“Yay! We’re finally home!” Rayanne said with a smile as she let herself in the front door.

“Yup, our home.” Nick smiled back at her.

“I don’t even care who’s home it is right now, I’m just so glad I do not have to sleep in another hotel.” she laughed.

“Welcome to my life for the past 6 years!”

They set their bags down by the kitchen table. Rayanne started plugging things in while Nick sorted through the mail.

“Did you get your address changed on everything yet?” he asked without looking up.

“Yup. I’ve done everything. Well, except get the rest of my stuff.”

“We’ll do that next week or the week after.”

“None of it is stuff I really need, so I don’t care when we go.”

“I’m gonna go grab the rest of the stuff out of the Durango. Throw this away.” he said handing her a huge stack of magazines and mail.

Rayanne disposed of the junk mail while Nick finished unloading their bags. He walked back in through the side door, carrying all the bags at once. He headed down the hall and dropped the bags on their bed.

They rested on the couch for a while, flipping through channels, talking.

“Nick, I’m bored and it’s raining. What can we do tonight?”

“Let’s go get a movie.”

She thought for a minute. “Alright! I want to drive.”

“You’re nuts. I’m driving.”

“What makes you think you get to drive all the time?” she asked raising an eyebrow.

“Because I said so.” He grabbed the keys off the counter. “Let’s go.”

“Fine.” she pouted. “Let’s go.”

“Do you really want to drive?”

“No, I was just being a baby. Let’s go!”

“OK!”

They got in the Durango and headed for Blockbuster, Nick turning on the radio.

“I get to pick out the movie right?” Rayanne turned her head and smiled sweetly at him.

“Yes, you can pick the movie. No sappy ones though! I’ll turn around and walk right back out the door.”

“Yuck. I don’t like those.”

“You don’t? I don’t think I knew that.”

“Not really. My mom used to always make me watch them with her.”

“Lyndsey did that to me too.”

“So, do you want something funny, scary or action?”

“You get to pick.”

“Good.” she smiled. “This is how it always needs to be.”

“I think not!” he laughed.

“We’ll see. Do we have any popcorn?”

“Lots of it.” He pulled into the parking lot and parked as closely as he could.

Rayanne pulled her hood up and ran through the rain into the store. Nick leaned back against the seat and turned the radio up, singing to himself. Rayanne walked around the store, searching for a movie they hadn’t seen.

Nick watched a pair of girls approach the Durango. He sat up and turned the radio down a bit. They walked by slowly, squinting and pointing.

“Man, Ray, hurry up.” he thought to himself.

Rayanne found a movie and paid for it before running back to the Durango through the rain. “You can’t see till we get home.”

“OK.” he laughed.

They drove home, Nick straining to see as the rain got worse. Rayanne leaned her head against the seat, singly softly.

As soon as Nick cut the engine, Rayanne ran inside. “Man, I’m all wet and gross!”

“Let me see the movie now.” He followed her inside, shutting the door and dropping the keys on the counter.

“Will you make me popcorn while I change?” she asked, handing him the movie.

“Yes, I will.”

“Thank you.” she gave him a quick kiss and headed for the bedroom to change into dry clothes.

Nick put a bag of popcorn in the microwave and put the movie in the VCR. When the popcorn was done he put it in a bowl and sat on the couch, waiting for Rayanne.

After she was changed, Rayanne headed for living room, stopping to get something to drink on the way.

She snuggled in close to Nick on the couch. “Share that!”

“Excuse me?” He held the bowl away from her.

She put on a sweet smile. “Can I have some popcorn please?”

“Yeah, here you go.” he said, picking up a handful of popcorn, dropping it on her head.

She turned her head slowly to look at him.

“Aww look! You have dandruff.”

“Not funny. Give me this.” She reached out and took the bowl of popcorn away from him.

“Here, hold this for me.” he said sarcastically.

“No problem. I don’t think you deserve any more food if you’re going to play with it.” She turned to look at him. “Are you going to turn the movie on?”

“You didn’t ask me to. I don’t think you deserve any more if you’re going to snap it from me.” He pointed the remote at the VCR and pushed Play.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Rayanne pushed the popcorn bowl so it was between them. “I want you to have some popcorn.”

“I do not want any now.”

“Alright.”

He put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. “Are you comfortable?”

She leaned her head against his chest. “Very, thank you.”

“Good.” he smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Has the baby been moving a lot?”

“Yeah, it’s all over today. It’s starting to get hard to bend over.” she laughed.

