Simple Kind Of Life

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_Chapter 1_

*Sophia's View*

"Hey, um, can I speak to Mr. AJ McLean?" I said nervously into my hotel phone.

"One moment please," the clerk answered.

My plane had arrived in New York about an hour ago, and I had just walked into my hotel room I'd be staying in. I hadn't even unpacked yet… calling AJ was my first plan of action.

I stared at the crumpled piece of paper where Col had jotted down AJ's phone number as I waited. He was staying at a hotel for now… He'd left Florida before he had even bought a place to live here in New York. He must have wanted to leave pretty badly.

"Hello?" came AJ's raspy voice.

I tried to speak but no words came out. What could I possibly say to him? Um, how about "hi" I thought to myself, but I couldn't even bring myself to utter a word.

"Hello?" he asked again, more irritated this time.

"Uh, AJ?" I finally managed to get out.

"Sophia? What the hell are you calling for?"

"AJ, we need to talk."

"How'd you get my phone number?" he asked angrily.

"Col."

"Damn her. I told her not to give it out to anyone. Listen, if you called to invite me to Luke's Baptism or some shit like that, just give it up. I don't want to be bothered."

"That's not why I'm calling…"

"Then why? Haven't I suffered enough? Just leave me alone."

"We need to talk."

"No, I'm through with talking. There's nothing you can say to make me come back, if that's what your trying to do. Why the fuck did you even bother calling? This is really gonna rack up Brian's phone bill."

"I'm not in Florida."

"You're not?! Then where the fuck are you? The tour didn't start up yet, did it?"

"No, AJ, I'm in New York."

There was silence for a few moments before I heard him mutter, "You're fuckin crazy."

"So will you see me?"

"No."

"Please," I begged desperately.

"OK, let me put this into words you can understand: I never wanna fuckin see you again. Leave me alone." With that, he hung up the phone.

"Shit," I muttered to myself before bursting into tears. I hadn't expected this to be easy, but I hadn't expected it to go this badly either. I had thought he'd atleast see me… seeing as I'd traveled so far, but he didn't want anything to do with me. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. But I couldn't give up this easily. I had to keep trying… AJ was worth it.

I wanted to just curl up and go to sleep, but it was still early, and then I wouldn't be able to sleep later on. Brian would be worried if I didn't call to say I'd arrived, so I decided on calling him.

"Hello?"

"Bri, it's me. My plane got here about an hour ago."

"Oh, thank God. I was nervous."

"Why?"

"Just was. So, you're all settled?"

"Yep."

"Did you talk to AJ yet?"

"I tried."

"And?"

"He blew me off… told me he didn't want to ever see me again, and to leave him alone," I said before bursting into tears again.

"Oh, baby, I'm so sorry," his comforting voice soothed me.

"Brian, why do you put up with me?" I had basically left him, the man who had my child, for another guy and he was still so sympathetic and kind about it. I was probably putting him through so much pain, but he would never tell me that.

"Because I love you," he said softly.

"How's Luke?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Good. He's asleep. Honey, when are you coming home?"

"I don't know…"

"Oh. Well, I miss you."

"I miss you too, Brian."

"Well, go unpack or something. What's your number?"

I gave it to him and he promised to call me the next morning.

"Ok, Bri, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Come home soon, Sophia." he whispered into the phone, before hanging up.

_Chapter 2_

*Brian's View*

I quickly wiped a tear from my eye as Colleen walked into the kitchen.

"Was that just the phone ringing?"

"Yea, it was Sophia."

"Oh, really? She's in New York already?"

"Yea, she just got there an hour ago."

Col waited a moment or two before casually asking, "So, did she talk to AJ yet?"

"It didn't go well."

"He didn't want to see her?"

"Nope. Told her to leave him alone."

"Shit… was she upset?"

"Crying over the phone."

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"How are you doing?"

"Fine," I shrugged, but I knew I was a bad liar, and it was obvious I was hurting. Thankfully, Colleen didn't bother me about it.

"Oh, ok. Well, if you need to talk… I'm here."

"Yea, I know. Thanks."

She was about to leave the room when I blurted out, "I shouldn't have to deal with this."

She turned around with a sympathetic smile, and sat down at the table, waiting for me to speak again.

"I'm such a loser. I'm just waiting here for her with our kid, while she tries to go get another guy. God knows when she'll be back."

Colleen just nodded as I went on.

"She told me she loved me less than a week ago. We were going to get married. Then AJ leaves… and she decides she loves him and has to go after him. And she just leaves. Leaves me to take care of Luke alone, and flies off to New York City."

"I think she does love you, Brian."

"You do?" I asked, hopefully.

"I'm almost sure of it. She says she doesn't but that's only because it would be harder for her to leave if she admitted it. She loves you, Brian."

"I don't think so," I shook my head. "She cares for me; she loves AJ. I'm such a loser."

"You're not a loser," Colleen argued.

"What else can you call a guy that waits around for a girl who's after someone else? How can she do this to me… how can she hurt me this much…" I muttered sadly to myself.

"You should tell her how you feel."

"No. I can't do that. I couldn't even if I wanted. That would only make her upset. I just want her to be happy. Even if being with AJ is what it takes. I just want her to be happy."

"You're a great guy," Colleen said, tears forming in her own eyes. "She's bound to realize that."

At that moment Luke started crying and we didn't talk about Sophia anymore.

_Chapter 3_

*Sophia's View*

I shivered as I walked over to AJ's hotel. Maybe he wouldn't talk over the phone, but he couldn't turn me away in person. It was early and I knew he'd be there. New York was so much colder than Florida… I hadn't packed warm enough clothes.

I finally reached the building, went in, and walked up to the front desk. "I'm here to see AJ McLean."

"Just a moment." They called up his room and told him a Sophia was here to see him. "He said he'll be down in a minute."

"Thank you."

5 minutes later he walked out of the elevator, grabbed my arm and pulled me outside. "What are you doing here?!" he screamed.

"I told you. We need to talk."

"I can't believe you came to New York! You have to be out of your mind!"

"AJ, you have to come back."

"Why? So the Backstreet Boys' wont lose any fans? I don't think so. I'm happier here."

"How can you be happier here? You don't know anyone in New York."

"Sometimes its better that way…"

"You left all your friends behind."

"I don't have any friends," he snapped back bitterly.

"AJ, I can't lose you."

"What do you mean you can't lose me? You have Brian. You have your baby. You don't need me."

"I do," I whispered. "I need you more than anything else."

"What about Brian?"

"AJ, I love you."

"You what?!" he screamed. "You fuckin had a kid with someone else. You don't love me!"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't love you."

"Why… then why'd you break up with me in the first place?"

"Because I didn't think you felt the same for me that I felt for you."

"Sophia, that's so stupid… you knew I loved you!"

"I thought I felt more for you than you felt for me…"

"Um, if either of us felt more for the other it would be the one that didn't cheat on the other one! You're the one that slept with another guy!"

"I know, I know. I was just so confused…."

"Why didn't you tell me what you just told me now 9 months ago?! Why'd you have to lie and say you didn't have feelings for me anymore?"

I couldn't even answer, I just pleaded him with my eyes.

"Well, you fucked up, Sophia. You really fucked things up. How can we be together now?"

"I don't know. But we have to try…"

He took a deep breath and gave me a long look before asking, "You love me?"

"Yes. Do you… feel the same?"

"Babe, you know I love you," he smiled, pulling me into his arms.

We stood there in each other's arms for a long time before he took my hand and lead me back into the building. We walked into his hotel room where we immediately started to take our clothes off.

"I missed you so much," I muttered, as he laid me down on the bed.

"Me too, baby. But don't worry… we're never going to be separated again," he promised, climbing on top of me and kissing my forehead.

Nothing else needed to be said. We hadn't been together for so long… all we really needed was to be close again.

_Chapter 4_

*AJ's View*

Beep Beep Beep

I groaned as I nearly fell off the bed trying to shut off my alarm. I had set it for pretty early because I figured I had to start looking around for a place to live.

"What time is it?" Sophia asked without opening her eyes.

"7."

"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered, pulling a pillow over her head.

I laughed as I grabbed the pillow off of her and gave her a long kiss. "Time to get up."

"Why can't we just stay in bed all day…"

"Cuz things have to be done," I smiled, jumping out of bed to put on some clothes.

"You always were a morning person," she said, finally opening her eyes to look at me.

"We've been in this room for like 24 hours. Come on, let's go get some fresh air."

"24 hours?" she muttered to herself.

"You came here yesterday morning, remember? And we slept til this morning," I explained, searching the room for my wallet. Hadn't seen it in awhile…

"But it wasn't all sleep," she grinned up at me.

I walked over to kiss her again, but this time she pulled me down. "Just lay down with me for awhile," she pleaded.

"Baby, I love you and all, but if I don't get some air I'm gonna scream."

"Oh, alright," she sighed, pulling herself to sit up. "Where to?"

"Well, I have to go house-shopping."

"AJ, you're not still going to stay here in New York are you?"

"Of course I am."

"But… AJ, we're ok now. Come back to Florida. Rejoin the group…"

"Sophia, us being together is one thing. But I can't go back there."

"But you have to," she said desperately

"Why? Why can't you just come live here with me?"

"Luke… Brian… AJ, I can't."

"So bring Luke. We can raise him together."

"I could never do that to Brian. It would kill him."

"Well, it's going to kill me if I don't have you. You're going to have to pick: Me or Brian."

"AJ, you can't do this… You can't do this to me."

"Sophia, I can't go back to Florida. Not after the way things have been."

"Well, I can't leave Florida. If you're asking me to choose between you and my son, I'm going to pick Luke," she said stubbornly.

"I'm not asking you to decide between me and Luke. Bring Luke here to New York."

"I told you: I can't do that to Brian. He's Luke's father… he loves him more than anything…"

"Then we have a problem," I sighed, falling back on the bed.

"Yup," she muttered quietly.

"Well, maybe you should talk to Brian."

"Yea, I have to get back to my hotel room anyway. Shit, Brian was supposed to call me yesterday morning… he's going to be really worried. I gotta go," she said jumping up to throw some clothes on.

I looked up at her, waiting for her to catch my eye, but she was too busy running around the place to notice. Finally she looked over at me. "What?" she asked

"Brian knows you're here?"

"Of course he knows I'm here. What do you think… I just left in the dead of the night," she grinned.

"He's ok with this? With you coming to New York to find me?"

"Yea," she said with a slight pause. "He is." She stood there thinking to herself for a minute before saying, "Alright, I really gotta go now."

_Chapter 5_

*Sophia's View*

I rushed into my hotel room and dropped the phone on my first attempt to pick it up. "Shit," I muttered to myself as I bent down to grab it again.

I dialed Brian's number as quickly as I could. Too quickly. "Hello?" asked a little girls' voice.

"Um, sorry. I have the wrong number," I muttered before punching in the numbers again.

I wasn't usually this clumsy - I only acted like this when I was nervous. I got nervous when I knew I had gotten myself into trouble.

"Hello?" came Brian's out-of-breath voice.

"Bri, it's me."

"Oh, thank God. Sophia, I was so worried. Are you ok?"

"Yea, I'm fine."

"I've been trying to call you since yesterday morning," he sighed. "I thought something happened to you," he said more softly. "You are in New York city, you know."

"Oh, Bri, that's such a stereotype! You've been to New York on tour a million times - you know it's not that bad!"

"I know, I know. It's just… after I hadn't been able to get in touch with you for a whole day…"

"Well stop worrying; I'm fine."

"Ok."

"So," he continued, "you were gone the whole night… were you and AJ getting busy?" he asked with a nervous laugh.

I paused for a minute, surprised how true his joke was. I knew if I told him the truth, things would be over between us for good… not even Brian would wait around for me after I slept with AJ. The only reason he hadn't left yet was Luke and the small hope that things wouldn't work out with AJ.

"Sophia…? You didn't, did you?" he asked, this time completely serious.

"Course not," I lied. "The phone was disconnected somehow…"

"Oh, alright. You scared me there!"

"Brian, honey, um listen… I was wondering…"

"Yea?"

"What do you think about moving to New York?"

"Moving?" he asked, surprised. "Why on earth would we move?"

"Well, you know I've always liked it here."

"Yea, I know… You always seemed happy enough in Florida, though…"

"Well, consider it for me? Please."

"Listen, all you need to do is say you want to live there, and me and Luke take the next flight over. Just promise me one thing…"

"What's that?"

"That this moving to New York thing doesn't have anything to do with AJ."

"Listen, Brian, sorry to cut this short and all, but I really better get going," I interrupted quickly.

"Just promise me," he insisted again.

"We'll talk about this later. Love you. Bye."

"I love you too…."

I hung up the phone and just sat thinking for awhile. Of course I wanted to move to New York cuz of AJ. But I couldn't risk losing Brian either… I loved him too.

"My life is so screwed up," I muttered to myself as I walked over to pull the phone wire out of the wall.

_Chapter 6_

*Nick's View*

The door bell rang and I looked through the living room window to find Colleen waiting.

"Hey baby!" I greeted, throwing open the door.

"Hey," she smiled, rushing past me and running up the stairs.

"Ok, fine. Don't give me a kiss hello," I muttered to myself. I hadn't seen Col for 2 straight days now. You don't realize how lonely it is living by yourself until you're forced to do it. I can't stand being by myself… it's boring. I hate having no one to talk to.

I turned around to the sound of feet on the steps once more. Colleen had an armful of clothes and some towels. "K, baby, gotta go back to Brian's," she said, ready to run right out the door.

"Wait," I said blocking the doorway. "Col, you just got home."

"I'm not home yet," she shook her head. "Just had to pick up some stuff."

"Well, when are you coming back?"

"As soon as Sophia gets back from NYC."

"Which is…?"

"Once she gets AJ to come back."

"Oh, great. Col, do you know how long that could take?!"

"Oh, give me a break. Sophia can convince AJ to do anything. Everything will be back to normal in no time."

"What makes you so sure?"

She stared at me a little before trying to make her way to the door.

"What's the rush?" I asked, blocking her again.

"Brian needs help with the baby. You'd be surprised how much work taking care of a newborn is."

"I can't believe Sophia left you to take care of the baby like this… that's just unreal…"

"Nick, she had to."

"She had to what? Break Brian's heart?"

"Nick, it's possible to love two people…"

"No, it's not," I argued. "I'm a firm believer that you can only honestly want and need one person."

"You've never loved two people at the same time?" she asked, giving me a strange look.

"Of course not! When I found you I never wanted anyone else…"

"Really?" she asked again.

"Yea. Why do you find that so surprising?"

"Oh, I dunno," she muttered, looking down. "I just thought everyone went through that at some point in their life."

"Nope. Only Sophia."

"Oh, Nick, atleast try to see things from her point of view."

"I can't. I've tried, but I can't. Brian's my best friend, and I don't care what he tells us… she's hurting him more than anything he's ever known. I can't understand how she could do that, ever."

"I love Brian too. But I see where she's coming from…"

"That's what I love about you," I smiled at her. "You view things from everybody's perspective. You're so understanding."

I leaned in to kiss her and was about to suggest we go upstairs when she once again insisted she had to go.

"Oh, alright…" I sighed. "Just promise me you don't get so sick of that baby you don't want any of your own!"

"Are you kidding me… Luke makes me want to have a baby more than ever."

"Good. Say 'hi' to my Godson for me…"

"I will," she laughed. "I'll come by tomorrow."

"Ok. Love you," I said, grabbing her back for one last kiss.

"K, bye. Don't burn down the house," she grinned before disappearing in her car.

_Chapter 7_

*Colleen's View*

"I'm back!" I called out as I entered Brian's house.

"Oh, Thank God," I heard Brian scream from the other room.

I couldn't help smiling as he practically ran to give me Luke to hold.

"Been crying?" I asked.

"Who: me or the baby?"

"The baby, silly!"

"Oh, of course. What else does the kid do?"

"And how about you?" I laughed.

"Well, Sophia called. What else do I do when she calls…" he drifted off.

"Oh, no," I said softly. "What'd she say?"

"She wants to move to New York."

"What? Why would she want to do that?!" I asked, knowing the answer.

"I asked her to promise me it wasn't because of AJ and she wouldn't," he muttered sadly.

"Brian, why don't we put Luke to sleep and get Kevin to come watch him for a little… I think it would do you some good to get out."

"Why not Nick?"

"Nick?" I laughed. "With a baby?! Listen, Brian, he'll be a good father someday. But that someday is not today!"

"Oh, yea, I guess you have a point here," he smiled.

"K, I'm going to call Kev right now… the two of us are going to go out and have a good time."

"We are?"

"Yup," I nodded. "Promise."

*Brian's View*

"So, where are we going?" I asked. We were in a car driving, but I had no clue where. Col was in control of the wheel. She never said anything about where we were going, just that we were gonna have "fun."

"It's a surprise," she smiled. "I can't tell you… it would ruin everything."

"Give me a hint."

"Well… it's some place you used to go a lot before you were so busy being a daddy."

"Hmm… movies?"

"Nope."

"Basketball court?"

"At night? Brian, be logical…"

"I dunno. I give up. Come on, just tell me."

"We're gonna go clubbing."

"Col, I never used to go clubbing."

"Oh, you didn't?" she asked with an innocent smile. "Oops… my bad… that must have been me!"

I laughed as we picked up speed on the highway. "I can't believe we're going clubbing… that is so not my style."

"You never even gave it a chance. Maybe you'll like it…."

"Maybe I won't."

"Oh, Brian," she sighed. "Try to have fun. For me??"

"Yea, but only for you."

She gave me a warm smile before turning on the radio and ending the conversation.

*Colleen's View*

I didn't mean to be rude or anything, but if I didn't turn on the radio I was afraid what I would do or say. I just had to keep repeating to myself over and over He doesn't like you, Colleen, he loves Sophia… He doesn't like you Colleen, he loves Sophia. But we'd be so good together… God, what was wrong with me. I loved Nick, I was engaged to Nick - I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Nick. I did. But, I don't know… watching Brian with the baby… it did something to me. He was so sweet and gentle with Luke; he was such a good father. Nick will be a good father too…

We reached the club about a half hour later. When we first got in Brian just sat down and refused to dance, but I was finally able to drag him on to the dance floor. He wasn't such a great dancer… Nick was much better… but he looked so cute trying! The best part was he really seemed to be having fun… I was able to make him forget about his problems and just have a good time.

After hours of dancing we finally took a rest.

"I can't believe you made me do that," he grinned at me as we fell onto stools at the bar.

"I can't believe you've never reggaed before!"

He laughed as he ordered us drinks. "Col, I'm having a lot of fun. This was a good idea."

"I told you we'd have fun!"

"Yea, but with all this Sophia shit going on… I didn't think I'd be able to. Thanx."

"Anytime."

I stopped after that first drink, but Brian didn't… he had a few more. Ok, a lot more.

"Bri, it's 1 in the morning… we should probably get back and give Kev a rest."

"Why?" he asked, a stupid grin on his face. "Don't you want to dance some more?"

"Brian, you have no idea how drunk you are," I laughed, pulling him out the door. "We gotta get back to your house."

"If you say so Joe."

"Col. God, you're funny when you're drunk!"

"I'm not drunk," he argued. "Maybe you're the one who's drunk!" he shouted, bursting into hysterical laughter.

"Yep, that's me," I smiled, enjoying his crazy mood.

I drove back to his house listening to him ramble on and on, laughing my ass off at some of the shit he came up with. I was just happy I was smart enough to stop after my first drink… someone needed to drive home safely.

When we got home, I helped Brian to the door and greeted a relieved Kevin. "The kid is finally asleep, but let me tell you it took awhile… Is our good buddy Brian drunk by any chance?" he laughed watching Brian tilt from side to side.

"Yep. One 2 many drinks."

"Oh, well. Sadly enough, I think it'll be good for him. Take care of him."

"I will, thanks a lot Kevin."

"No problem. Bye Brian."

"Bye Mr. Fox," Brian said, waving goodbye.

"Oh, God…" Kevin muttered, trying not to laugh.

"Come on, Bri, let's go inside," I said, leading him into the house.

I helped him down onto the couch and just sat with him for awhile until he seemed to be acting more like himself.

"I have the most splitting headache," he muttered, still slightly laughing.

"Yea, well that's what happens when you have that many shots of liquor…"

"Col," he said, finally in his normal voice. "I really like you a lot."

"I like you too, Brian," I smiled, assuming he was still drunk.

"No, I mean really like you," he whispered, edging closer.

"That's what I meant too," I flirted right back.

"Well then I think its time for some of this," he said before bringing his lips to mine.

I didn't hesitate on kissing back as forcefully as he was, and was soon unbuttoning his shirt.

He climbed on top of me and unzipped my jeans. I helped him pull them off, and didn't say anything as he continued to undress me. This is what I wanted after all…

"Nick's gonna kill me," Brian laughed once we were down to only our underwear.

The mention of Nick's name made us both stop a second and look at each other, wondering if we should be doing this.

"Fuck it," Brian laughed again, pressing his lips to mine once more.

"Do you wanna go upstairs?" Brian asked, tearing himself away for a second.

"Nope… here's good."

"Wait," he muttered. "Just a min… I gotta go find a condom or something. Bad experience with this kinda stuff.."

"Oh, right. Ok."

He didn't have to search long to come up with one, and before long we were way too far to even consider going back…

"I love you, Col," he whispered in my ear.

"You do?"

"Yep…"

"I love you too," I smiled at him; his face directly next to mine.

"Then what we're doing isn't so wrong…"

"Nope, guess it isn't," I said before drifting to sleep.

_Chapter 8_

*Brian's View*

I woke up to see Colleen's smiling face hanging over me.

"Morning," I muttered before turning on my side to try and get some more sleep.

"I made you breakfast. Come on, get up," she said walking over to the other side of the bed so she was facing me again.

"I feel like such shit," I groaned trying to sit up. "I couldn't possibly eat."

"Well, you certainly had enough to drink last night…"

"I did?" "Well, yea," she said, looking up at me, surprised. "You don't remember?"

"Oh, guess I did," I said only slightly remembering anything that had happened the night before. The splitting headache I had wasn't helping.

"We went to a club, right?" I checked with her, still deep in thought.

"Uh huh," she said while straightening the covers. "You danced your ass off… you looked so cute!"

"And I had one too many to drink," I continued. "Then what?"

As soon as I had asked my wandering eyes came across a used condom on the floor not far from the bed.

"Oh my God," I muttered to myself, all the memories from last night suddenly flooding back. "We slept together."

"Yea," Col nodded, picking my boxers up from the floor and throwing them at me.

"God… Col, I'm sorry…"

"What's there to be sorry about?" she asked, not seeming to understand why I was so freaked out.

"I… I didn't force you, did I?"

"No, Brian, not at all. We both wanted it."

That last line made me stop and look at her long and hard. What did she mean we both wanted it…

"Col, what about Nick?"

"He can't find out," she attacked me fiercely. "He can never find out."

"Yea, I know… He would never forgive me."

"There's nothing to worry about," she said, her voice taking on a softer tone. "We can even do it again, and he would never find out…"

"Do it again?" I asked, my eyes opening wide. "Why would we do it again?"

She paused for a minute before asking slowly, "Why wouldn't we do it again?"

"Because it was a mistake! Because we were drunk and didn't mean it… I never meant for that to happen, and I'm very sorry it ever did."

"W-what?" she stammered, backing up towards the door, tears forming in her eyes.

"Col? What's wrong?"

"Brian, you said you fuckin loved me!"

"I did?"

"Yes, you did! You said what we were doing wasn't so wrong because we loved each other… and now you're telling me you don't!"

"Colleen, I'm sorry… I never remember saying that. I was drunk, sweetie, remember?"

"So you don't?"

"You're an amazing girl… but I don't love you. And you don't love me either… you love Nick. Last night should have never happened."

"Don't tell me I don't love you!" she shouted, her voice filling the room. "Because I do. I love Nick too, but that doesn't lessen my feelings for you."

I stared at her pain-stricken face for over a minute not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry, Col."

"Fuck you, Brian! How could you…" she said before running out of the room.

_Chapter 9_

*Sophia's View*

3 quick knocks on the door interrupted my breakfast of a fresh New York bagel.

"AJ! What are you doing here?"

"I missed my baby," he smiled, pressing me against the door and invading my mouth with his tongue.

"You hungry?" I asked, pushing him away for some air.

"For you? Why yes, I am."

"Jeez, what's with the hormones today? I mean do you want a bagel," I laughed.

"Nope, I ate. I see you're already enjoying New York's food, huh? Does this place outdo Florida in every way or what?"

"Well, the food is better," I admitted.

"Oh, hey, guess what?"

"What?"

"I found the coolest apartment on the East side… 5 rooms, even a little balcony - it's like our dream house! You're going to love it," he grinned, squeezing my hand.

"It sounds great," I smiled back at him. "You know I'm leaving tomorrow, though…"

"You are? Why?" he asked, his face clouding over.

"I've been gone 4 days already; I need to get back to the baby."

"Oh," he muttered, looking down at the floor.

"Cheer up," I said lifting up his chin. "I promise I'll be back."

"When?"

"Soon."

"I don't think I can let you go again," he said wrapping his arms around my waist. "I can't lose you again."

"You're not going to lose me," I promised, pressing my forehead against his.

"What time tomorrow?"

"Real early. I have to get up around 4."

