thanks so much for the reviews, favorite, and follows guys! :) and thanks to those who favorited/followed me!
so glad you liked it and hope you like this next update! :)
going to be saying the baby's gender in this update ;)

Fatherhood

It had been a couple weeks since Lacey and Kelly told everyone the news. He hadn't spoken to his father since the incident about Katie and Lacey wasn't pushing the issue. They went about their baby business, with Kelly taking Lacey to every appointment, taking care of her in anyway that he could. Lacey appreciated that he was being so attentive, but she hoped that he took his own advice on relaxing and knowing everything would be all right. That afternoon, Kelly wasn't able to trade around shifts, so Lacey went to the doctor's office alone after she was done at the school but she promised to stop by.

"Hey," Kelly greeted her when she came by the house, sitting around the common room with the others. "Everything-"

"Fine," Lacey promised him, kissing him once.

"Hey, Lacey," Otis said to her. "You find out what you're having yet?"

"You guys keep asking me that every time I'm in here," Lacey laughed, standing behind Kelly's chair with her hands on his shoulders. "I told you, they can't tell till four months."

"They've got a bet going on what we're having," Kelly told her, reaching up and taking one of her hands in his. Lacey looked around confused.

"You guys are putting money on my baby?" she asked, faking offense, though they all thought she was serious, not sure what to say to her. "Guys, I'm kidding," she laughed.

"I can tell you what you're having," Dawson told her.

"Really, how?" Lacey asked.

"My abuela always does this thing," Dawson was explaining. "You get a piece of string and put a ring on the end to hold over your stomach. If it moves in a circle it's a girl, side ways it's a boy."

"Does that work?" Lacey asked curiously.

"She's never been wrong," Dawson shrugged.

"Do you wanna try it?" Shay asked now eagerly, wanting to know what her god child was; Dawson was already searching for a piece of string. "I need to know if I should be getting my god child blue clothes or pink clothes."

"Why do you automatically assume you're god mother?" Kelly asked Shay as Lacey went over to the now cleared couch to lay down when Dawson came back; Shay was giving him a look. "Well, I mean you are," Kelly laughed.

"Hey, I've heard about this," Hermann commented from the counter, pouring some coffee. "Don't you need a wedding ring for that?" Kelly was the one giving a look now.

"Use this," Lacey said, taking the claddagh her parents gave her for her sixteenth birthday off her ring finger, the heart pointing in to show she was in a serious relationship.

"K," Dawson said, slipping it onto the string. Lacey laid there, unable to tell how it was moving as Dawson dangled the ring over her stomach.

"It's a circle," Dawson smiled at her, stopping the spinning and handing her ring back. "That means girl!" The alarm went off now, callng for the ambulance. The girls groaned at the address as it belonged to a guy that really was just lonely and wanted them to come over. They went though, unable to refuse a were yeahs from those who bet girl and oh come ons from the ones that bet boy. The only one laughing though was Hermann, chuckling as he sat next to Kelly at the table.

"What's so funny?" Kelly asked Hermann curiously.

"You having a daughter," Hermann chuckled, sipping his coffee. "It's completely different than the rules for a boy."

"It is not," Kelly said.

"Um, it absolutely is," Lacey laughed as she sat on the couch. "Do you remember my dad with me and Andy?" She laughed. "I remember you two being allowed to go to the movies with girls in the seventh grade. I wasn't allowed to date till I was fifteen." She shook her head. "Not that I could keep guys around that long, thanks to you two."

"Ok, seriously Lace, those guys you dated were-" Kelly started with her.

"You guys were twenty years old," she was saying over him. "And you had nothing better to do than harass a fifteen-"

"You're my best friend's little sister, of course I was going to look out for-"

"O-K," Hermann interrupted them, still laughing. "But, you see what I mean? That's just how you were with Andy's sister. What if those guys were trying to date your daughter?" Kelly looked right over at Lacey.

"No," he shook his head at her.

"There it is," Lacey laughed. She knew he would be that way, the exact same way her dad was with her.

"Oh my God," Kelly groaned, rubbing his forehead.

It was true, he was having a baby girl. It wasn't as if he'd love her less, he'd love her the same if she was a boy. But, he wasn't going to be teaching her things he'd teach his son, guy stuff. He'd be chasing guys away. After all, he had been that guy before, knowing what was going on in their heads. Hell, even though he'd watched out for Lacey her whole life, he'd ended up being that guy with his best friend's sister; at least, at first.

"Well, your girls are going home," Lacey was telling Kelly, getting up from the couch now.

