A / N : Thanks frogspell16860, Anna, Kaci, LadyBender, and ThatFlyingEagle!

This chapter turned out pretty long, but I didn't want to break it up.

"Um, congratulations," Amy said nervously.

Leela said nothing. She just stared numbly at the test, trying to take it in. Lars sat down heavily, his knees buckling under him. He didn't say anything – probably because he was trying to get his breath back, but whatever the reason, Leela was grateful for the silence.

Amy had brought up her personal-planner hologram and was counting back from the date on the test. Leela watched the days zip past dispassionately. She knew where they were going to stop, after all.

"Aw," Amy said. "That's so cute! You got pregnant on the day of my engagement party!"

Lars sighed.

Amy frowned.

"Wait, that's not cute! Fry was with me and Bender that whole day. He never even left my apartment. I remember because he spent the whole time complaining. And because he crashed on my couch, and messed up my closet . . ." She tailed off as the only logical solution presented itself. "Ew! Leela!"

"Sorry."

"But . . . my closet? That's so gross!"

Leela's emotional numbness faded a little as annoyance-at-Amy bubbled up to replace it.

"Get over it," she snapped.

"She doesn't mean that," Lars murmured. "She's just lashing out at you."

"I meant it," Leela objected. She was about to expound on Amy's long history of being a slutty tramp, but Amy was already nodding in an infuriatingly sanguine manner.

"It's okay," she said. "I know you don't mean it. You're just freaking out, Leela. It's only natural."

She gave her a quick, comforting squeeze.

Leela stiffened at this unwarranted invasion of her personal space. As far as she was concerned, her relationship with Amy was not a hugging one.

Now that she thought about it, the only friend she'd ever felt comfortable hugging was Fry. Years of bullying in the orphanarium had left her more comfortable hitting people than hugging them, but Fry had slipped past her defenses somehow. The first time he'd hugged her she'd been taken by surprise, confused to find herself relaxing instead of tensing up. She'd been careful never to tell him that, of course, but sometimes when she was feeling down she would find an excuse to touch him, or just sit beside him and hope he'd reach out. (Which was, admittedly, pathetic. How the hell had she not known she was in love with him?)

Still, Amy meant to be reassuring and it wasn't fair to take it out on her because she wasn't Fry. So Leela tolerated the hug for a good thirty seconds before giving way to her instincts and muttering "I'm not really a hugger."

"Sorry." Amy broke away. She cleared her throat with a cutesy sound that made Leela want to hit her. "Do you want to talk about how you're f-"

"No. Don't ask me about my feelings," Leela interrupted, more aggressively than she'd intended to. "The last thing I want to talk about is my feelings, and the last person I'd want to talk about them with is -"

She stopped, distracted by a little snapping sound near her ear. The hiss of Slurm fizzing out of the can was unmistakeable.

Lars held out the can to her.

"I'm not thirsty," Leela snapped, but her mouth had started to water involuntarily, and she couldn't remember what she'd been about to tear into Amy for. Lars pushed the can gently into her hand and watched her start to drink it automatically. He smiled.

"Definitely Fry's baby."

Leela spluttered and he laughed.

"Amy, could you leave us alone?" he asked. "Leela and I need to talk."

Amy sagged with relief. "Sure thing! I'll leave you guys to it."

She hurried out and Lars took her vacated spot on the couch. Leela looked at him sidelong.

"You're taking this awfully well."

Lars shrugged.

"This is partly my fault," he said. "Even I can see that." He hesitated. "Did you only agree to have a baby so I'd shut up about it?"

Leela felt her face burn.

"Not only. But . . . mostly." She was ashamed to admit it, but there was no point trying to save face now. "I was hoping I'd have got used to the idea by the time my biological clock caught up. I thought I'd have a year, or at least a couple months . . ."

She'd been so complacent, and so afraid of losing him she could hardly think straight. In short, she'd been stupid.

"Oh." Lars scratched his cheek. "Well . . . I wasn't completely honest with you about that either. When I said I wanted a baby with you because I loved you, it was the truth . . . but it wasn't all of the truth." He looked down at his feet. "I wanted to have a family again," he said quietly. "I missed it."