"I'm going to stay here overnight and see you off tomorrow."

"I'd like that," I smiled, giving him a soft kiss. "Just remind me to clear off the couch for you later."

"Huh?"

"I'm playing with you! It's our last night together… it's gotta be special. I was thinking we'd go out for dinner, and then just spend the rest of the night at home…"

"Makin' a little lovin'?"

"Hmm… I never thought of that…. If you want…," I grinned.

"You read my mind!"

*Next Morning*

The alarm woke me up at 4… not exactly my normal time. I pulled the covers over my head expecting AJ to grab them off me and force me to get up. When 5 minutes passed without any sign of him I sat up on my own to see him sitting in the corner of the room looking down at something he held in his hands.

"What's that, baby?" I asked, while throwing on some clothes.

"A picture I found in your bag," he answered without looking up. "I was looking to see if you had a toothbrush packed, and I came across this."

"What's the picture of?" I usually didn't carry around any pictures…

When he didn't answer I went over to find the shot of me and Brian holding Luke… the one Brian had slipped in my bag the day I left.

"You look so happy," AJ said quietly.

"My baby was just born. Of course I was happy."

"Brian has his arm around you…"

"We were taking a picture, AJ!"

"Yea," he said handing me back the photo. "We better get going…"

We finished getting dressed and packing and were at the airport in no time. We didn't have to wait long before the plane arrived.

Flight 172 to Florida boarding now

"That's me," I said picking up my suitcases. "I hate leaving you…"

"And I hate seeing you go. I really don't know what to say… I'm so bad at goodbyes."

"Just hold me for a little."

"That I can do," he said before throwing his arms around me and wrapping me in a tight hug.

"You have to come back soon, alright?" AJ said, kissing my forehead.

I nodded not wanting to let go of him.

Last call for Flight 172 to Florida

"You better go, baby," AJ said. But he didn't lessen his grip at all.

"I'll call you later," I said, finally breaking away from his strong arms.

"I love you," he whispered, taking my hands.

"I love you too."

I made it to the plane just in time. Just before I disappeared AJ called out, "I'm buying that apartment. You can help me decorate it once you're back."

I turned around to blow him a kiss before the door shut behind me.

_Chapter 10_

*Sophia's View*

"I'm home!" I shouted out as I walked through the front door of me and Brian's house.

"Sophia? Is that you?!" Col called from the kitchen.

She walked out to find me struggling with my luggage. "You're back! God, I missed you!" she said, running over to take some of the load.

"So tell me everything," she insisted, bringing me over to sit with her on the couch.

"I will, I will," I laughed at her eagerness. "But first - where's Brian?"

"He took the baby out. They haven't been gone that long. We have awhile."

"You didn't wanna go?"

"Well me and Brian aren't speaking."

"What? Why? You two always seemed to get along so well."

"Sophia, something happened while you were gone…"

"Well, obviously! Now what is it?"

"I don't know if I should tell you." Whatever it was it was making her very uncomfortable. She didn't want to talk about it.

"Colleen, you're my best friend. Best friends tell each other everything. Now spit it out!"

"We slept together…"

I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out. There was nothing I could say to that. I wish I could honestly say it didn't hurt me because I had AJ, but I couldn't. I loved Brain too… and learning he had slept with Colleen, my best friend, was the biggest slap in the face. All of a sudden I realized how AJ must have felt…

"Sophia, please say something," Colleen begged me.

But all I could do was just stare at her in complete disbelief.

"I knew I shouldn't have told you," she muttered to herself.

"I would have found out," I finally managed to say.

"Well, how did things go with AJ?" she asked after an awkward silence, trying to change the subject.

"Um, good," I nodded, trying to recover. "Really good."

"Did you get any action yourself?" she asked with a shy smile.

"Twice," I grinned, forgetting any anger towards her for the moment.

"Aw, that's great! So are you two back together?"

"I guess so."

"Uh, then why were you so upset that I slept with Brian?"

I knew that question was coming… I had almost thought I'd avoided it….

"Well?" she asked again, her voice beginning to get stronger.

"Because I love him."

"Don't you love AJ, though?"

"Yea…"

"I understand."

"You do?" I asked, looking up at her.

"Yep. Believe it or not I'm in the same situation. I love both Brian and Nick."

"You're kidding!"

"Nope… I wish I was, but I'm not."

"Oh, jeez…"

"I know, I know," she mumbled, before burying her face in her hands.

"Does Nick know?"

"No. He can't. I mean, obviously I'm going to stay with Nick. We're going to be married…."

"Soon, too."

"Yup. 2 weeks tomorrow."

"Is that the only reason you chose Nick? Because you're engaged?"

"No… that's not the only reason…" She was about to go on when we heard the door start to unlock.

"Alright, I better go," Col said softly. "Let me go get my things…"

Brian came into the room with a stroller just as Colleen disappeared out of the room.

Brain saw me and his tired face formed into a huge smile.

"Sophia!" He picked me up and spun me around in the air. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming back today?!"

"I wanted to surprise you," I smiled as he placed me down.

"It's so great to see you! When did you get back?"

"Only about 15 minutes ago. Where's my kid? I want to hold him."

"You're welcome to him," Brian laughed, handing me Luke.

"It feels so good to hold him in my arms again. I missed him so much. I missed you so much," I added, looking up into his eyes.

"Why would you miss me?" he asked, his voice suddenly cold; his smile quickly fading. "You had AJ… Why would you miss me?"

"Brian, don't be like this," I pleaded with him. "Can you just be happy to see me?"

"Sorry," he muttered, turning to see Colleen enter the room.

"Alright, well I'm going back to Nick now," she said, obviously awkward in front of Brian.

"Ok, Col. Thank you soo much for watching Luke. You have no idea how much I appreciate it!" I said, hugging her goodbye.

"Oh, anytime. I love this kid. I'll talk to you later." She gave Brian a quick glance before walking out the door.

"I heard about you two," I said quietly, sitting down with Luke in my arms.

Brian looked up, surprised. "Oh."

"How'd it happen?" I asked as casually as I could without looking him in the eye.

"I didn't want it at all. We had gone out to a club and I was so loaded by the time we got home I didn't know what was happening. I didn't even remember it in the morning."

"So you don't have feelings for Col?"

He shook his head "no" and took a seat next to me on the couch.

"You know she loves you…"

"Yea, I know."

There was silence for the next few minutes. Neither one of us knew what to say.

"What's going to happen to us, Sophia?" he finally asked.

"What do you mean…"

"Now that you have AJ again… What's going to happen?"

"I don't know, Brian," I whispered, laying my head down on his shoulder.

I was afraid that that might have been the wrong move to make, but he was sweet old Brian again and he put his arm around me.

"No matter what, Sophia… I'm always going to love you."

"Ditto," I sighed.

"Really, honey, you love me?"

"That I do."

"I knew it." I couldn't see his face, but I knew he was smiling.

Our moment was ruined by Luke starting to cry.

"I'll take him," Brian offered wearily.

"No, you've done enough. I gotta get used to being a Mommy. You get some sleep," I said, kissing his forehead.

"Thanks," he mumbled, before drifting off to sleep.

I looked at his peaceful face as he slept and couldn't help smiling. He was the most wonderful guy… I could picture spending the rest of my life with him.

"I'm buying that apartment. You can help me decorate it once you're back."

Or with AJ…

_Chapter 11_

*Nick's View* 1 week later

"I can't believe the wedding's next week," I said to Brian as we sorted through a million tuxedos. We were doing some last-minute shopping.

"I know! You must be so nervous."

"I am," I admitted, finally finding a suit I thought both me and Colleen would like.

"Sophia freaked out this morning when I told her I still had to get a suit for the wedding," he laughed.

"Colleen too. The two of them had their dresses months ago. Freaks," I muttered, giving Brian a smile.

"Has Colleen said anything to you about me?"

"Um, no… nothing. You two are fighting, huh?"

"Yea, she's angry with me."

"Why?"

"Who knows," he shrugged. "You know how girls are - they get mad and won't tell you why."

"Hell, I know it," I laughed. That's all I'd been doing for the past week… laughing and smiling. Getting married was a little bit scary, but at the same time I'd never been happier knowing Colleen would be my wife in only 7 days.

After Brian and I had both found suits we decided to get some lunch.

"So how are things going with Sophia?" I asked, noticing Brian was more quiet than usual.

"I really don't know," he sighed, taking a sip of his soda. "When we're together it's great. We act like any ordinary couple - we kiss, we go out. She tells me she loves me and God knows I love her more than anything."

"Then what's the problem?" I asked, confused.

"Well, she's still on the phone with AJ every night…"

"Oh, really? What are the conversations like?"

"Hmm?" he asked, obviously not paying any attention to me. He was deep in thought.

"I said what are her conversations with AJ like?"

"Oh, I don't know. I don't listen."

"You should. See what they talk about. Because I'm afraid she's playing you."

"Me too," he whispered, staring down at his food, but not touching it.

"Listen to her next phone call to AJ. And if she's telling him she loves him, same as she's telling you, dump her. She doesn't deserve you anyway."

"But she has my kid. I want Luke to grow up into a loving home…"

"I understand that, Bri, but you don't deserve to sit around while she fucks some other guy."

His head snapped up to look at me after that one.

"What do you mean while she fucks some other guy?"

"Well, Bri, I dunno… it's just I don't think they were just talking those 4 days she was away. You remember those 2 when they were together… imagine them after they'd been separated for 9 months."

"Thanks a lot, Nick. You certainly made me feel better," he muttered sarcastically.

"Sorry, man."

"Can we go?" he asked, getting up from his chair.

"Yea, I just want to stop at that news stand over there - get some gum - then, we'll go."

"K," he agreed, walking over to the stand with me.

I was just about to pay for my gum when I noticed a magazine with the huge bold headline of Nick's Fiancé with another 'Boy'. I'd seen these type of things before and they were entertaining more than anything else.

"I'll take that too," I grinned, pointing to the magazine.

As we walked away I showed the headline to Brian, "Check out this crazy shit."

The second he read it his face became pale. "That is crazy shit," he said, stumbling with the words.

"You look sick, Bri. Shouldn't have had that second burger. Now, let's see who Colleen's cheating on me with," I said with an amused grin.

I turned to page 48 to find a picture of Colleen and Brian kissing on Brian's couch.

I just stared at the picture in silence, not believing what I was seeing. "Brian, what the fuck is this about?!"

"Nick, I'm so sorry," he said, practically trembling. "Let me explain…"

"You asshole! I don't want to hear your fuckin explanation! How could you fuckin do this to me?!"

"Nick, I didn't mean to. I was so drunk…"

"Don't bull shit me!" I screamed, interrupting him. "You're supposed to be my best friend, my Best Man even! You fuckin bastard…" With that I walked as quickly as I could to my car.

"Find another ride, asshole," I snapped, driving away without him.

_Chapter 12_

*Colleen's View*

"Col!" I heard Nick scream from downstairs. "You mind getting the fuck down here!"

"Nick, watch your language," I called back.

"Don't start with me, bitch!"

I gasped at his last line. Nick never called me that unless he was really mad… maybe something had happened. I started down the stairs trying to find him.

"What did you just call me Nickolas Gene Carter?!"

"I called you a bitch!" he screamed, finally walking into my view.

"What the hell for?"

"For this!" he said, shoving a magazine in my face.

"What the fuck is this," I muttered, pulling it away so I could look at it. "Oh my God," I said softly as I saw the headline. "Nick, let me explain…"

He started to laugh. "That is so cute… that's exactly what Brian said. 'Nick, let me explain'. No wonder you two go so good together!"

"Ok, Nick, just calm down. I swear, this can all be explained…"

"You know what… I don't even want an explanation! All I want is to hurt you like you're hurting me right now. I should have known you'd do something like this… Brian too."

"Listen, Brian was drunk…"

"And you?!" he interrupted me.

I didn't know what to say…

"And you?!" he screamed again. "Were you drunk?"

"No, Nick, I wasn't. Now just calm down."

"How the fuck can I calm down? Ok, so this isn't Brian's fault… it's your fault. Is that what you're saying?"

"It wasn't Brian's fault… he was drunk. He didn't know what was going on. I'm so sorry, Nick."

"Save it for someone that cares, bitch… save it for someone who cares…"

"Nick, stop being so difficult!" I begged with him, desperate for him to just calm down and listen. "We can work this all out if you just listen to me for a second."

"I don't want to work it out. I don't want to know. You probably slept with the guy for all I know…" he said with a nervous laugh.

There was an awkward silence. He thought it was a joke; I knew it was the truth.

"You… you didn't sleep with him, did you?" he asked, only fear visible in his eyes now. He had stopped screaming; now he was just afraid.

"I'm so sorry, Nick…"

"Oh my God… Oh my God… Oh my God…" he started to whisper to himself.

"Nick, just listen, ok… just listen…."

"Bitch, how many times do I have to tell you to SHUT UP! I don't care… you're a little slut that's what you are!"

"Nick, stop…."

"Why should I be the one to stop? You didn't stop with Brian, now did you? You just took advantage that no one else was there and he was drunk. Well now I'm taking advantage!"

"Do you know how crazy you sound?"

"I have a right to sound crazy! Think of what you did to me. Just think. We were gonna get married in a week! Think of what you did."

"We'll still get married, Nick…"

"Oh, no, we won't!"

"You're calling off the wedding?" I gasped.

"Damn right I am!"

"Nick, I'm begging you… just listen to me."

"Some other time, Col, some other time. Cuz I'm afraid if you start talking about you and Brian I'm gonna start doing a lot more than screaming!"

"Look, Brian was really stressed out with the baby so I suggested we go to a club…" I started.

"You think I'm kidding?!" he screamed. You could see the anger even in his eyes… they were wild and burning into mine whenever I looked over. "You know that song 'Break Stuff' by Limp Bizkit?" he asked, beginning to laugh.

"Yea," I said weakly.

"That's how I feel right now, bitch!" he grinned, knocking over the lamp to the right of him.

"Ok, Nick. Get a grip! That's your lamp you're breaking!"

"You think I care… I've got millions of dollars. Losing one lamp isn't gonna kill me.And I'm sure a few dishes won't either…" he said before escaping into the kitchen.

"Oh, God," I muttered to myself before beginning to cry. I knew Nick had a bad temper, but it had never been this bad… then again, what I had done was pretty bad.

Soon I started to hear the sound of plates crashing in the kitchen…

"Ok, that's it Nick!" I screamed, running into the kitchen. Unfortunately, I happened to walk into the kitchen just as he was throwing his latest plate and it broke against my arm.

"Ouch!" I screamed out in pain, watching the blood start to gush out of my arm. "Nick, you've got to stop!" I said one last time before breaking down completely.

_Chapter 13_

*Nick's View*

I finally snapped out of my crazy mood to see Colleen's arm bleeding. All of a sudden I realized how out of hand things had gotten…

"Oh, God," I muttered, dropping the plate I was holding to the ground and letting the shattered pieces fall around my feet.

"Baby, I never meant to hit you. I never wanted to hurt you," I said breathlessly, pulling her into my arms.

She didn't answer. All she did was cry into my shoulder.

"What the fuck is wrong with me," I said to myself. "I love you, Colleen. I don't care what the fuck you did, I love you. I probably ruined everything now, didn't I. No one wants a psycho for a husband…"

"You may be a psycho," she said, lifting her head to look up at me, "but I'm the slut, like you said."

"You're not a slut! I'm so sorry I called you that. You were never a slut…"

"I am," she cried, staring at me through tear-stained eyes. "I slept with Brian behind your back… I didn't even love him…"

"You don't?" I asked with a smile. I couldn't help being grateful for that….

"I thought I did, but I don't. I only love you. I only want to be with you."

"I love you too, Col. No matter what… I'm always going to love you…"

She smiled up at me and gave me a long kiss.

"We have to get that arm bandaged up," I said, lifting it up to try and wipe some of the blood away.

"Yea, I know," she said quietly, watching me fish through the medicine cabinet for some bandages and disinfectant.

"I know you don't want to talk about it," I said softly, while carefully taking care of her arm. "But… why did you sleep with Brian… how did that happen…"

"We had gone out to a club, and he was really drunk. He had no clue what was going on. I'd spent the past 3 days with him… just watching him with that baby. I don't know but that did something to me. He loves Luke so much… he's so careful with him, tries so hard to be a good father. Watching Brian take care of Luke for 3 days made me think that I loved him. He never compared to you, though. He never could."

I gave her a small smile before sinking down to sit on the floor and pulling her into my lap.

"I'm going to be a good father too, Colleen."

"I know you are. You're going to love our kids just as much as Brian loves Luke."

"More!" I laughed, tightening my grip around her. "Jeez, I was like Eminem for a minute there!" (LYC!)

"Well, you didn't slit my throat and put me in the trunk… so not quite Eminem…"

"Ugh, I still feel awful about that whole episode," I shuddered, burying my face into her hair, and just holding her as close as I could. "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright. I'm sorry too. Did you talk to Brian?"

"Oh, God, Brian… I just left him at the mall…."

"You what??"

"We were at the mall shopping for suits for the uh, for the wedding," I said, suddenly uncomfortable. I had called off the wedding, hadn't I? "And that's when I found the magazine. He was right there. I screamed at him and drove away without him…"

"Nick, that mall is like 20 miles away!"

"I know," I said, giving her a shy smile. "I feel kind of bad. I'm sure he found a ride home, though," I said before trying to kiss her.

"Nick, go back and get him! He's not gonna find a ride home!"

"Ugh, do I have to…?"

"If you want some action later… yes, you do."

"Well, that's well worth it," I said, rushing to my feet.

"You're too much," she laughed, reaching out her hand so I could help her up too.

"You gonna come?"

"Sure, why not…" she said, grabbing her bag. "We must rescue poor Brian from being stranded…"

"You sure your arm is alright?"

"You're not that strong, Nick," she giggled, as we made our way towards the door.

"I can't believe I left him," I laughed, shaking my head. "I was really in a crazy mood."

"That you were. Come on, let's go…"

"Alright, alright."

_Chapter 14_

*Brian's View*

"Brain, get your ass up from that curb," I heard Nick's familiar voice call.

I looked up to see Nick's car about 15 feet away, with Colleen laughing in the front seat.

I got up and walked over to the car trying to figure out if he was still mad.

"We decided to come pick you up," he smiled. "Honestly, Brian, were you just going to sit on that curb until someone offered you a ride?"

"Well, how else was I gonna get home?" I grinned, grateful he was in a better mood.

"Brian, what happened to you?" Col asked, turning around to give me a strange look as I took a seat in the back. "Nick, you hit him?! You didn't tell me that," she said angrily, glaring at Nick.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, glancing at me. "I didn't touch the guy."

"The fans got to me," I said softly, giving them a small smile.

"They know already?" Colleen asked, her eyes wide.

"The magazines been out a few days," I muttered. "They sure love their Nick, those fans."

"That's kinda sweet," Nick grinned. "My fans are looking out for me."

"Damn, some of those girls are strong," I said, looking at my bruised arms.

"I'll help fix you up when we get home," Colleen offered.

"Col?" I asked, not sure if I should say what I had to in front of Nick. "Are we good now?"

She turned around again and gave me a warm smile, "We're good."

I wonder if Nick knew we slept together… I tried to mouth to Colleen Does he know what happened, but she kept going, "What? What?"

"You suck at lip reading," I laughed.

"Yes, I know you guys slept together," Nick muttered from the drivers seat.

"Oh," I said, suddenly uncomfortable.

"So, Bri, is she as good in bed with you as she is with me?"

"Nick!" Colleen screamed, giving him a punch in the shoulder. "It's over! Now, stop it."

"Whatever," Nick muttered, turning on the radio.

Colleen gave me a sympathetic smile and mouthed He'll be ok.

If she said so…. I wanted to know if the wedding was still on, but I was too afraid to ask.

Nick pulled up to my house without a word. "Bye guys," I said, getting out of the car.

"Bye Brian," Colleen waved. Nick just stared straight ahead.

The minute I slammed the car door, he sped away.

"Brian, you're back!" Sophia smiled, opening the door before I'd even rung the bell.

"The baby misses his daddy!" she said, placing Luke in my arms.

"Oh, come on…" I groaned, noticing the baby needed a change. "You're too much, Sophia!"

"Yea, aren't I… Brian, what happened to you?!" she gasped, suddenly noticing my bruises.

"Remember my little 'fling' with Col?" I asked, while cleaning up Luke and preparing him for his nap.

"Yea."

"Well now the whole world knows about it. Some sleezy photographer caught us making out and gave it in to some tabloid."

"Ah, I see. Well you knew you wouldn't get away with it. So basically Nick beat the living shit out of you?"

"Nope, just cursed me out and ditched me. It's the fans that almost killed me…"

"Really?" she asked, laughter in her eyes. "They love cute innocent Nick, what can I say!"

"They sure do! Damn, those girls were strong."

"Um, baby, I'm leaving for New York again in about a week. I'll only be gone a few days."

"New York again? Honey, you just got back," I muttered sadly.

"I know, I know. It'll only be a few days."

"Why?" I demanded. "Haven't you fucked him enough to last for a little bit longer than 2 weeks?!"

She gave me a hurt look before disappearing into the kitchen.

I sighed deeply before following after her.

"I'm going so I can help him with his new apartment," she said without turning to face me.

"He's really staying in New York, huh?"

"Yep."

"I thought about it and there's no way I'm moving to New York."

"Yea, I know," she said softly.

"So, what are you going to do… just move in with him?" I asked, my voice beginning to shake.

"No, Brian," she whispered, still refusing to meet my eyes. "He just needs some help moving in."

"I wish I knew what went on between you two last time you were in New York."

"Why's that?"

"So I could know whether to stick around anymore or not…"

She finally looked up at me. I didn't know what I had said, but she looked pretty upset.

"But you know what I wish more than anything?"

I could see tears in her eyes as she took her time saying, "What?"

"I wish you wouldn't hurt me anymore."

With that I quickly walked outside to take a long walk where I couldn't hear her cry.

*Colleen's View*

"Nick, that was so rude! Poor Brian," I said as we drove away from dropping Brian off.

"Poor Brian?! Poor Brian?! How about poor Nick?!"

"We're past this, remember? You're not mad anymore."

"Of course I'm still mad! I forgave you, yes. I love you and want to be with you, yes, but I'm still mad."

"Yea, I guess you have a right to be," I muttered, looking down.

"I'll try to talk to Brian," he offered, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks. Hey, you know Erica is coming tonight."

"Your cousin?"

"Yup. I'll have to go pick her up at the airport later…"

"Why's she coming?"

"Why do you think, Nick?" I asked, giving him a strange look. "The wedding."

"Oh," he said quietly.

"I know it's not til next week, but this was the only day she could come."

"Col, about the wedding…"

"Yea?"

"I was thinking we should probably postpone it for a little."

"What? Why? I thought you loved me…"

"I'm not calling it off for good, Col! Let's just wait awhile longer. I'll call the family and just tell them we changed the date."

"This is because of what happened between me and Brian?"

He nodded as we pulled up to our driveway.

"Well, you're not going to tell everyone why we're postponing the wedding, are you?" I asked, fearfully.

"Course not. If I did my mom would beat you down with a stick."

"Yea, what else is new," I muttered under my breath, as I closed the front door behind us.

"I never understood why you two didn't get along," he said, shaking his head.

"Who knows," I shrugged. "But it doesn't matter. All that matters is that I have you."

"Right back at you," he smiled before pulling me into his arms.

"I have a little time left before I go pick up Erica. I guess she's just going to have to stay with us awhile. You want to go upstairs?" I asked with a grin.

"Nah."

"Oh," I said unable to hide the disappointment in my voice.

"Downstairs is good," he said with a laugh, picking me up and bringing me to the couch.

"You're a bad boy, Nick Carter," I whispered seductively, licking his lips.

"I'm your bad boy," he corrected me, lightly biting on my ear.

"My bad husband," I giggled until he brought his lips to mine and ended the conversation.

_Chapter 15_

*Sophia's View*

I woke up the next morning to find Brian next to me in bed. He still hadn't been back when I fell asleep. I wonder where he went… He must have come back pretty late because he hadn't even bothered to change out of his clothes.

"Bri, you awake?"

No answer

8:30. I would've liked to sleep longer, but once I was awake, I was awake. Luckily Luke was still asleep. He was such a good baby… I thanked God for him everyday. But I couldn't help wishing he was AJ's sometimes. None of this shit would have happened if Luke was AJ's.

Brian's stirring made me look over at him. He had a pained expression on his face… Must be having a bad dream.

I edged closer knowing he usually talked in his sleep. I had spent many nights amused by his senseless chatter. Most of the time what he said made no sense so I was surprised when he started moaning, "Sophia, why? What did I do?"

Once in awhile I was able to have conversations with him while he slept so I said, "You didn't do anything, honey. Go back to sleep."

"What'd I do?" he called out again, his eyes tightly shut.

"Nothing, baby."

"Then why are you leaving me?" he muttered, before turning on his side.

I stared at him shocked, but he was dead asleep again.

I walked over to whisper in his ear, "I won't leave you if you don't want me to."

But he wasn't talking anymore…

The house was too quiet. I needed someone to talk to… I wonder if AJ's up…

I decided to call even if he wasn't. The phone rang about 10 times before he picked up.

