Chapter 17

Kaitlin Cooper stared at herself in the mirror pulling her shirt up slightly to reveal her ten week bump. The doctor's told her she was going to be fine but she didn't see that as being true. She was raped and that was scary to think about. Scary to think that in 30 weeks she would have to take care or give up for adoption a child that was conceived out of hate. Hate. There wasn't any other possible way to describe what this guy must have felt for her.

Why her? Why did she have to be the one that he hurt? She was supposed to be going to fashion school. Finishing up her degree, not in Berkeley living with her step-brother and pregnant.

This wasn't right and Kaitlin knew that. She knew that if she kept the kid she would forever be reminded of what happened to her. She wasn't sure if she could actually handle that.

That's when she decided what she wanted to do.

She'd have to talk to Ryan about this one.

-

"Kaitlin, what are you doing here?" Ryan looked up at her over his pile of paperwork.

"I wanted to talk to you." She sat down nervously in front of his desk. She wasn't sure how she was going to ask him this. She wasn't even sure he'd agree to it considering everything that was going on. "About…this…" She pointed at her stomach. Ryan put his hands on his desk before taking a deep sigh.

"What about it?" He questioned looking more tired than ever.

"I'm not going to keep it, I know I already told you I'd give the baby up for adoption but…honestly Ryan, I'm scared to give the kid to some stranger…and I was thinking that…maybe you and Taylor could maybe possibly adopt the baby? That way I'd still be able to see it but I couldn't take care of it myself." She told him not looking up at him. She couldn't look into his eyes. She didn't want to see the emotions in them.

"What?" He stuttered out. That's when she finally decided to look up.

"It's the best thing I could come up with…"

"The best thing you could come up with?" He asked a little harshly.

"Yes." She looked back down at her hands.

"God, Kaitlin. What part of I can't handle a lot right now do you not understand?"

"I'm scared." She confessed.

"You should be but…I'll talk to Taylor." He sighed. She looked up at him again confused at what he had said.

"Wait…I thought you'd…"

"I can't turn a kid away, Kaitlin and if you can't take care of it then…" He trailed off.

"Thank you. Look there's 30 weeks for you to decide completely…and then it's possible that I can change my mind…" She whispered.

"Yeah, well I have work to do. I'll see you at home later." He returned his attention back to the work in front of him.

Kaitlin nodded before standing up. She knew this was the right thing to do. She knew that it was the best decision she could have possibly made for this kid.

-

"Hey." Ryan grinned to see his wife after a long day of work. He was beat.

"How was your day?" She smiled before walking over to him and wrapped her arms round his neck. "I missed you."

"Tiring. I missed you too." He kissed her forehead. "Where's the kids?" He questioned.

"Kaitlin took them to the park."

"Good, because there's something we need to talk about." He was nervous. He wasn't even sure why. He knew that what he was about to tell Taylor was a big deal. It was something he hadn't thought Kaitlin would even ask him. Something that he didn't think that he would be able to do but he couldn't turn her away. Especially not with the way she was sounding or looking when she had come to his office.

He knew this was going to be just another thing on his plate that he wouldn't be able to deal with.

"Oh, uhm, okay?" She pulled away from him nervously.

"Kaitlin came by the office today…"

"I told her to talk to you." She said resting her hands on her hips.

"Did she tell you what she was asking of us?" He asked hoping that she maybe already did.

"No?"

"She wants us to adopt the baby…" He said just above a whisper before looking into his wife's eyes. There were so many emotions running through those amazing eyes of hers. "I told her…I said I'd talk to you."

"Wow, I…wasn't expecting that one…" She took his hands in her own.

"I wasn't either, actually." He let out a small laugh.

"We never talked about more kids and…I mean sure we could take Kaitlin's baby in but what happens when she realizes that she wants it back?"

"I don't know what…to do." He whispered.

"Well…isn't there time to think about this? We have Sophie to handle and…could we take in another child that isn't our own?"

"Would it matter? Blood doesn't make family." He sighed looking away. He wasn't even sure why he was really thinking about this.

"You're right. You're completely right…" She nodded before resting her head on his chest.

"We have time." He assured her.

"We'll talk more about this another time. Right now I think we should spend whatever time Kaitlin's got the kids…together." She looked up giving him a smile.

"This is the first time we've been alone since Sophie moved in and Caden was born." He put his hand on the back of her neck.

"Mmhmm. Come on she left half an hour ago." She grabbed his hands again leading him towards the stairs and to their bedroom.