Tuesday morning came and it was time to say goodbye. The Rice's hadn't given their daughter any indication of their decision and she was too afraid to ask them. She'd broken down and told them Sunday night that Michael had gotten her a ticket to fly back for the wedding. The look on their faces had been unreadable. She didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

Just after ten in the morning, she stood in the parking lot just outside her dorm. Last night LJ had taken her to say goodbye to his family, so this morning it was only LJ. Her dad finished putting the last bag into the trunk and looked at her for a minute before moving to get into the car. Her mom followed.

Jessica turned back to LJ, her eyes full of tears. Reaching out, LJ brushed the fallen tears from her cheeks. "Hey." He tried to smile. "No tears. We'll see each other again next month."

Giving her best effort she tried to smile. "I know."

They embraced. "I wish your parent's weren't watching. I'd kiss you goodbye properly." He whispered in her ear.

She pulled back a little to see his face, her mouth only centimeters from his. "Kiss me properly." She whispered back.

He searched her eyes for only a second before his lips closed the distance. Taking his time, his tongue swept across her lower lip before she opened to him. Arms drawing her closer their tongues mingled for several minutes before LJ withdrew a little and placed several soft kisses on her lips and cheek while they both caught their breath. "Call me." He said softly.

"Every day." She assured him.

With one last embrace, he reluctantly let her go. She paused briefly before getting into the car to look back at him and then she was gone.

~

Two weeks later – June 8th

Michael sat at his desk going over a new set up blue prints he'd just received. They were from an architect they'd never worked with before and some of his ideas were well…for lack of a better term…interesting. At first glace, Michael had known there would need to be some changes. Some of what the man was wanting just wouldn't work.

The problem was…Michael's mind wasn't on the plans in front of him. They were on Sara. Something was wrong with her. He just couldn't figure out what. Although seemily happy and fairly upbeat, she always seemed to be pushing herself. She was tired. And whenever he would ask her about it, she'd always tell him she was fine. Just so much to do she'd tell him. He didn't understand it. There was a lot to do of course, but he helped her as much as he could and he knew Mary, Katie, Vicki and even Sam had been helping.

She'd went for her final dress fitting this past Saturday so that was one less stress gone. Everything appeared to be in order and flowing rather smoothly. Her shifts at the hospital were back to normal. They no longer had to make the trek to see Ron Keller every other week. What was he missing?

And then there were her eating habits. Some mornings she was ok, but most of the time she either didn't eat anything saying she'd just get something at work or she'd eat dry toast and water. There was no way she'd been fighting a bug for the past two weeks. If it had lasted this long it would have come to a head by now and completely knocked her down for the count. So instead of doing his job, he was contemplating what was the matter with his fiancé.

"Hey." Matt startled him out of his deliberation.

"Oh Hi." Michael said looking up at his friend.

"Those blue prints must be something." He smiled.

"What?" Michael questioned and then he understood. "Oh yea. They are interesting. I think his imagination got away with him."

Matt laughed. "That bad huh." Michael just smiled. "I won't keep you from your fun project, but Vicki just called. I guess she tried to get a hold of Sara but the line was busy and she had to head out. She wanted to remind Sara about her doctor's appointment tomorrow morning so not to pick her up until eleven. She's sure she'll be back by then." Matt just shook his head and smiled. "Would you pass along the message?" He was so clearly overjoyed with the prospect of becoming a father.

"Sure" Michael smiled back. "I'll remind her."

"Thanks." Smile still firmly in place Matt made his way back over to his desk.

Michael tried to turn his attention back to the "creative drawings" staring him in the face. He was looking at the northwest corner of the second floor. His eyes lingered on a small space designated for the women's bathroom. There was an alcove there dedicated to provide a baby changing area. Suddenly Michael stood, his chair scraping loudly against the floor, and grabbed his jacket.

"Michael?" Matt's voice came from only a few yards away although it sounded much farther. "Everything ok?"

Sparing a brief glance at his friend he managed to nod before making his way out of the room, the building and out onto the street.

~

He thought about the last few hours. After leaving work so abruptly he'd walked aimlessly around the streets for about an hour before the thought occurred to him that he should call his boss. All he'd told John was that something had come up and he needed to take the day off. It'd taken a little work to convince John that everything was ok, but finally he managed to accomplish it.

Eventually, he'd gotten in a cab and gone to the cemetery to sit by his mother's grave. He wasn't sure why exactly, but he needed some time to himself and it seemed like a good place at the time. Finding a bench nearby, he'd ran through everything in his mind over and over again and he kept coming to the same conclusion. Sara was pregnant.

