Thank you for all the reviews, favourites and follows… always appreciated. Hope the second chapter is worthy…. (BTW there is one 'F' word in this, but I haven't changed the rating for it... just to warn)

"We've got some figuring out to do…"

After laying against him in silence as the last sentence whirled and whirled around her head, she decided to give up on figuring it out bit for now and took hold of his hand that was resting lightly on her tummy.

"So, with all of this I never asked how long you're staying for." She said, tracing one finger on the back of his hand, just to make sure he really was there and this really was happening.

"I can stay for up to a week."

She lifted her head, looking at him quizzically, "What do you mean, you can stay?"

"Well, I wasn't exactly invited was I?" He answered with one brow raised.

She gave a him a big smile and leant her head to one side, "Derek…" She started, grasping her fingers around the back of his hand, "… you're always invited. You know that. It's a given."

His face was then consumed with a big grin, "Ok, well you've got me for a week then."

"Good. But you do get that I've got to work though?" It was almost a sigh.

"Of course."

"But this is where being the boss comes in handy. I will try and finish early most days and may be work from home for a couple. We can do some stuff I'm sure."

"Em, don't worry about it. I know you're busy, but there is just one thing I want to do while I'm here."

She looked at him, a smirk forming upon her lips, "You want to go and see the Queen don't you? I hear she's free this week for tea and scones."

He chuckled, "Sounds a bit too wild for me."

"Ok Mr Sensible, what do you wanna do?"

"Take you out on a date." He said squeezing her a little more into him.

She laughed and shook her head.

"What?" He asked with a smirk.

"You want to take the woman carrying your child out for our first date….."

"Well when you say it like that it sounds all kind of wrong."

"I was only joking Derek." She said as she saw the smile drain from his face.

"What?" She asked softly.

"I don't want you to say yes just because you're carrying my baby. I want you to say yes despite of the baby."

She shifted her body round to face him head on, "Yes…" She said firmly.

He replied with a small, contemplative smile, "I should have done this a long time ago shouldn't I?"

"No…." She shook her head, "…There would have been some other drama, some other complication. This is just….." She paused in thought and shook her head, "….I'm not sure what this is actually, but I know I like it."

"Ok.." He conceded, "….tomorrow night then. But there's one rule."

"Rule?" She asked suspiciously.

"We're not talking about the baby or…." He said wiggling his forefinger in between them. "….the small issue of four thousand miles between us, until after the date."

Smiling, she lay back against him, "Ok… it's a deal." She uttered. She closed her eyes, the underlying anxious feeling she'd had for the past few days beginning to disappear. She knew it would only last a short while, but she would enjoy it… and him just being there, whilst she could.

~~CM~~

The following morning, she kissed the back of his head gently as he lay in her bed, covered up to his waist with her duvet. He had of course done the chivalrous thing and said he would sleep in the spare room and her head had told her to go with that option… 'don't rush it Emily', the nagging voice chirped away. But after an awkward silence and both breaking into a smile at the same time, laughing at their ridiculous topsy turvey situation, she concluded that she wanted him nowhere but with her….. She was pregnant by him…. Carrying his child.

However, nothing happened that night, mainly due to emotional and physical exhaustion, but one thing about being in London in November, was that it was much cooler at night, the perfect weather to get yourself tucked under a feathered duvet, and snuggle up to Derek Morgan, which is exactly what happened.

She looked down upon him and smiled; He was flat out having spent most of the night awake due to the jetlag. He'd remained perfectly still the night before as she lay in his arms, pretending to be asleep so she wouldn't feel obliged to stay awake with him, but he didn't fool her; they both knew that. She occasionally shifted just a little, allowing her hand to trace along his skin and he responded with a squeeze, caress or a stroke and a few kisses…. That's all she needed right now.

Her kiss didn't wake him as she left for work and once there, she found herself delegating far more efficiently than she ever had since she'd been there. She ordered in her PA, Melinda, her favourite Caramel Macchiato and donut apple fritter from Starbucks as encouragement and reward for working through her lunch break to rearrange as many meetings as possible for the coming week.

That day, Derek had spent his little time awake before she got home, browsing the net to find and book a restaurant…..

"So, marks out of ten for the date?" He asked with a cheeky smile as the waiter cleared the last of the plates of their table.

"It would have been a ten if I could have had a glass of that Cabernet Sauvignon that was on the menu."

She watched as his bottom lip formed a mock pout, "What? You would have enjoyed it far more if you'd of been drunk?"

"No…" She laughed, "… But your face when you saw the bill would have been priceless."