"Sure you don't wanna stay for dinner Lacey?" Mills asked her, getting dinner out of the oven now. When the oven was opened, the smells of dinner spilled out in to the room. Whatever it was, Lacey's stomach or more accurately her baby, didn't enjoy it. She flew out of the room, covering her mouth as she ran back to the bathroom. Kelly got up now, following her quickly to make sure he was all right. On his way out, he grabbed a sprite from the refrigerator for her stomach.

"Look at the expert," Casey joked as Kelly left; Kelly laughed a little, though he was far from an expert at this.

Lacey got back to their apartment, having dinner herself once her stomach settled. All this time, she had thought she was having a boy. And, since she was having a boy, it was very easy to pick out the baby name, naming him after her brother of course. She had no idea what to name her daughter though, flipping through a baby name book now. Hearing someone opening the apartment door, she jumped since she wasn't expecting anyone to be coming over. She relaxed when she saw Shay come in, but was surprised to see her, even worried.

"Hey," Lacey greeted her as Shay dropped into a seat next to her on the couch. Shay's behavior didn't make her think anything was immediately wrong; certainly nothing wrong with Kelly. But there was something off about her. "Everything...all right?"

"They sent me home," Shay mumbled. "But...I didn't want to go back to my place. Alone."

"Ok," Lacey nodded, setting her book to the side; they were quiet for a moment. "Why did they send you home?"

"I'm fine," Shay told her, not answering the question.

"Ok," Lacey nodded, not pushing it. Something happened, something really wrong. Maybe she had lost someone on her last call? They never sent people home for that; Shay had lost people before, so had Kelly. "Do you...wanna watch re-runs and eat ice cream with me?"

"Rocky road?" Shay asked.

"Like there's another kind," Lacey laughed now, going to get it.

Shay didn't tell Lacey what was wrong that night and Lacey didn't push it. Whatever it was, she would tell her when she was ready. Crashing on their couch that night, Shay left in the morning before Kelly got back. It was the weekend, so Lacey didn't have to go in to work, planning on spending the afternoon with Kelly. Maybe he would be able to tell her what was wrong. That morning, Kelly crept back into bed, gently waking Lacey.

"Mmmm, hi," she greeted him with a sleepy smile as he kissed her.

"Hey," Kelly settled onto his side next to her. "Did Shay crash here last night?"

"Um, since she's on our couch, I'm gonna say yeah," Lacey laughed, rubbing her eyes.

"No," Kelly shook his head. "All that's on the couch is a pile of blankets and sheets."

"She left already?" Lacey observed in confusion.

"Probably to avoid me," Kelly said back and Lacey got even more confused.

"Did you two have a fight, or something?" Lacey asked him. "Why did they send her home?"

"She didn't tell you?" Kelly asked now.

"No," Lacey shook her head. "We ate ice cream and went through the baby name book." She shook her head. "She picked all the names we can't use because they're someone she's dated. Or you dated." She thought about it. "Or, both." Kelly wasn't as amused as she was. "What happened?"

"That call she got yesterday," Kelly started to explain. "Was this...guy that had a crush on her. He called all the time, just so her and Gabby would go over there."

"Ok," Lacey nodded along, not sure what could have happened. "Did he have a heart attack or something? Or-"

"He killed himself," Kelly told her now. "When Shay was there."

"Oh...my God," Lacey gasped. "Kelly."

"I know," he nodded in agreement. "She didn't want to talk to me, or Gabby." He shook his head. "She freaked when Boden tried to talk to her, that's why he told her to take the rest of the shift off." He sighed. "I don't know what to do for her."

"Well, you know Shay," Lacey said uneasily at her own suggestion. "We just have to let her come to us on her own. Talk when she's ready."

That certainly wasn't easy. For the next week, Shay wouldn't talk to Kelly or Gabby without snapping; she was avoiding Lacey's calls. Kelly knew that Lacey was right though, pushing Shay to talk about it would make her even angrier, causing her to avoid them all further. So, for a week, they sat and waited for her to say something about what happened. Lacey and Kelly weren't expecting Shay to show up at their apartment that Friday night, dressed to go out.

"Hey," Shay let herself in, finding them watching a movie. "Can I borrow your girlfriend Kel?"

"Uh," Kelly said in confusion, looking at Lacey then back at Shay. "What for?"

"I wanna go out," Shay said, leaning against the back of the couch. "I know she can't drink, but I just want someone fun to hang out with."

"I don't know if I like that," Kelly shook his head. His pregnant girlfriend at a bar with a spiraling Shay? It screamed trouble.

"Ok, you're not her dad," Shay said, looking at Lacey now like Kelly was being ridiculous. It wasn't like Lacey was even showing yet, and she wasn't going to be drinking. Lacey saw where Kelly was worried though.

