Warning: Mentions of gun violence and a school shooting in this chapter.

Chapter 15

Pregnancy and Violence

4 years later…

"Are you excited?" I asked my husband as he finished putting his suit on. I couldn't believe four years had passed so quickly and that Jonathan was graduating from medical school today. All his hard work was paying off.

"I just want to get this and residency over with and start my career." Jonathan replied as he finished tying his tie. He was the same, never wanting to celebrate his accomplishments only looking forward.

"I am so happy for you." I told him, walking up to him and giving him a kiss.

"Ewwww." We heard four year old Alex say as he ran into the room in time for the kiss. We parted and looked down at him. Alex had gone from a snuggly little baby to a rumbustious four year old who never wanted to sit still. Jonathan gave him a bit of a smirk before going back to getting ready.

"Mama, when is Zack going to be here?" Alex asked me as he climbed onto the bed. Karl and Barb had a cute little boy named Zack. It was fun to watch Alex and Zack together; they were best friends.

"Probably in another hour." I replied. Alex was so energetic; we decided it would be best for him to stay with Karl and Barb during the actual graduation. They would bring him an hour into the ceremony so he could be part of the celebration afterwards.

"Yippee!" Alex squealed jumping off the bed and running out of the room. I smiled at his enthusiasm and looked back over at Jonathan. He was putting his wallet and keys in his pocket and then took his graduation robe out of the closet.

"I can't believe you graduate from medical school today. The years have gone by fast." I said trying to start a conversation with him.

"I'm just glad that part is over with." He stated turning to me.

"Maybe you'll actually get to sleep now." I thought out loud.

"That would be nice but I'm not counting on it." He admitted to me. I nodded knowing that was true. He decided to start his residency immediately after medical school. He only had a week

break before he began that part of his journey. Another hour passed and Karl, Barb and Zack showed up. Once they saw each other, Alex and Zack darted passed us and ran into Alex's room to play.

"Em, we have to get going." Jonathan informed me. I knew he was anxious to get this over with and that he wanted to get there. I nodded to him and exchanged a couple of words with Karl before Jonathan and I left.

…..

I made my way through the pool of people looking for Jonathan. The graduation ceremony had just finished and everyone was trying to find their graduates. After a few minutes of searching I spotted Jonathan. Luckily he had also seen me.

"Meet me by the door." Jonathan mouthed while pointing the direction of the door.

"Ok." I mouthed back at him and nodded.

A few minutes later we met by the door. I gave him a big smiled, walked up to him and gave him a huge kiss. I think I surprised him a bit but he quickly returned the kiss. Normally Jonathan wasn't really into public display of affection. When we went out he would put an arm around me or hold my hand but he never kissed me in front of other people before. Of course, I did kind of force it on him.

"Congratulations, Dr. Crane." I greeted him after the kiss. He smirked at me a bit. We went in for another kiss when we heard our little four year old call to us.

"Mama, Daddy!" Alex said happily running over to us. Jonathan smiled at him and picked him up as he reached us. I loved my cute little family.

1 year later

Alex was now five and would be starting preschool in the next month. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I was so happy that he was such a smart little guy and that he was starting this new adventure but still he was my baby! I didn't want him to grow up so fast… or maybe it was more I didn't want to get old so fast. Either way it was happening.

I was putting Alex to bed when we heard the front door open and close. Jonathan was home from another day of residency.

"Emmy?" I heard Jonathan call out.

"Is daddy home?" Alex asked excitedly. I nodded. Alex quickly jumped out of bed and ran out the door.

"Daddy!" I could hear him saying loudly. When I walked into the front room I could see Alex hugging Jonathan's leg tightly giving his dad a huge smile. Jonathan was talking calmly to him telling him he should be in bed.

"But I wanted to see you." Alex whined.

"You can see me tomorrow. I have the day off; I'll be here all day." Jonathan told him.

"Really?" Alex asked excitedly. Jonathan smiled and nodded.

