"W-what do you mean there's no baby?" Lindsey asked, the test Stevie took was positive?

"There is no baby in her womb," the doctor answered. Turning on the machine, the doctor pressed the transducer back on Stevie's stomach, no heartbeat was heard.

"The t-test said p-positive," Stevie squeaked out, not understanding what was going on. She felt as if she was in a nightmare. She had been 100% positive she was pregnant. She almost felt as if she couldn't breathe. The doctor looked at her sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Nicks," he apologized profusely. "We can recommend you to an excellent fertility specialist incase you need extra help conceiving."

"Dr. Bonnet, I can feel a baby in there; not literally, but I just know that there is a baby there," Stevie cried.

The doctor took her hand sadly. "Stephanie-I'm sorry but...there's no baby."

"There has to be!" She demanded, becoming distraught, ripping her hand out of his. "Check again!"

"But-" he was cut off
"Check again!" Lindsey then stepped in, knowing she was near insanity. "Stevie-"

"I'm pregnant, you cannot tell me otherwise," she gritted her teeth.
"If I could tell you any different I would but Mrs. Buckingham I promise you that you're not carrying a baby!"

"I've missed periods, I've taken tests, I've been sick; something is going on and you are going to figure it out," Stevie demanded

The doctor studied her face and then got up. "There is.... I'm going to check something and I'll be right back..." With that he and the nurse exited the room.

"Baby," Lindsey whispered, kissing her cheek, "are you alright?"

Tears just poured down her face. "Lindsey..... I know there's a baby in there.... I just know it...."

"I believe you baby, I believe you," he kissed her forehead. "They'll figure out what's going on."

He was heartbroken and felt truly sorry for her because no matter what she said, he had heard the sonogram without a heartbeat and the chances of the doctors being wrong were slim. But he tried to reassure her because even he wanted to believe her.

The doctor returned with the nurse who was carrying a tray filled with equipment.

Stevie looked at him pointedly.
"Well?"

"We'll have to run some blood tests and preform further examinations," he started, "I've only see one case like this before; Mrs. Nicks I believe you have a cornual pregnancy."

She just shook her head, mouth agape. "What does that mean??"

"The fetus develops outside the uterus surrounded by a thin wall of membrane. The placenta has not attached properly and eventually attaches to the outside of the uterine wall. The embryo attaches itself to where the fallopian tube meets the uterus. In most cases the tube ruptures and the pregnancy ends around the 12-14th week." The doctor explained. "Mrs. Nicks, if this is the case...I suggest you terminate this pregnancy because it could possibly kill you."

"No.... I-I can't do that. I won't!"

"You're putting your life at stake here," he warned.

"I don't care! There is a baby inside me growing! My baby! Mine and his! I'm not just going to kill it! I can't! Lindsey tell them that's crazy!" She turned to Lindsey who's face had lost all expression.

"S-Steph, I-I don't know about this," he said uneasily

Her eyes welled up with tears. "Lindsey!" She couldn't believe he was even considering this!

"You have a family to think about," he told her

"This baby is a part of our family now!"

"Mind you that we don't know that this is he case for sure," the doctor spoke up

She turned to face the doctor once more. "Okay you listen to me right now and you listen good. I know there's a baby growing inside of me! And it's ours! I already love it so much and no matter what! I'm NOT letting it go! I'm not going to give up on my child."

"Okay-I understand. Now that I know what I'm looking for, let's do another ultrasound."

She tried to relax herself as she once again lifted her shirt enough for the ultrasound.

"I'm going to look a little to the right and let's see what we can find," he informed.

He slid the probe in another direction this time and suddenly his facial expression changed.

"There we go," he nodded "found them," he looked at Stevie.

She breathed out a breath of relief. "I told you so."
She tried to make light of it-so happy to finally see her baby, but Lindsey still held the same expression as before. "So that's it. It's a cornual pregnancy? There's nothing we can do?" Lindsey asked, Stevie snapped her head over to Lindsey, shocked.

"No, I'm sorry. They wouldn't survive if we disturbed them. Now, as far as delivery goes, you'll have to have surgery, it's a little more extreme than a c section, so we will have a series of doctors incase something goes wrong," he explained Stevie only nodded enthusiastically. Her only thinking about the baby and Lindsey only thinking about her.

