TYPE: Carter/ Lucy romance
RATING: PG for SOME foul language (not much)
Summary: I think it is pretty basic.  Carter and Lucy are now engaged, she
is pregnant and they are moving in together.  Enough said.
AUTHORS NOTE: Okay... the eighth story in my series.  May I repeat!  PLEASE!
FEEDBACK! lizzyknightlight@hotmail.com    Another thing.  I am no medical
expert and all of this is coming from my 'no medical knowledge' mind.
DISCLAIMER: These characters are not mine.  I am making no money from them
in no way.  They belong to NBC, Warner Brothers, Constant C., Micheal
Crichten ect. ARCHIVES: Sure!  Just e-mail me first, telling were it's at.
lizzyknightlight@hotmail.com

A Few Steps Forward pt. 5
By: Lizzy Knight

~~~~~~~~~~Tuesday, October 30

"Wow!  Put that down! It's to heavy!"  Removing the card board box from
Lucy's grasp, Carter handed her pillows from the sofa.  The day Lucy's lease
ended, which was luckily when it was, she started moving in with Carter.

"Your kidding right?" Lucy giggled, following him out of the apartment with
the cushions in hand.

"Nope.  You shouldn't be lifting anything heavy in your condition." Carter,
sounding completely serious, kicked the door closed behind him and walked
down the corridor.

"Since when is being pregnant a condition?  And you aren't my doctor.  I
don't need you to tell me what I can and can't pick up."  Trying to sound
serious and not like she was lecturing him, she stayed calm, not letting her
raising hormones get to the surface.

"I am just trying to be careful and I think that you should be too."

Lucy sighs, "I don't need you smothering me."

"I'm not smothering you!"

"How would you know?  I'm the one being looked over every second.  I
wouldn't expect you to notice.  You are just being you!"

Laughing, Carter scratches the back of his head, "Lets just drop it, okay?"

As they exited her apartment building and towards a small moving van, Dave
Mallucci popped out infront of them, "Hello!"

"Hey Dave." Lucy stated unenthusiastically.

"What, you aren't happy to see me?" Dave gives her his puppy dog face,
joking with her.

"No, it ain't you.  You did absolutely nothing  to make me mad!" Glaring at
John, she threw the pillows into the back of the truck and walked away.

Dave turns to his friend and colleague, "Ouch! What did you do to her?"

"Apparently, I have been smothering her." Putting his box were Lucy left
hers, Carter turned to go upstairs for another trip with Dave in-tow.

"What has been with her lately?  Does she always get so uptight when she
gains weight?"

Sighing heavily and noticeably, Carter ignores his question the first time.

"Hello?  You going to answer me?

"You know Dave, why don't you go ask her?"

"Your kidding me, right?  You know what she will do to me?!  You never
mention a chicks weight in front of her."

"I'm surprised you know something  about women."

"What, you don't think I'm a ladies man?"

"For starters, you can stop thinking you are gods gift to women..."

"Oh!  Now that hurt!"

Opening the door to Lucy's apartment, Dave and Carter found Lucy on the
floor, looking into a box.  Seeing the tears rolling down her cheeks, John
rolled his eyes and Dave strided over to her, asking what was wrong.

"Look," she lifted a rectangular item out of the box, "It is a picture of
Christmas 1998, when we worked on those transplant patients!  It was so
happy," she directed her attention to Carter, referring to December of '98.

"Look Luce, I think it is great that you think we had such wonderful
memories back then, but I think that you should go clean up in the
bathroom," Carter stated in a soothing voice.

Nodding her head, she did as he suggested, closing the door behind her.

"Hey!  I know what it is!  You knocked her up!"  Dave states loudly.

Over hearing, Lucy comes out of the bathroom and trots over so she is
infront of Mallucci. "Don't say anything, please don't say anything to
anyone!  I don't want anyone to know yet!" Lucy starts crying again as
Carter hugs her, glaring at Dave.

"Don't worry Luce, Dave won't say anything.  Will you Dave!?!?  I mean,
since you are such a ladies man, you can understand what this must be like
for her, right?!"

Mumbling some words under his breath, Dave goes to collect some furniture,
leaving Carter and Lucy to themselves.

