I'm so so so so so so so so so so so sorry about the long wait… I just started school along with volley ball and field hockey and one of my brothers left for college and everything's just been sooooo crazy. But I do have a bunch of chapters done (not in order, though…) I've got chapters 30, 31 and 32 done, or something like that… Hahahaa. I'm going to try and upload another chapter tonight if I can edit it before I go to bed. :-)

Anyway: I know Kate's birthday is October 5th and Leo's is November 11th, but according to astrology (which I'm a big believer in), I believe that Kate's Libra date fits Jack better and Leo's Scorpio would best fit Rose.

This is kinda long, but just a happy, mostly lighthearted chapter… Maybe a bit cliché, but, ya know, it had to happen.

And by the way, it's kinda M, but not really…

~Jillianna

Disclaimer on Chapter One.

The weeks following the incident with Cal had been tense to say the least. Even though Cal had survived the initial bullet wound, it was doubted he'd make a full recovery, something Jack had sneered at and silently congratulated Rose for. Jack and Rose knew the nightmare was over completely when Cal's attorney showed up at their doorstep and informed them that charges would not be pressed.

They had celebrated that night, and with Cal transported to a rehabilitation center back on the East Coast, they felt safer than ever. Before they knew it, October and November passed, along with Jack's October 5th birthday and Rose's November 11th date. December soon rolled around and before either of them knew it, Jack was off of work for Christmas Break.

"Jack?" Rose called softly. She was sitting in front of the picture window in the parlor, slowly sipping the tea that Jack had made for her. "Yeah?" he called, poking his head in the room. She smiled at the sight of him. There was flour on his forehead and he was no-doubt wearing Rose's apron. "Could you come here?" she asked. "Mhmm," he quickly removed the apron, wiping his hands in the process, before coming into the room and hopping over the back of the couch to sit next to Rose.

"Am I getting fat?" she asked suddenly and Jack frowned at her. "What? No, baby, you're not getting fat and you never will." Truth was, Jack wouldn't have known as he hadn't seen her naked in almost a month now, something that was slowly but surely driving him mad. Rose smiled to herself. "That's too bad…" she whispered, just loud enough for Jack to hear. "What was that?" he asked, leaning closer to look at her. Something was up.

She shook her head, dismissing the thought before turning her body to sit on her knees and face Jack. "Okay, here's the deal. I know it's only Christmas Eve, and I was planning on keeping the surprise until Christmas, but… Just close your eyes okay?" Jack smiled goofily and kissed her lips gently. "You're acting really weird, baby. I don't know what you're up to." "You're about to find out," she whispered as he gently closed his eyes.

Taking his hand by the wrist, she led it to her stomach, which she had exposed by pulling her skirt down and her blouse up, and left his hand there for a few moments. Jack frowned as something moved in his grasp. "What is it?" he asked, confused. "Can I look?" "No!" Rose giggled, taking her other hand and placing it over his eyes so he didn't peek. "You've got to guess, first." Jack sighed dramatically, pretending to be annoyed.

"A water balloon?" he asked, and Roes giggled out a "no." Jack licked his lips. "I dunno… a goldfish?" "Nope." Jack's mouth scrunched up to the side as something rippled under his hand again. "A waterbed?" Rose couldn't help but laugh out loud as she removed her hand from Jack's eyes. He opened them instantly and frowned at what he saw. "I don't get it…" he started to say, but stopped in mid-sentence, his eyes growing wide. "You're…? Really…?" Rose nodded, the grin spreading like a wildfire across her face.

Jack whooped happily and stood up, pulling her into an embrace. "Mrs. Rose Dawson!" he sang, twirling her around before pulling her close. "You've just made me the happiest man on the face of the Earth!" Rose giggled, leaning her head on his chest and looking up at him as he led her in his own dance, humming the words to a song only he knew the tune to.

"I found out a few days ago. I was going to tell you tomorrow, but right now seemed like the perfect time. I didn't know how else to tell you." Jack grinned down at her. "You could've just said 'Jack! I'm pregnant!' but I liked your spin on things better." Rose giggled and he captured her lips in a passionate kiss. "Do I really feel like a goldfish?" she asked when he finally pulled away after several long seconds. "No, baby, you feel like a beautiful woman should feel," he assured her, spinning her around again before they both fell back onto the couch.

"How far along are you?" he asked, reaching out to feel her stomach again. "I thought we were pretty careful the last few months," he added, hoping not to give her the wrong idea about his feelings towards their unexpected pregnancy. Rose put her hand over his. "Four months today. I went back in the calendar three days ago after I found out. It turns out that a certain Mr. Dawson caused a certain Mrs. Dawson to miss a sunrise, sixteen weeks ago."

