I know I only posted 13 yesterday but it was a day late so... That said, I'm getting a bit nervous. I simply cannot get the last two chapters written. I did write about 400 words in this universe yesterday but they may or may not be part of Ch. 18 - depends on where it ends. Think I may end up having to delete most of what I do have of 18 [which isn't much] and starting somewhere else.
Thanks - as ever - to my fabulous betas who are valiantly keeping up with the next fic even as they encourage me to finish this one. Just wish the muse would decide to finish this one.
*****
Chapter 14
*****
"Are you sure you're feeling better, Lucy?" Alice asked, concern in her voice as Lucy just pushed her dinner around on her plate.
Lucy smiled. "Yeah, I am. Really."
"Is something bothering you then?"
Lucy looked at Jimmy who shrugged. "It's up to you."
Perry and Alice exchanged a look. "What is?" Perry asked.
Lucy took a deep breath. "Well, we were going to wait until after dinner, but... I don't have the flu."
Understanding began to dawn on Alice's face, but Perry just looked puzzled.
Lucy grasped Jimmy's hand. "We're having a baby," she blurted out.
Perry's jaw dropped. "What?"
"We're having a baby," Jimmy repeated quietly, a big grin offsetting his tone.
Perry whistled. "Wow," he said leaning back in his chair. "Was this a planned thing? I didn't think you two were..."
Lucy shook her head. "Antibiotics and birth control don't mix."
Alice nodded. "I've heard that."
"What do you two think about it?"
They shared a look, but Lucy spoke first. "I saw a thing on the Today Show yesterday about it. I took a test after lunch and then spent the afternoon in shock. That's why I didn't want Jimmy to play poker last night. I wanted to tell him when we'd have time to talk and I didn't want to wait."
"Well, of course, Darlin'. No question about it. He needed to be home last night, not losing five bucks to me," Perry told her.
"We're happy," Jimmy told them. "We hadn't planned on kids until Lucy was out of school for a couple years, but we'll find a way to make it work so that she can graduate, though it may take an extra semester or two by the time it's all said and done. Once I graduate, that'll help since I'll just be working and not interning or classes and stuff."
"Will you stay at the apartment or look for something else?" Alice asked.
Lucy shoved her plate back, not even pretending to eat any longer. "It's delicious, Alice, really, but my stomach's in knots right now." She sighed. "I don't know. We haven't talked about much of anything yet. By the time it all sunk in last night, we pretty well went straight to bed." A glance at Jimmy said there was no reason to mention they hadn't gone straight to sleep. "And we had to be at work fairly early this morning, but I did talk to Lois for a minute and told her."
Jimmy leaned over towards Perry, a big grin on his face. "I'm going to be a dad!" he whispered conspiratorially.
Perry laughed. "Let's head into the living room and talk about this some more."
Lucy picked up her plate and stood to take it into the kitchen.
Jimmy took it from her. "Nope. I got it."
Lucy rolled her eyes. "It's dishes to the sink."
"I told you I'm going to take care of you," he reminded her. "Now let me." He kissed her quickly. "Go have a seat and put your feet up."
"You go on with her, Sugar. We'll get all this," Perry said picking up his own plate.
Lucy sat in the big chair and propped her feet up on the ottoman, her head falling back and her eyes closing as she did.
"You okay?" Alice asked softly.
"Yeah," she said without moving. "I didn't sleep much at all last night."
"I bet." She took a sip of the coffee she'd brought with her. "And you're okay with this?"
"Does it matter? Abortion isn't an option so we're having a baby whether we're ready or not." She sighed. "But for the record, I am excited – or I will be once it sinks in a bit more. I think Jimmy's taking to it a lot better than I am or adapting quicker than I am anyway. Every time I looked at him today, he was grinning."
"I wondered why he was smiling so much tonight." She took another sip. "What can we do to help?"
"We talked about sending you on garage sale hunts this spring if you wanted to and I'd go with you when I can. We're gonna need all kinds of baby stuff. Crib, changing table, all that other stuff."
"I'd be happy to. You know I garage sale nearly every Friday and some Saturdays anyway."
"Thanks."
"What's your first thought about the apartment?"
Lucy thought for a minute. "I love it there. I never thought I'd say that. For a long time, it was the place where I tried to avoid hearing Lois and Clark... practice making babies, but I got over that and now it's our first home together. Something bigger would be so much more expensive."
"Where would you put the baby if you stayed?"
