Unexpected
Part Five
By Cimerene
cimerene@gci.net

E.R. belongs to the tvland and never to me. I'm just grateful they put it on the air to let me play with. My thanx and gratitude to Cathy for editing extraordinaire! My thanks also goes out to Jim, and Jr. Between the three of them, they helped me through writers block (only a mild case)

Previously on Unexpected!
"You slut!" Her sharp British voice rolled around the lounge and the glare she aimed at Kerry would have been enough to freeze an entire room. Instead it was met with a glare that was so equally intense it caused both Mark and John to take several unconscious steps backwards, especially since the glare was now being aimed at THEM.



Up until now, Kerry had been attempting to control her temper, at Elizabeth's assumption Kerry lost what little amount of  self control she had and shouted into the room.

"I am not a SLUT. MARK kissed ME. It went no further than that!" She said glaring at Elizabeth and Mark. "I slept with John, but that does NOT make me a SLUT." Kerry's voice rose impressively. The room grew silent. You could almost hear a pin drop, it was so quiet. Outside the room high fiving and mutterings could clearly be heard.

"Kerry glanced out the door to see a small group that had evidently been standing there enjoying the sideshow. As if it had been put on for their own private amusement. The entire company felt the iciness of her gaze. Hastily leaving the area, they huddled in small groups to start the divvying of the betting pool.

Elizabeth was the first person to speak. "You didn't have sex with Mark? But I overhead you two saying…" she trailed off, trying to remember their exact words. Her faced was flushed with embarrassment and anger.

Kerry looked from Elizabeth to Mark then back to Elizabeth again. "Elizabeth, I took Mark home, he was very drunk, and yes, he did kiss me, but he also passed out almost immediately afterwards."

Elizabeth looked at Mark. The look of intense fury she had aimed at Kerry earlier was nothing compared to how she was looking at him now!

"But," Mark sputtered, unable to coherently state what he was thinking.

"BUT?!" Elizabeth asked him in a deadly sweet tone of voice.

Mark looked from Elizabeth to Kerry, he knew he was going to get into more hot water from his next statement but he had to know!!

"But when I woke up the next morning, I was half dressed and I reeked of beer!" Mark told Kerry. "None of this is making any sense." Mark muttered to himself.

"Mark," Kerry wearily told him. "You spilled an entire bottle of beer on your shirt. It's probably still in your washer, didn't you see it there?" She asked him. She watched his face flush with embarrassment "And by the way you're out of fabric softener."

Mark looked chagrined. He clearly remembered putting a load of clothes in the dryer the next morning, shocked that he had been able to do laundry in his drunken state of mind.

Kerry, having enough of this entire conversation, turned her attention away from Mark to John. The poor guy looked shell shocked. "John." Kerry tentatively said. Still not sure what to say or do, she merely watched him, wondering what he was going to say.

John was angry and confused. He intellectually understood why Mark had kissed Kerry, but emotionally? Staring off into space for several more moments John finally left the room. He paid no attention to Kerry's plea's. He walked towards the elevator, his back tense with anger. As he entered the elevator he jerkily punched the button for the roof.

Kerry said nothing, but followed him, trying to keep up with his long strides. She entered the elevator just as the doors were closing. Leaning back against the wall she silently watched him. She wasn't sure if she should even try to speak. Finally she decided to remain silent, figuring that he would speak to her when he was ready.

Getting off on the roof of the building was something that Kerry seldom did. She didn't want to think she was scared of heights, but they certainly made her nervous.

"When were you going to tell me?" John asked her, breaking the silence. For once his easily expressive face was a blank, as if all the earlier poker training he had received at home was finally kicking in.

Kerry bit her lip as she glanced over at him, unsure what to say. "About Mark or the baby?" She finally asked him.

"Both!" John's voice took on a frustrating quality.

Kerry watched as he turned away, his body language tense and unsure. Deciding to get the easier of the two topics out of the way  first, Kerry began.

"Mark kissed me! I did not kiss him. I doubt if he would have even thought of it if he hadn't been so drunk." She watched as John assimilated the information. She hoped he would understand, but after the day she had been through she was convinced he wouldn't!

"It was the same night we made love, wasn't it?" John asked her angrily.

"Yes." Kerry glanced over at him. She knew he was upset with her. Her helplessness at the entire situation just seemed to be making everything worse.

"And the baby?" he asked her very quietly. Kerry was getting worried, she wasn't able to tell from his face how he felt about this mess they had gotten themselves into. He must really be shocked if he didn't want her to know what he was thinking.

"Give me a break, John! I just found out today! I haven't had time to comprehend the fact that I'm pregnant, much less tell you!" Kerry said indignantly to him.

John's face still held no expression. Finally, he spoke firmly to her. "Are you going to keep it?" He said asked, his face still an impenetrable mask.

"IT?" Kerry asked stunned. "IT is a baby! A Zygote, a little bit of you and me inside my womb. Of course I'm going to be keeping IT!"

"We'll have to get married you know." He told her suddenly.

"WHAT? !" Kerry shouted at him, clearly stunned, not sure if she was more stunned by his telling her they were getting married, or by  his previous comments.

"It's for the best, don't you think?" John's face was still a mask. For the first time since she met him, Kerry was at a complete loss as to how to respond to him.

"I have no intentions of marrying you!" Kerry told him tersely.

