Those seven words rocked her whole world. Riley Matthews- Friar had to do her best to keep from dropping her cup of coffee she had just made for herself out of her hand. She hadn't even had a sip of it yet, maybe she just misunderstood her husband.

"What was that?" She asked once she found her voice.

"I want to have a baby, Riley." Lucas repeated.

No, turns out she heard him correctly. Riley supposed this would have happened. They had been married for almost two years now and she wasn't getting any younger. They weren't perfect obviously but Riley knew much dafter people who were able to raise children. Between her income at her own law firm she had opened a few years ago and Lucas' at his own veterinary clinic, they had more than enough money to raise a child. Riley's Uncle Josh and now Aunt Maya came to visit them about once a year and brought their daughter Mia with them. Riley genuinely loved Mia as if she was her own daughter. She loved laughing with her and it always made her feel incredible when she made that little girl laugh. She felt her pain when she cried even if she just stubbed her toe. Lucas loved her too. Lucas was so good with Mia. In a way it was odd for Riley because every time she saw Mia she felt like she was seeing an old friend. She knew who she was and she loved her but she didn't know what she liked to do anymore. Lucas, however, seemed completely adaptable to her. He knew exactly what she wanted and what she liked to do. Riley didn't doubt they would be great parents. In fact, if it wasn't for the miscarriage she had during college, she probably would have asked Lucas the day after they got married.

"Oh." Was all Riley could manage to say as she moved past Lucas and sat in a chair in their dinning room. She knew he was going to join her and she hoped her would drop the topic of having a baby but it didn't seem likely. Not if he was that passionate about it anyway.

"Well," Lucas said once he joined her. "What do you think?"

"About what?" Riley asked.

"Riley, you know what I'm talking about." Lucas pressed.

"Why now?" Riley asked.

"Because it just feels right." Lucas said. "We have money, we love each other so, so much and I just can't get this image of you holding a baby out of my mind."

"The last time I held a baby was when Mia was born." Riley stated.

"I know." Lucas said.

"You've wanted kids for that long?" Riley exclaimed.

"Riley, I've wanted kids since…" Lucas trailed off. He didn't need to say anymore, she knew what he was talking about.

"That's why you're hesitant about this, aren't you?" Lucas asked.

"What else could it be?" Riley said. She was instantly back in hers and Lucas' apartment at Cornell. She was touching the blood in the sheets, she was shaking Lucas awake, she was in the car shaking in fear while Lucas stared at the streets with glassy eyes, neither saying a word to each other. She was in the hospital bed as the doctor told her the worst news she had heard in her life. It didn't affect her like it used too but it still wasn't a very found memory.

"Riley, you do know the odds of that happening again are very small, don't you?" Lucas said as he reached for her hand on the table. Riley immediately pulled it into her lap.

"There's still a chance." Riley said in a small voice. "I can't do that again."

"Okay." Lucas said. "You're right, there is a chance. But we were so young back then. We didn't know anything. If it did happen again, which I highly doubt by the way, I know you wouldn't walk out on me and I know I wouldn't start drinking again. We'll be here for each other."

"Lucas, how could you possibly know that?" Riley asked. "I have no idea what either of us is going to do if that happens again."

"I just know." Lucas said as he reached for her hand in her lap.

A surge of anger came over Riley. Why was he doing this? Couldn't he understand that this hurt her? Couldn't he understand she didn't want to do this? She swatted his hand and sprang up from her seat.

"God damn it, Lucas!" Riley exclaimed. "Since when did I become the realistic one?! Yes, we could have a baby and it be marvelous and glorious and the best thing that ever happened to us but we could also go right back to grad school. Don't tell me you know what I'm going to do because I don't even know what I'm going to do, let alone you!"

Lucas looked up at his wife, stunned. It was rare that she ever got this mad. Her face was bright red and bits of her hair were hanging down from her messy bun.

"Okay." Lucas said as he took his coffee out to the back porch.

Lucas figured this was going to happen. Well, some version of this, maybe not this bad. This wasn't the most furious he had ever seen Riley but it was certainly in the top five all time. They had just been doing so well recently and he had always wanted kids. He figured Riley did too but she needed some time. He saw how her face lit up when Mia came over. She would be such a fantastic mom. She was just scared.

He must have been sitting outside for about ten minutes before he heard the door open and saw Riley come outside and sit next to him.

"Will you divorce me if I don't want to have kids?" Riley asked after a few moments of silence.

"What?" Lucas was stunned. He would never divorce her, not even if she became a Texas A&M fan. "No, of course not."

"You want kids though." Riley stated.

Lucas stood up and walked over to Riley and put his hand on the arm rests of her chair so he was hovering directly over her.

"I want you more." Lucas said as he kissed her nose. Riley was smiling back at him when he looked back at her.

"It's not that I don't want kids." Riley said. "I'm just scared."

"I know you are." Lucas replied. "I am too. Even if your pregnancy goes perfectly, we still have to take a human being home and teach it how to live. It's not an easy job and it's not something we can quit."

"That doesn't scare you enough to not want them?" Riley asked.

"It used to." Lucas said. "Not so much anymore."

"I have to get ready for work." Riley said as she stood up.

"Riley?" Lucas said right before she went inside. Riley turned around to face him. "Can you at least think about it?"

Riley looked at the floor of the deck before she finally said what Lucas wasn't expecting.

"All right."

Riley stayed at work all day. She usually made time to go home during lunch but she felt odd talking to Lucas. She didn't want to talk about babies because she hadn't made up her mind. She doubted he wanted an answer the next time they saw each other but she felt bad not giving him one. Lucas was the most important thing to her and she knew he wanted this so badly so she wanted to think about it fairly, at least for him. Still, she didn't want to have children just because he wanted to. Of course he would be their to help her raise their child but she would be the one putting her body through so much over nine months. It was a lot to think about.

