Author's Note: Thank you for your response to the last chapter and to Hank and Jenna's baby news! I'm happy that so many of you are excited for this storyline. I'm also working on some plans for what will come after this story is completed, so look for more information about that soon.

I also just started a Twitter account and Instagram account specifically for fan fiction and CPD/SVU fun. I'd love to connect with you there! Find me at ashleyo281 on Twitter and ashleyo_28 on Instagram. If you follow either place, please let me know that you are a FF friend so that I can follow you back!

One last thing—I posted the first chapter of a new SVU multi-chapter story called What She Needs. If you're an SVU fan, I'd love for you to check it out!

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Chapter 41-Hi, Little One

Over the next week, Jenna continued to heal as she and Hank cautiously tried to enjoy their baby news. Because of the trauma she went through, they really didn't know if their baby would survive. They didn't talk about the baby, but it consumed both of their thoughts. Jenna found herself drifting off thinking about the rest of her pregnancy, delivery, infancy, everything. When Hank had downtime, his thoughts went to the baby, staring at the ultrasound photo he kept in his wallet. When Jenna was asleep, he lay awake, his hand on her stomach, silently praying for a chance to raise this baby with his wife. He wanted it more than anything.

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A week later, Jenna was scheduled to return for her broken bone follow-up and to check on their baby. They were both incredibly nervous for Jenna's appointment. Due to an incredibly difficult case at work, Hank was unable to go with her. Sitting on the sidelines made him even more uneasy. He hated the idea that Jenna would be alone if the news about their baby wasn't good. He desperately wanted to be there with her, to hold her and attempt to comfort her if their baby didn't survive.

Hank kissed Jenna as he prepared to leave for work. "You'll call right after your appointment and let me know?"

"Yep."

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you? I don't know if you should be driving."

"My driving foot is fine, and you have work. I can do this."

Hank sighed. "Ok. I love you, and I'll be thinking good thoughts for you and this one all morning," he said, putting his hand on her stomach.

"Thanks babe. I love you."

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Jenna lay on the exam table, holding her breath, waiting for the picture to pop up on the ultrasound screen. When she saw their baby, tears came to her eyes. She thought she saw a flutter of a heartbeat, but she didn't want to let herself get excited until she got the official word.

"Please tell me the baby is ok," Jenna said.

After a few moments, she heard, "There's a heartbeat, and it looks strong. Placenta looks good, and I don't see any issues at this point."

"Oh thank goodness," she said as she dissolved into tears. She put one hand on her stomach as the other covered her face. Her doctor sat quietly for a little while, allowing Jenna the time to release the stress and worry that had built up over the last week.

"Your baby is fine. Everything looks good," her doctor said, putting her hand on top of Jenna's.

"Thank you," Jenna said, wiping her tears. "I was just...with the accident, I didn't know if the baby would really be ok."

"I'm sure it has been a very difficult week. But things look good, so I think you're in the clear. I would recommend that you still take it easy and not overdo it, but you're free to resume normal activities. I can't promise that will continue throughout the rest of your pregnancy, but for now, you can live your normal life."

"I'll be careful, I promise."

The doctor squeezed Jenna's hand. "Congratulations, Jenna. I'm thrilled for you and Sergeant Voight."

"Thank you, for everything."

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When Jenna got to her car, she leaned over on the steering wheel as she cried tears of joy and relief. The last week had been such a rollercoaster of emotions, and she felt a weight lift from her shoulders the second she saw the flutter of her baby's heartbeat. While she was still worried about future complications, she would live in the moment and celebrate this new life she and Hank had been blessed with.

She didn't want to give Hank the news over the phone, but she didn't think she could wait until he got home from work, so she headed straight to his office.

Jenna texted Hank when she pulled up at the 21st district.

'I'm out in front of your office. Can you come down?' she asked.

'On my way,' Hank answered.

When Hank got to her car, he climbed into the passenger seat. "Hey beautiful," he said as he kissed her. "How are you feeling?"

"My foot hurts a lot, but I'm going to take pain medicine as soon as I get home."

"How did your appointment go?" he hesitantly asked, hoping that their baby was still alive.

Jenna reached into her purse and pulled out new ultrasound pictures. "We have a perfect little baby with a perfect little heartbeat."

He smiled as he ran his finger over the baby's picture, letting out the breath that he didn't realize he was holding. "Really? Everything is fine?"

She nodded. "Yeah. By some miracle, our little one survived the accident and is perfectly fine."

Hank pulled her close, closing his eyes as he held her, fighting back tears. "I'm so happy Jen. I tried not to get attached, but I...I wanted this so bad."

"I did too. I was scared to want it, but I did, I do," Jenna said, wiping at her own tears.