"Can we go to zoo and see the elephants?" Alex questioned.

"Sure son." Jonathan agreed after thinking a moment. "Now go to bed. You'll need all that energy for tomorrow."

"'k daddy!" Alex said before running passed me and climbed back into his bed. I chuckled a bit and turned back to Jonathan.

"I wish he'd go to bed that easy for me. I usually have to bribe him with a story or something." I told Jonathan as he walked up to me. Jonathan put his hands on my waist and leaned in for a kiss.

"I have paper work to do." He said softly to me. I nodded.

"You always have paper work." I stated.

"I know, there will be even more once residency is over with." He told me. I nodded already knowing that.

"I'll get your dinner heated up and bring it in for you." I told him. He nodded and walked into his office. After I finished heating his food up I walked into his office and set the food down on his desk.

"Thanks Em." Jonathan said not looking up from his paper work.

"No problem" I said before I started to walk out. I stopped at the door. I wanted to talk to him about something but I wasn't sure how to bring it up. I stood there for a few seconds before turning back to him.

"Jonathan?" I asked a bit nervously. A couple more seconds passed before he turned around to look at me.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I inquired.

"Of course." Jonathan nodded towards the extra chair he kept next to his desk. I smiled, walked over to him and sat down in the chair next to him.

"What do you want to talk about?" Jonathan questioned me.

"Well, as you know, Alex will be starting preschool next month. I know he'll only be gone part of the day but I was thinking maybe I could go back to school. I know I could only take one or two classes but I'd really like to start working on my degree again." I pretty much blurted out. Jonathan took of his glasses as he thought a moment.

"Have you looked into what you'd have to do to get your scholarship back?" he asked me.

"Not yet, I wanted to talk with you before I contacted them." I told him. He thought for another moment before putting his glasses back on.

"You realize that means going back to doing homework and late night rights?" he asked me. I nodded.

"If you can get your scholarship back and if it doesn't conflict with the time you need to be here with Alex, then I think you should go for it Em. You getting your degree would benefit the family and I know you've wanted to do this for a long time. So see what you can find out and we'll take it from there." Jonathan suggested.

….

The next day while Jonathan was gone I made some phone calls, once I found out I could get my scholarship back I called Gotham University and made an appointment with the academic advisor to find out what exactly I needed to do to: 1. Get back into school and 2. What classes I would need to take to in order to graduate. I was so ecstatic to be going back to school.

I loved being able to be at home with Alex but where he was starting preschool this just seemed like a good time to try to get started back on my degree. I knew I would only be able to take a couple of courses this semester and I knew I couldn't be picky about which classes I took considering they needed to work out with mine, Jonathan's and Alex's schedule.

After I was able to meet with the academic advisor, I pretty much only had one option when it came to a specialty in psychology since it was the only one really available during the times I was available.

"I guess I get to specialize in Marriage and Family counseling." I informed Jonathan as I rinsed dishes off and put them into the dishwasher.

"Hmmm, its not exactly what I thought you'd go into but I think you'd do well in it." Jonathan commented a bit thoughtfully.

"What did you think I'd go into?" I asked him curiously.

"I always saw you helping rape victims or something like that. You are a very empathetic person and I think that would be a field you'd excel in. However after thinking it through a bit more I do think you would excel in Marriage and Family counseling."

I always wondered how Jonathan could think things through so quickly. Of course as a psychiatrist he had to be able to diagnose and prescribe medications in only a short amount of time so it was a trait that was to his advantage. I could think quickly but not nearly as quickly as he could. I hoped I could be a good therapist someday. Jonathan was already great at what he did.

2 ½ years later…

Alex was tucked into bed and happily dreaming the night away so I was sitting on the couch working on one of my classes when I heard a key go into the lock of the front door. I looked up at the clock to see it was 1:30 in the morning. I set my textbook down as Jonathan came into the apartment.

