And my heart's right, thine inward love of heart.

I'm pregnant. I can hardly believe it. I love it.

Jared is being the sweetest thing too. He cooks and cleans as much as he can when he's home. Unfortunately for both of us, a policeman is expected to be on the job for pretty long hours though.

There is one other person who should know about this. Not that I'm looking forward to this conversation much.

"Mom?" That was as much as she let me say. From then, there was a tirade on how little time she had and why did I have to bother her.

"Seriously? Mom, can't you listen to me?"

"Mother! Listen! I'm pregnant, you're going to be a grandma soon." Well, that stopped the flow of how horrible it was that I interrupted her day. Now it was all about how she wasn't old enough to be a grandmother and how would her husband take the news.

"I fail to care what your Travis will think. He's met me, he knows that you have a married daughter."

"Fine! I just thought you should know."

How did Daddy put up with her as long as he did? Come to think of it, why does Travis?

The phone call put me in a gloomy mood. Then to make it worse, things in the house decided to break down. Of course, everything breaks when Jared is at work.

First it was the blasted sink. We've fixed this stupid thing every couple weeks since we've moved in.

Then the washer decided it was the perfect time to break.

It flooded the kitchen and nearly mangled most our clothes. I managed to keep it from eating our really good things.

Finally, Jared came home. I stumbled into his arms as soon as he'd shut the door.

"Sweetheart, I've had the worst day," I had been crying off and on since the washer broke and my voice was still shaky.

He pulled me close and his warm body was so comforting. "It's all right. Would you like me to cook dinner?"

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

He smiled and gave me a hug. "I'll be back in a second. I need to get more comfortable." The smirk that went with that comment made me raise an eyebrow.

When he returned, he only had on his underwear.

"Jared? What?" I was a bit surprised.

"Hey, I'm offering food and a show. You going to refuse?"

I had to smile, "Well, Handsome, when you put it that way, I would certainly never refuse."

There was something very soothing about watching my nearly naked chef. He's definitely well built, and he works out a lot as part of his job. It was nearly a perfect view of that delicious body. That thought gave me an idea. "Hey, Jared."

"I'm working here," he replied in a soft but slightly warning tone.

"If I get curtains around the house, can I have a completely naked chef?"

He chuckled softly. "Maybe, Cat, maybe. Feeling better yet?"

"If the dinner is half as good as the show, my day will be infinitely better."

Dinner was great, mine was gone almost before Jared had even reached the table with his.

"Are you still reading that pregnancy book?" he asked when he looked up from his meal.

"Yes, I am."

"But don't you have it nearly memorised?" he teased.

"I know, I know. But I want to be the best mom I can be."

"You will be. I know it."

"Well, my mother..."

"Cat," Jared cut me off. "I haven't really asked about your mother or what happened. But whatever she did, you aren't her. Do you want to talk about it?"

I shook my head. "Not really. Not tonight." I thought back to that horrible phone call. "She can be such a bitch though."

"Cat, maybe you need something more to distract you?"

I tilted my head to look at him. "Do you have anything in particular in mind?"

"Well, I know this big lovely bed. I think that some serious cuddle time is required."

He was giving me one of his smouldering looks and my heart melted. I was the luckiest woman alive to have him. "How do you always know what to offer?"

"I just have a gift, I suppose," he replied. We went upstairs and my worst day became a perfectly lovely one.

After that, I decided to spend less time at home. I have a lot of musical instruments that I want to master and they are mostly pretty portable. Another advantage to being in the park meant I didn't know if the appliances at home decided to break.

I found that playing instruments either with others, like Merlot,

or by myself was both a welcome distraction and a way to make a little extra cash.

Unfortunately, 'little' was the key word. I'd maybe make $20 on a good day. By the time you factor in lunch and fuel, it was just a couple of extra dollars for the family income.

I really should always invite Daddy to join in. He is fantastic on the bass, people always stop to give him tips.

Merlot did show up fairly often when I was jamming in the park. When he wasn't playing guitar, he frequently chatted up women.  But always married ones, like Emerald Kane.

"Merlot, you know that I'm your friend, right?"

He nodded.

"You really need to stop this thing you've got for married women."

He laughed, "a little harmless flirting?"

I sighed. "Someday someone might take it too seriously. The woman you flirt with or the husband that finds out. Someone will get hurt and I don't want it to be you."

"I don't see any problem. I know they aren't available, they should know I'm not serious." He shrugged.

"I hope you are right."

Why is it that life is seldom simple?

My contractions start in a serious way and that's when someone wants to ring me? How awful is that timing?

Well, I wasn't about to answer the phone now, they'd have to ring back.

Jared wasn't being very helpful either.

"Baby? Baby! The baby is coming?"

