A/N: A quick update because I hate cliff hangers.
The attitude aboard the Northwestern was stoic at best. Edgar did his job although he barely spoke to the cameras or anyone else. Sig did his best to keep Edgar close, constantly telling him he made the right decision regarding Samantha. Everyone else on the boat seemed to be walking around in a state of shock, they mechanically went through the process of getting the boat ready to start Opies. There were whispers while they loaded pots about why Sig said what he did. Of course no one said anything to Edgar who went on with his job like a robot. A few days later the boat was ready to start the season and left port without any celebration. As they drove out to the northern fishing grounds Nick sat down next to Edgar in the galley while everyone else was in bed.
"Hey man, how are you doing?" asked Nick.
"I'm fine" said Edgar.
"No one else is around, if you want to get something off your chest you can without anyone else knowing. Your secrets are always safe with me" said Nick.
Edgar turned and looked at Nick, his eyes were tired and he just shook his head.
"Well if you need to talk, let me know" said Nick.
"I just don't understand why she would do that" said Edgar suddenly.
"Even if she did, it was before you two even got together" said Nick.
Edgar's head dropped to the table with a thunk and Nick took this as a sign he wanted to be alone. Getting up from the table Nick laid a comforting hand on Edgar's shoulder before heading back to his stateroom. Edgar sat at the table until they got to the grounds, his head was dented slightly from the extended period of time it spent mashed against the table.
The first pot of the season was about to go over the side and everyone on deck was waiting for Edgar to bite the head off the frozen herring for good luck. Edgar however was completely unaware of why everyone was waiting. He turned and stared at Jake who seemed to be waiting anxiously for something.
"What do you want Junior?" asked Edgar wearily.
"Are you going to bite the fish?" asked Jake.
"No, why don't you do it. I'm not in the mood" said Edgar.
"Um, ok" answered Jake.
He took the proffered fish from Matt and gingerly bit off the head before promptly vomiting all over the deck.
"To a successful season" said Matt into the camera.
The camera turned to get a reaction shot from Edgar and his response was just a shrug. Edgar worked like a zombie giving no response to questions from the guys on deck or the ones with the cameras. When he wasn't working he slept or sat staring blankly at the galley table. It was clear to everyone on the boat that Edgar was not in a good head space.
The season went on and Edgar stayed the same, any attempts to get him to talk were rebuffed and for the most part he spent time alone away from everyone. Even Sig was starting to get worried about his youngest brother. Then one day he turned a corner. Like night and day the old Edgar returned and he began talking and joking with everyone just like he use to. No one mentioned Samantha by name or description for fear of a backslide. Opilio season was in the books by mid March and the crew gratefully returned home to Seattle. The moment the boat hit the dock the guys went their separate ways.
Sig got a call from Matt a month later telling him he was worried about Edgar. When Sig pressed him for specifics Matt explained that Edgar had completely gone off the deep end. He was carousing all night, drinking and he now had a girlfriend living with him. Sig agreed to visit him and check it out. Which is how Sig ended up ringing Edgar's doorbell on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Sig was taken aback at Edgar's disheveled appearance when he answered the door. There was a weeks worth of beard growing on him and he looked as if he'd been wearing the same clothes for a month.
"Hey Sig" said Edgar. "Thanks for stopping by."
Edgar made to close the door but Sig deftly pushed it open and walked inside.
"How've you been?" asked Sig surveying the messy house.
"Fine" answered Edgar.
Sig followed Edgar into the den where a scantily clad woman was laying on the couch.
"Oh hi" she said not bothering to cover up.
"Hi, I'm Sig. And you are?"
"I'm Starla" answered the girl.
"Nice to meet you" said Sig with a roll of his eyes.
He grabbed Edgar by the sleeve and dragged him into the kitchen.
"Where the hell did you meet her?" asked Sig.
"At one of those cool bars Matt use to go to" said Edgar. "She's a big fan of the show."
"She seems like a real winner" said Sig sarcastically.
"I would think you'd love her, she's everything Antha wasn't" said Edgar coldly.
"Edgar, you could do so much better" said Sig.
"I didn't want to do any better than Antha, she's all I ever wanted. But you stole that from me" spat Edgar angrily.
"I thought you were over her. That you got over her during Opies" said Sig.
"Whatever, you don't care" said Edgar.
"Why would you say that?" asked Sig.
"Because you took away my one chance at happiness because you were jealous" said Edgar.
Sig stared into Edgar's eyes and saw that he knew it had been a lie.
"Then why did you let her go?" asked Sig.
"Because we always chose family first. I realized too late that she was going to become my family" said Edgar. "I chose wrong."
With that parting statement Edgar walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch next to Starla. She draped herself over him like a blanket before smiling seductively at Sig.
"We'll talk later, when you aren't so busy" said Sig in disgust.
As he walked out of the house he felt he needed to take a shower and knew he had a trip to make.
