"You know I'll agree with whatever makes you happy."

She waited until he was out of the room before picking up her phone. Sydney would always be a sticky subject for them. She still didn't understand why after all these years Angel could possibly be insecure about this. She hadn't even seen Sydney in over a year. Sighing, she read the text and smiled.

He's single now and he has no one but Sarah to entertain him? A married w AA marriedoman whose husband has never made it a secret that their relationship is not one that thrills him? How stupid was this guy?

Romero and Isabel walked in. They came up to Angel and Isabel hugged him. "I thought you said Manny and Max were coming too?"

"They are." Romero said. "They're on their way."

Angel showed them to one of his bigger tables. "I'll go get a waiter."

Isabel took a seat but Romero followed him. Angel didn't need to go too far. Raul was already on his way to their table.

"Izzy just order me the usual. I'll be right there." He turned back to Angel. "So you want them?"

Angel stopped. "Yeah, Sarah says she wants to go."

Romero pulled them out of his pocket and handed him the tickets. He started going on about how great the seats were and he was supposed to go with Alex but the twins were under the weather and neither he nor Valerie wanted to leave them. Angel took a few steps away from the table where Isabel sat, hoping Romero wouldn't hear Raul doing his usual flirting.

"And get this. Manny's friend will be able to get tickets if they go to the World Series."

Just then Raul laughed and so did Isabel. Romero stopped and glanced back at them taking in Raul from top to bottom. He glanced back at Angel. "New waiter?"

"Yeah, just started couple of weeks ago." Angel took a deep breath as Raul started his usual, 'you look so familiar' routine.

The table covered Isabel's swollen belly so there was no way Raul could tell he was flirting with a pregnant woman. And the last time the whole gang had been together, Sarah had had to endure Valerie, Isabel and Grace complain about their pregnancy woes. One of which was Isabel saying she couldn't wear her wedding ring anymore because her fingers kept swelling up.

"So the World Series uh?"

Romero turned back to Angel and Angel could see Raul had already struck a nerve with him. Before Romero could answer Raul continued.

"It must be that sweet smile."

Though Romero had gotten better about his temper, he still annoyed easily especially when it came to his Izzy. "Is this guy for real?" he said, glaring at Raul.

Thankfully Raul walked away from the table just then right past Angel and Romero who stared him down hard.

"Relax he does that with everyone." Angel smirked trying to soften the moment but Romero wasn't smiling. "I'll go get your drinks."

Angel hurried back to the bar area where Raul was waiting on Romero and Isabel's drinks. "What's that guy's problem?"

"That was his pregnant wife you were just flirting with, you idiot. Will you stop laying on the flirting shit so thick and just take orders like a normal waiter?" Angel reached for the tray with the two drinks for Romero and Isabel. "I got this, and have Julie take over this table."

A="0">.

"Are you serious?" Raul chuckled.

Angel shot him a look and Raul lifted his hands. "All right. But don't you think that's kind of stupid to go all cave man over something so small. I complimented his wife. He should be flattered."

"Yeah, well he wasn't."

After dropping off the drinks then the tray back at the bar Angel headed to back room lost in thought. He thought about Raul's comment. Was it stupid for Romero to get so worked up so easily? In the middle of that thought he walked into the back room where Sarah was laughing reading her text. Immediately the annoyance he'd felt earlier was back doubled. "What's so funny?"

She seemed startled but attempted to play it off and shook her head. "Sydney."

"Really? What about him?" Angel wasn't so sure what pissed him off more. The fact that Sarah could smile so brightly over something Sydney texted her or that they'd obviously been texting all this time.

"He had sent a text earlier saying it should be illegal for some people to wear flip flops. Then just now he sent a picture he took of the guy's feet he was talking about." She put her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. "His toes are all nasty and hairy."

Angel couldn't even force a smile. "How long has he been stuck at the airport?"

"I don't know-couple of hours I think," she said, still smiling.

"And he's been texting you all this time?" Angel opened the back cabinet to put on a baseball cap with the restaurant's logo.

He glanced back at her. The smile was gone. "No he hasn't, Angel. I said he'd sent me that text about the guys feet earlier. I got caught up with what I was doing I hadn't even responded just now when I got the picture."

"I was just asking a question, Sarah. No need to get all defensive."

"I'm not getting defensive."

Angel put the cap on and hurried to the door. "All right you're not." He stalked out before he blew up. Fuck! He was better than this. It was stupid to go all cave man on her but he couldn't help it.

Luckily Romero flagged him down as soon as he saw him. Manny, Aida and Max were sitting with them now.

"I wasn't there," Manny said as Angel walked up to their table was. "But this guy was. Hey, Angel, tell Izzy about the time Romero burned his eyebrow off trying to light that bonfire at the beach. You should've seen him," Manny turned back to Isabel. "And then he wouldn't shave off the other one so he wouldn't look so stupid with only one eyebrow so he walked around for weeks like this." Manny covered one eyebrow with his finger and wheezed in laughter. Aida snorted and Romero rolled his eyes. After a few minutes with those guys, Angel snapped out of his mood-a little.