"Yes, dear, the baby is coming. We better go."

"Go? Go where?"

"The hospital, silly man. Unless you want to preside over a home birth?"

He practically flew to the door. "Right this way, the hospital it is."

I let Jared drive and he sped down the streets. I would have been worried about getting a ticket if I'd been driving like that. But being a cop, even off duty has its privileges.

It was actually very quiet and quite beautiful. The moon was full and cast an eery glow all over town.

Some hours after we arrived at the hospital, Jackson Grant was born.

We were lucky and everything went very well. Before I knew what was happening, we were sent home.

"Night, night, my son. You sleep tight."

I know that's actually pretty unlikely. If there's one thing that everyone agrees on, it's that babies don't sleep as much as you'd hope.

Jared was practically dancing. "Oh, Cat. You're so gorgeous. And we have a son."

"I know Jared. Remember, I was there at the time."

"This has made me so happy though. My gorgeous family."

"Do you think we should head for the bed, my lovely wife?"

"Yes, Jared. It's been a very long day. I think I need a lot of sleep."

A flash of disappointment crossed his face, I believe Jared was hoping for a bit more than just sleep. Still, he nodded and we headed for bed.

"Jared?"

"Yes, Cat?"

"Do you hear the baby?"

A moment passed and there was a loud howl of protest from small lungs. With a heavy sigh, Jared got up to look after the baby.

The next time the little one complained, I got up to see to him.

He's such a lovely boy. I think he takes after Jared.

But he does have a very good set of lungs.

---
Bonus pics

Sent them to the summer fest. But discovered there isn't much for a pregnant Sim to do

Jared could at least skate.

Togetherness, doing chores.

Ouch, mopping the floor through a wall just has to hurt.

Unlook'd for joy in that I honour most

"Daddy, I'm so glad you could come by." To be honest, I was afraid he might not. I'm married and have a home of my own. It's the whole 'I should be a responsible adult' thing. And there were a few things I wanted to talk about to my dad. I would have to talk to Jared at some point in time but not yet.

"Kitten, when have I ever failed you?" He looked at me with one eye brow raised. "I've always been there for you and that's going to be true for as long as I live."

"Well, you do have Mason and Dixie at home still. I don't want to keep you from them too much."

Dad slowly shook his head. "Kitten, you are a long way from doing that. They have Shannon who spends as much time as she can with them. For a long time, it was just you and me. You can still count on me, though maybe not quite as much as when you lived at home."

We went inside since dusk was rapidly turning to nightfall.

"Now why did you want me to come over, Kitten? I can tell it's not about music, you didn't ask me over as Mr Bass Man." I saw his eyes flicker for a moment. "And you should be very aware by now that I'm a worrier. I hate not knowing things. Life is stressful enough as it is."

"I'm sorry if asking you over caused you to worry." I should have known better then to ring without a brief explanation. Daddy does have anxiety issues. "It's nothing for you to be concerned over. I just wanted to ask a couple of questions."

"And you couldn't ask on the phone?"

"No, daddy, I couldn't. You see, I wanted to talk about babies. How did Mum tell you when she was pregnant."

He rubbed one temple for a moment. "Actually, it was your Aunt Brooke who knew first. Alaina and I didn't realise why she'd been feeling off..."

I was watching his eyes closely and could see when he knew why I'd asked him over. He pulled me into a hug. "Kitten, you think that you're having a baby?"

"Pretty sure, daddy. I have an appointment tomorrow to confirm it but I've been feeling nauseous a lot lately."

"I'm going to be a granddad? Wow." He blinked a couple of times. "Umm, wait I'm not old enough for to be a granddad." Daddy was actually grinning like an idiot, no matter what he said.

"But the problem is that Jared and I haven't even talked about children. What if he doesn't any now? What if he doesn't want any ever? And I don't even know if I'm ready."

"Stop worrying, that's my job." Dad smiled at me. "I'm not sure that anyone is ever really ready for a baby. It's one of the ultimate learn-as-you-go experiences. As for telling Jared, sooner is better. Be prepared for him to be a little quiet at first. It will be a bit of a shock. If he doesn't come around soon, kick his sorry arse to the curb."

"Daddy!"

"Seriously, he should be supportive. But my impression of him is that he'll love the idea of being a father and he'll be there for you."

Dad gave me a final hug and went home. I spent a restless night worrying about the next day.

Fairly early the next morning, I went to the hospital for a check up. The test results came back positive, I was definitely pregnant.

Since I'd suspected it for a couple of weeks, I'd had a chance to prepare myself. I hadn't really thought about kids before getting pregnant but Jared and I have a lovely home, some money to spare and it wasn't like having a baby would put an end to my career. I had a band, we could meet whenever.