"Oh I forgot the circles you're used to socialising in. I'm gonna have to raise my game." He winked.

Her laugh simmered to a warm smile as she leant across the table just a little, "Do you know what…? She said, lowering her tone, "….I would have been happy with a DVD, bag of chips and a can of Coke…"

"Diet Coke…" He corrected, "… I remember the look you gave me the first and only time I ever bought you proper Coke. Gees, it scarred me for life." He chuckled placing a hand to his chest.

"Very funny…. And there was me trying to be romantic."

"Romantic eh…?" He smiled, "….. Don't let me stop you."

"No…" She said shaking her head with a smirk, "…You ruined the moment. I guess this is where the romance ends."

"Well, it's not quite over yet." He said, placing his credit card in the small brown leather folder containing the bill.

She rummaged in her handbag and pulled out her purse, "It's not?" She asked, looking back up to him.

"No…." He muttered with a frown, "…And what are you doing?"

"Paying half." She said as a matter of fact.

"Oh no you're not…" He told her, reaching over for her purse, "…. I said I was taking you out on a date. I pay."

He placed the small, red leather purse, that he had swiped from her grasp, inside his jacket.

She leaned in further, "But this place is really expensive, even without the wine." She whispered.

"Yeah…" He replied, mirroring her movement and grasping the top of her hand as it lay on the table, "…. And I chose it."

She smiled, pressing her red lips together, "Well thank you. This place is lovely and I really have had a great time, but I'm telling you, you don't need big gestures to impress me…. I'm just happy with you."

"Ok…. Diet coke and chips? I'll remember that for next time." He winked.

"Although…." She began, tracing the top of her glass with a finger, "…. I won't complain if we do this every now and again."

He shook his head with a mock roll of the eyes, "Women…. Always changing their minds."

He chuckled as he watched that look of venom that was now piercing into him from her eyes, "C'mon…" He said standing up and offering a hand after the waited returned his card, "… We're not done yet."

"Oh, this better be good buddy after that last comment." She teased, accepting his offer and following him out of the restaurant.

Holding her hand, he led her alongside the Thames River, her leaning into him to attempt to take in some of his body heat as the cold breeze from the surface of the water blew against their skin.

"Well here we are." He almost sang, stopping their stride and turning to face across the river.

"What?" She asked looking around,

"Up there."

He pointed towards the sky.

"The London Eye?" She queried with a raise of the brow.

"Yeah…" He breathed, the frosty air exhaling from his mouth, "… You haven't been already have you?"

"No…." She smiled.

"Good… I'm sure there's not many places you haven't been. It's gonna be tough finding them."

"Derek…" She sighed, taking a laboured breath and stepping closer to him, grasping his free hand with hers. "…It doesn't matter where I've been or what I've done. I can tell you that experiencing anything or anywhere, whether I've been there, done that or not, will be a whole other experience with you…... and…"

Her words were cut short as his lips connected with hers. He couldn't help himself. The subtle smile on her lips, the sparkle in her dark eyes and the warmth in her words just made him feel as though there was nothing else to do at that moment.

And he knew he was right as she melted into the kiss and her hands wondered under his jacket and came to rest against the fabric of his shirt at the base of his back.

"See…" She uttered, pulling away just slightly, "…I've never felt like that stood in the middle of London on a cold frosty evening."

"Good. I plan on a lot more firsts…."

His features broadened into a grin, "C'mon, our slot is in five minutes."

They had made straight for the front of the queue, thanks to the special tickets he'd bought earlier and entered the vessel that would be theirs for the next thirty minutes.

As they slowly made their ascent, the glass pod that surrounded them was silent but for the occasional muffled comment from the older couple sat on the opposite side.

Derek and Emily both looked out on to the dark city, littered with an array of different coloured lights, seemingly going on forever and ever into the distance. They knew it was still buzzing with people drinking, laughing, eating, shouting, dancing; yet where they stood was it was all so peaceful, the noise completely buffered out by the thick glass.….

"My god it's beautiful" She uttered in honest amazement.

Her smile widened as she felt his hands snake around her waist and his chest press hard against her back.

"You're beautiful." He whispered as he placed a gently, warm kiss to her neck.

They remained in silence as the pod crawled on its upward journey and they spied all the beautifully lit sights… the bridges, the buildings, the tiny cars creating a long line of ant like lights jittering their way across the city.

They were nearly ten minutes in to the ride when she suddenly swallowed feeling her stomach churn. She let a long, steady breath out in an attempt to subdue the feeling and gripped hold of Morgan's hands, that were lay dormant on her tummy, a little tighter and he responded by pulling her in closer to him... He hadn't noticed though. This was perfect and she didn't want to ruin it.

