A/N: Lorelei learns that her pregnancy is high risk and realises changes need to be made.

This chapter occurs during the events of One Night Stand, Season 3 Episode 4. Lorelei is not involved at all in the events of the episode.

A couple of days after telling Sean she would move in with him, Lorelei had an appointment with her OBGYN. Although Sean had wanted to make it, he had found himself held up at work, so Lorelei had attended the appointment alone. "No Sean today?" Dr Brody asked as she entered the exam room.

Lorelei shook her head. "Uh, no. He got held up at work."

Dr Brody nodded. "And what does he do for work?" She asked.

"He is a captain in the Portland Police Department."

"Ah, ok. My husband is an EMT, so I understand the getting held up at work thing quite a lot." Dr Brody said as she nodded in understanding. She glanced down at Lorelei's chart. "I see you were hospitalised due to being chloroformed during an attempted kidnapping. Am I reading that right?"

Lorelei rubbed the back of her neck. "Ah, yeah. You are reading that right."

"And how have you been feeling since then, any chest pains, trouble breathing, swelling in the limbs?"

"No. Not really. Although I have been getting headaches, but I don't know whether that is related."

Dr Brody seemed to be thinking. "It could be. It could also be related to high blood pressure. When we checked you before, it was higher than it should be. And considering this is becoming a trend, I think you may be dealing with ongoing hypertension. If not treated, there is a risk of it developing into preeclampsia and eclampsia, which can be…bad for both you and the baby. I want to start you on low dose aspirin and continue to monitor you. Hopefully that should help. How long do you have left before school lets out for the summer?"

Lorelei was starting to get worried. She had read up on preeclampsia and eclampsia. They were serious and were associated with a lot of different complications. "Uh, not for another month. I've got a couple of exams and two more assignments."

"Hmm…ok. Let's do an ultrasound, check on baby and go from there, ok?"

Lorelei nodded as she laid back on the bed and lifted her shirt up. Dr Brody brought the ultrasound machine over and got set up, before squirting the gel on Lorelei's belly and moving the wand thing across it. "We've got a strong heartbeat. That's good…. Baby appears to be the right size for almost sixteen weeks, that's good too. Oh, and from this angle, I can see the genitals…Wanna know what you're having?"

Lorelei looked at her in surprise. "Oh, wow, really…Um…I hadn't really thought about it…But, yeah, I'd like to know."

Dr Brody smiled at her. "It looks like you are having a little girl."

A smile broke across Lorelei's face as she looked at the ultrasound image. They were having a girl. A little girl. Lorelei felt tears fill her eyes and start to spill, running down her cheeks. "Oh geez." Lorelei said, quickly wiping them away. "I don't know why I'm crying. Damn hormones."

Dr Brody laughed. "Ah yes. I remember those days. I would cry at the drop of a hat." She put the ultrasound wand aside before handing Lorelei some paper towel. "Some for your belly. Some for your eyes."

Lorelei laughed before quickly wiping the gel off her belly. Once it was gone, she sat up and wiped her eyes. Dr Brody sat in front of her. "Ok. So, we are going to try the aspirin, and at least for the next couple of months I want to see you every two weeks. Hopefully, the aspirin should help but, in the meantime, you can keep on with your studies, especially since the end of semester is so close. I would like you to take it easy whenever possible. If we can't get that blood pressure down, I'm probably going to have to suggest bed rest, maybe even hospitalisation. But for now, take it easy, take the aspirin and come see me again in two weeks."

Lorelei nodded. "Ok. Um, what about work?"

Dr Brody considered it. "You work in the public health unit here, don't you?" Lorelei nodded again. "It should be fine. But if you start to experience severe headaches that will not go away, any vision changes, sudden swelling of hands and face, or pain in the right upper area of your abdomen, go straight to the ER."

Lorelei nodded, still feeling worried and anxious. Hopefully, the aspirin will help. Otherwise, she'll probably be spending who knows how long confined to her bed. Lorelei left with some pamphlets and information about the dosage of aspirin she should take. She stopped in at the hospital pharmacy to get both her prenatal medication and the aspirin before heading towards work. She wasn't working, but she figured she should tell her boss, Gail about her pregnancy and the potential for complications. Maybe she could work from home for a bit. She didn't think she was eligible for paid maternity leave, seeing as she was part time, but who knows.

"Lorelei, what a surprise. You aren't scheduled to work today." Gail greeted her after Lorelei knocked on her office door.

"Hi. Yeah, I know, um, but I do need to talk to you about something."

