Thank you guys so much for the reviews! I can't tell you how much I appreciate them and like hearing what you're thinking about the story so far. I also know many of you are die-hard Vic/Walt shippers and it means a lot to me that you're reading anyway. I understand where you're coming from because I also enjoy Vic/Walt and Branch/Cady as well, but I don't think that's where this story is going to go. I hope you'll enjoy the story anyway. I'd also like to apologize for the wait between chapters, but unfortunately that's the way life goes sometimes and I can't always write when I want to for one reason or another.

I love all the thoughts on baby boy or baby girl Moretti, so I guess we'll have to wait and see :) Please continue to read and review! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Change

Chapter 4

The sight of Sean's car in the driveway doesn't bring any sense of affection or comfort as Vic had once thought the arrival of her husband would. Instead, Vic finds herself anxious as she exits her truck and the feeling only increases as she reaches the house. She's surprised however, when she opens the door and discovers Sean's suitcases at the base of the stairs; the surprise is not at all what she expected to feel though, because really, Vic thinks, she should've seen this coming.

"I thought you were going to try to get off work early?" Sean is waiting for her on the couch and wastes no time with pleasantries.

"No, I didn't." She pauses at the entryway and realizes when she looks at him just how tired she is of fighting with him over work. Over everything.

"So, what's with all the bags?" She continues, but figures she already knows the answer.

"Look, Vic, maybe you should sit down so we can talk…" He begins, motioning to the seat next to him. She'd rather break something and finds it insulting that he's trying to coddle her now, of all the times. She plants her feet and leans against the wall at her back.

"I'm not a child, Sean; say what you need to say." Her tone is emptier than she imagined it would be. What does it say about her, about the state of her marriage, Vic wonders absently, that she's more concerned about not feeling surprised or upset about this conversation than about the topic itself?

He nods and looks away as he stands, before taking an envelope Vic hadn't yet noticed from the coffee table and bringing it to her.

"I think we both know things haven't been working for a long time, Vic. I've spoken to a lawyer and I think it's time we make things official." Sean tells her. He offers the envelope to her and she takes it, but doesn't look inside.

"You've already had papers drawn up?" She asks. This she hadn't been expecting.

"I thought it would be best if we went ahead and signed them, so that we can file them before I head back out next week. You can look them over, but it's a pretty fair division, not that we had much together to begin with." He continues, sounding just a little bitter at the thought that they'd largely kept their married lives separate.

Still, the mention of the divorce papers and the things they have together causes Vic's stomach to clench. The baby. The reason Vic had needed to talk to Sean. The small spring of hope she'd been contemplating since her visit to the doctor's office.

"I'm not signing the papers." She begins, and holds up a hand when he opens his mouth in protest. "I'm not signing them until we talk about what I wanted to talk to you about and have them redone." She continues, brushing past him to put the envelope back on the table.

"Don't be ridiculous, Vic. I just want you to sign the papers, so I can get out of here." He states agitatedly. "I don't know what you could possibly want to talk about that'll change that."

Vic purses her lips, but figures there's no turning back at that point. "I'm pregnant, Sean."

The room goes completely silent for a minute following her declaration as he looks at her blankly. When he speaks, Vic almost thinks she would rather he had kept the blank look.

"Are you messing with me?" His voice is incredulous.

"No, why would I lie about something…" She's becoming defensive, but doesn't have a chance to finish before he interrupts her.

"I'm serious Vic, if you think I'll change my mind just because you say you're pregnant…" He's beginning to pace the floor and shake his head. His implication is clear and Vic's temper has been stoked.

"I can't believe you just said that to me! I told you because I thought you had a right to know and I would think you'd know me better than to believe I'd lie about being pregnant just to try and what, trap you here?" Her voice rises steadily, indignant.

"Well, what am I supposed to think?! I tell you I want a divorce and suddenly you're pregnant? A little inconvenient, don't you think?" He snaps.

Vic sighs in frustration. "I don't want to keep fighting." Her voice is closer to a regular volume again and she just wants this to be over with. "You're not the only one who's been thinking about us separating, okay? But there's a baby to think about now, too, and we have to talk about that first."

"I really don't see what there is to talk about, Vic. I want a divorce; that isn't changing." Sean says.

"I wouldn't want it to. It wouldn't do anyone any good for us to stay together just because of the baby." She affirms, but isn't prepared for what comes next.

"Look, if you say you're pregnant, then fine, but it doesn't change anything regardless. I'm leaving; I'm going to take that job in Australia they offered me." He sounds calm and straight forward as he says it and Vic suddenly realizes that it isn't just her he's leaving.

"What exactly are you saying?" She asks.

"I don't want a baby, Vic." He finally says and Vic takes a step back, covering her stomach with one hand as if to protect the child she carries from words she knows it can't yet hear. "I'm going to stay at the hotel in town until I leave and I'll give you some time to think about this and look at the papers, okay? I just have to get some more of my stuff together before I go."

"Whether you want it or not, this baby isn't going away, Sean." She replies, angry that he appears to be dismissing the topic. Angry and more hurt than she wants to admit that he doesn't seem to have any interest in their baby at all.

For a moment Sean stops as if he doesn't know what to say to her, but then he shakes his head slightly, "Maybe not, but I am, just as soon as you sign the papers." He replies, before turning and going up the stairs.

Vic wants to scream. She wants to go after him and make him see things differently. She wants to hurt him the way he's hurting her. Most of all though, she wants to not feel this way anymore.

Instead of going after him, Vic takes the first step in moving forward from this cycle they've been stuck in for so long. She takes a breath, turns around, and walks back out of the house.

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