"Jesus, it's 8:45 in the morning!"

"That's how you answer your phone, AJ?" I giggled.

"Oh, baby, it's you. What are you doing up?"

"Don't know. Can't get back to sleep… What are you doing?"

"Well, I was sleeping, but that's alright. Still coming to see me next week??"

I nodded my head until I realized he couldn't see that. "Yep, as long as you still want me."

"Course I still want you. I miss you so much."

"I miss you too," I whispered, constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure Brian wasn't awake and listening. "You really should come down for Colleen and Nick's wedding."

"No, you know I can't…"

"Colleen would really love if you came."

"And I'd love to see her get married… even if it is to that s.o.b. But I need time before I'm up to facing Brain again."

"Well, they're postponing it a week…"

"I need more than a week, Sophia! Honestly. Wait a minute… why are they postponing it?"

"To make a long story short, Col slept with Brian while I was in New York."

"Your kidding! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Guess I just forgot…"

"Wow. Brian's some player, now isn't he? First with you; now with Col. Now me and Nick have more in common then we ever did before. Brian tried to steal both our girls'. What a fuck…"

"No, Brian was drunk when he slept with Col. He had no idea what else was going on," I said trying to defend him.

"Oh, so Col's the one that wanted it?"

"Guess so."

"Ouch. I have to talk to that girl!" he laughed. "She's my best friend, but Damn!"

"She sorted things out with Nick. They're good… the wedding's set 2 weeks from now."

"Take pictures for me."

"Sophia, did you make any coffee?" I heard Brian ask groggily from behind me.

"That Brian?" AJ asked.

"Yea, I better go…"

"OK. Call me later. Love you."

"Um, yea. Bye," I said quickly, hanging up the phone.

"Let me take a wild guess," Brian mumbled, still not fully awake, "AJ?"

"Yea," I said, searching through the cabinets for some coffee filters. "You were talking in your sleep again."

"I was?" he grinned. "Was I screaming 'Come on, Britney, one more time!' ?"

"No," I laughed. "You only did that once!"

"Jeez, I blame that dream entirely on MTV for playing that video so damn much."

"Yea, sure! You know you want Britney Spears. You do voodoo on Justin every night hoping you can get her."

"Yea, yea," he said. "So what was I saying?"

"Oh, nothing good - I don't remember." I didn't want to bring up the subject we fought about yesterday.

"No fair - you never talk in your sleep! Next time you fall asleep on me I'm going to start whispering stuff in you ear… I hear that works."

"Yea, you do that - not gonna work!"

"We'll just see about that!" he screamed, punching the table playfully.

"Brian, you're so immature," I said, rolling my eyes.

"But that's what makes me so loveable." With that he leaned in and started to kiss me. He surprised me with that, but I wrapped my arms around his neck as he pulled me into his lap.

"We haven't had sex in a long time," he said, his face only an inch away from mine.

"Yea, I know," I said as his hands began to feel me around.

He helped lift up my shirt and continued to kiss me all over.

I was about to undo my bra when he stopped me.

"Why?" I asked, confused.

"Let's take this real slow," he suggested, beginning to suck on my lower lip. "It'll last longer if we take things slow."

"Alright," I agreed, pausing between small kisses.

"Not that slow!" he laughed. He moved his tongue in and out of my mouth caressing my tongue.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and pressed myself up against his body.

"You don't believe in the slow part, do you?" he grinned, slightly out of breath.

"What makes you think that?" I asked with an innocent smile as I began to lick his face.

"Jeez, Sophia!" he said, his arms slipping down to my lower waist.

"Well, tell me, am I as good as Britney is in your dreams?"

"Better," he whispered before finally unclasping my bra.

"You're going to have to take off your shirt too!"

"Fine," he said pulling it off. "Happy?"

"Yep." I ran my fingers up and down his chest as our kisses became longer and deeper… leaving us more and more out of breath.

I took off his pants, and he took off mine as well.

I was about to reach for his boxers when he reminded me, "Take it slow."

*Brian's View*

"You're such a tease," she groaned, becoming impatient.

"I always thought guys were supposed to be more anxious for sex than girls."

"Yea, well you thought wrong," she smiled, giving me another lingering kiss before pushing me down to the floor.

At this point I couldn't wait any longer either and took off her underwear followed by my boxers.

"You saw things my way?" she asked as my body hung over her.

"Always seem to."

"Good," she said pulling me down on top of her and letting me inside.

_Chapter 16_

*Nick's View*

I shifted uncomfortably on the couch as I listened to Colleen and Erica talk. They hadn't seen each other in a long time, but how could you talk this much… 3 hours and counting. I needed to get out of here.

"Baby, stop squirming," Colleen laughed. "Are you that bored?"

"Well, it's just I have no clue what you people are talking about."

"Why don't you go visit Brian or something?"

"Um, not a good idea."

"You promised me you'd talk with him. You still want him to be your Best Man, right?"

"Yea," I mumbled.

"So… go get back your Best Man."

"Alright, alright," I agreed, wanting only to get out of the house. "See you guys later."

"Bye. Don't stay too late."

I drove over there in record time. I decided to come in through the back door and was just about to ring the bell when I heard someone laughing. My curiosity got the better of me and I pressed my ear against the door trying to listen.

"I always thought guys were supposed to be more anxious for sex than girls." I heard Brian say faintly from inside.

Haha. What timing! This is the good stuff…

"Yea, well you thought wrong," Sophia's voice answered him. Then there was the sound of something crashing to the floor… a chair maybe.

Whoa. I'm thinking I might not be wanted right about now… Where else is there to go, though… Kevin and Howie live a little too far away for just a small visit. I guess I'll just wait it out, I decided, sitting down on the back porch and continuing to listen to the two of them.

I grinned as I heard Sophia say, "You saw things my way?"

This was great… it was like my own private entertainment. And they had no idea I was out here… I could write an article and give it in to some magazine : The sex life of Brian Littrell. I started to laugh at my idea, when all of a sudden the noises stopped.

Oh, shit. They probably heard me. I froze for a minute before I started to hear Brian moaning again. Close call, but this was too good. I had a years worth of blackmail just sitting there and listening to them.

After about 15 minutes things seemed to be back to normal in there and I got up to ring the bell.

"Coming," I heard Sophia call.

"Hey," I said, giving her a huge smile. "What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing," she said causally, letting me in.

Yea, nothing… haha

"Brian here?"

"Yep, somewhere. I'll go look for him."

"Brian! Nick's here to see you!" she screamed.

"K, coming!" he called from upstairs.

"The baby started to cry. He had to go upstairs to take care of him," she explained.

"Oh, I see," I laughed. She gave me a weird look and disappeared into the living room.

"Nick, what are you doing here?" Brian asked coming into the room with Luke in his arms.

"I thought maybe we could talk."

"Yea, ok. Sophia, could you take Luke?"

"Yea, sure," she said reappearing to take the baby. She whispered something in his ear I couldn't hear and he gave her a big smile. Interesting…

"So, how are things going with you two?" I asked.

"Good," he smiled. "I got some action this morning."

"You did, did you?" I grinned, trying to act surprised.

"On the very floor you're standing on."

I backed up a bit and he laughed. "How's Col?"

"Good, she's good. I mean, we postponed the wedding a week, but that's no big deal."

"Uh huh. So am I still your Best Man?"

"You better be!"

"Of course," he said happily.

"Oh, hey, Col wanted me to invite you guys over later for dinner or something. You know her cousin came to stay with us last night, so I guess she wants her to meet everyone."

"Oh, are Kev and Howie coming?"

"Nah, we figured just you and Sophia could come tonight. So can you?"

"Sure, as long as we can bring the baby."

"Yep. Colleen's obsessed with that kid…"

"So, you want to go play basketball or something?"

"Yea, that'd be great."

"Ok, cool. Let me go get my ball…"

*Brian's View*

"I'm back," I called out, heading towards the kitchen for a drink. I had been playing basketball with Nick the whole afternoon and I had to work my hardest to keep up with that kid.

Sophia was sitting at the kitchen table, Luke in a highchair next to her, sorting through our mail.

"You look like you're about to die. How hot is it out there?"

"Hot!" I said, wiping a inch of sweat of my face. "It was great just playing ball with Nick again… we're acting like we used to."

"That's great, honey," she smiled up at me, as I leaned over to give her a kiss.

"Any hate mail today?"

"Lots of it," she laughed, handing me a pile of about 20 letters.

"Jeez…" I muttered. "I can't take these anymore."

"They'll probably be coming for quite awhile," she warned me. "So we're going to Col's and Nick's house for dinner?"

"Yep. To see Col's cousin or whatever."

"Alright… as long as I don't have to cook."

"Give me a break, you never cook!" I laughed. "We're the pizza place's best customers."

She stuck her tongue out at me as I continued to laugh at her.

"I guess we gotta bring some baby food with us…" she thought aloud to herself.

"Ha… oh, God, check out this one, Soph: 'Dear Brian, I can't believe you could be such a fuckin asshole to Nick… he was your best friend, you shared everything together and you drugged Colleen and raped her?! I have lost all respect for you and your music. Catch ya later asshole.' Do I deserve this treatment??"

"I see the story's gotten a little out of hand."

"A little? Now everyone thinks I drugged and raped her! This is insane," I muttered to myself.

"Well, you don't have a band anymore anyway… not without AJ."

"Yea, I know," I said softly. "No one's really said anything about that… no one says it but we all know its over. It's kinda sad… we were so successful."

"I know, babe," she said, motioning me to come over and give her a hug.

"I tried to bring it up to Nick today… that we weren't a band, I mean, and he didn't want to talk about it. He's taking it really hard."

"Poor kid."

"Aw, he'll be alright with all the lovin' he's been getting from Colleen," I smirked.

"Yea, she told me they've slept together a few times…"

"Nick was so proud. It was the most pathetic thing…." I laughed.

"Aw, come on its sweet."

"But also pathetic."

"Shut up, Brian!" she groaned, before giving me a sloppy kiss on the lips.

"Hmmm… more of where that came from," I mumbled, pulling her down onto the floor once again.

*Colleen's View*

"Are they coming or not?" I asked impatiently, looking out the front window.

"They're only 15 minutes late, Col! Give them a break," Nick laughed, coming up from behind me and placing his chin on my shoulder.

I turned my head to give catch him in a kiss which we didn't end even as Brian and Sophia walked through the door.

"Hey guys," Sophia greeted us. "No PDA's!"

"You're one to talk, Sophia!" Nick laughed, pulling me down to the couch and continuing to kiss me.

"You wanna go upstairs?" Nick whispered in my ear.

"Nick, we can't just leave Erica here."

"Aww, come on, she'll be fine."

"Nick," I said sternly, staring into his eyes, "you can wait til later, can't you?"

"Yea, I guess," he mumbled, giving me one last kiss before getting off the couch and getting some drinks for everyone.

"Ok, Erica, this is Sophia and Brian. Guys, this is Erica."

"Hey guys," Erika smiled at them. "Sophia, I think I've met you before actually…"

"Yea, we have," Sophia said quietly. She was distracted because she seemed to be noticing the same thing I had. Brian hadn't stopped staring at Erica since he got here. His eyes were practically glued to her.

"Brian, honey, why don't we sit down," Sophia suggested.

"W-what'd you say?" he asked, still not letting his eyes leave Erica.

"I said, let's sit down," she said, anger beginning to fill her voice.

Sophia is not one to mess with when she starts to talk in that voice, and Brian snapped out of it to take a seat.

"Uh, Erica, why don't you come help me in the kitchen," I offered, trying to avoid anything worse.

"Yea, sure," she smiled sweetly. Too sweet. Who was she trying to impress? Maybe Brian…

Just as we left the room I heard Sophia start to yell at Brian, "What the fuck was that about?"

_Chapter 17_

*Colleen's View*

"Are they fighting?" Erica asked, looking over her shoulder at Sophia and Brian on the couch.

"Oh, don't worry about it. They'll be fine in a few minutes," I said. "Hopefully…"

"Brian's such a cutie," she sighed.

"You like him?!"

"Who wouldn't… that guy's adorable!"

"Well, back off, my dear. Sophia has her eye on you already."

"She does?" she asked, suddenly nervous. "I knew she didn't like me."

"Trust me, she doesn't like any other girl Brian looks at. Don't take it personally," I laughed.

"But… I thought Sophia was with AJ," Erica said, confused.

"Long story," I sighed. "Some other time. Let's make sure they haven't killed each other yet," I suggested, walking back into the living room.

"Brian, you forgot the baby bag! That was so stupid!" I heard Sophia shriek even before I entered the room.

"Baby, I forgot… calm down."

"Ok, guys - food's ready. Come into the kitchen," I smiled.

"Good! I'm hungry!" Brian said, jumping to his feet and disappearing into the kitchen.

"Asshole," Sophia muttered. "Just leaves me to take care of the baby. I give him sex twice today and this is the thanks I get?!"

"Boys will be boys," I shrugged, taking Luke from her.

"But Col… did you see the way he was looking at Erica?"

"Yea," I said softly. "Did you ask him about that?"

"Didn't do any good… he just denies it and gives me some bull about how beautiful I look tonight," she rolled her eyes.

"Sophia, relax. You have nothing to worry about. Brian's crazy about you, you know that. And I already told Erica hands-off."

"Good," she said with a satasfied smile. "Now what's for dinner?"

*Sophia's View*

"So, Erica, how do you like Florida so far?"

"Are your family as good-looking as yourself?"

"That's exactly what I think! We have so much in common."

Brian just wouldn't quit with this girl… I had never seen him so flirty and the worst part was he was doing it right in front of me! He hadn't looked at me since we got here… hadn't acknowledged my existence at all. To top it off Erica was not "backing off." Far from it. She kept giggling at everything he said and touching his hand… Surprise, surprise - Brian had sat next to her at the table.

"Aw, you're too cute, Brian. Hehe."

What a bitch…

I wasn't the only one who thought Brian was being overly flirty.

"Are you gonna kill him, or should I?!" Colleen leaned over to whisper in my ear.

I couldn't even answer her I was so angry.

I was making Erica really nervous, I could tell, but she wasn't backing down in the slightest. Usually my "look of death" worked… must be a superhuman bitch.

A little later

I had sent Brian home with the baby insisting Luke needed to get to sleep. I had stayed behind to help Colleen clean up. She would drive me home later… It was pathetic how reluctant Brian was to leave… all because of her.

"I'm sorry, Colleen, but you're losing that cute little cousin of yours. I'm afraid she has to go," I said as I cleaned off the butcher knife we'd used for the meal.

"No, Cefi, not one of your psycho moods," Col pleaded with me, only half kidding.

"Erica is a little bitch!"

"I know, she was," Col admitted. "Sorry about her. But it wasn't all her fault…"

"Oh, of course not! Brian's been an unbelievable asshole tonight… I think I'm going to leave for New York tomorrow instead of waiting a week…."

"Really?" she asked. "You can't always run away from your problems, Sophia."

"I know, but I miss AJ a lot. And he misses me too… He treats me well," she said quietly. "I really love him."

"But you love Brian, too."

"Unfortunately. Listen, I'm taking Luke with me so don't worry about dealing with Brian."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't mind watching Luke again…"

"No, I really don't want to be separated from my baby again."

"I understand."

"Ok, well I better get going now…" she said softly. Too softly. She wasn't being her normal self…

"Alright, let me go get my car keys and we'll be on our way."

By the time I got home everything was still and all the lights were out.

I was tired and the last thing I wanted to do was share a bed with Brian. I took off my shoes and collapsed onto the couch, immediately falling asleep.

*Brian's View* Next Morning

I walked downstairs to find a pile of clothes and 2 suitcases filling the dining room table. I had slept pretty late… it had to be around 12. I thought for a moment no one was home before I heard the sound of Sophia talking to the baby in the kitchen.

"Luke, please eat something. We gotta get going. Now, please, honey have atleast a spoonfull."

She looked up as I entered the room, but seemed to not even see me, as if she was looking past me.

"What do you have the suitcases out for?" I muttered, taking a seat across from her.

"Me and Luke are taking a trip to New York."

"I thought that was next week…"

"I changed it," she said, coldly, her full attention on the baby.

"You're taking Luke?"

"Yup."

"You keep leaving me," I blurted out.

She acted as if she didn't hear me.

"You wanna know something?" she finally asked after successfully getting Luke to start eating.

"Is this something gonna make me feel bad?"

"Probably."

"Then, no."

"Too bad. I'm going to tell you anyway."

"Joy," I mumbled, resting my head on the table.

"Yesterday morning… I was going to cancel this trip to New York to stay with you. It seemed to bother you that I was leaving again so I was going to forget it. Then, last night watching you and Erica… I realized you won't be so lonely after all."

"You're a lier," I said, staring straight into her eyes. "You would have left for New York even if it killed me. Cuz let's face it, Sophia - you're a heartless bitch."

"I'm glad you feel that way. My plane leaves in 2 hours. Say goodbye to your son," she said bitterly, placing Luke in my arms before leaving to finish packing.

Well, she was right about one thing… I wasn't going to be lonely. Not with Erica around. Erica was an amazing girl… and even though deep down in my heart I knew she didn't even come close to comparing to Sophia, I couldn't be second-best anymore. I couldn't compete with AJ anymore… it wasn't worth it. But in my heart I knew I'd be trying for Sophia again.

_Chapter 18_

*AJ's View*

"You are my fire, the one -" I almost crashed the car leaning over to shut off the radio. It was hard enough to forget about the Backstreet Boys without hearing them on the radio everytime I turned it on. I wish people would just forget about us - there is no Backstreet Boys anymore. We ended things while we were ahead… I couldn't care less if Nsync became the best boyband - good for them.

I started to get excited as I pulled up to the airport. I hadn't seen Sophia for a week, but it seemed like so much longer. Maybe this time she was here to stay. I couldn't help wishing that. I'd always been afraid to commit the rest of my life to one person, but being separated from Sophia made me realize that's all I wanted and needed… to be with her and only her.

I walked through the entrance of the airport to see Sophia sitting on a bench, rocking the baby carriage back and forth.

I walked up unnoticed until I was directly in front of her.

"Hey beautiful."

She looked up and gave me a huge smile before jumping up so I could hold her in my arms.

"I missed you so much," she whispered in my ear.

"I missed you too, honey. Are you alright?" I was a little concerned with her eagerness to see me a week early.

"I am now," she smiled up at me.

"Good," I said pressing my lips to hers for a kiss.

"Hmmm… love your hair, baby," she said pulling away to look at me.

"I remember you said you liked the red tips."

"Love em. Makes you look so sexy."

"So, what do you say, do I look good enough to be seen with you in public?"

"Yep, I think so," she said, her arms wrapped around my neck. She stared at me for a few moments before saying, "I want you so badly."

"How badly?" I grinned.

"Bad enough to strip and make love in front of all these people," she laughed.

"Hmmm… why not?" I muttered, cupping her chin for an even longer kiss.

"Cuz we'd probably be arrested," she said in between kisses.

"Is making love to the girl you want to spend the rest of your life with such a crime?"

"In a New York City airport it is. Let's just hurry home to your apartment."

"Good idea," I said grabbing her luggage. "You've got a good-looking kid there."

"Yep, I know it," she said proudly.

"I mean, our kids are going to look better, but you know…"

She laughed as we brought all of her stuff to my car and started towards the city.

Sophia started to flip through the radio stations when she came across "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely."

"Shut off that shit," I muttered, annoyed to hear another BSB song. "I swear, everytime you turn on the Goddamn radio…"

"What do you expect - you've got millions of fans worldwide. Of course they're going to play you constantly."

"Well, I'd wish they'd stop."

"It will, and then when it does you're going to be upset. I know you."

I shook my head. "You know I really don't miss being part of the Backstreet Boys."

"Not at all?"

"Not really."

"How could you be part of a band for 8 years and not miss it at all when it's gone?"

"If anything I miss just singing and performing. But being part of a band… I don't know, it was never really my thing. I was thinking about trying to start up a solo career. The Jonny No-name tour I did last year went pretty well… maybe I should give it a shot."

"Whatever makes you happy, baby," she said without much interest. I turned to see her staring out the window.

"Did you even hear what I said?!"

"I bet you Brian is fucking Erica as we speak," she said bitterly.

"What does that have to do with my solo career?! Erica?"

"Colleen's cousin."

"Oh, right… and we are talking about her and Brian fucking because…"

"Because… Well, I don't know. I just bet you that's what they're doing right now."

"So what?"

"So nothing."

"Sophia, you're acting really strange. Are you alright?"

"Yep," she said, turning to smile at me. "Couldn't be better."

"If you say so," I sighed, finally reaching my building. "Well, this is it."

"Which floor?"

"Fifth. Come on," I said taking her hand and leading her towards the entrance.

"AJ, the baby!" Sophia laughed, giving my hand a tug back.

"Oh, right! Jeez, gotta get used to this baby stuff."

"Oh, you will. Just takes awhile."

We went upstairs and I gave Sophia a tour of the whole apartment.

"So, what do you think?"

"AJ, this place is amazing!" she said, her eyes sparkling.

"I thought you'd like it."

"I love it," she corrected me. "I love you."

"That's good… that's real good," I said, feeling around in my pockets. "Cuz I have something very important to ask you."

"What's that?" she asked with a smile.

I found what I was looking for and dropped down on one knee.

"Sophia, I was wondering… if you would marry me?" I asked her, finally finding the box the ring was in and taking it out.

She looked at me in complete shock which only made me more nervous than I already was. "AJ McLean asking me to marry him… who would've thought…"she grinned.

"Sophia, you're killing me here," I laughed nervously.

"Sorry," she laughed. "AJ… of course I'll marry you."

I can't even describe what I felt right then, but it was the most amazing feeling in the world. The girl I loved had just said she would marry me. We were gonna spend the rest of our lives together… I couldn't ask for anything more.

"Oh, the Lord is good," I sighed with relief, as I slipped the ring on her finger and rose up to kiss her.

"I think I wanna see the bedroom again…"

"Hell yes!" I laughed, picking her up and disappearing into my room.

_Chapter 19_

*Sophia's View*

"It felt so good to do that with you again," AJ sighed, finally taking a break and lying down.

"AJ, its only been a week!" I laughed.

"I know, but I can't go a day without being close to you…" he said, brushing back my hair from my eyes.

"I see we're going to have a busy married life in bed now aren't we?" I grinned.

"You got it!"

I was just about to kiss him when I heard Luke start to wimper from the other room.

I groaned as I reluctantly pulled away from AJ and threw on a robe.

"This kid loves to interrupt people when they're getting busy."

"You mean he's interrupted you and Brian..." he muttered softly.

"Um, yea," I said suddenly uncomfortable. Shit, I fucked up...

Oh. Listen, as crazy as this sounds I don't care what you've been doing with Brian while I wasn't there. It doesn't matter to me as long as it stops now. I mean, Sophia, we're engaged now..."

"Of course. AJ, I promise you from now on there's never going to be anything between me and Brian. I have you now. You're all I want."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Alright, good," he said, giving me a kiss.

"Ok, let me go get my kid," I said as Luke began to cry harder.

"I'll come with you," AJ offered, following me into the other room.

"So, how hard is it being a parent?"

"Hard. Being responsible for another life... really hard."

"But is it worth it?"

"Yea," I smiled. "It really is. Just to hold your baby in your arms... it's all worth it."

He watched me closely as I picked Luke up and gently rocked him back and forth. "Shhh.. darlin, stop crying... shhhh..."

"So, I had this crazy idea..." he began once the baby quieted down a little.

"And what's that?" I asked with a smile.

"Remember you and Colleen used to always talk about having a double wedding?"

"Yea, we were obsessed with that idea for the longest time..."

"Well, how about we do that."

"Have a double wedding?" I asked, surprised.

"Yea, why not? It'd be kinda cool."

"AJ, that is crazy, but that's a good idea! It would save everyone a lot of trouble if we just combined them," I said starting to get excited with the idea. "But what about you and Nick?"

"What about us?"

"Well, you didn't exactly leave Florida on good terms with him."

"Yea, I know, but Nick's easy to make up with... leave it all up to me."

"All up to you? I don't know, sounds pretty scary..."

"Just wait and see," he smiled, wrapping his arms around my waist. "You're going to love me even more than you already do once you see what I do with this wedding."

"Sounds good, baby."

"Can, I, uh... hold Luke?"

"What? Um, yea, sure," I said, carefully placing Luke in his arms.

"He really does look like Brian," he muttered, shaking his head in amazement. "It's almost scary. Mini Brian."

"Yea, I know..."

"We can work out something with Brian about the baby, don't you think?"

"Yea, I"m sure we'll figure out something."

"He's so lucky."

"Why's that?"

"You had his kid. He's a lucky son of a bitch."

I laughed before leaning in to give AJ a long kiss. "Well, I can't wait til I have some of your kids."

"Really?" he asked with a smile.

"Really. But no mini AJ's... they're not getting any tattoos!"

"Ok, it's a deal," he laughed, placing Luke back into my arms and kissing my forehead.

*Colleen's View*

"Col, you won't believe who just called," Nick said walking into the living room with a huge grin on his face.

"Who?" I asked, motioning for him to come sit next to me on the couch.

"AJ. All the way from New York. He just proposed to Sophia!"

"Your kidding! Oh, I'm so happy for them! She said 'yes' right?"

"Yup. And they had this idea that we could have a double wedding."