But then the question became, why hadn't she told him. He knew this wasn't something they'd planed, well at least not yet but… And that's where he kept running into a wall. Was she afraid to tell him? But that didn't make sense to him either. Sara had never been afraid of him. Angry, unsure yes but never afraid at least he'd never gotten that impression. No. He was sure she wasn't afraid of him. But what then?

Finally he'd given up and decided to head home. Since pregnancy wasn't something he was particularly an expert at, he decided before he totally went insane he should do some research. Which is why he now found himself sitting in the living room in front of the computer. As he scrolled through the pages and pages on pregnancy and the first signs, he became more and more convinced of his initial conclusion, which brought him back to the exact same question. If Sara was pregnant, why wouldn't she tell him?

Hearing a key in the door, he clicked out of his current search engine and closed everything down. Sara came through the door, smiling as soon as she saw him. He smiled back but didn't move. Instead he looked at her trying to find any physical hint of what he was now almost positive about. Of course he knew there would be no physical signs at this point, but for some reason he couldn't stop himself.

Sara noticed his stillness and walked across the room to where he was sitting at the desk. Resting her hands on his shoulders, she bent down to press her lips against his. His hands came up to bracket her hips and he opened his legs to pull her closer. She let her mouth linger before pulling back a little to see his face. "Everything ok?" she asked.

"Of course." Michael smiled, although it didn't reach his eyes. Seeing she was about to question him, "How are you feeling?"

Dropping her hands, she stepped out of his embrace. "Not bad. Hungry though."

Usually he had dinner ready by the time she got home but he'd been so absorbed in his research he hadn't gotten around to that. "Me too. What are you in the mood for?"

She thought about it for a second, "Mexican I think."

Michael stood and went into the kitchen. Going through the stack of menus they'd acquired, he found the one for their favorite Mexican restaurant. "Your usual?" he asked.

"Yes please." Sara said as she walked into the kitchen herself. Continuing to stand in the doorway, she watched him order their food. Something was bothering him, she could tell but she had no idea what. The difference in his behavior was subtle but it was there.

Michael hung up the phone and headed towards her. "Looks like I've got to go pick it up tonight or we'll be waiting until almost nine to eat." He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her open lips. "I'll be back." He said and then he was gone.

Sara stood motionless as she watched him leave. What was going on with him?

~

It was almost midnight as Michael lay in bed and listened to her sleep. Her head rested on his bare chest and he could feel each breath she took. After dinner, they'd talked a little but he'd been reluctant to bring up the one question that was at the forefront of his mind. Instead, he'd let her talk about her day and a patient named Mr. Johnson who'd taken quite a shine to her.

When they'd crawled into bed that night, she reached for him but he'd held back, and he never held back. He could see the question in her eyes but she didn't voice it. Instead he drew her into his arms and she rested her head on his shoulder. He knew she hadn't fallen asleep right away. She was waiting for him to talk.

Instead of talking, however, he gently ran his hand along her curves. His touch was comforting, not arousing. It was after eleven before she finally drifted off to sleep. Once he heard her breathing become slow and deep with sleep he found his caresses becoming more searching, as if looking for some physical sign again to confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was right. And although he hadn't found it in her physical features, he had ultimately found what he'd been searching for.

He realized her menstrual cycles were the key and had searched his mind for her last one. It hadn't been hard really. Although they didn't make love every night, it was pretty close. The only exception to that was during her time of the month. Now that he was thinking clearly, he was sure. It had been fifty-three days since her last period and Sara was like clock work.

She was pregnant.

He was still boggled by why she hadn't told him but the next question was; how did he feel about that. He glanced down at the sleeping woman on his chest and ran his fingers through her hair. The thought of being a father scared him on some level. Ok, on many levels. What if he got it wrong? What if he wasn't any good at it?

But…the love he had for Sara flowed through every cell in his body and the thought of having a miniature version of her running around…it thrilled him to the very core of his being. Brushing his lips across her hair, he made a promise to himself. He would be the best father he could be. No matter what, he would love the child he and Sara had created with everything he had.

Sara stirred in her sleep and pulled herself up with dreary eyes. "Your still awake?"

Michael smiled down with all the happiness he now felt. Bringing his hand up to cup her cheek, he leaned in and reverently kissed her soft lips. When Sara's eyes opened again, they were questioning again. "I love you." He whispered against her now moist lips.

After another moment, she closed the distance separating them and brought their lips together once more. This time around Michael didn't hold back. He was no longer searching for some elusive answer. He knew what was in his heart and all he wanted to do at that moment was show this beautiful woman how much he loved her.