Author's Note: Been watching some Jag. This chapter, and the next for that matter, is heavenly based on an episode from season 10 called "The 4 percent solution"
MarioCatjr : I'm not sure how I'm going to have Charlie react when he does find out.
bobcatwriter: Glad you like it. I'm not sure if Charlie will find out in the next chapter or the chapter after.
The days turned into weeks as the weeks turned into months. As predicted, like Casey's first pregnancy with Charlie, she had an easy pregnancy. No morning sickness, no cravings and she had only gained fifteen pounds during her first two trimesters.
The only people who knew the truth about her pregnancy were her doctor, her sister, and the older woman who ran the till at Casey's work. Nothing got past Patsy.
Charlie returned home after his trip to California and had begun his sophomore year at Eden Hall. True to his word, Bombay had followed Charlie back to Minnesota. He had moved back to Minnesota that fall and to everyone's surprise, took a job as an associate professor at the University of Minnesota teaching a legal ethics class.
Neither Bombay nor Charlie suspected anything out of the ordinary. Casey concealed any hint of a belly by keeping her distance from Bombay. It had hurt to push him away, but she had convinced herself that it was for the best.
Casey had missed him more than she expected. While she had missed the sex, she missed Bombay more. His smile. His laugh. His sense of humour. And the way that he knew just the right spot on her neck to kiss to give her goosebumps.
Charlie was a different story. While she couldn't exactly keep her distance without raising suspicions, Casey was thankful that Charlie appeared to be oblivious. He was too wrapped up with hockey and school to notice that she had gained fifteen pounds.
Casey was on her way to see one of Charlie's games when it happened.
She had just gotten off the phone with her sister for the fourth time that week.
….
"People are going to start to notice," Jess insisted. "You can't hide it forever."
Casey rolled her eyes. Her sister, as usual, was giving her a hard time. 'That's what sisters do', Casey reasoned with herself.
"You are over-reacting," Casey replied. "Besides, it's 1996. A lot of things have changed since I was pregnant with Charlie."
Jess sighed. She loved her sister, but Casey was stubborn to a fault. "Did you at least tell Charlie?"
"I will when the time is right," Casey said. "I still have time."
"The longer you wait, the worse it will be," Jess warned.
Casey begrudgingly knew her sister was right. She just didn't have the words.
"It's not going to be easy," Casey said. "I just chastised Charlie last week about the importance of being responsible when it comes to stuff like this. If I tell him, he'll never listen to me again. I'll be the world's largest hypocrite."
"What did that boy do now?" Jess asked, genuinely curious. She loved Charlie but knew he could be a handful.
"I found some condoms in his backpack last week. He swears the only reason he has them is that they were giving them out during sex-ed class," Casey said.
"He's growing up," Jess remarked. "Let's just hope he's smarter than either one of us was when we were his age."
Casey didn't like the sound of that. "Growing up too fast if you ask me. I've already had the bird and the bee talk with him but you know Charlie. It's time like this I wish Dad was still around."
Jess nodded in agreement and then let out a laugh.
"You could always try and get Bombay to talk to him about it," Jess said flippantly. "Although he might not be the best person to discuss safe sex with your son unless you're looking to be a grandma in addition to Mom round two."
"Not funny," Casey said. Casey usually appreciated her sister's cheeky sense of humour, but she didn't today.
Jess, noticing that Casey wasn't laughing along with her, turned serious. "I'm serious Casey, " she said before hanging up. "You got to tell him. And soon. Before Bombay finds out and tells him."
…..
Casey knew the way to Eden Hall by heart. Take the I-494 West and exit onto Highway 169. From there take the first exit onto Valleyview Road. Turn onto Shady Oak Road and Eden Hall is on the left.
Casey was planning on taking Charlie out for ice cream after the game to tell him that he was going to be a big brother someday soon. Maybe not tell him everything, like who the father was, but tell him enough. She wrested with the idea of telling him that Bombay was the father but she didn't want to ruin the relationship that he had with Bombay. Casey was afraid that Charlie would view it as some sort of betrayal and while she could handle Bombay not being in her life, she wasn't sure the same could be said for Charlie.
Casey was so preoccupied with thoughts of what, or how, she was going to tell Charlie that she didn't notice the 'construction ahead' sign. Or the orange pylons. Or the dump truck until it was too late.
At the last possible second, she saw a large dump truck. Unfortunately, it was too late to stop. Casey swerved to avoid a head-on collision with the dump truck and her car went over the rails and rolled several times until it rested in the middle of a deep gully.
Everything went black
Fairview Southdale Medical Center
Edina, MN
Casey woke up to the sounds of loud machines beeping. She groaned as she moved around in the hospital bed. She had never felt so sore in her life.
"Where am I?" She wondered aloud to herself.
"You're at Fairview Southdale," Bombay said.
Casey turned her head to the left and saw Bombay, sitting in a small armchair beside her bed. He looked exhausted.
"How long have you been sitting here?" She asked.
Bombay shrugged. "Eight hours. Maybe nine."
Casey's eyes widened. Nine hours! The memory of the phone call with her sister and the subsequent accident came rushing back to her.
"Where's Charlie!" Casey was alarmed. She started to try and get out of bed but Bombay stopped her.
"He's downstairs," Bombay explained. " I picked him up at Eden Hall on the way here when the paramedic called and told me that you were in an accident. I told Charlie about an hour ago to go downstairs and get something to eat. He's probably passed out on the cafeteria tables. I tried to get Charlie to go home and get some sleep and that I'd stay here with you, but he fought me every step of the way. He's like you in that way."
Casey rolled her eyes at Bombay's remark. Casey knew she was stubborn. She also knew that Charlie got his stubbornness from her. What she didn't know is why Bombay was sitting by her bedside rather than Charlie. Or her sister for that matter. Bombay, despite being the father of her unborn child, was not on her list of emergency contacts but somehow the paramedics that called him.
"You are not even on my emergency contacts," Casey said, almost to herself.
"The paramedics said you were repeating my name," Bombay smiled, almost gloating. "I remember the last time you were repeating my name over and over."
If looks could kill, Bombay would be a deadman. "Very funny. Ha-ha," Casey said sarcastically.
Bombay could tell that Casey was in no mood for joking around. He turned serious. "What happened?"
"Wasn't paying attention," Casey said.
Bombay frowned. That wasn't like Casey at all. He's been in the car with Casey before. She was a good driver.
Before either one of them had a chance to say anything else, the on-call doctor walked into the room.
"You're up. That's great," the doctor said to Casey before turning his attention to Bombay. "You related to my patient?"
Before Casey could say anything, Bombay spoke up. "Friend."
The doctor looked at Casey as if to ask her if she wanted Bombay to stay. Casey was sore. And tired. She didn't have any fight left in her to object to Bombay's declaration of friendship and motioned to the doctor to continue. She was exhausted and wasn't thinking straight. The only thing she wanted was for Bombay to leave and to go back to sleep.
"Well, your friend is very fortunate," the doctor continued.
"No broken bones or internal injuries, and the bruise on your face should fade in three to five days."
Casey was stunned. "But my car was totalled. I shouldn't have even survived."
"Happy Birthday," the doctor said. He went to leave but then stopped as if he had forgotten something. "We did an ultrasound too. Baby is doing great."
"Baby?!" Bombay sputtered out.