When Lucas asked where she was during lunch she told him she had work to do. He asked if she wasn't at home because of the baby talk from that morning. She hated how he could see right through her. She told him no and he dropped it.

The end of the day came earlier than Riley thought. She got in her car and drove home, still racking her brain about the baby situation. When she arrived home, she found hers and Lucas' apartment strangely empty. Sometimes he was called in for emergencies but his assistant usually took care of those, like Lucas did when he was an assistant to Dr. Downs. She supposed she would wait for him to get home.

Riley finished a little bit more of her work while she waited for Lucas. Once she was done she looked up at her clock to realize it was 8:00. He had been gone for three hours longer than he said he would be. Now Riley was nervous. She jumped in her car and drove to Lucas' clinic, hoping he wasn't in a car accident or anything quite that serious on his way back home. She figured she would have at least been contacted by now. She still had no idea.

Riley pulled up to the clinic to find Lucas' car still in the parking lot of his clinic. She had no idea what was going on. She hoped she hadn't made him so upset that he chose to spend the night at the clinic. That would be crazy, he had never done that before and they had had bigger fights than this.

"I'm sorry ma'am but we are closed." The receptionist at the front said once Riley walked in the door.

"Is Dr. Friar here? I'm his wife." Riley asked and stated.

"Yes, Dr. Friar is with an animal right now." The receptionist responded. "Her owner brought her in earlier in the morning but he's still working with her."

"Riley." Lucas said as he seemed to magically appear from a hallway in the back. "What are you doing here?"

"I was getting worried." Riley said. "It's almost 9:00."

"Really?" Lucas said as he looked outside and checked his phone for the time. "I'm sorry, babe, I didn't notice. You should come back here."

"Am I allowed to?" Riley asked as she looked between the receptionist and Lucas. She had never been in with Lucas and an animal before.

"Yes, come on." Lucas said as he smiled at her. She could be so adorable sometimes.

Riley headed down the hallways with Lucas until they reached one of the rooms in the very back of the clinic. On the floor in the corner was a beautiful golden retriever dog. The dog looked fine to Riley, she even wagged her tail when Lucas reentered the room.

"Riley this is Daisy." Lucas said. "Her owner brought her in right before we closed. It seems she went into labor around four or five hours ago. Everything is going smoothly but we are probably going to keep her overnight considering how late it is."

"She's having puppies?" Riley asked.

"Yeah," Lucas said. "I just thought you might like to see."

"Yeah, okay." Riley said, still a little on edge. She knew Lucas wanted her to stay because of the baby conversation they had this morning.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Lucas said.

"No, I want to." Riley said. Despite all of her fears and concerns, she had to give this a fair shot.

"Okay." Lucas said.

Riley, Lucas and Lucas' assistant nurse Sarah must have been in the room for hours before anything started to happen. Riley eventually went to sit by Daisy's head and began stroking her as she continued her labor. Every now and again Daisy would let out a soft whimper and Riley would "sh" her and tell her everything was going to be okay. Other than that, Daisy seemed as normal and happy as any other dog.

"Hold on." Lucas eventually said as he got closer to Daisy.

"What?" Riley asked immediately. "What's happening?"

"Nothing bad." Lucas said as he moved his hands close to Daisy's belly.

"And we have one out." Lucas said as he held up a furless puppy. "Looks like a boy."

Riley was stunned. Even thought the puppy looked quite disgusting, she had just witnessed the miracle of life. Yes, it was a dog and she supposed humans were a but different but it was crazy to think one second that puppy wasn't here yet and the next it was.

Four puppies later and Daisy was done. Lucas moved all five puppies closer to Daisy and she licked and cradled each one like they were gold. Then again, to her, they probably were.

"Are they all healthy?" Riley asked.

"Yep," Lucas responded. "They can stay with her for the night. She knows what to do."

"Well done." Riley said as she kissed the top of Daisy's head and stood up to leave with Lucas.

They had to drive back separately but Riley's views on having a baby seemed to change after witnessing Daisy have five puppies. Losing her child had been the worst thing that had ever happened to her but then she saw Daisy have her puppies and she was perfectly fine. In fact, she was better than fine. She was probably exhausted but she loved her puppies so much more it didn't matter. Riley chose to take a detour home to make sure she was sold on her decision. She knew what she wanted, or at least she thought she did, but she had to make sure before she told Lucas. Finally, she pulled into her driveway and walked inside.

"There you are!" Lucas said the second she walked through the door. "I was worried you had gotten into a wreck or something. I called you four times."

"Oh." Riley said as she looked at her phone. "Sorry."

"I didn't… I didn't scare you or something by talking you to see Daisy tonight did I?" Lucas asked. "Because if I did I-"

"I want to have a baby, Lucas." Riley interrupted.

He stared at her blankly for a moment. It seemed their roles from this morning had now been reversed.

"What was that?" Lucas finally asked.

"I want to have a baby." Riley said. "A baby like Maya and Josh have and like Daisy has. Well, maybe not exactly like Daisy but I want a person in this world that is half of you and half of me. That would be the most wonderful person ever, don't you think?"

Lucas broke out into the biggest smile Riley had ever seen before he walked up to her and kissed her. It was soft and gentle but had all the meaning in the world.

"It would be the most wonderful person." Lucas said once they broke apart and were hugging.

Once they backed out of the hug, Lucas had to made sure he heard her right. He had to make sure this wasn't some crazy wild dream.

"So, we're going to have a baby?" Lucas asked.

"We're going to have a baby." Riley said with a huge smile on her face.