“Ding!” Lucy called cheerfully, stepping into Hudson-McKinley Bonds and Investigations. She’d been bugging them to get a bell for months, but Jane refused. She said anyone that came looking for her made an appointment, so she knew to expect them. Anyone else walking in off the street would get shot. An alarmed Lucy had started making appointments and clearly announcing her presence in case her sister hadn’t been joking.

“Fucking Dong,” Jane called back hoarsely from the back of the office.

Lucy tugged her noise cancelling earphones, one of her first and favourite big city purchases, down to rest around her neck so she could hear better. She glanced around the agency, peeking in the offices that she’d resupplied and redecorated with Vlad’s permission and his unlimited credit card until she spotted her sister on the floor of the washroom clutching the edge of the toilet. Jane’s face was an alarming shade of pale green and sweat dotted her forehead. She was resting her chin against an arm which was braced against the toilet seat and looking more limp than Lucy had ever seen the dynamic woman.

“Oh my goodness, Janie!” Lucy exclaimed, dropping her purse and rushing to kneel next to her sister on the floor. Jane didn’t bother to open her eyes as Lucy gently took her sister’s cheeks into her hands and tilted her face up. Jane’s eye was puffy and starting to turn blue around the edge. “What happened to you?”

Jane popped her uninjured eye open and looked blearily at Lucy. “Ran into a fist during an apprehension,” she admitted sourly. “But you should see the other guy.”

Lucy’s lips twitched. “Okay, I’ll bite. What did you do to the other guy?”

“Well after I stunned the shit out of him with my taser, I spent a few minutes explaining why it isn’t polite to hit women and that there’s a reason he still lives in his momma’s basement taking illegal bets on football games.” She placed two shaking hands against the toilet seat and pushed away, leaning her back carefully against the wall behind her and slouching with a grateful sigh. “Then Mack showed up to pull me off the fucker, finish the apprehension and rant at me for running a bond jumper to ground when I’m supposed to leave those to him.”

Lucy ducked her head to hide the blatant interest that Mack’s name caused. “Oh Jane, what’s Vlad going to say when he sees your face?”

“Nothing good, that’s for damn sure.” Jane groaned, shoving a hand through her straight shoulder length black hair and fluffing her cute bangs into odd angles. “All I have to say is that man is going to die regretting not knowing who he punched if Vlad forces me to give up his name.”

Lucy nodded seriously. After she’d realized exactly who Vlad was and what kind of organization he ran she’d badgered her sister into divulging information until Jane finally gave up the goods on their courtship. It was a delicious story full of romance and intrigue, especially to a sheltered Amish country girl who, before moving to the city, only got titillation through books, most of which were gothic romances. And Vlad was practically the definition of a modern day gothic villain.

“Like your shirt,” Lucy murmured, her lips curving into a smirk as she eyed Jane’s T-shirt. It was black with a red Tyrannosaurus Rex holding a grabber thing and yelling ‘unstoppable!’ which was actually really appropriate for a woman of Jane’s short stature and limited arm reach.

Jane smiled wanly back and waved her wrist limply in Lucy’s direction. “I like your whole outfit, little sister. You’ve got some pretty decent taste for a fresh off the farm girl.”

Lucy blushed and ginned. “Thanks!”

It had taken her awhile and a few wardrobe changes to settle on a style she regularly enjoyed wearing. Jeans were far too restrictive after wearing skirts and smocks her whole life, but she didn’t really like wearing long dresses either. So, she’d chosen a combination of leggings, short skirts and rocker T-shirts. She collected the T-shirts as she collected favourite bands, listening to music pretty constantly when she wasn’t working or hanging out with friends and family. She paired her outfits with funky pattered scarfs and high-heeled ankle boots.

Vlad had pressed her to use his credit card for any personal purchases, but Lucy hadn’t used it other than to decorate her apartment and resupply Jane’s office. He had already been more than generous by giving her Jane’s old apartment rent-free and a full-time bodyguard. Instead, she’d been spending her waitressing money on all her fun new purchases. She didn’t have a need to save money for much since she was probably going back to the farm in eight months, so she spent freely.

Jane moaned and covered her face with shaking hands. “I’m so nauseous,” she whispered and slid a little further down the wall.

Lucy frowned and reached out to rub Jane’s leg soothingly. “I get why you have a black eye, but I don’t get why the shiner is making you sick. How long has this been going on? Do you have the flu?”

“I don’t know,” she said weakly. “It’s been coming and going for a few days now. I’ll be perfectly fine and then it’ll hit me all of a sudden and I’ll have to run for a toilet. It doesn’t matter where I am. Hell, I had to park in an alley yesterday and just barely managed to lean out of the car to puke all over the pavement.”

“Could it be food poisoning?” Lucy asked, hoping silently that it wasn’t. Vlad was so protective of his wife she could easily see him searching out whatever chef had accidentally poisoned his lovely wife and slaughtering him without mercy.

