Chapter 1

Cameron Westlake sat in a chair in the examination room of her doctor's office. She had been tired and generally unwell for the past few weeks; she had her suspicions and had taken an at home test.

"Good afternoon Cameron; what can I do for you today?" the doctor asked as he entered the room

"Hi doc, I haven't been feeling very well lately; I've been tired most of the time and throwing up quite a bit. I think I have a pretty good idea what's wrong with me, I just need you to confirm it."

"Anytime a patient says they have an idea of what is wrong with them I'm always curious how they arrived at their answer. So, Cameron, what do you think is going on?"

"Well as crazy as it sounds, given my history, I'm pretty sure I'm pregnant."

"Pregnant! Well I wasn't expecting that one; I wasn't aware that you were seeing anyone." the doctor said

"Officially I'm not, it sort of…well you know…it just happened," Cameron stated blushing a little.

"Cameron, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. You are an attractive young woman; why wouldn't you seek some companionship from time to time. Do you know the father-to-be well?"

"Yes, I know him, I just don't know how I'm going to tell him about this." she replied

"Well first things first, let's find out if you are in fact pregnant or not. Home tests can sometimes give a false positive, so I am going to send you for some bloodwork to check your hormone levels. Given your medical history I believe this will give us a more accurate result." he said handing her a requisition form

"Thanks, how long until you get the results?"

"It should only be a few days; in the meantime, try not to worry about it. I will call you once I have your results."

"Okay, do you think I should tell him about this now or wait until I know for sure? That's the part I'm really freaking out about."

"If you want to tell him about the possibility of a pregnancy, that is entirely up to you. However; if the man in question is who I think he is…I think he would want to know and wouldn't be upset about it. In fact, it might be the kick in the pants you both need to finally decide about your 'relationship'." the doctor said smiling at her. He had a pretty good idea who the man might be.

"As usual, you are probably right. I'll think about talking to him; in the meantime, I will wait for your call. Thank you." she replied as she stepped out of the room.

As she passed the nurse on the way out, she gave a quick wave and headed out to her car. She glanced over at the clock; it was 3:00 now. She had told Frankie and Joe that she was taking off early and would see them on Monday. Joe had looked at her quizzically but hadn't pressed for more information; he had simply said goodnight as he usually did. Unsure of what to do for the rest of the day, she decided to get takeout and rent a movie; but first she drove to the lab and got her bloodwork done.

Forty-five minutes later she was in the video store when her cell phone started to ring. She looked down at the caller id and felt a smile tug at her lips as she answered.

"Hi Joe; what's up?"

"Nothing special, we're calling it a day here. I was worried about you; you don't often leave work early." he remarked

"Thank you for your concern; I'm fine though."

"Cameron, did you really think that I haven't noticed how tired you've been lately?"

"You never said anything." she replied she said while picking up a video she might want to watch.

"I didn't want to pry; I figured you would tell me if there was something to tell."

"But now your curiosity has gotten the better of you."

"Sort of…I'm still not going to pry; I just want you to know I'm here if you need to talk about anything." he said

"I appreciate that Joe, but I assure you everything is fine."

"Okay! So, what are you doing this evening?" Joe asked

"I was thinking of renting a movie and getting takeout. What are your plans for tonight?" she asked

"Didn't have any plans but I can assure you that I'm not letting my partner spend the evening alone with take out and a movie," he said with a laugh. "How about we go grab dinner and go the movies instead?"

"What movie did you have in mind?" she asked placing the video in her hand back onto the shelf.

"How about 'A Simple Plan'; we can have dinner and go to the 9:00 show."

"That sounds much better than take out and a rental." she replied with a smile.

"Great, I'll pick you up at 6:00."

"Sounds good, see you then. Bye." she said hanging up the phone.

She looked at the time on her phone, it was 4:00. She was glad she was only 20 minutes from home; she'd have time for a shower before he arrived. Of course, that also meant she'd have time to decide whether to tell him about her doctor's visit.