Pieces of My Heart: or The True Story of What Happens When Two Stubborn People Fall in Love

~1~

Title: Accidental Babies
Rating: PG
Warnings: mild swearing
Characters/Pairings: past Sheridan/Other, pre-Sheridan/Luis
Summary: prompt: pregnancy test. "You're late."

"You're late."

Wincing at Luis's choice of words, Sheridan eased the door to his office shut and slowly turned to face him. Taking a deep breath, she decided to make a concession in the hopes of lessening his anger, "I know. I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

If anything, Luis's anger seemed to grow, and he stood up from his seat, tossing a file onto the desk that seemed to take up all the available space in the small room (the space that wasn't occupied by Luis anyway).

Sheridan's blue eyes narrowed in recognition, her own name scrawled boldly across the top in Luis's hand. She looked up to find Luis's dark eyes boring into her, and it spoke to the day that she had already had that she didn't meet the challenge in those condemning eyes head-on, launch into a spirited defense of herself. His greeting words echoed again in her ears, only this time she heard them in Gwen's sympathetic voice, and in Dr. Russell's detached, professional tone, and feeling unsteady on her feet, she leaned back heavily against the door, uncaring as Luis railed at her, the floor seemingly tilting and spinning beneath her feet.

"You're damn right it won't happen again," Luis vowed. "Nobody is above the law. Not even a Crane like you. Community service is nothing more than a slap on the wrist. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't report you to the judge right now and have your spoiled little behind carted off to jail." His tirade finished, Luis swore beneath his breath. "You're not even listening to me."

Sheridan was disconcerted to discover he was less than a foot away from her when she opened her eyes, staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face, like she was some puzzle he couldn't figure out. "I'm listening," she insisted, sweat beading her brow as she tried to swallow back the rise of bile in the back of her throat. She didn't realize she was swaying on her feet until Luis's large hands reached out to steady her. He couldn't possibly be concerned about her, a Crane, could he, hater as he was of all things Crane? "I had an appointment. It took a little longer than I expected. It won't happen again, okay? I give you my word."

Luis didn't scoff at her as she expected. A hint of kindness, a glimmer of the decent, upstanding man she knew him to be (to everyone but her, Ethan, Cranes in general) shone through, softened his hard expression as he let go of her, stepped back slowly. "Are you…is everything…"

Sheridan felt unexpected laughter bubble up in the face of his uncharacteristic concern, and a smile tugged at her lips as she reassured (or let the wind out of his sails, truth be told) him, "Sorry to let you down, but I haven't been diagnosed with a terminal illness."

Her needling irked Luis and he frowned at her. "Too bad," he snapped. "For a minute there, I thought I had cause for celebration, getting rid of your pain in the ass self. I don't care if you're contagious. If this is the way you think you're getting out of your community service, you're dreaming, Crane. Now go home. You've already made me late to the station as it is. And if you're late again tomorrow," Luis trailed off in warning.

Sheridan clutched her purse to her side, a secretive smile on her lips as she replied, "Don't worry, Supercop. I'll be here."

Baby on board.

I do not own Passions or the characters therein.

Author's note: this story is an AU where Sheridan came home from Paris with a little unexpected companion. The story consists of several ficlets and is told in non-linear fashion. Just thought I should put that out there since the story jumps around a bit (it's still fairly easy to follow though, imho).