“No, I’ve barely eaten anything this week. Something about the smell is putting me off most food right now.” Jane breathed in and out carefully, her face relaxing as the nausea subsided. She reached a hand out for Lucy. “Help me up.”

Lucy sat in stunned silence for a moment before automatically giving Jane her hand, then she scrambled to her feet. She yelled and threw her arms around her sister. “Holy cow, Janie, I think you’re pregnant!”

Jane squirmed in her grip, which wasn’t unusual. Lucy was always forcibly hugging Jane and Jane would make a show of jokingly shoving her away. This time was different though, this time Jane shoved her a little more sharply than usual and stared in shock as she processed the words that hung in the air. Lucy let her go and gave Jane some space.

They eyed each other, one with barely concealed ecstatic expectation and the other with dawning horror, her hand hovering just over her stomach.

“Impossible,” Jane snapped.

“Entirely possible,” Lucy replied with a raised eyebrow.

“Shut up,” Jane glared at her.

Lucy smirked. “Make me.”

“Brat!” Jane snarled and then bit back a moan because apparently either getting overly emotional or raising her voice was making her nauseous again.

“Pregnant,” Lucy pointed at her belly.

Jane smacked her hand sharply and ignored Lucy’s hissed ‘ow’.

“Impossible!” Jane snapped again. “I only have one ovary and a bunch of scar tissue from the shooting! The doctor told me my chances of getting pregnant are slim to none. I just… can’t be pregnant… can I?” The defiant look on her face was beginning to melt into one of wonder and she was starting to look seriously wobbly.

Lucy reached for her arm and Jane allowed her to take it. She helped her sister into her office chair behind the desk, then crouched next to the chair and gazed up at her big sister. “I’m guessing you’re having sex on the regular, aren’t you Janie? Vlad seems to like your hot bod a lot. He touches you every chance he gets and then you two disappear. I mean, I might technically be a virgin but I’m still a farm girl, I know what you two get up to. Or at least I hope you’re screwing around like farm animals!”

Jane moved the hand that was covering her eyes and stared at her sister. “What did you do with my innocent baby sister and how am I going to explain this brazen sex-talking hussy to our parents?”

Lucy laughed but ignored her. “And you have one perfectly functioning ovary that’s popping out eggs full of hormones just screaming at Vladimir’s virile little swimmers to come and get her each and every month. It was bound to happen!”

Jane slapped a hand over Lucy’s mouth, but she burst out laughing. “Oh my god, I can’t believe you. Who are you hanging out with these days? Do I need to get better reports from Alexandr? Please never mention Vlad’s swimmers to me ever again if you want to remain sister friends.”

“Deal,” Lucy said in a muffled voice and then licked Jane’s hand.

Jane made a face and jerked her hand back wiping it on her jeans. Her eyes started to take on a haunted look. “I don’t know what to do. What if I am pregnant, Lucy?” she whispered.

Lucy patted her knee, stood up. “There’s only one way to find out. You stay here, I’m going to run to the store, okay?”

Jane nodded absently and sat staring silently at the wall while Lucy snatched up her purse and rushed out the door. She waved at her Alexandr who fell into step behind her while she practically ran down the street to Mrs. Lin’s corner store market. She completely ignored him while she snatched up a pregnancy test, some Gingerale, a can of chicken noodle soup and crackers. She dumped everything on the counter and elbowed him out of the way so she could pay.

“How are you doing today, Lucy?” Mrs. Lin asked, smiling brightly at the young woman.

Lucy beamed back and reached across the counter to squeeze the elderly woman’s hand. They’d shared tea on multiple occasions in Mrs. Lin’s small apartment above the store when Mr. Lin was busy minding the cash register. Lucy had grown very fond of the elderly couple and learned to love the neighborhood through their eyes. She decided if she were to live permanently in the city, she would choose this neighborhood. She knew what people thought of it; that it was run down and lurked on the edges of the crime-filled central core, but it had a vibrant, homey feel that Lucy was becoming attached to. Her diner was a few blocks away and there was a subway close by where she sometimes caught the train when she was able to convince her bodyguard that she didn’t want to ride in the car.

She picked up her bag, turned on her heel and slammed into Alexandr’s unmoving chest. She looked up at him, startled, and tried to step around him. “Sorry about that, excuse me, I’m in a rush!”

He grabbed her arm and tugged her until she was back in front of him. “Is there something you need to tell me?”

She cocked her head to the side, her chin resting slightly on the spongy leather of her earphone. “Um, nope, not that I can think of,” she said cheerfully, shifting restlessly and looking past him, making it clear she was in a rush.

His eyes narrowed on her too-innocent expression. Of course, she knew exactly what he was getting at, he wasn’t blind or stupid, but she wasn’t going to help him out. “The pregnancy test,” he prodded.

