Author's Note: Thanks so much for the reviews, and please keep 'em coming! I love to hear what you guys think of the story, so don't hesitate! Enjoy and peace, as always.

Chapter Thirty-Three: Quite the Bombshell

Two Years Earlier. 1435 Hours, December 30, 2549. Delta Base Barracks, Haydensburg. "The Surprising News," Planet Ceres. William Hawk's Memories

It was only the second time Willis and Natalie had seen each other in two and a half years; when their paths had crossed briefly two months ago, it had been a serendipitous event rather than a planned meeting. At any rate, the time had gone by agonizingly slow, and both had changed after seeing all that combat. Willis still found it hard to believe that at twenty-two, he was no longer a green lieutenant and already had three campaigns under his belt.

But his changes were nothing in comparison to his wife's.

Over the course of the post-Ethan years, aided mostly by Willis but also her life in the Corps and her combat experiences, Natalie had become a different person. Gone was the frightened, damaged, and fragile young girl Willis had felt the need to protect. Natalie now had a reputation for being a brave, reliable Marine who could quickly come up with a good plan. As a leader, she kept her cool under fire and stormed into Covenant-infested areas first, her troops following behind.

The only thing that hadn't changed in either Willis or Natalie was how they felt about each other. Although it seemed like everything was different now, they were both still head-over-heels in love.

Willis Hawk remembered the day as clearly as if only hours had passed instead of years. After being called to combat duty for four straight days of dogfighting, he had returned to base haggard, tired, and dirty. Though he knew Natalie, too, went through similar periods of utter exhaustion after prolonged tours of combat, Willis had spent all that time crammed in a space vessel, where supplies ran out much faster. In fact, when he'd landed his aircraft earlier that morning, he had had only enough oxygen to last him another five hours. If that wasn't cutting it too close, Hawk had no idea what was.

The first thing he wanted was a hot shower, Willis decided, followed quickly by a hot meal and a warm bed. Or maybe he wanted food first, or perhaps sleep? No, better to get cleaned up before he saw his wife.

Willis smiled to himself. He still couldn't get over the fact that he was finally married to the woman he'd loved for so long. And before she left in two day's time, going back to Sistine to reunite with her unit after a few days of leave, they would try to come up with a tentative date for their big wedding. Of course, with a huge war going on at the moment, it was going to be nearly impossible to figure out when both of their schedules would coincide.

But those were simply details.

Heading to the male officers' barracks, Hawk showered, shaved, and dressed in a fresh uniform for the first time in almost a week. Satisfied that he had chosen the shower first, he went in search of Natalie so they could have a meal together. He was famished.

After checking several of Cooper's usual haunts, Willis finally found her going over training objectives in his quarters. When she looked up to see who had entered, Willis grinned.

"Hey, I'm back," he said.

They greeted each other with a hug and a kiss, then Cooper asked him how his combat mission had gone.

"Well, we provided air support to a group of ODSTs on the far side of the planet and managed to shoot down quite a few squadrons of Covenant aircraft. We also destroyed parts of the Covie base down there, so that should disrupt things enough for us to get the upper hand."

Natalie frowned. "Sounds like everything went according to plan. So why do you look so defeated?"

Willis sighed as he sat down next to her on the bed and dropped his gaze to the floor. Sensing something had indeed gone wrong, Natalie ran a soothing hand through his hair. He knew he could talk to her, since she'd had similar experiences with ground combat. Still, it was hard to talk about the fact that you'd just won a battle by sacrificing fellow pilots and friends.

"We lost a lot of good people, Coop. They fought hard and gained a victory for us, but...they're still fucking dead," Willis said quietly.

"I'm sorry, Will," she replied softly. "I know how you feel."

"Yeah, I know." Hawk gave his wife a weak smile. "That's why I'm telling you. You know what's it like to go through all this awful shit."

"It never gets any easier, does it?"

Willis nodded in agreement, then sighed again. "Well, I'll tell you more about it later. How about we get something to eat in the meantime?"

"Sure."

"I haven't had a bite to eat for four days. My stomach's been killing me and growling nonstop."

It was in the mess hall that Willis truly started to notice subtle changes in his wife's methods and attitude. This first became apparent when he saw she was playing with her hair frequently, a sign he knew to mean she was nervous. The second and perhaps most telling sign that something had changed was the fact that when he'd asked her about going to the O-Club for a beer, she'd been quick to refuse the offer. This was certainly not the Cooper he'd come to know.

They sat down at one of the tables in the far corner, even though, considering the time, there weren't many other diners. They ate and chatted about the usual topics, mostly having to do with either the war or what was happening in their own units. Around the same time they finished eating, Willis became thoroughly annoyed by the constant hair fixing, and decided it was time to ask what was going on.

"Coop, you've been fiddling with your hair ever since we got here. You're just as stunning as ever, so I know you can't be that worried about how it looks. What's wrong?"

Expecting Natalie to smile at his compliment, he was slightly disappointed when he found that he'd only made her even more nervous.

"Will---" she started, but he cut her off.

"Coop, whatever's happened, it can't be that bad."

"I don't know that it's necessarily bad, but it's probably more than we can handle at the moment."

"What is it?" Hawk persisted.

Cooper looked around the mess hall, which seemed deserted to Hawk, but she still suggested they go outside to talk.

"Natalie, this is ridiculous. There aren't even more than a handful of people in this mess, which has a capacity of a few hundred."

"Will, this is something I discuss with you and you alone right now. Let's head back to the barracks."

