Lou walked around the city for hours. He visited some of his old haunts and had a few drinks, which he had almost completely quit doing since he and Mary had started seeing each other. No amount of fresh air or scotch could help clear his head. A baby, he thought, what business do I have being a father again? He knew he had to take responsibility, he wasn't about to abandon Mary, but they couldn't even tell their friends they were dating, how could they possibly be ready to have a child together, and yet they were. They had wanted to keep their relationship quiet for a while simple because it would be awkward if it didn't work out. They wanted to find out who they were together without the prying eyes of even close friends. They showed up at functions separately to avoid suspicion and mostly spent evenings at home. But now they might be forced to reveal their secret. He knew Mary was incredibly hurt by his leaving. He knew she expected him to stay and talk about it. He just didn't want to say anything quite yet. Should he marry her? Should he just take responsibility for the baby? Should they be one of those couples who live together? They hadn't even begun to discuss forever with each other. They loved being together and he had never felt like this about anyone, not even his ex-wife. He had to go back and talk to her.

When he returned to Mary's she was asleep. She had been up most of the night and had finally drifted off about 4 am. He sat in a chair in her bedroom watching her. She was so beautiful, almost angelic. He wanted to wake her up but he knew she must be exhausted. He faintly remembered how tired his ex-wife was in the early stages of her pregnancies so he let her sleep wondering how they ended up here. He would make it right, somehow.

Mary began to stir and when she opened her eyes and saw him she felt a mixture of relief and apprehension at the same time, "Hi," was all she managed as she sat up in bed.

"Hi," he responded, "Are you okay?"

"No, not really. Where did you go?" She asked.

"I just walked around for a while, and then sat in the park most of the night. I did have a few drinks. I needed to clear my head." He explained.

"I was worried about you. We can't avoid talking about this." She said.

Lou nodded in agreement, he saw the pain in her brown eyes, "I know and I'm sorry but you certainly threw me for a loop."

Mary looked down at her hands, "I know I did. It threw me for one too. I certainly never thought this would happen. I thought I was so careful."

Lou finally got up and came and sat by her on the bed, "You didn't do this by yourself. I think I had something to do with it."

Mary smiled slightly, "Yes, I guess you did. So what do we do? I don't want to do this alone but if you don't think…"

He cut her off, "Mary, I'm not going anywhere. We are in this together. I love you and you will not be alone. But I have to be honest, I cannot promise marriage but I can promise you that I will take care of you and our child."

"I understand. So how do we tell everyone? We can't hide our relationship anymore. Before long it will be impossible." She patted her stomach.

"We'll just have to be honest with them. If we do love each other then we have no reason to hide it anymore." He said, taking her hands in his.

Mary met his eyes, "You're right and I do love you, Lou Grant."

THE FOLLOWING MONDAY

Lou and Mary decided to tell everyone right away about their relationship and the baby. They figured the best way was to just show up together first thing and get it over with. They walked into the newsroom and saw Murray first.

"Hey Lou, what are you doing here?" He looked at him and Mary.

"Well, uh, Murray, Mary and I need to tell you all something." He stammered.

"Oh, well, what is it?" he looked at Mary, "Mary are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Where is Ted? Is he here yet?" She asked.

"He's in his dressing room admiring himself now that he got his teeth whitened." Murray explained.

"Could you call him and have him come down here?" Lou asked

"Well sure Lou but what's going on?" Murray asked again.

"We'll tell you when Ted gets here." Lou said.

"Alright, alright, I'll call him." Murray picked up the phone and dialed Ted's dressing room.

"Thanks," Lou said then turned to Mary, "You sure you're alright?"

Mary smiled, "Yes, I'm fine. I just want to get this over with."

"Ted's on his way." Murray said, "So how are things Lou? It's been a while since we've talked."

"Oh, you know, things are okay. How are Marie and the kids?" Lou was never good at small talk and this was especially difficult.

"Hi guys," Ted said as he walked into the room, "Lou, hey how are you?

"Uh, I'm good Ted. Listen, Mary and I have something we need to say to you both. You are two of our closest friends and we think you should know." He couldn't get it all the way out.

"Know what Lou?" Murray asked. He had never seen Lou so uncomfortable.

"We think you should know that Mary and I have … have been …seeing each other." He stammered

"You mean as in dating?" Murray asked puzzled.

Mary finally spoke, "Yes, Murray, we have been dating for several months but there's something else," she paused, "I'm… I'm…pregnant."

Ted and Murray looked at each other in utter disbelief, "Pregnant?" Murray repeated then gathered himself, "Hey, Mary, Lou, that's great, just great." He gave them both a big hug.

"Lou, old buddy, you still got it." Ted punched him playfully.

Lou glared at him, "Ted, don't do that."

"Oh, uh, I'm sorry, well, I'll just say congratulations. So when's the big day?" Ted asked

"Well, not for about 7 months." Mary answered assuming Ted was asking about her due date.

"You're gonna wait that long to get married?" Ted asked.

"Ted, Mary and I haven't decided on that yet. We're still talking about it." Lou explained.

"You mean, you're not getting married? Well won't that make the baby a …" Ted started?

"A what, Ted?" Lou glared at him again.

Ted backed away, "A…a boy or a girl." He said running out of the room.

FOUR MONTHS LATER

The newsroom was buzzing with activity when Lou stopped by to take Mary to her doctor's appointment and get a bite of lunch. After some long talks they finally decided to get married in a quiet ceremony at Mary's apartment. They found a house in a nice neighborhood and moved in the previous month.

"Hey Lou, how's it going?" Murray greeted him.

"Good Murray, how about you? I hope that boss of yours isn't being too hard on you." He joked.

"You know what a slave driver she is." Murray retorted, "She's in editing but should be back in just a minute. You guys getting some lunch?"

"Yeah, and she's got a doctor's appointment." Lou said with a smile.

"Hey, Lou, I'm glad you're here. I have a great suggestion for a name for the baby." Ted said as he walked into the studio.

"Yeah, well that's great Ted." Lou said hoping Ted wouldn't tell him.

"What do you think of Theodore Baxter Grant?" Ted said in his newscaster voice.

Lou smiled, "Well, that's nice Ted. I'll run it by Mary."

"Run what by Mary?" She asked walking in the room.

"Ted was just giving Lou suggestions for baby names." Murray informed her.

"Well, that's awfully nice of you Ted but we have some ideas of our own," Mary said then turned to Lou, "Are you ready, sweetheart?

"Sure am, can't wait to have lunch with my two favorite people." He said patting Mary's growing belly.

Mary laughed "Great, because you're two favorite people are starved." She said grabbing her coat.

"Oh, sorry Lou, I can't join you for lunch" Ted said.

"We didn't ask you Ted." Lou said

"Oh well, you said you're two favorite people." Ted mumbled

"Ted, he was referring to Mary and the baby." Murray informed him

"We'll that's dumb, it can't even talk yet." Ted said walking out of the room.

Mary, Lou and Murray just laughed as Lou opened to door to leave.