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Disclaimer: I still don't own. I'll letcha know if the occasion ever arises though

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Forks and chopsticks dropped on plates across the table. "You're what?" Alex's stare was cold and stone-like.

"I said I'm pregnant. Can someone please pass the salt?" Teresa didn't dare take her eyes off her plate.

Shocked, Olivia passed the salt. "What do you mean you're pregnant?"

"I mean I'm going to have a baby! I'm going to be a mommy; he's going to be a daddy! We're going to have a child; it's going to be ours. You two will be great aunts; you two will be great uncles" She looked at all the relatives in the room, their eyes planted firmly on her and Lucas; and suddenly, she felt more sick than she had in three months. "Excuse me please" She stood, running to the bathroom and almost taking the table cloth with her.

"I'd better check on her…" Lucas stood, arising to the occasion, but Alex firmly put her hand in the air.

"I think you've done quite enough for one night. I'll go"

"Hey it takes two to tango" Elliot was furious with his nephew, yes, but putting the blame solely on him was the wrong way of going about things.

"Oh and believe me, I know all of this" Alex's eyes were filled with fire as she headed to the bathroom to find her niece.

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"I already know what you're going to say" Teresa crossed the room, looking for a Tylenol and dabbing her mouth with a damp washcloth as she did so.

"Oh I don't think you do, Teresa. You have your whole life ahead of you! What on earth makes you think you can be a mother at this point in your life?!" Disappointment seeped through Alex's tone of voice.

"Mom did it. So can I" She shrugged her shoulders, refusing to look her aunt in the eyes.

"Exactly my point; your mother was a young mother who had a baby and got married too soon in life. Your uncle Joe, Uncle Bobby, and I ended up raising you. Do you really want to do that to yourself?"

"Oh, we're not going to get married, don't worry"

Alex grabbed her left arm and slid down onto the bed. "Oh Teresa, please stop talking before you give me a heart attack."

Teresa smiled slightly and then sat down next to her aunt, laying her head on her shoulder. "Look, I'm not saying this will be easy, but I'm not mom, or dad. I can do this… I may need a little help along the way, and so will Lucas, but what parents don't? This child is mine and Lucas' responsibility—it is our fault and our fault entirely and we're willing to step up and do what it takes to make up for it. But I will not get rid of it."

Alex sighed deeply. "Alright, if you're sure that's what you want to do, I'll stand by you. But this baby is yours… and yours alone. I'll do whatever I can to help you, but don't forget it's your responsibility. Now…are you sure you don't want to get married?" Her eyes were pleading; they should get married, it was the right thing to do.

"Aunt Alex, I'd rather die. I mean I'm only 18!"

Alex glared at the young girl, her words evident without presenting any sound.

"You're right, bad example." She smiled at her aunt and kissed her cheek. "Maybe when the time is right we'll get married… but for right now, it's best for everyone, including the baby, if we keep things the way they are."

Alex shrugged her shoulders and exhaled. "Alright, I guess you know what's best"

"Thank you" Teresa said, before standing to return to the living room.

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Robert Goren hardly ever smoked these days; he was what you would call a 'stress' smoker. He grabbed a pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket—he had the feeling he'd need them—and lit up the end of the cigarette, watching intimately the fire on the tip. It always amazed him how such a tiny thing could hold so much energy, and yet, be relatively harmless. Sure, the contents of the cigarette could kill you, but the fire at the end seemed to be your friend… which was a first for fire. Sucking in deeply, he inhaled his first puff… then two….then three…

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"Look, I understand you're 19, you're a guy, you have all these friends, and all these urges…but what happened to our talk about condoms?!" Olivia sat on the living room couch less than two inches from her nephew.

Urges…that word…. Was it possible for the dad to have morning sickness too? Because he certainly felt nauseous. "Aunt Liv…can we not talk about me…urges?"

"You're old enough to be a parent; you should be mature enough to talk about your urges. I've told you time and time again if you want to have sex, fine, do it; but always make sure the woman wants it too, you're doing it in a safe environment, and YOU'RE USING PROTECTION!" She smacked him once upside the head for his lack of the latter.

"Look it was ONE time" Not his best argument.

"It only takes one time!" Elliot shouted at him from his right.

"Look, we made a mistake but this baby… it won't be a mistake. I'm going to be a good father, I promise."

"Really now? How do you plan on finishing up school? How do you plan on providing for your family? Do you plan on marrying Teresa? Can you promise to be faithful to her for the rest of your life—don't forget, you're only 19"

"Teresa doesn't want to get married. The baby isn't due until sometime in late October; by then classes will have finished up and I can look for a job."

"You idiot, babies need things even in the womb! And what about Teresa? She hasn't even started college yet." It took everything Olivia had not to whack him one more time upside the head.

"I hadn't thought about that…" He looked down, confused about the whole situation again.

"You're training to be a cop; that job comes number 1 in your life… with a baby I just don't see how it's going to work" Olivia softened, setting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Could you do it?" Lucas looked at her smack in the eyes, emotion evident for the first time.

"Do what?" She hadn't a clue what he was talking about.

"Could you make a baby-mistakenly or not- and just get rid of it like it was last nights dinner?"

Olivia stumbled for her words, looking over at Elliot. He hadn't the right answer, either. "N-no. No I guess I couldn't."

"Then you see how we'll make this work. It's not just apart of me, you know, it's apart of dad" He set his hand on her shoulder, aware that memories of her little brother were flowing fresh through her mind. "And of mom" He looked over at Elliot—he hated to bring up his mother; she'd died so young and Elliot had been so close to her. He'd vowed to look after Lucas no matter what, and he kept up his end of the deal.

"Yeah" Elliot began quietly, "I guess we see how." He'd admitted to helping him in so many words, and Lucas' eyes brightened.