“Oh that,” she said dismissively. “It’s not for me.” She darted around him, pushed out the door and rushed down the sidewalk. A quick glance back over her shoulder told her he’d stepped out of the shop behind her and was on the phone. Most likely to Vladimir Sitnikov.

Not good.

“Jane!” she yelped, throwing the door to the agency open so hard it nearly hit the wall. She was about to tell Jane she had to pee on the stick pronto and then process the results after that pronto because her husband was most likely on his way down there when she caught sight of her sister pulling a liquor bottle out of a desk drawer and unscrewing the cap.

Jane was about to tilt the bottle toward her mouth when Lucy rushed toward her, snatched the bottle in one hand and swatted her sister with the grocery bag. “Bad Jane! No drinking while pregnant!”

“Ouch!” Jane snarled, letting Lucy take the bottle and grabbing her now-bruised arm. “What the fuck was that?”

“Can of soup I think,” Lucy replied and then started scolding. “You can’t drink while you’re pregnant, Janie! What are you thinking? Everyone knows that! You can’t tell me you’ve never heard of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.”

“I’m not pregnant,” Jane grumbled.

Lucy dumped her bag onto the desk and handed Jane the test. She pointed at the washroom and said in an imperious voice, “Go.”

Jane pushed herself out of her chair with a huff and made her way toward the open door as though headed for the guillotine. Lucy slapped her ass, “Step on it, sister, I think the Boss is on his way and we need to be informed before the big man shows up.”

Jane whipped around, a hand hovering over her mouth and shocked horror suffusing her pale features. “Fuck no!”

“Yes,” Lucy confirmed. “Alexandr saw me buy the test, knew it wasn’t for me and most likely put two and two together. You know these meddlesome Russians, Vlad’s probably going to barge in here any second. So, stop swearing in front of my gestating niece or nephew and go take the test.”

“Fuck, no,” Jane mumbled again, ignoring Lucy’s demand that she stop swearing. “He’s already unbearably overprotective!” She threw her hands up in the air. “If I’m pregnant he’s going to come down like a ton of bricks, especially when he finds out I went after a bond jumper by myself. He’ll insist I quit work. Worse, he’ll lock me in the mansion. No, he’ll lock me in the bedroom, maybe even chain me to the bed so I can’t climb out the window.”

Lucy put a hand in the middle of Jane’s chest and gave her a light shove toward the washroom. “Just take the test. Then we’ll know if you have to worry. You helped me get out of the mansion, I’ll help you break out of the bedroom if it comes down to that.”

“Okay,” Jane sniffled and slammed the door shut.

Two minutes later she shouted through the door. “I’m too nervous to pee!”

Lucy settled herself on the floor outside the washroom door and leaned back against it resting her head on the wood. “Think of waterfalls, like Niagara or something,” she called back.

“I’ve never been to Niagara Falls,” Jane yelled.

“Which side have you never been to?” Lucy asked, resting her arms on her upraised knees and glancing through the office toward the front door expecting the big, bad mob boss to come striding in at any moment and demand she present his wife. “The US or Canadian side?”

“What?” Jane shouted grumpily. “What the fuck difference does it make? I’ve never been up North at all, you freak.”

Lucy snickered.

Another couple of minutes passed and then the door was jerked open so hard that Lucy went flying backwards and landed flat on her back. Jane crouched over top of her waving the pink and white stick. “I’m pregnant.”

Lucy’s eyes met Jane’s. What she saw made her heart sing with happiness. Jane was incredibly, unbelievably ecstatically happy. She’d just been afraid to hope for those few minutes before Lucy had brought her the test.

“I’m pregnant,” she whispered again, her eyes tearing up.

“You’re going to be a mom,” Lucy grinned.

“You’re going to be an auntie,” Jane yelled down at her.

Lucy reached up and yanked Jane down into her arms so hard her older sister smashed into her chest with an audible ‘oomph’. This time she didn’t fight Lucy’s embrace though. The sisters hugged each other and laughed together until Jane finally rolled away. They lay side by side, crammed next to each other in the washroom door. Lucy reached down and gripped Jane’s hand. Jane held her hand like it was a lifeline, tears trickling down her cheeks. She turned her face to her younger sister.

“Lucy, I’m pregnant,” she said again, awe shining in her voice. “I didn’t think it was ever going to be possible for us. And I convinced myself I was okay with it because of who he is and because I’m a tough-as-nails badass bitch.”

“I know, Janie,” Lucy said simply, tears strangling her voice.

“I’m so fucking happy right now, Luce.”

Lucy reached over and brushed her sister’s short bangs to the side. “I’m so happy for you.” She opened her mouth to say something else, but the front door swung open and Vladimir’s bellowing voice shattered their moment.

“Jane Elizabeth Sitnikov!” he yelled, murder and mayhem evident in his deep, accented voice. “Where the fuck is my wife?”