CHAPTER 3.

The doctor had confirmed what they already knew. Sarah was pregnant. With the twelve week mark long behind them now everyone knew and they'd even made it through the not so wonderful part of being pregnant-the first trimester.

It hadn't actually been too bad. The physical symptoms weren't nearly as bad as the raging hormones. Sarah cried at the drop of a pin, and even though it didn't annoy Angel nearly as much as it bothered him, he'd always hated to see her cry, Sarah admitted she was getting on her own nerves.

Understandably even Angel had gotten choked up when they first heard the heartbeat. But weeks later Angel's heart nearly stopped when she suddenly jerked awake in the middle of the night only to tell him she'd felt the baby move. That was just the beginning. A few weeks later the leg cramps in the middle of the night started; the first was the scariest. She yelped in pain nearly stopping is heart again and when he got the light on he saw her leg in the air.

"Cramp!" Was the only thing she said. Her agonized expression told him the rest. Luckily, both Isabel and Grace had recently mentioned this. Both Sal and Romero had had to come to their rescue by massaging down the cramped area so Angel jumped on it, attacking that cramped muscle on her leg like it was the enemy. He massaged with conviction glancing back as his poor wife as her expression slowly soothed.

After that he had it down. The moment it hit again he didn't even have to turn on the lights. Though the amount of times it happened decreased once they looked into what was needed to avoid them. As much as Angel had prayed Sarah would finally be pregnant he never imagined it would be so nerve wracking, until things took a completely unexpected turn.

All this time Angel had searched online for things like morning sickness remedies, mood swings and how the hell to fix it. He'd never taken into consideration some of the more pleasant side effect of pregnancies. At first he didn't think much of it. Three nights in a row Sarah had attacked him before he even tried to make a move and then woke the next morning in the mood again.

He sat in the back finishing up the schedules for the next week when Sarah walked into the back room with a wicked smile on her face and her green eyes smoldered.

He couldn't help smiling. "What?"

"We have that call to take remember?" she said, locking the door behind her.

He thought about it for a second as she walked to him. "What call?"

"You know. The one I just told everyone we'd be on for a while."

> She straddled him, rubbing him in just a way that had him stirring in his pants at once. "Baby, what are you-"

Her kiss was so frenzied it made his legs weak but other parts went solid immediately. His arms wrapped around her and stroked her back as her hands held his face. Angel hadn't felt this damn excited since they'd found out she was pregnant and he'd been so focused on her well being-both physical and emotional.

Her hands came down to his pants, undoing his button and unzipping him, then she stood just long enough for him to pull them down. For a split second he actually considered objecting, they were in the restaurant and employees were just outside the door, but that passed real quick. He hadn't even thought about it until then that Sarah wore a skirt. She rarely wore skirts to work. His eyes opened wide and he looked up at her. "Did you plan this?"

Her only response: a big sexy smile, as she slipped her panties off from under her skirt, making his heart beat even more wildly. She made her way on to his lap again, staring deep into his eyes as she sat down slowly and he slipped right in.

Wrapping her arms around his neck she began to ride him. Angel tried but couldn't help groaning.

"Shhh," she said, but even that was strained. Her own breathing was labored now.

They kissed, their rhythm, long ago perfected though right now, Sarah couldn't seem to get enough; sucking his tongue, then his lips, as she began riding him faster and harder. She lifted her feet off the floor and he went even deeper. Sarah moaned, pulling away from his lips and burying her face in neck as she began to pant and he felt her unmistakable trembling.

Angel brought his hands down to her legs and squeezed her soft thighs just as her panting got a little louder. He felt her squeeze around him and the oh so familiar wet signs that she was just about there when she licked his neck and he was a goner.

He squeezed his eyes shut as he pushed up into her as deep as he could and felt her nails dig into his shoulders. They sat there for a few moment, breathing hard without saying anything before Angel reached for the apron he'd taken off earlier and thrown onto the other chair.

Sarah finally pulled away from his neck and faced him. He smirked. "What's gotten into you lately?" Then added quickly. "Not that I'm complaining."

She shrugged and if he wasn't mistaken his pregnant wife who was still straddling him in broad daylight in the back room of their restaurant, where their employees were just on the other side of a wall, and this was all her idea-was blushing. He had to laugh and he kissed her. "You're amazing. Whatever it is. I just want you to know I'm loving it. And if this has something to do with you being pregnant and somehow makes life easier for you. I'm willing to take one for the team every time the mood strikes." He leaned his forehead against hers. "I mean that."

She giggled, kissing him back. Once she left the room he looked up, increased sexual drive during pregnancy. Bingo. He was right. First thing he looked for was how long it lasts. It was about time one of these pregnancy side effects went his way and he was going to make the most of it. He couldn't believe some idiot husbands were actually complaining about it in some of the discussion boards. Angel was already shifting in his pants just thinking about what he was in for tha Q in for tt night. He smiled when he read one woman mention it only intensified as her due date got closer.