"Well, I don't think the loft is a good option for a baby. Trying to walk up and down the steps holding a baby would be too hard, I think." Alice nodded. "Maybe under the loft. Move the desk and stuff and there should be room for a crib and maybe a dresser under there."
"What about work and school?"
She sighed. "I have no idea what we're going to do just yet. I want to finish school. I want to be a photojournalist with Jimmy, but having a baby this early... We won't have the chance to travel and stuff like Lois and Clark have until the kids are all out of the house – however many kids we end up having. I had thoughts running through my head today at work, but it's not like I've talked to Jimmy about them yet."
"What's that?" Jimmy asked as he walked into the room with Perry.
"Work, mainly," she told him. "I love my job and I want to do the things we talked about doing before we had kids, but that's not going to happen now. So what's the backup plan? Do I still work at the Planet? Do I find something else? Stern's opening a daycare this spring anyway, so that would take care of that, but we'd always talked about me staying home or working from home part time when we had kids, but we'd thought it was going to be years from now. Having a studio of some kind or something like that but..."
Jimmy reached over from his seat on the couch to grasp her hand. "We'll figure it out, Babe."
"I know."
They talked for a while longer until Lucy yawned and Jimmy insisted that he take her home to get some sleep.
Later that night she woke up to find the bed next to her empty. She sat up and looked around to see Jimmy sitting on the window seat. She stood up and walked towards him. "What's that?" she asked gesturing towards something in his hand.
He smiled and held his other hand out towards her, pulling her to sit on his lap when she took it. "It's a picture of you and Danielle." He handed it to her. "From the first day we were there. I've always loved it and thought you looked so natural with her and now we get to find out for ourselves."
She took it and stared at herself with the little baby. "I'm glad she has a home now."
"Me, too."
"I have a picture of you with her from that day, too, you know."
"You do?"
She nodded. "Perry's seen it but he promised not to say anything because I didn't want you to think I had some baby biological clock thing going on. I told him that you looked so natural with her too and he agreed."
"How're you feeling?"
She shrugged. "I think I may have really had a bit of a stomach bug because I felt so much better today, but I guess we'll have to wait and see."
"I love you, you know."
"I know. But will you still want me when I'm huge?" Lucy asked without looking at him, voicing the thought that had been bothering her all day.
He used one hand to turn her face to look at him. "I can't think of anything sexier than knowing you're carrying my baby."
"Promise?"
He kissed her gently. "Promise."
*****
Lucy and Lois sat in the living room. Jimmy and Clark had left a while earlier to head over to the storage unit where they'd housed much of what Aunt Louise had left them. Lois and Clark were moving into her brownstone the next day and the guys had gone to start organizing – at least in their minds – what they needed to do.
"I'm glad you guys are moving back," Lucy told her sister. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you, too." Lois paused for a second before continuing. "And I owe you an apology." She didn't look at Lucy as she spoke.
Lucy's brows furrowed as she tried to think what Lois would have to apologize for, but nothing came to mind.
"I gave you a hard time at Christmas about you and Jimmy and I shouldn't have," Lois told her. "You guys *are* married adults and as long as you aren't right in front of us or regularly making us late for stuff or whatever, you guys can do what you want in the privacy of your own home." She winced. "You have no idea how hard that is for me to say. Even though you guys have been married for a while now and I know you two waited for your wedding night, it's easier from ten or more time zones away where I can imagine that you two hold hands and that's about it. Being confronted face to face with the change in your relationship was a bit much for me. And I know you said we'd have to get used to it, but I didn't really think you meant it, you know?"
Lucy nodded. "Apology accepted."
Lois sighed. "And I didn't really want you to say that you wanted us to leave so you could..." She rolled her eyes. "... jump Jimmy, I think you said but... even when I did think about you two..." She waved her hand vaguely towards the bedroom. "...I guess I never thought that you'd be so... open about the change in your relationship – so much more openly flirtatious and a lot more thinly disguised insinuations and apparently any preconceived notions I might have about how seldom you two might engage in those sorts of activities were completely off."
"I would imagine so," Lucy said quietly. "But I won't apologize for loving my husband and enjoying a wonderful, active, healthy sex life with him."
"You don't need to. And I really am sorry if I made you feel like that part of your relationship with Jimmy was..." She sighed. "Oh, I don't know. Something to be ashamed of or something you needed to try to hide while we're around or something like that."