"Why?" John asked her. His voice sounded curious, as if he was at a debating match and he was judging his opponent to find out what they were going to say or do next.

"John, you can't be serious! We are two very different people. In case you've forgotten, I'm much older than you, not to mention the fact that I'm your supervisor." She eyed him. His face revealed nothing of what he was thinking, his body language was still tense though, as if he was about to do battle and was preparing himself for it.

"Kerry, I am very serious." He ran his hands through his hair, betraying his frustration.

"First," Kerry watched as John tapped his fingers, as if ticking off the points he was making. "We aren't that different, we've been living together for quite a while now and we've yet to have a major fight we couldn't get through. Second, I have no problem being with someone who's more mature than me. I think it balances us well."

Kerry was silent for a moment, digesting what he had said. "John, be reasonable. There are more reasons for us to not get married than to get married." She glared at him, beginning to feel boxed in.

"Name them!" John ordered her. His eyes never left hers, his face still the serious mask it had become..

"My health for one. Having this child could seriously affect my health and you could be stuck with an invalid and a new baby. Had you considered that eventuality?"

"Your health is fine! I see no reason, if we are reasonably careful, that this pregnancy should affect your health at all! And if the
unfortunate does happen, it would be better for us," He paused wanting to make sure she was truly listening to him. "for you, me and the baby, if I was there!"

John watched Kerry's eyes narrow as she listened to his arguments. She seemed to be deep in thought, unconsciously wrapping her arms around her waist.

"On the more mundane side, John, " Kerry said quietly. "We disagree on our taste in music, you still have a hard time doing the laundry, and a night of passionate sex, no matter how wonderful it was, does not make for the basis of a good marriage." She finally finished quietly.

"A night and the next morning. But, you're right, we disagree on a lot of things. But I'm not basing our getting married on our taste in music or if I can do the laundry or not." He stepped closer to her, watching as a slight breeze fluffed her short red hair. "There are as many reasons for getting married as to not get married.

"I come from a background I don't know too much about, and we all know your family probably won't take too kindly to finding out that  you're marrying someone who's probably someone else's bastard child." Kerry tried to shock him with her words, but John replied as if he was expecting her to say something like this.

"I believe its how well you and I get along that counts, not how well my family and you get along. In an ideal world everyone would get along with their parents, but since I hardly ever seem them it's a moot point. It's not as if we're planning on having them live with us." John spoke softly, his voice almost convincing her.

"John. Tell me seriously now…." She watched him intently. "Why do you want us to get married.  Really?" John was silent for a few moments watching her face.

"Because I love you!" John told her quietly as if afraid of how her reaction.

"You love me? Or you'll just say anything to marry me because of this child!" Kerry told him, a look of shock on her face.

"I love you. I was so happy that night, and the next morning. I kept thinking that for once you cared for me too. Never mind, it doesn't matter anymore.. I understand if you don't want to marry me." John turned away, his last argument spent, he had nothing left to say….

Kerry silently watched John. His back was turned away from her and it was a few moments before she realized that he was crying. She turned him toward her gently, her hands firm but gentle on his shoulders. Amazed at the sight of his tears, Kerry gently wiped them away with a soft fingertip. "Then why didn't you say that in the first place. I love you too stupid."

7 months later


"Push," Elizabeth instructed Kerry.

"I am pushing dammit!" Kerry glared at her. The first thing she did after this baby was born was going to be to knock Elizabeth's lights out.

"You know Elizabeth, I should have hit you while I had the chance!" Kerry snapped suddenly between breaths. John rolled his eyes and patted Kerry's forehead with a damp washcloth.

"If you did that, you'd have no one to help you give birth to this baby!" Elizabeth's cool British voice held humor and amusement. At one time she and Kerry would have been still at war, but the intervening months had brought a grudging respect for each other. It also helped when John and Kerry had gotten married so soon, and the fact that she and Mark had been able to patch up their differences so well. Her recent engagement to Mark had helped also. She smiled slightly thinking of how sweet Mark had been the night they had gotten engaged. At the sound of labored breathing Elizabeth quickly turned her attention back to Kerry.

"Kerry, you need to use your breathing techniques." John told her calmly. He'd helped support her throughout the pregnancy just to be rewarded with..

"You do the damned breathing, I'm busy!" Kerry's temper had already chased out 2 nurses and a attending. If Elizabeth hadn't been already on the floor following an aborted surgery consult  John knew he would have had to deliver his child himself.

"Kerry." Elizabeth's calming voice helped steady her. "One more really big push now!" Straining Kerry finally pushed then collapsed back into Johns loving arms.

Elizabeth held up the small bundle of joy in triumph. "Looks like you have a healthy baby boy. Let me just suction his mouth, and cut the cord. Papa, did you want to do the honors?" John kissed Kerry gently on the forehead before cutting the cord. His stared at the wrinkly, red little boy, God he was beautiful he thought. "Don't move!" he ordered Kerry as she struggled to sit up. He wrapped his son in a small blanket and placed him gently in Kerry's arms. She gazed at her son. He was the most angelic baby she had ever seen.

She touched his fingers and toes gently, in awe that such a delicate life form was hers to care for. Her eyes filled with tears as she gazed up at John. "He's beautiful."

John softly told his wife. "Say hello to Robert Chase Carter."

The end!

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