"That would be so cool!'

"That's what I thought. I told him I'd have to talk to you about it, but it sounded great to me."

"Definitely. So you and AJ are good?"

"Yep," he smiled. "We talked it over. He's still pretty angry with Brian though."

"Well, I don't know if those two are ever going to be close again…"

"I think AJ and Sophia are going to come back to Florida to plan it out with us," Nick said, finally collapsing on the couch, placing his head in my lap.

"That's great," I nodded enthusiastically, running my hands through his hair.

"We're going to have the best wedding," he grinned up at me.

"I know it."

"Not to mention an amazing wedding night…"

"Oh, really?"

"Yep. Let me show you a little of what I mean," he said before his arms reached up and pulled my head down for a kiss.

His hands began to wander up my shirt, searching to unstrap my bra.

All of a sudden the phone began to ring.

"Shit," Nick muttered, pulling me up with him to get the phone.

The phone continued to ring as Nick fumbled for it, his lips never leaving mine.

"Hello? Oh, hey Mom," he said, rolling his eyes at me.

I rubbed Nick's back as he talked with his mother on the phone. She called almost everyday and the conversations were never short.

"What?…. Um, we don't have a date yet… Mom, we just needed more time… Yes, I love her!"

The nerve of this woman… every day: "Are you sure you love her, Nick?"

"Mom, I'm really kinda busy, can I call you later?" Nick pleaded as I began to kiss his neck. He had the phone cradled against his shoulder so his hands were free to roam up and down my body.

"Mom, I don't care what the tabloids say - Colleen didn't cheat on me," he said annoyed. He gave me a small smile as he began to unzip my jeans.

"Mom, can't I just call you later?" he asked again as he slid my jeans down my legs.

He held the phone away from his ear for a moment and I could still hear Jane chatting away. "This woman never shuts up," Nick laughed, pulling me closer so that my body was pressed up against his.

"I want you now Nick," I whispered in his ear.

That's all I needed to say; with that he dropped the phone to the floor.

I could still hear Jane's voice talking as I let him pin me down.

"Not gonna put up a fight?" he asked playfully.

"Nope, not this time," I grinned before grabbing him down and planting kisses all over his face.

I moved my hand up his shirt and traced the outline of his muscles with my fingers.

"Nick!" I heard Jane scream from the phone that lay next to us. "Are you there?"

We ignored her and helped undress each other until there was nothing left but for him to climb on top of me and get what we both wanted.

Nick moaned softly and began to call out my name in pleasure.

"Nick? What the hell is going on over there?! Nick??"

With that I reached out to press the 'off' button.

_Chapter 20_

*Brian's View*

I felt a little guilty as I drove over to Nick and Colleen's house. I mean, Sophia's flight had just left 5 hours ago and I was already after Erica. Then again, why should I feel bad. She probably hadn't thought of me once since her plane got to New York. AJ would no doubt keep her busy...

Colleen opened the door to give me an uncomfortable stare. "Brian, um, what are you doing here?"

"Came to see Erica, actually," I said, gathering up all my courage. I was prepared for her attacking me, and was surprised when she let me in without a word.

"Not going to yell at me?"

"Why should I..."

"Um, because I'm 'cheating' on Sophia."

"Brian, there's something you should know... You won't find out if I don't tell you."

"Alright...?"

"Sophia and AJ are getting married."

"They're what?" A cold chill ran through my body as I stumbled over to a chair. "He proposed this morning after she arrived in New York. They want to have a double wedding with me and Nick."

Nausea suddenly swept over me.

"Brian, you ok?"

"No," I answered quietly, too sick to say any more than that.

I knew this day would come... I just didn't know it would be so soon. It was bound to happen - AJ and Sophia had been together for 5 years... they'd been through everything. She'd wanted to marry him more than anything else in the world. And it must have finally hit him that he was never going to find better than her. It didn't matter that Sophia and I had slept together... it didn't matter that we had a baby... she always loved AJ; she always would.

I do believe she loves me too, but what can I say - AJ was there first; he was in the picture longer. I'd always love her, and mostly likely she'd always have feelings for me too, but things don't always work out the way you plan.

"You still want to see Erica?" Colleen asked after giving me a few moments to think.

"Not right now... could you tell her to call me later?"

"Sure. I'm sorry, Brian. I know how much she meant to you..."

"Yea. Well, shit happens," I muttered. "Bye."

*Later that day*

I stuffed the half-eaten carton of ice cream back into the freezer once the door bell rang.

I opened the door to find Erica.

"Hey... what are you doing here?"

"Well, Colleen told me to give you a call, but I figured I'd just drive over here and see how you were doing."

"Oh. That was nice of you..."

"Thanks. You can talk to me; I'm a good listener."

"You are, huh?" I smiled, looking her over. Erica being here might be the best distraction I needed to get over Sophia.

"Yep. I'm an even better kisser," she whispered softly, leaning in a little.

"Whoa, Erica! Not so fast," I said, backing up.

"Sorry. But you have to move on..."

"Yea, I know. Don't you think I should wait a little bit longer than a day to do that, though?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe a day is all you need seeing as you have a girl here that adores you."

"Would that girl be you?" I asked with a small smile.

"Just might be," she said, edging closer again.

This time I didn't back away... Maybe she was right....

Erica didn't go back to Nick and Colleen's til the following morning.... guess I had a new girlfriend.

*Nick's View*

I was up drinking my coffee when a breathless Erica stormed through the kitchen door.

"Shit," she mumbled when she saw me sitting there. "You're up."

"You almost got away with it," I grinned. "Don't worry - Colleen's still asleep."

"Oh, good," she said with a sigh of relief. "You're not going to tell her, are you?"

"Tell her what?" I asked, deciding to play dumb.

"Just don't tell her, ok?"

"How can I not tell her if I don't know what you're talking about..." I asked with a small smile.

"You just want to hear me say it, don't you?"

"Yup."

"Ok, I slept over Brian's house last night."

"And what did you do?"

"Nick, you pervert! We had sex. Happy?"

"No. I feel bad for Brian."

"Why would you feel bad for him?! I'm probably the best he's ever had."

"Yea, I'm sure," I laughed. "No, I feel bad cuz I knew Sophia would do this to him. But Brian always had this strange hope they'd end up together. Poor guy."

"Well, stop feeling sorry for him," she snapped. "He's fine. He has me now."

"I know, Erica. Like I said: Poor guy."

"Yea, fuck you too," she muttered before running upstairs to her room.

Bitch...

I knew Brian was upset and vulnerable, but Erica?? Jeez, he must have been a little drunk to top it off...

_Chapter 21_

*Sophia's View*

"Fuck, it's hot here," AJ muttered to himself as we walked out of the air conditioned airport into the humid Florida air. "New York's climate is so much better."

"Honey, I really appreciate you agreeing to come back to Florida," I said, giving him a kiss.

"That's alright. I admit - I sorta missed the guys. Well, everyone but Brian. And isn't it ironic that that's the person we're going to see the second we arrive here."

"Babe, you know we gotta work out what's going to happen with Luke."

"Yea, I know," he said quietly, squinting his eyes as he tried to search for Nick's car in the bright sunlight. "Where is that crazy kid... I told him 12."

"Oh, he'll be here," I said, taking a seat on a bench. AJ had insisted on holding Luke again. He'd become pretty attached to the kid during my stay. I still got a kick out of the "rebel" AJ walking around with a baby bag and carriage, but at the same time it only made me love him more. I knew he wished Luke was his, but he treated him like his own anyway.

He took a seat next to me, placing the baby in his carriage.

"I wonder if Brian knows we're getting married," I said thoughtfully, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Probably. Colleen or Nick would've told him by now. Jeez, they probably had to give him a tranquilizer after he found out."

"He'll be alright. He's got someone else."

"Erica, right?"

"Yep."

"Trust me - no girl can replace you easily. He'll still be upset."

"Yea, right," I laughed, punching his arm playfully. "I'm sure I'm very replaceable. Erica's a pretty girl."

"Well, not to me, you're not," he said, turning to give me a long kiss. "No one could ever replace you in my life."

"No one will ever need to..." I whispered before leaning over to meet his lips again.

"Well, I see nothing has changed with you two," Nick called out, as his car pulled up in front of the bench.

"Hey Nick," I smiled, giving AJ one last kiss on the cheek before grabbing my kid and heading towards the car.

AJ packed away all the luggage, and we started to drive out of the airport.

"So you want me to drop you guys off at Brian's?"

"Yea, could you?" I asked, fastening my seatbelt. It was Nick driving…

"No prob. You're going too AJ?"

"I don't want to, but my fiancé's making me," he said turning around to give me a smile. "I love saying that."

"Me and Col were actually thinking since we're already having a joint wedding we should go on our honeymoon together too. What do you guys think of that?"

"That'd be great," AJ nodded.

"Sounds good. Where should we go though?"

"I dunno," Nick said.

"How about Hawaii… I hear that place is gorgeous," I suggested.

"Perfect," Nick smiled as he pulled up to Brian's house. "Good luck you guys. Come over to me and Col's later, alright? We'll plan the honeymoon more."

"Alright, later kiddo," I said leaning over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek before jumping out of the car.

"Sophia, I'm going to be a married man!" he joked.

"You're such a loser," I laughed.

He gave me a cheesy grin before speeding down the street and out of sight.

AJ and I paused before the front door; neither one of us wanting to reach out and ring the bell.

"We can still make a run for it," he whispered in my ear.

"No, we can't. Come on," I said taking a deep breath and grabbing his hand.

"I don't think he's home." I had rung the bell and there was no sign of life in the house… All of a sudden I heard a girl's laugh from inside.

AJ squeezed my hand as Erica opened the door in only a towel. She seemed to be soaking wet…. "Hey," I said with fake cheerfulness in my voice. "Is Brian here?"

"Oh, he's in the shower."

"Oh, um…."

"He'll be out soon. You can wait in the living room."

"Alright," I smiled, leading AJ towards the couch.

"Bitch," I muttered under my breath after she disappeared up the stairs.

"Don't let it get to you. Brian needs someone, and Sophia, you've got me…"

"I know, baby," I said, as he pulled me down into his lap.

"Sophia, you come to get the rest of your stuff?" Brian's voice asked from behind me. I turned around to stare at him. The way to tell how Brian was feeling was through his eyes, but today they seemed to be just 2 cold circles of ice.

"Actually, I wanted to talk about the baby…"

"Where is he?"

"Nick has him right now."

"Alright, so talk," he said, sitting in my favorite chair across from where me and AJ were on the couch.

"Well, I guess you heard about me and AJ…"

"Yea, I heard," he snapped, turning his eyes away from me.

"So, we have to work out some kind of a schedule with Luke."

"You know this is the kind of thing that messes up kids growing up."

"Brian, I know this isn't the definition of a perfect childhood, but it's the best we can do in our situation…"

"I just don't think-"

"Brian, just listen to her!" AJ interrupted him.

He gave AJ a dirty look before motioning for me to go on. "We're going to be moving back into AJ's house here in Florida so I was thinking he'd have to stay with me the first few months of course… it's not good for a newborn to be separated from his mother…."

"You're right - it's not. But that certainly didn't stop you from running off to New York now did it?"

"Ok, Brian, cut the shit, and just try to agree with something!" AJ shouted, rising to his feet.

"AJ, sit down, honey," I pleaded, pulling his hand to sit down again.

"How many months does a baby need to stay with his mother?" Brian asked quietly, seeming to calm down.

"I'd say atleast 2."

"And then what?" He had finally lifted up his head to stare into my eyes again.

"Luke can be with his daddy every other week," I said with a small smile.

"Ok," he nodded in agreement.

"Ok, babe, you ready to go?" AJ asked me, massaging my back.

"Yea, I'll be just a minute… you call Nick to come get us."

"Alright," he agreed disappearing into the other room to use the phone.

Brian stared at me in complete silence for a few moments before getting up to come sit next to me. He took my hand in his and studied the finger my engagement ring was on.

"Wow. Nice ring," he muttered. "Better than the one I was going to give you…"

"What are you talking about?"

"We used to talk about getting married all the time, Sophia - remember?"

"Yea, I know," I said quietly. "You didn't actually get a ring though, did you?"

He shook his head. "No, but I had one all picked out. Don't worry - the one AJ gave you is much nicer."

He was about to get up, but I didn't let go of his hand.

"Don't go," I said, my eyes pleading with his.

"Ok."

"Brian, I wish things didn't have to be this way…"

"Me too."

I wanted to tell him I still loved him, but I stopped myself. Saying that wouldn't help anything… not now. Not when I was getting married to someone else.

"I'm going to miss Luke a lot."

"I promise I'll bring him to visit anytime you want. You're a great father, Brian, and I want you to be with our baby as much as possible."

"How's AJ with the baby?"

"Pretty good. Nothing like you, but he has time to improve… He tries hard."

Bran brought his hand up to my face and began gently stroking my cheek.

"I think we'll both be happier this way…" he whispered, bringing his face closer to mine.

"Yea, much happier," I whispered back as he brought his lips to mine for the last time.

"Slow to make it last," I mumbled as I explored every inch of his mouth knowing soon he would be out of my reach forever.

He ran his fingers through my hair as the kiss deepened. We were both nearly out of breath when we heard AJ's footsteps coming back into the room. Brian quickly pulled away and rose to his feet as AJ entered.

"Ready Sophia?"

"Um, yea," I said, dazed with what had just happened.

Brian and I shared one last look before he closed the door; shutting me out of his life. Or was it me that was shutting him out of mine….

"Well, that didn't go badly," AJ said climbing into Nick's waiting car.

I just sat in silence, the taste of Brian's kiss still in my mouth.

_Chapter 22_

*Colleen’s View*

“That was such a wonderful wedding,” I said with a contented sigh as I rested my head on Nick’s shoulder.

“You looked so beautiful in your dress. It was like I fell in love with you all over again,” he laughed softly, kissing my head.

I took his hand and began to kiss his neck when I felt someone kick my seat.

“Col!” I heard Sophia call from in back of me. “The place we’re staying in Hawaii has an indoor swimming pool, a jacuzzi, and a sauna!”

“I mean, have you ever done it in a sauna?!” AJ’s voice added. “It’s awesome!”

“Oh, yea! You two gotta try it!” Sophia laughed.

“Yo, sex experts – wanna keep it down? The whole plane can hear you!” Nick snapped, slinging his arm around me.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize one little wedding could make you so cranky,” AJ said. “Yo, Sophia I didn’t bring any condoms – that’s ok, right?”

I groaned as I buried my head into Nick’s chest. “Do those 2 ever shut up…”

“Nope, and we’ve got a whole week with them. Aren’t we lucky?” he grinned, stroking my hair back. “Damn, I love you.”

“Where’d that come from?” I asked, a huge smile spreading across my face as I looked up at him.

“That’s all I think about… how much I love you. I can’t look at you without thinking it.”

“I love you too, baby,” I said, snaking my arms around his waist. “I always will.”

“You know what would be cool?!” AJ exclaimed, ruining the moment. “Sophia, let’s get up really early in the morning and go make love out on the beach while the sun’s rising and everything.”

“AJ, I’m begging you to shut up,” Nick mumbled turning his head to look back at them. “Oh, you two are sick!”

“What are they doing?!” I asked, still not moving from my position safe in Nick’s arms.

“Something we’ll be doing later, but not appropriate for the plane,” Nick snickered, holding me tighter.

“Oh, now I’m really curious! But don’t worry - I’m patient… I can wait til later,” I smiled.

And with that we both fell asleep.

*Sophia’s View*

“Aw, look at them,” AJ grinned. “They fell asleep in each other’s arms. Would you mind if I took a little nap myself?”

“No, not at all. It’s a long flight.”

“This way I have lots of energy for tonight,” he whispered, leaning in to give me a passionate kiss. “More of that later.”

He fell asleep quickly, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

The wedding was as amazing as AJ promised it would be. I had never been happier than I was walking up that aisle – all my family and friends watching, urging me on – towards the man who loved me more than anything in the world, who I loved more than anything in the world. The walk to the alter seemed eternal; I wanted to just start running, just grab AJ and never let him go. The only thing that could match my excitement was AJ’s grinning face as I made my way towards him. He had taken my hand once I reached him and whispered in my ear, “Here we go, baby. I love you.”

AJ’s movement in his sleep snapped me out of my flashback. He was still asleep but couldn’t seem to find a comfortable position. I gently eased him down so that his head could rest in my lap. Finally, he seemed at peace… I kissed his forehead and once again thought back to the memorable day.

Today I had gotten what I’d always wanted: AJ had vowed to spend the rest of his life with me and he’d meant it with all his heart. I smiled to myself as I thought of how sincere he’d been when he’d said, “I do.” It had brought tears to my eyes…

But then my thoughts drifted to Brian… He had been Nick’s Best Man – he was also at the alter I was walking towards. And for a split second as I walked I thought of how it would be if I were marrying Brian instead… how it would be if Brian was soundly asleep in my lap right now… I shook my head as if trying to shake away all thoughts other than AJ from my mind.

“Baby,” AJ mumbled, his eyes still closed. “We there yet?”

“Nope. Honey, get some rest,” I said softly, kissing his eyelids shut.

“I love you,” he said before drifting off again.

Brian kept his arm around Erica’s waist the whole wedding party – they danced to every song together. He seemed happy with her… I wanted him to be happy. I just thought he deserved better than Erica. He deserved better than me. Brian needed someone who would love him and only him. I had wanted to desperately to play match maker and try to set him up with my Maid of Honor Marietta. It might have worked even if Erica would let him breath on his own for a minute. But, I was stubborn – it didn’t end there. I didn’t want Erica anywhere near my baby and I told Brian that so Marietta was going to be watching Luke. Brian would no doubt want to visit his kid several times a day so the two of them would have to talk…

“Sophia, you awake?” Col asked.

“Yep.”

“How about AJ?”

“Sound asleep.”

“Nick too… Brian kept staring at you during the ceremony.”

“Really?” I was surprised to hear that… I had never caught him.

“He really loves you.”

“I know,” I said as I stared out the window. “Col, it’s raining.”

“Yea, but we’re nowhere near Hawaii – don’t worry. The weather there is supposed to be beautiful this week.”

“Oh, good.”

“But you know sometimes love is all in your head. I used to think I loved Brian, but that was all lust…”

“No, I think you did love Brian. Maybe you don’t anymore, but for awhile there you did. You were sure you loved him then, and when you’re in love… you know it.”

“Yea, I think you’re right, but don’t say anything to anyone, alright?”

“No problem.”

“That doesn’t matter though… what matters is that I’m married to Nick.”

“Uh huh. You two are gonna have a pretty wild night, huh?”

“So he says,” she laughed. “I swear, he’s been talking about our wedding night since God knows when…”

“AJ too. I think they might die without sex tonight.”

“Wanna try it?” she asked, turning around to look at me.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll tell everyone later,” she laughed, looking towards the front again.

_Chapter 23_

*Colleen's View*

"My God, this place is so cool!" I heard AJ scream from next door. "Is your bed as big as ours?" he asked, coming into me and Nick's room. We had just arrived in Hawaii and the 4 of us were checking out the suit we'd be sharing for the next week.

"Hey, your bed is even bigger! No fair!" AJ whined. "Sophia, come look at Colleen and Nick's room."

I heard footsteps out in the hall before Sophia's head peeked through the doorway. "Oh, we definitely get this room," she grinned looking at the size of the bed and the view of the water through the window.

"Oh, no you don't!" Nick shouted walking out of the room's private bathroom. "Me and Col already have our suitcases in here - we got to it first."

"That is soo unfair," Sophia moaned, falling onto the bed. "Oh my God, AJ feel this bed - it's so comfortable."

AJ went over to sit down next to her and a huge smile spread across his face. "We so get this room," he muttered before turning to pin Sophia down on the bed. I looked over at Nick as they began to kiss.

"They're making out on our bed! You two get off! We called this room. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to take the other one."

"But it's not fair," Sophia said for the third time.

"You're such a baby," I laughed. "Life isn't fair, now get out of me and Nick's room!"

"Just because you looked in this room before us you get it?! I don't think so," AJ said.

"Can't we just take turns?" Nick suggested.

"No!" Sophia, AJ, and I all shouted at the same time.

"Ok," Nick laughed. "Then you have a problem."

"Let's have some sort of bet and whoever wins gets this room," Sophia said thoughtfully.

"Yea, like what?" AJ asked.

"Sophia, remember what I started to tell you about on the plane?" I asked, a smile crossing my face.

"You didn't tell me anything, you just said you'd tell everyone later."

"Yea, well it's perfect," I grinned. "OK, guys let's get out of this room and go sit in the living room. I'll tell you my idea there."

Everyone followed me out into the living room where there were two couches. Nick and I sat on one and Sophia and AJ on the other.

"Now, seeing as we all just got married the teams should be the married couples, of course…"

Everyone nodded as I continued, "So, this is what I was thinking… we have this kind of contest to see which couple can go the longest with having sex."

"No way!" AJ shrieked.

Sophia laughed. "Col, are you trying to kill the man?"

"Yea, honey, not one of your brightest ideas," Nick snickered, slipping his arm around my waist.

"No, guys, I'm serious. This is a good bet. We'll watch each other at all times, and we see who's the stronger couple."

"What do you mean who's stronger?" AJ asked, confusion in his eyes.

"The longer you can wait without running to the bedroom the stronger you are. So the question is who is the stronger couple: me and Nick or Sophia and AJ."

"Well me and Sophia, of course," AJ smiled, pulling her closer to him.

"Yea, right!" Nick snapped. "No way. You guys can't go a freakin night without fucking. Me and Col waited forever to have sex… we could outdo you guys any day."

"Ha. You've got yourself a bet," AJ said, extending his hand to Nick.

Nick shook it forcefully, turning to grin at me.

"This is gonna be good," Sophia smiled. "Good idea Col."

"Yep," I grinned. "Should be interesting…"

*AJ's View*

Ok, was I the only one going crazy… It was 10 p.m. and for the last 4 hours we had just been sitting in this living room watching each other. Me and Sophia on one couch, Colleen and Nick on the couch opposite us. The only time we stopped was for a quick dinner. We weren't even talking anymore… just sitting and staring. This game was not fun anymore. This was my wedding night… I wanted to be alone with Sophia not being watched.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I announced, getting up. As I walked down the hall I stole a glance at Sophia and winked at her.

"Yea, I'm going to go get a glass of water," Sophia said too quickly, jumping up.

"Oh, no you don't!" Nick screamed in triumph. "I know what you two are pulling - Sophia, sit that pretty ass of yours down!"

She groaned as she slumped back down on the couch giving me a small smile. "Oh, well."

"This is boring," I sighed coming back into the room.

"I thought you had to go to the bathroom," Nick smirked.

"Yea, with Sophia I did. But nooo you had to be a jerk and not let her come."

"AJ, get a life," Colleen laughed. She was lying down on the couch, her head leaning against Nick. Her eyes were beginning to close.

"Ha, Col's falling asleep - I told you this was boring!"

"Am not!" Colleen argued, opening her eyes wide to prove me wrong.

"This sucks," I continued to complain. "It's my wedding night… I should be in the bedroom with the girl I love not with you two."

"Oh, thanks a lot," Col mumbled, before closing her eyes again.

"Col, I hate to break it to you but you're falling asleep," Sophia said, going over to throw a blanket over her.

"No, I'm not," she whispered before finally drifting off.

"Now, it's just the 3 of us," Nick sighed. "Well, I have no concerns about losing now!"

"Ok, so it doesn't count… now come on Sophia, let's go to bed."

"No way!" Nick said. "If I don't get any action tonight, neither do you."

"He's got a point, baby," Sophia smiled at me, giving me a kiss. "It's not fair."

"But we still don't know who gets the bed…"

"Neither of us," Nick laughed. "Colleen fell asleep on the couch; so can you!"

"This sucks," I muttered before lying down on the couch. "I don't even fit."

"Night," Nick said, turning out the overhead light.

"Come here, baby," I motioned to Sophia. She crawled over to lay besides me as I wrapped my arm around her.

"No fair… atleast you two get to sleep in each others arms," Nick sulked in the darkness.

"Hey, you win some, you lose some," I said before kissing Sophia good-night and falling asleep.

_Chapter 24_

*Nick's View*

"Shhh, AJ, you gotta be quiet or you're gonna wake Nick up!" I heard Sophia whisper. Then again… Sophia's whispers are equivalent to anyone else's screams.

I opened up my eyes to see the two of them trying to sneak into the prize bedroom. "Get your asses back out here!"

"Fuck," Sophia muttered, coming back into my view. "I woke you?"

"Sophia, you're so goddamn loud… how could you not wake me?!"

AJ gave me a playful smack on the head with a magazine that was lying on the table. "Don't insult my wife!"

"Sorry, sorry," I said rubbing the spot he'd hit me. "Go get some breakfast you guys."

"OK," AJ smiled, heading for the door.

"On second thoughts, never mind. Me and Col will come with you."

"Ugh, you suck," AJ groaned.

"AJ, I know you too well. You and Sophia have no shame… you would go screw in the middle of the supermarket. Col, honey, get up," I said, turning to gently shake Mrs. Carter.

"Nick, they're coming to get you. You have to get out of here," she mumbled, obviously still asleep.

Sophia started to laugh as she came over to try and help me. "Col, wake up!"

