Baby and Me:

Section 12

"Oh, brother. You've got to be kidding me."

Nick smiled as he looked down at Paige who was laying comfortably in his arms. He couldn't believe she was here with him. She was so perfect and, as much as it scared him, he knew how easily he could fall in love with her. He'd never had a woman stay up with him until four in the morning, just sitting on the couch and watching incredibly cheesy action movies on cable TV.

He knew she was exhausted. They'd had an incredibly long weekend. First, making the trip from Florida to LA the day before. Traveling in and of itself is tiring enough, let alone with two children. Tonight they'd gone to an extensively long award ceremony and afterward an after party. Now, it was past four in the morning and she was still there. He'd asked her countless times if he should let her go to bed and she kept saying she didn't want to leave. It made his heart beat faster.

Would they see each other again? The only reason they had been hanging out with one another was because they'd been set up to go to the award show together and they'd thought it would be good to get to know each other beforehand. Now, there really was no excuse to do things together. Of course... Zack and Natalia had hit it off quite nicely.

No, Nick, he silently scolded himself. You cannot use your son to get a woman.

"What are you thinking about?" Paige asked and Nick realized she'd been watching him instead of the movie.

He looked down at her and noticed that when their heads were turned as they were, their faces were no more than a couple of inches apart. "Ummm... I don't remember."

"Sure you don't," Paige grinned and playfully ruffled his hair. "Typical guy answer."

The funny thing was, he really didn't remember. All it took for him to forget even something so simple as his phone number, was for Paige to look at him the way she had been all night. He'd felt like a bumbling idiot at the award ceremony, at the after party, and now... all because when she looked at him, she made him forget who he was, where he was from, and why he was where he was.

"Are you okay?"

Nick opened his mouth to speak but couldn't find anything to say. Her question was a whisper and it made Nick feel as though he was the only person in the world Paige wanted to hear her. Nevermind the fact that nobody else was in the room.

"Nick?"

Say something, you idiot!

"What is wrong with you?"

Oh gosh, her laugh made him want to kiss her so badly. Now, her hand was on his forehead feeling for any sign of a fever. He pushed at her arm and she immediately withdrew her hand.

"I'm fine." Nick smiled reassuringly, but his smile didn't reach his eyes.

He felt so lonely all of a sudden. She was here with him now, but he knew that in a few hours they'd both be on an airplane home. He was worried that the next time he would see her would be at the next award ceremony, and by then, he would just be a face in the crowd to Paige Alexis.

"Paige?"

"Yeah, Nick?"

Gosh, he wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her so badly. He wanted to say that he was afraid he'd never see her again, that he'd really love to continue their relationship, that he could see them being something really special one day, that when she was in his arms he didn't want to let her go.

"Nick?"

He couldn't do it.

"Nevermind," he whispered. And with that, he turned back to the movie on TV and the moment was lost.

The next day was a blur. Nick and Paige were both so exhausted that they slept through the entire plane ride home, extremely glad that Emma was also on the plane to watch Zack and Natalia. By the time the plane had landed, Nick still hadn't gotten the chance to talk to her. He couldn't believe he'd slept for so long. But he and Paige hadn't gone to bed until four thirty that morning. He was beyond exhausted. Looking at her as they got off of the airplane, he could tell she was just as tired as he was.

As they drove home, the truck was silent except for the music playing quietly from the radio. Zack and Natalia were fast asleep in their car seats in the back, as was Emma, sitting in-between them. Nick thought Paige had fallen asleep, too, when all of a sudden she turned in her seat and smiled up at him.

"I thought you were asleep," Nick said, looking startled.

"No," she laughed.

"Why are you smiling at me?"

"I don't know. I tend to do that a lot when I'm with you. You're like a happy pill or something."

Nick laughed. "You're comparing me to drugs?"

Paige ignored his comment, leaning forward and turning the radio off. "I just wanted to say thanks," she smiled again. "This weekend was great and I know that I owe that to you. Thanks for the rides to and from the airport, thanks for Emma, thanks for being my date to the award show, thanks for dancing with me at the after party, thanks for staying up with me for hours watching lame movies because I was too wired to sleep... the list goes on, Nick. You're great."

Any sharp objects around Nick's head at the moment would have been a dangerous thing. It's not that he was usually an egotistical person, but with a beautiful woman saying such nice things about him, he was entitled to his ego growing somewhat.

"Um, you're welcome. It was my pleasure. All of it." Nick laughed and could feel a blush growing across his face. "I don't know what to say."

What he wanted to say was everything that he'd wanted to tell her that morning when they were watching movies on TV... he wanted to tell her all of that and more. He'd chickened out then... there was no way he could chicken out again, right? And before he knew it, he was pulling into her driveway and she was unbuckling Natalia from her car seat, and he still hadn't said anything.

Nick got out of his truck and helped her get Natalia and all of their stuff inside. Once everything was in and Natalia was asleep in her nursery, there was no reason for him to be there any longer. Feeling dejected, Nick gave her a kiss on the cheek and said good-bye, leaving without so much as the reassurance of the words "I'll see you later."