"No," Kelly argued back, annoyed. "But she's carrying my-"

"Ok," Lacey interrupted, wanting to be neutral. Maybe if she went with Shay, she would finally talk about the things that were wrong with her instead of pushing the people that cared about her away. "What if...we got a late dinner or something?"

"Fine, ok," Shay shrugged, just wanting to get out. "Can we go? Please?" Kelly was looking at Lacey in concern still.

"It'll be fun," Lacey promised Kelly with a half smile, getting up from the couch and kissing him goodbye. Shay grinned, grabbing Lacey's hand and pulling her out the door.

For Lacey though, it was anything but fun. Part of her wished she could just leave, but Shay had driven and it wasn't like she was going to be able to drive herself home with as much as she drank, starting at dinner then dragging Lacey a few blocks over to a bar. Lacey just sat there, sipping on water while Shay kept disappearing; she didn't mention the incident once. Lacey knew that if she called Kelly he would freak out, worrying about her and getting angry with Shay for taking her there. Lacey wasn't too thrilled about being at the bar either, but she didn't want to leave Shay alone like this; not that Shay didn't spend the better part of tonight ditching her anyway.

"Hey!" Shay appeared out of no where, coming up to the bar to get two more drinks. "Look, I know I suck right now. But, I'm talking to this girl..." She was slurring. "I'll be back, like two more minutes."

"Ok," Lacey nodded, though Shay had already disappeared in the crowded bar again.

Bored by herself and tired of having random guys come up to hit on her, Lacey took to her phone, looking busy and uninterested in the scene around her. Unfortunately, when she took her phone out she noticed that it was after eleven and she had a few missed calls from Kelly. Shit. Pushing her way through people, Lacey slipped into the bathroom to call him back, locking the door behind her. It was the only place that was quiet and it was better than waiting outside, since Shay took them to a sketchier neighborhood.

"Hello?" Kelly answered after the first ring. "What's going on Lace?" It wasn't like her to just not answer him and he was worried since she was out with Shay like this. Her being pregnant put him even more on edge; he was about to go out looking for them.

"Everything's fine," Lacey told him right away. "I'm sorry, I didn't want you to be worried." She sighed, running a hand through her hair. She was tired of being here and clearly Shay wasn't leaving anytime soon, Kelly already worried about her. "Can you come get me?"

"Where are you?" Kelly asked.

"Shay dragged me to this bar after dinner," Lacey rolled her eyes and she heard Kelly groan. "I didn't want to leave her alone."

"That's fine," Kelly assured her. She didn't do anything wrong. "What bar are you at?" He listened as she told him the name and what street they were on. "God, she took you there?" Kelly complained, knowing the place. "I'll be right there."

Twenty minutes later, Kelly was there. Going inside, he found Lacey sitting at her corner of the bar still; he could also see Shay sitting on the other side of the room, talking to some girl. Going over to where Lacey was, some guy was trying to talk to her. She couldn't get him to leave, just nodding when he said stuff. Coming up behind the guy, Kelly grabbed him by his shirt, shoving him away.

"Get out of here," Kelly told him. The guy was startled, but took off due to Kelly's size in comparison to him. "You ready?"

"Beyond," Lacey told Kelly, letting him take her hand and lead her outside.

"Hey!" Shay protested, following the two of them outside. "C'mon Kel, don't make her leave. We were having fun!"

"She called me," Kelly informed her. "And, I don't know how much fun you were having on the other side of the bar." Shay rolled her eyes at him.

"What's your problem?" Shay demanded.

"If this is how you wanna deal with whatever's going on, fine," Kelly shook his head at her. "You wanna do this and not talk to anyone, fine. But don't drag Lacey into the middle of it."

"Hey," Shay snapped back at him. "Don't freak out on me, all right? God, being in a bar isn't going to make her lose it again."

"Are you kidding me right now?" Kelly snapped at her; Lacey couldn't believe she said it either. Shay clearly regretted what she said immediately.

"Kelly, come on," Lacey said softly, pulling on his arm. "Let's just go."

"No," Kelly told her, seeing Shay's keys dangling out of her pocket; he snatched them from her. "I'm not letting you wrap your car around a tree," he told her crossly, giving her money for a cab.

"I'm sorry Kelly," Shay was trying to say.

"We'll see you tomorrow for your keys," Kelly told her, opening the door for Lacey to get into his car first.

thanks for reading! :) hope you liked it, please let me know what you thought! :)
and yay, it's a girl! lol it was 7 votes for girl and none for a boy haha