Chapter Title: A Year In Retrospect

(One year later)

If someone had told her a year and a half ago that she would be married and be walking into a ready made family she would have called them liar. She had never thought she would be ready. Logan had put so many ideas into her head that she didn't think she would want kids. Now she couldn't imagine her life without Maddie. Or the baby she thought she was carrying. Rory leaned against the counter nervously crossing and uncrossing her legs as she waited for five minutes to be up. She only had a minute left. She had sent Maddie outside to play so she wouldn't find out what was going on. Rory had learned the hard way that she was smarter than she looked. She glanced at the clock one last time before breathing a sigh of relief. The five minutes were up. All she had to do was look down.

What if she wasn't pregnant? Could she handle that? What if she was? Would Tristan welcome this baby like he had Maddie? Of course he would. Rory shook her head trying to clear her thoughts. She grabbed hold of the counter for support as she turned to face the little stick that held her future in it's balance. She picked the stick up willing herself to look down at it. It was just a pregnancy test. It's not like it was going to hurt her. She opened her eyes and looked down. Two pink lines was showing across the strip. Rory couldn't remember if that meant that she was pregnant or not. She fished the box out of the garbage and read the instructions.

It was official, after six months of trying she was pregnant. She let out a scared/excited laugh as she set the stick back down on the counter. How do you tell someone that they're going to be a father? He had been through it once but that didn't make finding out a second time any easier. How would Maddie react? Would she be happy? Rory liked to think she would be. She heard the front door open and looked at herself in the mirror. Tristan could be heard coming down the hall with Maddie right behind him. Rory quickly put the test in a drawer and opened the bathroom door.

Tristan knew something had happened the moment he looked at her. She gave him a smile and kissed his cheek before walking past him. He followed her into the kitchen and watched as she put dinner on the table. Being domestic had taken some getting used to too. Rory had to learn how to cook. Because Tristan and Maddie couldn't survive on Pop Tarts and Pizza alone. They had been more than patient with her over the last year. Tristan set the table as Rory turned off the stove and carried the spaghetti over to the table.

"Are you okay?" He asked putting a hand on her arm.

She looked up at him nodded. She was not going to tell him over dinner. She had already decided that. Maddie came into the room and sat down across from them. Jack had made a spot for himself under the table hoping Tristan wouldn't put him in the laundry room. Rory didn't remember much about what happened after that. She was in her own world trying to find a way to tell Tristan what was going on.

Tristan was reading that night when Rory came into the room after taking her shower. Maddie was already in bed and she thought now was a good time to tell him. He watched her as she got dressed and went through her nightly routine. She finally lay down next to him and he turned to face her.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" He asked brushing a piece of hair off of her shoulder.

"I'm sorry I've been acting so weird." She said with a sigh.

"It's okay. Anything happen today I should know about?" He asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yes." She said rolling her eyes at him.

"What?" He asked giving her a teasing smile.

"I'm pregnant." She said before closing her eyes.

She couldn't look at him. She didn't want to see his reaction. She felt him put a hand on her arm and the other on her stomach. She opened one eye to see him staring at her. He let out a nervous laugh before taking the hand on her arm away. He ran his fingers through his hair not taking his eyes off of her.

"When did you find out?"

"I took a test this afternoon."

"So you haven't made a doctor's appointment?"

"Not yet. I'll do it in the morning."

He nodded his head letting everything sink in. He had thought it was something serious. He had expected her to tell him someone had died. She had been known to think the worst. He really needed to break her of that habit.

"I want to go with you." He said still looking her in the eye.

"You have to work." She said shaking her head.

"They can work without me for a couple of hours Ror."

"Okay."

The conversation was dropped after that. Rory lay on her side watching him as he read through briefs and paperwork for an upcoming case. After being married for a year she still wasn't used to him being there for her no questions asked. No one had ever done that for her. She knew things would take getting used to. But she had never expected things to be easy. And they weren't. She knew she would have to work hard to make things work. And she was willing to do that.

AN: I can't believe this is really done. I started this almost six months ago thinking no one would read it. Now twenty-seven chapters and three hundred some odd reviews later it's finished. Thank you so much for reading this. You don't know how much it has meant to me.