Ned was in the middle of one of his favorite dreams. Nancy was flush with joy over the successful conclusion of a case, and Ned had been instrumental in helping nab the culprit; the scene had immediately shifted to the two of them in bed, wrapped around each other, with Nancy telling him how wonderful and helpful he had been, how much she loved him, how much she loved this.
And while a distant part of him knew it was only a dream, God, it felt good. His perceptions seemed to slow, to savor her and this, and she was eager, willing, warm. It was perfect. He moved over her and the dream version of her cried out in delight at his next thrust. "So good, baby, so good," she told him breathlessly, and the expression on her face, in her beautiful blue eyes, was aglow with love.
It wasn't that they didn't have this relationship while he was awake, but Ned couldn't deny it was a high like no other. Sharing in her triumph was almost a delicacy, an extravagance, rare and fragile and fierce, overwhelming but fleeting. Her hips bucked under his and she grinned before moaning again, and his sudden visceral longing to really experience this made it all the more intense.
She had screamed his name at the height of her climax, and now they were tangled together, panting, damp with sweat. He could feel her breath against his chest, and she clung to him, her thighs slick, her parted lips a sweet nuzzling over his skin.
"Ned," she murmured.
"Yes, love," he replied.
"I'm so sorry."
A thrill of fear passed through him. "What? What's going on?"
She buried her head against him. "I... have this craving. Will you...?"
Of course she was pregnant. His brain filled that in for him and he accepted it instantly, stroking her back. He would be a father! "Anything, baby. What do you want?"
She took a deep breath and moved back to look into his eyes. "Olives."
Ned recoiled from her. Where their skin had met and shared warmth, he felt a chill at their parting. "What?"
She shrugged, apologetic, lashes low. "I don't understand it either."
"Is the baby mine?"
"Of course it is!" Tears welled up in Nancy's eyes. "How could you even say that?"
"How could you want—" His mouth twisted in revulsion, and he gave up even trying to form the word. "That."
"I didn't ask for a human heart."
"I'd understand that more easily!"
Nancy sat up with a pout. "So you don't want to be with me."
Ned sat up too and threw up his hands. "Not anymore!"
The shock and pain of it was enough to cast him out of the dream, and Ned opened his eyes in the darkness, rolling over to grab his phone before he was even aware of it. He almost hesitated before tapping Nancy's number, but not long enough to stop himself.
She groaned as she picked up on the third ring, just before he was about to give up. "Baby, what's wrong?"
"Are you pregnant?"
Nancy sucked in a startled breath. When she spoke again, she sounded much more awake. "God, I hope not," she replied. "What the fuck?"
"I just had a dream that you... were pregnant and had a craving for olives."
Nancy paused. "So a nightmare, then."
Ned chuckled as he relaxed back onto his pillow. "I guess so. I mean..."
"Well, I literally just finished my period, since you're quasi-asking, so that wasn't some prediction for today. And while I've never been pregnant, and I've heard that pregnant women have really weird cravings, I can't imagine craving olives."
Ned sighed. "Good."
Nancy laughed. "That really shook you up, huh?"
"In the dream I actually asked if the baby was mine."
Nancy laughed heartily at that. "Oh, poor baby," she crooned in mock sympathy. "No. What did you call them that one time? 'LEGO tires marinated in brine'?"
"Yep."
"So I can't imagine the two of us creating a child who would want that, even to try it out in utero, but I suppose stranger things have happened." She paused. "I wonder why that came up in your dream."
Ned shook his head. "'A bit of undigested potato,'" he replied.
She chuckled. "As good an excuse as any."
"I miss you."
"I miss you too, babe. I wish you were here."
"Me too. Before everything turned bad in the dream, I was helping you with your case, and we had 'yay you solved it' sex."
"The best kind," Nancy chuckled. "We should definitely arrange to have some of that, ASAP."
Now that the wave of adrenaline had worn off, Ned felt more exhausted than ever. He closed his eyes, snuggling back under the blankets. "I'm sorry I woke you up for that."
She smothered a huge yawn. "It's all right," she told him. "I mean, you know I'm gonna tease you about it now."
"As long as you don't, like, pretend to—ugh—eat olives in front of me, or anything."
"Babe, I feel the same way about them you do. That's not gonna happen." She paused. "But... if I were to be pregnant, that baby would definitely be yours. You know that." She said it with the faintest lilt at the end, the barest hint of a question.
"I do."
"Good." She made a soft sound of pleasure as she likely snuggled deeper into her own bed, and Ned's body responded eagerly to the sound. He loved being the cause of it. "Because there's no one else in the world I'd rather be my child's father."
Ned smiled. "Yes," he murmured.
She chuckled. "Go back to sleep," she said softly. "Everything's fine. I'll see you again soon. I love you."
"I love you so much."
"Dream about happier things. Dream about me craving peanut butter fudge ripple ice cream instead."
Ned chuckled. "Well, now I'm craving that."
"Soon, baby." Her voice was soft and soothing. "Good night, honey."
"Good night."