Written for the het_bigbang on on Livejournal. Thanks to Karlamartinova for beta-reading.


Chris wasn't going to lie: he was starting to get worried about Georgie- he had been for a few weeks, actually; but today, he had understood that something was definitely wrong with her; during their last bust she had been shot at, and yet, even if her vest had absorbed it, she had looked like she was worried, maybe even deeply scared- like on the verge of a panic attack.

Something that didn't make any sense, because she had been a cop for, like, half her life; it wasn't the first time she got a bullet, and besides, she wore a vest, for Christ's sake. She had to know that she hadn't been in any danger. What was the worst that could have happened? A bruised rib? Ok, it hurt like hell- he was the first one to admit it- but, still, the look in her eyes when she got shot…

Maybe it was some kind of epiphany. Was she still pining after Keith, he wondered? He knew it had been a semi-amicable break-up, and yes, she insisted she and his former partner were just having some fun, but maybe she was lying. Maybe there had been more between them than what she cared to admit.

Or maybe he was only projecting- and protecting himself. If Georgie was emotionally unavailable, then they couldn't get involved, and if they didn't get involved, he couldn't get hurt again; maybe, deep down, as much as he liked her- and damn, he did like Georgina Newman- he wasn't ready for stability. Maybe there was no girlfriend, wife or kids on the way for him; maybe all he could get out of life (and love) was just fun. He had found his system to move on, to keep living, after all, and he had been fine with it until that moment. More than fine, actually.

And yet… he couldn't stop worrying about her. Georgie was always there, in the back of his mind. And he hated it- hated that the more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to be with her. The more he wanted her.

He shook his head. It wasn't the time to worry- or even think- about Georgina dearest. He needed his head back in the game, and that was why he had come to see the kids at the hospital. Seeing them always gave him prospective, remembered him of what truly mattered.

(And besides, the nice nurse who had given him her number the last time had said something about needing new toys for the children- and it wasn't like he didn't have enough money to buy a few toys.)

And that was when he saw her, pacing in front of a door, hands in the pockets of her jeans.

Chris shook his head, blinked once, twice, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things, that it wasn't only in his head, but no- Georgie was really there, still looking like a scared animal; he thought about joining her, but then he decided not to. He didn't like secrets, knew that all of them worked at their best when they knew everything, but he wasn't going to force this, whatever it was, out of her.

Before he could talk himself out of this decision, a young doctor- a woman who looked incredibly like a doctor he had seen in Peds a few times, working with newborns- arrived and opened the closed door, Georgie following her inside, hesitant and scared- the same look Chris had seen on the Doctor's face, even from afar.

God, no, he thought. She was sick. Something was wrong with her. Maybe she was dying. And the whole time, he had been wondering if maybe the reason her head wasn't in the game as usual was because she was in love with a jerk- a jerk that had dared to leave her for his ex-wife.

Bags of toys forgotten, like on auto-pilot, Chris walked towards the door; he wanted to walk quicker, and yet, he didn't want to at the same time, fearing that each step would bring him closer to losing her once for all- for real.

He took a big breath. Closed his eyes and readied himself for the worst. He wondered what he could do- what he wanted to do, were something bad going to happen. Was he going to tell her that she was always on his mind? For what purpose, if he would be losing her anyway? Would he have suffered less this time, knowing that the end was coming?

He didn't know. He could try to be as rational as he wanted, but he was scarred by loss, and he didn't know how much he could still handle. If something was wrong with Georgie, he wanted to be at her side, wanted to be there to help her out- he just didn't know if he was actually strong enough to do any of it.

And then… then he reached the door, and he finally dared to look at the sign on it- he read the name of the doctor, and her specialty, and he knew that he hadn't been wrong.

She was indeed the doctor from Peds.

Fear and worry were replaced by rage and jealousy and something hot and bright inside of him, like an everlasting furnace in the deepest recess of his soul; she was his partner. And she was keeping this a secret from him. She was the woman he had tried to charm, tried to seduce- the woman he was… falling in love with- and Keith had known it when he had lured her into his bed. Chris knew he wasn't better than his old partner, that, at the beginning, his own intentions hadn't been the purest, and all right- Keith had never promised her anything, and she had been fine with it.

