Haven't updated in SUCH along time! Sorry about that, but I'm back and ready to roll with this story! Enjoy the chapter :-)
-Jazz

Audrey's POV

For the past week or so, Audrey had been feeling sick. The thought of her boyfriend sneaking around with that infantile intern of his literally made her sick to her stomach. It made her feel even worse that she hadn't had the balls to confront him about. She'd known for 8 days now and hadn't done a thing about it. It was clear what would have to be done when she finally confronted him. Yes, he was the love of her life, but she wasn't the kind of girl to let infidelity slide. They would have to break up and the thought of that made her even sicker.

She ran to the bathroom for the second time that morning but didn't even have the strength to shuffle back to her bed this time. She needed to go to the doctor and get some kind of potion or something. Hopefully there was a potion available to ease her stomach and give her the strength to break up with Percy. Again, those words in that order made her insides bubble, and she threw up what little was left in her stomach. She needed to get to St. Mungo's now.

There was no telling what Audrey looked like as she dragged her feet through the sickeningly white hospital. She hadn't done anything to her hair and just threw on whatever was closest in the closet. There was probably no need for her to get dressed up anyway, it wasn't like she had a boyfriend to impress any longer. Like clockwork, the thought of her losing Percy created a bubbling in her stomach and she ran to the nearest trash receptacle.

"Audrey? Are you ok?" she heard a familiar voice call.

"Hermione! Oh dear god, I've never been so happy to see you in my life."

"You don't look so good; let's get you to a room and see what's going on." After that, all Audrey heard from her friend's mouth was a jumble of healer terms that made absolutely no sense to her. She had gone through about 20 tests and had been looked at by at least 3 different healers. "Ok Audrey, we have good news and great news."

"Great? I'll take the good first."

"Well the good news is you're not dying, nor do you have any serious medical condition."

"Really? Not even stress-induced nausea or acute panic disorders or something?"

"Nope, no made up illnesses. But I am curious about something that showed up on your results. When did you say you start feeling sick?"

"Usually it's early in the morning or late at night, whenever I think about Percy." She confessed. She knew she could trust Hermione; that girl was like a vault.

"Thinking about your boyfriend makes you feel sick?"

"No, thinking about breaking up with him makes me feel queasy and- and-" And as if to prove her point, her body reacted the same way it always did when she thought that thought. "that happens."

"Ok, doctor-patient relationship aside, you're breaking up with Percy? Why?"

"I'm doing it before he breaks up with me first. I know that's childish, but given the pretense of the situation I should be the one doing the breaking up. I refuse to have him come home one day and tell me he's replaced me with that little chirpy, idiotic, pale, tramp. That would be so unfair."

Audrey could see Hermione trying to work out everything she had just told her in her head. Her facial expression changed from shocked to thoughtful to confused.

"Percy cheated on you? That doesn't seem likely."

"Well, he is cheating. Ginny saw it herself."

"Ginny saw it." She repeated slowly, as if Audrey had just made it up.

"Yes! She walked in on him and his assistant last week and said Percy even admitted it and asked her to keep it a secret." Audrey didn't like that Hermione wasn't getting angry, or visibly coming up with a new disease to give that little home wrecker. "Hello? Did you hear me?"

"I'm not saying Percy didn't do it, but Ginny has a tendency to act then speak before she thinks. She lets her feelings override logic and explanations; you should probably hear him out. Not talking to him is the wrong thing to do; there could be a serious misunderstanding going on and you could be putting all four of you in an unnecessarily painful situation."

Ginny was impulsive and protective, but Audrey couldn't see where there could be a misunderstanding here. It was black and white. Simple.

"Sure, I'll keep that in mind. What was the other news?"

"Well, maybe you should talk to Percy first then-"

"Spit it out Hermione!"

"Alright alright. You're…pregnant." She said with a nervous smile. Pregnant? What the hell? "Congratulations?"

Percy's POV

Percy was not a stranger to making mistakes and this had been a huge mistake. He should have told her right away; now he'd been keeping a secret for a month and where had that gotten him? Nowhere. Audrey was more distant than ever these days and since things had gotten weird with them, it had taken a toll on his entire life. He opened the door to their flat and felt that same feeling of anxiety that usually came with coming home these days.

"Audrey?" he called, hoping for a civil response. Lately she'd been a whirlwind of emotions and he could never tell when she was going to be nice or mean.

"I'm in the kitchen!"

He put down his briefcase and checked his pockets before going to the kitchen, where he found Audrey dressed in a tightly fitting black dress with her hair in a sophisticated bun. He couldn't remember the last time she had dressed so…revealingly.

"You look amazing; what's the occasion?"

"Nothing. I was just trying on my clothes; seeing what fits. You're home late."

"I got caught up at the office with Syndal but she's got everything under control."

"Syndal the intern?" she asked in a hollow voice, as if there was another one in his life.