Family. The word struck a sharp, resonant note in Leela's chest.

"Fry's gone," she blurted out. She didn't know what made her say it, but the word 'family' had made her think of him. "He could be anywhere by now and I don't – I can't – I don't know what to do."

Lars touched her arm gently.

"It's okay," he said. "He's just acting out. He'll be back."

Leela jerked away, agitated.

"You don't understand. I don't think he's coming back."

Lars studied her expression.

"You two had a row?" he hazarded.

"You could say that."

"Right, right." Lars sighed. "So he's hurt," he said. "That doesn't mean he won't come back. He'll just get drunk and do something stupid, like join a cult, or join an army, or join a new religion." He shrugged. "He likes joining things. Still," he reassured her, "it always works out in the end."

Leela groaned. She didn't even want to think about what Fry might end up doing without her or Bender to keep an eye on him. She stared down at her hands. She had worked her parents' bracelet free and was twisting it nervously around her wrist. The action was a comfort somehow.

"I told him he was wasting his life waiting for me to come around," she admitted quietly. "I also may have made some comments about his past relationships that were a little unfair. I mean, they were true . . . but I probably shouldn't have said them."

Lars grimaced.

"Look," he said at last. "He'll come back. Don't get me wrong - he'll come back a lot faster if you go get him - but either way, he's coming back." He nudged her shoulder. "He'll miss you too much."

Leela frowned.

"You don't know that," she argued, but Lars laughed.

"Yeah, I do," he reminded her. "Trust me. He'll drive himself crazy trying to be happy without you."

Leela looked at him. His face was lined and weather-beaten, but when he talked like that, it was impossible not to see Fry in him. It hurt.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

Lars shrugged. "Me too."

"I thought I could handle this," Leela admitted. "I thought I was doing the right thing, but all I've done is make things worse."

Lars nodded miserably.

"I know. I thought I was doing the right thing too," he told her. "But I don't even know what the right thing is anymore."

They sat in mutual, miserable silence.

Lars was the one to break it.

"So . . . a baby."

"A baby," Leela echoed. It didn't seem real.

She stared down at her stomach and tried to picture it. There was a baby inside her. Right now. Floating about like a tadpole. She couldn't quite grasp it. It was funny, really – whenever she'd thought about motherhood in the past, she'd imagined an instant bond, some sweeping surge of love for her unborn child that would throw everything else into perspective.

All Leela felt was sick and lonely.

Lars seemed to notice how zoned-out she was.

"I'm taking you home," he announced out of the blue.

"Huh?"

"You need to rest," he told her gently. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you look terrible. Come on."

Leela let him lead her out. She felt like she was sleep-walking. It was only when she stumbled against a garbage can that she realized she was leaning on Lars for support. She went to pull away, alarmed, but Lars simply tucked her arm back under his.

"It's okay," he murmured.

"Is it?" Leela said blankly.

Lars sighed.

"Try sleeping on it," he suggested. "Everything seems better in the morning."

I'll still be pregnant in the morning, Leela thought. Fry will still be Lord knows where. How could things possibly be any better in the morning?

But she didn't say it.

"Maybe you're right," she said instead.

Lars smiled wryly.

"It'd be the first time if I was."

He let them into the house and steered her into the bedroom automatically, sitting her down on the bed with an unselfconscious ease that suggested he'd forgotten he didn't live here anymore, and had no idea this was weird. Not that Leela could bring herself to voice an objection. She sat like a zombie as he tugged off her boots.

"Contact," he said softly.

Leela took it out obediently.

"It wouldn't be," she told him suddenly.

"What?"

"It wouldn't be the first time you were right," Leela clarified. "You're right more than you know. More than I ever gave you credit for."

Lars laughed. "I doubt it."

He lay her down and draped a blanket over her shoulders.

"It's true," Leela said blearily. "You were right about so many things, but I couldn't stand to admit it. I was too stubborn, or too scared, I don't know . . ."

She could feel her eyelid beginning to droop already ; her overstressed, hormone-ravaged body kept trying to shut her down for rest and repair.

"Me, right?" Lars laughed. "You must be thinking of someone else. You should get some rest."