A couple of minutes later, although she couldn't see it, she knew the colour had drained from her face. She was alternating between holding her breath and almost panting, trying desperately to quell the feeling, but eventually her reflexes kicked in and she gagged.

"What's the matter?" Morgan asked, concerned as she released his grip and held one hand tight over her mouth.

She shook her head quickly, "Nothing. I'll be ok." But she gagged again.

He looked at her, a mix of worry and confusion.

"Emily, you don't look ok. Sit down." He told her, as he guided her to the small bench and sat next to her, keeping grip of one hand.

One half of the older couple, who had sat unassumingly throughout their trip, came over to them, tiptoeing as if trying not to scare them on her approach.

"Are you ok dear?" The white haired woman said with a sweet, caring voice.

"I just feel a bit sick." Emily replied.

The woman smiled knowingly, "How far gone are you?

Emily looked at her with some surprise, "Just ten weeks. How did you know?"

"Us mothers have a sixth sense about these things…"

Morgan raised his brow having assumed it was just something Emily had eaten.

"…Not to mention you looked like you were blooming whilst we waited to board… those rosy cheeks…" She said pointing to where those rosy cheeks once were, "…. and not to mention the way this gentlemen here touches your tummy." She continued with a chuckle.

"That obvious is it?" Emily mumbled with a painful smile in between long breaths, a little embarrassed,

"I thought you were supposed to get morning sickness in the morning." Morgan stated, looking at his watch, "….it's nearly midnight. Are you sure it's not something she ate?"

"Oh no dear, sickness can hit anytime", She told him, sitting the other side of Emily, as she tussled around in her handbag. "Here…." She said offering a packet of mints, "I found peppermint helped when I was pregnant with mine. We've got 20 minutes left yet so you need to try and ride it out."

"I don't know if I'll make it." Emily stuttered, the colour draining further from her cheeks.

The older woman reached round and began rubbing the brunette's back, "Just breathe dear; Long hard breaths... And lean forward just a little." She instructed with a light push on her shoulder.

Emily closed her eyes, as the women's touch soothed her just a little.

The woman glanced over to a bewildered looking Morgan and signalled for him to take over with a reassuring nod and a smile.

"Now concentrate on your breathing and nothing else, ok?" The white haired woman told her.

"Thank you", Emily muttered in between hardened exhales.

"Will this be your first?" The woman asked Morgan, as he continued tenderly rubbing circles with his palm on Emily's back.

"Yeah", He breathed, with a smile full of nerves.

"Scary stuff eh?" The woman's husband said, as he joined them, winking at Morgan.

"Oh don't be silly Harry." She scolded, glancing up to her husband and then back down to Derek and Emily, "They'll be fine…. As long as they have each other."

Emily immediately turned to face Morgan, a look of apology in her eyes and he tried to force a smile back as they both were bought back to their reality with a big crash. The romance of the evening slowly leaving for the distance.

"You're going to make a beautiful looking family." The woman continued pulling them out of the moment.

"Thanks..." Morgan began, "….As long as he or she looks like this one…" He said pulling Emily a little closer to him, "….There's no doubt about it."

The corners of Emily's mouth upturned genuinely and her gaze on him softened until she felt the woman's warm hand rest upon her wrist, "Feeling a little better now?"

"Yes I am. Thank you so much for your help."

The woman smiled and leaned in a little closer, "He's a gem dear", She whispered, nodding towards Morgan, "...I bet it's good having him around."

Emily could only manage a small smile, trying to hide her sadness at those words and without looking back to him, she knew he felt it to as his full lips connected with her forehead, placing a warm, comforting kiss upon her skin.

As the couple walked back to the other side of the pod, Emily just leaned back, nestling into his chest as the sick feeling began to subdue. She held his hands tight to her tummy and took in his touch as much as she could after being reminded so harshly that soon it would be gone again.

She felt his chin rest upon her shoulder and his breath dance upon the skin on her neck, "You feelin ok?" He whispered

"Yeah…." She lied.

~~CM~~

"What you doing?" She asked as Morgan stepped out into the road, his arm in the air.

"Getting a cab to get us home."

"I'd rather walk." She told him.

"Sure…" He agreed, returning to her on the pavement, "…I just thought with you not feeling very well…."

"I think the fresh air will do me good. It's only twenty minutes from here."

"Ok." He said, taking her hand in his once again and beginning the cold, yet refreshing walk back the way they had come.

"What's up?" Emily asked after a few minutes of silence.

