AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Very quickly, I had to take the chapter down and edit one VERY important thing. I had Kenzi eating PEANUTS for crying out loud. I honestly don't have ANY idea how I could have missed that.

CHAPTER 27

Hale rushed over as soon as he could after getting the text from Kenzi, luckily for him he was already on his way to the Dal. He had forgotten some documents he needed to go over for a meeting in the morning.

He had taken a moment to bring up Lauren's files and they were extensive. As soon as he became the acting Ash, he had all the records of the Fae and humans alike who were working in the compound stored electronically so he could bring up their information on his tablet.

He had no idea just how much Lauren did for the Fae, not only on a day to day basis, but what she had done over the years.

The more he read, the more nervous he became.

Kenzi was right.

Lauren had not re-pledged herself to the Light.

How could he have forgotten something this important?

It didn't really matter to him before, one way or the other, he knew or felt Lauren would stay aligned with the Light. But had the Morrigan gotten a hold of this, she would have made Lauren an offer, as was her right with all unaligned Fae or humans of Lauren's caliber.

And the Elders would not have allowed Lauren to live.

She would have met with some unfortunate accident. The loss would have been felt for years, but she simply knew too much.

She would not be permitted to even meet with the Morrigan.

And as much as it would have pained him to, he would have no choice.

Hale sighed.

Best to not think of it and simply ask Lauren to re-pledge herself now and that would be that. 'This will be short and simple.' he thought.

He got a sinking feeling in his stomach when he finally arrived at the Dal. There was a sign on the door saying it was closed, he glanced at his watch.

It was only eight p.m.

Trick never closed this early...

He tried the door, it opened.

That did not make any sense. He frowned. He could feel the tension in the room as soon as he stepped inside.

Something was going down.

Dyson was holding his neck, Kenzi, Trick and some guy he did not know were just standing around. What had he walked into?

"Hey Lil' Mama..." he said as he approached Kenzi. "Thanks for the heads up. I owe you."

"Ahem." Kenzi said holding her hand out.

Hale rolled his eyes briefly. He reached into his coat pocket, pulled his wallet out and slowly removed the black charge card. "Don't break the bank Kenzi." he said after handing it over to her.

Kenzi smiled gleefully. "You know I can't promise that."

Hale laughed. "Just take it easy okay? So," he looked around. "What gives?"

"Oh Honey," Kenzi said patting his hand. "It's better if you just watch and I think the third act is going to start any second now."

"Third act?" Hale asked. "Who's that guy?" Hale gestured to the stranger. "Oh, thank you Trick." he said when Trick handed him a beer. He took a sip.

"That's Jake. He said Lauren was under his protection."

"Again?" Trick moaned as Hale spit out his beer.

"What!"

"Shh..." Kenzi told him, grabbing the bowl of pretzels and started eating them.

Hale saw Bo walking over.

Bo halted suddenly when she heard Dyson growl at their approach. Her eyes flashed momentarily at the perceived threat against them. "It's okay." she told Lauren. "I won't let anything happen to you." She noticed Hale at the bar. "I see the gang's all here."

"No, not yet." Kenzi whispered as she reached out and stopped Hale when he stood up from the bar stool when Lauren came into view.

"But..."

"Wait."

Bo took a deep breath. "Okay, most of you know what's going on. Hale, you'll have to get the cliff notes from Kenzi. I don't have the time or inclination to go thru this again."

Dyson took a step forward before backing off.

Jacob had stood up and shook his head slowly.

Bo watched in silent fascination. Something had happened while she and Lauren had been talking. "Okay, I have an announcement to make." she said.

"Bo, please." Lauren said.

"Don't I have a say in this decision you're about to make?" Dyson demanded.

"No." Bo answered. "You lost that chance the minute you lied about having your love back."

"Say what?!" Hale blurted.

Dyson looked away.

"Bo..."

Bo turned to Lauren, "Do you want this baby?" The brunette saw the hesitancy and doubt in her lover's eyes and took a deep, calming breath. "Don't think about what may or may not happen. Don't think about Dyson." she said shooting him a hard look. "Baby please." Bo reached out and caressed Lauren's face, smiling as she leaned into it. "It's just you and me... and well, everyone else right now."

"But..."

Bo took hold of Lauren's hands and brought them to her chest. She shook her head. "No, I need to know. Do you want to have this baby with me?"

"Baby..." Hale whispered. 'No... no.' he thought as his mind went a mile a minute.

Kenzi punched him in the shoulder. "Shush."

"I don't care if it is his. As far as I'm concerned, the baby is all you Lauren." she said gazing into Lauren's eyes.

Hale was perplexed.

He thought he'd heard Bo asking Lauren if she wanted the baby.

Then hearing that Dyson was the father?

"What the Hell?"

Lauren felt warm tears spilling down her face. "I don't want you to get hurt." she said. "Can't you understand that? If the Fae Elders found out, we wouldn't be safe. We would have to run, not for a short time but for the rest of their lives. That is no way to raise a child." Lauren shook her head.

She had to make Bo realize what could happen.

"You know what it's like, always looking over your shoulder, never being able to stay in one spot for very long. What if something was to happen to you or the baby or both of you during the pregnancy, or the birth?"

"Lauren..."

"I couldn't survive." she said, steamrolling through Bo's interruption. "There would be nothing left for me to hold on to, not my work, nothing. I can't see myself enduring years of servitude with the Light all alone without you. You have made my life worth living."

Bo quickly brought Lauren into her arms, holding her tightly. She did know what it was like living on the streets, always hyper-vigilant. Always afraid she would be caught, believing she should be punished for all the lives she had taken.

Could she subject a child to that kind of life?

Would it be fair?

And what if something did happen to her?

The thought of Lauren possibly doing something to hurt herself chilled her to the bone.

Bo clamped those thoughts down. She was not going to think negatively. No, nothing was going to happen. Not after all they had gone through just to be together.

Lauren gripped Bo for dear life.

Why did it have to be this way?

Why couldn't they just have the child and live like anyone else?

Bo whispered hotly in Lauren's ear. "You have to trust in me, in us. I'm begging you Lauren please don't scare yourself into something you don't want to do; something you might regret."

"I..." Lauren hesitated.

Bo pulled back. She had to look into Lauren's eyes. She had to see into the holder of her Soul. She sighed. No matter what she wanted, Lauren had the ultimate say in things. "Whatever you want to do, I will back you one hundred percent. Just tell me."

Lauren watched as Bo's eyes searched hers. She made her decision.