"Emmy." Jonathan greeted me as he closed the door behind him and locked it.

"Another late night?" I asked him. He nodded as he set his briefcase on the floor next to him. He looked so tired.

"Studying?" he asked me as he eyed the textbook on the couch.

"Well if I'm ever going to graduate I need to. I only have one more class after this and then I have my Masters." I chirped a bit happily. When Jonathan and I were in school together I was only a year behind him but where I could only take a few classes at a time it was taking longer than the normal year to graduate. My grades also weren't the "A's" they used to be. I mostly got "B's" and "C's" now but I was so excited to be finishing this up. I couldn't wait to have my Masters.

Jonathan gave me a tired smile.

"I'm glad you're happy. Now let's go to bed. I'm exhausted." He suggested starting to walk towards the bedroom.

….

The next day I stopped by the psychology department to ask my academic advisor something only to find out she would be quitting at the end of the semester and they were looking for someone to replace her. I filled out a job application not really expecting anything to come from it. I was surprised when I got a call from the head of the department asking me to come in for an interview that day.

A few days later I got the phone call telling me I had the job. I was ecstatic! Now I could be somewhat useful to my husband financially. I couldn't wait to tell Jonathan!

I had just put Jonathan's dinner in the fridge when the front door opened.

Jonathan's P.O.V

I preferred days like today when I was able to get home before dark. I could actually see Alex for a couple of hours before he went to bed and spend a bit of time with Emmy before starting on paper work.

"Hey." Emmy greeted me as our eyes met. She looked happy about something.

"Hey. You seem extra cheerful today. What's going on?" I asked her walking into the kitchen next to her.

"I just got some fun news today." She told me handing me a plate. I thought for a moment.

"Are you pregnant?" I asked her as that was the only thing that really came to mind.

"No….well at least I don't think so, but I did get a job." She reported with a bit of a twinkle in her eye. I was a bit surprised. I knew she hadn't been looking for a job so this must have been a very recent occurrence.

"I'll be working as one of the academic advisors for the Behavioral Science Department at Gotham University. Its only part time so it won't interfere with my class and being home with Alex." She continued before I could ask her. I nodded it wasn't her dream job, I knew that but it would keep her occupied while our now 7 year old went to school the majority of the day.

"When do you start?" I inquired wondering the details.

"Not until spring semester so about a month from now. It sounds like I'll be working with students who are working on their associates and bachelors for now. I think they'll start giving me some master students after I get mine."

I smiled at her enthusiasm. She was happy and I didn't have to worry about her being bored when she finished her homework. Only one more semester and she would have her Masters.

….

Emmy's P.O.V

"Here you go Mrs. Crane." The secretary for the academic adviser's said to me as she showed me my new office. It was so bare now that Jane, the previous academic adviser had all her things out.

"Is there anything I can get you?" Mary, the secretary, asked me. Mary had to be at least in her 70s, she was a nice old lady who took her job seriously. I shook my head and thanked her as I put the small box of belongs I had brought for my office.

"You don't have any appointments today, just get your office set up and you can go. Clock in tomorrow morning, your first appointment is at 8:30." Mary informed me before leaving me alone in my new office. It didn't take too long to have everything set up. I read through the school policies for the psychology department a couple of times before looking up at the clock to see it was now 12:20 and my class would be starting in 10 minutes.

I grabbed my textbook and laptop and went to walk out of the room when I ran into someone tall, dark and handsome.

"Jonathan?" I asked as my husband stood in front of me.

"Emmy." He greeted me with a smirk.

"What are you doing?" I inquired as I closed my office door behind me, locking it.

"I was just in the neighborhood, though I'd stop by." He answered pretty straightforward. There had to be something going on, he wouldn't be here just to say "hi", but unless it was an emergency I really needed to get to class.

"Want to walk me to class?" I asked him as I started to walk out of the Depart of Behavioral Science office. Jonathan nodded and walked with me down the hallway. It had been so long since we had walked these hallways together. We mostly tolerated each other, 8 years ago when we first met. Now we enjoyed eachother's company.