“I’ve noticed.” he returned the laugh.

“At least I’m not sick.” She crinkled her nose. “That would be no good.”

“You’re right there!” he smiled. “You look so cute in those big clothes.”

“Good! I’m glad you think so.”

“You don’t think so?”

“Eh. Some of them are cute, I’m just not used to having this here yet.” she laughed, poking her belly.

“It makes it difficult for both of us, but another four months and it will be gone.”

“That last month is going to be so hard.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“What if you’re not here when I got into labor?”

“Ray, I will be here. I promise.”

“What if it’s early though? You can’t stay home for long if you’re supposed to be gone.”

“I will tell them I can’t be out of town for the end of March and all of April. There’s nothing they can do. I will not go.”

“Thank you.” she said softly, leaning in and kissing his lips gently.

He returned the kiss, taking her hand in his. “I want to be here. And I always get what I want.”

“Oh, do you?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.”

“I bet there will be something you want tonight that you don’t get.” she smirked.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know exactly, but there will be something!”

“If you say so. Since we’re not watching this movie, want me to shut it off?”

“Sure. I forgot we got it.” she laughed.

“How could you? You got wet for this movie!” he laughed and shut off the movie.

“But now I’m all dry and comfy!”

“I’m so glad you’re comfortable.”

“Are you? Or am I hurting you?”

“I’m fine. It’s almost ten, you want to go to bed?”

“Yes, but I don’t think I can move.”

“Aww man! All my stuff is on our bed.”

“Are you gonna clean it off or are we going to be lazy and sleep somewhere else?”

“You stay here and I’ll go get it off.”

“You’re so sweet.” she smiled at him as he got up.

She sat on the couch petting Sunshine while he cleaned off the bed.

“All clean.” he reappeared in the living room. “Come on, I’ll help you up.”

She held her hands out to be helped up just as he held his out for her to take. She let him pull her up, but didn’t let go of his hand right away.

“What am I? Security?” he laughed.

“Yes. There’s no lights on!” she pretended to be afraid and snuggled up to his arm.

“Come on.” he laughed, leading her down the hall.

Rayanne climbed in bed, under the covers, and watched him get ready before climbing in next to her.

”Ooh, give me your hand.” she said holding hers out. “Somebody doesn’t want to sleep!”

He let her put his hand on her belly and felt the baby moving. “I guess not!”

“I think we have a football player.” she laughed.

He laughed, still feeling. “As long as he makes it to the pros.”

“And what if it’s a girl?”

“Then she still better make it to the pros.”

“She will.” she smiled. “Right now I just wish she’d sleep.”

“Are you that tired?”

“No, it just gets a little uncomfortable sometimes.” she explained. “My back is sore, will you rub it?”

“Yeah, roll on your side.” She rolled over as instructed and felt Nick’s hands on her bare back. “You’ve got a lot of knots in there.”

“I do? It’s sore down near the bottom. It feels like I’ve been lifting something all day.”

“It’s probably from walking around airports all day.”

“Man, I’m so glad we’re home.”

“Me too.” He stopped rubbing. “Feel better?”

“Yes. Thank you.” she rolled over and kissed the tip of his nose. “Want me to do you now?”

“No, you just relax. I’m sure this day took a bigger toll on you than it did me.”

She smiled and closed her eyes. “I’m not really tired.”

“Neither am I. I just thought this would be more comfortable.”

“It is.”

“Good.” he propped himself up on one elbow. “What do you want to do tomorrow? Anything?”

“Yeah.” she opened her eyes and rolled onto her back. “Let me think.”

“Don’t think too hard.” he grinned.

“I want to go to Busch Gardens, but I can’t go on anything.”

“What else do you want to do?”

“Something. I don’t want to stay home.”

“We could take the boat out.”

“OK! Can we go down to the Keys, or is that too far?”

“I’m not sure if the boat is set for a trip like that. It hasn’t been out in a while, but I’ll check in the morning and see.”

“Alrighty. It’d be fun to go out tomorrow either way.”

“I haven’t taken you down there yet, have I?”

“No. I’ve never been there ever.”

“You’ll have fun. Since we have nothing going on these next couple of days, what do you say we pack and make a weekend of it?”

Rayanne’s face lit up. “Sounds like fun! Are we going to leave early?”

Nick smiled back at her. “We’ll trailer down to Apollo. We’ll leave around ten.”

“I’m excited. I always have fun with you.” she laughed.

