AN: This one can be read by itself, but it's better following "Cravings and Concerns." There is a second piece to this one that should be coming soon!

I own nothing from Murder, She Wrote.

I hope you enjoy! If you do, please do let me know!

111

"Is there any particular reason that this family stroll had to turn into a sprint, Jess?" Seth called out.

"What?" Jessica asked. It was one of those questions, though, that someone utters seconds before their brain catches up with what they heard, and she slowed her steps to a stop and allowed Seth to catch up with her. "Oh—I'm sorry."

"Got a stitch in my side, now, Woman," Seth said. "You had me looking to see if something was behind us with an axe, as fast as you were moving."

Jessica laughed and stretched her back while she waited on Seth to fully catch his breath.

"Hurts a man's ego a little bit to realize his pregnant wife is running laps around him," Seth said.

"Now you're just being dramatic, Seth," Jessica responded, playfully rolling her eyes at him.

"You're not even winded," Seth replied.

Jessica drew in a breath and let it out dramatically, almost like she was testing her own ability to breathe.

"I'm a little tired," she admitted, "now that I'm thinking about it. I suppose I just got wrapped up in my thoughts and wasn't paying attention to how fast I was moving."

Seth hummed. He gestured, indicating that they could start walking, and he set the pace. This time, Jessica matched his pace and didn't seem determined to trot ahead, overtaken by whatever she was working out in her mind.

Seth felt very much like he needed to tread very easily for a little while. Their baby was doing well. Jessica's medical report from her last appointment—which included a veritable barrage of lab tests, imaging, and physical examinations—was practically a thing of beauty. Jessica checked out wonderfully in every way, and their baby seemed to be developing perfectly.

That hadn't been the case, however, when Jessica had been pregnant many years ago, during her marriage to Frank. The first of her babies had been unexpectedly lost in her fourteenth week—the very same week as she was currently experiencing in this pregnancy. The second, some time later, had held on a little longer, leaving her in her sixteenth week of pregnancy.

Jessica's current medical report was good—excellent, even—but the tensions were still high.

Seth understood Jessica's nerves well, and he didn't hold any of her feelings against her. He also simply understood that pregnant women, regardless of their past experiences, tended to have some anxiety.

Given the size of Cabot Cove, and how far people had to travel for specialized medical care, it wasn't unusual for Seth to handle all kinds of medical situations. He worked with doctors in Augusta and other nearby cities, and he functioned as a liaison to them, in addition to his normal work, to provide care to people in between opportunities to see specialists.

Seth had worked with nearly every pregnant woman in Cabot Cove since he'd become a doctor. He'd performed tests that were ordered for them, performed examinations, and he'd even delivered a number of babies that weren't going to make the trip to the hospital and, as such, were better off being delivered at home by their family physician. Winter babies, especially, had a tendency to come into the world at home in Cabot Cove, and Seth had been responsible for delivering most of them since he'd opened his practice.

In addition to his regular medical offerings, though, Seth also took on the occasional necessary role as something of a counselor. His patients came to him with their physical ailments, but Seth had learned that a lot of those came with their own set of mental and emotional concerns, as well. He tried to refer them to people that could help them, when necessary, but he could handle some of the milder worries, especially the ones that related to health anxiety.

Pregnant women, in his experience, often required a certain amount of emotional care to go with any physical care he might be able to provide. They came to him with worries and concerns that, perhaps, were often unfounded, but they were no less serious to the mother-to-be just because they seemed illogical to Seth. He'd learned, over the years, how to be much more understanding and gentler than he'd once been.

And that was serving him very well, now that he was set to become a father, and one pregnant woman, in particular, mattered a monumental amount to him.

Seth couldn't say that Jessica was unreasonable. Her concerns were mostly well-founded, and even those that seemed a little far-fetched were deeply rooted in the fact that she had seen her only two children born early enough that they seemed to have been of little concern to anyone besides their parents, and she had seen them put to rest in her back garden by Frank.

Seth would hear any of her worries, whenever she needed and wanted to share them with him, and he would handle them as delicately as possible.

"Penny for those thoughts, Jess," Seth said, as they walked. "You're awfully quiet today."

"Am I?" Jessica asked. She seemed more relaxed now. Perhaps her trot down the path had helped to calm some of her nerves.

"A-yuh," Seth said. "You've hardly said a dozen words to me since breakfast—and that was hours ago."

"I guess—I'm trying to work out part of this novel I'm writing," Jessica said. "I'm just not pleased with all the characters' motives. I'm not sure they're all really logical. Believable. One part of me thinks they are, but the other part of me feels like some of them are…I don't know…a little too far-fetched."

Seth let out his breath in a sigh of thanks that Jessica's quiet concern was about fictional characters.

"Let's hear what you've got," he said. "I'll tell you if they make sense."

She smiled at him.

"Will you, really?" She asked, sounding excited by his offer to help.

"Absolutely," he said. "What do you have so far?"

"Now—I don't want you just to tell me everything sounds good," Jessica challenged.