"Actually as of a week ago she's now Syndal the assistant."

"To you personally?"

"Yeah."

"Congratulations to you both. Must be nice to work together all of the time now."

"It's alright. I'd much prefer spending all of my time with you."

"And yet, you spend the vast majority of your time with her. Why don't you just move in with her? Or does she divide up her time between men in the ministry, ruining their relationships one by one?" Percy couldn't take this anymore. He'd tried being sweet to her, giving her space but she'd been increasingly hostile and hard to live with lately.

"What has gotten into you lately?" he asked carefully. She seemed pretty unstable at this point and he wasn't sure how to talk to her. Instead of yelling she began laughing like she'd never heard anything funnier on her life. "What's so funny?"

"You! I mean your question…" she said through a fit of giggles. "What got into me?" she said laughing even harder. You did!" He was really confused now. She kept laughing at the fact that "he had gotten into her" and he had no idea what that meant. Had her gotten under her skin or something? He wasn't sure what she was talking about but he definitely knew when her giggles turned to sobs that whatever was going on wasn't funny at all. He tried to comfort her but she shied away from his touch in a way that literally made his heart ache. What could he possibly have done to her to make her this upset?

"Audrey, please. I don't know what I did but if you tell me we can work through this." He tried. "WE can get back to the way we use to be."

"It will never be the way it used to be Percy," she half cried and half screamed. "It can't be. Not now."

"Why?" he pleaded, begging for some kind of information that would helped him figure out how to cure her of this pain. She dug around in her apron and pulled out a small, fuzzy picture.

"I'm Pregnant." After saying this, Audrey burst into a round of tears that were louder and more piercing than he ever could have imagined. She was pregnant. With his child. He was going to be a father. There were many emotions pumping through his veins but upset was not one of them. He couldn't understand why she was upset about this; isn't this exactly what she had wanted?

"Don't be upset-"

"Don't be upset? Are you shitting me? I'm supposed to just be happy about the fact that I'm pregnant with your baby that I'm going to have to raise alone? You get to keep shagging your skanky little inter, excuse me, assistant, and I get to walk around pregnant looking like some pathetic little trollop? Oh yes Percy, I'm ecstatic!" she screamed. If had thought he was confused before, he had no idea what to call how he was feeling now.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're cheating on me with Syndal, Percy. You don't have to keep it in any longer; I know. Ginny saw you."

"Ginny?" he asked. Ginny had never seen Syndal- except for that time when she came barging into his office.

"Yes, Ginny. How could you do that to me? I thought you were different, I thought what we had was special! I loved you, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you!" she cried.

"I'm not cheating on you with Syndal." He said slowly. There was no point in yelling it, which is what the wanted to do. She would only think he was lying. He figured it best to say it softly and slowly so she heard the truth in every word. "I do not, and never have, felt about anyone the way I feel about you, Audrey."

"Right, so Ginny was lying?" she asked, still unconvinced. "We're all making this up in our heads?"

"No, she didn't lie; but she misunderstood what she saw. I've never so much as shaken Syndal's hand."

"Then what were you doing spending all your time with her and sneaking off to the office at all hours of the night?"

"She was helping me." He answered. Clearly this was not enough for Audrey, who raised her eyebrows incredulously. "She was helping me figure out how to propose to you."

"Wait, what?" she asked, completely caught off guard by his confession.

"I wanted to propose, but I needed it to be special and I didn't know who else to ask. She's pretty creative and was helping me come up with something perfect for you."

"And no one else came to mind but her? Not your mom, or Ginny, or Fleur?" she asked. He could tell that she was softening as the truth was settling around her. He knew how fast her emotions could change, so it didn't shock him at all when she began to smile a little.

"They're all horrible at keeping secrets and I wanted it to be perfect."

"You're insane, you know that? Simply getting down on one knee wouldn't do it for you?" she asked as she hugged him. It felt good to have her back in his arms. "I'm so sorry I jumped to conclusions, but I'll never do it again! I'm sorry I didn't trust you."

"Are you kidding? I should be the one apologizing for ever even making you think I'd want anyone else but you or this baby. I love you."

"I love you too, but, don't you think now would be a good time to propose? I mean, I do know already anyway…"she teased. He rolled his eyes at how impatient she could be but obliged without hesitating. He pulled out the little box that had been burning a hole in his pocket and got down on one knee.

"Audrey Carizzales. I can't imagine a life without you in it and having you by my side is what completes me. I never imagined that I could feel so deeply about someone, or that those feeling would ever be returned to me, of all people. Before I met you, I never realized how empty my life was, and I now know that you and I are truly meant to be together. I wish I could give you everything, but I hope that this ring is enough. Will you marry me?"

She jumped up and down in the way she did when she couldn't find word to express how she felt. Even though she was finding it hard to find words, she said the one word he'd been longing to hear.

"Yes!"