She watched as his chest rose, taking a heavy breath.

"Derek?"

He suddenly stopped walking and turned to face her, "I don't want you to be alone." He said abruptly, a pleading tone to his voice.

She looked downward to avert his gaze, "I thought you said we weren't going to talk about this? Your rule, remember?"

"Well what just happened changed that."

"It was nothing. I only felt sick Derek." She nervously chuckled, meeting his stare once again.

"I don't care. I wanna be there for it all." He insisted.

He watched as she shook her head and turned away once again, "I can't…" She uttered.

"Look at me Emily…." He said firmly, wanting to read her eyes as he asked her the next question, "….Is this because of us? Are you not sure about us?"

She did as he said and looked him dead on, "No…" She shook her head firmly, "…Do you really think that after tonight?" She said, and he wasn't sure if there was a hint of anger in her voice.

"So why can't you just come home then? Make this easy."

She scoffed sarcastically, "Easy for who?"

"All of us." He whispered… and she didn't miss his momentary glance down towards her tummy, and the pleading in his darks eyes now staring back at her made the guilt flow through her.

Signalling for him to follow, she sat down on a dark green iron bench and turned her body so she was facing him.

"Listen, I can't just leave Derek. I have some real big operations going on, one in particular, that I can't just abandon."

"So hand them over." He said with a frustrated shrug.

"It would take me nearly as long to get someone up to speed and get them the necessary authorities, than the jobs would take themselves."

With a shake of his head, Derek rolled his eyes, "Is that the only thing? I mean, once they're done, you want to come home?"

She nodded.

"So how long are we talking?"

"A few months."

"A few months…?" He sighed and rubbed his eyes as if pained, "…Ok Em. But I really don't like it."

"Look, it's really early days. I haven't even had my first scan yet. Hopefully by the time I start waddling around and can't touch my feet anymore, I'll be back…. And you can have feet cleaning duty."

He chuckled and scrunched his nose at the same time.

"All part of the deal pal." She smiled.

"Ok. I'll wash your feet, but you really promise you're coming home?"

"I promise."

~~CM~~

Two weeks later and it felt like forever. Derek sat at his desk, his brow furrowed deeper than it had been for a long time; lines dented across his forehead.

He hit redial for the twenty something time that day and cursed under his breath as he heard her voice once again, 'Sorry, can't take your call right now. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you.'

"I have left messages Emily… Ten god damn messages." He spat to himself.

He wouldn't usually be so worried. Usually if she didn't answer, she was in a meeting or in the shower… there could be a whole host of reasons. But today was different. Today, he hadn't gotten his usual morning Facetime with her… He would always get up half an hour earlier than he should just to say good morning. If she was busy, she's drop him a text and call him when she got a break. But today… nothing.

He looked at his watch…. 14:36. She should be home by now….

Redial…..

He breathed a sigh of relief as a click could be heard the other end and a quiet 'Hi', made it's way to him.

"Emily thank god. I've been trying to call you all day."

"Sorry. I was…. Busy."

He paused. Her voice was different. Meek. Not her at all.

"Are you home?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Ok. Log in to Skype."

A few minutes later he smiled as he saw her face appear, but it was short lived as he saw a cold, drawn face looking back at him.

"Where were you? I've been trying to get hold of you all day."

"Work." She answered sheepishly.

He frowned…. She was lying. "No you weren't. I called there when I couldn't get hold of you. Riley said you called in to say you weren't going in today."

Her eyes changed… They widened, "You were checking up on me?"

"No…" He defended, "…. But I didn't hear anything from you this morning and…"

"What? You have to know where I am every second of the day?" She spat.

"Emily, if you hadn't forgotten, you are pregnant with my child and…."

"It doesn't mean I'm suddenly your property, Derek." She interrupted.

He just looked at her, those wounded, searching eyes looking back at her… She couldn't take it so looked down. She grappled with herself, flipping between being angry with him for questioning her moves and being guilty for lying to him.

"Emily?" He muttered, only being able to see her auburn hair falling over her face as she slumped forward. He watched as her chest rose and fell heavily and began to speed up.

"Emily…" He repeated, "…. Please… I was just worried and now you're just making me worry even more…."

"I was at the hospital." She interrupted hastily, looking back up at him, her dark eyes big and sorry.

She saw the look of horror and panic fill his face.

"But everything's ok." She added quickly before he could speak.

"What happened?"

"I was bleeding. But it's alright. There's nothing wrong." She attempted to reassure.

She watched him, waiting for him to say something, but all he did was stare blankly at the screen, his chest rising heavily.

"I'm sorry Derek, I…."