~~~~~~~~~~1 week later

As soon as Lucy had got all of her things moved into Carter's apartment,
she got into a decorating mood.  Trying to make the place home, she moved
nearly all of the things that were on John's walls and put her things up. 
The only pictures that she left hanging were the painting by Chase Carter
which Lucy knew better then to suggest taking them down.  Whenever she was
picking out what to remove and what to replace it with, she would shuffle
right past them, like they weren't even there.  The only other thing she was
careful not to get to carried away with was the third, empty room.  The room
which would soon be turned into a nursery.  Carter was freaked out enough
about being a father, making it real by setting up a room seemed like it was
all happening so quick.  If he was freaking out over small things now, she
knew that soon he wouldn't even let her go to work or leave the house,
scared that something might happen to her.  It was sweet yet annoying at the
same time.  But that was Carter being predictable and paranoid.  There were
times when you could finish his sentences for him, but there were also times
when he could be spontaneous and you would have no idea what he was going to
do next.  It was fun that way.  He wasn't boring, but he was... John.  The
John that she had wanted for two years.  The whole two years that she knew
him, she wanted to be with him, but in the end, the wait was worth it and he
was everything Lucy could ask for and more!  Although their relationship had
moved fast, it was what they wanted.  And plus, it wasn't like they had just
met six months ago, they had been friends previous and had a bond that was
closer than most married couples.

~~~~~~~~~~

Pulling a loose t-shirt over her belly, which seemed to get bigger
everyday, she was surprised she would be so big at three months.  Then
again, she had ate more in that time then she usually did in half a year. 
Vowing to herself she would start going on walks soon, she left to put on a
bit of make-up and then went to join John for breakfast before leaving to
the hospital.  Just as they were heading out the door, the phone rang and
Lucy jogged over to it quickly, wanting to reach it before the answering
machine came on.

"Hello."

"Hello Lucy, it's Elizabeth Corday."

"Hey Elizabeth!  You just caught me, John and I were heading out the door
just as the phone rang."

"Oh, your working today?"

"Yeah, I am?  Did you want to get together or something?" Seeing Carter at
the door, urging for her to hurry up, she ignored him and continued her
conversation with Elizabeth.

"Actually, I was looking at your chart earlier and realised that you were
due for a check up about two weeks ago.  I was hoping we could schedule it
for today."

"I'm working until seven tonight.  I don't know if I can make it until
after my shift."

"I can take you during your lunch break then.  Page me when you can take a
half hour out of your time and I'll fit you in.  Is that convenient for
you?"

"Sure, that is fine.  I'll just talk to Dr. Weaver.  She should
understand."

"Okay Lucy, talk to you later."

"Bye Elizabeth."

~~~~~~~~~~2:00, The same day

"Lucy."  Shooting her gaze upwards to the sound of Elizabeth's deep British
accent, she grinned.

"Hey Elizabeth."  It wasn't exactly protocol for emergency physicians to
keep tabs on their past patients, but everyone, mostly the psychiatrists,
thought it would be better for Lucy if her doctor was someone she knew,
trusted and someone who would understand what she was going through. 
Elizabeth had known Lucy since she came to the hospital, did a rotation with
her and was there for her before and after the attack.

"Are you ready?"

"Yup," straightening out her white coat as she stood up, she followed Dr.
Corday to an examination room.  Sitting down on a gurney, Elizabeth gave her
a gown and left her to change.

Three minutes later, Dr. Corday returned with her chart, wearing latex
gloves. "So, let's try and make this quick so you can get back to work.  Are
you still on your pain medication?

"I take a bit morphine every now and then, but I am not on timed doses.  It
has become an 'as needed' thing."

Elizabeth made a mark on her chart, "And have you been having any pain in
the chest area?"

Lucy didn't put much thought into her answers and responded quickly but not
defensively, "No, not really."

"Have your scars been healing okay?  Has there been any pealing from the
dry skin."

"Not since April or May."

"And did you have any questions or concerns?  Anything I could help with."

Taking longer to answer now, Lucy decided she wouldn't say anything about
her pregnancy, "Not today."  She grinned.

