AJ walked in to the dark, quiet house, dropping his bags just inside the front door.  He hadn't expected Katie to be awake, the sun was barely up.  The only reason he was so wired was because he finally got to see his girlfriend again.  He was finally going to be able to hold her and hug her and kiss her like he'd so missed doing.

He had expected her to be curled up, sleeping soundly, in the bed they now shared.

AJ walked up to the bedroom.  He'd been gone for a few weeks, but he knew this house like the back of his hand.  He could walk through it blindfolded and almost never trip over anything.  Almost.  That's why he hadn't need to turn on one single light on the route up to the master suite.  The lack of light in the house didn't hinder him at all right now.  He was too excited to see his girl.

"Katie...Babe?" he softly whispered as he entered the room.

The just rising sun gave off enough sunlight for him to see into the obviously empty room.  Katie hadn't mentioned spending the night anywhere else.  And he was almost sure that she didn't have something going on at this ungodly hour.

He backed out of the room and went down the hall.  He checked the guest rooms-empty-the bathroom-empty-his office-empty-and finally went back down to the living room.  Katie was curled up on one of the couches.  He hadn't even seen her when he'd gotten in.

"Hey babe," AJ sat down on the edge of the couch and brushed the hair from her face.

She slowly opened her eyes and smiled sleepily when she saw him.

"You're home!" Katie stretched.

"What are you doing down here?"

"I couldn't sleep.  I was too excited.  I guess I was pretty tired...fell asleep here."

"I just want to spend the day in bed with you," he grinned.

"I think I can deal with that," Katie leaned up, pulling him down on top of her at the same time.

Their lips met for the first time in weeks.  Katie's right hand wrapped around his neck, her left arm holding her up.  She felt the same shivers from their first kiss and her heart sped up.

This is how it was meant to be, Katie thought.  She knew she loved him, but having him here again showed her just how much.  That one unexpected meeting all those months ago was the world's way of telling her that life wasn't hopeless.  As long as they could get through the discussion they still needed to have.  Katie wasn't ready for that yet, though.

AJ pulled away, "I missed you so much."

Katie let him go, nodding her agreement.  She sat up and AJ helped her off of the couch.  The two went up to the room, AJ stripping off his jeans and t-shirt and climbing into the bed in his boxers.

*****

The newly re-united couple spent the better part of the morning in bed...sleeping.  Katie hadn't slept much in the previous week, and AJ...he just liked sleeping.  Especially when his girlfriend was curled up sleeping next to him.

He woke up a few hours later to an empty bed.  A little confused at first, he had to make sure coming home hadn't been a dream.  He sat up and looked around, knowing that he was in his room, in his house.  It was all good.  He got up, pulling on a clean t-shirt and going downstairs, again in search of Katie.

"Good afternoon sleepy head?" Katie chirped, not turned away from the stove.

"I guess it is afternoon now, isn't it?" AJ walked up behind her, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist, "Grilled cheese?"

"Yes...all we have is cheese and bread.  I haven't been to the store in a few days."

"Or anywhere else, for that matter."

Katie put down the spatula and turned around.  Their bodies still touched, their faces just inches apart.

"I was hoping you would forget about that," Katie looked away.

He slipped a hand under her chin, forcing her to look at him again, "I'm just worried about you."

Katie stared up at him for a few minutes, trying to force the tears back down, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.  She still didn't know how she was going to tell him.  She knew she had to, she was just scared.

"We have to talk about what's going on here."

Katie nodded, the grilled cheese forgotten.  AJ stepped away, giving her space.  Taking deep, calming breaths, Katie walked to the island in the center of the kitchen.  Her back was to him again, she needed some way to hide the fact that she was crying.  She gripped the edge of the countertop as she tried to form the right words to say.

"I...should have told you...before..."

"Are you breaking up with me?"

Katie whipped around, shocked that this was the conclusion he'd jumped to.  He could see the tears escaping her eyes and she quickly wiped them away.

"No!  I love you!  It scares me how much I love you, but it's true!"

"Then what is it?  Are you sick?"

Katie took one final deep breath and prepared herself to tell him.  She leaned against the counter for support, trying to force herself to look at him.  Instead she focused on the wall behind him

"No...I'm not sick.  Just let me get this all out, okay?  I was going to tell you when you got home.  It was too...big...to tell you over the phone."

AJ looked at her, puzzled, but didn't say anything.

"I got pregnant."

"Wow...pregnant?"

Katie silently nodded.

"So..." he stepped forward, reaching out towards her belly.

"I'm not finished."

AJ's mind began racing again.  What else could there be?  She was pregnant, he was going to be a daddy.  Granted, it wasn't the way he'd planned on it happening, they could work through it.

"Remember that morning I called you?  The morning after...Dane...called?"

AJ nodded absently.

"I was on the way home from the hospital."

"Is something wrong?" AJ was getting really worried at this point.

Katie silently nodded again.  She was unsure of her voice.  The tears she'd been holding back made her throat burn and she tried to blink them back again.  It was no use.  The tears spilled from her eyes.

AJ rushed towards her, wrapping her up in his arms.  His arms wrapped around her shoulders tightly as she clung to him.  Her fingers were gripping his t-shirt while she let herself go.  Her body shook with silent sobs.

AJ didn't know what to do.  He hadn't even known he was going to be a father, wasn't even sure he was ready to be one, but knowing that it had all been ripped from him before he even had the chance...he wasn't sure what to think.

Finally Katie calmed herself enough to continue, "I woke up in the middle of the night...I didn't feel right...we went to the hospital...no heartbeat..."

She began sobbing again.  AJ could barely understand her.  His mind was still reeling.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, suddenly furious.

He stepped back, pushing her away a little more roughly than he'd intended.  He didn't care right now.  He was too upset.  He'd just found out he'd lost his child before he even got to see him.

Katie didn't know what to say.  She hadn't expected this kind of reaction from him.  He was mad...at her.  Katie leaned more heavily on the counter, using it to hold herself up.  She'd already spent the week blaming herself.  She'd gone over it all in her head time and time again.  If she'd gotten up just a few minutes earlier...if she'd called an ambulance instead of Beth...if she'd just have done something differently, maybe she would still be pregnant.

She knew this was it.  He wasn't going to be able to forgive her any more than she would be able to forgive herself.

AJ stood, frozen in his spot for what seemed like an eternity before he stalked out of the kitchen, to the garage and right out of the house.  She heard the engine to one of the cars fire up and the garage door open and close.  He'd left.

She dropped down to the floor, her back leaning against the hard cabinets.  Her knees pulled up to her chest, Katie sat on the kitchen floor and cried.