Jonathan asked me a couple of questions before we came to the classroom.

"I'll see you at home." Jonathan said before he gave my hand a tight squeeze and walked off. I wondered what he was doing here but shook my head and walked into the classroom.

Jonathan's P.O.V

"Thank you for your consideration." I thanked the Dean of the Department of Behavioral Sciences, shaking his hand. Emmy didn't know it yet but I had a job interview to teach some classes here at the University today. It wasn't the job I had hoped I would get right out of residency but I needed to have something lined up after residency was over. If I was lucky and something better came along I would go with that job but for now being a Professor here would be alright. I had a family to take care of and in this job market I couldn't afford to be picky.

A few days after my job interview I received a call informing me I had the job and would be starting in the fall. I was glad to have a job lined up after I was finished with residency.

…..

Emmy's P.O.V

Jonathan was working on some paperwork in his office while I sat on the couch studying. Alex was having a sleep over with Zack so it was just the two of at home tonight.

"Hey, mind if I talk to you for a minute?" Jonathan questioned as he sat next to me on the couch.

"Sure, what's up?" I asked him setting my text book down and looking at him.

"I have a couple of things I'd like to discuss with you."

"Ok."

"First, I had an interview with Gotham University and was offered a job to teach some Psychology classes there. I'll start in the fall." He informed me. I was surprised. I didn't realize he had been looking into that, though it did explain why he was there to walk me to class that day.

"That's not a job I thought you were interested in." I stated.

"Its not but until I can find something more in my area of expertise, this will do fine. It's a job and right now where jobs are scarce I can't be picky." He told me. I nodded knowing that was true. The depression had hit everyone hard and we were lucky for him to get this job.

"Maybe I'll actually get to see you since we'll be working at the same place." I smiled.

"We can have lunch together every day." He suggested.

"That would be nice. It'll be nice seeing you outside of the home." I stated. He nodded.

"What else did you want to talk about?" I asked him.

"I've been thinking, Alex will be turning 8 this year and where you have a job and I'm finishing up residency and have a job lined up that we should consider having another child." He calmly said. I was shocked by this. I had no idea he had been thinking about having another baby.

"You want to have another baby?" I asked him, making sure I had heard him right. This really wasn't a conversation I expected to have with him. I thought if we were going to purposely have another baby we would have had one by now.

"Yes, this seems like the time to start considering it if we are going to have another one." He told me. I sat there thinking for a minute. I didn't mind the idea of having another baby; I was just surprised that he was suggesting it.

"There's going to be at least 8 ½ years between them if we have another one. That seems a bit of a stretch." I said.

"Well it is our family. Its our choice if we have another baby now. I just thought I'd suggest it and we could talk about trying for another baby." Jonathan stated very calmly. He was so hard to read, I really wish I knew what he was thinking but even after all these years he was still a mystery to me.

"What are your thoughts?" he asked me after a few minutes of silence.

"I just started to work, what would we do with the baby while I'm working?"

"You would take your 6 weeks of maternity leave and then the University does have a daycare. Where we're both employees of the University I'm sure we could have the baby there while you're working." Jonathan answered. I couldn't tell how long he had been thinking about this but I could tell he had been thinking about it for a while now.

"Do you want to go to the bedroom and start trying?" I asked, giving him an impish smile.

6 months later…..

I finished up the semester and finally received my Masters. I was so thrilled to have the degree I had worked so hard for. The summer came and went and school started back up for Alex while Jonathan and I worked at the University. It was nice to see Jonathan more often. His office was elsewhere in the building but still it was more time that what we had been used to.

We had been trying to get pregnant for 6 months now. So far we had no luck, but six months really wasn't that long. I knew women who had been trying to get pregnant for several years now. I did find it interesting how I got pregnant after only one night with Jonathan the first time and that it was taking so long this time around.