The tricky part was definitely telling the daddy-to-be that we would soon be a family of three. I was nervous and decided to wait until dinner to try.

"So how was your day today, Jared?"

He stopped eating for a moment. "It was pretty awful. I was manning the desk and you wouldn't believe how many people came in. I didn't even know that many people lived around here."

"Really?"

"Well, nearly. I've been answering questions, asking more questions and filling out forms all day. It's exhausting." He sighed. "One of them was a pretty nasty accident. I think everyone in the car was seriously injured. The cops at the scene handed me the notes to type up while he went to inform relatives."

"You poor baby." This did not sound like a good time to bring up my news. If it made him happy, it would be fine but it might not. I decided that perhaps the morning would be a better time.

I had another restless night. It was full of bad dreams about accidents and unknown threats.

Eventually I gave up and found a book to read. I didn't want to keep Jared awake just because I couldn't sleep.

An hour later, I heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Honey," Jared said softly. "Are you okay? The bed is very lonely without you."

I looked up at my handsome hubby, "I wasn't sleeping very well and I didn't want to keep you awake too."

I closed the book and stood up. It was time to tell him. "I went to the hospital yesterday."

His eyes grew big, "I hope it isn't serious. Please tell me it isn't serious."

"Well," I said. "It's kind of serious. Jared, I'm pregnant."

For an awful moment, he just sort of stood there, staring. Then he got the biggest grin. "Pregnant? We're pregnant? We're going to have a baby?"

"Yes, we're going to have a baby." My fears of his reaction melted away.

"Do you think I can feel anything yet?"

"You can try but I don't think you'll feel anything but me." Jared patted my tummy for a moment any way.

"I can't feel the baby," he said sadly.

"You will be able to, I can promise you that. So you are all right with this? We haven't talked about babies."

His answer was a cheeky grin and a big smooch. When he eventually let me go, he said, "Yes, I want this baby. I love the idea that you and I will have a baby. Do you think it's a boy or a girl? Did they tell you at the hospital?"

"I told them I didn't want to know. It will be more fun to have the surprise, don't you think?"

"I guess. I think I'd like a boy though."

I laughed and he looked hurt for a moment. "Daddy said you'd want a boy. I think it's cute that he was right."

"Your dad is a great guy. I like him a lot."  He glanced at his watch.  "Bye Cat, I have to hustle to get to work on time. You take care of yourself and that baby."

"I will, Mr Policeman. You take care too. Don't drown in paperwork."

Since Jared was going to be at work all day, I decided to go over to the town park and see if I could raise a little money by busking. Merlot was available for some practice and my dad promised to drop by later as well.

It was a pretty quiet day at the park. Clayton came by for awhile with his dad. And that was the extent of our audience.

Clayton did grow up well, I must admit. If I didn't have a spouse already, I'd give him another chance. Except, he's not available either. He married a few weeks before Jared and I did. At least we are back to being friends again. Having friends who have known you since forever is a good thing.

So the busking was a bust. Thomas dropped a few bucks in the jar but he was pretty much the only one. I wonder what we have to do to earn a gig in town?

"Honey, I bought a little gift for you. It's not a lot but I just want you to know how happy you make me."

"Jared, this isn't fair. I didn't get you anything."

"You gave me something this morning. Granted, I don't get to see the baby for some time but that's a big gift. I'm going to owe you many many things to make up for that one."

"Jared, thank you. You are just the sweetest thing."

"I try, Cat. I try. And I want you to know that I love you. I love that baby too."

"I must be doing something right to have someone as great as you in my life, Jared Grant."

"I feel the same, Cat."

---
Bonus Pics

Apparently I like taking pics of him eating.

Merlot rings Catherine to come hang out. This is how he greets her.

Merlot, no, you lost out to Jared. Cat is happy and is not impressed by your chest. Just forget it and have fun with your housemate.

For shame deny that thou bear'st love to any

"Cat, I have bad news."

"What's the bad news, love?"

"They expect me at work tomorrow. It's our last day together until the weekend."

"No, Mr Policeman, you can't leave me all day at home. Who knows what crimes I might commit unsupervised?"

Jared laughed. "Now Cat, don't be too naughty just because I have to go to work." I heard a growling stomach. "Hey, I'm hungry. I'll go fix up lunch."

The hot tub without Jared wasn't as appealing so I got out.

Then found myself staring at Jared as he walked toward the front door. His butt just hypnotised me, I couldn't move until he was going around the corner.

I am going to have to make sure that he dresses like that frequently. Even if I have to pull him into the hot tub daily. That could be a plan.

"So, honey, what should we do after lunch? I'm game for what you want to do."