Gail's eyes widened. "You're not leaving us, are you?"

Lorelei shook her head, a small smile on her face as she closed the office door. "No. I am not resigning. But I will need to take some time off at some point."

Gail looked interested. "Oh, what's going on?"

Lorelei sat down in the chair opposite Gail's desk. "Um, well, I am pregnant."

"Oh…congratulations…it is a congratulations type situation, right?"

Lorelei laughed. "Yes. It is a congratulations type of situation. I am pregnant by my soulmate, and we are both very happy."

Gail nodded, a smile spreading across her face. "Oh good. Just, considering your age I wasn't sure. Well, congratulations. How far along are you? When do you think you'll need to go on maternity leave."

"Thanks. Uh, I am almost 16 weeks, due early November. And honestly, I am not sure. I am actually dealing with hypertension. At the moment my doctor wants me to take aspirin and see me every couple of weeks for the time being. But if my blood pressure doesn't come down, I may need to go on bed rest or even be hospitalised. I may need to start maternity leave sooner than I'd like. I'm not really sure how to proceed from here regarding work."

"Oh dear. That doesn't sound good. I am sorry you are going through this." Gail said. She sat back in her seat. "I'm not sure if you would be eligible for paid maternity leave. But let me be honest, the hospital wants you. My higher ups love you and your contributions to the team. They want you working for them full time; however they do understand that you need to finish your degree and have plans for a PhD. I think we may be able to get you paid maternity leave."

"Really?" Lorelei asked in surprised.

Gail nodded. "I do. I'm not sure how much and I don't know for sure. But, let me speak to the higher ups and see what we can do. Regardless, no matter how much time you need to take off, your job will still be here. However, for your health and the health of your baby, you may need to start maternity leave sooner rather than later. Keep me updated. And you know what, I might see if you can work from home for the next month or so. Most of what we are doing at the moment is going through the data we've collected. I see no reason you can't do that from home. But again, gotta check with the bosses."

"Wow. Um, that would be great. Thank you." Lorelei said, feeling like a weight had lifted off her chest.

Gail smiled at her. "You are a valuable asset to our team Lorelei. And we take care of our own. Now, you go home, and you rest. You hear me young lady?"

Lorelei laughed and gave her a salute. "Yes mam."

As Lorelei arrived home, she received a call from Nick asking to meet him, Hank, and Monroe at the trailer. They were doing some research on a wesen that may be involved in a case. A Naiad. Lorelei remembered reading about those in the book. And Nick may have seen one. She started to get excited, ready to tell her brother that she would be on her way. However, she paused, her eyes drifting down to her stomach, and she recalled being told by her doctor to take it easy. She sighed. "Um, I'm sorry but I might have to sit this one out. I'm not feeling 100%." She told Nick.

"Are you ok? Is the baby, ok?" The concern in Nick's voice was evident. He may have conflicted feelings about her pregnancy, but he loved her, and she knew he already loved the baby.

"Yeah. Everything is fine. It's just been a long day. I'm exhausted. But, um, keep me in the loop though. Alright?"

"Yeah. Of course. You take it easy. Your most important job right now is taking care of my niece or nephew. Do you need anything?"

"No. I'm all good. Uh, good luck."

After saying goodbye, Lorelei unlocked her door and stepped inside. Molly greeted her, leash in mouth. "I'm sorry Molly. I'll take you for an extra big walk tomorrow. Or get someone else to." She really needed to arrange a dog walker. A lot of the eisbiber had been offering to help in any way they could. Maybe she would ask one of them. Or maybe one of her friends wouldn't mind some extra cash. Lorelei made note to text them later on.

Sean had messaged her earlier, apologising for missing the appointment. However, he assured her he would be home at a reasonable time. Smiling, Lorelei headed to the kitchen and to preheat the oven. She was still craving that lasagna she had pulled out of the freezer this morning. It would go well with the homemade garlic bread and salad she had prepared. She slipped the lasagna in the oven, set an alarm, and headed to her bedroom to change into something more comfortable. She returned to the living area, grabbed her laptop and stretched out on the longue. With the TV on in the background, Lorelei started working on one of her assignments. Despite how busy she had been with work, Grimm stuff, her pregnancy and socialising, she was still ahead. It just needed some final editing, and she would be able to submit it. That would leave one assignment and two exams.