It was morning when I marked off the date from my little handheld calendar I had been keeping track of my cycle. I realized my "Aunt Flo" was supposed to show up today. Jonathan was getting ready for work at the University and I needed to start on getting myself ready for work and Alex ready for school.

I quickly checked to see that there was no bleeding but put a pad in my purse just in case. I got Alex out of bed and he was starting to get ready for school. I put a batch of muffins in the oven and quickly got myself ready. I was taking the muffins out of the oven when Alex came out still in his pajamas.

"Alex, you need to get ready, school starts in 30 minutes." I told him looking up at the clock.

"Mom, I don't feel good today." Alex told me, with a thermometer in his mouth.

"You don't feel good? Where don't you feel good?" I asked him putting a hand on his forehead to see if he had a fever.

"My throat hurts and my tummy hurts." My nearly eight year old told me. I could tell he didn't have a fever and he seemed to be faking it.

"Well lets have your father take a look. Jonathan!" I called out; knowing if he really was sick he would let Jonathan look at him.

"Yeah?" I heard my husband say from our bedroom. Alex let out a defeated sigh as he walked out of the room a bit discouraged his plan to stay home from school didn't work. I smiled and went back to the muffins taking them out of the pan. I poured three glasses of orange juice before Jonathan came in, dressed and ready for work.

"Did you need something?" Jonathan asked me picking up a glass of orange juice.

"Oh, Alex was trying get out of school by being 'sick'. I could tell he didn't have a fever so I knew if he was faking it he wouldn't let you look at him. Sorry I should have let you know." I told him.

"That's probably the downside of having a dad with a medical degree." Jonathan smirked a bit. "Maybe I should walk him to school today, make sure nothing else is going on."

"Do you think he's being bullied?" I asked Jonathan concerned. This was the third time in the last two weeks he had tried to get out of going to school.

"I'll talk to him and see what I can find out." Jonathan said just before Alex came into the room with his backpack. After finishing their muffins they left the apartment.

Now that Jonathan was gone I quickly went into the bathroom and got out the supply of pregnancy tests I had decided to buy irrationally when we first decided to try for a baby. I stuffed a test in my purse since I needed to get to work. I would take it at the university if I didn't start bleeding by then.

"Good morning Mrs. Crane." Mary greeted me as I walked into the main office.

"Good morning. How are you today?" I asked her as I unlocked my office door.

"I'm doing pretty well and yourself?"

"I'm alright."

"Where's Dr. Crane? He usually walks you to your office in the morning."

"Our son was trying to get out of going to school today, so Jonathan wanted to walk him to school and make sure everything was alright." I told her. She nodded. I put my things in my office and then made my way to the women's bathroom wanting to take that pregnancy test.

I sat in the bathroom waiting for the test results. I didn't like waiting I wanted to know if I was or was not pregnant. After a couple of minute's two bold blue lines appeared, as they did over 8 years ago, telling me I was indeed pregnant. My heart leaped with joy; I couldn't wait to tell Jonathan.

I went about the rest of my morning happily. Jonathan was teaching most of the morning so I wouldn't see him until about noon. There was a side of me that wanted to interrupt his class to tell him but I knew he'd get really mad at me if I did that. I really, really wanted to tell him.

Around 11:50 I made my way over to Jonathan's office not wanting to wait until he came over to mine. He was walking out of a classroom when we ran into each other.

"Hey! How did things go with Alex?" I greeted him not wanting to tell him I was pregnant until we were in private.

"He seems fine. He told me there was a math test today he didn't want to take. I think there is something else going on but he wouldn't tell me." Jonathan replied as we walked to his office.

"So what do we do if he's not telling us what's going on?" I asked him

"Watch him, look for more signs that something is up." Jonathan told me as he unlocked his office door and held for me to go in.

"Is there anything else we can do?" I questioned concerned. If Alex was being bullied I wanted to know about so we could try to stop it.

