Discovery

Karen sighed as she stretched out from sleep. Turning over she smiled when she noticed Carlton's blue eyes were watching her, "What time is it?" She asked as she gave him a small kiss.

Pulling away slowly he smiled, "It's only six."

"Hmm… and you didn't wake me earlier?"

"No, I thought I'd let you sleep, you never can tell when you'll get a call of importance."

She laughed, "Exactly why you wake me up earlier."

"It's only been thirty minutes."

"You've been lying there watching me for half an hour?" Karen asked as she pushed the covers back to stand up.

"I enjoy watching you sleep," Lassiter stopped her from getting up by grabbing gentle hold of her arm. Drawing her to him he pressed his lips to hers.

Pulling away a short distance she spoke, "You do, do you?" Then kissed him again.

"Most definitely," he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around waist.

"Hmmm… good to know," she smiled as she kissed him again, "You did bring the suitcase of clothes I told you to bring again right? I would hate for you to have to wear the same suit twice in a row."

"Of course I brought it, along with my toothbrush, and my aftershave."

"Hmmm, wonderful." She smiled sexually and kissed him again, "Now let me go so I can get dressed before Iris wakes up."

"When does she usually get up?"

"Between seven and seven thirty. I promised her pancakes and bacon."

"Sounds delicious."

"It will be if you let me start making it."

Carlton sighed before planting another kiss on her pink lips and letting her go. She smiled and laughed as she stood from the bed, "Don't worry Detective, I'm not going far,"

Kicking his legs over the bed he moved to her and wrapped his arms around her, "How about we go to the shower together?"

Leaning her head back they kissed yet again, "Sounds good to me," she smiled as she pushed his arms from around her waist and grabbed hold of his hands, leading him to the bathroom.

Karen smiled as Lassiter hugged her from behind and kissed her neck, rocking slightly from side to side. Her smile suddenly turned sour as a sick feeling claimed her stomach. Thank God Lassiter was behind her and couldn't see her face, cause she wouldn't know what to say… she felt a burning in her throat and swallowed hard to keep what was left of her dinner from the night before down, "Be careful, I've got hot bacon in the pan. I'd prefer not to have to treat any burn wounds." She said brightly, trying not to let him catch on that something was wrong.

Lassiter let go and laughed lightly, "All right, no hugging while cooking bacon."

"Could you go see what Iris would like to drink with her breakfast?"

"Sure," he kissed her neck again, "no problem."

"Thanks," she smiled after him until he was out of sight then quickly plucked the bacon from the pan, threw in a few more and made a speedy escape to the downstairs bathroom as another wave of sickness overcame her.

Dropping to her knees she found her stomach contents speeding up her throat and spilling from her mouth. After two massive heaves she felt better, flushed the toilet and leaned back against the edge of the bathtub. Closing her eyes she exhaled heavily and groaned…

God… it's like when I was preg… no… I can't be… there's no way… Karen counted back the days since her last period, suddenly realizing that she couldn't remember off the top of her head the last time she'd menstruated… Oh, God… oh dear God… I can't… there's… I can't be… there's no way… we were careful, I'm on the pill, and we used protection… there's no way… can there?

Standing she rinsed her mouth out. Exhaling again she stepped from the bathroom and on her way back to the kitchen she grabbed a stick of gum from her purse to hide the fact that she had thrown up. Walking into the kitchen she smiled to see Carlton flipping the bacon before checking to make sure the oven was still keeping the pancakes warm, "I didn't want the bacon to burn, put all your work to waste," he explained when he noticed her standing there.

Her smile widened, "Not a problem, I need to make a quick call," she lied through her teeth, regretting it as she said it, but not wanting to tell Carlton her suspicions until she was sure.

"Hmmm?"

"Yeah, a friend of mine has been wanting me to come by to help pick out some colors for her new guest room, and I wasn't able to call her back last night. I'm going to go by this morning after dropping Iris off."

"Would you like me to come along?"

"I might be a little late coming to the station, and I don't want to give anyone anymore reason to badger us about our relationship."

He nodded his agreement, "I see what you mean, I'd hate to give Spencer another reason to bother me."

She laughed and wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug before moving back to the stove to finish frying the bacon.

Sighing Karen pulled into her usual parking spot and cut the engine. Running a hand down her face, Vick looked into the passenger seat to scowl at the small paper bag sitting there; not wanting to seriously believe she had bought what it contained, presently being hidden by the brown coloring of the bag, she grabbed it, shoved it into the depths of her purse to be used at a more convenient time, and headed inside the station to her office.

Karen raised her eyes to view the station… some were out dealing with petty crimes, and Juliet had taken her lunch break a bit early to spend some more time planning her upcoming wedding with Shawn. Lassiter wasn't sitting at his desk, which didn't surprise her since he'd been investigating the death of her late neighbor for the past three and a half months, and no one else was honestly around to stop her from making a B-line to the bathroom. Rifling through her purse she pulled out the bag and stepped from her office, hurrying her way to the restroom.

Pacing the tiled floor Vick looked at her watch again… twenty more seconds… she closed her eyes and exhaled as she lifted her other hand to look at the small test in her hand… dropping it as soon as she saw that the second line had already appeared…

"Oh God…" she whispered, her face paling visibly in the bathroom mirror she was staring in, as a hand flew up to her mouth. Still not wanting to believe it she glanced at the abandoned test lying on the floor… "Oh my God… I'm pregnant."