Of the five babies due all that same year, baby Vivianna had been the first to arrive. She was a chubby little thing with a ton of hair just like her mommy. Grace named her after the mother she'd never met. Sal couldn't be happier about his little princess and Sarah loved going over to hold the newborn. She could hardly wait to hold her own.

Next came Amanda Romero. Unlike Vivianna, Amanda was born with virtually no hair and Manny told everyone that listened that just like her daddy, Mandy would probably be bald as an egg for the whole first year of her life.

Surprisingly since Isabel had to have a C-section and had limited physical capabilities for the first week Romero became Super Dad. The man once terrified-of-even-holding a baby was now doing it all. Even with her sisters and mom offering to help he insisted he could do it, telling everyone "I got this." And he certainly proved he did.

Then came baby Alex. Even though he'd weighed more at birth than both twins put together Valerie was so relieved she didn't have to deal with another set of twins. And the twins were eager to help out with everything that had to be done with their little brother. Well, everything except change his "stinky diapuh."

Sofia and Sarah were the only two left still waiting but Sofia was due first. She had less than two weeks to go while Sarah was only in her thirty third week. Unlike Sofia, who knew she was having a girl, Sarah and Angel wanted to be surprised. Though she was dying to know she wanted to wait until that beautiful moment in the delivery room she'd dreamt so often of when they told her what she'd had and she finally got to hold her baby.

Though her pregnancy thus far had gone pretty smoothly they'd had a few instances where Sarah had panicked because it'd been too long since she last felt the baby move. She'd called the doctor who advised her to drink something really cold and lie on her side. She didn't think it would actually work but she did as she was told and several minutes later after feeling the baby jolt she felt incredibly guilty that she'd woken him or her that way.

Angel didn't want her working full shifts at the restaurant anymore. He preferred to know she was home resting and staying safe. He wasn't thrilled about her driving around too much anymore either. Even a fender bender might do her some harm and he said there was no sense in taking chances. So Sarah wasn't going very far on her own these days.

That morning she'd gone to her mom's for breakfast and now she was going to put a few hours in at the restaurant and then head home early. She was beginning to feel more and more tired now that she was getting bigger and it was starting to affect how comfortable she could get at night to sleep.

She'd just stepped out of her car in the parking lot when she heard him. "Lynni!"

Her heart leaped as she turned and saw Sydney step out of a cab. They rushed to each other and hugged. He picked her up off the ground, laughing. "God, this is perfect timing."

They moved out of the way to let a car that had pulled into the parking lot go by. Raul waved as he drove by but looked at her a little weird. She turned back to Sydney. Her once-chubby childhood friend had grown into a rugged, handsome man. He'd let his hair grow out a little and he had a five o'clock shadow but not like he'd forgotten to shave. It was too clean like he was wearing it that way on purpose and it suited him. "What are you doing here? How come you didn't tell me you'd be coming?"

"I wasn't," he said looking her up and down. "I just had a stop here between flights and I took a chance. I actually gotta get back; my flight leaves in less than an hour. I knew it was a long shot that I might actually catch you here, but I'm so glad I did. Wow." He rubbed her belly. "Look at you, Lynn. You're absolutely stunning."

She smiled, placing her hand over his and pulled it to the side of her belly. "Feel."

His eyes opened wide as the baby tapped the side. "He or she's been very active this morning."

Sydney's bright smile softened a bit. "I still can't believe you're going to be a mommy soon."

"I know." She slipped her hand in his. "Can you come in and have something to eat?"

"No, sweetie. I gotta go. This," he gestured back to the waiting cab, "is crazy! I did this on a whim. Hopped in a cab and kept my fingers crossed that I might find you here. So when we pulled up and I saw you getting out of the car I nearly jumped out before it even stopped."

Sarah laughed then pouted. "So you really have to go now?"

He pouted too and nodded. "But I'll be sure to make it a point to come out just to see you-hang out for a few days. Maybe after the baby is born. It's ridiculous that we've let this much time go by without visiting each other."

"It is." She agreed. "You have to come back when the baby is born."

"I will. I promise." He looked at his watch and frowned. "I gotta go. I'm so glad I got to see you." He hugged her again holding her for a bit and she took in the smell of him. It brought back so many memories. He pulled away and smiled. "I've missed you."

"I miss you too."

He kissed her hand then rubbed her belly again. "I love you, Sydney." The words just came out. She hadn't realized how much she missed him until she saw him.

"I love you, too." He promised he'd be back soon before saying his final goodbye and walking back to the cab. She watched and waved as it drove away, memories of running with him and their long ago lengthy chats on the phone danced in her head. Years of her life that seemed at times now gone, almost as if they never were. She walked through the parking lot lost in thought.

It happened so fast, she never even saw the concrete parking block she tripped on, before she could even try to break her fall, she hit the ground on her side hard.

CHAPTER 4.

A.S.A.P.