"So remind me how far along we are?"

"We are eight weeks."

"Eight weeks," he said as his hand drifted down to rest on her stomach. "And when can we tell people?"

"Twelve weeks at the earliest. Maybe longer, depending on how much I'm showing at that point. I'd like to get through Erin and Jay's wedding before we tell anyone."

Hank sighed. "Ok. So I guess I won't go up and tell everyone I see."

"Definitely not. Oh, and the splint came off, they put a cast on, and no surgery on my foot."

"That's great news," Hank said, pulling her close again.

Jenna kissed him. "I'll let you get back to work. I just wanted to tell you in person, and I couldn't wait until tonight."

"I'm glad you came by. Best part of my day so far."

"I love you."

Hank gently rubbed her stomach. "I love you, both of you, so much" he said as he kissed her.

"See you tonight."

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"Where did you sneak off to?" Erin asked as Hank walked back in.

"Downstairs. Jenna stopped by."

"Why didn't she come up?"

Hank turned around. "Because of her foot, it's too hard for her to try to come up the stairs."

"What did she come by for?"

"What's with the twenty questions? She had a follow-up appointment to check her foot, so she stopped by to say hi and update me on her appointment."

"Her foot doing ok?" Al asked.

"She's doing fine. No surgery, so that's a relief," Hank said.

"Good."

Adam walked over and stood in front of Hank. "Boss, you've got a little bit of a twinkle in your eye, a little pep in your step that wasn't there when you left."

Hank stared at Adam for a moment. "I got to see my wife, and we got good news today. I'm entitled to be a little happy, aren't I?"

"Of course. So...did you and Jenna have a little private celebration while you were down there?" Adam said, smirking at him while shooting looks at the others.

They all looked at each other in shock, bracing themselves for their boss's reaction.

Hank glared at Adam. "Ruzek. My wife has a broken foot, and she parked her car in front of the district. I was gone for maybe ten minutes. You wanna ask that question again?"

"Ten minutes is all it takes."

"Oh man," Kevin said under his breath.

"Not for me," Hank said, walking past Adam and going into his office.

When Hank was out of earshot, Jay said, "You're an idiot Ruzek."

"What? It was just a question!" Adam said.

"Dude, he's not gonna hook up with his wife in her car in front of the district! And if he did, he's definitely not going to tell you about it!"

Adam laughed. "Yeah, but it's just so fun to mess with him."

Antonio smacked him on the back of the head. "Halstead's right. You're an idiot."

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Hank rushed home from work as quickly as he could, stopping for flowers on his way home. When he got home, Jenna was napping on the couch. He kissed the top of her head as he pulled a blanket over her.

"You brought me flowers?" Jenna asked sleepily.

"Hey beautiful," he said, kissing her head again. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's ok. I wasn't really sleeping. I'm glad you're home."

"How was your afternoon?" he asked, kneeling on the floor in front of her, brushing a section of hair behind her ear.

"It's fine. I've just been napping and staring at pictures of our baby," she said, putting her hand on her stomach.

Hank chuckled. "I spent every free moment of the rest of the day staring at the pictures you gave me too."

"I still have to rest, but I think it's ok if we relax a little bit, maybe celebrate?"

"Celebrate?" Hank asked, raising his eyebrow. "What kind of celebration did you have in mind?"

Jenna leaned close to him, her lips just millimeters from his. "I was thinking…my favorite pizza and some mint chocolate chip ice cream from that place down the street." She giggled as Hank sighed, realizing their ideas of celebrations were very different.

"Ice cream? Really?" Hank asked.

Jenna took his hand, placing it on her stomach. "It's what your baby wants."

Hank couldn't stop his laughter. He leaned close to her stomach to talk to the baby. "Little one, I hope you take lessons from your momma. She's way smarter than I'll ever be." He gave Jenna a kiss. "I'll be back with your food shortly."

"Love you babe," Jenna said as he left. She smiled as she put both of her hands on her stomach. After a week of stress and worry, she was glad she could finally relax and be happy. Despite all of the odds against them, she and her husband were having a baby. She knew it was going to be a hard road, and this might not be the last time that this pregnancy caused them to worry, but for now, she was going to soak in the excitement of this moment.

As Hank drove to pick up Jenna's dinner requests, he couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. The last week had been torture as they waited for news about the baby, but for now, everything was fine, and he was going to enjoy this unexpected but beautiful gift.

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The next few weeks were a whirlwind. Hank was consumed with cases, Jenna was continuing to heal from her accident, and wedding plans were being finalized. As often as they could, Hank and Jenna sat together, hands on her stomach, planning and dreaming about the future of their precious baby.