"The main sign he is showing is he does not want to go to school, Em. Until he tells us more there's really not much we can do. I guess we could talk to his teachers but we don't want to interfere so much that he won't trust us when something is going on." Jonathan said point blank. That was true, I knew when my parents would interfere in things I didn't want them in I would usually shut them out. I didn't want Alex to do that with us.

"Are you ready to go to lunch?" Jonathan asked me bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Yes! Oh before we go I have some fun news to tell you." I excitedly said.

"Did you get a promotion?" Jonathan joked a bit.

"I don't think they have a promotion for my position. However I got a positive pregnancy test this morning." I blurted out. Jonathan looked at me for a moment absorbing the news.

"You're pregnant?" he asked me after a few minutes. I nodded with a huge cheesy smile on my face.

"How far along do you think you are?" he inquired.

"Well my period was due today so I think I'm only four weeks." I answered. Jonathan broke out into a smile, one of his few real ones and gave me a kiss, something he never did on campus.

"So Thai food for lunch, then?" he asked me remembering back to my craving with Alex. I let out a small chuckle.

"Sure." With that we went to lunch and talked more about Alex and this new little person we were expecting.

Alex's P.O.V

The bell rang and I walked out of my reading class to my backpack to put my books away. I had a math test next and I really didn't want to take it. I mean it was only one math test I didn't have to take it right? Ugh, I really hate math such a stupid subject.

I reached into my backpack to grab an extra pencil when I heard a bunch of loud bangs. I looked towards the sound to see a woman with dark brown hair and blue eyes holding a gun. I dropped my backpack and ran to one of the teachers. More loud bangs were heard and then nothing.

Emmy's P.O.V

Jonathan and I were making our way back to my office. Jonathan was very pleased with my news about the pregnancy. We decided we would wait until we were out of the first trimester before we told Alex he would be getting a brother or sister. I couldn't wait!

Jonathan dropped me off at my office before he left to get ready for his afternoon classes. Needless to say, today had been a good day.

I had been in my office about 20 minutes when my cell phone rang. I looked down at the number and scrunched up my face a little confused. I didn't recognize the number. After another ring I answered the device and held it up to my ear.

"Hello?" I greeted.

"Hi. This is officer Jim Gorden, is this Mrs. Emily Crane, Alex Crane's mother?" I heard a man asked

"Ma'am there's been a shooting at your son's school. We just sent your son to Gotham General."

"What?" I asked. My heart sank deep into my stomach as shock seemed to take over my body Alex has been shot?

"Your son was shot, he is on his way to Gotham General." The man repeated. I nodded, even though I knew he couldn't see me.

"I'll be right there." I said before hanging up the phone. I quickly gathered up my things, locked my office and went to make my way out of the school when I paused. Jonathan, he needed to know. I quickly turned back and walked down the hallway to the classroom Jonathan would be teaching in.

Once at the door I looked in and saw my husband only a few feet away from me. I knocked on the glass lightly before Jonathan looked my way. He gave me a confused look before gave his student some instructions and came over to me.

"What's going on?" Jonathan asked me. I'm sure he could see the distress in my face. I tried to talk but it seemed almost impossible to say those words.

"Is it the baby?" he asked. I shook my head.

"It's Alex." I finally managed to choke out. "He's been shot."

"What?"

"I just got a call from Officer Gordon. He said that there was a shooting at Alex's school. They're transporting Alex to Gotham General, right now." I whispered. Jonathan nodded, quickly dismissed his class and gathered up his things.

"Let's go." He said as he placed his hand on my back and we made our way to the hospital.

….

Author's Note: Hello everyone. We are getting into the tragedy part of the story and then next few chapters will be kind of hard but it's part of the story. Thanks to everyone who is following/favoring my story. And a special thanks to Seraph of Words and Tayler Snape13 for reviewing!

I will update again soon. Thanks again to all of you for reading my story. Please leave a review if you have a moment. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks!-Lin