Leela shook her head, annoyed. She was bone-tired, that was true, but she wasn't an idiot. She knew what she was saying.

"You were right about Adlai Atkins," she yawned. "Remember him?"

"He was a creep. And anyone could have told you you were fine the way you were."

Leela forced her eye open. He was missing the point, the way she'd missed it all those years ago.

"Anyone could have," she argued. "No-one else did."

Lars sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Well, okay," he said. "Maybe I was right once. That doesn't mean-"

"You stopped me shooting my parents," Leela interrupted.

"But anyone w-"

"You gave me the last of your oxygen," Leela interrupted again. "You nearly died . . . do you remember that?"

She was getting so tired. She hadn't eaten anything more substantial than Slurm and ice-cream all day, and all sleeping had done was make her more tired. But if she didn't say this now, while her defenses were down, then maybe she never would.

"Do you remember?" she said thickly.

"Of course I remember," Lars said quietly. He touched her hair. "It's not important, Leela. Get some rest."

Leela could feel her eyelid sagging, the fight against sleep becoming futile. But she fought anyway, because Leela had never given into anything without a fight.

"It is important," she argued. "It always was."

Lars said nothing.

"You talked me out of a coma," Leela reminded him. "You wouldn't stop waking me."

"I couldn't stop," Lars said hoarsely.

"You got rid of the worms . . ." Leela could feel herself falling asleep. She felt as if the words were floating outside her, and it was a struggle to put them in the right order. "You gave up the Robot Devil's hands," she managed. "For me. You did that."

"I know."

Leela nodded. Maybe he did understand.

"You always do the right thing when it matters, Fry," she mumbled.

Leela woke with a start.

It was dark, and someone was banging at the back door. Hammering, actually.

"Lars?"

The banging stopped abruptly and Lars appeared, holding a hammer.

"Uh, hey."

"Hi. What time is it?" Leela asked, bewildered.

Lars squinted at the clock.

"Uh . . . 4."

"In the morning?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I couldn't sleep."

"And you couldn't just read a book or something?" Leela caught sight of his bewildered expression and remembered who she was talking to. "What are you doing?"

"Nailing up the cat flap." Lars gestured lazily with the hammer, and almost dropped it on his foot.

Leela stared at him.

"Why?" she asked at last.

"I, uh . . . thought I heard a possum."

"A possum."

"Yeah."

"So you nailed up the cat flap? In the middle of the night?"

"Yes."

Leela frowned. "That's insane," she told him. "You know Nibbler uses that cat-flap. He's going to be really annoyed when he gets back from . . ." She paused. "Wherever he is. I'm actually not sure about that."

With everything else crowding her mind, she hadn't had time to think too deeply about Nibbler's disappearance. But thinking about him now nudged another memory to the forefront of her mind. "I know what Nibbler meant!" That was what Lars had been yelling back at Planet Express.

"Wait," she interrupted herself. "Nibbler knew I was pregnant? And he told you instead of me?"

This additional betrayal felt like a blow. Nibbler, Fry, Lars, her parents . . . it felt like everyone she loved had started to betray her. Not all of them were huge betrayals, but each one chipped away at her sense of certainty. Her world had shifted slightly with each new discovery, and now she hardly knew where she stood.

"He didn't really tell me," Lars said hastily. "He just kind of hinted."

"I can't believe him!"

"Sorry."

Leela shook her head. "I can't believe he would keep this from me."

"Me either," Lars said tightly.

Leela glanced at him. He was hard to see from here, but it looked as though his expression was rigid and angry. It was the look he'd worn when Nudar threatened her life, and Leela couldn't think why he was wearing it now. Nibbler wasn't a threat, after all. She must be imagining it, she decided at last.

Lars moved out of the shadows and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Leela shrugged.

"I've been better." She glanced at Lars. "You're bleeding," she noticed.

"Huh?" He looked down. "Oh, yeah . . . the hammer slipped. It doesn't matter. Stuff like that is always happening to me."

Lars wiped his bleeding hand on his shirt, leaving a rusty red stain on the blue fabric. It made Leela think of a target for some reason. A bullseye, or a bullet wound. She hated it instinctively.

