I'm sorry." The words echoed in her head as she sat on the exam table. Two little words that in any other context might have made her feel better — comforted…even loved….but not when the words came after a night that meant so much. It was the look in his eyes when he said it—that look of shameful regret, as if he'd somehow taken advantage of her. Kelly covered her face with her hands, trying to shake the mental images.

Six weeks ago, almost to the date, she'd ended up in a place she'd dreamed of being many times, back in Joey's arms. True, together they'd polished off nearly two bottles of wine, but they were still together, and for a moment, it was as if nothing had changed. She willed herself to believe that it wasn't the alcohol that led him to kiss her, and in truth, she didn't believe he would have needed the extra incentive. Aubrey's betrayal had left him looking for comfort, and she was always his soft place to fall. She wanted to be there for him—to help him, and for the first time in years, he'd opened up to her. He told her how he felt, how much he needed her, how much he'd missed her.

The next morning, she woke up next to him. It felt like the most natural thing in the world, as if she'd been away for so long and finally come home. Looking over at his face, her happiness waned.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I had no right to do this to you. I had too much to drink and I came here and dumped all of my problems…all my stuff on you. I took advantage of the fact that you still…." He allowed his voice to trail off as he ran his fingers through his hair.

Her heart broke. Hearing him apologize to her, to seemingly brush off the night as nothing more than a familiar comfort nearly crushed her. Summoning all her courage, she stood and wrapped the sheet around her, "It's fine," she said, fighting back tears, "You needed someone and I was here…that's all that matters."

After she'd dressed, she hurriedly headed to the door. Looking behind her, he looked as if he wanted to say something more, but he didn't. She left without looking back a second time—fearful that another look might propel her back into his arms.

She knew she'd remember that night forever, she just didn't expect such a tangible reminder. Kelly slid her hand over her still flat stomach. She had to tell him—he deserved to know.

Part 2

She took a deep breath and clutched her purse close to her. It was too early for morning sickness, she reasoned, so this must just be nerves—pure and simple. It was silly really, being nervous about talking to Joey. She'd talked to him a million times—about a million things. They'd told each other their deepest, darkest secrets. They'd shared stories together, made memories, even pulled each other through some of the dark times, but as she stood here now, she felt completely and totally alone. She knocked on the door quickly, afraid that any further hesitation would give her a chance to leave.

Joey's face at the door surprised her.

"Joey," she said, her breath catching in her throat. "It's you."

"I do live here," he said, smiling slightly. "You were expecting someone else?"

"No..No." She laughed, trying to recover. Nigel was supposed to be here first. He was supposed to be her buffer. "Of course I expected to see you. I came here to see you. Can I come in?"

Joey looked at her. He'd seen this look many times…and it was very rarely a good thing. "Sure." He stepped back and allowed her to walk inside. As he studied her more intently, she seemed different. It wasn't just about her being nervous.

She seemed sad. "Hey," he said, softly as he followed her to the sofa. "Is something wrong, Kelly?"

"I need to talk to you." She could feel her hands begin to shake as she mentally chided herself for being so stupid. Joey was too good of a guy to be difficult about that, but that was part of the problem. She loved him and she desperately wanted him to love her too, but the last thing she wanted was his pity or his obligation. "It's about the other night….the night we were together."

The look returned. The same look she'd seen in his eyes before he'd said those words…the words that made her feel sick inside. The tears began to fall before she could stop them.

Before she could stop him, he was on his feet, retrieving a tissue for her. His hand was on her shoulder as he softly whispered to her. "It's ok, Kel. I know. We should have talked about this before now. This is my fault. It was stupid to think we could just act like it didn't happen."

Kelly looked up at him…waiting on him to continue. He'd thought about it, too? He'd considered bringing it up again? It meant enough to him to consider a discussion—maybe it meant more than she thought.

"What I did," he began, "What I did to you…was….it was wrong," he said, lowering his eyes. "You have always been such a good friend to me and for me to come in and use our friendship…"

"Stop. Just stop." Kelly stood up, walking away from the sofa and turning her back to him.

"You have every right to be upset," he continued. "I took advantage of the situation. I used our history and our friendship to create a situation that shouldn't have happened. It was a mistake…it was my mistake and I'm sorry."

