((sadly the end is near.. please take the poll if you want me to keep writing her so I have some direction. Thank you.))

The sun was shining on his face so Oliver squeezed his eyes shut a bit more tightly in an effort to block it all out. When that proved to be useless he groaned and opened first one eye then he opened the other slowly. It took him a moment to focus his vision.

Ah he was in the hospital. That explained a lot. He looked around and saw Lin and Martin sleeping in their respective chairs. He lifted his hand to his face to rub his eyes and felt the sting from the IV that was protruding from his hand. 'So,' he thought to himself, 'it had been that bad'. As he looked around he wondered how long he'd been out.

Deciding that he needed to know what was going on more than they needed sleep he cleared his throat loudly causing both men to stir. Lin seemed to sigh in relief while Martin just grinned.

"Ah, good morning My boy. It's good to see you among the land of the living." When Oliver grunted at him he continued seemingly oblivious to his son's agitation. "You gave us all quite a scare last night." So he'd only been out a few hours. Good.

"Where's Mai?" He asked irritated that Martin seemed to be enjoying this.

"Mai is on the post surgical ward recovering. She had a badly broken arm that needed to be set. Takigawa and Ayako report that she will be fine in time and that the baby was not hurt. With the proper rest she'll be out of here in no time. "

Oliver's head snapped up to Lin at that. Baby? BABY! What the bloody hell was the man talking about. "I'll take that rather surprised look on your face to mean you didn't know son?" Martin was smiling at him. Oliver glared more deeply causing his adopted father to laugh. "It seems you've been quite busy in Japan. No wonder you didn't want to come home. "

He looked at Lin for help and noticed that the Chinese man was smirking. Leaning back and closing his eyes he took a few breaths to steady himself. 'Baby. Mai was pregnant. There was a baby. His baby.' He thought back to the car ride and what Mai had whispered in his sleep. "Gene I love you as if you were my own brother. Don't be sad, Naru will always love you. I love him so much it hurts to breathe these last few weeks. Gene How can I show him how much I love him"

He was such a fool. She was pregnant with his baby. He'd left her alone because of his stupid pride, how could she ever forgive him. He needed to talk to her. Would she even want to have his baby. His heart hurt at the thought, and if she did would she let him be in her life. She didn't need him, and he didn't deserve her after how stupid he'd been. He stood up and began to look around for his pants. Both Lin and his father stood.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm dressing and then I'm going to see the woman who's carrying my child. Now either help me or get out of my way." Both the older men glanced at each other then Lin went over to the small closet and got his pants. When Oliver snatched them from his friend he didn't miss the amused look the other man had.

"Room number?"

"Oh I think we should go with you Noll. Apparently there are some people rather angry with you up there and we'd rather you not need more emergency medical care." Martin was throughly enjoying himself. He could only imagine what Luella would say about all this.

Mai laid in her bed listening to Ayako and Takigawa fight over something. It was their voices that she followed back to consciousness. When she woke up she realized her whole body hurt. As she tried to speak her voice was raspy.

"Don't talk just yet, here." Ayako said thrusting a spoon with ice chips into her mouth. Swallowing them gratefully Mai tried to smile. As she swallowed the cold and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened her eyes she first noticed the heavy wrappings on her arm.

"It was broken in three places. They had to put a steel rod in." This from Yasuhara who was leaning against the wall by the windows. He smirked at her. "Apparently you had quite a night."

"You could say that." She rasped out and then gave a shaky smile. She looked around and saw Masako sitting demurely on the sofa and Takigawa pacing by the door. Ayako was still at her bedside. "I'm sorry if I scared you guys."

Takigawa stopped for a moment and looked at her as if he was going to cry before his face broke into his usual happy smile. "From what we hear you're a real hero. You saved that little girl. David Hines will be going to jail for a long long time. "

"And..Naru?" Mai asked, afraid her voice would shake. She'd been hoping that he would be in her room and her heart had sunk a bit when she saw he wasn't.

"Oh, he's downstairs, unconscious last check. He had a pk surge when you were injured." Mai closed her eyes. So he was hurt. That was worse. She prefered to think of him unharmed.

"So, Mai is there something you want to tell us?" Yasu asked, a smile on his face. She looked around at her friends faces and everyone but Takigawa was watching her intently. The monk was busy looking everywhere but at her.

"About?" To answer her Ayako looked at her stomach and Mai blushed. "Ah..yes..well..i had only just found out yesterday. The doctor said I'm only a few weeks.." she mumbled.

Takigawa looked bright red, and Masako was giggling. "A baby. How lovely." She smiled into her hand. Ayako was frowning and Yasu was busy checking out the nurse that had just walked by. Mai laid back.

"Is..is the baby ok?"

"Yes sweetheart, "the miko said smoothing the hair from her face. "It's going to be just fine." Mai gave a deep sigh of relief and said a silent thanks to the Gods. As she opened her eyes she hear a small knock at the door. As it pushed open she saw Naru, followed by Lin and an older man she didn't recognize.

He looked unsure and looked at the faces of her friends and then to her. "Can I talk to Mai?" he asked. Her friends looked to each other mumbling and Ayako raised her voice.

"Why do you ask her." She glared. Yasu was smirking, and Masako had a blank look on her face. Takigawa was getting red again, only this time it was anger.

"It's ok guys, " Mai said. "I need to talk to him. Can you all give us some privacy?" Everyone, including Lin searched her face and looked between her and Naru before leaving and mumbling how he better not upset her. He took Ayako's spot near her bed.

She bit her lip while she waited for him to speak. He sat there watching her for a moment before he put his head down on her stomach, careful of her injured arm. She used the fingers on her uninjured arm to touch his hair softly. He kissed her stomach and then turned to look at her.

"So, a Christmas wedding then?" He said meeting her eyes. "That is, if Father Brown can accommodate us." He seemed unsure and that only endeared him to her more. She felt tears run down her face. Not trusting her voice she nodded and he smiled, returning his head to her stomach and closing his eyes. Mai placed her own hand on his head and laid back as well, going back to sleep. If she'd bothered looking she'd have seen her friends and his peaking in the door and smiling before they left leaving the young couple alone.

((If you want an epilogue or a sequal please comment or message me to let me know.))