Chapter 4

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"What are you smiling at?" Andrea felt slightly embarrassed that she had indeed confided to Kara about her problem but then again Kara was one of the people who would understand.

"At least you got Danny." Andrea added and Kara seemed to be getting a slight redness on her cheeks at the topic in question.

"Mhm.. That good huh?" Andrea gave her a look and for a split second wondered if she could ask for some hot details but she pushed the thoughts away from her mind and tried to focus on the fact that she was waiting for Mike to pick her up.

"You can ask Mike to help.." Kara hinted slightly and she felt her eyes round as she wondered if she had heard her right?

"Are you serious?" Andrea shook her head in disbelief.

"Just joking." Kara bumped her shoulder and she gave her an amused smile but her mind kept wandering.. Mike had come back from Norfolk without any good answers to the state of his marriage. He had asked Christine to temporarily come and stay in St. Louis so that he could be near the kids, and Christine could help set up a school system and a plan when the schools could open, since she was a teacher. Apparently she had knack for these sort of things according to Mike.

If she was such a problem solving machine, why couldn't she solve the one puzzle right in front of her? Her marriage to Mike? Andrea had thought about if the baby she was carrying was the reason for their tough time, but Mike had assured her that they had already problems from before.

"Here he is." Andrea stated and Kara left her company as Mike's car stopped in front of the hotel they were staying at.

She got in and they drove to the hospital. She was 25 weeks pregnant now and it was their first ultrasound together on land. The hospital had slightly better ultrasound machine than the James, so she was secretly hoping to find out if the baby was a boy or a girl.

She was laying on the gurney with her belly showing as she had rolled up her shirt. Mike was sitting beside her and she sensed he was slightly nervous. She wasn't sure why, it did seem like he was almost afraid to touch everything around him, terrified that he would knock something over in the examination room. The elephant in the room, came into her mind and she couldn't help but smile slightly at the thought.

"You're feeling fine?" Doctor Andrews asked as she turned the probe on her belly.

"Yeah, everything is fine." Andrea answered quickly, mesmerized by the little baby figure moving around on the screen. It had been so long since she had been in this situation before. The picture quality when she was pregnant with Lily had been more like the one on the James. Now it was so smoother.

She felt Mike's hand touch hers on the gurney and she was glad that he was there. That she wasn't alone in the moment. She gave him a slight squeeze and got a brief glance out of him as he met her eyes before returning to the screen again.

"Any cravings?" The doctor asked and Andrea felt like she was red all over her face.

"No." She answered quickly trying to hide the fact that there was a craving of sorts. A BIG craving but she would have to solve that one on her own. But she noticed the smile on the doctors's face and wondered if she had figured out what her craving was.

"It's perfectly normal to be feeling more.."

"Aha." Andrea nodded shortly, cutting off the good doctor before she spilled the beans. After all she had been pregnant before, she knew that what she was feeling was normal and thus didn't feel she needed a reminder of it, especially not in front of Mike, who was her friend. And on top of that, still a married man.

She noticed the slight shift in his posture at the conversation she was having with the doctor and hoped he wasn't uncomfortable about what he was hearing.

"Sex is completely safe and I'm sure.."

Andrea felt like kicking the doctor for not stopping on the subject, but luckily for her Mike got startled over by the topic at hand and managed to knock over a IV stand behind him. Elephant in the room.. She felt like covering her eyes with her other hand but she was rescued when the doctor finally said something that was more interesting than her sex life, or lack of her sex life.

"You wish to know the sex of the baby?"

They both nodded and she looked at the screen, feeling Mike's hand squeeze hers even tighter.

"I'm quite certain that it's a girl."

Andrea smiled and gave a shy look towards Mike. He seemed to be happy, almost teary eyed of this moment. But it was a strange moment, here they were, two friends, having a baby in a post apocalyptic world. The first years of the baby's life wouldn't be easy, she thought. And how would they really manage to be parents for her?

Mike was deep in thoughts about the ultrasound and the news about them having a girl. It had been a joyous moment and to share that moment with Andrea hadn't been entirely off, but it reminded him of a time when he had been to an appointment with Christine. Holding her hand. Never did he think that he would be holding someone else's hand.

They reached Andrea's hotel room and she invited him in. Things had been like this ever since he had returned from Norfolk. Andrea was there for him, he needed someone to talk to and she was there. He just hoped he was there for her too, but not obviously in the way she needed right now, he thought as his mind recalled the awkwardness back at the hospital.

"Were you hoping for a boy?" Andrea asked as he sat on the coach and he smiled.

"I don't mind a girl, you?"

"I don't have any experience about boys, although I could've certainly handled one, but a girl is just perfect." Andrea explained and placed her hand on her belly.

Mike glanced at her and smiled as he noticed the baby kick against Andrea's hand making her look down on her belly and smile even more.

"May I?" Mike wondered and as Andrea gave him the green light, he moved to sit next to her and placed his hand on her belly. Feeling their baby kick right under his hand. A smile escaped on his face as he felt the familiar feeling of amazement inside of him again.

For a brief moment he met eyes with Andrea and there was something in her look, so he leaned towards her and met her soft lips as they shared a kiss.

But the moment was quickly interrupted by her "No, Mike."

"You're married, and I thought you wanted to fix things with Christine." Andrea got up and held her back against him, not wanting to see him just yet. He must've been thinking what the hell he was doing since he was completely silent.

"Why did you kiss me that night?" Andrea turned around and gave him a sharp look, wanting to know why he had done it. Why he had allowed them to go so far? But if they hadn't.. She wouldn't have a child in her belly. She would be alone in this world. Lily and Bill were gone. The hurt of losing her family was still painful. But luckily the little baby girl growing inside of her womb was giving her the strength to live on.

"Why did you?" Mike got up and asked knowing perfectly well what her answer would be. It would be the same as his.

"Isn't it what we want and need right here and now?" He continued to stare her down. He was a fool for thinking that the passion between him and Andrea had just been due to the alcohol and the shock of the situation, but the kiss they just had was a proof of something. There was something there. Something that he hadn't felt before.

But he was married like she said and as much as he wanted to fix things with Christine, it did seem like there was nothing to fix. She was in Norfolk and he was in St. Louis for the time being. Sure he could probably get a task closer to home, but he was now the Captain of the Nathan James and the James was here in St. Louis.

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