"Why?" she groaned, burying her head into her pillow.

"Because your husband doesn't trust me and AJ to go out alone and get breakfast and we're very hungry."

"He's right to not trust you."

"That's my girl!" Nick grinned, rubbing Col's back. "Now come on baby, get up."

"Alright, alright," she said sitting herself up. "I feel like having pizza."

"At 10 in the morning?" AJ asked, giving her a weird look. "Um, no, Col. You've got weird eating habits…"

"If I don't have pizza I'm not getting up," she insisted, laying back down again.

"Col, no pizza place is open at this time!" Sophia said, trying to pull her up again.

"So, we go to the supermarket and go get some frozen pizza."

"Ok," Sophia agreed, looking up at me.

"That's crazy," I said shaking my head. "But if it'll make my wife happy…. You ok with that, AJ?"

"Hey, as long as it's edible… I'm starving."

So we went out and got Ellio's. That was our breakfast. We spent our day at the private beach that came with our suite. It was so cool… this whole huge beach just to ourselves. It would have been so relaxing if we didn't have to stop AJ and Sophia from disappearing about a million times. They kept saying they had to take a "walk." Damn, me and Col are so gonna win this! Those two are sex-crazy… they'll never last.

"Nick, baby, will you look at me for a moment instead of AJ and Sophia?" Colleen asked, seeming to be a little annoyed. We were sitting on our beach blanket and I was watching AJ and Sophia in the ocean.

AJ had just picked Sophia up and thrown her into the last wave. I could hear her scream from here, "You are dead AJ McLean!"

"Hmm, what'd ya say?" I asked, my eyes still on the water.

She cupped my chin and turned my head to look at her. "I said pay some attention to me," she said leaning in to give me a sweet kiss.

"Sorry," I mumbled, slowly easing her down onto the blanket. Bracing myself on my elbow and leaning over her, I whispered in her ear, "Do you really care what bedroom we get?"

"As long as you're in there with me, not at all!" she laughed, covering my face and chest with small kisses.

"Guess we're the weaker couple," she mumbled between kisses.

"Nah, we just love each other more!"

"Yep, that must be it," she said wrapping her arms around my neck, working her tongue around the inside of my mouth.

Col began to play with my hair as my hands roamed up and down her body. She had worn a bikini today and I lowered my mouth down to kiss her stomach.

"I've never had sex on the beach…."

"Neither have I, but it's fun so far, huh?" I grinned.

"Oh, yea," she said before attacking my lips again.

*AJ's View*

"Ahh, I am NOT gonna let you throw me into another wave! I have swallowed enough salt water for one day," Sophia laughed as I threatened to dunk her again.

"You asked for it… you're being so flirty today, baby, and I can't have you - now, that's just cruel!"

"Well, if they would just fall asleep…" she said, turning to look at our blanket. "Oh my God, AJ - look!"

I turned to find Nick on top of Colleen. Their clothes were on, but it didn't seem like it was going to stay that way.

"Come on," I said, grabbing Sophia's hand and heading out of the water. We walked up to the blanket un-noticed. Even if we had been, I don't think they would have stopped.

"Jeez, you two… you better stop. Nick's getting pretty hot and bothered," I laughed.

Neither one of them looked up and I saw Nick begin to untie Colleen's top.

"Whoa… I think we will be leaving now," I said, backing up. "You do realize me and Sophia win though?"

Once again - neither one of them looked up.

"Did you hear that, baby?" I grinned, turning to look at Sophia. "We won! We get the bedroom!"

"I knew we could do it," she said giving me a kiss.

"Ok, losers and I do mean losers," I said trying to rub it in their faces as much as possible. "Since we have won we will make no pause to go make a little lovin ourselves. See you two guys later," I said picking Sophia up and running into the house.

"Ahh, don't drop me, baby!"

"I wouldn't!" I laughed, skidding to a stop once we reached the bedroom. I placed her down on the bed and she pulled me down on top of her.

"Finally!" she sighed, tearing off her clothes and playfully edging away from me further into the center of the enormous bed.

"This bed could fit 10 people, I swear!"

"Oh, we'll do enough for 10 people, don't worry."

"My God, you're naughty my dear," I said in my fake British accent.

"It only gets worse," she smiled, pulling down my swimming trunks.

_Chapter 25_

*Colleen's View*

"Is there any food in this place?" Nick asked me, as I fumbled with the keys, trying to open the door to our suite.

"Nick, how can you even think of eating… We just got home from an all-you-can-eat buffet!"

"I'm hungry again," he shrugged.

"You're too much," I sighed, finally opening the door. "Damn, I can't see anything." All the lights were out.

Nick took my hand in his and felt around for the light. "Do you remember where the light is?"

"No, we just got here yesterday night… I don't remember where anything is."

"Fuck, why are all the lights out… I can't see anything."

"Well, maybe if we just wait our eyes will adjust to the darkness."

"You're so smart, baby," Nick said before leaning in to kiss me. "We might as well make the most of it while we're waiting…"

"I agree," I said, caressing his tongue with my own.

"There should be a couch around here somewhere," he mumbled, backing up into a table.

"Shit!" he shouted as he fell over the table and onto the floor.

"Nick!" I giggled. "Where'd ya go?"

"I don't even know," he laughed, reaching his hands up to drag me down with him. I fell onto him and continued from where we had left off.

"You think AJ and Sophia are up?" Nick asked me, realizing how much noise we were making.

"Not sure… let's go see," I suggested, helping him to his feet.

We were able to make out the figures of the furniture now and were making our way to the bedroom we had all fought over when I stopped him. "Wait, what if they're… you know…"

"Oh, who cares," Nick said. "As if we've never seen them naked before…"

"Nick, you've seen Sophia before?"

"So, you've seen AJ before, haven't you?"

"Well, yea…now, that I think of it."

"How could we not by now… they're undressing each other everywhere."

"I guess you're right," I laughed, continuing into the bedroom.

"Aw, cute," Nick smiled. The bed was huge, but the two of them only took up a half of it. They were thankfully under the covers and Sophia was snuggled up to AJ's chest, her back to us, as he held her in his arms.

"I'm up for some of that," I said, placing Nick's arm around my shoulders.

"You got it," he whispered picking me up and carrying me into the other bedroom.

*Sophia's View* The Next Morning

"We sooo beat your asses!" AJ bragged to Nick as we all sat around the TV, trying to find something good to watch.

"Damn, AJ I know and I don't care! Will you shut up?"

"I told you we would win, I told you," he smiled to himself.

"Good for you," Nick said dryly, rising to his feet to go dig through the cabinets for the millionth time.

"Nick, how many times are you going to look through those?" I laughed. "There's no food in this place. I guess they expect us to go out and do our own shopping…"

"We shouldn't have to do that on vacation," Colleen said, finally settling on a morning talk show. "Ahhh - look, Sophia! It's James Marsden!"

"Oh, God, I love this guy," I gushed, climbing out of AJ's lap to go sit next to Colleen in front of the TV.

"I see I have been replaced," AJ muttered as Nick came back into the room to sit next to him.

"Look at those eyes," Colleen sighed. "Such a hottie."

"Hey, what about me?" Nick sulked, giving her a sad look.

"Yea, you're cute Nicky but you can't act for shit."

"Thank you, Col. Does anyone else want to add anything that will bring Nick Carter's self esteem down today?"

"Baby, I'm just kidding. Jeez…"

"He's such a pretty boy," Nick said, disgusted.

"Um, and you're not?" I asked, turning around to look at him with a smile.

"She's got you there," AJ grinned.

"You know I almost met James," I said to Col, ignoring the guys.

"You're kidding! When?"

"He was at this premiere AJ took me to once, but AJ wouldn't let me go introduce myself."

"Why the hell not?" Col asked, giving AJ a weird look.

"Because she'd run away with him," AJ smiled. "Now, I couldn't have that, now could I?"

"Oh, I would not have," I argued. "Just kissed him a few times…"

"See! See, what I mean!" AJ pointed out.

"I guess so," Col laughed. "That's alright, Sophia - I'm sure AJ's a much better kisser."

"I am," AJ nodded. "Thank you, Col."

"Bet you I'm better than AJ and James whatever his name is combined," Nick said with a cocky grin.

"Not another bet," I moaned.

"Oh, yea, you wish!" AJ attacked him.

"I am!" Nick insisted.

"Well, there's no way you're ever going to find out so just quit it now," Colleen suggested.

"No, I wanna know who's really better," AJ smiled. "Sophia or Col… one of you has to kiss us both and tell us."

"That's the most insane idea you've ever had!" I laughed. "No way."

"Yea," Col agreed. "That's too weird."

"What? Neither one of us minds. Do you, Nick?"

He shook his head, "Nope."

"Well I'm not doing it," I said, focusing my attention on the TV again.

"Colleen, please?" AJ begged her, taking her hand.

"Uhh… only if Sophia does it after me."

"Oh, fine, fine," I agreed. "But only after you, Col."

*Colleen's View*

"Ok, who's the lucky one who gets to go first?" I grinned looking at the two of them on the couch. This was the stupidest argument these two had ever had, but hey, I was bored… why not.

"That would be me," Nick smiled. "Right here," he said, patting his knee.

"You got it," I said jumping into his lap and beginning to kiss him forcefully. His arms stretched around my back to pull me closer as I lost myself in his lips.

"Alright guys, if we don't stop you now we're never going to be able to," Sophia said, nudging me in the side.

"That was some of your best work, Nick," I said, smiling at him sweetly.

"Why thank you Mrs. Carter, I tried my best."

"Alright, AJ - your turn to take my breath away," I giggled climbing over to AJ's side of the couch.

Nick gave AJ a quick glance as if to say 'don't get too carried away.' I looked over to Sophia and she seemed to be giving him the same look.

"Um, tongue or no tongue?" I asked shyly.

"Hey, you gave him tongue - I deserve a little."

Sophia shot him a look that could kill and he apologized. "Nah, whatever you want."

"Sophia?" I questioned turning to look at her.

"Go ahead," she said coldly.

"Alright then," I muttered, leaning in to catch AJ's lips.

*Nick's View*

I looked over at Sophia as the kiss between AJ and Colleen went on and on. She seemed as upset if not worse than how I felt.

"Col, I think it's lasted long enough," I said, raising my voice slightly over my normal tone.

"Just a moment," she mumbled before continuing to kiss AJ. They'd obviously decided to use tongue…

Sophia gave me a desperate glance and I mouthed to her We'll get them back. She gave me a huge grin and nodded as Colleen and AJ finally pulled apart.

"Nick, you've got quite a good kisser there!" AJ smiled as Colleen got off of him. "But not like my baby… Come over here, Sophia. It's your turn!"

"Nope, I think she's starting with me. Aren't you Sophia?" I asked with a small smile.

"Yup!" she answered, practically pouncing on me. We kissed each other with all the energy we had inside of us, only wanting to make AJ and Colleen as jealous as they had made us. I opened my eyes and stole a glance at Col as my tongue swirled around Sophia's mouth. Her mouth was open in complete shock. Ha, guess she knew how it felt now…

"Ok, enough of that!" AJ snapped angrily.

"But we're not done," Sophia smiled sweetly. "Are we, Nicky boy?"

"Nope, not quite yet," I muttered before returning to the taste of her lips.

My hands moved down to settle on her hips as she deepened the kiss, pausing only to whisper in my ear, "It's working - keep going."

"Nick, stop!" Colleen cried out.

I stared at her again, this time seeing the hurt in her eyes. "Sorry," I mumbled, as Sophia pulled away.

"AJ, your turn?" Sophia asked him.

"Don't even bother," he snapped, storming out of the room and into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

"What's with him?" she asked innocently.

"Yea, honestly, it was just a kiss," I said.

"You're such an asshole, Nick!" Colleen glared at me. "You too, Sophia! Fuck you both!" And with that we were shut out of the other bedroom too.

"Damn," Sophia muttered, falling to her knees on the floor. "Guess we fucked up?"

"Yea, guess so," I said sadly, staring at the closed bedroom door.

_Chapter 26_

*Sophia's View*

"Damn," I muttered again. "What do we do?" I asked Nick, lifting myself up to sit next to him on the couch.

"What can we do," he said with a glum expression. "They've locked us out of our rooms. I don't get it. We didn't do anything they didn't do."

"I know," I said softly. "I guess it lasted longer…"

"Maybe we seemed to into it."

"Well, whatever we did, we blew it," I sighed. "It's our honeymoon and they're mad at us."

"This sucks," he groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"Think we should go talk to them?"

"They wouldn't listen even if we tried."

"Yea, your right…"

"Let's just get out of here… go drive around or something."

"Ok," I agreed, slipping on my shoes. "We need to buy some food eventually anyway."

"Yep," he said sadly as we both walked out the door.

*Colleen's View*

"Alright, Nick, can we talk?" I asked, entering the living room. My question echoed throughout the empty room. "Nick?" I called out. "Nick, where are you?!"

I looked all over the house and couldn't find any sign of him or Sophia anywhere.

"AJ!" I screamed, banging on his closed door.

"What do you want?"

"AJ, it's Col. Just please let me in."

"Fine. What is it?" he asked, obviously annoyed I'd bothered him.

"I can't find Nick anywhere."

"Just find Sophia and I'm sure you'll find him too," he said bitterly, ready to shut the door again.

"AJ, she's gone too."

"I can't believe this," he muttered to himself.

"Well, let's go look for them," I pleaded, grabbing his hand.

"What's the point…"

"You're ok with him and Sophia missing together?!"

"Listen, there's nothing I can do about it so fuck it."

"For me? Will you look for me?"

He stared at me for a few moments before taking a deep sigh. "Fine, let's go."

After 20 minutes of checking the whole house and its property over we decided to take a break.

I stared blankly towards the street when it hit me. "AJ, the cars gone."

"Well that explains things."

"Why would they take the car?"

"To go fuck somewhere, I don't know."

"AJ, will you stop it! Nick wouldn't do something like that to me."

"And Sophia?" he asked.

I bit down on my lip as I stared at him, unable to answer.

"Exactly," he said softly.

"But you're married now… she wouldn't do something like this after you were married."

"Obviously you didn't see that kiss."

"Of course I saw that kiss! It broke my heart to watch that kiss…"

"It's funny because the thought of those two together never even crossed my mind."

"Yea, me neither. She was like the only girl that never really made a pass at Nick…"

"And he never seemed interested in her in that way… God, this is so fucked up!" he screamed out in frustration.

Just at that moment the car pulled up to the curb.

"Col!" Nick called out, jumping out of the car. "We need to talk!"

"AJ, us too," Sophia said breathlessly flying out of the passenger side.

AJ and I shared a quick look before agreeing. Sophia and AJ headed towards the back as Nick sat down besides me on the stoop.

"Baby, that kiss meant nothing."

"It sure didn't look like nothing!"

"Yea? Well neither did your kiss with AJ!"

"Nick, it was just a game… you know that."

"Then how come you didn't stop when I asked you to?"

"Don't turn this on me, Nick! I'm the one that's mad, not you."

"Well maybe I'm upset too! Did you ever consider that?!" he asked, looking away as his eyes began to mist over.

"Nick," I whispered, reaching out to touch his arm, "The kiss between me and AJ meant nothing."

"Well neither did the one I had with Sophia - we were just doing it to make you jealous."

"Really?"

"Yea. What's your excuse?"

"What do you mean?"

"Me and Sophia only kissed like that because we were looking for revenge. Why did you and AJ keep kissing the way you did?"

"Nick, I wish you would just drop it."

"No, I'm not going to… I want to know."

"Well," I sighed. "I really don't know… I guess… I don't know."

"Well, that doesn't make me feel too good," he muttered.

"Nick, look at me," I pleaded.

He looked up at me and the pain I saw in his deep blue eyes startled me. "Nick, I love you and only you."

"How do I know that?" he whispered softly.

"W-what?" I stuttered. "You know that because you trust me! You do trust me, don't you, Nick?"

"Why don't you help me unload some of the packages from the car," he said, changing the subject.

"No!" I cried out. "No, you are not going to change the subject! Nick, if you don't trust me… then… then, we shouldn't be together!"

"You breaking up with me?"

"No," I shook my head. "No, of course not!"

"Then… what are you saying?"

"I'm not saying anything… I just can't believe you don't trust me."

"And I can't believe you could kiss AJ like that!"

"Nick, I already told you that meant nothing! You just don't listen to a fuckin thing I say!"

He didn't say anything; he wasn't even looking me in the eye anymore. But I was grateful for that… I couldn't take looking into those sad blue eyes.

*AJ's View*

"This better be good," I muttered, taking a seat down on the grass in the backyard.

"Can I sit next to you?" she asked, her eyes burning into mine. She really did look sorry…

"You can sit in my lap as long as that kiss with Nick meant nothing."

As if answering me she dropped down into my lap, snaking her arms around my neck. "It didn't mean anything. I love you, AJ."

"Then why… why…."

"We were just trying to make you and Colleen jealous. AJ, what was with you and Col today?"

"I don't know, but I can honestly tell you it meant nothing."

"Promise?"

"Promise," I whispered, resting my forehead on hers. "Damn, girl, I just can't stay mad at you."

"Cuz you love me," she laughed, brushing her lips lightly across my neck.

"You got that right," I said before pressing my lips to hers.

A hysterical Colleen stumbling towards us prevented the moment from going any further.

"Col, what happened?" Sophia asked jumping up to go over to her.

"Nick doesn't trust me… he doesn't believe that the kiss between me and AJ meant nothing."

"Listen, Col, you just have to talk with him - he was really upset this morning," she said.

"I've been trying to talk to him; he doesn't wanna listen," she sobbed, sitting down next to me.

"Oh, babe, it'll be ok," I said comfortingly, placing my arm around her shoulder. "You two will work things out. You always do."

"Yea, we always do," she repeated to herself. "Guys, I love you and all, but I need some time alone…"

"Yea, sure," I said, getting up. "Sophia and I will just take a walk or something."

"Ok," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears as she looked out into the water.

*Nick's View*

My thoughts were distracted as I heard two whispering voices in back of me. I turned around to see Sophia and AJ… all over each other as usual.

"Ugh, I hate you guys," I groaned.

"Why?" AJ laughed, giving me a strange look.

"You guys made up already?"

"Well, yea," Sophia said, smiling at AJ.

"You guys make me sick."

"Nick, I know you're upset right now, but…"

"Yea, I am upset! So tell me… how did you guys make up so quickly?"

"She told me her kiss with you meant nothing; I told her my kiss with Col meant nothing. Simple as that."

"And you believe each other?"

"Of course," Sophia said softly. "AJ wouldn't lie to me."

"Oh," I said thoughtfully, beginning to realize how much sense that made. "Ok, I gotta go talk to Colleen."

"Good," Sophia nodded. "Just trust her, Nick…"

"I know that now," I sighed. "Alright later guys."

_Chapter 27_

*Colleen's View*

I heard footsteps behind me and I didn't have to turn around to know it was Nick. That's how crazy I was about that guy… I knew the sound his sneakers made on gravel. I loved him more than anything, and he didn't trust me…

"I knew you'd be out near the water," he whispered softly from behind me.

"Helps me think," I choked out. I thought I would be able to speak, but I couldn't. If I tried to talk again I knew I would burst into tears.

"Sophia and AJ made up… why can't we?"

"They have a different relationship from us… they trust each other. After all they've put each other through they still trust each other. I want that, Nick. That's what I want our relationship to be like."

"It is-"

"It isn't," I cut him off. "You didn't believe me when I said my kiss with AJ meant nothing."

"Listen, Col, I was just hurt… I thought about it and I do trust you. I do believe you."

"Really? Well, guess what Nick?"

"What?" he asked weakly, knowing from the look in my eyes what I was about to say wasn't good.

"Now I'm the one that doesn't believe you." And with that I got up and ran inside. He didn't follow me… it was his turn to stare at the water, wiping away tears.

I stayed in my room for hours… just lying on the bed and closing my eyes - thinking of all my happy times with Nick.

Out of nowhere there was a light knock at the door. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Col," Sophia's voice answered. "Could you come outside for a minute?"

"Yea, alright." I had to get out of that room eventually….

But when I opened the door Sophia was nowhere in sight. The hall was dark and there was no sign of anybody. "Ok, Col, this is great - now you're imagining that people are knocking on your door," I muttered to myself, ready to retreat back into my room.

All of a sudden a voice filled the room : "Open up your heart to me…. And say what's on your mind."

My face lit up as Nick continued to sing my favorite song of his. I had always begged him to sing it to me and only me, but he always complained that he had to sing it so many times in rehearsals and concerts that it would have to wait for a very special time. And I never asked again. I guess this was that special time.

"I know that we have been through so much pain. But I still need you in my life… this time…," he sang walking into my view, his hand up to his mouth like a microphone.

"I need you tonight," he continued, taking my hand. "I need you right now. I know deep within my heart, it doesn't matter if it's wrong or right. Cuz I see heaven in your eyes," he smiled, touching my face with his free hand.

"I figured out what to say to you… Sometimes the words… they, they come out so wrong… Oh, yes, they do. And I know in time that you will understand…. That what we have is so right this time…"

I stood there beaming with happiness as he continued to sing me the song he claimed he sung to me every concert, but this was different… there was no other audience to see him but me. The song was all for me.

"All I know is baby," he finished up, no long pretending to sing into his hand, but wrapping his arms around my waist and holding me close, "Is I see heaven…."

I smiled as I brought my face right up to his and finished his sentence, "In your eyes…"

"I love you baby," he whispered.

"I love you too," I answered him, finally giving in to the strong urge to kiss him.

With a sweep of his arms, he had lifted me up and carried me to the couch, carefully placing me down.

I stared up at him as he hung over me, strands of hair covering his eyes. His breathing was heavy as he gently stroked my hair back behind my ears.

"What are you waiting for?" I grinned up at him. "I thought you 'needed me tonight.'"

"Damn, I do. I'm just breathing you all in… I swear, sometimes I don't think I deserve to have you."

I undid the top two buttons of his shirt and began to kiss his chest.

"Why do you put up with me, Col?"

"Because I can't live without you. I mean, let's face it Nick," I smiled, looking up into his eyes. "You're the reason I live. Period."

"You're so sweet, Col," he said, finally embracing me. "You always know the right thing to say."

He began to cover my neck with kisses as I massaged the back of his neck. He took each piece of my clothing off slowly, pausing to stare at my body as if he'd never seen me undressed before - each time with a smile and mummers of, "You're so damn beautiful, Col."

He quickly took off his own clothes and waited after awhile of just kissing and holding each other close to actually satisfy us both.

"You're amazing baby," he sighed after it was over, brushing my hair away from the side of my head to kiss my temple. "Don't know what I'd do without you."

And with that, completely exhausted, he lay down beside me, soon drifting off.

I gave his lips a soft kiss before laying my head on his chest and falling asleep to the sound of his heart. The heart that was beating just for me.

_Chapter 28_

*Sophia's View* 1 month later

We had finally settled down from after the honeymoon, but we'd never forget it. I'd never had so much fun in my life! A whole week stranded on a beautiful island with AJ - there's nothing better. But I had missed my baby, and I'll admit… Brian. I hadn't seen much of Bri though. He was always too busy with other things… well, her. I had gone to go get Luke at Marietta's the day we got back, wanting to hear some stories of how well her and Brian had hit it off, but instead hearing of how Erica and him did nothing but make-out every time Marietta looked at them.

"And the thing is," Marietta had said softly, a trace of pain present in her eyes, "I'm beginning to fall in love with Brian."

So half of my plan had worked… Marietta was in love with Brian. But the other part couldn't take its course with Erica around.

"Guess what your husband bought you?" AJ's grinning face said, interrupting my thoughts.

I was sitting in a rocking chair in the room we'd set up for the baby, holding Luke asleep in my arms.

"What?" I asked, unable to keep the excitement out of voice.

"You're going to love it, baby."

"Oh, it's for the baby?!" I joked. "Oh, well, nevermind."

He kissed my forehead before whispering, "Don't worry, you'll like it too."

"Oh, good," I smiled as he handed me a black velvet box.

His eyes stayed on me as I carefully opened the box, gasping at the beauty of what I saw.

"I know you love that birthstone stuff," he said as I delicately lifted the heart necklace made of both of our birthstones: garnet and aquamarine. I studied the piece of jewelry, turning it over to discover a small engraving of I love you - forever.

"Here, let me hold Luke while you put it on," he offered, taking the baby into his arms.

I put the necklace on, grinning at my reflection in the mirror hanging on the opposite wall.

He squeezed down next to me on the chair. "Well?"

"I love it, AJ," I said, leaning towards him for a kiss.

I was about to suggest we visit the bedroom when I realized Luke was still in AJ's arms… I was still getting used to this mother thing.

Just at that moment Luke opened his eyes to look up at us.

"He's such a cutie," AJ said, taking Luke's tiny hand in his own. "Our fingers were once this size… freaky, huh?"

"Yea," I laughed, leaning my head on AJ's shoulder. I stared as Luke's little fingers grasped at AJ's.

"You seeing this?" AJ asked in awe, watching Luke's fingers curl around his index finger.

"That's adorable," I sighed as AJ's face glowed with happiness.

"Sophia, I so want a kid of my own," he whispered, never taking his eyes off Luke.

"Well, that's good...," I said softly. "Because you may be getting one sooner than you think."

