"Have you given any thought to where you'd like to go?  Paris? Rio?  London? Abu Dabi?"

"Somewhere warm where we can lay in a hammock together." Taylor replied, wanting to be somewhere where they could just..... be.  Somewhere hopefully quiet where they might be able to stay for a little bit, even maybe have the baby if things worked their way.

"Sounds like we'll be tanned in no time." Taylor gave him a half smile "Do you like to swim?"

"Very much." he told her  "And I like to sail too.  That's a good place to do it to, well on one side of the island.  The far side has rather rough seas, but other side has nice calm water with breezes.  It doesn't storm there.  There's wonderful diving."

Even with everything else going on, his description of the place brought a smile to her face.

"I'm not sure I'll be doing any diving but the swimming sounds heavenly."

"Well, how about snorkeling," Christian asked "Oh and if you get one of those cravings for a pizza, they actually have a Dominos as I recall.  In fact, there are quite a few American restaurants there."

Taylor chuckled at that, just as the front door opened and Sean entered.  He had sent the others off to other locations.

"Everything's set." he said "We just need to get you two on your way.  Money's transferred and here."

He handed Christian a manila envelope "All the IDs you need, along with a little extra something."

In particular, and he didn't say this in case his friend wasn't ready for it but could keep it handy for when the time did come, a marriage license and wedding bands.  He'd leave the engagement stuff to his pal though and was very tempted to tease Chris about never having gotten a ring from him for being his 'dear'.

"You two ready?" he asked instead.

Christian looked at Taylor "I am is Taylor is.  Can you please see what you can do about getting us a cottage in Aruba.  One of those with the red roofs and white walls about it, right at the beach would be good."

Sean grinned and handed him a set of keys to a new car "Just leave that at the airport but it'll be ready for you by the time you get there."

Then he took a cell phone from his jacket pocket and handed it to Taylor "This is equipped to reach me wherever with that toy I told you about.  If anything happens, let me know."

Taylor accepted it and nodded "Thanks."

"No thanks needed.  You're one of us now." Sean assured her with a boyish grin "And prettier looking than egg head here.  Frankly, I'm glad.  He was becoming a real grouch."
 
 
 

A couple of days later, they were on the ocean at the private beach side house Sean had set up for them, a basket of fruit and a bottle of ginger ale resembling a bottle of champagne on the main dining room table.
 
 
 

"He's useless to us." the man in the back seat said, referring to the doctor he watched on a small television being telecast from earlier that day on the accident of Taylor Morgan and Christian DeWitt "She's dead to him."

"But I want that child.  And if she carries it, I want her too." he added quietly "We have to learn how she was able to do it so easily."
 
 

Taylor looked out over the water as the late morning sun shone down on the beach she was sitting on and the water beyond.  It had been so peaceful here, a far cry from what they had left that had once been Christian's and her life.

The news reports of their 'deaths' had settled down, Sean had reported that there hadn't been any trouble with Ross or their end of things, and she was getting more familiar with not only her new life but the two people directly linked with it.

Who would have thought that caring for someone would have brought such a drastic change to her life?  No longer mortal but unsure whether she really was Immortal like Christian or the child she now carried..... and he had said she was handling it better than he would have.

She looked back at the house they had been staying in, the breeze picking up loose strands of her hair and blowing them across her face before she moved it aside and focused on the patio door and the one exiting it just then.

Leave it to her to fall in love with such a unique person.

Christian came out and down to the beach carrying two glasses of lemonade.  He was wearing a casual short sleeve shirt in a bright green and khaki shorts.

Taylor shaded her eyes and looked up at him, grinning "Hello, there."

Christian reached her side and handed her a glass.

"Hello," he said with bright smile.  "What have you been up to out here?"

They had already started building up tans but she accepted the glass and took a small sip of it before admitting "Enjoying the sun and water."

In fact she had picked this particular place because it gave her dry land to sit on but water to sit her feet in.

"Good," Christian said sitting beside her  "I hope you don't mind some extra company."

"You're not extra company." she admitted as she leaned back and moved one of her feet in the water "Unless you're talking about someone else joining us?"

"No, just me," Christian told her.  "I figure you've always got company right now."

She shook her head gently, smiling and running her empty hand over her stomach "Nah, neither one of you are extra company."

It was odd though, in a way.  They were doing everything in a weird order when it came to relationships, but extra company?  She didn't feel like they were.

Christian smiled at her.  "I hope that doesn't mean I've taken on the description of being like old shoes already?"

Taylor leaned back on to her elbows and looked at him curiously, before feeling a blush color her cheeks and turning to look back out over the water "No, you are definitely not old shoes."

