let you know I'm coming in this weekend. I was actually hoping you could take a day off work or something; we really need to talk. So, um, see you soon, bye."

"Must be some talk…" Vic mutters while shaking her head slightly. He wasn't supposed to be home again until the end of the month.

Regardless, she's grateful, considering she was already wondering how she was going to avoid telling him about the baby over the phone when she wanted him to know sooner rather than later. Debating briefly over trying to call him back or not, Vic quickly decides to try and catch him before work anyway. The phone rings three times before going to the machine.

"Hey, so, I guess we're playing phone tag. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm glad you're coming home early. I don't know if I can take any time off work, but there's something I wanted to talk to you about, too. So, I guess if I don't talk to you before, I'll just see you in a few days. Bye." She's biting her lip by the time she finishes, but thinks, there. She's at least made the first step in approaching the topic of the baby.

She goes through her morning routine fairly quickly, swearing softly when she realizes she probably shouldn't drink the coffee she's already begun brewing. It's a habit she never thought she would need to alter and she promises herself she'll start researching pregnancy and appropriate eating habits today. Maybe she'll even buy some pregnancy books when she picks up the prenatal vitamins her doctor told her to get.

The drive to work is short, but it becomes an exercise in debate as Vic considers that she'll need to notify Walt of her pregnancy soon as well; Absaroka might be relatively quiet, but being a cop is still being a cop and she doesn't want to take any chances. Probably she'll end up behind a desk pushing papers for the duration of her pregnancy, Vic thinks, and just the thought of it makes her grit her teeth. With a sigh, she compromises with herself; she'll tell him as soon as she's had the chance to tell Sean. She can likely maneuver herself out of serious fieldwork for the rest of the week and it seems only right that her child's father be the first to know. If there was a way to avoid it, there was no need to upset Sean or feed his paranoia about some more-than-platonic relationship between her and Walt.

As she enters the Sheriff's office, Vic is passed by the Ferg with a cheery "Morning, Vic," but little more and is a bit surprised to find Walt sitting on the edge of Ruby's desk looking over paperwork.

"Morning." Vic greets as she moves toward her own shared desk with Branch, who appears to be tuned into whatever conversation Walt and Ruby are having. She hasn't even settled into her chair before Walt is speaking to her.

"Hey Vic," He responds, barely glancing up. "I need you to go with Branch to serve this summons to Barry Thomas out on Pine."

Branch waves a picture towards her and offers her the folder in his hand. Vic takes it reluctantly, her forehead scrunching up slightly in confusion, before scanning the contents on the first page.

"What? This is just for failure to pay child support… why do I need to go with Branch?" Vic questions.

"Because the last time I served someone a summons, they pulled a gun on me." Branch speaks up, raising an eyebrow at her. "Remember? We're trying to be more careful when we can be."

"Yeah, but this is no big deal, I mean surely you can handle it…" She argues incredulously, the pitch of her voice increasing just a bit. Branch cocks his head at her and she's pretty sure his eyebrow ekes up just a fraction higher.

"If it's no big deal, then why are you complaining? We'll be gone less than an hour." Branch asks curiously.

"I just think I could be more useful doing something here instead. Can't Ferg go with you?" She shrugs her shoulders in a way Branch finds very unsubtle and very un-Vic like.

"Is there a problem with you working with Branch, Vic?" Walt finally cuts in, turning to look at her.

Vic sighs. This is just what she needs, today of all the days. "No." She replies solemnly and wonders how she's supposed to navigate this little dilemma without revealing all. After all, there really is no problem working with Branch, at least not lately, so much as working in the field period at the moment.

Walt nods resolutely, "Good."

"Right." Vic nods to herself and thinks colorful words that she's already been thinking she'll have to stop using soon.

"I've got some calls to make." Walt says as he stands. "You two go ahead and take care of that in case something else comes in later." He continues, before heading into his office.

"So, you ready to get this over with?" Branch asks as he reaches for his hat.

Vic doesn't see much other choice, but she does want to get it over with as soon as possible so she takes a deep breath before agreeing, "Yeah, let's go."

The drive is mostly quiet except for the quick, standard argument before they leave about who is going to drive. It seems almost habitual by now, the quick banter and some perfunctory comment about the other's driving before one of them caves. This time it's Vic who ends up in the passenger seat, which makes her just that little bit more edgy. Maybe it's hormones, she thinks, or maybe it's caffeine depravation… Either way, when Branch asks what's wrong with her this morning she responds automatically in the negative.

"Nothing." She says.

"Are you sure? Cause Walt's gonna think I'm harassing you or something if you try to avoid working with me very much." He says and she catches the quick grin he flashes when he looks at her, before returning his attention to the road. Some of her tension drains at the thought of that conversation and Vic rolls her eyes.

"I'm fine. I'm just a little high strung this morning." She explains.

"Alright." Branch accepts her explanation. Vic thinks the matter is settled, but her nerves seem to flair again as he turns up Thomas' drive.

He's opening his door, one foot nearly on the ground when she stops him, "Wait, Branch?"

"Yeah?" He turns to look at her again and she's biting her lip hesitantly. "What?"

"I can't go in there." She says it before she's really thought it through, but for some reason she just can't seem to convince herself this call is perfectly routine. Not when the last one ended with a gun in Branch's face, despite the safe resolution.

"Okay, seriously, what's going on with you today?" Branch is confused by her uncharacteristic behavior and his patience is starting to thin. Vic knows she sounds ridiculous and probably she's being ridiculous, too. She hates feeling this way, but still doesn't think she can stop it.

"Look, Branch, I can't, okay? I… I'm pregnant." She blurts it out and Branch appears frozen for a split second before the words really sink in and register in his brain.

"Oh. I guess Walt didn't know about this then, huh?" Branch thinks in light of this new information, she probably wouldn't be out here right now if Walt knew, too.

"No," Vic shakes her head. "I just found out myself and I wanted to wait to tell Sean this weekend before I told anyone else. I thought I could wait until then to tell Walt and figure out how to arrange work, but I guess that's shot to hell now." She continues, a bit annoyed.

"Well, I guess congratulations are in order then." He tries to smile because he doesn't really know what else to say in this type of situation and the awkwardness in his voice makes her smile a little, too.

"Thanks. So, um, I know we're not best friends or anything, but can you just not say anything about this to anyone?" Vic asks.

"Sure, I won't say anything, but you need to tell Walt so he's not sending you on cases where you might be in danger." Branch reminds her.

"I know, and I will just as soon as I tell Sean; he'll be here Friday and I'm going to tell him then and I'll tell Walt first thing Monday." She confirms quickly.

"Fine. Stay here and I'll go take care of this, alright?" He jerks his head toward the house in front of them and grabs the papers from the console.

"Okay." Vic nods, though she loathes how relieved she is that he's not asking her to go with him. It's just a little bit of panic at the thought of being responsible for someone else, she thinks. It'll pass soon and you'll get back to feeling normal. "Branch," she calls out again before he closes the truck door. "Thanks." She says when he pauses.

"You're pregnant. I figure you get one free favor." The laugh that accompanies the statement is drowned out by the slamming of the door and Vic's lip twitches up in spite of herself.

Please let me know what you think! I understand that the characters may be a little out of character, but I'm taking some liberties here with what we've seen on the show and how I think a friendship could develop between Vic and Branch over a bit of time.