"All I have to do now is draw some blood to see what your blood cell count
is.  Then you can go back to work."  Taking the syringe and removing a small
amount of blood from Lucy's arm, Elizabeth left so it could be taken to the
lab and Lucy could get dressed.

~~~~~~~~~~7:10 The same day

"Lucy, I thought I missed you," spinning around as her doctor called behind
her, she pulled on Carter's arm so he didn't leave through the ambulance bay
doors without her, "I got your results.  Can we talk in private."

Looking up at Carter, she turned to Elizabeth, "Is it bad news?"

She thought about what she should say for a moment, "Lets just talk in
private."

Taking John's arm again, she and him started following Elizabeth into the
lounge.

"I think it might be better if I talk to Lucy alone." Carter nodded his
head and sent Lucy off as she went into the lounge with Elizabeth.

While Dr. Corday closed the blinds, Lucy sat down on the sofa and waited
until Elizabeth sat down beside her, "So, what's wrong?"

"Lucy, your blood results indicate that your blood cell count is average."

"Then what is this about?"

"The blood test also showed that you are pregnant."

"Oh." Lucy replied, not really sure what to say to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth gets suspicious of her reaction, "Did you already know that you
were pregnant?"

"I'm nearly three months."

"Have you seen your OB?"

"Not yet.  But I am already on prenatal vitamins."

The women smiled widely, "I guess I should be offering my congratulations."

"Thanks," Lucy giggled.

"How's Carter taking the news?"

"Well, he's Carter.  Protective." Standing up, Lucy walks to the door,
"I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."  Getting up, Elizabeth waved and exited through the other door.

Seeing Carter talking to Randi at the front desk, he soon spotted Lucy and
ran over to her, "Is everything okay?"

Walking outside of the building, into the ambulance bay, they headed to the
black jeep, "Well, at my check up this afternoon, Elizabeth took some blood
to check my blood count, and on the results it showed that I was pregnant."

"So it's nothing bad?  Nothing is wrong?"

"No.  Everything is fine.  Both of us." Lucy set her right hand on her
stomach and interlocked her left arm with Carter's.

"Good.  That is good."

"You can stop worrying... Everything is perfect."

~~~~~~~~~~The next day

Pushing her way through the emergency room doors, Lucy was immediately
bombarded by people left and right, congratulating her, telling her that
they had heard the good news and asking how she was feeling.  Kerry even
said that she could take all the time off she needed. "How did you guys find
out?" she asked, not really sure if she should confess that she really was
pregnant or not.

Helah walked up behind her and put her hand on her back, leading her to the
admit desk, "Honey, we're nurses, we know everything."

"No, seriously. Who told you."

"I can't say.  I'm sworn to secrecy."

Rolling her eyes, Lucy looked up and gasped, "It's beautiful." She was
referring to the green, blue and yellow car seat, which sat on the counter
with a bow on top.

"We all pitched in," added Chunni, not wanting Hellah to get all the
credit.

"Thank you, all of you." Lucy said, as a tear fell from her eye but she
wiped it away quickly, "Where's John?"

"He's with a patient, along with all the other men," giggled Abby, who was
now one of the nurses.

"Then who's playing nurse?"

"Just Milik and Yosh." A couple others laughed to.  Hugging each of them
separately, Lucy was glad hat she had friends and colleagues that were there
for her and so happy for both her and Carter.

~~~~~~~~~~

After moving all Lucy's possessions from one apartment to another, it was
time to unpack.  To fit all of there furniture into one apartment, they had
to get rid of a few things.  Dave had graciously accepted Carter's sofa,
dresser, small dining room table and a few other little extras laying
around.  Everything that wouldn't fit into the house and they wanted to keep
was stored in the third, empty room and some in the second room which would
soon be turned into a nursery.

Carrying in the last box, Lucy nudged the door open to their bedroom with
her hip which was only open a crack.  Looking around, she couldn't see
anywhere to put the box. "John, where should I put his?"

Coming up behind her, John sees her struggling with the box in her hands,
bouncing it off her knee a few times, "Is that to heavy?"  Reaching for the
box, he was to late as it dropped from Lucy's grip onto the floor.  The
sound of glass shattering filled the room as Lucy grabbed her stomach, "Are
you okay?" Carter reached for her shoulder as panic rushed over him, not
caring for the broken items in the box.

Lucy stood smiling, "The baby just kicked." Grabbing her stomach again,
this time taking John's hand with hers, she giggled, "There it is again...
You feel it?"

Not saying anything, but just feeling his restless child inside Lucy, he
smiled.  Waiting three minutes for the baby to kick again, John eventually
pulled back when it didn't.  Standing up, he slouched back down and gave
Lucy a slow kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."  A few moments later, Carter and Lucy moved apart from
one another and sniffed at the air.

"What is that smell?" asked Carter, scrunching in his eyebrows.

Bending down to look at the title on the box, she laughed, "Of all the
boxes I had to drop, it had to be my perfume.  Whatever you do, don't light
a match."

Unlike Lucy, John did not find it funny and started to walk away, "Excuse
me, but I need to breath."

"Yeah, sure.  I'll just clean this up myself!" she screamed after him as he
walked out onto his balcony to get some fresh air.