"Scout's honor," he teased, making the sign of a Boy Scout. "I'll tell you the brutal truth, Jessica."

She laughed and slipped her arm through his—a sign that this walk wasn't going to turn into another near-run, and also that he'd won a little favor, perhaps, with his love. He smiled at her and patted her hand with his. As they walked, now at the slow and gentle kind of pace that both of them could probably keep up for the better part of a day, Jessica told Seth about the novel she was working on. He listened, offering advice where he could and encouragement when he was, otherwise, at a loss. Mostly, though, Seth simply enjoyed walking with Jessica while her mood was good enough to be absolutely infectious.

He enjoyed it so much that, when she'd seemed to run out of things to say about her novel and they found themselves simply walking together in pleasant silence, Seth had surprised himself by interrupting the quiet with a nearly compulsive outburst.

"I love you, Jessica," he said. He meant it, of course, and he would never want to take it back, but he hadn't really planned to say the words out loud, at that precise moment. He was a little surprised by them and, given her expression, so was Jessica.

Her surprise quickly melted into a genuine smile, though, and she hugged Seth's arm as they walked.

"I love you, too, Seth," she assured him. It wouldn't have mattered the words she used. He could hear their meaning in her tone of voice.

Seth considered the question that had been on the tip of his tongue since Jessica's appointment. He had been saving it for a moment, like this one, when everything simply felt good. He couldn't imagine things feeling any better than they did at this moment.

"Been meaning to ask you a question, Jess," Seth said.

"Oh?" Jessica asked. She furrowed her brow at him as they walked. "Is it—a question that I'm not going to like? Your tone sounds a little troubled, Seth."

Seth laughed quietly.

"That's one of the dangers of having a wife who's something of a detective," Seth teased. "You're always reading into things."

Jessica raised her eyebrows at him.

"Am I mistaken? I wasn't trying to read into anything, Seth. Only noting that your tone…well…makes me a little nervous."

Seth considered it a moment. The truth of the matter was that there was a lot of tension in their home right now. It wasn't tension caused from any sort of problem between them, or any sort of problem, for that matter. Rather, it was simply tension that existed as each of them dealt with the issues that needed to be dealt with in one way or another.

But the fact of the matter was that tension could make people say and do things that they didn't mean at all.

"You're not mistaken," Seth said. "And—I was only teasing."

She relaxed. He felt her muscles relax, even as she hugged his arm again.

"I'm sorry if—you feel like I'm putting words into your mouth, or…whatever the case may be," Jessica said.

Seth smiled. At the very least, he had to admit that Jessica was willing to take responsibility for her actions as much as anyone else.

"You didn't do anything," he said. "The question does make me nervous, but not because it's a bad question. I just don't want you to feel pressured to answer it one way or another. Anything you say, Jess, is fine with me. I mean that, and I want you to keep it in mind."

"Fine," Jessica said. "I won't feel pressured, either way. Now what is it, Seth? Tell me before you scare me to death."

Seth laughed.

"It's nothing bad, Jess," Seth assured her. He moved his hand to squeeze hers as she held his arm. "I just want to know if—you want to know the gender of our baby."

Jessica stopped abruptly, surprised by the question. She pulled back on Seth's arm with the abrupt stop, and he stopped with her. He reached in his pocket and came up with the handkerchief he brought for dabbing sweat from his neck, face, and forehead. The other, he went ahead and pulled out of his pocket, just to have on the ready. It was for absorbing any tears that might come.

Like every pregnant woman he'd ever treated, Jessica had her own particular set of pregnancy symptoms, and one of her strongest was the ability to burst into tears at any given moment, and with any given stimuli. Happy, sad, surprised, or simply tired, Jessica's involuntary reaction to most things these days was to shed a tear or two—much to her dismay, really.

Seth didn't mind, and he often told her as much. He'd simply taken to carrying around tissues and handkerchiefs so that he was prepared for the inevitable tears.

She saw him take out the extra handkerchief, readying it, and she laughed.

"Heavens, Seth—am I so predictable?"

He laughed in response.

"Adorably so, Woman," he offered. "Before you even start—don't apologize. I don't mind when you cry, but I do mind when you apologize for it."

She laughed quietly again and shook her head.

"The gender, Seth?" She asked.

"Yes," he said. "Namely—do you want to know, Jessica, if the baby is a boy or a girl?"

"You mean—in the future," Jessica said.

"In the future…or right now," Seth said.

He thought she paled, slightly, and he reached a hand out, touching her arm to steady her, just in case she might be a bit too overwhelmed. He absolutely did not want her to faint and fall. It might very well give him a heart attack, and that was to say nothing about whether or not she'd be damaged at all.

"You mean…you know?" She asked.

"A-yuh," Seth said, nodding his head.

"When? How?" Jessica asked.

"I've known since Monday, in Augusta," Seth said. "I could tell while they were doing the scans. Besides that—I have your medical records, Jess. I may be your husband, but I'm also your doctor. Any ideas I had from trying to read the scans, which is, admittedly, not my forte, were confirmed by the lab results. There's no question about it."