"You'll have to stay on strict bed rest for the rest of your pregnancy, no exceptions. You have to stay on a low carb diet so the baby will be smaller, minimizing the chance of internal damage. We will have to take the baby around 32 weeks as well. If everything goes right then you should have a smooth pregnancy."

She just smiled through her tears. "I'll do everything and anything Doctor-I promise."
The doctor nodded then sighed, "Now... You know that all of that isn't exactly a guarantee.. It's the BEST case scenario-the worst.." Stevie stopped him. "The worst doesn't matter because it won't happen. I'm going to do every single thing you've told me to do as soon as I get home."

"Well I will give you some prenatal vitamins and you can be off," he smiled as the nurse left to fetch them.

She slowly got up from her seat, took Lindsey by the hand and got the vitamins and had just gotten into the car when he finally spoke. "What if-"
"It won't." She knew what he was worried about. In all honesty, the thought of death scared the crap out of her. After all, she did have a family to consider. But... She already loved this baby so much. So much. Lindsey stayed silent and gave her a slight nod. "Are you hungry?" He asked, his voice not sounding cheerful at all.

"Not really.. Lindsey..what's wrong?"

"Is it not obvious, Steph?" Lindsey finally looked at her

She finally came a little more into reality. "Lindsey..we have to think positive."

"I don't see how it's very positive if your life is at stake here," Lindsey replied. "What about Will and Lee? What would happen to them if something happened to you?"

Her gaze shifted to the floor. "You don't understand." She spoke quietly.
"I'm trying to! I really am! But you mean so much to every one-Steph.... You could die. I couldn't live with that!" A few tears fell from her eyes as it all finally hit her. "I have to try Linds...."

"We could try again later...."

Her head snapped up to where they were making eye contact, he nearly flinched at the amount of anger and hurt in her eyes. "Lindsey.. How could you even...."

"It could kill you! What do you not understand about that?! It would take you away from all of us! You have to think about the children you already have!"

She just shook her head and started sobbing. "I can't-Lindsey I don't know what to do! I love this baby so much I don't think I can do it Lindsey! I just can't! I don't know what to do!"

"Steph, honey calm down. I'm sorry to yell at you." He placed his hand on her back, rubbing it soothingly while the other stayed on the steering wheel

"No-y-you're right! But I don't think I can go through that again Lindsey I just don't think I can!"

"Stevie, we have to do something about this though. Like a little game plan on how this is going to work...we need one in case something happens to you."

She stopped suddenly. "What? You mean if I die??"

"Yes, Steph, that's the whole point of this," he nodded

"Lindsey? Are you saying..? You'll try??"

"I can't make you terminate, I wouldn't do that," Lindsey shook his head

"Thank you Lindsey.... Thank you so much." She turned her whole body towards him so she could hug him tight.

"Come on, let's go home," he kissed her head.

She felt somewhat better about her and Lindsey. But she still had a lot to process. Lindsey in a way was right-she was risking a lot.

Finally arriving home, Karen wasn't able to contain the kids excitement to learn more about their new sibling, they came bolting out of the house and right up to Stevie.

"Mommy! Mommy! Is our baby sister okay??" Leelee asked ecstatic. "No Lee, mommy' s not having another girl she's having another boy!" Will cut in. Stevie fought hard to hide her current emotions and smiled faintly as she hugged both her kids tight.

"They're just fine you two. Mommy isn't feeling well so the doctor said I have to lay down for a while, okay? Would you like to keep me company?" She smiled softly

"Sure!" They both said it simultaneously and everyone laughed except for Lindsey. Despite their efforts, their strained joy was every bit noticeable to Karen who as soon as Stevie and the kids exited the room she cornered Lindsey.

"What's wrong?" She asked gently, placing her hand on his shoulder as he poured himself a whiskey.

"Stevie can tell you.. I just need to be alone right now." He downed the glass and then went for another one.

Karen grabbed his hand, "Well whatever it is I'm sure that Stevie needs you...preferably not drunk."

He laughed incredulously and shrugged her hand off, downing the next glass. "She doesn't need me.. She doesn't even need herself apparently." He took the bottle off the counter and walked out towards the studio.

Karen stood, dumbfounded, at his words. She watched him walk away until he vanished around the corner. Extremely worried, Karen made her way up to Stevie's bedroom.