Samantha sat in her doctors office waiting patiently for her turn. She'd had some sort of stomach bug off and on for a while and was anxious to find out what was wrong with her. She'd been throwing up almost constantly and at first she thought it was stress from the breakup with Edgar but when it just kept going she figured it must be something more. After she'd gotten home from Dutch Harbor she'd gone into protective mode, doing nothing more than drowning her sorrows in ice cream and working. She'd taken a few freelance editing jobs for smaller studios and had carved out a good niche for herself. Her work was steady and she got to set her own hours. She kept to herself only going out to buy groceries. Her sadness eventually enveloped her like a shroud weighing her down and preventing her from seeing the world around her as anything but grey. Her name was called and she set down the magazine she was reading and followed the nurse back to the room. She changed into the gown and sat down on the examine table to wait for the doctor. The door opened and her doctor waltzed in wearing a rather large grin.
"Hello Samantha, I think we've found the problem" she said cheerily.
"Already? Did you get a crystal ball for Christmas or something?" asked Samantha.
"All we needed was the urine you provided us" said the doctor.
Samantha stared at her doctor thoroughly confused. The doctor took pity on her.
"You're pregnant my dear" she announced.
For a moment Samantha looked like she was going to be ok, then she flopped back onto the table in a dead faint. She came to a minute later as the nurse laid a cool cloth on her forehead.
"Well, I must say that's the most dramatic reaction I've seen to this kind of news" said the doctor.
Samantha could just nod weakly in response. The nursing staff bustled in an ultrasound machine and before Samantha knew it she was looking at a little baby on the screen. Not just a little baby, her baby, specifically her and Edgar's baby.
"Well my dear, the baby is measuring right at 18 weeks, so that would put your due date around the middle of August" explained the doctor. "We will need to get you on some vitamins and of course you should abstain from alcohol. But the baby looks healthy."
Samantha walked out of the office with a script for prenatal vitamins and a few ultrasound pictures of the child growing inside her. She had noticed she was gaining weight but just assumed it was from all the ice cream she was shoveling down. Of course she and Edgar hadn't used protection but she'd never even considered the possibility of getting pregnant. It didn't matter he'd made his choice and had told her plainly that he wanted nothing to do with her. With a shake of her head she got into the car and drove home.
Sig nervously stood in front of what he hoped was Samantha's house. He'd practically begged Eric for her address and he wasn't completely sure he'd given him the right one. The house was in a seemingly expensive neighborhood and it looked like Snow White could live in it. A woman, walking her sweater wearing dog, eyed Sig suspiciously as she passed by which was enough to get Sig to walk towards the front door. He knocked lightly and half prayed that Samantha wasn't home. His prayers weren't answered and the door swung open revealing a disheveled Samantha in a pair of pajama pants and a wrap around sweater.
"Hi" said Sig uncomfortably.
"Well this is unexpected" was all Samantha could say.
She stepped aside and beckoned Sig to enter. Sig walked into the marbled foyer and stopped. Samantha passed him leading him into the kitchen. As they walked Sig noticed despite Samantha's appearance the house was impeccably clean. Once in the kitchen Samantha went back to the sandwich she was making and Sig slipped onto one of the kitchen stools.
"So what are you doing here?" asked Samantha her voice sounding rough with disuse.
"I came to talk to you, see how you were doing and talk to you about what happened" said Sig.
"I'm not interested" said Samantha.
She put the finishing touches on her sandwich and placed 2 huge dill pickles on the side of the plate before grabbing a glass of milk and sliding into a chair. Sig watched with fascination as Samantha devoured the entire sandwich and polished off the milk in a matter of seconds.
"Hungry?" asked Sig.
"All the time" said Samantha.
"Listen, I'm sorry about what I did. It was wrong and I didn't mean to hurt either of you" said Sig.
"Save me your bullshit, you meant to hurt me. You lied point blank in front of your brother in order to paint me in a bad light. I don't know why you did it, what you got out of it but it destroyed what we had" said Samantha her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"I did it because I was jealous" admitted Sig.
"You shouldn't be telling me this, you should tell Edgar" said Samantha. "Because all the apologies in the world aren't going to bring you back into my good graces. You'll have better luck with him."
"I can't even talk to him. He's a mess" said Sig.
"Is he ok?" asked Samantha her voice suddenly full of concern.
"Who knows, he's going out all the time, not taking care of himself or the house and dating some horrible thing. I can't even bring myself to call her a woman" said Sig his voice filled with disgust.
"Well it's his life, although that's never stopped you from butting in before" said Samantha dismissively.
Sig looked pained for a moment before he sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Samantha couldn't help but smile at the action, it was so completely Sig.
"I just wanted to tell you in person that I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I hurt you and that my pride hurt your relationship with Edgar. You are clearly an amazing woman and you and Edgar were clearly in love" said Sig.
"Thank you for the apology. I think you owe one to Edgar too" said Samantha.
Sig sensed that the conversation was over and got up to leave. Samantha stood also sliding out of the chair and landing on the floor. Her hand moved to her stomach for a moment and Sig wondered if she was feeling sick after the way she'd wolfed down her food. Samantha walked Sig to the door and said goodbye. Once Sig had left the house she walked back into the kitchen. She put away the pickle jar in the fridge and wondered if Sig had noticed the ultrasound picture on her fridge. He hadn't said anything but that didn't mean he hadn't seen it.
