Pleasant Surprises Part II

Ten minutes after hanging up the phone, a knock sounded on her door. The nurse popped her head into the room, and asked, "Are you sure you called the right boy, sweetie?"

Kim smiled at the kind older lady that had been in and out of her room since this afternoon. "I'm sure. Let him in, please, Nancy."

The older lady shook her head slightly, but pulled the door open for Skull. Visiting hours were very nearly over, and Kim was not sure if she could have waited to see him until the next day. He stepped in the room looking a little more like he always had. Off duty, he had drug the old leather and chains back out of some dark recess, but even in his usually questionable style, Kimberly had never felt so happy to see him.

"Skull!" she said happily, damning the tubes and wires that kept her stationed at the bed.

He gave her his goofiest of grins, stepping around the nurse and approaching her bed. Nancy left then, closing the door as quietly as possible.

"Why are you here?" he asked, motioning to the room.

She looked away. "I… Well, I kind of had an accident. I fainted at the karate match today." Before he had a chance to say anything, she pulled him closer, making him sit on the edge of her bed. "I'm okay, Skull, really," she reassured him, rubbing her thumbs against his arm where she had grabbed him. "I have a surprise… but I don't know how you'll take it. Don't freak out, okay?"

He nodded, watching her as she pulled out the pictures she had stashed under her pillow. Kimberly knew better than to actually expect him to stay perfectly calm. The day Skull didn't freak out about something like this would be the day Alpha took over the world.

Kim made an effort to study Skull quickly, noticing the nervous hand playing with the chain that was lying over one thigh, but his eyes were focused on the stack of images in her hand.

"I told you I was moving back home… And I did, but now I have another reason to be back here." Kim held out the pictures she had, though she assumed he wouldn't know what to make of them. "I don't know how it happened, but, back in France…"

Skull studied the black and white pictures, before looking back up at her.

"I got pregnant," Kim whispered. It was surprising how much easier it was to tell him. "This…" she added, reaching around his arm and circling the back spot, "is our baby."

Kimberly backed away slightly, waiting on his reaction. Skull's eyes snapped towards her, questioning her, but he said nothing. Leaning back against the raised head of the bed, Kim smiled softly at him, her hands resting gently over the spot where the little one was resting.

Drawn back to the images, much as she had been earlier, Skull completely zoned out.

One moment he was hyperventilating, staring at the picture and absolutely nothing at the same time, and the next moment he was covering her lips with his own, pulling her so close it probably should have hurt. But right then nothing mattered at all, not pain, not the future, nothing but this, them.

She was crying again, she could feel the wet drops on her cheeks, but she couldn't care less. They broke apart then, and Skull caught her eyes with his own. "I love you," he said, just loud enough that she could hear it.

She gave a watery smile. "I know, Skull." Kim reached out; eyes still locked on his, and cup his face with one hand, sliding her fingers into his dark hair. "I think- I think I love you too." A bright blush had worked its way over her cheeks as she said those few words, but as lips and tongue and teeth collided a few breaths later, the world was, once more, wiped completely clean.

Nancy popped her head in as visiting hours came to an end, quietly opening the door. Despite her earlier impression, she smiled softly at the pair wrapped up snuggly on the tiny bed, already asleep. The nurse backed out of the room silently, letting the young couple have their moment for a while longer.