Never Judge

Nicole knew her body better than anyone else, so when she started feeling off she quickly did an analysis of what was wrong with her. 

At first she thought it was the stress combined with her hyperacidity, but after a while she realized that it wasn't that. She was no longer busy and she and Ian were currently in a very stable relationship. She wasn't feeling any trauma from the bar incident so it couldn't be that. 

It took her another week before coming to the conclusion that turned out to be true. When she got the results she was shocked. The first person she called was Veronica, who charged into her room and held her while she cried. She and Veronica had been through a lot together and she was the person Nicole would run to whenever she had problems.

"Nicole stop crying." Veronica said as she hugged her friend and rubbed her back to comfort her.

"I just- don't know - how to- feel about this." Nicole said in between sobs. 

"Do you want me to call the other girls?" Veronica asked in a gentle voice.

Nicole slowly nodded as she continued to cry. 

The first person Veronica called was Katerina. She picked up the call despite being in a meeting.

"Hey V. What's up?" Katerina asked.

"Red alert. Come to Nicole's." Veronica said in a rush.

"Got it. I'll just wrap this up." Katerina said as she dropped the call. Katerina had always been the easiest one to drag along, even if she had a court hearing if any of her friends told her it was an emergency she should drop everything and rush to their side. 

The next person Veronica called was Ayanna. When it came to Ayanna a little bit more of an explanation was needed. Veronica spoke so fast that Ayanna didn't catch it the first time. 

"Damnit Ayanna, just come here!" Veronica shouted over the phone. 

She knew Natalia was on the plane going to some secret project for a year so she sent Natalia a message to call as soon as she landed. 

The first to arrive surprisingly was Ayanna. When she got there she found Nicole crying and took her from Veronica's arms. 

"Nicole, Nicole, shhhhh. You're just really emotional right now." Ayanna said as she tried to comfort Nicole.

"I know I am and I hate that I can't control it. I don't know what to do Ayanna. I -" Nicole said but she was cut off when Katerina finally arrived.

"Who are we beating up?" Katerina said as she entered.

"No one. We aren't beating anyone up!" Veronica scolded Katerina.

"Oh, then I'll just tell the boys to go home." Katerina said as she quickly sent a message.

"What's going on?" Katerina asked as she sat on the floor next to Ayanna.

"You didn't tell her?" Nicole said looking up at Veronica.

"You know how Katerina is. If she was in a hearing and I told her she would probably be the next person on trial." Veronica explained.

"So can anyone please tell me now what the red alert was all about?" Katerina asked.

Nicole picked up a white stick and passed it to Katerina.

"Oh my gosh Nicole! Congratulations!" Katerina shouted happily. "We're gonna be aunties!" 

"Ugh Katerina. Be a little bit more sensitive!" Ayanna scolded.

"What? Why? Isn't this good news? Nicole is pregnant." Katerina said with a confused look. "Wait don't tell me Ian isn't the father, or that you don't know who the father is?" Katerina said with hesitation in her tone.

"Of course Ian's the dad. I haven't been with anyone except him." Nicole answered back as she rolled her eyes. For an ace attorney Katerina could be quite slow sometimes.

"So why are you crying?" Katerina asked.

"You know how my family is!" Nicole said as she cried harder.

"Seriously Katerina?" Ayanna said, giving her an annoyed look.

"Nicole, all problems can be solved." Katerina said as she placed a hand on Nicole's knee. 

"What if my family makes me abort the child? I can't." Nicole said as she aggressively shook her head.

"Then don't." Katerina said with a shrug.

"We all know that's not how it works, Katerina. The Chans and the Sebastians are very different." Veronica said, shaking her head. "The Chans are more like the Abads. Nicole has to keep this a secret." 

"And potentially end up like her Uncle Miguel?" Katerina asked. "No way. She needs to stand up to them."

"Katerina, how would your family feel if Alexi got one of his girls pregnant?" Veronica asked Katerina.

"First of all, this is completely different. Secondly, Alexi is extra careful, he makes sure none of them get pregnant. You know as well as I that he is just like that because of Ilya." Katerina argued. 

"Wait!" Ayanna suddenly said in a raised voice. "Does Ian even know about this?" She asked Nicole.

"No." Nicole said in a low voice. She hadn't had the chance to tell him, she didn't know how to tell him. She was afraid of how he would react. She loved him, what if he pushed her away because of this.

"Nicole, Ian deserves to know. He is the child's father." Katerina told Nicole.

"I'm afraid." Nicole answered shyly.

"Nicole, Ian loves you. He will love that child just as much." Veronica told Nicole with a glint of hope in her eyes.

"It will ruin his plans. This baby isn't part of the plan. What if Ian leaves me because of this, what if he doesn't love me anymore because I derailed his life!" Nicole said as she began to cry again.

"Shhh. Nicole don't cry." Ayanna said tenderly to her friend.

"Nicole, Ian wouldn't do that. He is a decent guy." Katerina said calmly.

"I'm sure Ian will be shocked then happy to hear that you're pregnant." Veronica added. "Nicole, he deserves to know."

"How? Do I just call him? Do I go to him? How do I tell him? I don't even know where to start, we take every precaution against this." Nicole said.

"You can start by asking him over." Katerina said as she slowly handed Nicole the phone.

Nicole shook as she dialed Ian's number.

"Hello?" Came Ian's voice from the phone.

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