Jack laughed out loud. "We discussed this over lunch, that day, didn't we… Who knew you were already pregnant?" They shared a laugh for a moment and then settled into a slightly uncomfortable silence. The baby kicked and Jack smiled. "Jack?" Rose asked, her voice small as she took Jack's hand off of her stomach, curling her hand into a fist and placing it into his palm. He closed his fingers around it gently and looked into her eyes.

"You… You want this baby, don't you?" An almost sad look overtook his blue eyes and Rose felt a lump rise in her throat, fearing his answer. "Oh, honey, you've made me the happiest man alive with this news. I'll have you all to myself for the next five months and then we can both have a baby to take care of when we get too bored of each other," he teased, remembering how he told her he didn't want to share her just yet. 'Just yet' seemed to be coming sooner than either of them could have imagined, but neither of them minded.

Rose smiled and Jack leaned in to kiss her forehead, leaving a trail of kisses down the bridge of her nose, stopping briefly at her lips, moving to her jaw line… "Jack?" she whispered again, pulling away slightly and putting her palms on his chest to stop him from making any sudden moves. "Hm?" he asked, clearly distracted as he stared hungrily at her lips. His chest was already heaving and she could see his cheeks reddening. "Do you want your other present now or tomorrow?" Jack swallowed hard, glancing into her eyes before looking down at her lips again.

"I won't hurt the baby, will I?" he asked lovingly, frowning slightly as he ignored her question. Rose smiled mischievously. "No, but she might kick you." Jack broke into a grin and leaned more heavily against her hands, causing her elbows to bend against his weight as he forced himself closer and closer. "That's okay," he whispered as Rose moved her hands to around his neck pulling him closer.

"Wait," he said huskily, backing up off of her. Rose gave him a questioning look as she sat up, watching him lay back on the length of the couch. "You go on top. I don't wanna crush the baby." Rose felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she straddled him, already being able to feel his eagerness against her thigh. He moaned as her lips met his throat and he grabbed her waist and gently pulled her down to lay on top of him.

His mouth found her neck and he gently tugged on her collar, moving the shirt down to expose her shoulder which he enthusiastically began kissing. She smiled when she felt one of his hands slide around to her back while the other slowly crept up towards her breast, and couldn't control her hands as they found their way to his pants. Slowly and tantalizingly, she undid the top button and he moaned again, his eyelids fluttering. They were both enjoying themselves, until a loud blaring interrupted their actions.

Rose jumped up off of Jack, startled, and he sat up, grabbing her and holding her tightly, all previous intentions either of them had instantly forgotten. "Jack!" Rose called over the loud racket. "What's happening?" Confused, they sat listening to the noise, until Jack realized what it was. "Shit!" he shouted, jumping to his feet and nearly throwing Rose off of the couch. He ran into the kitchen, leaving the door open, and Rose saw all of the black smoke pouring out of the room.

Eyes wide, she got up to follow him. She was almost to the door when Jack emerged from the smoke, holding a flaming pot of what Rose imagined was supposed to be dinner. He looked around frantically before his eyes fell on the bathroom door, which he ran to, kicking it open. Rose jumped as she heard the pot clang into the bathtub and listened to the water being turned on. She finally followed him and stood next to the bathroom door, trying to stay away from the smoke that was now spilling out of the bathroom.

After several long seconds, Jack finally came out of the bathroom, covered in black soot and sweating. Rose looked him up and down and couldn't help but laugh at him. She doubled over, grabbing her stomach as her shoulders shook. She heard Jack snort and glanced up for an instant. "What?" he shouted over the still blaring alarm. "You think this is funny?" Rose nodded, unable to speak through her laughter.

"Well, is this funny?" he asked, grabbing her by the waist and hoisting her upright, wiping the soot off of his forehead and swiping it onto her nose. She giggled even more and tried to squirm out of his grasp, but he held her more tightly, smearing more dirt on her. "Were you trying to burn the house down?" she asked when she had finally escaped for Jack's clutches and the alarm had suddenly silenced. She stood at a safe distance, her arms up in defense as she wiped her cheek on her shoulder.

"I guess it didn't work," Jack shrugged, moving closer to her. "I'll have to try Plan B," he teased, wiping a smudge of dirt off of her chin. "How about I clean out the bath and you, me and Baby Dawson get cleaned up?" Rose smiled, tilting her head up for a kiss. "I thought you'd never ask," she whispered.

Yeah… just a cute little chapter.

I'll post the next one as soon as I finish it. :-)