Chapter 4

An hour later Lexi and Roman walked out of Hunter and Stephanie's office. Lexi slid her hand into his. "That went much better than expected."

Roman grinned. "I haven't known Stephanie all that long, but I can't remember ever seeing her so excited."

"Yeah, well I've known her for what seems like forever and I can tell you it's been a long time since she reacted like that to anything." Lexi smiled at the memory of the always calm and sophisticated Stephanie leaping out of her chair on a squeal of delight, then wrapping Lexi in a hug. The last time she could recall Stephanie so excited was when Stephanie had been pregnant with her and Hunter's third child. That thought brought a quick frown to Lexi's lips and Roman immediately pulled her to a stop. His brown knit. "What?"

Lexi shook her head. "I just remembered something. It's no big deal."

"It is if it caused you to frown like that. Now what?"

Lexi sighed as she looked up at Roman. The man didn't miss a thing. "I was just thinking about the last time I'd seen Stephanie that excited was when she was pregnant with Vaughn and I had told her I was pregnant. She'd squealed just like that, then started talking about how awesome it was going to be that our babies would grow up together."

A new wave of emotion washed through Lexi and she closed her eyes as she struggled to steady herself. "Our due dates were around the same time." She shook her head, but kept her eyes closed. "I didn't deal well when she gave birth to Vaughn. I mean I was definitely happy for her, but…" she let her sentence trail off.

"Open your eyes, baby," Roman whispered.

Lexi opened her eyes and felt Roman use his thumb to wipe away her tears. When had she started crying? "It's not going to happen again," he whispered.

A sudden lump formed in her throat and she could only nod in response as worry slowly consumed her yet again. Despite her best efforts to stifle them, the tears came faster and she sucked in a shuddering breath.

"Hey." He gathered her against him, held her. "It's okay. If you need to cry then go ahead and let it out, baby. I got you." She felt his hand stroking through her hair and knowing he did have her, let the fear and pain come.

Twenty minutes later she sat inside what would serve as The Shield's locker room for the night and struggled with how she was going to break the news to her father. He'd been reserved the last time, telling her he hoped she knew was she was doing. Then after the accident he'd all but wrapped her in a protective bubble to keep everyone out.

This time would be different, she told herself as her fingers hovered over the keys on her phone. He liked Roman, a lot. Hell, he'd given Roman his blessing even before Roman had proposed to her. This time her father would be excited to hear the news.

The door flinging open caused Lexi to jump and she looked up in time to see Nattie and Amber come bustling in. "Lexi, what the hell is going on?" Natalya asked as she stopped in front of where Lexi sat. "We just heard from Stephanie that instead of me and Jojo wrestling you and Amber tonight we're taking on Aksana and Alicia."

"Why did Stephanie cut us?" Amber asked.

"I can't wrestle," Lexi replied, then closed the text message without sending, opened her video app and pulled up the video Doctor Amman provided.

"Why" Nattie asked. "Did you get injured or something?"

"No. Not exactly." Lexi turned the screen to face the women. "This is why I can't wrestle."

She watched as confusion struck first, then eventually a dawning awareness that had Natalya shouting with delight. "Oh my God! Lexi!" She clapped her hands together "Is that what I think it is?"

Lexi grinned as Nattie took the phone from her to get a better look.

Amber's eyes widened and she looked from the screen to Lexi and back. "You're pregnant?"

"I am," Lexi replied as she stood and was immediately enveloped in hugs from the girls.

"Oh this is so awesome," Amber said, "Does Roman know?"

"Yes," Lexi actually giggled. "Roman knows and is thrilled. So does Seth and Dean."

Amber's grin immediately turned into a pout. "Oh poo. I was hoping to tell them. I just love sharing good news."

"You can tell everyone else if you want," Lexi offered. "Most of the roster doesn't know yet."

Amber's grin returned. "I'll remedy that straight away." She gave Lexi a hug, turned to go, then stopped. "That is if you're sure you're okay with me blabbing," she clarified.

Lexi's grin widened and she waved a hand at Amber. "Go. Have fun spreading the news. I don't mind."

Amber returned Lexi's smile, then disappeared out the door.

Nattie laughed. "Ten to one says the entire roster knows within twenty minutes."

Lexi returned to her seat on the bench. "That's okay. Makes it easier on me, since I won't have to repeat myself a couple dozen times."

Nattie took the seat next to her and toyed with Lexi's phone. "You are happy about this, right?"

Lexi turned her head and cocked a brow at her cousin. "I love Roman so much sometimes it frightens me. You have no idea how excited I am to know I'm carrying his child."

Nattie narrowed her gaze. "You don't look excited. Actually, you look scared shitless."

Lexi sighed. "I am. After the accident, doctor's said I had a ton of scar tissue in my uterus and that I wouldn't be able to get pregnant. Just because I am now, doesn't mean that were completely wrong."

"And you're afraid something bad will happen," Nattie added.

Lexi nodded. "Doctor Amman said my pregnancy looks strong right now. I'm already almost through my first trimester, but I'm not going to feel completely comfortable about all this until I see an OBGYN and get a more indepth assessment.

"When are you going to do that?"

Lexi shrugged. "Roman's sister is a nurse for an OBGYN that works with high risk pregnancies. He's talked to her and she'd going to see when she can get me an appointment. In the meantime, I'm just trying not to dwell on the past and-" she pointed to the phone. "Figure out a way to tell my dad."

"Uncle Bret doesn't know yet?" Nattie grinned like a cheshire cat.

Lexi narrowed her eyes. "I know that mischievous look. Just what are you thinking."

"Just this," Nattie said as she brought up the video. She hit the forward icon, then typed Are you ready to trade in the nickname Hitman for Grandpa? Nattie hit send before Lexi could stop her.

Her grin widened "Let's see how long it takes for Uncle Bret to call."