Her pace quickened, her heart leaping, as she hustled through the frigid streets of the East Village towards her ex-boyfriend's building, cursing under her breath as her fingers clutched the tube in her pocket. It was cold, almost deathly so, but Maureen couldn't feel a thing as her eyes darted over the street, her legs automatically taking her along the route to the building of industrial lofts. How was she going to explain this?

She knocked insistently on the door several times before she heard a rustling and a quick click of several locks being opened, and Mark's blond head thrust out of the door, squinting at her in surprise. He was pale and a little wrinkled-looking, as if someone had balled him up and thrown him into a washing machine. When he saw who she was, however, his face brightened considerably and he motioned for her to come inside.

Maureen didn't allow herself to apologize for showing up at seven in the morning on Mark's one day off from work, what she had to say was far too important for her to wait until later. Mark was hovering over the coffeepot, finally pouring himself a cup of sickly-looking brown liquid. "Coffee?" he asked her scratchily. She shook her head quickly and he raised his eyebrows at her, taking a seat on the couch. She didn't sit.

"What are you doing here so early, Maureen?" he asked feebly, taking a long gulp of coffee. It was clear that he had been up late the previous night, though the reasons were not nearly as obvious.

Maureen took a deep breath, her heart pounding in her chest. The situation she was in was one that she had hoped never to be in, she hated even the thought of how her life had changed within only thirty seconds earlier that morning and even if she wasn't in love with him, she hated the thought that she was about to cause Mark the same pain.

"Look, what I'm about to say isn't going to be easy for you to hear, and you're probably not going to be happy," she said quickly, her eyes darting over Mark's now-shadowed features. He looked concerned and she could understand that. "Now don't be angry," she said, putting her hands out as if to block herself from him. "but…do you remember that…one night we had last month when Joanne and I were broken up?"

Mark nodded. Though it was a lie and they had both known it. There had been no break-up, Maureen had simply made it up because Joanne had been working late and ignoring her and she wanted revenge. But Mark, still so lovesick even after over a year of them being apart, had accepted her story just for the reward. She and Joanne had miraculously reconciled two days later. Joanne, of course, was one of the biggest problems with her predicament.

She pulled the tube from the inside of her pocket, allowing Mark to peer at it, his eyes widening.. "Well…I think…well, actually, I know…that I'm pregnant."