He heard her words break as he stared at the blank spot on the desk in front of him. He wanted to shout at her…. He wanted to shout at her for lying. For not telling him as soon as something was wrong….. But he couldn't; the words were lost.

After he heard nothing else from her for a few seconds, he lifted his head slowly, and right then, at that moment, his heart broke in two. Her head was bowed, her long hair falling forward and framing her face, tears streaming down her cheeks at a rate of knots.

"Emily…" He muttered, reaching out and letting his fingers lightly touch the screen, his breath caught in his throat.

Her shoulders began to judder as she sobbed…..

"Baby, please look at me..." He pleaded.

But she didn't look up, trying in vain to hide her tears. Tears she did not want him to see. Tears that, in her mind, signalled failure... Failure to compose. Failure to hold it together. Failure to hide from him that she was weak. She needed him to believe she was strong enough to cope with this on her own.

"Emily..." He whispered a little more firmly, "... Look at me." He stressed.

She took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes tight and quickly wiped her tears away. As she raised her eyes to stare at him, he jolted seeing a coldness in her. The tears had stopped all of a sudden.

"Emily, everything is ok with the baby right?" He asked.

"You still think I'm lying to you?" Her tone was accusatory and hurt.

She watched him exhale a laboured breath as his shoulders slumped forward.

"Em..." He began in a soft, defeated tone, "... I don't know what to think. You're sat in front of me breaking and you won't talk to me. All I want to do is put my arms around you and hold you and to tell you everything's gonna be ok but…..."

"But you can't..." She interrupted.

"No, you're right, I can't, but if I was there with you, I could go through every second of this with you instead of being here, completely useless."

He stood up abruptly, "…. This fucking sucks!" He growled, the bang from the force of his boot kicking the desk causing her to jump, but he didn't see it. He just placed his hands on his hips and turned away from her, taking in a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself.

But a few seconds later his breaths suddenly stopped to allow himself to hear better….. Her soft voice.

"You're not useless..." She uttered.

"I damn well feel it." He assured, turning back round.

She stared at him. Her moistened eyes boring into him, plucking up the courage to say her next words… "Do you know why I just cried Derek?"

"No..." He said gently, shaking his head, "…. That's what I want you to tell me."

"When I woke up this morning and saw the blood, I froze…." She swallowed hard and then exhaled a long laboured breath before continuing, "…. I was petrified, because I thought exactly what I feared would happen, was happening. I picked up my phone and dialled the only person I wanted to talk to..."

"Who?" He questioned as he sat down, his face creased up in hurt.

"You…" She emphasised, "….. You were the only person I wanted to call, but I cancelled before it connected."

"Why?"

"Because I knew this was exactly how you would feel. I didn't want to panic you for no reason or for you to think I couldn't cope…."

"But..."

"Let me finish..." She held a hand up, "…It's the reason I took a deep breath, got my stuff calmly and took a cab to the hospital without crying..." She began struggling with her words, "….. The same reason, that as I lay on that hospital bed, still bleeding and waiting for the Doctor I didn't cry. I didn't cry as they examined me. I didn't cry as I waited for the results….. I didn't cry even though that's all that I wanted to do… I just waited… I waited until I was sat in front of the one person who I wanted more than anything and that's when I allowed myself to cry and I hate myself for it, because I want to prove to you that I can cope."

He shook his head, "You don't have to prove anything to me. You just have to let me be there."

"I know…" She nodded, her face creasing as the tears began to drip slowly, "….I want you here. You make me feel safe. You always know what to say."

"Apart from today when I've acted like as ass." He scolded himself.

"You didn't act like an ass…." She told him, shaking her head, "…. You acted like a normal human being who was worried. Me on the other hand…" She shrugged, "…. wouldn't know what normal was if it jumped up and bit me on the ass."

He couldn't help but smile gently seeing her childlike frustration as she remonstrated with herself and folded her arms across her waist.

"Emily…" He bargained, "… I'd love to know what normal is, because it sure as hell isn't either of us... Or this situation. But I know I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure we get through this."

She laughed lightly and the same time sniffling, "I believe you."

"Good..." He said gently, "…So what did the Doctor say?"

"That it sometimes happens in pregnancy. Sometimes women bleed. But they checked everything and they said it all looks perfectly normal."

He closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank god."

She smiled and then leant down to her bag, "I do have something for you though."

"You do? What?"

He watched as she slowly lifted what looked like a black, square piece of paper. As she moved it closer, he squinted and leant in, the white lines on it beginning to focus and a split second later, he realised what it was.

"This is your baby Derek…"