They entered Johnny's house in stony silence. The tension was palpable in the air.

Johnny sat down heavily on the couch. He tossed his keys onto the coffee table and buried his face in his hands. For a time, he was lost in his own small world of misery. He looked up at her again when she took a seat beside him.

"How could you let this happen?" he blurted out at last.

He ran one hand through his hair, then got up again, too agitated to sit still. He started pacing a path back and forth in front of her.

"Pregnant. I can't believe it. Pregnant! This can't be happening. Somebody's going to wake me up from this nightmare, and it'll all fade away."

She remained silent, looked at the floor and shifted her position nervously.

The enormity of it all hit him full force again. His knees felt like jelly, so he sat down again next to her. His mind raced. He just wasn't ready for that kind of responsibility yet. He was still young-- he had plenty of wild oats left to sow. He couldn't be tied down with this. Not now. Maybe not ever.

He knew it was wrong to take it out on her, but he couldn't seem to stop himself.

"This is all your fault, you know. From day one, I've done everything humanly possible to prevent something like this from happening. It's on your head." He pointed a finger at her accusingly.

She regarded him fearfully with wide, dark eyes and opened her mouth slightly, but didn't speak.

"God, what am I supposed to tell the guys at the station? They're never gonna let me hear the end of this." He knew Roy would be supportive, but the rest of the crew.... The thought of months of crude jokes at his expense made him even more miserable.

She moved closer to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. Soon his posture softened slightly, and some of the tension left the set of his jaw. After a moment, he ran a hand through her golden hair. He'd never been able to refuse her anything. He'd been putty in her hands since the beginning. What had ever made him believe he could turn away from her now?

"Maybe it won't be so bad," he relented. "It might even be fun for a while," he said, smiling slightly.

She knew she'd won the battle. She crawled into his lap and licked his face thoroughly. He rubbed behind both her ears the way she loved so much.

"But please, Samantha, try to keep it under half a dozen puppies, okay? I'm not running a kennel here." Sam barked her agreement, wagging her tail furiously.

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