The Revelation

Luxury of time

Three months later

Shane's room at the NJC

Stacey's pov

I asked Mike and Shane if I could speak with them privately right after dinner, so now that we've finished our ice cream sundaes, we're heading to Shane's room to have the conversation I've been dreading for the past two months.

"So what's on your mind, luv?" Shane asked, as he took a seat behind his desk.

I looked nervously between the two of them as I bit my lower lip.

"Well, it's about the wedding," I said purposely avoiding eye contact, as I began to anxiously pace the Admiral's floor.

"What about the wedding?" Mike did little to hide the anger and suspicion in his voice, letting it ring clear to make his distaste for the subject known.

"Uh, it's about the timeline," I replied, wearing a path in the floorboards as I continued nervously pacing.

Grabbing my arm once I was within reach, Mike put a stop to my mindless distraction as he said, "Stacey, stop fidgeting and get to the point." Mike slapped my bottom before releasing his grip. "Look at us when you're speaking, young lady." He frowned at my lack of manners, while wrinkling his brow.

"Ow." I instinctively reached down to rub my smarting behind while simultaneously increasing the distance between myself and the good surgeon's firm hand.

"Stacey," Shane said my name sternly to get my attention. "Tell us what's going on."

Taking a deep breath, I persevered.

"We're going to need to shorten the engagement period as I don't have the luxury of time to wait a year."

Shane got up and came out from behind his desk, making me extremely nervous as he barked, "AND WHY PRAY TELL IS THAT?" He stood with his arms crossed as he angrily confronted me.

Picking at my fingernails as my head hung low, I mumbled my reply, "Because we want to get married before the baby's born."

"Well, you're a few years too late for that now, sweetheart. Aren't you?" Mike replied chuckling, clearly missing the meaning behind my message.

Grabbing me forcefully by the shoulders to face him, Shane asked in an ice cold tone, "Are you pregnant, Stacey Marie?"

So I don't feel like such a wimp, I'm going to blame the pregnancy hormones for making me burst into tears as I sadly nodded my reply.

Mike groaned loudly.

"UNBELIEVABLE!" Shane shouted, throwing his hands up in disgust while turning his back to me. "We're never gonna be rid of that idiot now," he voiced the thoughts in his head outloud.

I fought the instinct to defend Sean's IQ, knowing we have bigger fish to fry at the moment.

"How, Stacey? Why?" Mike stammered in shock. "Didn't you learn your lesson about the importance of birth control and using protection the last time?" The good doctor was honestly flabbergasted we'd make the same mistake twice.

Except this time it wasn't a misplaced condom, it was a few forgotten doses of birth control pills. I'm pretty sure this baby was conceived the weekend Sean proposed.

"Honestly, Stacey, what the Hell were you thinking?" Mike huffed angrily, as he tried to keep his temper in check.

"I may have forgotten to take my birth control pills a time or two." I looked down at my feet to circumvent the doctor's judgemental glare.

Mike grabbed my chin to ensure eye contact and growled, "How many days did you miss?"

"Four in a row," I said softly.