Roses And Surprises

Lollipop hanging loosely from his mouth, Tony exited the elevator and began the walk towards his desk. He swung his backpack off as he passed by Kate, letting it fall to the ground with a "thud" and then pulled his chair back with one hand and sat down.

"Mornin', Kate," he rattled awkwardly, lollipop stick clenched between his teeth. He grinned as widely as he could with it still in his mouth.

She glared at him. "Tony."

"How was the date last night?" he asked. He removed the lollipop the moment he finished speaking and ran his tongue over his lips, enjoying the strawberry taste that was left on them.

"It was fine, Tony." Kate shrugged him off and continued shuffling through the papers she'd been studying – or pretending to study for all he knew – when he'd first arrived.

"No…interruptions?" Tony smirked.

Deathly silent, Kate turned to him. She stared at him for a moment and narrowed her eyes. "It was you!" she exclaimed. "You sent the rose!"

"The one and only." Grinning, he gave her a mock bow. "Did you like it?"

"Don't even bother with the stupid comments, Tony. You ruined my date last night," Kate told him. "We broke up because of what you did."

Tony had expected no less. What he'd asked the waiter to say when he gave Kate the rose wasn't exactly vague and had he been the guy dating her, he would have run in the opposite direction as fast as possible, too.

He sighed. She wasn't even reacting how he'd hoped she would. This wasn't fun at all.

"I'm sorry, Kate. I was out of line," he told her. "I shouldn't have done that."

Kate pierced him with a questioning stare, ignoring his apology. "How did you know?" she asked instead.

"How did I know what?"

"That I'm pregnant."

"You're...you're...huh?" Tony stammered. His mouth fell open and stayed there.

"Pregnant," she repeated. He continued to gape at her, so she narrowed her eyes at him. "You didn't know?"

"I....you're pregnant?" He blinked. "Who with? Was it that time? It wasn't, was it? I'm not..."

She grimaced, rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingertips.

"Kate?"

"I...just found out," she told him. "A few days ago. I....you're going to be a dad."

"Me? I...I'm the dad? But it was only one time! We...that...I'm going to be a dad?"

"You're going to be a dad."

Tony blinked. Swallowed. "Me?"

"Yes, Tony. You're going to be a dad. I'm not saying it again. Do you need a minute? I'd understand if..." she faded out when she saw the smile creeping onto his face.

"Wow," he said, clearly amazed at the thought. "I'm going to be a dad."

"We're gonna be parents," Kate agreed, sighing inwardly in relief. "I couldn't... you know."

"No! No, of course not. I wouldn't want that either. I mean... I'm glad you're keeping it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

They exchanged nervous smiles.

"You know, I wasn't going to get serious with Dave. You didn't have to sabotage our 'date' last night."

"What did you go out with him for then?"

"I was going to tell him..."

"All this?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Huh. Wow. You would've scared him off without my help!"

"Hey! Dave is a great guy! I wouldn't have scared him off!"

"I thought you didn't want to get serious with him."

"Well, I don't, but - "

"What does it matter?" Tony butted in. "We're gonna have a kid!"

Kate fell silent, studied him. She ran her tongue over her lips. "You're really okay with this? It's not too weird?"

"Weird? No, Katie, it's... it's great. Better than great. This is perfect."

"Well," she said. "Okay. I guess this is good, then."

"Yeah."

Tony smiled at her, a look in his eyes she had never seen before at the same intensity. Love.

Her heart flipped nervously. Would it be good? She didn't know.

She smiled back.

A few moments passed and Tony's expression faded into an almost confused look. "So," he said.

"Yes?"

"What now?"

She had no idea.

fin.