Christian leaned over and kissed her reddened cheek.

She blinked in surprise and looked at him, before smiling softly.  It wasn't as if he had avoided her or anything but he had kept a particular distance from her on an intimate level, as if he wanted to take it slow and didn't want to risk giving her the impression that he expected something from her.

Of course she wasn't sure how else to prove how she felt about him. So she had decided to just let him go his own pace, at times thinking he was sweet and at others slow.

Right now she thought he was a little of both and the thought made her grin a little.

Christian tilted his head and grinned back at her, his elbows resting on his knees.  He had been moving slowly on purpose, so as not to frighten Taylor off.  She already had so much to deal with.  He didn't want to put any undue pressure on her.

"How would you like to go out for dinner, to that new restaurant at the resort down the way?"

"Sounds like a plan." she agreed with another small grin as she rolled her shoulders.

Christian hesitated for a moment and then moved so that he could rub her shoulders.

"I'll make reservations." he said  "I hear they have dancing."

Taylor sighed both to the suggestion and because he had gotten the exact spot that had started bugging her.  She lowered her head to give him better access "Sounds perfect, as long as we don't have to do the Russian hopping stuff."

"Oh, does that mean no Bunny Hop either?" Christian asked, the humor clear in his voice.  His fingers moved over the area massaging the tense muscles there.

"Actually, I think it's a Jazz band, so you shouldn't have any worries."

Taylor would have playfully slapped at him but the massage felt to good so she just chuckled before asking "Do you have anything planned for the rest of the day?"

"Only to spend it with you," Christian replied  "Why what do you have in mind?"

"It's a surprise." she said, taking another drink of the lemonade and, with a grin, looked back out over the water.

"Oh, and when will I get let in on this surprise?" Christian asked
curiously.

Taylor blushed as she stood, holding out her empty hand out to his "In about twenty minutes but I need the car keys to get you there."

She had made the arrangements that morning while he was calling to check in with Sean and was nervous now, hoping he would enjoy the surprise as much as she intended to.

"In that case," Christian replied standing and pulling the keys from his pocket "Lead the way."

He handed her the keys.

They passed the porch on their way to the car and Taylor set her glass down on the table there before accepting the keys he held.

She pressed the button on the keychain and unlocked the door, getting in on the driver's side with a small smile of excitement and anticipation.  Once he was in and their seatbelts on, she started the engine and gently pulled out of the drive.

Fifteen minutes later they were pulling up to a clinic and she was parking near the entrance.

Today was her first scheduled ultrasound.

Christian looked at the building and then at Taylor his brow furrowning with concern.

"Is everything all right?" he asked, feeling a small hint of worry.

Taylor turned the engine off and reached over to put her hand over his and squeeze it "I said surprise.  Now come on."

Then she got out of the car and went to the front of it to wait for him, pressing another button on the keychain once he joined her so that the car was locked.

"Come on, Daddy." she said, slipping her arm through his and heading toward the front door.

Christian raised a curious eyebrow at her and walked with her inside.

"I think I like the sound of that," he said with a grin.

Taylor smiled softly, pretty sure that he hadn't really let himself think quite along those lines.  At least she couldn't imagine Gwen having called him that and so he wouldn't have dwelled on it too much if not at all.

They made it to the desk and, Taylor checking in and the nurse pulling her file since she was there by appointment, motioned for them to enter through the door to the receptionist's left.

Minutes later they were in a room down the hall and Taylor following instruction as she went behind a curtain and changed into the medical gown and coming back out to mock grumble at the doctor that had been assigned to her about cold floors and breezy backs to the things patients have to wear.

"Sean said you had been a doctor." Walter Lans said, having been stationed out on the island just for this purpose - although no one but their own kind would have known any better "And I know I'm the worst patient another doctor has had the misfortune to have.  Please, lay down and relax."

Taylor chuckled.  It was true, doctors were the worst patients.  But she got up on the table and laid back, just as the pediatrician moved the equipment he would be using over to her left and motioned for Christian to sit in the chair on her right if he wanted.

Christian chose instead to stand by the table at Taylor's side.

"I thought she was a remarkably good patient," Christian told him.  "In fact, she even told me what to do to treat her."

Though as he said it, it occurred to him that sort of thing might be what other doctors dislike.

The doctor smiled slightly "I was told she was a bit different than most but you'll usually get the most stubborn attitude from a doctor that could be imagined."

He brought a light blanket over and covered Taylor's lower body before lifting the gown to reveal her stomach.  Then he turned and lifted a oblong white bottle and turned it upside down toward one of his palms, a clear gel like substance coming out.