Kelly whirled around, her eyes shone with tears and fury. "You're sorry?" Her voice quivered with anger. "You're sorry? You know what Joey…I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that I came here. I'm sorry that I thought that we could…."

Joey stood up and walked over to her, surprised by her sudden outburst and concerned by her anger. "We could what?"

"Nothing," she said, grabbing her keys from the table. "I can't….I can't do this…." She ran towards the door with Joey close behind her.

"Kelly, wait!" He watched as she quickly slammed the car door and sped from the drive. Sighing he closed the door behind him and walked back into the room. Her purse lay on the sofa, where she'd left it in her rush to leave. Its contents were spilling out over the edge. As he carefully placed them back inside, a bottle caught his eye.

Turning the bottle around in his hand, he read the label. These were Kelly's, but they were new…still sealed. And the physician on record was….a name he recognized. This was the doctor his sister had seen when she was…

Joey felt his heartbeat faster. That's why she'd come. That's what she was here to tell him. He had to find her…he had to find them both.

Part 3

He leaned down against the steering wheel, allowing his head to rest there for a moment. Dorian had no reason to lie to him. Kelly wasn't home. She wasn't at her office. He'd driven by the parks, checked her favorite restaurants, and called her cell phone constantly.

He slowly got out of the car and walked into the Palace. This was the only other place he knew to check. The only place he could think of that Kelly would come. As he opened the access door that led to the roof, she turned to look at him.

Joey held out her purse. "You left this." He waiting until she reached to take it.

"Thanks," she said softly. "You can go."

"And these," he said, reaching into his pocket and taking out the bottle. "Before you say anything….I wasn't looking through your things. These had fallen out of your purse and I was just putting the back in. I recognized the doctor's name." He paused to look at Kelly—closing the distance between them. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Kelly felt fresh tears falling from her eyes. They stung her eyes which were raw from the morning she'd endured. "I…I was going to tell you."

Joey nodded. "I know. Are you? I mean…Is everything ok?" He knew things hadn't been easy for Kelly with her previous pregnancies and it scared him to death to think this might be putting her at risk.

She shook her head, still unable to look him in the eyes. "I have to go back in two weeks for more blood work, but right now…everything looks fine." She forced herself to look at him. "I'm not expecting you to do anything, Joey. I'm not asking you for anything."

Joey looked at her, stunned at her words. "Kelly. Why would you say that?"

"You made it pretty clear how you feel….about that night..about what it was."

Joey reached for her hand…"No," he said, shaking his head, and looking at her. "Kelly, listen. I do feel bad about that night, but not because it happened…because of the way it happened."

Kelly could feel herself begin to shake again. "Joey..I can't. Please don't."

"Hear me out," he said softly, reaching to place his jacket around her shoulders. "I should have never come over there that night. I was so angry at Aubrey and I'd already been drinking. I knew I wasn't in a good place, but I needed you. I wanted you to fix it. I should have never let things happen like they did."

"Joey, I can't listen to you go on and on about how that night shouldn't have happened," she said tearfully, "It hurts too much. It may not have meant much to you, but it meant a lot to me."

"No…see, you don't understand. That's why I feel so bad. The way it happened….it made it seem like you were just a shoulder to cry on…and you're so much more than that. You mean so much more than that. You are so much more than that to me."

Kelly didn't speak for a moment. She blinked to clear the tears from her eyes. "What?" she managed.

"I never want you to feel like I'm using you or that you're not the only thing I'm thinking about. I'm sorry that we were together that night…not because it didn't mean anything, but because you mean too much to me for it to have happened the way it did. It should have been special." He looked at her. "But, I guess it was special…more special than either of us realized."

"So, you don't regret it…that night? I mean..the fact that we were together?"

Joey smiled at her, touching her face. "I regret the fact that you thought it was less than it was. I regret the fact that I didn't make you feel as special and as loved as you are…but most of all, I regret the fact that we've lost more time. I don't want to lose any more. This baby…this baby isn't a mistake…it isn't bad timing…and it is certainly not something I regret."

Kelly smiled through her tears. "I don't think that either."

"This baby is our chance to build a life together. Now come on," he gently brushed the tears off her face, "I don't want to make you cry anymore. Let me make all this up to you. Let me make you happy. "

She smiled and threw her arms around him as he held her close. "You already have," she whispered.

The End