“I’m glad.” he laughed back at her. “I always have fun with you too.”

“You better!”

“I do.”

“Good. I’d like to have some fun with you right now.” she flashed him a smile.

“What kind of fun?” he asked innocently.

“Hmm, let’s see. We could play a game, or watch that movie...or, I could do this.” She scootched herself closer to him and tickled his lips with the end of her tongue.

She felt his lips curl into a smile. “I kinda like that. But what game would we play?”

“Hmm...” she thought. “I didn’t have any specific game planned, I didn’t think you’d be interested in the game.” she laughed.

“Yeah, I think I like your other idea better.” he smiled and did it back to her.

“Mmm, yeah, I liked this idea better too.”

He stopped tickling and kissed her fully. “Did you like that?”

“I more than liked that.” she laughed.

“Hmmm.” He kissed her neck. “How about that?”

“I love that.”

“How about...this?” He reached down between her legs, inserting his fingers slowly, kissing her softly on the lips.

“Mmm, that feels good.” She took him in her hand and stroked slowly. “How about that?”

“Oh you know I like that.”

“And this?” She kissed his lips, parting them with her tongue.

“Ray...”

“Yeah?” she pulled away from him slightly.

“That feels good.” He played with her clit, still kissing her lips.

“Good.” she said, almost unable to speak.

“You want more than this? I know I do.”

“I want you.” she smiled.

“Good.”

She kissed him once more, making her way from his lips, down his neck to his chest. She played with his nipples with the tip of her tongue, kissing down his stomach, past his bellybutton. She ran her fingers lightly over his hipbone and thighs.

“Ray...you’re teasing.”

“Does it matter if you get what you want?”

He picked his head up and looked at her. “You want it too.”

“Yes, I do, and I’m savoring every minute of this.”

“I can tell!”

She went back to kissing down his stomach, taking him back in her hand. He let out a small moan as she slowly brought his tip to her lips, parting them and sliding him into her mouth.

“Oh yeah. Ray that feels so good.”

She took him further into her mouth, slipping her tongue down the side. She ran her hands gently up his legs.

“Oh God Rayanne.”

She went down once more, taking him in more, before pulling away and climbing back up and kissing him fully on the mouth, caressing his tongue with hers.

He rolled over, so he was partially on top of her. Scootching down her body, he left a trail of kisses all over. She moaned softly as he spread her legs, blowing softly before teasing her clit with his tongue. She grabbed the sheets, clenching her hands around them, pulling. He parted her lips with his fingers and slid his tongue in slowly, tasting her juices.

“Mmm, Nick.” She arched her back slightly.

He looked up at her. “Like that?”

She closed her eyes and nodded. “Mhmmm.”

He smiled and continued, playing with her clit, inserting his fingers, feeling her insides.

“God...”

He slid back up and kissed her neck, sucking gently while she ran her fingers through his hair. He kissed her softly, sliding his tongue past her lips, then pulled away.

“I want you so bad.”

She kissed him back, slowly moving to his ear. “I want you too.” she whispered.

He smiled, gently directing himself inside her. “How’s that?”

“Perfect.” she said softly, pulling on his back.

“You’re so warm.” he whispered.

“You feel so good.” He leaned down and kissed her neck, concentrating on spot, sucking gently. He pulled himself out of her and rubbed along her outsides. He pulled away to watch her face. “Awful.” she said with a small smile.

“What?”

“Come here.” she said, pulling him back inside her.

He eased himself in and out of her before rolling her on top of him.

*Ring, Ring*

Rayanne glanced at the phone next to the bed.

“Don’t answer it.” Nick instructed her.

“I didn’t plan on it.” She moved herself around on him.

*Ring, Ring*

She leaned down and kissed his lips softly, running her hands down his sides.

*Ring, Ring*

They ignored the phone as it rang a fourth time, and a fifth.

“Damn it, that’s distracting.”

“Hello?” Rayanne answered, slightly disgusted.

“Rayanne?”

“Yeah...” she said, not recognizing the voice.

“This is Lyndsey. Is Nick there?” she asked sheepishly.

“Um...yeah, but he’s kinda busy. Can you call back?”

She paused for a moment. “Well...yeah, I guess...”

“Well, is it important or something?”

“Not exactly, I just haven’t talked to him in a long time and I thought I’d call.”

“OK, then you can call back.”

“How busy is he?” she asked quietly. “This is long distance, ya know.”

“He’s in the middle of doing something, I’d kind of like him to finish.”