~~~~~~~~~~2 Hour later (After trying vigorously to get the smell out of the
carpet)

Sitting on the floor in the living room, surrounded by many boxes, the
sorted through each one, deciding on what they were going to keep and what
they wanted to give away.

"Luce, what is this?" Holding up a statue carved out of wood.  The best he
could make of it was that it was old.

"Honestly, I don't know... I bought it at a flee market in '96.  I thought
it looked interesting and might add some character to my place."

"Do you even know where it is from, or how old it is?"

"Nope." Taking a bite out of the sandwich she had on a plate beside her,
she pulled another thing out of the cardboard box as John put the sculpture
into the 'reject' pile. "Okay, here we go." Sifting through the stack of
photos in her hand, she handed the ones she already looked at to Carter.

Flipping through the pictures, he laughed at some of the memories, "It
seems like such a long item ago, doesn't it?"

"Yeah.  This year went by really quickly." Finding a photo of her and John
from her first day, Jerry's birthday bash, she handed it to him, "Here's an
old one.  The day we met.  I don't even remember this being taken."   In the
snapshot, they were fighting over something and they both had there hands in
the air, yelling at one another.  It wasn't the best moment at the time, but
it made them laugh now.

As they sorted through more of the photos finding some they would rather
have burned then shown around to family and friends.  They also consumed a
pile for the rejected pictures and one stack for those that would be
inserted into a photo album.  As Lucy picked through some captured memories
of when she was in high school, she immediately threw them into the reject
pile as Carter reached for them and started to go through them, laughing as
Lucy tried to grab them out of his hand.  When she finally got a hold of
them again, the doorbell rang.

"Are we expecting someone?" Carter asked Lucy.

"No.  I didn't invite anyone over," she replied as she went to answer the
door.  Looking through the peak hole, she saw a few faces bobbing around,
giggling.  She opened the door to find Abby, Dave, Chunni, Jing Mei and
Milik, "Uh, hey.  What are you guys doing here?" Lucy asked.

"Aw, disappointed to see us?"

"No, no.  It's just not everyday that I have a group of people unexpectedly
come to my house when I have no food in the fridge while my place is a total
disaster," Lucy tried to hint that there was no reason that they should be
over and nothing for them to do.

"We brought food." said Milik, as he and Dave held up bags of Chinese food.

"And we know that you two had the day off and you guys have both been busy
moving lately, so we thought that we would come over, and maybe help a bit."
suggested Abby, speaking for all of them.

"I didn't ask you to do that." said Lucy with a wide grin on her face,
"That is so nice of you guys!"  Turning to Carter, who was still sitting on
the floor in the living room, organising through the same box he was when
she left, she called out to him, "Hey John, look who is here to help!  They
even brought dinner!"

Walking over to the foyer where everyone stood, they exchanged hello's and
they all spread the takeout out onto the dining room table, "Did you bring
enough food?" asked Carter sarcastically.

"Well, there are two pregnant women, so we over packed," commented Dave as
Jing Mei hit him on the back of the head with her palm.

"Hey, that hurt!" Dave yells back.

Grinning with satisfaction at her accomplishment, Deb Chen took a seat at
the dining room table and waited until Lucy came back from the kitchen with
some plates.

"Hey guys, what is that smell?" asked Abby with her nose up in the air,
towards the bedroom as Carter and Lucy laughed.

~Monday, July 2 2001

My seventh part, done!  please, send feedback and tell me what you think.  I
already have the next part planned out, I just need to type it out!  Thanks
for reading my story, Lizzy Knight.
lizzyknightlight@hotmail.com