THE CONTRACT - PART FIVE

PREVIOUSLY

"So, last night scared you, Todd," she says out loud. "It scared me too. Last night was more than I expected." She closes her eyes and thinks back to the previous night, blushing slightly when she realizes the very thought of Todd's arms around her quickens her pulse. She allows the memories of the night to lull her back to sleep. A night that will forever live, if only in her dreams.

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"So, what are we looking for? Is it supposed to change colors or something?" Todd stands in the bathroom holding a pregnancy test with a confused look on his face. The doctors at the fertility clinic in New York said that a home pregnancy test would be able to confirm the success or failure of the procedure within 10 days. But they gave it a full two weeks, just to be sure.

Todd looks over to where Tea is sitting. She's nervously flipping the pages of a magazine, but not really looking at it. He searches his mind for something to say to her, but there are no words available. Anything he could say would only show her how nervous he was. And he didn't want her to know how much this mattered to him. He didn't really understand it himself.

Before the trip to New York, they had decided to consider themselves friends, instead of just in a contracted marriage. However, Todd didn't realize the feelings attached to the role of 'friend'. He didn't realize that he would find himself rushing home from work everyday just to be on time for dinner with Tea and Starr. He didn't realize that he would be counting the days until it was time for the pregnancy test. He didn't realize that he would be in his bathroom pacing the floor, nervously praying for the test to be positive. DING!!!! The ringing of the buzzer startles Todd back to reality. He runs over to check the test.

"Well?" Tea asks, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and wonder.

"I don't know how to read these things, Delgado," he says holding the test up for her. "But, from what I can tell, it looks like it's a girl."

"What are you talking about Todd?"

"Well, 'pink' means girl and 'blue' means boy, right?" he asks her innocently, trying to hide a smile.

"Todd! Didn't you read the instructions?" she says, grabbing the box. "Pink usually means . . .", her voice trails off and she looks up at Todd with her mouth wide open when she realizes what he just said. "Pink? You said pink? The test is pink? Do you know what that means?"

"Yeah. I think that means we need to start looking for a bigger house," he says with a huge grin. "We're having a baby, Delgado."

Before she can stop herself, Tea finds herself across the room and in Todd's arms. Before he can realize what he said, he hugs her back. They stay that way for a few moments until they both realize what's going on. They slowly break away and step back from each other.

"I mean, you're having a baby. Congratulations, Tea," Todd finally says, recovering from the moment. "You're going to make a great mom." He smiles at her and then turns to leave.

She wants to call him back. She wants to celebrate, but she knows she shouldn't push. Instead, she sinks into the nearest chair and places her hands on her stomach.

"So, you're in there, little baby," she starts. "I'm your mommy. And that guy who was just here is going to be your daddy. And he's going to be a great one. I can tell that he cares already. Despite what he thinks he wants, he's starting to care about us." She leans her head back and smiles. This is going to be the beginning of an interesting journey. A journey she never expected to take with a man like Todd. Nevertheless, she was ready for the adventure. Who knows where the road is going to take them, but she had a feeling it's going to be someplace wonderful.

TO BE CONTINUED