A/N – warning, this chapter is rated M. I didn't want to switch the rating of the entire series so consider yourself warned. This snapshot is dedicated to Tea-Induced Scribbles, who posited the hypothetical and got me thinking…. xoxo - tmtcltb

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Open Mouth, Insert Foot

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Kara leaned forward, hands anchored against the headboard on either side of Danny's head, lips dipping to nip at his ear. "You have no idea how much I missed you."

"I...what the hell was that?"

Dumbfounded, Kara found herself knocked flat on her ass while her husband scrambled out of bed. Her first instinct was to look to the door, assuming that someone had walked in on them, but the door remained closed, and there was no sound to indicate that someone was waiting outside. Besides, Danny hadn't reached for his gun, his entire attention still fixed on her. "What the hell is what?"

"That!" Danny's hand rose, pointing towards the bed, his face pale.

Frustrated with Danny's inability to articulate anything other than pronouns, Kara quickly checked her surroundings for spiders and snakes, relieved to find nothing else alive in the bed. "You'll have to be a little more specific."

"Your stomach. It … moved."

The baby picked that particular moment to roll over, a tiny hand pushing against the front of her belly, outlining all five fingers. Hurt over Danny's reaction her new shape immediately merged with annoyance at her husband for ruining what had been a very pleasant evening up to that point.

"That," she snapped, "is your son."

But rather than recognize what an idiot he was being, Danny yanked the sheet off the bed, wrapping it around his naked waist. "He's awake?"

Annoyed by his infantile behavior, she rolled her eyes. "Danny, he can't see you."

This time at least he had the decency to look embarrassed, apparently realizing how absurd he was being. "Do you think he can tell what we're doing?"

Or maybe not.

"Danny, he's a seven-month-old fetus. He can barely open his eyes, and he's still figuring out how to suck his thumb. I don't think the concept of sex has occurred to him yet."

Not wanting to spend what little time they had between Danny's arrival back in St Louis and the Nathan James' departure arguing – in addition to being rather frustrated by the baby's terrible timing in making his presence known – Kara took a deep breath. Tamping down her irritation, she tilted her head to the side, arching an eyebrow and giving him what she hoped was a sexy smile. "Sex is perfectly safe during pregnancy. But if you're worried about getting kicked, we could try a different position. Say with you behind me?"

Danny's eyes – and another part of his anatomy – immediately responded, giving a small boost to Kara's battered ego. Then Danny's eyes fell back to her stomach.

"Could we wait until he falls asleep?" He asked uncertainly.

Tears sprang to Kara's eyes and she thought about the preparations she had made for this evening: dinner reservations, shopping for new clothes (and underclothes, ones that served absolutely no practical purpose), convincing Miller to take Halsey for the evening, and getting off work an hour early so she could change out of her uniform into a dress. Hell, she even wore heels!

Only to be turned down not once, but twice.

"Never mind." Rolling to her side, Kara scooted awkwardly towards the edge of the bed, exasperated by how difficult her bulging belly made the simple act. Who would have known that twenty extra pounds would make getting up so damn difficult?

Danny reached out a hand to help her, one which Kara smacked away. His front teeth nibbled on his bottom lip uncertainly, a gesture which Kara typically found adorable. "Kara..."

But she was done listening. "I'm going to take a shower. I suggest you go find us something to eat since we missed our reservation."

Slamming the bathroom door behind her, Kara turned on the water as high as it would go, thankful once again that St. Louis had running water. It had been a long six weeks of sponge baths and the every other day five-minute shower at the naval facilities, before Andrea and O'Connor got everything up and running.

Stepping under the spray, Kara gave in to the tears that have been threatening to fall for several minutes before common sense reasserted itself. Danny had been gone for almost two months, leading one of the teams that were spreading the cure. He had missed almost a third of her pregnancy, and there was no denying that her body had changed during that time. As Andrea and her mother had both oh-so-subtly pointed out, Kara had finally "popped," her belly going from almost non-existent to big enough to house triplets (or so Kara felt). At the same time, the soft flutters that Kara had so enjoyed back on the Nathan James had changed to kicks and punches hard enough that she felt bruised from the inside out. Kara had actually been concerned enough to mention the baby's apparently erratic movement to the civilian OBGYN she found here in St. Louis, who laughingly assured her that it was perfectly normal and, in fact, a good sign that the baby was growing appropriately. It really wasn't fair to expect Danny to adjust in an hour to something that took her weeks.

Grabbing the soap, Kara began to scrub her arms, deliberately avoiding her already itchy belly. Fair or not, he was still an asshole.

She wasn't sure how long she stood under the slowly cooling spray before there was a soft knock and the bathroom door swung open.

"Kara? I got food. Some of those fish tacos you like. With avocado."

His voice sounded genuinely apologetic, and since her craving for fish tacos was relatively new, she had to give him points for thoughtfulness. He must have gotten the idea from Alisha. "I'll be out in a second."

Before she could finish her sentence, Danny pulled back the shower curtain to step into the small shower, reminding her of the days back on the Nathan James when he would sneak in to meet her. Danny's arms slipped around her middle, just above her belly, tugging her back against him before resting his chin on the top of her head.

"I'm sorry. I kind of freaked out there. Just wasn't expecting it. I asked Tex and..." He stopped, given their current position unable to miss the fact that she stiffened at the mention of Tex's name. "Not that I gave him specifics, of course. But the only guys I know with kids are Tex, the Captain, and the XO. And God knows I wasn't going to talk to Slattery."

Kara forced herself to relax. With his father gone, Tex was probably the closest thing that Danny had to a paternal figure. It made sense that he would turn to the older man for advice. And even though she hated the idea of anyone knowing so much about their personal business, for all that Tex never shut up, he also never revealed a confidence.

Curious, she asked, "So what did Tex have to say?"

"After he got done laughing, you mean?" The rueful note in Danny's voice had Kara giggling. "First he told me that I better get my ass back upstairs and apologize for being a numbnut before I got permanently benched. Then he told me it was a little bit late for a conversation about the birds and the bees and that any guy who manage to have sex on a destroyer could figure out a way to make this work too." His voice dropped, one hand dropping, fingers spreading across her stomach. "All of this is amazing, Kara, really it is. But it's a little scary too. I'm sorry I ruined our evening."

Kara turned around, lifting her arms to slide them around Danny's shoulders, the contrition in his face melting away any residual anger. "Let's just call it a bump and leave it at that."

"A bump?" Danny's eyebrows rose. "Pun intended?"

Kara shrugged, although she knew her smile would give her away. "Well then, Lieutenant, do share. I assume that you formed your battle plan before you came back. Did you come up with any brilliant ideas for the rest of our evening?"

Danny's eyes flashed as his mouth spread in a slow smile. "Turns out that I'm full of them."