"Well, we won't. We don't want to make anyone uncomfortable or anything, but we're also not going to... change who we are together either. I mean, it's not like we're going to make out or grope at each other in front of anyone, but we're also not going to stop holding hands or kissing or touching each other either. We might even sneak in a fairly passionate kiss or two or engage in a mild groping session when we're *alone* in another room together, but not in front of other people. We're not exhibitionists."
"That's good." She winced. "And I don't want to know if you've ever snuck off into the supply closet or not either."
"For the record, we haven't."
The door opened and Jimmy and Clark walked in laughing about something.
"We better get going, Jim," Clark said as their chuckles subsided. "You ready, Lois?"
Lois nodded and stood, giving her sister a hug before she headed for the door. "I really am happy for you, Luce."
"I know," Lucy whispered back.
As soon as they were gone, she moved so Jimmy could sit close to her. "What was that all about?"
"Let's just say that Lois probably thinks we're half naked already," Lucy said, snuggling back against him.
"Why aren't we?" he asked, kissing the curve of her neck softly.
She laughed. "She also thinks we engage in short but passionate embraces and groping sessions every time we're out of the room together."
Jimmy was puzzled. "But we do."
"Not *every* time," Lucy protested weakly.
"Nearly so."
"That's not the same as *every* time."
Jimmy laughed. "Close enough."
"She also said she didn't want to know if we've ever snuck off to the supply closet together."
"What did you tell her?"
"That we haven't."
"You lied to her?"
Lucy shook her head emphatically. "I did not. We didn't *sneak*. We've never *sneaked*. We just walked into the supply closet together in full view of everyone and came back out a few minutes later arms loaded with supplies."
"And your hair was slightly messed up and your skirt twisted."
"All we did was kiss a bit."
"Just kiss?" Jimmy asked kissing her neck again.
"Okay, you pushed me up against the door and copped a feel real quick while we kissed, but that's it, before we grabbed a few notepads, pens and what turned out to be eighteen boxes of paper clips. And it was like the second day we were back after our honeymoon. She was insinuating a lot more than that and that didn't happen."
"But it is every time we end up in there together," he pointed out.
"Not the hair messed up, skirt skewed part. That was only the first time. Cat suggested we be a bit more careful about our appearance when we reemerge and we have been."
"Your point is?"
"My point is - so?"
"That's precisely why absolutely no one was surprised to find out that you're pregnant."
"So we can't keep our hands off each other in private," Lucy sighed as he resumed nuzzling her neck.
"Who cares what your sister thinks anyway?"
"Me. Sometimes."
"So why exactly aren't we half naked yet?"
She sighed softly. "I don't know, but I'd bet money that once Lois and Clark are in the newsroom and doing those sorts of things, we'll have to fight for supply closet time."
"I don't really want to think about them," he said as he pushed her to a standing position and walked behind her towards their room.
"Me, either."
"Good."
*****
February 1990
*****
"Have you gotten a hold of your mom yet?" Lucy asked as she brushed her hair.
Jimmy shook his head as he tucked his shirt in. "No. I've called a bunch of times and left messages for her to call me and every phone number I can think of – even Perry and Alice's and Lois and Clark's in case she tries to call when we're at one of their houses, but nothing yet."
"What are you going to do?" she asked quietly.
He sighed. "Send her a card, too, I guess."
"We'll do that today," she promised, moving to put her arms around him and hold him for a minute. "We'll send both of them cards this afternoon."
"What kind of cards?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, just a blank note card that says 'hey, you're going to be a grandparent' or something all cutesy like a Valentine's card to Grandma or Grandpa?"
"What do you want?"
He sighed. "I can't imagine them actually being grandparents to this baby. Not like Perry and Alice will."
"Blank card it is. Do you want to write them or do you want me to?"
He kissed the top of her head. "They're my parents. I'll take care of it."
She pulled back enough to look up at him. "I love you, Jimmy." She kissed him softly.
"I know, Babe. I love you, too."
That afternoon, she sat at her desk and watched as he struggled with the words to write. He finally sighed and passed the card over. "What do you think?"
She read it. There was no title or salutation of any kind. It wasn't addressed to 'Mom' or 'Dad', it just started. "'We just wanted to let you know,'" she read, "'that we're expecting our first child this August. Sincerely, James and Lucy Olsen.'" She sighed. "Well, it's succinct."
He shrugged. "I don't know what else to say."
She flipped the care over to see 'Greetings' on the front in gold scroll. "Is this for your mom or dad?"