"What do you mean?" he asked, his deep brown eyes finally focusing on me.

"Well… I'm late."

"Really? How late?"

"A few weeks… I'm not sure yet or anything. I mean, I have to take a pregnancy test."

"Well, if you're not, we still have a lot of time to have a kid. But if you are," he said leaning in closer until his face was inches from mine, "I couldn't be happier."

I slipped my arms around his neck and gave him a long kiss. "I love you, honey," I sighed, closing my eyes and enjoying the moment.

*Colleen's View*

I was so nervous I was at the point of feeling nauseous. I rang Sophia and AJ's bell and quickly took a seat on the steps. If I didn't sit I would just pace back and forth… I kept telling myself to calm down, but I couldn't… I just couldn't.

AJ opened the door. "You alright, Col?" he asked, a concerned look in his eyes. "You don't look so good."

"Yea, I don't feel so good. Is Sophia here somewhere?"

"Uh huh… with the baby. I'll go get her," he said, racing up the steps two at a time.

Sophia came down a few minutes later. "Col, what's wrong?"

"Could you come with me for a little walk?"

"Yea, sure," she said.

I waited until we had walked a few blocks to begin. "Ok, well I'm late a few weeks…"

"Oh my God, you're kidding?!"

"No, it's true," I groaned. "I might be pregnant."

"No, I mean, I'm surprised because I'm late too. By a few weeks…," she said. "Wouldn't that be funny if we conceived on the same day?" she laughed.

"It's not funny," I sighed.

"Why not?" she asked, giving me a strange look. She didn't seem anxious at all… how could she be so calm.

"Nothing… let's just go get some pregnancy tests. I'd feel better if we took them together."

"Yea, sure," she agreed. "There's a store we can get some a few blocks up."

We bought them and called AJ to come pick us up.

"Even if this thing says no I'm still going to go see a doctor because I'm almost positive I'm pregnant. I'm getting all the same symptoms I got before I found out I was having Luke."

"Are these things reliable?" I asked, nervously, pulling out the test from the bag.

"Yea, pretty much. I'd say you could trust the results."

"Oh, ok," I muttered softly, placing it back inside the bag, clenching the plastic as I looked up and down the street.

"Col, you're pretty worried about this, aren't you?"

"Yea," I admitted. "I'm sorta hoping I'm not pregnant."

"Well, you might not be…"

"I think I am," I sighed, giving her a sad smile. "From what I've heard… this is it."

"Hold your breath for when we get home," she smiled, waving to AJ as his car pulled up.

*Sophia's View*

"Well?" I asked, walking into the downstairs bathroom.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw Colleen curled up against the wall with her face in her hands.

"Col, honey, what's wrong?" I asked, stooping down next to her, afraid something had happened. "Are you hurt?!"

"It's positive," she sobbed.

"Col, that's great!"

"It's not great," she snapped. "You don't understand…"

"So explain it to me," I said softly, looking into her tear-stained eyes. "I'm here for you, Col…"

I handed her a tissue and watched her wipe her face. I could tell she was holding back whatever tears she still had left to cry.

"It's just… I'm only 20 years old. I just got married a month ago. And I'm already pregnant. I'm already tied down to support another life… It's just not fair."

"Colleen, I wasn't happy when I first found out I was having Luke either."

"Yea, I remember… You're so happy now though."

"Exactly," I smiled. "Just give it time… and go tell Nick!"

"Oh, right," I mumbled. "It would be a good idea to tell the father now wouldn't it?"

"Yep," I giggled, helping her up and giving her a hug. "Just wait until you hold your baby in your arms, Col… you'll know what I'm talking about."

"I guess," she sighed, heading for the door. "Wait, I almost forgot," she said turning around to look at me. "What about you? Are you pregnant?"

"Yup," I grinned.

"Really??" she asked, a smile beginning to cross her face. "So, we're in this together, huh?"

"Always," I nodded. She gave me a warm smile before closing the door behind her.

"AJ!" I called out as soon as she left. "Or should I say Daddy?"

"Oh my God - you're pregnant!" he screamed from upstairs.

I laughed as he came flying down the stairs.

"Holy shit - this is such good news!" he shouted again, pulling me into his arms for a kiss.

"I've never seen you so happy," I said, still laughing at his beaming face.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted this - for you to have my kid. I can't wait!"

"Calm down, baby - you still have 9 months," I giggled at his eagerness.

"9 months without sex… jeez, I think I might die," he grinned, still holding me in his arms.

"Oh, you'll live - and after the baby is born we'll just have to make up for all that lost time…"

"I love the way you think!" he said before bringing his lips to mine.

*Nick's View*

I heard the door close and rushed in to greet Colleen. The honeymoon had been a month ago but I still couldn't keep my hands off of her.

"Baby, I missed you," I said, giving her a kiss. "Where have you been?"

"I went out with Sophia," she said uncomfortably, pushing me away to come inside.

"Is something wrong?"

"Um, no… but I do have to tell you something."

"Sure," I said following her to the couch.

"Well, Nick, I'm pregnant."

"You are?" I grinned, my face lighting up. "Col, that's great!" I said, cupping her face so I could give her a kiss. "We have to go out to dinner to celebrate!"

"You're not upset… or… or angry?" she asked, seeming to be confused.

"Angry? Upset? Col, I'm gonna be a dad! Nothing in the whole world could make me happier!"

"Oh," she said quietly.

"You know the extra bedroom upstairs next to our room? That would be perfect for the baby! We could go pick out some wallpaper tomorrow and go shopping for a crib and dressers… oh, and you always need lots of diapers around."

"Diapers, Nick? I'm only a few weeks pregnant! We've got months to get diapers!"

"Oh, I guess you're right," I laughed. "But we have to go shopping for clothes, and…"

"Nick," she cut me off. "Let's just worry about dinner for now…"

"Ok, ok," I sighed grabbing my car keys. "Do AJ and Sophia know?"

"Yea, I took the test at their house. Actually, Sophia's also pregnant…"

"Your kidding! Well, then we should invite them to dinner with us."

"Sure," she nodded. "They deserve to celebrate too..."

"Definitely. Come on, let's go," I said impatiently, grabbing her hand and giving her a quick kiss before dragging her out the front door.

_Chapter 29_

*Nick's View* 4 months later

"That's it! I can't take this anymore!" I screamed walking into Brian's kitchen. When I needed to escape this is where I always came.

"What's the matter, Nick?" Brian asked, looking up from some magazine he was reading.

"Aw, nothing much, I just felt like being dramatic. But taking care of a pregnant woman is no fun, man!" I said, taking a seat at the table.

"I know, kid - I went through it. Remember?"

"Oh, yea… Damn, and you had Sophia to deal with! I've seen that girl in action… I feel for AJ. Colleen's nothing compared to that girl," I laughed.

"Ah, Sophia wasn't so bad… I loved her anyway," he said quietly.

"Do you still?"

I was eager to hear his answer, but at that moment Erica walked in.

"Ugh, the asshole is here?" she groaned, throwing me a disgusted look. She was wearing her pajamas and looked like shit if I may so myself.

"You've got the bitch living with you?!" I shouted giving Brian a horrified look.

He shot me a warning glance before answering, "Yea, she moved her stuff in yesterday."

"Jeez, man, you are a saint to even consider living with a head-case like Erica."

"Oh, Nick, why don't you go make some other couple miserable - it's too early in the morning to deal with your shit," she snapped.

"Can't you two just get along?" Brian moaned.

"If you haven't noticed, Bri, no one can get along with this fuck up you call your girlfriend," I said, pouring myself a bowl of cereal.

"Shove it up your ass, pretty boy," she said, walking out of the room.

"Honestly, Bri, you could do so much better."

"No, Nick, you know what? I can't. So just drop it, alright?" he screamed out in frustration.

"Alright, alright. Sorry," I mumbled, shoving a spoonful of cereal into my mouth.

"So guess what the two pregnant girls decided?" I said, my mouth still full of food.

"What?"

"They want to move in to the same house. So me and Col are going over to temporarily live in Sophia and AJ's house. Is that the most crack-ass idea you've ever heard?"

"Yea," he laughed. "Why do they need to live together?"

"So they can 'help each other through their pregnancies,'" I grinned, rolling my eyes. "They're crazy, those two - but you gotta love them."

"Yea," he said thoughtfully. "So has Sophia mentioned me at all?"

"No, why?"

"No reason…"

"Oh, God - you still love her, don't you?"

"Listen, Erica's my girlfriend, my live-in girlfriend, no less."

"Yea, so? That means shit. You don't love Erica, right?"

"Well, no," he whispered, looking behind him to make sure she wasn't listening.

"Exactly. You're just using her to get over Sophia. She's just a replacement."

"Nick, will you just shut up?! You don't know what you're talking about."

"Whatever, Bri," I sighed, throwing my empty bowl in the sink. "I better be going… Just do me a favor, alright? Think about if you really like Erica for who she is… or if you just need someone to keep those memories of Sophia out of your mind."

I could tell he was extremely angry with me and he didn't answer as I turned to leave. But I knew I was right. He wouldn't have gotten so upset if I wasn't.

*Brian's View*

I glared at Nick's back as he walked out. Fuck him. What did he know…

"Is he gone?" Erica called from the other room.

"Yup," I answered as she ran over to me.

"Good," she grinned, sitting in my lap. "Cuz I was thinking about something…"

"Like what?"

"Like, I think we should get married."

"W-what?" I asked, almost choking on the piece of toast I was chewing.

"Well, I already moved in with you - we might as well get married. It's gonna happen eventually."

"It is?" I asked weakly.

"Uh huh," she said, patting down my hair. "So we might as well speed up the process."

"Um, Erica, I dunno…"

"Brian, if you love me we should get married."

"Yea, you see Erica, that's the thing-"

"And I know you love me cuz otherwise you wouldn't have asked me to move in with you. And of course you know I love you very very much," she said, rubbing her body against mine. "So what do you say?" she asked with her sweetest smile.

Lust took over my mind the second I choked out, "Uh, ok," and I immediately regretted it.

*Colleen's View*

"I feel like having pizza," I announced as me, Sophia, AJ and Nick sat around watching TV.

"What else is new… you always feel like having pizza," AJ laughed.

"No, she doesn't just feel like having pizza - she needs pizza," Sophia explained. "Trust me… when you're pregnant you get these cravings for food. And if you don't get what you want… Well, then the person that didn't get it for you is in trouble."

"Exactly," I smiled. "You see, Sophia so understands me."

"Someone has to," AJ muttered under his breath.

"AJ, watch yourself," I warned him. "Now who's going to get me pizza?"

"Col, I don't know how many times you've sent me out today," Nick groaned. "And it's dark outside… I can't help you this time…"

"But I need it," I whined. "AJ?"

"It is enough work taking care of Sophia, Col. I can't be responsible for you too."

"Well, someone is gonna have to get me pizza," I said stubbornly.

When everyone ignored me I continued to whine, "Come onnnn guysssss. I neeeeeed itttttt."

"Oh, god, stop whining. I'll go, god dammit!" Nick shouted, grabbing for his coat. "AJ you coming?"

"Nope," he answered, his full attention on the TV.

"Let's try that again - AJ are you coming with me? Please?" Nick begged.

"Alright, alright," he groaned. "Thanks a lot, Col. You have officially ruined my night."

"Anytime," I answered dryly. "Now hurry!"

"Guys can be so lazy," Sophia sighed once they were out the door. "We carry their kids and they can't even go out to get us a lousy pizza?"

"I know! What babies…"

"I think we're driving them crazy," she giggled.

"They can take it," I shrugged. "You know, I'm actually starting to look forward to this baby coming…"

"Really?" Sophia grinned. "That's great!"

"Yea, I wonder if it'll be a boy or a girl…"

"You're not gonna get a test done to find out, are you?"

"Of course not! That ruins the surprise!"

"Well, what do you want to have?"

"It really doesn't matter to me. I'd be happy with either. What about you?"

"Well, I sort of want a girl…"

"Well, that makes sense since you already have a boy."

The phone ringing interrupted our conversation.

*Sophia's View*

"Hello?" I answered.

"Sophia? It's Brian."

"Oh, hey! Jeez, it's been awhile… how have you been?"

"Um, pretty good. Listen, I wanted to talk to Nick. He's staying there, right?"

"Yea, but he's out getting Col pizza…"

"At 10 at night?"

"Yep! Bri, you remember what I was like when I was pregnant with Luke… I had you running all over the place!"

"Yea, I remember," he said softly. "Well, uh, since Nick's not here, I guess I'll tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"Me and Erica are getting married."

"You're kidding…"

"Trust me, it's hard for me to believe too, but it's true…"

"Wow," was all I could say. I knew I should be happy for him, but I just wasn't. It must just be because I didn't like Erica…

"And I wanted Nick to be my best man."

"Oh, he'd love that I'm sure. I'll tell him as soon as he's back."

"Ok, thanks. So, um, how's the baby doing?"

"Good… pretty good."

"Are you getting those same pains at night you used to get when you were pregnant with Luke?"

"No, those are gone, actually."

"Oh, must have been my genes then," he said with a soft laugh. "Ok, well I better go…"

"It was good to talk to you…"

"Yep. Well, I'll call again soon."

"Ok. Bye."

"Alright. Love you, bye."

"Brian… what'd you say?"

"Huh?"

"Brian, you just said, 'love you.'"

"Oh," he said with a nervous laugh. "You know - force of habit."

"Yea, must have been. Ok bye now."

"Bye."

"Col?" I asked, banging the phone receiver down. "Are Brian and Erica in love, would you say?"

"She loves him and she thinks he loves her back, but we all know he loves you."

"Col, it's been 5 months since the wedding," I shook my head. "He must have moved on by now."

"I wish I could say he had, Sophia… but, I dunno…"

"Damn," I muttered. "I just want him to be happy."

"He's never going to be until he realizes there's life after you."

"I wonder if I still have that picture," I thought aloud to myself.

"What picture?" Colleen asked, a curious look on her face.

"Wait - hold on," I said, getting up to go look in my room. I found it in the bottom of the last drawer in my dresser. "How'd it get down here… I used to have it up on the bed stand…"

"Here," I said handing it to Colleen once I was back in the living room.

"Aw, this is the day you brought Luke back from the hospital, isn't it?"

"Uh huh."

"You and Brian… You were together then."

"Yep."

"You look so happy together."

"We were, that's the thing. We were really happy together."

She looked up at me and just stared for a long time before asking, "Do you ever wish you were with him instead of AJ?"

"Sometimes," I sighed. "But I love AJ very much, and I would never want to lose him. I'm just selfish and want both," I laughed, placing the picture on the coffee table. "Why does he have to be so damn cute?" I groaned, wanting Brian more and more as I stared at the picture.

"I think this is why the picture was put away in the first place," Colleen laughed, picking it up and putting it out of my reach.

"Col!"

"It's not good for you Sophia… you're married to AJ, you're having AJ's kid - you can't go having fantasies about Brian."

I bit my lip, "You're right, I'm an awful person."

"I didn't say that, Sophia," she sighed. "Please don't cry!"

"It's just not fair… I shouldn't have to pick between them…"

"You already did pick! You chose AJ, you're happy with AJ - Brian found someone else, he'll be fine."

"But he's not happy… I know he's not."

_Chapter 30_

*Sophia's View* Another 4 months later

"AJ, the baby is kicking!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" he screamed from the kitchen racing in and skidding to a stop once he reached me on the couch.

"Right here," I said, placing his hand over a spot on the side of my stomach.

"I feel it!" he grinned up at me. "Damn, this kid is strong!"

"Tell me about it," I laughed.

"Probably a boy."

"What makes you say that?"

"Just from the feel of the kick… I'd say it's a boy."

"Well thank you Dr. McLean," I said rolling my eyes. "And I suppose you know why the kid kicks so much?"

"Uh huh. He's bored in there and wants to come out to see his Daddy," AJ smiled, giving me a quick kiss before returning to the kitchen.

"Well, I think it's a girl," I called out after him. "And you know what they say: 'A mother knows.'"

"You're so full of shit," I heard him laugh. "But I can't get enough of you anyway."

"Well, that's good," I said, looking towards the door as Colleen and Nick came in.

"I am just too pregnant to go anywhere!" Colleen exclaimed, easing herself down onto the couch. "I am just going to sit down on this couch until the baby comes and never get up."

"Well, that's a plan," Nick muttered sarcastically, wiping off sweat from his face.

"Is it that hot outside, Nick?"

"Yep, burning out there. It feels so good to be in the AC."

"Ok, lunch is ready!" AJ called.

"Sophia, you let him cook? What were you thinking?"

"Nick, he's making sandwiches - how can he possibly fuck that up?!"

"You never know," Nick grinned, going over to help Colleen up.

"But I just sat down!" she complained. "AJ, can't you bring them in here?!"

"Hell no! Not in my living room!"

I giggled at AJ's outburst and used Nick's steady hand to help me up and into the kitchen.

*Nick's View*

After a few minutes of struggling with Col the 4 of us were all seated around the table.

"Good job, AJ," Colleen said as she bit into her third sandwich.

"Thank you very much. I should have been a chef instead of a singer, huh?"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," she laughed.

"So, guys, it's getting pretty close to baby time - Have you thought about names yet?" I asked.

"A little," Sophia said. "What about you two?"

"Well," Col started, "We know we're going to name it Madison Taylor if it's a girl."

"Aw, that's cute!" Sophia gushed.

"What if you have a girl?"

"Hmm… I like the name Autumn," Sophia said dreamily.

"Sophia, for the last time - no daughter of mine is going to be called Autumn!"

"Yea, honestly, Sophia - weird pick," Col agreed.

"It's kinda cool…" I said.

"Thanks, Nick," she said, flashing me a smile. "I think it's pretty."

"Well, if you don't like Autumn what do you like?" I asked AJ.

"Either Alexis…"

"No," Sophia shook her head.

"Or Makayla…"

"Makayla? That's interesting," Col said. "Makayla McLean - great name."

"I could live with that, I guess," Sophia nodded. "But her middle name has to be Autumn."

I laughed as AJ groaned, "Damn, Sophia, you owe me…"

"Alright," Col said, "So if they're girls we have Madison Taylor Carter and Makayla Autumn McLean."

"And if they're boys…?" AJ asked.

"Definitely Devon," Colleen sighed. "I love that name."

"Hey!" I whined. "Why can't we name it Nickolas after me?"

"Because I love the name Devon."

"Well, I love the name Nick," I shot back at her before realizing how stupid I sounded.

"You would, wouldn't you," Col muttered under her breath.

"Col, let's not fight over this," I pleaded. "I just want my son to have my name that's all…"

"Well, what if his middle name is Nickolas?"

"Oh, so I'm only middle name material?!"

"Nick, get a life," she sighed.

I looked over at Sophia and AJ for support, but they seemed to be enjoying our little argument.

"Alright, fine," I sulked. "Devon Nickolas Carter - but that's only if it's a boy!"

"Well, obviously Nick - we're not going to make a girl Devon Nickolas!" she giggled.

"You know what I mean!" I smiled. "If it's a girl atleast we agree on a name."

"True," she said leaning over to give me a kiss.

*AJ's View*

"You two are the weirdest couple," Sophia laughed before turning to me. "What do you think of Jake if it's a boy?"

"Jake McLean?" I asked, making a face.

"You're right, it sounds pretty bad!"

"Uh, yea, just a little."

"Hey, what about Brian?" she asked slowly, as if feeling me out.

"Brian? Um, why?" I was still and probably always would be uncomfortable when she brought up that name. Before I'd moved to New York Sophia and Brian had been in love, and it was hard for me to believe those feelings just vanished after I proposed.

"I dunno," she shrugged. "I just like it."

There was an awkward silence I waited out until Col, my best friend, came to my rescue. "Sophia, don't you think that might get confusing with 2 Brians?"

"No, but if you don't want it, AJ…"

"You know, Jake McLean isn't so bad. Let's just stick with that for now… We can always change our minds later on."

"OK," she agreed, getting up to carry her plate to the sink.

And the conversation ended there.

*Colleen's View*

Ok, that was awkward. What was Sophia doing? She knew AJ wouldn't want his kid to be named Brian… I really don't blame him. Yea, Brian is a cute name but it holds too much more for AJ than just that.

I was about to suggest that me and Sophia go talk when the phone rang, making me jump.

"Col, toss me the phone," Nick said. "It's my mom."

"How do you know?" I laughed, picking up the cordless phone from next to me and throwing it across the table.

"Who else calls this house?"

He had a point there…

"Hey mom," he answered the phone.

"Uh huh… yea, Col's fine… no, she's not giving me a hard time, she's taking the pregnancy really well… uh huh…."

I laughed to myself as he said that. That was such a lie! I was being the biggest pain in the ass lately.

"What? Um, yea, we were just picking out names today… Yea, we decided on Madison Taylor if it's a girl, and Devon Nickolas Carter if it's a boy. Yea, I know… I wanted to name it Nick but Col likes Devon…"

I glared at Nick and he immediately realized his mistake.

"Oh, um, no, Mom you don't have to talk to her about that… No, I was only kidding, I like Devon too… NO, really Mom…"

"Oh, just give it to me," I sighed, grabbing the phone from him.

"Hey Jane."

"Colleen, what are you deciding my sons kids' name for him now??"

"Jane, it's my kid too!"

"Don't call me Jane - I'm Mrs. Carter to you."

"And so am I," I said dryly. "The baby's middle name can be Nick."

"I always told Nick you were trouble…"

"And he always told you you were full of shit which you are Jane. I'll give you back to Nick," I gritted through my teeth, shoving the phone back into Nick's hands.

"Hey Mom.. Um, she didn't mean that… no, no I don't think you're full of shit…. Uh huh…"

I couldn't take any more of that and got out of the kitchen as fast as I could.

"I can't stand that woman," I groaned, sitting myself down in a chair.

"It's almost like Nick's afraid of her," Sophia laughed.

"I know! He stands up for me and all, but I wish he would just tell that bitch to shut up once in awhile…"

"I don't understand why she hates you so much," AJ shook his head.

"Neither do I… I never did anything to her."

"Oh, well - don't stress out over it."

"Oh, I won't. It's not worth losing my breath over her…"

My gaze fell over Sophia who had her eyes closed and seemed to be in a lot of pain.

"Sophia, you alright?" I asked.

"Yea, yea, I'm ok," she said quietly. "It's just getting really close… I could be having this baby any day now."

"Well we're here, honey," AJ said comfortingly, kissing her forehead and stroking her hair.

"I know," she whispered, laying her head down on AJ's shoulder.

"Mom, I gotta go," we heard Nick say from the kitchen. "Col needs me… Yea, ok…Alright… I know… Bye."

He walked into the room with a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, Col… you know how she is…"

"It's alright - I'm used to it by now," I muttered.

The bell rang and AJ left Sophia's side to go get it.

"B? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, no," I groaned. "What is he doing here…"

"Just wanted to see my two pregnant friends," Brian laughed, entering the room. "And damn are you guys pregnant!"

"Thanks a lot Bri," I mumbled sarcastically.

"Don't worry, Col - you're still beautiful!"

"Damn right she is," Nick said, giving me a soft kiss.

"Sophia, how are you doing?" Brian said, diverting his attention to where she sat on the couch.

"Tired, achy… but good. I'm alright."

He laughed as he sat next to her. "Have you been doing your exercises?"

"What exercises?" she asked, a confused look on her face.

"Remember the ones you did a few weeks before you had Luke? They helped during the labor."

"Oh, right, right… I forgot about those… Could you help me with that?"

"Yea, sure," he smiled. "I'd be happy to."

"Good, cuz AJ can't make it to my next class… right, baby?"

"Yea, I gotta go to some fundraiser with D," AJ brooded from the doorway. "But, Sophia… I thought Nick was just going to help you."

"Yea, but he has Colleen to worry about. If Brian's willing it would just make more sense if he came… so you don't mind, B?"

"Not at all," he said. "When's the next class?"

"Tomorrow afternoon. We leave at 2."

"Ok, I'll be here," he nodded.

I took one look at Nick and I knew we were thinking the same thing: This was a bad idea.

_Chapter 31_

*Brian's View*

"Well, Sophia this is a different face," a middle aged woman who must have been the teacher of the class said, motioning to me.

"Yea, AJ couldn't make it this week, so my good friend Brian is filling in."

"Oh, well it's nice to have you, Brian," she smiled, shaking my hand.

"She seems nice," I said, spreading out the blanket we'd be doing the exercises on as the teacher walked away.

"Yea, she's a sweetie. A little nosy, though. You can tell she's very interested in couples' relationships."

"You couldn't even walk two steps into the room without her noticing you weren't with AJ!"

"Exactly. How about we sit down until the class starts," she suggested. She tried to get herself down to the floor, but found she couldn't.

"You're too pregnant to sit flat on the floor… you need some sort of height under you… Here, you can sit on my lap," I said, dropping down on the floor and gently easing her down.

"Thanks, Bri."

"You think Luke will be ok?"

"Yea, Marietta's really good with him. He'll be fine."

"Ok," I said quietly.

"Ouch," she grimaced in pain.

"What's the matter?"

"No, it's just my back… it's killing me."

"Well, does this help?" I asked, beginning to massage her lower back.

"Ah, much," she sighed, closing her eyes. I found myself staring at her face until she must have felt me watching her and her eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Bri, why are you looking at me?" she asked with a small smile.

