It's big cheesy grin time... and the consequences are...

Jo stood in the bathroom and stared at the plastic applicator in her hand. For one long moment, she simply couldn't process the information. A hand reached over her to the toothbrushes, and he dropped a kiss on her bare shoulder at the same time, registered what she was holding in her hand... they looked at each other in the mirror in front of them.

Jo turned around, looked up into his face, as he gathered her close.

Wary, she studied his expression, "How do you feel?"

"We're having a baby, Jo." Stuart felt a mixture of excitement, slight disbelief, and then a cloud loomed on the horizon, Sam. He crushed Jo to him, dropped a kiss on her head, while Jo wriggled in his arms "Stuart, we're having a baby, people have babies every day, there's no need to squeeze me to death."

"WE'RE HAVING A BABY." He squeezed her again, and Jo sighed, when she'd first done the test and it had come back positive she'd hoped his reaction would be positive, perhaps not this positive, my ribs hurt, but he was definitely excited about the idea. One cloud loomed, Sam. Her friend, Sam Nixon, her lover's former lover, who'd loved and lost.

Jo put her hand up to Stuart's cheek, "Sam" she said.

"I know." The pain in Stuart's eyes wasn't feigned, he felt really guilty about his part in his disastrous relationship with Sam. "How are we going to tell her?"

Jo was both reassured by the we in Stuart's question, and slightly flummoxed by the need to inform CID of what was going on. "First things first, hun, don't you think we should tell someone else?"

"Mai?"

"Exactly." Jo looked up at his confused expression and sighed, she saw that that one was probably going to fall to her. Stuart had that confused and slightly desperate look on his face which said, I have no idea how to handle this, you do it.

She needn't have worried, Mai was nearly as excited as Stuart. Though the idea of another baby to Mai, meant that their unconventional family was a permanent arrangement. Which wasn't quite the meaning Jo had wanted to convey.

Walking into CID that morning, Jo pondered her options. She had to get an appointment with the doctor to confirm everything. Then she would have to tell someone in the top brass, which meant DI or above. DCI would be best, she reasoned. Jack Meadows was experienced enough to keep the information quiet while she worked out some of the details in her head, and he wouldn't be emotionally attached in quite the same way as telling Sam or Neil.

"Guv, can I have a word," there it's said, before I can chicken out.

"Sure." Jack stepped back and let her pass.

He waved her to the chair opposite his and sat down. Jo cleared her throat, looked down at her hands, then straight at him. "There isn't a particularly easy way to say this," she lifted her chin a little, defense against a negative response, or incredulity, she wasn't really sure, "I'm pregnant." There, now I've said it.

Jack Meadows' eyebrows shot up towards his hairline. That was the one and only thing he never expected to hear from DC Jo Masters. Who's the father? He bit back the question before he said it, suddenly unsure that he even wanted to know, and certain that the question was far too intrusive.

He swallowed, cleared his throat and tried to come up with the least controversial thing he could say "are you sure?"

She thought about it for a second. "Yes."

"How long?" he waved his hand, feeling mostly at a loss, because all the words that were in his mind were at best insulting and at worst downright invasive of Jo's privacy.

"Quite a while yet, I'm only in the early stages." Jo looked down at her hands. "Guv," she looked him right in the eye, "no one else knows, except the father, and I would like to keep it that way for a while."

"Okay. I was going to move you straight to desk work, but if you feel that's wrong, I'll go along with it," Jack looked stern for a moment, "but at the first hint that you might be at risk, I'm pulling you back to a desk."

Jo sighed, "Alright." She stood to go, "thanks, Guv."

Jack nodded. Watched her leave the office, watched her as she exchanged glances with DS Stuart Turner. For a moment he wondered, Stuart and Jo. Jack shook his head, not a chance.

Stuart headed for the coffee machine, he'd been on top of the world all morning, his caseload appeared to be a lot less dull than it had been, paperwork was a breeze, he was really on form, his regular spot on Wanted was filming after work and Stuart did enjoy the adulation, which Mai's presence had only increased... only now he wasn't interested... he had so much more to look forward to.

Jo joined him, "I want to talk to you..."

"What about."

"Will you tone it down a bit, you're bouncing around like Tigger on speed." she hissed. "People will get suspicious."