Rolling his eyes and sighing, Willis followed his wife's lead, until they had once again reached his quarters.

Now well-fed and clean, Willis was getting awfully sleepy, and seeing the bed only intensified his feeling of physical exhaustion. He wasn't sure he could make it through whatever Cooper had to say before falling asleep. But, in the end, curiosity won over tiredness. He'd never seen Natalie this distraught, and it bugged him.

"Ok, now it's just you and me, Coop. What's going on?"

Natalie sat down on the bed, staring at her boots as she gathered her thoughts. Preferring to stand so as not to succumb to sleep, Willis waited patiently for whatever she had to say. When she finally looked up, he could sense her unease as he stood over her.

She took a deep breath and said, "I guess I'll just come out and say it. I'm pregnant, Will."

The nearly disabling fatigue vanished immediately. At first, Willis thought he hadn't heard right. When he thought about the subtle cues in the mess hall, however, especially Cooper's declining alcohol, it did seem to make sense.

But they were both officers in the Marine Corps during a time of war. They were young; both had turned twenty-two at the beginning of the year. And besides, how could they possibly have a family now, when they barely even saw each other? This certainly wasn't the way they'd planned these things to happen.

All of these thoughts raced through Hawk's mind in a matter of seconds, and despite the gravity of them all, there were two thoughts strong enough to dominate the others.

I'm going to have a child with the woman I love. I'm going to be a father!

These thoughts were supposed to be expressed to Cooper, along with a wide grin. Yet when he opened his mouth to speak, all Willis ended up saying was "That's…quite the…bombshell, Coop."

In his mind, Hawk quickly rebuked himself. Quite the bombshell? Are you serious? You and Natalie are having a kid and that's all you can come up with?

Meanwhile, Cooper's face fell instantly. Glancing down again, she muttered, "I knew this would be a disaster."

Willis decided he'd try again. "Natalie, I can't---" But before he could finish, his wife interrupted.

"Do this, I know," she finished incorrectly, her voice giving away just a hint of her sadness and disappointment. "We're always so careful. How did this end up happening?"

Finally able to express at least part of what he was feeling, Hawk's face broke into a huge grin. "Well, Coop, it starts out simple. When a man and a woman---"

Misinterpreting yet again, Natalie suddenly stood in anger. "You think this is a joke?"

Utterly perplexed, Willis took a step back. "Huh? No, of course not, I just---"

"I can't believe how you're reacting!"

Willis was starting to get fed up with her attitude. "How I'm reacting? You won't even let me get in a word!"

"What?"

"I keep trying to tell you what I think, but you're making assumptions!"

"You had your chance just now, Will, but you were so busy being a huge jerk you---!"

Her words came to an abrupt end when he walked the few paces separating them and kissed her. Much to his surprise, she kissed him back, despite her confusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her tone much calmer.

"Whenever I tried to say anything, either my brain-to-mouth filter would shut down or you'd reach your own conclusion." He grinned again. "So I decided on a different approach."

Cooper was glowing now, yet still slightly dubious. "But I thought you said you couldn't---"

"Think of anything that makes me more happy, excited, and nervous all at once?" Willis finished.

Natalie laughed, and the awful tension was finally lifted. She rested her head against his chest and he held her.

"How're we ever going to do this, Will?"

"We'll figure it out."

"I know a lot about weapons and tactics and explosives, but nothing about parenting."

"I'm willing to bet our parents had the same problem when we were born."

"My mother's going to go berserk when she hears about this. I told her we wouldn't have kids for a few years, until we were older." Cooper let go of him, choosing instead to sit back down on the bed. Willis continued to stand, still trying to categorize all the emotions he was feeling.

"So how far along are we, Natalie?" he asked after a while.

"About two months."

Hawk mulled this over. "That day our squadron refueled at your base to make the trip back here?"

"Must be. We don't exactly have a lot of options."

"Wow."

"Never thought that stop would be this important, huh?"

"No kidding." Willis thought about that for a moment. His squadron had almost landed at another base before finding out they couldn't make the extra hundred kilometers. Had they chosen to refuel anywhere else, Natalie and Willis wouldn't be expecting their first child.

Funny how life worked out that way sometimes.

"When did you find out?" Hawk asked.

"While you were on the mission. Since I was supposed to be heading back to my unit and probably combat in a couple days, I got the standard order to go to the medical bay for exams. You know how it goes, the endless rounds of testing and what not. For the women, there's obviously a pregnancy test included, and…" Natalie shrugged. "The doctor found I was positive. She did a sonogram and, sure enough, there it was. Our baby."

Willis's eyes widened. "Really? You can see the kid already?"

"Yeah, a little bit. The doctor said it's a fetus now."

"This is…incredible. Did she know if it was a boy or a girl yet?"

Cooper shook her head. "We won't know for another couple months, at least."

"Wow," Hawk repeated. He glanced at Natalie, who was now smiling at him, and he smiled back.

"I'm glad you didn't freak out about the whole thing," she commented.

Willis snorted. "I think you're the one who freaked out, Coop. Anyway…" He crouched down so he was level with the edge of the bed and placed a hand on his wife's stomach. Willis looked her in the eyes and said, "That tiny kid in there is mine, too, Natalie. And I love you. Why did you think I wouldn't want to do this?"

Cooper leaned down and kissed him before replying, "I don't know, Will. But you have no idea how happy I am that I'm having this child with you."

"Me, too," Hawk said, and he kissed her back.