Sig returned to the hotel he was staying at and quickly called Norman. A few moments later there was a knock at Sig's hotel room door. Sig let Norman into the room and sat back down on the bed.
"Well, what did she say?" asked Norman.
"She thinks I'm an ass and that I should apologize to Edgar" said Sig.
"Well she's right on both accounts. Will she come back and talk to him?" asked Norman.
"No" answered Sig.
"Did you ask her that specifically?" said Norman.
"Yes" replied Sig.
"Did you say 'Samantha, will you come to Washington and talk to Edgar, he's completely off his melon and we are worried about him?'" said Norman.
"No, not that specifically" said Sig. "But when I said he was a mess she almost sounded concerned."
"Well that's a start" said Norman.
"Yeah, I don't think was feeling very good anyway, she ate a sandwich faster than Junior on his best day and when she got up she was holding her stomach" said Sig.
"That's weird" said Norman.
"Why don't you go talk to her. If anything you have to see her house. When she said Jake wouldn't be able to keep her in a lifestyle she was accustomed to she wasn't kidding" said Sig.
"Fine, I'll go see her" said Norman. "But you need to start working on what you are going to say to Edgar."
Sig just nodded and Norman left the room.
Samantha struggled up from the couch the doorbell was ringing and she was practically willing herself to hurry but her body was completely uncooperative. As she walked to the door her only thought was this better be worth it. Throwing open the door her mouth dropped open at the sight of Norman Hansen on her doorstep with a dozen roses. Norman smiled an easy smile and handed her the bouquet.
"Can I come in?" he asked.
"Sure, since you come bearing gifts" said Samantha.
Norman stepped into the foyer and looked around, the house was more impressive than Sig had described.
"Your house is beautiful" said Norman.
"Thanks, let me get these in some water and I'll give you a tour" said Samantha.
Norman followed her into the kitchen, he watched as Samantha reached up to get a vase off the top shelf, her t-shirt lifting to reveal a round little belly. His suspicions were confirmed when he noticed the picture on the fridge. Samantha filled the vase with water and artfully arranged the flowers.
"Ready for the tour?" asked Samantha.
"Sure" said Norman.
"Well this is the kitchen, all the appliances are state of the art and it's my dream kitchen" said Samantha waving her hand around. "This way to the den."
Samantha showed Norman the downstairs rooms before starting up the stairs. Norman noticed that she went slower and was careful to use the banister to balance.
"This is my bedroom, it has a bathroom with a huge tub and shower" said Samantha with a smile.
They walked down the hall together to a cluster of rooms at the end of the hall.
"This one is the guest room, this one is my office and this one is empty" said Samantha.
"Is that going to be the nursery?" asked Norman.
"Probably" said Samantha.
"Is the baby Edgar's?" asked Norman.
"It doesn't matter, the baby is mine" said Samantha.
Norman turned her around so they were standing face to face. Samantha's eyes were full of tears and one was already rolling down her cheeks.
"He would want to know" said Norman.
"He has a new girlfriend, he doesn't need me ruining his life with an unexpected child" said Samantha.
"Do you still care about him?" asked Norman.
"Yes" said Samantha and after a moment she quietly whispered "I love him."
Norman gathered her into a tight embrace allowing her to cry on his shoulder. Samantha's body was wracked with sobs and Norman moved her down the hall to her room and helped her to lay down. After she'd cried herself out he went downstairs to get her a glass of water. As he opened the fridge he pulled one of the ultrasound pictures down and studied it. This picture had the baby in profile with an arrow pointing to it's legs and typed above it were the words I'm a boy. Norman took both the glass of water and the picture up to Samantha's room. Samantha sat up and took a small sip of water before laying back down.
"Can I take this picture?" asked Norman.
"Why do you want it?" asked Samantha tiredly.
"I want to show Edgar" said Norman simply.
"I'd really rather you not" said Samantha.
"Then can I take another one of the pictures" said Norman.
"I meant I'd rather you not show Edgar at all" said Samantha. "I'm all set to be his parent, I don't want Edgar to feel like he owes me anything."
"I'll make sure to tell him that" said Norman. "I just want him to know he has a child. He deserves to know."
Samantha looked away, she was torn between the idea of Edgar rushing to her begging for them to be a family and him flat out rejecting her.
"Fine, you can take it" said Samantha.
"When are you due?" asked Norman.
"The middle of August" said Samantha.
"We'll be about to start cod" said Norman more to himself than Samantha.
"What?" asked Samantha.
"Nothing, just talking to myself" said Norman.
"I'm going to rest, all the crying makes me tired" said Samantha.
"Do you mind if I call Sig, he's probably wondering where I am" said Norman.
"That's fine" said Samantha around a yawn.
Norman went downstairs and picked up the phone, he steeled himself for what he was sure would be quite an outburst from Sig.