"You know what our baby is?" Jessica asked again.

Seth assumed that it was just a touch of shock, perhaps, that she had to get over, that had her not quite absorbing what he was saying. She hadn't been expecting it. It would pass in a moment.

"I know what our baby is," Seth said. "What I want to know, is if you want to know? And whatever you say, it won't matter to me. If you want to know, I'll tell you, but if you want to…to wait until the baby's born, it makes no never mind to me. I can keep a secret. I just want whatever will make you the happiest, Jess."

She frowned and he offered her the handkerchief, just in case the dam was about to break. She shook her head, but she also took a second to get herself firmly under control.

"You didn't have the chance to choose," Jessica said. "You were…you were robbed of that. You should have had the chance to choose, too."

Seth laughed at her genuine concern for him and his feelings.

"It's part of the job, Jess," he said. "I don't mind. I wanted to know, so…there's no harm done. Do you want to know, or not? You don't have to answer right away."

"You've been calling the baby 'she' this morning," Jessica said. "So—it's a girl."

Seth laughed. He offered his hand to Jessica, and she took it. He started them walking again, slowly, swinging her hand in his.

"I've been calling the baby a girl since we knew there was a baby," Seth said. "I'm not going to do anything to give it away."

"So—you would have to change things," Jessica said, "which would give it away. So—the baby is a boy."

"You are downright infuriating, Woman," Seth said. "Do you want to know or not? Because I don't want to play Sherlock Holmes with you."

Jessica laughed. It was that wonderful, musical, girlish laugh that went right to the core of Seth. He'd do anything—he'd make the biggest horse's ass out of himself, if that's what it took—just to hear her laugh like that.

"I think I do," Jessica said.

"You do or you don't, Jess, because…just like putting the baby in there, there's no going back once you know. It's a done deal."

She made a face, and Seth felt his stomach twist. It hadn't been the best comparison, really, with all things considered. Jessica knew, after all, far better than some that there was definitely a way to "go back," so to speak, once a baby was growing in her womb. Of course, it wasn't any way she would have ever wanted.

"I'm old, and I'm not always smart," Seth offered. "And sometimes I say the damnedest things, Woman."

She laughed and squeezed his hand.

"You're the smartest man I know," Jessica said. "And—you better be young enough, Seth, because we …we have a baby on the way."

"We'll make it work," he said. "I'll keep up."

"You better," Jessica said. "And—you didn't say anything wrong. I heard what you meant. But—I do want to know, Seth. You already know, and I don't want you feeling like you have to keep secrets from me. That's one of the foundations of a healthy relationship, right? We—try not to ever have secrets."

"We try not to ever have bad secrets," Seth corrected. "We're allowed temporary, good secrets. This isn't a bad secret, Jess. And I don't want that to be the reason you feel like you have to know. If you want the surprise…"

"I think we'll enjoy knowing together," Jessica said. "And I'll still be surprised, either way. Whether it's…today or…or…months from now."

"Tell you the truth, Jessica—I wanted to be the one to tell you, anyway," Seth said. "In December…or January, if you don't make your due date. I was going to ask if…when the baby was born…I could be the one to tell you."

She smiled at him.

"You can tell me now," she said. "I'd like for you to be the one to tell me."

Seth nodded his head.

"Can you—wait just a bit? Let me do it some way that's…special? Not just…blurting it out right here."

Jessica laughed quietly and shrugged.

"I'll wait as long as you like," she said. "But—please don't feel like you have to do anything big, Seth."

"Don't tell me what to do, Jessica," he countered. "I'll do it my own way. However I see fit."

"Fine, Seth," Jessica said.

Seth thought about it for a few moments. A comfortable silence fell between them. Maybe Jessica was working on her book in her head. Maybe she was thinking about the baby. It was possible she was thinking about the babies she'd lost—what she may have known about them or dreamed about them. Whatever it was, it wasn't distressing her. Seth could feel that she was relaxed as she walked with him.

He felt relaxed, too, and happy.

Mornings like this were the mornings a man lived for, really.

And, then, he had an idea.

"All this walking's worked up an appetite," he said. "You hungry, Jess?"

She looked like she hadn't considered it. She shrugged.

"I could eat," she admitted.

Seth laughed.

"I bet you could. Baby's probably starving. Breakfast was hours ago. Come on—let's head into town. Stop by Mara's."

"We have food at home," Jessica said. "I could make you something."

"Got a hankering, Jess. Besides—you can't tell me the baby wouldn't like pancakes."

He smiled at Jessica's expression. She hadn't known she wanted pancakes, perhaps, but the power of suggestion was enough to make her want them. Their baby, after all, was a fan of pancakes—and Seth knew that, if he knew anything about the little thing.

"Pancakes—but it's almost lunch time," Jessica said.

Seth laughed.

"I think they call that brunch in the big city," he teased. "And you know Mara will make the baby some pancakes any time of day." He didn't make her answer, he simply tugged on her arm. "Come on, Jessica. Let's go get the baby some pancakes for brunch."