“Let her talk to him for a minute before she drives me insane!” Brian yelled in the background.

“Brian, shut your trap!” she yelled to Brian. “I guess I can call back.” she said to Rayanne, sounding slightly sad.

“Are you sure nothing’s wrong?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I guess he’s not in the middle of anything anymore, so you can talk to him.”

“Thanks.”

“Yup.” She held the phone out to Nick, covering it with her hand. “It’s Lyndsey.” She got off him, laying next to him on the bed.

“Really?” he asked taking the phone. “Lyn?”

“Hey.”

“What’s up?”

“Nothing. I just haven’t talked to you in forever and I wanted to say ‘hi’. So how have you been?”

“Pretty good, how about you?”

“I’m doing great!”

“I’m glad to hear that.” he smiled.

“So what have you been up to?”

“Nothing exciting, loving life in Kentucky!” she laughed.

“Oh, I can hear the love.” he laughed, hearing Brian in the background.

“Yup, me and BLT are having fun while he’s home! How about you? Anything exciting to share with me?”

“Well, actually...” He glanced at Rayanne.

“What?” she mouthed to him.

“We’re going to be parents.”

She spoke slowly. “You...and Rayanne?”

“Yeah!” he said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Oh. Well...congratulations then.”

“Well God Lyn, don’t say it unless you mean it.”

“Well, I’m happy for you if you’re happy, it’s just a big thing to hear.”

“Good, because I am happy. We both to are.”

“How come nobody told me before?”

“I have no idea why nobody told you. I figured they would.”

“Well they didn’t.”

“Well I’m sorry.”

“Calling would have been different if I had known.”

“Why would it have been different?”

“I just could have been prepared to know exactly how serious this thing with Rayanne is. I had no idea, that’s all.”

“I would have thought you’d know when you heard she moved in with me.”

“Well, now see, I didn’t know that either.”

“OK...”

“I was under the small misconception that there may still have been a chance for us. Sometime.”

He sat up on the bed. “Lyndsey...”

“Nick.”

“You know I care about you. You were a big part of my life...but...things have changed. We have changed.”

“Were.” she repeated quietly.

He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “You still are. But you...I’m not sure what I’m trying to say.”

“Well, if you don’t know what you want to say, maybe you’re not so sure how you feel.”

“Maybe, MAYBE if Ray hadn’t gotten pregnant...maybe there would have been this small chance for us again. But the fact is...I love her. And we’re going to have a baby.”

Rayanne glanced over at Nick. He saw her and shook his head, telling her to wait.

“I don’t know what to say Nick. I can’t think about maybe’s.”

“I’m sorry Lyn.”

“So am I.”

“I want us to be friends.”

She paused. “So do I.”

“Can we? Or will it be to hard?”

“I want you in my life Nick. If this is how it has to be, then I’m going to do it.”

“Good. I want more than anything for you to remain part of my life.”

“How long has she lived there?”

“Not long. A few weeks.”

“When did you find out about the baby?”

“I found out when I went to see her after she left the tour.”

“Did she know already?”

“No.”

“Bri’s going down in a couple weeks to take care of some business. Maybe I’ll come.”

“That would be nice. I’d like to see you.”

“I’m glad. I’d like to see you too. I guess I can let you get back to whatever you were doing.”

“Well, I think that’s pretty much out of the question for the night.”

“Why is that?”

“Because it just is.” he laughed.

“OK.” she said with a small laugh. “Well, Bri and I are gonna watch a movie.”

“What movie?”

“The Sixth Sense.”

“That’s a good movie.”

“I’ve never seen it.”

“You’ll like it.”

She smiled on her end of the phone. “You know me well enough to know.”

“Yeah, well, you know.”

“COME ON! Tell Nicky you gotta go already!” Brian yelled.

“I guess I should go, he’ll beat me if I don’t hurry.”

“Yeah you better before he does something evil to you in your sleep.” he laughed.

“Alright.” she laughed lightly. “I love you Nick.”

He paused for a moment. “Right back at ya.”

“OK, I guess maybe I’ll see you in a couple weeks.”

“You will as long as you come down with B. Talk to you later.”

“Bye Nick.”

“Bye.”

“He hung up the phone and set it on the bed next to him.

“What was that all about?” Rayanne asked, rolling on her side, propping her head up.

He took a deep breath before answering. “Something I never expected.” He leaned back on the bed.

“Which is?”

“Well, she started out fine...then...don’t get mad! Promise?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Just tell me. And I’ll promise to try.”

