"Pregnant," he repeated.
"Yes."
He put a hand to his head and looked away from me.
"You're pregnant."
"Yes, Leo. I took the test three times," I said. I was getting a little annoyed. Why couldn't he get it through his head?
He took a deep breath and looked at me.
"How can you be pregnant?!"
I gave him the most annoyed face I could muster.
"I mean, I know how you can be pregnant," he sighed. "I meant, we were careful. Every time."
"That doesn't always work," I muttered.
"I know, I know!" he said angrily.
"Well, how do you think I feel?!" I said loudly.
The anger washed from his face, leaving a guilty look behind.
He stepped forward and hugged me. He softly kissed my forehead.
"I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry. This isn't a bad thing," he whispered. "This is a great thing."
"How?" I whispered in tears. "We are barely making it by as it is."
"We'll work this out," he whispered back. "I promise. This baby will be loved, and cared for, and provided for. No matter what."
He hugged me again. I rested my head on his chest.
"Leo, what are we gonna do?" I cried softly.
He took a deep breath and kissed my forehead.
"We're gonna go home. I can call to check up on James."
"Good," I whispered with a small nod.
I felt safe while he held me. He kept his arm tightly around me as we walked out.
******************
"Feels good to be home," he whispered to me with a smile as we walked inside.
I slipped my arms around him and laid my head on his chest.
"I love you."
"I love you more, Cherry," he said.
Paige walked in.
"Leo? You came home!" she said, racing over to hug him.
"We missed you," I said to him.
He said nothing and kissed my forehead.
"Should we tell her now?" I asked anxiously.
"Its your news, you can if you want," he smiled.
"Tell me what?" she demanded.
I smiled.
"Nope! I don't wanna tell her!"
"UGH! You so can't do that!" she complained.
"Calm down, I'm kidding!" I laughed.
"So, what's the news?" she asked as we sat down in the living room. Leo and I cuddled together on the loveseat while Paige sat in the recliner.
I looked up at Leo.
"Leo and I are going to have a baby," I blurted out with an extreme amount of happiness bubbling inside me.
"Oh my God! Seriously?!" she screamed.
"Seriously," Leo laughed.
"Oh my God! Oh my God! This is so awesome!" she said excitedly, walking quickly from one end of the living room to the other. "Are we going to move? What will you name her? Or him? What if we got a cute little house-"
She stopped her excited rant right there and looked at us.
"I can still live with you, right?"
I sat up and gave her a confused look.
"Why wouldn't you be able to, sweetie?" I asked.
"Well, babies aren't cheap. And maybe my room would become the nursery," she said quietly.
I stood up and took her hands in mine.
"Listen, nothing and nobody is ever going to change you living with me. Got it?"
She nodded with a smile. "Got it."
I looked in her eyes. "I mean it. You and me."
I hugged her.
"But, you did raise a good question. We probably will move. Maybe not soon, because right now my job is barely paying for this place," I said.
Leo stood up and put his arm around me. "But I'm going to get another job," he said, giving my shoulder a squeeze.
I smiled up at him.
"Well, for now, we're here. Paige, I need you to clean up your room, because Prue and Phoebe are going to come over to hear the news. And you can't tell them I told you first," I added with a wink.
"Okay!" she said excitedly, running to her room.
Leo and I laughed. I looked up and caught his eye. His laughter stopped, but his smile remained.
"This is our baby," he whispered, taking my hand in his and placing it on my stomach.
"Our baby," I repeated. I felt a smile rise on my face.
He kissed my cheek.
"Piper, I know this isn't what you wanted," he said softly, with a hint of sadness in his voice, "but..."
"No," I placed a finger over his mouth. "I didn't mean that stuff. This is better than what I wanted."
"Really?" he asked.
"Really. This is more than anything I could ever want."
I leaned up and kissed him rather passionately. The kind of kiss that could lead to other things.
****************
Prue and Phoebe were coming on Friday, three days away. I sat down that night to watch some tv.
Riiiiiiiing!
"Ugh," I grunted as I reached for the phone. "Hello?" I answered.
"Piper? This is your father."
"Dad?" I choked out as Leo walked in. Why was he calling? Why now? My heart raced.
I put up a finger, telling Leo to hang on.
"Piper, whatever issues we have, we need to set those aside. Your mother was found dead this morning."
My racing heart stopped altogether. My breath had vanished.
"What?!" I tried to scream, but nothing came out.
The room began to spin. It was too much.
"No," I whispered.
"Piper?"
"What is it?" Leo asked.
"Oh my god," I cried.
Leo took the phone, wrapped his free arm around me, and I cried on his chest.
"Who is this?" Leo said into the phone. "This is Leo...She's very upset...What?...Oh my God...How?...Okay....Alright."
Click!
"Baby, it's gonna be okay," he whispered. "It's gonna be alright," he rocked me back and forth.
I cried, and cried hard, into his chest for several minutes. He kissed my forehead and held me close and kept whispering "It'll be okay...Shhh."
Finally, I caught my breath and tried to stop the tears from falling. I couldn't. I breathed shakily as Leo sat on the couch and pulled me onto his lap.
"How did it happen?" I finally choked out.
"Alcohol poisoning," he whispered, wiping away some of my tears.
"Figures," I whispered. I opened my mouth, but just began crying again.
"How can she be gone?" I sobbed.
How could this be the happiest, and yet saddest day of my life?