"What? I'm not allowed to look at you anymore?" I laughed.

"No, it's just the way you're looking at me…"

"You mean that adoring, admiring way?"

That made her blush and she closed her eyes again, enjoying my caressing hands.

*Nick's View*

"He better watch himself," I muttered looking over to Brian and Sophia.

"He's not doing anything, Nick - relax," Colleen said, kissing my neck.

"Not yet…"

"Oh, Nicky, know what we forgot to talk about?"

"What?"

"Who the godparents for Madison Taylor or Devon Nickolas are going to be."

"Oh, you're right," I smiled. "Well, Sophia's gonna be the Godmother, right?"

"Yea," Col nodded. "That's like a given."

"Well, Brian's the Godfather, obviously," I said, still watching him.

"But, Nick, what about AJ?"

"What about him?"

"I thought maybe we should make him the Godfather…"

"But Brian's my best friend."

"But AJ's my best friend."

"But Sophia's also your best friend," I pointed out.

"Yea, so? I can have two."

"So… you get to pick one best friend and I get to pick one best friend."

"I dunno, Nick," she sighed. "I think AJ's gonna be upset."

"Yea, well Brian would be too if we chose AJ."

"True, true."

"Ok, class, let's start," the teacher called out, and our conversation came to a stop.

I kept watching Brian and Sophia. I was actually watching them more than I was watching Colleen.

"Nick, wanna stop staring at the other couples and support your wife?" the teacher had called out.

"Oh, uh, sorry."

"Brian," I called out in a loud whisper. "Brian!"

But he was too busy talking softly to Sophia to hear me.

"Nick, will you shut up," Col groaned. "You're yelling in my ear, ya know!"

"Sorry, babes," I apologized, kissing her ear. "Does that make it all better?"

"Oh, of course," she muttered sarcastically, focusing on her breathing exercises.

"Bri, watch yourself," I said again. "Watch where you put your hands…"

"He's not listening to you, honey," Col said. "Stop trying."

"Col, I'm looking out for the guy… I don't want AJ to bash his head into the wall."

"Well, neither do I, but you have to stop interfering in their lives."

"Ok, Ok," I agreed. "Brian! She's a married woman!" I screamed out forgetting to whisper as Brian started to let his hands wander.

The whole class turned around to look at me and Colleen.

"Nick!" Colleen groaned.

The teacher glared at me before continuing with her class. I shut up after that.

*Colleen's View*

"That was a good class," I sighed happily. "It's so relaxing to do those breathing exercises."

"They're so long and boring," Nick said. "Wait - do we take the highway home?" No matter how many times Nick drove to this class he could never seem to find his way home…

"Uh huh. So, Brian what did you think of the class?"

"Well, it was exactly how I remembered it. And you're right Nick - it is kinda boring."

"Very," Nick grinned. "Oh, and B - I don't mean to be an ass or anything, but you can't be so touchy feely with Sophia when AJ's there, ok?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Brain snapped back.

Oh, no… here we go…

"It's supposed to mean that just because you're in love with Sophia you can't show it or act on it because she's married. She's having a kid with AJ."

"You fuckin asshole! I'm not in love with her! I'm just being a good friend and helping her out since AJ couldn't make it. Why don't you keep your fuckin opinions to yourself!"

"Bullshit!" Nick turned around to yell at Brian.

"Nick, watch the road!" I screamed out as Nick spun around to make a sharp swerve to avoid a coming car. I tried to gather my breath as he pulled the car aside.

"Oh My God - Col, you alright? Sophia, you alright?" he asked, looking in back.

"Nick, what the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Sophia screamed at the top of her lungs. "Me and Colleen are almost 9 months pregnant - we could lose the babies with you driving like that!"

"Nick, get out of the front seat, I'll drive," Brian said getting out of the back and opening the drivers side door.

"No way - you're not driving my car!"

"Nick, please just let him drive," I pleaded.

"I make one little mistake and I'm not allowed to drive anymore?!"

"That one little mistake could have cost us our kid, now get in the back and let Brian drive!"

"Fine," Nick mumbled, shoving the keys into Brain's hands and climbing into the back to sulk.

*Sophia's View*

I was still in shock as Brian started to drive, but it wasn't just from the accident we almost had, it was from what Brian said. He didn't love me? I mean, it was better that he didn't… He would be happier if he didn't. But I couldn't help feeling hurt inside. The kind of hurt feeling you get when you love someone and they don't love you back…

"The car wasn't that close," Nick muttered to himself.

I turned my head to look at him next to me and whispered, "Nick, you're not going to tell AJ anything, are you?"

"Tell him what?"

"Nick, please don't play dumb."

"Sorry."

"We didn't do anything… and you heard him. He doesn't love me," I choked out.

"Yea, you didn't do anything yet, but Sophia I see how you look at him… and I see how he looks at you, and that relationship isn't gonna stay platonic for long."

"Nick, I love AJ."

"I know you do, but as Colleen once told me: you can love two people at the same time."

"I thought you didn't believe in that," I said curiously.

"Well, just because I've never been through it doesn't mean it doesn't exist," he laughed.

"You're a good guy, Nick," I smiled.

"Thanks… I try. I try and I almost kill my pregnant wife and her friend."

"Nick, it's alright," I laughed, laying my head down on his shoulder.

"Brian! Get your hands off of her!" he screamed out.

"Ow," I whined, picking up my head, and covering my ear with my hand.

"Sorry," Nick apologized to me. "Brian, get your hands off of her!"

"What the fuck are you talking about Nick?" Colleen glared back at him. "I had something on my face and he was wiping it off - you have some serious issues."

Brian didn't even answer, but from the way he was clenching the steering wheel I was guessing he was getting pretty pissed off from being accused.

"Oh," Nick laughed nervously. "Sorry."

Colleen just shook her head in disbelief.

"Oh, great, now she's mad at me."

"Nick, you have to trust her, and you have to trust Brian. He's your best friend."

"Yea, I know. I can't help it - I'm the jealous type."

"Well, so am I but you have to work on it…"

We pulled up to my house and AJ came outside to greet us.

"How'd it go?" he asked Nick in a hushed voice.

"Fine," he answered, giving me a quick look.

"Alright, I'm going home," Brian announced, heading towards his own jeep.

Neither Nick or AJ urged him to stay so I spoke out. "Brian, why don't you stay awhile…"

"No, I don't think it's a good idea," he said, looking at Nick.

"Look, you two have to settle this," Colleen said sternly. "After all Brian… you're going to be our kid's Godfather."

"I am?" Brian asked with a smile.

"Yea, I was going to ask you later…" Nick said quietly. "Listen, B, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything, it's just, you know… I'm paranoid."

"Oh, that's alright… I understand I guess. I mean, when you love someone as much as you love Colleen you can't be too sure of anyone with that person."

"Exactly," Nick nodded. "So what do you say? Will you be our kids' Godfather?"

"Of course," he grinned. "I'd be happy to."

"Oh, and Sophia," Colleen said turning to me. "Well, you know you're the Godmother."

"I know," I giggled. "But thanks again."

"Ok, now that we're all good and happy why don't you guys come inside instead of performing a soap opera for the whole block," AJ muttered, disappearing into the house.

"Sophia, you think he's angry because we didn't ask him to be the Godfather?" Colleen asked with a worried expression.

"Probably… but don't worry - he'll get over it. He gets really angry and then forgets he is a few minutes later."

"I wanted to ask him, but Nick wouldn't hear it. He said I picked you, he gets to pick the Godfather."

"Uh huh. Well, Brian deserves to be the Godfather of your kid."

"Sophia, are you ok? You seem a little upset."

"No, I'm good," I said, forcing a smile.

"Oh, alright… so let's go inside."

"K," I agreed. Brian came up to me and extended his arm to help me up the stairs.

"Thanks," I said softly. All of a sudden I was uncomfortable around him…

"So we get to be Godparents of the lovely Carter child, huh?"

"Yep. I say we spoil him or her rotten."

"Oh, we will," he smiled, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"What was that for?"

"For being so beautiful."

"You're such a flirt, Bri," I laughed. "But so am I," I said leaning over to give his cheek a kiss.

"And what was that for?"

"For being so cute," I said, pinching his cheek.

"Ow, that hurts, Sophia," he whined playfully, as we walked into the house.

_Chapter 32_

*Colleen's View* 3 weeks later

"I can not get over how adorable this baby is!" I gushed, staring down at Devon Nickolas who I held in my arms.

"He's gonna be gorgeous when he gets older," Sophia nodded from the seat next to me. "That blonde hair and blue eyes… pure knockout."

"He's gonna look just like his daddy," I grinned up at Nick.

"You better believe it," Nick whispered, leaning down to give me and then the baby a kiss. "Now can I hold my son?"

"Sure," I said, carefully handing Devon over to him.

"Awww… he's so cute!" Nick smiled, beginning to talk in hushed voices to the baby.

Yea, the baby was 'so cute,' but so was Nick! He had always been so good with little kids, had always wanted to have them himself, and now that he had Devon he was so happy. I couldn't stop smiling watching those two… we were a family now. Me, Nick and our baby boy. This was all I'd ever wanted in life and I'd gotten it.

"AJ's taking too long… I knew he wouldn't be able to change that baby!" Sophia laughed. "I'm going to find him and help him out."

But just at that moment AJ walked in with a proud smile on his face. "And you thought I wasn't going to be able to diaper the baby, HA!"

"AJ," she started to giggle. "You did it all wrong!"

"I did?" he asked, his confidence gone. "Oh…"

"Come on, honey, I'll show you," she said, taking his hand and leading him into the other room.

"I hope Devon doesn't start crying during the wedding this afternoon," I said.

"Well, what do you expect… he's only a few days old."

"Yea, I know. Poor Brian and Erica are going to have two screaming newborns throughout their whole ceremony!"

"He shouldn't be marrying her in the first place," Nick shook his head. "This is so wrong."

"Well, there's nothing you can do about it, Nick…."

"I know," he sighed. "He's such an idiot to go through with this, though. He doesn't even love her."

"Not all people can be as happy as us, Nick. She may be the best one for him."

"Doubt it. But I do believe we're the happiest couple alive," he grinned, motioning for me to come sit in his lap. He placed Devon in my arms as I dropped down on his knee. "I love you Col," he whispered in my ear.

"And you know I love you too," I said, turning to around to give him a long kiss, that left us both wanting more.

"You promise we can do some more of this later?" he whispered.

"Hell yes! 9 months of no sex has practically made me go crazy…"

"Damn, me too," he said, cupping my chin for another kiss.

The baby screaming from the other room interrupted the moment.

"Damn, this kid can scream," AJ muttered, holding the baby close to his chest as he came back into the living room. "Takes after you, Sophia."

"Haha so funny," she mumbled sarcastically, following after him.

"Makayla, come here," I smiled, handing Devon to Nick, and reaching out to take Makayla from AJ's arms. "Your parents need to talk, now stop crying for Godmother Colleen."

"We don't need to talk," AJ said, slumping down on the couch.

"Don't you know by now? AJ never needs to talk. He believes everything will just magically heal by itself."

"Sophia, don't start with me! I don't feel like hearing your shit!"

AJ screaming made Devon shake and begin to cry. "Oh, thanks a lot," I groaned, rocking the baby back and forth in my arms. "Honestly, what is with you two? Ever since Makayla was born all you two do is fight!"

"I didn't do anything," Sophia insisted. "It's all him."

"Yea, of course it's all me. It's always my fault, isn't it?" he snapped back, turning to glare at her.

"What is up with you two?" I asked, confused. "When your baby is born you're supposed to get closer, grow more in love… you two have just drifted further apart… you're worrying me…"

"We'll be fine, Col. It's just a little fight," Sophia said with a small smile.

"Yea, that's what you think," AJ muttered under his breath, getting up and walking over to me. "Give me my kid," he said rudely, practically tearing the baby out of my arms.

The room stayed silent as he stormed out.

"What is the matter with him?" Nick said, shaking his head. "I just don't get it."

"I wish I knew," Sophia sighed sadly, her eyes beginning to get red.

"Are you guys actually fighting about something?"

"No, that's the thing… we never fought over anything. He just started acting this way towards me the day after Makayla was born. I… I don't know what to do…"

"It'll pass," I said reassuringly. "You know AJ…"

"Yea," she said quietly. "I guess you're right."

"Ok, we have to leave now if we want to make it to the church on time," Nick said, looking at his watch. "AJ, are you ready?"

"Yea, get the car started," AJ called.

"Yes, Mr. McLean," Nick muttered, going to start up the car.

After we had put the babies in their special car seats we were on our way. Nick and I in the front, and AJ and Sophia in the back. They didn't say a word to each other the whole ride there… she looked out her side of the window and he looked out his.

*Brian's View*

"Nick!" I called out as soon as he had parked the car in front of the church. "Thank God you're here!"

"Why?" he asked strangely, climbing out of the front seat.

"Um, I'm just really nervous."

"Of course you are - it's your wedding day!" Colleen smiled. "Everyone's a little nervous on their wedding day."

"I'm not just a little nervous, though," I said, running my hand through my hair. "Nick, can we talk alone?"

"Yea, sure," he said, walking to the side of the Church with me. "What's up?"

"Nick, I don't think I can go through with this…"

"Look, buddy, you don't have much of a choice…"

"I know, I know," I sighed. "Maybe I'll feel better once the wedding's over?" I asked, hopefully.

"Yea, maybe," he said, trying to sound as supportive as possible.

"Ugh, no I won't," I groaned, taking a seat on the steps.

"Daddy! Come help with the baby!" Colleen called out.

"B, I gotta go help her with Devon. Are you going to be alright?"

"Yea, I'll be fine," I answered quietly, staring down at the floor.

"You'll be ok, Brian. Just try to relax," Nick said, giving me a pat on the back.

"Yea, thanks…"

My eyes returned to staring at my shoes as he walked away and I was startled when Sophia's voice asked if I was alright.

"Huh?" I asked, looking up at her.

"I asked if you were alright… you don't look alright," she said, a concerned look on her face, taking a seat next to me.

"No, I'm fine… Really."

"Ok," she said softly. I could tell she didn't believe me. "Where's Luke?"

"Inside with Marietta… how's Makayla?"

"Good…"

"And AJ?"

"I wouldn't know."

"Are you two ok?"

"Yea, we'll be fine…" she said, playing with her hands. "So… this is your big day!"

"Yep," I sighed. "My big day…"

"Well, I wish you the best of luck with Erica," she smiled. But only with her mouth… her eyes weren't smiling.

"Do you really?" I asked, my eyes burning into hers.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she said, awkwardly.

"Nothing," I shrugged, looking away. It was better if I didn't look at her… Everytime I looked at her, I wanted her. But I couldn't have her… I just couldn't.

"Bri… I have to tell you something. It's important."

"What's that?"

She was just about to answer when Nick came up to us. "Bri, the ceremony's about to start… you better get in there."

"Alright," I agreed, only wanting him to go away. I wanted to hear what Sophia had to say… I wanted to hear if it was what I'd been waiting to hear from her. I wanted to know if she still loved me….

"I mean, now, Brian," Nick laughed, extending his hand to help me up.

"Ok, ok. I'll be right there. Go ahead without me."

"Alright," he said, giving the two of us a strange look.

"What were you going to say?" I asked, turning to look at Sophia again.

She stared into my eyes for what seemed to be an eternity before muttering, "Nothing."

"No, you were going to say something… I know you were. Sophia, please," I begged desperately.

"Brian, your wedding's supposed to start… Get in there."

I sighed as I walked away, leaving her there, still sitting on the steps.

*Sophia's View*

What had I almost done… I had almost told him I loved him. What was wrong with me? I was married… It was his wedding day. I don't want to fuck his life up anymore than I already have… But I do love Brian. I can't deny that. And today I would have to see him dedicate his life to someone else.

"What's the matter with you, Sophia?" I mumbled to myself. "You're with AJ, you love AJ…"

I do love AJ. I do. It may seem like I love Brian more, but I don't. It's just… today I was losing Brian to someone else. So it was him on my mind. Before when AJ had went to NY I had run after him because if I didn't I would lose him. And just now I felt like if I didn't tell Brian I loved him I'd lose him too. But I had to lose him. Colleen's voice echoed through my mind, You already did pick! You chose AJ, you're happy with AJ - Brian found someone else, he'll be fine. She was right.

_Chapter 33_

*Brian's View*

"And Brian, do you take Erica to be your lawful wedded wife?" the Priest asked.

I'd gotten through most of the ceremony in a dream-like state. I wasn't fully aware of anything I was doing or saying - I just wanted to get it over with. But this line made me stop in my tracks. Lawful wedded wife? Those words were way too real to ignore. And as everyone waited for me I realized I couldn't say them. I can't keep going on pretending these feelings for Sophia aren't there. I can't go on living this lie… This lie that my whole heart and soul doesn't belong to her and only her.

Marrying someone else would be going against everything I had ever known and believed in. It wouldn't be fair to me… it wouldn't be fair to Erica. I'd grown to know a great person inside of Erica. Why she chose not to show it to other people I don't know, but she didn't deserve this.

"Brian, you must not have heard the question," the Priest said nervously. "Do you-"

I didn't even hear the rest of the sentence… it was just a blur of words that meant nothing to me. I couldn't concentrate. I knew what I had to do. Erica gave me a worried look as I paused a second time. I was too ashamed to even look her in the eye. I can't believe I'm doing this to her…

My gaze shifted over to Sophia who was holding Luke in her arms. She looked so beautiful… why'd she have to be so Goddamn beautiful… She gave me a questioning look and I answered it with a tight smile as I turned to face the Priest and Erica again. "I can't… I'm sorry."

And with that I slipped the ring she'd given me off my finger, placing it in her hand. Everybody's eyes were on me as I took my time walking back down the aisle and out the Church doors. I didn't want it to seem like some movie where the bride frantically runs out of the church - I was just a normal guy who had made a mistake. I could take my time.

The beach was just down the road and I headed towards the setting sun, discarding my suit vest and tie as I walked. A shiver ran through my body even though the Florida weather was warm and humid. Erica must have started to cry...

Sophia's View

"Col, take Luke, please?" I asked without waiting for an answer.

"Tell him to come back, dammit!" Erica screamed through streaming tears.

I ran out of the church and down the steps finding Brian nowhere in sight. Then I noticed the beautiful sunset on the water and I followed it, soon finding Brian's suit jacket and larger footsteps in the sand.

I don't know what I was expecting or looking for when I ran after Brian that night on the beach, but it wasn't what ended up happening…

It didn't take me long to see Brian's figure standing in the sand, his back to me, looking out over the water. I walked up to him without a sound, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my chin on his shoulder.

"Did I surprise you?" I asked softly.

"Nope, I knew you'd be coming after me," he said, placing his hands on my own. "What a wedding, huh?"

I didn't know what to say so I chose to say nothing at all. I loosened my grip around his waist as he turned around to face me.

"I couldn't marry her, Sophia. How could I marry her when all I see when I close my eyes is you?"

"Brian," I sighed, reaching my hand up to stroke his cheek. "I just want you to be happy…"

He kissed my hand that rested on his cheek as his hand moved up and down my thigh. Not being able to resist him anymore I leaned towards him, capturing his lips with my own. He kissed me back at first, but soon pushed me away, "We shouldn't."

"But Brian… I love you," I cried out.

"I love you too. I always will, but I've finally begun to realize something."

"What's that?" I choked out.

"Whether it was meant to be or not… there's no way we can be together."

"Brian, there has to be some way…"

"Sophia, I've racked my brain for any possible way, but there isn't one," he muttered sadly. "You're married. AJ loves you very much, and I know you love him too. You have a baby you can raise," he said, forcing a smile.

"And what about you?" I sniffed, suddenly having tears to wipe away. "You have to find someone too."

"I will," he sighed. "I was thinking of trying something with Marietta…"

"Really? That's good," I said, feeling a twinge of jealousy spread through my body.

"And we always have Luke, Sophia. We'll still see each other…"

"It's not the same," I whispered, taking his hand.

"I know…" We stood there in silence for a few moments, holding hands. I closed my eyes, enjoying the warmth of his body so close to mine. It felt so right to be with him.

"Sophia?" I looked up to meet his piercing blue eyes as he asked, "You believe there will be a next life?"

"Yea, I guess… why?"

"Next life - I get first dibs on you, alright?" he laughed softly, tears beginning to glisten in his eyes.

I answered him with a breath-taking kiss that made him clench his eyes shut and gulp from the salty air. I moaned with pleasure as his hands groped at my upper body.

"One more night?" he murmured, his lips trailing kisses up and down my neck.

"Please," I sighed, wrapping my arms around his neck and letting him lift me off the ground.

He brought me a few feet to a warm dry area and gently laid me down on the sand. I spread my legs apart, wanting only to feel him inside of me. He crawled ontop of me, burying his head in my neck again as I twirled strands of his hair around my fingers. I tilted my head, letting our lips meet again as I gave every ounce of passion in my body to him. His kisses started out short and sweet, building up until I found myself gasping for air. Every touch of his hands and lips to my body made me shiver with pleasure.

"Brian," I moaned. "Please… just…"

"Ok," he whispered, giving me one last kiss before backing up to slide my underwear down my legs. By the time his face came level to mine again he was inside of me making me moan out as my body ached for more. "Brian… Brian…"

"Sophia, listen to me, ok?"

I slowed my breathing as I looked up into his eyes.

"I love you… I love you more than you can ever understand. You're everything I live for so I guess I'm going to have to find another reason. You have to promise me that you're not going to make this any harder for me than it already is. After tonight we can't be lovers anymore, only friends."

"I don't think I can do this," I whispered, sadly.

"Baby, we have no choice," he said grimly, feeling my body over for the last time. "So give me one last kiss."

"The last?"

"The last. If we take it slow, it'll last longer," he said, his warm tongue slowly entering my mouth. If it had been up to me I would have never pulled away.

"Ok, honey, that's it," he said, beginning to get up.

"No," I said, sitting up to kiss him once more.

"You're making this so hard…"

I pulled away, let him kiss my forehead, and watched as he walked away, disappearing down the beach…

I felt so empty inside. I shouldn't have followed Brian… That was a mistake. He was right, we couldn't be together. Thank God he had been strong enough to say it, because I would have never been able to. And if I had fucked things up with AJ just because of tonight… I don't know what I would do.

Overflowing with emotion I started to sob, realizing there was no one there to dry my eyes.

_Chapter 34

*Sophia's View*

I slowly made my way back to the house. It was warm and damp out, but I was so numb I could barely move. AJ would be waiting up for me… I knew he would. The thought of facing him right now made my knees go weak. How could I look him straight in the eye after what I'd done? I couldn't lie to him. I would have to tell him the truth.

My mind raced with what I should say to him as I treaded bare-footed through the sand. I would say that things with Brian were over and I just wanted to be happy with him. But I knew in my heart he wasn't going to listen to or understand any of that. I would tell AJ I slept with Brian and then he would stop listening. After that he wouldn't look at me the same anymore. He might not even love me anymore. Why should he… I was just a lying cheating bitch. I didn't deserve someone as wonderful as him anyway.

A clap of thunder broke out and it began to pour. I hardly noticed as my clothes became quickly drenched. I stumbled up my front steps and was digging through my bag for my keys when AJ swung open the door. I shrunk back and bit my lip… he knew. I could tell by the look in his eyes he knew. He was already looking at me differently.

AJ took a deep breath before saying, "We need to talk, alright?"

I followed him to the couch, sitting down so that there was space between us.

"Did you walk home?" he asked. He was stalling. He didn't want to have this talk any more than I did.

"Yea… no one from the wedding was still at the church."

"I looked for you all over before I left. No one could find you and I had to get Makayla home… Marietta took Luke." He turned to look at me. "No one could find Brian either."

"I was with him… we were on the beach," I said uncomfortably. It would be easier if he just outright accused me. He wanted me to have a hard time. He was hurting and he wanted me hurting too. He didn't realize I already was.

"Doing what?" he asked sharply.

I tried to open my mouth to talk, but what was I supposed to say. I looked down towards the floor as he asked, "Did you sleep with him?"

Once again an awkward silence filled the room.

"What? You can't speak anymore?!" AJ shouted out in frustration. "Ok, let me make this easier for you - if you slept with Brian nod your head."

I slowly nodded my head, a guilty expression on my face.

"That's what I thought," he muttered weakly. "Guess wedding vows don't mean much to you, do they?"

"AJ…" My voice suddenly triggered a shouted fit.

"Sophia, you promised me when I proposed to you that everything between you and Brian would end! You promised me!" he screamed out desperately.

"I'm not very good at promises…"

"Yea, no shit! I really loved you, Sophia, I really loved you. I don't see how you could do something like this to me," he mumbled sadly.

"AJ, listen to me - this was the last time with Brian. We both agreed we couldn't be together. We both agreed I should be with you."

"Well, why don't you rethink that decision," he said, a certain power filling his voice.

"Why?" I asked fearfully, knowing what was coming.

"Because I think we should break up."

"No, AJ, please-"

"You can be with Brian now. You won't have to sneak around anymore. I'll be out of your life."

"AJ, that's not what I want," I whispered.

"What do you want, Sophia? Huh? What is it that you want?! Is it to be able to play both of us? Neither one of us is going to stand for that! Well, I know I'm not."