“Then she found out the baby...I feel bad. She thought there was a chance for her and I still. She cares about me more than I ever thought.”

“And just MAYBE if I hadn’t gotten pregnant, she could be right, huh?”

“NO. That is not what I meant. I was trying to make her feel better.”

“Well giving her false hope might not be the way to go about that.”

“She didn’t know about anything, Ray! Nobody told her a thing, she was completely clueless. I had to say something.”

“I feel bad she didn’t know anything, but that doesn’t mean...nevermind. Is she coming here or something?”

“She might come down with Brian in a couple weeks.”

“Oh fun.”

“Rayanne!”

“Nickolas! I said it sounds like it’ll be FUN.”

“Like you meant it.”

“It probably won’t be fun for me, but I’m sure for everyone else it will.”

“Well, I hope you can have fun. Because we’re friends, and we’re going to remain that way.”

“Which...this I don’t want to talk about. I don’t care that she’s coming, and I’m glad you can still be friends.”

“Good...now where did we leave off?” He leaned in and kissed her gently. She kissed him back a little before pulling away. “What?” He looked at her, confused.

“Sorry.” she said with a small smile. “I’m kinda not in the mood anymore.”

“Oh...OK.” He laid back against the pillows.

“I’m sorry babe.” she said with a yawn.

“It’s OK, I’ll get you back.”

“Get me back, huh?”

“Yup.” He flashed her a cheesy grin.

“So, you’re saying you think you’re going to say ‘no’ to me?” she asked, raising her eyebrow.

“You’ll never know how I get you back. It could be saying ‘no’, and it could be me just doing something to to. But you’ll never know.” he said with a huge smile.

“I’ll have to be on constant watch for a while.” she laughed.

“I might even wait two years to get you back.”

“And I’m so sure in two years you’re going to remember what’s happening right now.”

“I will. Don’t you worry.”

“Are we still taking the boat to the Keys for the weekend?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. I’m excited.”

“Me too! What do you want to do there?”

“I don’t’ care. Anything that doesn’t involve sleeping in a hotel and being around a thousand people. There’s going to be a lot of people there, huh? I hope they don’t think I’m just fat.” she smiled.

“They won’t think you’re fat.”

“I hope they know I’m pregnant, I want everyone to know I’m having your baby.”

He looked at her and laughed. “I’m sure they’ll realize. I’ll give you a choice.” he said, still looking at her.

“OK...”

“Boat or waverunners?”

She thought for a minute before answering. “Boat.”

“OK.”

“Are you gonna ask the neighbors to watch the dogs?”

“I’m not sure. I thought maybe we could bring them. They don’t get to leave the house much.”

“It would be fun to bring them.”

“They like boat rides anyway.”

“So do I.” she smiled.

Nick smiled a smile that turned into a yawn. She snuggled in closer to him. “Look at that, all tired. And you wanted to have sex.” she laughed.

“I’m always awake enough for sex. You should know that.”

“Yeah, I guess I did know that.” She layed her head on his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head. “You’re so warm.”

“So are you.” she said, starting to fall asleep.

“The baby’s moving. I can feel it.” he laughed.

“Neat, isn’t it?”

“What does it feel like to you?”

“Probably like it does to you, but it’s inside so it feels really strong like. I can feel it all over in there.”

“Sounds cool!”

“It is.” she said with a small laugh. “When we go to the Doctor, do you want to know if it’s a boy or girl?”

“I’m not sure. Do you?”

“Right now I don’t think I do. But I change my mind a lot.”

“Then we won’t find out.”

“If you want to when the time comes, I’d like you do tell me.”

“OK, I’ll tell you.”

“Good. I’ll kick your ass if you don’t.”

“I’m about sure you will!”

“I would right now but my foot is comfortable.” She reached her arm around and slapped his butt. “There, I slapped it instead.”

“Thanks babe.” he laughed. “I needed that.”

“I know you love it when I do that.” she laughed.

“Give me a kiss.” She picked her head up and gave him a soft kiss. “Thank you. I feel better now.”

She looked over his face and smiled at him before laying her head back down on his chest, feeling him yawn again. She took his hand in hers. “Can I have this when I sleep tonight?”

“I think I can arrange that.”

“Good.” She brought his hand to her and kissed it, laying both of their hands on his stomach. “I love you.”

“Quit lyin’.” he chuckled and closed his eyes. She smiled to herself, and five minutes later they were both asleep.