Disclaimer: Janet Evanovich owns all characters, though if I could, I'd own Morelli. Ranger too.

Off in the distance I heard an alarm buzzing but my arms couldn't find the table to turn it off. A hand slid across me and a grunt sounded as there was a slamming noise and the buzzing stopped. Morelli rolled back over and pulled me close to him, nuzzling his nose into my neck.

Bob barked and leapt off the bed but toppled over when he hit the ground, as his body wasn't quite as awake as his brain. I blew out a sigh, pried myself loose and searched through the mess of a room for something to wear. Pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a shirt I followed Bob down the stairs and hooked his leash on his collar.

When we made it back inside there was fresh coffee on the table for me and a bowl of dog crunches on the floor for Bob. Morelli was sitting at the table thumbing through some files. He looked better than he had two months ago, but the stress from the events was still visible on his face. The fact that I was once again working for Vinnie probably added some to this, but it wasn't my fault that I'd lost my job at Victoria's Secret. You'd think they could cut a girl some slack for missing a week of work. After all, it wasn't like I didn't want to go, but being held captive kind of makes it hard to show up for a job.

"What's the paperwork?" I asked as I pulled my chair close to him, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"Files for the Tim Stringer case." His hand wrapped around me, pulling me close to him in a protective manor.

Just then nausea pulsed through my stomach and I ran upstairs to the bathroom. I figured it was either a reaction to the name and the memories it brought up, or the last leftover bits of the food poising I'd gotten the night before. Just my luck that no one else would get food poisoning but me.

Morelli knocked on the door before opening it. I was standing at the sink, gripping the sides tightly as he held a cold washcloth to the back of my neck. Leaning in he kissed the top of my head, holding his lips to my scalp for several minutes. His hand brushed up and down my back and I fought back the urge to be sick again.

"You okay?" His voice was a whisper and it shook as he spoke.

"Yeah, fine." I walked into the bedroom then, sitting on the edge with my hands in my lap and my head down.

"Maybe you should go to the doctor. You've been having a hard time keeping things down lately." He was next to me then, holding my hand between his. "I worry about you."

"I know, and I think you may need a doctor too. No one should eat that many Tums in a day."

"I'm serious Stephanie."

"Alright, I'll go today. Happy?"
"Not yet, but I will be."

He pulled me into him then and kissed me. It was hot and passionate and filled with lust. His hands were all over me, pulling off the clothes I'd just put on. He had to be at work in twenty minutes so he rushed, but he made sure before he left that we were both very, very happy.

It was seven o'clock and Joe wasn't home yet. I'd ordered subs from Pino's and was pacing the living room, jumping at the sound of every passing car. Bob was faking sleep on the carpet as he eyed the bag of food, his nose twitching every time I passed and sent a wave of smell in his direction.

When the door finally opened Bob rushed out, lifted his leg then barreled back inside. He sat down in front of the couch, tongue hanging out, drool pooling up below him. It was finally dinnertime.

Joe dropped his gun on the table and grabbed two beers from the fridge. He kissed the top of my head and sat down on the couch. Instantly the TV was on and he started searching for some form of sports game. We both started eating and he took a few swigs from his beer. I sipped from my glass of water and just as he turned to say something to me the doorbell rang.

"Don't people know it's dinner time?" He sighed as he got up, turning the volume down before tossing the remote onto the seat next to me.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" I could hear the shock in his voice and I got up to go see what was going on.

"Good evening Stephanie." She smiled at me I and I smiled back, greeting her in proper burg fashion. "Mother and I were in the neighborhood and we thought we'd stop over and see how things were."

"Don't lie to them, you know exactly why we're here." Grandma Bella poked her head around the corner just then, casting the full weight of her eyes directly upon me. My stomach lurched and I covered my mouth in order to keep my dinner down. "Joseph, I'm very disappointed in you, but as you're my favorite I felt I had to come and personally congratulate you."

"Congratulate me?" His face was filled with a mixture of confusion and annoyance. I could hear his stomach grumbling, longing for the rest of that meatball sub. My stomach on the other hand was in knots, and the thought of meatballs had it twisted up so tight it was starting to ache.

"Yes of course."

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. Do you Steph?"

I couldn't open my mouth so instead I shook my head no, which was a bad idea because it made the whole room spin. Reaching out I warped my fingers around the back of Joe's shirt to keep my balance.

"Of all the lies! And to tell them to your grandmother at that! Well! Let me just say I for one will not be attending the baby's shower!" With that she stormed off. Joe's mom apologized and chased after her.

At that point I couldn't handle it and I ran upstairs to the bathroom. What a waste of a perfectly good meatball sub. Oh crap, I shouldn't have thought about food. Uhh.

"Steph, you okay?"

"No."

The door opened and he peaked inside. "You went to the doctor today right?"

"Yes."

"Is it contagious?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm," The words swirled in my head as the food swirled in my stomach. I knew I'd just have to spit them out quickly or they'd be lost in a sea of up chuck. "I'm pregnant."

"What?!"

"Believe in Grandma Bella's eye now?"

A/N

So there it is. Finally finished.

Thanks to everyone who ever reviewed this/read this/liked this/alerted this. All that stuff.

It means the world to me. Coming back to this I realized just how much I missed the Plum series, and I've been toying around with the idea of doing a Lulu/Grandma Mazur story.

We'll see though. Only time will tell.

And of course, thanks to my Beta mother, who is on her way to my house as I type this, hopefully bringing along the desire to cook me dinner.