Author's Note: June, 2003 — I know not everyone loves a time jump, and I can't promise I won't go backward and explore earlier parts of their marriage again, but I want to explore another phase in their marriage, which has been requested several times, so I think it's time to make a small jump forward. As always, thanks for reading and reviewing. I wouldn't keep posting if if I didn't know people were reading.

"Sweetums!" Steve called as he ran inside the apartment. "Laura! Laura Lee Urkel!" He set his briefcase on the table and yelled louder, "LAURA!"

"What?" Laura asked, visibly annoyed, as she came out of the bedroom. "I was in the bathroom."

Steve smirked at her. "Well, you're about to wipe that sourpuss right off your face, baby, because what I have in my hand is something you definitely want to see and something that was definitely worth yelling about." He bounced up and down excitedly, holding both hands behind his back.

Laura's eyes widened. She stepped closer to him, butterflies dive-bombing around her stomach. "Is it here?" she asked, cautiously taking another step closer to him.

"Hmmm…" he mused, slipping the envelope in the back pocket of his suit pants and beginning to stroll around the room, never turning his back to her. "I don't know. After the way my wife greeted me when I came home today, maybe it got lost in the mail," he teased.

"Dr. Steven Quincy Urkel…" she warned. She was in no mood for his games if he really had that important envelope behind his back. She followed him closely.

"You know how unreliable the postal service can be," he said with a shake of his head and a wag of his finger.

"Steve Urkel, if you don't hand me that envelope right now, you're going to learn just how unreliable some of my services can be," she threatened with a smile.

He raised an eyebrow at her, trying to figure out if she meant the services he thought she meant.

Seeing an opportunity, she leapt into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he moved his hands to support her butt, massaging it greedily as he did. She kissed him passionately, distracting him as one hand reached down to his back pocket and pulled out the envelope. Before he knew what had happened, she jumped down from his arms and waved the envelope at him. "Ha-ha," she taunted.

Slightly dazed, he staggered back and placed his hand over his heart. "Whoa mama," he purred. "Now that's a greeting," he said with an enthusiastic point.

She was no longer interested in their playful banter. She held the envelope in her shaking hands, staring at it intently. Steve's voice was drowned out by the sound of her roaring pulse. She hadn't expected it to come so soon. She couldn't figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Shouldn't it have been alphabetical? Urkel should have been near the end. Or maybe they all came out at the same time? She couldn't remember anymore. Or maybe, a voice in the back of her head whispered cruelly, yours is done early because it was so easy to tell what a failure you are.

Seeing the change in her expression, Steve walked up behind her. He slinked his arms around her waist and pulled her close, though she didn't appear to notice. He moved to her ear and whispered, "It's gonna be fine, my pet. You are a strong, brilliant woman. I'm sure it's good news."

Laura didn't hear a word of his encouragement. She was concentrating on holding back her tears. This is the biggest moment of your life, she told herself. You're not allowed to cry. Ooo… No, wait. Marrying Steve was the biggest moment of your life. Don't tell him you forgot about that. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing. She still couldn't open the damn envelope.

"Sweetums," he asked softly, "do you want me to open it?"

That she heard. She didn't know the answer, but she had certainly heard the question. If he opened it, at least bad news would be coming from the only person in the world who would be able to help her through it, but she'd been working up to this moment her whole life. How could she not be the one to open it? "No, I have to do it, but… Don't move, ok?"

"Ok, Sweetheart. I'm right here. No matter what," he promised, giving her a good squeeze.

Laura took a deep breath and held it as she tore the envelope open. She took the letter out into her shaky hands and dropped the envelope to the ground. She held the letter in front of her but couldn't read it as her hands trembled uncontrollably.

Seeing and feeling the earthquake raging through her body, Steve gripped her hands and held them steady.

Laura glanced back and smiled a silent thank-you to her rock before returning her eyes to the letter. "Congratulations," she read, just barely above a whisper. Her body immediately relaxed and flooded with warmth. Her knees gave out, but Steve was thankfully there to catch her.

"Whoopsie daisy." He steadied her again and looked at her face, not wanting to miss a moment of the joy. "Congratulations?" he asked. "So that means…"

"I passed the Bar!" she yelled, turning around to look at him.

