As soon as AJ called to tell him of the baby's arrival, Howie was in the car and on the way over. His heart was racing by the time he got to Mikayla's house. Manigo, the manservant, greeted him with a scowl, but allowed him into the house and showed him to Mikayla's room.

Mikayla smiled when she saw Howie standing in the doorway.

"Hey Howie," she said weakly, her fatigue becoming more obvious as the day wore on. He walked over and sat down on the bed.

"Are you ok?" he asked, sincerely concerned.

"I'm great. Just a little tired. I could use about 40 hours sleep, but other than that, I feel terrific," she answered, laughing a little.

"Well, where's the baby?" he asked excitedly, eager to get a look at this tiny little angel that AJ had told him all about.

"AJ's probably walking around with her. He hasn't let me hold her very much today. I think he's showing her the grounds or something," Mikayla said, smiling a sad smile. "You can probably find them if you walk around the house."

Howie kissed her forehead and went to find AJ and the baby.

He found AJ laying on the couch in the living room, the baby sleeping on his chest. Howie was amazed at the way AJ was handling the baby. It was as if he was a born father. AJ smiled when he saw Howie, and motioned for him to come sit down. Howie took a chair beside the couch, and AJ sat up, cradling the baby. She woke up briefly, her little eyes looking up at him as if she knew him already.

"Can I hold her?" Howie asked softly. AJ nodded and handed the baby over to Howie. Howie marveled at how beautiful she was, unlike many newborns who resembled Winston Churchill. This baby was just gorgeous. He gently stroked her soft, dark hair and let her grasp his finger in her tiny little hand.

"Man, she's just..." Howie started, but he couldn't finish.

"I know," AJ said, understanding exactly what he was trying to say.

Nick entered the room with a nervous look on his face. When he saw Howie holding the baby, he ran his hand through his hair and stopped. It was as if he didn't want to come any closer to the baby, for fear of that he might see his reflection in her face.

"Nick, come here. You've got to see this," Howie whispered. Nick shook his head and didn't move. AJ got up and pulled Nick over to the couch, forcing him to sit down. He took the baby from Howie and put her in Nick's arms. He held her awkwardly, just glancing down at her every few seconds.

"Man, you look like you're sitting on a fucking porcupine," AJ said, laughing. "She's just a baby, Nick."

Nick looked down at her for a moment, then smiled. She was so tiny, nothing to be afraid of at all. She opened her dark blue, unfocusing eyes for a moment, and stared at him with confusion, trying hard to see the features of his face. She soon grew bored, as all newborns do, and fell asleep again. Nick looked up at AJ with tears in his eyes. He handed the baby back to him and walked out of the house. He couldn't face the fact that this could possibly be his child. AJ shook his head in disappointment. He thought Nick would be in a better frame of mind once he saw her, but obviously he wasn't.

That night, Mikayla sent AJ and Howie out to get some dinner. She had taken a shower and a nap, and she was starved. She sat in her rocking chair holding her baby girl when Kevin entered the room.

"I came as soon as I could get away," he said, kissing Mikayla on top of her head. He pulled a chair over and sat down across from her.

"So this is the little one," he said, smiling.

"Yep. This is her," Mikayla said, returning his smile.

"What did you decide to name her?" he asked, taking the baby from her arms and sitting back in his chair. He looked so comfortable holding the baby, as if he had done it a million times before.

"Her name is Lyric," she answered softly.

"Lyric? Where did that come from?" Kevin asked, smiling a curious smile.

"AJ." Mikayla answered simply.

Kevin took a deep breath and looked down at Lyric. She was sound asleep in his arms. He noticed her perfect little rosebud mouth and her sweet little nose, and he smiled. She was an angel. He unwrapped her briefly from her blanket, and checked her fingers and toes, which he found to be equally perfect.

"Mikayla, she's beautiful. She looks just like you," he said finally. "Whoever her daddy is is a lucky man."

Mikayla looked away and wiped a tear from her cheek.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. I guess my hormones are just getting the best of me today. I'm crying over everything," she answered, trying to smile.

"That's understandable," he said. "You've been through a lot today."

"Kevin, are you sure you want to do this paternity test thing?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

"Yes, I'm sure," he answered. "If she's mine, I want to know."

"Well, what would you do if she turned out to be yours?" Mikayla asked. "I mean, it's not like you're going to leave Kristen to be Lyric's father. And somehow I don't think Kristen would really appreciate the baby coming over for weekend visits."

Kevin was silent for a few seconds.

"I don't know what I'd do. I guess we'll just have to see what happens," he said, kissing the baby's hand.

**********************************

Mikayla woke up extra early the day the paternity test results were to arrive. They had been sent off four weeks earlier, and she was about as nervous as she had ever been. She wasn't sure how everything was going to work out, and was very eager to get this overwith.

She made her way to Lyric's nursery, but stopped just outside the door. She could hear AJ inside talking to the baby.

"See all those trees out there, Lyric? Those are going to be your trees. And the sky? That's yours too. You're the princess of everything you see, baby girl. I'll make sure you get everything you ever want. You're going to be the most spoiled little girl who ever lived."