I ate slowly as I thought about that offer. A few possibilities came to mind. But which to do first?

"Well?" Jared asked impatiently.

"Give a girl time to decide. The pasta is good, my tummy is still a bit off after those waffles from earlier." I tried to divert his attention.

"This idea better be worth the wait." Damn, he has a one track mind today. Of course, I'm not really much better, I just need to decide what to do.

We finished lunch and I came to a decision. "I think you are wearing too much, Jared. Let me help you out of all that."

He squeaked, "No, woman, get away from me. What are you doing?"

"Come on, Jared. You said you were up for anything." I was still giggling at his reaction.

"Not here, honey. We have a lot of huge windows and no curtains. What would the neighbours think?"

"That the new neighbours are newly weds, who are very much in love and feeling frisky. But you could be right, I don't want to share that fine butt of yours with anyone. Let's go make sure that the bed is where we last saw it."

We raced up the stairs and reached the bedroom door at the same time. I continued walking toward the bed. After a moment, I noticed that Jared was still standing by the door.

"Love, why aren't you coming to bed?"

"Just admiring the view first," he replied. "It's a very fine view from here."

I stopped, wiggled my butt at him, then looked back and winked. "Better not wait too long. I might change my mind."

Jared virtually dived for the bed with that threat. "Don't you dare change your mind now. Not after that display, it would be downright cruel."

I joined him under the sheets then sighed. "I hate the idea of you going back to work. It's been lovely since we moved in. We have all this space, all to ourselves."

"Well, at least we are making the most of our time. Shall we make sure the bed is sturdy enough?" He didn't have to make that suggestion twice. We conducted a very thorough bed test. Fortunately, it passed inspection. It might have been bad if the bed had fallen to bits while we were testing it.

We spent quite a while after that  holding hands, kissing, hugging. Telling each other things we particularly loved about the other.

"Cat, honey. I was wondering if I could go off to a class today? I'd like to learn a bit of painting and well, I don't want to do it after work over the next few days." He grinned at me. "I'd rather come straight home every day."

"Jared, love, that's fine. I'll invite the band over, we can get some practice in." I waggled an eyebrow at him. "A little rest before our next round of exercise might be a good idea." So I got on the phone to the new band. Dad is, of course, one of them. Merlot Pinot Noir and Ice Crisp are the others.

I have to rethink my band. Merlot is a musician and works nights. Ice works days at a restaurant. Makes getting a practice together very difficult.

Merlot was just arriving when my tummy started protesting again. Damn those waffles, how long are they going to bother me?

Seriously, this is just ridiculous. Why are they still bothering me? It's the third or fourth time I've had to throw up in the past day.

Dad, Merlot and I got in a few hours of practice before Merlot had to leave for work. By that time, Jared was home and Dad didn't have anywhere he needed to be soon.

"Hey, Dad, do you know something slow?"

"Sure Kitten. Want to change the tempo?"

"Yep." I turned to Jared. "Hey, handsome, want to dance?"

At first, it went really well. He and I had a nice little groove going. I might have been moving my hips a bit more then strictly necessary, but my handsome hubby didn't object. Not since we were very close.

And we did several nice turns, it was very graceful.

Then Jared came down with a really bad case of left foot syndrome. He just couldn't stop stepping on mine!

"Owww, Jared, that was my foot! That hurt."

"Sorry, honey."

"Give me a minute and we can dance more." I waited until my foot stopped hurting too much. A few minutes later and then I was ready to go again.

"Jared! What is wrong with you." My poor foot, Jared isn't exactly a featherweight. Not when most of him is on a toe.

"I am really really sorry honey. I didn't mean to step on your foot again."

"Will you forgive me, honey?"

"I will but man,  I think we need to stop doing this. My poor foot can't take much more of this today."

Jared nodded and I told Dad that he could stop for today. It took a moment to break through Dad's concentration, he was really focussed on playing.

"Honey, look over there." Jared sounded pretty excited so I turned to have a look.

"What is it, love? I don't see any..." then splash.

"Ha, I got you!" Damn, a water balloon. How could he?

"You are so going down, mister. Just you wait."

It had been a pretty warm day, so a bit of water was welcome relief.

"Ha, you can't hit me when I'm watching"

"Just you wait!"

"And that's for the sneak attack. You rat fink!"

Not quite the romance of earlier today but we did have fun.
---

My poor baby. Age does not suit you Thomas.

Cuddles in bed

Jared needs slightly less spectacular undies.

Hot times in the hot tub.

Where the hell did you get that top?

Merlot looking cute as he leaves for work.

Johnny gets into playing that bass.

He is such a clone of Sammy - barring his hair is his mom's.

Cousin Picasso and his son. The family still has Autumn Cusack's red hair.