Luckily just as she entered the room the kids were falling asleep at Stevie's side as she gently stroked the top of their heads. Karen came in quietly and sat at the end of the bed and whispered.

"Stevie, what's wrong? Why is Lindsey in the studio getting drunk?" Karen look very worried.

Stevie just shook her head and carefully slipped out of her bed trying not to disturb the kids. She led Karen out and into the living room. "I have a cornual pregnancy... If I don't terminate.. The doctor said I.. He said I could be playing with my life. I could die.." Karen looked shocked. "I'm NOT terminating. Lindsey.... He's upset. He's worried."

Stevie could see the tears forming in her eyes "Oh, sweetheart," Karen gasped and pulled Stevie into a hug.

She wasn't sure what to say so she just held onto her tightly. "What else did the doctor say?" Karen asked.

"A lot. First he tried to tell me that I wasn't even pregnant and then he came in and told me about how a cornual pregnancy works..I'll be on strict bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy, eat a low carb diet. To deliver I'll have to go through some type of surgery similar to a c-section... They'll have to take them at only 32 weeks... A lot could happen-go wrong. But...Karen, I LOVE this baby so much already." Karen nodded sadly.

"Well I will do my best to take care of things around here," Karen told her, wiping both of their tears away. "I will go talk to Lindsey, now go get in bed."

"I appreciate it but honestly I think I need to go get Lindsey myself-I'm not sure how well he'd react to anyone else. You can go on home if you'd like? We should be good here.. For the moment."

"Stevie, you're not supposed to be up," Karen warned

She waved her off. "I won't be up long. I promise."

"I'll stick around just to make sure," Karen said

She sighed. "Karen... If he's already drunk then there's bound to be an argument here soon. You shouldn't have to deal with that... Our problems are...our problems."

"And you're going to need someone to look after the kids, I am staying, go talk to him."

She nodded and gave her an appreciative smile. "Alright I'll be back" she left and went towards the studio

She could hear Lindsey, playing a dark, sad song on the guitar. The music paused and she heard ice clinking against the glass of his drink as he took another sip of whiskey.

She tilted her head back already feeling tears coming on. She too a minute to compose herself and then she slowly opened the door.

"Karen, I will talk when I'm ready, dammit," he said with his back to the door.

"It's not Karen." He turned around sharply as she shut the door. "What are you doing out of bed?" He stood up and faced her properly

"Karen said you went out here... I'm checking on you."

"Well I was coming to check on you in a minute, I would appreciate it if you laid on the couch while we talked." Lindsey said

"Of course.." She propped herself up on the couch.

"You know I'm trying hard to be happy about this, I just can't get past the fact that we could lose you," running his hands through his hair.

"Lindsey I'm not past it either.. In fact. I'm terrified. I'm scared too, but I can feel it-feel our baby inside of me and I couldn't cope with just killing it! That would kill me!" He blew up again throwing the bottle of whiskey that had sat beside him, into the wall. "THIS COULD KILL YOU-LITERALLY!"

Stevie jumped at the burst of anger. "Well maybe you won't have to watch it. I could get Karen to take care of me; all you would have to do is watch the children," she said, her anger rising

"Stevie-regardless if I watch it or not the outcome could still be the same!"

"Well I don't know what you want me to do about it! I either lose your support or my child!"

"I'm not trying to make you choose!"
She threw her hands up. "Then what are you saying???" He opened his mouth but no words came out. "I-I don't know."

"Well I don't know either Lindsey, but we need to get our shit together soon because I need you," she choked up

He ran his hands through his hair and kicked the wall beside of him. "Please stop." She said weakly, all she wanted was his support his comfort.

"Steph, you have my support. Dammit, I don't want anything to happen to you," he finally broke down and cried, sitting beside her on the couch and pulling her up into his arms. She clung to him like a child. "I'm so sorry I did this to us.."

"No baby, this is not your burden to carry, we both did this," Lindsey ran his hand through her hair, kissing her head.

"I stopped taking the pill Lindsey.." He stiffened a little.
"I thought my time was over, I thought I was getting too old.."

"It's not your fault," he pulled back some and pressed his forehead to hers.

"I'm so sorry Lindsey..." She only cried harder. "It's okay baby, just calm down. It's gonna be okay. I'm here for you-I'm not going anywhere."

"I love you," she clung to his neck

"I love you too."