But Keith had crossed him. Had won her affections over to… spite him, prove a point, or whatever. Something Chris would have never done- not to his partner, not to his friend.

But what was worse was the fact that Keith had gone and done the unthinkable: he had betrayed his friend, seduced Georgie, just to decide that after all, deep down, he was still in love with his ex-wife, that he didn't need her nor in his bed or in his life. Keith had been only a blip on Georgie's radar, as far as they were all concerned. And Georgie had been merely another notch on his bedpost. It hadn't lasted long- only a few months- and yet… yet his "friend" had gone and done something that none of them would ever forget.

Keith had gotten his Georgina pregnant.


Had someone asked him two hours before what he was going to do with this brand new piece of information, Chris LaSalle would have answered with one simple word: nothing.

Not because it wasn't his business- Georgie was his partner and he still believed that the more he knew, the less secrets there were between them, the better they could work together (and yes- he was falling in love with her. He was finally ready to fully accept it).

It was just that… it was huge. Something she was probably still elaborating herself. Besides, all right, he did have his opinions, but so did she, and what did he know about them? She was his partner, and maybe, just maybe, they were starting to be good (best?) friends- a surrogate family of sort, even- but she had been in New Orleans for less than six months. How deeply could they know each other? Maybe she hadn't said a word because she didn't want to keep… it.

And yet… as soon as he had read the sign on the door, discovered she was seeing an OBG, he had understood that she wanted that baby: she had been hit by a bullet- even if only in the vest; she had been worried, scared and she had run to see her doctor.

That wasn't how a woman who wanted to- God help him- get rid of a problem behaved.

No- that was how a mother- a mum- behaved, the same way his mom did when pregnant with Kathy, with her OBG on speed dial ready to answer each and every question, reassuring her when she simply decided then and there that there was something wrong with her baby girl.

And his mother had been pregnant with her third child, back then. Had a husband – not the most perfect specimen, but a husband nevertheless – and two sons at her side- Cade had even already been a teenager at the time.

Georgie, instead, was all alone: Keith had left her to get back to his ex - and Chris bet he wasn't even aware of Georgie's pregnancy- and her family, what was left it anyway, was scattered between San Diego, Los Angeles and New York. Not that she was talking with any of them anyway, though.

In New Orleans, she didn't have anyone, only the team, and he was the only one who had learnt her secret- albeit by pure chance.

She needed him. She didn't know it yet, but she needed him- or at least, she was going to. She couldn't carry such a weight on her shoulders all alone. It was time she understood he was going to be there for her. That she could rely on him, always.

That was why, and how, he found himself knocking at her door at half past nine PM.

"Ehy! We got a case?" She asked as soon as she opened the door; Chris studied her, intensely, looked for signs that something was wrong or even just different, but he didn't find any; there were lines between her eyes, on her forehead, but he guessed it had more to do with the fact that he wasn't answering her question more than something wrong with her baby; he could see that she was at ease, even relaxed, with her grey silky pyjama, slightly masculine in its lines, barefoot, her hair tangled in a messy, simple knot.

"Chris? Is it about a case?" She repeated, snapping her fingers in front of his eyes like to wake him up from his reverie.

"Uhm? No. I just wanted…" He took a big breath, wondering if going in for the killing with to talk about your pregnancy was the best opening line.

"Yes?..." She lifted an eyebrow, encouraging him to try to end his sentence once and for all, and smiled a little with those thin, pink lips of hers.

He loved her lips. Wanted to kiss them until they were bruised.

He didn't know what to do. Until now, the only pregnant woman he had had to deal with had been his mother- and back then, he had been only six years old. How was he supposed to break the ice? He needed to talk with her, but he was still outside. She could still have decided to slam the door shout in his face.

And then, he got an idea. Well- half of it, at least.

She lived just a few minutes from his place. They had similar tastes when it came to food. He could have used it as an excuse.

"…Coffee. I'm out of it. The good stuff we both like."

Georgie tried her best not to laugh and shook her head, the knot of her hair coming half-undone as she did so, and as she gave him her back and marched toward the kitchen, Chris actually reached for her, wanting to run his fingers through the brown tresses, to put those renegade locks behind her ears.

