Title:Planned Parenthood
By: girlnorth
Pairing: Greg and Sara friendship & Nick/Greg
Rating: PG

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He finished his curry and sat back from the table, watching Sara fidget across from him. Greg was sure something was going on with her. She kept getting up from the table to get something else from the kitchen, and it was making him nervous.

"Are you gonna tell me what's on your mind now, or are you going to make me guess?"

Sara frowned. "What makes you think something's on my mind?"

"Sara," he said knowingly. She sighed and sat back.

"You know me too well," she said, smiling. "That actually figures in to what I want to talk to you about."

"Okay," he said, confused.

"Alright," Sara said, taking a deep breath. She smiled nervously, and now Greg was really nervous. What the hell did she want to talk to him about that would get her all worked up like this?

"I've been thinking a lot lately," she began, "and you know, I'm getting old."

"Sara," he said, "you're only thirty-three."

"I know, but, here's the thing. I'm tired of waiting to find the right man to marry and settle down to start a family. I've been thinking about it a lot, and," she paused as if gathering courage, "I want a baby."

"Whoa," Greg said, shocked. He had never really thought about Sara having a baby. She always said she wasn't good with kids, and her lifestyle didn't exactly lend itself to being a parent.

"I know what you're thinking," she said. "That I work too hard, my hours are too long, that I'm not exactly the mother type."

"Well..." he said, trying to think of a way to refute the last part. Because it wasn't that he didn't think Sara would make a good mother, he'd just never thought of her that way.

"I know all that, and I've thought about all that. As far as my job is concerned, it's become less important to me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I still love it and could never see myself doing anything else. But ever since my DUI, I've been re-evaluating my priorities. You know that."

He nodded. He did know that. Her overtime wasn't nearly what it once was, and their friendship was a real testament to her change in priorities as well. Sara never really socialized much with any of them before, but since she came back from her mandatory leave, they had been hanging out together a lot. In fact they'd grown really close, and he wouldn't hesitate to call her his best friend.

"But you want to raise a child alone?" he asked. "That's not easy."

"I know," she said. "But people do it all the time. Catherine's doing it. I'm sure there was a time when people didn't think she was the mother type."

"I'm sure," Greg agreed. "But Catherine didn't choose to do it by herself."

"I know. But..." she paused, struggling for her words. "I'm hoping that the father, if he agrees to be the father, will want to be involved, though that's not a requirement."

"Who do you want the father to be?" he asked, his stomach clenching as he suspected what the answer would be.

"Well, I was hoping that you would want to," she said nervously.

"You want to have a baby with me?"

"Yeah. I mean, we're good friends, and you've got good genes," she said, smiling. "And there's not much chance of you getting anyone pregnant."

"No, not much chance of that." Was the room spinning? Greg thought the room might be spinning.

"So this could be your chance to be a dad too. But as I said, if you don't want to be involved, you wouldn't have to be. That would be your choice. If you want to do this."

"Wow."

"Yeah, I know," she said. "I'm not looking for an answer tonight. Just think about it, okay? Talk it over with Nick, because obviously he would have to be okay with it too. And, you know, if you decide to do this, the baby could call him Daddy too, if that's what you guys want. The three of us could raise the baby together. Or not, you know, if you don't want to be involved. But..."

"Sara, you're rambling," he said. He grinned at how flustered she was, he'd never seen her that way. "I'll think about it."

"You will?" she asked, her face lighting up.

"Yeah."

*~*

"So?" Greg asked, "What do you think?"

Nick was looking at him like he just told him aliens had landed in Dallas. And yeah, okay, it was shocking. The idea of Sara wanting to have a baby was surprising in itself. Add in that she wanted Greg to be the father, and Nick was allowed to be stunned.

"Wow. I think... wow."

"Yeah, pretty much what I said."

"This is huge, G."

"I know," Greg agreed.

Nick sat down next to Greg on the couch, and looked intently at him.

"Well, it's your decision."

"No Nick, it's our decision. Even Sara said that. She said that if we decide to this, we could all raise the baby together. You would be just as much a part of this. I think she just wanted to talk to me first since it's my..."

"Sperm?"

"Well, I was going to say DNA, but okay. It's my sperm she wants. That sounds weird."

Nick smiled, but it was restrained.

"She also said that I could just waive my rights and have nothing to do with the baby, but I couldn't do that, I wouldn't want to. If we decide to do this, I want to be the kid's dad."

"Yeah," Nick agreed. "Well, do you want to?"

"I don't know. It's kind of a strange situation, but people have made weirder ones work. And Sara's got good genes, I tested them once," he said with a grin. Nick rolled his eyes.

"Don't you question Sara's ability to parent, though?" he asked.

"Not really. She's more nurturing than you think. And who's really prepared to be a parent until they actually are a parent? I think the question is, are we ready for this? For this commitment and responsibility. We haven't really talked about having kids."

"Well, I always thought I'd like kids some day," Nick said, rubbing the back of his neck, "but I never really thought it would happen."

"I know," Greg said, "but here's our chance."

*~*

Greg watched Sara sitting in an armchair in his and Nick's living room, crossing and uncrossing her legs, and thought it was about time they stopped tormenting her. They had asked her over to talk, so she knew they were going to give her an answer.

"So, we've made a decision," he said.

"You have?" she asked. He could tell that she was trying not to be too hopeful, but it leaked into her voice anyway.

"Yes," Nick said, putting an arm around Greg.

"And?" she asked anxiously.

"Yes," said Greg.

"Yes?" she repeated.

"Yes," Greg said with a grin.

Sara jumped up and hugged him, and then hugged Nick. "Yes!"

As she was about to pull away from Nick, Greg put an arm around both of them. "We're going to be a family."

END

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