Steve grinned widely as he saw the happy tears streaming down her face. He staggered back as she threw her arms around his neck and jumped back into his arms. Her legs gripped his waist again as his arms came up around her back, holding her to him as tightly as he could. He felt his own tears of joy escape his eyes as he held her. He had so many things he wanted to say to her, but he couldn't figure out what to say first. All that came out was, "Oh, Laura…"

They remained silent in that position for several minutes, but eventually, their muscles couldn't take it anymore. Laura let go of him and landed back on her bare feet in front of him. She looked up at him with a huge smile on her face and tried to rub some of the mascara from her face. She sniffled loudly and giggled. "Oh, my God. I can't believe it."

"I can," he grinned, using his thumb to help her wipe her tears. He held her face gently in his hands. "Laura Lee, I am so proud of you. I always knew you were going to pass with flying colors."

"Well, I sure didn't know that!" she laughed.

He pressed his forehead to hers. "I tried to tell you," he reminded her.

"I know you did," she smiled sweetly. "Thank you so much, Steve. I couldn't have done this without you. You were the best study buddy, caretaker, husband, and lover I could have ever asked for during all this. I think I would have starved to death in the library if it weren't for you."

He shook his head. "You would have done fine without me, too, love, but I'm glad you didn't have to do it without any help."

She pulled him close and kissed him passionately. It was one of the greatest kisses they'd ever shared. When they finally broke apart, Laura continued to hold his face down to hers and smiled at him. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too, sweetheart," he whispered.

Laura released his face and grabbed his hand. She slowly began to pull him back to the bedroom.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"To celebrate," she teased as she pulled him into the room and slammed the door.

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After they had celebrated, and celebrated again, Laura collapsed on top of Steve, panting heavily. Their sweaty bodies began to cool as they relaxed. She rubbed her nose against his, smiling brightly. She kissed him one last time before finally rolling off of him. She lay next to him, snuggling close. She slipped one leg around his and rested her head on his chest. She sighed softly as he began to stroke her hair. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too, Sweetheart," he whispered back, "and I am so proud of you."

"You already said that," she teased, gently stroking his muscular chest.

He smiled. "I know, but it's true. I always knew you could do it, but now that you finally have, I just want to shout it from the rooftops."

"Feel free," she encouraged. "I certainly worked hard enough for it. You can tell whoever you want."

"I'm going to tell everyone I meet that my beautiful wife is also a brilliant lawyer."

"I know you will," she said, kissing him softly. "Just like I've been telling everyone for months about my husband who finished his PhD early."

"Yeah, but people expect me to be smart," he explained. "I'm a walking LensCrafters commercial. You on the other hand…"

"People think I'm arm candy."

"You are arm candy," he smiled.

She lifted her head to glare at him. "Excuse me?"

"You're sweet and chocolaty and so darn lickable," he grinned, wiggling his eyebrows as she glared, "but you're my little Tootsie Pop. You may be candy on the outside, but you have a whole 'nother layer inside."

The offended look on her face melted right off. "Steve Urkel, if you don't watch that silver tongue, I'm going to hop on your lap for a third round."

He bit his lip and stared at her. "It wouldn't break any records for us."

She giggled. "No, it certainly wouldn't, but I want to go see my parents and tell them before it gets too late. It's already seven."

He nodded. "Whatever you want to do, my sweet. This is your day."

She sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, "Then I'm going to hop in the shower so that my dad doesn't have to smell your sweat all over his little girl's body."

"Can I come?"

"I said I was going to wash you off of my body, so no, but you can go in after me, ok?"

"Ok," he agreed disappointedly, staring intently as he watched her walk away. After she had closed the door and turned on the water, Steve leaned over to the nightstand and picked up the phone. He quickly dialed Eddie's number, hoping he and Max could meet them there to hear the news. Next on his call list were Rachel, Estelle, and Myrtle.

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Steve took his time in the shower, despite Laura's impatience, hoping to give the family time to arrive. When Laura finally dragged him out the door, the sun was setting. It was dark by the time they pulled into the driveway. They walked up to the porch. Well, Laura ran because she was excited to share her news and concerned they were already headed to bed. She opened the door, surprised to find it unlocked and walked inside. Steve followed behind her to the kitchen. As they stepped through the swinging door, Laura saw her entire family gathered around the table. Laura's eyes widened, and she smiled back at Steve, knowing he must have insisted everyone come over to hear the news. "Well," Laura began, "I guess you all already know that I have some big news to share."