"No, AJ… I just, I want to be with you." I had never meant anything more in my life than that line. It was the truth and I couldn't believe it had taken me this long to realize it… I only wanted to be with AJ - nothing more.

"Well, I don't trust you anymore," AJ said, getting up from the couch. "And I don't think I love you either."

With that he disappeared into our bedroom, slamming the door shut. My biggest fear had come true: I had lost AJ.

I had never been so miserable in my life, but the tears weren't coming. I was past tears… there's a point where you feel so lost and depressed you can't even cry anymore. I was at that point - my heart was broken and I had never felt more alone.

How long will this last… how long will I stay feeling so empty. Everyone says a broken heart just needs time, but how much time? I've only been suffering for a few minutes and I can't take it anymore. I let my eyes scan the room for anything I could find comfort in. Instead I was drawn to me and AJ's wedding pictures. I forced myself to look away, holding back tears. This was going to be so hard…

My eyes drifted to the pictures of Makayla we had up. Panic swelled up in my throat as I realized the pain would never go away. Every time I looked at my daughter I'd see AJ. As much happiness as she was going to bring me, she'd also bring the most heartache.

I set up a bed for myself on the couch, listening to the whispers and laughing in Colleen and Nick's room. I sighed as I realized the one night I was sleeping out on the couch, those two were getting busy. I heard their door open and Col came out still laughing in shorts and a tank top.

She stopped when she saw me. "You're back! Oh my God… what happened?" she asked forgetting what she'd come out for in the first place and taking a seat.

"Well, I ran after Brian…"

"Yea, I know. Go on," she said impatiently.

"And we slept together."

Her mouth dropped open in shock at those last words. "But Sophia you're married!"

"I know," I whispered. "And you have no idea how much I regret it. But it's over between me and Brian… It's over between me and AJ too."

"I don't get it - Why is it over between you and AJ?"

I wish she would just figure it out on her own. It was so hard to talk about this.

"He broke up with me," I choked out.

"Oh, no," she sighed. "Sophia, he didn't know what he was saying…"

"He knew perfectly well what he was saying. I told him I wanted him and only him and he told me he didn't love me anymore."

"I'll talk to him for you-"

"What's the point? He's not going to change his mind. And I don't blame him…"

"Damn," she muttered. "Well, Sophia… I hate to say this and all, but maybe you should just go with Brian."

I looked up in surprise. "You… you think?"

"Yea," she said softly. "I kind of do."

"Alright, well I'm tired. I need to think things over. Go back to Nick… you don't want him falling asleep on you."

"Nope, definitely not!" she smiled, walking into the kitchen.

"What are you getting?" I asked curiously after hearing the refrigerator door open.

"Just some fruit, whip cream - stuff like that."

"As if your sex isn't wild enough," I groaned. "But have fun anyway."

She gave me a warm smile and said, "Everything will work out fine - I know it," before running back in her room.

The sounds coming from Col and Nick's room kept me up for a little but I eventually drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

*Marietta's View*

I had finally gotten Luke to go to sleep when I heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" I called.

"It's Brian."

I swung the door open to find Brian, soaking wet. His face was red and it looked like he'd been crying but I couldn't tell because of the rain outside.

"Jeez Brian, it's pouring out there. You could have waited til tomorrow morning to get Luke." I threw him a towel and went into the kitchen to make some hot chocolate.

"Actually, I came to see you," he said, following right behind me.

"You did?" I asked, trying to hide the huge smile that had spread across my face.

"Yea, I need someone to talk to and there's really no one else."

"Oh," I mumbled. I sure felt loved…. "Does it have anything to do with you leaving Erica at the alter?"

"Sorta," he said, taking a seat and watching me search for the milk.

"So why did you?" I asked casually.

"I didn't love her. I was sort of just using her to get over Sophia and it got out of hand."

I turned to see him tracing the outline of the shapes on the tiled table with his finger. "Where'd ya go after you ran out?"

"I didn't run, I walked."

"You know what I mean," I said, rolling my eyes. "Must you be so difficult?"

"Yup," he said, raising up his bright blue eyes to give me a warm smile. He was so gorgeous… I wanted him so badly.

"So, where'd ya go?" I asked again, focusing my attention on the stove.

"Beach… watched the sunset."

"By yourself?"

"Nah." I brought him his mug of hot chocolate before sitting down across from him. "More than one-word answers, please."

"Sophia came after me, and we… well, you know…" he said, beginning to blush.

"Oh," I whispered, fighting off waves of jealousy.

"We decided we shouldn't be together."

"Really?" I asked surprised. "How do you feel about that?"

"Doesn't matter how I feel," he muttered. "That's just how it is."

"Right," I nodded. I wish he would just open up to me… I would like to think we were close enough friends for him to show his true feelings.

"I just have to adjust to life without her, that's all," he said quietly, more to himself than to me.

"Well, you'll still see her… Cuz of Luke and all."

"Oh yea, I know. That's just gonna make it harder though…"

"You'll find someone else, Bri… I know you will."

"Yea… Actually, I was thinking… and I was wondering if maybe we could try something."

"We? You mean me and you?" I stuttered. Was this really happening? I'd been hoping he would say something like this for the longest time, but for some reason it didn't feel as good as I thought it would.

"Yea," he nodded. "So what do you say?" He took my hand in his and waited patiently for my answer.

"Brain… I would, but…."

"But what?"

"You're doing the same thing you did with Erica. You're really vulnerable right now and you're using me so you can forget about Sophia."

He slowly released my hand and shifted his gaze to the window. "It's really coming down now…"

"Yup."

"I, uh, I don't have my car…"

"You don't? Then how'd you get here?"

"Walked."

"From the beach?"

"Uh huh," he mumbled. "Would it be too much of a problem if I stayed until the rain lets up a little?"

"No, not at all. You should just stay the night. I don't think it's going to be stopping any time soon."

"Are you sure?"

"Brian, we're good friends. Of course you can stay."

"Right," he smiled weakly. "Thanks."

"Brian… about before…"

"Yea?" he asked curiously.

"I didn't mean to imply that you were just using me."

"Nah, I don't blame you. I mean I did it before why wouldn't I do it again. And I told you myself before I was still in love with Sophia. Don't worry about it."

"But, Brian?"

"Yea?" he asked slowly.

"When you're over Sophia…"

"Marietta, honey, that's the thing… I do want a relationship with you and I have a feeling I could definitely grow to love you and commit myself to you, but I'm never going to be completely over Sophia. That would just be something you'd have to accept…."

I took a long time just staring at him and going over everything he had just said.

"Could you… could you ever learn to love me as much as you love her?"

"I won't know until you give us a chance," he smiled shyly.

"You just broke up with her tonight… we'd have to wait."

"Uh huh," he nodded. "I'm not ready to jump into a relationship just yet. Tonight was pretty rough on me…"

"So we'll stay friends for now, and see how we feel in the future?"

"That's all I'm asking."

"Ok," I grinned. "Wanna go see your kid?"

"Sure," he said, getting to his feet. He took my hand and we walked into the baby's room.

_Chapter 35_

*Nick's View*

I yawned as I opened the refrigerator for about the fiftieth time. I just kept opening it and closing it - then opening it again just incase I'd missed something the last time.

"Nick, you open that Goddamn fridge one more time and I swear I will slit your throat."

I turned to look at AJ sitting at the table, a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed…"

"No, someone just broke up with the woman he loves - now please stop wasting my electric bill."

"Sorry," I mumbled, taking a seat across from him.

"When exactly are you going home?"

"But, J, this is home," I said with a huge grin.

"No, this is not your home, it is mine. You have a perfectly good house waiting for you. Don't you Col and Devon want to settle in?"

"Nope, we're good here."

"I wasn't asking."

"You're kicking me out?"

"No, you think?" he muttered sarcastically.

"That's cold, Jay," I shook my head. "Besides I thought you'd want me here so you weren't stuck with just Sophia. Or are you kicking her out, too?"

"No, I'm not kicking her out," I snapped. "But she'll be gone in no time."

I gave him a questioning look.

"$50 says she'll have her stuff moved into Brian's by tonight."

"Nah. Even if she does end up at Brian's… tonight's too soon."

"Trust me, the 'too soon' part won't bother her in the least."

"Still… I'll take you on for that $50."

"You got yourself a bet," he agreed, extending his hand to shake mine.

Colleen walked into the room and collapsed down on the chair next to me, resting her head on my shoulder.

"What is with you two?" AJ asked indifferently, his mind obviously elsewhere. "You're like zombies."

"Well, we didn't really get much sleep last night," I smiled, rubbing Col's back.

"I get you," AJ said, getting up to rinse out his cup. "You lucky son of a bitch."

I laughed as I turned to look at Col… "Your best buddy here is kicking us out of his house."

"You are?" Col asked, turning to stare at him.

"I just don't get why you're still here…"

"Because I got used to living with you and Sophia and I like it. It'll be fun raising the kids together. I was actually going to ask if we could move the rest of our stuff in here. You've certainly got the room."

"No, no, and no."

"Why not?" she said stubbornly.

"Because I'm sick of watching you two making out all over the place."

"AJ, you are such a hypocrite!" I laughed. "We went through 5 years of watching you and Sophia make-out everywhere - this is payback!"

"Whatever," he mumbled, leaving the room.

"He's going to stay like this until those two get back together."

"If they do," Col said quietly.

"Of course they will," I said confidently. "They always do."

*Brian's View*

"Brian! Phone's for you!" Marietta called from the other room.

"Hello?"

"B, it's Col."

"Hey… how's everything going over there?"

"Well me and Nick are good."

"Uh, and the other members of the house?"

"Listen, no one even knows I'm calling, but I thought you should know - AJ and Sophia broke up."

"You're kidding!"

"Nope. He found out what happened between you two after the wedding… I don't know if she told him or what, but he found out. And he broke up with her."

"Oh, God. She doesn't deserve that… It wasn't her fault. Did she tell him that we decided it was the last time and-"

"She tried reasoning with him, but he seemed pretty serious about it. She slept on the couch and they haven't spoken since."

"Damn. So, do you think they're going to get back together?"

She sighed. "I really don't know…."

"Cuz, Col… if they don't - this is it. This is my chance. Sophia and I can be together."

"Yea, I know…"

"I'm going to come over there and talk to her."

"Ok, well Nick and I are going to take the baby out, but Sophia will be home. So will AJ."

"Alright, I'm coming then. Don't tell Sophia, ok? I want to surprise her."

"Ok… Bri, just… don't get your hopes up."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Good luck."

"Yea, thanks. Ok, bye."

I walked into the room where Marietta was with the baby.

"You won't believe it - AJ and Sophia broke up!"

"Seriously?"

"Very. I'm going over there right now."

"To try and get with her?"

That stopped me in my tracks. I remembered what we had discussed the night before.

"You don't have to answer. Just go," Marietta said quietly, rocking the baby in her arms.

"Marietta…"

"Just go," she repeated. "Come back and tell me what happened and we'll figure things out from there."

"You're the best, you know that?" I said, walking over to kiss the top of her head. "See you soon…"

_Chapter 36_

*AJ's View*

The bell rang about 7. How many things can Nick forget? This would be the third time back. I looked through the window finding Brian instead.

"Lousy bastard," I mumbled to myself.

"Sophia, it's for you," I called out. Those were the first words I'd spoken to her the whole day.

I started to head for my bedroom when curiosity got the better of me. I slammed my bedroom door shut so Sophia wouldn't suspect anything and hid behind the doorway connecting to the living room. Peeking my head in I'd be able to hear and see everything they said and did.

Sophia opened the door and took a step back. "Brian, what are you doing here?"

"We have to talk. Where's AJ?"

"Oh, he went into his room. Talk about what, Brian? We talked last night…"

"Sophia, I heard about you and AJ."

"And so did everyone on the internet - big deal," she snapped.

"Baby, why are you acting like this?" Brian asked softly, his hands settling on her hips. "Don't you realize what this means?"

"Brian, we decided to be nothing more than friends, and I think that was a good decision," she said, pulling out of his grasp. "Why don't you go home…"

He ignored her suggestion. "If AJ wasn't in our lives we'd be together, right?"

"Brian, this has nothing to do-"

"Yes or no?" he insisted.

"Yes," she said softly. "If AJ weren't in our lives we'd be together."

"And he isn't anymore! Sophia, we can be together now. We don't have to wait for the next life," he grinned, taking her hand. "We can be together now… the way it should be."

I had to hold myself back from tackling him to the floor. Son of a bitch - he was already after her. Looks like I'd be winning that $50. Funny, I'd wanted to lose that bet more than anything in the world.

I felt sick to my stomach as he leaned in to kiss her. Deciding to watch them had been a mistake. But to my surprise she pulled back.

"Sophia… what's wrong?" Brian asked, a worried look crossing his face.

"We can't," she shook her head.

"You still think you and AJ are going to get back together, don't you?"

Did she think that?

I glanced over at her but her expression was blank. She finally shook her head. "No, I lost him."

"Sophia, we could be so happy together. Remember how happy we used to be?"

"Yea, I do, Brian, but-"

"But what?! I don't get this! I love you. I want to be with you. You're not tied down to AJ anymore."

"But Brian, I love him. I didn't want to lose him."

I froze in shock. What was she doing? Why wasn't she going with him?

"You… you wish you were still with him?" Brian asked, his voice beginning to shake.

"More than anything in the world," she whispered.

At that moment any feelings I'd lost for her came flooding back. I remembered why I loved her. I remembered why I asked her to marry me… She was the one.

"Brian, we can't be together," she said after he hadn't answered. "You'll always have a special place in my heart, but we can't."

"Yea," he said faintly. "I'm gonna go now."

"Ok," she agreed, holding open the door.

He gave her a long sad look before walking out. She shut the door behind him and sunk down to the floor. Just then Makayla started to cry and Sophia went to go take care of her as I returned to my room.

*Marietta's View*

I heard the door open and then slam shut as Brian stormed into the room. His chest heaved up and down as he struggled to catch his breath. His eyes were blazing with anger, but behind that I only saw pain.

"Brian, what's wrong?" I asked, rising to my feet. "Things didn't go well with Sophia?"

"You know what? I don't fucking need her!" he screamed, his voice louder than I ever remember hearing it. "I wish she could hear me," he said, becoming fainter. "I don't fucking need her," he almost whispered, breaking out and beginning to cry.

I had never seen Brian cry before… I almost thought he didn't know how. He always seemed to keep his emotions inside, and now tears were freely falling down his cheeks and he didn't care if I saw them.

"Don't cry," I said softly. I wasn't sure how to act in this situation at all….

"I can't help it…."

I pulled him into my arms and let him bury his head into my shoulder. I held him as he sobbed, murmuring comforting words as I would to Luke.

"She's not going to hurt you anymore, Brian," I said. "I'm not going to let her."

He pulled away to give me a small smile. "I'm gonna get some sleep now, alright?"

"Sure. Make yourself comfortable and I'll see you in the morning."

"I really appreciate this, Marietta," he said seriously, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

"No prob. Night," I whispered, kissing his wet cheek before disappearing into my room.

_Chapter 37_

*AJ's View*

I had been tossing and turning for hours before I finally decided to stop trying. Sleep just wasn't coming tonight. My mind was racing with so many thoughts - what Sophia had done tonight had meant a lot to me and I wanted with all my heart to forgive her, but I didn't know if I could. What she had done was pretty serious.

I headed towards the kitchen remembering something Sophia had told me once about drinking warm milk to help you sleep. But I stopped halfway through the living room to watch Sophia sound asleep on the couch. She had a troubled expression on her face and was clenching her pillow.

"What's the matter, Sophia? Regretting not fucking Brian tonight?" I muttered.

I was in the kitchen digging for a pot to heat the milk in when I heard her begin to cry. I peeked into the room to see her sitting up, her hands covering her face as she sobbed. I tried to ignore the sound of her crying, banging the pots around, but who was I kidding… I wasn't the type of guy that could let her be that upset and not do something. Sometimes I wish I was. In that way being in love with someone was a drag… if they hurt, you hurt. And it did hurt watching her so sad….

"Why are you crying?" I asked softly, starting towards her.

She didn't answer; just continued to cry.

"Shhh. Honey, stop crying," I said soothingly, sitting Indian-style next to her on the couch. "Shh - lie down now. Try to get back to sleep." I pulled her down so her head could rest in my lap. Her breathing slowed down to normal and she closed her eyes, soon drifting off. I don't think she was fully awake in the first place. I stared down at her tear-stained face and fought off the urge to kiss her while she slept.

Instead I focused my attention on the pictures frames on our book shelf as I absentmindedly stroked her hair. Our wedding picture was the one that stood out the most. Neither one of us was even looking at the camera; we were too lost in each other to notice. I wanted to go back to that… that was when I was happiest. What had happened? I stared back and forth from the photo to Sophia asleep in my lap. She still looked the same, had that same sweet smile on her face… It was Brian that had caused all the problems. If he weren't around we'd be happy together right now. But he had to keep going after her… even after she was married. And for some reason she couldn't resist him. But he was out of the picture now. I was almost sure of that.

I almost jumped as Sophia touched my hand. I looked down to find her big brown eyes staring up at me. She brought my hand to her mouth where she began to kiss my fingers. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

I brought my face down to hers, replacing my fingers with my lips. She kissed back eagerly, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"I think we'll be able to work things out," I said, pulling away.

"AJ, I know I'm not good with promises… But I'm never going to hurt you again."

The sincere look in her eyes convinced me completely. "I know you're not."

"You're my everything, AJ, and I love you. I don't think I can live without you. Would you consider… taking me back?"

I gently lifted her head off of me and let her crawl into my arms. "I love you too, honey," I said, pressing my lips to her forehead. "And I'm never letting you go again."

She gave me a small smile. "Can we save the 'make up' sex for tomorrow morning - I'm so tired."

"You got it, babe. Gotta love the 'make up' sex…"

She laughed softly, slowly pushing me down. "Night baby," she said, kissing me before lying her head on my chest and sliding her arms around my waist.

I struggled to get comfortable with her dead asleep on top of me, but honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way….

_Epilogue_

*Sophia's View* 5 years later

"I can not believe we're both pregnant again," Col said with a deep sigh. "Didn't we just do this?!"

"Seems like it," I laughed, my eyes scanning the room. "Where's Brian?"

I finally spotted my 3-year old boy crawling around on the floor with his toy cars. "Bri, sweetie, come to Mommy. I have to fix your suit."

"Damn, why am I complaining? Atleast I had a 5 year break. You had Brian in between."

"I know! This is gonna be my 4th kid! I think this will be it…"

"What? Why?" I heard AJ exclaim from the other room.

"What are you eaves-dropping on us?" I laughed turning to see AJ come in with Makayla struggling in his arms.

"Come on, Sophia, you promised me a lot of kids," he whined.

"And 3 isn't enough?"

"Makayla, stop squirming," he pleaded, ignoring my question.

"I'm not wearing a dress, Daddy! I'm not! You can't make me!" she screamed, finally breaking out of his arms and running down the hall back to her room.

"She doesn't want to wear her dress," he explained.

"So I heard. Well, she has to. We're going to a wedding… she can't wear shorts and a T-shirt."

"I know, I know. She's so stubborn… like you," he grinned, coming over to give me a kiss. "How's my little man doing?" he asked, picking up Brian above his head.

"Would you put him down? I need to fix his suit," I said playfully slapping AJ.

"Oh fine. Sorry, Brian, Mommy says I can't play with you."

"Aw, mommy," Brian whined, as I straightened his suit and smoothed down his hair.

All of a sudden Devon came running into the living room at top speed. He jumped into Colleen's lap as Nick came in running after him. "You sun of a gun! Come back here and put your suit on!"

Devon shook his head forcefully as he wrapped his tiny arms around Col's stomach. "Mommy, when's the baby coming?"

"Not for awhile, honey. I'll let you know when it's time," she said with a smile. "Now please let Daddy put your suit on."

"But it's not comfortable…"

"You'd make your Godfather really happy if you wear that suit," Nick tried again.

"Fine," Devon sighed, disappearing into the other room with Nick.

"Kids sure hate getting dressed up," Colleen said.

"I hate getting dressed up," AJ piped in.

"Like I said… kids sure hate getting dressed up."

"Oh, Collie, you're so funny," AJ muttered, taking a seat next to me. "Babes, were you serious about not wanting to have any more kids?" he asked me, a serious expression on his face.

"AJ, it's just… this is going to be our third kid. And then I have Luke… Don't you think it's getting too much to handle?"

"No," he shook his head. "I think we're doing a great job."

"We are," I nodded. "How about we not worry about it til after the baby is born?"

"Whatever you say," he said before leaning in to give me a long kiss. I edged in closer as the kiss deepened, letting his hands roam my body.

"Ewwww," Devon cried, walking back into the room all dressed up.

"Ah, kids… gotta love them," Colleen smiled apologetically, scooping Devon into her arms.

"We gotta get going anyway," AJ shrugged, brushing his lips against mine once more. "Let me see if I can convince Makayla to come out…"

*AJ's View*

I shifted uneasily in my seat as it came up to the wedding vows. Brian was incredibly happy with Marietta… you could tell by the way his face glowed when he talked about her, but I was still nervous. It had taken us awhile, but Brian and I had finally sorted out our differences. So when Sophia had asked me if we could name our son Brian I didn't hesitate. I trusted her; I trusted him. Besides… Brian was my kid and he looked more and more like me every day.

"Brian, do you take Marietta to be your lawful wedded wife?"

His eyes never shifted from staring at the bride as a huge smile crossed his face. "I do."

I looked over to Sophia sitting next to me. There wasn't a trace of bitterness in her face as she grinned at the couple. I squeezed her hand and she turned to give me a soft kiss. "Aren't they adorable together?" she whispered.

"Sure are."

*Colleen's View*

I almost jumped as a pair of strong arms were wrapped around me. I looked up to see Nick's smiling face. "Having fun?"

"Promise you won't tell anyone?"

"Promise."

"No."

"Why not?" I laughed. "They have a lot of good food… I thought that was all it took."

"I don't know I just want to get home… we've been here for days."

"4 hours," I corrected him.

"Same thing," he shrugged. "Can I sit down?"

"Uh huh…"

"No, I mean where you're sitting?"

"Excuse me?! I am pregnant with your child, thank you very much. I am happy sitting here."

"Please."

I looked at him in disbelief. "You are such a baby," I muttered, getting up. He slipped into the chair, pulling me down on his lap.

"There - now isn't this better?" he asked with a grin.

"Much," I agreed, beginning to kiss his neck.

Just at that moment the DJ began to play Nsync's "This I Promise You."

"Nicky, it's our song!" I gushed.

"You up to dancing?"

"You bet I am," I whispered in his ear as I lead him out on the dance floor. He arms encircled my waist as I rested my head against his chest.

"Mommy," Devon called, tugging on my dress.

"Baby, I'm dancing. Go bother Sophia."

"Col!" Nick laughed. "Then again I agree… Devon, Sophia'll help you."

"Oh fine," he said, running up to where Sophia was sitting.

"We're going to be arrested for neglect," Nick joked.

I watched Devon as he ran off and couldn't help smiling. "He looks just like you, Nick."

"Scary, isn't it?"

"Nah," I grinned. "He's going to be as gorgeous as his Daddy."

He gave me a soft kiss, tightening his grip around my waist as we continued to dance across the floor.

*Brian's View*

"Baby, I need a rest before the last dance," Marietta said, collapsing down onto a chair.

"Awww, alright," I sighed, leaning in for a deep kiss. "You mind if I ask Sophia?"

"Not at all. Just don't run off with her," she joked.

"Don't worry. It's all you," I said affectionately stroking her cheek.

I set off for where Sophia sat in the corner with AJ. They'd finally gotten rid of the kids and were talking quietly to each other. I thought for a moment I shouldn't disturb them, but I didn't think they'd mind…

"Hey guys," I said as I approached them.

"B, how's it feel to be married?" AJ asked.

"Real good," I smiled. "I just wish I could fast forward to tonight."

"I get you, man," AJ grinned. "This'll be the first time, eh?"

"Yep," I said proud with the decision Marietta and I had made to wait. "Should be fun…"

"K, I'm going to go talk to Howie," AJ said rising to his feet. "Sophia you mind?"

"Nope."

"Alright, later babes," he said kissing her forehead.

"So, wanna dance?" I asked, once he walked away.

She looked up at me a little surprised but answered, "Yea, sure."

We walked over to the dance floor and she wrapped her arms around my neck as I slipped my arms around her waist. It felt a little strange to hold her like this… I hadn't for so long.

We had danced for a few moments in silence before she spoke. "The wedding was really beautiful."

"Yea, wasn't it? Damn, I love her so much," I said, exchanging a smile with Marietta.

"See, Brian Thomas Littrell, I was right. I knew you'd be happy with that girl. I knew it from the beginning."

"From the beginning?"

"Well… since my wedding."

"Well, that's not the beginning! You're not so much smarter than me, Sophia McLean," I teased. That was the first time I'd ever called her by her full name. But I was Ok with it now. It sounded good to me now.

"Sophia McLean," I repeated.

"Yea?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing," I smiled. "It's just a nice name."

"So is Marietta Littrell," she smiled back, knowing exactly what I meant.

~Written by: Sophia(ajsnumber1grl@hotmail.com)

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