Tamara's POV

After a stressful morning with Tim and Lucy, I decided it was time to finally see a doctor.

I had been waiting for the doctor to get back into the room for more than an hour. But, after a few minutes more, he finally came back in with a serious look on his face.

"Well, Miss Colins, test results are back."

"So, how am I doing?"

"You're doing well, but I have some unfortunate news for you."

My face fell. What could it be? "What's wrong?"

The doctor sighed. "The pregnancy test you took was a false positive; you are not pregnant. Now I understand this can be hard for…"

I smiled weakly at the doctor. "It's okay. I have classes today so I should get going, but thank you for the help." I walked out of the doctor's office a little disappointed. Not because I wasn't expecting a cho, but because everything that had happened in preparation. I was frustrated and scared of what would happen when everyone found out. I was giving myself a headache from all the confusion and stress.

I really wanted to tell Will,—but I had class so I couldn't meet him at the station—so I called him before walking into Biology.

"How'd the doctors visit go, babe," he said.

"Depends on how you take it. Willie, the doctor said the test was a false positive." I was sad, but I didn't want Will to know that.

"That's great," he said, his voice betraying his statement, "Also, do you maybe wanna have dinner tonight?"

I sighed. "Yeah, Will, that sounds fun."

"Okay, I'll pick you up at seven if that's good?"

"That's good. Love you, Will, bye."

"Bye, Tamara. Love you." I hung up the phone, and fell against the hallway wall.

Out of nowhere, my friend Olivia walked up to me. "Something wrong, Tamara?"

I choked trying to come up with a lie, so I just simplified the story. "Boyfriend problems," I said.

"This boyfriend that cop?"

"Yeah."

She sat down next to me. "How about we talk about it?"

I looked at her thankfully. "I'd love to, Liv, but we're gonna be late to class."

"So what? Professor Carson won't care if we miss the class by ten minutes."

"Then I'll talk, but you better be ready cause this is a long conversation."

Olivia sighed. "Let's hear it."

Will's POV; three hours earlier

I had been pretty relieved when Tamara called saying that she wasn't pregnant, but her voice made it sound like she was sad. That kind of made me worry that when I picked her up later, she would ask if we should actually try to get there. I wasn't ready for sure, but I had no idea what she thought.

Even after I got over the age gap thing, the freedom from stress over a pregnancy made new concerns pop up. I started thinking about why Tamara never mentioned her parents or childhood, and I felt bad for not telling her about any of my past, from Afghanistan to my parents. It seemed like we were really surface-level with each other, and that made me worry. Worst of all, I thought I'm all of this up in the car ride to work.

Once I got to work, the day was pretty normal, other than the fact I rode patrol with Tim today, which was odd.

"So, Will," Tim said awkwardly, "I figured out that Tamara is—you know."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "I don't think I do. What's up with Tamara?"

"Will, you almost said it on the phone earlier."

"What'd I almost say?" I was just pulling his leg now.

"She's—expecting."

"Expecting what?"

He looked agitated. "Goddamnit, Will, I know she's pregnant."

I looked at him, faking surprise. "She's what?!" I started laughing, breaking my act.

Tim shook his head. "I just wanted to ask how the doctor went this morning; I heard she went."

I smiled. "Turns out it was a false positive. She's not pregnant."

"Thank God, that would've been complicated."

"I'm pretty sure she was kind of disappointed though when she was telling me on the phone. It was like she wanted a kid already."

"Some people are odd about it I guess. And Will, I was thinking—even though I know I shouldn't be messing with your relationship—that you should tell Tamara about Afghanistan. I think you need to get that off your chest."

I frustratingly let out a deep breath of air. "I don't know if I'm ready for that yet, Tim."

"Look, I wasn't in the same overseas operation as you were, but I know what you went through. And you know I'm not the feely type of person. I think you should tell her."

"I'll think about it."

"You still gonna ask her to move in? Even without the baby thing?"

I sighed. "Probably. It's only been two months but still, I think I want her to."

Tim nodded. "Good. Makes it easier for me to get Lucy to move in."

"We should probably focus on the shift," I said, trying to change the subject, "we get distracted too easily."

Tim looked at me. "Right."

Tamara's POV

"When you said it was a long conversation—we might as well skip class now," Olivia said.

"I'm sorry, it's just a lot going on."

"Remind me to never forget my birth control," she said, trying to get a laugh out of me. When she realized I wasn't laughing, she said, "Sorry, bad joke."

"It's fine. So, how do you think I should go on?"

"I think you should wait till you have your degree, then if you and Will are still dating or engaged, talk about it then."

"So you think I should wait."

"Yeah. How about we sneak some drinks in from that sorority house?"

"Why not? Hurry though, before anyone sees us." I was a little concerned about drinking underage, but I was going through a lot.

Will's POV; about six hours later

I was sitting on the couch, about to die of worry because another call to Tamara went to voicemail; I was ready to file a police report. Where the hell was she?

When I was just about to call Tim and file a police report, Tamara stumbled through the door, almost hitting the ground as she walked in.

"Where the hell were you," I yelled, then my voice quieted and turned to worry. "Are you okay, are you hurt?"

"N-n-no, I-I-I'm fiinee," she slurred.

I backed up. "Are you drunk?"

She leaned over. "J-Just a liittle biitt."

I squeezed my eyes and backed up. "You know you can't drink, Tamara, what were you doing?"

She looked up at me, pain in her eyes. "Blowing off some steam with Liv."

I shook my head, then pulled her body into mine, caressing her hair with my hand. I was tearing up, and I didn't want her to see. "You had me worried. Never do that to me again," I said.

She looked up at me. She was obviously hurting and a little scared. "I'm sorrryy, Willie."

I shook my head and laid her on the couch. "Sleep it off. I'm not calling the station—I don't want you getting in trouble."

"Thank you," she slurred, then she fell back onto the couch, sleeping within the next few minutes.

What the hell was I doing?

Tamara's POV

I woke up with a splitting headache, the sun gleaming through the window. I suppose that's one of the negatives of getting drunk.

"Well hello," Will said, sitting on a chair a few feet from the couch. His usually light facial features formed into a stern demeanor, and his brownish hair was unkempt.

"I thought you had work today," I said quietly.

"I called in sick. Wanted to know why my girlfriend showed up to my house yesterday wasted."

"Willie.."

He was nearly crying. "I thought you were missing, or worse."

"I'm sorry," I managed to get out. I didn't think anything else would do anything.

His eyes shut in frustration. "So, why were you drunk?"

"Me and Olivia went drinking…"

He cut me off. "But, why?"

I looked down. "I thought you'd be mad—after I found out I wasn't pregnant."

I looked him in the eyes, and he showed the most emotion I've ever seen in him. "Why would you think that?"

"After you came to terms with it and stepped up, you seemed proud of yourself for taking responsibility. I was worried about taking that away from you."

He got out of the chair, pulled me up to a sitting position on the couch, and sat down next to me, hugging me. "It made me feel good," he said, "but I wouldn't get mad at you over it."

"You sounded so disappointed over the phone."

"It wasn't disappointment—I just had a lot to think about. Tamara, I love you, and any silly situation like that won't change how I feel."

I looked up at him smiling with tears in my eyes. "That's really sweet."

He chuckled. "Just my job."

I pecked him on the cheek and laid my head on his lap as he ran his fingers through my hair. "You staying with me all day?"

He gave me a weak smile. "Yes ma'am."

"I love you," I whispered.

"Love you," he said.

After fifteen minutes more, I fell asleep again, head on his lap as his fingers ran through my hair.