However, Lorelei's mind kept drifting, as her hand constantly coming to rest on her little bump. It still wasn't overtly noticeable, but it was there. Today's appointment had really hit home that Lorelei had to make a lot of changes if she wanted to avoid further complications later on in her pregnancy. Less late nights, more rest, avoid stress whenever she could. Hopefully Lorelei could get paid maternity leave and get off work sooner. Even if she couldn't, Lorelei knew she would probably end up having to start maternity leave before the summer ended. The only problem was that she needed money to live. Lorelei had no doubt that Sean would financially support her, however Lorelei valued independence. She didn't want to have to rely on others to get by. She also knew that her friends would be eager and ready to help ger with anything she needed. Lorelei knew that the eisbibers had been dropping things off at both Bud's and Katie's parents how. She made a note to head over there to pick the things up soon.

Her alarm going off caused Lorelei to jump and scramble for her phone to turn it off. How long had she been in her head? Clearly long enough for the lasagna to cook. She headed to the kitchen to check on the lasagna. Yep. It was done, Lorelei turned the oven off before returning to the living area to grab her phone. She sent a message off to her college friends, seeing if anyone would be interested in walking Molly daily. Lorelei also saw that Sean had let her know he was on his way home. Checking the time, she realised he'd be pretty close, so she started serving dinner up.

Lorelei had just finished adding the garlic bread to their plates when Sean walked in the door. Molly jumped up from her spot on the floor and ran over to greet him. Sean gave her a smile and a pat before moving to greet Lorelei. "You arrived just in time, dinner is ready." Lorelei told him.

"Mmm, good. I am starving." He said, placing a gentle kiss on her lips, before accepting the plate from her.

"How was your day?" Lorelei asked him, as she grabbed her own plate and headed towards the table.

"Not bad. How did your doctor's appointment go?" He asked, joining her at the table.

Lorelei sighed. "Well, baby has a strong heartbeat and is growing as they should be…"

Sean gave her a look. "But."

Lorelei let out a breath. "My blood pressure is still high. Dr Brody has diagnosed it as hypertension; she wants me to take aspirin and come back in couple of weeks. She's also ordered rest, as much as possible. She wants to keep monitoring me and the baby to make sure I don't develop something called preeclampsia and eclampsia."

Sean nodded slowly. "Ok, and what exactly are those?"

"They come with a whole host of complications which could be really bad. If I developed either preeclampsia or eclampsia, it could lead to seizures, stroke, a coma, and even death." Lorelei told him. "It could lead to a premature birth, low birthweight or a placental abruption which is when the placenta separates from the uterine wall before it should. Those are just some of the possible complications. Dr Brody gave me some information, if you want to look over it."

Sean nodded, looking serious. "I think I will. What has she said about school and work?"

"I should be fine with those at the moment. I actually spoke with Gail after my appointment. Figured it was time to tell her about my pregnancy. She is very supportive. She is going to speak to her bosses about me working from home, and possibly getting paid maternity leave. Especially if I have to start maternity leave sooner rather than later. If I can get paid for it, that would be great."

"You know I will financially support you, right?"

Lorelei nodded. "I know. But you know that I value independence. Although, I may not have much of a choice."

"I understand, but anything you need, let me know."

"I know." She said smiling at him. "I might also try and move up my moving date. I'm sure the eisbibers would be happy to help me get everything packed up and moved, if you don't mind having eisbibers at your place."

"Our place, and as long as you rest, I don't mind who helps." Sean told her, returning her smile. "I hope resting also includes not being overly involved helping Nick out."

"You'll be happy to hear that when Nick called me today, I turned him down."

"I am. I know that you have responsibilities as a Grimm, but you are pregnant, with a high-risk pregnancy at that. I hope Nick was understanding."

Lorelei swallowed her mouthful of food. "He was. Told me my most important job at the moment was taking care of his niece or nephew."

Sean raised an eyebrow. "He is becoming more accepting of your pregnancy?"

Lorelei nodded. "He is, although I think he's pretending I'm like the Virgin Mary or something."

Sean chuckled. "Probably."

"I do have some good news. I found out the baby's gender. Do you want to know? Or do you want it to be a surprise?" She asked him.

Sean placed his cutlery down. "I would like to know. I think we've had enough surprises."

Lorelei smiled at him. "It's a girl."

A large smile broke out across Sean's face. "We're having a little girl." He said, before standing up and moving over to Lorelei. Lorelei stood up as well, allowing Sean to take her into his arms, hugging her tightly. He pulled away, taking Lorelei's face into his hands as pressed a quick, yet heated kiss to her lips. "I can't wait to meet her."