"You should be more careful," she told him.

Fry had always been clumsy, but he was graceful compared to Lars. It was getting worse too. Leela couldn't help noticing. It seemed like he had a lucky escape or an unfortunate accident every other day. Maybe it was the stress of lying to her all that time that had made him seem so distracted? Still, he wasn't lying now, and the problem didn't seem to be going away.

Leela sat up and looked at him more closely. She put out a hand and touched a nick in the hollow of his throat.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Cut myself shaving."

Leela nodded. She gestured at the cut on his scalp. "And?"

"Guillotine. I was in the Professor's lab." Lars shifted uncomfortably. "I told you, this stuff happens all the time. I must be clumsy."

Leela nodded again, but she couldn't shake off her unease completely.

Lars seemed to pick up on it.

"I'll be more careful," he reassured her.

There wasn't much Leela could say to this, so she let it drop. She had bigger things to worry about anyway.

"Have you thought about what you're going to do?" Lars asked gently.

Leela swallowed, feeling suddenly sick again.

"Tell Fry, I suppose," she said. "I can't not tell him."

She took a deep breath and forced herself to look Lars in the eye. She had to ask. One way or another, she needed to know.

"Can he do this?" she asked quietly. "I need the truth, Lars."

Lars sat quiet for a while, mulling it over. At last he sighed.

"Look," he said. "He's a kid. You know it and I know it. I remember being him, and this is going to scare the crap out of him. But I think he is that way because he never had to be anything else. He never needed to grow up."

"I tell him to grow up all the time," Leela said, annoyed.

Lars laughed. "Yeah, but that's just background nagging. It doesn't really register."

"Great."

Lars frowned.

"When I first went back to my time," he told her, "I was miserable. I missed you and Bender and I felt like . . . like I didn't fit there anymore. And I couldn't tell anyone. I mean, who would have believed I spent eight years in the 31st Century? No-one. They'd think I was crazy."

He laughed sadly.

"I was falling apart. And then one day I saw this little orphan narwhal on the news. She was all alone and I guess I took a liking to her, because I went to the aquarium and told them I'd do anything if I could work with her. Her name was Leelu."

He smiled fondly.

"Anyway . . . she needed me. She had no family and she wouldn't even eat properly at first. But then she did - for me. It was like a miracle. I still don't know how I got her to do it. But she meant everything to me. I felt better around her, like I had a purpose, like I didn't have to pretend or explain or feel so . . . alone, I guess. I loved her, so when she needed something, I did it. I learned to swim and I held down a job and I even ate raw fish. It was gross, but I didn't care. It was worth it for her." He was silent for a beat.

"I grew up," he said at last. "For her. And if I can do it, Fry can do it."

Leela wasn't sure a narwhal was the same as a baby, but it was the only hope she had, so she clung to it.

"I hope you're right."

She still couldn't think of the baby as a solid thing, but for the first time, she felt a flicker of protectiveness towards it. I won't ever let you feel alone, she promised it. Not like I did.

"What happened to Leelu?" she asked eventually.

Lars blinked.

"Huh? Oh. I set her free. She didn't belong with me, not really. One day I just had to let go."

Leela felt a lump form in her throat. Maybe it was the cute animal aspect of the story, or maybe it was her crazy new hormone level, but she could feel herself tearing up.

"That's heartbreaking," she said tearfully.

Lars frowned. He reached out tentatively and squeezed her hand.

"No," he said slowly. "It's not. It's just life, Leela."

His hand was warm and comforting on hers; the thumb faintly callused from years of video games. It was Fry's hand, and Leela wondered - not for the first time - how she'd never noticed it. Fry's hands were usually sticky, but that was really the only difference. It stirred up feelings in her she couldn't even begin to explain, so she defined them as "confusion" and pulled away her hand.

She lay back down, feigning tiredness so Lars wouldn't notice. The morning sun was starting to light the room around them, but Lars didn't question her.

"Life," Leela echoed.

She let her hand drift to her stomach, feeling self-conscious and strange. Well, that was life alright. She made bad decisions and Fry made stupid ones - only this time they'd taken it too far, and created something that went beyond either of them. A brand new, unexpected life.