He gulped down a mouthful of saliva and chastised himself just when he was mere inches from her. He couldn't do it- not now, at least. She had too many things running through her head- too much to deal with. He couldn't add his attraction to her to the mix: not yet, at least.

He blindly followed her to the kitchen, and when she passed him a closed coffee packet, he reached for it, and their fingers met; he held her hands in his own, and looked down at her with an intensity that took her breath away.

She knew that it was stupid believing that he had gotten to her place for a mere packet of coffee- she hadn't bought his lie for one second- but the look in his eyes told her he was there for something serious. Chris was worried- there was something very wrong, otherwise he would have done like usual, and bottled it up until it was too late.

Family, she guessed- that was what usually had Chris so worried. Work, he would have normally talked about – King's teaching- so, Cade, maybe? In the past, she would have said it was about his father, but Nicholas LaSalle had been dead for a good five years now.

Still holding hands, she opened her mouth as to speak, but he didn't gave her time, and decided it was now or never. She needed to understand he was there for her. That she could rely on him. Now. And yet… even if he knew what he wanted to tell her, once again words escaped him, and he had to beat around the bush.

"I volunteer at the hospital," he started, and she nodded, for she already knew it and appreciated him just a little bit more for this. "I… I was there today. When you went to see your doctor?"

"Oh." She simply breathed out, taking a step back and freeing herself from his grasp; she rested her back against the cold refrigerator, and started to play with the hem of her shirt, not really knowing what she was supposed to do with her hands now that they had lost Chris' warmth.. "Oh."

She knew only one thing for sure: she didn't know how to face Chris. Or the rest of the team, for what mattered. Did he tell them? She wondered, her eyes as huge as saucers.

They stayed in silence for what felt an eternity- but was actually mere minutes- until Chris, now sat on her kitchen table, right in front of Georgie, decided to break the silence.

"Is everything all right? With the baby, I mean."

Georgie lifted her eyes from the floor, and, biting her lips, nodded; she was hugging herself, protecting herself from the chilly night, and from Chris' intense gaze, his deep scrutiny as well.

"I'm… in my tenth week." She suddenly said, her cheeks reddening of the loveliest shade of dark pink, her voice as unsure as never before, a far cry from the competent and hard-assed cop he had known for a while. "Everything is all right. The vest absorbed the majority of the impact anyway. I was just… being extra careful, I guess."

Chris chuckled, committing to memory every bit of data he could. She was lovely. And she was already a mum, in her heart.

"Have you told Pride?" She asked, even if she already knew the answer. Had he told Pride, they would be having this discussion at the office, and not in her kitchen while she was in a pyjama.

Chris didn't answer. He simply glared at her.

Well, she guessed she deserved it.

"It's not what you think." She stated, rolling her eyes; Chris chuckled once again, and lifted an eyebrow in answer.

"Oh? And what am I thinking?"

"I'm not an idiot. I know I can't keep it a secret for the rest of my life. I just wanted to be sure… I want to know that, when I'll tell everyone the news, I'll be able to… that I will not lose the baby." She took a big breath. "The second trimester. That's when I'll tell everyone."

"I'll try to act surprised. Don't want to give people ideas." She laughed, for she knew that Percy and Patton were gossiping about them, wondering if they had already gotten in bed together- she didn't know it yet, but Percy actually hoped he would get his shit together and just drag her to bed. "You going to keep it?"

She nodded. "I'm almost forty. It's probably my last chance anyway."

Nodding, Chris jumped down from the table and went to her; Georgie gasped, not scared, but surprised and excited, as he run his hands through her locks; she closed her eyes, expecting- fearing- a kiss, but instead than her lips, he went for her forehead.

He didn't say a word. He just smiled, and walked out of the door; when she finally understood he wasn't at her side any longer, Georgie felt as cold as never before. Cold- and alone.

Left only with the memory of Chris' tender touches, she hugged her belly, caressed it hoping that her baby would feel her reassurances- hoping, deep down, that her own baby would reassure her through the deep bond they already shared.

She wanted- needed - to know that she hadn't done a mistake. One after the other. And yet, there was no lying: she did. She knew she did. She should have chosen Chris all along.

But now, she feared it could be too late: late, and just plain unfair towards him.