Chapter 8

x

May 2015 - 32 weeks pregnant

Andrea took a deep breath in as she stood behind the door of Commander Mike Slattery, now the Captain of the Nathan James. She glanced at the report on her hands, the ship was all repaired now, although the thought of sabotage had crossed her mind just to prevent the Nathan James from leaving. But luckily she didn't have to resort to sabotage since spare parts for a Navy destroyer wasn't around every corner.

But the Nathan James would be leaving come Monday on its journey to spread the contagious cure, catching up with the USS Hayward and Shackleton. Still, she couldn't help but feel worried, Mike was leaving with the ship. Leaving her behind since she couldn't leave due to her pregnancy. Would he even make it back for the birth of their child? A brief memory came to her mind as she remembered how Bill had been there for her. To hold her hand when Lily was born. Now there was a risk that she would be alone. Although she had a suspicion that Kara would insist on being there. She and Danny had moved out of the hotel, to a house on a nearby neighborhood since she was now acting as the Deputy Chief of Staff to President Michener. Making roots for the time being here in St. Louis.

She came back from her thoughts and knocked on the door.

A simple "Come in" was what she heard so she went in and closed the door after her.

"Sir, here's the engineering report. I'm happy to inform you that the ship is in tip-top condition." Andrea handed the report over to Mike who was sitting behind his desk.

"Try not to break it." Andrea tried to lighten up the mood. After months, she still wasn't sure how much time alone Mike required. She hadn't told him about her true feelings, waiting for the right moment, but when was the right time to tell him that she actually had a thing for him?

Mike chuckled, amused by her comment.

"Who got the XO position?" Andrea asked. A position that would have been hers if she wasn't pregnant at the moment.

"Cameron Burk, Carlton's brother." Mike placed the report on his desk and got up to stand before her.

"You miss it?" He suddenly asked, throwing her of the track she was trying to maintain.

"Miss what?" She smiled in wonder, glancing at him as he studied her with a mysterious smile on his face.

Miss kissing you - Yes. Miss being held by you - Yes. Miss feeling your touch - Yes. Miss making love to you - Definitely YES. She went through the list in her mind and was dropped down from her dreamy thoughts as he said "The sea? Miss being out there?"

"I'm Navy. What do you think?" Andrea answered with lightness, feeling like she was a school girl talking with her crush. It was a strange feeling. A feeling she wanted to explore more with him.

"I just hope you get back before.." Andrea changed the subject, her voice more serious this time around as she placed her hand on her belly.

Mike knelt down in front of her and placed his hands on both sides of her very pregnant belly and said in a authoritative tone "Listen up Lucy. This is a direct order from your commanding officer. You are not allowed to come out before Daddy is back." Andrea had trouble keeping a straight face as she began giggling at his gesture. It was these sort of moments that made her like him even more. She unconsciously stroked Mike's hair on the side which got him to raise himself up and look at her in wonder.

"You think she will obey the orders?" Andrea was quick to say before he would confront her about something. She felt her heart racing as he had just given her a look of hope. Was he hoping she wanted more? After all they hadn't spoken about his feelings either since that night. Perhaps he wasn't interested in her anymore. Perhaps that's why she had such a hard time finding the right moment to talk to him.

And then there was Christine and the kids. She had noticed how Mike was acting around his family. It was like they still were a family. Somehow Christine was treating him differently, or perhaps they had just grown to be more friends than lovers, but they knew each other inside out, so it might be easy for them to just slide back to their routine as a married couple.

"She better." Mike said and cleared his throat a little.

"Are you going to be fine?" He asked in a worried tone.

"Yeah. I've got Kara, and Tom is here." Andrea nodded trying to assure Mike.

Sunday night

Mike had packed his bag for the upcoming trip and he was all tucked into bed at 22:00. He had spent the evening with his kids, playing board games and winning just to annoy his oldest daughter. Christine had been there too, it had felt like a normal Friday night back in the day, just missing one person. Lucas. He thought of his brown haired boy and felt the familiar ache sting in his heart. He missed him. Missed his laugh.

His thoughts moved on to Christine and how it was strange that somehow after it was clear they weren't together anymore, things got easier. Simpler. They were even talking about all kinds of stuff. She was telling him about her efforts to open the schools and he could see she was happy to help. But then his mind wandered onto to Andrea. That red haired, blue eyed mesmerizing woman that kept his heart from beating at times. Like the other day she had caressed his hair, probably out of an old habit, but he couldn't help but wonder if she might want something more than just a platonic relationship.