"You better!" Eddie maintained. "This is my first night off this week. I was supposed to be spending it with my fiancée," he grumbled, wrapping an arm around Max.

She pushed him playfully. "Oh, stop," she said. "We'll have plenty of time together later. I'm sure this is more important."

"And I had to leave my poor husband alone with two kids under four!" she exclaimed, resting a hand on her newly pregnant belly. "Actually," she paused. "Never mind, darlin'. I'm good here. Take your time."

Laura smiled excitedly. She couldn't believe she was finally getting to tell everyone. She knew that the best thing to do was to get it out there, before she swallowed her own tongue. "I passed the Bar!" she blurted with a few small, excited hops.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Harriette screamed, leaping from her chair. She immediately ran to Laura and took her into her arms. "That's my baby!" she announced through happy tears.

Laura hugged her back tightly, while the others chatted excitedly. They each came up to her to congratulate her in turn.

When everyone finally had, Steve wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "Now," he whispered sweetly in her ear, "tell them our other big news."

Laura looked up at him. "What other big news?" she asked, speaking at a normal volume.

"You know," he urged. "The other news."

Laura stared at him blankly. "Steve, I really don't know what you're talking about."

He frowned at her, turned back to the family, and cleared his throat. "Ahem. Now that my extremely accomplished wife has passed the Bar, we've decided..." He looked down at her, smiling excitedly, giving her the chance to chime in. "To..."

She shook her head at him to indicate she still wasn't getting it.

"Start trying," he finished.

Laura's jaw dropped as her mother and grandmother began to react.

"Trying what?" Richie asked.

"To have a b—asvhsy," Steve explained as Laura's hand came up to cover his mouth.

She gripped it tightly and stared daggers at him. She turned to her family with a big fake smile on her face. "Could you excuse us for a second?"

Her family hesitated and looked around at each other in confusion as Laura dragged Steve into the living room... hard.

She yanked him into the guest bedroom on the first floor and slammed the door. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

His brow furrowed as he took offense. "What's wrong with me? You're the one reacting to happy news like I just announced to your family we were becoming swingers!"

"STEVE!" she yelled. "You don't tell people when you start trying. You tell people after the first trimester."

"Why?"

"In case... Well, you know..." she said uncomfortably.

He shrugged. He honestly didn't know.

She sighed exasperatedly. "Well, in case we have trouble conceiving or, God forbid, we..." She looked down at her feet. "Lose one."

Steve's eyes widened. "Oh, God," he whispered as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "God, Laura, don't even say that. That's not gonna happen."

"It could, Steve," she pressed, pulling away. "It happens all the time, which is why you don't announce that kind of stuff!"

He moved toward her again and took her into his arms. "Ok, pet, I'm sorry. I was just so excited." He smiled down at her. "We're gonna have a baby."

Laura cringed and looked away from him. "Yeah... Uh... soon."

He was oblivious to her hesitance. "So don't take your pill tomorrow. It'll probably take about a month to clear out of your system and get you ovulating normally again, but we'll have lots of fun practicing in the meantime," he winked and pinched her butt.

She jumped and pulled herself out of his arms. "Listen, Steve, umm... This is all goin' a little too fast for me."

His brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I just mean that I just passed the Bar, and I kind of wanted to look at what opportunities were available to me now."

"Well, Sweetums, you have ten months after we conceive before the baby is born."

"Yeah, but I'd really rather do that without all that pressure looming over me."

"What are you saying, Laura?" he asked as he finally started to get the hint. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at her with his big, puppy dog eyes.

"I'm not ready to start trying," she said finally.

Steve deflated. "You're not?"

She shook her head.

Steve stood and took a few fast steps toward the bedroom door. "I need some time to process this," he said quickly, running out of the room, so she wouldn't see him cry.

"Steve, wait..." she called as she tried to follow him, but he was too quick. By the time she reached the bedroom door, he was out front. She glanced out the window and saw him sprinting away. At least he hadn't taken the car. She sighed heavily and sat on the couch.

Harriette, having heard the noise of Steve's less than graceful escape, peeked out of the kitchen and saw Laura on the couch, crying on her big day. She stepped out and sat by her on the couch. She put an arm around her and held her close. She didn't ask what had happened. With those two, it was always the same. Steve wanted something more that Laura wasn't willing to give.

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