CHAPTER 14: THIS MAY BE TROUBLE...

Saturday morning. Lizzy woke with a start. "Oh no, I have to work this Saturday again!" She figured she may as well be on time if she had to be there at all.

It had been three weeks since her birthday party, and she noticed she still woke up every morning and the first thing on her mind was Alex. She ignores it as she bounded out of bed, grabbing her towel and shampoo and headed for the bathroom, only to be cut off by Sarah who slammed the door in her face.

"Well, good morning to you too, Sis!" Lizzy laughed until she heard noises from the other side of the door.

Concern crossed Lizzy's face. "Sarah, are you okay?" She didn't get a response. She heard the toilet flush and the water running. Sarah then opened the door.

Sarah smiled. "I'm fine, Liz. I'm fine..." Sarah walks off to her bedroom and closes the door.

Lizzy didn't like the way Sarah looked, which was terrible. She walks over to Sarah's door and knocks.

"Come in." Lizzy enters to see Sarah curled back up in bed, covers pulled up to her chin.

Lizzy walks over to Sarah and sits on the bed. "Sarah, what's the matter? Were you sick just a minute ago?"

Sarah sits up, tears in her eyes. "Oh Liz..."

"Sarah, what's wrong?" Lizzy's concern masking her face.

Sarah looks at Liz, tears streaming down her face now. "Liz...Liz, I think..." Sarah grabs a tissue from her bedside and blows her nose. "First of all, promise me you won't tell Gram, okay?"

Lizzy puts her hand on her heart. "I swear."

Sarah sighs. "I'm...late."

Lizzy knew Sarah wasn't talking about her perfect attendance record at PC High. "What do you mean, 'late', Sarah?" Suddenly Lizzy knows that what's wrong with Sarah is more than stomach flu.

Sarah tries to regain her voice. She turns to Lizzy. "I...I think I may be pregnant."

Lizzy takes a second to digest this statement. Then with the reality of it, she realizes that this means that Sarah and Nikolas must be sleeping together. "Are you sure? I mean, how do you know?"

"I just told you, I'm late."

Lizzy looks at her sister. "How late are you, Sarah?"

"Two weeks late!"

Lizzy didn't know what to tell her sister, after all she was the little sister - what would she know? "Well, um...how long have you and Nikolas, been...you know..."

"Just once, Lizzy." Sarah interjected. "It was only one time, Lizzy. About a month ago.

"Well, Sarah, did you have...protected sex?"

Sarah looks at her sister unbelievingly. "Of course we did, Lizzy, don't be silly."

"Be silly?" Lizzy said defensively. "You're the one sitting here telling me you think you're pregnant! What else am I supposed to think?"

Sarah relaxed a little. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little upset...as you can understand."

Lizzy tried to reason with Sarah. "Okay, let's take this from the beginning. You said this happened about a month ago, right?" Sarah nods. "And you realized you were late two weeks ago, right?" Sarah nods her reply again. Lizzy continues. "Okay, and how long have you been getting sick?"

"Since I realized I was two weeks late." Sarah says, suddenly feeling the urge to run back to the bathroom.

Lizzy smiled. "Well, you see, maybe it's all in your head, Sarah." Sarah looked at her again as if she were totally out of her mind.

"How could it be all in my head, Lizzy? I'm late, I feel sick...what more do I need as proof? A voice from the womb?" At that remark, Sarah felt more tears coming. She didn't know what she was going to do. "I can't be pregnant, Liz. I just can't be..."

"Okay, okay Sarah, relax. Try to relax." Lizzy gets up on the bed and puts her arm around her sister. She didn't know what to do, she herself never being faced with this plight. She had never found anyone who she wanted to share her life with, let alone...share herself with...

"Lizzy?" Sarah's voice brought Lizzy back to reality. Lizzy looked at her sister, Sarah continued. "What if I'm really pregnant? What should I do?"

For once, Lizzy didn't have a comeback. "I don't know, Sarah. I don't know."

Lizzy sat on the bed, holding her sister, wishing for the days when their biggest problems were who would get the prettier doll, or the nicer Easter outfit...or the lead in the school play.

But this was the REAL world...yep, with REAL problems.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dara had just come in from her morning run. She realized that it had been five weeks since her breakup with Justus. Well, if you could call it a break up. Usually there had to be something to 'break' before you could 'break up'. Regardless, Dara figured that the danger zone had been cleared, since she hadn't received any more notes or gifts at her doorstep.

She was just on her way to the shower when the doorbell rang. She wondered who could be coming over at 10 in the morning on a Saturday. She walked over to the door and swung it open, revealing Taggart on the other side.

"Good morning, ADA Jensen." Taggart said as he leaned against the door frame.

Dara looked at him in amazement. "What are you doing here, Detective? What? You run out of civilians to harass, so you've moved on to your co-workers?" Dara laughed at herself. "Well, I thought it was funny...come on in." She walked away from the open door, leaving Taggart to let himself in.

Taggart watched her walk away from him, letting out a low whistle. He closed the door behind him. "My, my...I should come around this time more often." Dara had tossed her sweatshirts she had worn running and he observed her figure in what remained of her running clothes. He decided right then that business suits should be banned from the workplace. Dara noticed his approving stare and gave Taggart a warning look.

"Again I ask, what are you doing here, Taggart?" She noted his jeans and sweatshirt under his jacket. "From the looks of it, you're not on duty, so what gives?"

"Actually, I was on a private case." Taggart took a seat on the sofa. "This is a case that I've been on for quite some time now, probably about 5 or 6 weeks, perhaps?"