As Jenna's hand brushed her abdomen, she could feel a slight curve that she didn't remember feeling before. She raised her shirt, looking in the mirror as she rubbed her hand across her stomach. It was small, but it was there; the tiny beginnings of a baby bump. She knew to expect it quickly. It seemed that in every pregnancy, she showed quicker than the one before. As much as she wasn't excited about the inevitable weight gain, she was excited that evidence of her baby was finally starting to show up.

"Hi baby. I see you, and I love you so much. I can't wait to feel you moving around in there, and I can't wait to meet you." She looked over her shoulder at Hank, already asleep in their bed, before looking back down at her stomach. "Let's go show your daddy."

Jenna walked over to Hank's side of the bed. "Babe, Hank, wake up," she said softly.

"Hmm?" he asked sleepily as he opened his eyes.

As Jenna dropped her sleep shorts to the floor and lifted her top, she said, "I need to show you something."

Hank smirked at her. "As much as I am enjoying this little show, I've seen all of that before."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Give me your hand."

As Jenna moved his hand to her stomach, Hank said, "I like where this is going."

"Will you shut up for a second?" Jenna said. She pressed his hand into her stomach, moving it slowly so he could feel the baby bump. "Do you feel that?"

As the smile spread across Hank's face, he softly said, "Yeah. I feel that. I hadn't noticed it before."

"It must have just happened in the last couple of days. I haven't noticed it either. But there it is. Our baby," she said, holding both of her hands on top of his hand against her stomach, as tears came to her eyes.

Hank leaned over and kissed her stomach. "Hi, little one. I love you." He looked up at Jenna before kissing her stomach one more time. "Now, little one, it's time for your momma and daddy to have a little grown up time, so you just go to sleep."

Jenna leaned down to kiss him before he slipped her shirt off, dropping it to join her shorts on the floor. He pulled her onto the bed next to him, planting a trail of kisses from her abdomen to her lips. "I love you, both of you," he said between kisses.

"We love you too, Hank. So much."

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A few days before the wedding, Jenna had a doctor appointment to check on the baby. Fortunately, Hank was able to attend this appointment with her, and he was excited to finally get to be present for an ultrasound. When the baby popped up on the screen, his eyes filled with tears.

"Amazing," he said softly.

Jenna squeezed his hand. "It is, isn't it?" she asked.

Moments later, the sound of their baby's heartbeat filled the room, and a tear rolled down Hank's face. They listened for a few minutes while the doctor conducted a quick exam. When the doctor was finished and Jenna was dressed, the doctor spent some time answering questions and addressing concerns.

"I'm not going to lie to you," she said. "This is a high-risk pregnancy. The fact that you've made it to fifteen weeks is a great sign, but due to what we call "advanced maternal age", the remainder of the pregnancy could be difficult. There is a greater chance for later-term miscarriage and premature birth. We're going to monitor your blood pressure carefully, and you are at a higher risk for gestational diabetes. You can continue to live your normal life, but as soon as we start seeing any symptoms that seem out of the ordinary, you will need to contact the office immediately. I'm going to do everything I can to get you to full term, but it could potentially be a difficult road."

"I understand," Jenna said. "I'm going to be very careful, and I'm sure Hank will help keep me from overdoing it."

Hank could barely hear the continued conversation between Jenna and the doctor. He felt his excitement waning as he processed the news of potential complications, and he was determined that he would do whatever he could to keep his wife and baby safe. Jenna wouldn't lift a finger for the duration of her pregnancy.

As they walked to the car, Jenna could sense that Hank was struggling. She noticed the moment that the discussion with the doctor became scary for him, and she knew if she didn't calm him down, he would take all of her independence away.

Jenna squeezed his hand. "Hank, you're not going to hover over me this entire pregnancy. I've done this five times before. I know what I'm doing."

Hank leaned against the car as he pulled her close. "I know you know what you're doing, but it's been awhile, for both of us. I want you to take it slow and let me help you. We're at a higher risk of problems with the whole advanced maternal age thing."

Jenna looked down for a few moments, trying not to rip his head off. She looked back up at him, and he could see a fire in her eyes. She leaned close to his ear, and her voice dropped to a level that she knew drove him crazy. "You know that thing I do for you that you really really like? Your favorite thing?" she asked as her hand ran down his chest.

"Yeah," Hank choked out, trying to keep himself under control.

Jenna slipped a couple of fingers into the waistband of his jeans, pulling him closer as she continued. "If you use the words 'advanced maternal age' when speaking about me, I will NEVER do that for you EVER again. You understand?" she asked.

Hank swallowed the giant lump in his throat. "I understand."

"Good," she said, kissing his cheek. "Take me home now please," she said as she got into the car.

Hank stood outside the car until he calmed down enough to drive. This woman would be the death of him.