He shrugged again. "Either. Sure, I lived with my mom until we got married, but it's not like I ever saw her after I was about fifteen or so. Sometimes once a week, rarely more, usually less. She worked hard to make sure we had a roof over our heads and all that, but I have more of a relationship with the Cat in the Hat than I do with her."
She grabbed his hand. "Come on." She led him to the supply closet. "I don't care what anyone thinks we're doing," she told him as she pulled him into her arms. His head dropped onto her shoulder and they stood there for long minutes.
"Is there something wrong with me, Luce?" His voice was muffled by her body.
"No, Baby. There's nothing wrong with you. You are a wonderful, caring, compassionate, smart, professional, kind, loving person. You're the best husband I could ask for and you're going to be a great father." She moved back and held his face between her hands, the tears in his eyes breaking her heart. "You are going to be the best father you can possibly be because you know how much it hurts when a parent isn't there."
He rested his forehead on hers. "How do you always know just what I need?"
She smiled as she remembered his words while sitting on the bed two days before Christmas. "Because I love you and I know you better than anyone else."
"Thanks." He stood up and took a shaky breath before the boyish grin she loved so much crossed his face again.
"What?"
"We should probably get back out there before they all think we're doing things in here that we're not." He pulled her close, kissing her softly. "I love you."
"I know." She smiled back up at him. "And get those thoughts out of your head. I don't care how long we've been in here, we're not doing *that*."
The door cracked open just a bit. "Lucy? Jimmy?" It was Clark.
Lucy rolled her eyes. "You can come in."
He pushed the door open farther. "Um, Jim, your mom just called but said she couldn’t hold and didn't know when she'd be able to talk to you."
The grin disappeared and he leaned against the shelving. One hand ran through his hair.
"Oh, Jimmy. I'm so sorry." Lucy's face fell. "If I hadn't pulled you in here..."
He shook his head. "No. I needed that." He looked up at Clark. "Don't go there, man. I was trying to figure out the right wording on cards to my parents to tell them we're having a baby. Lucy knew I needed a minute." He sighed. "I've been trying to get a hold of her and leaving her messages for weeks. She calls back when it'll take a minute to get me and can't hold that long, how did she expect to carry on an actual conversation with me?"
Lucy moved back to his side and wrapped her arms around him. "It'll be okay."
"I know."
Clark sighed sympathetically. "Listen, how much longer are you supposed to be here?"
Jimmy looked at his watch. "Not much longer, but Lucy's got a couple more hours."
"Do you have anything that can't wait, Luce?"
She grimaced. "Yeah. I've got some stuff Burns needs this afternoon. I don't know how much longer it's going to take."
"Is it something I can do for you?" Clark asked.
She shook her head. "It would take me too long to get you caught up."
"Well, I can get out of here for a bit with you if you want, Jim. Go play some basketball or something. Whatever you want."
"Go ahead. I'll tell Perry and mail the cards unless you want me to wait." Lucy smiled at them.
"Okay." He kissed her. "Thanks, Babe. And I would appreciate it if you'd mail them. The addresses are on my Rolodex."
"That's what I'm here for." She smiled. "Now, you two get out of here and go be all testosterone-y."
She watched as they walked to the elevator before she headed to Perry's office to tell him Jimmy had left for the day and Clark would be back in a bit. She sighed as she noticed Lois waiting for her by her desk. "Don't start with me," she warned when she got close enough. "It wasn't what you were thinking."
Lois sat in Jimmy's chair. "I'm thinking that Jimmy's mom called and said that her son had been trying to get a hold of her but she couldn't wait and that there's notes on your desks telling someone that you're having a baby and nothing else. I'm thinking that Jimmy can't get a hold of his parents and you two needed a minute together."
Lucy sighed and gathered the note cards. "You're right but what are you doing reading stuff on my desk?"
Lois shrugged. "I'm an investigative reporter – most of the time. It's what I do."
Lucy tried to deflect. "Are you okay? You've been in the newsroom a lot the last week or so."
Lois sighed. "Don't try to change the subject. I'm fine, but is Jimmy?"
Lucy nodded. "I think he will be. He and Clark went to go play basketball for a while and burn off some testosterone."
"Good for them." Lois paused for a minute. "Are you guys going to be at dinner Saturday?"
Lucy thought for a minute. "I don't know why we wouldn't be."
"Good."
She thought Lois looked relieved when her phone rang.
"I'll talk to you later," Lois called over her shoulder as she headed back to her desk.
*****
The ride home from Perry and Alice's house Saturday night was quiet.