He turned to his side and saw the clock on his nightstand show 23:05. He wasn't tired. He got up and went to stand by the window. An old habit to check if the town was at peace. But there was nothing out of the ordinary going on, so he walked back to the bed and sat on the edge of it rubbing his face with his hands. Luckily he wasn't steering the ship or else it might just end up on ground on the Mississippi the following day.

He was about to lay back down on the bed as he thought he heard a soft knock on his door. Almost not hearable, but he got up to see what it was about. When he opened the door he saw the familiar frizzy hair of Andrea, noticing how she was walking away in her morning gown.

"Andrea?" He asked puzzled by her behavior.

"Is everything okay? Is it the baby?" Mike continued. A thought of worry was coming over him as he wondered why she was behind his door in the middle of the night.

He saw her turn around and walk towards him, fiddling with her hands as if she was nervous about something.

"The baby is fine." Andrea said and met Mike's gaze.

Mike looked at her as she stood in front of him, his heart was taking some extra loops and he felt jitters in his stomach as he watched this beautiful woman in front of him. He didn't know what it was but something in her eyes was telling him something. So he slowly leaned to kiss her, noticing that she was moving against him like a magnet. And their lips met with a burning desire as he deepened the kiss in a heartbeat. He embraced her as much as he could, the round belly tucked between them. He felt surprised as she was pushing him inside of his room and smiled when he heard the door close behind her.

She was actually going along with this.

"Mike.." Andrea broke off for a moment to catch her breath. After all she had roughly 4 pounds of baby pressing against her lungs.

He kissed her even more as he was afraid that she would pull away and leave him high and dry.

He felt her soft smile against his lips as he continued on with the make out session. Overjoyed of the moment, feeling his heart way too excited.

"I like you." Was the next thing he heard as she managed to broke off from his touch again. He looked at her in amazement for a moment. She liked him.

"I couldn't let you leave.. without telling you." He followed her eyes as she told him. He noticed the hesitation in her voice and perhaps she had been scared that he didn't want her anymore.

"So your answer that night should have been a 'no'?" He asked and pressed a kiss on her lips before she could answer. Getting only a short nod out of her as he felt that her knees were actually melting in his embrace.

"Are.. you upset?" Andrea asked between the kisses.

His only reply was to pull her with him on the bed. It was the last night before he would leave and he had other thoughts.

"Mike." Andrea was lying beside Mike on the bed, watching him. Her lips felt suddenly very swollen, like she had been using them way too much.

"I'm not upset. My feelings are still the same." He smiled and saw the glow on Andrea's face as she heard him.

"And now.. Perhaps we can fix that craving of yours." Mike leaned in and kissed her.

Andrea was in the shower, still blushing as she thought through the night she had had with Mike. It had been so good, although half of it was probably because of the hormones making her parts way too sensitive. She finished washing her hair and got out of the shower. She was wrapping herself in a towel when she heard voices. It seemed like Mike had gotten a visitor at the door. She opened the bathroom door ever so slightly and quietly to hear what was going on. But before she could listen in on the conversation Mike closed the door and she thought she could just pretend to walk out, like she was drying her hair.

"Who was that?" She asked while drying her hair, wrapped in a towel and startled Mike a bit.

"It was just Laura. Wanted one last hug from her dad." Mike explained, immediately feeling guilty that he had lied to Andrea right now. It had been Christine by his door. Wanting to talk, talk about them. But there was no them, so why the white lie?

"At 4:30 in the morning?" Andrea wondered.

"Well, she knows I gotta get up early." Mike continued on with the white lie, which probably wasn't as white anymore.

He then moved to wrap his arms around Andrea and just looked at her.

"What is this?" He asked in a serious tone and met Andrea's eyes.

"When you get back, can't we give this a go?" Andrea asked all hopeful.

Mike placed a kiss on her forehead with a sigh. Hoping he wasn't screwing things up with Andrea now by lying to her.

"Yes?" Andrea asked.

Mike nodded and placed a kiss on her lips. Waking the need for something more again.

"You know it's only 4:30.." He whispered against her lips and she chuckled softly.

"I like what you're thinking." She kissed him and moved to unravel her towel from around her body.

I'm wondering a bit.. Do I follow this one through the events on Season 3 or make it completely AU where S3 isn't happening? *thinking*

Thank you for the reviews and your thoughts!