He slid his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. "About what?"

Jo swatted at him with the file she was carrying, "us..." she couldn't help herself, she grinned back at him, "idiot..." she said fondly.

He let her go and backed up the corridor, spreading his hands wide in mock surrender, "as you wish, ma'am."

"DS Turner." the voice behind his left ear was not entirely welcome, "I find it helps if you look where you're going."

Stuart winced "Sorry, Ma'am." Inspector Gina Gold didn't suffer fools gladly and he'd just made a bit of an idiot of himself, oddly enough his dignity didn't even feel dented. He smiled what he hoped was an ingratiating smile "it won't happen again Ma'am."

Gina Gold's lips twitched ever so slightly, "See it doesn't." but the tone was as stern as ever. Relieved, Stuart slipped past her and headed for the car park.

For a moment, Gina stood and wondered about what she'd seen. Stuart and Jo? She shook her head, not a chance.

Jo sipped her coffee and wondered about her next move. This was the tricky bit, not only admitting to Sam that she was "seeing" Stuart, but that she was pregnant with Stuart's child. And how to do it without inflicting hurt on her friend.

Sam Nixon had watched Stuart bouncing around like a champagne cork in a barrel, and wondered what on earth had made him that happy.She noticed the way he kept looking across the room at Jo and wondered for a moment. Stuart and Jo? Am I out of my mind... a small part of her still ached over the end of her affair with Stuart, neither of them had handled it particularly well. For the first time she wondered if he'd been more hurt by the painful aftermath than she'd thought.

She'd been aware for some time that he had someone in his life, he had been keeping a very low profile, but the signs were all there. Up until today, she hadn't really wondered who it was, now her curiosity was piqued. So she watched him, and Jo, and suddenly her crazy thought didn't seem so crazy any more. They liked each other, they got on well, Stuart was less arrogant around Jo, and she seemed to enjoy being in his company, Sam was stunned by the idea that her ex boyfriend and her best girlfriend had somehow got it together.

Jo interrupted this reverie. "Sam, can we talk a moment." Sam looked up, startled. "umm... oh, yes, sure." Jo pushed the door shut, thankful that Neil was out of the office for a while. She sat down.

"Sam." Jo spread her hands out, looked down at them, damn this is hard. "Sam, I..." she trailed off, took a deep breath, just say it, "I'm pregnant."

Sam's jaw dropped, coming on top of the crazy idea that came into her head earlier, this was a humdinger. "Jo...congratulations... does any one else know?" she managed after a moment. "When's the baby due?"

Jo took another deep breath. "There's no easy way to say this, Sam." She looked her friend in the eye,

"Stuart's the baby's father." Sam finished for her. Realising that she knew the answer to all the furtive glances, and Stuart's current state of happiness, which seemed ready to take over the world.

Jo winced. "Never could keep anything from you." She sought her friend's face for signs of sorrow or anger, but found neither. Sam reached out and clasped Jo's hand, "I'm happy for you, if this is what you want. How did Stuart react," painfully aware that she already knew the answer to that.

"Enthusiastically." Jo smiled ruefully. "He nearly broke three of my ribs." On impulse she turned her hand and clasped Sam's fingers in return, "he really regrets he was such an idiot with you, and that he wasn't there when you needed him."

Sam nodded, too full to speak without making a fool of herself. Glad for Jo and for Stuart, but with the tiny ache still in the corner of her heart for what might have been.

"We're keeping it quiet for now." Jo said.

Sam looked out the window, Stuart leaning back on his chair, feet up on the bottom drawer of his desk, idly leafing through a file. "Are you really sure about that?" She said.

Jo followed her gaze, and sighed. "He's not being very discreet is he?"

"Well he hasn't hired a brass band and run it up the flag pole yet, but he's fairly on the way." Sam grinned at her friend.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Jo asked

"I'm sure." Sam looked at her friend. "Okay, it will take some getting used to, and a bit of getting over too," she admitted, "but I'm happy for you ... and for our cocky Detective Sergeant Turner too."

"You won't say anything."

"You didn't have to ask. Although I would point out that there will come a time when it will be advertising itself."

"I'm just not that ready for the full on Sun Hill gossip mill, and when they find out who the father is, we'll never hear the end of it..."