Setting the bottle back down, the doctor then put his hands together and rubbed, to warm the gel, before putting them on his patient's stomach and spreading it around some.

"Still cold." Taylor mock complained as the doctor turned to wipe his hands and then brought the flat, long wand attached to the machine he would be using over close enough to reach her stomach without problem and then setting it against her.

She looked up at Christian and slipped the hand closest to him into his and squeezed it a little.

"Ready, set, go." the doctor said as he flipped the switch on and the black and white image appeared on the small screen next to them and at an angle so that all three people would have a clear view of it.  He moved the wand around for a moment, doing a fundamental scan, then more along the area the baby was in until its form was seen laying in its curved position within Taylor's womb  "What to hear the heartbeat?"

Taylor nodded slowly, unable to speak with the sudden lump in her throat.

Walter moved to turn a knob and then went back to the scan, the sound of a baby's heartbeat suddenly filling the room.

"Hello sweetheart." Christian said as he watched the tiny figure on the screen.  He was amazed every time he saw his daughter, but moreso now, after everything that had happened.

Taylor had thought she would be bringing Christian here for a surprise, only to be hit with a wave of awe of her own as she listened to the sound.  She turned to look at him, her gaze filled with emotions.

Christian took her hand and squeezed it tightly "It's amazing isn't it?"

He turned his eyes on Walter then.  "Have you delivered any other babies of our kind?"

"From what I know of this particular case," Walter admitted "And even we're keeping it under wraps with a need to know peril, this birth is a one of a kind but I've delivered babies before and one Immortal.  Our kind don't produce very often but the deliveries have been similiar in most cases."

"You're not foreseeing complications are you?" Taylor asked, a hint of worry creeping into her gaze.  Her medical knowledge in the field told her there shouldn't be, the new parenting part of her couldn't help ignoring the other part and feeling a little shot of worry at the possibility.

Walter shook his head "I don't foresee any at all so far and your health and the baby's are both great.  Readings I've getting so far are actually an improvement since her last ultrasound."

Christian grinned at the doctor.  "Before long she's going to be waving at us on the screen."

Taylor looked at the screen and grinned.  She had been feeling a link between them growing since the operation and had a feeling.....

Just then the baby shifted a little, one small hand moving before going toward its mouth.

The motion looked like she had waved and then put her thumb in her mouth.

The doctor blinked at the image and then looked at Taylor, who chuckled low in her throat and grinned.

"What did I tell you." Christian said triumphantly.

But the doctor was thinking something else and looked at Taylor, wondering if she had something to do with it.  Could it be a new side effect?

"Have you had instances in which you've been able to... well, hear or sense anything from the child?" he asked.

Taylor looked at him for a moment.  He was there to make sure both mother and child were healthy.  Was he there also as a scientist to keep tabs on other things?

"I feel her inside of me." she said, deciding that, for the moment, she was going to play dumb.

"Of course." Walter said, getting back to business and looking at them both. Obviously, the woman didn't know what he was refering to so he would just continue "Do either of you want a picture?"

"Yes," Christian replied.  He kept quite about his own communication with the baby.  If Taylor wanted to keep it between the three of them that was fine with him.

Seeing that they both wanted one, Walter pressed the button so that two were produced.  Then, making one more round with the wand, he lifted it and turned off the machine before offering Taylor some paper towels to clean off her stomach "Let me go fill out the prescription for your prenatal vitamins and I'll be right back.  You can go ahead and change back into your clothes."

He pushed the equipment over to a corner and gave them a little salute before going to get his pad, just as Taylor slid off of the table and went back behind the curtain.

A couple of minutes later she came back out and went over to Christian, slipping her arms about his waist and giving him a little hug "So how did you like that?"

Christian cloosed his own arms about her.

"It was the best surprise I have ever gotten," he told her, just before kissing her cheek.  "Thank you."

"Want to work on her room with me today?" Taylor asked as she smiled in response to his answer.

"Yes," Christian said with a grin.  "I'm an expert by now."

She kissed his cheek, just as the doctor came back in and greeting them with a sheepish smile for intruding and then to offer them the piece of paper with her prescription on it.

"You're next appointment is set for next month," he informed them "But if you need me before then, just call.  My numbers are on the paper and Sean has them as well."

"Thank you Walter," Christian said shaking his hand.  "I really appreciate you looking after them."

"You're very welcome." he assured him as he returned his hand shake and then excused himself to take care of other patients "I'm glad it turned out this well."

"Want to drive?" Taylor offered, holding up the car keys up for him to take "And we're hungry."

There was a twinkle in her eye as she said it.  Not that she was joking, because she wasn't and truly was hungry, but because of the words themselves.  She liked the sound of them.