"I guess we know whether things have gotten better between Lois and Clark," Lucy said as they walked in the apartment. "She's only about four and a half weeks or so behind me in her pregnancy."
"Lois is pregnant." Jimmy shook his head. "That's pretty big news."
She yawned and stretched her back out. "She told me that she wasn't planning on telling me when their relationship changed, but that was only a couple weeks ago. She had to have gotten pregnant around the first of the year."
He moved behind her and dug his thumbs in the small of her back. "Right there?"
She nodded. "How'd you know?"
"I can tell," he said with a smile. "Your back's been bothering you all night." He kneaded the muscles of her lower back with his thumbs. "Why don't you go take a hot shower and see if that helps?"
"I think I will and then I'm going to go to sleep, I think," she answered with a yawn.
"Good idea. And you can sleep as late as you want tomorrow. We've got the day off."
She nodded again as she walked towards the bathroom. "I think that's a good thing. I need the break."
They spent most of the next day doing laundry and cleaning the apartment before breaking out their books and doing some homework.
Finally, Lucy pushed back from the table. "I don't think I can concentrate any more. What do you want for dinner?"
Jimmy shrugged. "Do you want to make something or order out?"
Lucy grimaced. "I don't really want to make anything."
"Pizza it is. Our regular?"
She nodded. "Would you mind to go pick it up so we don't have to wait to get it delivered? Their delivery times have been unreal lately."
He left a few minutes later and she picked up the mail they'd tossed on the counter the night before.
She picked up one envelope in particular as she passed it. It was addressed to both of them but she wavered before opening it. Finally, she decided to go through the rest of it and then decide. Another envelope caught her eye as well.
She sighed and opened both of them, hoping to get it done and put up before Jimmy got back. She put them inside one of her textbooks and cleaned up the table. She'd tell him about it after dinner.
They talked of baby names and plans for the apartment as they ate but Lucy grew more and more quiet as the meal went on, anticipating what she was sure was going to be an unpleasant conversation for her husband.
Jimmy wiped his mouth with a napkin, looking intently at her. "What is it?"
She grinned wryly. "That obvious?"
"To me it is."
She sighed and reached for the book she'd set to the side. "I was going through the mail from yesterday while you were gone."
"What was in it?"
"Two things." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she continued. "One shouldn't surprise you at all. We'd already talked about it."
"What's that?"
"A check from your dad."
"Ah." Disappointment flitted across his face. "No note or anything?"
She shook her head. "Same as last time only the postmark was from Florida."
"I see." He picked an olive up out of the pizza box and started shredding it with his fingers. "How much?"
"Two grand again," she said quietly.
"Glad to know Dad's apparently doing well for himself," he said sardonically. He leaned back and sighed. "What else?"
She paused before continuing. "A note from your mom."
"What'd she have to say? Or do I want to know?"
"She said congratulations and that she set up an account at one of those baby stores in Pittsdale for us to buy whatever we need up to whatever dollar amount she put in there. She didn't say how much."
"That was nice of her." He rolled his eyes as he spoke.
"There was more."
"What?"
Lucy didn't look at him for a minute, but watched him carefully as she spoke. "She's moving. To New Zealand."
Jimmy let out the breath he'd been holding.
"She said if you wanted to come pick up anything else from the house you need to do it by the end of the month. She's already got a buyer for the house."
He leaned back in his chair. "Why does this surprise me?" he asked softly. "It shouldn't. She didn't come to graduation. She didn't come to our wedding and she's local – usually."
Lucy moved to stand behind him, wrapping her arms around him, her chin resting on his head. "I'm sorry."
He shook his head. "It's not your fault." He sighed. "We've been together for over four years now and I lived with her for most of that. Have you even met her?"
Lucy hesitated. "Once. I don't think I ever told you about it – I don't know why, something happened and I just forgot, I guess. It was... I guess about a year or so after we started dating. I stopped by your house to drop something off for you. You weren't there but she was just getting ready to leave. I only talked to her for a minute and she was gone. She said something like, 'Hi, nice to meet you. See you around. Tell Jimmy I'll be back sometime next week.'"
He leaned his head back against her chest. "At least you met her once, I guess. You know what our baby's grandma looks like."
"I'd much rather you knew her," she responded quietly.
"Yeah, well that's not going to happen."
Lucy sighed and kissed the top of his head, resting there for a moment. "I love you."
Jimmy sighed. "I know, Babe. I know."
*****