Mikayla smiled to herself as she walked to the kitchen. There was a knock at the front door, and she glanced at the clock. It wasn't even 7:30. Who in the world could that be? she thought.

She opened the front door and found a courier standing on the doorstep with a large envelope in his hand. The test results. She felt her heart hit the floor when she realized what was in the envelope. She took it from the man's hand and quickly closed the door. She sat down at the kitchen table and opened the large envelope. Inside, there were four smaller envelopes with initials on the outside... one for each man. They made sure there real names weren't used to avoid any publicity. Mikayla debated whether or not she wanted to open them herself, or if she wanted to open them in the presence of the guys. She reached for the envelope marked AJM and started to tear off the end. She stopped. She couldn't do it.

AJ walked into the kitchen and saw her sitting there with the four envelopes in front of her.

"Open it," he said quietly. He picked up his envelope and handed it to her.

"I can't," she said, feeling the burning tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Yes you can, Mikayla," he said. "You know I can't do it."

Her hands shook as she took the envelope from him and finished opening it. She opened the letter inside, and felt the tears spill onto her cheeks as she looked up at him. He looked at her, his eyes filled with anticipation. She slowly shook her head no. Without speaking, he turned and left the room. Mikayla buried her face in her hands and sobbed. AJ deserved to be Lyric's father more than anyone. She knew he was devastated. The guilt she felt was overwhelming. How could this happen? It was so unfair.

After several minutes, AJ returned to the kitchen. She could tell that he had been crying. He sat down and took her hands in his own.

"Mikayla, you know I love that baby, right? Well, that's not going to change. I'll love her no matter who her father is, ok? And I'll always be here for both of you as long as you want me to be."

She nodded, but couldn't speak through her tears. AJ leaned over and kissed her softly, brushing her hair out of her face. He smiled a sad smile as he got up and called the other guys to come over to get the results.

One by one, the arrived. First Nick, then Howie, then Kevin.

"Well," Mikayla said, sitting down at the table with them, "I have a birth certificate that has to be filled out, so... I guess we need to get down to business."

She was trying to remain as calm as possible, but inside she was reeling. As she looked at each of them, she could only think AJ and how unfair this was to him. He was still very upset, and had gone out to shoot some pool with Marcus rather than to stay around and wait for the results.

"Who wants to go first?" she asked.

"Well, I guess I will," said Howie. Mikayla took Howie's envelope and opened it. She took a deep breath and read the results out loud.

With a probability of 99.98%, HDD is not the father of baby girl."

Howie looked down at the floor, appearing slightly disappointed, but then again, relieved. He had actually grown to love this little baby in her four short weeks of life, but he wasn't really ready to be a father.

Even more unready to be a father was Nick, who went completely pale when he heard the results of Howie's test. He realized that there was now a good chance that he was a father, and this was his greatest fear.

"Nick?" Mikayla asked. "Do you want to go next?"

He nodded, but couldn't speak because of the lump that had formed in his throat.

Mikayla tore open the envelope and closed her eyes. This was the one that was really worrying her. Nick obviously didn't want to be Lyric's father, and if he was, he wouldn't be happy about it. She drew in her breath and read aloud.

"With a probability of 100%, NGC is not the father of baby girl."

Nick let out a huge sigh of relief as he sat back in his chair, running his fingers through his hair.

Kevin looked down at the floor, then covered his face with his hands. Mikayla slowly reached for his envelope and opened it. Before she read it, she signaled for Howie and Nick to leave the room. They left quickly, as Mikayla opened the letter.

She read the results quietly.

"With a probability of 99.99% KSR is the father of baby girl."

They were silent for several minutes. Kevin couldn't look at Mikayla during their silence. Finally, he spoke.

"Mikayla, I can't be a real father to her. You know that," he said softly.

"I know," Mikayla said, stroking Kevin's hair, "But you have to decide what you're going to do. There's a little baby up there who's counting on you to make the right decision. I can understand if you can't be her father. I can raise her on my own. But one of these days, she's going to ask who her daddy is, and I have to know what to tell her."

"Take me to her room," he said, standing up. Mikayla led him to Lyric's nursery, where the baby nurse was rocking her to sleep. Mikayla took the baby from her arms and handed her to Kevin.

Kevin walked over to the window and stared out for a long time. Mikayla stood against the wall and let him think.

"Little baby," he whispered, "I'm your father... but I can't be your daddy. One day, when you find out about this, I hope you understand why I did what I had to do, ok? I don't deserve you, but your mommy has found somebody who does. I know he'll be the best daddy in the world. I don't have any doubts about that at all. But I'll always love you, and I'll know that you came from me. I just hope that, one day, you'll forgive me."

He kissed the baby's forehead and gave her back to Mikayla. They made their way back down to the kitchen, and Kevin grabbed his and AJ's letters off the table. He walked over to the stove and turned on an eye, placing the papers on it. Seconds later, they burst into flames, and he dropped them in the sink, watching them burn completely before washing the ashes down the drain. He then picked up the birth certificate paperwork and began to fill it out. He wrote in clear, bold letters...

Father's Name: Alexander James McLean