Dara raised her eyebrows. "And what case would that be, Detective?"

"The Mob vs. ADA Jensen."

Dara's mouth went dry at the mention of the mob. "How did you know about that?"

Taggart grinned, loving how he always surprised her. "Word gets around, and I figured if little crazy stuff happening like...deliveries to your doorstep with little notes, that I'd better get involved in this."

"Involved how?" Dara was afraid to ask.

Taggart got up and walked over to Dara. "Well, you know...mostly surveillance."

"Taggart!" Dara shouted at him.

"Don't get all upset, Ms. Jensen. I just...I've been keeping an eye on you, that's all. You've never known it and I wouldn't dream of getting in your way..."

"Where?" Dara asked.

Taggart smiled again. "Let's just say, the route you take when you run in the park may not be the best in your situation..."

"You were following me in the park?" Dara felt frightened, mostly for the fact that she didn't even realize she was being followed. Next time it might not be Taggart. She went over to the chair and fell into it. Suddenly, she felt drained.

"Ms. Jensen," Taggart walked over to her, not happy in how upset and frightened she looked. "I was just looking out for you, that's all. It's not even on company time, it's been my time, my business."

The revelation of actually having to be watched, which implicated that there was a problem, made Dara shiver. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to still the cold that was running up her spine. Taggart noticed and immediately took off his light jacket and placed it around her shoulders.

He looked in her eyes, he could see the fear lying in them, trying not to surface. "Dara..."

Dara looked at him with raised eyebrows at the first name basis.

Taggart defended himself. "Look, I'm talking to you on the up-and-up, one-on-one, friend to friend." He stares at her closely. "Are you afraid, Dara? Do you fear for your life?" He didn't need a verbal answer as Dara's lip started to tremble. He knew this was not characteristic of the ADA, so he knew she had to be pretty scared.

Dara tried to compose herself, not wanting Taggart to see her weak side. "I'm fine, Detective...and it's ADA Jensen, no matter where we are, okay?"

Taggart stands to his feet, seeing that he was getting nowhere with her. "Okay, A-D-A Jensen. If you don't want me around to check up on you every now and again, I'll understand. Just say the word." He stood there as he waited for her reply.

Dara stood also, blowing out a long breath. "Okay, okay Taggart. If it'll make you sleep better at night to run around Port Charles and watch over me, then by all means - who am I to ruin a party?" She laughed for a second, then she got serious. "I would appreciate that, Detective. Really..."

Taggart smiles slightly. "You got it, A.D.A. Jensen." He turns to leave. "I'll be going now..." He opens the door.

"Oh, don't forget your jacket." Dara says as she takes off his jacket. "Well, it might be all sweaty now..."

Taggart takes the jacket from her. He leans down to her and whispers, "If I could only be so honored." He puts the jacket back on and walks out the door. He turns back. "Lock up...and next time, look through the peep hole before you just swing your door open, okay?"

"Got it." Dara says. She actually lets go of a smile. "Thanks again, Detective."

"You know, I could hang around here in case you don't feel safe." Taggart offers, appraising her skimpy outfit. "I am a pretty good watchdog..."

"Goodbye, Detective." Dara says.

Taggart closes the door, waiting to hear Dara lock up before walking off. Dara leans against the door, smiling. Suddenly, a frown crossing her face.

"Girl don't let him mess with your head." Dara scolded herself and she pushed off the door and went in to take her shower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nikolas sat outside Kelly's, waiting for Sarah. He knew Lucky was inside, and since Lizzy's party he wanted to be careful about how many times he ended up in close proximity with him.

His mind goes back to Sarah. She had sounded like she had something urgent to talk to him about. His curiosity built as he sat there. He heard footsteps and turned to look at Sarah walking up to him. She looked tired.

"Hi." He told her. He walked over to her and kissed her softly on the lips.

Sarah pulled away from him. "Hi, Nikolas." She sat down, not meeting his eyes again.

Nikolas notices her nervousness and takes her hand across the table. "Is...something wrong, Sarah?" He tries to make eye contact with her. When he couldn't he knew something was wrong. "Sarah, tell me what..."

"I think I'm pregnant." Sarah blurted out. She knew no other way to tell him.

Nikolas sits there, shocked. He doesn't know what to say either. He stands and starts to pace. He comes back to her, kneeling at her side. "Are you sure?"

Sarah still cannot meet his gaze. "Well, I'm not 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure. I haven't taken a pregnancy test yet. I can't bring myself to know the truth. You know how it is, it's like as long as I don't know for sure, I can keep telling myself that maybe I'm not pregnant. But I know as soon as I take that test, it'll be a yes or a no...and I can't bring myself to know..."

Sarah starts to cry. Nikolas takes her in his arms as he sits there, not knowing what to say, so decided not to say anything.

Sarah pulls away from him, finally meeting his eyes. "What if I am, Nikolas? What if I am pregnant? What am I going to do..."

"You mean, w...what are WE going, to do?" Nikolas looks at her. He takes her face in his hands. "I love you, Sarah. We're in this t...together, okay? We'll figure this out...together."

Sarah breathes for the first time since she sat down and lets the tension run from her body. She falls back into Nikolas' arms and they sit there holding each other.

"I love you too, Nikolas. I 'm just so scared..."

"Shhhh..." Nikolas silences her. "Whatever happens, we'll be to...together." He kisses the top of her head, wondering when life took this sudden turn and didn't alert him first.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Home Page